Day 142 of our Green Year: Finding Uses for Orange Peels

Oranges are big sources of vitamin C, which is very important to our health. As a result, in the Baird household we love to have an organic and locally grown orange during our lunch or breakfast. However, as we eat oranges, we begin to wonder what to do with the peels, beyond just composting. Why find uses for it? The main reason is to help do more with what we already have, before we recycle or compost something. Our adage for Our Green Year is reuse, then recycle, and orange peels factor into that.

Here are some of the things you can use orange peels for beyond composting, a few of which we will also be trying.

1. You can use orange peels as a firestarter or kindling when you are having a party at the fire pit. The reason for this is that there is a high content of flammable natural oil in orange peels. Make sure to let the orange peel dry before you try to use it as a firestarter.
2. If you have cats (as we do) and plants (as we do), you can keep the cats from digging into the soil of the plants by placing orange peels around the plant. cats hate how orange peels smell, so it is highly effective.
3. If you want some extra zest in your soups, sauces and salads, you can cut off the top layer of an orange peel and grind it into smaller pieces. You can dry the orange peel grinds overnight and then store them in airtight bottles for future use.
4. If you have musty odors in your closet, put a dried orange peel in there to reduce the odors.
5. If you want to have a picnic without the insects, then you can use small piles of the grind of an orange peel. Insects hate limonene, which is the oil int he peel, and this is a great alternative to using commercial insecticides.

One thing we have found in Our Green Year is that there are plenty of things you can do with items you have already. Before last week, I had no idea the uses of an orange peel, but after researching it, it is quite surprising.

A few cool notes. First, Google Earth has come out with some software in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States, that allows you to see the content of pollutants in the air around your home. It is a great way to find out just how clean the air is where you live, and you may be surprised (or frightened). The website can be visited here.

A few weeks ago, Layla and I went green by eating less meat, and restricting the meat we do eat to buffalo. Today, I read a story on TIME.com, which validated nearly everything we had said about why it is important to go green by eating less meat. A few of the key points featured in the article include:

• Worldwide, livestock farming creates 18 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions on the planet. That is more than what all the cars, trains, planes and boats generate combined (13 percent).
• Much of that contribution to greenhouse gases comes from cutting down of forests to put in pastures for livestock. In Latin America, 70 percent of former forest cover has been removed for animal grazing. This causes the planet to heat up because trees absorb CO2 when they are alive.
• Livestock manure generates nitrous oxide, which has a 296 times the warming effect of CO2. On top of that, cows fart on a regular basis, generating 200 liters of methane (23 times the warming impact of CO2) a day. Multiply that by the 100 million cattle in the United States, and that creates a lot of global warming.

Hence, many people say that one of the greatest things you can do to go green is to eat less meat.

Be sure to check out our companion blog, Our Green Year Journal, which details what we do each day to be green, from what we buy to how far we walk.

Day 140 of our Green Year: The Uses of Hydrogen Peroxide

Well, we have hit day 140 of Our Green Year and are heading head-long into fall. We spent a very busy weekend helping to put on a community festival in our town, but our work week (from home of course) begins again as we move further into Our Green Year.

While doing some web surfing last week, I came across stories of how many people have used hydrogen peroxide for various household tasks, instead of chemicals that can be damaging to our health and our environment. Hydrogen Peroxide is very good for the environment since it is composed only of two hydrogen atoms and two oxygen atoms. Once out in the environment, it breaks down into oxygen and hydrogen, two plentiful and beneficial elements in Earth's eco-system.

So, what are the uses of hydrogen peroxide in the home? Here are just a few we will be trying. (We will be reusing the plastic bottle it came in)

1. If you put a cup of hydrogen peroxide into the washer (or wash tub as we now use) instead of chlorine bleach, you will get results that are just as good.
2. With a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and tap water, in a 50/50 mixture, you can spray your counters and sanitize them to keep them germ free. You should only mix what you will use at that time, otherwise the light will break down the molecule. You can also soak your fingernails and toenails in this type of mixture to kill fungus.
   
3. Many people use mouthwash and tooth whiteners that contain many chemicals, however hydrogen peroxide is a great alternative. Put a teaspoon of three percent strength hydrogen peroxide in your mouth for five to ten minutes every day, and you will whiten your teeth. You can also put your toothbrush into the hydrogen peroxide mixture to get rid of bacteria on the brush. Use a 50/50 mixture of water and hydrogen peroxide as a mouthwash as well.
4. Lastly, it can be used on your house plants to make them grow green and lush. Mix an ounce of hydrogen peroxide into a cup of water and spray it on your houseplants.
   

On another note, Layla has set up a sister blog to Our Green Year called Our Green Year Journal We created this blog today to help show what we do each day. There, we will catalog what we buy for food, if we drove, how far we walked and more. This is being done to show how green we try to go with Our Green Year, beyond what we mention in this blog on a daily basis.

Day 138 of our Green Year: Spreading the message of Think Water

A few days ago, Layla and I saw a very interesting television commercial that had a grandfather and grandson in a ghost town. It used to have gold, but that dried up and the people left the town. The grandfather then told the kid that in the future, water will be as precious as gold and we should take care of it now.

It was a great commercial that really made you think, and throughout this green initiative, we have spent several of our blog posts talking about going green by saving water. Just yesterday we saw our neighbor watering their lawn as it rained, and it was a horrible thing to see. We would have said something, but as the man was well into his old age we didn't think it would go very far (sorry to all those elderly individuals who care for the environment, I know you are out there).

The commercial was part of the UN Water For Life initiative, which can be viewed at this website and it is a very important initiative that we should all look at when we turn on the tap. All of this is for the International Decade for Action "Water for Life", which runs from 2005 to 2015. During the first UN decade on water, which ran from 1981 to 1990, more than one billion people gained access to safe drinking water. This second decade initiative is just as important and that is why Layla and I are devoting this post to spreading the message of the UN Water for Life and ThinkWater.ca.

Water is very important, and without it all life on earth will cease, so treat it as a precious resource.

Day 137 of our Green Year: Sealing Up Cracks

Winter is coming, and things are starting to get cold where we are, so the time has come to be energy conscious with heat. There are several ways that you can do this in your home, and one of the best is preventing heat loss from hot air going out cracks, and cold air coming in. If that happens, you will be spending a lot of time turning up the heat, which then uses up energy.

Therefore, the best thing you can do before it gets too cold is seal up cracks and spaces in windows. There are several ways to do this, but caulking works best. You will be able to seal up all the cracks, which then prevents anything from getting in or out.

One tip to find drafts is to take a candle and stand in the middle of a room with it, perfectly still. If the flame is flickering to one side, then you will know there is air coming from that direction. Move over there with the candle and find where that leak is. Once you have it, seal it up. Hardware stores have a multitude of products that will help you do this.

It is easy to do, and effective so take the time to seal up cracks and keep that much-loved warm air, inside, and the bad winter cold air outside.

On another note, we have hit 4,000 hits. That is great considering we are just a few days shy of our four month anniversary. That means that we are averaging just over 1,000 hits a month. Not too bad, especially when we still have eight months to go.

Day 129 of our Green Year: Making Pita Chips

A few weeks ago, Layla and I talked about how bad some potato chips are for people, especially considering that several potato chip companies have pledged not to get rid of a cancer causing ingredient, but only lower it.
We enjoy some pita chips from a pita chip company located in Cranbrook, but Layla raised the point that we buy those chips from Cranbrook, which is then transported to here, causing greenhouse gases to go into the atmosphere.

As a result, we decided to make our own pita chips and it is incredibly easy. All you have to do is buy some pita bread, rip it up into thin little slices and put it into the oven. You can use some butter on the pita bread to help hold a variety of spices on the bread while it cooks. We are going to use Cinnamon on our pita chips.
Leave it in the oven for several minutes, until the chips become hard and crunchy. At this point, take the chips out and let them cool. Once they are cool enough to handle, you can eat them!

That is all it takes to be environmentally friendly with your pita chips. You may have to use the oven, but if you have a solar cooker like ours, and it goes to 400 Fahrenheit, then you can use the solar cooker and make pita chips that are very environmentally. Going a step further, you can even make your own pita bread!

Let us know how your pita chip test goes if you do it! Contact us at crwbaird@gmail.com

Day 123 of our Green Year: The Purchase Questions

Layla and I are committed to decreasing our possessions and are currently going through what we own to catalog it and determine what can stay and what can go. I have already decided to give away 90 percent of my books, which is not an easy thing for me to do. The books I am keeping are only ones that have sentimental value to me.

Now, since we are reducing our possessions to reduce consumption and prove we do not need a bunch of items to be happy, we are also not buying up a lot of things. In fact, Layla and I have come up with the Purchase Question System, which we use whenever we have to buy something that is not essential (food would be an essential purchase).

These questions we ask are:

1. Does the cost of the item warrant the benefit we may receive from it? This means that if the benefit is just an immediate gratification (shoes we don't need) then it is not worth the long-term cost.
2. How much will this product be used after its initial 'neatness' wears off? Buying one of those dancing electric animals is a perfect example of this. It may seem neat now, but it will end up in the closet soon enough.
3. Can it be recycled or given away later? If it can, it makes buying it easier because someone else can get use out of it after we no longer use it.
4. Where could this money be better spent? If it could go to bills, mortgage, charity or anything else instead of the product, maybe it should.
5. Why are we buying this product? If the only reason is because we just saw it, then it is not a good buy. Impulse buys are not something we want to do. As well, if we buy it because we saw it on television, then maybe its not a good buy.

Those are just a few of the questions we will ask ourselves to ensure that everything we own is what we need.

Day 119 of our Green Year: Green Piggy Bank

There is a classic episode of The Simpsons, where Homer is found to have a sailor's mouth and Marge makes him put money in the swear jar every time he swears. Well, recently we came up with the great idea, that is to say Layla came up with it, to have a "Green Swear Jar". What is that exactly? Well, put simply it is a jar that you put money into every time you do something that is not green.

This is a great idea because not only does it teach you to stop doing things that are not green, but it also helps you save money to buy something that is green. Depending on how green you are in your life, you could have enough money for a solar panel, or even a personal wind turbine generator before you know it.

Layla made our Green Swear Jar from scratch using a yogurt container and some special wool. It looks great and it works great.

So, here is how you can work it for your own home in terms of how much is paid for each offense.

• Leaving Light On: $2
• Leaving Fridge Open: $5
• Leaving TV on when you are not in the room: $10
• Leaving car running or idling when you don't need to: $20
• Using cleaners that are not 'green': $10
• Using the vacuum on the kitchen floor instead of sweeping: $5
• Using the dishwasher when you could be washing by hand: $10
• Taking a shower longer than 5 minutes: $2 per minute
• Leaving the water running anywhere at any time: $5 per minute

You can even print up tickets on recycled paper (that will be recycled later) so everyone in the house knows that they did something wrong.

Why not try it out in your own house and let us know how it goes! If you make your own Green Swear Jar, send us a photo at crwbaird@gmail.com and we will put it up here.

Day 113 of our Green Year: Hiking Green

About a month and a half ago, Layla and I took part in the Mount Roberts hike, a tradition in our small town. It involved hiking to the Canadian flag on top of the mountain over the course of a day. It was a long and difficult hike, but it was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed it. In fact, we have always enjoyed hiking and while hiking is a very green thing to do, it can be even greener, hence why Layla and I are committing to be very green with our hiking beyond the 'leave only footprints' methodology.

The first thing we will be doing is buying second hand equipment, rather than the new and pricey equipment available through many retailers. We will do this because then we can help someone else re-use something, instead of having it thrown into the landfill.

The second thing we will be doing is ensuring we only hike on prescribed trails. There will be no hiking through areas that we are not supposed to because we may inadvertently be damaging sensitive plant species by walking where we should not.

The third thing we will be doing is packing lunches for hikes in reusable containers at all times. That way we do not create any garbage, we do not take away from the environment to make one-use only plastic wrap and we help keep the world a bit greener.

Lastly, we will only take pictures in the wilderness and nothing else. There will be no picking flowers or anything else while we are in the forest.

Hiking is very green, but it is possible to go even greener when you are hiking out there, and Layla and I will be doing that to help us become even greener when we do something we love.

Day 112 of our Green Year: Cleaning The Oven

One of the worst things you can do to your body, apart from drug-using, is cleaning the oven. Cleaning the oven uses harmful chemicals, dangerous aromas and a multitude of other things that can severely damage your health.
Two years ago, when Layla was cleaning the oven before a move, she ended up with her skin peeling off her fingers and severe cracking of the skin for a few weeks after. This was while she wore gloves as well.

As a result, finding a green solution to cleaning the oven is very important. We have looked around for several 'organic' oven cleaners but they have not been found, at least by us. However, in a previous blog we mentioned that vinegar could be used to clean ovens, and one of our long-time readers, Eryn (who has provided many tips herself), decided to try it out and this is what she had to say:

"For the record, vinegar worked like a charm! It isn't absolutely perfect (my husband did it and I don't think he used as much elbow grease as I would have) but it only took about 10 minutes and the blackened yuckiness just wiped off."

Naturally, vinegar is not going to work as good as chemical cleaners that could eat their way through cement if you left them long enough, but they will do a good job as long as your oven is not caked in old and cooked food.

There are plenty of cleaning tips we have mentioned in this blog over the past 112 days, including using vinegar and baking soda to unclog drains, using lemon juice as a disinfectant and more, so be sure to check them out.

Do you have some cleaning tips we may not have thought of? Let us know and we will try it out and do a blog about it. E-mail us at crwbaird@gmail.com

Day 110 of our Green Year: Green Gift Giving

My dad celebrated his birthday on Thursday, and today we are holding a big birthday party for him at my parent's farm. As a result, there will be a lot of gift giving going on, and Layla and I have decided to make our gift giving a bit more green than it has been in years past for birthdays. So, here are some great ways that we have, and you can, go green with gift giving.

These are easy ways to go green with your gift giving and help out the environment in the process.

1. Only buy something a person is going to use. There is no point buying them a singing bass that they will think is cute for the first hour, and annoying for the next ten years.
   
2. Try and buy a consumable gift like organic tea, coffee, fruit fresh flowers and anything else that will not take away from the environment when you give it to someone.
3. Donate money to a charity in the name of the person. This may seem like a cheep way to go, but it is actually a very thoughtful gift and the right person will really appreciate it.
   
4. Make a gift yourself like a sweater or anything else that could eventually be considered a family heirloom. The person you give the gift to will love it.
5. Buy a gift that is made or produced in your local area. You will be able to support your local economy by doing this, and hopefully help keep a local shop in business for a little while longer as they compete against the big companies in town. You also save the environment because you don't have to have the gift shipped to you, which creates emissions.
   
6. Always think about the packaging before you give someone a gift. This is very important because to go green you have to think about the gift itself, and the packaging that goes along with it. Too many people forget about this.

No matter whose birthday it is, or how much money you may have, it is possible to go green when you are getting a gift for someone.

Day 109 of our Green Year: Curse That Junk Mail!

A few months ago, Layla and I signed up to limit the amount of junk mail that we get and it has actually made a nice dent in the amount we receive on a weekly basis. Of course we no longer hear about the 'Super Amazing Deals!' that are on in our area but some how we will just have to survive.

However, even with our junk mail reduction, some still makes it through and we don't think there is a way to stop these bits of junk mail. These items include:

1. A local newspaper that we don't really read.
2. Updates from local politicians who tout being friends of the environment while sending out 20,000 newsletters.
3. City notices.
4. Other little flyers sent out by businesses in the area.

We don't want to throw these items out and with our motto Re-use then Recycle, we want to use the paper for something before we go and recycle it. Recently, we found these ideas on the internet.

1. We can make little paper trees that will be put up in our house to help accentuate the real trees that we have. To make them you just do the following using junk mail, bristol paper, glue, scissors and a cutting surface. Adhere the bristol paper to the junk mail to make it nice and firm, then draw trees on the bristol paper, and then make perpendicular cuts to the base of each tree. Half the trees that should go up three-quarters up them, and the other half should go one-quarter down. Then erase any pencil marks and cut them out. After that, slide the two different pieces so they lock into place and you have some great trees.
2. Since we only really get paper and not glossy paper in the mail anymore, we can shred what we have and use it for mulch in the garden or our indoor plants. We just can't use colored paper for it.
3. We also make paper out of the junk mail paper. It is hard to write on something that is covered with words, so we need it to be clear. To do this, we rip the junk mail into very small pieces using your hands. After this, put the junk mail pieces in the blender with some water. the ratio should be 3:1 in favor of junk mail. Adding less water gives thicker paper. Then you pour the mixture on a window screen and let it drain completely. Put the mixture onto a towel and let it get completely dry. Then you can use your new, and recycled, paper.

That is all there is to dealing with the junk mail that seems to get through.

Day 106 of our Green Year: Learning The Secret Hypermiling

As people try and get by on high gas prices, the craze of hypermiling becomes more and more popular. Hypermiling really is not a bad thing when you think about it. It is getting the most miles per gallon out of your car, which in turn helps curb emissions and protect the environment. It is not always easy to do, and it can be dangerous (following close behind a semi-truck to limit wind resistance), but Layla and I are going to give it a shot so that we can use less emissions when we drive, which is rare as it is.

First, we will try and travel light. With an extra 100 pounds of cargo, the miles per gallon can be reduced by two percent. Whatever does not need to be in the car can be removed, so don't be afraid to limit your cargo when you drive.

Second, when we are parking, we will back into parking spaces when we can. The reason for tihs is that cold engines use more fuel, so a three-point back-up job is more efficient at the end of a trip when the engine is hot.

Third, we will try and use cruise control when we can because accelerating can burn your miles per gallon. If you use the acceleration button on the cruise control it will burn less gas than the lightest tough on the gas pedal. This is not always easy for us to do, since we live in the mountains of B.C. and cruise control can be dangerous there, but we will try when we can.

Fourth, braking very gently will save fuel, so we will be doing that than slowing down suddenly. Doing this right can save a few percent on your miles per gallon.

Fifth, we will not be exceeding the speed limit since the faster you drive, the faster you burn your fuel and the less miles per gallon that you get. As well, we save money because we won't be getting pulled over for going over the legal speed limit.

Sixth, we have already decided to get rid of the air conditioning, and its a good thing considering it can lower your miles per gallon efficiency.

There are other things you can do to save on fuel and get better miles per gallon, but these are dangerous and Layla and I will not be doing them as we would prefer to arrive at our destinations in one piece. These are things like:

• Driving far below the speed limit.
• Taking corners at very high speeds.
• Coasting with the engine off.
• Passing red lights and stop signs when there is little traffic.
• Over-inflating tires to reduce resistance when rolling on the road.

Day 104 of our Green Year: Turning off lights

For those of you who read this blog on a regular basis, you may be thinking 'But Craig, you guys already did something like this!', and that is true. However, this blog is not about turning off lights of our own home, but lights wherever we go. Lights are on all the time it seems, even in daylight. Even here visiting family, we are turning off lights that are left on by a lovely old grandmother and we are trying to do the same elsewhere.

When we use a public washroom and if no one else is in it (works great for individual washrooms), we turn out the lights. If we are somewhere where a light does not need to be on, we will turn it off. Just doing this little bit can help the environment because every little bit counts.

Turning off lights is really one of the easiest things you can do, as the brilliant marketing campaign of FLICK OFF has shown us (if you don't see why it is brilliant, keep looking at the capitalized words). We can turn off our own lights of course, but it can be just as good to turn the lights off elsewhere. If you are the last one out of a building, turn the light off. If you are the last to use a public washroom, turn out the light. Even at the home of family and friends, turn out their lights if they have forgotten to, or chosen not to.

It is true, going green can be as easy as flicking a switch!

Day 97 of our Green Year: Spreading the Environmental Message

For the next few weeks, Layla and I are visiting family and one of the big points of doing this is to help spread our environmental message.
It is important that when someone goes green, they attempt to spread the green message to others, without being too annoying about it of course. Doing this helps to convince people that a green way of life is truly the best way of life. Of course, it is easier said than done and it does not always go over well with people, even your family.

While visiting my parents, I have already got them to begin using vinegar to wash their floors, and even told my grandmother that she should not let the water run while brushing her teeth.

It may seem annoying to do this to some, but it is important to spread the message of the environment and why we have to help it with those close to us. By convincing others to go green, we can help create a better world for everyone. A world where people will think about the effect what they do will have on the environment before they go about it.

Have you tried to convince someone else to go green as well?

Day 94 of our Green Year: Reusing Sweaters

It may be odd to start talking about sweaters as we go headlong into August, but the truth is that this is a great time to start looking through your closet at things you can reuse or recycle, and one of the most common pieces of clothing people will toss out is sweaters. Many people are not big fans of sweaters because they can only be used for part of the year, unlike a T-Shirt that can be worn year-round (at least under a big coat in the winter).

So, for Day 94 of our Green Year, Layla and I will be reusing our sweaters in new ways.

First, we will be giving old sweaters to thrift stores so someone else can get as much use out of these as we did. On the flip side, when we need a sweater, we will get ours from thrift stores as well. Why buy new when you can buy used?

Second, if you have a hand-knit sweater, and you know someone who can knit (Layla can), then have the sweater unraveled, cut out the thin spots and turn it into a toque!

Third, if it is wool or mostly wool, you can make a great heavy fabric that is great for craft projects. Just get a bunch of old wool sweaters, put them in a zippered pillow case and wash them by hand or by an energy-efficient washer. Only use a small bit of laundry soap (the green kind) and fabric softener (also green). After the load is done, check to see if the sweater has shrunk, if not, then do two loads by hand or in the washer. Now, just air dry and cut into pieces for a quilt, pet toys or anything else!

Lastly, use the old sweater as stuffing for a pillow. Why buy new pillow stuffing when you can give new life to pillows and cushions with an old sweater.

Got any ideas for what you can do with an old sweater? Let us know!

Day 92 of our Green Year: Collecting Shower Water

We had a great idea for a green tip from one of our readers, Eryn, yesterday, and it involves collecting shower water in a way neither Layla or I have thought of.
When we start up the shower, we usually let it run for about 30 seconds while we wait for it to get to the temperature that we want it. You don't want to step in a cold shower, but you don't want it too hot either.

There is nothing wrong with this, but it does waste water and that is a problem. As our loyal readers know, we have already limited our showers to only five minutes to save water, but we can go a step further to make that 30 second of water running does not waste anything.
Therefore, what we are going to be doing at our house, as part of Our Green Year, is putting a bucket in the shower when we start it up.

Sitting the bucket under the faucet, we will be able to collected that previously wasted wasted water in the bucket. Then, we can take that water out following the shower and put it in the garden to help the plants.
Naturally, you will want to take that bucket out when you shower or else you may get shampoo or soap in it, which could pollute the garden's soil.

Thanks Eryn for the great tip! If you have some tips for us, or pictures of you doing green things, send them to crwbaird@gmail.com

Day 91 of our Green Year: Clearing Up Some Light

Light pollution is a serious problem that most people do not take too seriously. Most people think of pollution only in terms of air, soil and water. However, light pollution is a serious problem and for our 91st day, Layla and I are turning out the lights.

As much as we can, we will be keeping the lights inside, and outside, off so that we are not wasting any power, or blurring up the sky with light. Look at any large city and you will see a lot of light pollution all over the place.
If everyone turned their lights off, like they did for Earth Hour, it would not only clear up the sky, but help our environment too.
So, we are turning off our lights whenever we can.

Here are just a few facts about light pollution:

• Powering street lights in the United States alone puts two billion pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere. This is equal to 500,000 car tailpipes.
• In the last seven years, average night time brightness in Northeast England has gone up by 4000 percent.
• It disrupts our sleep and leads to health problems. It can also cause problems with our vision, hypertension, headaches and more.
• Many animals are confused by the stray light in their habitat at night and it can affect their breeding and feeding.
• Most street lights and home outdoor lights are so poorly designed they waste large amounts of light into the air above them.

Can you turn your lights off? We will.

Day 90 of our Green Year: Collecting Dew

This post will be a short one as it has been a rather long day. For our 90th day, and our third month anniversary, we are going to be collecting the morning dew for use on plants. This is really easy to do. All you have to do, is take a bucket, put a piece of plastic over it (some of the packaging we have has plastic that we re-use, and make sure there is something in the middle to act as a weight.
This will allow the dew to collect in the middle during the morning. Then, all you have to do is take that dew and put it on some small plants. You will be helping to water your plants, without using your water system.

It is a win-win scenario for everyone.

It works best on cool mornings obviously, so try and do it then. Hot days may not work as well. You also have to make sure you collect it early in the morning, before it evaporates.

Day 89 of our Green Year: Walking Each Day

Everyone knows how walking is good for you, but when you live in a small town or close to all the things you need, walking can be good for you and the environment.
Every day, Layla and I walk to the store first thing in the morning. We do this for a variety of reasons, all of which have to do with our health and the environment.

First, walking to the store is great exercise and it helps us stay healthy, which is important now that we have started eating only organic foods and drinks.
Second, walking to the store, or anywhere for that matter, means you don't take the car. Since we are in our one tank a month challenge, we are keeping from using the car by walking to the places that we need to get things.
Third, Layla and I walk to the store everyday to pick up the things we need for that day. Unless it is something that can be stored for a long period of time, Layla and I buy everything fresh. We get fresh fruit, veggies, fish and more by walking to the store. We determine what we will have for supper that night, and we walk to the store to get it. This is a very important thing to do because it also keeps things from going to waste. When you pick up what you need that day for your lunch and dinner, then you use it that day. You don't buy $300 worth of groceries and have $50 of it go bad because you forgot about something in the back of the fridge.

Walking to the store every morning is something that I really enjoy, and it is nice to find that it not only helps my body, but our environment as well.
If you see us walking to the store in the morning, stop to say hi!

Day 88 of our Green Year: Giving Rights to Apes

In the coming weeks, Spain is going to be passing a bill that will be revolutionary in its concept. This bill will extend human rights to the apes, including chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans and gorillas. As a result, in the future, Spain will be the first country on Earth to protect apes as if they were humans.

Naturally, many disagree with this under the belief that humans are somehow separate from the animals species, and therefore allowed to have dominion over them. The truth is that we are merely a highly evolved mammal, and if it was not for evolving large brains for protection, our species would have been eaten by other animals long ago and disappeared forever.

Layla and I are big supporters of animal rights, so for the 88th day of Our Green Year, we have decided to donate money to, and join the Great Ape Project. This is the society that spearheaded the initiative to give apes rights in Spain, and everywhere else. They want apes to be treated as if they are humans, which we believe is the least that they deserve. After all, apes and humans share 98 percent of the same genetics, so we are very, very close.
Through the Great Ape Project, Spain will give the three essential human rights to apes, which are life, liberty and freedom from physical and psychological torture. This means it is a crime to kill them, use them on television and movies and use them in the circus or for medical experiments.

You may find it odd that we would give these things rights to apes, but the truth is that when you look at an ape, there is intelligence there. They are our cousins on this Earth and we need to start treating them like family. This is why Layla and I have extended our support to this project.

We do not have the right to dominate the animals of the Earth. We do not have a right to make them do our bidding and work for us. Some animals evolve highly complex strategies to survive in the wild, and that is what humans did, through our brains. However, our brains do not give us the right to kill whatever we see fit, and remove anything we find to be a nuisance. We can land on the moon, send probes outside or solar system, live in any environment on Earth and probe the secrets of the universe, but for whatever reason we can't figure out how to treat our fellow creatures properly.