A very green way to mow the lawn

Layla and I are lucky enough to have some horses at our ranch, and that makes keeping the lawn short much easier. Instead of bringing out a gas mower, or mowing the large amount of grass by hand, we can use the horses. That way we save on hay, and the horses get some nice green grass.

Cool News!

Today, we appeared in Alberta Venture magazine in their annual list of the 50 most influential people in Alberta. This is a really big honor for us to be considered one of the most influential people in Alberta and we thank Alberta Venture for considering us.

Here is what the magazine said:

Craig and Layla Baird
Eco Bloggers
Ecologically speaking, Craig and Layla Baird know little things make the difference – especially after spending a year performing one environmentally conscious deed a day. As part of the commitment, the Stony Plain-area writers told of coffee-ground body scrubs and clothes washed with shower water in their blog Our Green Year, garnering a global readership. The year may be over, but the project isn’t. On Day 365, the Bairds vowed to turn the experiment into a lifestyle.

Day 365 of our Green Year: Going Green....For Life

We have finally made it. Day 365 of going green. A long undertaking but well-worth it in more ways than we can count. Over the past year, we have met a lot of great people and changed our own lives by going green with 365 different green things. From the first day when we began to put out green tips to now, we have covered the gambit of different green tips that everyone can do. We have had difficulty at times, but it has been something we really enjoyed doing.

So, what do we do for Our Green Year's last day? Well, the best thing we can do and that is to continue going green for the rest of our lives. Stopping going green now? Why would we do that? We need to continue going green because that is the commitment we have made for ourselves with Our Green Year.

Our decision today to go green is to keep that message going.

This past year as been an amazing one for us. We have learned a great deal about the environment, both through research and through talking to people about it and hearing from people who come to the blog. We have received a lot of support from the people who come to our blog and while some have called us self-righteous, many many more have told us they support us in what we are doing.

When we started Our Green Year we did it with the only goal of educating ourselves and the environment. We didn't do it for money, for press or anything else. We started it knowing that not everyone could do everything we did, and not everyone would agree with all the posts that we put up. However, by doing 365 things, we knew that we would appeal to a broad spectrum of people and that two very different types of people could take at least 10 tips from our blog to use in their own lives.

Yes, some of our blogs were a bit out of the box for tips, but when you are doing 365 things that is just the way it goes. We supported environmental charities, donated to other causes, signed petitions and used click to donate buttons. These may not have been something everyone does or even thinks helps, but they all serve their purpose in helping the environment.

What comes next for Our Green Year? Do we stop now and go back to the way we were before? No, not at all. We started this blog so that we could change our lives and live green for the rest of our lives. The decisions we have made here will continue in our lives, and we will not fall back on anything.

Day 365 is not the end of Our Green Year, it is only the end of the first phase of something that is very important to Layla and myself and that is going green, educating ourselves, learning from others and helping to spread a green message to those who want to hear it.

Thank you to everyone who has come out to our blog this past year, and we hope you will keep coming after Day 365.

Day 364 of our Green Year: No More Toothpicks

One day left! Almost over for blogging each day, but not over by a long shot for going green and continuing with this lifestyle. Thank you to Jessica from AM 1150, who was nice enough to do an interview with us today.

Now, back to our second last blog for Our Green Year's first 365 days. Today, we are banning toothpicks. Toothpicks are nice when you have something stuck in your teeth, but it is a piece of wood that is used once and thrown away. Doing some research about toothpicks, we found out that toothpicks are actually older than our own species! Apparently Neanderthal skulls have shown evidence of toothpick use. It is our oldest dental instrument but now thanks to Eco-Dent and baking soda toothpaste, the time for the toothpick has passed.

Toothpicks are made from birch wood. Birch logs are spiral cut into spiral sheets, and then those are chopped, milled and cut into toothpicks. We use them once and throw them away, and our world has lost a tree that can take CO2 out of the atmosphere.

So, Layla and I are banning toothpicks and instead using toothbrushes and Eco-Dent to clear our teeth. It is better for the environment than cutting down a tree, and our teeth won't suffer from the loss of the toothbrush.

At the event we were attending yesterday to help raise money for the Youth Center, we were given two tree saplings and some bookmarks that have wildflower seeds inside so you can put them in the ground and grow wildflowers from. Below is a picture of one of the saplings that we planted.

Day 363 of our Green Year: Ensuring Clean Filters

Today was a great day for us! We attended the Youth Center Thrift Store Fashion Show where we had an Our Green Year exhibit set up and we met some great people. Thank you to everyone who came by the booth to talk to us, it was nice meeting all of you!

For today, which is our third last day, we are ensuring clean filters in our home and vehicle. As we have mentioned several times during Our Green Year, it is important to check your filters because if they are clogged, then more air needs to be pushed through and that puts more work on the furnace and on the car.

To improve fuel efficiency, you should keep your filters cleaned, as well as for the health of your car. The dirtier your filter is, the more gas you will use because the engine has to work that much harder.

For your home, cleaning the filter for your furnace is important for the environment and your health. Poor filters require more airflow and that takes up more energy, and not as many pollutants will be filtered out by the air filter.

Thanks again to everyone who visited our booth!

Day 361 of our Green Year: Celebrating Earth Day and Spreading The Green Message

The countdown continues to the end of the year! Four days to go! Today we went to the Farmer's Market and picked up some organic honey from a local supplier. It tastes great in the coffee. It was also refreshing to see so many local people selling food that is organic and preservatives free!

As for today, we are going green by celebrating Earth Day. In fact, we are celebrating Earth Day a few times this next week and a half!

On Monday, we are attending a Earth Day Thrift Fashion Show, where we will have a display of the things we have done this year. We are going to be talking with people who come by and spreading our own bit of environmental wisdom (as little as there may be) from the past year.

Then, that following Sunday we are going to the big Earth Day event in Edmonton. We are not speaking or have anything on display, but we are going to go and see others who are celebrating the Earth, learn more about what we can do to help and maybe make some new friends.

Then, on April 28, we are going to the Youth Center to talk to the kids about environmental issues, answer their questions and spread some more information about going green. We are really looking forward to this because our main goal with Our Green Year has been to help others learn about going green, and help them go green as well.

Only a few days till Earth Day everyone! What are you planning on doing?

Day 360 of our Green Year: Picking Wild Berries

Well, five days left! We are counting down and are amazed that the entire year is almost over.

Now, as for today's blog, it comes to us courtesy of Jenni who made a good suggestion about ways that we can have some great berries, but without the CO2 to get us the berries, or the plastic packaging that comes with those berries.

It involves picking berries, and before we go any further it is very important that you ONLY PICK BERRIES THAT YOU CAN IDENTIFY AS GOOD NOT POISONOUS. Don't be stupid and just grab a handful of berries that you find in the forest. If you don't know what the berry is, then don't eat it!


Now, in Rossland we had wild huckleberries growing all around us and when we would go on hikes we would pick them. They made great and healthy snacks for both us and the bears who frequented the area.

Now, where we are in Alberta, there are actually plenty of berries that we can eat, especially close to us along the banks of the North Saskatchewan (about two km away from us). As well, on our property there are even raspberry bushes growing! This is great because Layla and I are big fans of raspberries, and to find out we have some growing on this property was a great bit of good news.

So, instead of buying strawberries and other berries at the store and dealing with the travel CO2 and the packaging of those berries, we will instead pick them from the wild here to eat. We will only pick those we can identify as safe (as should everyone else) and we will only pick enough for a pie or a dish, never more than we should have lest we rob local wildlife of this wonderful delicacy.

A cool bit of news. Layla and I were getting a lunch at the organic cafe here and we saw a poster for the Earth Day event we are attending with an exhibit of Our Green Year. It was actually really cool because when we looked on the poster, we saw that we were labeled as special guests, which we thought was a really cool honor and something we were not expecting at all! Thanks Jennifer!

If you are in Stony Plain on April 20, come out and support this wonderful event at the Stony Plain Community Hall from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. It helps the local Youth Center and will have many great things to come out and check out! While you are there, drop by our table and say hi!

Day 357 of our Green Year: Blue Planet Products

A little while ago, I saw a commercial from Canadian Tire that advertised their Blue Planet products. I was intrigued because of their promise to plant a tree for every Blue Planet item bought, so I thought I would look into it.

From April 11 to May 8, 2009, anyone who buys a Blue Planet product will have a tree planted in their name. According to Canadian Tire, roughly 100,000 trees should be planted, and that means millions of tonnes of CO2 being taken out of the atmosphere as a result. Since these trees are only planted when you buy environmentally friendly Blue Planet products, you are creating a double whammy of help for the environment.

The products that come as part of the Blue Planet line include CFL bulbs, rechargeable batteries, energy meters and natural household cleaning products. Even reusable shopping bags, lawn products and solar panels are included in this.

So, not only are Layla and I spreading the word about this great initiative, we are also going to pick up a few products that we need, or will need in the future, to get a few trees planted to help out the environment.

Day 356 of our Green Year: Banning Leather

A long time ago, way back in the summer, Layla and I banned beef in our lives because the livestock industry is a major contributor to greenhouse gases. Well, today we are banning leather in our lives because of its effect on the environment.

First of all, the practice of getting leather is not at all green or nice for the animals whose skin makes up that leather. We have heard about a video that shows a cow being skinned alive for its hide. That alone is reason enough for us not to buy leather. It should be noted that those companies that use those types of practices are the minority rather than the majority.

Second, the tanning industry in large scale terms uses a lot of energy, and as we all know, energy means CO2 production usually, and that means greenhouse gases being put into the atmosphere.

To understand the effect of the tanning industry on the environment, here is the process.

1. The hides are prepared by using salt.
2. The hides are soaked with perfectly good water to remove all that salt.
3. The hides are then treated with one or more of the following chemicals to get rid of the hair: sodium sulfide, sodium hydroxide, sodium hydrosulfite, arsenic sulfide, calcium hydrosulfide, dimethyl amine, sodium suphydrate
4. Once the hair is gone, the hides are put through another salt and suphuric acid treatment.
5. The hides are soaked in water again
6. The actual tanning is performed with chromium sulfate.

Instead, Layla and I will stick with our commitment to buy green clothes only when we need them, and from now on leather is out of the question for us.

Day 355 of our Green Year: Bulk Spices

What a crazy day it has been for us. First we saw we made the Edmonton Journal, page 5!, and thank you to everyone who came by to drop us a line on our blog. We appreciate it! Then, we had another interview with Global who were great for coming out and doing the interview with us at our farm! Thanks so much :)

As for today, it is a short blog because it has been a long day and it is also Easter Sunday (Happy Easter everyone!).

As I have mentioned before, Layla really enjoys making organic dog treats, and with those dog treats it is important to have the right spices like Careb, which is the chocolate alternative for dogs because dogs cannot have chocolate (it can be dangerous in certain quantities).

We are going to be filling up bulk items with reusable containers or bags, but we have found that our local grocery store does not carry a lot of bulk spices. Usually you have to buy your spices in small containers or small plastic bags that are very hard to reuse. Not to mention that we keep all our spices in nice little containers in the cupboard, which makes these other containers kind of useless to us.

So, from now on we will be buying our spices in bulk, using our bulk containers. The organic store where we live carries some spices in this manner and we will be searching out other places that have spices in bulk. We don't need a lot of spices, but those we buy will be bought in a manner that eliminates packaging.

Day 354 of our Green Year: Gauze over Band Aids

Today was a pretty eventful day for us. Not only did we do a fair-trade and organic Easter egg hunt at the ranch (Happy Easter everyone!) but we also were interviewed by the Edmonton Journal! Thanks to Andrea and Chris for taking the time to come out and talk with us, we really appreciate it!

As for today, we are using a tip that we will need whenever we have a cut or scrape. Typically, we will reach for bandaids, which are great, but the problem that arises from them comes from their packaging. Bandaids are packaged in boxes, which sometimes have plastic wrapping inside, which then has bandaids that are individually wrapped, which then have two strips that you rip away so that you can stick the bandaid to your boo boo.

However, there is another way to treat wounds and it is gauze. Gauze is a mesh fabric that actually make up part of bandaids. Rather than buy all the other stuff that comes with the bandaid, we are just buying a roll of gauze instead. Packaged simply and there is plenty to use, gauze is a good environmental solution for minor cuts and scrapes.

Another great thing about gauze is that it has many uses beyond first aid as well. Some of these uses include:

1. First, you can cut the gauze into small two inch square pads and use that to remove makeup.
2. You can hold up plants that need to be tied to small supports (like new trees or tomatoes) by using rolled gauze. Gauze is soft so it can hold these plants without injuring the branches.
3. For the seeds you plant in your garden this year, you can put rolled gauze over the row of seeds to protect the seeds from birds and insects, while still allowing water and sun to get through.
4. You can brush your dog's teeth with gauze by just wrapping a bit around your finger and wetting it.

So, for us from now on it is gauze instead of bandaids.

Day 353 of our Green Year: Local Flowers

Layla and I have an upcoming anniversary and that means giving gifts for each other, although its not really required. Typically, I like to give Layla a bouquet of flowers on our anniversary (cliche I know) and I have thought about that and how to make sure it is green this year. Last year, Layla gave me a pot with a flower seed in it for my birthday, and I wanted to do something a bit different, so I am going to get her another bouquet of flowers, but will do it in a green way.

First, I am going to get flowers that are native to the area of Alberta, or at the very least Western Canada. Second, I am going to get them from a greenhouse that is here and which grows it here. This is because I want to lower the carbon footprint associated with those flowers. The less those flowers have to travel the better. Since I also want to get flowers native to Western Canada, even the seeds won't take long to travel here.

Lastly, this helps to support the local economy, which is very important in these trying economic times.

In addition to the flowers, we will also try and plant some trees, give money to an environmental cause and, as luck would have it, on our anniversary we are speaking to some kids about the environment at a youth club. That means for this anniversary, we are using sustainable flowers as gifts, planting trees and teaching kids about why they should care about the environment.

Sure we could not buy each other gifts, but our anniversary is about showing love and nothing is as lovely as flowers and the environment :)

Day 351 of our Green Year: No Highlighters

Well, only two weeks left to go! It is crazy to think we have done 351 blogs throughout this year, but now that we are close to finishing Our Green Year, we realize what a monumental effort this has been at times. Given all of that, we would do it all over again if we had to because it was simply great.

Now, getting to our post for today. In our work as professional writers, we have found that on occasion we need highlighters, especially when we are doing research for a book for a client. However, recently when I went to look at buying more highlighters I began to think about the effect these have on the environment. First of all, you have to look at their manufacturing where several chemicals are used to create the color that we see on the paper. While most highlighters these days are water-based and alcohol-based, they still contain some chemicals and those chemicals leach into the landfills when they are thrown away. Some contain xylene and volatile organic compounds that leach their way into our environment. As well, there is the plastic housing of the highlighters to consider.
Of course all this amounts to only a little bit in each highlighter, but multiply it by millions of highlighters each year and that is a big problem.

So, from now on Layla and I will be 'highlighting' by underlining things in the paper using our biodegradable pens.

Day 348 of our Green Year: Understanding Waste Decomposition

Many times throughout Our Green Year, we have used one of our blogs to help spread information that we can all use to make better green decisions. Recently on Green Living Tips we came across a list of waste decomposition rates, and we thought this was a great thing to center a blog around. The reason is that when people understand how long it truly takes things to break down in nature, they will make better green decisions. Too often people throw something away and assume that it will just eventually disappear.

Most people will be surprised by just how long things take to decompose. Both Layla and I were.

Here are decomposition rates of various items we all throw away, again courtesy of Green Living Tips, along with some of the events that occured that same number of years ago to put it in perspective.

• Glass Bottle: 1,000,000 years. Roughly one million years ago humans were just learning to walk upright.
• Mono-filament fishing line: 600 years. Six centuries ago it was 1409. That was over 80 years before Columbus landed in the New World.
• Plastic beverage bottles: 450 years. Four and a half centuries ago it was 1559. Back in that year, Queen Elizabeth I was crowned Queen of England.
• Disposable Diapers: 450 years. See above.
  
• Aluminum Can: 200 years. Back in 1809, Charles Darwin was born in England.
• Boot sole: 80 years: Back in 1929 the Stock Market crashed, paving the way for the Great Depression.
• Tin Can, Leather and a Styrofoam Cup: 50 years. Back in 1959, Fidel Castro took control of Cuba.
• Nylon Fabric: 40 years. In 1969, man landed on the moon for the first time.
• Plastic film canister: 30 years. In 1979, the Edmonton Oilers joined the NHL and Wayne Gretzky played his first NHL game.
• Wool sock and Cigarette filter: Five years. In 2004 I first met Layla and George W. Bush was re-elected as President of the United States.
• Plywood: Three years. In 2006, Layla and I were married and the Edmonton Oilers came within one game of the Stanley Cup (Yes, I am an Oilers fan :) )
• Wax milk carton: Three months. In January, Barack Obama was sworn in as President of the United States.
• Apple core: Two months. In February, a Russian and American pair of satellites collided over the Earth.
• Newspaper: Six Weeks. In March, NASA's Keplar mission is launched to search for extrasolar planets.
• Paper towel: Four weeks. In March, see above.

So, by looking at these decomposition rates we can learn to recycle and reuse so that these items don't end up in the landfills where they can sit for decades, centuries or even 1,000,000 years.

Day 347 of our Green Year: Shaving Green

As most of you will figure out from pictures of me on this blog, I have a beard. However, while I have a beard, there is the need to shave my neck and parts of the face to ensure the beard doesn't start to look too shaggy.

Disposable shavers are out of the question because Layla and I stopped buying disposables months ago. Each year in the United States, 2,000,000,000 disposable razors are purchased, and that means 2,000,000,000 razors end up in the landfills each year.

We figure that using an electrical razor is better than the alternatives because it lasts for years, you don't have to replace it and it only uses a small amount of electricity. However, what if you don't have an electrical razor? What can you do? Here are some quick tips to help you.

You can try and extend the life of your disposable razors, if that is what you buy, by limiting how much you rinse it. You can use the razor until its blunt or rusts. The rusting happens quickly and that makes it go dull. To slow down the rusting, only rinse your razor minimally and flick off excess water when you are done with it. Then, put it in a container of olive oil. You can greatly increase the life of the disposable razor by doing this.

As for shaving cream, well it contains many chemicals that you may not want touching your skin. Courtesy of Green Living Tips, here is some of the ingredients found in shaving cream:


Palmitic Acid
Stearic Acid
Triethanolamine,
Butane
Isobutane
Laureth-23
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
Propane
Parfum
Sodium benzoate
Hydroxythylcellulose
Lauryl alcohol
Stearyl alcohol
Irish moss
Dimethicone PEG/PPG-20/23 benzoate
DMDM Hydantoin
Coceth-7
PPG-1-PEG-9 Lauryl Glycol ether
PEG-40 Hydrogenated castor oil
BHT
Iodopropynyl butylcarbamate

Naturally, you may not want that on your skin. Not to mention that goes down the drain and then out into our natural environment. Not all gets removed in water purification processes.

Instead, look for some natural shaving creams, or even look at making your own natural soaps for shaving by doing a search on Google!

Day 346 of our Green Year: Greening Our Easter

Well next week is Easter and as Layla and I have done for Halloween, St. Patrick's Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day, we are going to green it up.

There are several great ways that you can green Easter, without sacrificing those precious memories of chocolate that we all have for the holiday.

First of all, you can look at the basket that you are using to collect eggs and choose one that you can reuse. You can reuse baskets for gathering flowers, vegetables, or to hold things in the living room like magazines. They can also make great holders of fruits in your kitchen.

Second, instead of buying the fake plastic type grass that comes in baskets that you find in stores, use real grass.

Next, you can choose not to use real eggs but papier-mache eggs that can be reused over and over again through the years. This makes a great option if you don't want to use eggs. If you decide to use eggs, use eggs that come from grain fed, free range chickens.

If you choose to use real eggs, then use natural dyes instead of dyes that come from chemicals. Your local organic store should have some natural dyes that you can use.

Fourth, don't buy any of those small chocolate eggs wrapped in foil. There are dozens of these eggs per plastic bag and that means a lot of foil wrapping. Instead of buying those eggs, give gifts to your children that they can reuse.

On that same point, remember it is the experience that makes Easter fun, not the toys or candy.

Speaking of candy, if you decide to give chocolate, please choose organic and fair trade chocolate. Fair trade chocolate is chocolate that comes from farmers who got the cocoa in conditions that are not borderline slavery, and all the farmers who sell fair trade cocoa are paid what they should be paid.

Enjoy your Easter everyone!

Day 344 of our Green Year: No Polyester

Layla and I have tried to green our wardrobe through a number of methods during Our Green Year. We have limited our clothing purchases to only when we need clothes. We try and only buy our items from thrift stores so we are not buying new clothes. If we do buy new, we look for clothes that are made from organic cotton and from hemp. Today, we go another step further and ban polyester clothes in our home.

Polyester is often thought of in terms of the polyester suits that existed in the 1970s. These clothes were not attractive yet they sold like hot cakes during that decade. These days, many clothes are made from polyester rather than cotton. However, polyester is made from a nonrenewable crude oil that is a heavy producer of pollution due to mining and manufacturing of it.

While it may seem pointless to ban polyester since we only buy second-hand and natural fiber items, there are several other items that are made from polyester. Polyester fabrics are used in bed sheets, curtains and draperies. In addition, it is used in rope, and serves as stuffing for comforters and cushions.

So for us, polyester is banned in our household in all its various forms.

Day 343 of our Green Year: Organic Lip Balm

One of the biggest changes we have found moving from the Kootenays in British Columbia, to the interior of Central Alberta, is that the air is much, much drier. Drier air means that there is a lot more cracking skin. In addition, it also means a lot more cracking lips.

Cracking lips, especially in summer, can be painful and highly unpleasant, but many lip balms carry a variety of chemicals that we put on our lips and then allow to get into our bodies through our mouths and saliva. There has to be a better way, and there is.

The better way is through organic lip balm like Burt's Bee's Wax. Thankfully, the organic store that we go to here has many different kinds of organic lip balm that is good for you and good for the environment.

So, from now on, it is organic lip balm when our lips need moisture (if a damp cloth isn't helping or we are away from the house)

Day 342 of our Green Year: No Q-Tips

When we buy clothes, we do our best to buy clothes that do not use cotton and if it does, it is cotton that is grown organically. We also try and limit plastics that are disposable and cannot be recycled. We thought we were doing really well with this until we realized that each week, we waste cotton and plastic in our ears without even thinking about it.

Q-Tips each carry a bit of cotton and a plastic sleeve around the middle. These items are only used once and then they are thrown away. These are the epitome of disposable and we had banned all disposable items.

So, today we go further and we ban Q-tips.

It is important to keep your ears clean of course, so the alternative we will use is a wash cloth in the shower. That way, while we are washing up, we can clean our ears with something that can be reused again.

Day 341 of our Green Year: Seed Starters and Planning The Garden

Well spring is coming and that means it is time to start planning out the garden. Throughout the year, we have had plants in our home, and some vegetables that we have grown. This is especially nice during the winter because you can have fresh vegetables, even when there is snow outside.

Now, with spring beginning and the snow melting, it is time to get the garden planned and that begins with seed starters.

Seed starters are where you start growing some of the vegetables, like tomatoes, except you do it indoors. This is done so that you can get a head start on the growing season and don't have to resort to using chemicals to get the plants growing faster. As well, you can plant earlier because the plants will be strong enough to survive through insects and more right away.

In addition, it gives you a use for a variety of items in your home including yogurt containers, egg cartons and more.

So, today we begin with our seed starters and we begin the process of planning out the garden for this coming summer. The more we plan the garden, the better it will be and the more we will get out of it.....we hope.