In our May Newsletter, we ran the following contest:
Win $100 off your next trip
I was thinking the other day about compiling a list of all the things a person could do that would meet 3 goals: 1) be good for the environment; 2) be good for your health; and 3) save money. I came up with some (a new push lawn mower is now on my porch, which I am fervently hoping wasn't one of those bad ideas you carry out in a burst of enthusiasm) and then it occurred to me that I didn't need to do the thinking all by myself. So here's the contest:
All suggestions received by May 25 will be reviewed by an independent expert panel (i.e. our guides) and the winner receives $100 off a future trip.
Below were the responses we received:
Honorable mention 1. We all know that it is a benefit to replace car trips with bike trips whenever possible, but distance can be an inhibiting factor.
I suggest that for longer trips, load the bike onto you rack, find a safe place to park, at a midway point (give or take depending on how long you want to ride), get on your bike, ride the remainder. Do the reverse on the way home. This can even work for some people for their ride to work. .
I have been trying to work out a safe route to do this for my job, but the last 3 miles would be on busy, small roads with no berm right at sunrise. So I keep it to other errands like going to the sporting goods store in the next town.
2. Riding a bicycle to/from school and to take care of local errands!
3. Grow an organic veggie and herb garden. Ride your bike to work. Look into alternative energy sources like solar power and wind energy. Maybe someday utilize bio-fuels other than ethanol. Ethanol use has too many negatives.
The Winner 4. My list would have to include the Spring cleaning task of washing windows!! To do this for fun, health, and going green for cheap I would put on my head phones with my exercise Ipod shuffle, grab my old newspapers out of the recycle bin, fill up a spray bottle with diluted white vinegar and get washing to the beat!!! I especially like the great stretching workout I get on my 8 ft. sliding glass doors that will sparkle in the sun from the combination of newspaper and vinegar cleaning. It sure fits the $ saving category too. I learned this great tip from my 100yo mother-in-law when we lived in Florida and had to clean those old fashioned jealousy[sp] windowswith all the slats!!!
5. Get rid of the gas powered mower and return to the quiet of a rotary push mower. You get a workout while pushing, save money by not needing gas, and are not polluting the atmosphere with the fumes. I did this last year and love my new mower!
6. I like to walk on a path around a lake close by. I always drive there eventhought it is less than a mile away. My excuse was part of the sidewalk parallels a busy, noisy street. However, now with gas prices so high and the weather being nice, yesterday I set out with my walkman turned up high and walked to the path. This also added extra mileage to my walk.. When I think about it, why was I driving to a place so close to a place I could walk to for the purpose to exercise?
7.The most obvious suggestion is to ride a bike to work.
8. Start using a bus - the exercise is walking to and from the bus stops.
9. Also go grocery shopping with a bike and backpack.
10. I have several canvas bags I leave in the car all the time. On my way home from work, I drop in the store for what I need and stuff everything in a canvas bag or two.
11. Bike instead of driving whenever possible... to work, to visitfriends, to the grocery store, etc. It's good for the environmentbecause you are after all the ultimate biofuel and have no carbon emissions. As an aerobic activity it’s way good for your health and depending on the traffic, can be a great stress reducer. (When riding in heavy and sometimes unruly traffic, I personally like to carry a lucky egg and lob it on the back windshield of anyone who doesn't leave at least a foot between their vehicle and my bike - luckily I’ve only had to lob a few of those, but it was great for quickly reducing that sudden adrenaline rush caused by rude drivers. Hint, should an unrulydriver challenge the egg on his back windshield, it is quite effective to remind him that your head on his back windshield would have made a much bigger mess.) Biking saves money 'cause you after all are way cheaper to run than a gas-gulping auto. And with all that mula you save, you can invest in a rack for the back and a nifty “trunk” to hold your just-in-case rainsuit, spare innertubes, lunch, etc., or maybe get some panniers to hold groceries and whatnot, or a handlebar-pocket foryour lucky egg.
Honorable mention 12. Get some pet goats... to munch your lawn instead of mowing. They are good for the environment because they have no carbon emissions (perhaps some methane emissions though), and they reduce noise pollution; the bleating of goats is at a significantly lower decibel than ear rattling lawn mower growls. It's good for your health in that spending quality time with your pet goats, just like research has shown is true for dog owners, may lower your blood pressure, reduce your stress level and increase your activity level; running with goats is great exercise! It saves $ ‘cause biofuel for goats is way cheaper than gas. In fact, in addition to your yard herbage, goats can also recycle much of your kitchen waste such as that tough part of broccoli, the past-its- prime-salad sitting in your ‘fridge, and old tea towels. No need for expensive lawn fertilizers with goats around, they provide plenty of nitrogen & you can fertilize your garden with goat poop. Ifyou’re really clever you can also save money by using goat milk and maybe even make money by spinning the fiber.
13. Don’t just throw it all away… After you’ve recycled your #2 and#1 plastics, cardboard, steel cans, aluminum cans, glass & newspapers, magazines, etc., what’s left for your local trash collector? Coffee grounds and egg shells and things that have sprouted blue-green wings in your refrigerator? Start a garden and mulch your garden with 6 to 8inches of straw, then tuck those vegetable waste items & coffee grounds under the straw to break down and naturally fertilize the fruits of your labor. (Hint: do not tuck meat waste under there, bad things may happen…. scavenger dogs & racoons, rats, etc.) It’s good for the environment, saves landfill space, and eliminates the need for chemical fertilizers and weed killers. The layer of straw keeps most weeds from growing and should a few souls manage to make it through to sunlight, the straw keeps the soil so moist that they’re easily pulled out. This type of mulched garden is a great water conservation tool, in fact even in droughtish years I seldom have had to water. After the first year, you probably won’t have to till again; the straw keeps the soil loose, this has been true even for my Northeast Indiana clay soil. Each spring just sweep the straw aside, hand spade a hole, re-plant, then tuck the mulch back up close to the new little plant or seeded area. Another environmental consideration; no fuel is used to transport this food to market. With the cost of fruits and vegetables dramatically increasing due to rising farm and transport costs, growing your own will certainly save you money. This type of gardening is good for your health because you’ll be eating non-irradiated,non-poisoned/pesticided fruit & veggies. And it’s good for self-esteem, kind of like the scene in Cast Away, instead of Tom Hanks beating hischest while doing a happy dance and proclaiming “I have made fire”, you’ll be fired up exclaiming “I have made a tomato!”
