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In many areas of the country, farmer’s market season is shifting into gear. Here are some tips to optimize your farmer’s market shopping experience.

Bring a Big Bag

Farmer’s markets have a lot of produce inexpensively. Every year, I look forward to the 10-pound box of blueberries for $25, and the $5 half-bushels of tomato “seconds” that make great salsa, even if they don’t look so great. Even if you’re not buying a year’s worth of jalapenos, you’ll need something to carry around that bunch of leeks and an eggplant. While most vendors have bags, you can keep their overhead down by bringing your own.

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Most people like to keep dried herbs on hand for ease of use in cooking or for making their own tea. But buying dried herbs can be expensive, especially if you have to pay shipping, and during the summer it’s so easy to grow your own. Drying your herbs will allow you to use them whenever you need them, and it’s easy to do with a few strategies and tips.

There are four basic ways to dry your herbs once you’ve washed and patted them dry: air drying, microwave drying, oven drying, and food dehydrator drying. (continue reading…)

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You might have heard people saying that lawns are bad for the environment. The lush expanse of golf-course greenery comes at a staggering environmental cost. It is not the grass which is bad, but it is the resources used to maintain the bigger lawn makes them harmful for the environment.If you decide to turn too much area of your backyard into lawn, you are reducing the space for wildlife habitat as well as polluting the environment.

A bigger lawn needs a more powerful mower which can create pollution equivalent to 10 to 12 times what the family car produces in an hour. In addition,  an estimated 8 million gallons of fuel spills each year. Seventy millions tons of artificial fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides and pesticides are applied in the lawns per year that effects the environment in one or the other way. These chemicals keep the lawn green but create underground water pollution and surface water pollution when run off with water and find their way to streams and rivers. Thus, we really have to rethink the way we care for our lawn that works with nature instead of against it and also saves the money, time and resources. (continue reading…)

Photo Credit: US Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of Public Affairs

This Mother’s Day, treat yourself and the planet at the same time with a Mother’s Day celebration that’s good for you and the Earth.

Pedicure

Walking more and driving less is good exercise and cuts down on tailpipe emissions, but you need healthy feet for all that walking around. Pedicured feet aren’t just for looks. Professional pedicures can reduce ingrown toenails that can make walking painful, and keep your foot circulation and muscle tone up. Just make sure the salon or spa uses proper sanitation, or give yourself a home pedi. Skip the paraffin dip, though. Paraffin is a petroleum product. (continue reading…)

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Buying a home is probably one of the biggest decisions and purchases you’ll ever make. A lot of work is involved, from picking your target location to figuring out what size and style home you want – and of course, determining what you can afford! But, buying a home also has an impact on the planet. Wonder how to “green up” the home buying process and make it better for the environment? The following tips can help in your search for the perfect home. (continue reading…)

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Psychologists have shown time and again that people are easily swayed by all manner of pressures to conform. Famous experiments like the Stanford prison experiment and the Milgram experiment graphically demonstrated that, when confronted with an authority figure or put in a position of authority themselves, people will do things that they otherwise would consider unthinkable.

In the 1950s, social psychologist Solomon Asch devised and published the results of a series of studies on social conformity. His studies found that people tended to go along with the crowd, even when the crowd was obviously wrong. About 1/3 of the participants in his experiment frequently gave the wrong response when others in the group had given the same wrong response, and 75% of participants gave at least one wrong answer under the same circumstances.

So, what does this have to do with health? (continue reading…)

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In Part 1: Why Are Green Jobs Growing?, we discovered that many “green jobs” are built on traditional blue-collar jobs, but are designed to improve the environment. Other types of green jobs involve different technical expertise or management skills. Green jobs are projected to grow, thanks to new environmental mandates and regulations as well as government funding and stimulus packages.

Now, take a closer look at some specific green jobs, job descriptions, required education or training, plus average salaries or pay. In addition, learn some helpful hints if you’re searching for a green job. (continue reading…)