Veggie Wednesday: Earth Day, 2009

Today is our 39th Earth Day! This is one of my favorite days of the year. I love this earth we live on and I think it's every single earthling's duty to protect our resources and treat this world kindly.

One of my favorite ways to 'go green'.

My personal favorite ways to do that are growing my own garden, walking or using public transportation as much as possible, using cloth bags or re-using other bags when shopping, eating organic and local as much as possible, recycling and Freecycling and teaching my kids about how to do these things for themselves.

The biggest tip I have for everyone when it comes to the Three R's is this: The first R is REDUCE. Recycling is awesome and re-using is great, but reducing what we use is the first and most important R to be vigilant about.

I think sometimes people assume that we are super-poor because the kids use their coats for more than one year (mine has gone on 5 years) and they don't have a different pair of shoes for each day. Guess what? They don't NEED them! We use what we have for as long as we can and then we take it to the awesome recycling center we have here in Bethlehem, Pa to get rid of it wisely.

Here are some green things to check out today:

The Illick's Mill Project: My daughter, Megan, is part of this wonderful endeavor to reclaim and refurbish the old Illick's Mill and turn it into a beacon of environmental learning. These high-school kids are doing everything from building and painting to grant writing and publishing - all in an effort to create an environment where people can come to learn more about - well, the environment! Every function they hold is graced by earth-friendly products like compostable cups and utensils and the kids work so hard to see this dream come to fruition. Check it out and read all about it!

The Bethlehem, Pa Recycling Center: We have one of the best recycling centers around. We are able to take a plethora of items to the recycling center here and are also blessed to have an awesome curbside pickup. This year, in addition to plastic, glass and aluminum, we have been able to leave paper and cardboard at the curbside for pickup. In the first two months of operation, we recycled 490 tons of paper! That's a huge amount and something every recycling Bethlehemite should be proud of. The newest program is a twice a year yard waste curbside pickup - now we can put our Christmas tree at the curb - can't beat that!

The Hydrogen buses run by our very own Air Products. One of the buses was out and about today at Moravian College and we caught a photo or two. The website has lots of info on this truly cool mode of transportation and how the community is getting a look at the buses.

The boy and the bus - note the bare feet.

The Lehigh Valley Food Co-Op is fully operational! Check out the website to order or just to browse the products offered. Local and organic is the way to go and our co-op is ready to help you choose wisely!

Gardenfork.tv - A must-read post and a must-see site! I love Eric and all he's doing to teach others about how to care for the environment at the same time they are caring for themselves.

Aluminum foil is not recyclable - right? Well, check out Reynolds' new RECYCLED aluminum foil. This stuff is super-heavy and takes all you can dish out - no pun intended. If you head over to the website, you can get a free roll for yourself and even enter to win
Eco-Friendly Appliances!

A favorite 'green' recipe.

Stonyfield Farm's new Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt is some seriously good stuff. I used it for one of my very favorite 'green' recipes, falafel pita - organic from the pita to the raita sauce - and it was absolutely delicious. Check out the website to get a coupon and try it out for yourself. Thick, rich, creamy and delicious in 4 flavors.

One of my new favorite magazines is Mary Jane's Farm. The best there is for all-things-organic and feminine. Not that guys can't read it, but it is geared toward the organic woman. I don't miss reading a single page in this publication - I love it cover to cover.

Whatever you do today - remember that no action is too small and each one counts toward keeping our earth green and happy.

Earth-Friendly Choices

Today marks the 38th anniversary of Earth Day. Bet you didn't know it was going on that long, did you? I know I wasn't fully aware of Earth Day until my 20's. I'm hoping that nobody else is that far behind, though, because this World could surely use a little attention, and not just on Earth Day.

Here are a few things I've come across this year that I think are right on when it comes to being Earth-Friendly.

360 Vodka - Alcohol!? Well, yeah. I don't usually drink, I mean I think I could count on two hands the drinks I've had since I got married, and I'm hypoglycemic so it's not exactly a smart choice for me, but I really enjoy cooking with wine and spirits. I like the flavor that alcohol imparts to certain foods and I'm not above a very weak mixed drink if the atmosphere is right.

360 Eco Luxury Vodka is totally earth-friendly. I was sent a bottle to check out and so I made a single cocktail to share with my mother-in-law when she came for lunch on Sunday and later, a recipe of penne with vodka sauce. The first thing I noticed was the envelope attached to the bottle with twine. When I opened it up it reminded me of the envelopes that come with printer ink cartridges; you know, the ones you recycle your old cartridge in. It's for the bottle top! It's called the "Close the Loop" program. You release it from the bottle when it's empty and pop it into the envelope and send it back. It's then reused to lid other bottles of 360.


All the labeling is recycled material, the bottle itself is 70% post-consumer glass and the distilling process they use saves tons of resources. Check it all out, including great recipes, HERE and I'll wait 'til you get back... Now, that's responsible drinking - in more ways than one.

Once that bottle was open, I made a pitcher of 360 Breezes - grapefruit juice, cranberry juice and 360 vodka. They were really good and light. I was surprised at how smooth it was, honestly. Vodka can be very strong to me, so this drink was perfect. After that I made a recipe of Lidia Bastianich's Penne Alla Vodka from Epicurious. Delicious!



Next up is Working Mother Magazine's 2008 Best Green Companies for Children. I am proud to say that The Walt Disney Company is on this year's list! They share billing with such companies as Hanna Andersson, Nike, Kohl's, Stonyfield Farm, UPS and Hewlett Packard to name a few.

Don't forget about Earthbound Farm. They were true pioneers in organic farming and shaped so much of what we now purchase as organic produce today. Myra Goodman's cookbook, Food to Live By, is a must-read, as well.

One last little thing (I could go on and on about what we all can do for our environment!) check out reusable grocery bags at GreenSak. One small step for man and all that.


Whatever you do today, make sure to do at least ONE THING to help our earth to help sustain us!