The Green Path Company

The CSA has risen!

admin — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:51:55 +0000

No, it’s not the Confederate States of America but Community Supported Agriculture. We here a lot of talk about supporting local businesses to help lower our carbon footprint and we just discovered a fresh way to do that. We joined a local CSA, Crooked Sky Farms, located in Glendale, AZ and meet them once a week to pick up our locally grown, organic produce. CSA’s are beginning to “crop” up all over the US and Canada and provide fresh fruits and vegetables to their members who join and are part of an emerging trend of consumers who want to eat healthier and infuse $$ back in to the local economy. It’s a simple process and one we are excited to be part of. We picked up our first load last week of Anahiem peppers, sweet potatoes, melons, spinach and basil. The produce you get will depend on the area in which you live, the time of year and the type of crops that are native to your area but what’s the same is they are fresh, locally grown and delicious!

In addition to the benefit of eating healthier fruits and vegetables, CSA’s also provide educational opportunities with apprenticeship programs, “pick your own” produce options and tours for schools to teach kids about farming, organic growing methods and ideas on how to start your own garden. Many also provide newsletters with recipes, crop reports and social events throughout the year.

To find one in your area, check our sources like Local Harvest, NewFarm Farm Locator or Local Food Directories and I’ll be there is one near you.

Green Kids

admin — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 23:09:15 +0000

I have been reading alot about how to raise “green” kids, “green” parenting and educating our children to grow up green. There are some very innovative ideas covering a wide variety of subjects from recycling, to composting, to reusing “trash” for art projects and many, many more. We know we need to educate them on the 3 R’s, CFL bulbs, water conservation and energy conservation but I don’t think we put enough emphasis on being outdoors, teaching respect for nature, animals and in the case of my granddaughter bugs! She is 2 1/2 years old and loves bugs and creepy crawly creatures like ants, beetles, lizards almost anything that plays or crawls outdoors. We have a cabin in the mountains in northern Arizona and when we take her up there she spends every waking hour outside. She wants to look for lizards, loves to watch ants crawl on the rocks and dirt and is enthralled by the numerous beetles that gather around our porch lights. The first thing she wants to do when she wakes up is go out “into the garden”, that’s what she calls the area in front of our cabin. She likes to fill the bird feeders and then sit on the porch and watch the woodpeckers, humming birds and blue jays that feed on the “breakfast” she provides. She likes pine cones, running in the woods and looking for squirrels and is so excited when one runs up a tree. Her parents take her hiking during the winter and spring and she loves looking at the cacti, birds and rocks along the trail, basically being outside. Well enough about her but my point is that children are never to young to learn and the best way to teach them respect and love for nature is to get them involved. Let them play outside, expose them nature and teach them not to be afraid of what nature has to offer. It has been a great learning experience for me as well. It is an amazing opportunity to see the world through the eyes of a child and nature is much more interesting when you experience it with them. So take the time to look at a bug, pick up a pine cone and sniff a flower with a child, you will rediscover what’s really important in life!

Replace the Plastic but “RTB!”

admin — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:16:53 +0000

It’s encouraging to see more and more people ditch the plastic shopping bags in favor of reusable bags. It’s also encouraging to see more and more retail outlets offering some type of bag for customers to purchase. Unfortunately there still remains a problem with this process. Well more than one problem but until big grocers and retailers stop offering plastic bags as a choice we will have to rely on ourselves to help solve the problem. The problem I am talking about is to remember the bags when we go shopping. Even with the best intentions we all seem to “forget” from time to time. We have our bags in the car all the time and we sometimes forget to take them into the store with us until it’s too late. Frustrating as that is we have come up with a solution that works for us. Remember the old song line “Tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree”, well we tie an organic cotton ribbon round our old steering wheel as our reminder to Remember the Bags (RTB). Kind of like tying a string around your finger to remind you to do something. It works for us, so far, and in additon to this solution I have a few others that may prove helpful to you.

Try these ideas out and let us know how they work for you and also let us know if you have tried and true methods you use that we can pass along.

1. Write on your shopping list “Remember the Bags” and highlight it so it stands out. This should remind you as you head out for a shopping trip to bring your bags.

2. Put a sign or note on your garage door or whichever door you go out to get into your car to RTB.

3. Put a sticker on your steering wheel as a reminder.

It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you remember, so continue to spread the word about replacing the plastic AND more importantly RTB.

Breath a little easier, naturally

admin — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 13:00:13 +0000

In our effort to make our homes more eco-friendly and energy efficient we have sealed up our homes to prevent cool air from escaping in the summer and warm air seeping out in the winter, and in doing so have trapped indoor pollutants in our living and breathing space.

I don’t mean to be an alarmist, but the materials used to construct our homes, furniture, carpeting, and many other common household products emit harmful vapors into the trapped air in our homes. The most common chemicals are formaldehyde from carpets, plywood, furniture, and insulation; benzene from particle board and paints; trichloroethylene from paints, lacquers, and varnishes; and carbon monoxide. An accumulation of these chemicals in our homes has the potential to cause a variety of health problems including respiratory issues and skin problems.

Before you rush to the mountains or move into a cave, you should know that there is a simple solution to this problem, common house plants. You could also open doors and windows to ventilate your home, but for summers in the Southwest and winters in the Northeast this is not a viable solution. Going green indoors is an effective and inexpensive way to combat this issue.

NASA conducted a study in the early 80s, in an effort to find a way to purify the air in their space stations and found that common houseplants can remove up to 85 percent of the airborne pollutants and help control humidity levels. Over the last 20 years subsequent studies have verified NASA’s results proving that houseplants can purify the air in our homes at a rate of one or two plants per 100-square-feet of home. These studies have also shown that in addition to removing pollutants, they can also remove up to 50 percent of airborne molds and reduce dust particles by as much as 20 percent.

There are many other benefits to bringing some living, breathing green into your life; plants can make rooms feel warm, friendly, and more inviting, they can lower blood pressure and stress levels, and can help improve concentration.

There are a wide variety of houseplants that are especially effective at removing the pollutants in our homes and most are low maintenance and even hard to kill for you non-green thumbs. These plants are effective air purifiers and only require minimal water and sunlight, and an occasional dusting:

Bamboo Palm: formaldehyde, CO2, benzene, trichloroethylene

English Ivy: formaldehyde, CO2, benzene, mold

Peace Lily: formaldehyde, CO2, benzene, trichloroethylene

Spider Plants: formaldehyde, benzene, trichloroethylene

Dracaena: formaldehyde, CO2, benzene

Several other common houseplants varieties are sturdy and work well as natural air filters, it all depends on your preference in plant style: Rubber trees, Golden Pathos, Ficus, Chinese Evergreens, and Snake Plants come in a variety of shapes, colors and sizes. Check your local nursery for the plant that best fit your needs and climate.

You can all breath a little easier now that you know about our little green helpers, the common houseplant. No need to get rid of all your furniture, carpeting, and interior walls of your home, just pick up a few house plants, give them a little TLC and take a deep breath.

Whistler, BC

admin — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:21:07 +0000

I just got back from a week long trip to Whistler, BC and it was an impactful reminder of why I love it there so much. It is nestled in the mountains about 70 miles or 140 km north of Vancouver and is a spectacular setting if you like mountains, waterfalls, lush green forests and a myriad of outdoor activities at your finger tips. You can walk or bike to almost anywhere in the town and most people do, even the tourists. They are very eco-friendly as well with trash bins everywhere seperated for paper, plastic, glass and of course just plain old trash. Their new buildings are green built including the roofs that support native grass and flowers, an interesting site. People love and live in co-existance with nature and make a concerted effort to protect the beauty that surrounds them.

There are hundreds of miles of bike and hiking trails, you can even take a trip up the mountain in a gondola to hike up to glaciers or just find a small mountain lake surrounded by wildflowers, waterfalls and streams. There are several companines that provide a variety of eco-tours that include kayaking, biking, zip lines… you name it, you can find it there! I rented a bike for about $20 Canadian and rode for 2 hours through maintained single track trails that are well marked and well traveled so you are never alone. The scenery is breathtaking and diverse with a variety of pine, aspen and maple trees, ferns, moss covered logs and wild mushrooms growing along the trail. I had to take several breaks along the trail just to make sure I took it all in and didn’t miss anything. There are several lakes in town that serve as swimming holes in the summer and the grassy areas around them are packed during a hot summer day with tourist and locals enjoying the water and scenery.

All in all Whistler is a great place to visit for the beauty and if you are interested in enjoying the outdoors through a variety of activities, it has it everything you could ask for!

It’s a gas!

admin — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:31:07 +0000

In our June newsletter we included some “green” tips on ways to improve your gas mileage and in this day and age with the price of gas rising daily, it seemed appropriate. Our tips are simple and cost next to nothing and if done on a regular basis can save us $.94 per gallon. Seems like we should all do our best to incorporate these into our “routines”, especially now, and IF the price of gas goes down to more reasonable levels, say below $3.00 (ha ha) we will be the big winners in this. If you are skeptical about the savings I read an article this week in the local paper from a Consumer Watch reporter who tested some similar tips over the course of 2 tanks of gas. He drove his “normal” way to work for one week and his normal way was 5 miles over the speed limit, accelerating quickly when lights changed and not paying attention to the lights as he approached them. Then he followed his own advice for one week and one tank of gas and tried the following:

1. He drove the speed limit 2. Accelerated slowing from a stopped position up to the speed limit. 3. Payed attention to the traffic lights and slowed down sooner when the light ahead changed to red and tried to time it so he did not have to stop as often.

The results were about a 10% increase in his gas mileage from 21.5 mpg to 24 mpg. He estimated that this would save him about $250 per year or about $10 per month. If you combine these savings with the ones outlined in our tips below it can add up in a hurry. Here are our tips:

1. Air it out - keep your air filter clean and improve gas mileage by up to 10%. You can do this by using an air hose to clean it out or replacing it when you can’t see through it. Estimated cost savings: $.28 per gallon

2. Straighten up - if your tires are out of alignment it forces your engine to work harder and will reduce fuel economy by up to 10%. Keep them aligned and save another $.28 per gallon

3. Stay in Tune - regular maintenence, including tune ups can improve gas mileage by up to 4% and save another $.11 per gallon.

4. Keep up the pressure - make sure the air pressure in your tires is up to manufacturer’s standards and improve gas mileage up to 3% and save about $.08 per gallon. I do this monthly and it takes about 10 minutes.

5. Take it easy - a 5 mile reduction in driving speed can improve fuel consumption by up to 7%, especially on the freeway. If you drive 65mph Vs 70mph you can save up to $.19 per gallon.

I know all of these take effort, but come on how hard is it really? Try these tips and the tips on city driving mentioned above and test them for your yourself. I am.