Green Police - The Future? and Charles Barkley leading the Idiotcracy

Green Police are coming

Who knew this commercial would have so many angles.

I thought it was ironic that the stumbling and overweight Charles Barkley followed this commercial with his garbage food pimpin for Taco Bell and 2 lbs of wasteful packaging!

Eco Living Store

http://www.ecochoices.com/

Fallen Fruit - Urban Food Sources

Fallen Fruit Project in Los Angeles.

http://www.fallenfruit.org/whatisfallenfruit.html

"Public Fruit" is the concept behind the Fallen Fruit, an activist art project which started as a mapping of all the public fruit in our neighborhood. We ask all of you to contribute your maps so they expand to cover the United States and then the world. We encourage everyone to harvest, plant and sample public fruit, which is what we call all fruit on or overhanging public spaces such as sidewalks, streets or parking lots.

We believe fruit is a resource that should be commonly shared, like shells from the beach or mushrooms from the forest. Fallen Fruit has moved from mapping to planning fruit parks in under-utilized areas. Our goal is to get people thinking about the life and vitality of our neighborhoods and to consider how we can change the dynamic of our cities and common values.

-Fallen Fruit is David Burns, Matias Viegener, and Austin Young

How to Go Green from Treehugger

http://www.treehugger.com/gogreen.php

Hundreds of tips in about 40 categories

here is one
10. Buy Green when Renting

When the average renter moves into a new apartment, they spend as much as $4,000 on new furniture and other items to make it feel like home. If you’re needing to fill up your new abode, scour antique shops, flea markets, Craigslist or classified ads for pre-loved furniture; if buying new, look for heirloom quality furniture made from FSC-certified or reclaimed wood, and take the time to seek out energy efficient appliances. Choosing to furnish your home with lasting products is key to maintaining your sustainable abode. While it may be tempting to run to IKEA for all your furniture needs, ask yourself is that new coffee table will realistically last you ‘til your next move (or even until the next year). If your space is limited, you should also consider multi-functional transformer furniture – as we’re fond of saying, less is more when it comes to living green.

Old School "green" Lawnmowers and Electric. Solar Charged?

Below are some quiet, lightweight, energy efficient alternatives to help mow your lawn. Your big box retailers want you to abuse your oil gas mower and toss it in the landfill like these to the right. The promote "Why not just buy a cheap one every few years", "they arent supposed to last"... $$$ for them.

It does seems like an American Right to have a loud, gas smelling lawn mower but really who needs that... These lawn mowers require no oil changes, no gas to buy, no sparkplugs, throttles and will have no broken starters, no oil clogged filters, limited pr no rust and they just start right up with very few moving parts.

You can use the rechargeable cordless versions say by black and decker or similiar or purchase a long extension cord and use the "corded" versions. Once you figure out to just work away from the extension cord you are set. Yes your neighbors on their fancy expensive John Deeres may scoff at your 100 foot orange power cord but guess what as they are traveling to the gas station to fill up a 5 gallon container for $20.00 you are plugged in and done for pennies. If you choose the old school push mower you will use no electricity and just use your body power! Another alternate is to let some of your yard go natural... planting wildflowers or setting up areas to attract birds.



I was looking for a photo of a pile of broken lawnmowers like at your local dump. Like here http://www.flickr.com/photos/73448981@N00/2348359080/

and found this... Wow - check this project out... $699 could make it prohibitive but maybe in the future. Probably a recycled electric motor would work or some kind of charging station that could charge several units? Solar powered lawnmower

http://www.appropedia.org/Solar_Charged_Lawnmower

Urban Gardening - Victory Garden - 7 Reasons to Grow One

A "Victory" or "War" Garden is a concept from World War II. With overseas troops needing supplies ,rationing and high food prices, the government mandated "patriotic" efforts and spawned recycling and garden projects.

The ultimate "buy" local effort that is still valid today.

Check out this family in California. According to Natural Home Magazine, in an article " Pasadena Paradise: The perfect garden with creative urban results" written 2 years ago, The Dervaes produce 3 tons of food and are about 60 to 150 times as efficient as their industrial competitors, without relying on chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

Original Victory Garden Materials - brought to you by PARAGON OIL (Bought by Texaco in the 60's) Photos of Book

Oldest Victory Garden

According to the website the Fenway Victory Gardens is the last of the World War II victory established in 1942.

Reasons to Start a Victory Garden
1. Rising Food Prices
2. Cost of travel to grocery store
3. Cost of shipment of vegetables to your local grocery store
4. Personal responsibility and self sufficiency
5. Teaches your children and yourself where you food comes from
6. Cuts down on spoilage and letting items go unused in your refrigerator
7. Although we have been told the American Way is to buy and waste this is only a recent "American Way" fostered by only the last half of the 20th Century

Thanks I am no expert but I am going to go work on my garden.

GTech in Pittsburgh Turning Empty lots into biofuel

Here is an incredible program from Pittsburgh.

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http://www.gtechstrategies.com/context.php

There are 14,102 vacant lots in Pittsburgh (4 thousand acres of blighted land in the city limits).

Approximately 200 new vacant lots are created each year due to an equally high percentage of vacant, dilapidated buildings.

The Brookings Institute found Pittsburgh has a much higher rate of vacancy than other cities at 10.2%.

The impact of this problem can be measured in a number ways. Crime rate, drug use, and gang activity increase, while property value and tax revenue decrease. Public resources dwindle in futile efforts to stop the bleeding, and community vitality and fortitude erode from the inside out. These effects are magnified exponentially as suburban sprawl draws people out of urban cores stretching resources thinner, impacting the very psyche of a place creating a void and making it close to impossible to live, work, or play.

The impacts of environmental degradation and social disconnect are real. Vacant land is prone to unregulated garbage dumping, soil erosion and increased storm water run off (contributing to a $3 billion sewer crisis in SW Pennsylvania.)

Additionally vacant land serves as the buffer between affluent and impoverished neighborhoods enunciating environmental injustice.

Coupled with the imminent economic return, our programming extends opportunities in the emerging Green sector to marginalized communities.

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They need to look out for http://www.gtech.com/ who I am sure has more resources to fight over the name.