Why Not Lime?

City Transitioning into Green Mecca?

It’s hard enough transitioning into living a greener lifestyle when I’m just thinking about myself and how I live my life. Can you imagine trying to inspire an entire city?

This blog post on National Geographic’s Green Guide website talks about some of the biggest concerns of cities that are trying to “go green.” There are some interesting ideas presented here, except that I’m not sure how they will all be implemented. For example, one idea is that cities will begin charging drivers to use the streets, so that there will be less congestion, except that I thought we already charge people to use the streets, with registration fees? Wheel tax? Tolls? Meters for parking?

One idea that I think Omaha needs to implement is a light rail system and street cars. Do I have any idea of how much something like that costs? Not really. Do I know that it has been seriously talked about? Kind of. Do I still think it’s a super sweet idea? Absolutely.

Buffet would be shaking his head at my logic here, but would it or would it NOT be really cool to be able to live in Lincoln and work in downtown Omaha, and just read the newspaper on your way to work? Leave your car at the train station and hop on, using your Nebraska Rocks Rail Pass everyday? Wouldn’t it be a relief to rely on a train to take you back home to Omaha after a crazy Huskers game?

And how about Greensburg, Kansas? Have you heard this story? Last May, Greensburg was almost completely destroyed by a 2-mile wide tornado - an extremely sad story - can you imagine having your entire town erased within one storm? Apparently, after the entire city was leveled, the city council got together and collectively decided, “We should go green. It is IN our name, right?” (Quote manufactured by yours truly.) USA Today picked up a real quote from a city administrator six days after the tornado, and then the Discovery Home Channel picked it up, too.

Apparently in the rebuilding of Greensburg, there is heavy talk of a reality show that will document the revitalization of this devasted town into a fully functioning city of fantastic green-ness.

It’s almost too much of a coincidence for me, the fact that a town called Greensburg is going to rebuild their town into an eco-friendly city. This is exactly what makes me shake my head and go, “Yeah, I’d definitely watch that.”

Read this recent report from the Kansas City Star about updates and a comprehensive overview of the situation.

Would you ride the rails from Omaha to Lincoln? How about a streetcar from Dundee to downtown? If you could make any traditionally green item the symbol for Omaha’s green aspirations, what would you choose?

Would you travel to Greensburg, Kansas with me, on foot, for a future Greensburg pilgrimage? Footing it could only be replaced by a fleet of lime Prius-es. Hey - it would be something to write home about, on recycled paper with soy ink, of course.

admin Green Politics, Travel Green 2 Comments »

Some of My Favorite Ways to Recycle

Creative ways to recycle - ready, set, go!

1. Give stuff away for free through an online network like The Freecycle Network or Craigslist.

2. Start giving away your books - the ones you’ll never read again - to your friends and encourage them to continue the trend. Or, take your old books to a coffee shop. Those places always seem to be in need of something funky laying on a coffee table or bookshelf.

3. Save water from half-empty water bottles and water your plants.

4. Not sure what to do with your old cell phone? Find a recycling center. Those old phones often go to charity.

5. Feeling creative? Want to try something new? Are you a paper freak? Try making your own paper.

6. Old sneakers weighing you down? Have some time on your hands? Tie the laces together and throw them over a power line. (A joke, by the way, but why do people do this??? I’d like to hear from someone who has an answer!)

7. Have a favorite useless collection? For example, championship t-shirts, old CDs (or cassettes, sorry!), or coins from Africa from your trip in 1972? Turn them into art. O’Leavers’ walls are completely covered in classic record sleeves. Very cool.

8. Take old magazines and shoeboxes to elementary schools. The art teachers might put you in their will. (If the mags are a little… off color… take them to a college! Those college art profs are crazy!)

9. Recycle stuffed animals! Apparently drummers could use them to dampen the sound inside their drum? Or give them to your pets or an animal shelter if they’re a little too worn, minus hard plastic pieces.

10. Handy with the sewing machine? Recycle cool clothing materials and make a quilt! YES sewing is cool again. Pfff.

 Alright! You got 10. I’ll probably have more later. What kind of recycling tips are up YOUR sleeves?

admin Recycling 11 Comments »

What is the Deal with Essential Oils?

Right? I mean, what are they? And are they really essential?

I decided that the best way to figure that out was to go out and buy some for myself.

Of course, like almost everything I do, I was in a hurry. I was supposed to be meeting with a friend who was in town for only a day, but thought I could squeeze in a quick trip to Jane’s Health Market first. (What is this simple life they speak of?)

My scent ideas came from this “green cleaning” seminar I went to - the one I mentioned in my last post. Apparently you can use them to make a vinegar cleaning solution smell better than it otherwise would. (I can imagine that would require some help.)

So, I picked up Tea Tree Oil and Rosemary. Of course I tried smelling nearly half of the 70 scents they had there, effectively making my “quick trip” take about 4 times longer, but I couldn’t help it. On the sides of the bottle, it lists what kind of effect each essential oil is supposed to have, and I kind of wanted to know if the lavendar would really make me feel relaxed, or if the orange blossom would make me feel awake, or if the lemongrass would make me feel energized.

After I started to feel pretty much confused about my own state of being, I finally just selected my original two scents. The woman at the register (Jane?) directed me to some recipe cards in the back of the store, and I gladly took at least 20. Nevermind that I hadn’t bought Ylang Ylang, Bergamot, or Wild Chamomile. I wanted to know what I could do with them.

I found a card on Rosemary, too. Apparently, its “fresh, bracing aroma seems to have an invigorating effect on the senses and on memory.”

So… if we can convince students to sniff Rosemary instead of glue, we might be onto something here.

Wild Chamomile is balancing and calming, and they encourage you to use it in your home or office. Hmm… I have a hard enough time being alert in the morning.

Me to boss, while standing at coffee maker: “Yup, yup, on my seventh cup today. That Wild Chamomile really works.”

OH, nice… Bergamot. “Especially helpful to creative work, the fragrance can inspire fresh perspectives and renewed energy.” It also “promotes feelings of cheerfulness and self-confidence.” Wait… what about the suffering artists? What happens to their work when bergamot is introduced into the environment?

This recipe made me giggle, but I think I want to try it anyway:

“Inspiring Temple Massage

3 drops bergamot (bergaptene-free) oil
3 drops clary sage oil
1 tablespoon sweet almond or grapeseed oil

Place one or two drops of the mixture on your finger tips and gently massage your temples. Close your eyes and enjoy the warm, sweet aroma while your powers of creativity and concentration return to full strength.”

Okay, so essential oils are supposedly completely natural, purely derived from plants. If you see “essential oils” listed on a product, you can know that they’re a good thing. And I defer to Wikipedia for a real explanation (I hope).

I haven’t much used my two oils yet, but I have them, and I will let you know how it goes down.

So do any of you have any experiences with essential oils? What have you used them for? What are your favorites? Do they work?

Okay I’m done asking questions. Let me know your thoughts!

admin Clean Green, Organic Health, Essential Oils 2 Comments »

Clean Green!

When I open up my cleaning cupboard, I witness a gathering of evil cleaning products that would give Al Gore a heart attack.

The furniture polish, the window cleaner, the bleach, the anti-bacterial kitchen spray, the bathtub foam, the toilet gel, the dishwasher capsules, the liquid dish soap, pet odor remover…. whoa. Is this stuff safe?

Crap. So what do I do? Get rid of it all? Start again? And if I get rid of it all, is there a safe way to dispose of it? If not, then heck. I’ll just keep using it and start fresh later.

The advice on this site, Cleaning 101, is just to use your cleaning product, since most of them are designed to be water soluable anyway. I like how that sounds.

You know what else I thought sounded cool? My friend Mimi told me that you can take your empty spray bottles and detergent bottles to Whole Foods to refill them with safer cleaning product. Brilliant!

Hmm how nerdy am I that I get excited about that???

Which brings me to my point.

I recently discovered this, the Green Omaha Coalition, (the existence of which indicates that there’s hope that Omaha can be on the top 50 list eventually!). One of the subcommittees, Green Neighborhood, is hosting an event on this Saturday, February 23, from 10 AM to 12 PM (noon! 2 hours! not 14).

The FREE event is called “February’s Green Living Workshop” and will be held at Word Made Flesh on 1013 Leavenworth St. This month’s topic: How to Detox and Green Your Cleaning. When in attendance, you can win green cleaning products and learn how to make your own.

Hey - even my frugal friends would be interested to know how to make their own cleaning products! Come on down! If you want to attend, RSVP to Daniel Lawse at livesimply93@gmail.com. Or let me know you wanna go so we can carpool.

admin Clean Green 2 Comments »

America’s 50 Greenest Cities

… and Omaha’s not one of them.

This is interesting information from Popular Science, regardless. Look at how many of these cities are in California!

When I look at the ratings for the cities, I notice that there are four factors that determine whether or not your city is green enough to make the cut.

1) Electricity, 2) Transportation, 3) Green Living, and 4) Recycling/Perspective.

Pretty vague, right? But I can definitely see why Omaha wouldn’t be on this list, particularly in the second category - transportation.

Omaha is a driving town. The vast majority of Omahans know jack about hailing a cab, taking a train, which side to load onto a subway, or catching the bus.

Sure, we’ve probably done it before. But it’s not something that we’d like to do. We much prefer the convenience of driving our vehicles from Downtown to Village Pointe and beyond. This sprawling city has so little to offer commuters in the line of public transportation that we just recently completed an expressway near an interstate to open up traffic in the middle of the city. We love being independent, and if our commute takes longer than 15 minutes, we might consider moving.

I once called a train line in California in preparation for my first trip to San Francisco, trying to get more information from them about how to use their train, where I could get tickets, how I would get back to my original locale, etc, and the woman thought I was just off the Mayflower, here to discover the New World. I had to explain.

“Look, we’re from the MidWest. We drive everywhere. I have never in my life used a train. I’m used to avoiding the ones that carry coal. Could you please humor me.”

Suddenly she was very understanding, although I don’t think her opinion of me improved much.

I’m going to see if I can find some evidence of Omaha looking to improve it’s public transportation. Will keep you updated.

admin Travel Green 6 Comments »

Sah-weet! EnviroCAB!

I think about getting a new car, and I think about what I would get. Fuel-efficiency is by far one of my biggest concerns, the next being what kind of a stereo system it has.

But driving is still pollution, and in Omaha, we drive daily.

Maybe I should just stop driving. Maybe I should ride my bike to work. Maybe I should take the bus. Maybe I could hitchhike to the downtown area every morning.

Can you imagine me on the corner of 60th and Blondo at 7:45 AM with my arm extended, thumb raised, wearing my dirty blue Jansport, holding a sign that says “downtown please”? I mean, I look friendly enough. Pretty harmless. I’m thinking someone would stop.

And THEN I could just get rid of my CAR… no more car payments, car insurance, registration fees, car washes, speeding tickets, cleaning up an exploded pop can in my front seat….

I’d be in top shape. For sure.

This past summer, a friend of mine had me thinking about a scooter.

I just asked my roommate (who rides a Harley Davidson and built his own motorcycle) if he would talk to me if I drove one. He said he wouldn’t, but I don’t believe him.

I just ran across this green blog and blog post about the new EnviroCAB. Do you think it was an environmentally conscious taxi-cab driver who started this one, or a smart entrepreneur? I’m thinking the latter, but here-here. Grand idea, especially for a place like D.C. where people cab it daily.

I wonder what it would take to pull something like this together in Omaha? I guess that Omahans don’t cab it very often, but if we did, this would be awesome. I would use it. If I lived in D.C., I’d probably diss the other cabs. I’d be stuck up like that.

Would you dismiss the traditional cab if you had the option? Would you EnviroCAB-it?

I’d like to know.

admin Travel Green 2 Comments »

The Food Dilemma: Local vs. Organic

While reading the New York Times online, I found a very good article that I thought you would find interesting. It makes a few suggestions for easy organic food switches and points out that these particular foods - including milk as its number one switch - tend to have a higher percentage of chemicals in the end product, versus organic foods.

This article focuses on the health benefits offered by organic foods, which are very important, especially when you have a family to consider.

There are other factors to consider when purchasing organic, though. I mean, it’s expensive, right? If I wash off my conventional “pesticide-ridden” apple that costs about $1 less per pound, won’t it be good enough for me?

Commenter #19 to the NYT blog post addressed one of my concerns when shopping organic: is it better to buy food grown locally, or the food that is labeled organic? Is it more important to be concerned about the chemicals on my local food or the “safer” organic food from Washington State?

Of course, either choice is more socially conscious than buying non-organic apples from Chile, and purchasing locally grown organic food is the most ideal option.

Then there’s commenter #9 who grows his own garden, has four hens, and buys half of a grass-fed cow every year. His choices are impressive and seem to be one of the best ways to ensure that you know the origins of your food and reduce the amount of oil required to transfer the food from the farm to a grocery store to your home.

I believe that I’ve unknowingly touched on a very complex sustainable lifestyle quandry. With so many factors to consider, it’s easy to want to throw in the towel on the issue. Those factors include but aren’t limited to: the end product cost, food transportation, cancer-causing pesticides, your local economy, nutrition, quality of taste, and of course, ease of consumer purchase.

After reading several articles, including this extensive one from TIME, it appears that purchasing choices should be made on a case-by-case basis, which is the same dilemma that your grocery store faces. How does that dairy farm care for their cows? Does this local farm use dangerous pesticides? The same place that you purchase your tomatoes may not be the same place that you purchase your fresh fish, and the reasons for those decisions are entirely up to your educated opinion.

While at first these types of choices may seem cumbersome, doing your research and purchasing with the intent of supporting a certain farming practice is another way of placing your vote. It’s empowering.

For example: “Yes, I believe in my local farmer,” or, “No, that local farmer doesn’t use sustainable farming practices, so I’m choosing this other comparny from Florida.”

I’m going to point you in the direction of a Nebraska family who I know that raises cattle in a very safe and effective way. Maybe you’ll be tempted to buy your own half-cow from Pape Steaks once you learn a little more about their ranch.

I’d like to hear opinions from everyone regarding their organic and local purchasing choices. Please let me know your tips, questions, and opinions! Thanks.

admin Local Support, Organic Shopping 2 Comments »

Learning from My Friend Mimi

This is a picture of me and Mimi.

(Here, you can see that we are in disguise. I am hippie Cher, and she had these awesome 50s housewife glasses. Although we would have done this just for the blog, we didn’t. It was Halloween.)
I am bringing Mimi into the picture because she is a recycling queen, and she is very environmentally responsible.
And here, you can see that I am a model Why Not Lime? model, a.k.a. “Tree Hugger”:

… or tree leaner, as it were.

(Mimi told me to do it.)

I went to Mimi’s house the other night, and she shared a great deal of tips for recycling. Because I would like to interview Mimi for you at some point via video, I am going to share just a few of my favorite green tips that I learned from Mimi.

#1. She uses Seventh Generation and Method cleaning products, although she thinks that Seventh Generation is probably better. I think this would be a fairly simple switch to make. Just choose the environmentally safer brands instead of the not-so-safe brands. I’ll have to delve more into that topic later.

#2. She has stopped using plastic and paper bags at all stores - not just grocery stores. Yes, when you see Mimi in the mall, she will be carrying reusable cloth bags, just ready to be filled with… whatever it is she gets at the mall.

#3. Mimi has stopped using plastic bags in her smaller trash cans. Her goal is to use no plastic in her trash cans, except for the recycled ones in her tall kitchen garbage can. I just bought some Seventh Generation ones today. I’ll have to Consumer Report them for you.

#4. Mimi’s mom likes to take in soda/pop cans, so she sets them aside for her. Mimi’s mom also collects them at work. Apparently her mom makes a killing at the grocery store. If you’re not redeeming cans for nickels, like Iowa cans allow, there are “Golden Goat” locations around Omaha where you can collect money for non-nickel cans. I copied them from the Keep Omaha Beautiful website and pasted them below.

#5. Mimi’s whole family recycles. There are separate bins for different types of recylables. It is a smooth system that she claims has taken years to create, but they are diligent recyclers. After the system is down, it’s easy. So the lesson learned is to take one step at a time towards becoming more of an earth friendly consumer - don’t let it overwhelm you and your buying decisions.

THANKS to Mimi for being my star today, and I’m sure we’ll see more of her lime-savvy tips later - hopefully in a video blog.

Golden Goat Machines - 13 locations (24 Hours)20th & Vinton (Bag’N Save)51st & Harrison (Bag-N Save)107th & M (Bag’N Save)86th & West Center(Center Plaza)770 N. 114th St. (Cub Foods)30th & Ames (Phil’s Foodway80th & Blondo (No Frills)1402 Harlan Dr., Bellevue (No Frills)601 Galvin Road So., Bellevue(Shopko)90th & Fort(Shopko)144th & W. Center (Shopko)30th & Weber (Shopko)

admin Recycling, Getting Started Green 3 Comments »

Conserving Water, One Drop at a Time

I remember when I was young - maybe four or five - just getting down my tooth-brushing habits. Very short. Could hardly reach the bathroom faucet. While I was brushing my teeth one night, my dad told me to shut off the water while I was brushing.

“Why?”

My mom chimed in. “Because it’s a waste.”

“So?”

“So, we don’t need to be wasteful around here.”

“Why is it a waste?”

“Because you’re not using the water, and it’s costing us money.”

“Oh.”

So, for many years, that was the extent of my conservation efforts.

Many of my family’s conservation habits were out of necessity. For example, we lived in an old farmhouse with one shower and six people. Since we lived in the country, our water source was a well.

After about two 10-minute showers, the water could get ice cold.

So we combined our efforts. A couple of us took showers at night, and the rest of us took “Navy showers”, as my dad liked to call them.

Depending on how many of us needed to shower, Navy showers lasted anywhere between two and five minutes. We had to start a timer and be done FAST, or the rest of the family would have to shiver and shake through their chilly morning routine.

We installed a special showerhead that helped to reduce wasted waterflow, and my parents rigged the toilets somehow so that we used a minimal amount of water.

Also, to reduce cost, we always filled the sink with water to wash dishes, rather than let the water run. I’ve read that you can conserve more water by using a dishwasher, which makes me feel very clever and Earth-friendly.

I found a few websites that offer water saving tips. American Water and Energy Savers provides water-saving advice for indoors and outdoors. I like this website too, which offers 100 ways to conserve water by region. Also, this Tree Hugger website (cute name!) seems to have some helpful tips, including installing a water damn on older toilets, versus using a brick, which can deteriorate and clog your pipes.

What do YOU do to conserve water? What can you tell us about your water-saving experiences? Do you shut off the water while you’re brushing your teeth? Do you water plants with your half-empty water bottles that have stacked up in the floor of the backseat of your car so much that you filled two shopping bags while cleaning your car? Let me know.

admin Water Conservation 1 Comment »

Living Consciously - Inspiration from Another Blogger

I found a captivating blog that has me nearly convinced to start waking up at 5:30 AM every day.

YEAH, now THAT is some convincing writing. The blog is called I Will Change Your Life . com.

The most recent post is titled: Living Consciously: 10 Things I Have Learned About Myself. The author mostly discusses living healthfully in both mental and physical states. It’s an excellent article, and the entire blog offers little bits of life inspiration.

Of course, I’m eating a tub of Hagen Dazs at 8 PM when he says that he doesn’t eat sugar past 5. Whatever. My ice cream was the equivalent of 148 weeks of happiness, packed into one little dairy pile of Carmel Cone goodness. Bliss. I am more mentally healthy because of it.

I think that his “living consciously” message applies to all things in our lives, though, including living green. Living consciously can be more challenging, but more rewarding in the end.

I’m not sure how living consciously can be more rewarding, but I know this is true. And if you don’t think so, then you should go consciously have some Hagen Dazs Carmel Cone before 5 PM, and you will agree. You can thank me later with a pint or two. (Or twelve.)

Anyone out there have suggestions for organic ice cream?

admin Why Go Green No Comments »