Green Pickings

Photo credit: Shenandoah National Park

After much hemming and hawing, my family is going away for a green mini-vacation this weekend to Shenandoah National Park, which is just over 50 miles away. Like many other Americans, we are opting to vacation less than 100 miles from home so that we can save the green stuff (like the cost of gasoline and airfare) and contribute to our home state’s local tourism industry. I’m looking forward to a few days of peace and quiet, time spent with my husband and daughter, hiking and taking in views of the Shenandoah Valley, and well, getting away from the everyday.

Meanwhile, I can’t help but think of you, green readers, and your appetite for all things green and good for the environment. So I wandered through the lush green garden of the environmental blogosphere, and this is what I picked out for you:

1. No Impact Man. A New York writer is living an experiment in which he, his Prada loving wife, 2 year old daughter and dog spend a year living without power, eat all organic foods, compost their poop, and swear off plastic (and not just VISA and Mastercard). No Impact Man creates a new standard for green living; so far his family is living in the city and is producing no garbage. That’s right. Nothing to toss to the curb. From his web-site, he describes himself as ” just a liberal schlub who got sick of not putting my money where my mouth was.” It’s definitely worth stopping by to check out what he and his family are up to.

2. Be Thrifty and Fight Global Warming. Thrifty Green Baby Guide is hosting a weekly opportunity for bloggers to submit easy and awesome ways to live green and save a few bucks. My favorite way to save money and our planet is to do just that. Um, and by that I mean, don’t open your wallet, swipe your credit card, bum a few bucks from your friends, etc. Just don’t buy stuff. See? You’re saving money and helping with deforestation. This week’s tip on Thrifty Green Baby Guide is all about solar powered dryers. It’s a lot simpler than you might think.

3. Meet Arianne. Arianne, managing editor at 5 Minutes for Going Green, gave her first camera interview ever! She discusses the vision for 5 Minutes for Going Green, how she gathered together green moms to form the Green team, and how easy it is to go green. If you have a few minutes, say 5, go check her out!

4. H&M hosts their first official nurse-in! Okay, well not really. But after Manuela Valle, a lactating mamma in Vancouver, B.C., attempted to nurse her 2-week old baby in an H&M and was asked to move to a fitting room, she returned to the store to “publicly campaign” with a group of breastfeeding mothers and their supporters. Since breastfeeding mothers are allowed to breastfeed and express milk in public in B.C., these lactivists had every right to stand up (or sit down), nurse, and campaign against persons who violate their rights. Nurse on mammas!

5. Offset Your Carbon Footprint. Even I am starting to think that I sound like a lactating Al Gore. No, not really. But seriously, offsetting global warming is really, really important. Of course, you knew that. But just in case you want a few more tips for cutting back on all that CO2 that you’re responsible for releasing into our atmosphere, I thought I’d send you here, to a Tufts University carbon offset form. Thank you to Elke for forwarding these tips to me. Also, Elke, we’ll be thinking of you in September when you make the 5 day, 320 mile Brita Climate Ride from New York City to Washington, D.C. To sponsor Elke, stop in and make a donation here.