Blog Posts From Protect Your Playground Tagged With green

Vegetable Gardens: Great for the World (and Your Wallet)

RyanActive — Tue, 05 May 2009 19:12:15 GMT

It started off innocently enough--I just wanted a low-maintenance hobby.

What came of it was intense design plans on graph paper, hours of tilling our rock-hard dirt in the back yard, the purchase of several 2x6 boards, screwing them together with corner joints, and hauling in two truckloads of topsoil--sweating profusely in the process and wishing more than once that I was in front of the television with a cold beer.

But you know what? It was worth it.

My wife and I started a raised vegetable garden this year, in part because of the desire to cut grocery costs, in part to positively impact the environment but initially because I wanted something rewarding to occupy my free time. Something that shows daily progress.

Vegetable gardens are the Earth-friendly, cost-friendly craze of 2009. Gardens are popping up everywhere, with all kind of vegetables from tomatoes to carrots to jalepeno peppers being planted.

As this article points out, eating local food is a statement that you're not interested in contributing to the carbon emissions that transporting food requires. And you can't get much more local than your own yard.

With the cold weather behind us for a while (we hope), now's the time for most of the country to get planting if you haven't already. Here in California, we were able to plant weeks ago. Along with three tomato plants, we planted broccoli, strawberries, potatoes, green onions, chives and various herbs. We've also had a couple of plants fizzle out almost immediately. Oh well. We're rookies. We'll figure it out soon enough.

There are lots of little things to remember, which this article in Newsday touches on in good detail. Some things won't work (like our zucchini) but like anything, you get better the more experience you pick up.

Soon enough, when you eat your first home-grown tomato or bell pepper, you'll realize just how awesome a vegetable garden is--to both you and the planet.

Brooks Sports Honored for Green Efforts

Active Giselle — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:00:44 GMT

Leading running company honored for environmental stewardship and eco-friendlier technology

BOTHELL, Wash. - (December 2, 2008) - Performance running

company Brooks Sports, Inc. has been honored with three Mother Nature-approved

industry awards. Footwear News, the leading trade publication for the

entire footwear industry, awarded Brooks its 2008 Green Award, while top

running publications Runner's World and Trail Runner gave public high-fives

to Brooks' eco-friendlier technology, BioMoGo. Runner's World presented

Brooks and BioMoGo with its 2008 International Green Award and Trail Runner

planted its first-ever Sprout Award on BioMoGo for "Best Green Innovation."

"At Brooks, we believe runners care about the

environment and we need to reduce our impact whenever possible,"

said Jim Weber, president and CEO of Brooks. "We haven't figured

it all out, but we're working hard at providing a more sustainable running

experience, and these awards confirm we're taking steps in the right direction."

Footwear News 2008 Green Award: The leading footwear

trade publication trumpets Brooks' efforts to be more sustainable, which

include eco-friendlier technologies like BioMoGo and HPR Green, waste-reducing

manufacturing practices like Compression Molded Preform (CMP), and shoe

boxes made from 100-percent recycled paperboard and non-toxic, soy-based

inks. Footwear News will present the Green Award to Brooks on Wednesday,

December 3, at the publication's 2008 Achievement Awards Breakfast. All

Achievement Award winners are also featured in the magazine's annual FN

Achievement Awards issue, on newsstands today.

Runner's World 2008 International Green Award: Presented

to a technology or company that best addresses the environmental impact

of running, the leading running magazine's International Green Award has

only been awarded twice in the past three years-both times to Brooks.

This time it was to honor Brooks' Trance™ 8, which launched in July

2008 with the inclusion of BioMoGo, the first-ever biodegradable running

shoe midsole. BioMoGo is designed to break down 50 times faster than traditional

Ethylene Vinyl Acetate™ (EVA) midsoles, saving 29.9 million pounds

of landfill waste over a 20-year period. Brooks' revolutionary midsole

stole the green spotlight at Runner's World's 2008 International Shoe

Summit in November.

Brooks previously took home the Runner's World Innovation

Award in 2006, for its pioneering use of HPR Green-an environmentally

friendly, non-petroleum based outsole rubber-in combination with its use

of CMP technology in its manufacturing process. This manufacturing process

reduces material waste by more than 50 percent, while increasing material

consistency. CMP also saves steps and time, reducing labor and energy

outputs.

Trail Runner 2008 Sprout Award: BioMoGo also grabbed

Trail Runner's Sprout Award for "Best Green Innovation" in its

December "Green" issue, available on newsstands now. New in

2008, the Sprout Awards recognize a race director, company, community

leader, and innovation that have made remarkable steps to achieve environmental

and social consciousness during the year. Trail Runner's editors feel

BioMoGo will have "a direct impact on reducing landfill waste"

and applaud Brooks' open-source stance with the technology.

For additional information about BioMoGo and other

environmental stewardship programs from Brooks, visit: www.brooksrunning.com/greenroom

CA Prop 7 - The fight for clean energy gets dirty

mike@active — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:06:26 GMT

!http://community.active.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/38-10916-6326/turbines.jpg|style=float:right; padding:0 0 .8em .8em;|src=http://community.active.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/38-10916-6326/turbines.jpg!On November 4th, citizens of California will have the opportunity to vote on a radical clean energy initiative. At a glance, the proposition appears idealistic: by the year 2025, California power plants are to be generating 50% of their power from renewable resources (wind, solar, geothermal, etc). Supporters explain that by voting this bill into law, California would become a world leader in the production and use of clean energy.

Opponents say the bill is so poorly written that current pitfalls in California's renewable energy policies will remain locked in place and will hamper the creation of new, clean power plants. They also speculate that current power plants that produce less than 30 megawatts would be excluded from the tally and would likely go out of business. Also notable is the projected 10% increase in energy costs, though this point has been sharply contested by the supporters of Prop 7.

It seems that both sides are adamant that the other is providing false information to the public, and both have had fervent rebuttals to each others claims.

I myself am very conflicted with this bill. While I am eager to see progress in the energy arena, I'm not sure this bill will be California's "Clean Energy Panacea". With both sides calling foul on the other (and without reading the wordy 62-page text of this bill), I sit here scratching my head deciding which way to vote.

Whether you live in California or not, you'll want to keep your eye on this battle come November 4th.

For more information on this bill, visit the California Voter's Guide: Voter's Guide - CA Proposition 7

How to Start Living Green- Commuting

Active Jess — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:52:51 GMT

Hello Mazza- That article was interesting news! However biking is not possible for everyone to commute to work. Plant Green is a great link that explains lots of ways to start making your commute more green whether small steps of combining errands or purchasing a hybrid-- http://planetgreen.discovery.com/go-green/commuting/index.html . It offers great information, statistics,( Like 19.4 pounds of CO2 is release for every one gallon of gas) as well as a how to guide for trying to be more green.

What's your impact?

Active Giselle — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:14:19 GMT

Let's get this thing started!

So we all think it's good to go green and become more environmentally conscious, right? But how can we improve if we don't know what we're doing wrong?

I think the first step is finding out your impact. According to http://www.climatecrisis.net, the average person produces 7.5 tons of carbon dioxide each year.

Use this carbon calculator to estimate how much do you produce.

I produce roughly 6.3 tons per year, which is smaller than average. But there's still work to do. None of my electricity comes from clean, renewable sources such as solar and wind.

How about you??