Recently, I’ve been doing a lot of research on organic farming, organic businesses, and what it means to call something “Organic.” There are all kinds of products and businesses popping up these days that are labeled ‘Green,’ ‘All Natural,’ ‘Organic,’ and ‘Eco-Friendly,’ but what exactly do those labels mean? How do you know that the food you’re eating, the clothes you’re wearing or the beer you’re enjoying are as devoid of chemicals and pesticides as they claim…

Defining Organic

First of all, it’s important to understand how the US government, specifically the USDA, define something as “Organic.” With so much emphasis on organic food these days, it’s logical to think that this information would be readily accessible when visiting the USDA website, and well-organized once found. Sadly, this is not the case.

Located deep within the USDA, the National Organic Program (NOP) (a program under the umbrella of the Agricultural Marketing Service agency) is listed as a program (not an agency or an office) that:

…develops, implements, and administers national production, handling, and labeling standards for organic agricultural products.

Unfortunately for consumers, the NOP site isn’t really designed to answer basic questions about organic products. The site does include a Reading Room with fact sheets that outline the history of the National Organic Standards Board and labeling requirements for organic products, but overall doesn’t really present broad-base consumer information about organic goods.

Within the Reading Room I did find one helpful document – the Organic Labeling and Marketing Information fact sheet. Using this fact sheet, I was able to put find official definitions for 3 types of organic standards:

“100% Organic” – Products labeled as 100 percent organic must contain (excluding water and salt) only organically produced ingredients and processing aids.

“Organic” – Products labeled organic must consist of at least 95 percent organically produced ingredients (excluding water and salt).

“Made with Organic Ingredients” – Processed products that contain at least 70 percent organic ingredients can use the phrase made with organic ingredients and list up to three of the organic ingredients or food groups on the principal display panel.

While doing this research however, I kept thinking about the fact that the label on my Honest Tea bottle says “USDA Organic,” not 100% Organic. This led me to wonder, does a label that says “USDA Organic” mean that the product it’s certifying is 100% Organic? And if so, why doesn’t it say so on the label?

After digging a little deeper on the NOP site, I found a Labeling Preamble document – the regulatory text defining USDA Organic Labeling – and this informative fact: “…the labeling requirements for “100 percent organic” products are the same as requirements for 95 percent organic products.” Ah ha – mystery solved!

Apparently, the logo (above) can be used on goods that meet both “100% Organic,” and “Organic” certifications – and does not necessarily indicate that the product within is made from fully organic ingredients.? So what’s a consumer to do when they want the assurance that the goods they’re buying are all organic – and not just 95% organic? The difference may seem small, but to some of us, it still matters!

Stay tuned for more on this subject as I explore the meaning of Organic Goods in future posts.

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One of the best ways to save money and eat healthy is to have a garden. Even a small garden on a roof or balcony can give you a bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables for very little effort. But any good gardener will tell you that keeping the garden watered is key to success. Using a hose or water can works very well but there are more efficient ways of watering that can save you money.

Drip Irrigation is a system of pipes that is worked through a garden and is designed to drip water directly on the roots of a plant instead of misting the top of a plant and hoping the water reaches the roots. The advantage of this type of system is you can use a significantly smaller amount of water directly to where the plant needs it. Water savings of up to 70% versus traditional watering are not unheard of.

One thing that deters people from this type of system is cost. It has been relatively expensive to buy all of the valves, hoses, lines and tapping the system into your existing house pipes to make it a viable alternative. That is not the case anymore. Orbit Irrigation Products now sells a low cost irrigation system that connect to your existing hose faucets at places like WalMart, Lowes, and Home Depot. For $30 you can get a Starter Drip Irrigation Kit for gardens and a 50 ft supply hose which will allow you to install a drip irrigation system for a garden as large as 50 square feet.

There are several advantages to this type of system over traditional irrigation systems which are usually installed underground. First, you don’t need to have a plumber or irrigation specialist install it for you. Just connect it to your hose faucet, lay the lines, and go. Second, since the lines are not buried it is easy to move and expand the system. If you are a renter, you can install and remove this system as needed. Or say you start with the garden and decide you want to add on sprinklers for your flowers or drip watering for your potted plants. With this system all you need to do is buy the hoses and parts to do that then just extend it to what you already have.

Finally, this type of system allows for all the features of a normal irrigation system with the flexibility to change. If you need a smaller system as time goes on, just reduce the number of pipes used. If you want to totally automate your watering, you can easily add a timer to the system. If you live in an apartment with only potted plants, you can connect the system to your washer connection and run the lines to your plants.

Drip Irrigation in a low cost form has finally come home in a way that everyone can enjoy. It makes your gardening life easier, saves you money on water bills, and won’t break the bank to install.

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I am a recovering Massachusetts dweller who used to work for a mostly environmental communications firm outside of Boston, so it was under some surprise that I randomly found a documentary playing on the Sundance channel that was entitled “The Greening of Southie“, which basically followed the development of the Maccallen Building in South Boston as it attempted to get an LEED certification of being a green building.

The interesting part of this movie was that it showed the very real issues that are going into green building development – the retraining of the construction workers for materials installation, the cost of travel for green materials and the prohibitive cost of living in green spaces. The most important of all the issues in the film highlighted the cultural differences between the ideology of green development and the army of workers that it effects. From the blue collar bricklayer to the upper middle class management who are trying to collate all of the existing materials together to get LEED certification – which ironically,? it appears to take an entire tree’s worth of paper to be certified as LEED.

My one problem with the project was that instead of installing solar panels on the roof of the building which would make the building much more energy efficient and reduce the tenant’s electrical bills, they installed some sort of roof shrubbery that grows in harsh climate and with minimal effort–but in a stroke of green karma retribution by the end of the film all of the plants had died, and would need to be replanted.

One of the thoughts that I had walking away from this was, yes, I think it is important to use more renewable goods instead of plastic laminate that will spend forever in a landfill after the construction & use process. But the most important thing we can do is to repurpose our existing living spaces using greener solutions – renewable flooring, carpeting, low VOC paints. The film is definatly worth a watch, however, after you do watch it, take a stroll over to the photojournalist essay on urban decay that is happening to the city of Detroit.

Jessica pointed out that we all have Green Guilt. What she really brought to light was that even people who hold green issues near and dear to their hearts can not do everything possible to live a greener lifestyle. But just doing some things will help make the world a better place. One way to know what you can do better is to look at what you are doing now and list your sins.

My list of green sins include:

1) I own a van. This in and of itself is not really a green sin if I was using it for what it was designed for. Carrying more than 4 people a good distance and reducing everyone’s carbon footprint. However, I usually am the only person in the van at any time and I only do short trips around the city. This could easily be accomplished with a smaller car or even by moped. In fact, the van was bought with the idea that a much larger family would be using it but life throws you a curve ball sometimes. I know I should get something smaller, I know it is too big for my needs, and I know the price to fill the take is pushing $70 now and will be well close to $100 by the end of the year. But people have odd attachments to vehicles. I love driving the van and the extra space has come in handy for multi-state moves and hauling big things. I should part with it but I can’t bring myself to do it.

2) I eat out way too much. When you think about all the things that go into eating out and how much energy is wasted just to provide me a “cheap” and quick meal it really doesn’t play into the idea of being green. From the gas emissions, to the electricity, to the packaging, to the huge waste generated, our fast food restaurants need to do more in terms of helping the planet and not destroying it. One good example of this is our local McDonalds this week switched back to styrofoam cups because they are cheaper for the owner. The plastic cups were actually a greener choice because while they use more oil based products, they were completely recyclable. But on the whole, I am encouraging this bad behavior by giving them more money so I don’t have to cook.

3) Big Box Stores get my money more than local farmers. Vermont has a very high number of local farmers who produce milk, corn, beef, and other products that are better for me and i know it. But convenience has me going to the local supermarket and buying processed food from who knows where over local produce. Several people have started eating only local products and have termed themselves as “Localvores“. While I can’t say I am totally comfortable with that I know I should be buying my meat from the local butcher and getting corn and other products from the produce stand. Cost and extra chores is the only thing stopping me.

4) Some things I am not willing to deal with in the name of conservation. For example, I hate being hot and I use air conditioning. Even tho this is one of the more northern states and I should be able to deal with just using fans I still click on the AC in the house. I also have no problem with filling up the van with a tank of gas and going for a drive. It is wasteful and increases my dependency on oil.

There are some good things to go with the bad. I telecommute so I have eliminated the 1.5 hours I used to spend in the van going back and forth to work. I recycle constantly because our community massively supports it. When I bought a washer and dryer, we went to Recycle North and CraigsList to buy used appliances.

The idea here is even if you do something small like turning off the lights when you leave a room, it will have a much larger impact than you realize. Also, not everyone will be Super Green and do everything. Just do your part and change the things you can. Every little bit helps.

My friends Julie, Jamie, and Aidan live in suburban Maryland and recently built their own backyard compost bin. In an effort to get the word out about how easy and practical it is to build this kind of sustainable product, Julie wrote up her experiences and I have posted her story below…

My husband and I are jealous of our California friends who enjoy the luxury of community sanctioned green waste composting. However, our municipality does not offer curbside green waste collection. Years ago, we constructed a chicken wire composter in a corner of our yard, and though it gave great compost, the open nature of the bin attracted all sorts of shady characters, including a gigantic groundhog who took a single bite of every tomato I grew! The chicken wire box made it quite difficult to remove compost from it, and it was hard to properly turn the compost without straining my back. Finally, when the chicken wire began to rust, I removed this bin, and as I researched a more user-friendly compost receptacle, we sadly did not compost for a few years.

This year, we decided to find a solution that would allow us to compost with minimal effort, and without attracting any hungry critters. There are a number of commercially available composting systems, including rolling bins, continuous loading systems with multiple bins, and electronic gadgets specifically designed for composting. However, most of these systems are inordinately expensive and are of questionable and variable quality, reliability, and efficiency. This document outlines a Do It Yourself (DIY) compost bin which can be built in one day. Total cost for all the materials required for our DIY bin was less than $60.00. Since this bin is constructed from a simple garbage can with a lid, the size and cost of any similar system depends only on the size of the garbage can one chooses.

Some advantages of this bin over a simple chicken-wire box are:

1. Since a garbage can does not look out of place behind the house, we can easily avoid detection by our Homeowner’s Association during their annual spring inspection (since composting is technically not allowed in our neighborhood).

2. The garbage-can bin is fully portable, allowing for flexibility in its placement, and making it simpler to spread the compost throughout the garden!

It will take a few months before we can truly say how efficient this design is, but we are optimistic that the simple design and mixing/aerating strategy should allow for good composting. We’ll be sure to update this entry as the season moves forward and our compost matures in this DIY bin.

Materials

1. One plastic garbage can with a tightly fitting lid.

• A 30-gallon garbage can is sufficient for a small household.
• We purchased a decent model for about $25 at Home Depot.

2. About 2-square feet of fiberglass screen (more or less depending on the size of your bin).

• One roll of plastic screen (enough to replace a window screen) is plenty.
• One 8×3 roll of fiberglass screen cost us $4 at Home Depot.

3. Gorilla Glue or any other clue capable of attaching plastic to plastic.

• We found a 10 ounce container of glue for $5.

4. Duct Tape – you’ll need about an 1/8 of a roll.

5. Compost Stirring Tool

• We purchased a Compost Turner specifically designed for this from Gaiam for about $20.
• A Garden Cultivation Tool would work just as well; I found one at Home Depot for $13.99.

6. “Brown Materials” to balance the green materials from the kitchen.

• We use leaves raked from the garden and last year’s dried botanical waste.
• You can also use saw dust from your wood shop if you have one.

Methods:

1. Purchase a garbage can with a tight lid.

2. Use a razor knife to carefully cut several holes in the sides and bottom of the trash can to allow air flow and drainage. (We cut diamond shaped holes, but the shape is not really important)

3. Cut squares of the screen to cover each hole in the trash can.

4. Moisten the edges of each hole and apply a thin layer of gorilla glue. Allow the glue to cure for 5 minutes.

5. Press the screen to cover each hole, making sure that the screen attaches securely. Allow the glue to dry thoroughly.

6. Reinforce the edges of each hole with duct tape.

7. If you choose, you can place rocks or pebbles on the bottom of the bin to help with proper drainage, though it is not entirely necessary.

8. Elevate your new compost bin outside by placing it on top of some bricks, rocks, or wooden pallets, which will help with airflow and drainage.

9. Add a stirring implement such as the one above, or use a cultivation tool which will help you stir your compost from the bottom. Alternatively, you can roll your bin on the ground to stir the contents.

10. Add your green kitchen waste to the can with equal parts brown material (such as dry leaves).

11. Always secure the top of the bin securely to prevent critters from raiding your bin.

12. Each time you add additional green material, add equal parts brown material.

13. Stir your compost thoroughly each time you add more material. The key is to keep the compost aerated and “fluffy;” if it becomes too densely packed, the aerobic bacteria you rely on for degradation will suffocate.? If this happened, anaerobic organisms (like fungus) will take over, resulting in moldy mush that is not conducive to composting.

14. Check your compost frequently to assure that it is getting enough fresh air.? It should not seem wet or slimy;? if it starts to smell moldy or look slimy, you are either not adding enough brown material, or the compost is not getting enough oxygen.? Adding more dry leaves or sawdust, and/or more efficiently mixing and fluffing the contents should fix the problem.

15. EMPTY egg shells are an excellent addition to your compost.

16. NEVER add meat or dairy material to your compost, and definitely don’t add pet waste, or you will breed maggots, and your compost will be ruined.

17. NEVER add grass clippings to your compost, or you will grow grass wherever you use your compost!

18. You can adjust the pH of your compost by adding bloodmeal or baking soda. There is a wealth of references on the web which can help you attain a proper pH in your compost, as well as outlining the proper ratios of green to brown.

19. There are also some compost additives that claim to aid in faster composting by supplying enzymes and/or beneficial bacteria. This author has not evaluated their effectiveness, though in theory they should work.

20. Worms can be beneficial to your compost-if you like you can leave the bottom drainage holes open to allow worms to come into your compost. There are commercially available vermiculture kits, but this author is not sure if this DIY composter would be compatible with vermiculture systems.

21. In about 2-3 months, you should have good compost!

When my parents bought their home in 1999, the garden above (and in the other photos below) was an apathetic patch of gray-green grass that went dormant in the winter and brought little joy to neighbors or pedestrians. During their first few years in the house, my parents built a border garden around the grass, erected the shed so they would have someplace to store their tools, and planted a few patches of flowers to brighten up the space. My parents didn’t have the time to do a full-scale lawn renovation; their 260-year old house needed all the attention they could spare.

After they’d lived in New England for a few years, I needed a place to live and moved into a house I’d only ever visited. I had no friends in the area, couldn’t work, and was broke, so I decided to do something productive and tackle the yard. For 2 years I worked nearly 40-hours a week in my parent’s gardens, and paid back their generosity in letting me live there rent-free by making their yard as beautiful, and grass-free as possible.

My parents and I spoke at length about ripping up grass in various parts of their yard, and we all agreed that we would keep a small patch in the backyard so there would always be? a place for children to play. Other than maintaining a small patch of green in the sunniest part of the backyard, my parents let me know that I was free to rip up all the grass I so desired and replace it with flowers and gardens.

I am not alone in my attitude towards grass lawns – environmentalists have been writing about the damage large grass patches wreck on the environment since Rachel Carson published “Silent Spring” in 1962. Carson wrote about the use of pesticides on grass, and how applying these kinds of chemicals caused harm to humans, animals, and ecosystems. And in the years since “Silent Spring” was published, writers, environmentalists, activists and ordinary citizens have raised their voices (and pens) to educate the public about the problems with grass.

Grass is widely prevalent in the US, and according to a NASA-funded DoD study (which I tried to find a source for but, after much searching, as unable to do so), lawns cover approximately 50,000 square miles of land in this country – or a land mass the size of New York State. To kill unwanted plants from growing with grass and maintain the luscious green associated with well-manicured lawns, pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers and other chemicals are applied to grass and the soil in which it grows. Water plays a huge role in maintaining grass too, and according to the EPA, approximately one third of all residential US water use goes to landscaping.

So if grass is so bad for the planet, why do so many people devote so much of their energy to its cause, and what can we do to shift away from the practice of planing, feeding, watering, mowing and otherwise maintaining grass lawns? Clearly there’s no one correct answer, and in some instances it’s good to have a little grass in your lawn. I’ll address a few alternatives to planing grass in a future post – in the meantime, think about your relationship with grass – do you enjoy sitting on the grass, do you spend hours each summer weekend mowing and clipping the plant, what would you prefer to grow if you were to rip up all the grass from your lawn…?

You can find out more on the environmental ramifications of grass from the following resources:

Turf War by Elizabeth Kolbert – The New Yorker, July 21, 2008

Second Nature: A Gardener’s Education by Michael Pollan (1991)

AntiLawn: Rethink Your Lawn Blog

From Lawn Addiction to Anti-Lawn Activism – Sustainable Gardening Blog, June 23, 2008

Turf Wars: The Battle Over the American Lawn – The Atavist

To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves.
Mahatma Gandhi

I love to grow food and flowers – doing so makes me happy, productive and grounded. Gardening is an easy way to reconnect with the basics of life – soil, sun, water and plants – and to give back to the Earth, your community and yourself. When you grow food, you give the gift of beauty to your neighbors, you contribute directly to feeding your friends and family, and you live in a more sustainable manner.

Growing your own food is also a good way to reduce your carbon footprint, and most farmers are willing to share what they know to help get you started. In researching seed companies, I was heartened to find that all of the companies I checked out offer information on growing organic and heirloom foods. When you choose to grow organic food, you choose to do more than simply plant a garden – you choose to respect the planet and reduce your negative environmental impact on the land. And each time you choose to consume food that’s grown without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, ionizing radiation or genetic modification, you choose to place your health and the health of your community above the interests of agri-businesses and corporate food suppliers.

Once fall settles in and my garden is packed away for the winter, I like to spend time going through seed catalogs and looking for plants for next year’s garden. Check out the organic seed suppliers below – each company sells organic and heirloom seeds, tools and supplies to help in building your beds, and resources to help you know all you need to get started.

Johnny’s Selected Seeds is an employee-owned farm in Albione, Maine, that offers a selection of over 300 kinds of organic and heirloom seeds through their mail-order catalog or via their website. While they aren’t 100% organic, Johnny’s does ensure that none of their seeds or plants are genetically engineered, and they are expanding their supply of organic products. And when it comes to selection, Johnny’s offers a diverse array of vegetable, herb, flower, and cover crop seeds (such as oats and wheat).

Seeds of Change is an organic farm and seed supplier that is committed to living organically and offering organic products to the public.? Founded in 1989, the company’s mission is “to help preserve biodiversity and promote sustainable, organic agriculture” which they achieve by growing 100% organic seeds, seedlings and food. With a selection of over 600 distinct seeds for home gardeners and 100 distinct seeds for commercial growers, Seeds of Change is dedicated to preserving open-pollinated, organically grown, heirloom and traditional vegetable, flower and herb seeds. Looking around the Seeds of Change website, it’s clear that the company truly believes in the importance of living sustainably, and in harmony with the Earth.

Peaceful Valley Farm & Garden Supply is an organic farm and seed company that supports commercial and home growers by offering a wide selection of organic seeds, and by providing their customers with information on organic farming. With a true desire to educate people about organic farming (the company started out in a garage, and sent out 4-page newsletters to growers), the company’s website has a range of resources aimed at keeping growers informed about farming education, grants, publications and news. Searching for seeds is interesting too, as you can “flip through” the company’s electronic seed catalog and flip from section to section with the interactive navigation tools.

The Natural Gardening Company has been around since 1986, and was the first certified organic nursery in the United States. Offering a selection of organic seeds and seedlings for vegetables, herbs, and flowers. The Natural Gardening Company places a high value on the quality of their seeds, and, like the other growers listed here, does not sell any genetically engineered plants or seeds. You can select from over 50+ different kinds of organic vegetable seeds, and spend the spring sowing endive, okra and collard greens if you’re so inclined.The Natural Gardening Company also sells gardening accessories and offers helpful gardening tips on their site.

If you’ve never grown vegetables, I encourage you to give it a try. You can grow some vegetables in containers on your porch, dig up the grass and plant a big, sunny bed, or drop seeds into an existing flower garden – it’s not how much you grow that matters, it’s that you grow at all.

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• Organic Certified Healthy for Us and the Planet

Image via Wikipedia

Early fall is the best time of the year for tomatoes, and of those available at farmer’s markets, farm stands and grocery stores, heirlooms are the tastiest, most interesting tomatoes on the market. If you’ve ever bitten into a perfectly ripe Brandywine, or savored slices of an Old German varietal, you know the joy that is an heirloom tomato!

Heirloom tomatoes are classified as such when the plants’ seeds have been passed down from generation-to-generation, when they are open-pollinated (meaning they are pollinated by insects and birds instead of by hand), and when there’s been no genetic modification of the plant. According to Wikipedia, seeds used to grow heirloom tomatoes must be at least 50 years old (some claim that heirloom seeds must be at least 100 year-old), as hybrid seeds entered the tomato growing industry in 1945 – at the end of World War II.

Regardless of the exact definition of what it means to be an heirloom tomato, the fact is that there are many varieties of these old-fashioned seeds available from growers all over the country. Gary Ibsen’s TomatoFest site offers over 600 different heirloom tomato seeds to growers interested in preserving this part of our nutritional past. Gardeners can purchase seeds that have been part of a family’s history and grow their own varieties wherever they live. And since heirlooms are all grown using open-pollination, the genetic make-up of the seeds changes over time, as pollinators introduce different genetic materials into the plant during pollination.

Some people don’t like heirloom tomatoes because they aren’t the shiny, bright red, round fruit that we’re used to finding in our grocery stores. Genetically modified tomatoes are produced to be hearty (for transportation), consistently sized (for easy harvesting and storage/transport), and flavored (because people want to know what they’re buying tastes like on a whole). Heirloom tomatoes come in all kinds of sizes and colors and range in flavor from sharp and bitter to juicy and sweet. When looking through boxes full of heirlooms, it’s easy to think that the farmers picked the rejected fruit from the vines and threw them into the bins labeled heirloom!

The difference in the appearance of these tomatoes is in large part due to the open-pollination of the seeds. With hand-pollinated tomatoes, farmers can control the genetic materials that mix with their plants. Once a seed is open-pollinated however, there’s no telling where the insects and birds have been and what pollen they’ve dropped in the process of pollinating your plants.

Here are just a few of the hundreds of heirlooms out there – if you want to taste food at its very best, try to find some locally grown heirlooms before the end of fall. Even if the fruit are funny looking and not what you’d normally expect in a tomato, I bet your mouth will thank you for your efforts!

Yellow Lollipop Cherry Tomatoes, available at TomatoSeeds.net, are small yellow tomatoes that have a sweet lemon-like flavor that is fruity and unique.

According to the folks behind the TomatoSeeds site, the Caspian Pink Tomato originated in southern Russia and produces 1 lb. pink beefsteak tomatoes that rival the famous Pink Brandywine for taste.

The Cherokee Purple, available from the Victory Seed Company, is over 100 years old – having been passed down from the Cherokee Tribes of North America, and is a good producer of medium sized, purple brown tomatoes with darker shoulders.

Offered by TomatoFest, the Peacevine Cherry Tomato is a tiny (dime-sized) tomato that grows in the hundreds per plant. These tomatoes have the highest Vitamin C content of any tomato and, because of their high amino acid content, have a calming effect on the body according to TomatoFest.

Yellow and red in color, these Arkansas Marvels are beefsteaks that can grow to be up to 1 pound. According to the growers behind the TomatoFest site, these beauties have a mild, peach flavor and produce a good yield on the vine.

I hope you find some delicious tomatoes this fall – and let me know if you have tips on how best to prepare these beauties, though I dare say it’s difficult to beat slicing them right off the vine and gobbling the fruit up while it’s still warm from the sun!

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If you’re looking for a way to give back to your community, consider contributing by offering your time and energy to the environment. Acting locally is a great way to participate in the environmental movement that is sweeping this country, and positively impacts your neighbors and neighborhood. I’ve compiled a list of earth-friendly projects that you can do in your community with groups of various sizes. These projects can be done by school groups, Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts, clubs/organizations, or friends and neighbors who want to work together for change in their communities.

• Pick up after the drunks. When people drink outside, they tend to leave their beer bottles, cans, cigarette butts and other garbage behind. Figure out where the kids in your city like to go to party, and pick up the trash they leave behind. Since people tend to party in secluded spots (in the woods, underneath bridges, by remote beaches), you may have to do a little legwork to track down the trash. Once you do though, you’ll most likely find plenty of garbage and recyclables. After you pick up all of the junk, let your city government know how much garbage you removed from the spot, and see if they might consider installing a garbage can so it doesn’t happen again.

• Clean up your beach and waterways. If you live near the coast, you probably know how much garbage gets washed up on the beach – ditto for rivers, creeks and streams. After the winter ice has retreated and before the spring foliage has grown back up, it’s easy to find all kinds of garbage washed up on beaches and alongside other waterways. Grab your boots and garbage bags and head toward the shoreline to pick up all of the garbage tangled alongside the shore. By cleaning up your waterways, you help prevent the garbage from damaging fragile ecosystems and also from getting washed back out to sea.

• Turn an empty lot into a garden. All cities have strange empty spaces tucked between buildings that could use a little beautification. If your neighborhood has an empty lot that’s filling up with broken glass, garbage and weeds, think about cleaning it up. You may need the permission of the lot owner, so make sure you contact them or talk to your city government before getting started. Once you’ve found a lot, you can do simple things that will make a tremendous difference in your community. Simple things that make all of the difference include: removing all of the garbage, planting flowers, building a small path from flat stones, creating art to go in the garden, putting up a bird feeder or wind chimes, and installing a small, portable bench so people can sit and enjoy the space.

• Work in someone else’s garden. Non-profit organizations, such as museums or historical centers often have gardens, and often need help maintaining them. Since most non-profits work on tight budgets, garden maintenance can sometimes get squeezed when times are tough. Because of this, some non-profits have volunteer gardening events where community members are asked to come in and help clean out beds, trim back bushes, and prepare the grounds for spring and summer visitors. Greening a community organization’s grounds is a great way to make your city a greener place for residents and visitors alike.

• Convince your city or town government to change their ways. While getting city hall to replace incandescent light bulbs with energy-efficient fluorescent bulbs may not be as easy as picking up garbage on the beach, things like this still need to be done! If you live in a small town or city, it’s generally easy to get your voice heard by attending meetings, making phone calls and writing letters to your city council members. Pick an issue – recycling efforts, alternative fuel for city vehicles, light bulbs – and do the research on how making your suggested changes will positively impact the city. Make sure you include financial projections if your suggestion will cost the city more than it already spends, and outline how the benefits of your suggestion will outweigh the costs. Be persistent and consistent – show up, shake hands and get your ideas out to the members of your community. The beauty of living in a democracy is that you do have a voice and you can make a difference if you use it.

Do you have other ideas for green projects that can be done in communities? I’d love to hear what other people are doing to make their neighborhoods greener places to live, and I invite your comments and suggestions!

Gardening is one of the most popular hobbies in the US – over 80 million households (3 out of 4) have participated in indoor or outdoor gardening in the last five years. And it’s no wonder – gardening is a family activity that beautifies your living space, connects you to the Earth and lets you grow the flowers, vegetables and plants that you love.

But while gardening may seem to be the ultimate of environmentally friendly activities, you can actually wreck havoc on your ecosystem if you don’t use sustainable practices when building, planting and maintaining your garden beds. By evaluating your gardening practices however, you can conserve water, reduce your use of chemicals and grow plants that work for your community.

The tips below are relatively easy to implement in your home garden and will save you water as the summer heats up and your plants demand more and more to grow their fruits and flowers.

• Install a drip irrigation system in your gardens. By burying drip irrigation hoses at the base of your plants, you allow water to flow directly to the roots and prevent runoff and evaporation that occurs with hand watering and sprinkler systems. Home gardeners can install micro-drip irrigation systems for not too much money – about $40-$100 for every 100 square feet of garden. These systems can also be automated so that your plants are watered evenly and on a set schedule. Check out Alexandra Brandon’s presentation, Installing Drip Irrigation in This Old House to learn step-by-step instructions on installing this kind of system in your gardens.

• Place rain barrels around your yard. Rain barrels allow you to collect excess rain water and use it to water your plants during dry times. Many communities offer rain barrels at discounted prices through their public works departments, you can build your own rain barrel, or you can purchase rain barrels online. Keep in mind that if you install a rain barrel that does not have an attached hose, you will need to haul your water to your garden using buckets. If this is the case, make sure you set up your barrels close to your gardens!

• Learn to love mulch! A good organic mulch, spread about 3 inches thick around your plants, will reduce your need to water and keep your plants hydrated. With mulch covering your soil, you retain water by preventing its evaporation and runoff. When soil is left exposed to the sun and wind, water runs off, blows away or dries up as the sun heats the soil. Mulch keeps your entire garden moist throughout the day, and is also great for cutting down on weeds, and adding nutrients to your beds.

• Grow drought-resistant plants. Plants that tolerate dry times – such as echinacea, irises and rosemary require less water when the summer hits its hottest peak and the rain stops falling. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden has a great article that explains the benefits of using drought resistant plants in your garden and offers extensive lists of drought tolerant shrubs, perennials, herbs and other plants. Drought tolerant plants are also great alternatives when building gardens in areas with limited rainfall. Make sure you consult your hardiness zone and regional growing requirements when selecting drought tolerant plants.

There are plenty of other ways of greening your garden that I plan on addressing in future posts. In the meantime, let me know what you do to green your gardens – I always like to hear how fellow gardeners manage their beds!