Freecycle

This site randomly popped up earlier today while I was searching for other things, but it looks like a really cool site. Join up with your local group and see what sort of treasures you can find, or if there are any people that can find treasures of their own with your old stuff.

Christmas tree; Real or Fake

Yahoo has a decent article up on the debate between real or fake Christmas trees. It just touches on the basics quickly but pretty clearly shows why a real tree will always be better in every way. I always liked them because they smell great and just say "Christmas" so much better than a plastic thing. I happen to be one of those strange people that likes the needles all over the place and the chore of watering it every day.

The good news is that it is also a really green thing to do. The plastics in the fakes are bad bad bad. The real trees eat up the CO2 happily, and if you are lucky enough to live in a place like North Carolina where there are literally hundreds of tree farms in the mountains, you can support a local farmer as well. Anna and I have been buying our tree from the same family for the last 3 years. They are "Mountain Advantage Tree Farm" and have sales locations in Holly Springs on the corner of Sunset Lake and Holly Springs Rd, as well as another on the corner of TenTen rd. and Holly Springs Rd. The one on Ten Ten is the best because they hand out hot apple cider while you wait for them to strap the tree to the roof of your car. I highly recommend them to anyone in the area.

Liquid Coal... BAD!!!

Possibly some may have heard of this stuff already, but there is a new technology out there called liquid coal, and it is really as bad as it sounds. The coal companies of course LOVE it and want to use it to replace gasoline. This would be bad. Check out the NRDC webpage for a pretty funny and sadly accurate little cartoon. This organization needs support so anything anyone can do will definitely help.

quick update

After a very busy last couple weeks, I finally have some time to update folks on things. We are still working on completing the business plan, but some real progress has been made. We are down to a few more sections and maybe one or two more trips to the library, then the editing begins, hopefully soon to be followed by starting the process of opening. We will keep you updated as things progress further.

Aside from all that, I did find this useful review of non-toxic paints on the green guide. Worth a look through for sure, and hopefully Green Home Headquarters will soon be the place to go for them instead of the Internet and the limited color choices that it provides.

I Love These Windows

Perfect for the central North Carolina climate. I hope to hear a lot more about these in the coming months. Flip it one way in the summer and the other in the winter. So much easier than putting in storm windows or plastic up or any of the other things we do to help hold heat in during the winter.

Something to share

Since I brought everyone down earlier, now I give you this. Good stuff, and pertinent subject matter I might add.

How Depressing

I found this article today, easily one of the more depressing things I have read in a while. Sorry to be a downer, they really make it sound like there is no hope. We all just have to do what we can.

Conserve Water Now!

The drought situation is getting very desperate in the Southeast, as evidenced by this blog entry on treehugger.com. People in Atlanta have even resorted to painting their lawns (wonder what kinds of chemicals are in THAT?). I would urge everyone to please, please conserve the most water you can. I know your lawn doesn't look nice when it's brown, but what's more important: a pretty lawn or clean clothes and dishes, drinking water and being able to flush the toilet? The Raleigh/Durham area is just as likely to be in Atlanta's situation in the near future.

Before you stock up for Halloween

Before you head to the store and buy the huge bags of candy, think for a second about where that candy is coming from. A lot of good things are mentioned here. It's looking like the kids in our neighborhood will be getting organic chocolate this year. My guess is that they will think it is weird because the wrapper isn't Hershey's, but once they try it they will like it just the same.

Solar Decathlon

I just found out about this a couple hours ago, but definitely want to go. The solar decathlon is going on this week in Washington DC. Looks like a lot of really interesting new ideas and things to see. I really want to get up there, but I'm not sure if I will be able to, but if you are in the DC area I would definitely recommend you check it out. And if you do, give us a report on it!