Welcome to Carnival of the Green #184, which is organized by Treehugger.com. To find out more information about this Carnival and how to host and submit, then please go here. Last week’s excellent carnival was at ooffoo, and next week’s host is The Daily (Maybe). This is my second Carnival of the Green—my first (#125), can be found here.

From how to collect and save rainwater to information on various environmental issues, this Carnival yields a lot of useful information. Being a do-it-yourselfer or living a more efficient lifestyle that saves money and resources will allow future generations to thrive in a healthy environment with readily accessible resources. In Carnival of the Green #184, several bloggers share interesting information on various projects that save money and resources. Furthermore, these projects are an excellent educational opportunity for adults, young adults, and children.



Rain Barrels

1. Matt at fivecentnickel.com presents “Save Money (and Water!) With a Rain Barrel.” In his post, Matt highlights several benefits that rain barrels provide, and he explains why this method of storing water can save municipalities money:
   

   Rainwater collection systems don’t just benefit individuals — they benefit local communities, as well. This is especially true in areas where storm sewers and sanitary sewers are still combined; by collecting rainwater, you can reduce the load on your local water treatment facilities.

2. Jim Wang at Bargaineering.com highlights rain barrel construction in “Poor Man’s Guide to Rain Barrels.” In addition to video, pictures, and other information Jim notes:
   

   Don’t want to build your own and don’t want to spend $80+ on one? I don’t blame you, the next best thing you can do is simply leave some buckets outside! Simple right? At the moment, we keep a bunch of buckets outside so that when it rains, the buckets are being filled. This is a simple solution because it takes advantage of containers you already have. The downside of this solution is that it doesn’t look very attractive and it’s not very efficient.

Homemade Jam

3. Neighbor Nancy presents a recipe to make jam in “How To Make Jam — A Beginner Tutorial” posted at Recession Depression Therapy. According to Nancy:
   

   Simple jam made without store bought pectin requires only three ingredients: fruit, sugar, lemon juice. Simple and inexpensive, particularly if you are growing your own fruit.

   Making your own preserves is one of those projects that you end up saying, ” Wow! I didn’t know it was that simple.” It is.

Homemade Organic Wine

4. Free Organic News shows us how to make damson wine and elderberry wine in “Make Organic Drinks” posted at Free Organic News. According to Free Organic News:
   

   It is always more pleasurable and satisfying to eat and drink something that you’ve grown or made yourself.

   Home-made drinks are a delicious way of enjoying a plentiful crop of fruits, or making something special and a little different for yourself or for guests or a present for someone.

   It’s best to use seasonal produce to get the best quality and flavors.

The Future of Transportation

5. Ooffoo checked out some alternative fuel vehicles at the Revolve Eco-Rally 2009 and declared, “the future of personal travel certainly looks unavoidably to be a mix of hybrid and electric.”

Commute by Bike

6. Wren Caulfield presents “Safety First: Bike Safety for Commuters. The post includes resources and recommended books, and it is posted at True Adventures in Money Hacking.

Energy

7. KuleKat presents “What To Look For When Buying Low Energy Light Bulbs” posted at KuleKat.com. KuleKat gives a comprehensive look at CFLs and LEDs. Here is a snippet:
   

   In terms of purchase price and availability, CFLs are the cheaper option and having been around longer are more plentiful. Compared to incandescent bulbs, CFL are about 4 times cheaper to run and last longer, but given that they are also presently twice as expensive to buy, many wonder at the true savings to be had with CFLs.

Vegetarianism

8. Travis presents Vegetarianism posted at Personal Web Guide. Travis, who went “from being a meat eater to a vegetarian overnight,” explains why vegetarianism isn’t nonsense. He also notes that as a vegetarian, he “wasn’t cutting back on what [he] was eating; [he] was actually expanding it in a lot of ways.”

Gardening and gathering

9. Gregory E. Rouse presents Raised Bed Garden Mounds posted at Raised-Bed-Gardening Blog. Gregory provides some guidelines for growing vegetables indoors:
   

   The size of your pots will also determine your choice of plant, choose containers big enough for the plants full growth. Small root crops such as radishes and onions are great choices, and there are even small root carrots available. Herbs are a popular choice because they are compact and do not need much space. Miniature varieties of tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant can also thrive inside when given the proper care.



10. Catherine explains why bees are important in “Local Bees Need Your Help To Make Onions! posted at Eco Friendly House And Garden.” On a similar note, Goo presents “Bee Boxes | sustainablelivingproject.co.uk” posted at sustainablelivingproject.co.uk. From Catherine’s post:
    

    We can stimulate pollination ourselves if necessary, but it takes a lot longer and is nowhere near as effective long term. There is for example a town in China where villagers have to rub feathers across all their pear trees to make sure that they produce fruit – as they killed off all their own bees with pesticides.

11. Here’s an interesting idea: Hedgerow pesto. Goo presents Hedgerow Pesto posted at sustainablelivingproject.co.uk. Apparently, it is possible to find “a rich [and yummy] supply of organically grown weeds” as alternatives to basil for making pesto. One such alternative is “garlic mustard or jack-by-the hedge, [and] it’s edible leaves can be used in salads, wilted like spinach or ground into pesto.” Visit Goo to learn how to make the pesto and for other practical advice.
12. Goo also provides us with some other links: “Counting Nature and Fedging the Issue,” “Anyone for Comfrey Tea?,” and “World Hunger, Eating the Floor and Happy Stomachs” posted at sustainablelivingproject.co.uk.

GreenTravel

13. Catherine also presents If You Like Pandas – What Are You Doing To Help Them? posted at Eco Holidays and “If You Like Somewhere – Vote With Your Feet” posted at Green Holidays.

Recycling

14. Do you have questions about recycling tetrapak cartons? Mrs. Green at My Zero Waste puts all your questions to Jenny Walden, National Recycling Officer for Tetra Pak UK and Ireland. Read her answers and submit your own questions here.

Green Consumerism

15. So you think that cotton, bamboo, soy, and tencel yarns are more earth-friendly than synthetic fibers such as polyester, nylon, and acrylic? Mrs. Green was “fortunate enough to interview Ruth Henriquez Lyon from Paloma textiles, who is passionate about eco friendly yarns.”
16. Guffly presents “Jewelery that Turns You Green“ posted at Guffly. The post isn’t about “cheapo jewelery that turns your skin green after wearing it, [but] . . . fine jewelery with an eco-conscious and people-friendly purpose.”
17. Lastly in green consumerism, Laurel presents “GoodGuide, Green Product Ratings” posted at Green Thinking Blog. Laurel’s post highlights “GoodGuide.com, [a website that] . . . rates green, natural, and healthy products on a 0-10 scale (0 is the worst and 10 is the best).”

Environment in general

18. Surbhi Bhatia presents “Our Environment And Us“ posted at The Viewspaper » The Viewspaper.



19. Sadie Kneidel discusses the recent declaration by the U.N. to ban plastic bags at Veggie Revolution:
    

    A global bag ban may be a godsend for coast-dwelling humans and animals alike. Pilot fee-per-bag programs in countries as disparate as China and Ireland have already reduced bag consumption by as much 90%. A total ban could accomplish even more. San Francisco is the first city in the US to institute a successful bag ban, although measures are in progress in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

20. One solution to the above problem: Reusable vegetable bags. Michele at A House Called Nut provides a tutorial on constructing a drawstring bags from a sturdy burlap sack in order to replace plastic produce bags.
21. Kate presents “5 Things that do NOT Contribute to Saving the Earth while Camping” posted at Green Thinking Blog. In sharing “5 things that you should not do while you are camping,” Kate observes that “a two day trip could easily contribute to 50 pounds+ of garbage in a landfill.”

Socially and Environmentally Responsible Investing

22. Tyler discusses “My Journey to Become a Green Investor – Part 4: The Final Decision” posted at Frugally Green.

Climate Change

23. Don Bosch in “The Speech is a failure – climate change not mentioned once,” discusses President Barack Obama’s Speech in Cairo and his concerns over the President “never bring[ing] up the greatest crisis of all time” at The Evangelical Ecologist. Here is a snippet:
    

    In this vein he covers women’s rights, education, religious and political freedom, and economic development. He mentions green technology and alternative energy in passing. But he never brings up the greatest crisis of all time. The challenge that, as the UN puts it, defines us as human beings. The thing that the former head of the UN says kills hundreds of thousands of people each year, and threatens to ultimately destroy the planet.



Sustainability

24. The Triple Pundit in “Bloomberg vs. Newsom: The Debate Over Green Building,” discusses renovating the Empire State Building versus constructing a new government building in San Francisco—so what’s more sustainable: building new or retrofitting old? A taste:
    

    The question, however, remains. Monolithic buildings with cutting-edge green technology, LEED certifications and huge press coverage no doubt inspire the masses to “go green.” But does all this cacophonous progress bode well with the underlying goal of the sustainability movement, which is to conserve that which already exists and to avoid the creation of new, unnecessary stuff? Do big examples breed small changes? Or do small changes make big examples?

Recommended Blogs

25. Kate also presents “Getting Back to Green” from the Green Thinking Blog. At this post, you will find an amazing dragonfly picture in addition to some recommended blogs.

Here are the top five Best Green Tweets of the week: #bestgreentweets

Many thanks to all the folks that participated in this Carnival of the Green!

If you find a mistake or a bad link, then shoot me an email, and I will fix the problem ASAP!

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