Jen's Green Journal

Parenting in Salt Lake City

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:09:43 GMT

I'm not the most consistent blogger. So it's kind of strange that I want to create other blogs, but the running dialog in my head these days tends to run more and more to parenting issues - but not just any kind of parenting issues. I'm not overly interested in discussions about playgroups or the latest products for kids. I want to explore the ideas of parenting and sustainability; parenting while living in city versus living in the suburbs; parenting and politics; parenting issues that don't traditionally come up in parenting forums or parenting media.

So here's the latest blog: Salt Lake City Mama

I hope that writing on this topic won't take away from my other blogging endeavors. There's still a big need for coverage on Utah and Salt Lake City politics and green issues.

Let's Talk About Sex (Ed.) on July 1st

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:38:17 GMT

UTAH, IT'S TIME FOR "THE TALK!"

>> FILM SCREENING + Q&A SESSION
>> TAKE ACTION & WIN PRIZES!

Hosted by the ACLU of Utah
with Planned Parenthood Action Council of Utah

Giving Iraqis a Stake in Peace

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 22:58:23 GMT

From DemocracyNow!

AMY GOODMAN: The Iraq war—your assessment of the Iraq war, from McCain’s comment, we’ll be there for a hundred years, Barack Obama not clear exactly how withdrawal would happen? And what would you do?

RALPH NADER: Six-month corporate and military withdrawal from Iraq, during which we negotiate with the Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis for modest autonomy, which they worked out in the 1950s before the dictators took over. Under a unified Iraq, continue humanitarian aid, some peacekeepers from nearby Islamic countries, and UN-sponsored elections. That’s the way you knock the bottom out of the insurgency. That’s the way you get the authority figures, the tribal leaders and the religious leaders and others, who still have authority over millions of Iraqis, to get together, because the alternative is constant bloodshed and civil strife. So you give them a stake by using the only chip we have, which is to give back Iraq to the Iraqis, including their oil. Now that—otherwise, it’s constant, constant strife.

More Nader on the differences between Nader, Obama and McCain can be found here.

Remember the California Blackouts?

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:53:52 GMT

Remember the effect of deregulation on California's energy markets? Will the Supreme Court validate the disastrous effects of that deregulation?

I received an interesting email recently from Howard Kaloogian, a former member of the California legislature. The following is a tad on the long side but well worth the read:

The U.S. Supreme Court is about to make its first decision
on the worst energy crisis in American history: The California energy crisis
of 2000-2001.

The legal repercussions of this decision could change the way
energy is bought and sold in America for generations. For good or bad.

As a former member of the California legislature when this
disaster of a law was passed unanimously (yes, I voted for it), I saw first
hand how bad regulators turned this consensus law into such an epic disaster.

Here's the crux of the story:: In 1996, the California legislature
“deregulated” the state's energy markets. (Ironically, the first act of
this “deregulation” was to impose price controls.)

Within five years of the “deregulation,” prices had exploded,
blackouts were common, and the state's largest utility went bankrupt after
wholesale prices rose to as high as seven times the retail price.

In that superheated environment, several large utilities in
the Western U.S. and the state of California entered into long term contracts
for energy - just as the price peaked.

Soon after, prices tumbled and some buyers - suffering buyer's
remorse -- claimed the high prices were the result of unlawful trading
- by Enron among others - and that the long-term contracts should be renegotiated.

And money refunded.

Some energy generators insisted their contracts were fairly negotiated
without coercion between sophisticated buyers and sellers. They were unable
to reach an agreement to change the contracts.

So the buyers asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to
rip up the expensive, long term contracts. The energy providers said that
the failure to maintain the sanctity of the contracts would wreak havoc
in the energy markets by introducing a dangerous element of uncertainty
into the creation of energy supplies.

About two years ago, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the
buyers and ordered FERC to modify the contracts. Soon after, the Supreme
Court agreed to hear the case on appeal. A recent Associated Press story
indicated the Supreme Court appears unwilling to invalidate the contracts.
But we will know one way or the other in the next few days.

This case was one of several that grew out of the energy crisis in California
and throughout the West during 2000-2001. In addition to the long-term
contract case before the Supreme Court, there are other proceedings in
which the state and the large utilities are seeking refunds for the high
price of energy purchased on the spot market during the crisis. To date,
the utilities have recovered about $6.2 million in refunds.

As a state legislator in California when this law was passed - I've seen
first hand how much damage this law - and even more importantly - its implementation
has done. And could continue to do if the Supreme Court does not reverse
the Ninth Circuit.

________________________
Here are some background links Mr. Kaloogian also sent:

HeraldNet: Supreme Court hears Snohomish County PUD case <http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080219/NEWS01/280030648>

Haas School: California Electricity Crisis
<http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/news/manifesto.html>

Panelists maintain support of energy deregulation, criticize Gov. Davis:

10/01 <http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2001/october24/energy-1024.html>

'Attorney Generals Office issues statement on wholesale energy rates <http://www.atg.wa.gov/pressrelease.aspx?id=18790

Between a Rock and Hard Place

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:39:03 GMT

It's a tough political world for us libs these days. On the one "side" of the aisle there's Warmonger McCain who plans to follow in Bush's steps for the most part, and the other mainstream choice is Barack Obama, whose less-than-liberal side is starting to show through now that Clinton is out of the race:

Demonstrating that this is no mere spring fling, he has appointed 37-year-old Jason Furman to head his economic policy team. Furman is one of Wal-Mart's most prominent defenders, anointing the company a "progressive success story." On the campaign trail, Obama blasted Clinton for sitting on the Wal-Mart board and pledged, "I won't shop there." For Furman, however, it's Wal-Mart's critics who are the real threat: the "efforts to get Wal-Mart to raise its wages and benefits" are creating "collateral damage" that is "way too enormous and damaging to working people and the economy more broadly for me to sit by idly and sing 'Kum-Ba-Ya' in the interests of progressive harmony." (Obama's Chicago Boys by Naomi Klein)

I truly sympathize with many Democrats: on the one hand, the Republicans have caused enormous damage to the constitution, and on the other hand the Democratic Party has been moving steadily to the right for many years. Every so often there's a big interest in joining the party to "change it from the inside", but it still remains"the party where progressive movements go to die" as the saying goes.

Voting for a truly progressive candidate like Cynthia McKinney (the former Democratic congresswoman who is likely to get the Green Party nomination - see video below) or Ralph Nader seems too risky after the destruction we've seen Bush cause in the last 8 years. I know that I would be mightily conflicted about who to vote for if I lived in a swing state. Thankfully I live in Utah, where I can vote my conscience, secure in the knowledge that our electoral votes will all be awarded to anyone with an "R" next to their name.

Trax to (finally) go to the airport

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 22:16:03 GMT

Mayor Becker signed an agreement yesterday with UTA that will get a Trax line to the airport via North Temple, which will become a tree-lined boulevard (eventually).

I applaud this move and I've been surprised at how long this has taken to get off the ground. It was part of the initial plans from UTA way back when Trax was on the ballot. It's a really a no-brainer for those of us who would like to see increased tourism and convention business to the city. I also love the idea of improvements along North Temple, which resembles West Valley more closely than the rest of SLC. But I'm most excited that we are finally building on North Temple which will be bringing easily usable mass-transit to the west side of Salt Lake City

Since you probably won't read about this in the mainstream media

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:21:26 GMT

There is one Democrat is Congress trying to do the right thing. If Bush's criminal abuses go unchecked, what happens when the next Republican or corrupt Democrat gets the White House?

Congressman Dennis Kucinich Introduced 35 Articles of Impeachment Against President Bush on Monday Night

The full text of the articles is available at:
http://chun.afterdowningstreet.org/amomentoftruth.pdf

Extensive documentation to accompany each article will be posted. Watch these websites:
http://kucinich.us
http://democrats.com
http://afterdowningstreet.org

Congressman Kucinich has laid out an extensive indictment of the president. Here is the index of article titles:

Article I
Creating a Secret Propaganda Campaign to Manufacture a False Case for War Against Iraq

Article II
Falsely, Systematically, and with Criminal Intent Conflating the Attacks of September 11, 2001, With Misrepresentation of Iraq as a Security Threat as Part of Fraudulent Justification for a War of
Aggression

Article III
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction, to Manufacture a False Case for War

Article IV
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Posed an Imminent Threat to the United States

Article V
Illegally Misspending Funds to Secretly Begin a War of Aggression

Article VI
Invading Iraq in Violation of the Requirements of HJRes114

Article VII
Invading Iraq Absent a Declaration of War.

Article VIII
Invading Iraq, A Sovereign Nation, in Violation of the UN Charter

Article IX
Failing to Provide Troops With Body Armor and Vehicle Armor

Article X
Falsifying Accounts of US Troop Deaths and Injuries for Political Purposes

Article XI
Establishment of Permanent U.S. Military Bases in Iraq

Article XII
Initiating a War Against Iraq for Control of That Nation's Natural Resources

Article XIIII
Creating a Secret Task Force to Develop Energy and Military Policies With Respect to Iraq and Other Countries

Article XIV
Misprision of a Felony, Misuse and Exposure of Classified Information And Obstruction of Justice in the Matter of Valerie Plame Wilson, Clandestine Agent of the Central Intelligence Agency

Article XV
Providing Immunity from Prosecution for Criminal Contractors in Iraq

Article XVI
Reckless Misspending and Waste of U.S. Tax Dollars in Connection With Iraq and US Contractors

Article XVII
Illegal Detention: Detaining Indefinitely And Without Charge Persons Both U.S. Citizens and Foreign Captives

Article XVIII
Torture: Secretly Authorizing, and Encouraging the Use of Torture Against Captives in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Other Places, as a Matter of Official Policy

Article XIX
Rendition: Kidnapping People and Taking Them Against Their Will to "Black Sites" Located in Other Nations, Including Nations Known to Practice Torture

Article XX
Imprisoning Children

Article XXI
Misleading Congress and the American People About Threats from Iran, and Supporting Terrorist Organizations Within Iran, With the Goal of Overthrowing the Iranian Government

Article XXII
Creating Secret Laws

Article XXIII
Violation of the Posse Comitatus Act

Article XXIV
Spying on American Citizens, Without a Court-Ordered Warrant, in Violation of the Law and the Fourth Amendment

Article XXV
Directing Telecommunications Companies to Create an Illegal and Unconstitutional Database of the Private Telephone Numbers and Emails of American Citizens

Article XXVI
Announcing the Intent to Violate Laws with Signing Statements

Article XXVII
Failing to Comply with Congressional Subpoenas and Instructing Former Employees Not to Comply

Article XXVIII
Tampering with Free and Fair Elections, Corruption of the Administration of Justice

Article XXIX
Conspiracy to Violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Article XXX
Misleading Congress and the American People in an Attempt to Destroy Medicare

Article XXXI
Katrina: Failure to Plan for the Predicted Disaster of Hurricane Katrina, Failure to Respond to a Civil Emergency

Article XXXII
Misleading Congress and the American People, Systematically Undermining Efforts to Address Global Climate Change

Article XXXIII
Repeatedly Ignored and Failed to Respond to High Level Intelligence Warnings of Planned Terrorist Attacks in the US, Prior to 911.

Article XXXIV
Obstruction of the Investigation into the Attacks of September 11, 2001

Article XXXV
Endangering the Health of 911 First Responders

The full text of the articles is available at:
http://chun.afterdowningstreet.org/amomentoftruth.pdf

Here's a video of Kucinich beginning his presentation on the floor:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDZ8seg4Nr4

What you can do:

Email your Representatives to support Kucinich's Articles of Impeachment

Call your Representative at 202-224-3121

Call your favorite talk shows and tell everyone who supports impeachment to sign the petition at Democrats.com

http://www.democrats.com/35-articles-of-impeachment

Putting the Fun back into Fundraiser

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:58:03 GMT

On June 6th, we're having the biggest party that Drinking Liberally has ever had. This is a fundraiser for our local chapter as well as the national Living Liberally organization to spread the liberal gospel from sea to shining sea. Living Liberally has grown quite a bit since hiring a full time employee (with interns), and there are now Eating Liberally, Reading Liberally, Screening Liberally, and Laughing Liberally chapters across the nation (and even other nations).

And speaking of Laughing Liberally: a LL comedian, Lee Camp, will be headlining our June 6th party. Lee is a regular on the Huffington Post, and has also appeared on Fox News where he called the station a "a parade of propaganda, a festival of ignorance". More on Lee here: http://drinkingliberallyslc.org/2008/05/27/laughing-liberally-at-drinking-liberallys-party-and-fundraiser/

Emceeing our June 6th event is Senator Scott McCoy, with our "Bush in 6 words" contest being judged by Representative Christine Johnson. We'll have music by Syqnys Melody of Madnys (http://www.myspace.com/syqnys), and the improv comedy group 3.2 (like the beer, for you Utah newbies) who will be doing their best to make some of this year's candidates seem like they have a sense of humor. http://www.3point2Improv.com

It'll be a helluva fun night, so pray about it and then gather your friends and join us for drinks and good times. Here are some of the details:
Date: Friday June 6th, doors open at 7:00.
Location: The Warehouse: 1130 South Richards Street (between Main & W. Temple) parking & entrance in the back (West Temple side).

Tickets: Choose your level of Drinking Liberalness!
Shooter - $20 admittance + 1 drink
Chugger - $35 admittance + 2 drinks & 2 DL Coasters
Keg Stander - $50 admittance + 2 drinks & DL Glass

For more details and to purchase tickets in advance, go to our website: http://drinkingliberallyslc.org

Spread the word, liberally!

Video from Salt Blog

Thu, 29 May 2008 23:06:59 GMT

Thanks to Brian Staker at City Weekly who also was at yesterday's mini-protest near the Bush luncheon in the Avenues. My post about this protest can be found here.

Tribune says there was only 500 -- everyone else I've seen, including my own est. say 2000

Thu, 29 May 2008 03:31:49 GMT

Fewer protesters turn out for Bush's fourth visit

"The crowd in Salt Lake City appeared to be a little more than 500 strong, and a sister protest in Park City, where Bush was staying overnight Wednesday, drew several hundred more. "

Um yeah -- and Iraq had WMDs too. Where was this guy standing? Maybe someone should have told him the rally was on the west side of Washington Square -- not the east side.

Most of the other counts I've seen so far have been around 2000. My own estimate, before seeing other estimates was about 2500. Not a bad number for a short notice rally held during dinner and rush hour time.

Protesting Bush and his lunch guests

Wed, 28 May 2008 22:46:26 GMT

I had originally planned to protest at the Grand America where Bush had originally been scheduled to have lunch with the Utah "Haves and Have Mores" aka his base. We had heard the location had changed, but weren't sure whether or not to believe it -- was it a diversionary tactic? But I received an address this morning, so after waiting at the meeting spot for 1/2 hour for whoever showed up, we headed up to the Avenues. Sure enough, the address I received was correct. Two large homes on A Street were swarming with cops, Secret Service and loads of Republican-looking folks - suits, ties and big hair and make-up.

Because of a city ordinance that forbids protesting within 100 feet of someone's home, we couldn't just hold our signs. We had to keep walking. Bush hadn't arrived yet, and we were told by police that when the time came the area would be "locked down" and we would all be moved away from the area. We were there before noon and for the next two hours the lunch guests arrived and there was a full valet parking staff on hand to take care of their mostly large automobiles.

We saw Governor Huntsman come out of the second house and leave long before Bush arrived. A few houses down across the street belonged to a fellow liberal. I helped some of his neighbors erect a large Obama sign on the lawn where it would be sure to be seen and we mostly hung out on their parking strip. Around 2 p.m. or so, the police informed us that they were preparing to "lock down" the area. We had hoped to camp out in the neighbor's yard which they said we could do, but once we got in lock down, we wouldn't be able to leave until Bush did -- we were told that if we even stepped on the sidewalk we'd be arrested. The police didn't know how long the lock down would last, and since I had a kid in daycare that I'd need to get out eventually, I decided to leave and hoped to find a spot on the motorcade route to continue my protest.

I found that spot on First Avenue and A Street. The Salt Lake City police were very friendly and open about what would happen when. I met a few other protesters with signs. We waited for about an hour for the motorcade to drive by. I made sure I was in plain view of the limo wearing my blue "IMPEACH" shirt and holding my sign that read "Neo-cons = Endless War" and I didn't give into temptation to use my middle finger. Instead, I held the peace sign up high. One of the protesters next to me noticed that Bush had been waving out the window, but I hadn't seen any supporters on that street.

Now it's time to get ready to go to Rocky's rally -- I'm glad someone put something big together, but I'm equally glad that I got to protest in a much more direct way today as well.

Free Speech time - Bush to visit Salt Lake

Fri, 23 May 2008 19:14:04 GMT

Is there a chance to correct the wrongs of the Bush Admin.? It seems unlikely, but it also seems that we as citizens must do whatever we can to (at the very least) express ourselves to the person who heads up this war-mongering administration. He may be too stubborn to see the errors of his ways, but we need to try to communicate with him as well as we can. History won't be kind to him as more and more of the corruption and greed becomes apparent. History won't be kind to us, either, if we allow a this man the opportunity to destroy our constitution and other countries and people without so much as a whimper of protest.

Wednesday May 28th

Lunch Time (11:00? on ? no times have been published)

Bush will be at a fundraising lunch for McCain at the Grand America (according to SL Trib, location may be changed -- or it that just to discourage people from showing up to express their problems with Bu$h and Co?). My guess is that there will be at least a few people there to protest.

5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Organized rally by Rocky and others, featuring Daniel Ellsberg (of the Pentagon Papers fame), Marshall Thomspon (of a Soldier's Peace Fame) and others. More info: here.

Early evening (no times published)

Fundraising event at Mitt Romney's Utah house. No idea where that may be.

Thursday

Bush will be meeting in the a.m. with leaders of the LDS church -- no times published.

Looking for a way to work for peace

Fri, 23 May 2008 15:45:37 GMT

It was sometime in late 2001 or early 2002. I was on the internet and came across some photos of injured Afghan children who had be hurt during the U.S. bombing of a wedding in Afghanistan. The children were being treated by doctors and were in agony. Those photos were incredibly powerful. That's when I made a vow that I would do whatever I could to stop war.

Somewhere along the way I've broken that vow. Somewhere along the way I got discouraged, acting as if I have given up. Somewhere along the way I've accepted that my country is a blood-thirsty county and I'm powerless to stop it's bloody rampage across the globe.

I need to get busy, I need to get back on task.

Here's where I get stuck: I need a game plan, a plan of action. I will continue to attend rallies and write letters, but I want to move in another direction, one that may be more effective.

I'm feeling like I need to be part of a Peace Think Tank -- to bounce ideas and strategies off other peace-minded folks. Go beyond the rally/protest model. I've read of liberal intellectual groups that used to meet during the 60s and I wish we had something like that here and now.

I've been in a very contemplative mood while I ponder what I can do. I've picked up again a book I didn't finish a couple of years ago, Stop the Next War Now, which has some ideas. Any other book suggestions that would help me move forward would be appreciated.

On a related note, I understand the the War-Criminal-In-Chief will be in town next Wednesday to lunch with the "haves and have mores" at the Grand America before heading up to Mitt Romney's Utah house in the evening. I understand that Rocky Anderson is organizing some type of event on Wednesday early evening. I wonder if anyone will show up earlier to the lunching location to confront this person who had unleashed so much evil in the world a little more directly.

Trying to direct web traffic

Tue, 20 May 2008 17:43:12 GMT

My 20 year reunion is coming up this year - and a friend who lives out of town was wondering when and where it would be held. So yesterday I did a google search in an attempt to find out.

Most of the top entries seemed to be informational, but once I got on the site it seemed as if these sites exist just to make money. To get any reunion info, you have to pay a membership fee to the site. There's no guarantee that even once you join there will be any info on our particular reunion.

Much further searching revealed the official site through its "In Memorium" page which was a depressing way to find out about the 20 year reunion.

The purpose of this post is to drive the official site up higher on searches so that people wont' get hoodwinked into spending money on these sites.

So please forgive the personal and un-political, un-green nature of this post.

http://highland88.com

Highland High School Class of 1988 Salt Lake City rams 20 year reunion

Earth Month is over for another year -- how did I do this past year?

Fri, 02 May 2008 22:05:21 GMT

Just wanted to write down my eco-improvements over the last year. I still have quite a way to go, but I've also come a long way. Here are the green things I've done from April 2007 to April 2008:

Got my daughter in a daycare close to home and started walking 4-5 days a week to work (a bad winter with a couple of falls on unshovelled sidewalks had me taking Trax through much of the winter).
My husband and I bought large hooks which he installed on our bathroom wall. There's one for each of us, and we each get one towel to use for the whole week. It's helped us cut back on laundry.
Bought a bike, helmet and lock and will be using it shortly.
Helped lead a book group that explored the environmental impacts of our food choices, which has helped inspire me to eat more vegan meals (I've been a lacto-ovo vegetarian for 13 and a half years).
Have a complete set of reusable grocery bags and have been making improvements on remembering to use them.
Made a concerted effort to wear items of clothing (with the exception of underwear and socks) at least twice before putting it in the wash.
Purchased our first ever CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share and will be picking up a friend's CSA share as well this summer to save car trips.
Purchased and have been using a stainless steel drinking bottle, and despite my fears of over-fluoridation have been drinking more tap water. (Gotta save up for a purifier that takes the fluoride out . . .)

Much still to do, gotta get busy!

We broke it, but you have to fix it

Thu, 01 May 2008 20:19:24 GMT

This story just came up on Yahoo! and I had to comment:

Senate panel votes to block money for Iraq reconstruction.

"The efforts are part of the latest push on Capitol Hill to get Iraq to spend more of its own money and spare U.S. taxpayers. Democrats and many Republicans say it is unfair that Iraq is looking at pulling in as much as $70 billion in oil revenues this year while Americans grapple with soaring fuel prices at the pump."

Umm, excuse me? Who's idea was it to bomb the hell out of the country? Yup, it was us. Sorry folks, you wanna go to war, you gotta pay for it. War is expensive, and the 60% or so that were in favor of going to war back in 2003 can't complain now. The least we can do is fix what we've broken. Too bad we can't compensate the Iraqis for the over 600,000 deaths that were caused by our blood-lust.

And what's with the "poor us" stuff? We have only ourselves to blame for our fuel woes. We haven't planned for alternative energy, just gobbled up more than our fair share of the world's finite oil supplies. We tore down railroad tracks and built roads. We gave up smaller cars for SUVs and Hummers and haven't complained when congress won't hold our automobile companies to higher fuel standards. We gave up walkable communities for urban sprawl and small homes for McMansions miles from grocery stores. I could go on all day.

I usually cringe when the Republicans talk about personal responsibility (mostly cause they only apply it to the underprivleged) but I gotta say that it's time that we take responsibilty - both for the war in Iraq and for our own wastefully oil consumption.

The Poor Green's Bible

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 22:25:31 GMT

I've been an amateur environmentalist since childhood -- moved in my earliest years by the commercials with the Native American man looking on while we trash our environment with a tear running down his cheek and also by the "Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute" public service messages. I was about 5 months old on the first Earth Day and I won my first prize (3rd place) in 1st grade by drawing a picture with pollution and titled "The world needs more clean air" for a Reflections contest with the theme "What the World Needs Now."

A lot has changed since then. Now the green movement is becoming mainstream, which has its upside and downside (but mostly up).

As the movement becomes trendier, lower middle-class to poor greens are starting to feel left out. We can't afford clothing made with bamboo fiber or hybrid cars or energy star homes. I took an online test to see how green I was and did rather poorly, because the test was geared to people who buy green (consumption!) and totally leaves out those of us who are reducing our footprint by reducing and reusing. My family, for instance purchases almost all our clothing second hand. While I'm glad that eco-friendly products are becoming more widely available, I'd like to acknowledge those who consume less or reuse more before those who buy the latest green goods.

That's why I love the book The Complete Tightwad Gazette. I'm not an especially frugal person, but I find (as the author does on page 222) that there's a lot of overlap between tightwaddery and green living. The Complete Tightwad Gazette has great ideas on how to reduce and reuse, and if nothing else inspires me to come up with my own creative solutions. I like to think of this book as the "Poor Green's Bible".

Even those with plenty of money could always use some tips on reducing consumption!

Happy Earth Day!

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:47:43 GMT

Happy Earth Day!

Carlessness is fun in the spring

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 16:28:10 GMT

I'm feeling especially happy about walking these days.

In the winter I got tired of trying to traverse all the ice on sidewalks which was especially bad this year since we had so many snow storms. After taking two falls on unshovelled walks that had turned into solid ice, I ended up spending most of the rest of the winter taking Trax with the occasional walk home from work.

I'm now back to walking to and from, and I'm now doing so every day with the exception of every other Thursday when my job requires me to have the car.

I'm especially enjoying the 2 walk block to my 4-year-old's pre-school. Now that it's spring there's so much to look at and talk about. We've seen little buds appearing on branches one day, and tiny leaves sprout out of those buds the next. We noticed that daffodils came out first, followed by the tulips. This morning we noticed some wildflowers, and even more wonderful -- the blossoms on cherry trees are now out. Even though we are paying quite a bit more to have her at this daycare near our home, these walks make it so worth it.

Some of the walking challenges at this time of year include trying to predict the weather -- it can sometimes be hot enough that a jacket is a burden when I walk home in the evening,, or cold and windy ( and a couple of times it has even snowed) when a winter coat is more appropriate. I'm trying to remember a sun hat and a knit hat daily, trying to protect my skin from excessive sun or my ears from cold wind depending on what's happening. I also just bought some facial suncreen from Alba which is paraben free.

Utah CSAs -- Support Local Agriculture

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 23:07:50 GMT

Supporting local agriculture is a no-brainer for most greenies. The average distance an item of food on your plate has traveled is approx. 1500 miles -- that's an awful lot of fossil fuels. Supporting local agriculture is also an investment in the future. As we reach and pass peak oil, it's simply going to cost too much to import all of our food.

CSAs - Community Supported Agriculture allows consumers to team up with individual farms. You pay up front for a share. The farmer uses the money to buy seeds and materials to grow that season. You get weekly or monthly boxes of food - very fresh food as most farmers will pick your food the day before or the morning of your share delivery.

Here's a listing of area CSA farmers that are selling shares:

East Farms http://www.eastfarms.net/
Share price: $395 full/$205 half
Feeds: half feeds 1-3
Weeks: 18 (Jun-Oct)
SLC pick up: yes

Borski Farms http://www.borskifarms.org/csa.html
Share price: $190 full
Feeds: 2 adults
Weeks: 15 (Jul-Oct)
SLC pick up: yes

Copper Moose Farm http://coppermoosefarm.com
Share price: $800 vegetable
Feeds: family of 4
Weeks: $800 vegetable
SLC pick up: no - Park City only

Bell Organics 801-571-7288
Share price: $800 full/$400 half
Feeds:full 4-5; half 2-3
Weeks: approx. 20
SLC pick up: Draper (may have SLC pickup)

Zoe's Garden http://www.zoegarden.com
Share price: $736 -$2182 (3 share sizes)
Feeds:full 4-5; half 2-3
Weeks: approx. 20
SLC pick up: yes

In addition, the Crossroads Community Co-op offers a "Farmer's Market Share" which is usually available June through October. 2007 prices were $18 a month for about 1 to 1 1/2 weeks worth of mostly vegetables. Crossroads co-op info available at http://www.crossroads-u-c.org/cfc/

UPDATE: Thank you Brian of Brian's Utah Weblog for posting this in the comments:

Chad's winter CSA

Chad Midgley of Davis County is running a winter CSA. There are lots of frost-sweetened root vegetables, leeks, overwintering Utah apples, hardy greens, winter squash, and organic produce from warmer neighboring states. Also, the best fresh farm eggs in the state from actual well-loved pet hens. He's at chadsproduce@gmail.com .

It's a little late to sign up for a Winter CSA, but you can visit the stand.

Every Winter and Spring Saturday he sells produce in front of Avenues Bakery 500 E South Temple in Salt Lake city from 10 till 2. It's like getting farmers' market veggies early in the Spring. Ask to sign up for email alerts.

Happy Earth Month

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 23:08:31 GMT

It's April once again and again I will be ramping up my green efforts and looking for new ways to live even greener. I'll be posting all about those efforts during the month.

Today's Good Green Thing: Watched the film "The Future of Food" -- it has energized me to be less haphazard about my food activism and personal shopping habits. If you have kids or care about what happens to the human race, this film is terrifying, but very important. We all need to be aware of the corporate domination of the food supply so we can work against it.

Bulk - Better Way to Buy

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 20:09:28 GMT

I've been buying more and more items bulk these days -- it makes me crazy to think how much plastic packaging we are using. I wish more items than are available at Wild Oats/Whole Foods were available in bulk. I opened an email recently from Earth Goods General Store that announced bulk buying of household products:

"Earth Goods is sourcing larger quantities of useful products in order to pass on “bulk” savings to you. Visit our store with an old bottle or container you’d like to repurpose or reuse. Don’t have one? No problem! We have a variety of low-cost, refillable containers you can use to dispense just the right amount for you of your favorite items like:

bath and body shower gels
bath salts
laundry detergents
all-purpose cleaners
bathroom cleaners
castille soaps"

Earth Goods is located at 1249 S. 900 E. in Salt Lake City.

Trying a new look

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:19:43 GMT

It's been a while since I've toyed with the look of this blog/journal. This look is a bit messier than I usually like, but I think I'd like to try it for a while. It also looks great with all my sunflower user pics . . .

Livejournal is sponsoring a style contest and it's possible something even more interesting will come out of that.

Setting Green Goals for Earth Month

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 20:07:15 GMT

Let's see -- I've already changed all my light bulbs for compact fluorescents, cut waaaay back on using the car, cut meat out of my diet (years ago), we use environmentally friendly products, buy 93% of my (and family's) clothing at thrift stores, buy wind-power shares for our electricity use, recycle, buy bulk when possible -- now it's time to up my green-ness to the next level. My plans for Earth Month include:

1. Tuning up and start using the bike I bought off Craig's List last fall -- I haven't owned a bike since I was in my early 20s and I'm hoping the old saying is true, that I'll remember how to do it once I get on it. I know that there's someone just a few miles from my house that tunes bikes up for about $15 at his home. Just need to find him again.

2. Continue to down-size our "stuff" -- even just holding on to it all can keep me in the materialism world. I've been giving some stuff away on freecycle, and will continue to do so.

3. Turn off computer strip when not using the computer and the strip for T.V. -- I keep forgetting about this one.

4. Purchase a wheeled basket/cart to carry groceries in -- I keep taking the car to do the shopping because I don't want to walk the groceries home and do damage to my back. I see older people with this type of thing and I'd like to have one, too. Hope it doesn't make me look too old . . .

I'm sure I'll add more goals as it gets closer to April. Always looking for good suggestions -- what green goals are you working toward?

Just Say Yes

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 17:28:31 GMT

If you need a laugh today, watch this clip. Very clever editing, especially for the time period.