Have you ever tried finding truly biodegradable trash bags?

Plastic Biodegradable Bags by "Green Genius"

Well look no more, we found an amazing product made by a wonderfully green US company. Sam Paul was a business owner who sold traditional plastic bags until his kids convinced him to re-think plastic trash bags and find a greener alternative.

Sam rounded up a team of “Green Geniuses” and got to work inventing a biodegradable trash bag that had the strength and price of regular trash bags. About five years after his kids got him thinking about it, the “Green Genius” company was born.

The Green Genius Range of Bags

I found the Green Genius folks whilst searching my Twitter account, I noticed lots of green tips from the Green Genius tweeters and saw an offer to get a free sample of their biodegradable trash bags… Needless to say I signed up just about as fast as I could type in my details! My next step was to keep browsing their very interesting website, they have lots of information on how their biodegradable plastic works and I found the whole site easy to navigate.

Check out the Green Genius website here;

Checkout the Green Genius Website

Americans use 3 billion pounds of plastic bags annually, the vast majority of which end up in landfills.

This figure truly inspired the Green Genius team to find a biodegradable plastic that really worked so that consumers could buy strong plastic bags guaranteed to break down in a landfill leaving no trace of plastic behind. The solution they found was a plastic bag that is completely edible by microbes.

Step One: They combine plastic with a proprietary additive called EcoPure that bonds organic “nutrients” to the plastic’s molecular structure. The addition of this additive allows the plastic to be eaten by microbes, making the whole bag biodegradable.
Step Two: Whenever a Green Genius plastic bag is disposed of in a microbe-rich environment like a landfill, the microbes are attracted to the embedded “nutrients” in the plastic.
Step Three: Microbes feed on the nutrients, which actually converts the plastic into simpler organic matter like sugars, fatty acids and amino acids.
Step Four: The bag is now entirely edible by microbes, which attracts even more microbes, and a feast ensues!
Step Five: Microbes continue to feed until only the simplest organic matter remains — water, bio-gas (carbon dioxide and methane) and bio-mass (humus).

The biodegradability of these wonderfully eco-friendly bags was determined by the ASTM D-5511 test, for our boffin readers here is the lab report summary:

Treated Green Genius trashbags when tested by ASTM D 5511, which determines anaerobic biodegradation of plastic materials under high solid anaerobic digestion conditions, were found to be biodegradable. This procedure simulates the conditions that would be in a properly operated landfill treating pre-treated household waste as a sole substrate.

Not only are they biodegradable but the Green Genius drawstring trash bags contain 40% recycled plastic content and are still “ridiculously strong”. In fact, their bags match or exceed the puncture resistance of the national brands.
We ordered a big box of the Green Genius tall kitchen bags from Amazon.com and can’t wait to get them and start filling them safe in the knowledge that they will completely biodegrade once they reach the landfill. You can buy your own Green Genius bags on Amazon, see below;

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Emily Longway
Email: emily@thegreengenius.com
Phone: 415.680.8050
www.biodegradablog.com
www.thegreengenius.com

Andi Larson
Email: andi@thegreengenius.com
Blogger, Green Genius
www.biodegradablog.com
www.thegreengenius.com

GET YOUR FREE BAG SAMPLES:
http://www.thegreengenius.com/sample/

I don’t know how to get fresh produce delivered yet, but I will make it my green mission to find out more about locally delivered fresh fruit and vegetables!

Completely by chance, after a conversation with Carter, I learned that such programs are collectively known as Community Supported Agriculture or CSA’s for short.

Community Supported Agriculture - Fresh Produce Delivered Weekly

Community Supported Agriculture is becoming a more and more popular way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from farmers.
The idea is that a local farmer offers a certain number of “shares” to the public. Typically the share consists of a box of vegetables, but other farm products may be included such as fresh eggs, goats cheese etc. Local residents purchase a “share” and in return receive a healthy crate of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season which varies depending on your location.

CSA’s have lots of benefits for all involved…

Advantages for farmers:

1/ Get to spend time marketing the food early in the year, before their 16 hour days in the field begin
2/ Receive payment early in the season, which helps with the farm’s cash flow
3/ Have an opportunity to get to know the people who eat the food they grow

Advantages for you:

1/ Eat ultra-fresh food, with all the flavor and vitamin benefits
2/ Get exposed to new vegetables and new ways of cooking
3/ Usually get to visit the farm at least once a season
4/ Find that kids typically favor food from “their” farm – even veggies they’ve never been known to eat
5/ Develop a relationship with the farmer who grows their food and learn more about how food is grown

You can search for Community Supported Agriculture programs nearest to you using the LocalHarvest search tool below;

Enter Your Zip Code or City Below to Find a Local CSA:

Once you’ve found a local CSA program you can contact them and see how that particular program works.
I am going to try one of the local Texas CSA’s and get fresh fruit and vegetables delivered weekly, we’re excited about using the fresh local produce. We’re going to create recipes each week which make the best use of the seasonal fruits and vegetables and hopefully write some follow on articles with those recipes included.

Here are a few of my local CSA’s and their details;

1/ SqueezePenny Farms CSA

SqueezePenny Farms CSA

2/ Humble Beginnings Farm CSA(February-November)

Humble Beginnings CSA

1. Reel Lawn Mowers: What is that? Well reel lawn mowers are muscle-powered, no engine required. Using them not only conserves energy but also helps keep the air cleaner!

2. Cut Back on Lawn Space: If you have a large front or back yard, you might consider filling the space with more areas that do not require mowing, wildflower beds, rock gardens, native ornamental grass beds or a even a fish pond. Lawns require more watering than planting beds. In watering planting beds comprised of individual plants, you can target the watering better (using drip irrigation, for instance), thereby promoting water conservation.

3. Reducing Chemical Herbicides: Ralph Waldo Emerson once said ” What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered” Indeed, one of the best chemical-free approaches to weed control may simply be to control our intolerance toward weeds. If we re-evaluate the weeds in our yards, seeing if maybe we might have overlooked the “virtue” here or there.

4. Edible Landscaping: Blueberry bushes, fruit trees, edible “weeds”. From berry bushes to Apple trees and even in the case of some weeds, incorporating edible plants in your yard can be one of the simplest and practical ways to be eco-friendly with your landscaping.

With just a little bit of work and some of these tips, I bet I could start making my yard and landscape even “Greener” than it was last spring. If you have some tips for a “Greener” yard, let us know.

Organic in the City

I am beginning a new painting called “Zebra Longwings” which I will be donating to the Texas Discovery Gardens for their Charity event Organic in the City Fashion Show and Auction. This event is one of the major fund raisers for the Texas Discovery Gardens. Texas Discovery Gardens is an educational organic garden facility in North Central Texas, that advances the knowledge and skill set of the community to restore, conserve and preserve nature in the urban environment. They accomplish this using their conservatory, greenhouse and 7.5 acre outdoor gardens in urban Dallas along with a full array of teaching programs developed for children and adults.  Their reach begins with small children and adults new to gardening and continues up to and through the Master Gardener level.  Texas Discovery Gardens serves thousands of inner-city students each year.  With the opening of the new Rosine Smith Sammons Butterfly House and Insectarium and the new indoor children’s classroom, Texas Discovery Gardens is now able to offer its EarthKeeper’s® Children’s Education Programs year round.  These programs are educational and fun and they promote excitement and interest in learning math and science via the natural world, they expand student knowledge and understanding of living sustainably, and help youth appreciate and embrace nature. The Organic in the City Fashion Show and Auction is an exciting, fun event eagerly anticipated by fashion, gardening and green living advocates.  Through this event Texas Discovery Gardens will raise thousands of dollars for the expansion of the children’s EarthKeeper’s programs and to bring Butterfly Gardens to schools across Dallas. For more information on Texas Discovery Gardens and this event, click on the link below.

http://www.texasdiscoverygardens.org

"Zebra Longwings" the beginning

To see more of my work, click on the links below.

www.sharenchatterton.com

www.lunaazulstudio.com

Step 1: Gather up Your Used Plastic Bags

2/ You will need the following, an iron, an ironing board, a pair of scissors, some paper (wax paper or parchment paper works best).

3/ Start by setting up your ironing board in a well ventilated area, open all the windows and setup a fan to direct fumes away from you, and lay a sheet of paper down to cover the ironing board.

4/ Choose a plastic bag to start with and if it has handles cut them off, also cut a strip of plastic from the bottom of the bag to make it open ended.

5/ Fold the plastic bag in half and then fold it in half again, this will give you an 8 ply piece of plastic, i.e. it will have 8 layers. Place this on the paper on the ironing board and lay another sheet of paper on top to completely cover the piece of plastic.

6/ Start applying heat from the iron to the paper – plastic – paper sandwich! Keep the iron moving to provide an even heat, do this for 10 – 15 seconds and the plastic should then be “fused” together. Watch this video below for a tutorial of how to fuse your plastic bags;

7/ Once you have a decent collection of fused plastic sheets you can start to design some clothing, or a bag or anything else you can think of! Check out Urban Woods Walkers coat creation below;

A Large Piece of Fused Plastic Fabric

Plans for a Reused Plastic Coat!

The Finished Fused Plastic Fabric Coat

The Wonderful Finished Plastic Coat

Please use caution whenever around a hot iron and when ironing plastic, always make sure you have the plastic completely covered with paper before applying the iron.
We hope you were inspired to go reuse some of those old plastic bags and perhaps turn them into something beautiful and wearable…

Since it is oh so cold but it is almost February and warmer weather will be just around the corner in March (hopefully), I thought I would do some sprucing up around our house. Touching up the paint on walls and trim or better yet, painting a wall an entirely different color, can gives your home a whole new feel.

I ran across some ways to be planet friendly and preserve the paints I use. Here are some of those ideas:

1. Keep paints stored in moderate temperatures in the home, a closet or pantry. Temperature lows and highs can cause the ingredients in paint to separate. Extended exposure to extremes can make the separation so severe that no amount of shaking and stirring will restore the paint’s texture.

2. Don’t paint from the can. Pour paint into an open bucket or a roller pan and dip your brush or roller in that. The fewer items you stick into the paint can, the less likely the paint is to become contaminated.

3. Keep paint cans closed as much as possible while you’re working. at the end of the day, put a piece of plastic wrap over the top before securing the lid to help create an airtight seal.

4.When saving leftover paint, make sure the can lid is on tight, then turn the can upside down to create an airtight seal and to avoid the formation of a “skin” of thickened paint on top.

5. Keep some paint in a baby food jar or canning jar for touch ups. It saves opening a gallon of paint each time you need to use just a little.

Green Kids Game by Play Green

Our gifts at Christmas this year had a distinctively green theme and one particular fun gift was this spinning top game by “ImagiPlay Play Green Spinning Tops“. This toys is made with all natural sustainable rubberwoods and managed-forest pines which are fast growing. Even the packaging is green, it is made from the same sustainable farming wood and doubles up as the “arena” for the spinning tops.

Play Green Spinning Tops - All Natural Eco Game

The top of the packaging slides out and can be reversed and slotted back into the box to create a battle field for the duelling spinning tops!

The Play Green Spinning Tops Arena

The game comes with a wide selection of brightly colored wooden spinning tops in different shapes and sizes, we didn’t waste any time in laying them out on the area floor and choosing our favorites;

Green Spinning Tops

The spinning tops are all hand painted using fair and ethical trade labor and they look great. My wife and I picked our favorite spinning tops and started our spinning duel! The tops are very well balanced and they spin for along time when given the right flick of the wrist… Check out our green spinning top battles in the video below;

The first green shaving product that we found was an organic fair trade shaving gel by the Dr. Bronner’s company. It is labeled as the “Dr. Bronner’s Magic All-One Organic Fair Trade Shaving Soap Gel” which is quite a mouthful but I was impressed with the eco-friendly claims and was willing to give it a try.

Green Shaving with Dr Bronners Shaving Gel

This wonderful shaving gel is USDA organic certified and is also certified by the IMO as a Fair Trade product. This shaving gel is available in different blends but I chose the Spearmint Peppermint blend. The main ingredient in the shaving gel is organic Shikakai which comes from the seed pods of the small South Asian tree the “Acacia Concinna”. The Shikakai is mixed with organic sucrose and grape juice to produce a soothing and moisturizing shave gel.

All the organic ingredients have been certified by the same national organic program that certifies food so I was confident in the eco-friendliness of my choice!

This green shaving gel is also certified as fair trade which guarantees that the farmers who produced the ingredients and their families receive fair prices, wages and community funding.

Ingredients;

• Organic Shikakai Extract (Organic white grape juice, organic sucrose, organic rice syrup, organic Shikakai powder)
• Saponified Organic Coconut and Olive Oils
• Organic Hemp Oil
• Organic Spearmint Oil
• Organic Peppermint Oil
• Citric Acid
• Vitamin E

Now that I had settled on a new green shaving gel I just needed some green razors to go with it, I found an awesome alternative to regular disposable razors, they are made by Preserve Recycline and these razors are made from 100% recycled plastic, and once they are used the handles are 100% recyclable!

100% Recycled Razors by Recycline

These eco friendly razors are made from 100% recycled plastic with at least 65% of that plastic coming from Stonyfield Farm yogurt cups. The innovative one piece handle design reduces the resources consumed in manufacturing.

100% Recycled Plastic Razor Handles

Just in case you were wondering the packaging for these razors is also made from 100% recycled paperboard with 25% post consumer content.

So there you have it, my new green grooming products which have revitalized my morning shave. I can now wake up to a much more eco friendly grooming routine! By the way, the combination of the organic shaving gel and the recycled plastic razors results in a super smooth shave… (I know, I missed a bit!)

My First Green Shave!

All in all, I would totally recommend the Dr. Bronner’s organic shave gel and the Preserve Recycline recycled razors, they make a great green upgrade to my daily ritual of shaving.

Find out more information on both products here;

http://www.drbronner.com/DBMS/SHAVING.htm

http://www.preserveproducts.com/products/personalcare/double-razor-4-pack.html

Zebra Longwings Butterfly photo by Sharen Chatterton

According to an American Indian Legend – If anyone desires a wish to come true they must first capture a butterfly and whisper that wish to it. Since a butterfly can make no sound, the butterfly cannot reveal the wish to anyone but the Great Spirit who hears and sees all. In gratitude for giving the beautiful butterfly its freedom, the Great Spirit always grants the wish. So, according to legend, by making a wish and giving the butterfly its freedom, the wish will be taken to the heavens and be granted.

Most People just like butterflies, whats not to like, they are graceful, beautiful, colorful creations. I don’t think any other insect has been the inspiration for so many, artists, writers as well as naturalists.

However butterfly populations all over the world are being threatened by loss of habitat. Butterfly gardening, is a great way to provide additional habitat for butterfly species in your area. The species of butterfly vary by region, but by doing a little investigating and planting both nectar plants to attract the adult butterflies and also planting larvae foodplants for the caterpillars, you can increase the local population of butterflies in your area. Not to mention increase your gardens beauty with these colorful winged flowers. Throughout the country, the general requirements for butterfly gardening are the same: full sun, nectar source plants, larval host plants, a pesticide-free environment, and knowledge of the local butterflies. Many butterfly-attracting plants are natives and require little attention, as they are naturally adapted to the region in which they live. Butterfly gardens are best planted in the spring with younger plants or in the fall with mature plants that will become dormant quickly and re-emerge in the spring.

Butterfly Attracting Plants

Host Plants and the Butterflies they Attract

Look for an opportunity in your area to participate in a butterfly release. This is one of the most phenomenal events you will ever attend.  We attended one this weekend at the Texas Discovery Gardens at Fair Park. It was their first annual “Come to the Tropics Butterfly Release”. We had a great time. While the outside temperature was about 12 degrees Fahrenheit; we were browsing the booths, listening to tropical music, then releasing a butterfly and observing many other butterflies, all in the warm and humid Tropical butterfly house. I released a very large Paper Kite, or Rice-paper Butterfly, which is white with black lines, it had about a 3-4 inch wing span. Carter released a Zebra Longwings butterfly, which is the mascot butterfly of the Butterfly House. We really had a great time, taking pictures and watching the people and butterflies.

Photo Opportunity

Check out the following sites for more info on butterflies:

http://www.TexasDiscoveryGardens.org

http://www.dallasbutterflies.com