Going Green Memphis 7-04-10

8/8/2019 Going Green Memphis 7-04-10

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The Commercial Appeal S u n d ay , July 4, 2010 | GOING GREEN 13

Buzz off: Avoiding summer insecBy Jenn Savedge

Mother Nature Network

Are bees and bugs crashing your sum-mertime fun? My kids love to spendevery waking hour outdoors inthe summer, but they dontlove waking up to a body fullof bug bites and rashes. Icant say I blame them,but I certainly dontwant them to shy awayfrom playing outside.

H e re s how we avoidthe most troublesomebugs, and treat any bug bites that do happen:

Be esIts important to teach

your kids not to panic when

a bee flies near. Screaming and swatting at the insect are great waysto ensure a sting. Just teach kids to staycalm and gently blow away a bee thatlands on their skin, rather than swatting.

This is definitely one time when kids willdo what you do, rather than what you say.So keep calm and let the bees fly on by.

Treating stings: Even with that advice,there are times when kids (and adults)are sure to step on, sit on or in other waysbug a bee enough to get a sting. Whenthat happens, use tweezers or the side of acredit card to remove the stinger. Be sureto keep an eye out for allergic reactionslike swelling, dizziness, or difficultybreathing. If a reaction occurs, call yourdoctor immediately.

M o s q u i t o es These little buggers are enemy No. 1 for

my youngest daughter. She reacts to eachbite with itchy lumps the size of golf balls.

My best trick to keep herfrom getting eaten alive bymosquitoes is by using akid-safe bug repellant,like California BabySummer Lotion withCitronella. Certainly

worth the $15.Treating bites: Of course, there are dayswhen we leave that mag-ic lotion at home or runout altogether. To treat

the inevitable bites, Imake a paste from baking

soda and water (3:1) and ap-ply directly to the bites to reduce

itching and swelling.Ticks

These nasty bloodsuckers can make ahike in the woods, well ... suck. The bestway to avoid bites is to keep them fromgetting on skin in the first place, by wear-ing long pants when hiking. After hikes,do a full-body check (including in the

hair) to look for bugs.Treating bites: Use pointed tweezers toremove the entire tick and clean the areawith antiseptic. If you develop a rash orfever, call your doctor right away.

Jenn Savedge has written three books on eco-friendly living. Read more on h er green parenting blog: mnn .com/featured-b l ogs /g re e n p a re n t i n g.
http://mnn.com/featuredblogs/greenparentinghttp://mnn.com/featuredblogs/greenparentinghttp://mnn.com/featuredblogs/greenparentinghttp://mnn.com/featuredblogs/greenparenting


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14 GOING GREEN| S und ay , July 4, 2010 co mm er c ia l a pp ea l.co m

Recycle paint stir sticksinto herb garden planter

Scripps Howard News Service

The picket-fence box works well forplanting almost any herb.

PICKET-FENCE PLANTER BOX

Planter box (I used a24 X 6 X 7 box)

30 paint stir sticksFolkart craft paintPa r c h m e n tAntiquing stain

medium

Pa i n t b r u s h es3/ 4-inch finishing nailsHammerPe n c i lRu l e rPotting soilMint plants

Measure the box to determine howmany paint stir sticks will be needed,assuming they are placed approximately

1 inch apart. Mark the placement of eachstick on the box using a ruler and pencil.Paint the planter and the sticks with a

mixture of equal parts antiquing stainmedium and cream craft paint.

Place a stick flush against the worksurface and against the planter. Mark thepoints on each stick where they will benailed to the planter. We marked eachstick at the 1-1/ 2-inch and the 5-inch marks.

Use a hammer to tap a finishing nailinto each stick at the designated points.

Line up each stick with the marks onthe planter and finish pounding the nailthrough, attaching the sticks to theplanter. To line the ends up easily, placethe end and centerpiece sticks first andfill in with the remaining sticks.

By Cathie Filian Scripps Howard News Service

You dont need abackyard to grow freshherbs. This planter boxturns windows andbalconies into personalfarmers markets by

recycling paint stir sticksto create a picket-fencedesign.

For this look, I usedFolkart paint in parchment

and applied a hint of anantique wash over thepaint to create a slightlyaged look. Of course, this isonly one color option. Youcould match the plantercolor to the paint colors of your home. Staining thenatural wood is also a good

choice for a more organiclook. This picket-fence box

works well for planting almost any herb. You can

mix and match herbs in theplanter and prune asneeded for cooking, drying or garnishing.

Mint is the perfectgarnish for iced sun tea on

a warm day. For a delicioustopping, blend choppedmint with a little mangosalsa and pour over grilledsalmon or chicken. If it iscocktail time, combinecrushed mint with sugar,rum, lime and a splash of carbonated water for asummer sipper that is sureto please.

Cathie Filian is atelevision host and

craft-book author. To learn more, visit cathiefilian .com .
http://cathiefilian.com/http://cathiefilian.com/


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The Commercial Appeal S u n day , July 4, 2010 | GOING GREEN 15

By Chanie Kirschner

Mother Nature Network

Q: When it comes to recycling, Ive got to admit, Im kind of lazy. I throw out a lot of stuff, and Im starting to feel a bit guilty. In your opinion, what arethe most important (but

easiest) things I should be

recycling if I want to do a little bit (but not too much) for the environment?

Im not sure how Ishould respond to thisone, seeing as I work hereat MNN, where we recycleeverything. Is it possibleto pick just three things torecycle? Well, its possibleto pick 10, according tothe National Recycling Coalition. On theirwebsite, nrc-recycle.org ,the NRC lists 10 items youshould definitely recycle,and their top three happento be extremely easy, inmy opinion. Hows aboutyou start with those three?

The No. 1 item on theirlist is aluminum. Thatsbecause aluminum cansare 100 percent recyclable.In fact, recycled aluminumcan be back in use to hold anew drink a mere 60 daysafter being recycled,

according toEarth911.com . You canactually recycle anything made out of aluminum, buthow about starting simplewith just recycling all yoursoda and juice cans?

Next on their list arePET plastic bottles inother words, bottleslabeled with a 1 as theirresin identification code.Plastic bottle recycling isimportant because, asAmericans leading a fast-food lifestyle, we use a tonof it. The more we recycle,

the less that goes into thelandfill. Earth911.comalso reports making plastic out of recycledresources uses about two-thirds less energy thanmaking new plastic.

Next on their list:Newspaper. According to

the EPA, paper makes upabout one-third of all theMSW (municipal wastestream, i.e. garbage) inthe United States. Thats alot of paper, and recycling all that paper conservesresources, saves energyand preserves valuablelandfill space.

Find out when yourcounty picks uprecyclables and if itdoesnt, throw your bagsof each of these items intoyour trunk, find a localrecycling drop-off center

(check Earth911.com forlocations), and youvedone your not-too-difficultpart for our pretty littleplanet. In my opinion, itsthe least you can do for theenvironment. Cheers toyour initiative and happyre c yc l i n g !

Start small to save the planetAluminumcans, PETplasticbottles andn ew s p a p e rtop theNationalRe c y c l i n gCoalitionslist of 10important

r e c y c l a b l es .
http://nrc-recycle.org/http://earth911.com/http://earth911.com/http://nrc-recycle.org/http://earth911.com/


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16 GOING GREEN| Su n day , July 4, 2010 co mm er c ia l a pp ea l.co m

Chili Spice is one ofRick Simons organicseasoning blends.

By Jennifer EdwardsThe Natchez Democrat

NATCHEZ, Miss. For Rick Simon its allabout the nose.

And one step into SlickRicks Foods on NorthPearl Street is all it takesto understand why.

The smells of garlic, chilipower, paprika and otherspices fill the air in theorganic spice shop ownedby Simon and his mother.

Simon said good organicingredients make all thedifference in cooking, evenin seasonings. Its adifference, he said, thatcan be smelled before it ist asted.

Cooking is one of theonly jobs where you canuse all five of your senses,Simon said. As a chef, I

smell everything, becauseyou can tell whatsomething is going to tastelike by the way it smells.

Organic foods justsmell more pure.

Slick Ricks Foodsoffers seven organic spiceblends and is d evel o p i n g

at least five more.Simon said his desire to

create a healthierseasoning option thanthose found commercially

is what led him to markethis personal spice blends.Probably seven or

eight years ago I startedworking on a blend thatwo u l d n t mask the flavorof the meats andvegetables I was putting iton, he said. S easoningsare supposed to enhanceflavors, not take over.

From that process camethe Red Spice, a versatileblend that he said can beused with equal successon meats and vegetables.

While the store inNatchez only opened this

year, Slick Ricks Foodsproducts are on shelves in18 states and the CaymanIslands as part of theirwholesale distribution.

S imons mother, MaryAnn Simon, said whenbeginning this businessventure with her son, shethought they wouldencounter a lot of competition, but she hasbeen surprised at the lackof similar products.

There was reallynothing out there, shesaid. We are all organicand completely kosher,and that is a big deal.

People are looking fororganic products, butwhen it came to seasoningsand spices, they were notable to find anything. Weare hoping to fill that void.

Rick Simon said t h e rehas been an influx of organic products on the

Organic spice shop opens in Natche Business grows from desire for healthy cooking options


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The Commercial Appeal S und ay, July 4, 2010 | GOING GREEN 17

market becauseconsumers arebecoming moreparticular about whatthey eat and use.

What you put into

your body is what youare going to get out of it , he said. I thinkthere is an awarenessnow of healthy living that wasnt around afew years back.

People want to bearound to see theirkids grow up.

Mary Ann Simonsaid her son hasalways had a health-conscious lifestyle socreating this line of products was justn at u ra l .

He is the guy thatwants to know whatis in everything he ise at i n g , she said. Heplayed soccer andruns and is just veryaware of making healthy decisions.

The Simons n ex tbusiness steps includecontinuing to growthe wholesale side of

the business withhopes of being sold bynational foodsuppliers, and alsostarting to serve a to-go lunch out of theNatchez store.

Contact Slick Ricks Foods at (877) 754-2576.

Vicksburg BBQ jointremodels on the cheap

By Manivanh Chanprasith

Vicksburg Post

VICKSBURG, Miss. A local restaurant hasfound an environmentallyfriendly way to remodeland stick to a budget.

Cu z z s Bar-B-Que, off U.S. 61 South, usedrecycled newspapers andold record albums in theproject, along with woodscraps, used furniture andearth-friendly paint andtile. For owners Anton

Chumakov and BrianCulley, sticking to a budgetwas most important, andthe expertise of theirartistic friend LindsayCarraway made it possibleto finish the project forabout $1,000.

I told them to let mebrainstorm, and see how wecan do this ourselves anddo it better, said Carraway,who studied industrialdesign at Pratt Institute inNew York City andgraduated with a metalsand jewelry degree from theSavannah College of Artand Design in Georgia.

Eco-friendly paint wa sthe most expensive itemwe used, Culley said.

Eco-friendly paint,available at any home

improvement store,contains little or no vo l at i l eorganic compoundscoating, or VOC.

For decoration,Carraway took old recordalbums and transformedthem into bowls.

Newspapers, records keep budget on track

In the old days, people would buy ribs and it would be wrapped innewspapers, so thats where the

idea came from.

LINDSAY CARRAWAY


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They are so easy to do, she said. Yo u just put them in the oven and melt them.

Old newspapers were used in multipleways .

In the old days, people would buyribs and it would be wrapped in

newspapers, so thats where the ideacame from. I recycle newspapers andmagazines at home.

When I told my grandmother what Iwanted to do, she already had enough tobuild a house. We used newspapers from

The Vicksburg Post, The Port GibsonReveille, the Old River Peddler,Carraway said.

Instead of wallpaper, Carraway usednewspapers coated with polyurethane.

The ceiling squares were painted silver,which reflects light.

The chairs have new covers. The woodmolding is made of refurbished woodscraps from Carraways grandparentsfarm in Hermanville. Table tops werecovered with a collage of magazine pages.

New tile has an eco-friendly seal on topand recycled rubber beneath. And thebench in the waiting area came from TheSalvation Armys thrift store.

As part of the restaurants eco-friendlyappeal, Culley said food will be servedusing real dishes, and to-go orders will bepacked in biodegradable products,instead of in foam, which has been usedsince they took over operation of therestaurant in 2007.

To save money on labor, Culley andChumakov gathered friends and did thework themselves. We would work until4 in the morning on some nights, and beback at work around 7 in the morning,Culley said.

The cost would have doubled if wedidnt do it ourselves and recycle,Chumakov said.

By Sean OD r i s c o ll

Associated Press

When she goes to the supermarket,Bea Johnson brings along a sealableglass jar so the butcher can slide in apork cutlet. In the bulk aisle, she fillsreusable bags she makes from old bedsheets to carry rice, pasta, oatmeal ornuts.

In fact, everything she and herhusband buy is without packaging:

They make their own householdcleaning products, buy soap thatcomes unwrapped and return milkbottles to suppliers for refills.

At least three times a week, Johnsonphones marketing companies in herunrelenting war against junk mail.

The amount of money you can

save by just carrying your ownwater bottle is huge. Plus, the moreyou get away from plastic, the morelikely you are to buy fresh, s aidJohnson, who blogs about herlifestyle in Marin County, Calif., atzerowastehome.blogspot .com .

Johnson has emerged as a guru forpeople looking to take green living to

Z e ro -wa s telife moves intom a i n s t re a m Middle class learns benefits of keep-it-simple philosophy
http://zerowastehome.blogspot.com/http://zerowastehome.blogspot.com/


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I think my family is a lot happiernow. Its not simply about less

packaging, its about changing your whole outlook, about wanting less and

getting so much more as a family.COLIN BEAVAN

Author whose family spent a year without electricity and living with as little waste as they could.

a new level.We re definitely seeing more

people interested in living withoutwaste but the demographic hasc h a n ge d , said Sarah Kennedy of San Franciscos Rainbow FoodCooperative, which offerseverything from shampoo toseaweed in bulk.

Before it was tree-hugging hippies who washed and reusedtheir produce bags. Now were

seeing a much more middle-classmovement, more moms with theirkids, with Tupperware boxes andneatly folded linen bags, she said.

The effort to reduce packaging has moved into the mainstream.

The state Assembly in Californiaapproved a bill that would banplastic bags from stores and requireretainers for paper bags. Themeasure has yet to reach the Senate,but other towns and cities acrossthe United States have alreadyplaced restrictions on plastic bags,including an outright ban in largerretail stores by three counties inNorth Carolinas Outer Banks.

Johnson, who began with the less

ambitious target of simplifying herfamilys life, soon realized that less

clutter was also good for the planet. The health benefits of a wrapper-free life are also a major theme forColin Beavan in New York. Hewrote a book, No Impact Man,about a year he and his family spentwithout electricity and living withas little waste as they could.

Though their experiment ended inNovember 2007, theyve committed

to staying packaging-free.Most of the fattening foods, thebad stuff, come heavily wrapped. If you confine yourself to freshproducts from the supermarket orfarmers market, your family isgoing to be a lot healthier, he said.

Beavan buys most of his food atthe farmers market in ManhattansUnion Square. He returns his egg cartons and milk bottles to thefarmers and buys round blocks of cheese that come withoutp a c ka g i n g.

I think my family is a lothappier now, he said. Its notsimply about less packaging, itsabout changing your whole


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outlook, about wanting less and getting so muchmore as a family.

I wondered if I, too,could live without anypackaging, except for

plastic bags I reuse during trips to the supermarket.For the last month,

every grocery item Ivepurchased has beenwithout wrapping. I go tothe bulk aisle of my localfood co-op for pasta, rice,beans, flour, oatmeal,nuts and anything elsethat I can pour into myown bags, which arethen weighed at thecheck-out counter.

I now have 10reusable bags,including a plasticone I use to buy loosespinach and broccoli.

Apart from saving vast amounts of chemicalsand oil that go intomaking shopping bagsand reducing the giantsoup of plastic clogging oceans, saying no topackaging has improvedmy waistline and mywallet .

With no more sad-looking, single-serving microwave meals, and mycoffee from a paper cupreplaced with a drink frommy water bottle, I feelmore energetic and lessstressed. Because I bring broccoli and carrots to

work and dont touchadditives, my skin isclearer. The sudden arrivalof middle-age spread hascompletely disappearedfrom my waist.

Finding cage-free eggsand dairy products can bea problem, but many localfarmers markets will refillyour egg boxes andreplace your milk bottles.I was almost overcomewith joy when I found a

supermarket steps frommy home that soldchocolate and driedapricots in bulk.

Financially, all of thishas been a major boost.Carrots and onionsunburdened by plastic area lot cheaper, and making my own shampoo savesm o n e y.

The major downside isthat I am now a crushing bore. Where once myconversations might havebeen about sports andcinema, now all mysentences seem to begin

with, Did you know ...followed by a list of placesyou can get refills onshampoo, honey or milk,or the best type of reusablebags for buying flour.

The other difficultpoint is remembering mybags when I leave for thesupermarket. Thats alsoa problem for CarlosSoligo, who has been amember of the Park SlopeFood Coop in Brooklyn,

N.Y., for 10 years.I have about 20

reusable linen bags Ibought at the co-opbecause I had to buynew ones when Iforgot to bring myow n , he said.

Soligo came upwith a novel answer.

I look on the flooror in the shelves for

plastic bags that co-opmembers have dropped.

The bags are sealedanyway, so its just theoutside of the bag that isin contact with theg ro u n d .

Johnson said you donthave to resort to that to

reduce waste.A lot of people tell methat they forget theirbags. It takes a bit of experimentation, buteven that can be fun, shesaid. Once you get yoursystem, you will neverwant to go back.


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J u p i t e r i m a ges

Telecommuting takes discipline and organizational skills, but offers big p ay o ffs .

Working from home has its perksBy Laura CaseyContra Costa Times

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. With a rich Bolognese

sauce simmering in a pot inher kitchen t h at s fortonights dinner C h e r ylHaga starts her work day. But insteadof hopping in her car and driving 40minutes to her San Francisco office,Haga takes about 10 steps to herdining room table and fires up herlaptop.

Haga, San Francisco Bayarea director for Lango, ac h i l d re n s after-school foreignlanguage program, works fromher home most of the time.

Working at home is a delicatebalance between being productive on the job and

avoiding distractions like that pile of laundry. Its all about organization, Hagas ays.

Ive created an action plan for myself,and I prioritize what I am doing eachday. I estimate the time each general task

Escaping the cubicle

makes sense for many


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TRAITS OF A SUCCESSFUL E-WORKER

A telecommuter:Has a supportive family.Does not care for young children during work

hours.Has a quiet, secluded area in the home in

which to work.Has moderate need for social contact.Is able to connect with people nonvisually.Has strong communication skills.Is a self-starter and self-sufficient.Has a strong work ethic.Is an effective time manager.Is goal-oriented.Is comfortable with technology.Has a strong desire to work at home.

From Kate Lister and Tom Harnishs Undress for Success: The Naked Truth About Making Money From Home (Wiley, $24.95)

is going to take. Forexample, its going to takeme five hours to get to allmy e-mail on Monday,Haga says, revealing hermulticolored Microsoft

Office Excel spreadsheetthat tracks what shesdoing now and what shehas to do next. Sheorganizes her time interms of priority andchecks off each task oncecompleted.

According to statisticsfrom a recent report by theU.S. Census Bureau andother studies, a growing number of people aretelecommuting, working from home one or severaldays a week. The CensusBureau reports that thenumber of people whowork from home increasedfrom 9.5 million to 11.3million between 1999 and2005.

There are radiologistsworking at home in theirpajamas reading X-rays.

There are nurses taking calls at home from anxiousmothers-to-be. There are alot of industries going this

way even in a wholesaleway, not just ad hoc, acouple of days a week,says Kate Lister author of Undress for Success: TheNaked Truth AboutMaking Money FromHome.She says about 2percent of the American

work force t el e c o m m u t e ssome days a week.

Lister says if morecompanies would allowtheir employees to work athome just a couple days aweek, the s avingsnationwide in energy costsand costs associated withabsenteeism and turnoverwould amount to billionsof dollars. She also saysthat individuals wouldsave $2,000 to $7,000 per

year, including a total of $15 billion at the gaspumps. Lister argues thatworkers appear to leadmore balanced lives whenthey work at home, andthey are more productive.

Advances in technologyhave made working at

home easier. Many officeprograms allow workers toaccess inside informationfrom personal computers,and cell phones easec o m m u n i c at i o n .

Author Lister says themost successful at-homeworkers are systematicwith their work, have ahome office and neverroutinely take care of children at home whiletrying to perform work

tasks. There areexceptions: Lister saysone woman she studiedhad three children athome while she worked.She wore a tiara whenshe was on the clock soher kids knew she wasunavailable for play.

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Going Green Memphis 7-04-10