Ecolocal Guide: May 2009 Archives

By Wendy Hobday Haugh

Imagine a restaurant that recycles its glass, cans, and paper products, uses biodegradable take-out containers, purchases all its green produce locally, composts every kitchen scrap imaginable, serves only fair-trade coffee and made-from-scratch, cooked-to-order food, uses no trans fats or chemical additives, delivers its customers' plate-waste to families with pet pigs, gives its leftover bread to folks raising chickens, changes its cooking oil frequently, and donates its discarded oil to a local man who processes it and uses it as fuel - to power to his car!

Mary Beth McCue   RD, LDN, CDN
Integrative Nutritionist

There are many methods and opportunities to eat healthy while being penny-wise and "green" during this time of positive reflection on how we impact our environment, our pocketbooks, and our health.  

Convenient and instant foods are normally more expensive, always less nutritious and leave you feeling tired and lifeless.  Many have no whole foods and therefore natural nutrients; many contain non-food items. You will begin to be healthier, happier, more energetic, and more capable of living your life to your fullest potential by practicing the suggestions below.

By Drew Monthie of Ecologic Consulting

I have never been a fan of turf grass.  For starters I hate mowing and on top of that all 3 species of grasses used in lawns (Bluegrass, Rye and Fescue) are native to Europe.  They are cool-season grasses which means that they look their best when temperatures are cool and conditions moist. This is why your lawn looks nice in spring and fall, but not so hot in summer.  In their native habitat these grasses go dormant during the hot months of summer.  Here in North America to keep turf grass looking good when it's supposed to be resting we waste phenomenal amounts of water: 30 to 60% percent of residential water used outside is used on grass which amounts to more 7 billion gallons of water used per day for lawn irrigation.  To fertilize all of this grass and kill the pests common to the unhealthy practice of growing monocultures we use 3 million tons of fertilizers annually. Over 30 thousand tons of synthetic pesticides are used on lawns annually.  $2.2 billion (2002) or more is spent annually on pesticides for home and garden use.
The average homeowner per acre uses 10 times the amount of pesticides that farmers do (Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University, 2008).  Many (if not all) non-organic fertilizers and pesticides are organo-phosphates or carbamates meaning they are made from petroleum further increasing our dependence on foreign oil.

I know! I know! You're thinking that I'm crazy for saying that recycling is bad, I mean... people have been saying for years now that everyone needs to recycle, recycle, and recycle! But what if there was an alternative plan?

With the memory of gas prices at record highs just months ago and credit increasingly tight, many people are looking for a vehicle that won't break the bank at the showroom or at the pump. For nearly a million people in recent years, the only answer has been the Toyota Prius.  But before you go and join the ranks of the numerous Prius owners, ask yourself, "Do you like to drive?"

COHOES - Jane LaCivita's plan for her Golden Years was unfolding perfectly. It included a newly purchased condo Thailand where she would spend her days kicking back after a career in nursing home administration.

Then her cousin-in-law came to town.

Doug and Aimee Azaert's Sustainable Living at The Glen:

Wild Waters Outdoor Center and The Glen Lodge & Market

by Persis Granger

Doug Azaert grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina, and settled in the Adirondacks in 1982, teaching kayaking with some buddies. After a year or so, they realized that guiding rafters was more lucrative than teaching people how to paddle.

Saratoga Healthy Transportation Network is sponsoring the "First Annual" Saratoga Bike To Work Day Challenge. Companies with offices/workplaces in Saratoga County are encouraged to form Bike To Work Teams for Bike to Work Day on Friday, May 15^th 2009.