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America Recycles Day

November 15 is America Recycles Day! I am pleased how recycling has changed and awareness has increased over the past 2 years. With the advent of the big blue one-sort containers many more people and communities are participating. Even parks are adding containers to collect recyclables!

Of course with more recycling comes new problems. Plastic bags are terrible problem when placed with your recyclables. NEVER put plastic bags in your one-sort container. See the story below:

http://www.startribune.com/recycling-or-wish-cycling-materials-to-stop-tossing-in-the-big-blue-bins/329264261/

http://americarecyclesday.org/

https://health4earth.com/recycling-garbage-is-a-terrrible-thing-to-waste/

I am taking a different twist on America Recycles Day. Reuse is a higher step up from recycling. How can you reduce your plastic use? Plastic bag and bottle manufacturers make millions of dollars in profits from a product that is harmful to our waterways and wildlife. They need to take responsibility for the terrible waste they have created. How can you reuse your bags and refill some of those plastic bottles for reuse?

Some co-ops and grocery stores have fabulous selections of soaps and oils to refill your bottles

Look for refill centers.

3. Use your own refillable water bottle.

Avoid plastic, fill your glass or metal bottles with water or other liquid

4. Easiest of all: Bring your own reusable shopping bags shopping with you!

Shopping bags made from recycled plasstic — Shopping bags made from recycled plastic

http://americarecyclesday.org/

https://health4earth.com/recycling-garbage-is-a-terrrible-thing-to-waste/

http://www.earth911.com/home-garden/top-5-items-recycle-bathroom/#

Please recycle plastic bags at grocery stores!

Amazing Footage of Tar Sands

Canadian tar sands, this was forest land

If you have any doubt whether President Obama should have rejected the Keystone pipeline, watch the video below showing what has happened in Canada in the area of the tar sands. Bill Nye takes us on a helicopter ride to see the tar sands. It follows Bill Nye’s segment on rising water in Florida.

http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/31/now-its-bill-nye-with-climate-change-denial-and-arnold-schwarzenegger-to-the-rescue/?_r=1

“Ultimately, if we’re gonna prevent large parts of this Earth from becoming not only inhospitable but uninhabitable in our lifetimes, we’re gonna have to keep some fossil fuels in the ground rather than burn them and release more dangerous pollution into the sky.” President Obama

http://ecowatch.com/2015/11/06/obama-reject-kxl/?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=bafb16d845-Top_News_11_7_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-bafb16d845-85912169

Falling Leaves and Protecting Clean Water

Fall Clean Up: Remember your curbs and gutters to protect our lakes and waterways. !

Did you know that just five bags of leaves and organic debris from streets and sidewalks could contain one pound of phosphorus? Over time, this can lead to the growth of hundreds of pounds of algae.

Cleaning up our curbs and gutters will prevent the highly nutrient-rich leaves and debris from entering rivers, lakes, and streams, and reduces pollution at the source, and improves water quality in our community. Fight water pollution in the street near your home today.

What to do?

— Sweep up leaves, sediment, trash and recyclable materials on our streets.

— Clean out storm drains.

https://enduringenvirons.wordpress.com/2015/10/12/fall-clean-up-remember-your-curbs-and-gutters/#more-1370.

Macedonia has Not Banned Plastic Bags

Plastic bag floating in Lake Ochid

I was traveling through Eastern Europe when I read on Ecowatch.com that Macedonia had banned plastic bags. Macedonia was our next stop and I couldn’t wait to see if it made a litter difference.
As we took the bus into Skopje, Macedonia we saw people carrying purchases in plastic. We were disappointed. I interviewed 3 people that could speak English. They claim an effort had been made to ban plastic bags, but “It didn’t work !’ They say the bags they now use are eco friendly. They couldn’t explain what that meant. No one was paying a fee for the plastic bags, and I never saw a paper bag. Macedonia is a poor country with high unemployment and a terrible litter problem. Before a bag ban could work an enormous amount of public education would be needed. I don’t think the economics of store owners nor the public is ready for such a big project to be successful .

Thousands of plastic bottles were floating down the Vardar River to the Aegean Sea.

Could this be an eco bag ?

As I have said before on these pages, the manufacturers of plastic need to be responsible for the recycling and clean up of their products. Many countries don’t have the resources to do what is right for our earth, even though it should be a top priority.

Bottled in Macedonia
I hope environmental groups will take Macedonia off their bag ban list. Being accurate is so important.

http://ecowatch.com/2015/10/15/beneath-the-waves/?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=bbc6971ae0-Top_News_11_2_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-bbc6971ae0-85912169

Rebuilding a War Ravaged Country

Kosovo

My husband and I are independent travelers in Eastern Europe. We are currently in Kosovo, a country rebuilding from a war that ended June, 1999. Rebuilding is taking place everywhere.
Yesterday two men couldn’t stop telling us how awful the war had been for them. They had rebuilt their homes with their own hands without humanitarian aid. According to them, Kosovo couldn’t account for how they had spent the funds, corruption?
Many buildings and houses are unfinished.

Many power outages and generators running. See power poles :

I love the promenades and many walk on them.

War is lose lose. Unfortunately, there are too many childish men playing with toys of which they don’t perceive the consequences. Not only does war kill innocent people, destroy families and waste valuable resources, it is so hard on our earth. I wish good luck to the people of Kosovo and hope they can elect leaders they trust and are free from corruption.

Peace

Love Song To the Earth

It’s our world, please keep her safe. I love this song:

http://ecowatch.com/2015/09/08/love-song-to-the-earth/

And Pope Francis sings his love song to the earth: “Climate change is a problem which can no longer be left to a future generation!”

Autumnal Exquinox

The trees turn a little bit red/orange every day — The trees turn a little more red/orange every day

There are many warm wonderful things about every season!

Superior Views/ Autumnal equinox
Two adult eagles talk and screech most of the day, and we still hear the unique calls of the loons and sandhill cranes.

Fall is a magnificent season, but why does it make all us northerners just a little sad? There are too many good byes. Our days have become noticeable shorter stimulating many of the changes we see.
Good-bye to many of the things I love until next spring:

Good bye to the magnificent monarch butterflies as they journey south to Mexico.

Good-bye to the ruby-throat hummingbirds that bring such energetic joy,and the song birds that serenade me daily.

Good-bye to the bright pollinator plants that bring in butterflies and bees and birds to our yard.
Good-bye to the lush green forests that surround Lake Superior and the north country, and to wonderful outdoor meals on the banks of the big lake.

And it is sad to see our long long days of light disappear into darkness. Here is the Gershwin song Summertime to get you to the next equinox on March 20-21, 2016: http://song.mymp3file.com/download/208449033/summertime-gershwin-hayward.html

This is well-written blog about autumn by a young woman from Canada: https://sherinaspeaks.wordpress.com/2015/09/23/the-arrival-of-autumn/

Fall Gardening is for the Birds

Dried up cone flowers are a gift to the birds but not to the human eye. I took this picture in July — Dried up cone flowers are a gift to the birds. I took this picture in July

As I write this the goldfinch are eating seeds from dried up purple cone flowers, and hummingbirds are still flitting around for nectar. Below is an excellent article on fall gardening by writer Val Cunningham. My suggestions follow.

“As they fly around your neighborhood, birds won’t be attracted by gardens with flower stalks cut neatly to the ground and plant debris raked up and removed.” V Cunningham .http://www.startribune.com/leaving-your-garden-a-little-untidy-this-winter-helps-birds/327498161/

My additional suggestions for fall gardening are:
*Pull out all the invasive and bad plants
*Plan for next year. What worked and what didn’t work? How can you add more native

Hummingbirds and bees love this red menardia nardia — Hummingbirds and bees love this red
menardia

plants ? (My favorites are milkweed, Liatris, cone flowers, bee balm hyssop, wild geranium and asters)
*Plan where you can add a rain garden next year to capture the rain from your house, driveway or yard. http://bluethumb.org/raingardens/

Birds love driveways with seeds and leaves, but please keep our waterways clean by sweeping sidewalks, driveways and street from leaves and debris.

An Amazing Story of Migration

Monarchs love liatitis (blazing star) — Monarchs love Liatris (blazing star). They need nectar sources as they migrate

Monarch eggs hatch into caterpillars, then into a chrysalis. 3 or 4 times in a summer this happens!

chrysallis turns into a monarch — chrysalis turns into a monarch butterfly. 3 or 4 times as they come north.

When I learned about native plants and pollinators my gardening focus completely changed. By planting milkweed, liatris, purple cone flowers and many others, the butterflies, and other pollinators come to my yard giving us enormous enjoyment, but now in September these incredible monarchs start their journey to Mexico. These butterflies are the 4th generation of the monarchs(Their great-grand parents) that traveled south last fall.
Fascinating things I have just learned about monarch butterflies:
** These August/September monarchs are the longest lived, Maybe living 6 to 9 months. They do not lay eggs until early next spring when they have returned to Texas from Mexico
** They can fly 265 miles a day to their resting winter ground in Mexico, about 2500 miles.
** After resting for a few months they head back from Mexico to Texas where they finally lay their eggs on milkweed, and the next generation begins. Each new crop of monarchs lays eggs and continues the migration back to Missouri/Minnesota/Wisconsin/Iowa and Canada.

All the chemicals we use have destroyed monarch habitat! What are you doing to make sure they survive?

http://features.newsy.com/saving-the-migration/watch/

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/monarch/index.html

http://www.cablemuseum.org

I am Thankful for California!

Round up kills the plants bees and butterflies love!

A Big Reason to be Thankful for California!

I was shopping for a vegetable peeler the other day. The label said, “This product is known to cause cancer according to the California EPA. Be sure you wash your hands after use” Yikes, who would buy such a product? Why would a company manufacture such a product? Below is more watchdog work by California’s EPA:

Big news! California EPA Moves to Label Monsanto’s Roundup ‘Carcinogenic’ http://ow.ly/RQOdP #BanRoundup

In a first for the country, California’s Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) has issued plans to list glyphosate—the toxic active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide—as known to cause cancer. http://ecowatch.com/2015/09/08/california-becomes-first-state-to-label-monsantos-roundup-as-a-carcinogen/?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=4a984bb080-Top_News_9_9_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-4a984bb080-85912169