Hummingbirds and bees love our Minneapolis yard !
Monarchs are crazy about Liatris!
Clear Skies, Healthy People!
With a Great Planet, Comes Great Responsibility!
Video from the White House on our warming climate:
What can we all do?
- Always turn off lights and unplug electronics when not in use.
- Drive less: Walk, bike, ride share, Carpool, combine errands, and take public transport.
- Reduce two-cycle engine pollution: Add more garden and pollinator friendly plants to reduce your lawn mowing, shovel snow by hand, and choose silent sports. Polluting our air is not cool!!
- Reduce or eliminate your use of pesticides, and all chemicals. Your family, your pets, birds and butterflies will be much healthier.
- Reduce or eliminate beef from your diet. Producing beef uses lots of energy!
- Recycle all plastics, glass and metal cans, and of course paper. According to TerraCycle 84% of household waste can be recycled
- Purchase products made from recycled materials. This saves energy, trees, water and natural resources. Recycled paper products are the easiest to find.
- Turn down the thermostat in the winter and reduce air conditioning in the summer. Schedule an energy audit from your local power company for ways your home can be more efficient.
- Finally, work to elect leaders that believe in Climate Change, and support
clean renewable energy solutions.
A Superior View
My Lake Superior View for July
The weather is fabulous, and the lake breeze is blowing away the biting insects!!
The swamp milkweed is covered with tiny monarch caterpillars, and we have several Rose-breasted grosbeaks visiting our yard daily.
We learned a new butterfly, the Comptons tortiseshell.
A surprising thing happened. Sadly, it probably happens often. A Swallowtail butterfly was going back and forth, and back and forth. I watched for about 10 minutes, and wondered if it was some kind of butterfly ritual? Luckily, the sunlight picked up a faint spider silk. This beautiful butterfly was trying to free itself from a spider web. With a little help from me, the Swallowtail was free, and a spider had lost his dinner.
North country Ruby-throated hummingbirds and other birds bring joy!
Air Pollution Is Everyone’s Problem!
We love our freedoms. We ride ATVs, run leaf blowers and lawn mowers, spray chemicals and have fires in our yards, totally unaware of how are actions could be affecting other people. A new study by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency(MPCA), puts the responsiblity for air pollution on the general public. Their study says air pollution in the Twin Cities area (Minneapolis, St. Paul and suburbs 2.8 million) causes 2,000 deaths a year.
The Minnesota Pollution Control report gives specific ways to improve air quality:
- Drive the most fuel-efficient vehicle you can afford.
- Take public transportation, walk, or bike whenever possible.
- Limit wood-burning activities like backyard bonfires.
- Look for alternatives to fossil-fuel-burning small engines such as electric lawnmowers and weed trimmers rather than those that use gas.
Here is a link to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s recent report on air quality.
http://www.pca.state.mn.us/index.php/about-mpca/mpca-news/featured-stories/life-and-breath.html
http://www.pca.state.mn.us/index.php/about-mpca/mpca-news/featured-stories/life-and-breath.html Bottom line – air pollution is everyone’s problem
And from the Startribune: The small particle pollution created by small engines like lawn mowers and leaf blowers, diesel engines, industry and backyard fires causes 2,100 premature deaths each year, plus 291 hospitalizations for respiratory and cardiovascular problems, and 400 emergency room visits for asthma. http://www.startribune.com/twin-cities-air-pollution-kills-2-000-a-year-new-state-analysis-shows/314623601/
Friday Gratitude!
“Gratitude and acknowledgment are essential components in creating and attracting what you want in your life. Through the expression of gratitude on a daily basis, you align yourself to receive all the good the universe has to offer. By simply focusing your thoughts and attention on the abundance that is already present in your life, you will literally shift your energy to a positive vibration that will automatically and effortlessly attract even more to be grateful for.” Jack Canfield
Wishing you a weekend of gratitude and outdoor adventures!
Banner Creations
When you shop, do you try to purchase products made from recycled materials? This green business, Banner Creations, in Minneapolis is a hero of mine. They sew and make products from material made from recycled plastic. I purchased my reusable shopping bags (above) from them, and not only did they make a fabulous product, they were creative and efficient to work with.
And…a great article below about Banner Creations:
800.326.3524 :: info@bannercreations.com
To create markets for recycled materials:
PURCHASE PRODUCTS MADE FROM RECYCLED MATERIALS WHENEVER 
POSSIBLE AND CLOSE THE RECYCLING LOOP.
RECYCLE –MANUFACTURE—PURCHASE
Nature Walks Are Good For Your Brain!
See the new research below, and get outside in a quiet place for a walk.
In the past several months, a bevy of studies have added to a growing literature on the mental and physical benefits of spending time outdoors. That includes recent research showing that short micro-breaks spent looking at a nature scene have a rejuvenating effect on the brain — boosting levels of attention — and also that kids who attend schools featuring more greenery fare better on cognitive tests.
Report back with what you see on your walk. Friday I saw an owl and an indigo bunting.
Have a GREEN, red, white and blue!
Ways to make your 4th of July more Green!
From Hennepin County:
With a little planning, it’s easy to make your Fourth of July celebrations red, white, blue and GREEN. Follow these tips to make your Independence Day celebration a little more environmentally friendly:
• Recycle! Provide your 4th of July guests with recycling containers or ask your host for one. Print recycling labels for free at http://www.hennepin.us/eventrecycling.
• Use your own dishware instead of disposable paper or plastic plates and silverware. Although you may spend a few extra minutes at the sink, the extra effort goes a long way in reducing waste!
• Grocery shopping for the 4th? Remember to bring your own reusable shopping bag.
• Provide reusable food containers for guests to bring leftovers home, or encourage your guests to bring their own. You’ll have less to clean up and avoid food waste!
• Look for air quality updates and avoid having a bonfire during poor air quality days. MPC.com
• Traveling around town for the 4th? Bike or use public transportation instead of driving if possible.
• Buy 4th of July decorations that can be reused every year instead of decorations that can only be used once.
http://www.pca.state.mn.us/ http://www.hennepin.us/
Thank you, Pope Francis!
I thank Pope Francis, along with millions throughout the world, for encouraging churches and all of us to discuss and think about our unsustainable habits. Pope Francis is concerned with the lack of fresh drinking water, the loss of bio-diversity, and the diminished quality of life many on our planet are experiencing. The Pope and I would disagree on birth control, and the sustainability large families, but I think his other ideas are right on! The list below is the best list I have seen on things we can all do to reduce our carbon use. Below is from Priest Father Rocky:
10 things you can do to implement “Laudato Si.”
1. Use 10% less air conditioning — in home and in car
2. Use 10% less fuel — at home and in car
3. Drive 10% slower
4. Use scrap paper for your first draft
5. Use natural light instead of electric whenever possible
6. Turn off the lights when you leave the room
7. Use real plates, napkins, and cups: not paper and plastic
8. Reduce water consumption (recycle shower water into the holding tanks for toilets)
9. Be respectful at home: “please and thank you”
10. Say Grace BEFORE and AFTER meals.
And a Video: http://popefrancisthedestroyer.blogspot.com/2015/06/video-pope-francis-encyclical.html
Beautiful June Days
Superior Views, June 2015
Wow, who doesn’t love June? The weather is perfect, and everyday brings new budding/blooming flowers, birds and butterflies. The red-eyed vireo, song sparrow, and least fly-catcher sing constantly in our yard. Painted lady, northern-crescent, and tiger swallowtail butterflies add to the beauty of the days.
The best plants are those that pollinators frequent. The bees and the hummingbirds love
the wild geranium, and the flowering maple is a favorite for bees and many birds.
The dominant roadside flowers are daisies, lupine, hawkweed and buttercups that create a beautiful mix designed by nature. Unfortunately, the road crew of my town cut down all these blooming beauties. So much for our butterflies and bees which are now in a struggle to survive. Mowing roadsides in late September would help pollinators and enhance enjoyment for you and me.
Health4earth 