urban_sustain (original) (raw)
December 15th, 2011
| polevaulter |
**10:12 pm - Supporting Sustainable Companies**I try to buy products from companies that use organic/sustainable materials to support the organic industry. Aside from food, I also use organic facial products and sustainable CLOTHING! It didn't occur to me until it was staring me in the face that there's clothing out there that uses organic cotton and recycled polyester. I came across ThreadsForThought as I was shopping one day at Whole Foods and I'm totally in love with their products. I realize I'm preaching to the choir here, but every little bit helps. To support companies that are doing it right, I have a running blog that does product reviews and company promotions - threads4thought.blogspot.com. Here's a section from it: ThreadsForThought uses sustainable materials to make many of their clothing, including organic cotton and recycled polyester. Organic cotton uses 90% less toxins than regular cotton, saving our environment from completely unnecessarily poisoning. Growing organic cotton means there are no GMO's used at all. Genetically Modified Organisms are used in conventional farming techniques to force crop output and pest resilience, at the expense of crop diversity (which is healthy for the environment) and naturally occurring selection. GMOs upset the natural balance of the ecosystem and replace a healthy diversity with susceptible homogeneousness. The only real way of eliminating the use of GMO crops and other toxic farming practices is supporting companies that are doing it the right way. ThreadsForThought not only uses organic cotton wherever they can, they also use recycled water bottles to make some of their clothing. That's right, T4T uses recycled polyester, which is made through the breaking down and further refinement of water bottles that would have otherwise ended up in a dump somewhere. You can find out more about this awesome process on their website www.ThreadsForThought.com. Thanks and would love to hear your thoughts! |
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May 2nd, 2011
| helenatroy | **02:23 pm - disposing of nylon fabric**Hi,I have a few items made of nylon, if I put them in the garbage they'll just clot up the landfill. Can anybody make some suggestions about environmentally friendly ways dispose of the nylon?thanksHT |
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March 28th, 2010
| wildnettles |
**03:08 pm - safety of plastic for rain barrels**hello all, i hope this is an appropriate community to post this question...i have a heavy duty plastic trash can that i would like to use for a rainwater barrel. (i've been doing rainwater catchment for many years now but i accidentally broke our barrel last fall.)i do not want a bunch of nasties to leach into the rainwater, so i was reading the bottom of the plastic trash can. this is what i found:-a recycle logo with no number inside-NSF STD. 2 FOOD CONTACT: WHITE, GRAY, YELLOW-NSF STD 21 REFUSE: NO COLOR RESTRICTIONScan someone help me to decipher this? i did some research on the NSF (national sanitation foundation) website and cannot figure out what the "white, gray, yellow" means.any guidance on how "safe" this plastic is would be much appreciated. |
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June 25th, 2009
| holypigeon |
**09:18 am - Dumpster Diving 101**I thought I’d share my dumpster diving experiences and tips since I recently posted to this community with a question about dumpster diving. ( If any thing, you may get a chuckle from reading about the awkwardness of a novice…Collapse ) |
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June 24th, 2009
| yarrowkat | 10:37 am - Urban Farm magazineI just learned about a new publication that will be coming out this August, called Urban Farm. Here's the page: http://www.hobbyfarms.com/urban-farm/urban-farm.aspxand here's the post where i discovered it, on Cold Antler Farm: http://coldantlerfarm.blogspot.com/2009/06/hey-all-you-city-kids.htmlCurrent Mood: workingCurrent Music: capercaillie, hebridean hale-bop |
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June 10th, 2009
| jaime88 |
**02:32 pm - Soil Food Web Books**The concept of the Soil Food Web is one that fascinates me. Here are three major books on the topic that look very interesting.Teaming with Microbes is written for more of a lay audience.Soil Biology Primer seems an intermediate text. And The Compost Tea Brewing Manual makes itself look a bit more in depth and technical.I think I'm answering my own question here before even asking it. I'll get more out of the more technical text.Anyway for folks interested in re-vivifying the Earth these books should all have something to offer |
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June 9th, 2009
| holypigeon |
**03:45 pm - Dumpster Diving Tips**Does anybody have any good weblinks about dumpster diving or any personal experiences/tips to share? I'm going to be blogging about my experiences with dumpster diving and want to supplement it with additional resources. |
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June 1st, 2009
| jaime88 |
**11:33 am - Tomato Inversion Step 1**I was at the office, where the buckets lids and compost was, so I filled the buckets, put on the lids and took them home. That's where the drill and the hole cutter blades were located.I had lids with caps, so I removed the caps, and put a piece of landscape cloth on top of the compost, then replaced the lids. Below is a stock photo, but my lids look like this if you filter out the blue. It's properly called, in the industry, a lid with spout.  I drilled the holes: Then poured in some water, and tucked in a Brandywine tomato start. They'll hang out in the greenhouse or out in the sun till the starts get established. By which time I'll have gotten around to setting things up at the office so I can suspend them, and add a drip line to each bucket. |
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April 13th, 2009
| sunniegreen |
**09:59 pm - Miracle Gro**I poked around on Google, but other than some unsavoury looking lawsuits I didn't see much of what I was wondering about. I was given a box of miracle grow (opened and slightly used already, from someone who decided they were done with developing a green thumb for the time being.) and I know from childhood that it works quite well. However I was wondering how it is looked on by the green community. Evil? Semi-evil? Dr. Evil? (not the best, but ultimately won't kill you) or just not as good as natural?Safe? Unsafe?Disturbingly corporate?Not bad as a product, but company is rotten?I look forward to any input anyone may have.Extra: I an apartment-gardening, and have roommates that looked at me with shock and horror as they put the kibosh on any worm-compost ideas. I have used the box I was given pretty sparingly, less than a fourth of a teaspoon in an old motts apple juice container that I use to water plants. I have a variety so I am afraid of over-fertilizing. |
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April 7th, 2009
| sunniegreen |
**09:42 pm - Secondhand Appliances**There are a couple of household things that I would like to get, nothing essential but fun things I would like to have. Things like a waffle iron, a crockpot, a dutch oven, a toaster oven. What i was curious about though, is what is better bought new/lightly used, and what is pretty reliable to get at a thrift store. Some things seem like they are fine to get at thrift stores and other things seem better when bought at garage sales or handed down where the person is more responsible for what they are selling and they can actually assure you that it works or tell you its quirks.I don't know if this exactly makes sense, but I guess basically what I am asking is: What are the most reliable (and least likely to be secretly gross) appliances to buy at thrift stores? What is the worst (or makes you the most nervous)?I'd really like to buy used rather than new, and that is how I get plates and pots, but something about appliances reminds me of buying used underwear. Maybe it doesn't make sense. |
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