Shopping for Sharks, Penguins, Elephants and Kids? – A Unique Kind of Experience: Eco-Retail and Reusable Therapy! (Part II)

In Part I of this article, an underlying assumption was made that your online eco-shopping experience would generate unique gift ideas, new product purchases, and a psychological uplift whose primary beneficiaries would be yourself, your family, your friends and your pets — and of course the environment itself – – but what if the beneficiaries were perfect strangers – people you had never met before in your life? And what if the gifts you gave them were “used” items? Well, – Welcome to the Eco-friendly World of “Reusable Gift-Giving”!

Once again, the best source of reusable gift-giving ideas can easily be found online through some really cool non-profit organizations many of which were founded by socially-minded entrepreneurs. Let us now take a look at eight of these socially and environmentally progressive-thinking groups and at the same time, take stock of our own closets, bins, storage boxes, and bureau drawers.

1- Sole Responsibility – www.soleresponsibility.org
Gift-Giving Category: Unworn & Slightly Used Running Shoes

Gift-Giving Goal: Founded by a group of women runners in 2005 – Jennifer North of Ottawa, Canada and her running mates, Tracy Clark and Cindy Scott – this non-profit organization collects, washes, and sends unworn and gently used athletic shoes to needy communities in Africa – including refugees, orphan children, the elderly, the disabled, the disadvantaged and the physically-challenged in Africa.

Ask Yourself: Are you interested in collecting running shoes thru your office or school or expanding the number of collection sites?

2- Cell Phones for Soldiers – www.cellphonesfor soldiers.com/
Gift-Giving Category: Used Cell Phones

Gift-Giving Goal: Founded by the Bergquist family of Norwell, Massachusetts in 2004, this non-profit organization collects ‘used’ cell phones, sells them to recycling firms, and takes the proceeds to buy calling cards for deployed and returning troops so that they can communicate with their family cost-free while serving in the United States military.

Ask Yourself: Are you interested in gifting your cell phone to an American service man or woman in remembrance of a loved family member or close friend who made a difference in your life?

3- Cristina Foundation – www.cristina.org/
Gift-Giving Category: Used Computer Equipment & Related Technology

Gift-Giving Goal: Founded by David Bruce McMahan and Yvetter Marrin in 1984, and based in Greenwich, Connecticut, this non-profit organization collects used pc desktops, notebooks, printers, scanners, copiers, keyboards, modems, monitors, software, video cards, and digital cameras -and in turn – donates these used items to schools, public agencies, and other non-profit organizations who help to train people with disabilities, students at risk and economically disadvantaged persons so that they may lead more independent and productive lives.

Ask Yourself: Are you interested in gifting computer equipment so that others in need may have access for the first time to special educational programs and vocational support?

4- Bicycles for Humanity (B4H) – www.bicycles-for-humanity.org
Gift-Giving Category: Used & Unwanted Bicycles & Related Accessories

Gift-Giving Goal: Founded in 2005 by Pat Montani in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, this non-profit organization collects old and unwanted bicycles, bike parts, clothing, helmets, and shoes and sends them to disadvantaged communities in Africa so that people there are empowered with their own transport.

Ask Yourself: Are you interested in giving the gift of mobility so that others may have better access to healthcare, education, food, water, employment, and social opportunities?

5- Riley’s Toys Foundation – www.rileystoys.org/
Gift-Giving Category: New, Slightly Used & Unwanted Toys

Gift-Giving Goal: Founded in 2009 by then five year old, Riley Hebbard, of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, this non-profit organization collects new toys and slightly used and unwanted toys and sends them to vulnerable children in Africa many of whom live in orphanages, AIDS camps, refugee camps, and various impoverished areas.

Ask Yourself: Are you interested in giving the gift of joy to a struggling child that is toyless and forgotten by creating a smile of hope with your toy?

6- St. Jude’s Ranch for Children – www.stjudesranch.org/
Gift-Giving Category: Used Greeting Cards

Gift-Giving Goal: Founded by Episcopal priest, Father Jack Adam, in 1967 and based in Boulder City, Nevada with two other locations in Texas – this non-profit organization recycles used greeting cards by allowing abused, abandoned, and neglected children residing at their facilities to reconstruct these old cards into new holiday cards and greeting cards for every occasion which are then sold in turn to support their organizational programs and services.

Ask Yourself: Are you interested in giving a teenager “green” entrepreneurship skills and a sense of importance, dignity, and purpose in life?

7- The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) –
www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/fur/wildlife_rehabbers_fur_donations_list.pdf
Gift-Giving Category: Used Real Furs

Gift-Giving Goal: Founded in 1954 by journalist Fred Myers and his three colleagues – Larry Andrews, Marcia Glaser, and Helen Jones – this Washington D.C.-based organization is the largest animal advocacy organization in the world. Backed by 11 million Americans, the HSUS is dedicated to seeking a humane and sustainable world for all animals that will also benefit people. In its efforts to reduce animal suffering and celebrate pets as well as wildlife, the HSUS now collects used real furs (including fur apparel, fur trims, and fur accessories) and sends them to wildlife rehabilitators so that these furs can then be repurposed as blankets for orphaned and injured wild baby animals they find every year.

Ask Yourself: Are you interested in giving an abandoned or injured wild animal the warmth and comfort of a furry blanket a.k.a. – a surrogate mother?

8- Combat Paper Project – www.combatpaper.org/
Gift Giving Category: Used military uniforms

Gift-Giving Goal: Founded in 2007 by Drew Matott, a paper and book artist and Drew Cameron, a soldier-turned-artist, this San Francisco-based organization administers papermaking workshops all across the USA to assist military veterans to work out, reconcile, and share their personal military experiences by teaching them how to make paper pulp by hand from their old combat uniforms and transforming the pulp into a variety of cathartic works of paper art – giving the veterans “a vehicle to tell their personal stories of military service.”

Ask Yourself: Are you interested in donating a military uniform to a veteran community at one of these workshops so that our military men and women are better able to embrace their military experiences and find within themselves the artistic ability to turn uniforms into combat paper and ultimately books, personal journals, broadsides, and other works of art?

Truly the backstory of these reusable gift-giving ideas is fascinating. You may now want to ask yourself this all important question – are you inspired enough to organize a grassroots chapter of your own within your local area?

Shopping for Sharks, Penguins, Elephants and Kids? – A Unique Kind of Experience: Eco-Retail and Reusable Therapy! (Part I)

You don’t have to be a child to like stuffed animals nor do you have to travel far to see an Emerald Hummingbird, a Sumatran Rhino or a Pygmy Elephant. Instead, you can sit comfortably in front of your home computer screen, go onto the internet, and visit the “World Wildlife Fund Gift Center” – www.worldwildlife.org/gift-center/ – and “Adopt” yourself a real Emerald Hummingbird, Sumatran Rhino, a Pygmy Elephant or any other of a 100+ endangered species! Indeed, this is online eco-shopping at its best – gift shopping that not only makes a transformative lifestyle statement about protecting the planet for future generations but encourages others – friends and family – to preserve the habitats of these endangered animals. As for your eco-conscious purchase – you not only have a memorable photo and an adorably fetching plush version of your favorite adopted animal – but the camaraderie of a world renown conservation organization whose many publications, partnerships, and projects are an added feature to its array of gifts, cards, and soft toys.

But don’t stop your eco-shopping there – Check out Oceana’s online “Marine Wildlife Adoption & Gift Center” – www.store.oceana.org/ – which features a Sea Turtle cookie cutter kit and Penguin cookie cutter kit that includes each of these delightfully cuddly plush animals as well as a scrumptious cookie recipe and a personalized adoption certificate. But don’t rest your fingertips there – Yes, keep shopping! – For there’s “The Nature Conservancy Marketplace” – an online eco-store – www.shop.nature.org/ – featuring not only a wide array of unique Home and Garden accessories, Apparel, Books and DVD’s but globally diverse “Adopt An Acre Gifts” – See www.adopt.nature.org/ – which showcases an array of lost and near lost landscapes around the world where endangered plants and animals still thrive. Here you have the choice to “Adopt a Coral Reef” in the Bahamas, or in the Dominican Republic, or at Kimbe Bay in Papua New Guinea, or off the Pacific island nation of Palau. And if that isn’t exciting enough, you also have the choice to also “Adopt an Acre” in Australia’s Gondwana Link, Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula, Africa’s Grassland and Savannas, and various places in the USA – in particular the Appalachians, the Northern Rockies, and the U.S. Southern Forests. And don’t forget to browse the NRDC’s online “Green Gifts” store address – www.nrdcgreengifts.org/ – whose extraordinary collection of gift ideas includes a Whale Nursery, a Songbird Sanctuary, an Underwater Park for Otters, a One-day Photo Safari in Yellowstone National Park, an escorted One-day Tour with the “Wolf Whisperer” and “Green Teacher Kits”. With over 1.3 million members strong, the “National Resources Defense Council” offers gifts that not only make the environment richer and safer for all of us but rewards the shopper with a greater sense of entertainment, fashion, and travel options and most importantly a greater taste of self-definition.

Six other online eco-retail stores that capture the shopping imagination include the “Sierra Club Store”, the “National Audubon Society Marketplace”, the “National Wildlife Federation Shop”, the “National Geographic Store”, the “Aid to Artisans Online Store” and the “Global Goods Partners Online Store”. Let us now take a look at some of their best-selling items:

1-Sierra Club Store – www.sierraclub.org/store/

Category: Holiday Cards
– Horses Holiday Card Assortment
– Nature’s Details Holiday Card Assortment
– Crater Lake & Wizard Island Holiday Cards

Category: Books
– “Edible Landscaping” by Rosalind Creasy
– “Nukespeak” by Stephen Hilgartner, Richard C. Bell & Rory O’Connor
– “Desert Song” by Tony Johnston, Illustrated by Ed Young

Category: Eco-Socks – Men’s & Women’s

2-National Audubon Society Marketplace – www.marketplace.audubon.org/

Category: Audubon Mobile Field Guide Applications
For the iPhone, iTouch, Android, & iPad
(Covers North American Birds, Insects, Wildflowers, Mammals, Fish, Trees & More)

Category: Audubon Shade Grown Coffee
(100% Organic & Certified by the Rainforest Alliance)

3-National Wildlife Federation Shop – www.shopnwf.org/

Category: Backyard Decorations
– Dragonfly Tea Lantern
– Dragonfly Wall Plaque
– Pine Cone Thermometer Clock
– Personalized Fairy Garden Plaque

Category: Birdhouses & Feeders
– Hydrangea Glass Birdbath
– Acorn Suet Feeder
– Finch Tube Feeder with Spiral Perch
– Rustic Wooden Birdhouse

Category: Tree Sponsorship – Holidays
– Sponsor a Holiday Gift Tree
– Sponsor a Holiday Gift Garden
– Sponsor a Holiday Gift Grove
– Sponsor a Holiday Gift Small Forest

4-National Geographic Store – www.shop.nationalgeographic.com/

Category: Books
– “Food Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 Extraordinary Places to Eat Around the Globe” by National Geographic

Category: Historic Collectibles
– Irish Pewter Compass
– Handcarved Polish Chess Set
– Roman Cast-brass Horse

Category: Map Puzzles & Gifts
– Custom Nautical Tile Clock
– Custom Nautical Tile Tables
– Personalized Aerial Map Jigsaw Puzzle

Category: Kids Toys & Games
– National Geographic Talking Planetarium
– T. Rex Remote-Controlled Puzzle
– Wacky Wigglers Mechanical Toy Set
– National Geographic Sustainable Earth Lab
– National Geographic Archaeology Kit: Egyptian Pyramid
– Kids Interactive Intelliglobe

As for the next two online eco-retail stores, they are non-profit organizations whose many gift displays provide the only means of revenue for struggling artisan groups around the world who are trying to keep their eco-communities and handicraft traditions alive. Most of these artisans are women living in Asia, Africa, and underdeveloped parts of Central and South America and the Caribbean who are often unable to reach the global marketplace on their own.

5-Aid to Artisans Online Store – www.atawebstore.org/home.php

Category: Sugar Bowls from Mozambique

Category: Green Recycled Glass Vases from Egypt

Category: Indigo Market Bags from Benin

Category: Papier-Mache Patchwork Bull Head from Haiti

6-Global Goods Partners Online Store – www.globalgoodspartners.org/template/index.cfm

Category: Jewelry
– Colorful Beaded Bracelet in Maasai Tribal Style from Tanzania

Category: Accessories
– Textile and Leather Travel Tags from Peru
– Beaded Lion Keychain & Zebra Keychain from South Africa

Category: Home Décor
– African Beaded Bowl from Tanzania
– Indian Candle Holders Made from Broken Bangles
– Beaded Nesting Boxes from Tanzania

Category: Pet
– Rainbow Dog Sweater from Bolivia

Category: Children & Baby
– Handmade Stuffed Cotton Bunnies from Peru

Category: Bags
– Coin Pouches from Peruvian Textiles

Isn’t it time now to do some eco-shopping of your own and find that creative green gift that encourages cultural and environmental diversity and matches your unique individuality?

Predictions from an Eco-Crystal Ball: The Green Reinvention of American Jobs!

It is not a question of ‘WHEN’ or ‘IF’ the American economy will recover from this latest recession, but ‘WHERE’ will the green-collar jobs of tomorrow be most predominant? And WHAT link is there between green entrepreneurship and geography? It is that very question that I shall attempt to answer herewith: Where will the greatest geographic concentration of tomorrow’s sustainable communities and green entrepreneurs be located within the boundaries of the continental USA?

To begin, the growth of tomorrow’s green-collar jobs looks the brightest in America’s urban centers. Indeed, the green gentrification of America’s largest cities was just recently given a tremendous boost by President Obama’s “Green Building Initiative” launched on Dec. 2, 2011 which amounts to a $4 Billion investment in energy upgrades in public and private buildings over the next two years. The hope is that the upgrades will make America’s buildings 20 percent more energy efficient over the next decade and that it will create about 50,000 jobs in the hard-hit construction industry.

Large American cities and their contiguous municipalities are also home to the greatest concentrations of angel investor groups and social venture capital firms in the country whose commitment to Triple Bottom Line Investing (commonly called the three P’s: People, Planet, & Profits) has spurred on new clean-tech startups and new health technologies. Start-up companies are where the jobs are created and access to low-cost capital is critical. Indeed, between 2008 and 2010, green job growth outpaced traditional job growth at a rate of nearly 2-to-1 in the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan centers.

The growth of new eco-political alliances within America’s major cities is also shaping the green jobs sector of tomorrow. The New York City Environmental Justice Alliance offers a green jobs apprenticeship program. The Energy Alliance of Greater Pittsburgh offers funding for energy innovation programs and green-energy related careers. The Boston Harbor Island Alliance offers eco-recreation and eco-tourism development opportunities and Air Alliance Houston offers school children health and science lessons. But perhaps the most significant eco-political partnership to have emerged in America in just the last six years is the ‘BlueGreen Alliance Foundation’, a non-profit coalition between labor unions and environmental organizations now 14 million members strong – “dedicated to expanding the number and quality of jobs in the green economy”. And one of their major challenges is to green American cities while advancing social equity.

But not all urban centers are equal when one considers the most sustainable cities in America – Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; and San Francisco, California. And now with the 2008 establishment of the “Pacific Coast Collaborative”, an agreement by which the governmental leaders of California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska have pledged to work together to find common solutions to regional and global challenges — Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco are now positioned to be North America’s greatest centers of green innovation and sustainable resource management in the 7th largest economy in the world.

There are other factors at work as well that will continue to make Portland, Oregon, Seattle, Washington and San Francisco, California the greatest powerhouse engines of green job growth of tomorrow. One is a culture that tolerates and encourages failure. Second is an abundance of public policies that promote entrepreneurship, environmental stewardship, and progressive urban planning. Third is the abundance of renewable resources, natural beauty, and distinctive quality-of-life features that attracts both entrepreneurs and investors to set up business in these locations. Fourth, the entrepreneurial infrastructure amongst these three cities and within these three cities are truly amazing. Here are but a few:
Portland, Oregon –
(1) Creative Entrepreneurs Anonymous – www.www.meetup.com/Creative-Entrepreneurs-Anonymous/
(2) Greener Good (Women’s Marketing Group) – www.greenergood.com
(3) OVP Venture Partners – www.ovp.com/
(4) Oregon Angel Fund – www.oen.org/programs_oaf.aspx
(5) Oregon Entrepreneurs Network – www.oen.org/
(6) Oregon Microenterprise Network – www.oregon-microbiz.org/
(7) Oregon Networking Professionals – www.oregonnetworkingprofessionals.com/
(8) Portland Angel Network – www.oen.org/programs_pan.aspx
(9) Reference Capital – www.referencecapital.com/
(10) SmartForest Ventures – www.smartforest.com/
(11) The Oregon Native American Business & Entrepreneurial Network (ONABEN) – www.onaben.org/
(12) Voyager Capital – www.voyagercapital.com/
(13) Women Entrepreneurs of Oregon – www.oregonweo.org/
(14) Women’s Investment Network – www.fundingpost.com/
(15) Young Women Social Entrepreneurs – www.ywse.org/

Seattle, Washington –
(1) Alliance of Angels – www.allianceofangels.com/
(2) Entrepreneurs’ Organization – www.eonetwork.org/
(3) Ignite Seattle – www.igniteseattle.com/
(4) Innovate Washington – www.innovatewashington.org/
(5) Madrona Venture Group – www.madrona.com/
(6) Northwest Entrepreneur Network – www.nwen.org/
(7) Power Chicks International – www.powerchicksinternational.com/
(8) Puget Sound Venture Club – www.pugetsoundvc.com/index.asp
(9) Seattle Tech Startups – www.seattletechstartups.com/doku.php
(10) Seattle University’s Entrepreneurship Center –
www.seattleu.edu/albers/entrepreneurship.aspx
(11) Seraph Capital Forum – www.www.seraphcapital.com/
(12) Tech Cafe – www.npost.com/techcafe/
(13) TiE – www.seattle.tie.org/
(14) Zino Society – www.zinosociety.com/

San Francisco, CA-
(1) Asian American Business Connection – www.meetup.com/asian-american-business-connection/
(2) Bay Area Social Enterprise – www.meetup.com/socent/
(3) Berkeley Business Mixers – www.meetup.com/Berkeley-Business-Mixers/
(4) Change-Agent Entrepreneurs Bay Area – www.meetup.com/Bay-Area-Entrepreneurs-Network/
(5) Eco-Tuesday – www.ecotuesday.com/
(6) Fashion Entrepreneurs – www.meetup.com/Fashion-Entrepreneurs/
(7) Fearless Women Entrepreneur Network (FWEN) – www.fearlesswomennetwork.com/
(8) Genuine Networking Association (GNA) – www.eliasmelas.com/gna.htm
(9) Golden Gate Angels – www.ggangels.com/index.html
(10) Granite Ventures – www.granitevc.com
(11) Ladies of Green Building – www.meetup.com/Ladies-of-Green-Building/
(12) Next Level Networking – www.meetup.com/Next-Level-Networking-Visitors-Day/
(13) Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center – www.rencenter.org/
(14) San Francisco Entrepreneur/Investor Network (SFEIN) – www.meetup.com/sfnetwork/
(15) San Francisco & Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Meetup – www.meetup.com/sanfrancisco-entrepreneur/
(16) “Women Business Owner” San Francisco Professional Network – www.meetup.com/WomenBusinessOwner/

In conclusion, Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco are great cities in the process of reinventing themselves and our notion of 21st century sustainable living through their improved transportation systems, traffic signals, parking meters, bike lanes, esplanades, integrated green buildings, smart grid infrastructure, efficient water treatment management and recycling methods – and – I predict that this is where the greatest geographic concentration of tomorrow’s sustainable communities and green entrepreneurs will be located and in turn the greatest reinvention of American jobs.

Memorable Eco-Inspired Quotes – Part III: By Illustrious Detectives, Master Spies, Mystery Writers, and Crime Novelists

While it’s great to relax and escape into a murder mystery book or a crime novel, most of us take for granted the strange background settings that make the plot and the characters so memorable – until perhaps – we are suddenly startled by an unexpected quip or passage that reveals the mood of the detective or the master spy or even the author himself. Let’s see then how well you know your murder mystery eco trivia?

1-Quote: “As you value your life or your reason keep away from the moor.”
What is the name of this illustrious fictional detective, the crime novel featured and the author of this work?

2-Quote: “What’s this bird, this falcon, that everybody’s all steamed up about?”
What is the name of this illustrious fictional detective, the crime novel featured and the author of this work?

3-Quote: “There is a dead cobra over there. Please do me the kindness of having it removed.”
What is the name of this illustrious fictional detective, the murder mystery featured and the author of this work?

4-Quote: “Where would a wise man hide a leaf? In a forest. Where would a wise man hide a cross? In a forest of crosses. We have a forest of crosses ready-made for us. A forest of priests; a black forest, you might say.”
What is the name of this illustrious fictional detective and which notable English novelist invented him?

5-Quote: “The maid was in the garden, Hanging out the clothes;
When down came a blackbird, And pecked off her nose.”
This old English nursery rhyme was featured in what detective story and who was the detective featured in this crime novel?

6-Quote: “From the noise we heard upstairs you’re obviously going on the theory that Mr Noakes was killed by a herd of buffalo.”
What is the name of this illustrious fictional detective, the murder mystery featured and the author of this work?

7-Quote Exchange:
Villain: “A unique feat of engineering, if I may say so. I designed it myself. The glass is convex, ten inches thick, which accounts for the magnifying effect.

Hero: “Minnows pretending they’re whales. Just like you on this island.”
What are the famous names of both the fictional villain and the fictional world-renown spy and who is the author of this work?

8-Quote: “You’re the perfect choice, Toby…With you as his agent, Polyakov has a cover story that really sits up and works. The big three give you the little sealed packets of chickenfeed, and Moscow Centre thinks you’re all theirs. The only problem arises when it turns out you’ve been handing Polyakov the crown jewels, and getting Russian chickenfeed in return. If that’s the case, Toby, you’re going to need some pretty good friends. Like us. Gerald’s a Russian mole, of course.”
What is the name of this illustrious fictional spy, the espionage novel featured and the author of this work?

9-Quote: “A man who lives with nature is used to violence and is companionable with death. There is more violence in an English hedgerow than in the meanest streets of a great city.” What is the real life name of this English Baroness and crime writer?

10- Quote: “…It will always remain my private persuasion that Nature was absorbed in making cabbages when Mrs. Vesey was born, and that the good lady suffered the consequences of a vegetable preoccupation in the mind of the Mother of us all. ”
Who is the English author of this 19th century passage and the name of the novel he published in 1860?

11-Quote: “Come on, Joe (Leaphorn),” Capt. Pinto said. “I know how that theory works and I buy it. Hard, hot wind blowing gets the birds tired of flying. One too many birds land on a limb. Limb breaks off, falls into a stream, diverts water flow, undercuts the stream bank, causes a landslide, blocks the stream, floods the valley, changes the flora and that changes the fauna, and the folks who were living off of hunting the deer have to migrate. When you think back you could blame it all on that wind.”
Who is this 20th century American author of Navajo mysteries and what is the name of this fictional crime novel first published in 2004?

12- Quote1: ”The plants filled the place, a forest of them, with nasty meaty leaves and stalks like the newly washed fingers of dead men.”
Quote2: ”Even on Central Avenue, not the quietest dressed street in the world, he looked about as inconspicuous as a tarantula on a slice of angel food.”
Who is this American-born detective fiction writer whose tough detective character speaks in the first person and enjoys chess and poetry? What is the name of this wisecracking “private eye” and what are the names of the two hardboiled crime novels from which these two quotes were taken from written in 1939 and 1940 respectively?

Answers:
1-Sherlock Holmes; The Hound of the Baskervilles; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
2-Sam Spade; The Maltese Falcon; Dashiell Hammett
3-Hercule Poirot; Death on the Nile; Agatha Christie
4-Father Brown; G.K. Chesterton
5-A Pocket Full of Rye; Miss Marple
6-Lord Peter Wimsey; Busman’s Honeymoon; Dorothy L. Sayers
7-Dr. No; James Bond; Ian Fleming
8-George Smiley; Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; John le Carre
9-P.D. James
10-Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White
11-Tony Hillerman; Skeleton Man
12-Raymond Chandler; Philip Marlowe;
Quote1: The Big Sleep (1939) and Quote2: Farewell My Lovely (1940)

So how well did you do? Well, you can make up for any incorrect or missed answers by guessing you know who —the name of the American author of the classic 1845 narrative poem, Quoth The Raven: “Nevermore” which was inspired in part by a talking raven in the historical novel, “Barnaby Rudge” written by the English novelist Charles Dickens back in 1841 —- Yes, none other than Edgar Allan Poe, the inventor of the detective fiction genre!

A “Shore-Fire” Remedy for the Winter Blues: A Beachcombing Vacation of Sand, Sea Shells, Sea Glass and Glass Fishing Floats along America’s Treasure-filled Coves and Coastal Ways!

It’s that time of year up here in the northeastern quadrant of the USA when warm sea breezes and the soft splash of a royal tern taking a plunge brings back eco-memories of winter breaks in the Florida Keys. But this January, I am going to stay closer to home and renew myself by expanding my sand and sea shell collection to the shores of southern New England and Long Island. And If I am feeling sleuthy enough in a week or two, I shall then attend next month’s glass float scavenger hunt on Georgia’s Jekyll Island held every January and February since 2002 which allows visitors to hunt for colorful hand crafted glass treasures along the beach!

So let’s take a behind-the-scenes look at collectors of sand, sea shells, sea glass, and glass fishing floats and determine which beachcombing activities best suits your plans for a “Beat the Winter Blues” vacation!

-COLLECTING SAND

A collector of sand is called an “arenophile”. For most collectors sand is a tangible reminder of a special outing or exotic vacation – a unique bit of geology and geography encapsulated within its grains that comes in a variety of colors, textures, grain shapes, angularities, and elemental minerals that range from the green grains of olivine, to the clear grains of quartz, to the black grains of magnetite and to the pink grains of garnet. Some collectors look for gemstones in sand and others tiny fossils but for those collectors who are artistically inclined like myself – scooping up sand samples into a reusable plastic storage bag or empty film container is an easy and inexpensive way to bring home eco-memories for my next art project – a sand picture on canvas or a ship-shaped sand bottle. A good place to start meeting fellow sand collectors and swap samples is to join “The International Sand Collectors Society” based in North Haven, Connecticut – www.sandcollectors.org/All_About_Usx.html.

-COLLECTING SEA SHELLS

With over 50,000 types of shells in the world, there is no shortage of places to find a remarkably rich variety of shell shapes, patterns, and colors. However certain beaches in the USA stand out from the rest in their bounty of prize shell specimens. They are as follows:

1- CALIFORNIA – Stinson Beach, Silver Strand State Beach (Coronado Island) & Point Reyes National Seashore
2- FLORIDA – Sanibel Island, Captiva Island, Marco Island & the Gulf Islands National Seashore off of Pensacola
3- GEORGIA – Cumberland Island National Seashore
4- HAWAII – Shipwreck Beach on Lanai, Tunnels Beach on Kauai & Waikiki Beach on Oahu
5- MARYLAND – Both Calvert Cliffs State Park & Flag Ponds Nature Park at Lusby
6- NEW YORK – the Great Peconic Bay and Shelter Island nestled at the eastern end of Long island
7- NORTH CAROLINA – Ocracoke Island on the Outer Banks
8- OREGON – Bandon in Coos County, on the south side of the mouth of the Coquille River
9- TEXAS – Galveston and San Jose Island
10- WASHINGTON – Point No Point Beach in Hansville on the northern tip of the Kitsap Peninsula – and – Point Roberts in Whatcom County bordered by Canada and the waters of Boundary Bay

For some of these special places, you might want to consider booking a “shelling tour” in advance if your time is limited such as “Capt. Mike Fuery’s Tours” based in Captiva Island, Florida – Check out www.islandinnsanibel.com/things-to-do-sanibel-island/tours/captain-mike-fuerys-tours. And for those of you with the ambitious itch to collect shells outside the continental USA, check out shell collector and guide, Peggy Williams, at www.shelltrips.com and be sure to check the web as well for regional Shell Club offerings. Once again, for those of you with artistic inclinations, sea shells offer limitless possibilities for sea shell craft projects – from sea shell wreaths to sea shell napkin rings – from sea shell Christmas tree ornaments to sea shell picture frames – from sea shell hair clips to sea shell candles and sea shell mobiles and even a sea shell sewn tote bag!

-COLLECTING SEA GLASS

The “Sea Glass Mecca” for collectors around the world is ‘Glass Beach’ located at the town’s edge of Fort Bragg in Mendocino County California. Founded as a military fort prior to the American Civil War, and used as the town dumping ground for discarded glass, appliances, and cars up until 1967, the beach is now covered with lovely smooth shards of sea glass after decades of pounding waves pulverized and polished broken clumps of glassy debris.

In addition to Fort Bragg, California, the top spots for collecting sea glass in the USA include the following:

1-CALIFORNIA – Seaside State Beach & Monterey State Beach in Monterey
2-HAWAII – Glass Beach on Kauai
3-MAINE – Bar Island in Bar Harbor
4-MASSACHUSETTS – Spectacle Island in the Boston Harbor
5-*PUERTO RICO – Beaches along Old San Juan Bay & Beaches in Rincon i.e. Antonio’s Beach, River Mouth, Punta Beach
6-WASHINGTON – Rosario Beach on Fidalgo Island & Glass Beach at Port Townsend

*Established as a U.S. Commonwealth in 1952.

Sea glass collecting has grown tremendously within just the last decade as these beach treasures are perfect for jewelry, jar displays, mosaics and other creative projects. Consequently, there are a number of regional sea glass associations and sea glass festivals all across America but a good jumping-off point would be to check out the “North American Sea Glass Association” (www.seaglassassociation.org/) which organizes a yearly conference bringing together collectors, artisans, and retailers – (last year’s conference was held in Long Branch, New Jersey) – and issues a newsletter. Three other great reference guides are the online magazine, “The Sea Glass Journal” (www.seaglassjournal.com), Richard LaMotte’s book, “Pure Sea Glass”, and the “Sea Glass Hunter’s Handbook” by Carole S. Lambert.

-COLLECTING GLASS FISHING FLOATS

Most glass floats remaining in the ocean are drifting in a circular pattern of ocean currents in the North Pacific. These hollow glass balls, once used by fishermen in many parts of the world to keep their fishing nets and lines afloat – (the Norwegian and Japanese glass fishing floats being the most well known) have become so popular in recent years as a collectors’ item for both beachcombers and interior decorators alike that American glassblowers and glass artists are being asked to replicate these glass floats as a way to meet demand. And now Tourism Councils and Chambers of Commerce on both the East Coast and West Coast of the United States have caught onto the idea of enticing vacationers to their area by offering Glass Float Treasure Hunts!

But for those purists, the best places to find glass fishing floats in the USA are on the shores of Oregon at Astoria, Washington state at Long Beach, and at the Alaska Peninsula/Bristol Bay area – particularly after a winter storm during the months of February, March, and April. To learn more, check out “Glass Fishing Floats of the World: The Collector’s Price Guide and Identification Handbook” by Stu Farnsworth and Alan D. Rammer and “Beachcombers Guide to the Northwest” by Walt Pich.

Are you ready now to beat the “Winter Blues”?

Take A Walk On The Wild Side This Year – With Some of The Coolest Eco-Art Destinations in the World for Travelers and Artists Alike!

If you want an authentic travel experience filled with novel art ideas, products, resources, and opportunities that raises your environmental and cultural awareness to a heightened level of thinking and expressiveness – Take a Walk on the Wild Side This Year! – and Check Out Anyone of These Cool Eco-Art Destinations – and Who Knows You May Find An Eco-Inspiration of Your Own Making!

1-Cancun’s Underwater Art Museum– Just off Mexico’s eastern coastline in the waters surrounding Cancun, Isla Mujeres and Punta Nizuc lies the world’s largest underwater sculpture park – a work-in-progress by British artist Jason de Caires Taylor – who is creating a submerged art gallery made of a series of specialized cement sculptures i.e. ‘The Collector’, ‘The Silent Evolution’, ‘The Archive of Lost Dreams’, ‘The Gardener of Hope’ and ‘Man on Fire’ that have been designed to form artificial reef structures, encourage coral growth, attract marine life (as well as scuba divers and snorkelers), and raise awareness about ocean health. Check out his www.underwatersculpture.com.

2-Western Canada’s Thunderbird Park & The Royal British Columbia Museum – Located side-by-side inside the harbor area of downtown Victoria on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada are some of the greatest First Nation’s totem poles ever collected and preserved. These heraldic tall red cedar poles carved with aboriginal family crests and ancestral supernatural beings are the eco-art symbols of a clan’s lineage from a particular array of animals. Other totem poles recount notable legends or events in the culture of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. A number of contemporary totem poles designed, carved, and painted by well-known artists of today are also displayed here. Check out www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/.

3- Sweden’s ICEHOTEL and Sculpture Park – Located in the village of Jukkasjarvi on the shore of the Torne River, right next to the town of Kiruna, the northernmost city in Sweden in the province of Lapland which sits way above the arctic circle — the artistic ice creations within this hotel and the natural wilderness around it together with the Magnetite-carved sculptures surrounding the hotel make this an eco-art destination like no other. The ice hotel rooms and its famous ice bar are open to guests by mid-December and the ice church and main hall are completed by Christmas. Artists are invited each summer to create something new for the sculpture park of magnetite (iron ore is an abundant local resource) and artists and architects alike are invited each winter under the direction of the ICEHOTEL Art & Design Group to create next year’s version of the ICEHOTEL. This winter season of 2011-2012 there will be 47 rooms in total including 16 Art Suites, 20 Ice Rooms, and 8 Snow Rooms. This hotel location also makes it a good place for skiing, dog sledding, and observing the northern lights. Check out www.icehotel.com.

4-Newfoundland’s Fogo Island Art-In-Residency Program – Situated up in Eastern Canada, Located off the northeastern coastline of Newfoundland and Centered around old fishing cabins that have been converted into art studios – lies the Fogo Islands where visual artists, filmmakers, writers, artists, musicians, curators, and thinkers from around the world are now being invited to come “to create a world-renowned destination for artistic, cultural, ecological and culinary pursuits” – “a rural renaissance” model – within this endangered rugged community of 2700 people. Inspired in part by Zita Cobb, President of the Shorefast Foundation, and in keeping with the islander’s unique cultural and natural resources, the goal is to make Fogo Island (and the Change Islands) a leading “geotourism” destination and by so doing develop an alternative sustainable economy that will support community innovation and cultural resilience. Already being built is a boutique hotel, an eco-art gallery, and a locavore-focused restaurant. Check out www.shorefast.org/ and www.artscorpfogoisland.ca/.

5-Michigan’s Rabbit Island Eco-Art-In-Residency Project – Located three miles off the northern shore of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula on the edge of Lake Superior lies an uninhabited 91-acre island recently purchased by a New York City-based physician named Rob Gorski who together with London-based Andrew Ranville, the Principal Artist-in-Residence, and ‘The Keweenaw Land Trust’, plan to turn this deserted place into a sustainable artist residency – “a chance to creatively explore ideas related to the absence of civilization in a well-preserved microcosm”. Plans have already been made for buildings using the island’s own stone and wood including a sauna, a treehouse studio, and an amphitheater made of fallen sugar maples. For more information, check out www.rabbit-island.org.

6-Denmark’s Tranekaer Int’l Centre for Art and Nature (TICKON) – Located within the magnificent park grounds of Tranekaer Castle, a 13th century fortress on the Danish island of Langeland – is an outdoor gallery of environmental sculptures that is continually evolving – animated by the wondrous landscape of this 60 acres castle park. Artists featured include Chris Drury, Andy Goldsworthy, David Nash, Jorn Ronnau, Alan Sonfist, Herman de Vries, Nils-Udo, Hermann Prigann, Marc Barbarit & Gilles Bruni, Patrick Dougherty, and Guiliano Mauri. For more information, check out www.langeland.dk or contact – mail@alfiobonanno.dk.

7-New Zealand’s Connells Bay Sculpture Park – Located at the south-eastern end of Waiheke Island in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf, a luxurious rental beachfront cottage is quietly nestled in amongst 60 acres of rolling farmland and unique New Zealand sculptures “where art and nature are united to create special spaces for site specific sculpture”. Tours are given by appointment only which features some of New Zealand’s best artists including Graham Bennett, Chris Booth, Phil Dadson, Neil Dawson, Paul Dibble, Kon Dimopoulos, Fatu Feu’u, Regan Gentry, Christine Hellyar, Virginia King, Gregor Kregar, Barry Lett, David McCracken, Cathryn Monro, Peter Nicholls, Julia Oram, Phil Price, Bob Stewart, Richard Thompson, Jeff Thomson and Denis O’Connor. This collaboration of artist and environment grows each year with new temporary sculpture installations and three new photographic exhibitions displayed at the park every other year. For more information, check out www.connellsbay.co.nz.

8-South Korea’s Mt. Yeonmisan Nature Art Park – Ever since 2004, the “Yatoo”, the Korean Nature Art Association hosts a biennial international nature art exhibition around Gongju city of Chungnam Province in South Korea – known as the ‘Geumgang Nature Art Biennale’. For three weeks artists from all over the world live together and create their nature art works at Mr. Yeonmisan Nature Park. Their works are open to the public thereafter and constantly change based upon their life cycle. During the ‘pre-Biennale’ period of 2009 alone, more than 200 pieces from 135 countries were submitted for consideration by the Organizing Committee for the 2010 Geumgang Nature Art Biennale. The final selection was made using a strict screening process, whereby the submissions were whittled down to 20 Korean artists and 17 foreign artists from 15 nations. Food, accommodations, as well as transportation costs were provided by the biennale organizers. The next biennale is due to take place this year between July 25th and August 17th and the theme this year will be “Nature, Human Being, and Sound”. The entire Nature Art Park will be open for viewing on August 19, 2012. For more info, check out www.natureartbiennale.org/.

Are you Ready Now for Your Next Eco-Art Traveling Vacation?

Making Your Christmas Greener & Happier – With Good Will Towards Others – And a Little Help From Santa’s Elves!

As Chief Elf of Santa’s workshop (having a Red Belt in Toy Elf Wizardry) and in charge of training and feeding Santa’s reindeer – I thought I would take some time out to invite you to learn about the “green” ins and outs of Christmas and the new ways of celebrating this holiday season without creating excessive waste – before Santa arrives where you live!

In addition to studying the three R’s in Elf School – Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic – the three NEW R’s in the Elf Curriculum are – ‘Reduce’, ‘Reuse’, and ‘Recycle’. We here at the North Pole earn ‘Elf Points’ for every kid and family that tries out these eco-friendly practices. At the same time, you will reduce ‘Carbon Elfprints’ by aiding in the reduction of landfill dumping.

Here then are some of the best ways to improve your ‘Holiday Greenness!’:

1-Green Your Christmas Gift-Giving to Friends & Family & Those Less Fortunate Than You
A) Give Flowers or Potted Plants
B) Give a Gift Certificate – from an Organic-Conscious Restaurant (Check out www.dinegreen.com) or a Local Spa or Wellness Retreat (Check out www.spawish.com or www.spafinder.com)
C) Buy a Share of Sustainable Livestock – For a Family struggling with hunger and poverty (Check out www.Heifer.org/gift )
D) Send Gift Boxes – Organic Fruit and Vegetable Gift Boxes (Check out www.ediblearrangements.com) -OR- Organic Snack Boxes (Check out www.healthysurprise.com)
E) Send Holiday Greetings on Recycled Paper with Earth-safe Inks or ‘E-cards’ (Electronic Cards) – (Check out www.care2.com and www.smilebox.com)
F) Give the Gift of Time, Talent, or Physical Labor – Promise to Clean out the Family Garage; Shovel the Driveway; Host a Party; Fix a Car; Organize Bills or a Closet; Redo a Resume etc.

2-Get Creative with Old Wrapping Paper, Boxes, Bows, & Ribbons, and Old Newspapers, Dish Towels, Bath Towels, Scarves, Sweaters, and Handkerchiefs
A) Give Your Pet an Eco-Friendly Gift by Reusing Leftover Wrapping Paper, Boxes and Bows to create a Pet Hide-a-Way or Toy
B) Recycle Old Newspaper Comics by turning it into this year’s Gift Wrapping Paper
C) Recycle Old Greeting Cards by turning them into this year’s Gift Tags
D) Recycle Old Scarves, Sweaters, Handkerchiefs, Bandannas, and Festive Dishtowels and Bath towels by knotting the ends and turning them into this year’s Gift Wraps. In Japan, special eco-friendly wrapping cloths called “Furoshiki” are designated for this purpose.

3- Green Your Christmas Tree Decorations By Avoiding Plastic Decorations and Instead Reusing Old Items Laying Around the House
A) Creatively hang up old mittens, scarves, and belts from your closet
B) Creatively hang up old wooden spoons, coasters, tea strainers, and corks from your kitchen cupboard
C) Creatively hang up old sewing items, and arts and crafts items i.e. pincushions, ribbon scraps, feathers, dried flowers, seashells
D) Creatively hang up old photographs, business cards, ink pens, doll accessories, and other children’s toys from your family den or bedroom

4) Green Your Outside Décor by Mixing Live Wreaths, Handmade Candle Holder Luminaries, and Energy-Slashing LED lights (Instead of Traditional Incandescent Christmas Lights)
Note: LED lights last about 10 times longer than traditional lights and use 90% less energy.

5) Green Your Christmas Dinner Table Menu & Presentation by Avoiding Disposable Utensils and Reliance on Imported Foods & Wines
A) Purchase Local Foods Grown as Close to Home as Possible – Support Your Local Farmers – Particularly Seasonal Ingredients, Condiments, and Honeys and Jams –
(Check out www.LocalHarvest.org/ for finding local food growers)
B) Create your own Festive Drinks and use locally-made Organic Wines
C) Create Your Own Homemade Christmas Dinner Centerpiece using a Natural Motif – Flowers, Stones, Water, and Floating Candles in an Old Punch Bowl or Fishbowl – OR – a Collage of Old Books, Picture Frames, and small Mirrors complemented by Cut-out Christmas Quotes, Lyrics, and Tissue Paper
D) Create Your Own Holiday Scent by boiling Lemons, Oranges, Cinnamon Sticks and Cloves on your stovetop
E) Compost your Food Scraps and Properly Store your Favorite Leftovers for Tomorrow’s Menu – a Casserole or Stew perhaps – or Home-Baked Muffins, Breads, and Cakes made with Leftover Mashed Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes

6) Green Your Charitable Giving – Let Your Cost Savings Support Environmental Charities and Socially-Conscious Charities
A) Donate Old Clothing to Veteran Groups, Underprivileged Kids, Homeless Shelters, and Cancer Patients
B) Donate Old Furniture to Local Thrift Shops or the Salvation Army
C) Donate Old Christmas Cards to St. Jude’s Ranch for Children in Boulder City, Nevada – (Check out www.stjudesranch.org/shop/recycled-card-program/) – “Children at St. Jude’s Ranch learn entrepreneurship skills – making new cards by removing the front and attaching a new back. The benefits are two-fold: customers receive ‘green’ holiday cards for use and the children receive payment for their work and learn the benefits and importance of ‘going green’.”

To learn more about Elf Schooling Activities for Children – Check out www.northpole.com/Academy. And to Make a Difference to a Needy Child – become an Elf! Check out www.beanelf.org.

Meantime, on behalf of Santa and the other Elves – “We Wish you a Merry Green Ho-Ho-Ho!”

Ten of the Most Fascinating Forces Pushing the Computer Industry Towards Going Green!!

If you are like me, my laptop -and my desktop computer and printer -are integral pieces of my middle class way of living here in the USA. I use these appurtenances of electronic–based hardware daily for business and personal communication and for purchasing transactions. Moreover, I am conscious of my monitor’s automatic screensaver that activates a virus scan when it’s not in use. What I was not aware of though – are the social, economic, and environmental changes that are pushing the computer industry towards “green computing”. Summarized below then, are ten of some of the most interesting forces behind this push to revolutionize the technological designs, manufacturing processes, and general use and disposal of our nifty computer systems and components.

1- World Population Growth – Today’s world population is 7 billion. Projected World population is expected to be 9.2 billion by 2050. Thus the demand for computer products is expected to grow
dramatically.
2- Hazardous Landfill Growth – Computers are difficult to recycle. Much of what’s inside computers is toxic such as non-degradable amounts of lead, cadmium, brominated fired retardants, PVC’s, and other plastics made of crude oil products.
3- Precious Metals Scarcity – Rare earth metals are crucial in advanced manufacturing of computer disk drives. Right now, China produces some 97% of the world’s supply of rare earth metals.
4- Electrical-Powered Inefficiencies – $250 billion is spent globally each year powering computers – 85% of that energy is wasted idling. Also, newer computers are more “electricity-hungry” – The electricity consumption for high-performance desktop computers with gaming processors and graphic cards are the most energy-guzzling appliances in homes.
5- Shorter Computer Life Cycle – The sophistication of today’s marketing for the newest, latest models affects consumer behavior – people are now changing their computers more often than they did a few years ago making the life expectancy of the average computer much shorter.
6- Government Legislation – European Union Legislation was passed in 2005 nicknamed the ‘Ecodesign Directive’ – for establishing a framework of ecodesign requirements – the main objective of which is “to bring about improvements in the environmental performance of energy-related products throughout their life cycle from mining of the raw material through to recycling at end-of-life.”
7- Int’l Standards Growth – The internationally recognized ‘Energy Star’ Logo for rating energy efficient consumer products was originally conceived as a voluntary labeling program in the early 1990’s by the United States Environmental Protection Agency – but now, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan and the European Union have also adopted this standard and Sweden has expanded the standard to include ergonomics.
8- Alternative-Energy Sources Growth – VIA Technologies, a Taiwanese company, is aiming to offer the world’s first certified carbon free personal computer products. In partnership with Motech – a solar cell manufacturing industry leader located in China – part of VIA’s Green Computing Initiative is developing alternative solar panel-powered computers for multiple applications from remote locations to urban centers.
9- Global Warming – (Known also as Anthropogenic Climate Change) – Average temperatures have climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit around the world since 1880 according to NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies. And the rate of warming is increasing. The 20th century’s last two decades were the hottest in 400 years. The Arctic ice is rapidly disappearing and the region may have its first completely ice-free summer by 2040. Glaciers and mountain snows are rapidly melting. Glacier National Park has 27 glaciers compared to 150 in 1910. Coral reefs are dying off in record numbers with some areas seeing bleach rates of 70%. Lastly, there is an upsurge in the amount of extreme weather events – wildfires, heat waves and strong tropical storms. Causes – greater concentrations of water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide are pouring into the atmosphere – commonly referred to as greenhouse gases. These gases help to trap heat near the Earth’s surface due in part to industrialization, deforestation, and pollution.
10- Green News Growth – The overwhelming majority of Americans (92%) use multiple platforms (online and offline sources) to get news on a typical day – including national TV, local TV, the internet, local newspapers, national newspapers, their cell phones, and the radio. Most use four to six platforms daily. But nowhere is the expansiveness of the green news landscape more evident than on the internet where one can find hundreds of eco-friendly websites, blogs, and businesses including industry news leaders, Huffington Post, Treehugger.com, Greenbiz.com and Green.alltop.com which highlights the top green news and headlines across the web.

Perhaps because of all these factors, there has been a tremendous growth in awareness by personal computer users like myself to use recycling centers for their old computers and ink cartridges. So next time you are on the web, check out earth911.com and ecosquid.com to decide whether you want to resell, recycle, or donate your old computer products. Welcome to the world of ecycling!

Giving Back To An American Tradition: Personalizing Philanthropy with Your Own Green Thanksgiving!

Each year across the USA, we Americans celebrate Thanksgiving Day on the fourth Thursday of the month of November (due in large part to President Abraham Lincoln who established it as a national holiday back in 1863) – with Family, Food, and Football – and to give thanks for our own blessings and life’s bounties in the time-honored tradition of the “First Thanksgiving” when in August of 1621, 53 Mayflower Pilgrims and 90 Native Wampanoag Indians sat down together at the New Plymouth Colony to celebrate their survival and good fortune with a magnificent “harvest feast”. But ever since the advent of the television and the rise of social media in just the last ten years alone, Thanksgiving has become much more of a “pre-Christmas consumer frenzy” – a new shopping holiday – marked by “Black Friday” when major retailers open their stores early (some at Midnight) to kick off the shopping season with deep promotional discount sales.

Yet for all the shopping bargains now associated with Thanksgiving – the majority of Americans are still in fact upholding the original meaning of Thanksgiving – celebrating relationships – celebrating the day with people they love and giving back to people they don’t know – and giving those less fortunate reasons to be grateful! And for many, showing Mother Nature their gratitude by making Thanksgiving Day – a little greener.

Here then are some tips for ‘Greening’ your own Thanksgiving and personalizing a great American tradition by creating priceless memories with thoughtful acts of generosity and resourceful living.

1- SET A GREEN STANDARD AT HOME WITH THOUGHTFUL HOSTING, SHOPPING, COOKING, AND ECO-DECORATIONS

Note: The “First Thanksgiving” Dinner consisted of cod, eels, bass, clams, lobster, mussels, ducks, geese, swans, turkey, venison, berries, peas, pumpkin, beetroot, onions, beans, corn and squash.

HOSTING:
A) Start a ‘No-Waste Thanksgiving’ – Reject Disposable/Throw-Away Plates, Utensils, and Napkins – Initiate a ‘Potluck Thanksgiving’ – Have Guests Bring Assigned Side Dishes and Their Own Placement Settings
B) Share Leftover Bounty with Guests – Ensure that Leftovers are Stored Properly in Reusable and Washable Containers for Tomorrow’s Meal by Putting Out Decorative Glass Jars that Every Guest Can Fill and Take Home
C) Start a Pre-Dinner Tradition – Ask Each Guest to Bring a Small Item Representative of Something for which They are Grateful and can Exchange – Go Around the Table and Ask Each Guest to Light a Beeswax or Soy Candle in Remembrance of a Family Member or Close Friend
D) Start an After-Dinner Tradition – Update Your Photo Album – Plant a Tree Outside – Play a Game of Chopstick Pass-Along – Ask Each Guest to Sign and Record their “gratitudes” or Special Prayers for the Year Ahead on a Designated Tablecloth

SHOPPING:
A) Start Your Own Eco-Friendly Tradition by Buying Local Produce and Locally-Made Organic Wine – Visit a Co-op or Farmer’s Market  by Checking out www.localharvest.org/ – Get Together with Friends and Neighbors and Buy in Bulk from Your Local Farmer – Order a Free-Range Organic Turkey* from a Local Farm – Support a Local Orchard or Vineyard *(A Meatless Substitute is ‘Tofurkey’ – an American Vegetarian Turkey Replacement Made from a Blend of Wheat Protein and Organic Tofu)

COOKING:
A) Stick to Fresh Fruits and Vegetables rather than Canned Goods – Make Your Own Eco-Friendly Dinner Entrees, Condiments, and Pre-Meal Snacks from Scratch i.e. Pumpkin Pie, Pecan Snacks, Apple-Raising Stuffing, Red Wine Salad Dressing, Cranberry Bread and Cornbread (Check out www.allrecipes.com)
B) Develop Your Own Signature Cocktail using Organic Juices and Organic Spirits. Make Your Own Hot Apple Cider with Organic Apple Juice, Cinnamon Sticks, and Cloves Heated on the Stove

ECO-DECORATIONS:
A) Decorate with Recycled & Natural Materials – Recycle Old Napkins with Buttons, Applique, and Trim – Reuse Old Fabric Scraps to Make Ornamental Pumpkins and Puffy Gnomes – Reuse Old Sweaters to Make Recycled Felt Leaves – Turn Pinecones into a Festive Turkey-Shaped Centerpiece – Turn Children’s Placemats Into Activity Placemats or Printable Thanksgiving Day Bingo Posters
B) Decorate with Edible Materials – Make Garlands of Fresh Popcorn and Home-Baked Cookies – Make Mantle Trimmings with Fresh-Cut Greens – Make Napkin Rings with Asparagus – Make Votive Candle Holders with Cored Apples – Make a Special Turkey-Molded Jello Dessert (Check out www.countryliving.com/, www.familyfun.co.com/thanksgiving, and www.marthastewart.com for more ideas.)

2-VOLUNTEER TIME OR TALENT FOR A CHARITY

Thanksgiving is a Time to Reach out to the Homeless, the Hungry, the Elderly, the Disadvantaged and Veterans in Need. One way is to Volunteer with Your Local Soup Kitchen or with a Local Health, Educational or Arts Organization. Another Way is to Organize a Group of Locals from Your Own Church or Synagogue to Volunteer on Thanksgiving Day. Any way you volunteer, you will be making a difference in someone’s life and creating precious memories! Be Sure to Check Out these websites: www.volunteermatch.org/ (Volunteer Match)
www.1800volunteer.org/ (1-800-Volunteer.Org)
www.pointsoflight.org/ (The Points of Light Foundation)
www.nationalservice.gov/– (The Corporation for National and Community Service)
www.liveunited.org/ (United Way)

3-DONATE MONEY OR ITEMS FOR A CHARITY

Thanksgiving is a Time To Seek Out Organizations to which You Can Safely Donate Food, Clothes, Books, and Various Household Items to Those Less Fortunate During the Holiday Season. Here are some outstanding examples:
-One Way is to Contribute to Your Local Food Bank.
-Another Way is to Contribute to the Veteran Memorial Foundation by Supporting Our Homeless Heroes this Thanksgiving thru their “Adopt-a-Vet” program. Check out www.thevmf.org/.
-Another Way is to Contribute to Non-Profit Organizations that Provide Specialized Meals and Groceries to Men, Women, and Children Living with HIV/AIDS, Cancer, and Other Life-Challenging Illnesses. Check out www.foodandfriends.org/.
-Another Way is to Contribute to American Indian Communities – Specifically ‘National Relief Charities’ – a Nonprofit, “Dedicated to Quality of Life for Native Americans Living on Remote and Poverty-Stricken Reservations in the Plains and Southwest.” Material Donations can be Given in the Form of Food, Water, Produce, Personal Hygiene Items i.e. Soap, Shampoo, Toothpaste, Household Cleaning Products, Toilet Paper, Laundry Detergent, Linens, Blankets, Coats, Winter Clothing and School Supplies. Check out www.nrcprograms.org/.
-Yet Another Way is to Contribute to Your Local Historical Society and Become a Good Steward so the Past is Preserved for Future Generations of Americans. Ideas for Donations include Community Artifacts i.e. Signs, Postcards, Flags, Maps, Photographs, Letters, and Genealogies. Why not Check out www.NorthAndoverHistoricalSociety.org/ and Learn About Their Preservation Efforts to Save a 200 Year Old Carriage Barn!

4-RUN OR FUND-RAISE AN EVENT FOR CHARITY

Thanksgiving is also a Good Time to Hold an Auction, Throw a Greenhouse Party, or Create Your Own Fundraising Campaign for a Great Cause! Best of all, Why Not Test Your Own Physical Fitness for a Charity Benefit by Running a Marathon or Half Marathon? Here are some shining examples: www.thethanksgivingmarathon.com/ in New York City
www.atlantatrackclub.org/ – Atlanta Georgia’s Thanksgiving Day Half-Marathon
www.some.org/ – Annual Thanksgiving Day Trot for Hunter in Washington D.C. – Sponsored by SOME (So Others May Eat)
www.crowdrise.com/ – The Crowdrise website is a “unique blend of online fundraising, crowdsourcing, social networking, contests, and other nice stuff.”

In Conclusion, Thanksgiving is at its Heart – a Time of ‘Green Reflection’ – To Give Thanks To Those Who Have Tried To Make a Better World In Years Past and Those Who Are Trying to Make a Difference Now In Both Conserving our Natural Environment and Enriching the Lives of Our Fellow Human Beings. Being the 11th Great-Grand Niece of those Mayflower Adventurers who perished the First Winter, It Is Important to Remember Their Courageous Efforts, Their ‘Mayflower Compact’ – a Socially Conscious Contract Binding Them Together for the General Good of the Colony – a Charitable Tradition we try to Honor every Thanksgiving Day since!

Memorable Eco-Quotes – Part II: By U.S. Presidents, Writers, & Other Notable American Figures

From the very beginning of its founding, Americans have been drawn by the belief that they have it within themselves to control their own destiny. But what of their physical environment? Like their Native American Indian counterparts, many of the famous Americans quoted here come from a wide range of social, economic, and political positions but together they sound like a choir in unison – singing the praises of the American landscape and its natural resources whilst musical ironies work themselves through in the background with a thundering drum roll of polyphonic counterpoint progressions: ‘What if our physical environment is overlooked and misunderstood?’ This is what worried these celebrated Americans of the recent past – a concern that still resonates today within all of us – the security of our own environment.

1-“We won’t have a society if we destroy the environment.” – Margaret Mead, American Cultural Anthropologist, (1901-1978)
2-“The Materials of wealth are in the earth, in the seas, and in their natural and unaided productions.” – Daniel Webster, American Statesman & Senator, (1782-1852)
3-“He who knows what sweets and virtues are in the ground, the waters, the plants,
the heavens, and how to come at these enchantments, is the rich and royal man.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Essayist, Lecturer, Poet, & Leading Transcendentalist, (1803-1882)
4-“The sky is the daily bread of eyes.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
5-“I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree.” – Joyce Kilmer, American Journalist, Poet, Literary Critic, Lecturer, & Editor (1886-1918)
6-“Those who contemplate the beauty of earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.” – Rachel Carson, American Marine Biologist, Conservationist & Author, (1907-1964)
7-“What is the use of a house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on?” – Henry David Thoreau, American Author, Poet, Philosopher, Abolitionist, Naturalist, Tax Resister, Development Critic, Surveyor, Historian, and leading Transcendentalist, (1817-1862)
8-“We can never have enough of nature.” – Henry David Thoreau
9-“In wildness is the preservation of the world.” – Henry David Thoreau
10-“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die discover that I had not lived.” – Henry David Thoreau
11-“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world. “ – John Muir, Scottish-born American Naturalist, Author, Engineer, Botanist, Geologist
12-“The nation behaves well if it treats its natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased, and not impaired, in value.” – 26th U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, (1858-1919)
13-“When I hear of the destruction of a species, I feel just as if all the works of some great writer have perished.” – 26th U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt
14-“There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness, that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy and its charm.” – 26th U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt
15-“I am led to reflect how much more delightful to an undebauched mind, is the task of making improvements on the earth, than all the vain glory which can be acquired from ravaging it, by the most uninterrupted career of conquests.” – 1st U.S. President George Washington, (1732-1799)
16-“I am once more seated under my own vine and fig tree . . . and hope to spend the remainder of my days in peaceful retirement, making political pursuits yield to the more rational amusement of cultivating the earth.” – 1st U.S. President George Washington
17-“In the environment, every victory is temporary, every defeat permanent.” – 3rd U.S. President Thomas Jefferson, (1743-1826)
18-“The greatest service which can be rendered any country is to add a useful plant to its culture.” – 3rd U.S. President Thomas Jefferson
19-“I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being.” – 16th U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, (1809-1865)
20-“Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” – 16th U.S. President Abraham Lincoln
21- “A nation that destroys it’s soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.” – 32nd U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, (1882-1945)
22-“Organic buildings are the strength and lightness of the spiders’ spinning, buildings qualified by light, bred by native character to environment, married to the ground. “ – Frank Lloyd Wright,
American Architect, Interior Designer, Writer & Educator, (1867-1959)
23-“Almost every day, instead of going to school, I made for the fields, where I spent my day. “ – John James Audubon, French-American Ornithologist, Naturalist, & Painter, (1785-1851)
24-“As I grew up I was fervently desirous of becoming acquainted with Nature. “ – John James Audubon
25-“It is my intention to present – through the medium of photography – intuitive observations of the natural world which may have meaning to the spectators.” – Ansel Adams, American Photographer & Environmentalist, (1902-1984)
26-“Yosemite Valley, to me, is always a sunrise, a glitter of green and golden wonder in a vast edifice of stone and space. “ – Ansel Adams
27-“It’s your human environment that makes climate.” – Mark Twain, American Author & Humorist, (1835-1910)
28-“Nature knows no indecencies; man invents them.” – Mark Twain

Now for those of you who are drawn to the to the spookier aspects of nature at its haunting best
— Stay Tuned for my Next Installment of “Memorable Eco-Inspired Quotes – Part III: By Illustrious Detectives, Master Spies, Mystery Writers and Crime Novelists.”

And as Halloween is nearly upon us, I shall leave you with an eco-creepy quote from one of my very favorite American writers – Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) – The Father of the Modern Detective Story Genre:

“It was night, and the rain fell; and falling, it was rain, but, having fallen, it was blood.” – taken from ‘Silence – a Fable” written in 1837.

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