Easy ways to go Green

Every moment you spend idling your car's engine means needlessly wasting gas, as well as rougher wear on your vehicle. Idling for more than 10 seconds wastes more gas than is needed for startup. Overall, Americans idle away 2.9 billion gallons of gas a year, worth around $78.2 billion.

Save energy and wear and tear on your hardware by shutting down your computer at night. You'll save an average of $90 of electricity a year.

It definitely pays to give a thought to your  thermostat, since most households shell out 50 to 70% of their energy budgets on heating and cooling. For every degree you lower the thermostat, you'll save between 1 and 3% of your heating bill. Do the same thing in reverse with air conditioning.

An easy way to clean green is to turn the dial on your washing machine to cold. Most loads don't need hot water, and 90% of the energy used by washing machines goes into heating. The higher the water temperature, the higher the cost to you and the planet.

Coming soon - Hair clips

Our hair clips were a big hit at the festival!  Everyone liked them especially the kids.

Ten of 29 tips for going green - first installment.

1. Change to Fluorescent Bulbs - If every house in the United States changed all of the light bulbs in their house, that would be equivalent to taking one million cars off the streets.
2. Don't Rinse - Skip rinsing your plates before putting them into the dishwasher. In average you will save 15 gallons of water per load. Plus, you will save time.
3. Hang Outside to Dry - Get a cloths line or rack to dry your cloths. Your cloths will last longer and you will save money
4. Turn off computers at night - don't just put them to sleep. You will save an average of 4 cents a day which ads up to $14.60 a year.
5. Use Both Sides of Paper - if you have a printer with a double sided print option use it. You will save half of the amount of paper you would have normally used.
   Then when your done bring it to the recycle bin. 
6. Get rid of baths - Don't take baths, take showers. You will in average save about half the amount of water that you would if you were taking a bath.
7. Don't get bottled water - Instead of bottled water get a reusable container to carry water. Also you can get a filter to make your home tap taste more like bottled water. It is definitely more cost efficient.
8. Turn the water off when you brush - Your parents have said this before, now I say it. You will save 4 gallons of water doing this alone.
9. Shorten your shower - Every minute you cut from your shower is roughly 5 gallons of water. The less time your shower takes, the lower your impact on the environment.
10. Recycle Glass - If you do not recycle this, it will take a million years to decompose.

Your coffee can have a global impact.

You may be surprised to learn that your daily choice of coffee can have a global impact. Here are three simple suggestions to help you make a difference, one cup at a time.
Look for Fair Trade Certification. When you buy coffee that is fair-trade certified, you are guaranteeing that the farmers who grew the beans are paid a fair price, are provided much-needed credit and given technical assistance, such as help in making the transition to organic growing.
Select organic coffee. It is worth the small cost premium to use organic coffee beans, too, which eliminate your exposure, and that of the environment, to hazardous pesticides that are commonly applied to conventional crops.
Look for shade-grown beans. Coffee was originally a shade-loving plant, and was traditionally cultivated underneath existing trees in a process that protected the native forest. Today, many farmers continue to raise coffee beneath shade trees, and the plants provide sanctuary to important migratory birds, many of which are now threatened. These are many of the same birds that fill American yards with song during the warm months.

Make your own Shampoo and Conditioner

One of the easiest ways to go green is to make simple lifestyle changes. For example, making your own shampoo and conditioner with organic ingredients is a great family activity, teaches children how to be kind to the environment, and they get some quality one on one time with you!
Here are two sample recipes:
Chamomile Shampoo

• 1 handful fresh or dried chamomile flowers
• 1 3/4 cup boiling water
• 3 tablespoons pure soap flake, OR save leftover pieces of soap.
• 1 tablespoon glycerin
• 5 drops yellow food coloring (optional)

Place the flowers in a bowl and cover with the boiling water. Let stand for 15 minutes, then strain into the other bowl. Clean the first bowl. Combine the soap and hot infusion in it. Let stand until the soap softens -- a few minutes. Beat in the glycerin and food coloring until well blended. Pour the mixture into the bottle. Keep in a cool dark place.

Fruit Conditioner

• 1 avocado (peeled and mashed)
• 1 cup coconut milk

Combine mashed avocado with some coconut milk. Mash together until it's smooth and about as thick as shampoo. Comb it through the hair and let sit for 10-15 minutes, then wash out.

Do we recycle more?

Taken in context, the numbers show that this generation of Americans take recycling seriously. Compare them with the 1985 American population, for example, that recyled approximately ten percent of their generated waste. On the flip side, the two-thirds of the ever growing piles of trash that end up in landfills constitutes a large amount of trash. There's always room for improvements, with increased recycling rates and a decrease in the total amount of generated trash representing future recycling challenges.
The following set of recycling facts highlight recent recycling accomplishments and setbacks.
Plastics recycling leads the list of setbacks, showing a general recycling lag compared to most other types of recycling.
In 2007, a total of 30.73 tons of plastic waste were generated and 2.09 tons were recovered, or 6.8% of the total. The breakdown according to types of plastics was:

• PET (polyethylene terephthalate): 3.76 tons of waste generated .680 tons recovered or 18.1% of total
• HDPE (high density polyethylene): 5.65 tons of waste generated and .570 tons recovered or 10.1% of total
• PVC (polyvinyl chloride): 1.66 tons of waste generated and no record of recovery
• LDPE/LLDPE (low density polyethylene): 6.4 tons of waste generated and .31 tons recovered or 4.8% of total
• PS (polypropylene): 2,62 tons of waste generated and .020 tons recovered or 0.8% of total
• Other resins 6.07 tons of waste generated and .5 tons recovered or 8.2% of total

Sine 1960, Americans have almost doubled the amount of waste they produce, from about 2.68 pounds/person to about 4.62 pounds/person. Textile waste contributes to that fact, with trash from textiles showing a very big long term jump, from 1.76 million tons in 1960 to 11.92 million tons in 2007.
Recycling accomplishments also need to be noted, starting with the link between recycling and global warming. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that the 85 million tons recycled waste documents is equivalent to saving 193 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, the same amount of emissions as that generated by 35 million passenger cars.
Automobile batteries lead the list of recycled products with 99.2% of them recycled.
Paper continues to lead the list of our most thrown away items. Approximately one-third of all our waste is paper. However, newspaper recycling programs continue to be successful, with 77.8% of all the printed newspapers ending up in the recycling bin.
Source: Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling, and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2007.

E Lansing Folk Festival

We just got back from the festival this evening.  It was very HOT-that is the weather was.  The festival is
great.  Lots of things to look at, great music, juggling and good food.  First year for the Green Marketplace.

Beside Cangles there were lots of great recycling ideas.  I want to commend the volunteers for all their great work.  Everything went very smooth.  Here are some pictures of our booth.

New Cangle styles

We are starting to add to our flower cuffs.  We are doing them in the 1/2 inch cuff and putting bigger flowers

along with the small ones.  We will be carrying both styles.

Recycle craft ideas for you and your children

Recycled Utensil Holder
Use your recycled can and  recycled ribbon pieces to make a holder for your plastic picnic utensils.


You need:

• Clean Recycled Soup Can
• Recycled ribbon pieces
• Tacky glue
• Scissors

Instructions:
Use scrap ribbon pieces to completely cover a can. You can mix and match, wrap around, lay strips up and down... even weave pieces or make a collage. Try to completely cover your can in material that might otherwise have been thrown away.

Festivals where you can see Cangles!

Visit our booth August 7-8 at the Buy Michigan Now Festival in Northville, MI !!

Also, on August 14-15 we will be at the Great Lakes Folk Festival in Lansing MI.

Things you should recycle and reuse and probably don't

Here's some things we generally tend to just toss without thinking or attempting to recycle or reuse:

Dyer lint. Ever BBQ or have a fireplace? This is perfect fuel for the fire!

Melted wax. Make your own candles, seals or sculptures by reusing the wax. You can fragrance it with perfume or essence or decorate them with rocks, shells or broken glass.

Food, so Compost! It's great for your yard or garden, or you can sell it or give it away. If your pet can eat it, even better.
 
Ink cartridges. Some places refill and some offer cash rewards. Ink cartridges are refurbishable.

Lids, tops and tabs from beverages.  Do what we do and send the tabs to the Ronald McDonald houses.
 
Household decor. Clocks, picture frames, paintings, candle holders, and the like all have parts that are recyclable. If you're just going to toss it, recycle it.   The clocks, picture frames and candle holders can
all be painted to update them to match your new decor.  Use your imagination!  You just might be surprised at how nice they will look.