Recycla is not going to lie — she really, really, really dislikes the heat. If she did not love her hometown in Virginia as much as she does, she’d be actively searching for a cooler climate in which to live. Summers in Virginia are hot and humid and the heat arrives in June and lingers until well past the autumnal equinox in September.

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Because of her aversion to heat, Recycla has numerous coping strategies to keep herself cool. Today, she wants to share two in particular with you:

First of all, want your home to be cooler during the dog days of summer?  Close your curtains.  Just by blocking out the light on the east and west sides of your house, you can keep the sun’s hot rays out and keep your house cooler.  Recycla angles the blinds on the east side of her house downward in the morning and opens them completely after lunch.  At the same time, she angles the blinds on the west side of her house until late in the day. If this sounds like a lot of work, it’s not.  It takes just a few minutes and Recycla’s house feels cooler, plus her air conditioner doesn’t have to work as hard.

Next, when it’s hot out and you’re out and about in your car, park in the shade whenever possible, which not only helps your car stay cooler, it helps decrease fuel lost to evaporation. Gas evaporates quickly and even escapes from closed tanks, and this process is hastened by summer’s heat. Another way to help keep the interior of your car cool is to use one of those folding shades to cover your windshield when you’re not driving. Keeping your vehicle cooler also means that you’ll also run your air conditioner less, which also saves on fuel.

Just those two actions help make summer’s heat a teeny tiny bit more bearable for Recycla. (Okay, and making big batches of iced coffee too.)

1.  Biking. Why, it’s as easy as riding a bike!  Expense:  you can find free and cheap used bikes at thrift stores, rummage sales and Craigslist.  Add a helmet for $20 and you’re good to go!  Accessibility: at your fingertips–many folks take up biking to reduce their dependence on driving–add a basket to your handlebars and you can get your exercise time while running errands.  Recreation trails or roads are near most people’s houses and biking can combine with mass transit as city buses have bike racks to help people navigate urban areas.   Difficulty: so easy–even a toddler can ride a bike with training wheels–biking can be a family affair!  Looking for a trail to ride?  Click here!

2.  Swimming.  Expense: a swim pass and a suit will run $100.  If you live near a lake or beach, you only have to pay for your suit.  Accessibility: can be limited depending on where you live–but if you’re near a public pool, they often have hours specifically for adults to swim laps uninterrupted by splashing children.  Difficulty: moderate.  Swimming offers excellent exercise without any harm to your joints, it’s the ultimate low-impact, high-intensity workout.  If you don’t know how to swim, however, many city pools and your local YMCA offer lessons starting at $30 on up.

Enviro Girl’s middle son demonstrates the joys of swimming

3.  Fishing.  Expense: moderate–rod, reel, license, bait and sometimes a boat.  Raid grandpa’s garage or attic for your fishing gear and your only cost will be that $20 license–offset if you catch yourself dinner!  Accessibility: again, depending on where you live you might not have a pier to fish from, but if you do, there is no finer way to spend a lazy afternoon.  Especially if you have kids.  Difficulty: it’s true, even a lousy day of fishing is better than a great day at work.  If you’re new to fishing, check out Take Me Fishing to get started!

4.  Kayaking/Canoing.  Expense: moderate to pricey.  You can rent a kayak or canoe with all the essentials, buy equipment used, or go full-bore and drop a month’s salary on this hobby.  Accessibility: this activity is water-dependent–but many areas have beautiful, unexplored areas only available to kayakers or canoeists.  Difficulty: moderate–but this sport offers excellent upper body exercise!  Check out Kayak Online to get started!

5.  Basketball.  Expense: cheap–a ball costs $20, you can find free courts almost anywhere.  Accessibility: quite good in most areas.  Difficulty: moderate to challenging.  Whether you’re playing one-on-one, a friendly game of Around the World, or going full-throttle NBA-style, you can get your blood pumping and all your major muscle groups working.

6.  Skating.  Expense: cheap–used skates will run under $40.  Accessibility: outstanding–unless you live on a gravel or dirt road, you can skate.  Difficulty: moderate–and a fantastic cardiovascular exercise.

7.  Tennis.  Expense: cheap–a used racket and a sleeve of balls will cost under $50.  Accessibility: great.  Most high schools and public parks have tennis courts free for the public to use.  Difficulty: moderate to challenging depending on your opponent.  You’re guaranteed to work up a sweat and a thirst playing tennis.

8.  Baseball.  Expense: bat, ball, glove–you’re looking at $50 or less.  Accessibility: fantastic.  Whether playing in your back yard, in a public park or at a local schoolyard, you can find a grassy field for  a pick-up game anywhere.  If you’re looking for more “professional” competition, park & rec departments offer league play for $15 on up.  Difficulty: moderate.  But a game of catch with your little slugger in the back yard is worth learning how to throw and catch a ball.

9.  Soccer.  Expense: cheap–a ball is less than $20.  Add cleats and shin guards and soccer might cost $60.  Accessibility: fantastic.  Like baseball, all you need is a flat, grassy field to play on.  Drive anywhere in America and you’ll find kids and grown ups kicking balls around yards, empty lots and parks.  Difficulty: easy.  It’s kicking a ball–there’s a reason there are soccer leagues for pre-schoolers!

10.  Walking/Hiking.  Expense: free. Accessibility: superb.  You can walk anywhere, anytime.  Difficulty: easy.  Even easier when you take a walk with a friend.

11.  Frisbee/Frisbee Golf.  Expense:  cheap–you can get a decent disc for $10.  Accessibility:  good.  Many public parks offer courses, all public green spaces offer room for a game of frisbee.  Difficulty:  easy to moderate.  Some coordination is required, but it’s all in the wrist.

Here’s one idea I hadn’t thought of: reusing wine barrels as watering cans…well it’s a little more intriguing than that and actually quite pretty too. So if you’d like to take a peek at a few repurposed wine barrels check out these sites here and here.

In Recycla’s town, the Saturday farmers’ market is a thriving, bustle scene every weekend and, in recent years, has expanded to other days of the week and other locations around town. In fact, she is a big fan of the Wednesday afternoon farmers’ market, which is located at a park just a mile from her house. And, while her older daughter’s soccer schedule has kept her from hitting the Saturday market this spring, the sports season has just ended, so now she thinks she can bike over to the market this coming Saturday.

Recycla and her family visited friends near Ottawa last summer and went to the local farmers’ market, where they saw these huge bunches of carrots.

In case any of you are newbies on the farmers’ market scene, Recycla has some tips to make your visit more enjoyable and productive:

Go early — Farmers’ markets can open as early as 6 or 7 a.m. Get there in the first couple of hours in order to get the best produce.

Be prepared — Wear sunscreen and a big floppy hat to protect you from the sun’s rays. Comfortable shoes are a must! Have a backpack, cloth shopping bag (like this one), or some other vessel in which to carry home your purchases. And bring cash — not too many farmers have credit card machines in the back of their pick-up trucks.

Walk a lap first — Scout out everything before buying. Take note of who’s selling what and for how much.

Talk to the farmers — Find out where the food came from, if the farmer uses organic or conventional methods, and even what his/her favorite recipes might be.

Pay attention — Make sure that the produce you’re buying was in fact grown locally. Recycla has been hearing rumors for years about one farmer’s wares at the Saturday market.  And in recent weeks, local market-goers have been in a tizzy over the inclusion of a “local” bakery that is actually a franchise in a chain. And finally, one farmer has a huge sign announcing his “corn fed beef” — any Eco Warrior worth their weight in organic veggies knows that grass-fed is the way to go.

Don’t rush — Take your time and savor this experience. Most farmers’ markets have so much more than just produce — homemade cheeses, baked goods, freshly pressed apple cider (in the fall), and more. This is food at its finest and you should enjoy your excursion. Recycla’s daughters’ favorite part of the market is the lovely French woman who makes crepes right there.

Tell the Eco Women: Do you go to your local farmer’s market? What are some of your favorite things to get there?

1. Buy a water bottle and fill it from your tap. A stainless steel Kleen Kanteen water bottle starts at $15.00–the same price as 15 units of bottled water you might buy at the ball diamond or gas station, golf course or county fair. We have the right and the obligation to drink tap water because it’s healthier and less expensive than water for sale in petroleum-based packaging. Bring Your Own Bottle of water and do right by the planet!

2. Install a clothesline. For less than $10 you can buy a clothesline and pins and dry your laundry for free every load. Clothes dryers are among the least energy-efficient appliances and line drying is a great way to go green.  Bonus: you’ll save on your electric bill and on fabric softeners and dryer sheets!

3. Invest in a solar battery charger. In the summer whether you’re camping or listening to your radio, you can power up your flashlights or ballgame without feeling guilty about using batteries. Solar powered electronics have really come down in price and a 4-battery charger for D/C/AA/AAA batteries costs as little as $25.

 4. Skip the lawn chemicals. Use full-strength white vinegar to kill weeds (.70 a liter vs. $10.00 a liter of Round-Up) and let your lawn grow a little higher to keep the weeds at bay. Enrich your soil with worm castings or compost instead of poisonous blue granules. Your pets, soil’s helpful microorganisms, water quality and wallet will all thank you.

5.  Skip the yard spray.  Targeted pest control is better for the environment–and using personal insect repellent will keep the bugs off your body without creating population imbalances that result from using yard sprays.  Plus, consider the economic benefit:  a can of Raid on your yard every weekend costs much more than a can of OFF!

6. Leave your car parked and walk or bike your way around. Enviro Girl lives in the country, but even she can adhere to this rule. When she drives to town, she parks in a central location and walks from place to place instead of driving between errands. It’s good exercise and better on the environment.

7.  Eat the local bounty.  It’s the season of farm markets and gardens.  Eating locally produced food is good for your body, the environment, the local economy and your wallet.  You can stock up on fresh fruits and vegetables from a local farm and spend much less than you will at the grocery store for the same food.

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And then Recycla looked at the calendar and realized that Memorial Day weekend is a little over a week away and that the pools will be opening then. She made a note to herself to stock up on sunblock, lots of it.

Luckily, the Environmental Working Group has come out with their 2012 report on sunscreens, including the best ones and the Hall of Shame.  Recycla was surprised to see a couple of organic and “natural” brands make the shame list and also learned that spray sunscreens are not ideal. Her family usually buys Alba Botanicals and Neutrogena sunscreens.

The important thing to remember is that you want to avoid certain ingredients, including oxybenzone. For more information, click here for different articles on ingredients to avoid, skin cancer, and more.

In addition to using the right sunblock, don’t forget the following tips:

• Try to stay out of the sun from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• If you are outside, wear clothing and a hat that will help block the sun’s rays.
• Always wear sunscreen, even on overcast days.
• Apply sunscreen 15-30 minutes before going out.
• Use enough sunscreen to fill a shot glass and coat your body in a thick layer.

For more information and tips, click here.

For years, Recycla was great about protecting her children, but not herself, but she’s finally getting smart about applying sunscreen every day.  She’s in her 40s and is hearing stories from her friends about their trips to the dermatologist to deal with sun-related issues, and she’d like to avoid those same problems.

So be safe this summer and make sure that everyone in your household is wearing sunscreen when you go out!

The Eco Women are not employed by any of the companies mentioned, nor were they asked to review any products. 

Sun, dirt, water. You know you want your garden to get at least 8 hours of sunshine.  You hook up sprinklers or find rain barrels to keep your plants watered. But what about the dirt? What can you do to provide the best nutrients for healthy roots and plants in your garden?

First, test your soil. It’s easy–many colleges, universities and county seats have soil testing labs where you can drop off a sample from your garden and have it analyzed for pH and nutrients. Soil testing ranges from $8-$25 depending on where you live, and doing so can give you a LOT of information about how to fertilize and enrich your soil for maximum gardening benefits. Most labs will offer suggestions for improving your soil, too.

Second, if you garden near a roadside, you should get your soil tested for lead. Lead was added to fuel until 1990, leaving a heavy residue from exhaust concentrated beside roadways. If you’re stuck against a street, it’s best to use raised beds or containers to grow your vegetables and avoid lead contamination. Lead is heavy and concentrates in an area and several studies in other countries have shown the extent of roadside contamination from auto exhaust. And tires are made with lead wheel weights for balancing. These lead weights often fall off and end up in roadside ditches–leaving lines of lead contamination criss-crossing our country. (On a happy note, Congress is working on banning the use of lead in wheel weights, thus eliminating this source of lead contamination.)

Third, don’t blindly spend money on that Evil Blue Chemical (AKA “MiracleGro”) or any other over-the-counter-fertilizer to make your tomatoes bodaceous this season. The best and least expensive soil additive? Compost. Any decomposed natural substance will make your soil more nutritious for plant growth, hold moisture better and allow for the best air circulation for root growth. Compost will add structure to sandy soil and break up heavy clay. Compost does NOT smell and is NOT toxic–it’s dark, crumbly and earthy-smelling. If you aren’t into making your own compost, you can buy it nearly anywhere these days.  If you prefer a liquid fertilizer, you can purchase compost tea at most greenhouses or garden centers.

Fourth, all gardens benefit from the addition of worm poop. Worm poop (AKA “Worm Castings”) provide the very best fertilizer for plants. Rich in nitrate nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, worm poop is the digested dead plant matter that worms eat. Worm poop as fertilizer does NOT smell, will NOT burn out your plants and will NOT harm anyone since it’s totally nontoxic.

Finally, the easiest way to amend your soil and retain moisture around your plants is to mulch.  Enviro Girl spreads grass clippings raked off her lawn on her garden’s surface, tenderly nestling it around the base of her tomato and pepper plants, between the rows of beans and peas.  When the growing season ends, Enviro Girl leaves the grass clippings in her garden and tills what’s left into the soil the following spring.  What results is loose, rich, wonderful dirt that will feed the roots of plants that will feed her family.

There are a lot of nice ways to honor mothers without breaking the bank or creating a lot of waste. Here are some ideas that are environmentally friendly and/or support local businesses:

A pale pink climbing rose given to Recycla by Enviro Girl three years ago as a housewarming gift.

If you are planning to go out to lunch or brunch on Mother’s Day, skip the chain restaurant and instead choose one that’s locally-owned. Bonus points if the restaurant serves local foods.

Instead of buying cut flowers, how about buying your mother a plant for her garden? Some of Recycla’s favorites include roses, irises, peonies, and lavender. Expand on the gift by offering to do the planting yourself!

If garden plants won’t work, what about an inside plant? Or, do you have any options for buying locally-grown flowers? The farmers’ market in Recycla’s town has a vendor who grows gorgeous flowers and sells them every weekend from April until the fall. A stunning bouquet usually costs around $10-15.

How about a beautiful cloth shopping bag or a colorful French market basket?  These would be great for your mother when she goes to the market, picks up books at the library, or is running errands.  It’s likely you could find baskets and cloth shopping bags made locally, but if you can’t, check Etsy for loads of options.

Or how about a gift of an experience, such as tickets to a concert, play, opera, or some other show?

Take a photo of you with your mother, the whole family, or some combination thereof. If you give her a gift of an experience, get someone to snap a photo of you there, so you’ll have the combined gifts of a happy memory and a photo.

These are just a few ideas to help you get started. The important thing is to let your mother or the woman who is mothering your children know that she is loved and appreciated — not just on the second Sunday of May, but every day!

Tell the Eco Women: How will you be spending Mother’s Day?

The proposed plan would do away with traditional dumpsters, residents would buy bags for their garbage, at $2.40 a bag, garbage collectors will only pick up the official city bags each week.  The logic behind this trash reduction plan is that people will want to save money by buying fewer bags, which would encourage less trash disposal and reduce landfill/collection costs.  Like tollways for drivers, paying by the bag puts the expense more directly on people using garbage collection and landfill space.  It’s sort of like “pay as you go,” but “pay as you throw.”  It equitably spreads the cost around to everyone living in Neenah, not just property owners.   Right now, the owner of a $150,000 home pays about $130 a year for garbage removal.   If that person throws out one bag a week, it would cost about $125. Two bags would cost $250 yearly.

Enviro Girl likes this plan because it directly taxes consumption as opposed to property taxes that have no bearing on how much garbage a household generates.  Enviro Girl demonstrated last week how her family throws away about  1 tall kitchen garbage bag per week, yet they live on 60 acres.  Is it fair for her to contribute more to garbage collection/landfill taxes than people living on a city lot throwing away three times as much garbage each week?

Fees make people aware of their behavior–just as with shopping bags (when charged for shopping bags, people will use fewer bags than if they’re offered a rebate for bringing their own bag).  She also likes the fact that this plan assesses the cost of garbage more directly to people using collection services.  Want to save money?  Throw away less stuff.  The incentives are inherent in the proposed plan.

Yet Enviro Girl lives in the country and every year she finds trash that people dump on her property because they don’t want to pay to dispose of their old tires or electronics properly.  There is a legitimate fear that people will dump their trash on other people’s property just to save money.

Enviro Girl will be curious to see if this innovative plan will become the rule in Neenah. Meanwhile, she applauds their creativity in addressing the problem of too much garbage consuming too many of our resources.

Tell the Eco Women:  What do you think of the Neenah Plan to Pay As You Throw?  Can it work?  Or will people cling to their trashy habits and reject the idea?

Eco-Lassie loves to find new uses for household items, and when she was cleaning out a closet recently, she came across a can of hair spray. Now the last time Eco Lassie used hair spray was for her a wedding in 2005–when an updo needed to be tamed. But here was a perfectly good, almost full can of hair spray. Surely there had to be more uses for it.

Eco Lassie had heard it said by her southern neighbors that you can use good old-fashioned hair spray to remove chewing gum. Really. Spray it right on and harden a glob of that goo, then scrape it away with a knife from material or carpets.

This doesn’t happen often enough in Eco Lassie’s house, but when she does bother to shine her leather loafers, she just found out that a light coat of hair spray for the finishing touch will keep that shine lasting even longer.

And while you’ve got that rag and spray out, you can also use it on machine-washable fabrics to get out that lip gloss stain from your honey’s favorite white shirt after date night. Saturate the smudge with your handy dandy hair spray and rub it in, then machine wash to remove the last hint of color and extra spray.But that’s not all your stiff stuff will do: if you’ll bother to spritz the toes of freshly-washed pantyhose, you’ll add life to each pair because the polymers used in making hair spray will help to prevent the stockings from running.

The next time you clean out your closet, stop and do a bit of research before tossing that item you thought you had no use for — chances are, someone else has been there done that, and there are all sorts of ways to recycle common, everyday items you run across.