Environmental news, eco-friendly experiments, and green mess
Take the Onion Green Quiz: How Green Are You?
Looks like The Onion has a quiz to hep you find out just how green you are. CLICK HERE to go take it. Go on, click it now; I’ll be sitting here, waiting.
I should have a post up later on today detailing an amazing event that’s happening this weekend in good ol’ Raleigh, so check back later if ye please.
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Three Cool Earthship Videos: Eco-friendly cheap house
Earthships. The very name conjures up an image of otherworldliness, but there are more earthships around than you might think. Whether you have no idea what an earthship is, or you are an earthship guru, hopefully you can enjoy the following moving pictures (“talkies” as the old-timers say), and maybe even learn a thing or two about these mystical structures.
Dang, now wasn’t that informative? If you feel that your brain can handle yet MORE information about earthships, then head on over to Earthships 101.
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Carnival of the Green #173
Bienvenidos al Carnival o’ the Green!. Last week Evangelical Ecologist did a fine job hosting it, and next week GreenDealsDaily is ‘posed to host it.
But enough idle chit-chat; let’s get this show on the road.
Have you ever wanted to compost, but it just seemed too dang complicated? Then you’re in luck, for Talia has provided some tips on simple composting.
Neighbor Nancy shows y’all how to get some free vegetable seeds and how you can grow a ton in small containers. I’m about to go plant even more plants in old containers now.
Julie has ten reasons why organic lipstick is the way to go, to get that special bee-stung look that’s all the rage.
Jennifer took composting to the extreme and even composted her finger! What a true eco hero!
Ed Biado spouts off about organic this and that. While I approve of most organics, I don’t think they’re always the best option.
Ah, helping the environment whilst helping your wallet. That’s what EcoJoes is all about.
ishan is all about that, too. He dared to ask the question “Do hybrid cars really save you money?“. His conclusion is much the same as mine.
JT has some leftover stuff, but doesn’t want to throw it away. Here’s how he makes money by selling used mess.
FreeOrganicNews ponders what exactly is solar energy? His findings may shock you; then again, they may not.
Big Mack has found some zany CFL designs, and he brought them for show-and-tell.
Nancy Miller has found 50 blogs that have good info on energy. Not to be one to judge, but her site is kinda weird and spammy.
TravelCat4 has some handy eco-tips for how to travel in an Earth-friendly manner. My favorite tip was the ‘grow a beard’ one; zero effort required, plus you get that rugged look that draws all the ladies in!
The Barefoot Badger proclaims, “Ain’t nothing like the real thing baby“, and I wholeheartedly agree. All our new-fangled technology is no substitute for the real world and real life. Get out and enjoy the real world now, people!
Not content with one submission to the Carnival, Mack also wrote this Debbie Downer article about global warming. Heed his warnings, people.
Sally decides to go all the way to the top, and ask Mr. Barack Obama to help prevent future extinctions.
Another post by Ed Biado gives some tips for living a greener life.
The aptly-named Mesquite Pete is all about some DEET. He has had enough mosquito bites, and decided it’s time to fight back.
Earth Day is right around the corner (April 22). Astrid Lee has provided this handy chart of ways to celebrate this planet we live on.
Beth Terry contemplates the pros and cons of recycling plastic into oil. I think it’s great that they’ve found a way to do this, but I do understand Ms. Beth’s concerns.
Ryan and Leslie help us visualize the huge number of plastic bottles used in the U.S. in just five minutes.
Alex has some easy ways to save car fuel, and it looks like he’s from England, talking about “tyres” and “boots”.
Scott is eager to let you know that this recession is a great time to start a green business.
Dang, that about wraps it up for this Carnival. Thanks for all the submissions; hopefully I didn’t forget anyone or mess up a link. Until next time, this is EcoJoe, signing off.
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How Much Water is Used in One Latte?
You know those lil’ paper cups of latte that you get from coffee shops? Think about how many people get one of those lattes every day. How much water does that take?
Welp, it turns out that to make each cup o’ latte, it takes 200 liters of water. That’s over 50 gallons of water for each latte!! Hot dang!
Besides just the water you see, lots of water is also used for the coffee production, milk, disposable cup and sleeve, lid, and sugar. Check out this here video from WWF for more information…
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Roasted Pumpkin Seeds and Homemade Pumpkin Pie Recipe
Halloween. The very name sends tears streaming down any Eco-Hero’s face as they contemplate the mass murder of millions of innocent pumpkins. But fret not. Out of this pumpkin massacre, some good can come. And that good is known as roasted pumpkin seeds and homemade pumpkin pie.
Let us begin with the pumpkin pie recipe. Now I’m not talking about pumpkins from a can, or frozen pre-made pumpkin pies. No. I’m talkin’ ’bout some made-from-scratch, down-home, honest-to-goodness, homemade pumpkin pie.
Pumpkin Pie Ingredients
Here’s whatchu do:
* Find a pumpkin (a jack o’ lantern will do). After appropriately mourning its brutal death, collect all the parts that were cut out (eyes, nose, mouth, the works).
* Skin these pumpkin pieces, and cut them into “manageable chunk” size.
* Boil these in a microwave or on the stove until you can easily push a fork through them.
* Mash up the boiled pumpkin.
* Add condensed milk, sugar, eggs, and spices.
* Dump it all into a pie crust (filling to about 1/4″ below the top).
* Bake at 425 F for 15 minutes, then bake for about 50 minutes at 350. You can tell it’s done if you stick a knife in it and it comes out pretty clean.
* Let cool on rack
* Eat the delicious pie made from the flesh of the defenseless pumpkins, or you can wrap it up using some reused foil from a restaurant, like so:
* When you clean out a pumpkin to make a jack-o-lantern, save the seeds.
* Rinse the seeds, removing any of that orange, stringy mess.
* Add a wee bit o’ oil, some salt, and any other flavors you want (hot sauce, honey, curry).
* Bake at 275 degrees for 10-20 minutes (until they’re golden brown), stirring the seeds when they’re halfway done.
* Congratulations, you have now made a delicious and nutritious snack from the guts of a freshly killed pumpkin. I hope you’re proud of yourself.
These are great ways to use every part of the pumpkin, much like the Indians (these Indians, not these) used every part of the buffalo. Let me know if y’all know any other good pumpkin recipes. Thankee kindly.
Also, it is not too late to enter the free giveaway contest!! Click here for some details.
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World Maps: Eco-footprint, CO2 emissions, and more
Dang, I found a pretty cool site that lets you choose what to rank different countries by (armed forces spending, CO2 emissions, eco-footprint, nuclear power produced, etc.), and it’ll generate a map that changes the size of the countries depending on where they rank in the different categories.
If that last paragraph didn’t make no sense, you’ll see what I’m trying to explain if you just go to their site. Forilla, even if you aren’t interested in environmental mess, you’ll still think this map-generator is pretty dang cool, if I do say so myself.
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Solar Plane Sets New World Record
To see the video and read more about the Zephyr-6, head on over to BBC News, and tell them EcoJoes sent you.
A solar-powered plane flew for a little over 82 hours, shattering its old record. The lightweight plane, known as the Zephyr-6, was flown as a demonstration for U.S. military, which is looking for new ways to provide air support for its ground troops.
Dang, 3 days in the air just from solar power. This might be even better than the solar powered bra. Pretty amazing. If they could somehow make solar-powered passenger planes, we could cut down on air pollution while also reducing our dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels. It’s a win-win situation.
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