Raleigh’s 2011 Henside the Beltline Tour D’Coop

May 20th, 2011 Posted in animals, event, food | No Comments »


Do you live near Raleigh?

Did you know that a bunch o’ people raise chickens in their backyards inside the beltline?

Do you wish there was a tour of all these backyard coops coming soon?

If so, then you, my friend, have got your wish, for the 2011 Raleigh Henside the Beltline Tour d’Coop is this Saturday from 10AM to 4PM!

I’ve been fortunate enough to go on the 2008 tour and the 2010 tour, and I can assure you you’ll see some jawsome backyards, houses, chicken coops, gardens, and chickens.

You’ll laugh at the antics of the hens, marvel at elaborate hen houses, and maybe even get to hold a chicken. Plus there are tons of helpful people around to answer your insightful chicken questions.

How Can I Go?

Bring a non-perishable food item or a wad of cash money to one of these convenient locations (money & food goes to Urban Ministries):

To find out more, mosey on over to the official website, right about here.

Nissan LEAF Contest is Over: I Have Been Bested

May 11th, 2011 Posted in cars, contest, dang, event | 3 Comments »


You might want to sit down before you read this news. Go on, I’ll wait.

Although my hopes were high, someone else’s video won the Raleigh Nissan LEAF event. As full of sorrow as I am, I’ll blink back the tears just enough to put up a link to the winning video.



Winner’s Video

And did I mention it’s fun? Ohmahgod.

Dang. My hat is reluctantly off to him for winning. He must’ve done a good job getting out the vote for that video.

For old times’ sake, here’s my video entry, one last time:



Joe’s Video

Such poise. Such je nais sais quois. As for how that video didn’t win, I shall never know.

Although the final vote may say otherwise, I think we can all count this as an emotional win for my video. Better luck next time.

Test Drive the Nissan Leaf in Raleigh

March 2nd, 2011 Posted in cars, electric, event | 2 Comments »


This Saturday I’ma have the chance to test drive a brand-spanking new electric car known as the Nissan Leaf.

“Dang”, I hear you say, “But I want to test drive that electric car, why not me?” . Why not you indeed.

This Friday (March 4) through Sunday (March 6) will be your chance to test drive the all electric Nissan Leaf when it comes to the State Farmers’ Market in Raleigh.

You can either sign up for a spot to drive the Leaf, or take your chances and just show up and wait. You can sign up for a test drive at this link here.

Tell them EcoJoes dot com sent you, and wink when you say it. They’ll know what you mean.

Chicken Pictures from the Raleigh 2010 Tour D’ Coop

June 5th, 2010 Posted in animals, event, green living | 4 Comments »



(Polish Mophead chicken from 501 Mial Street)
Welp, last Saturday was the 2010 Henside the Beltline Tour D’ Coop, a big chicken-coop tour in Raleigh. Me and the lovely EcoTiff donated some non-perishable food at Cup a Joes, got us a chicken tour map, and away we went on a journey of chicken knowledge, touring other people’s eco-friendly yards, and homespun wisdom. Read the rest of this entry »

Raleigh Chicken Tour: Henside the Beltline Tour D’ Coop

May 13th, 2010 Posted in animals, event, green living | 1 Comment »



That’s right, folks, the 5th Annual Tour D’ Coop is this Saturday in Raleigh (inside the beltline, of course) from 10AM-5PM. I went to the third Henside the Beltline Tour D’ Coop two years ago, but sadly had to miss last year’s. I plan on going this weekend though, come heck or high water.

Raising chickens can help you get free-range, local eggs. It cuts down on your food eco-footprint, saves you money, and gets you the freshest eggs you could ever imagine.

What is the Tour D’ Coop?

Hey, thanks for asking. It’s a tour of 20 houses with chicken coops, all inside the Raleigh beltline. If you’re interested in chickens, or just want to see some cool houses and gardens, I heartily recommend going on the tour.

When is the Tour D’ Coop?

I already said, but it’s this Saturday, May 15, from 10AM – 5PM. So be there or be square.

Where Can I Get Tickets?

You can pre-order a ticket on the !nt3r3n37, or,
early Saturday morn, getcho chicken tour tickets at one of these places:

How much a Ticket Is?

In return for a ticket, all they ask for is non-perishable food items or monetary donations. 100% goes to Urban Ministries of Wake County.

Official Site: http://hensidethebeltline.blogspot.com/

Carnival of the Green #211

January 18th, 2010 Posted in energy conservation, event, green living, health, plastic, reusing, transportation | 12 Comments »


Welcome to the Carnival

Holy moly, it doesn’t seem that long ago that I last hosted the Carnival of the Green, but it’s been almost a year! Truly, time waits for no man. Just last week, Eco New Mexico hosted the Carnival, and next week it is moving on to good ol’ Enviroblog.

But enough talk of time and such; let’s take a look-see at this week’s Carnival of the Green submissions:

Health

Surbhi brings the ruckus with this in-depth look at natural ways to stay healthy.

The venerable Fake Plastic Fish continues her one-woman war against plastic with a shocking exposé on a nasty chewing gum ingredient: plastic. After reading that, I think I’ll steer clear of gum for awhile and maybe check out Glee gum, made from natural chicle.

Gracy Queen wins the award for best blog post title, with her piece on vegan food choices entitled, I Can’t Has Cheezburger. I, myself, am not a vegan, but if you’re gonna be, here’s some good tips on what to eat.

Jourdan asks if being “green” makes you feel stressed out, and breaks it down to the basics to show that you can make some small, simple changes to be greener.

Climate Change

Dr. Kneidel exposes the plight of the noble trees, brought about by recent climate change.

Green Linguistics

Colin Doyle is trying to export a linguistic gem from Australia; calling fossil fuel energy “black energy“. It might make it a lil’ easier to have talks about green vs. black energy.

Beverly decides to make a New Year’s resolution to “grab a tiger by the tail” and go green. However, she then delves into what exactly this mysterious saying means.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

The aptly named Mrs. Green contributes 11 ideas on how to reuse coffee grounds. I’ll be using some of her tips, since I do enjoy the occasional coffee.

Stuff With A Purpose has some good tips on how to reuse plastic bags. The best thing to do is avoid them altogether, but barring that, he has some good ways to reuse them.

A shorty named Renee that I met one day has some good tips for how to compost during these frigid winter months. Since my current compost bin is overflowing, I plan on using some of her advice to figure out what to do.

Do It Yourself

Emily Moser, of the strangely named Becoming A Radiologist website, has listed some good resources for making some homemade soap.

Around the House

Brenda Pike got herself a Kill-A-Watt (I got one of these a year ago and it’s great!) and ran around her house measuring how much electricity various appliances used. Very interesting, and it convinced me to fully turn off my Wii instead of putting it into standby with the Wiimote.

Stacey Doyle decides to look at some easy ways to live in a more eco-friendly way.

Case examines the pros and cons of compact fluorescent light bulbs, including examining just how green these CFLs are.

Mark Donovan show us some easy yet effective ways to reduce your home’s ecological footprint while also saving money. Sounds like my kind of post, if you know what I mean.

Pure Natural Diva has some general tips on how to go green for today’s on-the-go diva.

Transportation

Vihar tells the world of how St. Louis has opted for a tiny tax increase to help fund its public transportation system. Kudos to Vihar for breaking this story.

Phew! Welp, that about does it for this week’s Carnival of the Green. Hopefully we all laughed a little, cried a little, and, just maybe, learned a little. I leave you with the Top 5 EcoJoes Posts of 2009:

Happy Carnival!


Swaptree Planting One Tree for Each Swap Today

April 22nd, 2009 Posted in event, green business, reusing, save money | No Comments »


In celebration o’ Earth Day (Fun Fact: Earth Day was started by someone named Gaylord), Swaptree is planting a tree for each trade completed today. “‘Old on a tic”, you might exclaim, “Just wot is this ‘Swaptree’ thing, anyway?”
Read the rest of this entry »