Living Green Tips - Valentines Day

Valentine's Day is an occasion celebrated on February 14 and while it has a very long history dating back hundreds of years, the scale of the occasion we have today is largely thanks (or no thanks) to marketers.

Some fast consumption related facts about Valentines day :

- Around a billion valentines are sent each year globally, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year behind Christmas

- 25 percent of all seasonal cards annually are valentines

- Over 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate are sold each year.

- Valentine’s Day is the top holiday for fresh flower purchases with red roses being most popular

- 10% of engagements happen on Valentine’s day

- Over 60 percent of planned to by at least one valentine last year

Those statistics come from American Greetings Corporation

Valentines Day is big business and as such has the potential to have substantial impact on the environment. For example, the one billion cards laid end to end would stretch around the world 5 times! That's a lot of trees.

Valentines day gifts with the planet in mind

If Valentines Day is an important day for you or the one you love; then you can also show a bit of extra love for the environment by carefully considering what you buy. Here's some ideas:

- Cards made from recycled or tree-free paper (this will be indicated on the card)

- Consider sending an e-card instead using one of the many quality services around.

- Fair trade and/or organic chocolate

- Choose organic and/or locally grown flowers

- Make a donation to an environmental organization on behalf of the person.

- If you wish to give jewelry, consider pre-owned or purchasing from jewelers who are certified to be sourcing precious metals and gemstones in an ecologically and socially responsible manner. Or considering something really offbeat like a wooden ring - they look amazing.

- Buy the person a gift certificate for holistic therapies e.g. massage, naturopath, health spa.

- Arrange dinner at a local restaurant specializing in organic or locally grown food. Eating locally cuts down on food miles.

- Perhaps make dinner yourself using locally grown ingredients, accompanied by a nice organic wine. Set the mood with earth-friendly candles. The effort you put in will be sure to impress!

- Book a retreat in a wildlife reserve, park or natural area. Your business will help support the running of such establishments.

- Give natural perfumes and fragrances. Popular mainstream fragrances are chemical cocktails. By buying natural fragrances, you'll be showing you not only care for the environment, but the person's health.

Living Green Tips - Bananas Peel

There are so many products familiar to us that we tend to just see a single use for. The banana tree is an incredible plant with many applications.

For most of us, our only familiarity with bananas is the fruit we buy at the supermarket. Bananas are a healthy food (eaten in moderation of course), containing potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin C and vitamin B6. They are low in fat and contain complex carbohydrates.

Native to tropical South and Southeast Asia, today they are cultivated in plantations throughout the tropics. 

From an environmental viewpoint, banana plantations have their negative and positive attributes. The negative side of things is given the type of conditions needed to grow bananas, it usually means rainforest is needed to be cleared to establish them. Improper use of pesticides on banana crops may also leach into waterways and surrounding areas.

Those issues aside, banana plantations seem to be very sustainable in themselves once up and running and an amazing aspect is just about every part of the banana tree can be used, for example:

Banana hearts are used as a vegetable in Asian cuisineThe leaves are often used as plates or wrapping for grilling foodThe core of the trunk can also be eatenBanana leaves, shoots and trunk can produce fiber suitable for making textile products such as rugs and clothingThe bark, stem and fruits can be used to make paperSkin can be used for dyeingSap can be utilized as marking inkBanana tree roots and other parts of the plant are used in alternative medicine

Uses for banana peel

One of the great things about bananas is they come in their own environmentally friendly biodegradable packaging - the peel. When you're done with eating a banana, instead of throwing the peel away, consider some of these other uses:

Compost or use as mulchAdd banana peels to your worm farm - it seems worms love themCut up the peel and place it just under the surface near plants to deter aphidsDe-string the inside of the peel and use the remaining peel for shining leather or silverwareMake banana peel cake or pie (search Google for a recipe)Banana peel vinegar

Green Living Tips - Greener de-icing

Ice building up on roads and footpaths isn't much of a problem throughout most of Australia, so I was fascinated to learn of the environmental issues facing other countries where major de-icing operations are an annual event.

The most common de-icing compound is sodium chloride - salt. When applied, it melts any snow or ice on roads and sidewalks and helps prevent new ice from forming. Sodium chloride is a very effective de-icing agent, is very easy to obtain and is inexpensive.

The problem is that up to 90% of the salt enters the soil near the road as runoff or splash and may even wind up a great distance away in waterways.  The widespread use of salt has created a number of environmental and other problems, including:

- damage to roadside and garden vegetation.

- poisoning of pets

- contamination of well water

- increased salinity of waterways

- corrosion of vehicles and infrastructure

- Salt can plays havoc with soil nitrate and ammonium levels. Over a period of time, the salt ladened soil can nitrify ammonium at a faster rate,  and these nitrates then wind up in local waterways. Very low levels of nitrates increase the risk of eutrophication of rivers and lakes, plus cause algae blooms in coastal waters.

Green de-icing tips

There's no doubt that icy roads are a killer; so something certainly needs to be done and some governments are looking into various other substances that can be used.

Calcium Magnesium Acetate (CMA) and Potassium acetate (KA) are both biodegradable materials that have less of an environmental impact than rock salt. Unfortunately, both  CMA and KA are more expensive and ideally need to be applied directly to surfaces before snow and ice is able to build up.

Since first writing this article, I've noticed other products are now on the market that contain Magnesium Chloride and Sodium Acetate; both also touted to be gentler on the environment.

Another option being researched is the use of beet juice mixed with brine. Once sugar has been extracted from sugar beets, a waste product remains that producers noticed never froze. This mix has been in use in several states, including Illinois.

For around your own home, here's some other de-icing substances I found many mentions of around the web said to have less of a negative effect on the environment when compared to rock salt.

- Spreading urea instead of rock salt. Urea is still a salt, but with less impact. Note : rock salt will melt ice down to -15°C (5°F), while urea will only melt ice down to -4°C (25°F).

- Calcium chloride (pretty much as above)

- Wood ash

- Sand

- Sprinkle baking soda lightly over steps

- Volcanic rock

- Spent grains from brewery

- Mix a tablespoon of rubbing alcohol, a quart of water, and a drop dishwashing liquid. Increase alcohol levels for a more rapid effect.

Used coffee grounds can also be used, not so much to melt the ice, but to provide traction and help prevent slipping.  

Prevention being better than cure, shovelling snow from paths as soon as it's fallen can also greatly decrease ice build-up; so if you're up to a bit of physical effort, it's another way you can exercise for the environment. 

Regardless of what you using for de-icing, bear in mind that more is not necessarily better (except in the case of shovelling I guess), so always follow the manufacturers guidelines for any product you use in order to minimize environmental damage.

For keeping your car's windscreen free of ice, fill your windshield wiper tank with a mix of one part water and two parts vinegar and use the mix prior to leaving your vehicle for the night - this should help prevent ice build up.