Organic Top only $11.99 *more colors*

Pure Citizen is running a deal on several items from Blue Canoe until May 20th, 2012. Pure Citizen is a cool site where you can find lots of amazing deals on eco-friendly products and you can have them sent to your inbox as well so you never miss out. In addiction to the Blue Canoe clothing sale, Pure Citizen has Mango Tree bangles, Terra Firm Cosmetics (which I don’t know anything about so be sure to check ingredients before buying), cute clothes from SUST, and several great items that in their last chance sale.

Organic Jacket only $19.99 *more colors*

Be sure to go check out Pure Citizen and all the great deals, and sign up to stay in the loop of their future sales.

Disclaimer: I’m an affiliate for Pure Citizen. However, they did not ask me to write this and these are my opinions.

• People will just fill up the day before the boycott and soon after. It doesn’t change how much gas they are buying. So the money lost on the boycott day is made up for on other days.
• This boycott doesn’t change habits.
• To make a real impact people would have to not drive that day. And then there are emergency vehicles, lawn care equipment, delivery trucks, etc…
• Many of these boycotts have also called for boycotting on oil company, like many called for a boycott of BP. These don’t work very well either as the gas you buy likely contains gas from lots of different companies. Also many gas stations are privately owned so the individual will end up being hurt more than the CEO’s/company.

There are ways to make a real impact when it comes to oil and gas.

• Avoid using your car as much as possible. Walk, use public transpiration, carpool, bike, or just stay home.
• Use battery powered lawn equipment.
• Drive smart. You can increase your gas milage by driving better, reduce your speed, brake and accelerate gently, and plan your trips well.
• When buying a new car, buy the one with the highest gas milage that fits your needs.

We all need to work to reduce our dependence on oil. It’s a resource that will run out and some believe it will be in short supply in many of our life times. So, have you worked to reduce your dependence on oil? If so, what are your tips?

Photo Credit: Average Jane

I could have gone out and chewed them out and part of me wanted to but I decided against that. Often that doesn’t do much and I thought this would possibly be one of those times and there was a CHANCE they had planned to pick it up or that the person I talked to had nothing to do with it, as there were a lot of workers. I also strive to be a pacifist. So, I went outside and just started picking up all the trash in my yard. I took my time to be sure they saw me and didn’t say a word.

Soon after I started a worker on the roof saw what I was doing and while looking quite sheepish and saying sorry, picked up the trash in the yard they were working in. I just flash a little smile and finished our yard. I have a feeling in the future the yard won’t get trashed like that and I never had to say a word.

This is not the first time I have found this method works with litterers. At a sustainability conference, of all places, I watched a lady drop a cigarette on the sidewalk and walk off, I turned around, picked it up and put it in the nearby trash can. She saw what I did and came over and apologized over and over and said she felt guilty as soon as she did it and that she would NEVER do it again. I believe her, she was quite embarrassed. I just smiled that time as well.

Have you tried this kind of thing with people? Have you had similar reactions?

I got the chance to try out the Shopper, a reusable shopping bag. It’s becoming one of my favorites. It’s a good size, strong, has a zipper, machine washable, and is very cute! When shopping this month I used it when my insulated bags were full and I had more produce to get home (I shop about an hour away from my home so things have to be kept on ice) since it doesn’t need to stay as cold I put it in that bag with an ice pack to keep it cool since it was a hot day. (it isn’t really insulated but is thicker than a lot of bags so it worked for this propose)

Other items Mimi the Sardine makes includes; super cute lunch clutches, tablecloths, placemats, lunch bags for kids, bibs and more. Al of their items are easy to wipe clean since they feature the eco-friendly oil cloth fabric. Oh and they are made in the US with European fabrics.

Right now (as of May 8th, 2012) there are some great sales going on, on the site so be sure to go check them out! And you can also enter below to win one of the Shoppers, thanks to Mimi the Sardine!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*This giveaway is sponsored by Mimi the Sardine, the prizes comes from them. I was not paid for this post, I did receive a sample but this doesn’t effect my views.

The pipe for the pipeline has been being moved into Oklahoma for quite awhile and preparations have been being made in other ways as well. Because of this I had little hope this part of the pipeline would be stopped. Also Oklahoma’s governor and other state officials had voiced their praise of the pipeline.

TransCanada plans to be done in 2013. The thought of the oil spills we will likely experience is horrifying for me. While the plans I last saw no longer have the pipeline going through my county it comes very close.

Most people in Oklahoma seem to be happy about this as they seem to think this will help gas prices. But this is foreign oil that is going to be exported, it won’t help gas prices. We are drilling as much as we can right now, more than we have in over eight years. The industry can’t keep up with the amount we are drilling, that is not the reason gas prices are high.

There is another very important concern with the pipeline going through Oklahoma,

Sac and Fox Nation Chief George Thurman fears that workers would place the pipeline through sacred ground in Oklahoma without consideration of the tribe.

The nation’s historic preservation officer, Sandra Massey, says there are countless unmarked burial sites throughout the tribe’s historic lands in north-central Oklahoma. -read more

TransCanada says it’s working with the tribes and has done a survey of the pipeline route,

According to a report released by TransCanada, a survey of the project found 70 archaeological sites, 18 individual artifacts and 34 historic structures in the area where the pipeline will be built in Oklahoma. The numbers were first reported by The Oklahoma Daily.

Seven of the sites met criteria to be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, and TransCanada agreed to bypass six of them, said Oklahoma Historical Society Director Bob Blackburn. The site that will be partially destroyed is a Works Progress Administration drainage ditch built around the 1930s, he said. Details about the other sites and whether any Indian graves were included were not immediately known.- read more

However, many Native American graves are not marked and many fear these are at risk and many are protesting the pipeline in part because of this issue.

Take Action

EPA can stop the Army Corps from approving all 101 water crossings on the route between Cushing, Okla., and the Gulf Coast at once.  Time is running out to let the EPA know we don’t want the southern leg of the Keystone XL approved!

Photo credit: FreeWine

The first week of the film, Disneynature donated a percent of the box office profits to the Jane Goodall Institute. My question to Dr. Jane Goodall was, what kind of projects the funds would be used for, her is what she said,

“The funds will help our work in the Republic of Congo. Specifically, the funds will help protect the chimpanzees’ home, the tropical forest; educate the next generation; and care for orphaned chimpanzees at the sanctuary there. We’re really, really grateful to Disneynature for making this donation during the first week of the showing of the film. Please, all of you, tell everybody to go in the first week, because that’s when we get the percentage of the box office.”

Someone else on the conference call asked Dr. Jane Goodall about the sanctuary and her is what she said,

“We run the largest sanctuary for orphaned chimpanzees in Africa in the Republic of Congo. These chimpanzees are orphaned by the commercial bushmeat trade—that’s shooting wild animals for their meat and selling it. Sometimes mothers are shot and their babies are orphaned. There is no meat on the baby chimp so they’re sold in the marketplaces. The government will confiscate them and we are caring for them, so lots and lots of little Oscars. Some of the money from Disneynature will help us care for these orphans.”

Someone else asked, “I’ve heard you say that you hope this movie reaches into our hearts; that we’re not the only beings with personality and thoughts; that chimps are a lot like us. Do you think this film is a good way to introduce the importance of biodiversity and survival of the species?” And Dr. Jane Goodall said,

“Yes, because I don’t think anybody can come away from this movie and not be touched, not understand that chimpanzees like us do indeed have personalities. They can solve problems, reason things out, and absolutely, they have emotions. People will understand better. They’ll all fall in love with little Oscar. There is no way you can’t. I think a lot of people will have, as I do, a soft spot for Freddy who rescues little Oscar.”

I’m hoping that this real understanding of what’s going on in the chimpanzee community, deep in the heart of the forest, will make people more aware and more ready to help us in our efforts to protect chimpanzees, which we’re doing in several different African countries. In order to save the chimpanzees, we have to protect their forest home. It’s protecting these tropical rain forests that does indeed preserve very many other animals, and plants, and rich biodiversity, which is so important. Also, saving the forest is helping us with clean water supplies, with fresh air, and above all, sequestering CO2 so that it slows down global warming.”

Here are Dr. Jane Goodall’s closing thoughts,

“Also, I’d like to add one thing. There is one program of ours that I’d really love to tell you about. That’s our program for youth, Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots. It began in Tanzania with 12 secondary school students. It’s now in more than 120 countries. It involves young people from preschool all the way through university. On their own, every group chooses three different kinds of projects to make the world a better place. One to help people, one to help animals—and we certainly hope that the young people will, for example, raise money to be a JGI Chimp Guardian and learn about chimps, but they can also help other animals—and a project to help the environment that we all share.

The main message: Every single one of us makes a difference, every single day. If we would just think about the consequences of the choices we make—what we buy, what we wear, what we eat. How did that effect the environment? Did it involve cruelty to animals? Did this involve sweat shop labor in other countries? If we just start thinking that way, and thinking about choices we make, like turning taps off, and saving electricity, and riding a bicycle if possible—these kinds of little things.

Now knowing that there are literally thousands, millions of people around the planet beginning to think this way, it’s when more people start making the right choices that the environment, and the future, will begin to see the change we need to have. Because you hear we haven’t inherited this planet from our parents, we borrowed it from our children. But we’ve been stealing, stealing, stealing, and it’s time we start paying back.

Any of you who can encourage young people of all ages, from all backgrounds, to look up rootsandshoots.org, as well as our own janegoodall.org websites, I will be very, very grateful to you, and so will the chimps, and so will the children.”

The work Dr. Jane Goodall has done for many years is amazing and this film can help further her work with the chimps. I encourage everyone to take their families to go see Chimpanzee and also to watch the past Disneynature films. If you have seen the film I would love to hear what you thought about it.

“You might be wondering where your favorite Kashi cereals have gone. It has recently come to our attention that 100% of the soy used in Kashi products is genetically modified, and that when the USDA tested the grains used there were found to be pesticides that are known carcinogens and hormone disruptors.”

If you did see this, were you surprised? I wasn’t, this info isn’t new and it isn’t just about Kashi. It’s estimated that 90% of soy, corn, sugar beets, and canola in the U.S. are GMO. So if you are eating food that isn’t certified organic you are likely eating GMOs.

Now the reason Kashi is getting picked on is the fact that they call themselves natural and they aren’t the only “natural” brand getting flack, Ben & Jerry’s, Naked Juice, Snapple, Frito-Lay and Trader Joe’s are all named in a lawsuit against brands using the term ‘all natural‘.

Unlike USDA organic products, “natural” is not regulated and therefore companies can use it to mean what they want. This is a big reminder, or wake-up call, to read labels. It also shows the need for labeling for GMOs. A nationwide telephone poll taken in October 2010 by Thomson Reuters and National Public Radio found that 93 percent want GMOs labeled.

Take Action

First, read Just Label It’s list of 8 ways to avoid GMO’s, it contains a lot of good tips for avoiding GMOs. After you read that head over to there petition telling the FDA that we deserve to know what’s in our food and that we want GMOs labeled. And of course share the message, if all of the estimated 93% of American’s that want GMO’s labeled spoke up they would have to listen.
Photo Credits: elisasizzle

Now first before going in to the extreme weather we must talk about the differences with weather and climate. A simple way of putting it is weather is the short term, while climate is long term. Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe does a good job of explaining this issue in her book, “A Climate for Chance.”

“Weather is what our minds are designed to remember. It describes conditions from day to day, week to week, and even from year to year. Weather is that one sweltering week in July, or the coldest November on record, or the snowiest winter ever.

Climate, on the other hand, is nearly impossible for us to remember. It describes the average weather conditions over tens, hundreds, and even thousands of years. Climate is the average temperature or rainfall in a certain place, based on what it’s been like for decades.”

Okay now on to extreme weather and how that can be related to climate change. Oklahoma was a poster child for extreme weather last year, we had a record drought, broke the state record for most snow to fall in 24 hours, broke the record for coldest day, had the warmest July on record for the whole U.S., record windspeed, record wildfires, the largest earthquake reported in the state, and more. It was a crazy year to say the least.

This trend is not just something Oklahoma is feeling, all over the world extreme weather seems to be becoming more normal. But this is all weather right? So, how does that relate to the long term that is climate? Well, a new study shows the possibility for a bigger threat of extreme weather due to climate change.

“By measuring changes in salinity on the ocean’s surface, the researchers inferred that the water cycle had accelerated by about 4 percent over the last half century. That does not sound particularly large, but it is twice the figure generated from computerized analyses of the climate.

If the estimate holds up, it implies that the water cycle could quicken by as much as 20 percent later in this century as the planet warms, potentially leading to more droughts and floods.” -read more

This leads scientist to fear a large acceleration of the water cycle could mean more extreme weather and a greater risk of harm to our food supply, due to droughts in some areas and flooding in others.

While a single event can’t be tied to climate change, the increase in frequency is consistent with the new study’s findings. A climatologist in Australia talks about this when talking about the heat wave in Australia in 2009.

“Climate change is not only increasing average temperatures, but also the frequency and severity of extreme temperature events. While any one event cannot be attributed to climate change, this heat wave is certainly consistent with that expectation. In a warming world we can expect similar extreme events more often.”- Perry Wiles, Climatologist

This all hits home with me as I listen to the thunderstorm outside that has rocked the state and even dropped some damaging tornadoes. And I also think back to last year and all of the extreme weather, including the horrible drought that hurt the state so very much and caused me some sleepless nights worrying about the wildfires my dad, a volunteer firefighter, was out fighting.

With this information I encourage everyone to be extra prepared for disasters. I know I have been thinking more about being prepared for tornadoes, fires, droughts and the many other disaster Oklahoma may face. Heck, last year we had a quakenado, a tornado and earthquake at the same time! So are you and your family thinking a bit more about being prepared for disasters lately? If so, how prepared? Like a few weeks worth like the American Red Cross often recommends or hardcore prepared like the people on Doomsday Preppers?

This post is part of the Connect the Dots, Green Mom’s Carnival, hosted by Diane MacEachern of Big Green Purse. The carnival goes live Friday, May 5, 2012. Be sure to check out Big Green Purse on Friday to see the rest of the posts about connecting the dots on climate change.

Disclaimer: The Amazon link is an affiliate link, if you buy from it I will earn a small percent. This however does not effect my views.

Photo credit: NOAA Photo Library

With these issues becoming more well known, many are turning to estate jewelry as a way to have nice pieces without the negative impact. When I got engaged I didn’t know about antique engagement rings and vintage engagement rings but if I had I would have been interested for sure. I recently became aware of Era Gem and I have been drooling over many of their pieces. I’m especially in love with all of the sapphire engagement rings. Some girls love diamonds, while I do love diamonds, I have a soft spot for sapphires, rubies, and amethysts.

I’ve always loved vintage and antique jewelry, knowing the pieces have history is so neat. I have a few older pieces from my grandmother and I love the unique look of the pieces. Older jewelry seems to have so much more detail than you often see in modern pieces.

And men, Era Gem doesn’t just have pieces for you to buy the women in your life, they also have some great pieces for men. They have everything from wedding rings to watches. There is a great selection for both men and women!

I encourage everyone to go check out Era Gem and bookmark it, for anytime you are in the market for some beautiful jewelry. Be warned though, your wish list may become quite large!

*Disclosure: Era Gem is one of my advertisers and I received compensation from Era Gem for this post. However, these are my views and the payment did not effect my post. I was not directed in anyway on what to write about for this post, I only accept advertisers and sponsored posts from companies that share my values and I support.

Lullaby Organics online store will officially close at midnight PST Monday, 4/30. Until then, you’ll find amazing deals with 40-80% OFF all remaining in-stock inventory. And who doesn’t love a good sale?!

Lullaby Organics is making these deals even better for all of my readers, you can use the coupon code RETROGREEN for an EXTRA 10% OFF your entire order, including regular and sales priced items. That can mean some amazing savings on some wonderful products. Here are some examples of what you will find at Lullaby Organics.

Earth Mama Angel Baby

Organic Bedding

Eco-Friendly Toys

These are just a few examples of the great products you will find. So if you have been looking for any green gifts or items for yourself, go check out Lullaby Organics and don’t forget to use the coupon code RETROGREEN for an extra 10% OFF your entire order! And if all of this wasn’t enough, Lullaby Organics is also offer a giveaway for one lucky reader!

Celebrate Green! by Corey Colwell-Lipson & Lynn Colwell

Celebrate Green! is a book by some of my favorite green bloggers Corey Colwell-Lipson & Lynn Colwell. They are the queens of greening holidays and celebrations. So want to win this book for yourself or maybe to give as a mother’s day gift? Enter below and don’t forget to go check out the sales and use the 10% coupon code RETROGREEN, the store closes at midnight PST Monday, 4/30!

a Rafflecopter giveaway