greenguru.org

You can keep driving your SUV, take plane trips around the world, and put your AC on 65 degrees and still be “green”!?! Well, light green anyway, thanks to www.carbonneutral.com. This site will help you to offset any carbon dioxide you may have to emit by telling you how many trees it would take to neutralize it and even plant them for you if you wish. Did you know that the average American emits 20 tons of CO2 a year? That means every American needs to plant 27 trees a year to offset their carbon emissions. Our family was planning a trip to Honduras and I was feeling a bit guilty about the CO2 we were going to emit just to go on vacation. So, I went to this website and instantly found the calculator to put in the plane trip from Austin to Roatan and got a figure of 2000 lbs. of CO2, for each of us, roundtrip. They figured if we were to plant 3 trees we could offset our trip. Or we could simply pay them to do it and get a nice cork luggage tag to brag that we made our vacation carbon neutral. Neutralize! You can do it out of guilt, you can do it because you want to, either way you will feel great about it and Mother Earth will thank you.

CarbonNeutral.com is especially helpful for businesses that want to neutralize their product or service. The green guru challenges local businesses, “Be the first in Wimberley to say your product or service is carbon neutral!” Even better, if a business wants to be green from the start read Cradle to Cradle by McDonough and Braungart and learn how to create as nature would, something beautiful and safe, that even after it has been used will provide nourishment for something new.

For some more good news…. The green guru nearly fell out of her chair when she heard, but it’s true, if you are paying PEC for electricity you can call and order it CLEAN! You can buy power that comes from renewable sources for only 2 cents more per KwH of energy used! Did you know that the average house pollutes twice as much as the average car? Fellow Wimberleyites, please call PEC at 1-888-554-4732 and order your power clean and renewable, if you live outside of Wimberley go to www.renewus.org  your peace of mind will come from knowing your electricity is derived from wind, solar and hydroelectric power instead of coal, natural gas and oil. Whoooo hoooo for you!

Quote of the Month: “When we heal the earth, we heal ourselves.” David Orr

It’s time we admit we have an oil problem. The world uses 1000 barrels of oil a second! For every gallon of gasoline that a car burns, 22 pounds of carbon dioxide is released into the air…. It’s 100 degrees in early April and we wonder why! Some of us are actually complaining that gas is getting too expensive, knowing we are running out, and that using it is killing our environment and creating a global warming crisis. The green guru has to ask, “How much is cheap gas costing our planet?” In Europe, gasoline costs a lot more - about $12 a gallon. Not surprisingly, folks there are much more focused on fuel conservation. Maybe expensive gas is the impetus we need to do the same.

The green guru is convinced that the answer to our oil problem and maybe even global warming is biodiesel and other renewable energy sources. The truth is we are running out of oil. That is why we are literally fighting for the last remaining drops of it. Why not invest the money here and support US farmers by using biodiesel instead of gasoline? A study at the University of New Hampshire shows that we have enough farmland here in America to supply our country with all the fuel we need.

Here’s why the green guru likes diesel engines: they get better mileage and they last 2 to 3 times longer than gasoline engines. If you run them with biodiesel they run even better, need less maintenance and may get even better mileage.
Here are the facts about biodiesel:

- No engine modifications are needed to use it, just fill up any diesel with biodiesel!

- It is cheaper than gasoline and regular diesel! Nuff said…

- It’s less toxic than table salt and is fully biodegradable within 21 days!

- King Feed will soon have it, but for now it’s available at Eco-Wise in Austin.

- Biodiesel is not pure vegetable oil, a diesel can run on pure vegetable oil but has to be modified first. Go to  www.greasecar.com for details.

- Production of biodiesel results in almost twice as much net-energy as ethanol.

- You can make it yourself! Go to my favorite books section and look for the books that show you how.

- Biodiesel has a net-zero carbon emission profile, which means that the carbon that is emitted into the atmosphere when it is used, is absorbed by the plants that grow the next batch of biodiesel. This is what makes it a cleaner and fully renewable resource.

Quote of the Month: “The use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem insignificant today, but such oils may become in the course of time as important as petroleum and the coal tar products of the present time.” Rudolph Diesel 1912 

Well it’s not exactly a sleep number, a carbon footprint is a representation of the effect that you have on the climate in terms of the total amount of greenhouse gases you produce. It is measured in units of carbon dioxide. By finding out what your personal impact is at www.carbonfootprint.com ,  you can get a better idea of how to shrink your contribution to global warming. This website measures your home energy and transportation use, and in order to account for your total footprint you would need to include the energy used to produce all the products and services you consume. The US accounts for more than 20% of the worlds total greenhouse gas emissions. Did you know that the average American is responsible for 20 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year!? When was the last time you weighed fumes?

A broader concept would be your ecological footprint, an estimate of how much land and water is needed to produce all the resources an individual consumes and disposes of, and  all of the waste and pollution they generate. To find out your ecological footprint go to  www.ecofoot.org . Did you know the average American needs 25 acres to support their lifestyle, 5 times more than is sustainable. Hopefully you’re better than average, if everyone in the world lived like that it would take 5.3 planets to sustain us. When you find out your number, don’t freak out, focus on what you can change about your lifestyle, these are some things you can do:

    - Change your bulbs, I have said it before and I’ll say it again, get compact fluorescents! If you replace just four bulbs you will prevent the emission of 5,000 pounds of carbon dioxide over the life of the bulbs and $100 on your electric bill over the same time period. It is just www.goodcommonsense.net !
    - Cut down on car trips. The average American drives 203 miles a week! Cutting down on needless car trips will shrink your carbon footprint, if each person could eliminate just 20 miles of extra driving a week they would save nearly 1,000 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions each year!
    - Join Freecycle, a wonderful way to recycle in your community and get rid of what you don’t want or find what you need without sending things to the dump. There is one in Wimberley with over 650 members, www.freecycle.org.
    - Recycle your cell phone. Did you know that the EPA estimates that 700 million cell phones containing 250,000 tons of toxic waste already have been discarded in American landfills. Donate a working phone a woman’s shelter or go to www.eco-cell.org to learn more. Also Ace Hardware recycles regular batteries and so does the Green Guy in San Marcos.
    - Choose Biodiesel, if you drive a diesel car or truck fill it with B100 or B99 and reduce you car emissions by 100%. It’s clean, renewable and domestic!

Although everyday is really earth day, for this Earth Day, the green guru hopes that everyone who reads this article will go to their computers and measure their feet.

Quote of the Month: “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”- Native American Proverb

To many in Wimberley organic food is not a luxury, it‘s the way food is supposed to be. For health reasons as well as ecological reasons our family has been trying a diet with less meat and more organic vegetables, legumes and grains. Worldwide one of the primary causes of the destruction of the rainforests is animal agriculture, as the forests are leveled to make way for more pastures. Did you know that pound for pound it takes 225 times more water and almost 40 times more fossil fuels to produce meat than vegetables. According to John Robbins, author of May All Be Fed, “if Americans reduced their meat consumption by 10 %, enough grain would be saved to feed 60 million people. That is close to the total number of people who die of hunger each year.”

It hit me over the head that our choice in meat and other animal protein sources was critical when we were visiting the construction site of our home. Marc ripped a tag off of a recycled chicken feed sack the concrete guy was using in our foundation. I thought that was a strange thing to do, and then he read it… First ingredient: rendered bovine protein. I’m sorry but the green guru has to ask, “Since when did chickens eat cows?”

I have since learned that downer cows or cows that are so sick they can no longer walk, are rendered for animal feed, since they are not suitable for human consumption. Yet they are fed to animals we also eat: chickens, pigs, farm raised fish. The FDA just ordered the destruction of a whole trout farm because of whirling fish disease (the equivalent of mad cow disease in fish). Though I applaud their resourcefulness, recycling and reusing sick cows is one recycling project of which the green guru does not approve.

Here’s the beef on what to look for when buying animal protein:

-In general buying Organic is the safest way to ensure the health and humane treatment of the animals, and the preservation of our soil and streams, however in some cases where organic is not available or is too pricey these tips may help you.

-When buying beef look for Grass Fed and No Antibiotics or Hormones on labels. Grain Fed beef is safe but not sustainable, it takes 16 lbs. of grain to produce 1 pound of beef.

-When buying milk, cheese and butter look for labels that say Organic or No Antibiotics or Hormones. Canada and Europe have outlawed the use of hormones in dairy cows, because of proof they are absorbed by humans.

-When buying Chicken and Eggs the most important thing to look for is Fed No Animal By-products, and No Hormones or Antibiotics. Some chicken may say veggie-fed but this may not mean it is only veggie fed, and the same goes for eggs. Free-Range implies the chickens are well cared for but doesn’t tell you what they are fed.

-When you are buying pork look for Fed No Animal By-products and Grain Fed. -When buying fish look for Wild fish or make sure it says Fed No Animal By-products. -If you raise your own animals, there are manufacturers that provide feed with no animal by-products. These are available at King Feed.

Quote of the Month: “The way you help heal the world is you start with your own family.” MOTHER THERESA

As she sips her rainwater tea, the Green Guru says, “ Indeed it does!” In Texas rain is a blessing. As we do the periodic rain dance in our home we remember how important rain is to our lives, our homes and our bodies. Water is not always plentiful in Texas and that is why many people have decided that it’s a necessity to catch it. Some collect it for their garden, knowing that plants prefer rainwater to well water, and some collect it to bathe in and to drink, relishing the softness of it without needing a water softener. Rainwater collection systems change the way you think about water and the Green Guru wouldn’t trade hers for the world, or a well.

The facts about rainwater collection:

Every time it rains 1” you can collect almost 600 gallons of water for every 1000 square feet of roof. Now, that means if you have a 2500 sq. ft. house, you would collect 1500 gallons of water for every inch of rainfall. If we average here in Wimberley 32” inches a year then that is 48,000 gallons of water a year! Conserving families use 25 to 35 gallons of water per person per day. This means that a conserving family of 4 living in a 2500 sq. ft. house would be set with rainwater collection alone for their water supply. To make sure you have enough storage to make it through the longest droughts here’s the math: 1) Take the # of people x gallons used per person per day x 90 days (the longest drought in the last 50 years was 75 days) 2) If your family of 4 uses 30 gallons each per day then that is 120 gallons per day times 90 days. So, just 10,800 gallons of storage would get you through the longest drought.

How to conserve water and keep your bills down at the same time:

-Use Energy Star toilets using 1.6 gallons, some toilets use 8 gallons per flush! Or put water-displacing bags in your existing toilets.

-Use Energy Star front loading washers using only 16 gallons of water per load (top loaders use 48+ gallons per load!)

-Wash your dishes by hand and try not to leave the water running, use an energy star dishwasher if you have to have one.

-Buy faucet and showerhead attachments that help use less water.

-Fix any leaks, a drip a second means more than 3100 gallons of water wasted per year.

-Landscape with native water wise plants … Did you know that St. Augustine Grass requires 50” of rainfall a year to be sustained? Buffalo Grass requires 20”.

Special kudos for Katherine Ann Porter High School for designing rainwater collection into their new school! Good Job KAPS! I guess green minds think alike.

Quote of the Month: “The more you know, the less you need.” Aborigine saying

More and more people in Wimberley are choosing to spend their dollars thoughtfully as if they are casting a vote in the direction they want our future to go. People are voting every day in Wimberley to keep the mega stores out by supporting local hardware stores and grocers. *

Why is shopping locally so important?
Keeping our dollars in Wimberley helps our neighbors. Buying supplies, services, gifts and food is something we all do. If we buy locally made products we support each other. Think about the costs involved in going to Austin to buy something that was made in China. Not including the energy used to create the product, think of how much fuel is needed to ship a product from China to the US. Then think of the fuel used to deliver the product to a mega store, and the fuel used getting you to Austin and back. All this fuel burned to save a few bucks on a product, is it worth it? The Green Guru says, “No”. These products will end up in our landfills and will only support jobs outside our area or outside the country. Shopping locally helps secure a job and a trade for each person in Wimberley.

What does it mean to be green?
Living green is walking lightly on the earth, respecting and honoring every day that we are given the resources to keep existing on our planet. You do this by conserving these resources, by saving them from pollution, corruption and greed. Did you know that the US has 4% of the world’s population, but consumes over 25% of the world’s oil supply? The US uses 21 million barrels of oil a day! This is more than FOUR times what China, the second leading consumer of world oil, is using per day. Most of the oil we use goes into transportation and the rest is used to provide electricity. This way of life is not sustainable. People all over the US are realizing this fact and are going green. They are shopping green, commuting green and they are living green.

What can you do now?

• Take your own bags to the store, even if you use the same bags only once more, you are cutting your pollution by half.

• Share Rides: meet your neighbor, take him to town with you.

• Support the Farmer’s Market: it is so important that Wimberley sustain the ability to produce it’s own food.

• Choose energy efficient appliances; change out your light bulbs with compact fluorescents.

• Take your own mug to the coffee shop.

• Buy Organic: Organic Farmers use methods that protect soil and conserve water supplies and dairy and meat products are not treated with hormones or antibiotics and are given organic feed.

• Look for Made in USA labels.

• Get involved and ask the businesses that you support what they are doing to be earth conscious.

• Buy Smart, think about how long the product will last, how much energy if any the it will consume and where it will go when you are finished with it.

• Recycle, and even more importantly, Re-use.

Quote of the month:
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” M.K. Ghandi