Green Chalet

Ski season is approaching in the Rocky Mountains. While I would probably live anywhere with four walls, a roof, and a nearby ski lift, this new eco-home in Breckenridge is very cool.

Blu Homes designed and built the home, incorporating green features. The home is highly insulated, includes high efficiency lights and appliances, and was built with non-toxic and sustainable materials. I would really enjoy the large windows and natural daylight.

Blu Homes builds “factory-built” homes and delivers them in a nearly complete state to the home site. I don’t know much about prefabricated homes but I am seeing more and more articles on green prefab housing. Prefab houses can buy bulk green materials and reduce product waste in a factory environment. I think the companies have some work to do to separate their products from biases against traditional manufactured housing.

I may try to organize a fact-finding mission to Breckenridge to get more information on green housing there. If I have a little extra time, maybe I'll hit the slopes and grab an oatmeal stout at the Breckenridge Brewery. Don't tell my wife.

-Chris, Green

Made in ...

Being born in Japan and having lived there most of her childhood, a friend of mine thought a tattoo that said “Made In Japan” would fit her to a T. She has still yet to do it but it is always a hot topic. I always say I am glad she was imported into the States, otherwise we may have never met.

So many things in my life have been imported and are now comfortably part of my day to day life here in the US, just like my friend.

Where are most of the items in your home from? Consider everything from the shirt on your back to the pen in your hand, you can find out where the product was made.

Why is the country of origin even important you ask? Well, the farther a product has to come to reach a consumer's home, office, or factory; the larger it's carbon footprint. To continue our tread lighter journey, and lower our CO2 emissions, we should stick with buying products that are produced locally.

The tricky part of it all is that not everything with a 'Made In USA' label has all parts from the US. The FTC says that manufacturers or marketers of automobiles and textile, wool, and fur products need competent and reliable evidence to back up the claim that its product is "all or virtually all" made in the U.S.

However, there is no law that requires most other products sold in the U.S. to be marked or labeled 'Made in USA' or have any other disclosure about their amount of U.S. content.

Some products will give a bit of their tale by simply listing they are 'imported'. To get a bit more specific you may notice for example, a US company that has designed a product but sent the blueprint to a factory in Korea for manufacturing. That label would says "Designed in USA — Made in Korea”. Or perhaps the box your lawn mower was composed of all domestic parts except for the cable sheathing, flywheel, wheel rims and air filter (15 to 20 percent foreign content). It will most likely have an "Assembled in USA" or 'Built in the USA' labeling.

Thus, we must stop, read, think and perhaps do a bit of research before buying a product. Look for products with parts and labor done close to home so it doesn't have to have an around the world journey and rack up those frequent carbon points.

Tread Lighter with a smaller carbon footprint,
-Phyllis, Green Expert

Living Room Painting Transformation

I bought my little 1950s cottage house three years ago, and the previous owners had painted much of the common living space a pale latte, which, at the time, I thought was pretty nice—better than white, at any rate.

Last spring, however, I began to detest the cold, insipid feel of the latte walls in my living room. They had no personality, no drama, and no warmth. I grabbed my friend, who has painted much of the rest of the house with me, at one time or another, and headed to the local hardware/home store to scope out colors. I had read the book Feather Your Nest by Mary Carol Garrity and was inspired by the wall color on pages 52-53. That dining room was painted in Molasses—a deep, purple-brown puddle of gorgeousness!

I gathered many paint chips in a variety of dark, warm browns. It's amazing how different Cup of Joe is from Cup of Java is from Belgian Chocolate is from…well, you get the idea. I settled on Cup of Joe by Ace. I asked my husband what he thought—“Too dark!” I chose to overlook that because when my friend and I painted the basement in Ginger Palm, Midsummer Gold and Poet's Light—all no VOC paint from Freshaire—he also thought he wasn't going to like that until he came home to a stunning family room and proclaimed it beautiful.

I wanted to use more no VOC paint this time, but it can be hard to find such a deep pigment, so we went with Dutch Boy Dimensions in eggshell. We did use the Poet's Light again for the trim.

My son happened to be off from school the days we set aside to paint, so he moved as much out of the room as possible; then we cleaned, taped, and began to paint. It was a full two-day project, but when I woke up on the morning of the second day and walked in to my incredible living room, even with the piano pushed into the couch in the middle of the room, I fell in love. The natural light streaming through the picture window changed that wall to a completely different shade of melted, dark chocolate. The room felt physically warmer, and the depth of color was just amazing.

I have many pieces in the living room that are dull, brushed gold. They were the motivation for the dark paint. I knew they would pop when placed against that drama, and they did not disappoint me. Again, my husband came home from work, and declared another successful painting job.

All told, the project cost less than $60. Granted, my friend has all the supplies you could want or need to do a job like this, but even still, for two-days' hard work and a little bit of money, I have a living room that I am totally crazy about. Now it makes a statement and showcases my favorite things.

Watch out master bedroom--you're next!

-Dayna Del Val

Hugelkultur Composting

Fall is a great time of year to gather leaves, grass clippings, tree prunings, dead annuals plants, and leafy tops from your perennial garden, and create a compost pile. But for those who don't want to bother with the building of the pile, covering it, keeping it just wet, but not too wet, and turning it, here's a simple in-garden composting technique to try. It's call mound composting or in German, hugelkultur.

This European idea is a simple way to use all that organic matter that's around in your yard in fall to create raised beds that will decompose over winter and be plantable in spring. Even if you use the traditional technique of piling old logs, cut up brush, and wood chips, amazingly enough, the raised bed still can be planted into vegetables in spring and thrive. Eventually the raised bed will decompose and flatten, but depending on how much and how thick your woody branches are, it may be elevated for years.

Here's how it works. Collect partially decomposed wood, brush trimmings, leaves, and old garden plants and create a 2- foot tall raised bed that's 4- to 8-feet long. Stomp down the woody materials to compact the pile, but don't bother cutting them into smaller pieces. Pile on a layer of leaves, grass clippings, or dead annual plants, then cover the raised bed with a 1- to 2-inch thick layer of soil. Apparently the woody materials hold water very well keeping the bed moist, yet don't use too much nitrogen in the decomposition process because they already are partially broken down. As they continue to break down the pile let's off heat warming the soil. It's important to use already rotting wood or small woody trimmings. Avoid rot resistant woods such as black locust, cedar, and hemlock.

Gardeners who have tried hugelkultur swear it works great for potatoes, melons, and squash, in particular. The plants love the moist, yet still aerated soil and outproduce similar plants grown in the ground. The best part is the bed will remain fertile for years as the woody materials break down. Give it a try this fall!

-Charlie, Lawn & Garden

I Love Brussels Sprouts

Okay, Brussels sprouts are probably not the top vegetable on most people's culinary lists, but I love them. This time of year my Brussels sprouts are forming nicely. With the cold weather these little cabbages turn sweet tasting and lose their strong flavor. I like to eat them sauteed with olive oil, garlic, and walnuts. The nuts bring out the sweet flavor a little more. If you don't have Brussels sprouts in your garden, then check local farmer's markets and vegetable stands for them. The local ones taste best because they are fresh and, if it's been cold, sweet.

If you want to grow some Brussels sprouts for next year, here's how. Brussels sprouts are long season crops. I like to call them the "plant and forget about them" crop. Buy seedlings at your local garden center or start your own from seeds planted indoors about 8 weeks before your last frost date.Two weeks before your last frost date plant them outdoors in the garden. They can take the cold and late frosts fine. Plant on beds amended with compost. I grow the 'Oliver' and 'Bubbles' varieties. There even is a red colored variety called 'Rubine' that's available. The sprouts turn green when cooked though.

Keep the sprout plants well weeded and watered. Sidedress with a 5-5-5 organic fertilizer once a month and by fall the sprouts will have started to form along the stem. If it's October and sprouts are forming slowly, cut the top off the plant to stimulate more development. Keep harvesting until all the sprouts are gone. The plants can take a freeze and still produce. I eat mine well into November in my cold Vermont climate.

-Charlie, Lawn & Garden

Make Your Own 'San Francisco Gold'

Last week, San Francisco, CA became the first US city to require all residence and businesses to compost. It is part of Mayor Gavin Newsom's impressive goal to reduce waste and have the city send nothing to landfills or incinerators by 2020.

San Francisco is already diverting over 72% of its waste from landfills thanks to rigorous recycling efforts. Consumers and businesses will now have three different bins: one for recycling, one for trash and one for compost.

Not only are they encouraging composting, but San Fran has set other great green examples as well including a ban on plastic shopping bags in some establishments, and on the purchase of single servings of bottled water.

Anyway, back to the composting. The Department of the Environment and collectors are working to consult folks on properly disposing of their organic garbage waste. In addition, they are providing container labels, signage, educational materials and other compost assistance.

Many locals already compost a great deal, but this new law will encourage the others to do so as well. If they don't, they can expect penalties starting next year of anywhere from $100 to $1,000.

The food refuse will be turned into compost which will then be sold to Bay Area farms and vineyards. The city is definitely highlighting how easy and effective it is to compost.

If you are looking to create some of this hot "San Francisco gold," A.K.A. compost, check out some tips here. You will be returning carbon to the soil, cutting down on methane emissions from landfill, and have nutrient rich compost for your garden.

Tread Lighter composting,
-Phyllis, Green Expert

Start ‘Em Young

If the displays in my local big box retailer are accurate, we have collectively decided that Halloween and Christmas materials should be displayed concurrently. I like to spend at least a day enjoying Thanksgiving before moving on to Christmas, but maybe I’m old fashioned. If you're hoping to wrap up your Christmas shopping before Veterans Day, take a look at the Thames and Kosmos “Power House – Green Essentials Edition.”

The Power House includes hands-on science experiments demonstrating how energy is used around the home and how it may be used more sustainably. Experiments include a solar power array, wind turbine, model refrigerator, and a solar oven.

I may pick one up for myself, so I better understand how these technologies work before I start tearing up my real house.

-Chris, Green

Digging Those Glads

Gladiolus are lovely bulbs (technically corms), that produce tall spikes of beautiful flowers in colors ranging from white to red. They are easy to grow from a spring planting in most parts of the country. Gladiolus grow best on well drained, loose, fertile soil. Plant once the soil has warmed, around the time you plant peppers. Give them a little balanced organic fertilizer, such as 5-5-5, when planting and monthly as they grow. By mid- to- late summer you'll see majestic flower spikes forming. Gladiolus are best grown as a cut flower. Cut off the flower spikes when 1/3rd of the flowers have opened. That way the remaining flowers will continue to open indoors extending the flower's shelf life. 

After harvesting the flowers you'll need to dig and store your gladiolus corms for winter. Even in warmer regions, gladioli corms are best dug and stored so the winter cold, critters, and disease don't ruin the corms for next year. After a frost, dig up the corms with the green leaves still attached. Gently knock off most of the soil, cut off the foliage, and let the corms dry in a well- ventilated, warm (65F) room for 2 weeks. Remove the old corm (wrinkled on the bottom) and cormels (baby corms). Save the larger, younger corm. Store the individual corms in paper or mesh bags marking the variety name. Store them in a 35F to 45F, dry basement or shed. Check for rotting corms throughout the winter.

-Charlie, Lawn & Garden

Do You Compost Your Leaves?

A recent cold snap sent our leaves from green to dead, bypassing the fall color stage. I'm hoping the rain holds off this weekend so I can spend some time outside raking. Last week, Charlie offered some tips on managing leaves in the fall.

Starting a few years ago, my city required all leaves to be placed in compostable bags and sent to a compost site (rather than the landfill or incinerator). I started composting my leaves at home around the same time and haven't paid much attention to the requirements. Now it looks like most of the suburban Twin Cities counties are requiring compostable bags.

Widespread use of compostable bags reduces plastic contamination of compost and costs for the sites. I think it's a good idea but a big change from sending the leaves to the landfill or burning them. I'm curious about the extent of leaf composting programs. What are the requirements in your neighborhood?

-Chris, Green

What Are You Doing Saturday?

This Saturday is the International Day of Climate Action. Join people like yourself all over the world to take a stand for a safe climate future. It will be the most widespread day of environmental action in the planet's history.

Since the number 350 is the target amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, people across the globe will be creatively promoting this number. You will see incredible creative actions across the globe including mountain climbers on our highest peaks, underwater demonstrations in island nations threatened by sea level rise, star athletes, rallies in cities, and smaller community events such as folks ringing steeple bells 350 times, donating 350 books, doing a 350 mile relay, created a mural depicting the number 350 and more. They are all doing it to raise awareness of the need for urgent action. And you can too.

Scientists like Dr. James Hansen, of NASA, have been researching global warming and have come to the conclusion that unless we can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million, we will cause huge and irreversible damage to the earth.

The folks at 350.org say that the atmospheric concentration of CO2 is 390 ppm. They say that it is way too high, and it's why ice is melting, drought is spreading, forests are dying. To bring that number down, they suggest we stop putting more carbon into the atmosphere. They are suggesting a very fast transition to sun and wind and other renewable forms of power. The goal is to return us to safe levels.

There are a variety of ways to decrease our carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Many things we can do in our homes and in our daily lives. Some things will happen at the workplace or with new technologies. However, a great mover will be world wide political endeavors.

At the UN Climate Negotiations in Copenhangen, the world's nations will meet to agree on a new climate treaty. With everyone's support on October 24th we can show them the importance of this treaty and negotiate a treaty to cut global warming pollution.

There are exciting things happening on Saturday in your neighborhood. Click here to find out the details.

Tread Lighter to reach 350
-Phyllis, Green Expert