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For the Eco-Casual Dad

Organic leisure shirt

Funky sneakers

For the Movie Buff Dad

An Inconvenient Truth

No movie viewing is complete without popcorn!  Try this one or Farmer Steve’s.

For the Meat Loving Dad

Yummy Annie’s Naturals BBQ Sauce

Help Dad learn to cook the organic way with this book

 For the Business Dad

Recycled Teak Wood Business Card Holder

The corporate treehugger necktie

For the Java Loving Dad

Coffee is always a sure bet with my Dad.  I like to head to my local coffee shop but you can get Fair Trade coffee here or check  to see if your grocery store carries Seattle’s Best Organic brews.

Reusable travel mug or ceramic cup (isn’t this so cool?!)

 For the Sports Nut Dad

Golf club bottle opener made from reclaimed golf clubs

Ballpark pen made from salvaged seats of many classic stadiums.  It’s Fenway Park all the way for me and my Dad.

So there you go- 12 unique ideas for Father’s Day.  If you need more ideas, check these out.  But what are you waiting for?  Now you only have 47 hours and 50 minutes to shop!

Details:

Wednesday June 24th, 6:00 – 7:30pm

ePlace Realty

830 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge

FREE

Register here

Five facts to blow your mind

1.  Wind power is part of the energy mix in 70 countries
2. Wind power is clean, proven and available almost everywhere in the world
3. Wind power can be up and running on a large scale, in a matter of months
4. Wind power will save 10 billion tons of CO₂ by 2020
5. We need wind power technology to save us from climate change 

What can you do?

• Write a letter – write to your local Congressman.  Build Baby Build has a great primer on how to ask for their support for a national renewable portfolio standard (RPS).

Here’s a summary of my letter to my state senators, Sen. Kerry and Sen. Kennedy:

Today is Global Wind Day and I am asking for your support for a renewable electricity standard (RES) to ensure that a growing percentage of electricity is produced from clean, domestic, renewable sources, like wind power.  To create a long-term commitment to renewable energy, the U.S. needs to adopt a national RES that has strong near-term targets to promote the expansion of electricity generation from renewable resources.  A strong national RES would foster a sound investment climate for renewable energy manufacturers to invest billions of dollars in new facilities and employ hundreds of thousands of Americans in high-quality jobs. 

 

• Visit the Power of Wind website and sign their online petition
• Educate yourself on the latest energy news
• Start your own wind farm

So, go on and put your energy to good use and help save our climate!

When the box gets full, I bring my recyclables to my boyfriend’s house for his town’s curbside recycling program (but not before cashing in on the deposit for my Sam Lights!).

I think we all know that paper, aluminum and most plastics can be recycled but what about all that other common stuff?  

• Plastic grocery bags:  Most local recycling programs won’t accept those plastic shopping bags because they will get stuck in the machinery.  Most major grocery chains now offer a special grocery bag recycling box.  Or, you can skip the bag collection altogether and use a reusable bag the next time you shop!

• Electronics:  First, scour local websites for e-waste recycling days.   Also, many electronics manufacturers and retailers offer their own recycling program.  Staples accepts computers and printers regardless of if it was purchased there.  National Coalition Against Domestic Violence is a great place to donate your old cell phones.  They distribute the old phones to victims of domestic violence to use in emergency situations.  Recycling and doing good is a double score.

• Batteries: We’re talking about the “standard” single-use/alkaline/dry-cell battery.  Battery Solutions offers a home recycling kit that you fill with dead batteries and send back to them via pre-paid shipping.   Mailing away your batteries may not be the most convenient way for you to recycle but you can try the re-chargeable variety or search Earth911.com for local drop-off sites.

•  Household cleaners:  These cannot be recycled!  It’s news to me too, but it makes sense.  There’s many toxic chemicals in our cleaners that it cannot be properly recycled.  Instead, you can bring your empty containers to your local household hazardous waste day.  I’m going to start by trying not to bring toxic chemicals into my home in the first place.  I need to stay away from things labelled “antibacterial,” as it likely contains the toxic pesticide triclosan (yikes).  The next time you need to clean up, look for products like Simple Green- or, consider the old stand-by: vinegar and baking soda (cheap, easy and fun to see the quick fizzing/cleaning action…hmm, does that make me a cleaning geek?).

• Lightbulbs:  By now, we know to buy compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) or LED bulbs.  I just learned incandescent bulbs will be banned by Congress, starting in 2012, and completely phased out by 2014.  The best way to recycle the bulbs now is to package the lightbulbs in a box so they don’t break, leaking toxins.  Check Earth911.comon where to drop off lightbulbs.  My local Home Depot is the spot for me.

There’s plenty of other stuff that can’t be put in your kitchen trash.  If you check out Earth911.organd plug in your zipcode, you’ll get a load of local resources on where to bring almost any other material to recycle (newly added widget below).  My boyfriend has empty paint cans he needs to get ride of and we learned of an upcoming local Hazardous Waste Drop Off day.  We’re going to make sure to keep the different types of paint seperated and keep the labels on to make it easier for recyclers to identify the paint without opening the cans. 

As always, if you have large quantities of usable materials (like bolts of fabric, paints, tiles, office furniture, etc.), consider donating it to a local charity or a crafters/teachers exchange.  In the Boston area, Extras for Creative Learning is the best place to go for your recycled/upcycled craft resources!

This is a great deal for you and for the environment.  Last fall, I held a electronics recycling day fundraiser in my community and it proved to be extremely popular.  Thanks to CRT Recycling, folks were glad to know their tv’s and ovens were going to be properly disposed of.    At Saturday’s event, ALL equipment collected will be destroyed and recycled in North America in accordance with ALL local, state and federal guidelines, regulations and laws pertaining to the collection, transportation and recycling of electronics equipment.   Let’s save our landfills, one keyboard and retro pink Apple monitor at a time!   

What you can bring:

Details:

Saturday, June 6th, 9:00am – 2:00pm
Bayside Expo Center
200 Mount Vernon St. , Dorchester

FREE

It can be tough to resist an upgrade to the lastest gadget so when you shop next, consider this list from Greenpeace – the ‘Guide to Greener Electronics’ ranking top manufacturers in their toxic chemicals policies, recycling efforts and impact on climate change.  Go Nokia!

Sadly, I began to think about how massively environmentally un-friendly glowsticks have to be.  What are they filled with anyway?  That radioactive glow can’t be natural.  But, after some googling, I can safely say your summers are sure to glow…and in style!

IKEA  has come up with a new line of solar-powered lighting.  Perfect for the patio, backyard, tent or even inside the house.  The LED lights consume 70% less energy and lasts 4 times longer than regular bulbs.  There’s no long cords to plug in; the lights have solar cells that transform sunlight into electricity Right now, it looks like they’re only available in store. 

I can’t wait to pick up the Chinese lantern version or these or these!

So, pick up a couple of these cute little lights to bring that big city glow into your own life.  And leave the radioactivity to these guys.

These bags are amazingly strong and I’ve started using them to carry my craft goodies to and from.  Cloth bags are the ultimate in re-usability and always beat paper.  What re-usable bags are you guys using?

The real kicker with global warming is the large, industrialized nations are contributing  99% of the carbon emissions that are heating up the earth while the least responsible developing countries bear more than 9/10th of the human and economic burden of climate change. 

The video news release:

Kofi Annan is not happy about this.

[Via Boston.com]

I hear there’s complimentary brunch too.  Learning how to install solar panels and a free scone?  Count me in.

Details:

Thursday, June 4th, 10:00am – noon

Wolfers Lighting

103 North Beacon St., Allston

FREE

Register here