Converting plastic back into oil

We are surrounded by plastics every single day. But as we drink a soda, use a cell phone or drive our car it's easy to forget that those plastics started their "life cycle" as raw petroleum. Check out this amazing video of a Japanese inventor who found a way to convert plastics back into oil. Just think how different the world would be if plastic garbage was instead seen as a resource to be used again!

Christmas Trees - Real or Artificial?

Going to get a Christmas normally brings up thoughts of peace, joy and family. Our ancestors would hitch up the one horse open sleigh, gather the family (and maybe the dog) and go off into the woods in search of the perfect Christmas tree. Now-a-days we might borrow a friend’s truck and land at the neighborhood fundraiser tree sale only to find out that everyone’s idea of the right tree is different and soon the holiday spirit is crushed and we settle for what the baby wants just to keep him quiet.

At this point we begin to think an artificial tree is the way to go. Perhaps the cat won’t be as intrigued by one that smells so piney-fresh and it probably won't shed needles into the carpet. There is also a lower fire hazard with an artificial tree coated with flame-retardant. Just think of the time saved by using an artificial tree. You'll only have to select one every fifteen years, and year after year all you have to do is unpack it and set it up.

If you’re the more traditional type, you'll want the ambiance of a live tree. The aroma alone is almost worth the stab between the toes when you find that last needle stuck in the carpet in late February. One of the best things about using a live tree is that when the holidays are through, your tree becomes an instant shelter for the birds at the bird feeder. There is no need to save a chunk of space to store this baby, out the door it goes!

For every reason to buy a live tree there is one to support using an artificial tree. Burning fossil fuels to go get a live tree each year, plus fuel used to transport the tree to the consumer -- is that really any better than whatever impact the production of an artificial tree has on the environment? The tree factory probably causes some pollution of the air and water. Tree growers use pesticides in order to provide and un-blemished tree and protect their investment. The theory that tree farms displace the natural habitat is countered by the idea that they have only created a different habitat that is now conducive to owls, for instance.

Christmas tree growers are a fairly large industry in Michigan. This gives us the advantage of a fresher tree that will retain needles longer than trees shipped from distant places. Trees are also a renewable resource and are replanted at tree farms year after year. If you buy a pre-cut tree, about two inches should be cut off the bottom of the trunk before you set it in the tree stand. This will expose fresh “straws” for the tree to take up water. There are several commercial so called preservatives on the market that claim to prolong needle retention. A number of scientific studies indicate you should save your money, or spend more on your wife’s gift, because they are simply ineffective or do not perform as well as plain water. Also, home remedies such as aspirin, 7-up or bleach can cause needles to drop sooner than if plain water is used. The most important thing for encouraging needle retention is to make sure it always has plenty of water.

Even if an artificial tree lasts for a decade, it will eventually end up in a landfill. Some people go the opposite extreme and purchase a living, plantable "bulb tree" which is taken out into the back yard and planted after it's done sheltering presents. Or, don't bring a tree into the house at all and decorate a living tree outdoors with garlands of seeds, nuts and berries that will become food for wildlife.

For more information about choosing a tree, visit The Daily Green.

The Story of Stuff: Electronics

Many of us will enjoy this holiday season by getting up to date with the latest electronic gadgets. Let's face it, these items are a part of society now and aren't going away any time soon! But when you make those purchases, consider what happens to the old stuff you're replacing and what chemicals and processes go into what we buy. By making smart choices we can reduce negative impacts on people and the environment as we move toward a more sustainable future together!

Looking Back

People choose to live a greener lifestyle in a myriad of ways. Perhaps you start recycling more, buy organic vegetables at the Farmer's Market, ride your bike instead of drive or carry reusable bags to the supermarket. Taking things further, some people become "flexitarians" (skipping meat once a week) or even vegetarians, purchase clothing made from organic fibers, buy everything locally-made and grow their own vegetable garden.

Even after you consider all these options, there is still so much to learn and try. Living close to the Earth and all her creatures is a lifelong occupation! After all, we're all part of the interdependent web of life and we need to do our best to get along together.

One major source of inspiration for how to live in the future can be looking back at the past. How did our human ancestors, no matter when or where they lived, meet their daily needs? You don't have to look too far back before you find that almost everything people used for survival was local and all of it was  organic - there weren't any other options! 

Over the next month, we'll turn back the clock and let the past inspire us. How did people once survive and thrive on the land that is now Chippewa Nature Center? After all, people have lived here for about 10,000 years - there's bound to be something we can learn!

Plant Pot Recycling

Join East Jordan Plastics in their efforts to recycle leftover plant pots, flats, tags, etc. (any horticultural related items made from plastic) this season. You can drop off your rinsed pots other items at Meijer’s or Home Depot throughout the Midwest during the spring and summer months or you can arrange a pick-up for larger quantities. Last year, they collected more than 300,000 pounds of materials! Check out EJP website on how you can help make a difference.

Thanks to Abbey at Midland's Dow Gardens for passing this news along! If you are feeling left out and don't have plant pots to recycle, join Chippewa Nature Center for our annual Native Plant Sale on May 27 (CNC members only), May 28 and May 29. Just click here for more details or give us a call at 989-631-0830.

Happy Green New Year!

Happy New Year! It's almost impossible to believe it's 2010 already. It seems only yesterday that many people were storing up food for the great Y2K disaster that never happened. At least that got us thinking about our dependence on technology and lack of survival skills in the "real world!"

This year, as we enter the second decade of the second millenium, we should all pause to consider our relationship to the Earth. As each year passes, we're learning more and more about the human impact on our climate, plants, animals and insects and how they're all interrelated in amazing, intricate ways we never paused to consider.

What resolutions will you make this year to live more lightly on the planet? Will you recycle more, drive less and buy local produce. Which of the "Five Rs" will you focus on this year (Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Renew, Recycle), or perhaps you'll work a little bit on all of them?

Remember, reducing our negative impacts on the natural world doesn't necessarily mean we make drastic lifestyle changes. It's better to make manageable resolutions we can keep rather than grandiose ones that will just get dropped altogether after a couple of weeks.

No matter how you approach it, the staff at Chippewa Nature Center hopes your New Year is healthy, happy - and GREEN! We truly appreciate your constant support and look forward to seeing you on the trails.

Tips for an Eco-Thanksgiving

This week, families gather together to give thanks for their blessings and celebrate the bounty of the autumn harvest. While this holiday of fellowship and fun can be a wonderful time, it often results in great amounts of wastefulness that can be easily avoided with a little planning ahead. Just type "Green Thanksgiving" or "Eco-Thanksgiving" into a web browser and you'll find dozens of great ideas to make your gathering more Earth-friendly. Here, we offer a few highlights for your consideration:

1. Spare the bird. Take a cue from the President of the United States, who "pardons" a lucky gobbler each year at the White House. Instead, try a vegetarian Thanksgiving!

2. Buy local. If your family just can't think of giving up that turkey dinner, buy organic and buy local. Locally-raised poultry and other produce uses much lower amounts of fossil fuels as they make it from the farmers to your table!

3. Stay local. Consider other alternatives to driving or flying hundreds of miles just for one family dinner. Consider meeting at a centrally-located venue that saves both time and energy for all.

4. Turn it down. If your stove is running full blast and your home is full of people, it'll probably get pretty warm in there! Turn down your thermostat and open some windows if it gets too hot, instead of running the air conditioning!

5. Buy recycled. Many families go through trash bags full of paper products and plastic-ware instead of doing a mountain of dishes. If this sounds like you, search for recycled paper products or ones made from sugar-cane fibers instead.

6. Eat leftovers. Don't just toss that extra stuffing, send it home with your relatives! If you have meat left over, see how creative you can get with turkey sandwiches for the next few days.

7. Don't overbuy. If you have loads of leftovers every year, consider that you may be buying too much. Really plan ahead and only purchase what you plan on eating this year!

8. Decorate creatively. Instead of rushing out and purchasing a cartload of decorations, see what you can come up with that you already own. Make your own cornucopia and dried flower arrangements.

A Bright Idea

It's definitely begun. Walk through any grocery store or department store and listen carefully. Holiday music is everywhere! Take a stroll down Main Street and you'll find lights, wreaths, and other decorations just waiting for a cold, white covering of snow.

Drive around town at night, and you'll notice that many people have taken advantage of warm days in November to put up holiday lights on their homes and in their yards. If you're looking for ways to make your holidays a little "greener" (more environmentally-friendly, not more pine-scented), here are a few things to consider:

1. The "greenest" option regarding holiday lights is to not put up any at all. Strands of incandescent lights (especially the big, old-fashioned ones), really suck up the energy and can make your electricity bill climb. Instead, enjoy the light of the moon on a blanket of freshly fallen snow!

2. Perhaps you think the first suggestion is crazy. If so, consider recycling old strands of lights that no longer work instead of throwing them away. One Michigan company, based in Jackson, takes strands of lights for recycling and will send you a 15% discount coupon to purchase their LED version.

3. Especially if you're replacing lights that no longer work, think about an upgrade to LED lights. LEDs typically use only 10% of the electricity it takes to run an incandescent strand of the same length, saving at least $20 or more in energy costs for a 30-day holiday season.

For more about LED lighting, and other ways to make your holiday season a little greener, check out Green Holiday Tips from the Sierra Club by clicking here.

What will remain?

Generally, people have a tendency to glorify the "good old days." It seems like the air was cleaner, grass was greener and everybody skipped around singing "Zip-a-Dee Doo-Dah" all the time. The truth, of course, is much more interesting and complicated. While the 19th century was an age before gasoline engines and nuclear power plants, much of America was rapidly being deforested and coal-fired factories blackened the skies of many cities. At the same time, there are lessons we can learn from the lifestyles of our ancestors. This is partly due to technologies available (or not) in the past. In other cases, "green living" ideals were intentionally being carried out by our ancestors. Think of a home in 1870, such as CNC's Homestead Cabin, shown above. If left to the elements, a cabin like this would eventually rot and crumble to dust. What would be left 100 years later? Surely, archaeologists would find bits of glass and ceramic, bricks, nails and other metal pieces such as a sled runner, woodworking tool, or piece of a woodstove. What would persist of the barrels, ropes and basket shown here? What if your home were left abandoned for 100 years? What would happen to the vinyl siding, heaps of plastic, styrofoam, and other synthetic materials that abound in our lives today? Surely they wouldn't look very nice a century from now, but most of them would still be there, some for hundreds and hundreds of years. We've chosen to live this way and in many respects our lives are "better" (or at least more convenient) for it. But because we've made these choices, it's also up to us to be responsible consumers, reducing, reusing and recycling in order to limit this large and long-lasting footprint we're leaving on planet Earth. For sure, it's quite impractical (if not impossible) to return to a primarily biodegradable lifestyle like our ancestors lived more than a century ago. But in the rush and tumble of our modern lifestyles, it's also important to pause once in awhile to really think about all the little choices we make each day. How can we live more lightly on the planet? We can decide what will remain.

Paper or Plastic?

Neither! In the United States alone, consumers use about 100 BILLION shopping bags, adding up to a cost of about 4 billion dollars for retailers. Most of these bags simply get thrown away or end up as litter along the highway. I admit it's taken me a while to get in the habit of bringing my reusable shopping bags to the grocery store. My family decided to make the switch last year and for a while there it was touch and go. I'd forget the bags in the house or leave them in our other car in the driveway. Sometimes I'd take them with me, but forget them in my car in the parking lot! There I was in the checkout line, with a cart full of groceries and a guilty conscience to boot. Over these past months, I've found a few ways that help me remember to use my reusable bags (nearly) all of the time. 1) Always keep bags in your car. If you have two cars, have two sets of bags! 2) Put bags right back in your car after you unload your groceries at home. 3) Place bags on your passenger seat (or in the back seat) before you drive to the store. Once you park your car, your mind is on your shopping list and not on the bags hidden in your trunk! 4) If you do forget your bags in your car, ask the store greeter to watch your stuff as you run out and get them. Or just refill your cart as you buy your items and load up your bags back at the car! Not all reusable bags are equal, but using even one is better than none at all. Most you can buy at grocery stores have a firm "stand up" base, but are usually made of synthetic (petroleum-based) fabric. Some, however, are made from recycled materials. Just like any change of habit, using reusable shopping bags takes a little getting used to. If you do use plastic or paper bags, be sure to take advantage of recycling opportunities that are available!

Turn your Blue into Green!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! On this, the "greenest" of days, I thought I'd share a link to a great project being run by National Geographic Kids (TM). Right now, you can donate your old blue jeans and help set a Guinness World Record (TM)! I bet you've got old jeans stuffed somewhere in your closet, basement or dresser drawer that you haven't worn in ages. Now, you can box them up and get them turned into recycled denim insulation! It takes about 500 pairs of jeans to make enough insulation for a typical family home. This project is specifically geared to insulate homes that are built in places that have been hit by tornadoes, hurricanes and other natural disasters. Get your kids involved and instead of tossing your old jeans in the trash, donate them today and turn your Blue into Green!