Earth Week Tip #3: Get Out!

Pay attention to your vistas.

How does going outside help with being green? Well, there are a few, but don't think of it as just being green (or "blue" as I like to call it), think of it as a key to better overall health and yet ANOTHER money saving tip!

People who go out in nature have the tendency to have a better appreciation for the natural world. Not only that, but there is strong evidence that people who have more green spaces around (i.e. parks and gardens) have better cognitive functions, less anxiety, lower blood pressure, can stabalize blood sugar better, and have better immune system functionality.

You may see critters!

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Earth Week Tip #2: Gas Reduction



From Jcarlosn's photostream on Flickr.



Now it doesn't seem to make much sense that thinking of gas would be on a tip list. Remember, this is about ways you can take little steps. Maybe little steps will lead to bigger steps, but for now, leave the tree-hugging to us and enjoy the fuzzy feelings with the easy stuff. Besides, if you get better gas mileage, you use less fuel. Less fuel = less pollution AND a little spare change in your pocketbook.

With gas prices what they are ($4.49 per gallon here is what I paid yesterday), every little bit helps. Besides... lowering our reliance on oil is a good thing, too. We are approaching the anniversary of the BP thing.

I did write an article about the Science Behind Saving Gas for 5 Minutes for Going Green and with the exception of the gas price ratio, all the tips still work:

•        Drive SLOWER
•        Keep tires properly inflated
•        Clean out your car
•        Change your air filter

You can find more helpful tips at FuelEconomy.gov or read the article at the link above!

Keep reading for more tips!

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Earth Week Tip #1: Tap Water

Refreshing!

Going out to eat? Drinking still water? Unless you are getting fancy mineral water, or sparking water, or something really specific, just get tap. Odds are, the bottles of cheapy water usually served are municipal water anyway.

Plastic bottles have a heavy toll on the environment. According to treehugger, 1.5 million barrels of oil are consumed each year in the US just for the production of these bottles. That's a years worth of fuel for 100,000 cars. Since 90% of bottles are NOT recycled, the little bottles end up in land fills where it takes up space as they hardly decompose at any sort of sustainable rate.

If you are unsure about tap water in your area, go to EPA.gov to find out about municipal water quality.

If the average US citizen consumes 22 gallons worth of bottled water a year, think how many bottles you'll save just by going tap! Think about how much money you'll save, too!

Bottles of water are about 16.9 ounces. At 22 gallons per year on average, that's 167 bottles per person a year. On the low end (i.e. Assuming you only buy cheap bottled water with occasional splurges at bars and restaurants), if the average bottle cost is about $1.50, you're spending $250.50 a year.

So, tip #1: easy, not a drastic lifestyle change, and cheap!

Stay tuned for more tips!
Keep Rockin', Love, Mimi

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Earth Week!

Baobab, Adansonia sp.

We here at Potspoon! get a little excited about things like Earth Day. It's the little things. So to celebrate, we are posting tips all week long on easy ways you can go blue (or green, even though Earth is predominately water). We are turning it into Earth WEEK! The tips will all be way that you can go evironmentally concious without a drastic lifestyle change or without breaking the bank.. Feel free to post your simple tips on the wall of our Facebook page or Tweet them to us @Potspooners. For right now, some pictures of the amazing species that live on Earth, via Wikimedia Commons.

Rose-tip anemone Condylactis gigantea

Caracal Caracal caracal

Platypus Ornithorhynchus anatinus



Emperor shrimp Periclimenes imperator



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Local Science

Here in the VI, science based articles seem to be in the news a lot lately. It makes me feel especially nice as a lot of them are (while technically political news) pertaining to the environment.

• The first one I want to talk about is the fact that our current governor is trying to tackle the problem of fossil fuel usage in the VI. As laughable as it may seem, we still burn oil for electricity here. The governor laid out a plan that has the VI reducing usage and using different sources of energy within the next 14 years. While to some of my readers, this may seem like a long time, most of you know that this doesn't seem like enough at all in the Virgin Islands. Some of the renewable energy sources he mentions include solar, waste-to-energy, wind, and landfill gas. 
• Some of the members of the 29th legislature of the Virgin Islands are stalling a measure that would make an Emission Control Area around the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The people stalling are claiming that they knew nothing of this proposal and haven't carefully thought out how it could affect tourism to the VI. Again, this is about their bottom line, and forget the health and safety of the islanders. They have had sufficient time to consider this. I wonder why they are stalling....
• The Caribbean Fishery Management council approved cuts in the amount of parrotfish local fishermen are allowed to take from federal waters. The measure came after preliminary biological opinion showed that parrotfish are vital to a healthy reef ecosystem.
• One of the local hospitals had an open forum and the CEO heard quite the community outcry on how the facility handles dialysis and mental healthcare. Not only does the facility not have any staff psychiatrists, but many of their patients cannot even get dialysis there and have to move to private facilities. The mental healthcare on these islands is deplorable at best. This is something that is near and dear to me and I hate the struggle. It's sad, really.

In the very least, well, for the moment... The VI seems to be incorporating more science related things! Woohoo!

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New Ways to View Potspoon!

Blogger has some new view options so you can see your favorite blogs (like Potspoon! or Roogoodoo) In views you want. All you have to do is add /view to the end of the blog address and play around. Maybe you'll find an article you missed or even forgot about that was an old favorite, like the one I did about "Sexless Insects" I stumbled across.. Happy playing!

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