Living Green 365 Newsletter

February 2007: Prolonging the Magic

Happy February! Only a month into 2007 and it's clear that living green is on a lot of people's minds. We're excited to add our ideas to the mix and we can't wait to hear what you have to say!

Valentine's Day ideas for the green at heart: Show the earth some love, too

Showing someone you care doesn't have to mean buying a bunch of junk. Take the time to choose gifts that are good for the heart AND the earth!

• Print out Gift of Time cards from the Center for a New American Dream.
• Donate money in the name of a loved one to a charity or cause you care about.
• Cook your sweetie's favorite meal, using food grown in Minnesota.
• Recycle! Turn someone else's "trash" into your treasure.

Still want to stay with tradition? Choose the greenest options you can find.

• Bite into a piece of sustainable chocolate or pour a glass of organic wine.
• Instead of giving just one bouquet of flowers, give the apple of your eye a whole conservatory full of flowers.
• Cherish the very air he/she breathes—skip the wood-burning fireplace.

A few more ideas for Valentine's Day treats from Living Green Expo exhibitors.

• France 44 Wines and Spirits highlights "eco-wines."
• Look for chocolate and other sweets at Lunds and Byerly's, Whole Foods, and Twin Cities Natural Food Co-ops

And remember: it's the thought that counts!

Every drop counts: Water conservation tips

• Fix that leak. If your faucet is dripping at the rate of one drop per second, you can expect to waste 2,700 gallons per year, which will add to the cost of water and sewer utilities, or strain your septic system.
• Consider switching to an ultra-low flow toilet, which use only 1.6 gallons of water per flush, reducing indoor water use by as much as 20%. Older toilets use 3.5 to 7 gallons per flush.

Are you ready to reduce water use in your home? Here are some more ideas to get you started.

• Check out h2ouse.net, where you can take the Water Saver Home Tour and use the Water Budget Calculator.
• Metropolitan Council offers lots of water conservation tips, from checking for leaks to installing low-flow devices.

Speak your green mind: Planning your garden

Are the seed and bulb catalogs piling up on your kitchen table? Do your gardening gloves call to you from a lonely corner of the garage? Now is a great time to start planning your garden!

Share your spring plans for a rain garden or native plantings, how you plan on taking out turf grass, and other tips to green up a yard or garden. We'll feature some of your ideas in the March newsletter.

Send your ideas to livinggreen365@pca.state.mn.us

Days of our green lives: Community events and resources

• Catch a flick or two at the "See the Light!" Energy Film Festival on February 17th, sponsored by North Star Sierra Club and the Minneapolis College of Art & Design.
• Combine your love for the outdoors with your artistic interests. Check out Project Art for Nature: Presence, Essence, Absence, a special exhibit opening February 10th at the Bell Museum of Natural History.
• Learn more about how to keep your home and community healthier and greener, at Southwest Minneapolis Community Education's Waste Reduction & Environmental Workshops.
• Reduce waste in your community! Encourage a nonprofit organization to apply for a Community POWER grant.
• Help celebrate the expansion of HOURCAR into the North Loop neighborhood of Minneapolis. New members will be entered into a drawing for fun prizes. Find out what car-sharing is all about!

Missed an issue? Read past newsletters in our online archive.

livinggreen365@pca.state.mn.us