Two Events Triangle Residents Won't Want to Miss

This post is for my Triangle readers.

Many of you know that I'm involved with several groups that are working to build up and establish community gardens in the area: the Raleigh Community Gardeners, Triangle Area Homesteaders, and the Advocates for Health in Action.

I'm pleased to tell you that there's a lot going on with community gardens in Raleigh, and specifically, there are two big events coming up that you need to know about.

EVENT #1: Kick-off Event for Alliance Medical Community Garden Featuring Will Allen

• When: April 6 from 6-8pm
• Where: Alliance Medical Ministry
  
• What: Kick-off the planned community garden at Alliance Medical Ministries and meet Will Allen. Inter-Faith Food Shuttle’s Catering With A Cause will provide food for the reception.
  
• Contact: RSVP to cece@foodshuttle.org or call 919-250-0043

I'm going to be out of town for this event and am so completely bummed. Will Allen is the founder of Growing Power, Inc., and one of my food heroes. We're very lucky to have him come back to Raleigh.


EVENT #2: Dig In!

• When: April 17 from 9 am -12:30 pm
• Where: Marbles Children's Museum
  
• What: Learn about the benefits of starting a community garden, attend presentations describing how how to start, maintain, and manage a garden, browse booths with info about gardening, and meet fellow Wake County residents interested in gardening.
• Contact: Register to attend DIG IN here!

I've been involved with planning this event and am super excited about it. It's on the morning of Raleigh's Planet Earth Celebration, so you'll be downtown that day anyway, right? Might as well come learn how to start a garden in your neighborhood.

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Introducing The Sustainable Triangle

I've finally got my new big project up and running!




The Sustainable Triangle is a collaborative website by several Triangle area residents. We write about a variety of sustainability topics including the following:

• transportation
• water issues
• supporting local agriculture
• supporting local restaurants and shops
• energy efficient building
• gardening (backyard and community)
• healthy and seasonal cooking
• enjoying nature
• environmental organizations
• recycling
• raising eco-friendly kids

Our goal is to create a central place on the web where people in the Triangle can find information about going green and getting involved in making the Triangle a more eco-friendly place to live.

I need your help to make the Sustainable Triangle the great resource I know it can become!

• Let your friends and family in the Triangle area know about this new website about going green and living sustainably.

• If you have a blog and live in the Triangle, post about it on your blog.

• Send out a message to your friends on Facebook and Twitter.

• Contact me if you know about a sustainability-related event in the Triangle area.

• Contact me if you're interested in writing at The Sustainable Triangle.

• Let me know if you have suggestions for ways to improve the site.
  

I'm really excited about The Sustainable Triangle and hope you'll take a few minutes to check it out!

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Spotlight on Raleigh: The R-Line

Those of you who hang on my every word and read all my posts both here and at The Green Phone Booth (Hi, Mom!) know that I've been obsessing about my car problem - my gas guzzling minivan. It would be a really stupid financial move for us to trade in our car right now, so I've been trying to find ways to drive less or to avoid driving at all. The R-Line is one solution that I've come up with.

The R-Line is Raleigh's downtown circulator bus service. It runs from Wilmington, up to Peace Street, over to Glenwood South, down to South St (in front of the Performing Arts Center), and back to Wilmington - basically a great big loop around the downtown area. (See map.)

We live just a few blocks from Wilmington, so its incredibly accessible to our house. And best of all, the R-Line is always 100% completely FREE!

I know most residents of Wake County, being the sprawling suburban paradise that it is, don't live within walking distance of the R-Line, but if you ever head downtown, consider parking your car and taking advantage of this great service rather than driving from point to point.

Here are some of the attractions you can get to using the R-Line:

:: Seaboard Station (including ACE Hardware, Logan Garden Center, and several restaurants)
:: Moore Square (including Marbles Kids Museum and numerous restaurants and art galleries)
:: Glenwood South (including numerous restaurants and shops)
:: Warehouse District (including The Pit and Goodwill)
:: Snoopy's on Hillsborough Street
:: North Carolina Museum of History
:: North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
:: Raleigh City Museum
:: State Capital Building
:: Performing Arts Center
:: Conference Center
:: Wake County Courthouse
:: a couple of post offices

From Glenwood South, it's an easy less-than-a-mile walk to Cameron Village, where you can find:

:: clothing and shoe stores
:: restaurants
:: grocery stores (Fresh Market and Harris Teeter)
:: salons and a barber shop
:: Rite Aid
:: jewelry and gift shops
:: Blockbuster
:: UPS Store
:: a drycleaner
:: a library
:: an eye care store
:: a cell phone store
:: a toy store
:: a sporting goods store
:: home decor shops (including Ten Thousand Villages)

It's also about a mile from R-Line stops on Glenwood Ave to both Pullen Park and Fred Fletcher Park.

My son's school is also 3/4 of a mile south of one of the R-Line stops, and I'm also looking into finding doctors and dentists closer to my house so we can walk there for well check-ups and regular cleanings. (Obviously if we're sick or drugged up, we wouldn't walk.) Now if only I could convince more of my friends to move downtown....

Have you tried the R-Line? What did you think?


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Faux Camping Trip at Jordan Lake

We had planned to go camping for Labor Day Weekend, but the threat of rain changed our minds. We've done that before, and camping in the rain with small kids is a surefire way to have a terrible weekend.

So instead we decided to take a faux camping trip: All of the fun of camping without the actual camping. We spent Labor Day at Jordan Lake, did a little hiking, roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, hopped back in the car before the rain started, and slept cozily in our own beds. Perfect...

The temperature was in the low 70s, so we planned to look at the lake but not swim. Try explaining that to a five- and four-year-old. "But other people are swimming!" After maybe five minutes of "wading", all three of them were soaked through.

Right after I snapped this photo, Third Son went charging after his brothers and wound up face first in the lake. A short break on the beach, and he ran right back into the lake. Oh, to have a child's resilience!

The boys exchanged their wet shirts for sweaters and jackets, and we set off in search of a hiking trail. "Is this one?" First Son asks. I know there are hiking trails somewhere around Jordan Lake, but we never found one. Instead we took a short walk along the edge of the wood and then returned to the beach for dinner.

We were hoping there would be fire pits for our faux camping experience, but we only found the typical park grills. No problem. My husband was a Boy Scout and can get a fire going anywhere. And the boys were not picky as long as we got to have S'mores.


Jordan Lake State Recreation Area is located in Apex, NC. At the lake, you can boat, camp, fish, hike, and swim.

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Nature Walk at North Hills Park

I try to help my city boys develop a love of nature by spending a lot of time outdoors. We go to the playground, walk on the greenways, feed the ducks, throw rocks in the lake, and inspect the bugs and plants. I'm proud that my boys can tell the difference between a deciduous tree and a conifer and can identify many types of trees and flowers.

Here are some highlights from our walk this morning at North Hills Park:

The greenway at the park spirals down a great big hill. My boys took off on the path so quickly I could barely keep up.

After a few minutes, they decided to offroad it.

They found an uprooted tree and played "King of the Hill" on its roots.

Back on the path, Third Son stopped to inspect some rocks.

First Son showed off his strength by hoisting a fallen branch into the air (and then carrying it up the path for awhile).

Time for the hike back up the hill. Third Son worked hard to keep up with his brothers.

Look at those chubby little legs!

Back at the playground, Second Son wrestled with one of the diggers. Those things take some coordination!

North Hills Park is located at 100 Chowan Circle in Raleigh. It includes a playground, a tennis court, a baseball field, restrooms, and access to one of Raleigh's great greenways.

Have you taken any good nature walks lately?


*Long time readers of this blog may have noticed that this is the first time I've ever posted pictures of my kids. I also included a picture of my oldest on my last post at the Green Phone Booth. Why this sudden change?

I've been debating for awhile about whether or not I should include more pictures of my personal life. On the one hand, I think it makes the blog more enjoyable to read. On the other hand, I worry about my children's safety. I almost went the whole nine yards and called them by name, but at the last minute, I chickened out. Note also that none of these pictures give a good view of their faces.

Lots of other bloggers post pictures of their children online without a thought, and my husband insists that I'm being overly cautious. Am I just paranoid? And if I post pictures of them, is it silly to still keep their names a secret? What do you all think?


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Profiles of the Green and Frugal: Megalos Gardens

A year before we moved to the Triangle, we drove down to see how we would like it. When we got home, friends asked what we thought, and the best thing I could think to say was, "There are a lot of trees."

I've lived on the eastern side of the Mississippi most of my life. I'm used to trees, and if I ever had to move West, it's one of the the things I would miss the most. But I've never seen a city with so many trees - and I'm not talking Bradford Pears. These are grand old oaks, pines, and maples growing densely together as if the houses sprouted up in the middle of the woods, rather than the trees growing up around the houses. Standing in my husband's office in one of the skyscrapers in downtown Raleigh, I look out and see a great sea of green - instead of the usual urban expanse of concrete and pavement.

The trees are one of the aspects of this area that I love the most. They are beautiful but also valuable for their shade and carbon storage. But there is a downside to having so many trees - you can't have a garden without lots of sun.


One Cary resident has found a unique solution to the problem of a shady yard. Betsy Megalos has been gardening her whole life, receiving a BS in Horticulture from Pennsylvania State University and an MS in Horticultural Science from NC State. But when she and her husband bought a house in Cary over 15 years ago, they found that their backyard was too shady for a garden. So they looked to the front yard.


Over the years, Betsy removed a few trees in her front yard, creating an open sunny place for vegetables and herbs. She also added several terraced levels since her house is situated at the top of a small hill. She has tried to keep the costs of her large garden to a minimum by using recycled or borrowed materials, such as bamboo from a friend's yard to create a trellis for beans and squash.

Betsy suggests that beginning gardeners start with an herb or container garden, which can be situated close to the house. She explains that herbs are generally hardier and therefore easier for inexperienced gardeners to grow.

Betsy has also put in a children's garden with her next-door neighbor. She loves to plant sunflowers in gardens for children, although she says that she has had a problem this year with the squirrels making off with the sunflowers. "One of the problems of gardening in the suburbs," she says. "There aren't any predators to keep the squirrels in line."



Although Betsy tries to use organic methods in her garden, she focuses more on sustainable gardening and building a balance in the natural wildlife. She explains, "Some 'organic' methods that can kill your pests also end up killing your beneficial insects." Betsy mixes flowers with her vegetables, both for aesthetics and also to encourage pollination. She also loves to see lizards lurking in her terrace walls.


Betsy teaches horticulture at Wake Tech Community College but is also available for workshops and private instruction at her home. You can learn more about Betsy and her classes by visiting her website.


Related Posts:

• Spotlight on Raleigh: More (Summer) Fun, Less Stuff
• Spotlight on Raleigh: Community Gardens, Just Getting Started
• Spotlight on Raleigh: Finding Local Foods in the Triangle
  

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Spotlight on Raleigh: Recycling Facilities

My husband and I have moved five times in the seven years of our marriage. Usually, there comes a point in the moving process where I shout, "To heck with this!" and start throwing away anything in sight. This time, though, I am happy to say that I resisted temptation and did my best to dispose of things responsibly.

And that gave me a chance to get to know two of Raleigh's recycling drop off locations:


Swap Shop

Location: 900 N. New Hope Road in Raleigh

Description: The Swap Shop is located at the Yard Waste Center. It's a couple of shacks off to the side where you can drop off working, usable goods and take anything that was left there by someone else. Everything is free. Visit the City of Raleigh's website to find out what's acceptable to leave at the Swap Shop.

My Experience: I found some great treasures at the Swap Shop: an old but functioning camera that I gave to my delighted First Son and a couple sets of headphones, also donated to the boys. I left behind some mismatched dishes sets and some baby clothes, and I hope they've found a good home.

The only disadvantage of the Swap Shop is that it's kind of out of the way for most Raleigh residents. But if you check in anytime you have to take a load out to the yard waste center, you could get some awesome finds.


Multi Material Recycling Facilities

Locations: 9029 Deponie Drive in Raleigh and 6130 Old Smithfield Road in Apex

Description: These are the places to take any recyclable materials that aren't accepted in your green bin. In fact, you might be surprised at all the things that can be taken to the multi material recycling facilities. It's really awesome, so I hope they're recycling responsibly.

My Experience: I visited the North Wake Multi-Material Recycling Facility since it was the closest to me. It was a little confusing to figure out where to put things, but the workers were friendly and helpful. I left a broken CD player, a broken box fan, and a few other broken items that I can't remember now. Third Son went on a destruction spree right before we moved. :(


If you hadn't heard of these facilities before, I hope you'll take advantage of them in the future!

Photo from the City of Raleigh's webpage


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Profiles of the Green and Frugal: Advocates for Health in Action

They call themselves AHA, as if they're saying, "Aha, I've got it!" And what they've got is certainly important - an organization that encourages Wake County to eat healthier and increase physical activity.

Since its inception in 2007 by WakeMed and the John Rex Endowment, thirty-five organizations in the area have gotten involved in the Advocates for Health in Action, including Alliance Medical Ministry, City of Raleigh Planning Department, the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, Marbles Kids Museum, and Wake County Public Schools.

Says Laura Aiken, the organization's director, "We saw a need for our community to have an organized and unified response to the policy and environmental issues that negatively impact the ability to eat healthy and be physically active."

What Do They Do?

AHA has focused their efforts on the following four categories: community gardens; access and environment; engagement and inclusion; and public relations and communications.

According to Aiken, the organization is taking action in these categories through the following goals:

• "Increase the number of informed, engaged and involved public that support healthy eating and physical activity.

• "Increase visibility of community assets – showcase and celebrate existing people, places and programs that increase access to healthful foods and physical activity opportunities.

• "Identify and recommend locally supported approaches to increasing the number of families that eat healthy and get recommended amounts of physical activity.

• "Identify and recommend community improvements that will enable equal access (affordable and available) to healthy foods and physical activity environments (parks, playgrounds, trails, greenways).

• "Maintain and increase the number of organizations actively participating in AHA work groups.

• "Increase the number of community leaders that champion healthy eating and physical activity as a way of life and actively support policies that make these options more available within Wake County.

• "Establish a youth advisory council and advocacy group – Youth Advocates for Health in Action (YAHA).

• "Work with youth serving organizations to shape policy that creates a healthy food and physical activity environment."

What Have They Done?

You might be familiar with one of AHA's initiatives through Marbles Kids Museum: the Power2Play exhibit, where kids can swim in peas and carrots, play hockey in their socks, and climb a rock wall.

One of AHA's best resources is the community gardens page of their website, which includes information on area gardens, farmer's markets, pick-your-own farms, and CSAs. The organization is also putting together a map "with all healthy food and physical activity resources highlighted for advocacy and community use," according to Aiken.

AHA has also organized interactive workshops with area PTAs called "Brains and Bodies: How the community can influence the health and academic success of children." Attendees of these workshops disccuss methods for reducing childhood obesity and encorporating health and physical activity into Wake County schools.

In addition, Aiken states that "work has initiated to increase access to affordable local, fresh foods to citizens of Wake County," "to promote ideas and provide resources for children to walk to school safely," and "to facilitate the conversion of unused land to community gardens."

How Do I Get Involved?

Anyone can get involved with the Advocates for Health in Action through the contact page of their website. You can also use the contact page to sign up for the ListServ.

Read more...

Spotlight on Raleigh: Children's Consignment Stores

After my post about thrift stores in Raleigh, a friend directed me to two children's consignment stores in the area: The Children's Orchard and Kid to Kid. I was pleased to find a good selection of quality used clothing at both of these stores, particularly much more choice in the shoe department.

Like thrift stores, consignment stores sell used goods such as clothing, furniture, home decor, toys, music, videos, musical instruments, and much more. However, consignment stores differ from thrift stores in several ways:

Consignment stores sell used items for profit rather than for charity. When a person places a used item with a consignment shop, he retains ownership of that item until it sells. At that point, both the store and the original owner of the item earn a portion of the proceeds from the sale.

Consignment stores tend to be considerably more expensive than thrift stores. At both The Children's Orchard and Kid 2 Kid, the clothing prices range from about $3 (for t-shirts and shorts) to $15 (for suits and fancy dresses). These are about the same prices that I was paying when I bought most of my kid's clothes new and on sale at Target, JC Penny, or The Children's Place Outlet. But consignment stores also have end-of-season sales, so if you can plan ahead for the next year, you can find some pretty rockin' deals.

Consignment stores have consistently higher quality items than thrift stores. Thrift store shopping is like being on a treasure hunt - if you keep looking and looking, eventually you'll find good quality, stylish clothing hidden amidst all the junk. But shopping at a consignment store is more like doing your regular clothing shopping - you can hit a couple of stores on a weekend and have an entire wardrobe assembled. For someone like me, who's not the biggest fan of thrift store shopping (or shopping in general), that factor can make used clothing shopping seem much more appealing.

As a final point of interest, I should mention that both of these consignment stores are chain franchises. Franchises provide a way for someone to start their own business with less risk by using a business model that someone else has already used successfully. But franchises also contribute to the monoculture of American stores and don't support the local economy as fully as a truly locally-owned consignment store would. Currently, this is a minor point for me, but depending on your values, it may be worth it to you to seek out some other consignment stores in the area.

Because of all of these factors, I'm still leaning toward thrift stores as my primary source of children's clothing, using consignment stores to fill in the gaps with hard-to-find used items like shoes and jeans that aren't butt ugly. And my kids are pretty psyched about the better toy selection.

Do you have a favorite consignment shop?

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Spotlight on Raleigh: Smart Commute Challenge

If you're looking to reduce your carbon footprint, or just save money on transportation, here's a challenge from GoTriangle to get you started:

The SmartCommute Challenge is an annual non-profit public service campaign that works to reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality in the Triangle.

From April 15 through May 30, any employee or college student who commutes to work or campus in Wake, Durham, or Orange County can participate. To enter the Challenge, make your online pledge that at least once before May 30 you will carpool, vanpool, bike or walk, ride the bus, or telework (work from home).

Everyone who takes the Challenge will be entered into a drawing to win one of several PRIZES, including $2,500 cash!

That's the easiest challenge ever! You only have to be a Smart Commuter one time before May 30th to be eligible for prizes. What could be easier than that?

Will your one smart commute make a difference? Well, the Smart Commute Challenge website asserts that "last year, during the Challenge, the more than 12,000 Triangle drivers who took the Challenge saved over 1.7 million pounds of CO2. That’s the annual carbon footprint of 43 Americans, or about 4 softball teams!"

So take a few minutes and sign up...You won't lose anything, and you might gain $2,500!


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Spotlight on Raleigh: Finding Local Foods in the Triangle

I recently discovered in a round about way that my friend Aimee is a wealth of knowledge about finding local foods in the Triangle. We were discussing coupons (she's also an expert coupon clipper), and she mentioned that she wasn't buying meat from the grocery store because her family bought a share of a cow last year.

"That's awesome! Where did you find that?" I asked because even though I'm a vegetarian, I have a family who enjoys meat on occasion.

She directed me to the website eatwild.com, where you can search a directory for local pasture-raised beef, pork, poultry, and more. Then, a few days later, she emailed me a detailed list of pastured beef farmers in the area. A few days after that, I saw her at the farmer's market, and a few days after that, she emailed the women at my church about a local source for wheat.

By this time, I was intrigued, so I asked her if she would email me everything she knows. Here's her wonderfully detailed reply:

Erin, I am really new to local eating. I am usually all about convenience. Sometimes eating local is convenient, but sometimes it is not. I really started researching local options for adding to my food storage because it is so expensive to order from food storage places out west. I really didn't want to pay shipping costs on a year supply of food. What I have found in the process of trying to save on shipping, are some really high quality, natural products that taste better than anything else I have tried.

I am concerned about the junk in mass produced meat, as well as the poor quality and taste. That, and the desire to store three months worth of food, led me on the quest to find local, healthy beef. Having visited China and seen first hand the way food is handled, I became very concerned after reading articles about fish and shrimp being imported from China. I thought I was buying local fish for freshness, but I have made double sure by checking with my favorite fish market.

Even though I have seen some benefits to local eating, I have not changed my whole way of life to eat local. I slowly continue to find products that I like, that are not too expensive, and as local as possible. I will not pay more just to eat local, unless the product is outstanding. I also weigh convenience heavily. I cannot drive from Fuquay to the Farmers Market every week, but I do a few times a year. I can drive to Yanceyville once a year to buy beef and stock my freezer.

I found the wheat by accident because I had investigated where to buy local meat in bulk and happened to get an email from the farmer saying he was growing wheat.

This is the website where I found a list of NC grassfed beef farmers. http://www.eatwild.com/products/nocarolina.html

I have tried beef from Baucom's Best (very good but more expensive and a long waiting list), Baldwin's Beef (very good - this is the beef we purchased), Hogan's Beef (the Chapel Hill farmer with wheat) [www.hogansbeef.com], and one more that is just over the border in VA - can't remember the name because we didn't like the meat. :)

Besides beef and wheat, the only other thing that I consistently buy local is grits and some other products from a mill in Greensboro. Not sure if that is local enough for you. :) Here is the link to that mill. http://www.oldmillofguilford.com/ They have the BEST grits I have ever tried. I have converted grits haters to grits lovers with these grits. :) The mill processes the grains as you order them, so the products are fresh and so they don't have to be treated with pesticides to keep the critters out of stored grains. I also love their sweet potato muffin mix.

I think I mentioned seafood and did not include info. I buy fresh shrimp in bulk the day it is caught from some guys we found on Craig's list. They drive to the coast, fish all night, and drive back to Raleigh with their catch several times during the shrimp season. It is FRESH, and cheaper than any store. I buy 50 lbs or more at a time and freeze it. I buy other kinds of fish only from Earp's Seafood on 401 (South Saunders St.) in Raleigh. If their fish is not caught in NC, is at least caught on the east coast.

One other resource I have not used successfully yet, is a locavore website you can use to find products in your area. The link is http://www.carolinafarmstewards.org/

What I love about this email is Aimee's attitude about eating local. She recognizes many benefits of local foods, but she's also rational about fitting it into her lifestyle. And she chooses to eat local foods when they are delicious and affordable, rather than choosing certain foods just for the sake of eating local. I think her attitude is worth emulating and I'm very grateful for her help and information.

If you live in the Triangle area and know any great sources for local foods, add them to the comments. Aimee would appreciate some good local sources for poultry!

Read more...

Profiles of the Green and Frugal: PaperBackSwap

Have you ever joined one of those clubs that try to tempt you into buying a "featured" book every month? In my experience, pretty expensive and pretty wasteful.

Instead, consider a club that lets you give new life to your old books, connects you with free used books, and is pretty eco-friendly to boot.

That club is PaperBackSwap, and I recently sat down with Raleigh resident Deborah Cornett, who does feedback and marketing for PaperBackSwap, to learn more about how it works.

How to Swap

1. Register an account at PaperBackSwap.
2. Post the books you want to give away. When you've posted 10 books, you will receive 2 free credits that you can use to request books from other members.
3. Browse the books on the website, find a book you want, and click "Order this book." Each book costs 1 credit.
   
4. Another member will mail you the book. They pay shipping; you pay nothing.
5. When someone requests one of your books, use the site to print out a "mailer" on two sheets of paper. This includes the requester's address and postage, which you can pay for on the site.
   
6. Wrap the book in the mailer and pop it in the mail via USPS media mail.
7. When the person gets your book, you will receive 1 credit to use toward your next book.

The Budget-Conscious will want to keep in mind...

• Any book you receive is yours for as long as you want it. There are no late fees, and you can even keep the book if you want.

• If you want to get books, you have to give away books, and each time you mail a book to someone else, you need to pay shipping. According to Cornett, mailing a book using media mail costs $2-$3, depending on the weight of the book.

• If you want more books than you're giving away, you can purchase credits through the site's kiosk. These cost $3.45 per credit (still much cheaper than buying a new book).

• If you're watching your wallet, remember that the library is free. But Cornett believes that PaperBackSwap is a better bet when you're looking for a book that is popular. She related that she wanted to read Twilight but didn't want to buy it, so she tried requesting it from the library. "I was 200-something on the list," she said, "So I added it to my wishlist [on PaperBackSwap], and I got it in two weeks."

The Eco-Conscious will want to keep in mind...

This is a great way to purge your bookshelves of all those books you've picked up over the years but didn't want to add to a landfill. Books with full-color pictures such as cookbooks, textbooks, and travel guides would be especially great to pass on - they often aren't accepted by recycling facilities because they're more difficult to recycle. Plus, Cornett points out that cookbooks are the type of book you would want to keep for a long time - generally longer than a library allows.

Because PaperBackSwap is not a "green" company per se, make sure you keep your experience eco-friendly by:

• Using the mailer option provided by the website, rather than using a bubble mailer.
• Printing the mailer on paper that has already been printed on one side or paper with recycled content.
• Using the postage option on the website and mailing the book from home, rather than driving to the post office.
  
• Mailing your books via USPS media mail, which is sent by ground and comes to your house anyway.

If You're Hooked...You might want to consider PaperBackSwap's partner sites, SwapaCD and SwapaDVD.


More about Deborah Cornett

Besides providing member support and feedback, Cornett's duties at PaperBackSwap include promoting their unique fundraiser program. Organizations have the opportunity to raise money for their group by referring people to PaperBackSwap. If you would like more information about this program, email me at ena [dot] peters [at] gmail [dot] com, and I will put you in touch with Cornett.

In addition to her job at PaperBackSwap, Cornett also owns a small landscape gardening business, although she's currently focusing only on work for friends and neighbors. She tries to keep her yard green and eco-friendly by using the following methods:

• After mowing, it's best to "leave the grass trimmings on the grass."
  
• Share a lawnmower with a friend, or use a reel mower.
• Compost.
  
• "Weedeaters are awesome if you know how to use them...They're actually really good for weed control for your lawn. If you have a huge patch of weeds, you can just chop with your weedeater into the dirt and get all the way down to the base, and then encourage the other grass to grow, versus trying to use chemicals."
  

This post is part of a new series highlighting green and frugal businesses and people, especially in the Raleigh area. If you work in the green industry or know someone who does, let me know in the comments so I can consider you for future posts.

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Spotlight on Raleigh: Community Gardens, Just Getting Started

My mom loves to get her hands in the dirt. Until I was a teenager, she always kept a big backyard garden, from which we preserved jars and jars of fruits and vegetables for year-round consumption. I have bountiful memories of hoeing and planting and weeding. Tomatoes straight off the vine, peas fresh from the pod, and bright cheery sunflowers watching over it all.

When I was in college and people would ask how my boring summer job at a factory was going, I would reply, "It's kind of like snapping beans." If you've ever snapped beans, you know just what I mean...

Gardening is in my genes, so I've always intended to have a garden. But in my adult life, I have lived in one dorm, one house, one townhouse, and four apartments. Six out of seven of those have been rental properties, and only the house had a yard. I dream about the day when I'll have my very own yard, but I don't know how near in the future it's going to happen, and I'm tired of waiting.

Thus began my search for a community garden...

Unlike other points on the Triangle (which is really more of a deformed hexagon), Raleigh seems to be sadly lacking in the community garden category. Durham has Durham SEEDS. Carrboro has their Community Garden Coalition. Chapel Hill has the Northside Community Garden and the Carolina Garden Co-op. But not Raleigh...

Six Google searches over six months finally led me to the "Raleigh Community Gardens Meetup Group." So far, the group is still in an organizational stage, but I've been impressed at the quality and quantity of start-up gardens being planned in the area. There's buzz about various gardens in the planning phase all over Raleigh.

Through the meetup group, I also discovered an organization called Advocates for Health in Action, "a group of diverse organizations and community members who are shaping the environment throughout Wake County so healthful eating and physical activity are the way of life." They are developing a page on community gardens as part of their site that will include a map of all the community gardens, CSAs, farmer's markets, and pick-your-own farms in the area.

Stay tuned for more information about community gardens planned for the Raleigh area. In the meantime, if you're in the middle of starting up a community garden in Raleigh, be sure to join the meetup and send your needs to Katherine, who's compiling a list, or send the info to the Advocates for Health in Action to be included on their page.

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Spotlight on Raleigh: Cool Cities

It's probably been about a month now since I attended the Cool Cities Workshop that I mentioned as one of my goals in my January Round-Up. I always have lofty intentions for writing on this blog, and then other things end up taking priority (like spending time with my husband who turned 30 this weekend). So here is a better-late-than-never description of the Cool Cities program for all you Raleigh-ans out there. (Or really for anyone - it's a nationwide program.)

Cool Cities was started by the Sierra Club in 2005 in conjunction with the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement that was developed that same year. Communities who join the Cool Cities program commit to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions 7% from 1990 levels by 2012. So far, 20 North Carolina cities have joined the program, including Raleigh.

The idea behind the program is that local groups will work with their city government to establish an environmental advisory council and take actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including the steps I've listed at the bottom of this post (you can skim them -they're pretty wordy)

The meeting I attended focused on Action #5: Make energy efficiency a priority through building code improvements, retrofitting city facilities with energy efficient lighting, and urging employees to conserve energy and save money. I learned all sorts of fascinating and useful things (including the word "retrofit"). In fact, I learned so much that energy efficiency is going to have to be a topic for another post.

What I wanted to talk about here is how Raleigh's doing on the Cool Cities program, and how you can help.

Based on my general observations comparing Raleigh to Chapel Hill/Carrboro, I assumed that Raleigh was a pretty sucky member of Cool Cities. Turns out, Raleigh's not so bad, though there's much room for improvement.

The biggest action that Raleigh has taken is partnering with a company called Cree to switch as much of the city's lighting as possible to LEDs. According to Cree, "switching to LED-based lighting can save 40 to 70 percent of the electricity a city uses for certain lighting applications such as parking garage, parking lot, outdoor public area, street and portable lighting." When I first read that Raleigh was focusing their Cool Cities action on lighting, I thought, "Lighting, shmighting. Come on, Raleigh. You can do better than that." But actually, 22% of all energy in the U.S. goes toward lighting, so it's a big deal.

Raleigh's showiest example of LED lighting is the amazing Cree Shimmer Wall on the side of the Raleigh Convention Center. It is backlit by 56 LED fixtures.

Raleigh's 2030 Comprehesive Plan also includes a number of things in line with the Cool Cities program, including requiring all new buildings to be built to LEED standards and improving public transportation. The big thing is just making sure Raleigh sticks to the plan. If you're interested in helping Raleigh grow sustainably, you can:

• Sign the petition supporting improved transit in the Triangle.
• Join the Political Committee of the local Sierra Club to lobby area government officials on relevant issues.
• Join the Conservation Committee of the local Sierra Club to get involved in conservation activism.

You do not have to be a member of the Sierra Club to get involved in any of their committees.

And last of all, here are the actions included in the Cool Cities program:

1. Inventory global warming emissions in City operations and in the community, set reduction targets, and create an action plan.
2. Adopt and enforce land-use policies that reduce sprawl, preserve open space, and create compact, walkable urban communities.
3. Promote transportation options such as bicycle trails, commute trip reduction programs, incentives for car pooling, and public transit.
4. Increase the use of clean, alternative energy by, for example, investing in "green tags," advocating for the development of renewable enrgy resources, recovering landfill methane for energy production, and supporting the use of waste to energy technology.
5. Make energy efficiency a priority through building code improvements, retrofitting city facilities with energy efficient lighting, and urging employees to conserve energy and save money.
6. Purchase only Energy Star equipment and appliances for City use.
7. Increase the average fuel efficiency of municipal fleet vehicles; reduce the number of vehicles; launch an employee education program including the anti-idling messages; convert diesel vehicles to bio-diesel.
8. Evaluate opportunities to increase pump efficiency in water and wastewater systems; recover wastewater treatment methane for energy production.
9. Maintain healthy urban forests; promote tree planting to increase shading and to absorb CO2.
10. Help educate the public, schools, other jurisdictions, professional associations, business and industry about reducing global warming pollution.
    

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Spotlight on Raleigh: Thrift Stores

It's funny the things you end up missing about past places you've lived. Of course, I absolutely miss my old friends the most, but after that, the thing I miss most about Silver Spring, MD is the Unique Thrift Store and Value Village. It's two thrift stores housed in one building making it a gigantic Walmart-sized warehouse of every used item your heart could possibly desire.

Okay, maybe it's not quite that big. But I can say this...When I lived in Silver Spring, I broke the number one rule of thrift store shopping, which is "go often, weekly if possible." I made a trip out to the Unique Thrift Store and Value Village about once a month, and I was still always able to find exactly what I needed. Since we moved, we've been back up to Maryland three times, and I've made a point of popping into my favorite thrift store each trip. And I've found just what I wanted every time.

Now that I'm in Raleigh, I have to make more of an effort to thrift store shop. Luckily, I have four thrift stores within a five mile radius of my apartment, so I can make a quick stop at each one on my way home from running errands. I keep an ongoing mental list of things I need, and I can do a walk through of a thrift store looking for items on my list in five to fifteen minutes.

Goodwill

Location: 321 W Hargett Street

Revenue goes to..."education, training, and career services for people with disadvantages, such as welfare dependency, homelessness, and lack of education or work experience, as well as those with physical, mental and emotional disabilities."

My Humble Opinion: Of all the thrift stores near my apartment, this has the biggest and best clothing selection. The clothes are organized by color and style, making them easy to browse, and they have a nice selection of children's clothes. There's even a dressing room. I wish though that there was a bigger shoe selection and that the boys' and girls' clothes weren't all mixed together.


Cause for Paws
Location: 1634 S. Saunders St.

Revenue goes to..."Second Chance Pet Adoption, a non-profit animal rescue organization which has served homeless animals since 1989."

My Humble Opinion: This store has a rundown, dirty feel, the clothes are more dated than at Goodwill, and I hate how they have all the kids clothes thrown into one big bin, so you literally have to dig to find anything. On the other hand, they have a large selection of non-clothes items, including large pieces of furniture, appliances, TVs, dishes and other sundry kitchen items, decorative items, and toys. They also seem to be having a sale every time I drive past, and from what I've observed, their prices are cheaper than Goodwill and the Salvation Army.


Tryon Hills Thrift Store

Location: 329 Tryon Rd.

Revenue goes to..."the N.C. Children's Promise, the fundraising arm of North Carolina Children's Hospital."

My Humble Opinion: This store is small but nicely organized and has a variety of items, including a nice selection of kids clothes and shoes. Larger furniture pieces and bikes are in the back. They have periodic sales, and on those days, they get pretty crowded. And don't forget to leave your hangers on the rack! They announce that over the intercom about every fifteen minutes. :)


Salvation Army Family Store

Location: 205 Tryon Rd

Revenue goes to..."the many outreach programs managed by the Social Ministries department."

My Humble Opinion: This store has the smallest clothing department of all the thrift stores near my home, but the biggest selection of furniture, including couches, entertaiment centers, dressers, bedframes, etc. Like the Goodwill store, the items at this store seem to be in better condition than at the other two thrift stores. I found a like-new Pack N Play there a couple weeks ago. Score!


Shopping at thrift stores is a win, win, win activity. It's good for the environment because it keeps usable items out of landfills. It's good for the pocketbook for obvious reasons. And it's good for the community because revenues from thrift stores are used to help local charities. So get out there and discover your local thrift stores!

And if you live in Raleigh and know of a thrift store like the Unique Thrift Store and Value Village I discribed above, please please please let me know!

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Spotlight on Raleigh: A Morning in Carrboro

My interest in Carrboro was first peaked while reading Garbageland when the author mentioned several places that were working toward the goal of zero waste. She listed San Francisco, New Zealand, Australia, a few other countries in the Pacific, and Carrboro, NC.

Really? Carrboro? One of these things is not like the other...

Carrboro, NC has a population of only 16,000 people and is located on the far side of the Triangle, just west of Chapel Hill. Except for its close proximity to UNC-Chapel Hill, there doesn't seem to be anything special about it, and yet Carrboro has a reputation for being one of the most liberal cities in the South.

Besides its goal of zero waste, Carrboro gets environmental bonus points as the location of the first Weaver Street Market, a community owned grocery store that opened in Carrboro in 1988. Like the Weaver Street Market in Chapel Hill, it's a huge, thriving co-op that carries local and organic produce, all natural foods, and environmentally friendly cleaners. They also have a large deli and salad bar and a cafe that was hoppin' when I was there, even though it was only 10:00 in the morning.

Weaver Street Market is next door to the Carr Mill Mall, an old cotton mill that was converted into a shopping center. The mall is primarily filled with small, locally-owned businesses selling everything from toys to clothing to jewelry. It also includes Panzanella, a community owned Italian restaurant that is well-known for its bread, produced at the Weaver Street Market bakery.

Across the street from Weaver Street Market is the Maple View Farm ice cream parlor. I really wanted to try their ice cream since I buy Maple View Farm milk from the farmer's market, but they weren't opening until noon, and I didn't have an excuse to stick around in Carrboro that long. I guess I'll have to come up with a reason to make another trip back.

I was surprised at the number of bikers I saw in Carrboro, considering that it was the middle of winter. Maybe it's just the proximity to the University, but with lots of sidewalks and bike lanes, Carrboro seemed like a perfect place for pedestrians and bikers.

Although I wasn't able to visit it, Carrboro is also well known for its year round farmers market. The market has two rules: everything sold at the market must have been grown within a 50-mile radius, and vendors must represent their own products. At the market, you can find locally grown fruits, vegetables, flowers, cheeses, meats, soaps, and much much more.

I think Carrboro is a great example of what a small town can do toward building a strong local economy and environmentally conscious communtiy. Small towns of America, take note!

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Grocery Shopping Week 8: Weaver Street Market (Chapel Hill)

Weaver Street Market scores: As a food co-op, this store gets an A from both Better World Shopper and Co-op America's Responsible Shopper.

Distance from my apartment: 32.1 miles (42 minutes)

Obviously this store is too far away from my house to do my weekly shopping, but I've been hearing how great this place is ever since I moved to Raleigh, so I decided to check it out.

As a food co-op, this store is owned by the people that shop there, and the profits are put back into the community. If you have a food co-op in your area, it's the ideal place to grocery shop because it supports your local economy and you get a discount for shopping there if you have a membership, so it can be affordable as well. Plus, as a member, you usually get some say in the kinds of products they carry.

Weaver Street Market has a great produce section, including local and organic produce. I even found organic fair trade bananas, which I haven't seen anywhere else (not even Whole Foods). Their prices are reasonable, and they carry a large variety of organic and all natural food items. The store itself is pretty small, as grocery stores go, but it has a good open feel. The aisles are nice and wide, so I didn't feel like I had to worry about my kids knocking things off the shelves.

The absolute best part of this store is their candy aisle, where they have a huge variety of organic and fair trade chocolates. Even if you live in Raleigh like me, it would be worth the trip out to Weaver Street Market for Valentines Day or other special occasions.

Weaver Street Market has two locations: one in Chapel Hill and one in Carrboro. I visited the location in Chapel Hill but plan to make a trip out to the Carrboro location in a few weeks. Wish there was a Weaver Street Market in Raleigh! Anyone know how I can get a food co-op in my area?

The bill:

organic cheese (3 cups)
organic juice (1 big bottle)
organic butter
organic milk
organic applesauce
organic baby food
organic baby cereal
organic cereal
organic tortillas
organic yogurt
avocado
organic carrots
organic/fair trade bananas
mushrooms

Total = $67.73

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Grocery Shopping Week 7: Harmony Farms

Harmony Farms scores: Since this is another locally owned grocery store, it gets an A from both Better World Shopper and Co-Op America's Responsible Shopper.

Distance from my apartment: 10.1 mi (20 minutes)

This grocery shopping trip was a little different because I could tell as soon as I walked into the store that it wasn't a good place to do your weekly shopping with three kids in tow. The store is very small and cramped, and it has those miniature shopping carts that topple over if one of your kids hangs on the side of the cart (true story, and luckily Third Son was not sitting in the cart at the time). Also, my boys were being particularly awful that day, so a quick trip around the store was all I had time for.

On the other hand, Harmony Farms is a great place to shop if you live in the area and can pop in frequently to pick up a few things, or if you can do your shopping alone, or if you have freakily well-behaved children. The food selection there was small and a bit pricey, but if you're not picky about brands, you'd be able to find pretty much everything you need. Also, they have a huge section of all-natural health and beauty supplies, essential oils, and supplements.

I emailed Harmony Farms and asked them a few other questions. Here are their answers:

• Who owns Harmony Farms and why did he/she decide to open a natural foods store in Raleigh?
• Nancy and Steve Long purchased Harmony Farms roughly three years ago. The store itself has been open for almost thirty years. Nancy is a Naturopathic Doctor, and Steve a Reiki Master. They decided to purchase the store because of their passion and commitment to educating others about a natural lifestyle.
• What does your store specialize in? (ie, are you more of a health foods store or more like a small grocery store?)
• Our store specializes in ALL organic produce (which is as often as possible local), wheat and gluten free products, supplements, cruelty/chemical free cosmetics, and natural grocery items.
• Do you carry any local products?
• As often as possible, the produce is local. Also, we are the only local retailers carrying local organic beef.
  
• I am looking to decrease the amount of packaging I buy, and I noticed you have a very tiny bulk foods section. Could I bring in my own containers, or must I use the plastic bags?
  
• Yes, you are more than welcome to bring in any container of your choice to fill with our bulk products. We will simply weigh your container and subtract that weight from your total purchase.
  
• Have you considered expanding your bulk foods section?
• We would be more than happy to accommodate any sort of special request you have for bulk products. We specialize in customer driven and special orders at no extra cost to you. If we can find it, we can order it. Please let us know of any product we are lacking that you simply must have. (Note that their website states that they offer a discount if you order a case.)
  

I was impressed that they responded to my email, and in such a friendly and descriptive manner. Who at a big chain grocery store is going to do that? It's that nice touch of customer service that will bring me back to their store, but next time I'll go without my kids.

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Grocery Shopping Week 6: Harris Teeter

Distance from my apartment: 4.6 miles (10 minutes)

Harris Teeter is a regional supermarket with stores in eight Southern states. If you don't live in one of those states, think of the nicest supermarket in your area, and you'll be able to picture Harris Teeter. Their stores are organized and clean with a huge produce section and deli. And let me tell you, the produce there is soooo beautiful. This is the type of store that will make you want to eat your veggies.

Harris Teeter has a broad selection of organic and natural grocery items, ranging from organic bananas (not wrapped in plastic!) to local milk. Unlike Kroger, their organics are interspersed throughout the store, but they helpfully provide signs on all the shelves with organic items, and they even point out the local items. I was surprised to see a large amount of local produce, so if you don't live near a farmer's market but do live near a Harris Teeter, that might be an option for you.

My total bill at Harris Teeter was roughly the same as at Whole Foods, something I wasn't expecting. I've heard from many people around here that if you're big into coupon clipping, Harris Teeter is the place to shop (I personally have never been very good at the whole coupon thing) because they double and sometimes triple coupons. Also, Harris Teeter is more kid-friendly than Whole Foods. They have the big shopping carts shaped like race cars, and their aisles are easy to maneuver down (unlike at Whole Foods where my kids are not allowed to take their hands off the cart for fear they will knock something over).

As usual, no fair trade chocolate chips.

Here's my total bill:

organic tempeh
cheese (4 cups)
organic juice (2 cans)
organic butter
local milk
organic applesauce
organic baby food
organic baby cereal
cereal
tortillas
organic yogurt
organic avocado
organic carrots
organic bananas
mushrooms

Total = $59.19

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Grocery Shopping Week 5: Kroger

Kroger scores:
Co-op America's Responsible Shopper: F for ethics and governance, F for health and safety, D for greenwashing

Distance from my apartment: 3.1 miles (8 minutes)

I was surprised to find that Kroger has an extensive organics selection. Not just produce, but dairy, eggs, canned foods, juice, cleaning supplies...pretty much anything you could want. You could do all of your grocery shopping in the organics section and bypass the rest of the store, except that the organics section seemed to contain most of the popular name brand organic and all natural products (Stoneyfield Farms, Annie's, Eden's, Earth's Best, Seventh Generation, etc.) while the regular aisles contained some cheaper store brand organics. No fair trade items in sight, and the bananas were once again wrapped in plastic (but I did buy them this time).

I'm learning through this experiment that there's not a clear cut answer to the question, Where's the best place to grocery shop? If we're strictly talking budget, Kroger seems to be the way to go. On the other hand, I admire Whole Foods as a company and would feel more comfortable giving them my money. Food Lion is closest to my house so I could cut down on car emissions by riding a bike or walking. Capital City Grocery has the advantage of being locally-owned, sustaining my local economy. Which is most important? I think it all comes down to personal opinion. It's impossible to do everything, so what's most important to you?

This week's spending:

organic tofu
organic cheese (3 cups)
juice (2)
organic butter
organic milk
organic applesauce
organic baby food (7 jars)
organic baby cereal (2 boxes)
organic pita chips
cereal (2 boxes)
organic yogurt
organic avocado
organic carrots
organic bananas
mushrooms

Total = $54.68

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