Solar Energy Tax Credits
Congress Extends Federal Solar Energy Tax Credits Through End of 2008
Cyndi's Catalog of Garden Catalogs
Contacts and critiques of more than 2,000 catalogs from around the world. Is there a better service that could be provided to an avid gardener? Click on the Title to get you there.
Dave's Garden
Dave's site is a gardener friendly destination. The plant database is billed as the largest in the world, "...with 86,188 entries, 58,365 images and 33,503 comments." You can search by name or plant characteristics or just browse through the pictures. Searches are limited if you are not a registered member, but membership is free. Click on the title to get you there.
Ginger Milk
This sweet ginger-milk drink is wonderfully calming if you have an
upset stomach. Ginger-root is a well-known nature medicine, and is especially recommended for stomach ailments and motion sickness.
1 quart of goat's or cow's milk
1/3 cup sugar or to taste
3 knobs of fresh ginger root, peeled and grated finely.
Put ginger root into a saucepan and add the milk. Stir to mix. Bring the milk to the boil. Just before the milk begins to boil, whip it with a egg-beater to make it frothy. Pour through a fine sieve or tea strainer into mugs, add sugar to each mug and enjoy.
Winter is an important time to help the birds make it through.
Place your feeders close to windows so the birds don't fly into them and so you can enjoy the entertainment.
Some of the bird seeds on the market have ingredients the birds don't like and even weed seeds. You might want to get a large tote and mix your own birdseed to attract a variety of species. This recipe will bless your ground and feeder types of birds and even get a few woodpeckers stealing those black-oil sunflower seeds.
Homemade Bird Seed Mix
1 part white proso millet
1 part cracked corn
2 parts black-oil sunflower seed (or twice as much as you did of corn or millet
Combine the seed, millet, and corn in a large container. Store in a dry trash can or storage can with a tight-fitting lid. This mixture can be offered in a tube, hopper, or platform feeder. Black oil sunflower seed is a great choice because it is higher in calories.
Reducing Our Use of Trees
We can all do our part to use a fairer and more sustainable share of the Earth’s resources, taking action to preserve forests every day in our homes, with our friends and colleagues, and in our communities. Suggested First Steps:
USE CLOTH NAPKINS AND DISHTOWELS and forget about the paper versions forever.
USE CLOTH SHOPPING BAGS - They’re lightweight, collapsible, and can hang out in your car or slip inside a backpack without taking up too much room until you need them at the grocery store or other retail establishment.
WRAP ALL GIFTS IN REUSABLE MATERIALS (cloth scraps, scarves, or cloth bags) or in waste paper (newspaper comics, brown paper bags, etc.) that will then be recycled.
BRING REUSABLE CONTAINERS TO RESTAURANTS for take-out, instead of relying on their disposable paper and plastic containers.
ELIMINATE JUNK MAIL - Call or write to catalogs, nonprofits, magazines, and other companies and ask them not to share your name. When you do receive junk mail, call the company and ask it to remove your name from its list. Contact the Direct Marketing Association (www.dmaconsumers.org/consumerassistance.html) to remove yourself from as many lists as possible.
PAY YOUR BILLS ONLINE - Most credit cards and many utilities now offer online payment options that can help you reduce your use of envelopes, checks, and paper bills. If online billing isn’t an option, or if you prefer to receive paper invoices for your records, you can call your credit card company and ask it to stop including junk-mail “inserts” with your statement.
RECYCLE ALL WASTE PAPER - If your town doesn’t offer curbside pick-up, find a recycling facility near you at www.earth911.org.
BUY RECYCLED OR TREE-FREE - whenever you must purchase a paper product, including computer paper, manila folders, sticky notes, toilet paper, etc. Every paper product you might need has a recycled or tree-free version available. This site has a directory of places to shop: www.ecobusinesslinks.com/recycled_paper.htm
Frugal Exercise
There are many ways to get fit without spending a lot of money. The following are easy, inexpensive ideas for getting in shape.
Walking - You can walk in your neighborhood. You can walk to do errands. You can walk at the mall. Just slip on a pair of shoes and start.
Videos - Exercise videos are available from the library, come in a multitude of levels and skill sets and can be done in the comfort of your own home. There are also many local, national and cable TV exercise shows on each day that you can follow along with at your own pace. Tape them if you have to, in order to exercise at your convenience.
Stair climbing - You can do it the old fashioned way and climb real stairs. Many buildings, sports stadiums, outdoor parks and maybe even your own home have stairs that you can climb for free as many times as you want.
Weight lifting - Lift canned goods, old (well sealed) milk containers (half or full gallon sized) filled with water or basically any other item that has some weight to it and a handle of some sort.
Jumping rope - Jump ropes are fairly inexpensive, or as they did in the "olden days," use a piece of rope.
Calisthenics - Use plain old-fashioned calisthenics such as sit ups, push ups, squats, etc. All of these can be done in your own home at absolutely no cost.
A field - Get your kids or a friend and play catch with a base ball, kick a soccer ball back and forth, toss around a football, or play tag. Anything that gets you moving and works up a sweat is exercise!
Play tennis or basketball - Many cities have free outdoor (and occasionally indoor) tennis and basketball courts for the public to use at no charge.
Ride a bike - The old bicycle you have gathering dust in your garage can be dusted off, tuned up and used to ride on quiet country roads, nature trails or any other out of door location that is reasonably safe for cyclists. Be sure and wear your
helmet!
Swim, roller skate, or ice skate - Many communities have recreation centers that charge very little to use their pool and skating facilities. Check out their prices; often mornings or mid-week cost even less than the more popular weekend and evening sessions.
Getting in shape and staying healthy doesn't have to be expensive. You can use the items you have on hand, along with a healthy dose of motivation, to lose weight, get healthy and put together a successful exercise program for next to nothing.
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