Computers are made from plastic, glass, toxic chemicals, and natural earth elements. The materials are mined by workers in faraway lands making bare minimums while being exposed to high levels of toxicity. These materials are then assembled by more workers, also being paid barely anything, while working in what we may consider Superfund sites. Assembly of each computer uses thousands of gallons of water and leaves behind tons of waste materials that then have to be disposed of. The computers then have to be shipped across the ocean, sent out on 18 wheelers throughout the country, and delivered to homes and stores. Voila – your new computer has arrived. But now your old one has to go away…

Image from Greenpeace

A report released earlier this year by the UNEP’s Governing Council titled “Recycling — from E-Waste to Resources” says that “unless action is stepped up to properly collect and recycle materials, many developing countries face the spectre of hazardous e-waste mountains with serious consequences for the environment and public health.” Global e-waste generation is growing by about 40 million tons a year, and more than 3 million tonnes of e-waste is disposed of in the US alone each year. That’s a lot of toxic waste to get rid of each year. And if it is not properly disposed of (which in many places around the world it isn’t), the chemicals leach into the groundwater and aquifers, end up going downstream and potentially affecting millions of people. It’s an endless cycle of toxicity, especially for those in developing or Third World countries.

Now, I am not saying you shouldn’t buy a new computer when you need one – computers are a fact of life. We need them to do our jobs, stay in touch with family, and publish websites like this one here. But do we need a new one every year? There are many people who buy new cellphones every 6-12 months, even when theirs works fine. Rapid changes in technology and planned obsolescence feeds into this behavior, but it’s also up to us to do our due diligence and planning before running out and buying the newest version of something. Everything that happens upstream from us has an effect on us and everything we do has an effect on someone else downstream – do you really want everyone upstream from you acting in an unsustainable and irresponsible manner? Probably not… and neither do the people downstream from you.

You know that expression “Think Globally, Act Locally“? There really is some serious truth to it. We are all connected, whether we see the connection or not.

Please don’t miss the Change.org petitions over on the right hand side of the site. Topics like offshore oil drilling and the Climate Bill are awaiting your support!

You may also enjoy:

1. The Problem With E-Waste Recycling Is The Toxic Leftovers.
2. Please Forgive Me, For I Am An Eco-Sinner.
3. 17 Easy Eco-Alternatives To Everyday Disposables.
4. What Should I Do With All This E-Waste?
5. Do You NEED A New iPhone, Or Do You WANT A New iPhone?

No matter what type of critter you are facing, there is a green pest control option. In this guide, you will be able to find the right solution to your pest problems, no matter what they may be.

Rotenone-Pyrethrins Liquid Spray

A liquid spray product, this choice is useful for a number of different pests and is safe in most situations. Made from organic compounds, the Rotenone-Pyrethrins spray can be used directly on plants to kill bugs and can even be sprayed on domestic animals to control fleas and ticks. Other bugs, which are detrimental to your plants and flowers that can be controlled with this spray include Stink Bugs, Aphids, Japanese Beatles, Leaf Hoppers, and Fire Ants.

Lime Sulfur Spray

A handy spray, this organic choice not only controls a number of different pests, but it also stops fungus that damages certain shrubs and trees. The Lime Sulfur spray is used during the winter when plants and bugs are dormant. It will kill such pests as various Mites, types of Borers, and Scales. In addition, the spray will stop the fungus that causes Mildew and Black Spot.

Garlic Barrier Insect Repellent

If you would prefer to repel insects and pests instead of eliminate them, then Garlic Barrier could be the right choice. This product is made from concentrated garlic and is safe in all garden and farm situations. When Garlic Barrier is sprayed on plants, it is absorbed and is quickly protecting every part of the plant, from top to roots. Garlic Barrier works well at repelling such insects as Mosquitoes, Deer Flies, Gnats, and other pests, which will bite humans and animals.

Diatomaceous Earth

A light and abrasive combination of silicate and sedimentary powders, this product is a non-chemical way to kill and repel a wide variety of pests. If you are having trouble with snails and slugs, you can create a barrier around your plants since the pests will not cross this product. Because it is abrasive, it will damage the soft skin of slugs, deterring them from the area. The Diatomaceous Earth will kill other insects because it dries out their exoskeleton. These insects include Ants, Carpet Beetles, Fleas, Ticks, Roaches, and various types of flies.

Mosquito Magnet

If you live in a mosquito prone area, then you know the true definition of pest. These bugs buzz in our ears and leave a bite that itches terribly. For people, mosquitoes carry the danger of such diseases as Yellow Fever and West Nile. For dogs and cats, the bugs can bring heartworms. You most likely also know that when mosquitoes swarm, it can seem a losing battle to fend them off. Mosquito Magnet works differently than other products. This machine attracts the mosquitoes to it, drawing them into a trap. You will find that the whole swarm will go to it instead of you and your family.

Sharp Shooter Insecticide

When you want a truly non-toxic all encompassing product, you cannot go wrong with this one. Using all-natural lemon juice, Sharp Shooter can be sprayed on all types of plants, including fruits and vegetables. The insecticide can control many types of pests, including Ants, Beetles, Snails, Slugs, Aphids, Leaf Hoppers, Meal Worms, Caterpillars, Mites, and Mosquitoes. The insecticide is so safe that it can be sprayed on crops even on the same day that they are to be harvested with no worry of harm to humans.

Neem Oil

You know a product is a safe alternative when it is even used as a cooking oil in some of its forms. Neem Oil is a totally organic option to control pests, and is used in cooking and cosmetics in many countries. Neem Oil can control a number of pests by halting their reproductive cycle, but it remains safe to animals, people, and birds. Insects that can be controlled include Aphids, Mealy Bugs, Locusts, Caterpillars, Beetles, Gnats, Snails, Mosquitoes and Cockroaches.

Hot Pepper Wax Insect Repellent

Including a combination of sea kelp, organic edible wax, and garlic, this spray works well to repel insects and is still non-toxic to humans and animals. This product works differently than others and must be absorbed into the pests of question, so it will take a day or so to become completely effective. The Hot Pepper Wax spray can kill and repel a number of insects, including Aphids, Mites, and small flies. However, the spray is not effective against hard-bodied insects, such as beetles.

BotaniGard ES

Created from a strain of fungus, this product works well as a full crop repellent for many damaging insects. While it controls and kills insects, it does not contain any of the harmful chemicals that you will find in many traditional insect killers. BotaniGard EX works against such insects as Whiteflies, Aphids, Mites, Mealy bugs, Beetles, and Weevils. BotaniGard works by penetrating the insect’s exterior and killing them.

Copper Dust

Made from Copper Sulfate, this dust works well on even delicate fruit trees since it will not burn or damage them. Copper Dust works well at repelling many of the common pest insects, but it also works to stop a number of the damaging fungus that effects fruit and vegetable plants. Copper Dust can stop such damaging fungus as blight, black spot, and mildew.

Rotenone 5%

This fully organic dust is created specifically to deal with those pests that are just plain hard to repel or kill. When you feel at your wit’s end in the pest battle, then you may find the solution in Rotenone 5% powder. This powder works to kill a wide array of insects, including Aphids, Leafhoppers, moths, maggots, beetles, Mealy bugs, spiders, Cabbage Worms, Fruit Worms, Stink Bugs, and weevils. It is important to note that the spray does contain a skin irritant and care should be taken when it is applied.

Liquid Copper

This organic version of liquefied copper  is effective in controlling a number of fungi and diseases that attack many vegetable and fruit crops. This product can help to stop such diseases as powdery mildew, Black Spot, Leaf Curl, rust, and Fire Blight. The product is useful on vegetables, fruits, and ornamental plants.

Dipel 150 Dust

A product designed to use on lawns and crops, this dust is made to stop chewing insects, in other words, worms. These types of insects can completely destroy a crop if they are not stopped. When Dicon 150 is applied as soon as the pests are noticed, it can kill instantly. Chewing bugs, which can be controlled by the product, include caterpillars, chewing larvae, Cutworms, Webworms, Tobacco Worms, and Cabbage Loopers.

Critter Ridder

If the pests that plague your yard and your plants are of the warm-blooded variety, then Critter Ridder can be the right organic product. A liquid or granulated product that irritates pests if they touch or taste it. Critter Ridder will work to repel such animals as Raccoons, Cats, Skunks, Squirrels, and Groundhogs.

When you want to protect your yard, your garden or your crops, then consider choosing a green product that will work quickly but will not harm the environment or your family. Choosing organic products is not only safe, but it is also smart and helpful. You will find that your pest problems disappear very quickly.

About the Author: Leslie Douglas is a freelance writer who is passionate about the environment and leaving a legacy of appreciation for the outdoors to future generations.

Please don’t miss the Change.org petitions over on the right hand side of the site. Topics like offshore oil drilling and the Climate Bill are awaiting your support!

You may also enjoy:

1. The 2010 Guide To Safe Sunscreen.
2. 2009 Eco-Friendly Gift Guide From The Good Human.
3. Why You Should Be Planting Native Species.
4. 16 Ways To Reuse Old Coffee Grounds.
5. We Don’t Need A “Green” Everything.

I don’t get much city exposure, but when I do, I’m amazed at how many cars and people occupy the planet. I was in a crowded mall the other day and followed that with a zany Trader Joe’s experience.

It dawned on me we will never make everyone energy- and consumption-conscious. Middle America will always want the latest fad in clothes, cars, shampoo and furniture. Manufacturers know this, and change their lines, not only in the name of creativity, but also to keep the public wanting/needing their items to keep the money flowing. This is capitalism simplified.

The consumption is horrifying. People shop for the sake of shopping.

Can we get the general public to stop buying ‘unnecessary plastic objects,’ as Nanci Griffith says about the ubiquitous Woolworth’s and its inventory in the intro to Love at the Five and Dime on One Fair Summer Evening? She talks about a gig she goes to in England. When she gets off the plane and heads towards her hotel, the cab rounds a corner, and lo and behold, there is Woolworth’s, an American icon. The sight of it made her want to stop the cab, run in and ‘fill up my suitcase with unnecessary plastic objects.’ That’s quite a statement on consumption!

Do you want to help the planet and all living species, including yourself? Stop repeating the mantra, and cut back your consumption. Here’s how.

> First, be sure you actually need an item. What do we need? Food, clothing, shelter. Don’t buy something if you don’t need it!

I used to be an impulsive shopper. A catalog would come in the mail, and I would buy something that immediately caught my eye. I’ll say 99% of the time, that item would never get used. I had to train myself to mark a catalog with what I liked, then put it aside to revisit in a few days. When I went back to it, 99% of the time, I did not need that item. I saved money, resources and my dignity. I had to learn to do this in stores, too, even second-hand stores. Find something attractive, think on it, then revisit it. Most of the time, I’d go home empty handed.

> Shop with a list, and stick to it. This helps you buy things you actually need, even food, further cutting down on impulsive shopping. For sensible food purchases, I make a menu, and shop accordingly. Little food gets wasted, money is saved, and meals are balanced.

I go yard sale-ing with a list. Yard sales are conducive to impulse shopping – so much great stuff and so cheap! Know what you need and look for it. Don’t bring home a bunch of stuff for the sake of buying used!

My eco-sin confession ~> I’m a compulsive book-buyer. My wish list on Amazon is huge with books I’ve looked at and almost bought, so I’m getting better. There have been eras, though, when my shelves were lined with interesting books I never read.

> Buy used goods. What I have always called ‘the other side of the equation’ is now called ‘embodied energy’ – the energy used to create new goods. We can calculate our carbon footprint based on our home energy bills, the food we eat and the cars we drive. The embodied energy spent in purchasing new items needs to be considered just as heavily. If we are buying used items, embodied energy is not expended.

Mother Earth’s natural process is recycling. She is constantly turning her products into new products with other uses – rocks become soil, dead trees are homes for birds, dead animals are food for other animals. We need to follow her example and recycle everything into a new use.

> Don’t buy something to upgrade to green. If you have an item that is functioning but maybe not so eco-friendly, do not replace it with the green version. Wait until it dies and needs replacing. Exceptions to this may be appliances that will cut your energy use. The new refrigerators and front-loading washing machines save enough energy to offset their manufacture in a short period of time. To buy something ‘green’ for the sake of being green, though, is contributing to the problem of consumption and ends up not being so green after all.

> Pay attention. Be aware of your purchasing habits. Research where items come from, consider the emissions of shipping and manufacture, and recycle the goods you are replacing.

Please don’t miss the Change.org petitions over on the right hand side of the site. Topics like offshore oil drilling and the Climate Bill are awaiting your support!

You may also enjoy:

1. Shopping Just For The Sake of Buying “Green”.
2. We Cannot Shop Our Way Out Of The Climate Crisis.
3. Do One Thing: Donate, Don’t Trash, Your Unwanted Stuff.
4. Should We Bring Back The Bidet For The Sake Of The Environment?
5. Please Forgive Me, For I Am An Eco-Sinner.

In 1997, I lived in Ojo Caliente, New Mexico, near the Rio Ojo on the way to the mineral springs. (David’s note – Oh how I miss New Mexico!) The soil was very sandy, a stark change from the adobe clay I was used to in Taos, and water ran right through it.

There was a small flower bed under a cottonwood tree off to the side of the house. When I see a flower bed, I have an impulsive need to fill it up. I planted it with the leftover flowers and shrubs from the foundation plantings. When I went to water it, though, I realized that my longest hose only reached just inside the edge. I watered the plants in by hand until they seemed established, then I let nature take its course.

It was a very dry summer, so I turned the hose on that bed a few times to get as much of it wet as I could. The sandy soil was not helpful in keeping things damp! By fall, the pansies and other annuals were crispy, but the hardy native plants had survived. I was moving back to Taos, so I dug those up and took them with me. If anything could have withstood that watering torture (or non-watering torture!), it got a gold star and deserved to come along.

Can you already see why it’s important to plant native species? Only the plants that were used to very little water survived. They did not need more than natural rainfall to get through.

Adaptable species are hardy, too. They may not be native to an area, but they grow and thrive in similar conditions. The sandy soil and climate in Ojo are similar to parts of France and Greece, I was told. Herbs do well in those countries, and mine flourished with very little care in Ojo! I had the most beautiful lavender I’d ever grown! And with little maintenance!

Other reasons for planting native and adaptable species:

They do not need fertilizer. Native plants are used to growing in the local soil, and that is why they are established there. They get exactly what they need from the environment. You don’t have to add anything.

They are less prone to disease and pests. Plants that are stressed from too little water are susceptible to attack. An extreme case in point is the bark beetle damage to the pine forests of the Rocky Mountains. After years of drought, the trees were so stressed, bark beetles were able to move in and kill thousands of acres of trees. Like I say, that’s an extreme example of susceptibility. As a homeowner, when you grow drought tolerant species, a drought will not interfere, but you an also choose to water in dry times.

They offer food and shelter for wildlife. You can attract local birds all year with nectar in summer and berries and seeds in winter. If you planted a yard full of exotic plants, the native animals would not be able to feed, nest or have shelter.

You will have more time to enjoy your native/adaptable landscape by eliminating water, fertilizer, pesticides and the maintenance that goes along with them.

Do not move to a different part of the country and expect to grow the same plants you grew at home! You can move across town and experience the same thing. Soils, light, humidity and rainfall all affect not just plants, but all wildlife.

Live within your ecosystem to be a conscious gardener. To learn more, get involved in your local or regional Native Plant Society, and check out these books:

For the southwest, I highly recommend Judith Phillips’ books, especially Natural by Design: Beauty and Balance in Southwest Gardens and its companion, Plants for Natural Gardens: Southwestern Native & Adaptive Trees, Shrubs, Wildflowers & Grasses.

Here are books for other parts of the country.

Please don’t miss the Change.org petitions over on the right hand side of the site. Topics like offshore oil drilling and the Climate Bill are awaiting your support!

You may also enjoy:

1. Nuclear Waste On Native American Reservations.
2. Climate Change: Saving Species On Sinking Islands.
3. Live In A Small Town? Donate Your Unwanted Books To The Library.
4. Is Lake Mead In Nevada Drying Up?
5. Getting Rid Of Weeds Without Chemical Herbicides.

Click on each to view a bigger image

While not every city has the same access to nature as Denver does (LA, I’m looking at you), there are bound to be cool areas you haven’t yet explored or even heard of within a short drive of your house. Next time you are feeling tired or burnt out, find a cool park or open space and get back to nature. You might be missing something really cool in your own backyard.

You may also enjoy:

1. Going Green Has Never Been So Fun!
2. Do One Thing: Take Only Photos & Not Souvenirs From The Outdoors.
3. 10 Reasons You Should Line Dry Your Clothes…If You Can.

In the UN Secretary General’s [...]

In all seriousness, from the porch of your house, would you rather look at these?:

or this?:

Energy doesn’t come free with no expenses at all, (monetary or otherwise) so in order to continue living the lives we have become accustomed to we are going to need an energy source. Solar will play a roll, for sure, but we will need wind power as well. And for my dollar, and if I had to choose one I might have to look at on a daily basis, I would definitely choose this:

Wind turbine pictures from Shutterstock.com

You may also enjoy:

1. Oil Spill Vs. Wind Spill Vs. Sun Spill.
2. New Belgium Brewery: Wind Powered & Employee Owned.
3. Do One Thing: Buy A Wind-Up Alarm Clock.
4. Tell The EPA To Not Let A Massive Mining Project Ruin The Everglades.
5. Obama’s New Oil Drilling Plan Won’t Amount To Anything Other Than Disaster.