Simple Summer Recycling

Trying to beat the heat and still be green about it? Summer Recycling has never been easier. Since I'm still waiting for my tomato plants to ripen up and share their goods, I've been using Trader Joe's Organic Tomato Sauce to spread over my pizza doughs and pastas. Bonus is, this delicious sauce is packaged in mason jars.  When all the sauce is gone, rinse out any remaining red stuff, remove the label with a little hot water and elbow grease and Voila! A perfectly great, fun to drink from glass for some old fashioned iced tea, lemonade, or other specifically summer beverage. Drink up and feel great about it.

Natural Meat-Hopefully

This is good.  Yesterday, July 13, 2209, the Obama Administration announced that they were proposing a measure to BAN the use of antibiotics in healthy livestock.  Many ranchers and pig/chicken farmers routinely administer- themselves I might add, antibiotics to healthy animals so they will produce more meat, faster. This ban hopes to reduce the spread of dangerous bacteria to humans from the treated animals and also to allow for a more normal life span and growth experience for the animal, in turn producing healthier meat. The ban is supported by the American Medical Association and the Union of Concerned Scientists who state that as much as 70% of the antibiotics used in the US are given to healthy chickens, pigs and cattle-Crazy right?Where are our health care dollars going exactly?  Representative Louise M Slaughter from right here in NY held the meeting and happens to be the chairwoman for the Rules Committee. The meeting alone is a positive step in getting our food systems back on a more Natural track.  In the meantime, I think I'm going to stick with some advice from a smart and very researched and informed man-Michael Pollan.  "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. "

RoofTop-Ology

An interesting and simple idea to off set green house gas issues caused by car fumes- Paint rooftops WHITE in the sunnier parts of the country/world to reflect the sun's rays back into the atmosphere.  Brilliant?!  A recent study performed by scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory proved that “painting urban surfaces in warm parts of the world white or a light color could offset the carbon emissions of all 600 million of the world’s cars for 18 to 20 years.”  This could mean the difference between life and extinction for those Polar Bears we've come to love.  The idea of using stimulus money to balance green initiatives with job creation fits snugly in there with goal's of the Obama Administration too. Back to basic thinking always amazes me the most.  Keep it simple and wonderful ideas and solutions find there way to the surface.  Or for this matter, the Rooftop.