MOM’s Organic Market’s ER Blog

There is something funny about people who complain about being cold and instead of putting on an additional layer of clothes, they choose to crank up the temperature. I had this roommate one time who loved to walk around in her shorts and t-shirt in the house, in the dead of winter. She hated the cold weather and so would crank up the thermostat to nearly eighty two degrees. I would come home and laugh and clinch my teeth at the same time.

Why in the world would someone crank up the heat instead of putting on some more clothes, such as a sweatshirt, maybe some pants, or curling up with a blanket and a hot cup of tea? Temperature inside your home, office or business should be comfortable, but not too hot or too cold, and regulated to the season and temperature outside. I would constantly talk to that roommate and encourage her to put on more clothes and turn the heat down, as we were consuming a lot of energy keeping her bare legs warm.

The next time you find yourself a little too cold, put on a sweater. If you become a bit too warm, put on something to cool you down. Save the energy and regulate your body temperature the good ol’ fashioned way.

I discovered the most alarming thing this weekend while spending time on the shores of Ocean City, NJ. I was walking down the boardwalk, enjoying the sights, sounds, and off season crowds, when I looked out at the beach and saw as far as the eye could see piles of seaweed, trash and other beach “litter”. Being a curious person, I wondered down the steps and onto the beach, to discover that what I was calling other beach “litter” were actually hundreds of dead horseshoe crabs.

After realizing that the lumps in the sand were horseshoe crabs, I stood there in puzzlement. I didn’t know if this was natural or not for the horseshoe crabs. Of course the first finger that I pointed was at the actual trash littering the beach; Pepsi cans, soda bottles, a plastic alligator, styrofoam cups and a bunch of popped balloons. But was this really it? Was there a toxic spill somewhere out in the ocean that killed these crabs? Were they beached and then died? I just didn’t know, and so was bewildered the remainder of the weekend. It’s all that I could talk about. “How was your weekend away?” My response… “I saw the strangest thing…”

Today, when I had a moment, I looked the horseshoe crabs up online to see if I could figure something out. What I found made sense. Apparently one of the largest populations of the crabs are right off the Delaware coast, and what I thought were all dead crabs could have easily been the outer shell from their molting. I think that half of them were really dead though, which could have been from any number of things. The crabs like to crawl up on shore, which leaves them vulnerable to crashing waves, hungry birds or even people interferance.

I may never know for sure why there were so many dead horseshoe crabs up on the beach. I’m sure a lot of it was natural death, but I’m also sure that there was some human induced factors in there as well.

So, I tend to listen to the radio on my way to work in the morning and later in the evening on my way home. I try to pick radio stations with diversity of music, talk and positive outlooks. I found a few great radio stations that offer all these things, and so I thought.

I radio station that I had grown to love so much for their diverse music from the 80’s 90’s and today, went regretably down hill quick when I tuned the radio into a conversation being had over the air between the station and a caller. The conversation was about hybrid vehicles and whether or not they were a good idea. The conversation went something like this:

Station: How do you feel about prius hybrids, good or bad?
Caller: Bad idea. Not only are they way to girly for men, but the environment is doing fine. Let other people worry about it.
Station: There you have it. You’re right, prius hybrids are girly. I would hate to be a sissy.

My two cents: Are you serious? This was actually a conversation? I wasn’t surprised so much that there was someone with the idea that the environment was doing fine, but more surprised by the fact that the station actually agreed with the caller live on air. I feel like, yes, it is a public radio station, however, please don’t let the conversation end there with agreement. Explore both sides of the argument and attempt to have a more educated view because the environment is not doing fine and we all need to worry about it. You have to set the example and, I feel, counter comments like that that may be a mis-informed view. Not only that, but calling the prius girly? No way!

Since hearing this conversation over the air, I’ve been weary of this particular radio station. I know that there are people out there with views that don’t align with my own, and that’s fine, it will always exist. But, when I can turn a dial to tune them out and be in my own reality, I will.

You know, I was talking to one of friends the other day who lives in an older home and somewhere in there he mentioned half jokingly that he wasn’t sure whether or not his refrigerator was even running properly, as items inside were expiring much sooner then they should have. I agreed with him here. It’s time that he took a closer look at his refrigerator and see if it is something that can be fixed or something that he’ll need to replace.

This seems to be a common problem, with many things, that minor problems are overlooked until it is sometimes to late. There are steps you can take to help ensure that your refrigerator is doing it’s job with ease and efficiency.

* Make sure you know what you are going in for before opening the refrigerator door. Open it as infrequently and as quickly as possible to keep the cold air in.
* Try to keep your refrigerator loaded with lots of tasty treats and beverages, as the mass will help keep in the cold.
* Be sure to wrap up and cover your food, as it is able to release moisture and make your compressor work overtime.
* Clean the coils and gaskets of your refrigerator a couple times per year. A lot of stuff can build up and prevent the release of heat.
* If frost builds up in your freezer, chip it away and defrost. This will help keep up the efficiency.
* Do you really need that second refrigerator in your garage?
* Make sure the temperature on the refrigerator is properly set at around 40 degrees.
* Check the seal on your fridge doors. In general, if you can slide a dollar bill into the fridge with the door closed, replace the gaskets. Replacement will not only save energy, but also save money in your pocket book.

Yesterday, as you all might have noticed if you live in the DC area, was a brillant, sun filled day. I don’t know if it was that it had rained all day Saturday or planets were in alignment or I got too few hours of sleep, but everything looked fresh and crisp. The edges of cars, sidewalks, trees and even blades of grass glistened and shined.

Seeing this as I walked down the sidewalk to get a scone from the corner bakery, I decided that today was the day to visit a pumpkin patch and corn maze. I jumped on the web to check to see which would be my best and closest option. Key elements for me were local farms, short distance, fall activities and organic. What I came up with was a farm in Virginia called the Corn Maze in the Plains. Its about thirty miles from DC that not only was local, but also prided itself on the organic corn maze and activities for children. Sounds like just my cup of tea!

I grabbed a few of my roommates to come along and we set voyage for what promised to be a spectacular maze, filled with lots of turns and dead ends. The view from above showed the maze was cut in the shape of some bats flitting around the moon… that’s some talented corn mowing right there. I am not sure if you have ever been in a corn maze, but you basically wander through a bunch of trails and stare at a view like this for about 40 minutes while trying to track down your friends and giggling with surprised little kids along the way. And let me tell you - it is FUN, especially when you know that you aren’t walking through fields filled with pesticides and synthetic fertilizers!

So, if enjoying the fall harvest organically with local growers sounds good to you, make sure to look up the Corn Maze at the Plains. They boast the first organically grown corn maze in the country, and clearly one of the best.

All last night as the rain fell down, it ran down our roof, into our gutters and down our driveway. I could faintly hear what sounded like an overflowing bucket, but dismissed it. What I had forgotten was the fact that our household had recently set up a rain barrel to catch the rain coming from the gutters.

“What are rain barrels?” one might ask. Rain barrels are containers that catch falling rain, and then you can store the water to use to water your garden, wash your car, or whatever your outdoor watering needs might be. The rain barrels are especially helpful in the hot dry months when you might not see a rain storm for weeks at a time.

With the rising price of water, increase in droughts, more instances of water pollution, and our population explosion, we need to conserve this precious resource. I’m sure that I’ve mentioned this on many blog entries, but we need water to live. Water is essential. If everyone were to change the way they looked at their daily habits, they might find that there is some room for change. The smallest changes can make all the difference. Even with something as minor as a rain barrel, that can hold up to 75 gallons of water. That is 75 more gallons that you aren’t drawing out of your pipes.

The next time you hear the drips from a rain storm, take a look out your window or step outside and imagine all of that water running down the sidewalks and into the gutter put to good use in your garden.

WAL-MART - Recently Wal-Mart has opened three super stores that they are calling their Environmental Demonstration Stores. In these stores they have implemented energy efficiency techniques, that include changes to their structure, equipment, parking lot and the areas surrounding their stores.

The changes made don’t make up an incredibly long list, but a start. In the lighting department, a skylight system has been installed so that more natural light can filter in. Wind turbines have been constructed outside to help reduce their electricity consumption by as much as 5%, and there is one small turbine solely dedicated to powering the street sign. Structural changes include the use of “sustainably harvested” wood for their wood beam roof. New plumbing has also been installed to help redirect runoff water from parking lots, the roof and drinking fountains to a water treatment system. From there the water can be reused to water the plants and trees on the property. Equipment wise, upgrades to their traditionally energy hungry air-conditioning system as well as ice storage system have been made. This will help cut down on ozone depletion. And finally, the parking lots are now made up of recycled asphault to help conserve resources.

Now, with that information put out there, I would like to commend Wal-Mart on the baby steps that they are taking to help make a positive impact on the environment. I will also say that the changes made are long over due, and that they have a long way to go before becoming a positive role model for other organizations and businesses. The recent changes to their stores and sudden interest in the environment, I’m sure, stem from the unpopularity that they have gained over the recent years as more and more reports are being made on the impacts that they are making on new building sites. Why did it take them so long to open their eyes?

I can only hope that Wal-Mart continues to strengthen their environmental efforts and expands the changes to already existing stores. The more people, companies and organizations that get on board with the environment, the better off our future will be.