Archive for alyssa

Chris Moline, a Residential Group Manager of Carpet One Flooring of Alexandria Virginia ate a piece of Marmoleum yesterday afternoon to prove its truly green properties. Lets just hope its durability doesn’t complicate his digestive system, hmm….let me know how that goes Chris.

Alexandra Carpet One offers several kinds of eco-flooring including Marmoleum, a non-toxic alternative to most other post-industrial flooring options. It’s made with 100% natural ingredients: linseed oil, cork, limestone, tree resin and natural pigments. According to the Green Building Supply website, "The natural bactericidal properties of marmoleum prevent micro-organisms including Salmonella Typhimurium and Staphylococcus Aureus from multiplying themselves. It is the continual oxidation of the linseed oil that enables this phenomenon."

Well, Chris perhaps you could advertise it as an antioxidant too!

Check out more from Chris Moline and what he put in his mouth here .

Remember Springfield Farm ? We wrote a post about them almost a year ago now. One of our CollectiveX members went for a visit a couple weeks ago in search of free range organic meat and wanted to tell us about her encouraging experience with some delightfully cared for farm animals.

Written by: Baltimore resident Erin Fostel
My first time at Springfield Farm was everything that I hoped it would be. I went in search of happy farm animals who lived a nice life up until the moment they made it onto my plate. What I found was an amazing place that was welcoming for both animal and human. I saw over 200 hundred turkeys hanging out in the fresh air listening to, none other then, Beyonce on the radio. Having been told that if I talk to the turkeys they will respond, I said the only thing I thought a turkey would understand, “gobble, gobble.” Sure enough in response, all 200 turkeys stopped moving and gobbled back in unison! I nearly collapsed with glee. Next to the turkeys was a wooded lot that I mistook for the edge of the farmland. Inside the woods were pigs. Huge, beastly, muscular pigs that came barreling up to say hello. I was upset to have left my camera at home.
The store where they sell their meat and eggs is right inside their garage, a pure Ma and Pa operation. Every question is welcomed and their prices are on target with anything of quality from Super Fresh or Whole Foods. I recommend calling ahead if you are shopping for something specific. Having made the decision that I would only eat meat that came from a farm where they respected and cared for their animals, I feel that I have hit the jackpot with Springfield Farm.

Check out more organic farms here

ISky was created in 2007. With its offices located in Takoma Park, Maryland, 1Sky is helping raise the bar for leadership on climate change action in the context of the 2008 elections and the new Obama Administration. Their goal is to “create bold federal action by 2010 that can reverse global warming,” by “identifying steps our leaders need to take in order to shift our nation away from global warming and toward the prosperity of a green economy.” They have engaged a network of leading scientists and economists to create the 1Sky Solutions and have a growing number of allies working directly with them for this same common goal.
A few solutions are to:
* CREATE 5 MILLION GREEN JOBS in order to conserve 20% of our energy by 2015.
*FREEZE CLIMATE POLLUTION levels now then cut by at least 25% below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80% by 2050.
* NO NEW COAL PLANTS that emit global warming pollution; invest in renewable energy.
One of my personal highlights from their site is a list of Climate Matters Video contest winners. My favorite is “This Lawn is Your Lawn” by Roger Doiron which is also a part of a website called EatTheView.org that is petitioning for President Elect Obama to act on climate control and send a message to millions of Americans by planting a garden on the White House lawn. After watching I can’t help but note artist Fritz Haegs project Edible Estates which expressed similar sentiments about the front lawn at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. Haeg visited Baltimore this past spring to continue his project on a front lawn in West Baltimore where artists, homeowners and community peoples participated in planting a vegetable garden. Haeg’s visit was also in tandem with the addition of several DIY community lead gardens on abandon lots around the city; Participation Park and Village Green Community Garden in Remington , to name a few that started in 2007. Mayor Sheila Dixon expressed her interest and support of revitalizing grassroots efforts for healthy food = healthy communities by visiting a few gardens Sat. Oct. 18th, which came just three days after she joined Robert F. Kennedy, Jr , the nations forerunner in environmental activism, and 9,000 other delegates at the Baltimore Convention Center for the National Recreation and Park Association Congress and Exposition.

Founder and Director Sarah Ittmann teaches Bikram yoga . A series of 26 poses derived from Hatha principles, each one is done twice to help the body open up and come into openness and alignment. Bikram Choudhury designed these poses in his native India after a weightlifting accident to restore his health. Performed in a heated room for 90 minutes, anyone at any age can feel the benefits of this healing art. Julie practiced Bikram Yoga for almost 5 years and was an avid devotee of Sarah’s. This studio is HIGHLY recommended — a beautiful space with great facilities. With an 8,000 square foot studio, the wellness spa also offers hot stone massage, acupuncture, and salon services.

The Environmental Protection Agency has a way for you type in your area code and keep tabs on what businesses have regulations on pollution, hazardous waste sites, and other regulatory information. It’s called Envirofacts

Collective Cry is an online community of artists, activists and allies of social justice. They are dedicated to uplifting and providing healing to systemically oppressed communities through education, community development, economic development and the distribution of media content. "Collective Cry envisions a social environment in which all have access to the means to reach their potential for self-actualization through self-determination." Some of their justice initiatives and other developing economic and awareness initiatives include "Prison Mentorship Project", "My Quest Home" and "The Center for Prosperity".

I Buy Different is in partnership with The Center For A New American Dream and is geared toward kids and young adults in saving our resources. It is a website that presents valuable information about how what we buy effects the planet. Youth and adults alike don’t like to be told they’re doing something wrong every time a purchase is made. Find out some hard facts on the connections between your computer and a gorilla in The Democratic Republic of Congo. Why should we care? This website makes being aware of our choices fun and engaging, for any age. Instead of presenting information you might not know what to do with I Buy Different includes how to get involved and tell your friends.