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.
Edible Chesapeake is a free quarterly publication that celebrates the abundance of local and seasonal foods in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Supporting family farmers, fishermen, food artisans, chefs, and other food-related businesses, as well as the consumers, home cooks and restaurant-goers in the Maryland, Washington, DC, Virginia and parts of Pennsylvania. Find your copy here. You can also read it online and buy a subscription or back issues through their website. Below, I have conveniently listed business that exist only in Maryland. View a more complete list of organic farms and restaurants in the surrounding areas here .
A short email conversation between Alyssa and Roy Skeen from the Village Green Community Garden in Remington.
A : When was the garden started? By? R : Garden was started in 2007 by Megan Beller and Barb Fischer and myself? A : How long have you lived in Remington? R : 8 months A : Was it something you were wanting to do for a long time? R : For about a year. A : Who did and who didn’t have experience in gardening or farming before the project? R : I had grown food for one season prior. A : Did you do any soil testing? R : Yes we did three soil tests. A : Where were you able to get your top soils from? Continued
Description of P Park by: Scott Berzofsky
Participation Park is an ongoing public art project and activist initiative based on converting a vacant lot in east Baltimore into an urban farm, social space, community kitchen, radical planning studio, free store and adventure playground. Against the increasing privatization of public spaces in the city and the top-down forms of urban planning that design them, we are squatting the land and collaborating with neighborhood residents to produce a space that responds to our collective needs and desires. Inspired by movements to ‘reclaim the commons’ and demand a ‘right to the city,’ the park is an experiment in democratic spatial practice, inviting everyone who participates in the use of the space to engage in the political process of shaping it.
Read a short email conversation between Alyssa and Scott….
Edible Estates is a project created by artist and architect Fritz Haeg that involves traveling around the country converting front lawns into beautiful edible gardens. He started by asking the question, if Thomas Jefferson had planted his garden on the front lawn of Monticello, what would our lawns look like today? Haeg’s project has captured much enthusiasm from families who are challenging that "estate" mentality. The idealistic picture-perfect green space is an unfortunate inheritance of the seeds planted on the plantation lawns of our founding fathers. To Haeg, the front lawn is a waste of valuable resources and the locus of mounting concerns over the effects of pesticides on human health and surrounding ecosystems. What’s most interesting about Haeg’s project is one of the first in his series of gardens was planted on July 4th, 2005 in Salina, Kansas. Part of the Great Dust Bowl of the 1930’s, Salina is also home to The Land Institute . This organization has been working for more then 20 years to find ways to restore topsoil through perennials and polycultures. Haeg’s Edible Estates aren’t just a novel idea; they are a call to action for the right to know where our food is coming from and a patriotic move to restore our homeland.
The above picture is from an Edible Estate project started April 2008 in West Baltimore. Here’s an article from the Urbanite .
Rebound Designs are purses handmade from the reuse of old hardcover books, most of which predate 1970. The selection I saw at a recent craft show included textbooks, D-I-Y Manuals, Little Women and Shakespeare, offering a variety of colors and designs for that popular vintage look. Have an old book you’d like turned into a bag? Creator, Caitlin Phillips is happy to take requests. Wonder what she does with the pages of each book? Well, most are beyond repair, but are sitting in her attic waiting for anyone else’s creative reuse idea…hint, hint. On occasion she finds someone to rebind them and they’re donated for further reading. She’s also happy to send you the pages with your purchase. I saw a great use for old book pages when I was at the Hamilton Tavern. The women’s bathroom has a famous female writer theme. Half the wall is covered in pages from old Jane Eyre novels. It’s quite beautiful and you’re still able to read the words. I never liked sitting down with a dusty moisture-wrinkled magazine or old newspaper while on the “john” anyway, te, he.
Our bi-monthly e-newsletter has tips and advice to accelerate greening your business. As a special thank-you, you’ll receive access to our special report, “4 Success Secrets of Becoming Green Blooded.” Privacy policy: We promise to never sell, rent, trade or share your e-mail with any other organization.
View the dynamic, moving GOforChange: Greening Baltimore video
