Natural and Sustainable

Hybrid vehicles are no longer the property of a few eco-minded drivers. Data from the Alliance of Automobile Manufactures indicated there are nearly 11.5 million alternative fuel vehicles in use in the United States. Sales data shows an unprecedented 1.5 million such vehicles were sold in 2006, surpassing industry expectations by 50 percent. In the second quarter of 2007, close to 490,000 alternative fuel vehicles were sold, and increase of 27 percent over the same period in 1006. From the first to second quarters of this year, hybrid sales were up 48 percent-from 74,056 to 109, 716 vehicles.

Sixty models of alternative fuel vehicles are now on the market, including hybrid electric, ethanol-capable E-85, and clean diesel to develop more sources of fuel for the ethanol and diesel vehicles. A recent alliance study shows that while more than 74 percent of American consumers are familiar with alternative of fuels. Consumers want to protect the environment and protect the nation’s energy, the study found, and most consumers think the government needs to fund more research and development, as well as provide incentives to purchase alternative vehicles.

For more information, visit these Web sites: Discover Alternatives, and Auto Alliance, which offer more information on alternative fuel technology. (Source: Grit)

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Sign up for online baking to stop receiving paper statements in the mail. The less paper mail you receive at your home, means the less paper was used to give you that paper copy. If you are curious about your account, get a print out every so often instead of having one mailed to you through the mail. Remember, every little bit helps.

Always leave a smaller footprint on the environment than when you came. Here’s travel destinations that will help you achieve that.

• Creekside Inn & Resort: Set in Sonoma County, California, the Creekside uses native plants in its landscape, natural cleaning products and guest room soap, shampoo and lotion dispensers (which means no plastic waste from mini disposable bottles.)

• Kimpton Hotels: Kimpton’s EarthCare programs includes paperless check-in and checkout, fair trade coffee along with organic and locallay grown food and discount room rates for hybrid-car drivers.

• Beaches Resort: Throughout their various locations, Beaches has an extensive compost and recycling program that includes kitchenb grease, cardboard boxed, paper and bottles. The hotels also conserve energy and water by using water efficient showerheads, energy efficient light bulbs and solar powered water heaters.

• Hotel Punta Islita: This Costa Rican resort is nestled in a tropical dry forest (unlike a rainforest, dry forests have long periods without precipitation) in the Nicoya Peninsula of Guanacaste. Adventurers can zoom on a zip line above the forest canopy, kayak on the Ora River and ride horses on the beach, while others can enjoy hiking the dry forest while learning about the local species of plants and animals or watch sea turtles hatch.

• Lapa Rios Ecolodge: Founded by two former Peace Corps Volunteer, Lapa Rios is located in Central America’s last remaining lowland tropical rainforest. Set on the Osa Peninsula, its water comes from natural spring, the landscaping contains only local plants and the lodge promotes guest-volunteer programs.

• Carlisle Bay: This Antiguan resort recycles water for irrigation, donates kitchen waste to local pig farmers and gives used equipment to the community.

**Get your kids outside to help them play better and respect nature in a whole new light. Over at Globally Green Living, Sandra Williams has some ideas to help you get them out in the world. Read them here.**

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Print on both sides of the paper, or print paper and after your done use it as scratch paper or add it to your compost pile so it can biodegrade back into the earth.

61. Trade your home: If you trade your home with friends around the country you can enjoy vacations and stay for free.

62. Go camping, or rent a cabin: Don’t over look state parks and national forests, they are often less crowded and less expensive than you think.

63. Tray a local vacation: There are several things in your own town or even own state. Check out your states website and look what’s right in your own backyard.

64. Ask hotels about discounted distressed-traveler rates: If there is inclement weather you may get a discount.

65. There is no law against haggling with a hotel on the room rate: You never know if you don’t ask.

66. Make your vacation pay for you: If you volunteer or do a little helping out while you are on vacation you may get a room or even a cabin for free.

67. Buy food at local supermarkets when traveling: It’s much cheaper than eating at restaurants.

68. Choose a vehicle with fold down seats: If you are traveling and need a quick nap or to snooze for the evening and can’t find lodging, if you have a rental car with fold down seats you have an instant bed.

69. Definately choose used clothes for babies: Unless you receive them as a gift only buy new clothing for special occasions.

70. Trade babysitting time with other couples: This is a great one to use especially on short notices.

71. During the holidays, draw names for gift giving: Use this one for large families or even do a dirty santa or white elephant gift giving way.

72. Invoke a gift giving spending cap: This is a good one to use if you draw names.

73. Give homemade gift certificates: You can even make ones that they can redeem for summer tasks as well, such as mowing the lawn or helping plant a garden.

74. Donate to a good cause: The Heifer International is a great one to give as a gift instead of buying a gift. You can even get that money spent back when you get your taxes done at the end of the year.

75. Swallow you pride and except help when you need it.

**Lessa over at Big Brother Craze has the top ten Big Brother moments for your. And some are quite laughable. Read them here.**

*Natural and Sustianable Living Tip: Buy recycled toilet paper.

Forestry field trips and programs that invite discovery and enjoyment are available now through the Oregon Garden Rediscovery Forest Education Programs.

The Rediscovery Forest is a demonstration forest for education, research and public enjoyment. It gives students opportunities to discover the importance of Oregon’s forests, see forest development and understand how forests contribute to our quality of life on Earth.

The Rediscovery Forest contains many trails to explore, most of them are ADA accesible. The following is a list of the lesson descriptions:

1. Tree Identification
2. Wildlife Habitiat
3. Forest Ecology
4. Animal Tracking
5. Tree Treasure Hunt
6. Forest and Wetland Food Chains
7. Role of Fire in the Forest
8. Forest Managment
9. Sustainable Forestry and the Oregon Forest Practices Act
10. Natural Journaling

Planning your visit is an easy one: Rediscovery Forest Education Programs are open to the publid and reserved on a first come first served basis. Most groups arrange programs four to eight weeks in advnace. Spring is the busiest time of the season so book your trip to the Oregon Garden now and learn more than you ever thought you could about the sustainablity of a forest.

Go to Oregon Forests to find out how you can regester to be apart of this great program.

Additional Education Programs Offered Are:
• Teacher Trainings/Workshops
• Envirothon, Natural Resource High School Competition
• Natural Resource Career Fair
• Service Learning and Community Service Projects
• Home Schools/Scout Groups
• Arbor Day/Earth Day
• Group Tours

**Are you afraid of death or even the thought of death does it scare you? Over at Long Relationships, JM has a fun activity to make the thought of it all not so over whelming. Mainly putting something into prespective is all anyone has to do. Read the whole story here.**

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Use clean energy.

• Hotel Green: (Nantucket, Massachusetts) Environmentally aware hotel, which opened last year. The rooms have been given a fresh coat of milk-based paint and are outfitted with organic French liunens, window boxes of wheatgrass and hemp shower curtains. ($175 a night for a double)

• Proximity Hotel: (Greensboro, North Carolia). This new hotel’s modern lofts are built in an ultra-eco foundation and have gained praise form the U.S. Green Building Council. The building is constructed of recycled concrete and steel, its roof is covered in grass and solar panels, and it uses and “energy recovery” system to circulate air. ($189 a night for a double)

• Devil’s Thumb Ranch: Tabernash, Colorado. Overlooking the Continental Divide, this ranch provides adventures among the Rockies. The ranch uses a geothermal heating system to keep the handsome lodge and private cabins warm in the winter. Much of the food comes from Morales Farms, which is right down the road from the ranch. ($195 a night for a lodgeing double)

• Hotelito Desconocido: Costa Alefre, Mexico. Italian designer Marcello Murilli’s upscale palafitos (Thatched-roof beach bungalows) on the Pacific resemble those in a traditional fishing village. The hotel is solr-powered, and almost everything in the rooms, at the spa, and on your plate is local and organic. ($312 a night for a double with included breakfast)

• Aspros Potamos: Crete, Greece. Origianlly built as harvets-time housed for olive farmers, these 10 stone cottages have been transformed into charming hotel. Each room is lit primarily by lanterns, with a solr-conversion system powering a fridge and a lamp. Stone walls keep the housed cool in the summer and warm in the winter months. ($50 a night or a house.)

• Whitepod: Aigle, Switzerland. Set in the Alps, Whitepod’s canvas domes look like igloos from the outside and cozy hotel rooms inside. The pids are green colored in the summer and covered with white canvas in the winter for maximum energy efficiency, and are built on platforms that won’t leave a trace on the land. Food is provided by local farms as well. ($275 a night for an Expedition pod.)

• Lama Di Luna: Andria, Italy. No chemicals are used anywhere within the hotel. In each of the ten rooms, the heat is solar-generated and unbleaches sheets dress the feng-shui-arranged beds. ($180 a night for a double, which includes breakfast.)

You Know It’s An Eco-Friendly Hotel When:

1. They proviude bikes, so you can cut down on rental-car use.

2. Stocks its menu with food from local farms or local farmer’s markets.

3. Provides soaps and lotions in refillable container in its bathrooms.

4. Has a kids’ club that encourages communing with nature, rather than just the TV for entertainment.

5. Compost and recycles waste.

6. Sprays the grounds with natural mosquito repellents, not pesticides.

7. Uses solar or wind generated energy.

8. Is built with natural or reclaimed materials.

9. Uses a alternative wasy to purify its pool rather than chlorine.

**Want to know how to make crockpot pork chops? Then you’re in luck, over at Elementary Chef, Stephanie shows just how to do that. Read how by clicking here.**

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Buy or borrow pre-used moving boxes. Or better yet if you do purchase them, purchase ones that have been or are recycled.

When the time comes to pick a rental-car company at the airport with traveling, you may make your choice one whichever company will save you the most moneu, but keep this in mind when making that choice next time you travel: More than 1.6 million rental cars emit carbon on the road each year. With that knowledge alone and gas prices steadily climbing, why not use this guide to make a more eco-friendly, fuel-efficient decision.

1. Enterprise: 3,999 Toyato Priuses and 41,000 vehiucles that run on E85, a fuel makde of 85 precent ethanol and 15 precent gasoline. $60 million pledged to plant 50 million trees over 50 years.

2. Hertz: 3,400 priuses and 35,000 other hybrids. $1 from each of those rentals goes to the National Park Founation to support environmental preservation and education.

3. Avis & Budget: 1,000 Priuses each in California, Portland, OR; Seatle and Washington, D.C.

If you will be taking a trip with children, give Echo Lake Science Center a try. They offer a hands-on learning environment and teach children everything from eco-friendly ways to help keep the earth safe for many more generations to come.

And Always keep in mind when traveling to leave a lighter footprint every time you travel. Check out Eco.Orbitz. This site offers everything from green hotels to a complete low-impact itinerary for a holiday in the jungles of Belize.

**Arkansas beat LSU 50-48 in triple overtime. Over at University of Arkansas blog here at 451 Press there is a link to the RSS feed to read the whole story. Get the whole scoop by clicking here.**

*Natural and Sustianable Living Tip: Find new uses for old things.

1. Reflect on what’s important: Have a family discussion about what everyone is thankful for this year.

2. Experience Diversity: Incorporate other cultural and religious customs into your holiday celebrations.

3. Valunteer Where Ever You Can: Assist at a soup kitchen, children’s hospital or animal shelter.

4. Pick A Family Cause: Collect loose change and allowance money and donate it together.

5. Give Gifts That Count For Something: Instead of material items, give charitable donations in the names of friends, family, teachers and coaches.

6. Give meaningful gifts: Buy fair trade and ethically-sourced products from retailers such as World of Good Trade as One and Ten Thousand Villages.

7. Share In The Name Of The Holidays: Contribute new or gently used clothes and tous to the Salvation Army, Goodwill, toy drives or families in need.

8. Spread The Joy: Ask you child’s teacher to have students create handmade greeting cards. Then deliver them to a local senior citizen’s home.

9. Spread The Love: Compose a poem, song or testimonial telling someone that they are special. Create an eco keepsake: Write it on recycled paper and put it in a reclaimed wood frame.

10. Spend Time With Family: Cook together, talk with the TV off or just get on the floor and play games.

11. Care For The Earth: Conserve wrapping paper, reuse ribbons and bows, send greetings on recycled paper, or send e-cards online.

12. Celebrate Your Family: Appreciate the gifts that they are just for being themselves.

**Do you have bad habits? Over at Write Anyway, JM jokes about her bad habits, and how bad habits aren’t all that BAD. Read the whole story here.**

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Compact your nonrecyclable trash and use fewer bags when throwing things away.

Putting plants to work for environmental sustainability and economic development within The Oregon Garden falls under the name of SPROut: (SUSTAINABLE PLANT RESEARCH AND OUTREACH).

SPROut’s Misson is to develop and promote the use of plants and plant material to solve environmental challenges. They build project partnerships and provides outreach and education to integrate research efforts with public and industry development.

What does SPROut offer:

• Outreach:
1. Website and publications
2. Educational literature for Oregon Graden visitors
3. Professional develpment courses
4. Curriculum for Chemeketa Community College’s 2-year Horticulture degree
5. Workshops/Conferences/ Research summits

• Research Support:
1. Research suppoert for Oregon State University’s Horticulture students and faculty
2. Start-up grants to launch research and implementation projects
3. Collaborative grant proposal develpment
4. Background researchg and literature reviews
5. Project management
6. Use of The Oregon Garden site for field-based research

• Research Priorities:
1. Wetlands/Wastewater Remnediation
2. Phytoremediation
3. Urban Water Management and Ecoscaping
4. Native Plant Restoration and Invasive Species Control
5. And Riparian Area Restoration

Current SPROut Research Projects:

• Landowner Tools for Quanitfying Multiple Environmental Services of Riparian Vegetation Buffers for Use in Water Quality Credit Trading in Oregon Watersheds.

• Sustainable Parking Lot

• Botanical Burrito & Floating Nursery Production for Water Treament

• The use of high rate irrigation of Poplar Trees as a nutrient reduction system

• New uses for the World’s Oldest Crop; using Barley straw to control algae in Aquatic Environments.

• Developing Green Roof Plants for Oregon’s Nursery Industry.

For more information contact: Renee Stoops, SPROut Coordinator at rstoops@chemeketa.edu or 503-584-7252 or by visiting The Oregon Garden or SPROut

(SPROut is currently funded by the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the USDA)

**Catch the weekend events over at Albuquerque, New Mexico blog written by Mary McIntyre. If you will be taveling soon, check out the rest of her blog to see if a stop off in Albuquerque will fit in your travel plans by clicking here.**

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Use rechargeable batteries whenever possible. There is many uses in one rechargeable battery then a single use battery. It helps control battery waste in the landfill as well as the carbon impact on the Earth.

FUEL EFFICIENCY: It’s as simple as driving a more fuel-efficient car. Chevrolet currently offers eight 2007 and 2008 models that get an EPA of 30 MPG highway miles. Some models offer the best V8 fuel economy and have a better standard highway fuel economy than some other brands out on the market. It’s all due to new technology and this technology is helping achieve greater fuel economy in most vehicles no matter what the brand.

E85 ETHANOL: For the last seven years, Chevy has been producing vehicles capable of running on a fuel that growns from the earth. The fuel is called E85 ethanol ( 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline). It is the renewable fuel source made from U.S. grown biomaterial. what falls under U.S.-grown biomaterial is corn, and other grain products. It will help us decrease our dependence on petroleum and it burns more clearer than gasoline as well. It has a higher octane rating over gasoline as well. Chevy has over 1.5 millionm E85 FlexFuel vehicles on the road presently.

HYBRID: This fall, Chevy is bringing to the table the Tahoe Hybrid. This hybrid will provide the power of a regular gas-only SUV, but what it will do a step more is control gas-loss and fuel waste. It will also be 25% more fuel-efficient as well. The Malibu® Hybrid will also be added to the line of Chevy cars the end of the fall season.

FUEL CELL: Chevy is bringing to their car line up a test-fleet of 100 hydrogen-powered fuel Equinox® SUVS coming to New York City, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles in a program called “Project Driveway”. Hydrogen fuel cells use zero gasoline and produce no emissions and it will also help reduce our dependence on petroleum.

ELECTRIC: The Chevy Volt® has a revolutionary GM® E-Flex Propulsion Systen. It is different than any other electric vehicle, because it will use a High-Energy Battery and range-extending onboard pwoer source that can run on gas, or biodiesel to recharge the battery while driving. Also the electric car no matter what the brand helps toward the ultimate goal in reducing our dependence on pretroleum and produce zero emissions.

**There are a lot of fun and cool things to do in Sacramento, California on Veteran’s Day. Read Jennifer Springers suggestions for Sacramento, CA here.**

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Babies go through about 2,500 diapers before they’re potty-trained; cloth diapers washed at home cost $0.03 per use, while disposables costs about $0.22 each. Disposable diapers produce at least 70 times more waste than cloth diapers, and Americans trash 18 bil diapers each year. To help reduce this waste, the only other option is cloth. Cloth diapers have come along way since the 50’s and 60’s and some cool brands to try are: Under The Nile velcro diapers, G-diapers starter kits, and Seventh Generations chlorine-free diapers.

This past summer I checked out Ridgeway Farms up in Turner, Oregon on their Visitors Day, September 8th. This farm had just begun and offered the best apples that I have ever tasted. The farm is owned by Terri Barczak or Toni Rogers and everything grown on this land at the farm is natural and all-organic. I found out about Ridgeway Farms through Local Harvest. And even though I live in quite a small town, where the isn’t much going on as far as events and businesses listing under Local Harvest, I was grateful to receive an email on a company that is now in my area caring about the environment as much as I do. Ridgeway Farms is located on the Turner exit off I5 north. They were tucked back from the road and it did take us a few moments to realize where they were located. My first impression was “this is quite a small farm, and sort of difficult to find.” But, once inside the gate, I realized Ridgeway Farms was much more than just a small farm.

They offer fruits in the variety of: McIntosh apples, Fuji apples, Yellow Delicious apples, and green apples, Sekel and Comice pears, Misty, Blue Crop, Duke, Patriot, Bridgett blueberries, Caroline raspberries and vine ripened kiwi.

They offer vegetables in the variety of: Yellow crookneck, papaya and delicata squash, jack-o-lantern pumpkins, Russet, yellow Finn, red and purple potatoes, Peacevine, Brandywine, Stupice, Legend, Willamette, Current, Oregon Spring Bush tomatoes, Tuscan, Wild Red, Wild Garden kale, amaranth, Bibb, Red Sails, and Black Seeded lettuce, Avon, Melody, Mountain, Bloomsdale spinach, Purple Top turnips, Walla Walla, Spanish and Evergreen Bunching onions, Sunder and Danver carrots, Sumter and Straight Eight cucumber, shallots, California Wonder sweet peppers and Ring-o-Fire cayenne, jalapeno, New Mexico Joe E. Parker and Aci Sivri hot peppers.

They grow herbs in the variety of: Cilantro, basil, tarragon, mint, chives and parsley.

With knowing that Ridgeway Farms offers organic growing practices, it is one reason I am so happy to have visited their farm and partake in the benefits of a natural grower that shares passionate thoughts about the environment, as myself. While I was there learning about their growing practices I was also told that the demand is greater than their product. They are growing organic apples during the summer months and they never meet their own orders completely before the colder weather hits. If you are interested in trying some Ridgeway Farm apples or other organic produce, be sure and call now and place your order before the demand. For wholesale orders contact Ridgeway Farms at: 503-881-9346 or email at: ridgeway_farms@hotmail.com .

If you would like to see what farms, nurseries, markets, and growers are in your own area that offer organic, natural growing practices then log onto Local Harvest. You can even sign up for their email service that will contact you anytime a farm, grower, market, etc. is doing any type of public offering. This is how I became aware of Ridgeway Farms and if I hadn’t logged onto Local Harvest I would never have known that there was a great little farm that grows organic produce just outside my own town.

**Cruise over to YouTube Digger here at 451 Press and bid farewell to JM. She can still be found on other blogs on this site, but jump over there and leave her a parting comment. Read her farewell note here.(JM-You were a great writer for YouTube Digger and I am sad to see you leave that blog.)**

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Seal up your house this winter to prevent heat loss. It’s always a great idea to seal up your home, shop, garage or even your attic to prevent this energy loss in the winter months, but it also helps out with less energy waste in the summer when you run you airconditioner as well.

Fargo, North Dakota and Visalia, California have lush, green farmlands with sunflowers and fruit trees galore. But, while both towns seem like places where the air would be so pure and natural. This is true for Fargo, North Dakota, but, totally opposite of Visalia, California. Even more alarming is the fact that Visalia, Californis has some of the worst air in the entire United States.

The biggest diffeence between these communities lie in the very nature of their surroundings. Visalia is hot and sunny most of the year, with temperatures that often soar abouve 100 degrees. Prime ozone-forming conditions. And Fargo is known by many to be fridgid, with warm but short summers. The city lies on open prairie with strong winds that whisk any pollutants away.

Visalia is in the San Joaquin Valley, and the Sierra Mountains and the Coastal Range surround it, therefore the air in the city of Visalia is stagnant. The residents tend to suffer higher rates of asthma in Visalia over the residents in Fargo.

Do you think your city is one of the poor air quality cities in the United States? Find out here by entering your zip code. And to find out the current air conditions in your own city click here.

**Need a wedding gift idea or just some paper gift giving creativity, then pop over to All Paper Arts for some wedding crafts how-to and more.**

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Always vote for change, for a better life. Never settle on what is.

Dust is full of chemicals!
Clean Production Action, a nonprofit group that promotes the development of sustainable products, tested the vacuum dust in 70 homes across the country and found toxic chemicals in every sample. The list included not only PBDEs but also phthalates (plasticizers in vinyl, hair sprays, and nail polishes), organotins (an additive in vinyl), alkylphenols (found in paint and cleaners), perfluorinates surfacants (in floor polishes, herbicides, and insecticides), and pesticides. These substances may cause allergies and asthma; harm your cardiovascular, nervous, and reproductive systems; and lead to breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancers.

So how did they get into your house? It is beleived that these chemicals are in every home with consumer products. Computers, shower curtains, and wallpapper emit chemicals that settle into dust, which we breath, eat, and absorb through our skin. Manufacturers didn’t expect these chemcials to leach out of their products, but it’s happening. They off-gas the most when the’re brand-new, but continue to do so at lower levels through their life. What is not know yet is the level at which this exposure become a poison. To be safe, lower your home’s chemcials burden by keeping it well ventilated (open windows!), using a HEPA vacuum, and avoiding products made with flame retardants and vinyl. Go to Safer-Products for a list of manufacturers that are phasing out these chcmeicals.

For more environmental knowledge go to Environment Talk

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: To reduce your carbon footprint, only leave footprints when you travel. Never leave behind trash. Never pick vegetation unless you’re going to eat it. And you should never pick flowers, trees, or berries in a nation forest or nation park.

……It’s also good for your health too.

A few minutes of dedicated quiet each day reduces stress levels and offers a way to appreciate things that are obscured by noise and commotion. I recently read an article in a Men’s Health magazine while I sat at the dentist office and waited my turn at drilling. I realized as I sat there how quiet and calm it was in the entire building. Other than the phone ringing from time to time, the drilling in the distance and the dental assistance and secretary talking quietly, it was rather calm. I have had a tooth, giving me issues since June and finally decided to see my dentist (it needed a root canal by the way), but ultimately being affraid of the dentist, it is a rather calming place to be.

The pleasing sound of the drill could actually put someone to sleep if there wasn’t pain associated with it at times. It’s a smooth, steady, not ear piercing sound. I did not feel any pain with my dentist visit and ultimately I nodded off till I was disturded by my dentist when the procedure was over.

In silence and quiet, we are calmer. Silence helps us connect to that which we normally miss out on, elements of our experience that are subtle yet rich. The article in the magazine talked about places to go and have a 10-30 minute meditation after working out. It stated “that our bodies are being put through so much on a day to day basis, it begs for calm at one point within 24 hours, other than sleep.”

For some people, settling into silence isn’t easy. It can be associated with bottled-up energy and forced-down feelings. It’s easy to confuse silence with being silences, yet silence serves not to close us down but to open us up. Silence doesn’t sperate us from our inner world, it links us to is.

The world around you may not be quiet, but you can still be still. Silence does’t mean blocking out sound. You can experience the silence of not reacting to sound. If you do seek to reduce the surrounding decibels, invest in some noise-canceling headphones or tune to other trusted outlets of tranquility. Such as:

• Designed to facilitate, labriaries can also be conductive to contemplation and meditation.

• Most place of worship are open every day and offer instant, free access to silence regardless of your religious affiliation.

• While not required to be quiet, aficionados of musems tend to keep it to a low murmur.

• Between the opening chants, teacher’s instructions, and deep breathing, a great quiet can be savored at yoga studios.

• Creating silence in your everyday life is one thing, a hushed haven over another. The Insight Meditation Society offers silent retreats all year; other venues can be found at Retreats Online.

While giving up the adictive power of noise requires willpower. When was the last time you radio, television, iPod, and cellphone were all switched off at the same time? You don’t have to be a meditation guru to enjoy the benefits of silence. Start with specific moments. In the spirit of exploration, tell yourself that for a week you won’t turn on the TV during meals. You will just eat your food and be able to more fully experience its taste, and scent. View this as an adventure, not a shore and soon you will tune in to the healthful sound of silence.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Get a library card. There is a whole new world that lays beyond the doors of your local library. From books, magazines, and kids books and kits that can entertain an whole room of children to a great selection of movies that normally cost to rent at your local Blockbuster®. The library is a great place to go and get away from the hustle and stress of everyday tasks.

Enjoy tips: read more at Household Tips here on 451 Press.

Bicycling is one of the most sustainable and beneficial forms of transportation. American car owners drive an average of 40 miles per day. If they rode a bike instead, they could save 14 gallons of gas (an a good bit of money) each week. They would burn around 500 calories per hour while helping keep the air clean and the climate cool. Here’s howto be an earth-friendly cyclist;

1. Buy used or reconditioned bikes: Check Recyled Cycles or eBay

2. Make your bike fit you life: Those who travel with bikes after or use public tansportation might consider a bike that folds to a smaller size. Montague Co offers a full-size folding bicycle; Bike Friday sells a small-wheel bike that folds to hit in a standard suitcase.

3. Increase your wattage: If your one-way car commute is 10 miles or less, an electric bicycle will get you there in about the same amount of time. Electric bikes are everyday bicycles with an added battery-powered electric motor that you plug in to recharge; they are perfect for a sweat-free trip to the workplace. Wilderness Energy sells electric bike conversion kits.

4. Switch to pertroleum-free bicycle products: Biodegradebable degreasers and vegetable-based lubricants will keep your wheels turning. Soy Clean offers a soy-based multipurpose lubricant; Pedras offers a biodegradeaboe degreaser made form citrus extracts.

5. Save bicycles from the landfill: Resource Revival recycles old bicycle parts into clocks, tables, picture frams and jewlery., For a list of more recycle programs, visit the International Bicycle Funds website, At iBike.

(Some information gathered from: Sustainable Travel Internationals Green Gear Guide)

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Be sure to clean your fridge coils once a month for better productivity.

These bed and breakfasts reflect the best in eco-conscious building.

• LAS MANOS BED & BREAKFAST (BUENA VISTA, COLORADO)

This relaxing, earthly retreat in Fourteener country named for its mane 14,000 foot or higher peaks, is a glorious Southwestern-style straw bale home. Guests can request a massage from owners Colleen Finley and William McQueen, both certified massage therapists, in their rooms or on a private balcony with breathtaking views of Mt. Princeton. Monarch Ski Resort and Ski Cooper are each about an hours drive away. In summer, rafters and kayakers shoot the Arkansas River rapids. Climbing mountains and dipping in hot springs.

The Green Factor: Completely off the grid, Las Manor runs on solar and wind power. The adobe walls are made from mud collected on the property, wood for flooring and cabinets is locally harvested blue-stain pine killed by beetle infestation. To save enrgy, laundry dries in the mountain air.

• EVE’S GARDEN ORGANIC B&B (MARATHON, TEXAS)

This artsy, quirly oasis is built from adobe and papercrete (light, superb insulation made partically from old newspapers.) The arched, domed architecture is influenced by Spanish, Middle-Eastern and nouveau-California styles. Explore the area’s lively communities: Marathon, Mara, Alpine and Terlingua. Marathon is 40 miles north of Big Bend National Park’s main entrance. The park used to be the main reason to go there, but these days “Far Out, Far West Texas” is an attraction in and of itself.

The Green Factor: Owner Kate Thayer tends an organic garden and sells pesticide-free bouquets; her partner Clyde Curry makes papercrete bricks from old newspapers and junk mail.

• CEDAR HOUSE INN & YURTS (DAHLONEGA, GEORGIA)

Set in the lush north Georgia Wine Country 70 miles north of Atlanta, these yurts feature canopied beds and private decks. Visit Dahlonega’s Holly Theater just west of the historic town square or head to the highest waterfall east of the Mississippi in Amicalola State Park. On you way, stop at the Funky Chicken Art Project, an art gallery set inside an old chicken coop, and visit the Garden of Peace Project .

The Green Factor: As members of the Green Hotels Associatioon, owners Mary Beth and Fred Tanner incorporate passive solar principles throughout the property. The inn’s low-flow toilets and showers and a pesticide free lawn and garden keep with their earth friendly principles. Guests who stay in the light-on-the-land yurts have use if a shower house and composting toilet.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Buy energy-efficient appliances (look for the Energy Star label)