Carnival of the Green #193

The Carnival of the Green is a weekly blog phenomenon conceived of over pints of beer in London between Al Tepper of  City Hippy and Nick Aster of TriplePundit almost four years ago. It travels from blog to blog every Monday. TreeHugger became Carnival central in 2006 and each week we will point you to the Carnival every time it rolls into town. If you’re a blogger who likes to talk about green, then visit TreeHugger and sign up today!

Last weeks (August 10th) host was Victoria Klein and next week (August 24th) is Recycle Your Day.  Be sure to follow the Carnival as it continues to travel around the globe.

This week I have some green posts that even my (vegetarian) best friend will appreciate.  For starters, Steven Handel at The Emotion Machine talks about his Thoughts on Vegetarianism and Animal Rights.  Be prepared though, some of the videos involve animal cruelty and are pretty disturbing. 

Environmentally speaking, livestock are responsible for 18% of the world’s greenhouse gases, according to the United Nations’ online document “Livestock’s Long Shadow.”  This often leads many to leading a vegetarian lifestyle.  As a vegetarian, I’m sure you are always looking for new recipes.  Sally Kneidel offers one of her favorite vegan meals on Veggie Revolution this week.  Read, eat, and enjoy!

Vegetarianism is not the only way to green your food choices.  Eating organic foods will keep nasty pesticides from you and your family.  I try to choose organic on the Dirty Dozen when the prices are competitive.  One other thing I look for before I look at whether an item is organic is where it was grown.  If an organic apple was grown in Argentina and a regular apple was grown in Washington I personally feel that the one from Washington would be a more eco-friendly option.  Want to learn more about The Specifics of Eating Organic?  Go check out the blog at Gluffy.  There are some out there that say eating organic has a greater risk of bacteria such as e-coli.  Free Organic News has a simple post that defends organics.

The government has some very controversial bills in the system that will effect what we eat (and grow).  The Truth blog talks about H.R. 2749, The Food Safety Enforcement Act of 2009 that passed the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year.  The post titles “Facism on the Farm-H.R. 2749” explains how the bill will have a negative impact on small local farmers, including organic farmers.

A member of the ooffoo community picks up on the report published this week by the British Government on threats to global food security and presents thoughts on how individuals might still have a part to play in averting disaster. Can we make a difference, or is it down to scientific advancement and changes to mass agribusiness processes?

Don’t worry, I have some great blogs that DON’T talk about food! 

In our current economic state we are all learning how to trim our budget.  Don’t let your electricity bill get you down. If you spend the next weekend implementing a few really simple changes to your water heater, you could improve its performance by 25% or more. That’s cash in your pocket, bank account, or investment portfolio, not to mention less carbon in the atmosphere.  Visit Tyler at Frugally Green to learn his simple tips.  Looking for more ways to save money while living a greener lifestyle?  The Humane Connection explains the term MOGO-nomics: 12 Steps for Saving Money AND Making Humane Choices.

Are you a student who is going to college?  The Real Green Girl has a list of 14 Green Things to Bring to College.  Most of my regular readers don’t have to worry about college just yet with there babies and elementary school age kids so visit back here later this week as I show you the small changes we’ve made this year to send our first grader back to school.  I may even have some giveaways to help make your kids lunches waste-free.  (*Hint*Hint*)

Want more giveaways?  I’m sure you know Beth Terry at Fake Plastic Fish and her journey to become less dependant on plastic.  Beth has a terrific interview with Tiffany, proprietor of Picnic Basket Crafts, who tries to package her homemade personal care and cleaning items without plastic.  Also, a drawing to give away one plastic-free item to a lucky winner.

And I couldn’t have a Carnival of the Green without a special post for my cloth diaper friends!  Have you ever wanted to learn how to make your own laundry detergent?  I found some recipes at Wise Bread in their article Household Cleaning Hacks That Save You Money!  Or you could just wait until next week when I give away some Rockin’ Green Soap!

Thanks for visiting the Carnival of the Green and I hope that you take a look around my posts while you are here.

One more last minute entry from Erin at The Conscious Shopper came in while I was writing this.  Tips for conserving water, ordered from easiest to hardest ways to conserve.