Well, the lightning bugs are finally out by my house and the garden is bursting with buds. This all can only mean one thing — mosquito bites, critters munching on the leaves of my plants, and ants contemplating their move to enter my home. What is a green minded homeowner to do?

Fear not eco-warriors! There are plenty of things you can do to keep the bugs where they belong and protect your skin and plants from the biters without harming nature too much.

Much like last year, the slugs are in full force in my garden but I am prepared to stop them from making a meal out of my veggies. Beer. Thats right! Beer. Its all you need to keep the slugs away. They like the hops in the golden liquid and they aren’t even snobs about what kind you buy them. I have trays in my garden which get filled up every now and again. I have also heard some gardeners bury a bottle of beer so the soil is at the lip of the bottle allowing less rain water to get in and the beer lasting longer.

Last year we ended up with a swarm of flies around the house. Turned out they came from a loaf of bread we had purchased at a local bakery — what a mess! We tried fly tape but really the best thing that worked wonders — a jar full of vinegar. They fly in and they don’t fly out. Done!

Mosquitoes in your backyard? Tired of all those itchy bites? We can help that too! I recently purchased Bonide’s Mosquito Beater. Its a bottle you attach to your hose and spray it on. Has very little smell and lasts even after a few rains. It really did work wonders for our swampy backyard which was a breeding ground. And for those bites? Try defending your legs and arms with some lavender essence. Planting lavender in your yard can help too. Whatever you do, steer clear of any product which contains DEET. Its dangerous to you, your kids, and the environment.

Have ants (or may other similarly annoying bugs which manage to get inside) and not really into homemade fixes? I am a bit of a fanatic about what gets sprayed around my cats, but there are some new products out on the market that are less toxic and can be used around cats, dogs, and kids. EcoSMART is the brand I have recently been trying. Works on the spot, but has a bit of a strange smell. Not chemical smell, but sort of a hippie herb-like fragrance. Apparently it doesn’t leave a pesticide residue and so far as I can tell there was nothing to clean up afterwards.

EcoSMART also makes a weed killer that does an incredible job and has been instrumental in helping us get a new home’s yard in shape from all the weeds which came with the seed the builder put down.

There are many many more remedies for summer pests. What is your favorite natural pest control or repellant?

Photo courtesy of Jeff Kubina through Creative Commons License.

Tiny steps you take everyday can make a huge difference in the impact you can have on the planet. If you are a beginner, slightly altering your laundry habits can not only save water but also save in your power bills and conserve energy.

Ninety-two percent of American households own clothes dryers. In comparison, less than 4% of Italian households own dryers. Further, eighty percent of American households dry between 2 and 9 loads per week, not to mention the millions of us who use multi-housing laundry or coin-operated laundry facilities. Pretty shocking right? If that weren’t enough, while a quarter of Americans use Energy Star washers, there are no Energy Star dryers on the market, further compounding the amount of energy we use to dry our clothes.*

Just by line drying even one of the loads you do a week you can make a significant impact. Project Laundry List, an organization dedicated to helping people line dry their clothing, estimates that about 8% of households in the United States line dry their clothes during 5 months of the year. According to them, if all Americans line dried their clothes for ten months a year, we could avoid 12 million metric tons of carbon dioxide a year from entering the atmosphere. That’s the same as the annual greenhouse gas emission from 2.2 million cars or 3 coal fired power plants.

Needless to say, we aren’t talking about small fries here!

The problem is that while there are more than 300,000 community associations, but the majority of them restrict or ban clotheslines. In response, Levi Strauss & Co. is encouraging consumers to think differently about their laundry habits with its “Care Tag for Our Planet” campaign and now with its “Care to Air” contest. The company is working to spread the word about the positive environmental impact of line drying and encourage creative design solutions that may change the way people dry their clothes.

Starting on June 1, you can submit original air-drying solutions as part of Levi’s “Care to Air” contest, with the chance to win $10,000 in prizes. The company is looking for the next generation of air drying design ideas that will improve or replace the typical clothesline. Design ideas will be accepted from June 1- July 31, 2010, and winners will be announced on August 16. Full contest details are available on www.levi.com/care.

The best part of changing your laundry habits is that your clothes will last longer (don’t you wonder where all that lint came from?), sunlight bleaches and sanitizes your clothes, and air dried clothes smell great without chemicals! Considering 23.8 billion pounds of clothing and textiles end up in landfills each year.

In case you need an extra kick to make some change in your laundry you can also promise to care for your jeans and the planet by taking the Care Tag Pledge on-line at www.levi.com/care, vowing to washing in cold, washing less, line drying and donating unwanted clothing to Goodwill®.

*This is due to the fact that all dryers operate at the same efficiency because no technology exists to improve them and differentiate their efficiency from one product to another.

To make it easier to experience America’s Great Outdoors, the National Park Service is waiving entrance fees, so visitors can enjoy all 392 national parks for free April 17-25. This is great news for all of you spring breakers out there looking for a quick trip to the great outdoors. For others, its a perfect opportunity to experience your local national parks in bloom this spring.

At more than 100 parks, there will be specials on concessions, lodging, and transportation in the parks to give further incentive to get out and explore.

If that were not enough to get you out in the nice weather and out of the winter doldrums, take a moment to check out the list of events parks plan to have around the country nearly all of which are family friendly. For those of you looking for ways to give back to your community as a way to celebrate this year’s 40th Earth Day, the National Parks Service has more than 400 volunteer opportunities announced.

For those of you resigned to spend the week in your office staring longingly out your window, check out the virtual tours of your favorite national parks and enjoy the scenery virtually!

So which park are you making plans to visit next week? Get out there and explore!

Purchasing a car is likely the second largest investment you will make – and one that you will likely have to live with for at least the next few years – so you want to make the best, cleanest, most fuel efficient, safest, and cost effective decision. For my husband and I this decision has lead us beyond the land of hybrid vehicles and into the land of diesel engines.

The 2009 Green Car of the Year award went to a Turbo Diesel Injected (TDI) vehicle – the Volkswagen Jetta Clean Diesel (TDI). This is the first time the award has gone to a clean diesel vehicle. For Americans, a diesel car probably sounds like an old, dirty engine, but its time for all of us to get back on the diesel bandwagon. Europeans have been driving these new diesels for years, but these cars have only recently been able to meet the stringent American emissions standards. In fact while adventuring to Copenhagen, Denmark, it was hard not to see one of these (or the wagon version) cars on the street — even as taxi cabs!

Hands down, this is a performance vehicle. Its powerful, even though it is only a four cylinder vehicle. Because my husband and I have been seeking a car that would allow us to become a one car family and yet still have plenty of space for lugging things home, someday growing a family, and hopefully space for a dog, we looked at the sportwagon version of the VW TDI. Testing driving this car, we were nearly sold, but it was the little bonuses for the price that really sealed the deal. This car has gadgets galore — and most of them are standard! Between the Bluetooth (which even allows you to play music over the speakers that is streamed from your iPhone), the touch screen radio, and the digital dashboard readouts, this car has just about everything a geek could want! Further, the seats fold down perfectly flat, the front seats (and back!) are heated, and the side view mirrors have a defrosting option. All around, this car is fun to drive.

Its not all fun and games in these cars though. Some of the toys genuinely help the driver drive more efficiently. Much like the Ford and the Toyota hybrids which display the fuel efficiency of the car, the VW and Audi clean diesel cars show the average fuel economy for your current driving trip and your tank of fuel. They also show you instant fuel economy based on the speed you are traveling. These gauges help drivers learn which driving styles generate the best fuel efficiency for the vehicle. Of course, also like most of the hybrids, most clean diesel cars also offer built in navigation which can also help you increase your fuel economy by showing you the most efficient way to get from place to place.

But what’s so great about the clean diesel technology and how is it different today than it was years ago? First of all, today’s diesel engines are highly efficient. The VW Jetta Sportswagon, for example, gets 30mpg in the city and 41mpg on the highway. Best yet, these mpg stats are likely to be surpassed. (It is a Jetta TDI that currently holds the world record for best fuel efficiency with 67.1mpg.) With 236 foot pounds of torque, this vehicle is powerful to say the least, able to move quickly from a standing start and pass other moving cars with a light tap of the petal. In comparison, old diesel engines were known for being loud, hard to start, and belching smoke, a far cry from these clean engines, even if they were efficient for its time. With prices for diesel fuel not much more than that of gasoline and the prices staying far more steady, its no wonder why Americans are beginning to again look towards these new technologies.

Interestingly, the Audi A3 clean diesel TDI is the 2010 Green Car of they year. This makes two years running for a clean diesel cars to win the coveted award.

So if you are wondering what it is my husband and I purchased… you guessed right! The VW Jetta Sportswagon TDI. We call her “Gretta the Jetta.”

As I mentioned some time ago, my husband and I have been in the market for a new vehicle – but not any old car! As professional advocates on climate change issues, it is extremely important to us to make a choice that supports our daily efforts to improve fuel efficiency, keep our air clean, and reduce our carbon footprint.

When we’ve spoken about out interest in purchasing a new car with our friends, they all seem to simply think the obvious choice for us is a hybrid vehicle. But just because the vehicle includes hybrid technology, does not always mean that it’s the most fuel efficient. New technologies are always coming out and while we rely on manufacturers to tell consumers about the benefits, most have done a pretty lousy job. The educated car buyer is challenged to keep up with the innovations, learning the benefits, which manufacturer is using the technologies and when they will be brought to the marketplace. It’s not an easy task.

All hybrid technology is not created equal – and they differ from one manufacturer to another.Learn more about hybrids by checking out a post I wrote about them some time ago. You cannot rely upon car salesmen to tell you about the technology as many have not taken the time to learn about it or will be able to explain it well. Do your own research.

Compare vehicles that include hybrid technology with conventional models making sure to look at price, miles per gallon, and even maintenance. If you are more of a long distance, highway driver, hybrid vehicles may not increase your mpg enough to make it worth the extra money. For you, it may make more sense to seek out a conventional or diesel (TDI – Turbocharged Direct Injected) vehicle with excellent highway ratings. More on TDI another day… For those of you who are more short distance, city traffic drivers, hybrids may better suit your needs since the vehicle recharges the battery while breaking and operates utilizing the battery while slowing and stopping.

It’s important to also realize that hybrids will soon be coming out with another big improvement – plugs! No, this doesn’t mean you will be required to plug in your car or park near an electricity source. What it means is that you will have the option to charge the battery of the car with electricity from your home, allowing the vehicle to rely on the battery more than the gas tank. Still you can always fill up at the local station and still recharge the battery through slowing and stopping. Best of all, this improvement to the hybrid technology will come with a battery with much improved energy saving capacity. Hopefully, theses cars are only right around the corner, so if you are not quite in the market for a new car but are just starting to think about it, look out for new plug-in hybrids coming to a car dealer near you in the next few years – if not sooner!

Still, while the U.S. market has just barely more than a handful of hybrids currently available, they simply do not seem to fit our bill when it comes to picking a car. Sure the Toyota Prius, the best selling hybrid currently on the market, is worth a look and remains on our list, it does not have the hauling capacity we had hoped to maintain. The capacity is ok, and certainly doable but for a young couple likely to one day use the car for cross country trips, kids, and our occasional furniture shopping, it is only barely as big as we want – even with the seats folding down flat (a major perk in our book!). We do not prefer the relative low quality and lack of comfort of the Ford Escape and while the Saturn Vue was a pretty good ride, we felt it had very few tech options we wanted for the price, not to mention that we learned just after test driving that GM would be closing the line at the end of this year.

If price were no matter, the Lexus RX450h would be on the top of our list. It’s gas mileage is excellent (though could always be better!) and truly is an exquisite design of luxury. Unfortunately, that luxury comes with a hefty price tag that happens to be out of our ideal range.

So the question remains, will we find a vehicle that is both fuel efficient and family friendly in size which fits into our (hardly meager) price range at under $35,000? Stay tuned!

It’s hard to believe, but more than 28.3 billion pounds of clothing and textiles make their way to U.S. trash heaps annually. In Santa Barbara alone, more than 11 million pounds of usable clothing and household textiles end up in the landfill every year. The good news is that people are starting to take notice!

Forming a new partnership, Levi Strauss and Goodwill announced this week a new label – the Care Tag for Our Planet, a new initiative that aims to put billions of pounds of unwanted clothing to good use instead of into landfill.  Beginning in January 2010, the Levi’s® brand will be the first major retailer to include messaging on product care tags that encourages people to donate unwanted clothing.

Donating your clothes should be the first option when deciding what to do with clothes you no longer want. Even worn out clothes can be donated because many thrift stores and homeless shelters work in close partnership with textile recyclers who will take items which are no longer suitable to be worn. Donating makes a significant difference in the amount of clothes entering our landfills. The 166 community-based Goodwills in the United States and Canada collectively divert more than 1.5 billion pounds of clothing and textiles every year from landfill by recovering the value in people’s unwanted material goods.

You can make donating easy by keeping a paper shopping bag in your closet so that when you have a piece of clothing you no longer want, you can store it until there are enough pieces to make the trip to your local thrift shop or homeless shelter. In my closet, I actually keep a couple of bags – one for clothes ready for donation and another for clothes that I no longer want but is in near excellent shape so I can make a few bucks selling them to our local upscale thrift shop. Whatever the shop won’t take, goes right into the other bags destined for the homeless shelter.

With Levi and Goodwill getting in the act to remind you and I to donate the clothes when we are through with them, millions of pounds will be diverted from the landfill – clothing thousands more people and adding to the stream of recycled raw materials available.

This is not the first green minded action for Levi Strauss. For years, they have been a leader in encouraging environmentally friendly practices, from water quality guidelines to restrictions on the substances that can be used to make its clothes. Embracing the cradle to cradle concept of their product, the company conducted studies which showed that they greatest impact their clothing has on the environment is actually after the pair of jeans leaves the store to go home with the customer. For this reason, Levi encourages their customers to wash their clothes in cold water and line dry when possible – a significant savings the energy needed to warm the water and dry the clothes.

With the help of company initiatives like Goodwill and Levi, consumers are being given the reminders and opportunities they need to do right by nature. Have more great ways to utilize old clothing or ideas for how to give your clothes a new lease on life? Let us know in the comments below.

The time has finally come when my husband and I will be consolidating to just one car and I can hardly wait! While car shopping is certainly not my favorite pastime, the prospect of getting to vote with my wallet for the cars that should be on the road is exhilarating.

Considering that in the United States, the largest group among American’s owning at least one car, actually own three, it’s no small feat to go from two cars to one. We live close to a metro train stop and usually take public transportation to work. We rarely are using two cars at the same time, these days, so it make this transition to stepping down to one car that much easier.

We currently lease a small, but efficient 2007 Honda Civic and own a small, but as efficient as she can be 2001 Toyota Rav4. The Rav4 is my baby, surviving the worst car crash I have ever been in, experiencing Vermont winters (she’s only a 2×4), and seeing me through my tumultuous 20s. While she may not have been the most fuel efficient cars of her time, she has been a dear friend. Replacing her towing capacity, reliance, and comfort while maintaining top notch fuel efficiency is our number goal in finding the perfect vehicle – the question is: are there any new automobiles on the market up to the challenge?

The simple answer right now is: we just aren’t sure yet. We have looked at the obvious choices like all the hybrid models currently available to the U.S. market. We have researched the conventional engine models which have “good” gas mileage, and we have begun the investigation into new diesel technologies which are not only cleaner than your father’s diesel engines but more efficient too. But there are other aspects to consider too – do they have the room we need? Are they something I want to be in for a long ride half way across the country when we visit the family? Will they last and have excellent resale value five to eight years from now? And sadly, will the manufacturer even exist by year’s end let alone for the life of the vehicle?

We are both professional environmentalists, who both even advocate for strong climate legislation for a living, so it is important to us to make the right decision in a time when consumers can really make a statement just by their purchase.

Over the next few days and weeks, I will be chronicling our efforts to find the perfect auto and hopefully making it easier for you to follow suit when you are ready to look for your next four wheel best friend. Have a question or have advice, comment below!

Faith-based activism is certainly in vogue these days so it should be no surprise that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced last week that houses of worship can now earn the Energy Star label.

There are an estimated 370,000 houses of worship across the United States which now can use Portfolio Manager to receive an energy performance rating, and the most energy efficient among them can earn the Energy Star label.

According to the US EPA website, most congregations can cut energy costs by up to 30% just by investing strategically in efficient equipment, facility upgrades and maintenance.  Worship facilities in the United States spend more than $3 billion annually on energy costs. Improving the energy efficiency of America’s houses of worship by just 10 percent would save nearly 2 billion kilowatt-hours each year, preventing more than 1 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions and representing a cost savings of about $315 million annually.

US EPA says that if America’s more than 300,000 houses of worship cut energy use by 10 percent nearly $200 million would be saved for congregations’ missions and other priorities. Think that’s all? They also say that more than 5.4 billion kWh of electricity would be available without additional cost and pollution and if that were not enough, more than 2 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions would be prevented, equivalent to the emissions of about 400,000 cars, or to planting over a half million acres of trees.

Don’t waste another minute reaching out to your house of worship and helping reduce the congregation’s carbon footprint. US EPA has a guide to help members work with their church, synagogue, mosque or any other religious building. With your help, your congregation could be the next to be awarded the Energy Star Congregation label and would be well on your way to reducing greenhouse gases.

Today we give a shout out to eco-friendly taxi services. Everyday hundreds of thousands of people use taxi services to get around America’s cities. More often than not, those rides are for just one person. Certainly this is not the most environmentally conscious way to travel and it’s not the most economically savvy method either. But fear not, there is a new website that  can make you at least feel better about your taxi use – at least if you are hailing one in New York!

CabCorner.com is a new website which helps you find people to share a cab which will either get you both to your same destination or help you share a ride which will reduce your overall cab fare. Currently, they are only in New York City, but their site says that they are coming soon to Washington, DC, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago. What could be easier than planning a bit ahead, letting the database know where you are headed and finding someone to split the cost with you – all in the name of reducing your carbon footprint and saving a few bucks? This site is simple to navigate and even allows you to decide the sex of your traveling companions. Brilliant, I think!

The only thing that could be better for local for-hire transportation is to hail a hybrid. Eco-friendly cab services are popping up all over the country. Numerous cities nationwide are turning over their taxi fleets to hybrid vehicles making it easier for residents and tourists to hail more energy efficient vehicles every day. Even in markets where there have been mandates, cleaner vehicles are hitting the roads to give you a lift.

Looking to get even one more leg up on the eco scale for your local transportation needs? Take a bus or ride the local trains. Buses across the country are getting greener everyday too. Many cities are cleaning up their fleet by introducing natural gas and hybrid electric buses to the city streets. These vehicles significantly reduce pollution and are more energy efficient. Next time you hop on a bus, check out the side to see if it says what type of fuel it uses – you might be surprised!

Welcome to August – the month of more water usage than any other month of the year in the United States. It’s time we identify methods to keep ourplants happy and green and still reduce our appetites for the ubiquitous clearliquid.

On average, an American household uses about 260 gallons per day, but this amount climbs to around 1,000 gallons per day during peak water use season with some households using as much as 3,000 gallons a day, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

But we can all do more to reduce our water consumption. According to EPA’s WaterSense Program, homeowners can save as much as $110 a year just by following a few tips and making a few changes.

August tends to mean hot, dry weather leading to more yard watering just to keep our plants alive and our neighbors from wondering why we stopped caring for our yards. To save money on your water bills set sprinklers to water your plants only early in the morning or at dusk. Watering in the middle of the day when it is hottest means more of the water will evaporate before being absorbed by vegetation. Purchase a rain gauge and water only one inch of supplemental water in the absence of rain. Your rain gauge will tell you how much water will be needed if your area received rain. Also before watering plants, press your finger into the soil up to the first knuckle and see if it is moist. If the soil is dry and your finger comes out clean, the plant needs water.

If your grass needs water, set up sprinklers in the early morning hours or in the evening and attach timers to them. Nothing wastes more water than forgetting about your sprinkler for hours. Timers are available at most hardware stores and can be as simple as an egg timer mechanism or as technologically advanced as a digital interface. Prices vary so check out reviews online so you can make the most informed decision before purchasing.

Install rain barrels around your home at the ends of gutter downspouts. These barrels will hold rain water for you until your plats are ready to use it. I installed one this summer on our new home and we have barely used our hose at all for our vegetable garden and household plants. Purchase or make a rain barrel which has a spout as close to the bottom as possible. Make sure the barrel has a screen on the top to reduce the number of bugs which can enter the water. To keep any larvae from germinating, add mosquito dunks to the water – they are non-toxic and will not hurt your plants. If the water in the barrel begins to smell at all, do not worry. Add a capful or two of bleach to the water and let it sit for a day before you use it again. Rain barrels offer free water and help reduce runoff in your neighborhood. Some municipalities offer financial help with purchasing these inexpensive barrels and some have tax rebates. Make sure to check with your municipality to see what they offer.

Outdoors isn’t the only place you can save a little water, though. Keep a pitcher of water in your refrigerator so that you always have cold water on hand and you do not have to run the tap water until it is cold. Wash only full loads of laundry and dishes, and scrape dishes instead of rinsing when loading the dishwasher. Lastly, put your favorite handyperson to work fixing leaks around the home, which can waste about 200 gallons per week. Fixing leaks can add up to about $50 in utility bill savings annually.

Renovating or planning to upgrade your kitchen or bath? Look for EPA’s WaterSense label on toilets, faucets and faucet accessories which have helped Americans save more than 9.3 billion gallons of water and realize more than $55 million in savings on water and sewer bills in just 2008. That is enough water to supply 100,000 average households for a year.