I like to think that I am this unique and super-thrifty college student, and in some ways I am.  But sometimes I am a typical college student when it comes to food.  Exhibit A: my inclination to order Chinese take-out especially during final exam week.  Last year, I started watching The Food Network quite frequently as an attempt to get myself out of this slump. While watching, I noticed how much these chefs/tv-hosts used fresh herbs.  I bought myself some fresh parsley and noticed how much of a difference it made in my most basic pasta dish (whole rye pasta, butter, a little milk, and Parmesan).

A year later, I started making legitimate attempt to start eating healthier and cooking more for myself.  I figured it would help my waistline and my wallet.  I picked up online recipes and cookbooks of healthy dishes using fruits and veggies that were in season and attempted to cook for myself.  After I gained some confidence from watching countless cooking shows, I started making making my own recipes.  I started experimenting with herbs because I learned how one of the simplest ingredients can yield a delicious and simply dish.

But while going to my organic grocery store, I was appalled at how expensive fresh herbs were-even in the summer!  But then I realized that all of these herbs were grown from plants (duh!).  My friend Lauren had previously started a small herb garden on her windowsill and I decided that this was a much better investment than paying 2-3 bucks for every small bunch.  I had never realized before how expensive fresh herbs could be.  I bought a pot and proceeded to my favorite organic store to buy organic soil and my three favorite herbs: rosemary, thyme and parsley.

At first this was a small investment.  The good thing is that you don’t need a green thumb to maintain a herb garden.  All you need is a windowsill.  I know quite a few friends like Lauren who do the same thing, and they gave me lots of tips.  For example, if your windowsill is in your kitchen, make sure you keep your kitchen clean.  My friends who didn’t keep their kitchens clean seemed to attract bugs.  When I made my herb garden, I had to make sure that I never left out any food and kept the area extremely prestine (a minor challenge for the average college student).  Also I needed to make sure that I remembered to water the plant everyday, but it was not the most exhausting challenge I have ever encountered.  I noticed that every so often a leaf started to dry out, but if that happened I just snipped it away.

It’s a pretty decent investment.  It’s simple math: one time you buy a plant, and you have fresh herbs for the rest of the summer (and into the fall if the light is still decent).  You add some green to your wallet and your household!  I encourage other bloggers and readers to try this technique, and see how eating green can be healthier, cheaper and tastier!

When I temporarily became a vegetarian I quickly became aware of how valuable beans were to a diet.  Cheap, convenient, and nutritious.  I use to hate beans a few years back and there are quite a few people who also dislike beans. I discovered that my dislike of beans were usually because of texture, like kidney beans for example…Blech.  But as I matured, I discovered I didn’t mind the texture much if they had the right complementing flavors.  I wouldn’t even go near kidney beans until I went to the DC Chili Cook-Off a few years ago, where I realized that they tasted perfectly with a little bit of fiesty American flavor.  The right amount of cayenne pepper, tomatoes and beef creates a great balance of flavor: spicy, acidic and hearty.

It’s summer, and it’s hot. When I was little, I loved running through sprinklers. We’ve been reticent to do that with our son, because it seems like a waste of water.

There are two waterpads in our town that I believe recycle the water that shoots out, but we have to drive to those.

In an attempt to cut back on our gas usage, we decided to buy our son a slip-n-slide. I know that to many that would be a waste of water, but we aren’t driving all over town.

Also, our son loses interest after a few minutes. We’ve been repositioning our slip-n-slide around our yard in order to spread out the water wealth to our grass.

Although the slip-n-slide isn’t the greenest of items, we did find an eco-friendly water hose – the Colorite Element Pure and Simple water hose. It’s not like shower heads and faucets that insert air into the stream and cut down on water usage. But it’s lead-free and pthalate-safe. This means that the water that our son inevitably swallows isn’t full of toxins.

The hose works well and our son loves slip-slip sliding. It’s the best solution we’ve found so far.

Do you have any greener suggestions for summer water play?

We’re at day 65 of the Gulf Coast oil spill. It’s been 65 days since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, killing 11 people and sending millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. They haven’t yet been able to dam up the flow.

It’s frustrating as an ordinary citizen to listen and read reports about the devastation. What can we do? There are several things, and we are going to outline some of them for you in this series about helping the Gulf Coast.

The first step is to educate yourself about the current facts and legislation concerning the spill.

Last week, BP agreed to set up $20 billion in an escrow account for people affected by the oil spill; President Obama also appointed former Mississippi Governor Ray Mabus to create a plan to help restore the Gulf Coast; and BP CEO Tony Hayward appeared before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

There are several pieces of legislation that have been filed in Congress dealing with oil spill. Most deal with requiring BP to pay the government for the cost of clean up, or they are about assisting businesses affected by the spill. To find out the latest on all of these bills, check out The Library of Congress’ website, Thomas.gov for the absolute latest info on these.

If you have thoughts about any of these bills or proposals, write your Representative and Senators. If there’s an upcoming election in your area, write the candidates.

The White House has a blog dedicated specifically to the oil spill that is updated with information about the oil spill regularly. There doesn’t seem to be a button for comments, but you can send your thoughts via the Contact Us page.

It’s also important to read stories about the oil spill and it’s impact. Read, watch, listen. This is a huge story and most news agencies are covering it. Get your news from several different sources to help inform your opinions.

It will be very hard to offer any assistance if you don’t know what’s going on.

The next part of this series will cover donations and volunteering.

For Mother’s Day, we got my mother a book and some pictures of the grandbabies. The present was easy, finding good wrapping was not. Mainly because I waited until the very last minute to think about it. Had I thought about it beforehand, I could have put it in a recyclable canvas bag or used the funnies. Alas, I didn’t. She didn’t get a creatively wrapped present.

But she would have if I had known about the BOBO wrap. These beautiful, eco-friendly scarves are based on the ancient Korean tradition called bojagi.

Instead of using wrapping paper, gift bags or plastic bags, you use the BOBO wrap to contain your stuff. Not only does it cut down on waste, but it’s also very pretty. My favorite color is Orange Pulp.

Don’t worry if it looks difficult to use, there’s a book called “The Wrapping Scarf Revolution” that gives detailed instructions on how to use your wrap.

And we have a copy of the book to give away! All you have to do is leave a comment telling us which BOBO Wrap you like the best and how you would use it.

We will have a drawing on Friday, June 25th.

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.