Green Angels in Charleston

Suffice it to say, our trip to Charleston wasn't the most eco-friendly trip. There was lots of driving and the campsite had limited recycling facilities. And there was lots of DEET used in the prevention of mosquitoes (but, OMG, it was so necessary - I got "et" up by those horrible little vamps).But, ya'll, we camped. Camped. No electricity involved. People don't really ever camp anymore, apparently. There weren't very many people located in the camping area of the park. But there were plenty of RVs.
We did our best and we had a heck of a good time. Many campfire adventures ensued every evening after the sun set.
~Am~

Making a difference on vacation

(Via flickr.)

I will be going, in a few short days, to the beach with a couple of friends. While there, I'm going to do my darnedest to be as eco-friendly as possible. Here are some things that I'm going to do to reduce my waste on the trip:

-Use personal water bottle instead of purchasing water bottles
-Use personal coffee cup instead of using the horrible non-recycle to-go cups
-Bring tote bags for shopping instead of using plastic store bags
-Use container from home for left overs instead of styrofoam containers
-Pick up trash that isn't mine on the beaches I visit

~Am~

The American Chestnut Foundation

On Tuesday I had a job interview with a great organization, the American Chestnut Foundation (TACF).

The interview went really well and I really enjoyed talking with the President & CEO, Bryan, and the Communications Director, Meghan Jordan. They've just recently moved their headquarters to Asheville and many of their staff members are still in Vermont.

TACF's goal "is to restore the American chestnut tree to its native range within the woodlands of the eastern United States, using a scientific research and breeding program developed by its founders." They are a wonderful organization, doing great things for our environment and bringing awareness to important environmental issues.

Check them out!
~Am~

KAT

In my last visit to the lovely Lulu (way back in September), I walked many miles around Lu's campus (UT). While there, I noticed not only were that there were tons and tons of students walking to classes (OMG! UT is so big! I went to a college that has 100 times less students!), but that were also tons of students using the bus system.

(Pic from sleepless_aquarius, via Flickr.)

Knoxville's transit system is called KAT (Knoxville Area Transit), and I was impressed to find out that they use alternative fuels in the running of their buses. In further research, I discovered many of their buses are ran on biodiesel.

I am so happy to make this discovery. Especially, since I found it in a place where I did not expect it. I took a vacation from Asheville to Knoxville, and what did I find? Some of Asheville's best values right in the heart of a giant college campus. :)

So the next time you are in Knoxville make sure you use the bus system. You'll be helping out both the city of Knoxville and the planet Earth.
~Am~

green your wedding!

I have to admit, even though I seem like a girl who doesn't dream of her wedding, I am. My dream wedding used to be extravagant and over-the-top and no doubt expensive. But as I 've grown older, more realistic and my priorities have changed, I now dream of a simple, green, eco-friendly, and of course, fun wedding. In building my dreams with real places, people and things, I've done a little research on how to make a wedding green.

(Photo courtesy of OnceWed on Flickr.)

Greatgreenwedding is probably the one of the most comprehensive green wedding sites. It has information on how to turn every facet of your wedding green. But other than greatgreenwedding, there are many sources to check out, like these...

http://www.aboutmyplanet.com/environment/green-wedding/
http://green-wedding-ideas.blogspot.com/
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/go-green/weddings/
http://www.grist.org/advice/how/2008/04/29/

Have any advice for making a great, green wedding? Let us know!
~Am~

responsible traveling

(Eep! Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica, erupting. I've seen this! And I want to see it again! - Pic from guano.)

I've had a hankering lately to travel, although I'm in no way financially able. So in lieu of my dreamed travels, I wanted to talk about traveling responsibly. By traveling responsibly I mean (definition via Go Green Travel Green):

-Thinking about your impact on the environment (both the physical and social environment) when you travel.
-Doing your part to minimize your impact on the environment – so that tourism in your destination can be maintained in the long run.
-Understanding eco-friendly choices you can make.
-Making eco-friendly choices when they are options.
-Doing your research to be a responsible traveler.
-Saving money by making low-impact choices.

In this day and age it's absolutely vital that you travel responsibly. How far you go and how you get there is, no matter what, going to have an impact on the environment. Traveling by airplane has by far the worst affect on our environment. And the further you travel away from your home the more potential harm you will incur. But there are ways to cut down on this damage.

For instance, "voluntourism tours" are avaiable. These tours are where you volunteer in the area you are seeing so that you can do something good for the community you are visiting. Or, instead of paying someone to do it for you, you could just look into what local organizations are located in the particular area and contact the person in charge to set up some time where you could help them.

For accommodations, you could stay at a local (mom n' pop) hotel or do a home stay with a local family. It's important that you try to support the local businesses and economy and shop at places that has their profits go directly to the area, instead of shopping at big, commercial stores that you can find anywhere else in the U.S.

Here's some more resources you should check out if you are concerned about traveling responsibly on your next vayk!
-Responsible Travel
-Eco-Travel Logue
-And check out Go Green Travel Green's blog. It's super-informative and fun to read!

Happy travels!
~Am~

southeast gas crisis

I wanted to take this opportunity to talk about something that is affecting me, my friends and family, and much of the Southeastern U.S. And this is the gas crisis that has been happening recently.

Fellow blogger SensibleKitty has also been blogging about the situation in Asheville. She has a unique position on this crisis because her housemate WordPlaySam actually works at a gas station. I think everyone should take a visit to her blog and read about her housemate's first-hand account of the situation.

(Photo from Mother Jones article.)

This gas shortage just really makes me more encouraged to start riding a bike, to take public transportation more often, to walk more often and to do carpooling. It also really emphasizes the need for our country and government to take charge of looking into more alternative energies and fuels. This complete reliance of oil is hurting all of us.
~Am~

zip cars

Don't have a car? Well, I don't. Although I know it helps me maintain a smaller footprint on this Earth, it makes it incredibly inconvenient for me now that I don't live in the city. Having no car doesn't mean you're stranded though. There are lots of options! (Especially if you live in a public transportation-friendly city!) Here is what I have available to me in Asheville:

-City Bus (Not the best in Asheville; needs more routes and more frequent routes.)
-Greyhound Bus (...For when I need to go to another city, although it can be a bit on the sketchy side sometimes.)
-Bicycle (Yay for bicycles; unfortunately, I really can't ride one.)
-Renting a Car (...For when you are going on that road trip!)

(A Zip Car!)

There are many more options then these, of course, for others, but one option I recently found was the Zip Car. Zip Car is technically rental cars but there's a twist to these. Zip Car is actually a "car sharing" company. Zip Car's mission is to make it where people use cars less often and, therefore, so that less cars will be bought.

To find out more about Zip Car and to see if they are available in your area, visit zipcar.com.
~Am~

A DisneyWorld Surprise

My friends and I went to Disney World while we were in Florida last week. One of the friends has a brother who lives in Orlando and works at Disney. Since he works there, he is able to get guests free tickets to the parks. And how can you pass up a chance to get into Disney free? So we went to the Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM). While we were in the Animal Kingdom, what did I find to my surprise? Nothing but formidable efforts on Disney's part to jump on the green wagon!

(The Kilimanjaro Safari ride in the Animal Kingdom; very sustainable I'm sure...)

While having a mid-morning snack with my ladies, we noticed we were sipping our tasty carbonated beverage out of a paper straw. Yes, a paper straw! I had never seen this before, or even heard of it. And then I looked around and began to notice other efforts the park was making. Such as, both trash receptacles and recycling containers and non-bleached and 100% post-consumer waste napkins. Unfortunately, it seem these efforts were only being made in this park. Hollywood Studios did not reflect the same theme in their straws or napkins. When I went online to Disney World's website later on I couldn't find anything about their green efforts. I would have thought they would have had some kind of mission statement somewhere about it, but alas, there is none I can find. But I think, well, at least they're making some effort to become more sustainable and green...but I'm sure they're a long, long way from being remotely sustainable.

C for effort, Disney Word, C for effort...

~Am~

Floridiot Trip

Hey everyone, Am here. And I'm reporting from Savannah, Georgia. I've been in Florida this past week with a couple of friends of mine and we've been sightseeing/relaxing like some mad women. The one, and only, bad part of this trip has been the extreme lack of internet access. And now, finally, for the second time on this trip, I am able to gain some internet access. And instead of catching up on the work that I'm scarily behind on, I am writing a post on here. :)

There have been a couple of interesting finds while in Florida. And really they were found in some of the most surprising places. Now that I've whetted your appetites, I'll let you linger on those thoughts while I let you know about one of the things I'm most proud of doing on this trip...

(I took a picture of my own, but it wouldn't load.)

This would be using my "not a paper cup" coffee cup. I got this cup after many months of guilt to being addicted to coffee and having that coffee being sadly served in non-recycle coffee cups. Coffee cups are not recycle and neither are their lids. This makes a recycle- and coffee-addict very sad. And I fortunately remembered to bring it on the trip! The cup is made of porcelain and and the lid is made of silicone. It's also very heavy-duty. Being the clutz I am, I am relieved to have this kind of cup. Perfect! So kids, the next time you're itching for a coffee fix grab your "not a paper cup" coffee cup and grab that organic coffee!
~Am~

Green Travels (Lu)

Sustainable, unbelievably creative, but not so affordable. This RV is indeed the future of green traveling. I was quite impressed with the ingenuity of this design. You can reserve yours (start saving your moola) or simply dream of this RV by viewing their site here ; ) The unbelievable Westfalia Verdier Solar Power

-Lu