What's Green with Betsy

Dispose of Unused Medications Properly [Green with Betsy]

Link: http://www.greenwithbetsy.com

Various pills (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One of my readers asked me about the proper disposal of unused or expired medications.  Great question!

There are two main reasons proper disposal is so important.  One, you don’t want children, teenagers, pets or others to get their hands on unused prescriptions or over the counter medications which can be harmful to their health or even deadly. Secondly, if medication is poured down the drain, flushed in the toilet, or simply thrown away, it will filter into the groundwater and end up in lakes and streams.  Though the effects on marine life, aquatic life and human life are unknown, it has opened the door for much-needed study.  According to disposemymeds.org, “A vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anticonvulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans.”

The best way to dispose of unused medications is to take them to community sponsored “Take Back” days or hazardous waste collection days.  The Drug Enforcement Administration along with state and local law enforcement agencies sponsors National Prescription Drug Take Back Days throughout the country.  According to the FDA, over 1.5 million pounds of medication have been removed from circulation since the program started.

Many police stations have a receptacle where you can take unused medications on an ongoing basis. You can also ask your pharmacy or doctor’s office; some have receptacles for disposal.  Check the disposemymeds.org search option to find a pharmacy with a take back program near you.

If absolutely no take back program is available in your area and no instructions for proper disposal are on the label, do not flush them down the toilet.  Instead throw them away using the following guidelines.

• Take them out of their containers and mix them with coffee grounds or kitty litter to make them less appealing to children, pets or someone who may be going through trash.
• Put them in a sealable bag to prevent leakage or breakage in the trash.
• Mark out all personal information on the container before recycling.

To avoid having to dispose of unused medications, get just what you need rather than a long-term supply;  medications and prescriptions often change.  The above tips apply to pet medications too!

Information compiled from www.fda.gov/drugs, www.medicinenet.com, andwww.Disposemymeds.org.

For more green tips, visit greenwithbetsy.com.

Yes, Even Weddings Can Be Green! [Green with Betsy]

Link: http://www.greenwithbetsy.com

Wedding season is upon us and there is nothing quite as special as planning your day. Elegant gowns, elaborate flower arrangements, limos, fancy foods and party favors are fabulous, but expensive and create a lot of waste, clearly impacting your carbon footprint.  A green wedding is just as lovely, and perhaps even more unique.  What makes a wedding green?

Choosing an outdoor venue is an obvious start.    A farm, the beach, a botanical garden or arboretum, your family’s back yard are all green options, and even greener if your wedding is during the day when you don’t need electricity.  If you prefer an indoor wedding, choose a green hotel with an environmental mission.

I know evites are super green, but I prefer traditional invitations which can also be eco-friendly.  Paper companies offer some clever, green papers beyond recycled such as paper made from made from cotton, bamboo, grass clippings, even recycled blue jeans, and they are beautiful!   Some papers even have plantable seeds imbedded in them.  Your guests will always remember your special day as they watch a plant grow from the invitation seeds.

Choose locally grown, in season flowers instead of imported ones, which are usually heavily sprayed with chemicals and grown under horrible working conditions.  If there are some exotic flowers you want, make sure they are VeriFlora certified sustainably grown ones.  Potted plants or even edible arrangements make lovely and unusual centerpieces.

Consider hiring a caterer who specializes in locally grown, seasonal foods.  Local food is fresher, has a much smaller carbon footprint and is more delicious. 

Most girls dream of the perfect wedding dress.  A more eco-friendly and economical option to an expensive designer dress worn only once is a vintage or a pre-worn dress. Restructuring a family wedding dress into your style and taste is always a lovely tribute to a family heirloom and definitely a green choice. There are some socially conscious designers who use natural fabrics like silk or cotton.

Being green doesn’t necessarily mean giving anything up – it means being aware and going with a more sustainable alternative.  

Information compiled from greenweddings.com

For more green tips, visit greenwithbetsy.com.

The Dreaded Deer Tick [Green with Betsy]

Link: http://www.greenwithbetsy.com

Due to the mild winter and the fact that ticks remained active, experts predict that this could be a bad year for ticks. Additionally, because it was a bad year for acorns, which meant declining mice populations for ticks to feed on, the deer tick will be looking for other sources of food.  

Wood ticks are larger than deer ticks, and can be easily spotted and removed.  A mature deer tick however, measures about half the size of a wood tick and is harder to see.  They often carry Lyme disease and should be removed right away.  Infections peak during May, June and July. 

Deer ticks are found in wooded areas and prefer to feed upon deer. The ticks wait on leaves and grass blades and attach themselves to any passing host they find. Humans often become accidental hosts of deer ticks.

What you can do to reduce your risk of getting Lyme disease?

• Avoid tall grasses
• Avoid deer paths
• Wear light colored clothing to spot them more easily
• Wear long sleeved shirts and pants tucked into your socks
• Use insect repellant
• Do tick checks with a magnifying glass
• Shower after being in an infected area
• Put your clothes in a hot dryer for 35 minutes
• Take garlic supplements to repel insects
• Treat pets to repel ticks and minimize their risk
• Keep grass mowed regularly and along boundary lines of your yard
• Get some guinea hens – they eat ticks, beetles and other garden insect pests

In addition you can treat your yard proactively in spring and early summer with organic tick control products such as pyrethrum, soap, Neem, garlic, and red pepper wax.  

For those readers who want to avoid chemical insect repellants for their pets, you can try a garlic powder and yeast supplement for pets.  Arbico Organics carries a good tasting one that is also good for the pet’s coat. The supplement probably works better for fleas than ticks. Never give a dog or cat raw onion or garlic however – they are toxic to animals.   One of my readers finds Diatomaceous earth quite effective as a tick repellant for her dogs.

Information compiled from docgurly.com, Orkin.com, and “Lyme Disease and associated diseases: The Basics”, by Douglas W. Fearn

For more green tips, visit greenwithbetsy.com.

Happy Arbor Day! [Green with Betsy]

Link: http://www.greenwithbetsy.com

Happy Arbor Day!

With Earth Day over (though everyday is really Earth Day), it’s on to Arbor Day. The last Friday in April is Arbor Day, a national holiday dating back to 1874 when J. Sterling Morton, a journalist and editor of an important Nebraska paper, founded it. (Arbor Day does vary in some states based on the best tree planting time.) His idea was to set aside a special day for tree planting; it is estimated that more one million trees were planted that first Arbor Day in Nebraska.    The tradition began nationwide in 1882 and continues today with individuals and groups celebrating trees and nature.

Planting new trees and caring for existing ones is more important than ever as we battle exotic invasive insect pests, air pollution, soil compaction and contamination, limited water and nutrient availability and the overall effects of extreme weather conditions and climate change.  Trees are so much more than just a beautiful big plant; their social, communal, and environmental benefits are numerous.  

·      They manufacture oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide. 

·      They provide shade in summer and windbreak in winter. 

·      The beauty and serenity of trees have been shown to help hospital patients recover more quickly.

·      Trees reduce crime in low-income urban areas and increase property values.  

·      Trees help us save energy, improve air quality, conserve water and provide homes to wildlife.  

·      Trees offset our carbon footprints.

·      Large and majestic trees are a major asset to any community.

This Friday, plant a tree, learn how to care for a special tree in your yard or neighborhood, read a tree identification book, conduct a big tree search, or simply take a walk and enjoy looking at their beauty, especially this time of year.  For group activity ideas, go to arborday.org.

For more green tips, visit greenwithbetsy.com.

Don't Throw Away Your Coffee Grounds! [Green with Betsy]

Link: http://www.greenwithbetsy.com

Before you pour your coffee grounds down the disposal, read this blog and find out what you can do instead with this versatile, nutrient-rich leftover.

1. Neutralize odors in your refrigerator or freezer with dried grounds.
2. Repel insects by mounding the grounds into a protective ring around plants that will ward off ants, snails and slugs.
3. When you clean your fireplace, sprinkle damp grounds on the ashes to cut down on airborne dust.
4. Scrub hands with grounds to act as an exfoliant and eliminate food smells like fish and garlic.  Grounds are also a good cellulite reducer (see recipe below).
5. A few teaspoons placed on a thin rag can be used to clean grease and grime from dishware.
6. Steep grounds in hot water to make a natural dye for Easter eggs or fabric.
7. For a non-toxic cockroach trap, fill a can with an inch or so of wet grounds and line the neck with extra-sticky double-sided tape.  The scent draws the roaches into the trap.
8. Add some grounds to your potting soil to give plants and seedlings a nitrogen boost.  They may repel root maggots too!
9. Coffee grounds dabbed on scratches in dark wood furniture will minimize them.  Use a cotton swab to apply and add a bit of liquid; try a test area first.
10.  Coffee grounds are a nutritious addition to your compost pile!

Moving Comfort, an athletic gear company, uses recycled coffee grounds in their odor-absorbing athletic clothes!  Clever!!!

Recipe for Coffee Ground Exfoliant

 (from livestrong.com)

 Since coffee grounds are course, they are a natural exfoliant.  They also contain caffeic acid, which has anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects on the skin and stimulates collagen production.

Mix 1 cup warm coffee grounds with 1/2-cup sugar, then add 2 tbsp. olive oil. Rub the mixture all over your skin, especially rough areas such as elbows and feet. If you do this in the shower, put a mesh sink strainer in the drain. Otherwise, the coffee grounds could clog the drain.  You can also just use the coffee grounds to exfoliate.

Information compiled from thisoldhouse.com March 2012 and curbly.com.

For more green tips, visit greenwithbetsy.com.