Saturday night surfing: some of Betty's favorite websites

Some of Betty's favorite websites:

www.buylocalcville.org
www.charlottesvillecitymarket.com
www.feastvirginia.com
www.localharvest.org
www.pecva.org
www.rebeccasnaturalfood.com
www.iyfoods.com
www.cvilledave.blogspot.com
www.charlottesville.org/index.aspx?page=2098
www.gratefullness.org
www.localfirst.org
www.idealbite.com
www.newdream.org
www.1061thecorner.com
www.c-ville.com
www.transportationchoice.org
www.blueridgeecoshop.com
www.coopamerica.org

That will at least get you started! And if you happen to meet up with someone from these businesses or organizations, tell them Betty sent you.

And please let me know which great websites I may have neglected!

Best,
BWB

Water Week...

As some of you know from last week's blog: this summer is mommy camp a la Better World Betty. This week's focus is water! Already this morning we saw the first signs that my boys were "getting it" when they noticed the shower water running in the bathroom
"Dad! You're using water!"
"I'm taking a shower. It's not warm yet!"
We raced to get a water bucket, but he had hopped in by the time we all got back.
Welcome to water week,dad, and the three minute shower (which he hasn't yet fully embraced :-).

Knowledge and awareness bring positive change.

We started the week Monday at the library and loaded up on books with titles like: A Drop of Water by Walter Vick (I highly recommend this one! Beautiful photographs), the Magic Schoolbus at the Waterworkswhere Miss Frizzle takes the kids on a tour of the waterworks, Water: What It Is, What It Does by Judith Seixas, The Drop in My Drink by Meredith Hooper and Chris Coady, as well as a book about Hurricanes (my seven year old loves learning about natural disasters) and Tsunamis.

We stopped by a local coffee shop to read them and as we were sitting outside we suddenly felt a raindrop on our arms coming from a single cumulonimbus cloud and one splashed perfectly on our water book. Nice timing by Mother Nature! So we closed our books and talked about where the water that falls from the sky goes. We found a storm grate and investigated. Wow, there are underground pipes that carry water. And we talked about what happens to water when it hits the pavement, compared to water that hits the flowers in the garden across the street.

We are having so much fun with this weekly focus concept. It invites books, discussions, activities, questions (what happens to the stuff in the toilet after we flush it), learning (only 1% of the Earth's water is drinkable), and gratitude into our lives. It's what happens when you eliminate one sense - all the others are heightened. That's what we are doing. Eliminating all the myriad of subjects/possibilities and setting a focus, a kind of microscope to narrow in our perspective. Heightening our ecological awareness.

Friday our field trip is yet to be determined, but we have lots of choices: Sugar Hollow, a local pool, Ivy Creek, or perhaps the Rivanna Solid Waste treatment plant or maybe we need to head straight to the beach to see where the cloud's water gets recycled!

Giving thanks to water,
BWB

Cooling off this summer... green tips for your home

While we all wish we could convert to greener technologies like geothermal systems and solar panels, when it comes to cooling the air in our home, the hard truth is that most of us cannot afford those kinds of renovations at present.

So what are some simpler ways to cool your carbon footprint as the summer heats up?

*Close your blinds in the morning to keep the sun out. Use overhead fans. Consider adding solar film to your windows, plant trees which will allow for shade if possible, even window boxes help create some shade. And seal any cracks. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council's spokeswoman Jenny Powers, "The average American house has gaps around windows and doors that would equal a 3-foot-by-3-foot hole in the wall."

*Consider more insulation in your attic, which can save 20-35% on cooling costs. Talk to John Meggs over at Nature Neutral to find out your top choices in green materials (You can't go wrong with a little Levi-loving - cut-up denim as insulation).

*Buy a programmable thermostat to keep the temperatures high (78 degrees, if you can) when you are away. It will pay for itself in energy savings.

*Keep your AC units well-maintained and change filters regularly (like tomorrow!)

*As of May 29, 2008 Dominion Virginia Power is offering green power. Check online www.dom.com and purchase renewable-energy credits (you decide a dollar amount to be added to your bill each month to fund renewable energy sources) or sign up to offset 100% of your energy use with renewable energy as of May 29, 2008.

Here's to keeping cool,
BWB

Betty's Kale Frittata Recipe

Ok, this recipe is actually from my friend Jude, which is from her cookbook: The Complete Vegetarian by Jack Fisher. I figured fellow CSA shareholders would appreciate a good/easy kale recipe perfect for breakfast, brunch or serve it with a salad (you can even freeze it). You can also use swiss chard.

Frittata

4 cups of chopped kale or swiss chard (take out the stem)
8 large garlic cloves (roast these in a skillet or oven)
6 large eggs
1/4 cup of parmesan cheese (or your preference)
4 T olive oil (for roasting the garlic AND for the skillet of the frittata)

Beat the eggs, kale, garlic, salt and pepper.

In a 10" cast iron skillet, pour the mixture, top with cheese and let the eggs set. Cook the remainder in an oven set on BROIL (2 minutes?)

There you have it.

Bon Appetit!
BWB

In our backyard and across the nation: change for the better is happening!

This is such an exciting time. Thursday I had the chance to connect with three people: two in our own backyard and one from my old home state, Utah, which made me smile at the positive change taking place everywhere!

John Holden (owner of Blue Ridge Mountain Sports) and I were talking about traveling in the West (I have to get to those mountains or the red rocks soon!) and we hit on transportation costs.

Many of us, myself included, have been rather shocked at the price to fill the tank up in recent days.

But John and I sang praises for the huge gas prices!!

It's prompting mindfulness, forethought, re-prioritizing, and re-thinking in all of us.

Later that day, my elderly neighbor called me with a great idea. She wants to create a neighborhood store co-op, where everyone in our cul-de-sac can call one another when we are going to the store in case one of us has one or two items to add to the list for pick up, to cut down on car trips. (This will be especially helpful because she is a music teacher who loves to entertain people, but is getting rather forgetful) So the next time I head to the local grocer, I call her and see if she needs anything to be picked up. We will cap it at 5 items and throw in a dollar extra every once in a while for gas.

On a side note, another helpful idea I began in my own neighborhood last year was the lending tree. Please in your neighborhood sign up with their phone, email, address and if you find that you are in the middle of a recipe and don't have that extra egg or 1/2 cup of milk, you call people on the lending tree. Kind of like, give a penny, take a penny. That also saves on trips to the store.

I also reconnected with my friend, Lisa, in Salt Lake City who told me that her new thing is that she has told her family of five - "No more new things are coming into the house! We are making do with what we have. And if we don't have it, we will borrow it or buy it used."

I said, "Welcome to the Betty pledge!" And we chatted about how that's going. But I was so excited that she has hopped on to this new movement that goes far beyond recycling into reducing the amount of our stuff. In this vein, she told me about "the guy named Dave" - no not our Mayor, (though who knows he may be the next to take this challenge).

Dave is a guy who has vowed to whittle his life possesions down to 100 things by this November and then for one year he will life with only those 100 possessions and he is urging people to join him. It's the 100 things challenge.

Who knows, maybe after my buying pledge is over in January, Betty will take the challenge (Let's be honest I think I probably have 100 things already just in the family car - copious CDs, reusable betty bags, art supplies for the kids, requisite blanket/football and frisbee, dog leash, the list goes on...) 100 possessions? Could you do it?

Best,
BWB

Important meeting about the air we all breath...

I ran into Tom Cormons of the local non-profit Appalachian Voices last week at the farmer's market and he gave me the rundown of the important events happening in Wise County, Virginia next week.

Many of you have been following Dominion Power Company's attempt to approve the Wise County coal plant and the subsequent mountaintop removal. The fate now rests with the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board. If you have not yet sent a message to Governor Kaine about the important appointments he is making to the Board, please go to the wiseenergyforvirginia.org website now and do that. They need to hear from you. They have to know that this is NOT the direction we want to go for a better world: more pollution of our air, continued reliance on fossil fuels, removal of mountain tops in what is now undisturbed forest.

Right now 30 people are signed up to go and the list keeps growing! I hope Betty will have some representation there (I am fairly sure the Board Meeting ettiquette does not include four-year-olds making primal noises while playing in the back row, so unfortunately I personally cannot attend, but I am happy to send positive and clean energy to those who are and spread the word to those who may be able to attend).

The folks at Appalachian Voices and their coalition website wiseenergyforvirginia.org are hosting a plethora of events beginning on Monday, June 23: A service project, site tour of Black Mountain, hike on roaring branch, spaghetti dinner, breakfast and of course the attendance at the Virginia Citizen Air Pollution Control Board Meeting with time for public comment.

It turns out there will be no new speakers - those who can speak are limited to those who have already spoken or submitted written comments. The Agenda language is below:
"Persons who commented during the public comment period may address
the Board for up to 3 minutes. No new information will be accepted at
the meeting."

I have been to enough public meetings to know that attendance is crucial. Tom told me that all plant-opposition leaders will be wearing a green bandana - important visual clue that will send a powerful message!

To get all the details so you can join them, check out: www.cleanenergyva.org/?p=47 Call 293-6373 or email mike@appvoices.org to get info on lodging, map, directions, ride-sharing, etc. I am hoping for a guest blogger to perhaps take pictures and report on this event (please email me if you are willing!)

Safe travels,
BWB

Local vendors highlighted...

The next time you stop by Whole Foods, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

It's true, I couldn't find any peaches or apples from this side of the country, the prices can be steep, and I still see fish being sold that is not on the Monterey Bay Aquarium's seafood watch avoid list (which Betty hands out whenever she can make it to the farmer's markets), but more and more they are featuring local products and are striving to make even bigger and better committments to helping the environment.

As of Earth Day, no more plastic bags. Great excuse to use your Betty bag. (available via email or the Blue Ridge Eco-Shop for ten dollars eaches) Also, no more plastic containers for their hot and cold food bar. It's all compostable (hopefully the plastic flatware will also be replaced - in the meantime, bring your own)

Today I was admiring their new front display of locals complete with a colorful photo and a short write-up. Farmers like Megan Weary of Roundabout and Wendy Harrison of Red Hill and Jenn Savedge green parent author and many other local vendors and advocates. It's just above their new recycling center area (which now recycles aluminum, plastics 1 and 2, paper, and even has a section for compostables). that features a photo and a short write-up.

When I talked to the Sandy at the store several months ago, she shared the community, green-minded and quality focus that has made whole foods stores so successful. They've always been generous with local charities and mindful of consumption - recycling their aprons by giving them to local schools, for example. We've moved twice in the past five years here in Charlottesville and they have graciously provided most, if not all, of the boxes for our in-town moves. (Fox, who no longer works there, would save empty cardboard boxes weekly for me - call ahead if you are interested in helping you out with boxes)

This spring I don't think I was the only one who noticed their large selection of locally-grown organic plants. I appreciated how well they were marked with their birthplace.

Coran was telling me today that soon they will be featuring beautiful locally-grown flowers that no one else in town carries.

The staff is so positive, friendly and helpful and very enthusiastic about the efforts of Better World Betty. (Thanks again for donating bread for our Bread for A Better World event and hosting Betty for Earth Week).

It's not a perfect world with perfect grocery stores, but it's becoming a better world every day. Whole Foods has been ahead of the game for many years when it comes to carrying organic goods and more sustainable produce and products. Hats off.

Ciao,
BWB