Diet Coke-less for 24 hours and counting...

I am pleased to report I had my first Diet Coke-less lunch today. Then after lunch, I was jonesin' an iced coffee so I went and got one and then at the "fixin's" counter NEARLY put an artificial sweetener in...DOH!! Luckily, I caught this bad habit and replaced it with sugar in the raw just in the nick of time. (YUMMMM)

Let me know if you are also trying to kick the artificial sweeteners and how it is going for you.

Your Backyard as a Wildlife Refuge!

This is too cool! I was reading the August 4th, 2008 issue of Newsweek when I saw a really cool article titled "Bring Back the Birds and Bees" by Christina Gillham. It gives some great tips on how to beautify your backyard while also practicing sustainable gardening. Sustainable in the "green" sense means: To keep in existence; maintain.

When making choices on home renovations, buying cars, or gardening we shouldn't only think about what looks pretty but also: what materials will last the longest, what woods can we use to minimize the impact of the renovation on the environment (bamboo, or woods from tree farms), or in terms of gardening, what plants are indigenous to the region and what will live a long time.

Below is the informative article and it says that if you decide to join this movement, your backyard can be certified as a Wildlife Habitat. INCREDIBLE!! If you have kids, what a great way to teach them about nature and (advocate of green's motto) how a little effort by a lot of people can make a big difference.

Also, one more thing before I post the article, they touch on a great way to catch rain water to use for watering your garden instead of using water from the tap: get rain barrels that will collect the water so we can keep the tap water for drinking. After all, drinking water is a scarce resource and one-third of the world's population lives in a water stressed country. It is expected to rise to two-thirds by 2025!

Here's the article and here are links to rain barrels (made out of recycled plastic) & the National Wildlife Federation . If you live in a city and don't have a yard, pass this on to someone who does:

Years of suburban development and unsustainable gardening practices have led to vanishing wildlife populations. The National Wildlife Federation has stepped up its efforts to promote its Backyard Wildlife Habitat program, which certifies homeowners who provide friendly environments for small mammals, birds, butterflies and reptiles.

The program asks residents to raise native plants and trees, which provide animals with food and shelter, and to put out water in the form of a birdbath or small pan for birds to drink and bathe in. Homeowners should also practice sustainable gardening by reducing lawn size, removing invasive plants and keeping rain barrels to collect water that can be used in lieu of the hose. (See nwf.org/backyard for more details.)

David Mizejewski, a naturalist at the NWF, says that the certification, which costs $15, does not have to apply to your entire property. “The idea is to create a movement to get gardeners to adopt some of these principles,” he says. And, listing your home as a certified “wildlife habitat” can’t hurt its value.

CHECK ME OUT!!

Last night I gave The Advocate of Green a makeover. I hope you like it!! I think it reads much nicer now. Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

If you like it, help spread the word. My target it to reach 1,000 readers every day!! I can only do that if you love my blog enough to tell all of your friends. Thanks for the support so far!! I'll keep updating whenever I find something great!

love yas,
Dxx

I have an addiction...

And it is to Diet Coke. I realize that sounds ridiculous. Who gets addicted to Diet Coke? ME!! I have to have one every lunch or else I get a headache. How can something that gives you withdrawal symptoms be good for you? Well it isn't.

Diet Coke contains the artificial sweetener called Asparatame which is made up of "three byproducts: methanol, formaldehyde, and formate." (METHANOL?!?! FORMALDEHYDE?!?!?! How can these ingredients possibly be healthy when one is in anti-freeze and the other is used to preserve dead people? )

Another startling factoid:
'A survey of aspartame studies by Ralph Walton MD of Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine found: "Of the 166 studies felt to have relevance for questions of human safety, 74 had NutraSweet industry related funding and 92 were independently funded. One hundred percent of the industry funded research attested to aspartame's safety, whereas 92 percent of the independently funded research identified a problem."'

So basically, something shady is going on. We are being fed chemicals by these big companies, told they are safe, only to find that when studied independently they are pretty bad for us. REAL NICE FDA....REEEEEEEEEEAL NICE!!

Part of my becoming a 'greenie' means me cleaning up all aspects of my life, including what I put into my body. I think that getting rid of diet coke will be a great start! I am going to keep track of how many days I go without any products containing Aspartame. Join me in eliminating this poison from our diets. I think I speak for everyone when I say "BLECH!!"

Blog Update...

Great news everyone! This whole blog thing is a really great learning experience for me in terms of becoming more computer literate. Yesterday I learned how to redirect my blog to be accessed by this web address: www.advocateofgreen.com

You no longer need to type in the, longer version which has ".blogspot" in it. Add this link to your favorites and keep checking back. I will continue to try and provide good information at least a few times a week.

Also, you can enter your email address in the left hand column where it says "Get My Blog As An Email" and you will automatically get any updates right in your inbox.

Green it up!

C'mon Mr. Singh. You know you wanna!

The Good News: I found Mr Singh today and told him to shut the door. He says the reason why he keeps it open is because people complain that they are too cold. When I told him my GENIUS, groundbreaking idea of making his air conditioning warmer, he looked at me, head cocked to one side, confused much like this:


The Bad News: He didn't agree to close his door

My Strategy: To go in for lunch every day and kill him with kindness until he closes that darn door!! Stores should be ticketed for air conditioning the sidewalks, I think. The city would make millions and then maybe could lower our taxes (yeah, right!). The day Mr. Singh shuts that door, I will do a victory dance and post it for your all to see.