"It's Gettin' Hot in Here..."

It might not officially be summer yet, but you wouldn't know it from the temps outside. Down here in Charleston, we've already had a couple 90 degree days, and it's only going to get worse. So to beat the heat, most people crank up the air-conditionering for the summer. But it is possible to cool down in a more eco-friendly way. The key is to get acclimated to the heat.

The problem with air-conditioning is that when it's 69 degrees inside your car, office or home, of course 80 is going to feel hot. But if you were used to 75 or 80, then even 90 might not even seem that unbearable. In order to survive summer au naturel, there are a few tips that'll help a lot.

1. Create some cross-ventilation. By opening some windows at opposite ends of a room, you allow a breeze to circulate through the room.

2. Use your ceiling fan.

3. Block the sun. During the day, pull the blinds to keep the sun from overheating the interior.

4. Leave windows open during the night when the temperature goes down.

Now, I'm not gonna lie. There are some days when the heat and humidity can feel insanely uncomfortable. My way of dealing with those days includes popsicles, standing in my open refrigerator and quick cold showers.

RIP Cilantro

So, there's been a casuality in my windowsill herb garden. I'm not sure what happened, but my cilantro bit the dust. On the bright side, the basil is going gangbusters, and I'm having a hard time keeping up. I've had basil in a mediterranean salad, basil on my pizza and more pesto with basil. If anyone out there needs some fresh basil, I'm your girl.

Guerilla Flower Arranging

I adore flowers. There's nothing like a cheery bunch of daffodils or tulips to brighten your kitchen or mood. But what I love more than picking out flowers at the florist is using what's in bloom around me. Not only is it spontaneous, but it's free. You can't get more practically green than that.

Now is the perfect time to "liberate" some of your neighborhood flowers because it seems like everything's in bloom. All March, I had azaleas brightening up my apartment, and a favorite way to display them is to place a single flower in a coffee mug (see photo top right).

Currently, I'm obsessed with magnolias which have a gorgeous scent. On Sunday, I found a tree where some of the flowers were low enough to reach, and I brought home an already opened bloom as well as a bud that has opened in the last day or two. There's something so chic about a single magnolia blossom on a tall stem with bright green leaves in a clear glass vase.

In case you were wondering, I come by my "liberation" tendencies honestly. My parents have been known to scour their Boston neighborhood with clippers, searching for forsythia or bittersweet.

If you like the idea of pillaging flowers in your neighborhood, I offer a few simple guidelines.

1. Don't trespass. Flowers in public spaces are fair game. Flowers behind a six-foot fence are off limits. The idea here is not to get arrested.

2. Know what poison ivy looks like. Just saying.

3. It's not a bad idea to carry around a small pair of scissors. Just remember to remove them from your bag before you get on an airplane. Especially if your last name is Mohammad.

Do You Baggu?

Going Green is a lot like being a citizen in an election year.

I know it's weird, but bear with me. As a citizen, you can go all out to support your candidate... attend rallies, volunteer on a campaign, go door-to-door, give money, even quit your job on a hit t.v. show like Kal Penn and start working for the President of the United States. Or, you can just do the are minimum and simply vote.

When it comes to being Green, the bare minimum is just saying no to plastic bags.

On this blog, I try really really hard not to point fingers or get up on my eco high horse because the only thing that accomplishes is to alientate people. But when it comes to plastic bags, I'm not sure enough is being said to discourage people from still using them. The fact is, a single plastic bag from your neighborhood grocery store can take 1000 years to completely break down in a landfill, the idea of which makes me absolutely sick to my stomach. I don't want that to be my legacy centuries after I'm gone. And neither should you.

The solution to the plastic bag dilemma is super easy. Just bring your reuseable bag to the grocery store. I have three different bags. One is a large canvas bag and one is kind of swanky, but my favorite thing to carry is a Baggu. What, you ask, is a Baggu? It's only the greatest thing ever! It's made of ripstop nylon, comes in a slew of bright colors, carries the equivalent of 2-3 grocery bags, is machine washable and fits in a tiny nylon envelope smaller than a postcard so it's perfect to stash in your purse, backpack or glovebox. The best part? Baggu bags only cost $8. If you happen to live in Charleston, SC, you can find them at Worthwhile on King Street. Otherwise, you can check out www.baggubag.com

If you're not into the whole Baggu thing, that's cool. There are tons of other reuseable bag options. The whole point is just to get away from using plastic and carrying your own eco-friendly bag.

Pesto, Homemade Style

So if you're reading this blog, you know that I bought some herb plants the other week. The whole point was to start using fresh herbs in my cooking instead of relying on the dried stuff. Not only is it Greener, but fresh tastes pretty fabulous.

Tonight I decided to make my own pesto, using the basil from my plant.The plan was to toss it with linguine, and I had some fresh bread and a nice bottle of Rioja to round out the meal. I figured with only five ingredients (basil, olive oil, garlic, pine nuts and Parmesan cheese), I had a fairly good shot of my pesto turning out okay. The recipe for homemade pesto is super simple. Here's how....

1 1/2 cups packed basil leaves
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp pine nuts
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Pulse basil, garlic, pine nuts and Parmesan in food processor until finely chopped. Drizzle in olive oil in a steady stream until mixture is well combined. Makes 1 cup.

That's it. Pretty easy, huh?

Fruit of the Loom(state)

Would you pay $200 for a pair of jeans?

What if they were made of 100% certified organic cotton , were a model of sustainability and came with a certificate guaranteeing fair-trade practices?

Yeah... me either.

$200 is $200, especially these days. When people are struggling to pay their mortgages and worried about being laid off, buying a pair of eco-friendly jeans for $200 might seem... well... a little frivolous.

And that right there ladies and gentlemen is a problem the Green Movement is only just now starting to address. When so many eco-friendly and organic products are out of reach for an increasing number of Americans living on a budget, the Green Movement can have a disturbing tinge of exclusivity. It's not enough to tell people not to buy from the chains or the commercially-grown products, there has to be affordable alternatives. I would love to do all my shopping at Whole Foods, but my paycheck just doesn't stretch that far.

The good news is that a few visionaries are trying to make organic more affordable.

Designer Rogan Gregory has been a passionate advocate of green-living for years. His Loomstate line with Scott Mackinlay Hahn was one of the first fashion labels to feature organic materials, and he famously started Edun with Bono's wife. This month he introduced a cheaper version of his Loomstate line at Target but with the same dedication towards being environmentally friendly and the same quality.

The collection features super-soft tees, cute separates, a plaid bikini and boardshorts for guys. And at $14.99-$44.99, there's something for everyone's budget.

The Makings of a Simon & Garfunkel Song

So one of my Green goals this year was to get a garden going. This is something of a challenge for me, though, and not because I live in an apartment building downtown. My problem stems from the fact that apparently I did not inherit my dad's green thumb. In fact, my apartment is the place where plants go to die. And it's not that I'm neglectful. I do all the appropriate things... water, provide sunlight, etc... but somehow my plants slowly wither away while I watch in dismay. I have seriously considered just throwing in the towel and buying plastic plants which only need a good dusting every once in awhile. But nothing compares to having real plants in a home.

Which brings me back to my dilemma of starting a garden. Not having enough space outside, I've decided to take advantage of my two south-facing windows which receive tons of sunshine and have fairly broad windowsills. My cat Dudley loves to sit in the windows while pretending to be King of All He Surveys, but he'll just have to learn to share (memo to self... google which plants are poisonous for curious cats to nibble).

Knowing my limitations, I've decided to attempt two small gardening projects, an herb garden and container gardening for vegetables. Project Herb Garden began today.

The Charleston Horticultural Society held its annual Plantasia plant sale over at the Galliard this morning so I hoofed it on over to check out the selection. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted and soon found a table of nothing but herbs. There were three different kinds of basil, two types of lavender, sage, rosemary, lemon verbena, mint, oregano, various versions of thyme and a host of other herbs. It took less than thirty seconds for me to be totally overwhelmed until one of the docents helpfully pointed out which ones would work best with my conditions... indoors, south-facing window, proven tract-record as a killer of plants.

With her assistance, this is what I picked out today- oregano, sweet basil, French thyme, "blue lady" rosemary, cilantro and lavender. All of these herbs need plenty of sunshine and regular watering. I was advised to re-pot them in slightly bigger containers at some point.

My haul today cost $24, but, with luck, these plants will continue to grow and provide me with lots of fresh herbs for many future meals.

That is, if I don't kill them first. I'll keep you posted.

Repeat After Me

There are three basic tenants of the Green Movement... Recycle, Reuse and Reduce. Everyone should memorize and repeat them in your head like a kind of environmental mantra.

Of course, the Recycling part of the equation is the one that people are the most familar with since programs have been around for over twenty years. And it goes without saying that at this point, recycling really should be a routine part of life, just like brushing your teeth and throwing out the (greatly reduced since you're recycling) garbage. The other two aspects of the Green Movement are a little less well known.

"Reuse" is actually a pretty simple concept. It's basically all about increasing the life of an object. Rather than buying new, the goal of "reuse" is to maintain and repair what you have. Here's a disturbing statistic to ponder. Only 2% of clothes thrown away every year are actually worn out. The other 98%? Tossed because we're tired of them or want something newer. "Reuse" is about purchasing durable goods, buying & selling in the used marketplace, borrowing, renting and maintaining/repairing products we already own. And the best part is that when we do these things we help to reduce the strain on valuable resources such as fuel, forests and water supplies. We create less air and water pollution and promote waste production. Admittedly, none of that sounds sexy, but, trust me, it is when it comes to doing our part.

Which brings us to the third part of the Green equation.

"Reduce" refers to lessening that thing known as our carbon footprint. Specifically it can mean reducing the gas we require by doing things like checking tire pressure in our cars, carpooling, walking or riding a bicycle to the store. We can reduce our utilities by turning down the water heater, shutting off the water when we brush our teeth, using a powerstrip, unplugging electronics when they're not in use and gradually replacing our lightbulbs with compact fluorescent lightbulbs. Most of these things sound minor, but it all adds up.

So here's your first green challenge. Pick one of the tenants... Recycle, Reuse, Reduce... and begin applying it to your life. It's okay to start with something small. For example, instead of throwing away your Ziploc sandwich bags when you brownbag it to work, wash them out and reuse them. Or pull that bike out of the garage and take it for a spin the next time you have some errands to run. Let me know what you pick and how you're doing.

I'm Not Leonardo DiCaprio

I have a confession to make.

My credentials for writing an environmental blog are embarassingly slight. I don't have an Oscar for my award-winning documentary about the plight of the Earth. I don't drive a Prius. Solar panels aren't a part of my home decor. All of my weekly garbage doesn't fit into a car's glove box like Ed Begley, jr. (who's my hero, by the way) once thrillingly demonstrated. I do, however, have a mother who's a recycling fiend from way back. She's also quite thrifty. True story... Mom once drove 700 miles from Boston to Michigan with a trunkful of soda cans, thinking she could get the $.10 refund instead of the $.05. Of course she couldn't, and so she drove all those cans back to Massachusetts. The first time I saw that episode on "Seinfeld" where Kramer does pretty much the same exact thing, I almost blew Pepsi out of my nose from laughing so hard.

But, I digress.

The fact is that like most people, I was very happy living life as a conspicuous consumer. I knew about recycling, but sometimes throwing stuff out was way more convenient that sorting my paper from my plastic. But then in 2005, I moved to Charleston, South Carolina and became Green almost by accident. In fact, it happened so organically and naturally, it took me awhile to figure out what had happened.

Not having a car, I was riding my bike everywhere and learning the bus routes. I started carrying a canvas bag to the grocery store because the plastic ones would practically cut off all circulation in my fingers on the walk home. Following in my dad's footsteps, I practiced cooling my apartment the natural way in the summer by creating cross ventilation, leaving windows opens at night and closing the blinds during the day to block out the sun. It's a point of pride with me that last year, I survived a typically hot, humid Lowcountry summer without turning on my air conditioning apart from the week I had guests staying with me.

In between shopping at the Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings, gradually replacing my lightbulbs with CFLs and switching to organic products, I was startled to realize that somehow, I was living a more or less Green lifestyle without even trying. And the thing is, I was kind of digging it. It felt good doing my part for the environment and, what's more, I sort of started wanting to do more.

So, that's what this blog is about. Finding practical, easy ways to be Green that won't break the bank. You don't have to be Leonardo DiCaprio to make a difference. But if you are, how 'bout giving me a call :)