by Tao Oliveto, Carrboro, NC

Our pets face huge challenges in a toxic world. While we try to drink filtered water and eat organic food, our pets are most often subjected to large amounts of toxins on a daily basis, stressing their immune systems, organs and overall health. Recently reported on Grist, blood and urine samples of cats and dogs showed higher contamination than humans, with evidence of at least 48 chemicals, including pesticides, mercury, fire retardant and those from plastics.

Many toys made with chemicals pose a surprising threat to your pets health, especially to dogs, who chew vigorously and extensively on plastics toys that release toxins into their systems. Although playing fetch with tennis balls and frisbee is fun exercise for your faithful companion, don’t allow prolonged chewing on these items. Better yet, skip the plastics all together and supply your pet with natural or naturally-made toys. Check out GreatGreenPet.com.

While your at it, stay clear of bedding made with petroleum-based or other toxic materials - splurge on the good stuff made from organic fabrics. You’ll be protecting fido and you while supporting a shift to a safer textile industry.

My herding dogs run a lot and end up drinking from creeks and puddles to rehydrate when we’re hiking. Bringing water along on hot days is helpful, but here’s a tip that really works. Before we go out, I offer a big bowl of “baited” water - with organic raw milk or broth in it. My dogs get pre-hydrated this way and are not as likely to indulge in street puddles or creeks.

Organic and higher quality foods are becoming more readily available and hopefully will become less expensive as demands increase.There’s a lot of information available online since the recent recall of contaminated pet foods that caused the death of many pets. Find the food that fits your needs as well as your dogs. I urge a diet of as much human-grade raw food as manageable - I also use high quality products from Halo, Innova and Solid Gold.

They are worth it.

by Tao Oliveto, Carrboro, NC

Over several years, I’ve been taking big, bold, practical and fun steps out of the death-grip of a consumerist-dependent lifestyle. It feels good and I will not try to tell you why (today), I’ll ask you just to trust me that it does. It has something to do with giving away what you don’t need, wanting what you already have, breaking the ties of conformity that bind us, being creative, being smart and having fun. That’s where SWAPPING comes in.

Thrift-shopping, vintage shops, yard sales and Craig’s List sustain me in most of what I want and need, whether it’s fashion, furniture or recreational supplies. I save a lot of money and always seem to find what I need - always - and am satisfied I’m not dipping into our resource reserves. (And it IS fun - just last month, I reconnected with an old friend when I bought his used bicycle rack on Craig’s list!)

But then there are the books. I know I’m not alone - many people share my bookaholicism. So, I visit used book stores a lot, but get impatient waiting for newly released reads. In fact, I’m perfectly happy to let that oscar-winning film get to dvd, but a book just can’t seem to wait - and Amazon knows it - which my credit card will reveal.

SwapTree is my 12-step program - but in 4 steps or less. At SwapTree.com, you can trade books, cds, dvds and video games easily and for free. Your only cost is shipping your items but wait - keep reading - they make is super-easy because they calculate and send a postage label online - you simple print it out. Even better, when using the media mail service rates, you can usually ship for under $2.50.

How does all this work? You list by UPC code what you have and what you want and you receive a list of everything available that you can trade. This saves you time searching for available items. A book junkie like me also loves to read comments and join discussion groups about certain books and topics, so I get my fix and then some. SwapTree will also provide you with latest staff picks and most wanted lists so you can keep up without having to read the NY Times Book Review each week. Ok, maybe I’ll still do that…

Swapping makes sense - less resources making less stuff, less stuff in landfills and sitting unused on shelves. I’m signing up today and I’ll report back soon.

by Tao Oliveto, Carrboro, NC

A lot of people are addressing a new “green” issue - the “why bother?” question that looms over our daily lives as we try to balance the status quo with needed changes, work with play, fear with faith. We don’t have much time. Change has to happen quickly or - well, big changes will be upon us quickly. Is Change something we learn to do or something that just happens? I say a lot of both.

Life is like a big jigsaw puzzle. We’ve dumped the pieces out “on the table” and at first, it feels overwhelming, even impossible to begin to put things in order. So we spend some time looking at and working with a few pieces and we’ve even fit a few small ones into place. But those few pieces aren’t enough - we have to keep going back to the pile. We are seeing a glimpse of something that is beautiful, even when there’s also something daunting about looking at all that is left in that pile. The work itself keeps us focused on the beauty - and we keep coming back for more. Some days we throw up our hands and walk out the door, but, we know we’ll be back.

We need to approach our efforts towards a more sustainable life just like this puzzle - knowing that we are working on something bigger and that the process itself is all we have. You know, something like “be here now”. It all starts by looking at and working on a few small pieces. Small, continuous work and actions matter because they lead to bigger actions, new ideas and perspective. More importantly, perhaps, is that they give us a feeling of participating in change - of living, if just slightly, outside ourselves. When this happens, we bring our innate qualities to the surface - of compassion, truth and wisdom - in other words, who we are, what we see and what we know. We are able to tap into our intuition, finding a balance between what we see outwardly and what we see outwardly - all tools to get the real work done.

Remember what we are capable of - and these wise words: “If we did all the things we were capable of doing, We would literally astound ourselves.”

— Thomas Alva Edison

by Jerry Stifelman, Carrboro, NC

It’s is a classic. Yet not a preppie, establishment classic. It’s an outside classic. A rebel classic. It works for Hell’s Angels, Outward Bound instructors, rock guitarist,s and earthy hipsters.

It can be called upon to be a handkerchief, a napkin, a hat, a headband, a hair tie, a pants tie, a dog leash, an SOS flag — or as an actual bandana.

Carry a bandana everywhere. You’ll never need to harm trees by using paper napkins. Great for bad hair days. You can also use it to disguise yourself or to protect your hands when sliding across a quickly rigged zip line. (All action heroes should carry a bandana.)

by Tao Oliveto, Carrboro, NC

Spring has Sprung. Although it will take months or years of continuous above-average rainfall for our emptied Rivers and reservoirs to recover fully, plentiful Spring rains and cool temps have healed much of North Carolina for now. Hopefully our water-saving efforts have become simple every day habits and we will continue to be stewards of our precious water supply by washing, watering, flushing less.

There are many other ways we can make our Summer activities as green as our plants.

Use your clothesline. Clothes dryers are the 2nd highest energy-sucking appliance (after the refrigerator) in most homes.

A/C is overrated. Break the addiction by using shades, awnings and fans. Spend more time outdoors and your body will acclimate to hot weather.

Health clubs are not so healthy for the earth. Walk, pedal, jog, or practice yoga outdoors in cool morning or evening hours instead.

Let your grass grow. Organic Landscape experts recommend 2.5″ in Spring and 3″ in Summer for more drought, weed and pest resistant lawns. Better yet, transition to less lawn and more natural landscaping, including moss, mulch and wildflowers.

Gotta mow? Use a pushmower and consider mowing as an art, not a clear-cutting process. Cut a path for walking or a circle for sitting and leave the rest.

Rain can clean your car. Put on a swimsuit, grab a sponge and a little biodegradable soap. Overall, a professional car wash uses less water than how most of of us use a garden hose. Look for a car wash that recycles water.

Bike and walk more, drive less.

Urban farming is easier than you think. Plant and grow.

Star gaze instead of movie star gaze.

Enjoy your local fruits and veggies and help decrease the high carbon cost of food transportation.

by Tao Oliveto, Brattleboro, VT

Brattleboro has a dominant number of thriving local businesses, many of which thoroughly but subtly display their green creds. Thrift and vintage places - my personal eye candy - were especially irresistible, and practical, as it turned out. I suddenly needed a nail clipper/file and I found both, hidden amongst hundreds of antique collectibles of every category at a store called “Twice Upon A Time”. Proving, once again, that they don’t make things like they used to. These stores can be full of surprises - I have managed to stay out of mainstream drugstores for years by using thrift/vintage for basics like this - low cost and no packaging is a bonus.

I went back several times to Boomerang - a vintage and vintage-inspired clothing and accessories shop owned and operated by Loretta, who replanted her creative roots from LA. Here I found some fun and stylish used clothing - some are cleverly marked by era - Jerry was drawn to the 50’s while I found out I’m a 60’s - 70’s kind of girl. Boomerang also supports Rise Up International, a group of artists, ideallists and social entrepreneurs using the fashion industry to empower children out of poverty. Rise Up International doesn’t mess around when it comes to giving - they donate all profits to support free education centers, drug rehabilitation and art vocational schools in India, Central America and China.

As happened in a few different cases, I was readily engaged in conversation by the locals and felt welcomed, even as I accepted my designated title as a “flatlander”.
A haven for art, music, alternative health and recreation, “Brat” - as I brazenly use the local term - has not seen the last of me!

by Tao Oliveto, Brattleboro, VT

Our first meal in Brattleboro was at the local Co-op down the street from our historically amazing hotel (see below). Now that I think about it - while we enjoyed coffee, tea and homemade goodies from many other local establishments - our first, last and most meals in between were at the co-op down the street. This is not a coincidence. A food co-op is high on my list of priorities when I’m choosing a travel destination. It allows me to eat in a healthy, simple, affordable and local way, and on my own schedule. I can also stock up on wholesome snacks to stow away for other activities like hiking.

If you’re thinking this is some kind of sacrifice - think again. In addition to organic produce and bulk items like nuts and energy snacks, co-ops usually have “salad, etc.” bars and delicious-looking hot foods (which change daily), in addition to local specialties like baked goods and farm products. In this case, we tried various local cheeses and yogurt and even an outstanding chocolate bar by Taza, made in Somerville, MA. In fact, my first meal was entirely local and organic: baby swiss cheese, cultured daikon and cabbage, fresh-baked bread with local butter and even tapioca pudding - compliments of a cow named Stella. From the hot bar, we experienced excellent scrambled eggs, breakfast burritos, vegetarian lasagna and polenta.

I like meeting co-op employees and other patrons, too - friendly, interesting and interested folks who don’t look at you funny when you pull out your canvas shopping bag or your cloth napkin. We even stumbled in on a wine-tasting event one day - no plastic cups! They gave each person their own real wine glass to use for the event. We did buy a bottle at the local wine store and when we mentioned we were at the hotel, we were offered two glasses to take with us and return later.

I save sit-down dining for selected occasions, so I’m not sure how much less I spent eating this way, but I imagine it is significant in terms of the average traveler. As you’ve read, though, I’m in it for the experience, curiosity and to satisfy my green greediness. I’ve been munching my way through many miles this way and I always end up feeling healthy, energized and happy to be part of the local economy of each new place.

Happy and deliciously greener travels.

by Tao Oliveto, Brattleboro, VT

We stayed at the historic Latchis Hotel, circa 1938, now a preserved memorial building on Main Street in Brattleboro. The original lead-paned windows still open - something now rare in most hotels - there is no A/C and the heat still comes from radiators. The stairwells are welcoming, with natural light and I noticed most guests used the stairs to the 3 floors of rooms. There is no parking garage or large, new lot, or luxuriously furnished lobby, just a straightforward comfort and friendliness.

If you do want to be impressed by style, however, visit the original Latchis “theatre” next store - now a movie house. Detmetrius Latchis had the walls painted with the images and scenes of the Greek gods, like Jupiter welcoming Psyche, the temple of Zeus and Colona with her children, Apollo and Diana. There are also statues - one of Thalia, the Muse of Comedy and Cleo, the muse of History. The ceiling is sky blue with stars and the twelve signs of the zodiac.

Staying in the heart of a city allows you to sightsee car-free and I chose this place because it’s one way to support local business (and history!) while traveling. The rooms are simple - just a few pieces of maple furniture, including a wooden bed frame. The rooms also feature consigned art by local artists.

The Latchis is participating in the Project Green, which asks guests to save resources by reusing linens. This is not so impressive, however, when you consider all the other ways we can consume less during hotel stays. Here’s my list - feel free to add on.

1. Bring your own toiletries, rather than using the small bottles and tubes provided, which will be thrown away and replaced after each use. I travel with a small shampoo/body bar, which is wrapped only in paper and can be carried with you while flying.
2. Use one towel for everything, rather than using bath mats/handtowels.
3. Skip room service during your stay, eliminating more water, energy, detergent use.
4. Use your own drinking mug and water bottle.
5. Use the stairs instead of elevator.
6. Use one trash can - rather than the two usually provided - and you will keep more plastic out of landfill.
7. Open windows instead of A/C. Turn heat off when you leave your room.

8. Ask your host where you can recycle items. If it’s not available, bring home any paper, newspaper to recycle at home.