What Color Green are You?

One of the top five questions I get about justice would be,

"What do you think about the whole going green thing?"

I rarely answer, just sigh...

In my world it's a loaded question that gets off into questions about global warming and the carbon footprint of my to-go dinner. It seems like we are arguing about the insignificant stuff (to me) and are missing the bigger picture of stewardship. Taking care of precious gifts: nature, resources, and each other's health.

If someone is looking for more I point them to the Cornwall Alliance or Tracey Bianchi whose book Green Mama was released from Zondervan on March 1st, 2010. I had the privilege of meeting her and she is the real deal. Green Mama is similar to Mercy Rising that it is helping us find simple, everyday solutions to larger than life issues.

FREE BOOK! ALERT!

What do you think? Green Mama asks, "How green are you?" Light pale aqua? Dark Forest Green?
Post a comment and I will draw one winner to win a copy of this amazing book.

Get Paid to Recycle Electronics

YouRenew is making recycling electronics easy.

See if your electronic item is listed and get a cash quote.
Or request a specialized quote.
Send it back in pre-paid envelope or box.
It's that easy.

Seems good if you wouldn't have time to get a great price selling it yourself or if it is in bad shape that wouldn't be sellable.

Video

Fresh produce to your door

(great ideas from Jodi and Sara)

Maybe gardening (see last week's posts) isn't your thing. You can support local food in your area by buying shares in local farm products (CSA's). Healthier and cost effective all at the same time!



Upland, IN's Victory Acres has an added justice component where they share Christ's love with the homeless, troubled teens, and struggling families. They also have Indy drop off locations.




For all you Indy locals, Farm Fresh Delivery is a great way to get (mostly) local produce delivered to you year round. It is pretty cost effective and yummy.

Plant a row for the hungry...

Plant a row for the hungry is a great start on sharing home grown produce. Their website is actually the Garden Writer's Association. When I need further gardening help - these guys are the experts. They have a national campaign to give back by encouraging gardeners to plant an extra row for the hungry.




Don't know what to plant? Find a listing of your local food pantries to see what items are needed and their procedures for accepting donations.

The best food pantry websites are found by searching your local area.

Here's info for all you fellow Hoosiers about local Indiana food pantries and local food rescue.

Indiana's Food for the Hungry Web Site
Midwest Food Bank
Food Rescue
Third Phase


Are you planting something this spring? Send me pictures and your story and I will post some on the blog.

Happy planting!

Question of the week...gardening tips

Do you have any gardening tips for newbies?

Do you have a gardening question of your own?

Garden for Good

Fresh, healthy, sustainable, and local food might seem an unlikely justice issue. But unbalanced food production cycles directly contribute to the hunger and poverty in our world.

What if you could save your family $ on your groceries and have some to share with local food pantries that desperately need fresh produce?

March is a great month to start indoor seeds for a garden. In the past I have struggled with my garden. Not too much space, lack of equipment, and badly timed plantings.

Yesterday I sat down with a new friend Sara, who helped sort things out.

Time to begin seeds indoor for the garden? Now
How do I start to plan out my garden? Visit Square foot gardening to find out.
I only have a small space? That's OK
Do I need large equipment for a small garden? No

Websites to visit:
Seeds of change
Baker's Heirloom Seeds
Grace Garden
Square foot gardening

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....and more results

Laundry Soap
Best
Ecos Ultra Concentrated - 8.8
Wisk Laundry Detergent - 8.1D
All Ultra Laundry Detergent - 8.1D
Surf Detergent with Active Oxygen 8.1D
Citra Solv Citra Suds 7.4

Worst
Xtra All temperature 2.2
Delicare Fabric Wash 2.2
Arm and Hammer Heavy Duty 2.2
Xtra Mountain Rain 2.2
Clorox Bleach 2.7D

Dish Soap
Best
Citra Solv Dish Natural 7.4
BabyGamics Foaming Dish Soap 7.2

Worst
Palmolive Ultra, Dry Skin with Aloe 3.6D

Liquid Hand Soap
Best
Tom's of Maine Liquid Glycerin 9.5D
Dr. Bronner's Magic 18-in-1 9.1D
EO Hand Soap Rosemary 8.2

Worst
CVS Antibacterial Melon 3.3
Walgreens Antibacterial Liquid 3.5

(D or R denotes companies that support mainly the Democratic or Republican parties)

mercyrising does not support or endorse any products. Please check goodguide.com for more information.

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Recycling the Weird Stuff

(updated post from 9/25/08)



"Green" was recently voted one of the top 10 overused words of 2008. It's a word that has been increasingly loaded with political and religious controversy. Not to mention many companies have been found to be printing misleading packaging to get us to buy their product -all in support of this "green theme." My eyes tend to glaze over too.

But despite misuse there is a real concept that we need to not overlook - stewardship. Taking care of what we have and making sure our disposal of our stuff is done in a responsible way.

What's the big deal anyway?

#1) The stuff we are throwing away is causing a health crisis. Our water supply is now said to contain many chemicals including medicines that people are flushing down the drain, cleaners, paint, and electronic waste.

#2) We take our trash to impoverished areas around the world. The poor of the world come into greater contact with contaminants and they and their children are sorting our trash.

REAL SIMPLE (Sept./Oct. 2008) did a great job listing resources to help us recycle the "weird" stuff that seems hard to recycle or reuse.

Here are some highlights:

Recycling center near you: 1-800-Cleanup

Other:
Batteries - Office Depot, Radio Shack, Rechargeable Battery Recycling
Carpeting - Carpet America Recovery Effort
Cell phones - library, home office supply store drop-offs, cell phone carriers
Computers - Nextsteprecyling -
Crayons - National Crayon Recycling Program
DVD - Greendisk
Electronics (Stereo and VCR) Earth 911
Eyeglasses - New Eyes for the Needy
Formal Wear- Operation Fairy Dust
Hearing Aids - Starkey Hearing Foundation
Juice bags -Terracycle
Mattress - Earth 911
Paint - Earth 911
Phone books - Yellow pages recycle
Prescription Drugs - The Starfish Project
printer-ink cartridges - Staples get $3 back, or mail free to HP
plastic grocery bags - Plastic Bag Recycling
TV - Office Depot
Video tapes, cassettes, floppy disks - ACT recycling
wheelchairs - Life Nets

Clean Sweep for 2009

How much stuff is enough?

Can I pare down?

My husband has been helping some family members move. And it got me remembering my moving days - the shock of seeing everything I own in boxes and thinking, "Where did all this come from?" In college, everything I owned fit into a mid-size sedan...not anymore.

What's the big deal how much we own?

Well it's what owns us - our time, our resources, our hearts.

Besides my obsession with Goodwill - (getting rid of stuff, not more shopping)

My best tip for 2009 is to fire up the scanner. My tendency is to drown in a pile of papers. It has been so freeing to lose the unnecessary files, journals, business papers, etc. I'm not done yet. But doing a little each time I do the bills sure helps.

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Tree Recycling

Anyone taking down a (once) live Christmas tree? Your local parks are recycling them to make mulch. This helps keep trees out of landfills and saves tax payer $ as well.

Here's the local list:

IndyTrees will be accepted at Broad Ripple, Ellenberger, Garfield, Krannert, Riverside, Perry, and Sahm parks. They can be dropped off seven days a week from dawn until dusk through Jan. 31.


Check with your local parks for out of area info.

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A Good Cause?

We hear that slogan shot around like a puck in table hockey. Help out - it’s for a “good cause.”

What makes it a "good cause"? Because it's doing good or because it makes us feel good?

We all have limited funds. There are so many causes doing good? Where do we start?

Mission of organization – what is their mission statement. What is their goal?

Financial Integrity – money goes where they say it goes

Low overhead costs – small percentage goes to running the business – most goes directly to the work at hand.

Flexibility of organization to adapt with changing world – is it an outdated business model or is there a strong web-presence, embrace of technology, striving to reach new volunteers/members, and a fresh leading of the holy spirit?

Leadership structure of organization – is it the boss from the top or a group effort?

Personal Integrity – from the CEO, marketing VP, to the worker on the field

Centrality of Christ – it is easy to put the “good cause” in the center instead of Christ.

Sub-causes – Does this charity have links, ties, or take substantial donations from political parties, lobbying groups, or major corporations such as pharmacuitical companies, media groups, pro-abortion, or other causes?

Reputation – Word on the street value

Well managed – organized, professional, returns calls promptly

How to find out? – What is a charity's financial transparency rating? (charitynavigators.org, wallwatchers.org)

How is their financial efficiency? (wallwatchers.org)

Better World Shopping Guide

A better shopping guide from your I-POD?

Pretty brilliant! You can also purchase the book guide - which is super user friendly.

Just look up an item (like chocolate) and see which companies get good ratings for things like business ethics, worker compensation, etc.

Go to betterworldshopper.org to check out the ratings, download a guide, and see who made the top ten list of offensive companies.

The guide is continually updated so the website is a great way to check out the lastest scoop.