Category Archives: The Eco Lifestyle

Want to celebrate clean energy? Bring the family to Energy Independence Day this Sunday, July 11, from 1-4 p.m. in Middletown. The event includes fun and games for the kids, tips on saving money, tours of the wind turbine, free admission and free parking (or take the free shuttle from Easton’s Beach, right after visiting the Save The Bay Exploration Center). Unfortunately, we have already committed to a birthday party, so I cannot go. But I did make my own energy statement just moments ago by signing up with People’s Power and Light for my heating oil service. I’m very excited about this. When we bought our house just over a year ago, it came with a contract for another large, New England oil company, and we chose to stay with them. The decision was made out of convenience and laziness, really, because since then I have complained bitterly at … Continue reading →

Do you know about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? It’s the largest landfill in the world — a swirling vortex of marine litter in the central North Pacific Ocean. This massive trash gyre stretches from the coast of California, past Hawaii, almost as far as Japan and is now estimated to be twice the size of the continental United States! Where did all this trash come from? From people, of course — people all over the world carelessly tossing their trash onto coastlines or streets and sidewalks where the rain eventually washes it into the waterways. The wind and ocean currents in the North Pacific are such that floating debris gets trapped into the gyre, an area that sailors avoid like the plague. The Garbage Patch contains about 3.5 million tons of trash and most of that is plastic, which comprises about 90% of all marine trash. In some areas, … Continue reading →

In the end, green beat out ugly. I’m talking about my new, pre-owned car, the Scion xB. I’ve never liked this box on wheels since its 2005 debut, never imagined that I’d one day be a proud owner of said box. Our 1996 Corolla had been dying in parts lately, so my husband and I were shopping for a replacement. Our biggest priorities were: fuel economy (the Corolla could still average 33 miles per gallon), space (we were unable to fit our daughter and all our camping equipment into the Corolla on our recent trip) and price (this, unfortunately, ruled out hybrids). I thought this was finally my chance to get an SUV. I’ve always had a soft spot for those sporty vehicles despite their bad eco rap. But the ones we were interested in (namely the RAV4 and CRV) averaged 22 mpg, which seemed a big dip for a … Continue reading →