Comments BMendenhall has made

  • So many reasons to choose cork

    The best environmental choice is wine that is sealed with natural cork.  And that may go for Alaska also.  For many in the lower 48, wine is shipped from far away, as well.

    The cork oak forests of Spain and Portugal are privately owned and extraordinarily diverse natural habitat for several endangered species. Without the income from wine cork sales, the owners of these ancient sustainably harvested forests will likely be forced to sell their land for development.  Other uses of cork that have developed more recently do not provide sufficient quantity of usage to make up the loss of wine sealing corks.

    Audubon Magazine had a really good article in January 2007 (http://www.audubonmagazine.org/features0701/habitat.html) that will give you the detail on this.  The article also describes the steps that the wine cork industry has taken to almost completely prevent TCA contamination in good quality corks.  

    The way you find out how a wine was sealed is to ask the salespeople where you are shopping - and tell them that you only buy wine with natural cork because it is the best environmental choice and protects important natural habitat.  On Umbra on wine bottle stoppers posted 1 year, 2 months ago 8 Responses

  • Storing greens

    There is another method to store lettuce and other greens that uses no plastic or paper towels and doesn't tie up the salad spinner, colander, bowls, etc.  Rinse the greens to clean them of dirt, bugs or whatever. Leave the leaves whole - torn leaves will start to rot more quickly.  Shake the leaves dry to remove loose moisture but leave them damp and wrap them in a large, fairly thick damp cloth (folded sort of envelope style).  I have found lightweight bath towels or the double layers of a flannel pillowcase to be the right size and thickness to hold a full head of lettuce or bunch of greens that will stay moist for quite a while.  You can redampen the towel when it dries out.  Pull out the amount you need for whatever you're making and fold the rest back up in the cloth and store it in the refrigerator.On Umbra on storing produce posted 1 year, 4 months ago 15 Responses

  • Bulk cleaning products

    Hi Sharon - I'm guessing you get up to Albuquerque occasionally.  Your local co-op - La Montanita - has two locations there. They have nice website at www.lamontanita.coop. One store
    store is at:
    2400 Rio Grande NW
    Albuquerque, NM 87104  
    Phone
    505-242-8800

    The original store is at:
    3500 Central SE
    Albuquerque, NM 87106
    Phone
    505-265-4631

    Hours for both are:
    Monday-Saturday
    7am-10pm

    Sunday
    8am-10pm

    Go Co-op!  On Umbra on buying eco-products in bulk posted 1 year, 6 months ago 17 Responses

  • Marketing

    Loooks interesting but when I went to the website there is nowhere to see the actual mop, what it looks like, how it works and the print is tiny, sort of gray color and really, really hard to read!  I concur with the comments about wanting to see a complete list of ingredients but I'm guessing that would mean giving away propretary information that competitors could use.  On An interview with the founders of Method green home-care products posted 1 year, 8 months ago 9 Responses

  • Brelli

    Go to any Japanese import store and you will find the same product "design" in a wide variety of attractive paper designs.  The Japanese have been making such parasols for many, many years. The only thing different about the Brelli is the mystery biodegradable canopy material.  So what is it?On From P-I-M-P to Pimp posted 1 year, 8 months ago 2 Responses

  • other shopping options

    You could also check one of several Seattle Natural Food Co-op Grocers:

    Puget Consumers Co-op Seattle, WA  (they have stores in Issaquah, Kirkland and Redmond and several in Seattle)

    Madison Market/Central Co-op Seattle, WA (in the Capitol Hill area)

    These Co-ops are quite likely to have honey from small producers and even know whether the beekeeper doesn't use pesticides. Given the climate in Bellevue (just east of Seattle?), I'd be pretty surprised if there are any commercial honey producers who are really nearby honey producers but one shouldn't have to go too many miles east to find local honey.

    Also, any local farmers markets?  Sometimes you can find local beekeepers selling in person.

    BarbaraOn Umbra on organic honey posted 1 year, 8 months ago 19 Responses

  • Lady, bugged

    Part of creating an environment that is diverse and naturally protective against pests is to build healthy soil.  Many unseen natural pest controls exist in the soil.  Most pest insects have a larval stage where they are more vulnerable to natural pest controls and frequently that stage occurs in the soil where those unseen critters can get at them.  Also, healthy soil provides plants with the nutrients they need to be healthy and able to fend off pests.  

    Birds are great natural pest controls that eat insects so creating a bird-friendly habitat can also help.  Use of toxic pesticides is a real turn-off for birds.  Better than using pesticides to eradicate the problem is, as Umbra suggests, removal of the distressed plant - at least for this year.  Work on building your soil and your environemnt and try basil again next year.  Or try planting it in pots in another part of the yard.  Or trading what you have growing well with someone else who has a good crop of basil.  

    I would also go for the praying mantises and ladybugs - they do help, they are fun to watch, and they change the habitat for the better since they do start to get established if you've created good conditions for them.  They are also a strong incentive not to be tempted to use toxics cause once you have a resident population of mantises or ladybugs you won't want to spray.
    BarbaraOn Umbra on fighting pests with pests posted 2 years, 6 months ago 12 Responses

  • More why use corks

    In addition to Iberian Lynx territory, the Cork Savana habitat is very important to birds in Spain and Portugal.  Audubon Magazine had a recent article that talked about the whole issue and came down very strongly on the importance of continuing use of real cork - a sustainable natural product - for wine.  

    I had previously been a proponent of plastic corks for the reason stated by Tod with regard to wine spoiled by bad corks.  But upon reading the Audubon article, which explains how the industry produces corks that don't fail, I have seen the light!  I will encourage my home winemaking co-operative to continue using high quality real corks to support the birds (and other fauna and flora) of the Cork Savana. BarbaraOn Umbra on wine corks posted 2 years, 7 months ago 9 Responses