Ray Reggie Loves Green Living…

Ever checked out the Canadian website Green Living?  They have a great green living magazine that you can read right on the website.  I was looking it over and checking out the articles and I found a nice article about ways that you can combine volunteering with green living…both passions of mine!  The article is definately worth the read if you have a minute and the rest of this month’s issue is good too.  This magazine and website have nice articles, product reviews and tips for green living anywhere, not just Canada.  A lot of the ideas that are found on the site are also inexpensive which certainly helps in this economy…check it out for yourself.

–Ray Reggie–

Ray Reggie Recommends…

Hey all,

I know it is Sunday and we are all trying to relax but I just found this article about the upcoming elections for Mayor of New Orleans and the possible candidates.  Wonder who else will be popping out of the woodwork before the campaigns actually begin??  Read the article about the candidates here…

Any opinions?  Let me know…i would love to hear your ideas!

–Ray Reggie–

Sunflowers Helping New Orleans Go Green

Well, this is very interesting.  This article I found explains that a non-profit group named GTECH has this idea for planting sunflowers in vacant lots around the city.  They are already doing it in New Orleans.  While it is just a nice thing to do and will make some areas much prettier, there is more to it than that.  They are actually hoping that they will also be able to remove contaminants from the soil and provide green jobs, plus – as a bonus – the seeds can be harvested and turned into environmentally friendly biofuel.  Now I don’t know if sunflowers can do all that or not and even if they can’t, it isn’t a bad project…but if they can, how amazing is that?  I think I need to run out and buy some sunflower seeds of my own!

–Ray Reggie–

The Make It Right Foundation

I don’t know what all the reasons are that Brad Pitt is so involved with helping rebuild New Orleans and I know a lot of people may think it is for publicity.  There are plenty of jokes on the internet about it but the truth is I don’t really care why he is doing it.  At least he is doing it because it is going to help the city of New Orleans and the people that live here.  The homes (and jobs) that he is creating will give the devasted Ninth Ward hope again.  The designs that he is working with are amazing too!  He has plans that are interchangable; they can be changed as your family needs change.  He addresses flooding issues without taking away from the neighborhood community that is so important to the families in this area and the best part is these homes have a variety of green features.  See all the designs here…

–Ray Reggie–

Awesome Program!!

Hey,

Ray Reggie here again.  I couldn’t help but share this program they are talking about on The New York times website I came across.  It seems like such a great program for youths, green living, unemployment…just seems like a win/win.  The group is called the Conservation Corps of Greater New Orleans and they are dedicated to helping the city recover from 2005’s devastating Hurricane Katrina.  The program has helped put more than 800 people between the ages of 17 and 24 to work on projects involving environmental stewardship, energy conservation and historic restoration.  Many participants come to the program after run-ins with the law. Some have spent time in jail.  The program requires participants to work four months with one of seven nonprofit groups at an hourly wage of $8.55 and gives AmeriCorps college scholarships worth as much as $1,250 to those who complete the program.  Over 15 months, the program has placed 75 percent of its graduates in employment, secondary or post-secondary education, certification programs, or the military.  That is pretty impressive statistics, if you ask me.

–Ray Reggie–

Garden & Share

The push for change across our Nation began long before the President made it a household mantra.  The economy has been in a changing pattern for years.  People have been increasingly beginning to gear their lifestyles away from the fast paced, competitive lives we have created and going back to a simpler, happier time.  It seems we may be facing a little of the whole “Be careful what you wish for” cliché.  People are trying to live healthier with less stress.  They are tired of being tired and feeling bad.  Not to mention being overweight, anxious and depressed much of the time.

One of the most noticeable changes that is sweeping the country is that people are attempting more and more to eat healthier.  Nutrition is getting noticed and more and more people have a desire to eat only locally grown, organic food.  The Catch 22 here is that the expense of healthier food may be too much for most American’s wallets to stand at this time and it is not yet as convenient as fast foods or processed foods that can sit indefinitely on a pantry shelf.  Eating healthier means eating fresh.

A new solution could be on the horizon.  Actually, it isn’t a new concept, but an old one that is coming back around.  Here it is…you don’t have to quit your job and become a farmer to grow your own food!  Even if you have limited space or live in an apartment, you can grow some of your own food.  You can start with window boxes for an apartment.  Get together with your neighbors that are probably in the same type of situation as you and grow different things.  Then, swap and share so that everyone is getting some of everything.

For those that have more space to work with, cut that yard in half and start a big ole garden.  Plant as much as you possibly can.  If you can grow more than you can use, you can freeze and can it so you have healthy food available to you all year long.  Still have lots of extras?  Great, share it with your family, friends and neighbors.  Earn some extra money and put up a little stand somewhere to sell some of the extras.  One of the best ideas that I have heard of to do with excess food that you have grown that needs to be used up is to donate it to your local food banks.  There are food banks all across the country that are turning people away because they don’t have enough food to take care of everyone that it is need now.

Don’t let a lack of gardening knowledge stop you.  A couple of good books from the library or some searching on the internet and you can quickly learn what you need to know to get started.  So, help yourself, help others and relieve your stress by starting your garden today.

–Ray Reggie–

Financial Green Living

When I think of green living certain things come to mind.  Recycling, saving water, turning off the lights.  I don’t usually think of financial planning though.  Read this article to get some great ideas that you can easily make a part of your life.  It has stuff I would never have thought of like buying from companies that will donate a portion of the sales to environmental nonprofit groups.  How about investing in companies that are “green friendly” or paying as many of your bills online as you can to save on paper?  Good stuff!

–Ray Reggie–

Grow Your Own Food

With the economy the way that it is, many people have growing concerns about keeping the food on the table.  More and more families are visiting food banks and food pantries just to get by day to day.  This is an extremely uncomfortable and stressful way to live and in New Orleans the fear is far worse for those that have been through Katrina.  One way that you can take some of the stress away is to start growing some of your own food, even if you only have limited space.  Gardening is very theraputic also and can help relieve stress, the food is healthier for you and if you have space to grow enough, you can freeze or can some of it to put away for emergencies.  Read more about growing your own food here…

–Ray Reggie–

Green Living Tips

Nice article that I found with some really good tips for living green.  They are so simple and free that it is just silly not to use them.  They will help save the environment and save money at the same time.  Many people may think that it is just tiny little things that don’t matter but those tiny little things over time and multiplied by billions of people on earth become pretty big things.  Even the smallest thing does help so why not do it?  For example, turning the water off while you are brushing your teeth is mentioned.  If everyone in your family did this it would be a lot less water used over the years.  Read more tips here…

–Ray Reggie–

Rebuild Green

With all the rebuilding that is going on in the New Orleans area, it stands to reason that anything we can do to build it greener would be a good thing for everyone…the environment, our wallets and the general economy.  There are several reasons to build sustainably. Not the least of which are the rising cost of fuel, the depletion of our natural resources, and pollution and global warming.  If you are rebuilding and looking for ideas to go green, check out this article for more ideas and a link to a free downloadable ebook about some of the general strategies used in sustainable or “green” building and includes resources at the end of the book for those who want more information.