Marlene McKay » Environment and Green

The Heat Is On

Marlene — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 22:13:30 +0000

I can’t figure out why we are having such a heat wave when it is only June. This whole month it has been in the 90 degrees and people are really stressing out about it. Me included. I don’t do well in the heat and was looking forward to a nice spring that would bring everyone some happiness about dealing with all the issues that last winter brought for us to deal with.

Garden Time

Marlene — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 22:00:27 +0000

It is usually warmer by this time in April. I am getting antsy about getting my hands in the dirt and getting the garden planted and the yard in order. This was an unusually hard winter, one that we really deserve some nice weather to follow. I just wish I knew when that was going to be.

Competitive solar power

Marlene — Tue, 26 May 2009 13:54:29 +0000

According to an article I read on a Reuters website, a study was written by the Clean Edge and environmental nonprofit Co-op America that declared solar power will be cost competitive with fossil fuels like natural gas and coal by 2015. I think that this is wonderful news; I’d like to see a lot more alternative energy sources developed and expanded as well!

I’d love to see solar energy, wind energy, and gasoline made from algae to be our every-day energy sources! I’m sick and tired of the constant price increases of gasoline, and being held hostage by the companies and countries that are raking in record (and obscene) profits from their oil.

Toxic shower curtains

Marlene — Wed, 20 May 2009 13:52:58 +0000

I was reading an article in the LA Times about how recent research has determined that some new shower curtains give off toxic chemicals for up to an entire month after they have been opened. Not all, but many shower curtains are made with PVC, a type of vinyl that has been linked to many health hazards. Some shower curtains are made from a safer ethylene vinyl acetate, and some are made from fabric.

I think that in the future, when I buy a new shower curtain (or curtain liner!) I will look carefully at the label and see what it is made from before I buy it! If it’s made from PVC, I will be putting it back on the shelf!

Too much rain!

Marlene — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:44:43 +0000

There has been so much rain around here lately that it has been hard to do any outside work. My mother had hired some people to do some remodeling of her house and they got their trucks stuck up to the axles in her back yard! They tore her back yard up very badly trying to get unstuck! They also ruined her drain field for her septic system! What a mess! We told them that they were going to have to pay to have the lawn fixed, and the drain field, and they weren’t happy to hear that at all! But they should have known better than to have driven over the lawn and drain field! Big dummies!

Thinking green

Marlene — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 00:49:56 +0000

My youngest son has shamed me into replacing the standard incandescent light bulbs throughout the house with CFL bulbs. The CFL bulbs use less electricity, so that makes them environmentally friendly, and it will save money on the electric bill. It took a while for me to find 3-Way CFL bulbs, finally found them at the local ACE Hardware store.

There are a few older light fixtures in the ceiling that are too small for the CFL bulbs that I bought to fit into. So, I will have to keep my eyes open for different sizes and shapes of CFL bulbs to fit into those.

Ground hog day!

Marlene — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 17:59:40 +0000

Well, I heard that the groundhog saw his shadow this morning! Six more weeks of winter! I’m unhappy about that, I’m tired of the cold this year. I don’t know why it has bothered me more this year than usual. Though come to think of it, it is probably because I’ve got the thermostat set lower to save energy and money. That is probably the real reason! Thank goodness for long johns and warm sweaters!

The first day of winter

Marlene — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:44:51 +0000

Yesterday was the first day of winter, and the shortest daylight hours day for the season. I enjoy watching the beautiful snow blanketing the earth during the winter; it is so breathtaking beautiful when small amounts of ice cling to the branches of the trees and there is enough snow cover so that no grass is peeking through.

Having said that, I have to say that I’m glad that I work at home and don’t have to travel in bad weather and can just enjoy the beauty of the snow through my window, or put on my cross country skis and go skiing right outside my door. I truly do love the life up here, and the distinct four seasons that I can enjoy so many different types of outdoor activities!

Live Christmas Tree

Marlene — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:41:36 +0000

Well today I went out to the local nursery and bought a small live Christmas Tree. It has the root ball attached to it so that when spring comes I can plant the tree in the back yard. I’ve been doing it this way for years. I prefer to do this because I feel bad about chopping down a live tree just to decorate it for a brief time in the house and then throwing it away. I just prefer to sustain life instead of taking it! I had to arrange for the nursery to deliver it; I’m expecting them to deliver it tomorrow morning! It’s a nice looking blue spruce tree. Now I have to go dig out the ornaments!