Green Options

Last month, Canada, the United States, and Australia announced unprecedented plans to join forces and commercialize genetically-engineered wheat, saying that biotechnology was crucial to the future of the wheat industry. The National Farmers Union of Canada, however, immediately refuted the tri-country claim, pointing out “the overwhelming majority of farmers in Canada are still opposed to the introduction of genetically-modified wheat.”

On June 1, fifteen organizations across Canada, the United States and Australia publicly confirmed that opposition with the release of “A Definitive Global Rejection of Genetically Engineered Wheat“, a powerful document speaking out against biotech wheat.

But the battle against GM wheat is not a simple one, nor is it restrained to select countries.

Whether it’s a few potted herbs on the patio or a whole back yard full of flowers and veggies, you can take your garden to the next level with some hand made garden art!

So you’ve got your worm bin going, and your plants are planted. It’s time to add some crafty flair to your garden! Planting a garden is all well and good, but it would hardly feel like your own if you didn’t use your DIY skills to add a little bit of color and sparkle! Luckily, there are all sorts of yard art projects out there. You can keep some waste out of the recycle or trash bin and give your yard or patio a little bit of personality at the same time. Here are just a few tutorials for turning trash into colorful garden adornments.

As I’ve confessed here before, I can’t stand to throw things away. Sometimes, that causes some storage problems. Other times, though, it means inadvertently collecting an awesome stash of fun fabric scraps! Let’s focus on those times.

Even if you’re careful to only choose organic, sustainable fabric options, there’s a carbon footprint that goes along with any new materials: from production to shipping to your trip to the fabric store, all of that adds up. If you’re not a scrap-saver now, give it a shot! You’ll be surprised at how fast those bits and pieces accumulate, especially if you sew on a regular basis. Not only does sewing with scraps keep that fabric out of the waste stream, it’s super duper fun! Here are a bunch of great projects you can make using those odds and ends.

[Creative Commons photo by Stevan Sheets]

Cereal is the third most popular food product in the U.S.. When you add up all those bowls of Lucky Charms and Cheerios, that equals a whole lot of empty cereal boxes! Rather than send all that perfectly good cardboard to the landfill, try one of these ways to give it a whole new life!

Recent data showing sugar’s rising popularity over high fructose corn syrup is good news, right?  Not if that sugar is genetically-modified.  In fact, if you’ve purchased beet sugar recently, there’s a very good chance that you’ve unintentionally consumed a genetically-modified product. Industry statistics show that more than half of the sugar beets grown in the US in 2008 were genetically-modified varieties.

If that isn’t enough to make you cringe, consider the following: most of those engineered beets were Roundup-resistant, courtesy of agri-tech giant Monsanto.  Last autumn under the Bush administration, the USDA approved the Monsanto seed without preparing a standard Environmental Impact Statement.   But certainly President Obama, with an organic garden on the White House Lawn, would have done things differently.

Wouldn’t he?

We posted a few weeks ago about vintage Kimono fabric, and it got me thinking about other vintage fabrics that you could repurpose for crafty use. A couple of folks on Twitter mentioned vintage sari fabric, which seemed like a perfect follow up!

Sari is a traditional Indian garment, and it’s really flexible! It’s essentially a large piece of fabric - usually from five to 10 yards long and three to four feet wide. There are hundreds of ways to wrap a sari, making it extremely versatile. Usually made of silk, you can also find cotton sari if you hunt a little bit. The fabric is just gorgeous - intricate prints in bold colors and metallic shades. Sari fabric is just as versatile for craft projects as it is as a garment! It looks like Etsy and eBay both have great selections to choose from! Here’s are some ideas to get you started:

If you’re anything like me, you tend to hoard things that look like they may be useful later: empty thread spools, glass jars, bottle caps, and those ubiquitous wine corks.

[Creative Commons photo by Claudio Matsuoka]

I’ve got a big bowl of corks in the kitchen that’s mocking me. They dare me to find a project to use them up. Well the joke’s on you, little corks! I didn’t just find one way to turn you into something new. I found ten.

(image courtesy Aine D on Flickr)

Did you know that nearly half the sugar we bake those heart-shaped cookies with comes not from sugar cane, but sugar beets? Additionally, by next year, much of that beet sugar could be from genetically-engineered beets? The new beet seed was created by Monsanto to be able to withstand direct application of the herbicide Roundup, which has the active ingredient glyphosate.

The Environmental Protection Agency has enabled Monsanto in releasing the new GE crop by increasing the allowable residue of the herbicide by FIVE THOUSAND percent. Beets, being a root vegetable, are especially susceptible to retaining chemical residue.