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SUSTAINABILITY 101: Building Native Bee-Friendly Gardens

A great way to support local bee populations is to plant a bee friendly garden in your yard or local community garden. If you decide to undertake this project it is very important that you do your research. You want to cater to the right kinds of bees. 

1.) To begin do a very simple internet search: “Native Bees in the _________ Area” to find out what bees you need to plant plants for. Keep in mind that you likely will Not be catering to honeybees. Many native bees are a lot smaller than honeybees. 

2.) Now do some research into what kinds of plants these bees like. Try and cater to a few kinds of native bees. 

3.) Go obtain suitable plants. I recommend perennials so you do not have to continue buying the plants every year

4.) Transfer plants into chosen location and water them well. If you are trying to cater to mason bees, make sure that there is mud or dirt nearby.

5.) Water and weed on a regular basis

OPTIONAL: you can also add extras to your garden to further attract bees. I for example have bee baths (frisbees filled with rocks and water), a half buried teapot for bumblebees and a mason bee hive 

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Search Engine ECOSIA Now Plants a Tree Every 0.8 Seconds!

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SUSTAINABILITY 101: Building Mason Bee Hives

Hey guys! A great way to protect native bee populations is to build and nurture the environments that they need to live. In Washington, my state, Mason Bees are a prevalent native bee species, and this will be a tutorial on how to build hives for these types of bees. Before building a Mason Bee hive make sure that these bees are native to you area. If they are not, please build a hive more suited to the native species of your area or planting plants that attract those kinds of bees. Mason Bees will come to your hive if done correctly, but buying Mason Bees is also an option and will more quickly populate your hive. 

Supplies

Block Hive (I’ve built 5 of these, its’ a super simple afternoon project)

A drill

A 4″ by 4″ by 8″ block of wood 

Masking tape

OPTIONAL: wood finish

OPTIONAL: sanding paper

Bamboo Straw Hive

Bamboo straws

Rubber Band/ Alternative binding materials

Tutorials

https://www.nwf.org/Garden-For-Wildlife/Young/Build-a-Bee-House.aspx

General Tips

https://www.parentmap.com/article/keeping-mason-bees-10-expert-tips-for-families

https://beebuilt.com/blogs/backyard-beekeeping-blog/everything-you-need-to-know-before-keeping-mason-bees

Where to Put Mason Bee Hives

According to Parent Map: “South-facing garage, house, or garden shed walls are ideal areas for establishing your nesting boxes”

Some Mason Bee Hive Designs

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Picture I took in Hawaii

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Give fools their gold, and knaves their power; let fortune's bubbles rise and fall; who sows a field, or trains a flower, or plants a tree, is more than all.

John Greenleaf Whittier

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SUSTAINABILITY 101: Houseplants

Overview

A fantastic way to learn about plants is to start with houseplants. Houseplants are usually small, easy to care for, mostly decorative plants for your home or space. They can familiarize you with watering schedules, soil and pH types, sunlight to darkness ratios, and (if you wish) Latin plant names. 

Obtaining Plants

Houseplants are sold at a variety of price points and can be found anywhere from a forest nearby, to community gardens, to supermarkets, to farmers markets, to nurseries, and even to online stores like amazon. Please note that if you are transplanting plants from a local community garden, you should get permission to do so beforehand. {EDIT: It was brought to my attention that you also need permission to take plants from forests/parks and that even though you can, it can have a profound impact on the surrounding environment and should be avoided}

FREE: forest/local environment, community gardens

CHEAP: supermarkets, some farmers markets

MORE EXPENSIVE: some farmers markets, nurseries, online stores

Materials/Supplies

In general, you dont need any fancy pots or fertilizers, but rather an idea about how much sunlight and water your plant needs (a quick google image search should do the trick), and the right sized container with good drainage (more on that later).

Light 101

Check to see if your plant requires “low”, “medium” or “bright” light and if it needs “direct sunlight” or “indirect sunlight”

Low: really needs no light at all, you can grow these in dark spaces with little to no light, if these plants are exposed to a lot of light, they will likely wilt and die

Medium: needs some sunlight but likely doesnt need a window space, put these plants in shady areas of rooms, or in places where the sun hits during only certain times of the day. these are real goldilocks plants, if they have too much light or too little light they will wilt and die, if one area does not seem to work for the plant move it elsewhere

Bright: need full light, probably need to devote window or patio space to these, observe where shadows fall around your space and avoid putting these plants there

Direct Sunlight: basically treat like a “bright” plant

Indirect Sunlight: basically treat like a “medium” plant

Water 101

Like light, plants have specific needs for water as well. Some plants (like cacti or succulents) really dont need any water at all, while others (like lucky bamboo) need their roots to be fully submerged. 

Do your research, but a good rule of thumb is:

Needs little to no water: add maybe a tablespoon of water to the plant once a month

Needs medium water: water every 2-3 days, or whenever the top of the soil is dry (only water until the soil is moist, not soaked through)

Needs lots of water: water daily, but make sure that water drainage is still good

Air plants: submerge in water once every week for about 10-60 sec

Aquatic plants: keep fully submerged

Containers and Drainage

Plants can be grown in anything, from cans to jars to boots to ceramic pots to planters to wood boxes, etc. The only rule is that there must be a hole in the bottom. This hole is to maintain good water drainage, and without it, excess water will remain in the pot and cause the roots of the plant to rot...this will kill the plant. In terms of the size of the container, this depends on the plant. Its ok if the container is too big but a too-small container can prevent root growth and damage the plant. 

Good Beginner Plants

Some plants that I’ve have had good luck with are: lucky bamboo, cacti, snake plants, air plants, and ferns

Thanks for reading, and as always, hmu with any questions!

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AURORA is one of my favorite music artists of all time, I am so incredibly happy that she created this beautiful anthem for environmentalists and climate strikers! Please check this song out  

AURORA’s statement about the song:

I’m missing anger in the youth. Not the blind rage, pointed towards all and nothing. But the kind of rage that wakes you up in the morning, the kind of rage that Inspires you to do something with the power you have in you. So I made a song. Filled with fire. And power. It’s time for us to really fight for her. This is a cry for Mother Earth. 

Some of my favorite songs about the environment:

The Seed by AURORA

Brazil by Declan McKenna

Feels Like Summer by Childish Gambino

Kids by MGMT

Blood // Water by grandson

Complete List of Songs about the Environment

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_about_the_environment

This is an ongoing, edit-able list, please add more songs if you notice one missing!

As always hmu with any comments or questions!

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“I am pessimistic about the human race because it is too ingenious for its own good. Our approach to nature is to beat it into submission. We would stand a better chance of survival if we accommodated ourselves to this planet and viewed it appreciatively, instead of skeptically and dictatorially.”

E.B. White

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SUSTAINABILITY 101: Altering and Fixing Your Own Clothes

I’ve chatted about how the best way to combat the fast fashion industry is to wear what you have...however with more wear comes more tears, and instead of throwing out the garment and getting a new one, its very simple to mend and alter your own clothes (regardless of your ability) 

In this way you can very easily increase the longevity of your clothes 

Some General Fixes/Alterations that You Can Do

Sewing on a button, fixing a rip or tear, shortening pants, shortening shirt sleeves, cropping shirts, lengthen pants, expand the shoulders of tops, re-size bras, painting or drawing on clothes

General Supplies

Thread

Needle

Buttons

Extra Fabric (you dont necessarily need to buy new fabric, use scraps from old projects, or cloth from old clothing items)

Scissors

Fabric Paint 

Paint brush

Some How-To Tutorials

Buttons

https://www.wikihow.life/Sew-a-Button https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/sewing-on-a-button/

Fixing a Rip or Tear

https://www.wikihow.com/Fix-Clothes

Shortening Pants

1. Use a pen or colored pencil to draw a straight line across the pant length at the desired length

2. cut along line

3. either fray edges further or hem, its up to you

Hemming 

https://www.wikihow.com/Hem-Shirts

Shortening Shirt Sleeves

https://www.allfreesewing.com/Basics-and-Tutorials/How-to-Shorten-Sleeves

Cropping Shirts

1. Use a pen or colored pencil to draw a straight line across the t-shirt at the desired length

2. cut along line

3. pull the newly cut shirt out at the hem until the hem curls over a bit

Lengthen Pants

https://www.allfreesewing.com/Basics-and-Tutorials/How-to-Lengthen-Kids-Jeans

Expand Shoulders of Tops

https://www.allfreesewing.com/Refashioning-and-Upcycling/How-to-Expand-a-Top

Resizing a Bra

https://www.allfreesewing.com/Basics-and-Tutorials/How-to-Resize-a-Bra

Painting on Clothes

https://www.wikihow.com/Category%3ADecorating-T-Shirts

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This is a fantastic, moving TED talk about the need for sustainable development in cities

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This is a great website! Please check it out! It’s currently tracking nearly all climate strikes around the world 

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For way too long, the politicians and the people in power have gotten away with not doing anything to fight the climate crisis, but we will make sure that they will not get away with it any longer. We are striking because we have done our homework and they have not.

Greta Thunberg (on Climate Change)

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Picture I took in Eastern WA

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SUSTAINABILITY 101: Plastics

If you are wanting to reduce your waste, perhaps the best place to start is with plastics. Working on reducing single use plastics (such as straws, bags, cups, cutlery etc.) is a great first step, however, you may find that you still need/use things with plastic packaging. Now it comes down to what you do with the plastic after it has been used. Its time to look at what type of plastic you are dealing with to see if it is recyclable. In general, if you still need to buy plastic, you should take this into consideration as some plastic can skip the landfill altogether. 

You may be aware that each plastic product has a little triangle on the bottom with a number in it that ranges from 1 to 7. These numbers are called “Resin Numbers” and indicate what kind of plastic the product is made out of. Consider checking this number before buying any plastic item so you know how to dispose of it properly.

Here is a quick rundown on Resin Numbers:

1 = PET (Polyethylene terephthalate)

Recyclable: Yes easily recyclable, curbside

Examples: Plastic water bottles

Cancer Causing: Yes

2 = HDPE (high-density polyethylene plastics) 

Recyclable: Yes easily recyclable, curbside or outside programs

Examples: Milk jugs, detergent containers, plastic bags

Cancer Causing: No

3 = PVC (Polyvinyl chloride)

Recyclable: difficult to recycle

Examples: Berry containers, PVC pipes

Cancer Causing: Yes

4 = LDPE (Low-density polyethylene) 

Recyclable: Recyclable through outside programs

Examples: newspaper bags, shrink wrap 

Cancer Causing: No

5 = PP (Polypropylene) 

Recyclable: Yes easily recyclable, curbside

Examples: Bottlecaps

Cancer Causing: No

6 = PS (Polystyrene) 

Recyclable: difficult to recycle

Examples: Plastic cutlery, plastic foam takeout boxes

Cancer Causing: Yes

7 = OTHER 

Recyclable: difficult to recycle

Examples: bioplastics (these are plastics that are easily biodegradable, however, they are very new so there are few ways to easily recycle them right now), nylon, fiberglass

Cancer Causing: No

Thanks for reading, and as always hmu with questions!

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Picture I took at unknown location in WA

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The first man who, having fenced a piece of land, said "This is mine, and found people naïve enough to believe him was the true founder of civil society. From how many crimes, wars and murders, from how many horrors and misfortunes might not any one have saved mankind, by pulling up the stakes, or filling up the ditch, and crying to his fellows: Beware of listening to this imposter, you are undone if you once forget that the fruit of the earth belongs to us all, and the earth itself to nobody

Jean Jacques Rousseau

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Let’s Chat About: DRAWDOWN

Hi! I wanted to call attention to a book, website and organization called DRAWDOWN. Basically they have made the most comprehensive plan for solving global warming ever created which is impressive, uplifting, and very very cool

Here is what is stated on their website:

“We did not make or devise the plan—the plan exists and is being implemented worldwide. It has been difficult to envision this possibility because the focus is overwhelmingly on the impacts of climate change. We gathered a qualified and diverse group of researchers from around the world to identify, research, and model the 100 most substantive, existing solutions to address climate change.”

                                                                         - https://www.drawdown.org/

I am currently reading the book and its incredibly accessible and informative. This is a fantastic book for people who are new to the climate change game and want to learn about current projects and research! Its a bit of an expensive purchase so consider the library or buying it on a kindle or nook to save money and paper.

Here is the complete list of solutions listed on the organization’s website:

https://www.drawdown.org/solutions-summary-by-rank

Please please look into this, I promise you will walk away feeling a lot more hopeful and optimistic than before