09.30.09
Watch the Conference on Distracted Driving Online Now
The U.S. Department of Transportation thinks distracted driving ( texting, phoning and drinking) is enough of a problem to convene a two-day Distracted Driving Summit. You can listen to right now online.
09.16.09
This Video Delivers a Powerful Message on Distracted Driving
Join the movement. Click on the icon in the right column to buy a bumper sticker!
My friend Deborah posted a video clip, One Bad Decision, on her facebook page today. The kid in the clip is a friend of one of her sons.
They all live near here.The police officers, EMTs, nurses and surgeons are local. So is the video production company.
But the message is UNIVERSAL and so important to us all in this age of ever more “distracted drivers.”
Yeah, it’s painful to watch.
And yes, you’ve likely heard it before.
But watch it anyway.
And then pass it on.
Send it to everyone you know.
Even if you think they know better.
Oh, and grab a box of tissues.
Repeat after me: I will not drink and drive. I will not text and drive. I will not phone and drive.
09.09.09
Invite the Natives to Return to Your Garden
The hummingbirds, and I, love cardinal flowers (lobelia cardinalis) .
The native plants, that is.
” Invite nature and beauty into your landscape with native plants. Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve Fall Native Plant Sale is filled with a premier selection of over 200 species of nursery-propagated native trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials, vines and ferns native to Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the Delaware Valley Region. The Fall Native Plant Sale will be held at the Visitor Center area of the Preserve on Saturdays and Sundays, September 12 and 13, and September 19 and 20 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.”
Natives, which here in the Northeast include azalea, viburnum, redbud, holly, river birch, dogwood, clethera, bearberry, pasture roses, honeysuckle, clematis, iris, bee balm, cardinal flower, black-eyed Susans and many, many more:
- are beautiful.
- survive on available water, once they are established.
- don’t usually run rampant.
- invite indigenous wildlife to your yard.
- nurture the native birds, butterflies, moths and bees.
Talk about sustainability.
FYI: Bowman’s Hill runs this fundraiser twice a year, to support their efforts at education and propagation. So if you live in the area, plan a trip for this weekend or next.
Sunny and indomitable, Black-eyes Susans are native to much of the United States.
If you don’t live nearby, why not look up native plant sources for your area? Here are a few I found:
Agrecol in the Midwest, sells $2 packets of native flowers and grasses.
There’s a big list of suppliers for a big state like Texas native plants.
Michigan natives abound.
Don’t be shy. Leave a note (see “comments”) or email a photo to write4@att.net about a favorite native that grows in your garden. If you don’t have a garden, just tell us about a favorite native from your home state or country.
09.02.09
Recycle Your Old Shoes-Unless They Add Chocolate, This Can’t Get Any Better
Here’s a great way to clear out some closet space with a clear conscience, do a good deed and get a receipt for your income taxes in the process.
You all have them. Those several pairs of shoes you never wear… but can’t bring yourself to throw out?
The fashion faux pas shoes. The gee-when-did-my-feet-grow shoes? And those cool cross-trainers that gave you dime-sized blisters both times you wore them.
New shoes. (Courtesy of soles4souls.org)
Some of the shoes Soles4Souls.org has collected went to tsunami survivors and to those who lost everything to Hurricane Katrina. Others go to the homeless, or to shelters for battered women, or to hospitals. Way better then going to waste in the landfill.
And Soles4Souls will happily accept not just your shoes, but the gently-used shoes and boots your toddlers have outgrown, your teenager will no longer leave the house in, or that just plain hurt your husband’s feet.
Click here for your closest Soles4Souls drop-box location.
Quick, easy, painless sustainability and recycling. By my reckoning, unless you add chocolate to this deal, it just doesn’t get any better.
See an earlier, related post on sustainability.
And then do a good deed for your shoe-aholic friends by passing this post onto them.
