Viridescence - be green!

By now, most of the dead leaves have fallen from their trees. The dead leaves cover your lawn, landscape, clog drains, and make for slippery walking, biking, and driving conditions. Instinctually, you might want to rake and bag or burn the fallen leaves. Don’t do this! Instead, harshness the leaves’ mineral-rich, organic properties through decomposition and use the compost on next spring’s garden. Even during cold weather, the decomposing leaves will provide carbon and nutrients to the soil bacteria. Get those dead leaves out of the street gutters. This will prevent them from entering the storm water where they can clog the system. Additionally, excess leaves in the storm water harms water quality for aquatic live. Instead of harming the environment improve the environment by using instead of losing fallen fall leaves. There are several ways to contain and compost fallen dead leaves. 1. Use a mulching mower – By mulching and leaving the dead leaves in place ...

The United States Department of Agricultural (USDA)  launched a program to provide support to veterans interested in joining the agricultural industry. The three ways the USDA will help veterans include through employment, education, and entrepreneurship. Resources available are a new website for veterans and a new curriculum for USDA employees to learn about the opportunities offered to veterans. “Through these resources, USDA is committed to helping veterans in agricultural areas so we can strengthen the American economy and provide assistance for those who have served. Veterans and agriculture are just a great fit.” ( Secretary Perdue , 2017) The newly created website proclaims defense and preparedness as critical needs of the country’s agricultural sector. This proclamation reinforces the USDA missions to hire, train, and support veterans seeking to join the agricultural industry. On the website , there are three links: employment, education, and entrepreneurship. The...

The holiday season is upon us, which means people will be traveling to visit friends and family. According to the Federal Aviation Administration , tens of millions of passengers use air travel during the holiday season. While at the same time, long-distance travel by vehicle increases by 54% during the Thanksgiving holiday and by 23% during the Christmas holiday ( USDOT , n.d.). This extra travel equals an increase in carbon emissions , an increase in energy use , and an increase in waste all and all the holiday season is not a good time for the environment. There are ways you can travel this season guilt free of your increased carbon-footprint. Air Travel Participate in carbon offsetting program, which are non-profit organizations that support carbon-reducing projects. Investigate the program before you purchase to ensure you know how the funds are used, if the results are guaranteed, and is the company certified. Save paper – use electronic tickets Opt for non-sto...

With so many “green” and “eco-friendly” product certifications out there, it can be hard to understand what they all mean. To help sort this out, I have created a list of the most common “green” agricultural product certifications.   USDA Organic - indicates that the agricultural product has been produced through approved methods, including protecting natural resources, conserving biodiversity, and using only approved substances. https://www.usda.gov/topics/organic Certified Humane –assures the consumer that the food products come from a facility that meets standards for farm animal treatment. http://certifiedhumane.org/ Bird Friendly Coffee - Indicates the farm that grew the coffee is preserving migratory bird habitat by growing a variety of shade trees on the plantation . https://nationalzoo.si.edu/migratory-birds/bird-friendly-coffee Fair Trade Certified - model of sustainable, ethical trade support responsible companies, empower farmers, workers, an...