Across the world, major cities and landmarks turned off their lights for one hour in honor of Earth Hour. While the PR is great and it definitely gets attention, one hour each year is simply not enough to inspire massive change in my book. What if we had Earth Hour once a week every week?

New York is set to ban single-use plastic bags in all retail stores next March. They are the second state to impose a ban behind California. It’s certainly not a catch-all, as the bill has a number of “exempt” situations for things like garment bags, take out bags, and the like - but it’s a start.

Burger King is rolling out its first meatless burger. Sourced from the startup company Impossible Foods, the burger would be available in all 7,200 locations across the US. Impossible’s claim to fame has been how similar their burgers taste to real meat. How do they accomplish this? By using heme. Heme is an iron-rich protein that Impossible Foods thinks brings much of the meaty taste to meat. How do they source their heme? Impossible Foods discovered a way to grow it using the roots of soybean plants and mass-produce it using GMO yeast. Where is that soy sourced from? GMO soybeans. You tell me how much better for the planet this alternative is. The company makes the fatal mistake of likening genetic modification to hybridization - which are two extremely different practices. Hybridization is about breeding similar strains of plants with each other, which farmers have done for thousands of years (think a paste tomato crossed with a cherry tomato - nature does this all on her own) the other is blatant genetic cut and paste (think like squid genetics CRSPRed into a soybean plant - which nature does not do). It’s processed food at the end of day. I’ll continue to enjoy my grass fed burgers, thanks.

Ikea is on track to become “climate positive” by 2030. They are aiming to reduce their climate footprint by 80% through sourcing more earth-friendly material, getting manufacturing plants powered by renewable energy, and tackling deliveries’ carbon footprint. Unfortunately, the numbers show their climate footprint went up by 2.8% since 2016. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good romp through Ikea, but there is something to be said about well made materials that are meant to last. When I think about quality and longevity, I don’t think about Ikea.

In better news, almost half of the EU states have hit their renewable energy goals for 2020. Those who get a gold star are Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Hungary, Lithuania, Romania and Sweden.

The Positively Green Podcast Episode 12: How to easily incorporate herbalism into your lifestyle with Kyle Denton
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The Green Dreamer Podcast Episode 125: Individual actions adding up to transform the world for the better with Aaron Perry

The Food Heroes Podcast Episode 27: Why Beekeeping is important and how to get started today.

If you want to find local regenerative farmers, one of the best resources is LocalHarvest.org. From pastured eggs to local honey - you can search their database depending on your location and get in contact with amazing farmers growing amazing things. We found our grass fed beef and pastured pork using this resource!

Today on the Positively Green Podcast we interview herbalist Kyle Denton of Tippecanoe Herbs. Kyle is an educator, medicine maker, and owner of Tippecanoe Herbs & Apothecary in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Drawing from his background in Ayurveda and Traditional Western Herbalism, Kyle will expand your understanding of our relationship to the natural world and help you introduce simple and easy ways to incorporate herbalism into your everyday life.

• ​Nourishment by Fred Provenza
• HerbRally Podcast
• The Plant Path Podcast by Sajah & Whitney Popham
• Herbcraft.org by Jim McDonald
• Matthew Wood (author)
• The Modern Herbal Dispensatory: A Medicine-Making Guide
• Eclectic School of Herbal Medicine
• Rosemary Gladstar (author)​

Instagram @tippecanoe_herbs
Website: Tippecanoe Herbs

A new study reported that 75% of the coal industry is more costly than solar or wind when it comes to producing electricity. What’s even more encouraging is that by 2025, the entire industry of coal production will be more expensive than solar and wind, even when you factor in the upfront costs of building wind turbines and installing solar panels.

If I was a honey bee, I’d totally be hanging out with Morgan Freeman right now. The star-studded actor announced that he converted his 124-acre ranch in Mississippi over into a honey bee sanctuary. Freeman picked up beekeeping in 2014 and since then has added clover, magnolia, and lavender to his acreage to support his 26 hives.

While Trump continues to take two steps backward on environmental protection and climate change, Hawaii took one big leap forward. The state legislature introduced a bill that would phase out all forms of single-use plastics in restaurants by 2022. They see that litter hurts not only their oceans, but it costs taxpayers money too. This would be the first statewide ban on single-use plastics ever.

In the dynasties of fossil fuel business, here are a handful of uplifting stories on the power of numbers when it comes to switching the family business over to renewable energy. Chris Riley, whose family has been in coal for decades says, “It’s not ideology, it’s math.”

Sustainable Dish Episode 88: Dirt To Soil with Gabe Brown, One Family’s Journey into Regenerative Agriculture.

Sustainable World Radio Episode 140: How Connecting To Nature Can Change Your Life.

Lately I've been ruminating on how our society rewards those who have careers of consequence versus careers of prevention. Reward meaning their annual salary. How they are compensated for their time and, ultimately, how we as a culture value their time spent doing what they do.

The first example is teachers versus lawyers. A teacher - someone who teaches our children how the world works and how they should behave within it, made on average $55,000 in 2018 in the state of Wisconsin (where we call home). Lawyers - those who deal with the consequences of those who have bad behavior- made on average $115,000. That's double, my friend.

Then there are farmers - those who grow the food that nourish our bodies - who made on average $41,000 in 2018 in Wisconsin. Juxtapose that with doctors - those who deal with the consequences of unhealthy diets (now more than ever as Type 2 diabetes skyrockets) - who made $300,000 on average in 2018.

I can't help but wonder what  our society would look like if we rewarded teachers and farmers with the same salary that we give lawyers and doctors. Would there be less crime? Would there be healthier people? I understand that years of schooling are involved in the areas of medicine and law and make up quite a bit of student loans to pay back, but just chew on this thought for a few days for me.

Any other prevention versus consequence careers you can think of?

If you have been on the path or curious about healing your body holistically, there are five incredibly important things to know as you go on your holistic living journey. These crucial discoveries took me by complete surprise as I healed myself holistically over the last ten years (yes ten!).

​I’ve conquered adult acne, Celiacs, gut dysbiosis, and adrenal fatigue all from a holistic perspective. I wish someone would have gently told me these five things right away when I started so I could have saved myself from mountains of frustration.  

So today I want to share them with you, so you can heal faster and with more grace than I did.

Despite the Trump Administration’s best efforts to quell renewable energy expansion, a new analysis shows that in the US, clean energy jobs rose 3.6% in 2018, outnumbering nonrenewable energy jobs 3 to 1. Take that, climate change deniers!

Bring your s’more supplies, an ongoing fire at a petrochemical storage terminal in Deer Park, Texas has been raging since Sunday. The plume of black smoke closed highways and schools, yet the local area claimed that there was no air pollution hazard. Several storage tanks of gasoline were burned or collapsed in the fire, yet local authorities say that this will have no impact on the availability of gas or gas prices in the area. I’m not sure what logic Deer Park is using to rationalize this catastrophe, but this is definitely a moment where the rest of us can say, “This wouldn’t happen with solar.”

As the weather becomes more intense, entire communities along the Platte and Missouri rivers are underwater. Thanks to the intensity of the Polar Vortex freezing the ground solid, a heavy layer of snow, and then pounding rain - the massive amounts of water had nowhere to go. The destruction is heartbreaking, especially knowing that these unpredictable weather systems are not going away anytime soon,

In better news, a federal judge ruled that an Obama era oil lease failed to adequately take into consideration climate change impact of leasing public land for oil gas drilling in Wyoming. I think Jeremy Nichols of WildEarth Guardians says it best, “This is the first court ruling that specifically tears apart the Interior Department’s failure to take into account the climate change of impact on drilling, on a national scale.”

Decades before women gained the vote, there were women getting equal pay, wearing trousers, and working alongside men in areas such as organic chemistry, physics, botany, and horticulture. In 1896, London’s royal botanical gardens at Kew employed women and it caused quite a stir. Get the whole heartwarming story here.

Food Heroes Podcast Episode 26: Sean Lenihan The Honest Bison: Honesty and transparency in the meat industry. 

Green Dreamer Podcast Episode 120: Accepting there is no orthodoxy in environmentalism to activate everyone with Dr. John Fraser and Dr. Rupu Gupta.

With spring officially here, a deep house clean is probably on the horizon. Consider DIYing your cleaning products or finding safer alternatives to keep things toxin-free and earth-friendly. I’m lazy and like to wait for my mom to come into town before I tackle a deep clean on the house. Two OCD cleaners are better than one, right?

​In this episode, Kelsey and Becca answer listeners’ questions on everything from gardening to soap to getting your significant other on board to live a greener lifestyle.

Laundry + Dishes
Buckaroo Organics Soapberry Detergent
Wool Dryer Balls
Redecker Beechwood Pot and Dish Brushes
Better Life Dish Soap
Seventh Generation
Dr. Bronner’s

CBD Facial Oil
https://www.healthyskinglows.com/cbd-oil-stress-acne-21-day-experiment/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4151231/
https://khus-khus.com/products/sen-face-serum

Becca’s Safety Razor Post

Kelsey's ebook The Holistic Home

Stella and Chewy’s Dog Food
Becca’s Natural Dog Product Faves

There’s a new viral game people are buzzing about, and it’s not what you’d expect. #TrashTag has taken over social media, where people post before and after videos of areas they have cleared of litter. If you feel inspired on your daily walk to clear the ditch of trash, be sure to join in the fun online!

Costa Rica has come forward with its own Green Deal, and it’s no small feat. They plan to completely phase out fossil fuels by 2050, and they are well on their way with hydropower, solar power, and being a carbon sink by covering half of their country in trees. What’s their first point of action? Overhauling transportation.

The energy company, Williams, has its eyes on putting a 23-mile long underwater pipeline carrying fracked gas from Pennsylvania to New York. Environmentalists are pissed, as they should be since fracked gas is obviously more carbon-emitting than renewable energy and a decision like this would lock in New York to non-renewable energy dependency. This will be an interesting decision to watch on behalf of Democratic green-minded governor Cuomo, who has banned fracking in New York and set goals to cut emissions 80% by 2050.

Speaking of fracking, here is an in-depth read on the history of fracking in the US. If you want to understand this issue from its onset, this is the ultimate article for you.

In the face of disaster, man-made or natural, there is an opportunity for what is called “civic-ecology,” the act of promoting restoration and stewardship. Learn what the Ten Principles of Civic Ecology are and how you can be a part of the healing process.

Sustainable Dish Episode 86: The Future of Food with John Kempf.

Sustainable World Radio Episode 148: Regenerating Land in Mexico at Sanandi Farm

Paul and I are set to travel to Vegas and the dreaded reality of trying to eat while traveling is upon us. So much of the [unhealthy] grab-and-go food at airports has packaging that winds up in the garbage, not to mention the copious amounts of food and drink in plastic on board the plane that are tossed too. How do we deal with it? This time around I plan on fasting during the duration of our travel, but Paul will be eating Epic Bars out of multilayered non-recyclable pouches. You win some, you lose some. We're not perfect, but we're aware of our actions and we hope to continue to do better.

If you are starting out as a beginner farmer or homesteader, or dreaming of becoming one, chances are you’re craving guidance. I felt the same exact way four years ago as I set out to put action to my values. Maybe you were inspired because you want to be a part of the climate solution, or you want to feed your community and family the healthiest food possible, or you want to learn to be more responsible for your food - maybe it’s all of the above!

Regardless of your reasons for wanting to get into farming and/or homesteading, you need the well-won knowledge from other farmers and homesteaders to help light the way. I can tell you I’ve read countless books, articles, and blogs on the subject and there are a definite few that have helped shape me. In this blog post, I want to share the top five books to help get you started with farming or homesteading.

Before we dive in, I want to pass on to you the single best piece of advice I was given as I started reading farming and homesteading books...

The company Morning Star plans to veganize all its products by 2021. They cite that more people are going plant-based in the face of climate change (and those surveys they cite range from 3% of the population actually being vegan to 39% of the population wanting to be vegan). So they are nixing eggs and dairy in their vegetarian products and adding in what to compensate for protein? More soy. That soy is not organic or non-GMO, meaning it still lives in a monocropping system which still contributes to climate change.

India has set high standards for its renewable energy plan for 2019. New installations this calendar year will reach nearly 14 gigawatts, which is about 50% more than the capacity added last year. While the plan faces challenges as residents struggle with the high prices of rooftop solar additions, commercial and industrial buildings are stepping up to carry the load.

Trader Joe’s responded to a petition with over 91,000 customers’ signatures asking for less nonrecyclable plastic with their products. At this point they have made noticeable strides in phasing out single-use plastic shopping bags, replacing plastic produce bags with compostable ones, and eliminating styrofoam packaging within the produce section. Next, they plan on phasing out produce wrapped or bagged in plastic, nixing styrofoam in their meat packaging, and much more.

Michael Bloomberg is not running for president in 2020, but he is launching a campaign to help curb climate change. The letter he penned is one that will pull at your liberal heartstrings, but what excites me most is that he aims to throw all his weight behind the Beyond Coal campaign in hopes of retiring every single coal-fired power plant over the next 11 years.

Written by Wisconsin regenerative farmer, Steve Heyer, this editorial piece in The Wisconsin State Farmer is not to be missed. He discusses why the regulatory laws written by seemingly farm-friendly organizations like the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and the Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCP) are actually extremely prohibitive to small regenerative farmers. As a small regenerative farmer myself, I can attest to this. We have our hands tied not only by the regulatory nature of our state’s licensing, but the cost of land near urban centers to expand our operation. How are small diversified farms to provide nutrient-dense and ecologically-friendly food to urban centers when both state and federal levels of government are not truly on their side?

The Positively Green Podcast: Episode 10 Why you don't have to go vegan to live a sustainable lifestyle.

Food Heroes Podcast: Episode 25 Amelia Franklin BeanLedger on fighting to protect the global coffee supply chain from climate change.

Green Dreamer Podcast: Episode 112 Alex Weindling on how lab-grown diamonds are disrupting the diamond mining industry for the better.

Having three cats, Paul and I are constantly covered in pet hair. I can't tell you how many lint rollers and sticky papers we have thrown in the garbage in our cat-owning lifetime. I finally dug my heels in and went looking for a sustainable solution that actually works. Then, the heavens parted and I found Redecker's Lint Brush (know that I was not sponsored to post this, but this is an affiliate link). I was nervous because some of the reviews said it wasn't effective, but we found it simply takes an extra few swipes across your clothes (where a sticky lint roller would take one) to remove lint and pet hair. You can read more about our experience with it here on the blog.

Creating a laundry routine that is zero-waste and toxin-free is totally possible. Doing laundry in a more eco-friendly way was one of the first things we tried on our sustainable living journey - with amazing results! From natural DIY laundry detergent to cutting our dryer time down to save on our energy bill to even finding a zero waste solution for a lint roller - you can easily do laundry with your health and the earth’s health in mind.