Tag Archives: Composting

Last updated by suzlipman at October 29, 2010.

A Roundup of Halloween and Fall Fun

Posted on October 29, 2010 | 6 comments

Everyone seems to be inspired by Fall and by Halloween, which comes at the exact height of the season. There is no shortage of wonderful blog posts and ideas about play, creativity, and celebration of this pivotal and lovely time of the year. I’ve gathered a few:

Fall’s bounty and beauty are explored by Mom in Madison

A roundup of Fall outdoor activities comes from Your Wild Child

Backyard Mama brings us ten ways to enjoy Fall

Make shrunken apple heads with Active Kids Club

Create a Sugar Sprite tradition for Halloween candy with Stephinie on Rhythm of the Home

A wonderful compendium of Halloween herb and food history and lore comes from The Herb Companion

From The Squirrelbasket: Halloween traditions, superstitions, and pumpkin carving

DIYLife weighs in on composting Fall leaves

Shivaya Mama describes experiencing peace and joy through watching children’s delight at jumping in Fall leaves

Have a glorious Halloween and Fall!

Photos by Susan Sachs Lipman

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Posted in Crafts, Deck Garden, Holidays, Home Ec., Nature, Play, Seasons, The Great Outdoors

Tagged Autumn, Autumn Crafts, Composting, Fall, Fall Crafts, Fall Leaves, Family, Food History, Halloween, Halloween History, Pumpkins, Shrunken Apple Head, Traditions

Slow News Day: San Francisco Passes Ambitious Recycling & Sustainable Food Laws

Posted on July 19, 2009 | Leave a comment

San Franciscans, you could be forgiven if you’ve been out playing in our unusually beautiful weather and missed a couple of developments that contribute to San Francisco being one of the greenest cities in the country.

Late last month, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced and signed the nation’s first mandatory composting law and what is probably its most comprehensive recycling law.

According to Mayor Newsom, San Francisco is already keeping 72 percent of recyclable material out of our landfill. The city has a Zero Waste goal.

The Huffington Post ran a very good piece on the program and the announcement.

The sfenvironment site is an excellent resource for information about the city’s green programs and ways you can be involved.

If that wasn’t enough, a few days ago, Mayor Newsom issued a multi-pronged Executive Directive that aims to get San Franciscans even closer to complete sustainability in the areas of producing and consuming local, nutritious food, and doing so in a way that limits the impact on the environment, while meeting the needs of the most vulnerable San Franciscans.

Mayor Newsom announced the Directive at Oakland’s non-profit City Slicker Farms, which itself was converted from a former junkyard. San Francisco’s plan calls for similar re-use of land.

The Civil Eats blog has this very thorough story.

Another piece on the Directive appears in the San Francisco Chronicle.

I’m sure lots of other cities are creating initiatives to promote greener, more sustainable practices. If you come across any Slow News in your city or town, please send it my way.

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Fairfax Parade and Ecofest

Posted on June 20, 2009 | 2 comments

I recently attended the 32nd annual Fairfax (CA) parade and its newer accompanying Ecofest. Both were extraordinary and really showed off the town and its people. The event featured art, music, dance, food, children’s activities, artisinal products, and demonstrations. Themes of sustainability, social consciousness, friendliness and fun overrode the day. It was a beautiful event.

The Ecofest continued through the weekend. Here are some highlights from the parade, Eco Fashion show, and more:

Many parade entries had themes of Sustainability. This yoke of discarded plastic was particularly effective.

Here’s our own Youth Making a Difference entry. Follow us to the Eco Fashion Show and Ecofest.

The Eco Fashion Show incorporated a group of young women’s many original designs and work, using vintage, recycled, and re-purposed materials. The results were impressive and their enthusiasm was contagious.

At the Ecofest, we learned about worm composting from local vermicomposting expert David Lee Hoffman and from folks from Garden for the Environment, which gives public workshops on organic and sustainable gardening. We found this composter, available at Fairfax Lumber, ideal for our small gardening space.

We also visited with new and old friends among the exhibitors, such as Bay Nature magazine, Environmental Education Center of Marin, Salmon Protection and Watershed Network, Marin Agricultural Land Trust, California Native Plant Society, Bio-Diesel Co-op, the Peace Corps, Tamalpais Natureworks sustainable furniture, and Snow Lotus Essential Oils, which I sampled and which seemed to be of extremely high quality. There were also two bodycare artisans that I highly recommend: Moonflowers Body Care (I like their Jasmine cleanser and Gift of India face cream), and North Rose Botanicals. I bought a little sample bag of North Rose products and can’t wait to replenish the heavenly Rose cleanser, tonic, and moisturizer, which are all wonderfully light in texture and scent.