Keen is Green

Last weekend we participated in Covington, Kentucky’s 2nd Annual Farmer’s Fair!  I suggest checking out their website to see what they’re all about.  I can’t wait for next year’s event!  The keynote speaker this year was Ed Begley, Jr. who is a shining example of green living.  Begley has a show, Living Like Ed, on the Planet Green television network.  We were lucky enough to host a book signing in our booth for Mr. Begley where he signed his two best-selling books, Living Liked Ed and Ed Begley, Jr.’s Guide to Sustainable Living. It went great, and I promise to have better pictures posted soon!

All else is great on the Keen front.  The weather is a relieving 73 degrees and perfectly blue.  The fall ghosthunting books are in house.  The office is starting to really, REALLY recycle, finally!  My stern words have finally paid off.  We painted the soon-to-be bookstore (Roebling Point Books & Maps); the bookshelves are a vibrant yellow and the walls behind them are BLUE!  It’s fantastic.

AND it is finally perfect camping and hiking weather!

I want to start hearing from others what they are doing to better our environment.  You never know what you might learn if you only listen…

What is one green thing you have done in the past week?

*Bear with me as I digress from my usual, earth-friendly topics (although this isn’t too far off).

I am sure I have mentioned before how much I love my city.  Cincinnati is a burgeoning flower on the crest of excellence, and it’s right here, right now that we’re finally seeing the fruits of everyone’s hard work.  In a recent post on Soapbox Cincinnati, there is mention of so many exciting things I can barely see straight or type fast enough!  Reading the article makes me somewhat regret my recent migration across the river, out of the heart of all this excitement.  Not only is Over-the-Rhine being completely revitalized, but some really outstanding shops, restaurants, bars, and venues are opening and once again shining a good light on Cincinnati.  In the article, Dan Korman (owner of Park + Vine, which will be moving over to Main Street in September) notes that “the neighborhood is becoming the ‘natural living’ or ‘organic business’ corridor of the city,” and I think he just might be right.

On another hysterically exciting note, Cincinnati has launched the RecycleBank program!  The city went from almost canceling the free, regular recycling pickup program to becoming the largest Midwest city to participate in this program.  RecycleBank, if you aren’t familiar, is a program in which you basically get paid to recycle (you accumulate points per pound of material and receive gift cards and rewards).  It’s a fantastic way to get people who wouldn’t regularly recycle to do so (up to 30% more per household), and reward them for it.

Recycling is contagious, I’ve found.  My mom and sister are avid now, as is my boyfriend.  I caught it when I was a nanny, from the mom who was the director of Waste Management for the city we lived in at the time.

So, my advice to you is to get out there and get someone sick with recycling!

This is fantastic news for hard-knock chickens being suppressed on farms everywhere!  There is hope!  No more must you lead a life of oppression, jammed in a cage with 43 other chicken-strangers, not being able to pick the feed out from between your own toes (er, claws).  California has become the first cage-free egg state, proclaiming that every whole egg laying chicken in the state of California must be able to do pilates and/or yoga within the confines of its holding area without bumping wings with its neighbor.  I can’t express how exciting this is, beginning to crack down on the cruel treatment of farm animals in the United States.  Hooray for chickens!

And as if the weather wasn’t enticing enough, California has another thing going for itself: potentially banning plastic bags used in convenient stores, grocery stores, etc.!  The law has jumped many hurdles and is heading towards the finish line in first place.  The (potential) amount of money saved on bag litter cleanup with this bill is unbelievable!  Assemblymember and author of the bill, Julia Brownley, states that “we are taught to reduce, reuse, recycle in that order because we can’t recycle our way to a better world.  This bill gets to the root of our litter problem by reducing our use of disposable bags.”  I can only hope that this bill passes its final obstacles and then spreads like wildfire (no pun intended, sorry CA) into other states.  It’s so cheap and easy to use reusable grocery bags everywhere you go.

GO CALIFORNIA!

Tomorrow and Saturday we trek down to the river for one of the coolest river festivals, right here in our hometown - PADDLEFEST!

Every year Cincinnati hosts thousands of paddlers, canoes and kayaks alike, on the Ohio River with a great festival in cooperation with the Ohio Riverway Organization.  Last year there were tons of vendors/exhibitors, food, great entertainment, and plenty of educational seminars and workshops for paddlers, as well as some serious paddling down on the Ohio River on Saturday morning.  This year is sure to be bigger and better than last year and we couldn’t be more excited to be able to participate in this event!

We’re really lucky to have such great paddling books amongst us.  If you’d like to check them out, visit Menasha Ridge Press or Wilderness Press and search for paddling, kayaking, canoeing, or whatever else tickles your fancy.

Here are some of the pictures we took last year (this year we’ll be taking a lot more):

There is absolutely nothing I love more than good, home-cooking!  Already, Cincinnati is blessed with an amazing independent bakery/cafe, TAKE THE CAKE.  Not only do they make great wedding cakes and other holiday cakes to order, but also have an always changing menu from day to day in their open kitchen layout with communal tables, and when the food is gone, it’s gone (and believe me, it’s good enough that it goes quickly)!

Very recently another wonderful place just opened, and wouldn’t you believe it is right across the street from my last apartment in downtown Cincinnati (Over-the-Rhine).  Go figure!  The newest addition to the Gateway Quarter is forkheartknife, which has a truly inspiring (although heartbreaking) story behind its inception.  Co-owners Sierra Laumer and Leah Heisel Grande are mainly focused on catering but will be open a few days a week for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or late night snacks, to be decided (it’ll be a surprise).  Soapbox Media did a great piece on them where you can get some real insight into what they’re up to.  I know what I’m doing for dinner this Thursday, 6-10pm  - they’ll be open for dinner!

If you can look at their Website and not drool at the food pictures, I’ll give you a dollar.

That’s all for now.  I have to go find myself a snack after all this food talk!

I’ve finally run across a much needed, very helpful article on composting at home.  The City Girl’s Guide to Country Gardening, Lesson 5: Lazy Composting was written by what I’m sure to be my long-lost twin.  She gives a solution for composting at home (outside) that is both extremely simple and virtually free.

Wood scraps + chicken wire + shovel.  That’s my kind of construction!  I think once I move (next month, literally moving across the street - away from the spiders), I’ll make one of these makeshift compost bins in my backyard.  There’s just really no excuse for not composting your food scraps.  If you don’t want to do it yourself at home, you can collect your scraps and donate them to a nursery or garden center or a friend with a compost bin!  I highly suggest you read Virginia Sole-Smith’s article and see what you can do with it for yourself.

On another note, as usual it’s proving hard to find a day to spend outdoors here in Southwestern Ohio.  Late last week we had a perfectly sunny, 90-degree day, only to turn into severe storms and tornado warnings.  Today I woke up to 35 degrees!  I just keep telling myself that the weather will be pleasant soon.  Summer is upon us!

This month is Bike Month in Cincinnati!  The folks over at Queen City Bike have done such a wonderful job of organizing a month full of events both for fun and to raise bicycle awareness.  The artwork for the promotion is absolutely gorgeous!

We are lucky enough to be a part of the whole shebang: Tuesday, May 18, 7am-9am, we will be hosting a bicycle commuter station right outside of our offices in Covington, KY.  For Covington residents commuting over the Ohio River via the Roebling Suspension Bridge, they can stop by our commuter station for free air, grease, coffee, water, snacks, and more free goodies!  I’m excited and I’m not even traveling over the bridge.

I definitely think that every city should be having a campaign like this one at some point this summer.  Today was the first day I rode my bike to work since I got the shiny, new thing.  I even carried a glass pan with a loaf of homebaked banana bread while riding.  Pure talent.

This Saturday is the MoBo Bicycle Co-op’s used bike sale, where we’ll be adopting a previously loved bicycle for my boyfriend.  Hopefully we’ll find him a real winner.

Everyone drag out your dusty, rusty bicycle this month and take it for a spin!  Share the love!

Very recently I posted about wanting a garden but being hesitant in planting one since I am currently renting.  Lo and behold, a co-worker passed this article on to me about gardening at home, in containers.  It’s now my ultimate gardening go-to bible!  Remember, I’m a beginner here.  The article contains the usual suspects, such as tomatoes, cucumber, squash, and peppers, but it also lists several things I would never have imagined you could grow at home in a container:

• Hops
• Strawberries
• Quinoa
• Tea
• Tropical fruits such as bananas and mini-pineapples
• Citrus fruits & tree fruits

I got so excited after reading this article that I immediately wrote out a list of fruits & veggies I need to buy seeds/starter plants for, and containers.  Now I just have to ward off all the pesky and enormous spiders lurking all around (the joys of living on the river).

While I’m on the topic of food, I know what I’m making tomorrow morning for the weekend’s breakfasts.  Coffee cake!  This easy recipe doesn’t seem real.  I’ll let you know how it goes.  (Thanks to Planet Green for the recipe)

Also on the subject of food, found this today and wanted to share: according to The Daily Green News Blog, goverment tests have shown that “not all the pesticides used to kill bugs, grubs, or fungus on the farm washes off under the tap at home.”  Eww - that means that I’ve been ingesting harmful pesticides my entire life.  I had never really bought my fruits & veggies organic until I started shopping at the local farmer’s market.  I’m happy about that one after reading this article.  I guess I won’t have to worry about that at all if I start growing my own at home!

Today I’m highlighting a friend of mine’s new adventure, Five Finger Poems. He’s posting short yet sweet poems that can fit on the palm of your hand, literally.  I like it because it’s saving some trees and going paperless.  “All poetry needs is a series of words you like and a pen…”  Way to stay green, Adam!

You can vaguely see the Licking River through all that green.  That’s my backyard!  It’s an amazing place, the backyard.  Unfortunately, I am a renter and do not own this property, or the grass in the backyard would not look like it does now.  The landlord is not a loving guy towards the green spaces around our house.

I cannot wait to own a home for the mere fact that I really want a beautiful yard and a garden!  I have never been good with plants, but I am now successfully keeping three different plants alive.  Two of them are in the picture above, one at my office.  This success is making me dangerously curious in gardening.  I so badly want to have a garden where I can grow my own herbs, veggies, tomatoes, and flowers.  Growing your own vegetables and such can save you tons of money and keep you safe from pesticides and other harmful chemicals!

One day, right?  I’m hoping that Park + Vine will continue to hold educational classes, including gardening, until I buy a house.

I hope everyone, everywhere had a great Earth Day yesterday!  It was exciting here at work, for sure.  We picked a winner for our THINK GREEN 2010 Campaign Contest, congrats @Flightwoman!  Her glorious prize-pack was shipped out today.  If I could, I would have delivered it myself on my bicycle, but she simply lived far, far away from me.

Just because our contest is over does not mean that I’m going to stop blogging about all things green, so keep visiting us for more stories and tips!