Earth Day was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson, and was first held on April 22, 1970.

Now Earth Day has the Earth Day Network and over 175 countries partake in one week of activites, awareness, and appreciation of the Earth.

Watch for BellaOnline's Green Team!
Thanks
Mary Caliendo
Tea Editor

To all the Bakers,cooks,chefs,wine enthusiasts, homemakers and foodies alike let's start a green forum! In honor of Earth day and being passionate about our Earth, let's put our heads together and bounce ideas and activities off each other about ways we can be more responsible and aware of our environment for now and years to come!

What can we do? How can we alter our lifestyles? ect.

I'll start:

Cleaning our kitchens with products that don't harm our environment.


Mary Caliendo
Tea Editor
BellaOnline Green Team Member

Eat the freshest and eat local! This helps you, the environment, and helps to start sustainability in your area. I dug up a web site for your local area.

In many parts of the country while the spring weather is not too warm seeds are started indoors and moved into the ground later. Here are some very cool web-sites to check into!

Great for kids too!
Go to:
www(dot)localharvest(dot)org
plug in you zip and you can view local seeds,vendors, farmers markets,and all within your local area.

More to come!
From your garden to your kitchen.
Mary Caliendo
Tea Editor

From your garden to your kitchen!

Ever heard of Seeds of Change?

It was started in 1989 to promote things like sustainable organic agriculture.

One can find them at .seedsofchange(dot)com

I have no affiliations with any of the organizations posted here or in previous or future posts. Just pure sharing of information. Enjoying Mother Earth.

Mary Caliendo
Tea Editor

Here are a few little thing green things you can do in your kitchen:

Did you know that you save more energy if you load your dishes facing the same way?

It saves energy to run a dish washer full and not 1/2 empty.

Try to put out a hand towel for wiping hands as opposed to using so many paper towels.

Try to use containers already in your cabinet to pack lunches as opposed to using plastic baggies.

More to come. If you have kitchen ideas or food type "green" ideas let us know and share!

Mary Caliendo
Tea Editor

Hey Foodies! What is new in your green world?

Has anyone started a garden? From mother earth to your table is the greenest we can get right?

who makes their own wine or crafts beer? Does anyone know any other Greenies out there?

I am hoping the Food Channel can be the leaders in the lessoning of our footprints?

Mary Caliendo
Tea Editor

Will you support your local farmer's market?

Will you be selling your garden at a market?

Will you grow your own tea garden?


Mary Caliendo
Tea Editor
Green Team Member

Which of our Food & Wine Channel editors or friends and readers has a water collection basin or water barrell?

Who is happy with their purchase and who has had one for sometime?

Let us all know and any other "green" comments you'd want to make.

Thank you!
Mary Caliendo
Tea Editor
Green Team Member

Becoming green may even save you money.

Drinking filtered water out of your faucett rather than buying water-also saves in landfills because you are using a reuseable drink bottle.

Ride your bike to work/school on days that are nice ride your bike brings you health advantages/saves your fuel/helps to keep the air clean!

Growing your own produce-freshest from your garden to your table! Water from your water barrel!

Can you help make changes?

Thanks,
Mary Caliendo
TeaEditor
Green Team Member

How are you making green changes in your food prep./or food waste?

Mary Caliendo
Tea Editor
Green Team Member

What have you made either to eat or in your home that required only "green" things

Such as Salsa from my garden, or refurrbished a chair for my house for examples.

Mary Caliendo
Tea Editor

How many of you have collected enough water in your rain barrels to water your garden or grass?



Mary Caliendo
Tea Editor/Green Team Member

Who is canning the last of their garden picks?
And what will you be canning?

How did you learn to can?


Mary Caliendo
Tea Editor/Green Team Member

Dear lovers of this earth,

Tell us on this first day (officially) of Autumn what will you be doing in your garden? Will you move plants inside? Do you have a greenhouse? And are you making a difference in your own home?


Mary Caliendo
Tea Editor/Green Team Member

I have been moving the house plants indoors, which means much pruning, repotting and cleaning them up; meanwhile rearranging things inside to accomodate them again. Sadly I must let the big old (35+years)Oleander go. It has a bad case of scale insects and they have resisted everything I have tried all summer long to get rid of them. However, I have a clean 3 year old clone of the Oleander that is about 3 1/2 ft. tall, beginning to branch and bloom so it will still be with me. There are still about 5-6 plants to bring in, including the biggest one, a 45 year old tangerine tree that brushes the ceiling. The first frost is still a few days away, but I dare not waste any more time.

Claybird, your job sounds large~keep up the good work~
If it does not rain I will be out clearing and geting more bulbs into the ground.

Thank you for sharing!

Mary Caliendo
Tea Editor/Green Team Member

Dear readers of tea and green kitchen lovers,

What if any green thing are you doing for Thanksgiving? Do you do an eco-friendly farm? Did you raise your own? What other "green" ideas for the holidays do you have?

Mary Caliendo
Tea Editor/Green Team Member

NBC tv is making a committment to go green!

They are committing to sustainability! go to: Greenisuniversal(dot)com to sign up for green tips, learn more & pledge, play and sweepstakes!

Save trees pledge and use a reusable mug! Join major cities as they do: NYC, Chgo, LA!

You can make a difference in this world one tiny little thing at a time!

Mary Caliendo
Tea Editor
Green Team Member

Cosmetics go green too! Mark (Avon Cosmetics) are the hipper & trendier part of the Avon company and they are selling bath soaps with white tea extract in them and these products are certified Fair-Trade. They are called Clean Up Time bar soap.

While I have no affiliation with this company & am not receiving compensation for this mention, I mentioned it because the cosmetics companies arelistening and now responding to "green" offerings.

MAry Caliendo
Tea Editor
Green Team Member

Who and what have you "Upcycled" today? Do you reuse? Do you recycle? Do you do your best to "Recreate"?

Mary Caliendo
Tea Editor
Green Team Member

Please don't forget to recycle your Christmas tree~many local communities have recycling shredders to add mulch into park district and community centers landscape!

Recycle reuse and redo....

Mary Caliendo
Tea Editor
Green Team Member

I do have my own tea garden. I grow two flavors of mint, a lemon balm, a lemon thyme and some white sage. I would love to grow chamomile too.

Hey There! Jilly! It is very cool having your own tea garden growing! Good for you~I have a green thumb but my kitchen area has no location for window light am currently looking into the "domed-type" lit garden. I'll keep you posted how that'ws going!

Let us know from time to time how your garden turns out & at this point heard that chamomile is very hard to grow & hard to get?? (also tempremental)

Mary Caliendo
Tea Editor

Did you know that you can start your seeds indoor in tiny "peat" cups and then when it is time to plant into containers or into the garden one can put the entire peat cup into the ground? They are totally biodegradable and one is encouraged to purchase them!

Refuse to buy in plastic containers!

Mary Caliendo
Tea Editor

Who is planning their garden around their salads?

Who just purchased a rain barrel?

Who will recycle old things into fashion garden art?

Will you do any of these things this coming Spring & summer?

Mary Caliendo
Tea Editor/Green Team Member

Dear Green lovers and garden gals & guys-

No local farmers market in your area? Start a neighborhood garden swap in someone's garage~

Send e-mails to neighbors and give extra fruits & vegs. to each other! Start seeds & exchange seeds with each other! Exchange ideas and seeds, create a community garden~

Sounds fun & envoke a community spirit, pride in the neighborhood and even may feed someone who is a little less fortunate! Please Please Let us all know if you do this & how it turns out!

Mary Caliendo
Green Team Member
Tea Editor

Earth Day is April 22nd! Our Earth gives everyday to sustain our lives Please go to:

earthday(dot)org and find out what you can do to make a change!
What can you do and what can you learn?

Mary Caliendo
Tea Editor
Green Team Member

I hope that you planted a tree for Arbor Day & are now onto your garden.

Have you geared your garden toward your salad plate? Is your garden especially for salsa? Is you garden used to make your favorite tea?

Be green by planting flowers and have a habitat for animals & insects.

Mary Caliendo
Green Team Member

To all Green beings:

I try to plant for the habitat as well~

I love to bring birds, bees and other insects to my flower garden~it heps your garden grow as well as providing habitat that otherwise was not there perhaps~

P.S. Lady bugs found in your garden are a good sign that your garden is healthy and happy and from this you shall eat!


Mary Caliendo
Green Team Member
Tea Editor

Dear "greenies",

This summer sure has been harsh on crops, gardens , and grass what Ideas have you for watering in this drought?

Have you saved water in your rain-barrel? are you rationing the water? What alternative methods have you found?


Mary Caliendo
Tea Editor

If you're harvesting form your garden~which vegetables will you can? Care to pass along the recipe?

What herbs will you freeze? Have a recipe to share? Pass it along here.

refrigerated Iced Tea maker is a 25% wind powered dairy!

Do you notice the products you buy are trying in some little way to make an effort to be worldy conscious in any way? If so...please tour their praises here!
(DOES NOT HAVE TO BE A TEA VENDOR)

Mary Caliendo
Tea Editor

At this time we're all thinking of the reaping of the harvest~

picking out the garden to get ready to freeze or can~

Who harvests their seeds for next year?

Who readies a graden for fall growing?

Let the rest of us know here~we'd love to hear more about your gardening!!

Thinking of the winter ahead:

How do you prepare for the cold using "green technology", what type ofheat do you use, and does anyone have solar anything???

Who has a winter hot house that grows plants year round?

Keep thinking green~small things make big differences!

Mary Caliendo
Tea Editor & Green Team Member

I got sent a wonderful Green gift catalog named Vivaterra

They are trying to inspire you to give green gifts.
The gifts are crafted by creative artisans that are careful to tread loghtly on the Earth. Products are organic, recycled, or upcycled.

they have fresh foods such as cheeses, canned veggies, dried wreaths of herbs and dried peppers,organic tea baskets,organic oils,olives,tea pots,bowls,cutting boards, succulent plants,handmade brooms,green clothing, and reimagined home goods.

www.vivaterra(dot)com

* I have no affiliation with this company and I am not being reembursed for this mention, this is presented as ideas for readers with this interest.

Green Team Member

Looking to exhange green ideas, places to go, things to buy green,

please go to the largest susutainable business community:

called the greenexchange(dot)com

excellent sources and ideas or perhaps you're wanting to join your business into a green sustainable one too!!


Thank you
Mary Caliendo
Tea Editor
Green Team Member

More Green Ideas....................................

As part of the Green Team for Bellaonline.com I try to find new and wonderful ideas for the exchange of helping readers become greener & our planet to become better for it! Please feel free to exchange ideas or ask questions.

Going green isn't hard!

Mary Caliendo
Tea Editor/Green Team Member