Growing our own vegetables and fruits can be easy, fun and green! Our speaker Cassie Holderman showed us first hand the 10 basic steps to square foot gardening at our March event in Newark, Ohio. These tips are based on the methods designed by Mel Bartholomew, author of the All New Square Foot Gardening.
For more information about square foot gardening and Cassie’s upcoming classes on April 10 and April 11, visit www.cassiestuff.com or call 740-405-3874.
Written by Angie Palmer
Thanks everyone for coming out to the Ohio Green Specialists February event! We had some fantastic vegan food and discussion about buying in bulk. Eriyah Flynn and Bethany George will be posting some useful information and weblinks for those who missed this event. So, look out for our next posts!
Our next event will be on square foot gardening in Newark, Ohio. Snow in Ohio should be leaving us soon (keeping our fingers crossed) and growing our own food is a healthy and green way to live our life. We will be posting the information of our March event here and our Facebook page shortly. Hope you can come join us next month!
Written by Angie Palmer
When it comes to buying and storing your food items in bulk, Eriyah Flynn and Bethany George will teach you
Why
What
Where
How
So for enjoying community with like minds, a delicious vegan potluck and information on this often overlooked option for saving resources and money come and join us:
When: Sunday Feb 21st, 2010 from 2:00 to 5:00pm
Where: 1820 Newark-Granville Rd, Granville Ohio (at the Granville Christian Academy across from the Mansion)
There will be a play area for children so please bring the family too!
Please be conscious of people with allergies by bringing the recipe/and label the food whether it is vegan. We are also reminding everyone to bring their dishware, cups and silverware.
Please RSVP or sign up at our Facebook Event
W e look forward to seeing you there!
Written by Eriyah Flynn
Learn How To Sew Cloth Diapers
Cloth Diapers – Good For Baby, Environment, & Your Budget!
You will leave the two-hour class with a finished cloth diaper and the confidence and skills needed to make more diapers on your own with your favorite recycled materials.
Newark Public Library, 101 W. Main Street, Newark, Ohio
Saturday, April 10, 2010 at 12noon
in the large meeting room to the right of the lobby
Attendance at this class is FREE
Space is limited, so confirm your reservation today by leaving a comment in the comment box or RSVP on our Facebook event.
What you’ll need to do:
Purchase a diaper kit (price range $5-$10) in the size and style you prefer from: http://www.diaperkit.com & use discount code: ohiogreen for 15% off your order.
Bring to the class:
Written by BettyAnn Zimmerman
Here is an article one of our group organizers wrote for the Trend Magazine (Jan issue, 2010) in Licking County, Ohio. It is about using green products and everyday materials to live a better life. Happy reading!
Written by Angie Palmer
Many of us use Swiffer Sweepers to remove dust and dirt off the floor. Refills are expensive, plus they are disposables. Have you considered using microfiber cloths to replace the Swiffer refills? We have been using the cloths and found them to be excellent alternatives. Sweep, wash and reuse. Simple.
(Photo by Angie Palmer)
If you live near a Dollar Tree, go check out if they have any microfiber cloths in the store. We found two types in the store in Heath, Ohio. One is a nicely packaged product with one piece of cloth and the other is a packet of two pieces of cloths (as shown in the photo). The latter is a slightly smaller cloth but works as well as the former one. 50 cents for a piece of microfiber cloth that can be reused over and over again. It is an investment you do not want to miss.
Written by Angie Palmer
At our January event, Dr. Heather Prenger and other people who attended the presentation shared homemade recipes for non-toxic cleaners. They work as good, or better in some cases, than what you buy from the stores! We will be sharing those recipes in this and future posts. First, here is a recipe for an all-purpose cleaner.
What you need:
What to do:
Use with a mop or sponge. To make a spray cleaner, reduce this recipe and dissolve the ingredients to avoid clogging the spray bottle.
Source: Eco-Cycle
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Second, here is a recipe for glass cleaner:
What you need:
What you do:
Source: Clean House, Clean Planet: Clean Your House for Pennies a Day the Safe Nontoxic Way
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(The above information was shared by Dr Heather Prenger and adapted by Ohio Green Specialists. These recipes are for informational and educational use only and that proper research should be taken by the reader to make good decisions for their family.)
Written by Angie Palmer
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Most of us are not aware that there are many harmful chemicals in what we use every day. That includes moisturizer, toothpaste, shampoo, soap, cleaner, deodorant, nail polish and cosmetics. Thanks to Dr. Heather Prenger, our members and guests who attended the January event “Raising Your Family Naturally” are more equipped with the knowledge and resources to look for eco-friendly and less toxic alternatives to skincare and cleaning products. In our next post, we will be providing you a few recipes of homemade cleaners that you will find useful.
The second part of the event was truly exciting and eye-opening. BettyAnn Zimmerman and Bethany George gave a presentation on how to take care and make cloth diapers. They brought a sample of feed grade baking soda, free containers that we could use for storage and a variety of cloth diapers that BettyAnn and her friends sewed. Besides understanding how easy it is to cloth diaper babies and wash these diapers, we now know how to reuse things that we would have thrown away! Big thanks to BettyAnn and Bethany for a well-prepared and informative presentation!
Due to the positive feedback from this event, we are considering organizing a free cloth diaper sewing workshop in Newark, Ohio in the coming months. If you are interested, please leave a comment here or on our Facebook page. We will post more details once we have received enough interest for this class!
Our event is always free of charge because we believe in the power of sharing information and empowering each other to live a better and healthier life. They are always fun too, for both adults and children. Hope you can join us next time!
Photos by Angie Palmer
Written by Angie Palmer
Ohio Green Specialists submitted an entry to the Fun Theory Award a few weeks ago. This award is an initiative of Volkswagen, dedicated to the “thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behavior for the better. Be it for yourself, for the environment, or for something entirely different, the only thing that matters is that it’s change for the better.”
We thought this initiative fits well with the philosophy of Ohio Green Specialists. Angie Palmer came up with an idea for an eco-fun vending machine and designed a visual of how it may look like. It has been the goal of the group to encourage healthy and eco-friendly living for its members and guests.
We posted this information on our Facebook page on December 23. We are very glad to find out that this entry is on the third place of the top list! Thank you so much for your support and please continue to vote for us until January 15! Your love and support are absolutely important in helping us move towards the next stage of this contest. Vote five circles for a local group in Ohio!
Written by Angie Palmer
Thanks everyone for attending our vegelicious potluck in Newark yesterday! We got to try various vegetarian and vegan dishes and shared recipes, including mild and hot Mexican pizza, Cincinnati chili with vegan cheese, chocolate chip cookies, gluten-free apple sauce cakes and soy cheese cake with berry sauce! We were also very proud that it was a zero-waste party,which means we did away with disposables as much as possible. People who attended the potluck brought their own reusable plates, cups and silverware.
Some of our members have already started to share their recipes on our potluck event post, so make sure you click on that post to get their proven recipes! We have been receiving comments from people saying that they are interested in potluck like this, so we may be organizing another one in December or January! For those who are interested in joining us next time, please look out for our post on this website, our Facebook page or our LinkedIn group. The best way is to join our Facebook page to get frequent updates. 
Our next event will be called “Raising Your Family Naturally” in December, 2009 (date to be determined) in New Albany, Ohio. This presentation will include topics on earth-friendly cleaners, non-toxic skin care, making cloth diapers and other helpful resources for parents. More details will be available soon on this website, our Facebook page and our LinkedIn group! See you all soon!
P.S. For those who wonder why we have products on the table, the group is raising money through sponsorship and eco-friendly products that carry a green message. All the proceeds go to the group for organizing future events for members, guests and the general public. Donation as small as $1 is also very much appreciated. Donation can be mailed to P.O. Box 2111, Heath, OH 43056.
(Photos by Angie Palmer)
Written by Angie Palmer
