Many of you know me as an active car club member, but I also have an interest in natural health and herbology. I believe I have found a way to combine these two very different interests and hope that this new column can offer the car enthusiast some eco-friendly advice on maintaining a healthy, happy, green garage. Throughout the year, I hope to provide ideas such as safe ways to dispose of automobile fluids, ways to recycle your old tires, and helpful plants to have nearby.
Here’s to the health of your Green Garage!
|
|
July 25, 2008 During the summer months as temperatures heat up, it is important for us to stay well hydrated, especially while participating in outdoor activities. Participating in car shows may not seem like strenuous exercise; however, when temperatures reach extreme levels, the heat can quickly take its toll as we polish our cars or simply sit casually outside for a long period of time. It is important to ensure that we drink plenty of water. It is recommended to drink half our body weight in ounces daily. For example, a person who weighs 150 pounds is recommended to drink 75 ounces of water per day. During outdoor activities in hot weather, this water consumption should be increased by in-taking fluid every 15-20 minutes to avoid dehydration. It is important not to wait until you are thirsty to begin drinking water. When you experience thirst, the body is already beginning to dehydrate. Other signs of dehydration include loss of appetite, headache, dry mouth, dark colored urine, fatigue, and chills. Once symptoms are experienced, there is a serious threat of heat exhaustion or heat stroke, which can be fatal. Most of us who regularly attend car shows and other outdoor activities are in the habit of packing a cooler of bottled water, and bottled water is usually available at these events. This is a step in the right direction, but unfortunately, presents another area of concern. In 2006, Americans purchased an average of 167 bottles of water each. Only 23 percent of these bottles were recycled, leaving 38 billion water bottles in landfills. It would take 700 years before these bottles would begin to decompose in a landfill. Also, with the rising cost of fuel, it is important to note that manufacturing a one year supply of bottled water takes 1.5 million barrels of oil. This is enough oil to fuel 100,000 cars. It is indeed frustrating to be reminded of the importance of staying well hydrated while at the same time being cautioned about using plastic waters bottles, but there are some solutions. Many of us receive hard plastic reusable water bottles in goody bags when we attend car shows. Several of these can be filled with water from home and packed in coolers. They can be refilled as necessary with tap water during the car show. Though water filtered at home is the best solution, drinking tap water is certainly better than suffering from dehydration or contributing to our landfills. Large glass canning jars with screw on lids are becoming more and more popular for eco-conscious people to carry. Though not as portable due to being breakable, these can be refilled as needed and are a healthy choice as they do not contain any plastic chemicals that can leach into the water. If you do use bottled water, remember that these bottles can be recycled. Instead of throwing these away at the show site, a better solution is to collect the bottles you use during the day, take them back home with you, and donate your collection to a recycling center. By implementing a few of these simple tips you can enjoy time spent outdoors while protecting your health as well as the health of the environment. Here’s to the Health of Your Green Garage! Aimee Lanier, Master Herbalist
June9, 2008 For the last few months, the Heartland
Cruisers have been combining our meetings with other events. Sometimes we
meet before our cruise-ins and last month we met at our picnic in Oneonta,
which we planned to be held on the same day as the Oneonta cruise-in. This
enabled us to take care of and enjoy several things in one place, while
saving gas. As gas prices continue to rise it is important to plan your
outings, whether it is car shows and cruise-ins or simply running your
weekly errands. In my household we have begun to plan our errand running
more carefully. We decide what things need to be accomplished, decide the
best area to head toward and make a list of where we need to stop along
the chosen route and what we need from each place we stop. If everyone did
this, we would not only all save gas, but we could also help cut down on
pollution. As the car show and cruise-in season is in full swing, many of
us may need to choose to attend shows closer to home, or combine going to
a show with a cruise-in in the same area. Just as we combine our meetings
with our cruise-ins, we can also work in some of our errand running with
these events. Most cruise-ins are held at area shopping centers. It is
always important to support the businesses that welcome our cruise-ins,
but this also gives us the opportunity to shop while saving gas. At our
cruise-in many of us park at the cruise-in and walk to the stores nearby,
such as Wal-mart and Goodys, to pick up a few things. The more we can
accomplish at one driving destination, the better. Everybody wins, the
cruisers/consumers, the local businesses, and the environment. Don’t let
the gas prices stop you from enjoying the car shows and cruise-ins, just
start planning ahead to optimize your trips. We can still enjoy our
favorite hobby, while staying eco and economically friendly!
May 5,2008 April 22 marked the second anniversary of my dad’s passing. Though I prefer to honor his memory on his birthday and other important dates of his lifetime, April 22 is a particularly significant date. It is Earth Day. As many of you know Dad held the car club close to his heart. He enjoyed attending local car shows and fellowshipping with family and friends, but he also felt that one of the most important aspects of our hobby was supporting our communities. The charities that car shows support was important to him and many times I saw him choose which show to attend based on which was supporting a good fundraising cause. He especially enjoyed attending car shows and functions in parks and other outdoor locations and it was important to him for us leave these areas as clean or cleaner when we left them. That’s a big reason why you always see our club members cleaning the grounds of Tannehill after our car show. Though he may not have been thought of as a typical “tree-hugger,” through the car club he worked to make our community a better a place and that’s what Earth Day is all about. I hope to continue to honor his memory and celebrate Earth Day through the Green Garage, and hope we can all continue to honor his memory by supporting local charities as we help make the world a better place.
April 3, 2008 Occasionally in the Green Garage I like to mention the importance of having helpful plants nearby. This month I’d like to share information on yarrow (Achillea millefolium), which is not only a pretty plant to landscape around your garage but also has many beneficial properties. The single stem of the yarrow plant grows from 10 to 20 inches high and grows from a feathery, fern like base. The small white flowers appear in bunches and bloom from May to August. Yarrow is simple to cultivate. It can survive in poor soil and lots of sun. Mine survived the drought last summer and are coming back this spring as green as ever. The plant’s easy maintenance, height, and long blooming time make it an ideal plant to line the sides of a garage to beautify your work space. Though your primary goal may not be to beautify your garage, yarrow can quickly prove itself to be just as handy to have around as that oil filter wrench you can never seem to find. Internally, used as a tea, yarrow is helpful for colds, fevers, and stomach cramps. Externally yarrow is useful for wound healing and to stop the flow of blood. Yarrow was used by Civil War soldiers to treat wounds on the battlefield. How many times have you crawled out from under your car feeling and looking like you have just left a battlefield yourself? And how many times have you fumbled around with greasy hands looking for a band-aid, a paper towel, a shop rag, or anything to stop the bleeding. Yarrow plants placed conveniently outside the garage provide the simplest solution to this all too common problem. Leaves and flowers can be picked, chewed into a pulp, and applied to a wound to stop bleeding. As planting time quickly approaches, think about adding yarrow nearby. You may just need it when it comes time for those spring and summer projects.
Source: Gladstar, R. (2001). Rosemary Gladstar’s family herbal: A guide to living life with energy, health, and vitality. Massachusetts: Storey Books.
Feb 14,2008 In the Green Garage the usual focus is the health of the environment; this month the subject will be a little different and will focus on personal health. February is American Heart Month. During this month, thousands of volunteers from the American Heart Association will participate in fundraising drives to raise money for research and education on the importance of heart health. This research and education is particularly important since cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of American men and women. This is especially significant to our classic car community, as we are currently mourning the loss of Big Boyz Toyz host, Barry Miller, due to heart disease. I’d like to share some educational information regarding heart health in the hopes of keeping the “Heart” in Heartland Cruisers as healthy as possible. First, I would like to stress that adopting a healthier lifestyle does not have to be drastic, or difficult. Making a few simple changes here and there can make a big difference to improve health. Making healthier food choices is one of the easiest steps we can take toward better heart health. Fad diets that are difficult to follow are not necessarily the answer. It’s best to simply begin by adding a few healthier food items to our shopping lists. Whole foods, (preferably organic), such as fresh fruits and vegetables are a great place to start. Fruits and vegetables, which are high in vitamins, minerals, and fiber can help control weight and blood pressure. They can also help calm those cravings for unhealthy sweets. Un-refined whole grains, which are high in fiber, can help fill you up and keep hunger pangs at bay. This is also helpful for weight management. Substituting unhealthy high-fat meats with fish, which is high in healthful omega-3 fatty acids, may also help lower the risk for cardiovascular disease. Exercise is another easy step to take for a healthier lifestyle. The American Heart Association recommends 30 minutes of moderate exercise five times a week for healthy adults. Walking, cycling, aerobics, and swimming are just a few options to consider. In order to stay motivated, it is important to choose activities that you will enjoy. Changing exercise routines often is also important so that boredom with the same old routine won’t cause you to lose motivation. For smokers, a cessation program is an important step to take toward better heart health. Smoking is the most preventable cause of premature death, according the American Heart Association, as smokers are two to three times more likely to die prematurely than non-smokers. Within just a few years of quitting cardiovascular disease risk will become similar to non-smokers. The American Heart Association web site lists several resources and tools to help you quit. Implementing a few of these tips as well as scheduling regular check-ups should help improve heart health. Leading a healthier lifestyle can help us enjoy even more years spent with family and friends, as well as give us more time to spend on our favorite projects in our green garages. Here’s to the health of your Green Garage, and to the “Heart” in Heartland Cruisers! Aimee Lanier, Master Herbalist Source: American Heart Association. (2008). American Heart Month. Retrieved February 14, 2208 from http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4441
Feb 4. 2008 I hope everyone if off to a great start with those New Year’s Resolutions. The Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration helped get us all off to a great start with resolutions to live a little greener. This New Year’s Eve ball was lit by energy efficient LED lights. The ball contained 16 times more lights, but used only half the power as the last ball. This sets a great example to us all, not just on New Years, but throughout our day to day lives. Using compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) in our homes and garages is an excellent way to conserve energy. These bulbs use 75 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs and they last ten times longer. Replacing just one incandescent bulb with a CFL eliminates a half a ton of Co2 from being released in the atmosphere. An added bonus is that their electronic ballasts eliminate the annoying “white-noise” buzzing sounds and flickering of the fluorescent tube lights many of us have hanging in our garage spaces. One not so green feature of the CFLs is that they contain small amounts of mercury, though most manufacturers are taking steps to significantly reduce the mercury levels. Fortunately, they won’t have to be disposed of as regularly as other bulbs. Throughout my home and garage spaces, as old bulbs blow, I’m replacing them with CFLs. CFLs are a bit more expensive than regular bulbs, but since I am replacing them just a one or two at a time, I’m not taking a big hit to my wallet and I will hopefully start to see some energy savings as well. Here’s to the health of your Green Garage! Aimee Lanier, Master Herbalist
Eartheasy.com. (2008) Energy Efficient Lighting. Retrieved January 8, 2008 from http://www.eartheasy.com/live_energyeff_lighting.htm.
Oct 10,2007 For this Green Garage article, I would like to talk about our club events at Tannehill State Park. I have always been proud that we host our annual car show at Tannehill. In addition to the car show, members visit the park for occasional meetings and some members frequently camp at Tannehill. It is a beautiful park that offers family fun and features clean, well maintained facilities. On the mornings of our car show, we always arrive to a clean park ground. At the end of every show we remind all participants to ensure that the park is as clean when we leave as it was when we arrived. After everyone leaves, our club members canvass the park grounds and pick up any remaining litter. Thanks to our thoughtful participants, there is always very little to clean up. This is yet another aspect of the classic car community that I take pride in. We are respectful of our environment, whether we are in a parking lot, or in a park. I’d like for us to carry this over into our everyday lives, being good stewards of the earth, so that we can leave the planet in as good a shape as it was when we got here, maybe even better.
August 22, 2007 As those of us in the Birmingham area are experiencing a drought, many of us are in a quandary as to the best way to keep our classic cars clean for the car shows. Most of us are accustomed to washing our vehicles in the driveway, but as watering restrictions continue, we need to look for other options. Finding a neighborhood car wash that recycles water is one good option. Though it may be okay for our daily drivers, we may be too nervous to run our classics through an automated car wash. Keep in mind that there are car washes that also offer self serve options. This way we can do it ourselves and ensure that our babies are taken care of just as they would be at home, yet still conserve water. A positive aspect of this option is that it keeps soapy water from soaking into the ground and into our water supplies. When we wash cars in our driveways, we send the chemicals from the soap we use into our streams, lakes, and rivers. This is harmful to fish as well as to the general health of our water supply. Another eco-friendly option is using waterless cleaners. There are several waterless cleaners on the market as well as biodegradable cleaners that are safer for the environment and petroleum free. You can also find products that are free of kerosene, which is surprisingly in most car cleaners, as well as oxygen-depriving phosphates that are deadly to aquatic life. When we are out of the drought, there are car wash kits available that enable you to catch soapy water before it enters the storm drains, so that you can dispose of it properly, down a sink or toilet. As difficult as this next option is for me to suggest, we may need to relax our hyper-vigilant habits of keeping our cars spotless all the time. Of course we want our cars to be as sparkling as possible when we are competing in car shows, but there is really no need to wash our cars before every local cruise-in. Surely we can live with a little road dust for a short while. If the drought keeps up, car shows may need to award prizes for the dirtiest cars. I hope these options will help us become a little more conscience of the amount of water we use as well as the amount of pollution we add to our water sources. I have included some links below for eco-friendly products to help us stay clean and green. Here’s to the health of your Green Garage! Aimee Lanier, Master Herbalist Sources: Eco Touch. (2007) Environmentally friendly waterless car care products. Retrieved August 15, 2007 from http://www.ecotouch.net/ Green Business Solutions (2007) Car wash kits. Retrieved August 15, 2007 from http://www.resourceventure.org/green-your-business/stormwater-pollution-prevention/car-wash-kits Simple Green (2007) Simple green products. Retrieved August 15, 2007 from http://consumer.simplegreen.com/cons_prod_wash.php
July 25, 2007 I recently had the opportunity to attend the International Herb Symposium in Norton, Massachusetts. One of the themes of the conference, much like the theme for the Green Garage, is treading softly upon the earth and protecting our valuable resources, such as at risk plants. Attending this conference helped motivate me further to share educational information with my classic car community about how we can enjoy our wonderful hobby with care for the environment. Some of the topics discussed so far in the Green Garage involve proper handling of paint, recycling, natural first aid, and helpful plants to have nearby. Taking some of the tips provided in these articles to heart will help us tread a little lighter on our journeys, and will help us maintain the bounty of natural resources we have been provided. As our homes continue to encroach on wildlife, pollution increases, and plants are over-harvested, many plants that may help us maintain our health are disappearing at alarming rates. While attending the Herb Symposium, I joined United Plant Savers, an organization that promotes medicinal plant conservation. I will soon be ordering a packet of seeds so that I can add to my own little plant sanctuary and help ensure that we can keep these plants around for future generations. I am including a list of plants that United Plant Savers have on their At Risk and To Watch list. As you follow some earlier Green Garage advice and beautify your garage and outdoor spaces with plants, please consider adding a few plants on these lists as well. As we enjoy our hobby, let’s remember to be mindful of the amount of waste we contribute to landfills, the pollution that we contribute to our air and water, and remember to give something positive back to the environment. Planting flowers, herbs, and trees are great ways to give back to the earth and will help keep these valuable resources around so they can give back to us when we need them.
Here’s to the health of your Green Garage! Aimee Lanier, Master Herbalist
At Risk American Ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) Black Cohosh (Actaea racemosa) Bloodroot (Sanguinaria Canadensis) Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides) Echinacea (Echinacea spp.) Eyebright (Euphrasia spp.) False Unicorn Root (Chamaelirium luteum) Goldenseal (Hydrastis Canadensis) Lady’s Slipper Orchid (Cypripedium spp.) Lomatium (Lomatium dissectum) Osha (Ligusticum porteri, L. spp.) Peyote (Lophophora williamsii) Slippery Elm (Ulmus rubra) Sundew (Drosera spp.) Trillium, Beth Root (Trillium spp.) True Unicorn (Aletris farinose) Venus’ Fly Trap (Dionaea muscipula) Virginina Snakeroot (Aristolochia serpentaria) Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa, D. spp.)
To Watch Arnica (Arnica spp.) Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberose) Cascara Sagrada (Frangula purshiana) Chaparro (Casatela emoryi) Elephant Tree (Bursera microphylla) Gentian (Gentiana spp.) Goldthread (Coptis spp.) Kava Kava (Piper methysticum) (Hawaii only) Lobelia (Lobelia spp.) Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum pendatum) Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum) Oregon Grape (Mahonia spp.) Partridge Berry (Mitchella repens) Pink Root (Spigelia marilandica) Pipsissewa (Chimaphila umbellate) Spikenard (Aralia racemosa, A. californica) Stone Root (Collinsonia Canadensis) Stream Orchid (Epipactis gigantean) Turkey Corn (Dicentra canadensis) White Sage (Salvia apiana) Wild Indigo (Baptisia tinctoria) Yerba Mansa (Anemopsis californica) Sources: United Plant Savers. (2007) At risk list. Retrieved July 25, 2007 from, http://www.unitedplantsavers.org/UpS_At_Risk_List.html
May 31.2007 This edition of Green Garage provides some
information about the hazards of working with paint. As much as we all
love to see our classics in flawlessly shiny paint jobs, there are a few
things to consider, whether you are a professional painter or a hobbyist
performing some touch-ups. Sources
May 4,2007 Recycling is an important way to protect our environment. It keeps materials out of landfills and incinerators and helps sustain our natural resources. While there are many things the average citizen can do to support recycling efforts, such as recycling papers and plastics and buying green products, the classis car enthusiast has an even bigger opportunity to make a difference. In fact, automobiles are the number one recycled consumer product in the United States. Many junk yards are taking steps to go green to ensure that auto fluids and parts do not contaminate our air, water, or soil. Fluids are being carefully removed so that they can be reused or properly disposed of, instead of letting waste seep into the soil. Parts of un- restorable autos are removed and most are recycled. Our hobby embodies the ideals of recycling. We transform old vehicles which may have been left to rust in someone’s backyard into restored beauties that can once again serve a purpose in our communities. Many of us use these restored vehicles to participate in community fundraising events and other special activities. By driving our classic vehicles, we promote awareness of our hobby, and demonstrate the joy of recycling. We sometimes get a bad reputation because of our suped up, gas guzzling engines, but I think the pros outweigh the cons here. Also, the classic car enthusiasts tend to be vigilant in the upkeep of our vehicles. Rarely do you see a restored classic going down the road with fumes boiling out of the tailpipes. If you do, chances are high that we are on our way to have this repaired. Vehicles that are not tuned up regularly, on average, contribute an extra 475 pounds of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere each year. This is one contribution we aren’t guilty of making to our communities. The more old cars we keep on the road, the less pollution we will have caused from manufacturing new cars. Fewer cars to manufacture, will result in fewer cars in junk yards that will need recycling. So I encourage everyone to continue searching those back yards, barns, and junk yards and recycle those classics. They have cruises to go on, benefit car shows to attend, and can keep on getting us from point A to point B.
Sources: New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. (March, 2007). New Hampshire Green Yards. Retrieved May 4, 2007, from http://www.des.state.nh.us/SW/GreenYards/ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (May, 2007). Recycle City. Retrieved May 4, 2007, from http://www.epa.gov/recyclecity/mainmap.htm |
