According to the Telegraph, botanists recently discovered for the first time that some plants are carnivorous predators who can kill insects in order to “self-fertilize.”

The new research shows that plants such as some species of petunia, ornamental tobacco plants, some varieties of potatoes and tomatoes, and shepherd’s purse can capture and kill small insects via the sticky hairs on their stems. When the insects decay and fall to the ground the plants absorb their nutrients through their roots. So when you’re eating a nice tomato you may also being getting some bug nutrients. I’m wondering what Peta will have to say…

According to scientists working on this research it’s assumed that plants developed this technique while in the wild because soil quality can be lacking in vital nutrients. However, this may not totally be the case because they also found that domestic variety plants, in healthy garden soil, do this as well. The research was done at Royal Botanical Gardens Kew, and scientists there note that there may be hundreds more killer plants than previously realized.

The study researchers note, “We are accustomed to think of plants as being immobile and harmless, and there is something deeply unnerving about the thought of carnivorous plants.” I don’t know though. Maybe a HUGE science fiction plant would be unnerving, but otherwise it’s kind of cool to know that some plants can take care of their needs when necessary.

Maybe we’ll all be a little nicer to our tomatoes now though; just in case

[image via stock.xchng]

Post from: Blisstree

Attack of the killer tomatoes

However, this November some freakshow of a human busted through my car windows and stole my phone and I couldn’t find a Sony Ericsson through my carrier so I went with another brand, which I’m not happy with at all. Long story short, I really liked and miss my good old long-lasting Sony Ericsson.

Sony Ericsson Hazel in Passionate Red

So it may be time for me to make the move back to Sony Ericsson and not just because I can’t stand my new phone. Yesterday Sony Ericsson announced the release of two new slick GreenHeart phones along with the first Bluetooth Noise Shield Handsfree VH700 headeset. This move accents the sustainability practices the company is already working on (yay).

Fortuné Alexander, Global Marketing Director at Sony Ericsson, notes that just because these are “greener” phones though, consumers shouldn’t expect fewer features. Alexander says, “These mobile phones also give consumers a better voice quality experience, with Noise Shield, Clear Voice and Intelligent Volume Adaptation. Both phones offer an easy-to-use social networking experience featuring the Widget Manager application, which allows users access to their social networking page via the stand-by screen and quickly switch between different social networks.”

Both of the fresh new phones, the Sony Ericsson Elm and Sony Ericsson Hazel, have many excellent eco-friendly features that benefit the environment and help reduce CO2 emissions such as…

• Recycled plastics
• E-manual in phone
• Free from hazardous chemicals
• Low power consumption charger (EP300 GreenHeart)
• Walk Mate eco application
• Green calculator
• Minimized packaging

Both phones will be shipped with a GreenHeart personal handsfree; the Stereo Portable Handsfree HPM-60J, which is a step towards reaching the 100 per cent GreenHeart accessories goal. PLUS OMG the new phones are so good looking. My favorite is the Sony Ericsson Elm (shown above) which comes in Metal Black or a dreamy Pearly Rose (the pink is way tooooo cute)! The Sony Ericsson Hazel (shown below) is cool too but I’m not sure I’m into slider phones, so I’d go with the Elm – also I like the pink. Hazel comes in Superior Black and Passionate Red.

Learn more about these new green phones and all their features at Sony Ericsson.

[image via Sony Ericsson]

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Sony Ericsson Releasing Two Green Phones

Sami Baby organic baby clothing separates and collections feature quality eco fabrics made from organic bamboo and organic cotton crops with sweatshop-free practices. Plus they have the cutest designs. Shown above are some sweet pieces all made with soft viscose of organic bamboo blended with organic cotton. …

• Sami Lap Tee Panda Tan
• Sami Hat Buttercup Yellow
• Sami Sleeper Counting Sheep Petal Pink

Dignity U Wear was founded in April of 2000 by philanthropist and Holocaust survivor, Henri Landwirth. Henri, knowing what it was like to be without the basics, including clothing, founded the program in hopes to create real change in the lives of children and adults in need. Change that restores broken spirits and restores hope, dignity and self-esteem which is why Dignity U Wear distributes only brand new clothes to families in need.

There are many more adorable Sami Baby pieces available including socks, pants, and onesies. Visit Jonäno to see all their goods, plus pick up one of their well-priced items before December 23rd to gift one to a baby in need.

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Get One, Gift One Eco-Baby Clothing

YOU (the parent) has to love nature. Actually love is pushing it, but you should at least like nature, talk about nature, get out into nature yourself, and be invested in keeping the earth healthy. This is the hard part for may parents. Especially busy parents who find it difficult to find the time to get outside. Still, difficult or not, your child will mimic you as he grows, both the good and bad so keep this in mind.

Jump in puddles. Playing outside is not just a sunny day activity. Get your child the gear he needs to tackle the outdoors no matter the weather. Let him jump in puddles, slide in the snow, stomp through hot beach sand and more. Experience nature in all seasons.

Observe and discuss. When outside observe the surroundings. Is there nature? If so what’s good about it? Is there mostly concrete and buildings near you? If so what sucks about that. Your observations help form your child’s opinion about nature so speak up.

Add to the fun. Nature alone is pretty darn fun – just ask an eight-year old skipping rocks in the lake or a toddler with a stick and a daisy. Still you can add to the fun with items like an outdoor tent, a skateboard, some garden seeds, and more. Make being outside just as much fun or more so as sitting inside.

Your house your rules! I rarely pull rank as a parent when it comes to activity. I believe I should respect my son’s decisions about what he wants to play and learn about. That said, nature time is not up for discussion. Kids who get outside regularly are healthier, more fit, and green-minded. I know parents who allow their kids to whine about, “Having to go outside” and then worse let the kids win so no one gets outside and it’s annoying. Most of these kids are overweight and addicted to sitting activities like TV and video games which yeah have their place but not at the expense of your child’s health. If you want a healthy kid, this is one issue you should pull rank on. Kids DO need to get outside and the more you push the issue from an early age the more they’ll learn to enjoy it.

[image via stock.xchng]

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Five simple ways to raise a nature kid

The Gnome-Be-Gone is one of my favorite garden structures – it’s amusing, unique and sure to be a garden eye catcher. The set comes with one gnome and two Gnome-Be-Gones.

Vibrant ceramic Shroomies are handmade and each is brilliantly colored and one-of-a-kind. These are not frost-proof though so you’ll have to use them in indoor plants during the winter.

Apple Bird Feeder – A sweet minimalist sustainable bamboo birdfeeder with three perches, a loop for hanging and a skewer to secure an apple.

In the right garden setting this wrecking ball garden sculpture is the perfect cure for boring lawn sculptures.

Recycled Milk Glass Hummingbird Feeder – I love this pretty recycled milk glass feeder which is handmade and good for high-traffic areas as the feeder holds 20 oz. A decanter-style top allows you to refill and clean it easily. Includes instructions and hanging hook.

The one of a kind Reclaimed Army Helmet Planter is an interesting way to reuse an item that has little use plus it’ll last and last. The base is also reclaimed, made with transmission gears.

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Fun & Unique Garden Gifts

Wrap your mind around management not eradication. Weed elimination in total usually involves chemical weed killers. A better choice is to visit your local extension or talk with a local landscaping expert so that you can learn the difference between actual noxious and harmful weeds vs. non-problematic weeds. Aim to get rid of the noxious weeds, but be realistic about weeds in general – allowing some weeds will not harm your garden but trying to get rid of all weeds with a nasty chemical can harm your health.

Improve your soil. Healthy soil means healthy plants that grow proficiently, leaving less room for weeds. Weeds are more easily pulled out of healthy non-compacted soil as well.

Mulch often. Once you clear weeds out of a specific area of soil, mulching can help prevent weeds from popping up as new plants get established.

Design a weed-control minded garden. Landscaping plans that include multi-layered ground covers crowd out weeds and allow healthy plants to thrive.

In the vegetable garden – Veggie gardens need special weed control because most vegetable gardens have larger spaces of undisturbed soil. Try shallowly cultivating the soil frequently which helps to kill weeds before they pop up.

[image via stock.xchng]

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Plan for long-term weed control

Five Great Green Gifts for Kids

1. $9.35 – The New 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth: This is an excellent book for kids with few cons. Part of the book was written with help from actual kids and the book is printed on recycled paper with soy inks too! Read my full review.
2. $20.00 – Eco Playdough: All natural art medium for crafty kids made with plant, fruit and veggie extracts. No chemicals, artificial dyes or metals and the containers are made from cornstarch and are 100% compostable. I saw this dough recently at the PDX green fair and it comes in totally brilliant and lovely colors of orange, yellow, green, and pink plus the containers are adorable. Note – the Bamboo Rolling Pin is sold separately.
3. $24.99 – idbids:  These soft toys come in three different styles – Scout the Cloud, Lola the Flower or Waverly the bright blue water drop. Each is handcrafted with 100% organic Egyptian cotton and colored with natural organic dyes. With the purchase of each kit, a child can enter an online code that will help protect the habitats of animal friends through The Nature Conservancy’s Plant A Billion Trees campaign, Adopt an Acre, or Rescue the Reef programs. Each kit comes with an organic cinch sack for the child to wear, a storybook printed on recycled paper with eco-friendly inks and a field guide.
4. $25.00 Wooden Giraffe Block Set: Adorable 16 piece block set in a giraffe drawn wagon. This toy is eco-cute, made with sustainably harvested wood, and finished with non-toxic linseed oil.
5. About $25 or less - Green Toys are made of eco-friendly recycled milk cartons, packaged in recycled cardboard, and provide hours of fun for both boys and girls. Most come in at under $25 a pop too, such as the Eco-Friendly Tea Set (shown above), Tool Kit, Dish Set, Chef Set and Recycling Truck.

Five Lovely Green Gifts for the Ladies

1. $16.00 – Lavender Caramel (6-piece)! Chocolate and lavender; way too girly and neat. Pretty little gift box of organic lavender infused caramels with Fleur du Sel salt.
2. $16.95 - My most favorite lovely reusable water bottles – Earthlust Water Bottles – oh so pretty 20 oz stainless steel bottles that won’t leach chemicals into water and cut down on plastic waste.
3. $24.00 - I’m totally obsessed with the Recycled Glass Pendants by Fanisong. In fact I blog about these often because they’re not only pretty but so unique and eco-friendly. Each handcrafted piece is made from 100% RECYCLED glass and a nature photo. The original photo is fused into the glass, then finished with sterling silver plated bail & ribbon cord. Amazing. The piece shown above is Look up to the Sky but there are many other cool designs available; another good one is Infinite Sphere.
4. $24.99 – Mini-Blossom Hummingbird Feeders: Pretty little feeder made with recycled blown-glass vessels with Flower Feeding Tubes in red glass. These look great in the garden and attract adorable hummingbirds with 4 oz of space for hummingbird nectar. Stakes included for mounting. Plus this purchase helps to support the National Wildlife Federation.
5. $12.21 -Big Green Purse: Use Your Spending Power to Create a Cleaner, Greener World: Great book covering lots of juicy green topics that matter to women. Teaches women how their actions, and how they spend their cash can make an eco-difference. Printed on recycled paper. I like this book a lot, but haven’t written a full review. My friend Peggy however has – read her review.

Five Handy Green Gifts for Guys

1. $20.00 – Vintage Record Coasters for the hipster guy in your life. Made with real recycled vinyl records but sealed so moisture won’t seep through to the surface. Comes in a set of six.
2. $19.79 – Whole Green Catalog: 1000 Best Things for You and the Earth: One of the best green living guides I’ve read in a LONG time. Packed with facts for everyone, but especially cool is the focus on green living for both genders. Many of the green books I read are geared toward women. Women will like this book too, but this one has facts for the guys as well. Read my full review.
3. $20.00 – Stonees All Natural Building Blocks: These rocks are meant to be a child’s building toy, but they’re also fun stress relief for adults when placed in a workspace. Build peaceful structures with these rock blocks made from crushed North American rocks and all-natural non-toxic pigments. Stonees are organic and smooth, and come in fun stacking shapes – square, triangular and cylindrical. Great for a workday break and good conversation starter too.
4. $14.99 – Wilson Rebound Fade-Green Basketball: This ball is Wilson’s first “green” product made from 40% Recycled Rubber and comes in a box made with 80% pre and post consumer board. Not bad on the eco scale and gets your guy outside and keeps him in shape.
5. $12.50 each – Green Family Kitchen Tools: A fun set of kitchen tools for a guy who loves to cook. All of these green family tools are made with a recycled plastic and wood blend for an attractive, functional, and eco-friendly design. At the end of a tool’s life-cycle, it can be recycled too. Way more fun than typical kitchen tools.

Five Cool Green Gifts for Co-Workers, Pals, or Family

1. $5.72 – NRDC: Simple Steps Deck: A Healthy Home. A Healthy Planet. 50 Easy Actions:  This handy little deck of green living cards fits perfectly into a stocking and is printed on recycled paper. Great for folks new to green living. Read my full review.
2. $8.75 – Down To Earth Cookie Cutter Set – Celestial: Great hostess gift or last minute gift for a baker. BPA-free set of ten cute planetary-inspired foodgrade stainless steel cookie cutters that can be used for kid’s playdough or for real cookie dough. Sturdy and log-lasting plus comes in a compact storage tin.
3. $18.95 – “I Am Not A Paper Cup” – Thermal Porcelain Mug: Funny  and the perfect green gift for a co-worker or pal who loves organic coffee.
4. $24.00 - Beeswax Holiday Glass Gift Set: Pretty little candles made with natural beeswax and essential oils. three 3 oz votive glass candles included in the set (each burns for 24 hours) in holiday scents of Spice (Sweet Orange, Cinnamon & Clove Bud), Pine (Rosewood, Spruce & Fir) and Mint (Peppermint & Birch).
5. $25.00 - Plantable Seed Calendar 2010: This is the perfect green co-worker gift; handmade pages embedded with wildflower seeds so after each month the recipient can plant away with no paper waste. Comes in a reusable tin as well.

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20 Last Minute Green Gifts Under $25!

If you haven’t checked out the issue yet here are some cool select quotes from Michael Pollan’s interview. with Organic Gardening:

Pollan on what’s truly organic…

“Organic is in danger of being co-opted. I’ve been on organic factory farms, and if most organic consumers went to those places, they would feel they were getting ripped off. I think organic risks a real crisis of perception if the values that they’re selling don’t accurately reflect the practices they’re engaging in. They’re organic by the letter, not organic in spirit.”

Pollan on First Lady Michelle Obama…

“The future is [people] really making the connections between food and energy and climate change, and food and health care. Watch what Michelle Obama is doing. That’s really important stuff: her emphasis on fresh food. She talks about organic, but she [also] talks about fresh. Basically, getting away from processed food is key. And if you’re eating produce, and it’s not organic, it’s a big step up from eating processed food. All these partial steps are very important.”

Pollan on the question: Can organic feed the world?

“…Even if you can’t feed the world organically, and I don’t know that you can’t—there are very good arguments that you can—even if you just feed half the world organically, you’d be doing so much for the land, so much for our health, so much for the atmosphere, that it’s well worth doing. So the fact that you might not be able to get all the way does not damn the effort to try. And so I don’t think people should be discouraged by that.”

“But ‘can organic feed the world?’ is a question really up for grabs. The honest answer is, we don’t know. I’ve seen research that suggests with really smart rotations and cover cropping there is enough nitrogen to do it. I also think that if we changed our relationship to meat, we probably could.”

Pollan on if he prefers local foods to organic foods…

“No, I don’t. I support local, because in my experience here in California, local is organic…But if I were a supermarket shopper I would, because you can’t meet farmers face to face and you don’t really know what they’re doing, so to the extent people depend on the supermarket and are not interested in the farmers’ market, we need organic. If people are willing to put in more time and like the farmers’ market experience—because it is more than food that’s on offer there—[then] local, definitely.”

The whole “Can organic feed the world question” is a big deal right now with recent slams on organic by the media and Michael Mack, chief executive of Syngenta, a Swiss agribusiness giant that makes pesticides and seeds. Mack noted, “Organic food is not only not better for the planet… it is categorically worse.”  The piece on Mack was run in the New York Times and one of his issues was that organic can’t feed the world, which may have some truth to it, but is not 100% by any means and the theory hasn’t been tested. I like Pollan’s take on that – the whole we haven’t tried, and if we did it would so much better in the long run for the planet and our health and so on. Very cool.

Find the full article “A Conversation with Michael Pollen” in the November-January 2010 issue of Organic Gardening Magazine.

[image via stock.xchng]

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Author Michael Pollan on Organic Food

Since we’re halfway in, now is a great time to catch up on the event and make sure you don’t miss what’s coming next. Check out the following Climate Change Conference resources for week 2.

Visit the official 15th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) website and view a calender of events, conference FAQ, climate facts, blogs and more. You can also view their webcast, follow what others are saying and blogging about via COP15 Twitter or catch the action on Facebook.

The New York Times, as you might have expected, has excellent conference web coverage dedicated to news from the Climate Talks. There’s a round-up of events, a multimedia section, and a whole lot more. Best of all you can submit your questions about the conference to Times’s reporters Andy Revkin and Tom Zeller Jr., both of whom are on the ground covering the talks, the protests, so fourth. If you submit your questions now there’s a chance the reporters will answer your question in a video feature early next week.

Read the first six days round-up.

Visit One Climate to see live-streaming news of the event.

Learn about the 5 issues you should be watching for at the conference plus see how the first week went.

Shea Gunther over at MNN discusses one of the most pertinent questions of the conference – “Do nations who have enjoyed the economic benefits of centuries of polluting owe a debt to now-developing countries they’re asking to grow greener?” A short but nice piece.

Which media have you been frequenting while following COP15 news?

[image via stock.xchng]

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Stay up to date on Copenhagen week two

Composting is awesome; composting eliminates waste from the garbage can, saves you cash on your garbage bill, and allows you to grow a lovely garden full of flowers and yummy veggies. However, if you live in a smaller place or just don’t like the typical large and usually unattractive compost bins on the market than this Bamboo Compost Pail is a nice change. Features include a generous 1 gallon capacity, dishwasher-safe removable liner and comes with a set of charcoal filters that help contain odors.

For hand soap that looks as good as it works while staying free of harmful chemicals try Method Hand Washes. Tear drop bottles and lively colors make this soap more fun to use and look great even in a stylish kitchen. Available in cucumber, french lavender, pink grapefruit, sweet water and sea minerals.

SKOY is an absorbent, biodegradable and natural multi-use cloth that you can use to clean all areas of the home with, BUT it’s also attractive. Unlike paper towels SKOY saves trees being made of a natural cotton and wood-based cellulose pulp that’s chlorine free and 100% biodegradable in five weeks. Colored SKOY cloths are made with water-based inks. SKOY cloths, also unlike paper towels, are reusable and just one SKOY cloth replaces the use of an amazing 15 rolls of paper towels in an average home.

While maybe not “pretty” the green-minded Bissell’s Little Green can surely be categorized as one of themore adorable vacuums on the market. This eco-friendly vacuum features PVC free tanks and hose, a carton that contains a minimum of 75% recycled materials, and formulas for use in the Bissell Green contain biodegradable detergents and have no phosphates, dyes, optical brighteners or heavy metals plus carry the EPA’s Design for the Environment (DfE) certification, which is recognized for safer chemistry. Also on a pretty note the Little Green’s small size means you can tuck it away out of sight, and we all know hidden cleaning goods is better for the home on an attractiveness level.

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Green Cleaning Products Go Pretty!