National Hanging Out Day is on Saturday, April 19th. Created by our own local activist Alex Lee, this is an educational opportunity bringing attention to the energy savings that comes with hanging out your clothes to dry. Clothes dryers are big energy-using appliances and by eliminating dryer use and switching to using a clothesline or drying rack, you can save hundreds of dollars per year and reduce carbon emissions too.

Did you know that only 6% of Europeans have clothes dryers? If they can do it, we can too! For more information visit
Laundry List To help support these efforts, Real Green Goods offers the largest selection of clothes drying racks in New England with over 17 styles to choose from. Online, we ship 11 styles. see Drying Racks 

Tip - If you just can't tolerate that crinkly stiffness, toss your laundry in the dryer for a few minutes for a quick fluff.

 
Earth Day Festivities are being held on Saturday April 19th in Concord. Join RGG and the Food Co-op across the street for a celebration of Mother Earth with vendors & workshops, discounts & raffles, beverages & treats and more!

April 22nd is the official U.S. Earth Day and Real Green Goods will continue the celebration all week long. We will be giving away organic T-shirts, re-usable organic cotton string bags, faucet aerators, CFL's, organic soap and more to the first 10 purchasing customers each day during the week that follows Sat. April 19th. Come join us at Real Green Goods where every day is Earth Day!

 RGG WILL ALSO BE ATTENDING THE FOLLOWING LOCAL EARTH DAY FESTIVALS:  Peterborough 4/19, Portsmouth 4/19, Manchester 4/19,
Plymouth State 4/20,
Boston 4/22,
UNH Solar Fest 4/27

 
  NYC Go Green Expo Saturday & Sunday April 26th & 27th. Tell your friends in NYC to help spread the word since we have taken the No Catalog Pledge. Learn how green alternatives can positively change the way you impact the environment. 
Go Green Expo

 
Open House at Found Well Farm - Order your seedlings now! Found Well Farm in Pembroke NH produces many organically grown heirloom and hybrid garden seedlings and will be open to the public on Saturdays June 7th & 14th from 10am-4pm. Call or go online to order. 603-228-1421.
Foundwell Farm
Children are welcome to play in their new frog pond or look for wildlife on the "Wild Path." 

Reusable 100% Hemp Coffee Filters and Hemp Tea Bags.

Handmade Soap from the Arghand Cooperative in Afghanistan has arrived.
Arghnad Soaps

The Freeplay FreeCharge™ Weza Portable Energy Source powered through human step-action.
Energy Saving Gadgets

l00% Pure Beeswax Birthday Candles, Votives, and colored Tapers  

   Welcome to Real Green Goods - where every day is Earth Day! This month's newsletter will start a little differently. I am in Australia right now visiting my sister who is a hobby farmer north of Melbourne. I am writing about what is going on "down under" because it speaks to this month's topic of Earth Day, a topic we take seriously at Real Green Goods...and it isn't pretty.

   The effects of climate change are noticeable in this southern part of Australia. Long ago, climate models predicted that the northern part would receive heavy rain with flooding while the lower part, where I am right now, would go dry. Now, after ten years of serious drought, folks have had to adapt: from a weekly two-hour outdoor water restriction of city water, to collection of every bit of what little rain that falls, to re-landscaping yards with indigenous plants thus giving up the traditional English style garden. It is no longer a question of whether or not to get an 11,000 gallon cistern for rain collection, the question now is, "How many?"

    We've just spent a day driving around Victoria going up mountains (small ones) with vast lookouts over dry barren land. I am told that in the spring time the land is green for a few weeks, but right now that is hard to imagine. Every land holder determines the lowest point on their land and collects water in a small dugout pond. However, this prevents the water from flowing into creeks so it was no surprise to find all of the creeks bone dry. What few rivers we did drive over had stagnant puddles of water with tiers of grass between them. No flowing water was anywhere to be seen. Cities have had to abandon several reservoirs, resorting to just one that is filled to less than 30% capacity. Farms are being abandoned because the water for irrigation has dried up. My sister's land has huge cracks from lack of rain and the trees she planted have barely grown.

   Back in New Hampshire we talk about the weather in general, while here they talk about the rain - in milliliters. It drizzled 4 ml. shortly after I arrived, which barely wet the leaves, and then it evaporated in the high winds (another result of climate change). It rains perhaps once a month averaging only half an inch. Wells have gone salty and drilling good water is now rare. A severe wind storm blew red dust from the north becoming a blinding dust bowl which then rained mud (that was the 4 ml.)

   The number of days over 100 degrees has increased steadily each year. Nervousness is in the air at the mention of fire, much like that of Oz's Scare Crow. Down here, the sea level has risen 4 inches in the last 60 years. Urbanites are arguing with farmers about water usage - the war on water has begun.

   But there is good news. The newspapers cover climate change on a daily basis and the government is taking action to deal with CO2 emissions. Melbourne is updating their public transportation to deal with their 4 million people. During "Earth Hour" on March 29th, the city reduced electricity consumption by 11.5%. The Farmer's Market we checked out emphasized local and organic and the possibility of a sustainable future was seen everywhere. Australian's have witnessed such dramatic changes in 10 years that they know it is impossible to continue on their current wasteful course.

   Perhaps our lifestyle in the U.S. currently is not as affected as the Australian's, but that's no excuse not to take action. Americans consume 25% of the world's energy despite only being 5% of the population. What we spew into the atmosphere circles right back to haunt us. We have an obligation to the world, ourselves, and to our children to come together and work towards sustainability.

   As Earth Day approaches let us take from "Earth Hour" that one person's actions can make a difference. Recall the Native American philosophy: question every choice you make and how that choice affects future generations. Many hands make light work so let's hold hands and make every hour "Earth Hour" and every day Earth Day. Our future is counting on us.

REDUCE - If every home in the U.S.A. replaced just 1 incandescent light bulb with a CFL, the energy saved would power the entire State of New Hampshire. Power Plants are the leading cause of CO2 emissions, hence the importance of saving energy. PLEASE replace ALL of your light bulbs now, not just as they burn out.          

REUSE - The U.S. goes through 100 BILLION plastic bags EACH year most of which go into the landfill or incinerator. PLEASE use reusable cloth bags.

Reusable Bags

REUSE - Every day 60,000,000 plastic water bottles (just water bottles, not soda etc.) go into landfills, using 3 times the amount of water to produce each bottle than the bottle contains, consuming 17 million barrels of oil each year for manufacturing of plastic and another 10 million barrels for transportation, and spewing 2.5 million tons of CO2. RGG offers reusable non-leaching stainless steel water bottles  Stainless Steel Water Bottles

RECYCLE - Recycling paper, metal, glass, and plastic uses 70-95% LESS energy than using virgin sources. PLEASE buy recycled when you can. Recycled Stationary

Remember...REDUCE, REUSE, RECYLE...in that order. To be "Recycling" sounds good and green, but if you have a lot to Recycle then you have not first done enough Reducing and Reusing!

For more facts that will make your toes curl: go to  Link

Example - The U.S. is the #1 trash-producing country in the world at 1,609 pounds per person per year. This means that 5% of the world's people generate 40% of the world's waste. 

The U.S. Government gets in on the action, an excellent site for ideas about Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. PLEASE, check it out.  Link

For insightful reading connecting the fossil fuel industry with government policy to resulting global warming, read this report just released from NASA's Top Climate Scientist  Link

   This Month's Green Tip comes from the Sierra Club
Sierra Club Tip Sheet

   The U.S. Postal Service is launching a free, recycle-by-mail "Mail Back" program. In 10 select areas of the country, you can use free envelopes to mail back inkjet cartridges, PDAs, Blackberries, digital cameras, iPods and MP3 players -- without having to pay for postage. Learn more about the program here.

   There are also many websites where you can buy/sell

used electronic equipment/waste, supporting the REUSE phase.