This article includes interesting information on how various environmental changes work together to threaten the Monarch butterfly and how we can help.  

www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2018/12/monarch-butterflies-risk-extinction-climate-change

​Many people are interested in eating food that is locally produced, but unless you are able to visit a good farmer’s market that carries local food, it’s hard to know where your food comes from.  It is helpful that some grocery stores do label some of their produce as “local”, although the definition of local varies.  Some brands or types of food are well known to be from a certain part of the country, such as Vidalia (Georgia) onions, Palisade (Colorado) peaches, and Idaho potatoes, so it is easy to know if these are local for you.  However, one of the huge benefits of our modern society is that we can get a variety of foods all year, which greatly contributes to a healthy diet.  Some foods, such as citrus fruits, will never be locally grown where I live, but I consider them important and so purchase the ones that are shipped in.  I looked up which fruits and vegetables are considered “in season”, meaning they could be locally grown at this time of year in my area of the country.  As I expected because our winters are too cold, there are no fruits or vegetables locally in season right now.  To eat a balanced nutritious diet in January, I have to rely on fruits and vegetables that were either preserved last summer or are fresh and shipped from somewhere much warmer.  So, in January, because I didn’t spend much time last summer preserving locally grown fruits and vegetables, I choose to enjoy the healthy fruits and vegetables in my grocery store.  However, knowing what’s in season and what’s not may be helpful in making some of your food choices or knowing what you can buy (or grow) locally and preserve for later in the year.  It may also give you some ideas for preserving some of next summer’s local harvest.  In just a few minutes of website searching, I found several seasonal food guides.  Some are for the US, some for Europe, and one includes South America and Australia.  
https://www.seasonalfoodguide.org
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/seasonal-calendar/all
http://na-nu.com/terfloth.org/Kitchen/Season_Cal.pd
http://www.damngoodrecipes.com/seasonal/8.html
 

Each type of light bulb has different needs for recycling.  As light bulbs burn out, the most energy- and cost-efficient replacement is LED bulbs.  They use much less energy and will last a long time.  They’re more expensive, but many utilities and governments offer rebates to help with the cost.  Each kind of old light bulb requires a different disposal or recycling method.  The link at the end of this post is an article that expands this information and has a lot of additional information on lighting. 

1. In general, incandescent and halogen lightbulbs cannot be recycled.  They can be safely disposed in your household trash.

 

1. Compact fluorescent lights (CFL) contain mercury.  They must be recycled, intact if at all possible, at a location that will specifically accept CFLs.  Check with your specific recycling location about how to package them and turn them in.  If you break a CFL, it will release toxic mercury.  Here is a link to recommendations for cleaning it up.  https://www.epa.gov/cfl/cleaning-broken-cfl

 

1. Some LED bulbs contain heavy metals; some do not.  When you buy them, try to buy the ones without heavy metals.  I don’t have information on recycling for LED bulbs, as most of them are still in service.

​https://earth911.com/eco-watch/energy/5-green-lighting-tips
 

 

Recycling has a lot of guidelines to make sure that the batch of recycled material is not contaminated with items that will prevent the materials from being used.  For instance, food contamination in office paper bins or plastic bags can ruin the entire batch and it will go to the landfill instead of being re-used.  Some guidelines, such as whether to leave lids on plastic bottles, change from region to region, depending on the ability of nearby facilities to process the recycled items.  I always have a lot of questions.  Can this go in my curbside recycling bin?  Can this bubble wrap envelope be recycled?  A group of companies have started a new standardized labeling system for their products.  The label tells you how to recycle that particular item.  For instance, it may tell you to remove the paper label and then take the bubble wrap envelope to the store drop-off for plastic bags.  Not only are they providing instructions for recycling, but these companies have designed their packaging to be recycled.  Although the number of companies using the new system is still small, it’s a great step forward.  Here is a link to the website that shows what the new labels look like so you can watch for them. 
​
https://how2recycle.info/

​Many liquid (and some solid) products evaporate or volatilize into the air when lids are open.  This wastes some of the product, affects your indoor air quality, and also affects the air outside your home or office when you open doors and windows.  Many of the chemicals in products such as markers, glue, paint, and nail polish remover are toxic in larger amounts, so it’s best to keep your exposure as low as possible and protect your air quality.  So – keep the lid on when you’re not actively using the product.  It will last longer and the air will thank you.  

​I have read in many sources that 40% of the food produced in the US is wasted.  Most of it ends up in landfills, where it produces methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.  In addition, all the resources used to produce the food are wasted.  I have written a few posts on ideas for reducing food waste in your home.  This week I found an article from earth911 that suggests a way to reduce food waste from supermarkets and restaurants while helping feed hungry families.  There is a lot more information in the article at this link:  https://earth911.com/eco-tech/app-helps-feed-hungry-families .  The article has a link to an app that lets you find a restaurant or supermarket near you that is interested in donating excess food.  The app also helps you find an agency near you to receive the donated food and provide it to hungry people.  You then pick up the food and deliver it to the agency that will use the food to help those in need.