Carnival of the Green #181

Welcome to the Carnival of the Green! This is the 181st edition of Treehugger's weekly roundup of eco links from around the blogosphere. (Welcome to our Green Phone Booth! Five women write and work together in the 'booth toward a cooler, cleaner, healthier planet. Individually, we face the same frustrations and challenges that you do in trying to live more lightly on this Earth. Together, we’ve created a community that fosters our efforts. All of us aspire to green superhero status. Some times, we are wildly successful and, other times, our capes fail us. But we do try – and we know you do, too. Join us on our adventures! We can always fit another hero into the Booth.)

Here's what greenies worldwide submitted for this round:

Gardening

• Sommer Poquette is this month's host of the Green Moms Carnival. These savvy women share noteworthy tips in Gardening with the Green Moms.
• If you want to know about how to stick to organic soil amendments and your budget, Talia presents Fertilizing & Weed Killing Naturally posted at backtobasics-talia.com.
• Siamak Partovi-Deilami presents an Innovative cultivation system for growing high quality Tomato posted at Japan Technology Information. It relies on a film that is engineered to absorb liquid fertilizer. I'd love to know what the film and fertilizer are made from, but the source article's in Japanese. Anyone able to translate?
• Dana presents Frugal composting posted at A Very Nearly Tea.Wittily written -- complete with speculation about the need to conduct neighborhood garbage raids to feed her burgeoning compost habit.
• Jennifer Taggart presents Is lead lurking in your urban garden? A lingering problem at The Smart Mama. Jennifer's post gives tips for addressing contaminated soil (without giving up gardening for good).
  

Reflections/Musings

• Alan Kneidel presents Animal parts galore, for sale at Bargain Beachwear, posted at Veggie Revolution. Says Alan, "Ever notice how many animal parts are used in the souvenir industry? In this post, Alan Kneidel reports on the array of animal parts he finds for sale as souvenirs in one South Carolina beachwear shop. The post includes a link to World Wildlife Fund's "Buyer Beware" webpage, which tells how you can help stop the overharvesting of these creatures for pointless souvenirs."
• Siamak Partovi-Deilami presents Nature technology the grandest of all posted at Japan Technology Information. It's a reflection on modern technology that's inspired by nature, including crash gear inspired by bumblebees!

Cutting Consumption

• Beth Terry at Fake Plastic Fish (Living life with less plastic!) presents Bulk Bins: If You Had Them Would You Use Them? Says Beth: "Out here in the San Francisco Bay Area, one of the easiest ways to avoid plastic and other kinds of packaging waste is to buy food from bulk bins, bringing and filling up our own bags and containers. But many people don't use them. Or take new plastic bags each time. This post asks readers what the bulk bin options are in their area and why they would or would not use them."
• "Green Mom" Lynn of OrganicMania.com shares a story about what happens when her 6-year-old decides to apply the principles of the 3Rs to birthday gifts. Is this Eco-Green or Eco-Cheap? You decide.
• Adrian Ma presents Smart green alternatives for paper products The Corpus Callosum posted at The Corpus Callosum. One of them is something Beth Terry might like!
  

New Green Products

• Siamak Partovi-Deilami presents Development of super glue from wood biomass posted at Japan Technology Information. Apparently, this genetically engineered wood-based superglue's stronger than epoxy-based adhesives.
• Cindi presents In a Moment of Weakness, Don't Be Fooled! posted at All About Cloth Diapers. Cindi reveals a bit of greenwashing by a major diaper company as she humorously details her almost-impulse buy.
• Diane MacEachern from Big Green Purse debuts her new "Monday Morning Inbox" product review column, and kicks off her rigorous analysis of greenwashing claims by, um, eating chocolate. Thanks for taking one for the team, Diane! Read her thorough analysis at Seeds of Change Chocolate.

Healthy Lifestyle/Nutrition

• Cory presents How To Change Your Eating Habits posted at Eat Healthy Live Healthy. An empathic look at the emotional and psychological difficulties one can face in trying to choose to eat in a healthy manner (that coincidentally is lighter on the planet!).
• Want naturopathy or ayerveda tips on living healthily? Jacques Groenewald presents Alternative Health Tips posted at The Fitness And Health Guru. And for a different perspective on a healthy lifestyle, Groenewald presents Feng Shui Health Tips Can Change The Way You Lead Your Life, also posted at The Fitness And Health Guru.
• Margaret Garcia presents 50 Must Read Articles for Those Undergoing Physical Therapy posted at Physical Therapy Assistant Schools. As she puts it, "Physical therapy plays a major role, not only in providing solutions for those suffering with acute and chronic pain, but also in the prevention of dysfunction." Here's to strong and healthy bodies!
• Jessica presents Everything You Ever Needed To Know About Garlic posted at Jessica's Health Tips.
  

General Carnival Tips

• Richard Saron of Energy Solutions Info presents Blog Carnival - Submit an Article to a Carnival. He links to the basic instructions for submitting a blog post to a carnival - useful info.

Entertainment

• A member of the ooffoo community offers their personal top 15 of great movies worth seeing to educate and inspire you towards building a better world posted at My Top 15 Green Movies.
• Laurel presents Check Out This FRESH New Movie posted at Laurel on Health Food - a review of a movie about the sustainable food movement.

Make Your Own

• Wren Caulfield presents DIY Project: Bike Panniers posted at True Adventures in Money Hacking. There are actually a bunch of different ideas for making your own bike panniers in this post - and if you've got another method, leave yours in the comments!
• RecycleCindy, Author and Owner of My Recycled Bags (a website dedicated to recycling & crafting) says: "This week I offer my latest recycled bag which is crocheted from old tee-shirts. It's a great way to repurpose your old t-shirts into a cool crocheted purse. Here is the free crochet pattern link. Thank you and happy green crafting to you!
  

Alternative Energy

• Sylvia Dickens presents How To Live Off The Grid - By Building Solar & Wind Options posted at Product Review in Real Time.
• Michal presents Gift Ideas for Any Graduate posted at Energy Saving Gadgets including a solar backpack, and a greener laptop.
  

Many thanks to last week's host, Ethical Superstore. And I know you can't get enough of the Carnival of the Green, so head to Green Building Elements next week for the June 1st edition!