Help Bird and Insect Populations with your Yard or Garden

Florida Native Wildflower Monarda punctata (spotted Horsemint)

According to scientists who published in the journal Science this month the number of birds in the United States and Canada has declined by 3 billion over the past 50 years. That is nearly 30 percent of bird populations, and not just rare or endangered bird species but also common birds. Birds particularly impacted are those which feed on insects.  This downward trend runs parallel to a downward global trend in insect populations. A few of the suggested causes for the insect decline include habitat destruction caused by urbanisation, pesticides, climate change, and artificial lighting.

 There are two easy ways that you can help make a difference in healthy insect and bird populations. First, eliminate pesticides from your yard, and second grow a garden. Any size garden is helpful, even potted patio plants. Native plants for the yard are low maintenance and act as host plants for insects and pollinators. Another good place to start is with an Organic soil mix and seeds of native wildflowers. Look for native wildflowers and plants at your local farmer's markets.

Florida Wildflower Tropical Sage,  photo by Carl E Lewis (CC BY 2.0)

Aquarian Bath is doing our part to improve habitat for birds and insects! We were recently featured in the Daytona Beach News Journal for creating a certified wildlife habitat though the National Wildlife Federation and the Florida Wildlife Federation.

Clip of News Journal Article "Local business makes a difference to protect wildlife" Sept 2019

Wool Dryer Ball Giveaway from Bog Berry Dryer Balls

Aquarian Bath is pleased to host a giveaway from one of our favorite handmade shops Bog Berry Dryer Balls.  Two winners will receive a set of 6 dryer balls in the color set of their choice.  These needle and wet felted dryer balls come packed in a cotton bag.  The balls are handmade in Pennsylvania by Brooke who is an herbalist and mom.

I love the soft colors available in her line of dryer balls.  She even has undyed dryer balls.  We use Bog Berry Dryer Balls here to soften up laundry after it has nearly dried completely on the line.  You can add essential oils to the dryer balls to freshen up the laundry, or just use the balls alone.  They help reduce static and wrinkles in the laundry and are a great alternative to unhealthy chemically fragrance laden dryer sheets.  For more tips on natural laundering please visit our blog post from earlier this year. 

You can enter this giveaway sweepstakes below using the Rafflecopter form.  If the form is not visible to you right away, try reloading your browser, or try from a different web browser.  This giveaway is open to US residents age 18 and over.  Winners will be contacted by email and will have 2 weeks to provide their address to claim their prize.  You may enter now through 08/23/2013 at 12 a.m.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Aquarian Bath Welcomes Bitcoin

Aquarian Bath has recently added bitcoin as payment method in our main online store at AquarianBath.com. All product prices are now listed in USD and Bitcoin.  

Shop now for for ecofriendly handmade bath and body products.  We ship internationally within 1-4 business days, but usually next day.  Our products have been featured in the book Plastic Free by Beth Terry and British Vogue.

If you haven't heard of bitcoin, check out this trailer for the new film The Rise of Bitcoin.  And here is a little introduction from Wikipedia:

"Bitcoin (BTC) is a digital currency first described in a 2008 paper by pseudonymousdeveloper Satoshi Nakamoto, who called it a peer-to-peer, electronic cash system.   Bitcoin creation and transfer is based on an open source cryptographic protocol and is not managed by any central authority. Each bitcoin is subdivided down to eight decimal places, forming 100 million smaller units called satoshis.  Bitcoins can be transferred through a computer or smartphone without an intermediate financial institution."

Go Green Etsy Twitter Team Sale Starts Next Week!

The Etsy Twitter Team is throwing an eco-party, and everyone is invited!

From July 21st to July 27th, the authority on Twitter for all things handmade will be offering a summer feast of cool eco-friendly tips, suggestions, awesome handcrafted genius and a scavenger hunt with lots of “green” prizes for the winners.

Beginning on Tuesday, July 21st, our blog will have a list of participating shops that feature eco-friendly handmade items and more details about the fun scavenger hunt. See you there!!

I have donated one of my eco-friendly all natural soaps as a prize for the scavenger hunt, and will be offering a special sale in my Etsy Shop next week. I hope you will check back to participate.

Graphic created by Susan Brown of SalonDArte

Earth Day Computing Spotlight: SolarNetOne

I don't usually make posts about technology on this blog, but I am making an exception, because today is Earth Day and my husband, Scott Johnson, has invented a remarkable eco-friendly Solar powered computing system. The name of the system is SolarNetOne. The following is a short interview I did with Scott to introduce my blog followers to this project.

Cory: What is SolarNetOne?

Scott: SolarNetOne is a system we developed that combines a photovoltaic solar power source with some of the most energy efficient computing hardware available to yield a total package that is perfect for sites off the grid.

Cory: How is this solar powered computing solution significant to Earth day and reducing carbon footprint?

Scott: As the internet and the number of internet users grows, so does the global "power bill" for computing in general. Our system represents a big step forward in lowering and greening the total energy consumption of Information Technology. For example, a computer lab with five modern PC's would draw in the neighborhood of 2 kilowatts, while the Solar Net One, even with all its additional features, draws only slightly more than a 100 Watt light bulb.

Cory: What were the most important factors in choosing an Earth-friendly computer network design?

Scott: I would have to say a) power consumption and b) longevity of the equipment. The former reduced the load on the power grid or alternative energy system, and the latter keeps the electronics out of the landfills for as long as possible.

Cory: Is open source software and linux a significant factor into creating sustainable computer networks?

Scott: Absolutely. Our open development method means that many eyes see our code. I may write 100 lines of code to do a given job. If we were a proprietary software house, that would be the end of it. Instead, another programmer may know a trick I don't and bring the lines of code down to 50. Now the computer only has to work half as hard, with the processor using half the electricity to perform the instructions. Later, another programmer trims it down to 10 lines of code. Now we are using 10% of the energy to perform the same task. Expand this to cover millions of lines of code, and it adds up significantly. On a side note, this is why our software also runs significantly faster on the same hardware.

Cory: What is the best solution for someone that would like to have a green computing system for the home or office?

Scott: SolarNetOne or a variant thereof! Seriously, on a smaller scale, an energy efficient laptop can provide all the computing most individuals need, and can easily be run on solar power.

Cory: I know you have done a lot of computer hardware recycling in the past. Do you have advice for people who are throwing out computers that are too slow or are broken? Do you have any creative upgrading, recycling or reusing ideas to share?

Scott: FreeGeek.org is the champion of open source recycling. with many more chapters opening up, they are becoming a powerful force in computer
recycling.

Orangutan Friendly Soap: Environmental Concerns Over Palm Oil & Orangutan Habitat

I wanted to share an excerpt and link to a great article which was published in the LA times recently explaining the concerns over the Palm oil industry. In summary, there is huge demand for palm oil internationally, which is negatively impacting Orangutans. The demand is being met is by cutting down rainforests in order to plant palm plantations. This is a concern from the standpoint of global warming, ecological diversity, and most tangibly obvious for the habitats of endangered Orangutans. Ironically, palm oil is one of the most common ingredients found in vegan and vegetarian soaps. Some soap makers use organic palm oil with the assertion that their consumption is not a factor in the environmental equation. As for me I feel more comfortable avoiding it completely so that I will not be adding demand to the palm oil market as a whole.

Here is the lead into the article as reprinted in the Seattle Times. Follow the link for the full report.

For Orangutans, Palm Oil is a Bust
by Paul Watson

TANJUNG PUTING NATIONAL PARK, Indonesia — In the rush to feed the world's growing appetite for climate-friendly fuel and cooking oil, the Bornean orangutan could get plowed under.

Several plantation owners are looking at Tanjung Puting National Park, a sanctuary for 6,000 of the endangered animals. It is the world's second-largest population of a primate that experts said could be extinct in less than two decades if an assault on its forest habitat is not stopped.

The orangutans' biggest enemy, United Nations experts said, is no longer poachers or illegal loggers. It's the palm-oil industry.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008304950_orangutan23.html

Photograph by Oliver Spalt licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 2.5 and GNU Free documentation license.