What is the most environmentally friendly way to wash a car: doing it yourself or going to the local car wash? Few people realize that washing our cars in our driveways is one of the most environmentally unfriendly chores we can do around the house. Unlike household waste water that enters sewers or septic systems […]
Community & Lifestyle
Posted inArts & Culture
Evergreen winter survival tips
Untitled Document Although a few of us enjoy cold winter temperatures, most of us can’t wait for 70-degree temperatures to return, and plant species are no different. This winter, as we sit inside our heated homes, let’s not forget about the plants in our landscape. How can we help our plants make it through the […]
Posted inArts & Culture
“Green up” your home
Dear Earth Talk: What kinds of home improvements could I do that would make my house healthier and more environmentally friendly? Most homes are not lacking in ways they can be healthier for family and kinder to the environment. For one, indoor air quality is a serious problem affecting millions of homes. Studies show that […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Ghosts in the attic
Late as usual, I’ve got a ghost story for you. It’s about a dead poet, two local authors, and their brush with the supernatural. And I swear, I’m only exaggerating a little bit. Instead of a dark and stormy night, this tale begins on a bright and blustery morning. Jacqueline Jackson was putting her trash […]
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Cutting carbon dioxide emissions
Dear Earth Talk: I heard that using a solar-powered water heater in my home would reduce my carbon dioxide emissions significantly. Is this true? What are the costs? — Anthony Gerst, Wapello, Iowa According to mechanical engineers at the University of Wisconsin’s Solar Energy Laboratory, an average four-person household with an electric water heater needs […]
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Tool time
Except for leaf-raking, your fall garden chores are probably nearing completion. Before you lock up the garden shed for the season, though, be sure to care for your tools. A little preventive maintenance now can help prevent frustration next spring, and just think how nice it will be when you go to the garden shed […]
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Benefits in the can
For more than a century, home canning has been a popular way to preserve and enjoy homegrown fruits and vegetables, not to mention fresh-caught seafood and other delicacies. One of the key benefits of home canning is reduced exposure to the chemicals and pesticides used on most commercially available produce and seafood. Also, most commercially […]
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Bats are a gardener’s friend
Many symbols indicate that Halloween is on its way. Yards are decorated with pumpkins, ghosts, witches, spiders, and bats. Fake bats and spiders may be popular decorations, but the real deal makes people scream. Bats are a highly misunderstood mystery of the night. They are mammals, meaning that they are warm-blooded, have hair, bear live […]
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Star Ledgers
A checkbook is a fairly uninteresting document, a record of expenditures that offers, at best, a narrow glimpse into its owner’s activities. But when the checkbook was the property of a friend and political appointee of Abraham Lincoln’s, the information it may yield could be of considerable value. At least that’s the thinking of Phillip […]
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Hostile intent
I’ve never thought of myself as particularly courageous. I don’t do bungee jumping or downhill skiing or drag racing or recreational drugs. I have to psych myself up to visit the dentist, and I don’t pick fights unless I’m pretty sure I can win. Lately, though, I’ve discovered that I’m a lot braver than I […]
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Local food
Dear “Earth Talk”: Why do environmentalists advocate that people “eat locally?” I don’t understand the connection between patronizing local food producers and environmental quality. — Timothy Douglas, Burlington, Vt. In our modern age of food preservatives and additives, genetically altered crops and Escherichia coli outbreaks, such as the recent spinach debacle, people are increasingly concerned about […]
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Sign up, become a master
The highlight of my job as horticulture educator for Sangamon and Menard counties is providing direction for the master-gardener volunteer program. I have the pleasure of working with 125 individuals who have a passion for gardening. University of Illinois Extension master gardeners not only enjoy learning more about gardening practices, they also have a desire […]
