A great project idea for Boy or Girl Scouts, Service Groups or High School Science Clubs...

I'm not the only one thinking about the Great Pacific Gyre "Trash Island."

I'm so thrilled to find The Tech Museum in San Jose, California sponsor a challenge to students and young innovators, grades 5 thru 12. The Tech Challenge is April 2011. Let us begin to solve problems. Won't you please help our world today? CLICK HERE to learn about the "Tech Challenge."

I've done a ton of research on simple ways any one of us can reduce contributing to the plastic garbage mess. Recycling is the most obvious and can easily be promoted by Boy or Girl Scouts, Service Groups such as Rotary, Kiwanis, Garden Clubs or any one of us interested in protecting our environment and natural resources. CLICK HERE to learn more.

QUESTION: How to recycle plastic caps and lids that curbside recycling may not accept?

ANSWER: Earth Day Every Day. Recycle Plastic Caps and Lids. FREE collection containers to those who ask.

Email: AnnaAndAva@gmail.com

Recycling Plastic Bottle Caps. Exciting program for schools...

Go green. Eco-friendly. Sustainability. Environmental Leadership. Be a faithful steward of the land.

I am a Mommy raising our daughter to protect and respect the environment. I wonder, what does it all mean? What can I do (what can we all do) to make our world a better place?

There are so many apartments and condos throughout California and beyond that have no curbside recycling programs. Imagine the hundreds of thousands of children who attend school every day, and have no idea what this simple, common idealogy really means?

Found this inspiring program through Aveda, a major make-up manufacturing company, that will work with your communities' schools to collect and recycle plastic bottle caps. Aveda will even provide mailing labels to send in the bottle caps. Any one of us can spearhead this great recycling program. It costs nothing but a little effort. Please, let's do our part today! If we don't set an example for our children, who will?

CLICK HERE for Recycle Caps with Aveda. I'd be curious to know if any of our local schools already do this? Feel free to write in. Thank you!

CLICK HERE for Concord, CA recycling guidelines and information.

CLICK HERE for an interesting Q/A about why many recycling centers do not accept plastic bottle caps.

Join the fun! Earth Day - Every Day.

EMAIL: AnnaAndAva@gmail.com
510.406.1625

Earth Day - Every Day. Recycle Plastic Caps and Lids. Join the fun! Help OUR Earth today. Please contact me for a collection container or flyer. I can email or drop one off to you.

Did you know? Most city curbside recycling does not accept plastic caps and lids. Everything from toothpaste caps, laundry detergent, bottles, lotions, potions, mustard, mayonnaise and a million other kinds of hard plastic caps and lids. PLEASE don't throw them away only to be landfilled.

CLICK HERE for all information about this little known fact.

Join the fun today!

Bay Area Discovery Museum, FREE Day...

Take the toddlers for a day of FREE family fun!

Mark your calendars: Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Free Museum admission all day, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Free admission is the first Wednesday of every month.

Regular Admission Fees:

$8: Children (1 - 17)
$10: Adults
$8: Seniors (62+ years)
Children under 1 and members: FREE.

For a handy list of other FREE Museum Days, CLICK BELOW.

Weedy Greens, "The Great Recession's Latest Crop"...

A little known perk of shopping your favorite farmers' markets is a publication called Edible East Bay. It is free at the Market information table, as well as many other natural food stores, restaurants, and grocers.

This month, I find an article called "The Great Recession's Latest Crop." Check it out. You may find it interesting, many locally available greens are actually weeds! Fun article with recipes, written by a really nice lady, Jillian Steinberger from The Garden Artisan. Jillian donated beautiful organic vegetable seedlings to Concord's Children's Community Garden. The children very much appreciate your generosity! Thanks Jillian.

To find a copy of Edible East Bay Magazine, visit a local farmers' market.

For Contra Costa Certified Farmers Market schedules, CLICK HERE.

For Pacific Coast Farmers Market schedules, CLICK HERE.

To visit Jillian's website, CLICK HERE.

Win a Flip Mino Video Camera!...

Keeping an eye out for natural fun stuff. Thought I'd share this neat contest. Enter the "Everyday Cooking with Annie's Naturals" Recipe Video Contest. At the least, you'll have some family fun at the dining table. At the best, you'd win a cool prize. Contest ends October 31, 2010.

CLICK HERE for official rules, contest website, and more info.

A fantastic week at Lindsay Wildlife Museum, June 16th-20th...

Slither and Hop: Reptile and Amphibian Week
June 16-20 at Lindsay Wildlife Museum

"Walnut Creek – Want a close encounter with a slithering snake? Or are you keen to learn all about lizards or why frogs hop? Then check out the fun events planned at Lindsay Wildlife Museum during Slither and Hop Week, June 16-20.

Event Schedule:

11:00am Snake Presentation: Meet one of our native snake species up close.

11:30am Amphibian Encounter (Wed – Fri)
Special Guest Iguanas (Sat and Sun): Learn more about reptiles and amphibians as pets.

Noon Desert Tortoise Presentation

12:15pm Lizard Encounter

1:30pm Snake Presentation

2:00pm Feeding Demonstration – What do reptiles and amphibians eat? Watch as lunch is offered to one of our animal ambassadors.

2:30pm Pond Turtle Presentation

3:00pm Amphibian Encounter

4:00pm Snake Presentation

4:30pm Lizard Encounter

Schedule subject to change

Other educational and fun events include petting circles, arts and crafts, a Slither and Hop themed activity page for the kids, and the opportunity to help us name our mountain kingsnake.

For more information, including hours of operation and admission info visit: http://www.wildlife-museum.org

Lindsay Wildlife Museum connects people with wildlife to inspire responsibility and respect for the world we share. The museum exhibits a collection of live, native California animals, a hands-on discovery room for children, a pet education section with domestic animals, changing exhibits, scores of educational programs, and a wildlife rehabilitation hospital that treats about 6,000 animals every year."

For other articles I've written about Lindsay Wildlife Museum, CLICK HERE.

Ava and I are big fans of the museum. Please remember Lindsay Wildlife Museum is also an animal hospital; they treat native injured animals at no cost to the public. If you ever find an injured mourning dove, a baby squirrel, or another native creature...they are THE place to bring it for care.

The Lindsay Wildlife Museum Buy One Get One Free Admission

Things to do this weekend. One of our favorite local museums for my husband and I to visit with Ava is The Lindsay Wildlife Museum in Walnut Creek, adjacent to Larkey Park. Often, I forget they are even there!

You're in luck if you still have a copy of an old Parents' Press Newspaper. In January 2009, they had a Buy One Get One Free Admission to the museum, with no expiration date. Maybe they'll print another someday.

We love the Lindsay Wildlife Museum. They are also an animal hospital where I've taken injured mourning doves from my backyard. Check out The Lindsay Wildlife Museum's website. They have many upcoming field trips, summer science programs, and other great activities for children of all ages!

Lindsay Wildlife Museum
1931 First Avenue, Walnut Creek, CA 94597
(925) 935-1978

Don't forget to smell the flowers, find the ladybugs, save the seeds, and pet the goats...

Nasturtiums trailing through the garden.
For pretty nasturtium seeds, please email:
AnnaAndAva@gmail.com

Find the ladybugs.

A single nasturtium flower can produce three new seeds.

We love farms, flowers, and feeding baby goats.

We also love seed-saving and sharing. Order FREE seed catalogs for gardening inspiration.

Gardening Inspiration, Free Summer Seeds, Education, Fun...

A beautiful nasturtium flower from our garden. Seedlings/seeds FREE to a good home. Contact: AnnaAndAva@gmail.com

If you wish to learn about gardening, order your free seed catalogs. I've made it super simple for you, just click and order from several different seed companies: Kid's Gardening, Seeds of Change, Bountiful Gardens, Seed Savers Exchange, Baker Creek Seeds (Rare Seeds), Territorial Seed, Burpee, Gurney's, Henry Fields, Southern Exposure and Tomato Growers Supply Company.

Seed catalogs are packed full of useful information. (Education!) Share the catalogs with your children. Plant some seeds. Delight in the color photographs. Learn the history and origins of vegetables. Organic gardening solutions. Alternate pest control methods. Beneficial insects. Predatory insects. How to grow micro greens, baby lettuces, winter veggies, cold weather, warm weather, rainy weather. Any weather's the right time for gardening!

If you need seeds - I'll donate them to you. Let's get growing!

The catalogs are free. A beautiful, wonderful world of gardening awaits you. Become inspired. Garden. Grow. Live. Learn. Eat healthy!

A few garden related articles I've written over the past year:

FREE - Seed Catalogs
http://thelemonlady.blogspot.com/2009/04/thursday-april-23-2009-free-seed.html

Homegrown, Gourmet Salad greens for your Thanksgiving Day Feast
http://thelemonlady.blogspot.com/2009/10/homegrown-gourmet-salad-greens-for-your.html

Calling All Parents, Educators, Schools, Church and Civic Groups
http://thelemonlady.blogspot.com/2009/05/calling-all-parents-educators-schools.html

Local Foods, Local Tastes. At the Contra Costa County Library
http://thelemonlady.blogspot.com/2009/09/local-foods-local-tastes-at-contra.html

40 Days, 5 Cents, Fresh On The Table
http://thelemonlady.blogspot.com/2009/05/40-days-5-cents-fresh-on-table.html

Happiness held is the seed; happiness shared is the flower
http://thelemonlady.blogspot.com/2009/05/happiness-held-is-seed-happiness-shared.html

Weed Out The Hybrid Seeds
http://thelemonlady.blogspot.com/2009/05/weed-out-hybrid-seeds_24.html

Nasturtiums from our garden
http://thelemonlady.blogspot.com/2009/04/nasturtiums-from-our-garden.html

Westwood Elementary PFC, VP Katrina Fehring, Concord-Diablo Rotarian, Edi Birsan and The Lemon Lady: Community Effort Yields Fresh Oranges...

Photos Courtesy of Edi Birsan.

Westwood Elementary PFC, Vice President, Katrina Fehring and children.
Urban Fruit Gleaning, Concord, California


Edi Birsan, Rotarian, Urban Fruit Gleaner

A big round of applause for the efforts of a few noteworthy individuals helping to harvest local fruit for local causes.

Over the past year, I've received dozens of requests for fruit donations. My favorite reply: "Fruit grows on trees. Let's find a tree and harvest some fruit. It really is that easy."

Last week, Westwood Elementary PFC, Vice President, Katrina Fehring contacted "the lemon lady" to ask if I can donate fresh oranges to their Diabetes Walk-a-Thon. With only a few days until the event, I brainstormed in a hurry. I sent press releases out to local blogs and media. I contacted fruit tree owners who donated last year.

To my surprise, I received a telephone call today from a fruit tree owner with an abundance of ripe oranges. One thing led to another in the Lemon Lady Urban Fruit Matching Game.

Congratulations to Rotarian Edi Birsan, Westwood Elementary PFC, VP Katrina Fehring and children for being available on this hot (spring) day to harvest oranges for this worthy cause. Thank you also goes out to Dean, Orange Tree Donor from Concord. A coordinated effort yielded a sweet donation!

Cheers, Oranges and Smiles.
The Lemon Lady, Urban Fruit Gleaner

AnnaAndAva@gmail.com

CLICK HERE for Concord-Diablo Rotarian/Urban Fruit Gleaner, Edi Birsan.

The Princess And Her Peas...

Sweet Peas growing in Concord, California.

CLICK photo for larger view.

I'm seed-saving hundreds of sweet pea pods for donation to community gardens. Flowers help to support our world's bee population. Wouldn't it be lovely to grow fields of pretty sweet peas? Have you planted a seed lately? If you'd like a few seeds, please email:
AnnaAndAva@gmail.com.

CLICK HERE: Children's Community Garden in Concord.

For a little garden inspiration, may I suggest FREE Seed Catalogs.

Have a glorious day!

Plastic Pollution in the Ocean. How YOU can help...

PBS Newshour has a great discussion about "Plastic Pollution in the Ocean." CLICK HERE to read more. Does it really exist? What harm to marine and other wildlife does this plastic garbage debris create? What can any one of us do to reduce plastic garbage from entering landfills, polluting our world's oceans?

CLICK HERE for an interesting post about "The Great Pacific Garbage Patch" and links to New York Times Article with stunning photography of this massive vortex of floating junk twice the size of Texas, and only a thousand miles off the coast of California.

I emplore you to take action, at home, at school, in your own neighborhoods. Please read several articles I've authored about "Earth Day Every Day. Recycle Plastic Caps and Lids."

Thank you to the media and thoughtful journalists who continue to share this story. The Contra Costa Times, Danville Weekly and Pleasanton Weekly wrote about my Collection Container Giveaway, which resulted in thousands of emails from schools, teachers, parents, community and civic groups requesting collection containers! Thank you to all who continue to send me emails about this program. I am thrilled beyond imagine to know so many eco-conscious consumers wanting to make a difference - yet simply didn't know where or how to recycle plastic bottle caps and other plastic lids, (polypropylene #5.)

YOUR simple action can potentially keep millions of plastic caps and other debris from landfills. Save the caps. Save the oceans. It all begins with the power of one individual. Won't you please help?

FOR A COLLECTION CONTAINER, please contact:
AnnaAndAva@gmail.com

Cell: 510.406.1625

To learn more about where to recycle these plastic caps and lids:
CLICK HERE

Rural Renaissance...

In February, we spent a fun day with a lovely family, authors Lisa Kivirist, John Ivanko and their son, Liam. If we ever visit Wisconsin, we'll have to vacation at their B & B and play on the farm. For now, I can only read their book and dream of leaving city life behind . . .