The Monthly Newsletter of greenlight magazine

With carbon offsets and an environmentally sound waiting room, this year's Academy Awards went green. So did Time magazine and Australia. What next? Electric cars on the freeway, water bottles that recycle themselves? There's so much going on in our eco-world, so many products, so many choices. As usual, we're here to help you through the maze, save you time and help you make the smart choice. We are anxious to hear what you have discovered yourself – about chocolate, garden fertilizers, light bulbs, whatever is going on in your green world.

—Bill Marken, editor in chief, greenlight magazine

• Greening your spring garden
• Favorite chocolates
• Green good news
• Better bulbs
• Listen to greenlight

Considering Organic Gardening magazine's debut in 1942, you could say that the green revolution started in the garden (does that sound like a familiar story?). The garden is still a place where individuals can show they care about the planet, take some down-to-earth steps to make a difference, and get the family better acquainted with the circle of life.

As spring spreads around the country, here are some ways to create major impact toward making your garden more earth-friendly and even more enjoyable this year.

• Check out the slew of new earth-friendly fertilizers. Among them,Terracycle is all-natural plant food made from worm "castings." Dynamite is a long-lasting food fully loaded with micronutrients. Also look for other new earth-friendly products such as durable, biodegradable Fiber Grow pots, made from plentiful, otherwise wasted coconut husks.
• Re-evaluate your lawn. Perhaps it's too easy to make the American lawn a whipping boy for wasting precious resources, but it does create many of the same conditions as our agricultural monocultures — think miniature corn field. A lawn needs lots of water and food plus serious measures to keep pests and diseases at bay; and it lacks the diversity to attract good insects to your garden. The reality is, though, nothing else is quite as reliable and good-looking as a lawn if you want something green underfoot – especially for a play surface. To minimize the environmental consequences, try some of the good products available to feed your lawn, such as the line from Bradfield. For pests and diseases, better check with a local nursery or garden center. Or get tips here.
• Consider compost. Recycling your yard leftovers almost always makes sense – whether you make it a 24/7 science quasi-science-religion or just maintain a tidy little pile of decomposing leaves. For a wide range of composters, see our fall 2006 issue. Much compost information is available in books and online. There's even a national organization, the Composting Council.
• Welcome back birds and insects. A diverse, natural garden is more interesting and often seems to take better care of itself. Encourage creatures by avoiding chemical sprays, planting a diversity of shrubs and flowers, letting plants go to seed.
• Read up. Among many helpful web sites, check out the organic gardening forum of Dave's Garden. Also look into the "garden voices" at Gardenweb. Good books include Rodale's definitive "The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control: A Complete Problem-Solving Guide to Keeping Your Garden and Yard Healthy Without Chemicals". Rick Darke's "Encyclopedia of Grasses for Livable Landscapes", coming out soon, is a useful guide if you want to replace a lawn with less demanding, more natural grasses. And, of course, there’s still good old Organic Gardening magazine.

Even with March Madness and Easter coming up, some of our readers are lingering over the taste of Valentine chocolates mentioned in last month's newsletter.

• Betsy says: "You forgot Blanxart Organic Chocolate from Barcelona. It's wonderful!"
• Suz says: "I Love Art Bars. You neglected to mention Ithaca Fine Chocolates' Art Bars. They are absolutely amazing, especially the dark chocolate with coconut. They are Fair Trade and taste better than most other chocolate I have tasted."
• Lindsay says: "You just had a great piece on Chocolate. Wanted to recommend you check out SweetRiot. It's a great treat with a great message."

Maybe we can't change the world overnight, but we sure can acknowledge and support steps in the right earth-saving direction. Here are just a few of many encouraging recent steps:

1. Australia acts tough and smart about inefficient incandescent light bulbs.
2. You can buy Kettle Chips made from organic potatoes and organic seasonings and oils.
3. Time Magazine announces a new section called "Going Green."
4. There are enough green jobs for Careerbuilder.com to compile a list of the top 25.

Are you still on the fence about switching over to compact fluorescent light bulbs (more expensive, much longer lasting than incandescent)? Listen to what I heard at the downtown hardware store from Henry, speaking from experience and deep-seated pragmatism, "Start with CFLs for ambient lighting – like in living room lamps. They may not suit you for the bathroom where you or your wife or girlfriend (thoughtful to include all of us) may want brighter light." I started with CFLs in my home office – the perfect ambient lighting for that purpose.

Also see helpful advice on choosing and using CFLs from Energy Star.

The debate about the impact of climate change is mostly over, and, if you are like us, you want to know what you can do about it in your daily life. As a start, check out our Spring 2006 issue for "50 Things You Can Do About Global Warming."

And you can now tune in to our audio advice in a podcast featuring greenlight's publisher, Thea Selby. She offers tons of ideas you can use every day – from quick and easy tips to ambitious world-changers. Listen in by clicking here.

In the Winter issue of greenlight magazine: Great Green Gifts · Save Money on Energy Upgrades · Reality Check on Electric Cars · A Movable Fireplace · Smart Gift Wraps · Ski Where It's Green · Best Gift Books (for Kids Too) · Click to Read!

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