Cooking meat on Memorial Day?

Go ahead and celebrate Memorial Day with a cook-out on the grill. Then, next Monday, consider eating less meat.

I'm not saying Prof. Cricket needs to eat less meat. She is a canine after all. But I think Americans eat way too much meat. You will be healthier if you find other forms of protein; and so with the earth.

Some say "A meat-eater on a bicycle leaves a bigger carbon footprint than a vegan in a Hummer!"Did you know...

-Animal agriculture produces more greenhouse gas emissions than automobiles. Cows raised for beef, in particular, emit massive amounts of nitrous oxide and methane.

-Animal waste and feed cropland dump more pollutants into our waterways than all other human activities combined.

-Meat-based diets require 10-20 times as much land as plant-based diets - nearly half of the world's grains & soybeans are fed to animals.

Meat Out Mondays
Eating meat is something many of us grew up believing was the best thing to do to get protein. It is hard a habit to break, and I am not asking Prof. Cricket to participate, but I use recipes from Meat Out Mondays. My favorite is sweet potatoes topped with black bean chili.

Church members work together to prevent water pollution from the runoff of parking lot

With beautiful Lake Superior in the background members of the First United Methodist Church in Duluth, Minn. swept of the winter's collection of sand, gravel and salt.

Even the bags used to collect the debris were recycled.

This April members of the First United Methodist Church aka "The Coppertop," wore work clothes and brought brooms to the Sunday service. It was time to sweep the sand, silt and salt off the church's parking lot before the spring rains sweep away the grit thus adding it right into Lake Superior which, by the way, the city uses for drinking water.

The church's sustainability committee thought up the idea. The sustainability committee met and worked on a weekday evening to get a head start. The following Sunday members grabbed their brooms and joined in. A dinner was also provided. It was stressed that anyone could join at the dinner, you didn't have to participate in the sweeping.

The activity succeeded in stopping some pollution and demonstrated to the congregation that we are able to take steps on our own to help the environment. It was also an educational activity for anyone attending church or reading the church bulletin or newsletter.


Visit this site to learn more: Lake Superior Streams.

Clothesrack saves energy

Today was the first day of the year that I wanted to use the clothesline. It must really be spring in Duluth because when I went outside the neighbor was scraping paint of his house to prep it for paint. The flecks were flying, so I decided to put the clothes on a clothesrack inside to save some money and energy.

Leave a comment if you use a clothes rack inside of the dryer.