Rain Barrel Safety

Thinking of getting a rain barrel to collect water for gardening use? You’ll want to be selective in how you use collected water.

Split Bean Coffee News has some great suggestions. Here are a few:
CocoaJava has some great recommendations too!
The Good Human talks mascara and cars.
Bean Sprouts discusses what plastic bags are made from.
Enviroblog says Congress has approved a phthalate ban.
Haute Nature reports on two men who are sailing to Hawaii on a raft made of junk.
Ecorazzi says Alexis Bledel is making a difference with pants.

Does your friend make the most amazing lip balm in her kitchen? Do you use eyeshadow made by a local mom and pop company? Have you found a green personal care product you can’t live without?
Give your favorite green product or product line some recognition by nominating it for the Breakthrough in Beauty Contest.
Audrey writes:
Thanks for posting my tip Allie.
Now I have a question for you. Since I’ve banned bleach from my house I don’t know what to use to clean the basket of my coffee maker. I’ve always just soaked it in bleach solution and it came up clean as a whistle. I’ve now tried soaking it in dishwashing soap with baking soda and scrubbing it with a brush – no good. Any ideas greatly appreciated!
EarthFirst discusses green themes in Battlestar Galactica.
Ecollo has a DIY bike cooler project.
Eddie says no to meat meal in pet food.
Small Change talks about the possible plastic bag fee in Seattle.
Fake Plastic Fish wants Californians to take action on plastic bag legislation, and she’s bribing you with chocolate.
If you’re in New York City, stop by to say Happy Birthday to Tiny Choices!

This week’s newsletter discussed some controversy that was stirred up by the mention of fish fertilizer in last week’s newsletter. They got several e-mails from vegans who were distressed over the use of fish in the production of their vegetables. Read more…
Since I was hosting Carnival of the Green here yesterday, I didn’t post the usual Meat-Free Mondays post. Last week, two of my favorite bloggers posted meat-free recipes, and I wanted to mention them here. So I’m a day late, but you’re getting two for the price of one. And since the price is free, it’s an awesome deal for you.
Brenda writes:
Hi Allie–
I recently moved to another state and discovered they have Wegman’s here, which I am overjoyed about! When I went today, I brought along my reusable grocery bags BUT soon realized that this Wegman’s likes for the customer to weigh their own produce and stick a price label on it…many items required me to put them in a plastic produce bag in order to get the price sticker on there. I thought it was such a waste of plastic (not to mention the materials for the extra large price sticker that gets printed). Do you have any suggestions on what I can use to hold my produce in at the grocery store? I need something that I can easily attach and remove a price sticker.
Thanks!
Brenda
Here’s what I suggest.

Organic Makeup and Skincare talks about the wonders of fresh parsley.
Help Tiny Choices choose the next challenge.
Must Love Geek found an eco-friendly hard drive that’s about as beautiful as a hard drive can get.
The Environmentalist discusses the EPA’s statement that climate change is harmful to Americans.
Dianne joins Operation Baking Gals.
I am so excited to be hosting Carnival of the Green #138. I moved my column from CelebCause.com over to start Allie’s Answers on July 31, 2007, and immediately signed up to host Carnival of the Green. My hosting date seemed so far off, and I worried I’d run out of eco-friendly things to talk about before I made it to my first blogiversary.
But here I am, a year later, full of ideas, excited to move forward into year two. I’m so inspired by the amazing people who comment, e-mail, and share on this site. And I am proud to be a part of the green blogging community.
Putting Carnival of the Green # 138 together has been so much fun – a review of some of my all time favorite green blogs. I hope you enjoy these posts as much as I have.
If you’re new to Allie’s Answers, please consider subscribing to my RSS feed and check out some of my favorite posts here.
Last week’s carnival was hosted by AIDG Blog and next week’s will be hosted by Everyday Trash.
Want to submit a post, or host Carnival of the Green? Check out Treehugger’s Carnival of the Green page.

Thinking of getting a rain barrel to collect water for gardening use? You’ll want to be selective in how you use collected water.