Spring a great time for families to go green

As the earth greens this spring, families can follow suit, helping conserve resources and saving themselves some greenbacks as a benefit.

Laura Damon, head of Flathead Valley Community College's green team, said it's easy to get started.

"We like to promote the three Rs: Reduce, reuse, recycle," she said.

Damon invited interested people to come to the college from 1 to 4 p.m. April 17 to begin their education in the three Rs of thinking green.

"We're putting on a special event for Earth Day," she said. Earth Day officially is April 22.

Members of the green team and the college's Renewable Resources Club intend to cover the lower level of the Arts & Technology Building with tables of information on living green. Visitors will learn about recycling, nontoxic cleaning, organic gardening, natural cosmetics, alternative energy and buying locally.

"We even have a vehicle modification to help improve gas mileage," Damon said.

A student member of the Renewable Resources Club had the device, a hydrogen generator, installed on her car. Damon said the device provides the best results on old cars with carburetors instead of computers regulating the mixture of air and gasoline.

Another group of students plans to focus on the virtues of cutting back on driving and other activities that produce greenhouse gases.

"Our environmental science class will have a table where they'll calculate your carbon footprint," she said.

Damon said those fingered as carbon bigfoots need not despair. The table will provide information on how individuals or families may reduce their carbon dioxide emissions through simple changes like buying local foods.

She said purchasing from local farmers eliminates the energy used in packaging and shipping food into the Flathead.

"Eating locally takes emissions out of the atmosphere," Damon said. "It's also fresher and healthier."

To experience some local food products available even in winter, participants in the Earth Day event should show up between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. for the bratwurst-fry fundraiser. The menu items, from brats to buns and everything in between, originate from Montana.

"We'll have locally produced brats, buns from Wheat Montana, mustard made locally and Grandma's Catsup out of Bozeman," she said.

Money from the event goes to a scholarship fund that the Renewable Resources Club has vowed to double this year through recycling and other green-producing activities.

"They collect cans, cardboard and paper to take to Valley Recycling," Damon said.

She called recycling the first thing every family should do to save resources and reduce the need for more landfills.

"We're just overloading our landfills," Damon said.

Another family friendly idea for going green is using nontoxic cleaners available in most people's cupboards.

"There are lots of recipes," she said. "Many of them use distilled white vinegar and baking soda."

Damon said a 50/50 mix of distilled white vinegar and water makes a good all-purpose cleaner. A creamy cleaner results from mixing baking soda, Castile soap and vegetable glycerin.

But do they work?

"I've talked to people who swear by them," Damon said.

Nontoxic alternatives represent an area of special interest to Damon, who serves as the community college's instructional safety and chemical hygiene officer and lab instructor.

"This is my new passion," she said.

Damon said many Web sites have good information and suggestions to help people learn how to incorporate all three Rs into their lifestyle.

Wastenotproject.org provides a good overview developed for the Flathead Valley.

According the WasteNot's research, "reduce" represents the most important and most often forgotten of the three Rs. Some suggestions on the Web site include:

. Avoid buying single-use items such as paper or plastic plates, cups and eating utensils.

. Reduce junk mail by getting off mailing lists. The WasteNot site provides numerous resources, such as contacting the Mail Preference Service at P.O. Box 643, Carmel, NY 10512-0643.

. Purchase reusable and refillable containers.

With the summer gardening season around the corner, the site provides suggestions for natural yard care to avoid runoff of fertilizer and pesticides into local lakes and streams.

Other tips teach families how to combine green waste such as tea bags and brown wastes such as shredded newspaper with air and water to produce their own rich compost to use to grow their own local food.

Damon sees at least three reasons that every family can benefit by trying these and the multitude of other ways of incorporating the three Rs into daily living.

"You get rid of toxic stuff, improve your health and save money as a bonus."

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.