If you live near San Francisco or plan to visit the city, you need to know about the Friends of the Urban Forest (FUF). Why? Because on any typical Saturday, joining a free FUF excursion is the most rewarding fun you will find anywhere in the city.

FUF plants trees in San Francisco, and you can plant with them. To date, they’ve planted over 40,000 trees and counting. They’re also the only NGO of their kind in the city. That means no FUF, no trees. Generally, FUF teams meet every other Saturday to plant. Get on FUF’s mailing list to find tree planting locations and times.

You can just show up to one of the plantings with no reservation. There, you’ll meet other volunteers of all ages, some experienced arborists along with many first-time volunteers. These folks are always fun, always friendly, and share an interest in the keeping the environment healthy and beautiful. Come for the chance to plant some trees, stay for the fun potluck lunch that usually follows a planting! Read the rest of this entry »

We’re facing draughts and water shortages and many people predict that if there is ever a third world war (and let’s hope there’s not), it may well be fought over water. This is a pretty convincing reason to band together wherever we are and help to conserve water in our communities.

In talking about greens in the shower, we’re not talking about rinsing your lettuce in the bathtub Cramer style. We’re talking about great ways to conserve water, and we’re out to prove that environmentalists most certainly do do it in the shower.

Rub-A-Dub-Dub, No Greens In the Tub

Our friends at the EPA tell us that baths use up to twice the amount of water as showers. (How they know this might explain those men in suits outside the house timing me while I showered.)

The average bathtub holds about 190 liters (50 gallons) of warm, bubbly H2O. By contrast, the average Sally and Joe apparently use somewhere between 80 and 190 liters in the shower. Particularly water conscious people can use even less. Read the rest of this entry »