I think if you read my message in it's entirety you would understand that this suggestion is an alternative to Phillip Hollsworth’s idea to not buying gas on a certain day. One that “makes much more since” Perhaps I should have made my point clear that, In my opinion, one should only buy gas from their local chains and small mom and pop stores rather then the big companies like Exxon. Yes, it is a bit lofty to think that the price of gas will go down to $1.50 a gallon . And yes I know I cannot do anything about the cost gas companies pay for their oil. However it IS in the power of the consumer to influence the cost WE pay for gas. If it became a popular and wildly practiced trend for Americans to purchase their gas from small chains then the big guys would be forced to lower their prices in a desperate attempt to gain back business. And at the very least we would be putting money back into local economies. Something most Americans do not think about and is a very real problem in our country. As a resident of Maryland who currently lives in Annapoils but has spent most of her life in the Baltimore metro area I am very aware of the mass transit system. And forgive me if there my husband doesn’t walk the 50 miles it takes for him to get to work In the DC metro area. And no there is no direct line of public transit from Annapolis to DC or is their a proposal for one (it was denied about 10 years ago) For him to take the bus to the train to another bus would be 4 hours out of his life a day. And yes he is on a carpool list waiting for others going his particular route matching his schedule. While public transportation is great for some it is not a practical option for everyone. Especially those in the Baltimore/ DC metro area. I will not take my 5 year old daughter and 2 year old son to the bus stop in Annapolis. I have been held up a gun point. I find it insulting that you would write a post such as yours without even reading mine. Perhaps it is my fault for simply reposting another’s bulletin. But I found the information worthwhile and something comparable to my beliefs. Despite the fast that it was not written in the most concise way I figured the members of this forum would also appreciate it. Perhaps it is something that would make complete sense to the people here. Something that they just haven’t thought about before? Who wouldn’t want to support small businesses? Who doesn’t want cheaper gas? Who wouldn’t want more money going back into their community? Money that they need to spend anyway. Gas is a necessary commodity. We can do what we can to reduce our reliance on it but the need will not go away. I know many people (especially those here) would rather buy goods from mom and pop stores. May people don’t because we cant afford it when the big box stores sell things so much cheaper. How often it is that something we need and want is actually cheaper from a small chain!? I know this post may be a little long to read but perhaps you will do more then just skim it through ? Respectfully, Annette

"If you burn a tree, it doesn't affect the global carbon levels as a tree is only a very brief part of the carbon cycle and the carbon trapped in it would have been soon released as Co2 when the tree died and decayed." This is totally incorrect. There is no CO2 gas trapped in a tree that is released during decay. Gasseous CO2 is taken into a plant through pores on the underside of a leaf. Through the process of photosyntesis a plant uses Chlorophil and Sunlight as a catalyst to combine the Gassesous CO2 and Water (H2O) to form Sugar (C12H22O11). Sugar is the stored form of carbon that is used as a fuel by both human and animal cells and combustion. In fact, combustion itself is merely the oxidation of carbon. Complete combustion, whether it takes place in a human or animan cell or in a fire requires 2.16lbs of oxygen per lb. of carbon. Heat is a byproduct of combustion. As plant matter decays, the sugars, which are the stored form of carbon are concentrated by heat and compression, first into compost, then to Peat, and finally to lignite and bituminous coal (Soft Coal) and with another million or so years of compression, it produces Anthracite or Hard coal. The problem here is that when excess vegatative matter decompose in the earth, they also combine with other elements that are present in the soil. Coal and oil is fundamentally only a concentrated form of plant sugars, however during the compression phase in the soil coal picks up trace amounts of other elements. The worst of which is sulphur. When complete combustion occurs the Hydrogen and carbon in the sugar is transformed by oxidation back into water vapor H2o and Carbon Dioxide which is then recycled back into sugars by plants. The process is never ending. (The presence of sulphur is almost non existant in corn or wood, therefore they do not contribute significantly to acid rain) However, when deep mined fossil fuels, that now contain trace amounts of sulpur are burned, the sulphur combines with oxygen to form suphur dioxide (SO2). The emitted Sulphur-dioxide then combines with water vapor (H2O) to form (H2SO4) sulphuric acid which falls in the form of acid rain. You stated in your post that growing corn is an extremly polluting process,,, AGAIN, TOTALLY UNTRUE.. With the advent of no-till planting and harvesting techniques the average fuel consumption per acre of corn is less than 1/2gal/acre as compared to the national average of 11 to 14 gal/acre to maintain a lawn for the same growing period. (Ref. Ohio State University- Agricultural Extension Service Bulletin) Fertilizer is only applied prior to planting as a preplant subsoil application of anhydrous amonia, and one post emergence application of nitrogen, but only after germination and before the corn plants produce the third leaf on the stalk. The application of fertilizers after the formation of the third leaf will actually yellow the corn and reduce crop yeilds (Again- The Ohio State University -Agricultural Extension Service Bullets on corn production). The applicaton of fertilizer is carefully regulated. Prior to application a farmer is required to perform soil tests and may only apply the absolute minimum necessary to maintain the nitrogen requirement of the specific crop. In no case may more than 10lb/acre per season be applied. By contrast, it is conservatively estimated that the american homeowners apply an average of 35lbs/acre on thier lawns. In fact, after nearly ten years of study the Ohio State University Agricultural extension service has determined that excess nitrate runoff from urban and suburban lawns and gardens is nearly 1000 times greater than the maximum allowable runoff for a farm. While it is easy for everyone to sit in there easy chair and point fingers at industry and agriculture for pollution, the fact is, we need to really monitor what we are discarding as a matter of course. By example, if a truck driver is unloading his trailer and drops a gallon jug of chlorox on the ground, he is required by law to stop and file an EPA hazmat incident report and define the method of cleanup, but once the truckload of chlorox is placed on the grocery shelf every consumer in town can dump gallons down thier drains, in their wells and swimming pools or whatever, without so much as a conscious thought of the outcome. Examine the chemicals under your kitchen sink, in your garage, basement and store room. Now multiply that by how many homes in your community? If any single corporation had that much excess hazardous waste laying around in a warehouse their would be no end to the public outcry. Everyone likes to complain about the electrical utility generating plant, but in truth they are required to constantly monitor their stack emmissions and make instant changes if it gets out of hand, but most homeowners havent a clue as to the combustion effieciency of their furnaces or water heaters.

I received this email today and figured it was another urban legend, so I checked it out on Snopes. Unfortunately, it's the truth. It's enough to keep me out of Dollar Stores forever. I've got enough junk as it is. Investigating Dollar Stores A news investigation on dollar stores (including Dollar Tree and others): They discovered the Crest, Colgate and other brand name toothpastes weren't the same as from drug, and grocery stores etc. The toothpastes were manufactured in many other countries and are not approved by the American Dental Association (ADA). There was even some from South Africa and the fluoride is ten times stronger than what we're allowed in the U.S. (prescription strength). They're allowed stronger because they don't have fluoridated water (like we do). So if we (or our kids) use it often and occasionally swallow it, we could be poisoning ourselves. The dollar stores declined to comment and a full investigation has begun. So stick to paying full-price at your grocery store, drug store, and send this e-mail to anyone who MIGHT shop at dollar stores. This is a true story. It has been confirmed on Snopes. http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/toothpaste.asp This is also true of food products, cake mixes, cereal, etc. Here is a link that might be useful: Dollar Store junk on Snopes

Thanks for the feedback. The landscaping happened three years ago, but I still love it (my wife has a more love/hate relationship with the garden). We've never spent as much time in the back as we would like, but I think that's going to change now that it's more integrated with the house. Certainly our almost three year old is now able to go out back on his own and we can keep an eye on him. I was preparing his lunch today and he asked to go out. When I called him in for lunch he had tomato all over his face from picking the cherry tomatoes off the vine (it's either that or the berries. and in another month the figs). It doesn't get much better than that. Here's the view out the open french doors this afternoon from the prep area. circuspeanut: Yeah, when we decided to switch the large pendant for a ceiling light I wanted to get a matching one from Cherry Tree Designs and was very bummed to find out they don't make them any more. I'm just glad we got our lights back in March rather than waiting until they were ready to be installed last month. We might get one now from Arroyo Craftsman, which has similar designs in metal. As far as the green trim, early on we though that having stained trim in the kitchen might compete with the cabinets, so decided for painted trim (the trim is fir and the cabinets cherry). When the breakfast room trim was finished it was so lovely I really regretted that choice, but the kitchen trim was already primed. My wife and I got many paint samples and considered many different directions for the kitchen trim before picking the color, but in the end we're very happy with it.