Carnival of the Green #186! Yay!

Treehugger's Carnival of the Green is a great way to read all the latest blogs on environmentalism. And it's fun to host a carnival, too. This is my second time hosting, but I don't want to monopolize all the fun - if you've never done it before, check out Treehugger to get more information on posting and hosting a carnival.

Last week, The Daily (Maybe) did a fabulous job organizing the carnival. And next week, Plant a Tree USA will have the pleasure of hosting another carnival. So round and round we go! Now without further delay, please enjoy this week's selection of green posts and tweets!

Summer Reading
Now is the time of year to relax and enjoy a good book. And if you're looking for some inspiration and a few good laughs, check out Living the Scientific Life's balanced review of Sleeping Naked in Green: How an Eco-Cynic Unplugged Her Fridge, Sold Her Car, and Found Love in 366 Days. (For all you bloggers out there, this book was adapted by blog called Green as a Thistle!)

Summer Cooking
Why not take advantage of a full sun when it comes to cooking your favorite pasta? That's exactly what Y-2K Hippie did with their homemade solar oven. Check out the pictures and see the two thumbs up from their toughest critics (the kids!).

Of course, if you're caught in the rain, then maybe using your kitchen appliances would be the best option. In this blog, Frugally Green discusses the merits of getting the most out of our appliances.

Summer Cleaning
Isn't the sun a glorious source of energy and inspiration? Why not take advantage of the sun when it comes to meeting your cleaning needs? Condo Blues discusses several bleach alternatives that don't require chemical bleach. And yes, the sun is one way to bleach our clothes. Read on to find out other alternatives. If you own a horse, you should definitely take note of this blog post!

Perhaps an obvious reason why people choose to make homemade goods is because it saves money. But is that the only reason why we ought to create our own household cleaners? Five Cent Nickel reveals the seven benefits of relying on homemade cleaners. Can you guess what they are? Check your answers on Five Cent Nickel's blog!

Summer Eating
Here’s another pop quiz for you: Can you list seven reasons why we should eat organic foods? In case you’re stumped by this question, refresh your memory by reading The Conscious Shopper's blog.

Interested in learning how to create your own square foot garden? Bargaineering teaches us how to create this type of garden, which is great if you don't have a lot of land for this purpose. What a brilliant and efficient way to grow your own food with only a square foot!

Which reminds me: My Zero Waste has a fun summer project to reuse plastic bottles for making slug collars. This is a creative way to reuse plastic and deter slugs from ruining your garden!

But what to do with all your leftover veggies from the garden? Before placing your tasty leftovers in plastic containers, check out Fake Plastic Fish’s post on storing organic foods in plastic packaging.

Green Gadgets
It’s no surprise that Google wants to help us to reduce our carbon footprint. Read Little Green Blog’s to learn how Google is taking initiative to provide households a computerized way to measure our electricity usage in 'real time'. This sounds like a great idea!

Here’s another gadget that may be useful in the car from Energy Savings Gadgets– it's called a PLX Kiwi, which provides a computerized account of your driving habits, both good and bad, in an effort to help you increase fuel efficiency.

And here is an innovative gadget for those of you curious to know how you can recycle old papers into your personalized toilet paper. It’s called the “White Goat,” and you really should go to Japan Technology Information’s blog to read how you can reuse old papers for your toiletry needs.

The Green Standard
Speaking from personal experience, I know how frustrating it can be to constantly receive junk mail. Check out Money Blue Book’s blog to find out how to get rid of your junk mail. I know I will be reading this site for some tips as I have not been successful with other services that claim to eliminate junk mail. I hope this does the trick!

By now, many of us are avid recyclers. When this behavior becomes automatic, it’s sometimes easy to forget why we have adopted a new habit. Sure, we have the general idea of recycling being a good thing, but why is this a helpful practice? Test your memory by reading Guffly’s post on the benefits of recycling. It’s great to refresh our memory (I know, I’m a cognitive psychologist known to have a faulty memory!)

Politics
And here’s a political question to ponder: Should the Federal Reserve be regulated? The Truth provides a critical synopsis of Ron Paul’s views on regulating the Federal Reserve. What are your thoughts on this subject?

Science
Part of the reason why I’m a happy environmentalist is because I respect the existence of other species on this planet. And I love science because it’s a great way to learn how other plants and animals thrive on our planet. We are truly not alone. And I was surprised to learn that human beings are not the only species capable of cheating on their partners! I hope you get a chance to read Veggie Revolution’s blog about the antbird and how these creatures seduce their lovers by singing duets. It’s remarkable! And in case this post leaves you wanting more, check out Veggie Revolution’s other post that links you to a recent NPR interview with Sadie Kneidel.

By the way, have you ever heard of the ice plant? This plant is nature’s way of desalinating saline salts. Check it out by reading Japan Technology Information’s blog. Very cool!

Final Tweets

Hosting this week’s carnival has been lots of fun. But before I go, here are the top five green tweets from Twitter:

1. @Musubi Good luck in your meetings tomorrow. Keep us posted on the green meetings. I look forward to your tweets. Best always!! - submitted by vcolon

2. @tommcfly green is indeed the best colour and your tweets are never pointless =D - submitted by Lazza1307

3. @greenmom I am adding you to the longer best green tweets list it will be a couple a days until I expand the article from 22 to 100. - submitted by iportion

4. @sleepydad Thanks for the retweet! Diggin' your #iranelection tweets and green avatar pix. Crazy times, hoping for the best outcome. - submitted by tomatoejane

5. Best eco-advocates & I'm one of 'em! : -) Green Tweets: 75+ Environmentalists to Follow on Twitter http://bit.ly/FEfTK - submitted by michaelqtodd

Ciao, everyone. I hope you enjoyed this week’s Carnival of the Green!

Update - This just in from Green Gigs - What is the brown side of green and how does this relate to green jobs? Find out how restoring the environment is done through the lens of a green collar worker.