Maureen Wise
Green and parenting freelancer
Writer and higher ed sustainability coordinator. Expertise in water quality, green lifestyle and eco-parenting.
PROJECTS
whygoodnature.com
Starting Your Family's First Compost Project
If your family is looking to reduce the weight of the trash can you pull to the curb every week, composting your organic waste could cut your landfill trash by up to 30%, according to the US EPA. By composting your kitchen scraps and garden waste instead of landfilling, you’ll also help reduce greenhouse gases produced by landfills and end up with a locally made plant fertilizer (local, as in your own backyard!). We like natural fertilizer here at Good Nature Organic Lawn Care and are here to...
tomsofmaine.com
Little Red Bird Sanctuary Helps Hens in Need: Goodness Grant Series
It’s likely you know of your local animal shelter that takes in dogs and cats. Maybe you even volunteer or have welcomed a rescue dog into your family. But a local bird rescue center isn’t as common of a draw. I certainly wasn’t aware of the issues facing chickens and their feathered relatives (let alone a “bird sanctuary”) until I learned of the Little Red Bird Sanctuary in Temescal Valley, California—a recent 50 States for Good recipient.
tomsofmaine.com
What's a Watershed and Why You Should Care
If you've been working on greening your lifestyle by recycling and composting and reducing energy usage, you care about the earth and the environment. You're doing your part. But what about your backyard and your eco-neighborhood? What about your watershed?
What's a watershed, you ask? We all live in one, and what you do there affects us all!
So What's a Watershed?
You can think of a watershed as your personal ecological neighborhood. A watershed is the land that surrounds a body of water (a ...
tokay.com
The Differences of Backflow Prevention Protection in Warm and Cold Climates
Backflow devices are found throughout the United States to protect our drinking water from contamination. They’re found in sunny Florida and frozen Alaska, arid Arizona and sandy Texas. The way that backflow devices work do not change in varying climates but there are differences of backflow prevention protection in warm and cold climates, how they are managed and what time of year.
Dewey Sorensen is currently serving as the Supervisor at the Marin Municipal Water District in California near ...
piccolouniverse.com
The Buzz on Natural Insect Repellent
Hiking in the woods, catching fireflies, picnicking, a canoe trip: all fun outside activities – that can be ruined by a swarm of mosquitoes or a tick invasion. No one wants to see their kids suffer from the itchy, red bumps, not to mention run the risks of Lyme Disease and West Nile Virus. Here are some tips on bug bite prevention and ideas about natural insect repellent.
Prevent
Before applying any sort of repellent, first prevent bug bites from occurring. Cover yourselves with lightweight l...
tomsofmaine.com
Conserving Water at Home: Green-ify Your Dish Washing Routine
We know you've sworn off single-use disposable paper plates, but now you have to actually clean all those dirty dishes! Time to green-ify your dish routine while conserving water at home.
tomsofmaine.com
Residential Stormwater: How You Can Help Limit This Pollutant
It may sound crazy, but rain can be a pollutant. Rain water or melted snow that runs off buildings, paved surfaces, or hard structures outdoors becomes stormwater when it picks up road salt, fertilizer, car oil spots on the driveway, litter, and more, says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Residential stormwater pollution is a big deal because there's no one source; it's all of us, so it's really hard to stop or track.
tomsofmaine.com
Green Travel Tips: How to Keep it Green on the Road
Traveling, especially with your family, can open your eyes to new cultures, places and ideas. Travel also helps you get away from the bustle of your normal life, and hit a reset button on relationships and stressors. Take these green travel tips into consideration and bring your next family trip to the next level of good feelings.
Before You Travel
Before you even leave on your trip, leave your home in an energy-efficient condition. Adjust your thermostat and your hot water tank to save energ...
tomsofmaine.com
10 Eco-Friendly Car Care and Driving Tips
You don't have to own an electric car or a hybrid to be the owner of a green car. Picking up a few eco-friendly car care and driving habits can make a positive impact on your overall carbon footprint. Let green living spread to all aspects of your life—including how you care for and drive your vehicle.
Here's a not-long-enough list of green car care rules and driving tips. This list is certainly not exhaust-ive, but try them out and tell us what you think!
1. Mind Your Tires
When getting an o...
tomsofmaine.com
Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
Have you always wanted to adopt ways to reduce your carbon footprint? Are you stalling on how to get started? The internet and the wider world are full of ideas for eco-heroes, but your best option is to start small and focus on connecting with nature.
Do the Math
First of all, what IS a carbon footprint? It's a way of estimating the total impact you and your activities have on the environment. Businesses, schools, and entire countries all have their own carbon footprints that represent how m...
tomsofmaine.com
How to Conserve Energy at Home
If you're reading this article, you're using an electronic device. And since you're a user of electronic devices, it's likely that you use energy to light, heat, and cool your home using some sort of electricity. My family recently had a professional energy audit conducted on our house and I learned a lot of tips of how to conserve energy at home that we users of electricity can all take into account.
Plug Air Leaks
If you have the air conditioner or the heater running to adjust the temperatu...
tomsofmaine.com
What Is Greywater? Living Greener with Grey
Learning how to conserve water is an important step in your family's journey toward sustainable living. You probably have already started taking shorter showers, turning off the water while brushing your teeth, fixed any dripping faucets, installed a low-flow shower head or two, and are instilling water conservation habits in the little ones in your life. If you've already checked off all the easier boxes, using greywater in your home is a way to really up your water conservation game.
But wh...
tomsofmaine.com
Natural Green Lawn Care Tips to Achieve an Eco-Friendly Backyard
Summer is a season best spent outside. Hiking at your local park, exploring beaches, and kayaking rivers are all great warm weather activities, but there's one green space you'll be in the most this summer: your own backyard.
Stargazing, catching fireflies, grilling, gardening, playing tag, and relishing time with your family and friends all happens in this special outdoor space. The only thing that can make it better is a lush, green, weed-free lawn. But isn't a perfect lawn impossible to ac...
blog.tomsofmaine.com
3 Different Treadmill Workouts for Your Winter Workout
Certainly, running outside is always more exhilarating and fun but there are times when the weather, travel, kids, or time just don’t cooperate and using a treadmill is a must. Although great for your cardiac health, running on a treadmill can sometimes get old and boring quickly. Here are three different treadmill workouts to throw some fun back into your old, monotonous routine.
tomsofmaine.com
Can I Save Money with Solar Panels? Solar Is within Your Reach!
This past spring, we had two solar arrays installed on the roof of our home and our garage. As the green geek that I am, having solar was always a dream of mine. I thought solar was beyond our financial reach and for the more hard-core environmentalists who are willing to pay a premium for sun-powered electricity versus coal-produced power. I was wrong! If you've ever wondered, "Can I save money with solar panels?" I'm here to tell you yes, you can!
How to Get Solar Panels for Your Home
My fa...