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In This Issue
Should You Wear Bamboo?
Outfox Stink Bugs
Do you have a dog or cat? 
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I have both. Here are some of my favorite eco pet tips.

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Should You Wear Bamboo?
 

If you're looking for more eco-friendly clothing, should you choose bamboo?

 

Bamboo has been touted as being one of the most environmentally-responsible fabrics on the market. An invasive  grass, it grows like a proverbial weed, sometimes sprouting 4 feet in a single day - and that's without the assistance of pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers let alone irrigation. Bamboo sounds like the kind of "green" fabric you'd love to love - were it not for the process needed to transform it from a plant into something like a pair of socks.

 

Here's the problem: Because bamboo is so hardy, it is also hard to refine into fiber - unless a manufacturer uses toxic chemicals like sodium hydroxide, which can cause chemical burns or blindness, to break down bamboo's cells into something pliable called viscose. The viscose is then woven into fabric, which may be marketed as Rayon from Bamboo, or Rayon with Bamboo, or simply Bamboo.

 

Bamboo may be better than regular cotton, given all the pesticides and herbicides applied to cotton plants. But is it the most eco-friendly fabric available? Nope. Organic cotton is better on most fronts. So is TENCEL Lyocel. This fiber is made  from wood pulp that, ideally (though not always), comes from forests that have been managed sustainably. The chemicals used to break down the plant have been captured via a "closed loop" system that is supposed to prevent them from being released into the environment. The resulting material is Oeko Tex 100 certified, which means that no harmful substances lurk in the finished fabric.

 

If I'm shopping, here's what I do:

 

If it's a choice between regular cotton and bamboo, I'd choose bamboo. If it's a choice between bamboo and organic cotton or TENCEL, I'd choose the non-bamboo option.

 

I wish it were simpler...One day, hopefully we'll get standards in place to help improve clothing manufacture so every choice can be a winner.

 

You can find more useful info on eco-friendly fashion here.

 

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Outfox Stink Bugs

One day in early September, I was amazed when I walked into my neighbor's backyard garden to help her harvest her tomatoes. The plants were covered with stink bugs, an invasive pest that has proliferated across the U.S. since it arrived in Pennsylvania as a stowaway in a shipping container in 2001. 

The bugs don't do much damage in small numbers. They don't sting and they're not known to transmit disease. But when their population gets out of control, they can wreck vegetable and fruit crops as well as ornamental bushes and shrubs.

The good news is, with winter coming, their populations are likely to die out, at least for several months. The bad news is, they want to spend the winter in your house. Indeed, I was sitting on my couch yesterday reading the paper and enjoying peace and quiet when the tranquility of the moment was pierced by what sounded like a small helicopter flying overhead. It was a stink bug zooming to a landing spot on my balcony.

I did what I recommend you do:

* Immediately trapped the bug in a jar, then put the bug in another jar full of soapy water.  I did not crush the bug. Doing so would have released its nasty scent (hence the name, "stink" bug.). I later flushed the soapy water with the bug down the toilet.

* Examined my doors and windows for cracks that stink bugs can easily slip through. Yep, I found a big opening underneath my screen door where, even as I looked, another bug was trying to crawl through. I sealed it up, which is a good energy conservation measure for winter anyway.

I did not:

* Spray an insecticide on the bug. The last thing you want to do is spray toxic chemicals inside your home, where they'll hang around long after the bug is dead but you're still inhaling them.

This is not an Alfred Hitchcock movie. Your home will not be invaded by an intense and terrifying horde of stink bugs. On the other hand,  the bugs will become a big nuisance if you don't get rid of them each time you see even one. 

If you live in a southern climate where winter may not kill off bugs on outdoor plants, try spraying them with soapy water.  The soapy water  dissolves their outer, or exo, skeleton, and will eventually kill them.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is investigating whether tiny parasitic wasps can be used to foil the stink bugs without harming any other species, but that research will not be complete for at least a couple of years.  Meanwhile, some companies are trying to develop traps that may be on the market next spring. 

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Diane MacEachern
Big Green Purse

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