Green and Local, Ohio Style

I found some great videos from OurOhio. It really gives me hope to watch these inspiring stories of local entepreneurs committed to earth friendly practices. I'm starting to see Ohio as having a wealth of really super cool people and resources!

Hartzler Family Dairy - all natural old fashioned dairy, bottled in glass, just like in the olden days. They believe strongly in supporting the soil and earthworm power :) Available in some Columbus stores.



Heini's Cheese - artisan cheesemaerks. They get their milk daily from small Amish farms who deliver it via horse and buggy in old fashioned jugs. Too cool! (I have seen Heini's for sale at Raisin Rack in Westerville).


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Vista Grand Buffalo Ranch - interesting. Buffalo are so low maintenance that they can be easily raised as chem free, free range and grass fed. Buffalo are also indigenous to the area and have not been genetically altered like many other types of livestock.



DayBreak Lavender Farm - single woman buys farm and shows up with a push mower. Meets husband who is the son of a farmer. The farm is the result. They use this 'swiss army knife of herbs' in many of the 180 products they offer. You can even cook with it :)


Mulberry Creek Herb Farm - organic herbs from a small family farm. Biodiversity at it's best . For example they have over 20 varieties each of rosemary and basil as well as 12 of the world's smallest plants.  Also this cool segment on 'faery gardens'



Blue Rock Station - I am actually visiting there tomorrow. They have an 'earthship' home built out of recycled garbage, llamas, chickens and all sorts of other cool ecological stuff.



Lake Farmpark - a family oriented science and cultural center devoted to agriculture, farming, renewable energy and country life. You can milk a cow, take a wagon ride and discover more than 50 breeds of farm animals.  This sounds like an awesome place for kids and they are open year round.




Price Farms Organics - recycles tons of stuff that would normally go into landfills into compost.
Black Creek Bistro - German Village restauranteur uses produce from his farm for his restaurant and tries to operate in a sustainable manner.

Concerned about Factory Farming?: Vote No on Ohio Issue 2

I've seen commercials on Issue 2 spinning it as 'pro local farmer'...unfortunately, according to the Humane Society, issue 2 is a political move to protect factory farming.

Here's the deal: HSUS (Humane Society of the US) lobbied successfully to pass farm animal rights legislation in California (Proposition 2). Ohio Issue 2 would put the treatment of farm animals under the control of a State Board (dominated by agribusiness) so that the HSUS or similar groups can't come in and introduce similar animal rights legislation.

While designed to give the appearance of helping farm animals, Issue 2 is little more than a power grab by Ohio’s agribusiness lobby. The industry-dominated “animal care” council proposed by Issue 2 is really intended to thwart meaningful improvements in how the millions of farm animals in Ohio are treated on large factory farms.

Because it’s designed to favor large factory farms, not family farmers, Issue 2 is opposed by the Ohio Farmers Union, the Ohio Environmental Stewardship Alliance, League of Women Voters of Ohio, the Ohio League of Humane Voters, and the Ohio Sierra Club. The editorial boards of Ohio’s major newspapers—including the Columbus Dispatch, Cleveland Plain Dealer, and Dayton Daily News—all oppose this effort to enshrine the agribusiness lobby’s favored oversight system in the state’s constitution.

Issue 2 is a classic example of bad public policy-making and should be rejected by voters.

More here....

According to the article, issue 2 is a response by big agribusiness to protect itself against the type of animal rights legislation created recently in California...

Ohio is one of the top veal production states in the nation, with many calves chained by their necks inside crates so small they can’t even turn around for months on end. As well, the state has 170,000 breeding pigs, many of whom are confined in two-foot-wide crates barely larger than their bodies for almost their entire lives. And 28 million egg-laying hens in Ohio are confined in barren, wire battery cages so restrictive the birds can't even spread their wings. This type of extreme confinement is cruel and inhumane, environmentally damaging, and poses severe public health threats. These problems have prompted six U.S. states—and the entire European Union—to criminalize certain kinds of extreme confinement of farm animals.


In the wake of California’s overwhelming passage of the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act—which banned veal crates, gestation crates and battery cages in California—The Humane Society of the United States sought to engage in cooperative dialogue with the agribusiness community in Ohio. We hoped to be able to continue that dialogue and work cooperatively with the state’s farming leaders—both large and small—to collaboratively advance animal welfare statewide. But rather than discussing potential solutions to these problems, the Ohio Farm Bureau is now trying to hastily grab more power than it already has. The lobby group persuaded the legislature to refer a measure to the November 2009 ballot that would enshrine in the state’s constitution an industry-dominated council to “oversee” the treatment of farm animals. Unfortunately, this council is likely to do little to advance farm animal welfare. It is little more than a handout to Big Agribusiness interests in the state, seeking to codify the abusive practices currently being used in the state constitution.

More Links:
Animal Blawg: Issue 2 Animal Rights Perspective
Great Article by OSU Professor on Impact of Issue 2 on Farmers
This is a more neutral analysis of Issue 2. He notes that if Issue 2 is passed, the Board will adopt existing animal care standards, many of which animal rights activists consider cruel and inhumane. California Proposition 2 type Animal Rights Reform would be more difficult to initiate. However, if it passed, it would pose a financial challenge to farmers. The farmers would then either eat the cost and change, stop raising livestock that was regulated or leave Ohio in search of another state that wasn't regulated. Very good article for those interested in doing more research.

Buying Used in Columbus

When I was young I got on this trip about 'status' clothes - my biggest 'find' was a Calvin Klein navy blazer that I got at the 'bargain' price of $200 (and that was in the 80's). Sadly, I soon became sick of it and tried to sell it to my NY roommate who wasn't terribly interested in taking on my prize. At that point it became a $200 albatross hanging around my neck.

Thrift Shops - Since then I've gradually discovered the wonder and wisdom of thrift shops. You tell me you like my outfit I will tell you how cheap I got it. In fact I'm embarrassed when I pay full price cause there's nothing to brag on.

When you get great items cheap it's easy to give back by donating, esp when your closet starts filling up. We're talking all sorts of nice, quality, brand name clothing for $2-5 per item. Thrift stores totally rock! Anyone who thinks they are just for poor people - all I can say is dude, you have no idea how much of your hard earned money is wasted on new clothes. Thrift store clothes = more $$$ for buying organic. Plus if you get tired of stuff you don't feel guilty letting go of it cause it only cost you a few bucks to begin with.

Lest you be new to the whole resale scene I've assembled a few of my favorite places in Columbus:

Ohio Thrift

• Big selection - some of the best I've found
• No dressing rooms or restrooms - this means you have to hide yourself amid the racks to try stuff on. For women, wearing a thin t shirt and a skirt works best. Now usually it goes OK although some lady did yell at me once for having a wardrobe malfunction. Very humiliating but I guess that's the price of getting a deal :)
• On houswares they tend to jack up prices if they think something is super valuable. Usually it's not worth the $$$ they are asking so I mostly use them for clothing.

Volunteers of America

• Big selection - quality varies according to store
• Has fitting rooms
• Great prices

Goodwill Stores

• Store sizes vary - some of the smaller stores don't have the greatest quality
• Has fitting rooms
• Usually does one price for each type of item (shirts, slacks, skirts, etc. unless it's designer)

Plato's Closet
Popular teen resale shop. I don't go in there. It makes me feel really old!

New Uses

• Housewares and electronics
• Pays cash for used stuff
• Selection can be kind of kitschy but hey it's worth a look.
• Apparently they run a hooty tooty high end store called Ubberhaus (ie rich people who get tired of their stuff) - I met a woman who did a fabulous interior design job with stuff gleaned from that store so it's definitely worth checking out.

To be honest I get my best deals on housewares at TJ Maxx or Marshalls. They have brand new stuff on clearance that rivals thrift store/resale shop prices but is way above and beyond in quality and style.

Ebay

One could shop here forever. I use Ebay to get a lot of my shoes but they also have great deals on clothing - esp designer brands. They have great search engines that allow you to punch in exactly what you're looking for. My best deal was probably a $175 pair of shoes for $10 + shipping. Or a pair of brand new boot retailing for over $100 for something like $20. That sure beats a $20 pair junk shoes made in China.

I've also decorated my townhome on E-bay. I have several tapestries made from old wedding dresses from the Thar Desert (Pakistan) and India region. Two of them cost me $1 + postage (some antique dealer apparently wanted to get rid of them). The rest were $20-30 each. I've found folk carvings from indie craftsmen, cool porcelain pieces, little bunny figurines from England and China - all for a very reasonable price.

There are so many charming little collectibles - all one of a kind you can find on there. It totally beats paying a ton of money at Pier One or some chain for mass produced stuff that isn't even original.

Recycling Whirlwind

Been busy 'organizing' my life (never ending battle)...so one of things I find hard to let go of are old mailing envelopes, cardboard, paper and other stuff I feel guilty about dumping in landfills...But being a clutter hater it starts freaking me out when it piles up...soooo.....I went on a whirlwind cleanup spree and did a little digging on recycling...

Recycling - I was majorly disappointed to learn that Rumpke, our local company doesn't do plastic unless it's a #1-7 bottle. Now that kinda stinks. Now that I'm aware of the environment again I totally feel guilty throwing anything away and go into spasms trying to figger' out what to do with all my cardboard, plastic, mailing envelopes and all that kinda stuff. Note: if you live in Metro Columbus, click here for recycling info.

But progress is being made!

The bunny poo/litter/hay is going in the new compost pile along w/veggie scraps pureed in the Vita-Mix (I almost killed it by overloading it w/banana peels and too little water - the auto shutoff kicked in and I freaked thinking I'd have to send it back to the factory). Hopefully this will produce some kind of useful mixture for my spring garden.

Cardboard - Rumpke does do cardboard (as well as office paper, magazines and envelopes).
Glossy Paper  - Groov-ay - there is some bin by the Sam's Club in Reynoldsburg that recycles old paper - we're talking, newspaper, glossy inserts, magazines, the whole 9 yards. Instant relief. I mean I have all these old multicolor slick brochures I don't need an I was agonizing about how to get rid of them (at the same time resenting the fact that all this stuff gets spewed out in the first place and all the junk mail that ends up in my box despite registering w/the Direct Mail Marketing Association). So now I can just collect it and donate it to this outfit, which appears to be a fundraising effort - yay!

Plastic bags - most of the big chains have plastic bag recycling so I loaded up a big bag (I had way to many) and took them to Kroger.

Old Electronics - just found this site - Ohio Dropoff that takes old computers and electronics - various locations throughout Ohio.