We had a great show . . . If you missed it live, I’m sorry to say you will miss it in podcast too. After what seemed to be a day-long tech apocalypse, it was a miracle we got on the air and had as much fun as we did! The electronic-maggedon didn’t end until late yesterday. Sooooooo, that is why we are so late in getting Green Diva Jamie’s show notes posted, which are critical because we don’t have a podcast 🙁

The Queen of Arsenic in Rice, aka Anna Hackman of Green-Talk.com was in the studio with us for the whole show and she came bearing gifts – she brought some really interesting watermelon rind syrup. Can’t wait to make some GF pancakes and give it a try!

Twitter Party for Trees

Trees are important for so many reasons, so on Wednesday night Green Diva Meg joined in the wonderful twitter madness with 280 other tree-lovin tweeters to help to promote NBC’s Green is Universal’s annual Share a Tree Campaign. This head-spinning, but inspiring Twitter party was co-sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation and our friends at PracticallyGreen.com (Next week’s guest is Sarah Finnie Robinson of PracticallyGreen.com!). For every tweet, a tree was planted and the goal was to hit 1000 tweets/1000 trees planted, but the goal was exceeded and 1,360 trees will be planted! It is not only easy, but fun to participate and plant trees – go to NBC Green is Universal’s FB page and hang a virtual ornament and plant a tree. Yes, it is that easy!

The Queen of Arsenic . . . in Rice!

Our good friend Anna Hackman, fellow Green Sister from the GreenSisterhood.com and of course Green-Talk Radio came in to talk about arsenic in  rice, which is a topic she has become an expert in. I’m glad she is helping educate us all. I wouldn’t have known anything about it if it weren’t for Anna. Here are a couple of good, but scary points she brought up during the interview:

• Arsenic has been linked to diseases such as cancer, fibromyalgia, type 2 diabetes, and alzheimer’s
• Children are the most susceptible to disease from arsenic

So what can we do? The arsenic comes primarily from agricultural methods and from old fields that used to be used for cotton for example. The pesticide residue containing arsenic stays in the soil – apparently for a LONG time. Anna says we need to look at different agricultural standards and methods. There are new methods being used in Asia that use less water, which helps reduce the amount of arsenic.

Anna suggests we turn to different breeds of rice to avoid the arsenic. Two types she suggests are basmati jasmine rice or rice grown in Pakistan. Also boiling the rice takes away about 45% of the arsenic in rice, so even though it may seem like a bland and “mushy” way to eat your rice, remember, it can save your life!

Anna started a petition to demand that the FDA and EU set arsenic limits.

Please see Anna’s post with more information on arsenic in our rice and a link to her petition.

Green Dude Segment: Green Dude Antonio talks about water

Green Dude Antonio, our Italian water expert, who founded Pur2o talked about the importance of clean, safe water.

We learned that blood needs a ph level of 7.2 and the presence of acidity in water at high levels could kill you – yikes! We are hearing more and more about alkalinity and acidity and how our bodies need to have a healthy balance and that when our bodies are NOT in balance and get too acidic, viruses and other pathogens can be opportunistic and it may be the reason certain diseases take hold. Green Dude Antonio also brought up the point that we spend so much money on organic food and then we stick it under the faucet and contaminant it! Another shocking fact-boiling water will actually make the contaminants stronger! You can check out the Environmental Working Group to find out what chemicals are living in your water.

DIY with Green Diva Mizar!

Another fabulous green DIY project from GD Mizar! She used old screens from windows or doors and tree branches from the yard to make an earring holder that would make a perfect gift . . .

Materials

• Old Screens
• Tree branch (GD Mizar used a piece of wild grape vine) 3/4 inches in diameter
• Silicone based adhesive/Gorilla Glue
• Ribbon – any color

What to do

• Cut branch to about 15 – 18 inches long
• Cut a pice of screen to fit across the branch
• Glue the screen to one side of the branch – lengthwise.
• GD Mizar leaves about an inch ABOVE the branch … just in case.
• Let this type of glue dry overnight
• Trim the extra screen from where you left that inch or so at the top
• Trim your screen in any shape you want
• Starting from the middle of the branch OR from where it balances best,  measure 2 -3 inches out from the middle on each side
• Tie your ribbon to those points, leaving enough to use as your hanger
• Ta-Da you’re done! Now go hang that mess of earrings you have in that drawer! 

Do the same with an old frame

• Glue the screen to the back of the frame
• Dry overnight
• Trim the edges if necessary
• Glue, staple or nail a ribbon to each side of the frame and hang!