Ever wonder how the Golden Pinecone Awards came to be?  Some of you may be surprised to learn they started as a spoof. About 24 years ago, three guys– Glenn Miller, Tod Bedrosian, and Bob Fulkerson– tooled around the garage discussing their life’s work and passionate commitment to our beautiful environment here in northern Nevada. They cut a piece of plywood into the shape of a pinecone and decided to create a “prestigious and coveted” award for the best among their friends and colleagues in the local environmental community.

At the time, the eco-community in the Truckee Meadows was small and anything but mainstream. Most people weren’t thinking in terms of sustainability, but slowly the work of a committed few became the passion of many. Over the years as environmental awareness has grown, the awards that were once a fun happening among enviro-nerds have truly become an honorable recognition.

Now in their 24th year, the Golden Pinecone Awards serve as northern Nevada’s environmental benchmark. They are the only environmental awards presented across a wide spectrum of the community. And the best thing is we get to hand them out at a party.

The 2011 Pinecones will be the biggest party to date. We have a great musical act in the evening’s lineup, the Jazz Guys. They are a quartet comprised of members from Carson City’s famous Mile High Jazz Band. A little ragtime, swing, and big band style jazz sounds like a fantastic way to celebrate environmental stewardship to me!

This year’s Golden Pinecone Celebration is at the Peppermill Resort Spa Casino. They provided us with a very generous sponsorship so we’ll even have a fancy banquet-style meal. And they are going to give a keynote presentation on their geothermal heating. What a great fit they make with Nevada EcoNet and greenUp!

The big event takes place Wednesday, November 16. Doors open at 6 p.m. Remember to get your tickets before November 9 while they’re only $35. After that they go up to $50. If you show up at the event without a ticket, you won’t be able to get in because we’re not selling tickets at the door. We have to give the Peppermill a head count for the dinner. Buy your tickets at our website, www.nevadaeconet.org.

I’m a proud Green Renoite and I’ll be there. Will you?

But wait! We have a one-night-only opportunity for you to win a FREE ticket to the celebration. This Thursday we will be hanging out at the Nevada Museum of Art’s First Thursday event. We’ll be getting everyone hyped for the Golden Pinecones and have decided to brighten the day of some lucky Renoites who come and show their support for our lovely eco-celebration.

So join us for music and fun. Visit our table this Thursday, Nov. 3, at Nevada Museum of Art. You could be a winner!

Most of us try to be “green” for at least one day (hopefully more) out of the year for Earth Day, celebrated in April, but why not go green for 30 days?  It’s easy & below is a simple plan for little tips on 30 days of “green”.

April 1^st- April Fools Day!  Save on waste, and avoid toilet papering your neighbor’s yard, or tin foiling your co-workers desk, and publish a web based prank via email, Twitter or Facebook instead- make up a story about yourself and really confuse people!

First week in April: “Health Week”- April 5^th is National Raisen & Spice Bar Day (who knew?) and April 7^th is World Health Day.  Be good to your body and eat extra healthy this week!  Who knows, you might decide you really like it!  Check the Nevada EcoNet blog for recipes!

Second week in April: “Green Cleaning Week”- Knowing our Northern Nevada weather, there is a big chance that the weather will still be a little cold at this point.  Stay in this week and get some of that much needed spring cleaning done!  Did you know that vinegar mixed with water can be used to clean almost anything around the house?  It’s a great cleaning agent, and environmentally friendly!  Is the sun shining?  Start your own garden for your favorite veggies & herbs.

Third week in April: “Earth Day All Week”- Although the Northern Nevada celebration will be held on May 1^st, actual Earth Day is on April 22^nd.  Celebrate this week by biking, car pooling, walking, or using public transportation as much as possible this week.  Happy Earth Day!

Last week in April- The Earth Day celebration is this weekend, May 1^st at Idlewild Park!  Car pool, walk or bike to the event when possible, and tell your family, friends and coworkers about the event- spread the word!  We can’t wait to spend the day with you & are very excited about this year’s event!  To participate or volunteer for the event visit the Nevada EcoNet website for details.

April 22, 2011 marks the celebration of the 41^st Earth Day.

The idea of an “Earth Day” was sparked by founder Gaylord Nelson, a US Senator from Wisconsin, in recognition of a quickly growing need to improve vastly depleting air and water quality.  The 1970 teach in, in which around 20 million Americans participated, helped implement and pass the Environmental Protection Agency, Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species acts.

Since 1970, Earth Day has help raise awareness about environmental issues, and through time, the issues have molded to reflect current environmental perils, the base issue always revolving around health and environmental protection.  Some of today’s issues you can expect to see addressed at this year’s Earth Day events are:

• Energy- shifting our dependence toward cleaner, safer energy.
• Transportation- expanding research and availability of cleaner transportation.
• Waste- The 3 “Rs”: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
• Water Shortages & pollution
• Pesticides, chemicals, toxins and air quality

Join us on May 1^st at Idlewild Park to learn more about these and other Environmental and Health related issues.  Community based businesses, organizations, students, teachers, advocates and more will be present to answer questions, discuss solutions and ideas, and spread the word about steps to take in the direction to preserve our planet and health.

What will you do to make a difference this year? Earth Day Network is looking for a “Billion Acts of Green”. Click here to pledge an act.

Happy Earth Day!

Mark your calendars for Sunday, May 1, and join Nevada EcoNet at Idlewild Park to celebrate all that is environmentally friendly in our community. Shop from “green” vendors, buy fresh produce at the Farmers’ Market and learn what companies and organizations are doing to make our community more sustainable.

Wondering how you can get involved?

Volunteer, have your company sponsor the event or sign up to showcase your products or services by becoming a vendor at the event.

As always, Earth Day 2011 is free to the public, but it is a great financial undertaking to bring this event to the community. If you’d like to support the cause with a donation, click here.

To learn more about volunteering, sponsoring or hosting a vendor booth, click here or email Nevada EcoNet Executive Director Kaitlin Weeks at kaitlin@nevadaeconet.org, or Volunteer Coordinator Schannon Gehrke at staff@nevadaeconet.org.

Be sure to visit our blog often and “like” us on Facebook to stay up to date on all the exciting details of this year’s event. See you May 1!

By Jaime Farrar

Monday is Valentine’s Day and what better way to impress your sweetie than by serving breakfast in bed. This delicious recipe comes from our friend Anita who is currently working as a demo chef at Whole Foods.

Recipe provided by Anita LeClercq,Vegan Chef and Health Coach

Vegan Banana Pancakes

1/2 cup old fashion rolled oats
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup corn meal
1 TSP baking powder
1/2 TSP baking soda
1 to 2 ripe bananas
2 TBS rice vinegar
2 cups almond, oat or soy milk

Mix  well oats, buckwheat flour, cornmeal, baking soda, baking powder in a bowl.
Mash bananas in another bowl, add vinegar and milk. Mix well  and add to dry ingredients and mix well again.
Heat a nonstick pancake griddle to 350.  Cook pancakes  till bubble.  Flip and cook on the other side.
Enjoy with maple syrup, fruit or jam.
This keeps well in the refrigerator if you do not use it all up the first day. You may have to thin it the second day with a little water.

It ain’t easy being green… Especially on a holiday built around red and pink! However, you should have known we would find a way!

Here are a few ideas to make you valentines day a little greener, while staying in the romantic spirit!

1) Instead of purchasing a card, give your card in a sweet, from- the-heart poem or speech. By skipping the card, you not only help save the trees, but also the waste that comes along with cards!

2) Instead of going out to dinner, why not make dinner together at home? It’s an activity that can also allow for some quality time & attention. And, look- it’s meatless Monday! See, Valentines Day is looking greener already!

3) Instead of cut flowers with a life span of about a week, do something that will last, like giving your sweetheart a plant, or better yet, have a tree planted in their name!

4) Jewelry for your lover? Find them something unique and special by shopping at local antique shops or stores. You’d be amazed at what a little cleaning up will do to an older but special and story telling piece of jewelry.

5) And of course, I had to include my personal favorite.. On valentines day, save some water & shower together!

Rule #1: Eat food.

This is the first rule of Michael Pollan’s New York Times #1 bestseller “Food Rules” and in the book, this rule is followed by 63 more of Pollan’s “rules” to better eating and food monitoring.

Recently I followed Pollan all the way to the Benaroya Hall in Seattle, WA, where for an hour and a half, I (and close to a thousand other people) listened to him connect the dots between agriculture and today’s food system.

He started by going through a grocery bag full of “edible food like substances” and reading the key points of their labels one by one.  For example, he looked at the label of a bottle of Muscle Milk, pointing out that there really was no milk in the ingredients what so ever (the label even reads “contains no milk”), went though several breakfast cereals and non or low fat items that really only compensated their health claims of “now in reduced fat!” and “now with added calcium!” for more sugars and salt, and a container of a (non-frozen) microwavable turkey dinner that has a shelf life of nearly 3 years.

In completing this exercise, Pollan encouraged us all to start looking at our labels and really think about what it is we’re actually consuming.  Have you ever seen a “real” turkey dinner last for 3 years without decomposing?

In order to not leave us completely discouraged and frustrated, Pollan offered many different solutions to the eating crisis that seems to have us all so baffled.  Most of the solutions he offered can be found in his easy read “Food Rules” and offers solutions like his classic “eat food, not too much, mostly plants” or to shop the perimeters of the grocery store where most of the produce and fresh food can be found, avoiding the middle “processed food” isles.  He encourages us all to cook at home, eat until we are no longer hungry instead of eating until we are full, and to indulge occasionally on “treats” but to look at them as just that: occasional treats.

Pollan not only left us with some humor and an undeniable inclination to make a healthy home cooked meal for dinner that night, but he also encouraged us to follow and become active in with progression of the 2012 Farm Bill which seeks to regulate the who, what and how of farming (stay tuned for more on this later).

For more information on Michael Pollan, his books or his upcoming appearances visit michaelpollan.com.

Your Christmas tree once sheltered your children’s presents and illuminated the corner of your family room. It has made its grand appearance in numerous photos and has been a shrine in your house for nearly a month. Now that the holidays are done – what purpose does it serve? The once invaluable tree you spent hours choosing and decorating is now a disposable nuisance. What to do with your tree now that holidays are done….

You can recycle your tree as one of the most efficient and environmentally beneficial ways to dispose of your tree.

The trees that are recycled can be ground into mulch or cut into chips that can be used to support and protect other growing plants. Mulch and wood chips that are the products of recycled Christmas trees can be found in parks, flowerbeds, and hiking trails. The mulch and chips will eventually decompose and provide nutrients to the surrounding plants.

Trees that are recycled will be kept out of landfills and can decompose at a natural rate as opposed to a longer decomposition time in a landfill because of the lack of oxygen. By having your tree recycled you’ll be providing mulch for parks and homes for the wildlife in your community, reducing illegal dumping, and conserving space in landfills.

You can recycle your tree till the 17^th of January with the Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful Christmas Tree Recycling program to help the environment and wildlife in your area.

Before recycling your tree, make sure that it looks the way it would in the forest or when you purchased it from the lot. Please remove all decorations, nails, wires, etc.

Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful will be taking trees from December 26, 2010 through January 17, 2011. The drop off point will be at Shadow Mt. Sports Complex, 3300 Sparks Blvd. (Shadow Ln. entrance) in Sparks and the drop-off hours will be 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. A $3 donation is requested to support this and other community efforts.

To find out more about recycling your tree with Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful visit them at KTMB.org

Bread – buying fresh from the bakery (whether at the grocery store or a stand alone bakery such as Great Harvest or House of Bread) eliminates the fuel used in transporting and energy used in freezing those off-the-shelf brands. Also, the paper used in the bakery is usually recyclable. If you do buy from the bread aisle, make sure the pre-sliced loaves aren’t double wrapped. These contain more than 20 percent more packaging.

Bulk Items – you’ll pay up to 50 percent less and significantly reduce energy used to transport and the amount of waste in the landfill if you buy in bulk.

Cheese – Avoid presliced packages. Each slice is individually wrapped, in most cases, wasting vast amounts of plastic. Buy the block instead and slice at home.

Coffee – Look for varieties that aer labeled Fair Trade, Organic, Bird Friendly, or have Rainforest Alliance certification to know that your beans came from a farm that has sustainable practices and preserve or restore rainforest ecosystems.

Meat and Poultry – Buy only as much as you think you’ll need. Buy meat from the butcher counter if available to avoid throwing away unused products. This will reduce waste, conserve energy and save money!

Fruits and Veggies - If fresh options are available, opt for those over the canned or frozen varieties. Freezing and canning uses a great deal of energy and fresh varieties can cost less than canned or frozen.