Green and Alternative Travel Blog by Desoto Inn

The 42nd Annual Earth Day is almost here! Get ready for some fun family celebrations during the weekend of April 21. Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson founded Earth Day in 1970 at a time of extreme over-consumption. What began 42 years ago as a grassroots celebration has now become an internationally recognized day to honor the environment. Earth Day has become instrumental in many laws, including the passage of the Clean Air Act.

Celebrate sustainability and nature with two local festivals. They’re both on the same day, and both promise to be a blast. Why not be a green party animal and go to both festivals?

Hugh Taylor Birch State Park : Make Earth Day Every Day!

The first Earth Day festival is at Hugh Taylor Birch State Park on Saturday, April 21 from 10 am to 5pm. Be sure to bring little ones for this celebration. They’ll be activities offered for kids by organizations such as the Girl Scouts of America, Trash to Treasure, Camp Live Oak, the fantastic Kids’ Ecology Corps, and Lori’s Beakers and Bugs Company. For adults, they’ll be chances to volunteer (including a sea turtle rescue), ecology-focused workshops, organic and vegan food, and live music. Activities will also include free giveaways and live entertainment, including a drum circle.

Marando Farms: Earth Day Celebration

Come out to Fort Lauderdale’s Marando Farms on Saturday, April 21 from 10am to 2 pm. Kids can enjoy face painting and a bounce house. Adults will enjoy the many varieties of organic food available. There will also be live music and a guest speaker from GMO Free Florida, Trish Sheldon.

If You Go

The Hugh Taylor Birch State Park Make Earth Day Every Day celebration is located at 3109 East Sunrise Blvd in Fort Lauderdale. Go here for more information.

The Earth Day Celebration at Marando Farms is located at 1401 Southwest 1st Ave in Fort Lauderdale. Call Marando Farms at 954-294-2331 or go here.

By Marissa Cohen

Photo By dougww

Earth Day officially began on April 22, 1970 and was founded by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson. I urge you to take advantage of the fact that Earth Day falls on a Sunday this year – go out and celebrate it, don’t just hear about it second-hand.

My first memory of an Earth Day celebration was in 1990. I was eleven and I was running wild with some friends on the Ridge, a patch of land in-between Pine Island Road and Nob Hill Road in Plantation, Florida. All I remember of that day is a lot of talks about recycling and soda cans. I stacked old soda cans and then my friends and I excitedly put them into big red bins marked for that purpose. There were balloons. My cousin rolled down a hill, narrowly missing an anthill, but this was just another excuse for the sweaty, curious lot of us to poke at some insects. Not bad for a first earth day: soda, tin cans, and a lot of bugs.

When I was growing up, a best friend of mine lived in walking distance from the Ridge, and we’d go there all the time. We didn’t care about what danger might exist. All that mattered for us was to be free in nature. We’d stay in the woods so long that her parents yelled themselves hoarse trying to get us to come inside. But we – especially I – couldn’t be distracted. Light changes in the woods, blazing forth when you walk out of a cluster of trees. Those times represented freedom and joy, independence and adventure. I wish everyone that feeling at least once in their lives, especially the kids of today, who are growing up in a world where technology may one day entirely eclipse the natural world. Let’s make it up to us – and use this Earth Day to renew our commitment to protecting the environment.

Here are some things to do on Earth Day.

Picnic

Make the kids turn off their electronic devices and go on a picnic. Enjoy being outside.

Pretend to be Ansel Adams

Got junior explorers? Feel like being an explorer yourself? Pay attention to what’s around you. Take pictures of bugs and of the natural world.

Take the Time

Find a local celebration or simply make the time to go for a walk. Make this a perfect time to celebrate the value of the present and our hopes for the future.

By Marissa Cohen

Photo By ax2groin

One of the easiest ways to go green is by reusing items and recycling your old stuff. My old high school friend Allie was the queen – I mean the past master – of thrift stores. Once, I watched her find a pair of Michael Kors jeans – retail value of $100 – for a mere five bucks. “Get them. You need these.” They were two sizes too small, but I bought them – and still have them, a proud souvenir of a good thrifting day.

I’ve been to them all: Goodwill, garage stores, and swap parties, but so far nothing has rocked my world harder than Out of the Closet. Billed as “the world’s most fabulous thrift store,” Out of the Closet has many locations spanning California, the new store in Amsterdam, and four right here in South Florida. The two Broward locations are right in the “gayborhood” of Wilton Manors and one located just a few moments away from Wilton Manors in downtown Fort Lauderdale on Sunrise Blvd.

Free HIV/AIDS Tests

Many Out of the Closet locations provide free and confidential AIDS testing and counseling. The tests are conducted in a private section of the store. Several of the South Florida locations offer this free service. For a complete list of the locations that offer free HIV/AIDS tests, please go here. The stores also benefit the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, so when you shop at OftC, your money is going to a very good cause.

Books, Clothes, and More

I’ve been to both the Wilton Manors location and the Sunrise location. The Wilton Manors location is just off Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors, Florida. The Sunrise Blvd location is in a huge freestanding building. It reminded me of a John Waters movie, with just that kind of wacky, kitschy vibe. If you like your thrifting with a bit of flash, check it out. My personal OftC Haul consisted of a half-filled journal, a book with a love letter scribbled on the end pages, and many tee shirts, one featuring Speed Racer (Go, go, Speed Racer, gooo!). There are pride buttons and bracelets aplenty, especially at the Sunrise location, which is bright and airy – a fun place to spend a long weekend looking at interesting and quirky odds and ends.

Pick Up

Out of the Closet will come to your house to collect old stuff, too. (Warning for the shy: the second the massive pink and blue truck pulls into your neighborhood, you will instantly be – just as the truck reads – out of the closet.)

By Marissa Cohen

Photo By anna_logical

On Monday April 16, 2012, environmentalist and poet Lola Haskins will read from her work at Broward College, from 12:30 to 1:45 pm as part of Broward College’s Environmental Week.

Acclaimed Poet

Haskins has been published in many acclaimed journals and publications, including The Atlantic and The London Review of Books. She’s written over ten books of poetry, starting with the 1993 Iowa Poetry Prize Winner Hunger and ending with her most recent book of poems Still, the Mountain, which won a 2010 Florida Book Award prize. Haskins often writes about the wonder of nature, including poems that explore Florida’s natural settings. “Prayer for the Everglades” is featured in the prose collection, Book of the Everglades. Haskins has also been featured on NPR.

Local Activist

Haskins is a board member of the Florida-based organization, Florida Defenders of the Environment, a non-profit organization devoted to environmental education and protection since it began in 1969. Currently, the Florida Defenders remain an active and important part of Florida’s quest for environmental justice and are vocal advocates for environmental protection.

Her writings about nature can be found in two university press books: Wild Heart of Florida and Visions of Florida. To date, she’s won several awards, including two National Endowments for the Arts fellowships, and several for her cultural affairs involvement. She’s also taken part in many arts projects and stage productions. To learn more about Lola Haskins, please visit her website at www.lolahaskins.com.

If You Go

Lola Haskins will be reading from her work at Broward College. For more information about this free event, please visit Broward College’s website or call Dr. Barbra Nightingale at 954-201-8873.

By Marissa Cohen

Photo By heraldpost

Easter was on April 8th. It’s time for Peter Cottontail to hop away down the bunny trail, which means that it’s time for us to figure out what to do with all the fake grass, baskets, and all the other colorful Easter goodies. If you were one of the people who purchased the millions of Easter baskets or artificial grass that leave store shelves every year, here’s what to do with them.

Round Up the Rabbits

Large and small, stuffed or chocolate – in the aftermath of Easter, bunnies are everywhere… like a post-holiday Watership Down. If you’re sick of small and fluffy (or if the little ones are bunnied out), round up the rabbits for an impromptu trip with the baskets – and donate them to a thrift store or charity.

Have a Swap

Have a post-Easter swap party and collect all the bunnies, baskets, leftover candy, and other goodies to trade with friends.

Chocolates

Consumers purchase an amazing 90 million chocolate bunnies per Easter. Organic chocolate is the way to go, but if somehow you still have leftover chocolate, bring it to work instead of throwing it out.

Baskets

Thrift stores love baskets, even Easter ones, so round up your slightly used Easter baskets and drop them off at your nearest Goodwill or children’s hospital.

The Problem of the Fake Grass

Fake grass from Easter baskets can be easily found at any drug store or dollar store in America. Instead of fake grass, next year try shredding paper for the Easter “grass”. That way, the whole thing can be recycled at the end of the holiday. If you’d rather stay away from paper for Easter, wadding up a pastel tee shirt is a great idea, so it can be reused – and cleaned – year after year. But what if you’re already sitting on an unfortunate mound of fake grass? Well, save it with your stamps and boxes, and use it to cushion the next present you buy. Moving or packing? Use some of the fake grass to provide padding for breakables or keep it handy for some arts and crafts projects at local schools.

By Marissa Cohen

Photo By Barking Cats

I’m a little bit obsessed right now; let’s just get that out of the way. Over the weekend, I purchased a juicer, largely inspired by the film Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. Right now, I’m full of juicer love, and I’ll be the first to admit that when I try something new, I usually go a tad overboard. I literally rushed home from work with two bags of produce, eager to start juicing in earnest. For the last few days, I’ve been drinking two to four large cups of veggie juice a day, interspersed with salads and other greens. I feel almost freakishly clearheaded and my clothes are starting to fit differently.

I’m Missing You, Juicer

I’m also preparing for a trip next month, and already I’m brainstorming. I feel like a juice junkie. How can I take my juice with me on the plane? Travel food is seldom, if ever, healthy, so of course, I can have the option of bringing some snacks and homemade sandwiches on the plane. But what about my juice? I thought. I’m already picturing my juicer, sad and alone, sitting on the countertop while I’m 3,000 miles away.

That’s right. I’m becoming a big, green juice junkie. I admit it.

Have Juice, Will Travel (Maybe)

What if alternative travelers want to travel with homemade juice? Sadly, airplanes seem to be low on the list of juice-friendly transportation. However, according to the TSA guidelines, I could bring salsa, jam, or dip on the plane with me – if I packed it in a three-ounce container and put it in a zip-top plastic baggie. Moms will probably be able to bring juice in a baby food container, but those of us without little ones may need to brave the plane without juice, depending on the TSA.

If you want to take homemade juice on trains or buses (or any other non-plane mode of transportation), go for it. Just remember that fresh juice contains the most nutrients if you consume it immediately after you make it. Plus, fresh homemade juice has a tendency to separate slightly, with the top part becoming a sort of juicy foam and the bottom part taking on a more liquid appearance. Adding some ice or putting it in a cooler might preserve the freshness as well, or at least keep it cold.

By Marissa Cohen

Photo By cronewynd

Now that spring is finally here, I can’t seem to stay inside. It seems that Florida’s weather is even more delightful than usual, if you don’t mind sudden storms and cozy, breezy days. I’m finally noticing what I haven’t noticed in the 30-something years spent as a born-and-bred-local. There are reasons people come from all over the world to visit Florida.

Recently, I enjoyed a day trip to Batten’s Farm, a favorite farmer’s market that reopened last summer after being closed for several years. Inspired by one nearby farmer’s market make me seek out other local farmer’s markets, most of which are less than a half-hour from the Desoto.

I discovered the Flamingo Road Nursery and Farmer’s Market entirely by accident when I got off 595 on Flamingo and turned south instead of north. On my right hand side, I saw the Flamingo Road Nursery and decided to pull in to explore. There’s nothing like wandering around a new farmer’s market. As I stepped out of my car, and walked to the entrance, I was greeted by the melodic sound of a large waterfall. Immediately to my right was a huge, gorgeous stone water fountain.

Plants and Herbs

The property is large, as are most of the nurseries that border both sides of Flamingo Road, and it’s fun to wander through the Flamingo Road Nursery’s many varieties of plants, arbors, and flowers. Best of all, there’s a very generous herb section as well, lush with flowering chamomile, mint, and other fragrant goodies.

For Kids

The Flamingo Road Nursery has a neat selection of kid-sized gardening tools, from gloves to gardening tools. Does your little one want to learn more about plants? Help them create their own garden.

Organic Grocery

The Flamingo Road Nursery and Farmer’s Market supports local Florida farmers and artisans. There’s a small grocery store featuring organic veggies located toward the back of the large property. Divided into two large rooms, the store has a small grocery and organic section on one side and a lunch counter on the other. Mostly, I had fun exploring the produce section and managed to find a huge quantity of basil at a very reasonable price.

And then, on the way out, I met the cat.

The Flamingo Cat

I’m not sure who he belongs to, but if you go, stay on the look out for a friendly kitty that seems totally at home roaming the grounds. He’s a curious little wanderer, and I spotted him a few times, happily rolling in the grass or pouncing butterflies.

If You Go

The Flamingo Road Nursery and Farmer’s Market is located at 1655 Flamingo Road in Davie. They can be reached at 954-476-7878 or find them on the web, here. They’re open Monday to Sunday, from 8 am to 6 pm.

By Marissa Cohen

Photo By intheburg

It seems that marriage is everywhere on the national stage. Everyone has an opinion on marriage, freedom, and what the legal right to love will do to our country. (Pay attention, Religious Right. Gay marriage won’t destroy America!)

Edie and Thea: A Very Long Engagement or A Very Long Plane Ride?

Recently, I saw a wonderful 2009 documentary called Edie and Thea: A Very Long Engagement, about the 42 year-long romantic partnership between Edie Windsor and Thea Spyer. The documentary explores their remarkable relationship and focuses on Edie and Thea (then in their 70s) flying to Canada to get married  because they want to be legal wives before Thea succumbs to fatal multiple sclerosis. There’s a scene in Edie and Thea when the women are leaving for Canada and getting into a van…and there’s wheelchair-bound Thea,  brave and amazing and frail, preparing to fly to Toronto in the dead of winter, miles from her homestate, to get married.

What does this documentary of two elderly women getting married have to do with green principles?

Everything.

Edie and Thea traveled to Canada because gay marriage is legal in Toronto. When this generation is in our seventies and eighties, hopefully things will be different and easier. But what if you want to get married in your home state, right now? What if you want to have a “staycation” wedding – a real, legal wedding – and save some money?

260,000 Plane Tickets?

Well, with the way things currently stand in America, chances are you may not live in one of the handful of states in which gay marriage is legal. If that’s the case, you won’t really have that option to have a legal wedding in your homestate, not if you want to be legally married.

According to a recent article, there are approximately 130,000 same-sex couples in America. What if all of them – at some point – had to travel to another state (or to Canada) to get married? That’s approximately 260,000 individuals who must travel across state lines in order to be legally married. Now think about all the friends and relatives who deserve to be there with them. I shutter to think of the gas mileage, the plane fare, and the carbon credits needed to offset such a journey. Flat out, it’s not fair to LGBT couples or their families. All that travel – unless it’s offset – is bad for the earth. Plus, it’s expensive.

Discrimination Is Not Green Or Kind

Needing to travel to get married while other people don’t have to is also a gross discrimination. I remember 70-something Thea teetering in her wheelchair on her way to Canada because she had no other legal way to marry her beloved Edie. (When my grandparents were in their 70s, they couldn’t be bothered to shut the bathroom door, let alone board a plane to Canada.) Wouldn’t it have been nice and less expensive for Edie and Thea if they could have simply gotten married ten minutes from their home in a nice, little park or house of worship? I think so. That would have been the greener, easier choice. But anti-gay discrimination didn’t give them that option.

Discrimination is not a green choice. Not by a long shot, America.

By Marissa Cohen

Photo By MightyBoyBrian

When I was a kid, Saturdays in summer meant that it was time to pick strawberries. It meant piling in the car -sometimes with my two cousins – and heading over to Batten’s Farm, located in Davie, Florida. That was in 1992.

Several years ago, Batten’s Farm  closed and it seemed like all the locals went into kind of low-grade mourning.

Goodbye to Berries

One friend of mine actually called me to report that she’d bought strawberries at a regular supermarket. “Nothing like Batten’s,” she sighed into the phone, recounting happy memories of Batten’s strawberries and milkshakes. While I didn’t get misty eyed over store-bought berries, I too found myself getting nostalgic whenever I drove south on Davie Road and passed the old farmstead, the small building shut up tighter than a drum, its white shutters gleaming in the sunlight. With it went the ripe, better-than-in-a-food-store strawberries, the friendly owners, and the barnyard animals in the pen out back. Worst of all? The milkshakes and boiled peanuts that I used to share with my late father were gone too.

Batten’s Reopened in 2011

And last summer, it reopened, thanks in part to the Davie-based non-profit, the North-South Institute, which operates Batten’s as a farmer’s market, with local Broward County farmers selling produce.

Recently, I went to Batten’s and had just as much fun there now as I did when I was a kid.

A New Generation of Local Food and Fun

Some things have changed. The new owners have installed ceiling fans in the building and there’s now a refrigerated section in the back for sodas, boxed foods, and of course, their famous and beloved strawberries.

The milkshakes are back too, just in time for spring.

But the best thing of all? The promise of hanging out for an hour – or all day if I wanted to – slurping a coconut milkshake and hanging out with the barnyard animals. Batten’s is perfect for kids or for a solo walk around the small farm.

If You Go

Batten’s Farm is located at 5151 Davie Road, Davie, 33329. Visit their website, call 954-990-7820, or find them on Facebook.

By Marissa Cohen

Photo By tamburix

Spring is here, or so we hear. (In Florida our weather is pretty much the same – gorgeous – all year round.) I understand that in other parts of the world, the cold is giving way to flowers and warmth. Spring means renewal: as the earth wakes up from ice and cold, so do we. Renew your eco-joy with these springtime steps.

Eco-Bags in Light Colors

Ditch the dull black and brown travel bags for fun and funky luggage in light, festive colors. Crisp white eco-friendly luggage can put a spring in your step. So can eco-friendly purses and backpacks in hues of pinks, greens, or yellows.

Declutter Before You Depart

Before you leave town, give your house a fresh sense of renewal by cleaning the clutter out of closets and garages. Go through what you find. Contact Goodwill or your local shelter and give away any old clothes, dishes, or furniture that have seen better days. Have an upcycle party and invite friends to trade their old stuff. One green traveler’s trash is another green traveler’s treasure – and if money is tight, trading items is a thrifty way to save your green.

Before You Leave, Clean

I like to tidy up before I leave town. There’s nothing more annoying to me than coming back to a dirty house, so before I leave I make sure that counters are scrubbed and bedsheets are changed. Ditch the toxic house cleaning products as well! Instead of glass cleaner or disinfectant, use vinegar. Instead of toxic scrubbing powders, use baking soda.

Spring Showers

Not only does spring bring color and renewal – it also brings the rain. If you’re hitting the road, protect yourself from blustery days and surprise showers with cute, non-toxic raingear. This umbrella is made of recycled steel and aluminum and has a bamboo handle.

Spring Friendly Travel Apps

If you need to track the ever-changing weather, check out The Weather Channel’s app – perfect for road travel. Going to be on the road? Try Roadninja – a travel app that lets you know what’s coming up off the next highway exit. You can look up exits from anywhere on the road and it’s handy if you need to find a potty or a vegetarian restaurant in a hurry.

By Marissa Cohen

Photo By notamaiar