Mixed media
Got a book you want to bid goodbye, and a CD you covet? Here’s one solution: swaptree.com. The idea on this site is to list what you want to trade, then list what you want, then put your feet up and let Swaptree do the rest. It works by matching your “haves” with someone else’s “wants,” sometimes even facilitating three-way trades—all for free. The site itself has a slick, sophisticated feel—a high-tech alternative to the old-fashioned yard sale, and one offering a greater chance that your old books, DVDs, CDs and video games will find good homes and avoid the landfill.
 Tower of CDs weighing you down? Rather have a full bookshelf? Check out swaptree.com. |
Hover your cursor over one of the listed items, and a second list appears of all the available swaps to be made. For David Sedaris’s Dress Your Family In Corduroy and Denim you can get the Legend of Zelda (or one of 302 other items). Quite the deal if you ask me—and Swaptree will print accurate postage too.
The only potential drawback? Swaptree operates on an honor system: Just like eBay, they can’t personally guarantee that an item will be sent. You’ll have to bank on the idea that the ethically minded are also honest citizens.—Lily Robertson
Fiber forward
If you’re familiar with eco-friendly clothing, you might know of Tencel. It’s a natural (100 percent biodegradable) fiber made from wood pulp cellulose that’s harvested from sustainably farmed trees and manufactured with minimal environmental impact and energy use. Tencel is becoming available for applications in the home, and that’s good news because Lenzing Fiber, the sole U.S. manufacturer of Tencel (the brand name for lyocell), claims this is a “breakthrough fiber.” They say Tencel is “soft as silk, strong as polyester, cool as linen, warm as wool and as absorbent as cotton.”
Unfortunately, we can’t verify any of that for you, because we can’t get our hands on the stuff! Several local fabric retailers told us they don’t carry it or never heard of it. As per usual, the Europeans seem to be ahead of us in the enviro-friendly game—they’ve been using lyocell for blankets, sheets, towels, fiber-fill and upholstery for a while now, but the home textiles use of lyocell is just starting to hit the U.S. market.
We predict that Tencel will be readily available in short order. In the meantime, you can contact Lenzing Fibers at (212) 944-7896 for commercial swatches or check out the Joseph Abboud Tencel sheets ($99.99 for a king set) at Costco.com.—Katherine Ludwig
Earth Day greetings
To bring Earth Day down to earth, so to speak, we asked three locals with environmental cred what they would suggest the ordinary human do to wish our planet well for the holiday.—Cathy Clary
Ryan Jacoby, Director of Special Projects with Habitat for Humanity
“Earth Day is a great time to reconnect with nature by hiking the Rivanna Trail or a nearby natural area,” says Jacoby. Oh, and while you’re at it, he says, give some thought to recycling and composting, if you don’t already.
 Volunteering in our local parks is a fitting way to mark Earth Day—or you could just screw in a light bulb. (The energy-saving kind.) |
Amy Predmore, Co-president of Earth Week, earthweek.org
“It really doesn’t take much to do something that makes a difference like changing a light bulb, buying local food and walking and cycling more,” says Predmore. A good place to get ideas? Earth Week’s Earth Day fair, 10am-3pm on Saturday, April 19, at the Charlottesville High School practice football field.
Michelle Prysby, State Coordinator for Virginia Master Naturalists
Prysby sees Earth Day as a time to get some outdoor education. “If you want to do something outside your own home, try volunteering with our local parks (parkvolunteers@charlottesville.org) to help build and maintain trails or battle invasive weeds that threaten natural habitats,” she says.
Go on tour
 Belvedere will be part of the EarthCraft tour at the end of April. |
Want to get tapped into the local green scene? The EarthCraft Tour, a 17-house circuit slated for the last two weekends in April, is becoming an important annual event for builders to connect with eco-minded homebuyers. It’s also a great way to get educated about the latest green building techniques, since houses are featured in various stages of construction. (For more on green building, including some of the properties on the tour, see this month’s cover story on page 19.) Specifics on the tour (April 19-20 and 26-27) are at the Blue Ridge Home Builders Association’s site, brhba.org, or you can call 973-8652.—Erika Howsare
Diners for the bird world
The wrens and robins are the first to welcome spring. More than song, though, birds play an essential role by pollinating plants and dispersing seeds. These easy-to-make bird feeders provide a nice haven.
 The author made this feeder from part of a Christmas tree. Joy to the bird world! |
—Cut a 2 1/2" diameter hole 3" from the bottom of a quart-size cardboard milk carton. Poke a foot-long twig below the holes for a perch. Fill with bird seed. Hang with wire or heavy string.
—In cooler weather, roll a pine cone in peanut butter, then oats or black sunflower seeds.
—Decorate a tree with horizontally sliced oranges and apples hung with raffia.
—For something more rustic, take a felled tree trunk and saw off the bark in five slats 2" thick. After drilling pilot holes, nail four sides onto a wooden platform. Use two branches to hold the roof with the final slab. Nail into place. Hang with sturdy eye hooks.
As for pesky squirrels, purchase an aluminum baffle: a saucer-like object placed above or below your feeder.
Finally, Larry Bishop of Wild Birds Unlimited dispels a common myth. Feeding birds won’t make them dependent on us. “Eighty-five to 90 percent of their food still comes from foraging in the wild,” he says. Humans help supplement the bird’s diet, while enjoying the view.—Teri Kent
By the numbers
120,000
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That’s how many people lined up to tour solar-powered houses built by teams of college students at last October’s Solar Decathlon on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., according to a recent local presentation by Richard King, director of the decathlon. King described eager crowds pressing their faces against the windows of the sun-smart abodes. (Must have been trying to get a glimpse of the future.) The next decathlon is in 2009.