If your household is anything like ours then you will likely have several old cell phones lying around in a virtual technology graveyard. We have two LG shines collecting dust due to our insatiable love of the iPhone! I have seen lots o f places where you can drop off used cell phones in a recycling bin but just haven’t been confident in how they would dispose of the cell phone. Today I stumbled across a way to go green and get paid by not only recycling my old cell phones but also making a little “green” as well!

There are several companies offering this service now but we have found the best, especially if you happen to live in the UK, to be SellMyMobile.com, they offer a great service where you can search for your particular old cell phone and see exactly how much you could get paid for it.

I searched for my LG shine and discovered that several companies would pay me 10 GBP (approx $15) to mail the cell phone to them for recycling! Some companies even offer free shipping;

See How Much Your Old Mobile is Worth!

Once you have searched out the best deal you can follow easy links to the right sites and sell your old mobile for cash to the phone recycling companies, it’s that easy!

I am going to gather up my old cell phones, wipe the memory chips and get them sold / recycled / de-cluttered / out of the house… If I make a couple of dollars then at least I’m helping the environment at the same time as working my way towards that new iPhone.

So what are you waiting for? If you are interested in mobile phone recycling then just visit Sell My Mobile and get started.

I haven’t posted for a long time so I felt that this weekend should be somewhat of a catchup session for my green blogging!

A discussion around the coffee pot at work led me to today’s post topic, a company called Prairie Turbines was recommended to me by a colleague and after researching their products I decided to wax lyrical about the great work they are doing to make wind power affordable.

Prairie Turbines - Making Wind Power Affordable

Prairie Turbines sell all the parts you need to setup a wind turbine and start your journey towards an “off the grid” lifestyle

http://www.prairieturbines.com/purchase.htm

The main advantages which make the Prairie Turbines much more affordable to buy and operate are as follows;

• Built With Off-the-Shelf Components
• Rugged Efficient Blade Design
• Requires No Batteries, No Inverter
• Grid Ready!!
• Easy to Build and Maintain
• 100 Pages – Step by Step Details Assembly and Installation instructions for DIY installs

(more…)

Earth Day 2010 is almost here and we wanted to know how our readers will be celebrating?

The Our Everyday Earth team will be going green this Earth Day by switching off all of our electricity consuming items at home for an hour and then eating an all organic meal made from locally grown produce.

We’ve seen an increase in local events to celebrate Earth Day and 2010 promises to be the best yet!

So leave us a comment telling us how you plan to celebrate the greenest day of the year, we’d love to hear from you… Have a happy Earth Day 2010!!!

Today I wanted to simply share a selection of green and organic local businesses here in North Texas, I was inspired by a visit to the Dallas farmers market which features fresh produce from a host of local producers…

1. Bolsa
Bolsa Market Cafe Wine Bar
Chef Graham Dodds uses seasonal ingredients from local farmers to create fabulous food.

2. Texas Olive Ranch
The Texas Olive Ranch
Texas grown olives and estate bottled extra virgin olive oil.

3. Eden Creek Farm
Eden Creek Farm
Sign up for their 2010 Community Supported Agriculture program, great local produce.

4. The Greer Farm
The Greer Farm
From cooking classes to log cabin rentals, the Greer Farm has it all, including lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. In Daingerfield, TX.

5. Boudreau Herb Farm
Boudreau Herb Farm
Culinary and medicinal herb plants in Mineral Wells, TX.

Today my wife and I got up early and set out on a mission to buy donuts and mulch! Our front yard has long flower beds which have gathered lots of weeds over the early months of the year and it was tim’s to get serious about yard work!

We passed on the donuts and went for a healthier breakfast but our mission to buy lots of mulch went as planned…

We bought pine mulch to put on our Azaleas and cedar mulch for the rest of our flower beds.

The cedar mulch smells awesome and our dog, Nanna, seemed to approve! She laid in the fresh mulch while we continued to work.

Mulching is important because it allows the soil to conserve water on hot days, prevents weeds and can deter insects and grubs. Reducing weeds and pests means no need for weed killer or pest repellents which is better for everyone including mother Earth.

Saving Water:
Studies have shown that mulching can reduce the need to water plants by up to 25 percent! You can read more on the study here;
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/newsletters/hortupdate/2006/nov06/ScienceFair.html

We finished our mulching and were very pleased with the results, we also found a small grass snake which we released safely into a pile of leaves by our fence line.

It was a lovely day to complete our mulching project and we hope you get a chance to do the same, after all, it will cut down on the need to water and use nasty chemicals whilst keeping your garden looking it’s best.

Thanks for reading!

The Mulching Finished

This month’s post is simply a wonderful collection of solar panel installations in everyday homes. Hopefully one day in the not too distant future we will all have wind and solar power in our homes.

Number 1: A Wonderful French Home with a Huge Solar Array;

images from http://www.flickr.com/photos/trebosc/

French Home Solar Install 1

The Solar Panels Being Installed

The Finished Installation

Number 2: A Small But Super Green Home in L.A.:

images from http://www.flickr.com/photos/clownfish/

Before the Solar Installation

Solar Install Completed - 100% Solar Energy!

Number 3: A Self Sufficient Log Cabin – Solar Powered:

images from http://www.flickr.com/photos/44244119@N08/

Log Cabin Solar Panels

Log Cabin Solar Panels - Off The Grid

Number 4: A Green Wedge Potton House:

This wooden timber construction home by Potton is green through and through

images from http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikehales/

Green Wedge Shaped Home with Solar Array

The Green Stripe is Very Fitting!

The Home Has a Solar Well for Extra Light

Number 5: Suburban Home With Solar Panels Cut to Fit:

Proof that solar panels can be designed into any roof line….

images from http://www.flickr.com/photos/silas216/

Solar Panels Cut to Fit

We hope you were inspired by our list of home solar installations, we tried to include different examples from normal homes to the more modern super eco designs.

Let’s all go solar!

My wonderful second Mom, Sharen, has an amazing exhibition of her artwork opening this Friday at the Texas Discovery Gardens in Dallas, TX. I helped with some of the picture hanging and from the sneak preview I could already tell that it is going to be a brilliant exhibition. Sharen’s paintings are vibrant and colorful bringing a world of detail instantly into focus. Her work features a vast array of brightly colored flowers and butterflies.

The Nature of Flowers - Art Exhibition by Sharen Chatterton

To quote the Dallas Observer;

With spring upon us, local landscapes are shedding their drab browns of winter in favor of the lush greens and bold colors that we’ve come to know and love in gardens. For those of us whose gardens have yet to bloom, the acrylic garden scenes of Sharen Chatterton’s The Nature of Flowers will show us what’s in our colorful futures. Featuring brightly colored garden scenes of flowers and butterflies, Chatterton’s paintings are sure to delight flower lovers everywhere.

If you have time I would thoroughly recommend dropping in on the exhibition for some spring time inspiration. The paintings bring a breath of fresh air into any space, we have one hanging in our living room and it brightens our days, even when it’s cold and rainy outside!

The Bright Paintings Breathe Fresh Air Into Any Space

Sharen took inspiration from the wonderful butterfly and insectarium at the Texas Discovery Gardens and if you have time after visiting her exhibition the butterfly sanctuary is also worth exploring, you can try to spot the butterflies featured in Sharen’s work, she even has bookmarks, note cards and open edition prints available at the Texas Discovery Gardens gift shop so that you will be able to take home a slice of nature.

Visit the following sites for more information:

http://www.sharenchatterton.com

http://www.texasdiscoverygardens.org/upcoming_events.shtml

http://www.meetup.com/Culture-Conversations/calendar/12971584/

http://www.meetup.com/Tours-Adventures/calendar/12978196/

http://www.dallasobserver.com/events/sharen-chattertons-the-nature-of-flowers-1718302/