Share and Voice: Shower Timers!

So, I just had an idea and it might not be news to you all but I just thought it would be worth sharing since I know many of us are searching for ways we can minimize our impact on the environment. I just sort of stumbled upon the idea of using a shower timer to help minimize water loss and heating etc.
According to the EPA website, even a 5 minute shower can use up 15-25 gallons of water! That seems like it's pretty wasteful to me, and I know many of us are probably in the shower a little bit longer than 5 minutes. So, although this is a pretty simple idea, I think it has the potential to make a big impact and would be worth trying out.

Luckily, you don't need to buy a specific product in order to time your showers. Here's a few ideas:

• Set an alarm on your cell phone
• Listen to music and be prepared to leave the shower after 1 or 2 songs
• Ask a roommate to knock on the bathroom door to remind you
• Hang up a small sign that says something to remind you

Otherwise, if you want to be more official about it and actually buy one, you can check out some of these cool shower timers here .

Read 'n' Seed 4: Third Quarter of The Organic Food Guide

For my Fourth Read 'n' Seed I read chapters 5 and 6 of The Organic Food Guide- How to Shop Smarter and Eat Healthier.

Chapter 5: Nutrition: Are Organic Foods More Nutritious?
This chapter discusses the nutritional benefits of an organic diet versus a regular non-organic diet. According to the author, organic fruits, vegetables, grains and animal products are all much healthier than the more processed alternatives. The author noted that the use of pesticides, fungicides, herbicides and insecticides actually inhibits a plants ability to manufacture antioxidants and other phytonutrients. Since pesticides and various other "cides" are not allowed in the farming of organic fruits and veggies, these organic plants are able to manufacture more antioxidants and thus, are much healthier for consumption.
The same is true for organic meats- Commercial farmers put a variety of questionable products into the feed for their livestock (as we saw in class on Monday) which can lead to problems such as mad cow disease. According to the author studies have found that organically raised cattle, sheep, and pigs have lower fat content than animals fed conventional feed.

Chapter 5: Taste: Do Organic Foods Really Taste Better?
This chapter discusses the matter of taste in organic vs. non-organic foods. Not surprisingly, the author says that organic foods do taste better than conventional non-organic foods. For the most part I found this section to be more or less subjective, but what I found most interesting was the way they tested the taste of organic vs. non-organic bananas. The Copenhagen Zoo gave chimpanzees organic bananas and bananas treated with pesticides and the chimps were actually able to tell the difference! For the bananas that were treated with pesticides, the chimps peeled and then ate the bananas whereas they ate the organic bananas peel and all. I thought it was amazing that the chimps could instinctively tell the difference between organic and non-organic bananas.

So if you're looking for a little added nutrition and improved taste, consider eating organic! Thanks for reading.

New Header

Here's my new header- I hope you all like it! I made this fine work of art at picnik.com. It was easy to make and fun to use, I would definitely recommend trying it out.