Estimating eco-friendliness

Go figure, now you can reckon how green you are and can be. We all know green living can sometimes be hard, to always lead the most environmentally responsible, lifestyle. One of the things I’ve discovered in my ongoing quest to live in an environmentally responsible manner is, the more I learn, the more reasons I find to live even greener. And when you do the math, you can see how much impact you can and do make a difference both on our environment and your pocket book. Now you can do the math using one of these seven handy dandy calculators. :

• The Eating Green Calculator (http://www.cspinet.org/EatingGreen/calculator.html) lets you calculate your effect on your health and the environment based on how much of certain foods – beef, pork, chicken, eggs, milk, yogurt and cheese – you eat each week.
• Score Your Diet (http://www.cspinet.org/EatingGreen/score.html) takes you through a dietary checklist to determine your diet’s impact on your own health, the environment and animal welfare.
• The Ecological Footprint Quiz (http://www.myfootprint.org/) asks 15 questions – covering diet choices, driving habits, home type and so on – to calculate your consumption of natural resources. The results compare your consumption levels to your region’s average, and also shows how many planet Earths would be needed if everyone consumed at the same level as you.
• The Great Green Web Game (http://go.ucsusa.org/game/) features an “Envirometer” that lets you see how your impact on air quality, water quality and nature compares to that of the average American household.
• The Carbon Calculator (http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/carboncalculator/) determines how much carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, your lifestyle generates each year, then offers suggestions for reducing that figure.
• The Energy Star@Home Tool (http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=popuptool.atHome) features an animated tour of a typical home, with pop-up tips for improved energy efficiency throughout every room.
• Scorecard (http://www.scorecard.org/) lets you input your Zip code and get a detailed report about pollution in your area, and how it compares to other counties in the U.S.

Hmm.. .you might just turn green now you can actually see the color of money really is green…. Food for thought.. Go figure. I figured I’d make some grainy scones or as I say… “”scone ami pour mon ami”. These scones from s are juicy with raisins, and the tart taste of buttermilk. With all the raisins, these biscuits are a sweet treat even without any toppings or spreads. Bon appetit.

INGREDIENTS:

* 2 cups flour
* 2 tbs baking powder
* 2 tbs sugar
* 1/2 tsp baking soda
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1/2 tsp nutmeg, ground
* 1/2 cup butter, cut up
* 1 cup raisins
* 3/4 cup buttermilk
* 1 egg white, lightly beaten

PREPARATION:
Preheat oven to 425F Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, salt and nutmeg in a large bowl. Cut in butter until mixture is like large crumbs. Stir in raisins and buttermilk. Roll dough into a ball, and knead for a couple of minutes on a floured surface. Roll out to 3/4 inch thick. Cut out 3-inch triangles and place on greased baking sheet. Brush tops with egg whites. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 12 scones