The Greening of the Village It’ll be green in Grandin Village on Saturday, April 19, when we celebrate Earth Day, “Village Green,” from one end of the neighborhood to the other. All day at Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op (8 am to 8 pm), there will be an organic seedling sale of plants from Dennis Dove and Tenley Weaver, who run Full Circle Farm of Floyd, and local vendors will be at the store (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.) to provide samples and information. You can taste the goodies from a variety of local vendors, such as Homestead Creamery dairy products, Brush Creek Buffalo meat, Better Than Roasted raw nut butters, Café Kelepa fair trade coffee, Bread Craft artisan breads, Blue Ridge Baby Cheesecakes, and more – and you can meet the people who make these products. Price’s Piece will have sample sizes of natural, handmade soaps. Our own Happy Belly Deli will have samples of delicious baked goods for you to taste. The kids will have fun, too! They can have their faces painted by Katherine Devine (11 am to 2 pm), and they can meet the chickens from Malu Aina Farm, who provide the co-op with fresh eggs.

Also, you won’t want to miss the free, short film “Climate of Change,” presented by Roanoke Valley Cool Cities Coalition, at 11 a.m. in the co-op’s Community Room, with a brief discussion to follow. (At noon, across the street, the Grandin Theatre will be showing RVCCC’s “Energy Crossroads,” just as the earlier film concludes. There’s time to see both!) At 3 p.m., nutritionist Jeanie Redick will present a free talk, “Know Your Food,” also in the co-op’s Community Room. Please sign up for both co-op events at the customer service desk.

Register to win a mountain bike in the co-op raffle, the proceeds from which will benefit Sharebike, Roanoke’s grass-roots, free community bicycle program. Second prize is a season of fruit shares from Good Food Good People in Floyd, and third prize is a basket of goodies from the co-op (includes cleaning products from Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day, an organic cotton T-shirt from Green Label of Floyd, Equal Exchange fair trade teas and chocolate, a mug from Down To Earth Basics, and a cotton shopping bag from FishyFishy Quilts, handmade by our own wellness staff member Ellen Knight!).

There’ll be music and giveaways at Plan 9, a clothing donation drive at New To Me (donors get a store discount there, too), samples of Star City Coffee at Pop’s Ice Cream and Soda Bar, and a sale at Black Dog Antiques and Architectural Salvage. Come celebrate the growing green efforts of your community, and join in this important event. Other Earth Day events in the area include “The Habits of Creation,” a day-long workshop on faith, ecology, lifestyle and social justice. Our Lady of Nazareth Catholic Church in Roanoke, 9 am – 3 pm. A $5 donation is requested. For more information: Susan Hedge, 540-725-2197 or shedge@richmonddiocese.org. Also, the City of Roanoke has a whole list of events and activities both on and before Earth Day, including a “Water for Life” celebration at  SunTrust Plaza and a hike and cleanup on Mill Mountain on April 19. For the full schedule, see www.roanokeva.gov.

Free "Food for Life" classes

“Food for Life” is a series of free nutrition and cooking classes that introduce you to a delicious, healthy lifestyle designed to keep cancer at bay. Launched in 2001 by The Cancer Project, a program of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, the classes were designed by physicians, nutritionists and dieticians to help cancer survivors take advantage of the healing power of foods. Each class includes information about how certain foods and nutrients discourage the growth of cancer, along with demonstrations and samples of healthy, tasty recipes you can make easily at home.

The classes are taught by local registered dietician and Cancer Project instructor Julie Wimmer. The classes will be held 4 Saturday mornings (4/26, 5/3, 5/10, and 5/17) from 9:30 – 11:30 am in the Community Room. Originally designed for 8 classes, we’ve condensed the spring series into 4 classes that will still cover all the material of the original series. The accompanying cookbook and nutrition guide is available for purchase at the co-op ($19.95) but is not required for participation. The book is also available online free at the class website (see address below).

Whether you’re a cancer survivor or just want to boost your health, these classes will offer great “food for thought.” Space is limited and these classes fill up quickly, so sign up now: info@roanokenaturalfoods.coop or call us at 343-5652. For more information, see The Cancer Project and “cooking classes” at www.cancerproject.org.

Save water this month and always

Water conservation is easy! April is both Earth Month and Water Conservation Month. For more information, visit www.westernvawater.org or stop by the water authority’s information table at Village Green: Earth Day 2008 in Grandin Village.

Every day, we depend on water to flow at the turn of a faucet. But are you using more water than you really need? Especially during periods of drought, we all need to reduce the amount of water we use to protect our valley’s current and future water supply. Here are some tips to help you be water wiser.

Start in the bathroom, where most of the water in your home is used. • Check your toilet for leaks by putting food coloring or Kool-Aid into the tank. If the color appears in the bowl after a few minutes, you have a leak that could be using hundreds of gallons of water a day. • Was your toilet built before 1992? If so, that toilet could be using between 5-7 gallons of water every time you flush. Consider replacing it with a new 1.6 gallon per flush toilet. You can also reduce the amount of water you flush by keeping a plastic bottle of water in the toilet tank. • Take shorter showers. A 15-minute shower uses about 75 gallons of water. Shorten your shower down to five minutes, and you can save 50 gallons of water. • Install low-flow shower heads and faucet aerators to save even more water. • Turn off the water while you brush your teeth or shave and save 2-3 gallons per day. Reduce your water consumption in the kitchen. • If you have a compost pile, use it. Running the water while you use the garbage disposal uses more than 50-gallons of water per month. • Don’t let water run until it gets cold. Keep a pitcher of water in the fridge for drinking. • Run your dishwasher only when full, or better yet, wash your dishes by hand by filling up one sink bowl with soapy water and the other with rinse water. Turning off the water while you wash dishes saves 200-500 gallons per month.  Be water wise in the garden. • Collect rainwater and air conditioner condensate in mesh covered buckets and barrels to water your plants. • Layer mulch around your plants to slow evaporation. • Water early in the morning or in the evening when evaporation rates are the lowest. A sprinkler can use up to 75-gallons of water every 10 minutes, so consider switching to watering cans or soaker hoses. • When replanting, use native species. They’re better suited to withstand drought conditions in our area. By simply changing the way you do things around your home, you'll save hundreds of gallons of water every month. Challenge yourself to find even more ways to save water – or look on the Western Virginia Water Authority’s Conservation Page at www.westernvawater.org. -- Sarah Baumgardner, Western Virginia Water Authority