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This trailer for Jonathan Safran Foer’s new book, features his dog and his grandmother.
Meatless Monday is part of the Healthy Monday initiative. Other Healthy Monday campaigns include: Paul McCartney’s Meat Free Monday, Do The Monday 2000, Quit and Stay Quit Monday, Move it Monday, Monday Mile, and others.
FRIDAY’S FOCUS: Food. The good kind (depending, of course, on your point-of-view).
A nod to the meat-eaters amongst us:
If you live in the city and can’t seem to make it down to the farmer’s market on the weekends, fear not. Fresh, organic veggies can be as close as your windowsill. A low maintenance “no dig garden” can be planted on a rooftop, a large windowsill, or even a windowbox. The garden literally composts the materials while feeding the plants. Find all the details you need to get started right here.
Green Truck serves healthy, gourmet organic food to Los Angeleans. Their mobile catering trucks run off of vegetable oil and all of their food packaging containers are made from biodegradable products rather than plastics and Styrofoam. Vrooom and yum.
We know organic farming can help reduce the impact on our environment, but we never imagined it could fight crime as well. Alemany Farm is a four-acre organic paradise amidst the urban sprawl of one of San Francisco’s worst crime areas. Executive Director Alice Carruthers says her vision with the non-profit “was to slow the crime down.” Since the farm began in 1991, families have been able to put fresh organic food on their tables and find a safe haven from the hostile environment where their children play and learn about the environment. Check out the story at Huffington Post.
According to just about everyone who covers these things, Chelsea Clinton has been meatless for more than a decade. Insiders say that her wedding will be catered vegan-style and feature vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free dishes. The same insiders say that beef will also be served but that it will be grass-fed and organic.
Read more: slashfood.com
The organic foods movement took a huge blow last year when a team of American researchers reached the conclusion that organic foods were no more nutritious than industrially grown products (of course there was no mention of the damage industrial farming can do to the environment, but that’s beside the point). Unfortunately, many people read those headlines and decided not to spend the extra money for organics. Few are aware that a 4-year, EU study on the benefits of organic foods suggests that some of them, such as fruit, vegetables and milk, are more nutritious than non-organically produced food and may contain higher concentrations of cancer fighting and heart beneficial antioxidants. Get the whole story here.
Thomas Goetz, owner of the ‘Maison d’envie’ (House of Desire) brothel, is offering discounts to customers who arrive on bicycle or who can prove they took public transport. “It’s very difficult to find parking around here, and this option is better for our environment,” says Goetz.
Hat Tip: cbsnews.com
Can kids really change the future of the planet? A bunch of Australian youngsters reckon they can – in just five minutes a day. See if you’re up to their challenge.
The lifespan of this energy-saving, LED bulb can reach up to 100,000 hours. It emits no UV radiation and remains cool to the touch. Equivalent to a 25 watt incandescent bulb, It costs about $10. You can buy an equally energy-efficient 40 watt LED bulb for about $20. Amen.
Available at Home Depot.
Behold, the eco-friendly, hand-cranked paper shredder. No power required (except your own). Available from Amazon.
Airport sleeping compartments (or micro-hotels) are nothing new, but the designers of Dream and Fly have taken the environmentally friendly concept to a whole new level of cool. According to their website: “Inspired by the nature of a womb, this space aims to transmit a feeling of protection in contrast to the movement and agitation of the outside world.” Dreamy.
The PB&J Campaign is working to combat environmental destruction by reducing the amount of animal products people eat. The PB&J Campaign approaches positive change one meal at a time by illuminating the differences one single dining decision can make. For example, the water it takes to produce the beef on one burger could produce peanuts for about 17 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and the land that it takes to produce that beef could produce peanuts for 19 PB&Js. It’s also why the livestock sector is responsible for 18 percent of global climate change, and why you can fight global warming by having a PB&J for lunch. Peanut butter & jelly addicts unite: visit http://www.pbjcampaign.org for more info.
Friday’s Focus is Spring Cleaning (what to clean and how best to clean it). Of course we’re not even scratching the surface, but if we did, we’d use a 1/4 cup of olive oil, a 1/4 cup of white distilled vinegar, 20-30 drops of lemon essential oil, and shake well before using. Okay, six or seven or eight pristine posts ahead. But first, our anthem:
At last year’s Ocean Conservancy International Coastal Cleanup, 400,000 volunteers found more than 6.8 million pounds of trash at beaches and lakes in 100 countries and 42 states in just one day last year. Their flagship event in September is the largest single-day volunteer effort aimed at protecting our ocean and waterways. But don’t wait until September. Enter “beach cleanup” into your favorite search engine and there’s a good chance you’ll find one coming soon to a beach near you.
HAT TIP: oceanconservancy.org
The Purple Waffle plant (hemigraphis alternata) can help clean the air in your home by filtering out noxious household chemicals like benzene (found in glues, paints, furniture wax, and detergents, and cigarette smoke) and trichloroethylene (found in adhesives, paint removers, and spot removers).
Like many other houseplants, the Purple Waffle works during the day while the soil in which it’s planted works at night to remove gases and other impurities. For more information about natural air cleaners, visit sciencedaily.com.
Is your drain clogged? Can it be unclogged without using toxic chemicals like Drano? Try the following: Pour 1/2 cup of baking soda into the problem drain, followed by 2 cups of boiling water. If that doesn’t work, follow the baking soda with a 1/2 cup of vinegar, cover tightly, let the fizzy chemical reaction do the unclogging, and then flush with one gallon of boiling water. Read more: thedailygreen.com.
Want to clean the entire house the green way? Check out the All-Purpose Cleaners Buying Guide by clicking grist.org.
The following Easter egg advice is from supereco.com:
Dyeing eggs naturally is all about foods and juices from your kitchen, plants and flowers from your garden, and a healthy dose of experimentation. The basic principle is simple: boil whatever dye material you’re trying along with a little bit of vinegar, then start dipping those eggs. Natural dyes will become deeper and richer the longer you let them sit, so plan ahead for a nice, long stretch of time to play around with. Try some of our color palette inspirations.
- Purple/blue Grape juice, red wine, violet blossoms, red onion skin, blueberries, red cabbage leaves
- Green Spinach leaves, yellow Delicious apples
- Yellow/orange Lemon peel, orange peel, carrot tops, celery seed, ground cumin, ground turmeric, paprika, yellow onion skins
- Brown Coffee, black walnut shells
- Red/pink Beets, cranberries, cranberry juice, raspberries, pickled beet juice, red onion skin
According to worldcentric.org, 73 billion styrofoam and plastic cups and plates were put in the trash in 2003 in the USA alone. World Centric provides high quality compostable food service disposables and food packaging products for use in schools, corporate cafeterias, restaurants, hospitals, and homes. They use renewable resources like corn and discarded sugar cane and wheat straw fiber to make sustainable alternatives to plastics and styrofoam.
You can order a “generic sample pack for $7.50 plus shipping and handling at
worldcentric.org.
A tip on the first day of winter: lowering your thermostat by just two degrees (and raising it two degrees in the summer) prevents the production of as much as 2000 lbs. of carbon dioxide emissions. It’ll also save you about a hundred bucks. Cool.
What do you do with your old newspapers? Well, you could be making newspaper yarn – as much as 20 yards from a single sheet. Grab a scissors and a spindle and before you know it, you’ll be weaving everything from rugs to curtains and upholstery. For instructions, visit greenupgrader.
Looking for a way to be eco-friendly even after you leave this world? Resomation is a water/alkali-based alternative to cremation that uses less energy than traditional cremation and produces significantly less CO2, while eliminating mercury emission into the atmosphere. So when you go, go green.
For details, visit resomation.com.
Chilean designer, Camila Gimeno, believes that “Christmas can be a beautiful time for us, but a really hard one for environment, considering the massive increase of energy and material we consume.” She points out that even Santa is taking steps toward saving energy and suggests that we all follow his example.
Hat Tip: designboom.com.
The Ark is an international catalog of 200 rare, regional foods that are threatened by industrial standardization, the regulations of large-scale distribution and environmental damage. By promoting and eating Ark products we help ensure they remain in production and on our plates.
NOTE: Bronx Grapes (see photo) are on the endangered list.
If you think the government gets enough of your green, here’s your chance to get a little back. 2009 is winding down quickly, but there’s still time to take advantage of several tax incentives for environmentally friendly expenditures – many of them recently created as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. For more information, click enn.com.
Thanks to a suggestion from our friend, Andrew Tonkin, this Friday’s Focus is Responsible Travel.
In the simplest terms, ecotourism is responsible travel that helps preserve the environment and improve the lives of local inhabitants. And while vacationing at home may leave the smallest ecological footprint, one can argue that exploring the planet enriches not only our own lives, but the lives of those we visit. If we can manage to do it without undo harm to the environment, then it’s an opportunity to see the world – and ourselves – in the best possible light.
The end of today’s adventure is 9 clicks down the road.
There’s a great big world out there just waiting to be explored… problem is, in most cases, you’re going to be generating a lot of carbon dioxide just to get where you’re going. Over they past couple of years several companies have begun offering “carbon credits” or “carbon offsets” to compensate for the damaging effects of jet travel – but which ones are legit? And how do you know which one to choose? This should help (nrdc.org).
Mention the word Japan and most westerners conjure up images of flashing neon signs and people being stuffed into subway cars. But if you’re interested in discovering more than bright lights and big cities, One Life Japan offers active and educational journeys designed to give participants an intimate look into Japanese country life. This innovative tour company helps visitors focuses on slow food and slow living, and provides a better understanding of how this complex society has learned to balance human needs and natural eco-systems.
Willing Workers On Organic Farms (WWOOF) promotes awareness of ecological farming practices by “providing volunteers (WWOOFers) with the opportunity to live and learn on organic properties” around the world.
WWOOFers live with families and get first-hand experience with “organic and sustainable practices including earth building, cooking and preserving, wine, cheese and bread making, crafts, companion planting, worm farming, composting and a whole lot more.”
We don’t mean to get on your case, but chances are you could be using more eco-friendly luggage. Introducing the EcoCase - made from 100% recycled plastic. By utilizing recycled materials to create stylish and functional new baggage, HeyUSA repurposes plastic that would have otherwise taken a one-way trip to a landfill.
The Eco-Trails Houseboats that cruise the waterways of Kerala in Southern India are powered by inboard diesel engines and use solar energy for power requirements. The journey is a window into the culture of local villages that have existed in Kerala’s backwaters for hundreds if not thousands of years.
Tenuta di Spannocchia offers week-long vacation rentals in rustic farmhouses and nightly stays in a bed and breakfast that also houses Spannocchia Foundation education and enrichment program groups. The foundation’s mission is to encourage global dialogue about sustaining cultural landscapes for future generations through natural resource conservation, local ecology, sustainable agriculture and forestry, cultural history, traditional land management practices, and farm-based education.
Most people vacation to relax. Some to rejuvenate. But a few go to reforest. Reforestation projects are just one of the many “volunteer vacation” choices available to travelers who don’t just want to soak up the local color, but actually help replenish it. From collecting seeds in a Costa Rican “forest in the clouds” to planting saplings in Guatemala, explore your options at charityguide.org.
EcoCamp in Torres del Paine National Park, invites you to “explore Pagtagonia with the least ecological impact possible; to trek in virgin beech forests; to admire colossal calving glaciers; to think and wonder about humankind while standing at the foot of the towering granite peaks of the Torres del Paine; to sit in total silence under the Southern Cross; and to share a glass of wine with new friends.” EcoCamp’s domes are modeled on an ancient design, built to survive stress caused by Patagonia’s winds (often surpassing 180 km per hour).
Pennsylvania’s Woodloch Pines Resort was honored by the Global Renewable Energy Expo Networking Summit April 16, 2009 for demonstrating ingenuity, creativity and perseverance in the pursuit of pioneering green goals. Their “Green Team” meets regularly to implement eco-friendly solutions for the resort. Here is just some of what they offer:
• Environmental programs for class trips, corporate groups & scouting programs.
• Use of bio-degradable disposable plates, flatware, cups and to-go containers.
• Energy-Saver faucets and shower heads as well as faucets with infrared sensors to limit water waste.
• Energy saving compact fluorescent lighting
• Tree replacement program through their landscaping department.
• Use of recycled paper whenever possible for promotional materials.
• Recycling of economy-sized cans and packaging in their kitchens.
• Installation of an energy management system, which controls the air conditioning/heating and lighting of public areas through the use of infrared sensors.
• Co-mingled recycling bins throughout the grounds of the resort for guest and employee use.
• Bat Boxes throughout the resort – a natural way to control insects
This Friday, our focus is Holiday Gifts.
Eleven posts ahead. Proceed with caution. And consider these few random tips that can help make the giving and the receiving as eco-friendly as possible:
1. Whenever possible shop local (or shop online, it saves gas) 2. If you’re heading for the mall, take your own reusable shopping bags 3. Buy gifts that will actually be used or consumed (e.g., cookies, wine, etc.) 4. Buy rechargeable batteries for your electronic gifts (include a battery charger) 5. Give the gift of experience (e.g., tickets to a concert) 6. Use plantable, seeded paper for gift-wrapping 7. Gift a loved one with a donation to charity 8. If you fall a little short of your eco-friendly standards, don’t worry about it. Guilt is toxic and dangerous to your health.
Hat Tips: treehugger.com & pocketchange.become.com
Looking for a holiday card that really makes an impact? How about a card you can plant that grows into a spruce tree?! Plantable Paper offers a unique line of cards created from handmade paper embedded with seeds. When the 100% post-consumer paper is planted in a pot of soil, it will sprout into a teeny tiny spruce. Though the weather outside is frightful, let it grow, let it grow, let it grow! Plantable cards available at botanicalpaperworks.com.
Global Girlfriend is a “Greater Good” online store” created to help women in need help themselves by producing products that solve their community environmental issues, producing healthier children, rivers, skies and world.” Here you can purchase a “Gift That Gives More“(e.g., 50 lbs of seed corn, 50 lbs of beans, and 50 lbs of organic fertlizer to help a struggling farmer in Guatemala help herself and her family). Or you can buy one of these beaded and embroidered ornaments, handmade in India.
Global Girlfriend makes its home at globalgirlfriend.com.
If you’re looking for a truly original and locally produced gift, skip the mall and hit the farmer’s market. Thousands of farmers markets across the U.S. continue to operate through the holiday season (even in cold country). Not only will you find all kinds of great foods for your holiday meals, you’ll likely find all kinds of great locally-produced gifts like soy candles and fresh seasonal wreathes. To find a farmers market near you, check here.
The all new, 100% electric BRAMMO Enertia Powercycle is the perfect commuter vehicle for the environmentally-conscious visionary. The Enertia’s Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries are very safe, do not contain any heavy metals, and can be recycled for many other uses. BTW, top speed is 60+ miles per hour. Price: about $8000. Details at brammo.com.
Unlike any other running bikes, the Wishbone Bike evolves with a child’s different stages of development. It starts as a trike, converts to a running bike as the child grows, and by four to five years old, the ‘wishbone’ frame is flipped, making it one of the largest running bikes on the market. Every Wishbone Bike has 60% post-consumer recycled plastic wheels, is made from sustainably managed woods and is bonded and finished with eco-friendly products. The Bike box and all printed material inside is recycled and printed with non-toxic inks. For more information, visit skiphop.com.
Silvana. A Table. Date of birth: 2002 Previous occupation: Washing Machine Drum.
Reestore takes everyday waste objects and “cheekily turns them into charming yet functional pieces of furniture and accessories.” Their most popular product is silvana, a table “producing a beautiful ambient glow and casting beams of light from her polished stainless steel body. Finished with a frosted glass surface for mug resting heaven.” About $600 USD at reestore.com.
For gifts almost anyone on your list will love, you can’t go wrong with dessert – and Ghalia organic desserts has some of the most earth friendly we’ve found.
This imaginative dessert company proves that organic food can be a delicious, indulgent, and gourmet experience. Their scrumptious creations are free of toxins and environmentally sustainable – and the company strives to provide eco-friendly gift packaging such as seeded paper favor boxes, biodegradable cellophane bags and wrappers, natural craft or reusable gift boxes, and recycled tissue paper. You can visit Ghalia here.
Get into the spirit of the holidays and the spirits of sustainability with 360 Vodka. Billed as the “world’s first eco-friendly vodka,” it’s filtered five times and produced at a facility that takes great strides to make the production process as eco-friendly as possible. Packaging is created from 100% recycled content, bottles are created from 85% recycled glass, and the 360 factory even has an on-site recycling center.
The Bamboo-Soil Clock uses electricity created by a reaction between zinc and copper electrodes, which are buried in the soil (you supply two potted plants). $39.95 at inhabitatshop.com.
Behold the Sun Jar. Inside are a highly efficient solar cell, a rechargeable battery and a low energy LED. When the jar is placed in direct sunlight the solar cell creates an electrical current that charges the battery over a few hours. The energy is then used at night to power the LED lamp inside the jar. Available at Amazon for about 30 bucks.
For fresh floral holiday centerpieces guaranteed to liven up your holiday table, be sure to check out organicbouquet.com. All of their blooms are sustainably grown and certified Organic or Veriflora.
Plus, their Flowers for Good™ program donates 5% of your purchase to charities who are working to make the world a more livable place, including The Nature Conservancy and the National Wildlife Federation.To order, visit organicbouquet.com.
It’s called Vampire Power because it involves devices with “two sharp, pointy teeth that latch into your charging (2) turn-off your wall sockets and suck blood…errr…electricity night and day.” You can begin to vanquish the vampire by turning off your electronic devices when you’re not using them. Including, yes, your computer. And remove chargers from the wall when you’re not charging. And? Click here for more.
This Friday’s Focus is FOOD. Nine delectable posts. And not coincidentally, you can purchase a copy of Food Inc. at your favorite purveyor of DVDs. If that happens to be Amazon, click: www.amazon.com.
Food waste is one of the main sources of greenhouse gases, particularly methane, which is more dangerous to the environment and traps more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. Canadian author, chef, and food blogger, Dana McCauley, points out that one-quarter to one-third of the food we waste is unopened or whole or untouched and suggests that we too often buy more than we need. In an attempt to be “a better earthling,” she now separates loaves of sliced bread and freezes what she won’t be using within a day or two. “By doing this I should be able to divide my sliced bread expenditures by at least half, saving about $75 a year…I’ve sent the $75 I plan to save to the World Food Programme’s Silent Tsunami Fund which hopes to ‘reach the millions of people who, six months ago, were not even considered ‘hungry’ but, today, are fast becoming the new face of hunger.’
More Dana McCauley at danamccauley.wordpress.com.
If you’re wondering about how to replace the plastic containers you use for food storage, here’s a tip: recycle and use glass bottles or jars (a single one can save enough energy to light a 100 watt light bulb for about 4 hours). Or buy a SLOM JAR with lid for just $2.99 at Ikea (see photo).
Hat Tip: www.brighthub.com
If you’ve ever dreamt of answering the call of the wild, click here to get your very own endangered species ringtone.
A unique foundation called the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) is determined to fight two of our planet’s most pressing issues – climate change and global poverty – with one of the Earth’s greatest resources: the sun.
SELF is working all over the world, targeting those places and issues that need critical attention, or wherever their work can have the greatest impact. In Burundi, for example, they’ve collaborated with Partners In Health to install a solar electric generating system that’s helping medical personnel treat thousands of patients suffering from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.
This remarkable group really is onto something – transforming the sun’s energy not only into power, but into hope. Learn more at www.self.org.
A company called, Evocative Design, has developed a substitute for Styrofoam. Their packaging material (called, Greensulate) is made from seed husks and the roots of a mushroom called mycelium. It’s durable and biodegradable. For more information, visit .core77.com/blog.
From biodegradable trash bags for your kitchen to eco-friendly shampoo for your bathroom, there are so many ways to make your home more green. But what about the bedroom? If your passion for the environment is matched only by your passion for your partner, Planet Green as some titillating ideas for you. How about showering together to save water? Or using silky-smooth bed sheets made from renewable bamboo? For many more ideas, check out How To Go Green: Sex. Grown-ups only please.
If you’re not familiar with the concept of upcycling, it basically means repurposing something into something else rather than disposing of it. We’ve heard of lots of great upcycling ideas for trash – fashion, household goods, art – but we haven’t come across ideas for an actual trash container – until now. Some very clever city-dwellers have repurposed dumpsters into gardens, skate ramps, and even swimming pools.
Hat Tip: dornob.com and weburbanist.com
glendora look used , originally uploaded by Dave van HulsteynHybrid automobiles get great gas mileage but it takes 113 million BTUs of energy to manufacture a car like the Toyota Prius. That’s the equivalent of 1000 gallons of gasoline (or roughly 46,000 miles of driving). Keep this in mind when you purchase your next vehicle. A fuel efficient used car from the early 1990s might be the most responsible – and least expensive – solution. For example, to match the carbon savings from a 1998 Toyota Tercel (which gets 27mpg city/35mpg), you’d have to drive a Prius 100,000 miles. For more information, visit www.wired.com.
The prime minister of Bangladesh is requiring government employees to help ease the country’s energy shortage by no longer wearing suits, jackets, and neckties. Even ministers now will no longer be expected to wear suits and ties. The new dress code (which even allows men to wear their shirts untucked), is expected to reduce the demand for air conditioning during the hot months between March and November.
The government intends to ask private businesses to follow its example.
Namaste: thingsaregood.com
SEAPLEX scientist Chelsea Rochman talks about the impacts plastics have on the ocean from the point of view of chemicals and pollutants. She specifically talks about Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) how they accumulate up the food chain, and how they affect us.
Hat Tip: Peligro
Plastic bags can be fused to make reusable grocery bags, wallets, and more. For instructions, visit etsylabs.blogspot.com.
Hat Tip: thegivinghands.org
What’s the matter, Bizarro? Can’t even punch your way out of a plastic bag? ~ Batman in “Challenge of the Superfriends” (1978)
Lily, a 5th-grader at Montgomery County, Md., Public Schools’ Great Seneca Creek Elementary School, talks about attending a LEED-Gold school.* For more information, visit www.buildgreenschools.org.
*The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria.
A “honku” is a haiku poem about cars and traffic that doubles as “a road rage anger management technique.”
Fast lane moving at a slug’s pace? Simply “separate yourself from the moment and try to observe it with clarity and perspective. Then boil it all down into crisp and pithy 5-7-5 gem. That’s a honku.”
Namaste: www.honku.org
TerraCycle was the brainchild of Tom Szaky when he was a student at Princeton University in 2001. The company has grown from being a purveyor of worm poop fertilizer to a developer of products created from up-cycled waste. For more details, visit terracycle.
This video features children delivering important messages about new greening initiatives launched during the 2007 conference.
Several times a month, Food Forward – an all-volunteer, grassroots group of Angelenos – convenes at a private property (by invitation) and glean the excess fruit on its trees, donating 100% to local food pantries. For more information – or to join them – visit foodforward.org. You can also read more about the Food Forward movement here.
Hat Tip: Kiko and latimes.com.
SOME FACTS ABOUT BOTTLED WATER:
90% of the cost of bottled water is due to the bottle itself.
Well over 20 billion single-serving plastic bottles go to the dump per year in America from bottled water (not including soda).
Bottling and shipping water are the least energy efficient methods ever used to supply water.
Although it can be easy and convenient to pick up bottled beverage products, the end cost to the environment is staggering.
Namaste: greenupgrader.com
