Fresh Greens
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The Recycling Bin: Halloween Edition
Continue reading… 0 CommentsSome tips and tricks (and treats!) to make your Halloween greener, from across the blogosphere:
--Does your halloween candy contain genetically modified sugar? You may never know.
--Haven't bought your trick-or-treat candy yet? Here are some organic options.
--Use real pumpkins and gourds, rather than plastic ones, to decorate for your Halloween party.
--If you're still scrounging for a costume, don't head to the store. Use what you have around the house. Or, if you want to be ironic, go as one of these 8 costumes that will irritate environmentalists.
--You could send your friends one of these rather sobering energy-themed Halloween e-cards if you want, but they may not get you into the spirit of the evening.
--It's too late to sign up for reverse trick-or-treating for Global Exchange, but if you're lucky, some kids will come to your door with fair-trade chocolate for you.
--When you leave for your Halloween party, keep vampire power away by unplugging unused devices.
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Kill Vampire Power on Halloween
Continue reading… 0 CommentsHalloween isn't until tomorrow, but Best Buy has declared today Vampire Day. Not the vampires you ward off with garlic and by driving a stake through their heart, of course—but vampire power, which is the energy consumed by plugged-in appliances while they're not in use.
According to Best Buy, "This insidious phenomenon is responsible for wasting an estimated $4 billion in the U.S. annually, and the Department of Energy notes that this figure could rise by 20 percent by 2010. Forty percent of all electricity used to power electronics and appliances in the average American home is consumed while they are turned off and the government has estimated that 'vampire power' consumes enough energy to equal to the output of 17 power plants."
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2 in 5 Brits Go Green to Save Money, Not the Planet
Continue reading… 1 CommentTwo in 5 Brits are telling their friends they're going green to save the planet but are actually acting greener to save money, according to a recent survey by Legal & General, a British financial services company.
Among the interesting findings:
While 27% of women said they were taking green measures solely to be environmentally friendly, which is higher than the number of men at 17%, it would appear that more women are actually guilty of misleading their friends about their motives. Over two in five, 45%, women are taking green measures in order to appear environmentally friendly when secretly they are doing it to save money, compared to just 36% of men.
I haven't yet found a similar study done with Americans, but it appears that many our friends across the pond are fooling their neighbors and friends with a greener-than-thou charade. Three of the biggest ways respondents went green included turning off the heat at home, recycling and reusing plastic bags, and cutting down on prepackaged meals. As for the deception, it doesn't really matter one way or the other for environmentalists, since the end effect is the same—less energy and resources used, more money in consumers' pockets. So, keep lying about the real reason you turned the thermostat down, ladies and gents. It's OK. Just know that we're on to you.
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Autumn Chill Brings Food Mile Faux Pas
Continue reading… 2 CommentsI bought some asparagus yesterday and then regretted it. Not because I don't like asparagus—it's great sautéed in garlic and olive oil—but because being the city-dweller that I am, I hadn't realized that asparagus is a spring crop. This means that the asparagus I ate traveled hundreds of miles to get from warmer climes to my local grocery store.
I found out my food mile faux pas when I checked out the Daily Green's "Food Mile Secrets Revealed," where I learned that in colder months, someone who wants to eat locally should avoid these five worst offenders: blueberries, grapes, peaches, asparagus, and canned fruits and vegetables (which come from all over the world). Daily Green also has a slideshow of what's in season at the farmer's market—go for pomegranates, pears, brussels sprouts, carrots, squash, and eggplant—complete with recipes. Next time, I'll reach for the sweet potatoes.
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8 Halloween Costumes That Will Scare Environmentalists
Continue reading… 20 CommentsYour green friends are carefully planning their Halloween costumes (made out of recycled materials, of course), and they'll be showing up to the costume party as Mother Nature, T. Boone Pickens, and Al Gore, while all you can do is roll your eyes. As they plan a green Halloween, you'll want to spoil their eco-minded celebration in the most passive-aggressive way possible. Try these costume suggestions:
- Safari Hunter—Tell environmentalists, "I have a blatant disregard for the well-being of wildlife," with a sexy safari costume, complete with a shotgun and victims. To enhance this costume, take some red paint and apply it to a few stuffed animals to sling over your shoulder or string around your belt. When you talk to people at the costume party, be sure to share your views about how the Bush administration is being a little too generous with the amount of creatures added to the endangered species list.
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Financial Crisis Hits Public Transit
Continue reading… 0 CommentsIf you rely on public transportation in Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, Los Angeles, or Washington, it may be time to consider a bike. The public-transit authorities of these cities have just found out that money they have borrowed from financial agencies will have to be paid back in a hurry. Says the Washington Post:
AIG had guaranteed deals between transit agencies and banks under which the banks made upfront payments that the agencies agreed to repay over time. But AIG's financial problems have invalidated the company's guarantees, putting the deals in technical default and allowing the banks to ask for all their money at once.
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Love the Environment? Break Up With Your Long-Distance Boyfriend, Says Slate
Continue reading… 8 CommentsBeing green can be such a drag. For the sake of our planet, all sorts of fun things can become an ethical no-no—that delicious, juicy steak, the fun-to-drive-but-fuel-inefficient car, the imported champagne. That's why I read with interest Barron YoungSmith's article on Slate arguing the case against long-distance relationships. Making greenies feel guilty about the occasional burger, well, that's nothing life-changing. But now we're laying the guilt on thick about love? The Grinch was green, too.
YoungSmith's argument is practical. Cross-country flights for bicoastal relationships and long car trips to meet a boyfriend or girlfriend contribute to climate change. In his example of an imaginary couple split between San Francisco and Washington, D.C., he states that the couple's impact is "six times worse for the environment than that of the average gas-guzzling American—and up to 10 times worse than that of the average San Franciscan. (Indeed, for her, breaking up would be about 10 times better for the environment than going vegetarian.)" Daters should aim to be "locasexual," the second new green word I've heard coined this week.
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Get Your Chopsticks Ready for Sustainable Sushi
Continue reading… 7 CommentsYour mouth may water at the thought of California rolls, spicy tuna, and crispy eel, but the ecofriendliness of ingredients on the menu of your favorite sushi varies widely. Three conservation organizations are helping consumers make better sushi choices with new sustainable sushi guidelines, which were released today. The Blue Ocean Institute, Environmental Defense Fund, and Monterey Bay Aquarium have developed color-coded guides that classify the sustainability and health risks of common sushi menu items, both in English and Japanese. The guides can be printed out or downloaded to mobile phones.
Green sushi lovers may be disappointed to see a few of their favorite ingredients on the "do not buy" list. Love the taste of octopus, bluefin tuna, freshwater eel, or farmed salmon? You're out of luck. Choices on the red list, according to a joint press release from the organizations, are "overfished, farmed with aquaculture methods that pollute the ocean, or caught using methods that destroy ocean habitats or kill large amounts of other sea life." Look instead to the wild Alaskan salmon and pollock, crab, squid, and farmed bass.
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'Carborexics': Crash Diet for the Planet
Continue reading… 3 CommentsA carbon footprint can be way harder to shrink than a waistline, but apparently obsessive dieters come in all shades. The New York Times coined a new green word last weekend (joining "locavore" and "flexitarian" on the list) with its article describing "carborexics." The term describes people so obsessed with shrinking their carbon footprint that they go to extremes, like hoarding trash or, in the case of Sharon Astyk, making their children sleep huddled in the same bed to conserve heat. Anita Lavine washed and reused the same plastic bag every day for a year, even when it contained soiled diapers.
To some mental health professionals, the compulsion to live green in the extreme can suggest a kind of disorder.
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Is This the Most Conflicted Prius Owner in America?
Continue reading… 50 CommentsThis Prius, adorned with a "Drill, Baby, Drill" bumper sticker was spotted in downtown Washington, D.C., on Saturday. Bend your mind around that irony, won't you?
(Courtesy of Leandro Oliva)
