Fresh Greens
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Be Green on Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Continue reading… 1 CommentThey're the biggest shopping days of the year, so going green is not exactly on the forefront of shoppers' minds on Black Friday and Cyber Monday (unless they're celebrating Buy Nothing Day, instead). Here are a few ways to turn your holiday shopping green:
—Shop online. Skip the hassle and the crowds, and shop in the comfort of your pajamas while keeping your carbon footprint low (unless, of course, you're having single items shipped overnight from great distances, in which case you're better off driving to the store). Have your packages shipped together, if possible, and use ground transportation. From Earth 911: having ten pounds of packages shipped by overnight air uses 40 percent less fuel than driving yourself round-trip to the mall, according to the Center for Energy and Climate Solutions.
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Thanksgiving Advice for Vegetarians
Continue reading… 2 CommentsThanksgiving may be the hardest time of year to be the family's lone vegetarian. "You don't want turkey?" family members might pry. "Just try it." Meanwhile, you're doing everything you can to explain to them that no, your vegetarianism is not just a phase, and no, you don't want a taste, because it will not change your mind. Luckily, there are usually plenty of veggie options on the table for anyone foregoing turkey day's namesake dish.
Corey Colwell-Lipson, who, along with her mother Lynn Colwell, has been my source for all things Thanksgiving for the past few days (See How to Have a Green Thanksgiving and Save Money, and my Guide to Starting Green Thanksgiving Traditions here), has been a vegetarian since she was 15 years old, and has been subjected to questioning about her diet at traditional Thanksgiving dinners. "I've been there, I've had those conversations with grandparents," said Colwell-Lipson. "I think the best way to diffuse it is with humor."
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How to Start Green Thanksgiving Traditions
Continue reading… 1 CommentLast week, I spoke with Lynn Colwell, and her daughter, Corey Colwell-Lipson, about how to have a green Thanksgiving based on their book, "Celebrate Green." Lynn correctly noted that Thanksgiving can be a hard time to go green - not only because of the expense of buying sustainable turkey and organic food, but also because it is a holiday where tradition is extremely valued. Lynn's solution? Make new (green) Thanksgiving traditions. Here are a few:
Decorations:
— It's easy to make Thanksgiving decorations green because so many of them are edible. Colwell likes to decorate with gourds and berries. "It looks beautiful, it's colorful, it's enjoyed first and then consumed," she said. These items could also be composted.
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How to Have a Green Thanksgiving and Save Money
Continue reading… 3 CommentsMother and daughter combo Lynn Colwell and Corey Colwell-Lipson have several things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Their coauthored book, "Celebrate Green," has found success for its savvy, stylish advice on how to make every holiday of the year greener. Going green, which can be expensive, may be difficult this Thanksgiving, though. You're already shelling out a lot of money for a big meal, and many people are feeling the recession's pinch. There's also a great deal of family ritual and custom attached to the day. "Thanksgiving is not the best holiday to go overboard on going green," said Colwell. "People have strong feelings about tradition."
Colwell and Colwell-Lipson know that it's tough to splurge on expensive Thanksgiving foods, so they've offered up six ways to save money and food on turkey day that are both green and subtle.
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Read This Before You Buy Your Thanksgiving Turkey
Continue reading… 3 CommentsWhen you buy your bird, you may encounter a collection of labels that appeal to ecofriendly consumers, but represent varying shades of green. Here's a breakdown of the different types of turkey you might find for your feast. The greenest turkey is always an organically-raised bird from a local farm (to find a turkey farm near you, check out Local Harvest), but if that's not possible, heed these labels:
Natural: According to the USDA, turkey containing no artificial flavor or flavoring, coloring ingredient, chemical preservative, or any other artificial or synthetic ingredient and is minimally processed (a process which does not fundamentally alter the raw product) may be labeled "natural." The label must explain the use of the term "natural" (e.g., no added colorings or artificial ingredients; minimally processed).
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Gamers Could be Greener, Study Finds
Continue reading… 0 CommentsPut down the drumsticks, Rock Band celebrities, and look up from the controller, Halo warriors. The Natural Resources Defense Council today released a report detailing the impact of your video game habits on the planet, and it's pretty obvious that the 17.5 million game consoles sold in 2007 alone comprise a pretty huge power drain. According to the report, more than 40 percent of households have at least one game console, and many users leave their consoles on 24/7. Because of this, the Xboxes, Wiis and PlayStations in homes all over America consume about 16 billion kilowatt hours per year, which is roughly the same as the annual impact of the entire city of San Diego.
Some consoles are worse than others. Comparing the Xbox, PlayStation and Wii, the latter was found to be the most energy efficient. The Wii uses about 16 watts when active, and if powered down after each use, only $3 of your annual electricity bill will have come from the device. PlayStations and Xboxes, however, can cost up to $160 in electricity per year when left on. The guide's primary advice is to always power down your console after each use, or putting them in power-saving mode (here are instructions for PlayStation and Xbox users).
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Obama Delivers Climate Change Message
Continue reading… 5 CommentsPresident-elect Barack Obama delivered a surprise taped message to the Bi-Partisan Governors' Climate Summit this morning, in which he stressed the need for a cap and trade system, energy independence, solar, wind and nuclear power, and biofuels. He also recused himself from next month's U.N. climate talks in Poland, saying that "the United States has only one President at a time."
Watch his remarks here:
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Should Vegetarians Pay Lower Insurance Premiums?
Continue reading… 2 CommentsMany studies have offered evidence that vegetarians lead longer, healthier lives. Knowing this, PETA has offered their money-saving solution to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont: Increase your premiums for meat-eaters, and lower them for vegetarians. "Given the latest news about the effects of E. coli on meat-eaters -- and the mountain of evidence linking meat consumption to some of our nation's deadliest diseases -- this change will benefit Blue Cross Blue Shield's bottom line while also helping to ensure that your policyholders don't flat line," wrote Tracy Reiman, executive director of PETA.
Kevin Goddard, vice president of external affairs for Blue Cross, dodged the issue by pointing out that the discrepancy is illegal under Vermont law. It would also be difficult to enforce - as Treehugger points out, anyone could check the box claiming to be a vegetarian. And what about the flexitarians? Should they get half of a premium cut?
So, here's a poll:
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2 Reasons Not to Rake Your Leaves This Weekend
Continue reading… 5 CommentsLeaf-raking is one of autumn's most burdensome chores, but here are two excuses not to do it this weekend:
1. Raking leaves may kill fish. The Ohio Environmental Protection Society has asked residents to leave their fall foilage on their lawns, because leaves that are raked into piles for pick-up by city workers are getting carried into storm drains and waterways. An abundance of leaves in water can cause an overabundance of algae, which takes oxygen that the fish need to survive. Tim Haab of Environmental Economics scoffs at the idea that "falling leaves are now an environmental problem," though - and one that's easy to avoid, at that. When you rake, bag your leaves in a biodegradable container such as this one, so they won't suffocate any fish. Compost them.
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Oxford English Dictionary Favors Green Words
Continue reading… 1 CommentThis year's word of the year in the Oxford English Dictionary - hypermiling - is in good company. It seems that many of the words being added to dictionaries lately are green words. Nearly all of the words that hypermiling beat out for the honor, as well as its word of the year predecessors, had an environmental theme.
Hypermiling's official definition is now the "attempt to maximize gas mileage by making fuel-conserving adjustments to one’s car and one’s driving techniques." This includes anything from inflating your tires fully and coasting in neutral, to somewhat dangerous maneuvers, like riding in the draft of larger vehicles.
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High Tech Solutions for Low Tech Green Problems
Continue reading… 1 CommentSimple solutions are within reach for a lot of consumer-related green issues, but flashy new gadgets are just more fun. Do we really need them? Treehugger offers a run-down of how to save money with low-tech solutions that eliminate overrated technology:
- Overrated: E-books, like the Kindle, and e-newspapers
- Underrated: Going to the library.
- Overrated: Home energy monitors
- Underrated: Just unplugging stuff
- Overrated: Composting machines
- Underrated: Yard compost piles
- Overrated: Recycling
- Underrated: Precycling (or, taking measures to avoid creating waste)
- Overrated: Power-saving computer equipment
- Underrated: Your computer's existing power-saving settings
- Overrated: LEDs and CFLs
- Underrated: Switching off the lights
Read their full analysis here. Can you think of any others?
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How Green is Your Gum?
Continue reading… 1 CommentOverheard this weekend at D.C.’s Green Festival: “Is gum really green?”
Good question. At Green Festival, where product demonstrations and samples took up much of the convention center's floor, free samples were as much a part of this expo as any other. Free samples also, necessarily, create a lot of waste, as plastic and paper cups and toothpicks are necessary for sampling organic granola (yeah, stereotype, I know) and fresh greens with hemp salad dressing and whatnot. Green Fest made sure that most of these samples came in containers made of recycled material, and that the plastic was compostable. They even had trash stations where latex-gloved helpers would assist festival-goers in getting rid of their trash in one of several containers for paper, recyclable plastic, compostable, and the dreaded bin labeled "landfill." The compostable bin at every station was always overflowing.
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Stick Inducted Into Toy Hall of Fame
Continue reading… 5 CommentsIt's a wand, a snowman's arm, a drawing tool for sand, or, if you're an antagonistic little brother, a sword. Either way, it's a simple toy for complex imaginations. CNN tells us that the ecofriendliest toy of all - the simple stick - has earned a place of honor in the National Toy Hall of Fame. The stick joins such favorites as Mr. Potato Head, the kite and Atari as a favorite toy of all time for children (and canines).
"It's very open-ended, all-natural, the perfect price -- there aren't any rules or instructions for its use," said Christopher Bensch, the museum's curator of collections. I'm willing to bet that a greener toy doesn't exist.
I wonder, though - how many kids still play with sticks? My vote for the next Toy Hall of Fame inductee is another green pick - the leftover washing machine box. What's yours?
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Get Fresh Greens Tweets on the Green Festival
Continue reading… 0 CommentsThis weekend, I'll be going to Washington, D.C.'s Green Festival, and I'll be twittering about my experience there. Follow my tweets here. Green Festival, sponored by Global Exchange and Co-Op America, the festival features 150 speakers and 350 green businesses, from food to fashion to green jobs and education. A few things I'm looking forward to:
--Fair trade chocolate
--Meeting other green bloggers
--Hearing from speaker Barbara Ehrenreich
--Learning about the greening of the beauty industry
--An environmental film festival
--Bicycle safety workshops
--And of course, organic beer and vegetarian food.
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How Obama Will Tackle the Environment
Continue reading… 4 CommentsYesterday, enviros were congratulating Obama on his victory. Now, they're looking ahead. Here's some post-election chatter:
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Environmental Groups Congratulate Obama on Victory
Continue reading… 3 CommentsAmong the many celebrating Barack Obama’s victory today are environmentalists. Here's what some have to say:
Sierra Club: “During the past two years of campaigning, Barack Obama has spoken often and eloquently about the need to invest in clean energy to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, kickstart our economic recovery, create millions of jobs, and curb climate change. He has pledged to make clean energy his top priority. He declared in his victory speech: ‘We cannot go back to the old way of doing things.’ We agree and promise to do all we can to help this transformation come to pass.”
Environmental Defense: “Elections are about change and this election offers us the greatest opportunity we have ever had to change course on global warming.”
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Environmental Ballot Initiatives to Watch This Election Day
Continue reading… 1 CommentWashington, D.C., is buzzing with a collective OMG-Election-Day-is-finally-here vibe right now (and the lines are as long for the "I voted" freebies as they are for the polls), but in addition to the big show, I'm paying attention to some of the ballot initiatives around the country that have environmental ramifications. Grist has compiled a list of all of them and will be checking off the results as the night goes on. Here are a few to watch:
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Carpool to the Polls to Cast Your Vote; Get Free Ice Cream
Continue reading… 1 CommentNo matter whom you plan to vote for tomorrow, Live Earth hopes you'll do your part to reduce emissions in the process. Since record numbers of voters are expected, the organization has partnered with Zimride's carpool Facebook application to help people organize ride-shares to their nearest voting site. Carpool to the Polls will help you find your nearest polling station (through Google Maps) and also find others who are headed your way (You can find other green Facebook applications here). If you vote late in the day, your carpool can stop at Ben & Jerry's, which is giving all voters, carpool or not, a free scoop of ice cream after 5 p.m. Ben & Jerry's is making strides in greening their operations - last month, they unveiled a freezer that doesn't release environmentally harmful hydrofluorocarbons, which is just one small part of their sustainability plan - read it here.
So, get to your polling place, preferably in a low-impact way. Vote. Then, top off your green election with a free scoop, and cross your fingers for your guy.
