EcoTalk's Daily Greens

#56 Earth Dinners

Stale dinner parties, stale conversation, and stale processed foods have no place in our vibrant ecological cycle!   An “Earth Dinner” is a great way to re-invent the dinner party and re-invigorate our connections to each other and to real food. Organize a dinner comprised of locally-produced organic foods and share stories about the origins, preparations and paths that the foods have taken to your table. Organic Valley’s “Earth Dinner” playing cards can flavor dinnertime conversation with such questions as “How many songs can you think of that reference food or eating?” Remember: eating is an environmental act! LISTEN 

Source: earthdinner.org

#55 Beauty Ugly Products

You wanted to feel as if you’d just stepped out of a salon, but you feel as if you’ve just stepped out of a laboratory!  Many beauty products contain ingredients that can be irritating or even harmful. Ones to be on the lookout for are a group of toxic chemicals labeled as DEA or MEA. Often used in shampoos and body washes, DEA and MEA can cause skin irritation, affect hormone function and contain carcinogens that have been linked to cancer. Live beautifully, feel beautiful with products like Aubrey Organics, which are made without DEA or MEA.  LISTEN 

Sources: “Pure Skin: Organic Beauty Basics” , Barbara Close. Chronicle Books, 2005.

      TOXNET: Toxicology Data Network

      

#54 Earth Insurance

Car insurance is required by law, but who’s insuring our earth against car pollution?  As oil prices surge, fossil fuels dwindle, and pollution hovers above cities, the ever-growing attraction to hybrid and alternative-fuel vehicles is no surprise, and this past year hybrids have gained new converts in California: insurance companies. Farmers Insurance and Travelers Insurance have announced 5-10% discounts for owners of hybrid vehicles. Insurance companies are known to be relentless quantifiers of risk, and these two have concluded that encouraging hybrids is in all of our best interests. So, ‘Insure’ a cleaner earth: buy Hybrid.  LISTEN  

Source: Farmers Insurance (farmers.com), Travelers Insurance (hybridtravelers.com)

#53 Green Housecleaning

Green housecleaners know that a house isn’t clean if it isn’t green.   For all their hard work, housecleaners have not really cleaned a house if they’ve simply replaced dust with toxic disinfectants, making floors unsafe for children and indoor air unsafe for all. Most all-purpose cleaners contain chemicals that can damage lungs and, with sustained exposure, cause cancer. Make sure your home and your housecleaners are healthy by hiring an eco-conscious housecleaning cooperative sponsored by Bay Area non-profit group WAGES. When a WAGES co-op cleans your house you’ll know that “clean” is more than skin-deep.  LISTEN

Source: WAGES (Women’s Action to Gain Economic Security)  

#52 Plasma TV Efficiency

Your TV is not yet as big as a refrigerator, so it shouldn’t use as much energy as a refrigerator!  Larger televisions take up an increasingly large portion of our already immodest energy consumption, and Plasma screen TVs take more than most, as much as a new refrigerator. Fortunately, Panasonic and Pioneer have both developed energy-efficient Plasma TVs that can wile away your evenings without wasting our planet’s resources: Panasonic’s PX500 series uses 43% less power than its predecessor. Compare the efficiency of these with LCD screen TVs, which are also known to be light on the kilowatts.  LISTEN

Source: Greenlight Magazine and also see the treehugger blog.

#51: Healthy Couch Potatoes

If you’re going to veg out in front of the TV, be a healthy veggie and buy an eco-friendly sofa. When sofa-shopping, look for sofas that are free of polybrominated diphenyl ethers—PBDEs for short. Used in furniture as fire retardants, PBDEs are toxic compounds that disperse in the environment and are absorbed into our bodies and women’s breastmilk, possibly decreasing the IQs of our offspring. And you thought it was just the TV! European countries have already gotten off the couch and instituted bans on PBDEs. Tell retailers you prefer PBDE-free furniture. The couch potatoes in your home will thank you! LISTEN

SOURCE: Grist Magazine, “Ask Umbra”, June 5, 2006.
Environmental Health Perspectives (ehponline.org), “Brominated Flame   Retardants: Cause for Concern?”

This post was written by William Craven

#50: Evergreen Rings

Give your partner an ecologically responsible commitment ring—a gift of truly everlasting love. In addition to funding conflicts in Africa, mining for gold and precious gems wreaks havoc on land and pollutes essential waterways, destroying all living things in its path, through its use of mercury and cyanide and other destructive practices. Say ‘I Do” to these alternatives. Recycled gold can be melted down and recomposed to your tastes, and synthetic diamonds can be made from scratch in a process that renders them identical to their natural counterparts. Check out eco-friendly jewelers, such as greenkarat.com, for tips on how to begin life together on sound ecological footing. LISTEN

SOURCE: www.GreenKarat.com and here for many other recycled jewels.

This post was written by William Craven

#49: Light Bulb Enlightenment

With all that Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs do for energy conservation, it’s a wonder that so many of us are still in the dark.  Conventional lighting accounts for 28% of the energy in your home, sapping California of precious resources while also draining your pocketbook. Also known as CFLs, Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs light the way to cost-effective conservation. CFLs last 10 times longer than standard bulbs while using 75% less energy, and the 35 bucks you’ll save by replacing just four of your bulbs with CFLs will be a nice reward for your environmental enLIGHTenment.  LISTEN

SOURCE: Flex Your Power

This post was written by William Craven

#48: Used Tires ‘Bounce Back’

You don’t have to burn rubber to get the most out of your tires; let that rubber bounce back in an abundance of recycled rubber products. Discarded tires clog landfills to the tune of 250 million a year. Even worse, illegally piled tires burn for months in destructive fires, sending up acrid plumes of chemicals and air pollutants. Discarded tires even provide breeding grounds for mosquitoes. When getting rid of old tires, check with your mechanic to make sure they’ll ‘bounce back’ in the form of rubber mulch for eco-friendly landscaping, shock-absorbent playground surfaces or athletic tracks. LISTEN

SOURCES: www.rubberecycle.com

“Recycling Tires: A history of rubber recycling”, Ohio Department of    Natural Resources (www.ohiodnr.com).

This post was written by Willaim Craven

#47: Greening Your Morning Mug

Here’s a zen question: If a tree falls to make your daily coffee cup, does it make a sound? Starbucks offers a 10 cent discount for bringing your own cup to fill up, and while 10 cents isn’t a lot, in a few weeks your daily dime will add up to a free cuppa joe—and relief for the forests that keep our air and water clean. It’s an eco-cycle that keeps on giving, so save your dime, save our trees, and bring your own cup to the Starbucks or local coffee shop nearest you. LISTEN

SOURCE: this post.

This post was written by Wiliam Craven