Here’s to a Great, Green New Year!

We rang in the new year less that a week ago, and with it came the flurry of everyone busily setting goals, intentions, resolutions for the new year, even if the intention was to not make any resolutions! Judging from the number of people searching this site for information about teflon, thermaolon and silicone cookware, I am guessing that eating healthy is a top priority for many. On the other hand, I wonder how many of us made the green commitment and declared our intentions about reducing our carbon footprint, becoming more eco-aware, or even something as simple as recycling more in 2012?

Yesterday, in my other blog, INspired Ink, I wrote a post about finding the perfect “word” that will inspire and challenge us for 2012. Well, why don’t we try it here? What is the word that will inspire you to take bold action, and make you become unstoppable in your quest for living a greener life? As in, “How can I become MOTIVATED to commit to a greener lifestyle?” or “Where is the OPPORTUNITY to reduce my carbon footprint?” Imagine adopting a word that will really make the difference for you in reducing your carbon footprint, and help you live a more environmentally sustainable life. Here are some suggestions:

INspire
Motivate
Create
Informed
Sustainable
Integrity
Respect
Educate
Commit
Opportunity
Now your turn…

What word will motivate you into taking up the green path? And inspire others to join you? 2012 is the year we CAN make a difference…

Steve Jobs and a Green Apple

“Apple is already a leader in innovation and engineering, and we are applying these same talents to become an environmental leader. Based on our tangible actions and results over time, hopefully our customers, employees, shareholders and professional colleagues will all feel proud of our ongoing efforts to become a greener Apple.” ~ Steve Jobs, 2007

Among his innumerable other achievements, Steve Jobs left behind a greener, more sustainable Apple. Today the company is transparent with their Carbon Footprint, and all things pertaining to the environment. And, you know what? Apple is becoming an industry leader, led by Steve Jobs and his 1,800 word pledge for A Greener Apple.

It all started in 2007 when Greenpeace slammed Apple, and their brand new iPhone for being loaded with all kinds of toxic ingredients such as brominated flame retardants, phthalates plasticisers. So, Apple got busy and made some big changes, not only to the iPhone, but to their environmental policy in general.

Just a couple of years later, Greenpeace became a fan of Steve Jobs and Apple for their turnaround and all that they are doing to lead the way in sustainability. Apple is committed to reducing their environmental footprint. They are using less packaging materials, less toxic materials, and they have an aggressive recycling program for old Apple products. Interested on just how green Apple is? Here is the story of APPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT.

Steve, you will be missed more than you know. Thank you for your innovation and your inspiration…

Why Are You Wearing a Plastic Water Bottle on Your Head?

‘Fess up – has this ever happened to you? You are out and about, and get thirsty, reallly thirsty. Oh no! You have forgotten your reusable bottle of water, or find yourself in a place where they aren’t allowed, such as an airport. So, in spite of your best intentions, you succumb and buy that plastic water bottle. But, it’s OK, most of the time you are doing good, right? Wrong!

plastic bottle garbage

According to Nubius Organics, “Bottled water creates tons of trash. Each year, more than 26 billion bottles are thrown away (less than 15% are recycled) and 16.5 billion gallons of water are wasted to provide Americans with “convenient” access to water. The plastic from these bottles doesn’t biodegrade – it now a permanent part of our landfills. In 2005, 2 million tons of plastic water bottles ended up clogging landfills instead of getting recycled. While we’re at it, here are some fun facts from DIY Fashion about disposable plastic water bottles:

The number of millions of plastic water bottles consumed by Americans every hour? 1000.
The number of years it takes for a plastic bottle to start decomposing? 7.4.
The number of cubic yards in a landfill space 1 ton of plastic takes up? 17.
The number of millions of barrels of crude oil needed to supply a year’s worth of water bottles? 12.
The number of months 1 million cars can run with 17 million barrels of crude oil? 6.
The number of hours a 1 plastic bottle can power a 60-watt light bulb? 120.

But, what if you could turn your bottles into wearable art? I have seen suits of armor, wedding dresses, briefcases, and hats. Let your creativity flow. Recycled PET bottles have already been used to make fabrics for such diverse items as polar fleece and Chico Bags (you know, shopping bags that are trendy, practical and come in pretty colors.) So, let’s broaden our ideas, OK? We can make a hat or a skirt or even a coin purse, like the one from Dollar Store Crafts pictured:

Hey – If you drank the water, why not let your imagination run wild and make an original creation? You just might surprise yourself…

Lightning in a Bottle – the Greenest Festival in America!

When we think of Memorial Day weekend, we often think of backyard barbeques, and the unofficial start of summer. In Southern California, Silverado to be exact, a wonderful, and very unique 4-Day festival takes place. Lightning in a Bottle has it all, and for all ages, including many activities for kids. People bring their kids and their parents, too, so it it truly multi-generational. Music, camping, art, workshops, yoga, meditation and so much more.

Named the GREENEST FESTIVAL IN AMERICA for good reason, their tagline is “Leave it better, leave it beautiful.” LIB (as it is affectionately known) takes sustainability to a whole new level. NO plastic water bottles here, but there is all the free water you can drink and put into your own reusable bottle. All of the music stages are made of either recycled materials or bamboo, in the most incredibly creative and intriguing designs. In their own words, “Our energy initiatives this year include:

• Biodiesel generators providing power for the stages and vending areas

• A large solar array to help power the event and feed electricity back into the grid

• Energy efficient lighting

• Renewable energy art installations

Our Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reduction efforts in 2010 diverted 46 metric tons of GHGs from entering the atmosphere: the equivalent of over 5,000 gallons of gasoline or over 100 barrels of oil!”

There are workshops on everything from solar power, making your own kombucha, building an earthbag dome, permaculture, soil, and even one entitled “Build a Gasifier, run an Engine or a Car on Bullshit.” Speakers cover topics just as diverse. And, there is a big Eco-Art-Kids-Korner – EAKK! The festival artists are using recycled materials, including old, leftover paints. I am not doing it justice, please click on LIB and find out more – who knows, next year, you may find your way to the festival?

Why is this so noteworthy? Everybody is having a great time, and doing it in a way that leaves the environment better, the people more informed and the future generations more mindful about the importance of sustainability.

What if we all could come together to celebrate and learn in such an inspiring way? Just think: “Leave it better, Leave it beautiful!!”

Playing a Greener Game

Here we are again – April 22 marks the forty-first Earth Day. One year ago today, on Earth Day 2010, I challenged myself to write a green blog, learning more about sustainability and posting every Thursday, rain or shine, for a year. And, guess what? I DID IT!! Since I met my personal challenge, I find myself at a crossroads. Do I continue exploring my search for greening, or do I move on, my commitment complete? The easy answer would be to call it complete. But after a year of looking at sustainability and learning so much, the one thing I know is that I still have so much to learn. I also have so much more to share. Last year, I talked about getting in the Green Game – this year feels like the stakes are higher, and it is time to play a bigger game.

Last April 22nd, I wrote the following:

“Forty years ago, on April 22, 1970, Senator Gaylord Nelson and a few other pioneers created the idea of not only celebrating this planet and all it’s wonders, but of sustainability and stewardship. No small feat, given that this was a time when cities were hidden under dense clouds of smoke and rivers caught fire.

The good news, we have taken a lot of positive steps since that first Earth Day. We’ve made remarkable progress since then in protecting human health and safeguarding the natural environment. Today, Earth Day is a time to celebrate the gains we have made and to create new visions to accelerate environmental progress as well as to unite around new actions and act to protect our planet everyday.

Why is this so important? As a Native American proverb that states “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.” Of course, it is important that we are all better stewards of this planet and all the amazing gifts that we are responsible for. I believe it is not necessarily looking at the doom and gloom forecasts, but rather looking for the opportunities to make a difference everyday.”

OK – I’m committed for another year! Come along with me as the adventure continues. Please tell me what’s on your mind, what you would like to see more of. Together we can make a difference…

Greening My Taxes?

Here we are again – it’s TAX TIME! Admittedly, I am pulling together information at the last-minute for my appointment with the accountant tomorrow. 2010 was an interesting year, as it was the year I began going paperless. With so many bills and receipts online, it was suggested to me that I just print my monthly bank statement to figure it all out. But, wait a minute! I’m not doing that since then I would be using paper. What I need is a great system to track everything throughout the year. Another helpful person suggested that I transfer all of my bank info into an excel spreadsheet and manipulate the data that way. Did I mention my appointment is tomorrow? To be precise, in 17 hours!

Back in the day, I remember the sheer volume of papers that went into the process of tracking and filing our annual income taxes. Of course we were a family back then, with a kid, dogs, a house, 2-3 cars, a business expense account, home offices, travel for business expenses, and the list goes on and on. Not to mention, the document we sent to the IRS was lots of paper, accompanied by a paper check and sent by mail through the US Postal Service. We had literally a mountain of receipts – kept in cardboard boxes (1 box per year took up LOTS of space) - my ex held on to every scrap he thought we needed. Which of course we did. As I look back, it’s no wonder I feel daunted right about now, even though I am filing just for me in an electronic era, not a paper one. The funny thing is, every year at some point I am surprised at how easy it is.

I don’t have time to create a system for 2010. So, I will gather the needed facts and info however I can this year, and vow to do things differently for 2011. Since we still have much of the year left, it would be a great time to put a system into place that will make things easier to track throughout the year, and no panic come April 15 next year! Sounds great, right?

The first thing is to truly commit to becoming financially paperless. At the ATM machine, just say NO to printing a receipt. I found a great website with lots of links and articles, which I am planning to check out when I have a second or two to spare: My Green CFE. They tell us: “It’s easy to be green with your finances.

Most people agree that protecting our natural resources and eliminating pollution is important. Yet, most U.S. households continue to receive paper bills and statements in the mail, even though switching to online bill payments and electronic statements would save 17 million trees from destruction each year, and avoid producing 4 billion tons of greenhouse gasses.”

Get Your GREEN On

Today is the day that the world goes green for a day – green as in Irish, not necessarily GREEN as in sustainable. Today, rivers, fountains and other waterways are dyed green, copious ammounts of green food coloring turns everything from beer to frosting to milk to poataoes to, well, just about anything edible green. People are wearing green on all the usual articles of clothing plus green hats, feather boas, shamrock pins, earrings, socks and probably some things we don’t want to think about. There are parades and parties galore.

What if we could celebrate the other GREEN – you know, the sustainable green with such joyful abandon? Not only one day a year, but everyday. And, yes, I know there is Earth Day in April, but what if everyday could be Earth Day?

And, right now, our earth is hurting. If nothing else, the events in Japan in the last week should have convinced us that there has to be a better way to get power than by using nuclear power plants. Among others, wind power is gaining in popularity, and who knows the new ways that are waiting to be invented? New, GREEN ways.

What if we could be the very model of sustainability – and inspire others to live more sustainable, greener, environmentally friendly lives? Everyday, starting right now. What if we could look at what is happening around us as a time to wake up? Being GREEN is more than a lame excuse to drink yourself silly with rivers of green beer. It is about creating a sustainable world. After all, there is green and there is GREEN. If you want to have that bottle of Guinness, please recycle it. If you want to wear green, why not put on something eco-chic and friendly to the planet?

Now, go get your GREEN on!

NOT Stuck on You…

It’s January, so what better time to set the goal for healthy eating, right? Today, I decided to treat myself to a new non-stick skillet and a George Foreman Grill, since my old one bit the dust a while ago. That’s where I got stopped. Just how safe IS that non-stick coating, and why don’t the products themselves say more?

First, the George Foreman Grill – which I know to be a great product, and they now have such a wide array to choose from! I did pick up a small one for about $30, although they have products from $20 to $150 or so. Funny thing, they don’t really mention the coating, but after I dug around on their website, while hearing a TV ad that the grill plates were covered with “Foreman-Tough Coating” or maybe it’s “Foreman-Tuff Coating” and your guess is as good as mine exactly what that is.

Now the skillet? I went to Ikea, where they have various choices, the cheapest one ($2.99) had a “non-stick coating” and the ones from about $10 and up (there is a wide range) were coated with DuPont’s Teflon. So, what is that?

Teflon is the name we have all come to know since it was introduced to our households in the fifties. Here’s the tech info straight from my friends at Wikipedia: In chemistry, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is a synthetic fluoropolymer of tetrafluoroethylene that finds numerous applications. PTFE is most well-known by the DuPont brand name Teflon. (If you are interested in more details, google DuPont and Teflon.)

Next stop was Target, where they too had a large variety of brands to choose from. The one that caught my eye was the GreenPan - of course. Their vision was to create a new, healthy cooking experience in non-stick cookware. So, in 2007 they introduced the first healthy, eco-friendly non-stick pots and pans with the revolutionary new PTFE/PFOA-free coating, Thermolon™ which is completely PTFE-free, contains absolutely no silicone oil and uses no PFOA during its manufacture. It is a non-stick mineral-based coating with superior release properties.

Now, that’s a lot of tech-talk, to be sure. So, now I’m thinking that before I buy anything else, I better do some more research, right? Otherwise, I can use one of the many skillets that are busy gathering dust at my house. A quick check found (of course) conflicting reports on the safety, and a surprisingly large number of reports, green and otherwise, found that Teflon is safe if used correctly. What this means is: don’t scratch the surface, best to wash by hand, and don’t heat above 500 degrees or so. Unless you have birds as pets. For some reason, the fumes can be toxic to them. Still other reports said that all pans, including that copper-clad stainless steel one you love, all give off some toxic fumes. With all of these fumes, the amount released into the atmosphere is miniscule.

What does it all mean? I guess I wont’ be getting a pet bird anytime soon!

Ho Ho Holiday Leftovers

It is almost a New Year and in my neck of the woods is seems like the holiday decorations are looking a little bit stale – the fresh greens aren’t fresh any more, but are beginning to turn brown, feel crunchy and lose their needles. There is dust on the decorations that are still left in the stores and homes, and I seem to be waiting for January 1 to put everything away for next year.

Speaking of which – next year I will be more organized so being green will be absolutely effortless. I sorted through my wrapping paper, “stocking stuffer” type gifts and my cards and ribbons. Even if I do keep using up what I have – I figure I’m pretty much set until about 2021! The only item that I am running low on is cards, AND I am absolutely committed to find a way to be greener in the few cards I DO physically send out.

This exercise yielded a bag of stuff to be donated to my local Goodwill. I have to say, I am really enjoying the convenience of the Goodwill Express drop-off centers, there is one right by my local Trader Joe’s so that makes it easy to clear my clutter – but I digress. That’s a topic for another day.

Since I was going anyway, I volunteered to donate a bag of stuff from a friend while I was at it. What’s in her bag? Lots of cheap, tacky office gifts. You know the kind, the cocktail napkins with funny sayings, cheap mugs, ornaments, scented lotions, soaps and candles with some awful synthetic scent. Oh – and candy canes, Hershey’s kisses, etc. We did a little math, and were amazed at the money spent on this junk. My friend figured that she spent well over $150 on her gifts, which were probably by now in someone else’s give-away bag.

Which had me ask her the question – how can you be greener with your office gifting next year? One great answer is to make a donation in the name of everyone in the office to a great cause, either local or not. Since these are education folks, I mentioned DonorsChoose.org which helps fund classroom wishes and needs, and keeps the donor updated on the status of the project (you choose where you want the money to go by reading various stories from the teachers.) Another fun one is Heifer International where you could give a chicken, flock of geese, a goat or any other farm animal. You give the money, they give the goats. There are lots of great ways to give, be resourceful and find something that will really be meaningful to the people you work with.

A do-ahead idea for gifting next year is to make your own gifts. As a knitter, I love having people to knit for. Another idea is if you find yourself in a used bookstore, an antique shop or even a flea market or garage sale, be on the lookout for those special items that will make someone on your list happy. This fall, I found an adorable breadbox from the 40′s and when I gifted it, the recipient fell in love with it. It looks perfect in her kitchen, like it was meant to be there. She lives in a vintage home, with old, original kitchen tiles and she has a true appreciation (and a collection) of vintage and antique kitchen items. Score!

OK, I promise I have posted all I am going to about Christmas this year. We have the New Year to ring in – setting intentions to make the world a greener, happier place, one post at a time. ”I’m dreaming of a GREEN Christmas” – is the holiday theme for next year.

Happy New Year to all you ECO-Angels!!!

Christmas, Wrapped

Yikes! It’s 2 days before Christmas, and there is a frenzy of shopping and gift wrapping happening all around us. Today is traditionally the busiest shopping day in December, as people get in some last minute holiday buying. And wrapping…

Here’s an amazing fact: we spend $2.6 billion a year on gift wrap. Wow – that’s BILLION!! Eco-chick.com shares with us the following stats: ”It is estimated that almost 25 million tons more waste is created during the holidays than over a typical ten-week period. The extra waste amounts to 25 million tons of garbage, or about 1 million extra tons per week! If every family reused just two feet of holiday ribbon, the 38,000 miles of ribbon saved could tie a bow around the entire planet. If every American family wrapped just 3 presents in re-used materials, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields. The 2.65 billion Christmas cards sold each year in the U.S. could fill a football field 10 stories high. If we each sent one card less, we’d save 50,000 cubic yards of paper.”

I can remember back to a Christmas long ago – we had just purchased our first home, had a toddler, and money was pretty tight. Fancy gift wrap was definitely a luxury we couldn’t afford. So (and this was before the days that it was eco-chic to do so) I wrapped all the gifts with old newspaper. It was a blast – I sprayed the sheets with a bit of hairspray to set the ink.I KNOW there are different and much greener ways to handle this now (and the inks and paper are different as well) but I was using what I had on-hand. What fun I had matching the topics to the presents – no doom and gloom stuff. Sunday comics for kid’s gifts, the Sports page for a baseball book – you get the picture. And, bonus! Everyone who saw our tree with the presents underneath loved how creative and inventive it was!!

Some things to try this year:

Reuse old gift bags, or wrap from your stash. Some shops are even sending their customers out the door with gift bags instead of those cheezy plastic bags.
Better yet, let the gift be part of the wrap – if you are giving something made of fabric, like a scarf, use it to wrap smaller items in. Or, a wooden box can hold a treasure inside. Baking cookies? Put them on a pretty recycled plate. Be creative!
Use fabric and “real ribbon” that can be used again and again and again…
Give reusable bags (you know the colorful ones from the grocery store, Ikea, etc.) wrap items in tissue that pokes out of the bag festively. Tissue is relatively green if it is made of post consumer materials because it usually breaks down so easily. I am on the lookout to find small quantities of unbleached and not colored tissue. Any ideas?

Most gift wrap can be recycled if you cannot use it again. And, if it doesn’t have any metallic paint, dye, etc. Try to salvage it if you can, even if it is to cover a book. One fun idea is to run it through your shredder and use it for packing material next year.

Make being green with your gifting fun! Use your creativity, use up your old stuff, try not to buy new. Don’t beat yourself up at this point for what you did – or didn’t – do this year. Relax, enjoy the holiday and put the challenge out to family and friends to see who can be greenest in their gifting next year. Prepare to be surprised and delighted with the green results. Well, that’s my Green Game, anyway…

One woman's search to find greening in the world today …

Category Archives: greener