No such thing

If you see water, fish or salt labeled organic, don't buy it! These can't be certified organic. Visit Organic Consumers Association to learn more. In the meantime, Ideal bite offers this information on how to read labels:

• A "100% organic" label means the product is entirely organic.
• An "organic" label means the product ingredients are at least 95% organic.
• A "made with/contains organic ingredients" means the ingredients are at least 70% organic.
• An "all natural" claim means zilch.
  

How was Earth Hour for you?

Okay, we're sad to report that we didn't get to do Earth Hour because we had to go out somewhere, but we hope everyone else got to participate. We'd love to hear what you did for Earth Hour, though, so please leave a comment here!

What to do?!

It seems we are damned if we do, damned if we don't. I just read this article saying that clearing land for biofuels aids global warming.

Superbugs

Stop buying antibacterial soaps, especially with the ingredientTriclosan. Use of antibacterials have spawned antibiotic resistant bacteria. Studies have shown that regular soap is just as effective as antibacterial soap. Try this or this foaming hand soap, and EO hand sanitizer.

National Parks Pass AND carbon offsets

From Better World Club:

Better World Club Is Now Selling National Park Annual Passes Bundled with FREE Carbon Offsets!

Better World Club is proud to partner with the National Park Service by offering National Park Annual Passes to BWC members.

Though we would prefer to offer them at a discount, we are required to sell the passes at the full retail rate of $80. We can, however, bundle the passes with cool, free stuff.

With that in mind, we're happy to announce that BWC members will receive offsets for one ton of carbon emissions when they purchase annual passes through us.

The one-ton carbon offset has a retail value of $11, and will help lessen your carbon footprint as you drive through the Everglades or Redwood National Park or Yosemite or the Grand Canyon or Crater Lake or Death Valley or Yellowstone (you get the idea).

Passes can be purchased through our Member Site.

CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR NATIONAL PARK PASS NOW!

Good to know

Last week, after tediously scraping off expired Brummel and Brown yogurt spread so I can put the plastic container in the recycling pile, I read this tip saying that recyclables don't need to be totally clean. The contents get burned away or cleaned out anyway during re manufacturing. By not rinsing them until spotless, you'll save water too.

Ice ice baby

A 160 square mile chunk of Western Antarctic ice has finally collapsed after it started disintegrating on 28 February. It was on the edge of the Wilkins ice shelf for probably 1,500 years. The ice shelf is about the size of the state of Connecticut and now only a narrow beam of thin ice is holding it together. Scientists say that such collapses are happening more frequently due to global warming. We all need to stop, collaborate and listen to prevent further climate change and its disastrous consequences.

Maya Karin does her part, too

Malaysian actress Maya Karin is proud to be green, but admits that she's not perfect, too. The article is a pretty long look into the efforts she makes to become more eco-friendly, and it's quite funny to read that her experiences are somewhat similar to mine, especially the deal with refusing plastic bags and the disgust with the lack of recycling facilities.

Buy composting bins from Cub Scouts!

Are you from Ridgefield, Connecticut and in need of composting bins? Cub Scout Pack 26 will be selling composting bins for $50 and scrap pails for $10 at Ridgefield’s Recycling Center on March 29!

Interesting

I was checking out Inquirer's blog network and stumbled on one called Being Filipino. The writer posted a lengthy piece that talks about the things she misses about the Philippines and the first item is particularly noteworthy.

15. TAKING a taxi out of the supermarket — First of all, taking a taxi is very expensive (more about public transport later), but what I really miss is having an attendant actually carry the stuff out, wait with you as you enter the taxi line, and load up the goods. That kind of service doesn’t exist here. Heck, they don’t even give you free shopping bags at the supermarket: You have to bring your own, or they charge you for each one you take.

It is extremely easy to be spoiled in the Philippines this way, but that's not the point. Note the free shopping bags bit; "free shopping bags" in the Philippines are always, always plastic bags. The author should feel quite lucky that she now resides in a country with concern for the environment and has supermarkets that take an active part in reducing plastic waste.

Manila councilor pushes for plastic bag ban

This is the first I've heard of a total ban on plastic bags being proposed, and it's great that local government officials are really working for this!

Under Councilor Numero Lim's proposed ordinance, all supermarkets, grocery stores and other retail business establishments should use paper bags, bayong (woven grass or buri bags) and other biodegradable containers for packaging dry goods and grocery items.

Lim said the establishments could also provide sturdier bags like those made of cheesecloth (katsa) to regular customers who could use them repeatedly. Should some firms insist on using plastic bags, they could opt for the biodegradable type, he added.

"We'll introduce a plastic bag which disintegrates after six months. These can be used for goods sold in the public market's wet section like meat, fish and vegetables," he explained.

It would be a load of help to the country's solid waste situation if plastic bag use is significantly reduced. But it would take a whole lot of convincing before ordinary people, and not just the supermarkets and stores, start rejecting plastic bags though; for most people, plastic bags are cheap, worry-free ways to carry everything. At the same time, it won't be easy to monitor plastic bag use throughout the city...unless the manufacture of these items itself is banned too?

The Philippines gears up for the Earth Hour

I mentioned a couple of months ago that Manila is participating in Earth Hour, but WWF Philippines is marshaling the entire Philippines to take part! If you're from the Philippines, keen on joining the Earth Hour, but are wondering how you can make the event fun for you and your team of fellow Earth Hour participants, check out this list of 10 fun things to do that evening!

T-shirts to spread the green message

Have you been itching to make a cute, clever, and meaningful design for your T-shirt? Maybe you'd like to join the T-shirt contest being held by the Everybody Rides Metro Foundation. The design and message of the shirt must highlight the importance of environmental responsibility, and the winning designer will win $100 and have his or her design become the symbol of the transportation sector's sustainability and environmental responsibility in Cincinnati.

Win a $100 gift card, plus the winning design (selected by a panel of judges) will be featured on a special edition T-shirt and other gear sold throughout Greater Cincinnati. All proceeds will go toward improving our community by funding the purchase of hybrid buses for cleaner, greener commuting.

Deadline for entries is on March 28, 2008.

for Localvores

Buying local food is still better than buying an organic product that was shipped from overseas. Sustainable Table helps you find produce that is in season in your region.

World Water Day

Tomorrow, 22 March is World Water Day, a day designated by the United Nations General Assembly in 1992 to draw attention to the clean drinking water crisis all over the world. You can join events in your city, donate or participate in a virtual walk here. Save water.

Earth Hour 2008

On 29 March 2008, join Sydney, Toronto, Tel Aviv, San Francisco, Atlanta, Copenhagen, Chicago, and other cities in turning off their lights at 8 PM. So far, 14 cities are participating, even Suva in Fiji. During that hour, World Wildlife Fund suggests hosting a green party, cleaning up your neighborhood. talking to your children about the environment, replacing your lights with compact fluorescent bulbs, install power strips, change your furnace filters, playing boardgames or reading by candlelight, basically spending time with your family without the distractions of television, video games and other electronic equipment.
Go to Earth hour for other ideas, make a pledge to reduce your carbon footprint, and to sign up for the event.

Wet wet wet

I see the sign on electric hand dryers in public restrooms saying that you can save on paper waste by using the dryer. But I've always wondered how much energy these devices consumed instead. Until I got this email from Idealbite:

The Benefits

• Earth-friendly etiquette. De-wetting your hands with an electric hand-dryer uses about 1/3 of the electricity needed to produce paper towels (and obviously, no trees get the axe).
• Not soiling the earth. Those paper towels you used to dry your hands aren't recycled after you throw them away, people.
• Less clean-up for biz-owners after you do your business. Hand-dryers require less maintenance than paper towels, which need constant refilling and don't always make it into the trash can.

* if 10,000 people use a hand-dryer instead of paper towels next time they're in a public restroom, we'll keep the weight of 83 (dry) pants in paper waste outta landfills.

Lost

Saw this along the Monterey Fisherman's Wharf. The California Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project was launched in July 2005 to retrieve fishing lines, nets, traps, etc. These items do not decompose and pose a danger to marine animals, boats and divers. Click here if you have fishing gear yourself that you would like to discard or would like to report any that you may have encountered.

The many uses of olive oil

I'm a huge fan of olive oil and use it quite a lot during the rare times I cook. But beyond that, I don't get to use it at all. I hear it makes a really spiffy moisturizer for the hair, but my oil of choice for that purpose is coconut oil, which is much cheaper here and has done wonders for me.

Over at Hippyshopper, though, there's a fine list of the top ten eco-friendly ways to use olive oil, from dusting to helping your cat avoid hairballs.

Thanks to TJ for the link.

For meat lovers only

If you're looking for sustainable meat products, Ideal bite offers this run-down of what those labels mean:

• "Organic" - animals get access to the outdoors (cows, sheep, and goats get pasture time), bedding materials, and aren't injected with hormones or antibiotics.
• "Cage-free" Poultry - birds aren't kept in cages.
• "Free-range" - animals are given access to the outdoors.
• "Pasture-raised"/"grass-fed" - animals get access to the outdoors and can graze.
• "Humanely raised" - animals get exercise and their cages are big enough for them to move in.
• "Hormone-free" - cows aren't injected with any hormones (using hormones on chickens and pigs is already against the law).

Or you can always just ask.

Anti-Smog building to rise in Paris

I'm a bit fuzzy on how this works, but Vincent Callebaut has developed a concept for a building that actually fights the smog of Paris.

Anti-Smog is thus a didactic prototype of ecological experimentations. Solar Drop and Wind Tower implement the most advanced technologies in the auto-sufficient construction to better reveal the applications of the contemporary society. Its energetic results are positive and enable to assure not only the functioning of the centre but also the nocturnal lighting of the banks of the second Bassin de la Villette. Moreover, this project aims at reducing the atmospheric pollution of the area by capturing the CO2 and thus improves the quality of the air.

Green Cities unite!

Los Angeles, Berkeley, Pasadena, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, and the County of Marin are part of the Green Cities California initiative! They're starting out with a program to switch to 100% post-consumer recycled paper, which L.A. is finding hard to do with its paper needs, but hopefully, they'll find a supplier very soon. That's not the only thing in the works, however.

Each quarter, Green Cities California will announce a new eco-initiative, like eliminating bottled water, promoting manufacturer responsibility for solid and toxic waste, and purchasing local foods. Imagine what would happen to California agriculture if all municipal governments in California started demanding local and sustainably-produced foods from its food suppliers!

Definitely an exciting development. Now imagine what would happen to the U.S. if all the states got involved!

Eco-scandal!

People are up in arms over a Chicago to London flight made by American Airlines. The airline's crime? Flying with only five people on board.

It does sound pretty scandalous, but when you think about how there would have been a ton more passengers who wouldn't have been able to make their flight from London to Chicago had American cancelled their flight, well, then that's just equally scandalous and inconvenient for a lot of people. I suppose it was a decision that had to made on the spot, and American Airlines chose to keep the flight running anyway to keep the flow going. It would have been quite the time-waster for everyone had American chosen to wait until the flight fills up. Sounds like a practical decision to me really, though not the greenest one, and I can't blame American for choosing to make sure that passengers reached their destinations on time.

Biodegradable?

Here's something I saw over the weekend. So SM is either using truly biodegradable plastic bags or they just thought slapping a "biodegradable" tag will make them look good. Which is which?

Hybrid

Cecile, her husband and I went to California last week. He rented a Toyota Prius Hybrid. Apart from the initial confusion as to how to work the seemingly space-age dashboard, it was a good experience. Pluses? Low fuel consumption, the hatchback design, the dashboard that displays information, quiet cabin and a quiet engine (it shuts off when you're stopped for a while) It probably could have seated 5 small adults. Minuses? The acceleration, handling on highways, braking system that feels like you slammed your brakes even if you just lightly tapped it, and no MP3 player input jack. It takes some getting used to, but I could probably get a hybrid at some point.

How draining

If you can stand unclogging drains yourself without using chemical decloggers, I read about the Cobra wire drain Auger. For shallower clogs, Zip-It might just do the job. Here's how.

Less taxing

Finished your taxes yet? File your taxes electronically and save not just time but also paper and postage. You'll get your refund faster, and with direct deposit, save even more paper.

Going green in Brighton and Hove

I used to be wildly obsessed with the idea of going to Brighton and Hove. That interest has pretty much gone away, but I was still pleased to see that they're pushing for greener initiatives. Check out Transition Brighton and Hove.

Roomba-like green grass cutter announced

When I first saw the Roomba on TV, I thought it would be loads of fun to have a little cleaning machine just zipping around the house on its own. Husqvarna has come out with something similar to this concept, except theirs is a solar-hybrid lawnmower.

The mower can cut grass unsupervised, which, according to its manufacturers, could save up to 40 hours of labour in the garden - the equivalent of a week's holiday - every year.

The lawnmower uses the same amount of energy as a standard light bulb and is made from 90 per cent recyclable materials.

Drugs in the water

Antibiotics, hormones and other drugs have been found in the water supply, supposedly because they pass through our bodies and gets flushed down the toilet. Water treatment plants do not remove all of the residue. One more reason not to dispose of medications down the drains.

The Green Vatican

Catholics out there, read Reuters' "Vatican lists 'new sins', including pollution". According to the article, "ecological" offences are included as modern evils. Who also knew they were using photovoltaic cells in their buildings?

A quote from Henry David Thoreau

If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer. But if he spends his days as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making the earth bald before her time, he is deemed an industrious and enterprising citizen.

A bite of the green Apple the Classic way

I bought myself an iPod Classic after not finding my old MP3 player. I admit, I am very pleased with it. Two words: streamlined packaging. The box had the iPod classic, earphones and USB cable only. No unnecessary promotional materials. No iTunes installation CD either. You go online and get it from the Apple.com website. I also went with the 80gb as an environmental move. Filling it up with content will take me forever - meaning I won't need to buy such a player for quite sometime. I know Apple's been criticized by some green groups, but at least they're trying. You can find their green policy here.

Hurray, downloadable installers!

So my router went wonky earlier, which meant I had to find the installation CD and reconfigure the darn thing all over again. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the CD anywhere and thought things were starting to look bleak when I thought of searching for the setup wizard online. Thankfully, it was available on the LinkSys website. It made me wonder why installation CDs always have to be bundled with products, especially since the software can be downloaded online anyway. Of course, that assumes a lot, particularly that everyone has Internet access, but it would still be nice to eliminate installation CDs when the installers/software can be made available in a simpler format.

Help save the barako!

Now I'm no coffee drinker, but this has me quite worried: The local barako coffee is on its way to extinction. One thousand two hundred bags of this coffee are being exported every year. But in five years, the barako coffee plant could become totally obliterated. One hundred thousand barako trees must be planted to help the coffee survive, and seedlings for the plant cost only PhP30, or 73 cents!

Check out the website, Help Us Save The Barako, to learn how you can keep this plant alive!

First do no harm

I heard about this book, Making Kind Choices: Everyday Ways to Enhance Your Life Through Earth- and Animal-Friendly Living, written by PETA President and co-founder Ingrid Newkirk. I can't wait to read it. It's about kindness towards the earth and all its creatures.



(Thanks Amazon!)

Green plane to fly from the UK to Australia in five hours

This came under my radar a little late, but that doesn't make this bit of news any less interesting!

A hypersonic jet designed in Britain is currently being conceptualized, and is being touted as a super-fast way for passengers to fly from the UK to Australia in five hours or less. It's to be fueled by liquid hydrogen, which unfortunately unleashes byproducts more harmful than the dreaded carbon dioxide.

There is also concern that producing the liquid hydrogen could prove to be more environmentally damaging than Reaction Engines believes. And there are fears that because the plane would fly at around the height of the ozone layer it could cause damage to the atmosphere.

Fortunately, it's still in the planning stage and much thought is being given to how eco-friendly details could be added to the plane. Reaction Engines is also presently researching methods on capturing NOX emissions.

Bisphenol-A alert

Seventh Generation issues this warning:
The chemical Bisphenol-A is a hormone-disrupting chemical found in polycarbonate water bottles and food containers, food and soda can linings, toys, CDs and DVDs, eyeglasses, and dental sealants. When exposed to acidic substances in certain foods, heat, washing, the BPA may leach out into your food or liquids. It mimics estrogen, and studies show possible carcinogenic and neuro-toxic effects. It may even trigger fat cell activity, causing obesity.

They recommend the following ways to avoid this toxin:

• Avoid canned soda and acidic canned foods like tomato and citrus products.

• Look at the recycling symbols on the plastics you use in the kitchen. Don’t buy, serve, or consume foods and beverages sold or served in #7 plastics, the category that includes polycarbonate plastics that contain BPA. Better options include polypropylene (#5 PP), high-density polyethylene (#2 HDPE), and low-density polyethylene (#4 LDPE). No evidence has been found to suggest that these plastics leach toxic materials.

• Ask your dentist about the sealants he or she uses. If their sealants contain BPA or if they’re unable to verify whether or not this is so, refuse the treatment.

• Use glass baby bottles exclusively. For beverages for young children and grown-ups, replace any polycarbonate sippy cups and water bottles you have with those made from the safer plastics listed above or stainless steel.

• Don’t give hard plastic toys to infants, teething children, or any kids who still put everything in their mouth unless you can verify that they’re polycarbonate-free. Opt for safer wooden toys and teething rings, etc.

• When it comes to those polycarbonate plastics you choose to keep, wash them carefully in warm water and gentle dish liquid. Don’t subject them to hot water, harsh detergents, bleach, or microwaving, all of which can help BPA leach out.

• If you use any of these items for eating and drinking, try not to let food or beverages sit in or on them too long. The longer edibles remain in contact with the plastic, the greater the likelihood of BPA contamination.

San Francisco's Hotel Triton

While looking for hotels in San Francisco, I came across the Hotel Triton. Not only do they have eco-friendly rooms, they're even pet-friendly!

Blessed are the children, for they shall inherit the earth

Mother Earth and Uncle Sam: How Pollution and Hollow Government Hurt Our Kids, studiesthe U.S. government's failure to protect public health. Seventh Generation summed up the book:

Here’s a toxic tale of woefully under-funded programs, a cold-hearted over-reliance on bean-counting cost-benefit analyses, distorted science and other truth-twisting, special interests run amok, gutted regulatory authorities, and a corporate-controlled commons that trades profits for safety to create a country in which clear and present toxic threats that could be contained or eliminated have instead been allowed to grow.

Author Rena Steinzor examines these and other critical issues through the stories of three toxins that today abound: mercury in our food, perchlorate in our water, and ozone in our air. But these contaminants could be any at all because the stories Steinzor recounts are always the same no matter what toxin we’re talking about: a hollow government and ineffective or hamstrung regulators pay lip service to the idea of protecting the public while behind the scenes powerful well-moneyed forces work to preserve the status quo at all costs, no mater how high these costs climb. In her prologue, Steinzor writes:

“Five ideas are at the heart of this book. First, we are neglecting our children's health to an extent that we would find unthinkable as individual parents. Second, the primary reason for this unacceptable outcome is the erosion of government's role in protecting public health and the environment. Third, this outcome is not where most Americans believe we should be heading. Fourth, as matters stand now, our children and their children will not inherit the legacy that we owe them: a healthy, sustainable planet. Fifth, we can arrest these developments but only if a critical mass of Americans becomes convinced that that the problems are urgent and the solutions near at hand.”

To that end, Steinzor presents a compelling case that our current governmental dysfunction and paralysis is harming our present and damning our future. Filled with examples of greed and negligence that make even hardened eco-warriors like us shudder, it’s a book that might have you pulling the proverbial blanket up over your head once and for all if not for the hopeful final section, which outlines the steps we need to take to take back the commonwealth and restore our government and its agencies to the effective guardians of public health they once were and can be again.

EVOO

Long before Rachael Ray was touting EVOO, Mediterraneans knew the health benefits of olive oil. Using organic olive oil will reduce your exposure to pesticides. Organic olive groves emit less CO2. Be healthy and earth-friendly.

Eco-Patent Commons

Brava IBM, Nokia, Pitney-Bowes and Sony! These companies have joined forces to create the Eco-Patent Commons (EPC). It is an archive of previously private patents for earth-friendly technologies. They are hoping to encourage other scientists, researchers and other enterprising individuals to build upon these technologies and come up with new ideas for protecting the environment. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development is the host organization.

Marks and Spencer now charges for plastic bags

What used to be given away freely is now something you gotta pay for. Starting this May in the UK, Marks and Spencer will be charging people 5p for each plastic bag they use, hoping to encourage more people to bring their own bags.

Not all the customers are happy, though. Some think they're simply getting ripped off and this is a way for M&S to make even more money. All I have to say is, if you don't want M&S to get your 5p, then just bring your own bags, plain and simple. You'll be sparing your pockets AND saving the planet at the same time.

Riiiicoooolaaaa!

'Tis the season...to be ill. If you want to stop hacking your lungs out, try some organic cough and sore throat drops. Good ole Ricola is eco-certified by Switzerland's Bio Suisse group.