Eco-friendly jail in the Philippines

Ever heard of an eco-friendly jail? Yeah, me too. So imagine my surprise when I read this article, "Eco-friendly jail uses biogas to cook, bake". It's actually a pretty good idea all around.

Curitiba, Brazil's eco-friendly bus

Congratulations to the city of Curitiba in Brazil for coming up with the world's longest environment-friendly buses!

These green buses run on bio-fuel made from soybeans. Measuring 28 meters long, the buses can accommodate 170 passengers. In a day, the buses can transport an estimated 77,000 passengers. Even the stops made by these buses are lessened by about 10 minutes, as compared to a regular bus.

Here's a good example of public transportation made greener!

A greener Baja Fresh

Brownie points go to Baja Fresh® Mexican Grill for their Earth Fresh Initiative! They'll be using recycled or recyclable paper and plastic bags, unbleached recyclable burrito wrapping paper and even biodegradable plates.

Too bad there's no Baja Fresh branch here in Connecticut. Otherwise, I'd go out and eat there to show my support.

A new take on paintball

I've never played paintball myself, but it has always both intrigued and scared me--I hear it hurts to get hit. If you've been wondering how safe the paint for paintball is, you'll be pleased to know that it's being given a new, planet-friendly spin. Extreme Paintball 101 is offering eco-friendly paintball which you can safely use outdoors without worrying that it's harming the local vegetation and wildlife. The paint consists of organic materials and soybean oil, and is biodegradable; it washes away safely and fades in sunlight.

Gone to the Dogs

Take a cue from these dogs and cats. Shut off your lights for Earth Hour tonight from 830-930 PM. Or longer.

Recycling...Flash Mob Style

One person can make a difference.

Teaching your kids about going green

It's always best to start early with your kids if you want them to grow up to be respectful of the environment and knowledgeable in the various ways they can help protect the planet. Naturally, the most important thing is for you to lead by example. A few extra resources also won't hurt. OnlineClasses.org has compiled a pretty impressive list of 30 books that can help kids go green.

O'BON!

I admire people and companies who make it easy for everyone else to engage in a sustainable lifestyle. One such company is O'BON, a supplier of environmentally-friendly school supplies based in South San Francisco, CA.

O'BON uses recycled materials in producing their school supplies - newspapers for O'BON pencils, art pencils and color pencils; sugarcane paper for their journals; and recycled cardboard for their binders.

As if that's not enough, the product designs are just gorgeous.

O'BON offers four design series. O'BONanza Series features yummy fruit designs including apple, cherry, kiwi, orange and strawberry. Their Sugarcane Series combines their Sugarcane Paper logo plus the word "Sugarcane" right smack in the middle of the cover. The Wildlife Series showcases wildlife designs including alligator, bear, elephant, giraffe, leopard, parrot, sea turtle, snake, tiger and zebra. Lastly, the Birds Series highlight vibrant exotic bird feathers.

Personally, the O'BONanza and Birds series are my favorites since I love colorful designs.

By creating their own niche and staying true to their philosophy - "to make products such as pencils and journals fun and beautiful in design, excellent in quality, educational in use and inexpensive in price", O'BON is definitely offering "something different".

I'll post product reviews sometime soon. Care to know more? Check them out at MyOBON.com or visit O'BON's online store.

Simple green living tips

Today, we're featuring a guest post written by Krista Peterson, a graduate from the University of Central Florida and a writer with a strong interest in the green movement.

---

Let’s be honest. Putting food on the table and keeping your home from falling apart can be hard work. Even vacation planning can be stressful. Now, add green living to the mix, and you’ve got more to worry about than you bargained for.  Though it’s not always easy, feeding your family healthy foods, keeping your home hazard free, planning that well-deserved vacation, and doing it all green, is worth it in the long run.

Your Food

What you put into your body plays a large part in your overall health. Foods that have been intensively farmed contain less nutrients, minerals, and vitamins than food grown organically. In addition to receiving the maximum amount of nutritional value in your food, organic grown produce is not treated with pesticides. Pesticides increase the risk of cancer, obesity, and Alzheimer’s disease and may be responsible for some birth defects.  If you’re trying to stay healthy, you’re doing the right thing by increasing your daily intake of fruits and veggies. However, if the “healthy” food you’re eating and feeding to your family has been contaminated with pesticides, you may want to rethink just how good for you it really is.

Your Home

Your home should be a safe haven for you, your family, and your pets. A good strategy for going green and conserving energy in your home is repairing or replacing your insulation. Insulation keeps your home cool in the summer and warm in the winter. If insulation is old or faulty, your energy costs are increased and your energy conservation plummets.

Replacing or repairing your insulation may bring you face to face with an even bigger problem. In older homes, especially houses built before 1975, builders used a mineral called asbestos in insulation and drywall. Asbestos was used for its fire-resistant qualities and when left intact, is completely harmless. But when disturbed, say by everyday household accidents, asbestos fibers are released into the air and inhaled, causing a cancer of the lungs and stomach. Mesothelioma symptoms include shortness of breath and chest heaviness. To avoid mesothelioma, look into the state of your insulation. Having professionals investigate and replace your insulation can save energy and lives.

Your Vacation

Today, vacations tend to be in extravagant hotel settings. Though those sorts of vacations can be relaxing (after all the planning), they aren’t necessarily good for the environment.  Millions of dollars and tons of energy are wasted by large hotels and vacation attractions. Instead, consider a green vacation. Beach or forest camping not only saves money, but allows a family environment that fosters bonding, relaxation, and education.  Peeling your children away from their technological fixes may be a feat, but allowing them to witness and appreciate what nature has to offer may be worth it.

So, the next time you think about your family’s diet, think green, and think organic. Pesticide free food ensures the health of your family. And if you’re hoping to save on money and energy waste, think about a change in insulation and remember that keeping your eyes open for asbestos products is much less stressful than watching out for mesothelioma symptoms. And finally, when you’re ready for a break from it all, think about a totally green vacation. After all, you deserve it.

redleaf Water, Canada’s Ultra-Premium bottled water

You might be thinking, "oh no! Not another brand of bottled water!" Or even "aren't landfills full of plastic bottles as it is?" I know I did.

Sure, there are plenty of recyclable water bottles around. But have you ever heard of a water bottle that is both recyclable AND biodegradable?

Enter redleaf Water, Canada's Ultra-Premium bottled water.

What makes redleaf Water's bottle different?

"redleaf's BIO BOTTLES produced by Arizona-based environmental solution provider ENSO Plastics, will biodegrade naturally in aerobic and anaerobic (landfill) conditions and are #1 PET, allowing the bottles to be recycled without requiring any special handling.

Today nearly all water bottles are #1 PET, meaning they can be recycled. Some competitors have recently introduced plant-based plastic bottles. Plant-based plastic bottles can be recycled, but do not biodegrade and do nothing to reduce the quantity of bottles that end up in landfills or the environment. The BIO BOTTLE represents a significant step forward as they can biodegrade naturally or be recycled."

So kudos, redleaf Water. Keep taking those baby steps towards a sustainable water bottle.

60+:Earth Hour 2011

Earth Hour is this Saturday, the 26th of March. Lights out at 830 PM, local time. This year, the challenge is for participants to go beyond the hour and commit to a sustainable way of life on a day to day basis.

March 22 is World Water Day!

Today is World Water Day! Here are some reminders from our friends at BuyGreen.com:

Conserve Our Most Precious Resource

Greetings!

March 22nd is World Water Day! Water is earth's most precious resource. There are many ways we all can use water more responsibly. We each can do our part to ensure there is plenty of clean water available to all! Below are some tips and items to help you contribute to this important cause.

The World Water Day initiative grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). The United Nations General Assembly designated 22 March of each year as the World Day for Water.

Water Saving Tips

#1 When washing dishes by hand, don't let the water run while rinsing. Fill one sink with wash water and the other with rinse water.

#2 Water your lawn and garden in the morning or evening when temperatures are cooler to minimize evaporation.

#3 Run your clothes washer and dishwasher only when they are full. You can save up to 1,000 gallons a month.

#4 Use the garbage disposal sparingly. Compost vegetable food waste instead and save gallons every time.

#5 For cold drinks keep a pitcher of water in the refrigerator instead of running the tap. This way, every drop goes down you and not the drain.

Yo-yo-Yogurt!

Check out this fun Just Eat Organic commercial from Stonyfield Farm.

Urban Oasis

Do you want a mobile organic smoothie and juice truck in the Big Apple? Support this young couple from Long Island.

Final call for "Find Your Footprint" votes!

It's the final leg of the "Find Your Footprint" conservation contest, which runs until midnight, Wednesday, March 16!

The contest sponsored by National Geographic with P&G Future Friendly aims to raise awareness among young people of their environmental footprint. Six finalists are competing for the grand prize valued at $36,000.

In case you haven't voted yet, you still have time! Click below and vote now!

Maple Syrup Time!

Cecile suggested we check out Warrup's Farm in Redding, Connecticut. Yesterday was the first day for collecting sap from the maple trees to make syrup. The farm is certified organic, and one can apply to their Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) partnership program.
The collecting buckets, or taps as they call them. That's the sugarhouse in the background.
Candy is just sap boiled to higher temperatures than syrup.
the spout and bucket
One of the holes from prior years.
Drilling a hole in the tree

Support the EPA

From Credo:

Republicans have launched an unprecedented budget assault on clean air and public health protections — and Senate Democrats have two weeks to stop it.

The House Republicans' Continuing Resolution spending bill slashes this year's remaining EPA budget by almost 60%, and contains numerous amendments that hamstring the Clean Air Act, block the EPA from limiting greenhouse gas emissions for any reason, eliminate funding for climate science and climate pollution monitoring, and make it easier for coal plants to dump certain toxic wastes into lakes and rivers. And the list of radical amendments to defund the EPA.

The passage of a temporary spending bill on Wednesday keeps the government funded through March 18th and gives the Senate more time to take a stand against Republican attempts to hold EPA and Clean Air Act funding hostage with threats of forcing a shutdown.

There are just enough votes to do it. Barely. Strong EPA supporters — especially strong Clean Air Act supporters — are in a minority in the Senate. But if all of our environmental champions stand strong, and we pressure a few of the more tentative supporters to join them, we can protect the Clean Air Act's ability to limit carbon pollution, and stop the draconian cuts to EPA funding.

The Continuing Resolution budget battle is just the first of these attacks on the Clean Air Act. There will be more. On Thursday, Rep. Fred Upton and Sen. Jim Inhofe introduced a bill to permanently block the Clean Air Act from regulating climate pollution. It is co-sponsored by Democratic Senator Joe Manchin. Democratic Senator Jay Rockefeller has cosponsored legislation to delay the Clean Air Act's climate limits for two years — that bill has six Democratic co-sponsors.

This battle may be won or lost in the Senate. And with few if any votes to spare, supportive Senators must make clear right now that they will oppose this attack on EPA funding, and filibuster all future attempts to gut the Clean Air Act.

Click here to sign the petition and let your senators know you don't want the EPA to be defunded.

“Find Your Footprint” - vote now!

P&G Future Friendly and the National Geographic Society joined forces with their "Find Your Footprint" national school conservation education contest. The "Find Your Footprint" program aims to raise student awareness of their environmental footprint. Voting's ongoing until March 16, 2011.

So what's in it for the winning school?

The winner with the most votes gets $36,000 in educational resources, such as five Promethean interactive digital whiteboards (ActivBoards), five sets of Promethean Learner Response Systems (ActivExpressions), 30 free subscriptions to National Geographic Kids magazine and up to $1,000 in National Geographic educational materials.



Here are the top six Find Your Footprint finalists with links to their submissions:

• Waste-Free Fridays, Gill Elementary, Farmington Hills, MI, 4th grade
• Helping the World and Saving Our Future, Walker Elementary, Springdale, AR, 2nd grade
• Saving Water 101, P.S. 8: The Robert Fulton School, Brooklyn, NY, 3rd-5th grades
• Let's Be Green When It's Time to Clean, Dryden Elementary, Arlington Heights, IL, 5th grade
• Canceling Catalogs: A Documentary, The Park School, Brookline, MA, 4th grade
• Plastic Waste Reduction to Save Our Oceans!, Rutledge Hall, Lincolnwood, IL, 5th grade

Tapped

I've known about this documentary "Tapped" for quite sometime now, but only had the chance to watch it lately. Boy, it made me suspicious of the bottled water industry now.

It raises the question, "is access to clean drinking water a basic human right, or a commodity that should be bought and sold like any other article of commerce?"

A good question, really, but one that doesn't have a straightforward answer. Watch this documentary and see just how far-reaching the effects of the bottled water industry are.

By the end of it, I wondered how people from way back when would react if they knew that water can be bought nowadays.

Check out the "Tapped" trailer.