Archive for March, 2008
March 16th, 2008
Prozac and Polar Bears
Stumble it!
The past couple of weeks have brought all kinds of news about the environmental impacts of our daily lives. From taking medicine to turning on a light bulb to driving a Prius, it seems that every way we turn there’s some consequence of our daily life.
Unfortunately, this isn’t constrained to just animals. A recent AP study found these chemicals in drinking water in 24 major US metropolitan areas (see list at bottom of link). How did THOSE get there? Well, the same story as above - treated wastewater is discharged into groundwater, rivers and lakes, where it is then pumped back into the drinking water supply after some period of time. Today’s treatment standards once again don’t touch these difficult chemicals. Will we start to see the same kinds of effects in people as we’re seeing in aquatic animals? The short answer is no, for you’d have to drink 100-200 Olympic size pools of water a day to get the same amount of these chemicals as you get in a daily pill. But over the long haul, who knows?
Another interesting report and associated articles last week brought up how electric cars might be the solution to our global warming woes, but at the same time might really stress our already stressed fresh water supply. Why? It’s another classic case of unintended consequences. Power plants use water to cool their equipment - LOTS of water. According to the US Geological Survey, almost 40% of US fresh water withdrawals go to cooling power plants, almost exactly the same amount that goes to irrigation. We discussed this here way back when we launched, but tying this to electric cars is a new spin. This could be a big problem down the road in areas where water is already in short supply.
Last but not least, NPR did a piece on the global effects of global warming last week (it’s an audio report, but well worth listening to). We hear about the Artic and Antarctic impacts all the time, but some of the earliest major consequences will be on the opposite end of the world: tropical mountain ranges near the equator. Many communities in South America in the Andes depend on equatorial glaciers for their water supply. These glaciers are melting as fast or faster than any others on the planet, and may disappear all together before 2050. With them will go the water supply of millions of people already struggling to get by. This is one of the sad parts of global warming: polar bears are certainly in trouble, and our low-lying cities and beaches will be some day too, but the people feeling the first effects of climate change are primarily those who can least afford it: the poorer residents of our plant in equatorial South America, low-lying south Asia, and the Pacific Islands. Global warming is here for them already.
All of this might lead you to think “it’s hopeless”, but here at Low Impact Living we completely disagree! Instead, we think that a little knowledge about the hidden consequences of our everyday lives, coupled with the curiosity to figure out how to do things a little better each day, really can make a difference. Each light bulb you change, each showerhead you replace and each mile less you drive means lower carbon emissions, less wastewater to treat, and less need for any kind of vehicle regardless of the type. So, take the first (or tenth step), and not only the polar bears but the flatfish will thank you for it!
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March 14th, 2008
Graywater Recycling at Your House
Sometimes our friends in the green community do such excellent features on important topics that we just have to share them directly with you. Natural Home Magazine has published a great online feature on The Legal Uses of Graywater. They help us understand where regulations are easy (Arizona and New Mexico, for example) and where they are more difficult (California–which is a shame given our water supply challenges!). They also explain clearly and carefully HOW to make graywater re-use a reality at your home.
We recommend this feature highly!
Also check out our previous post on graywater recycling.
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March 13th, 2008
Plastics Are Forever: What You Can Do
Last week at LA Green Drinks, I had the privilege of hearing the crew of the Algalita research vessel speak about their experience collecting debris across a wide swath of the Pacific Ocean and down through California rivers.
They passed around several nasty sea samples littered with plastics and caused quite a bit of eco-anxiety with the scary truth that plastic debris is overwhelmingly present in our oceans and waterways. As a result, small fish are eating plastic waste that they confuse with plankton. The small fish become a new toxic food source that helps plastic chemicals make their way up the food chain to our plates. The damage to human health and our corresponding ecosystem is untold.
Even worse, there is no way to clean up all the plastic in our waters –-plastic polymers never disintegrate. All we can do is cut back on plastic use to stop contributing to an already dreadful situation.
The Algalita crew inspired us to suggest more ideas on how to cut back on plastics. You can revisit our post on eco-friendly lunches that cut back on plastic and waste. Find a great plastic grocery bag alternative by Olive Smart here and get a few more ideas on how to reduce your plastic consumption here:
+ Use smaller reusable bags for produce items at the store.
+ Choose dry goods from bulk bins and put them in reusable cloth sacks.
+ Get your meat from the butcher counter wrapped in paper, rather than in plastic.
+ Choose storage containers made with glass, aluminum, stainless steel, ceramic or stoneware.
+ Bring your own reusable containers to deli counters and other quick-service restaurants, when buying pre-made food.
+ Use cloth diapers rather than plastic.
+ Pack your kids lunches with reusable containers and utensils, and a cloth napkin.
+ Biodegradable corn-based bags are now available for your trash and dog waste needs. Reusing plastic grocery bags as trash receptacles still puts them into the waste stream.
+ Ask your (hopefully) green dry cleaner to hold the plastic wrap.
+ Buy beauty products from manufacturers that offer mostly glass and tin packaging, like from Farmaesthetics, or refillable compacts and lipstick cases like those from Aveda.
+ Choose the non-plastic alternative whenever possible (ie. bamboo cutting board vs. plastic cutting board).
+ Recycle any unavoidable plastics.
+ Write to manufacturers asking them to reconsider their packaging. How about ibuprofen in a glass bottle?
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March 12th, 2008
Ecofabulous Wallcoverings
Our dear friends over at ecofabulous find the MOST amazing stuff. Just like they say– they’re all about sustainable. sexy. stuff. We love looking through their blog postings and finding all the latest and greatest in eco-minded design. (And we admit we want to snuggle with their owl logo. Whooo wouldn’t?)
So we were not at all surprised to find that they were blogging about several outstanding green wallpaper makers– and their designs made us drool with eco-envy. We had to share them with you.
The fab first find is wallpaper from Judit Gueth. Her intricate, intriguing designs will wow and delight you. She prints digitally on paper that contains 50 percent less synethic fiber than traditional wallpaper and decompose at twice the rate of conventional, digitally printed wallpaper. Naturally no VOCs will be found to pollute your indoor air.
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Their second discovery is wallcoverings from Graham & Brown. They produce rich, gorgeous wallpaper all on FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified papers– so you know the forests have been sustainably managed. To see them is to love them. And they use green manufacturing practices: they use recycled rainwater and a state-of-the-art drainage system to reduce harmful runoff. They also use non-acidic inks & coatings which are more friendly to the environment. Check them out.
Another one we’re excited about is Mod Green Pod. Mod Green Pod returns to an elegant tradition of artisan quality hand silk-screened wallpapers– all without using any nasty vinyl. They use water-based inks in their silkscreening process. Their designs are fanciful and would liven up any room!
Keep the green gold comin’, ecofabulous!
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March 10th, 2008
How To Tuesday: Be An Eco-Conscious Coffee Consumer
Our national addiction to coffee has major impacts on our environment. Over 120 million Americans drink coffee, and the average drinker has 3.1 cups of coffee each day. Over 25% of us drink coffee from stores outside our home– we consume over 15 BILLION cups of coffee at Starbuck’s, Coffee Bean and the like each year. That’s enough paper cups to ring the Earth 55 times! And think of all of the plastic lids, and the water and power consumed to make the coffee we enjoy.
We also have to consider the environmental impacts of the production of coffee. The main negative impacts of cultivating coffee come from converting natural forest into coffee farms, soil degradation, pesticide use, and water-quality damage. Coffee production in Latin America, Asia and Africa is a leading contributor to deforestation: of the 50 countries in the world with the highest deforestation rates from 1990 to 1995, 37 were coffee producers. Read this excellent article from the World Wildlife Fund to learn more about these impacts.
But don’t cry into your coffee cup quite yet– there are many easy ways that you can become an eco-conscious coffee consumer. Read on and get out the cream and sugar!
1. Bring your own reusable coffee mug to work and to the coffee shop. This is really a no-brainer. You save paper, plastic and you have toasty java wherever you go.
2. Get a reusable coffee filter for your coffee pot — you won’t have to use disposable paper filters anymore. And you can get a french press. This nifty coffee maker requires no electricity, and coffee snobs love them. You’ll be tres chic and eco-smart!
3. Did you know that coffee grounds make a great input for your composter? Or you can just put them directly onto the soil around your plants. We like to call it “mocha mulch.”
4. Ride your bike or walk to the coffee shop– you’ll have earned yourself a biscotti!
5. If you’re at the coffee shop and you’ve forgotten your reusable mug, perhaps you can refuse the plastic lid. Do you reall need it? And if the server tries to get you to replace your paper cup when you get a refill, try saying, “No thanks– I’ll reuse the first one.”
6. Buy certified organic, fair-trade, shade-grown coffee whenever you can. Buy organic because it’s better for the land where it’s grown, the people who farm it and you as the consumer. Fair trade is important because you want to support respectable wages for farmers in developing countries. And shade-grown coffee requires fewer pesticides and also supports bio-diversity. To learn more about these issues, click here. Also learn about the Rainforest Alliance certification program, which will help you identify coffees that are environmentally sustainable.
Do you have any thoughts on how to be an eco-smart coffee consumer? We’d love to hear them. Please write a comment!
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