Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
April 16th, 2008
Bush Speech on Climate Change: Progress?
President Bush delivered an address today on climate change. The good news is that he seems to be in a bigger hurry than before to address the problem. The bad news is that he was short on specifics for how his goals should be achieved.
Here’s his big statement: “Today, I am announcing a new national goal: to stop the growth of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2025.”
Now the fact that we’ll be belching out more carbon than you can shake a stick at until then wasn’t apparently a concern for the President.
He also stated, “To reach our 2025 goal, we will need to more rapidly slow the growth of power sector greenhouse gas emissions so that they peak within 10 to 15 years and decline thereafter. By doing so, we will reduce emission levels in the power sector well below where they were projected to be when we first announced our climate strategy in 2002. There are a number of ways to achieve these reductions, but all responsible approaches depend on accelerating the development and deployment of new technologies.”
What are those approaches? What are the new technologies? Not much was offered on that front– but he did encourage us to not give up on nuclear power or coal: “The right way is to promote more emission-free nuclear power and encourage the investments necessary to produce electricity from coal without releasing carbon into the air.”
Read some reactions to the speech from our friends at Grist.org. “Same as it ever was,” pretty much sums it up.
What did you think?
March 31st, 2008
How To Save Money on Gas and Cut Global Warming
As gas prices near $4 per gallon and artic ice shelves plunge into the ocean, there has never been a better time to save gas and help reduce your contribution to global warming. And hey, saving up to $100 per month doesn’t hurt either, eh?
There are many easy ways you can reduce your gas consumption, keep cash in your pocket, and be a better steward of the environment.
+ Use public transportation. Ride the bus, take the metro, ride your bike. Or, gasp!– walk.
+ Carpool. There is even a site that helps you find people to share with– eRideShare.com.
+ Telecommute. Could you work from home today? Got lots of emails and conference calls– consider doing them from home.
+ Combine errands and walk between stops. Can you go to the grocery store and the post office in one trip rather than two? Can you walk from the drug store to the tailor without re-parking?
+ Slow it down there, pardner. If you are driving, remember the faster you go the faster you burn fuel. And rapid acceleration is a big gas-burner too. Use cruise control when you can on the highway. Slow and steady wins the race.
+ Keep your tires well-inflated. Inflated tires help you get better gas mileage. It’s good to check your tires at least once per month.
+ Keep it light. Remove any un-needed weight from the car. Your fuel efficiency is highest when your vehicle is light and aerodynamic. Thus also remove any car racks you’re not using as they create drag.
+ Keep your car tuned up and change your air filter frequently.
+ Try to park in the shade. Gasoline evaporates out of your tank, and sitting in the hot sun speeds up that process. Parking in the shade also keeps it cooler inside, and you will need less A/C to cool off when you get back in.
+ If you’re in the market for car, please consider getting a low- or no-emissions vehicle. A hybrid can be a good option, or you can get a diesel and then use biodiesel fuel. To learn more about hybrids, click here. To learn more about biodiesel, click here.
+ Or what about a motorcycle or a scooter instead of a car? These two-wheel options are much cheaper than cars and they often get 70 mpg or better. You’ll save a ton of money over a car! Check out some cool motos and scooters here.
March 29th, 2008
Top 10 Surprising Results of Global Warming
We would like to tip our hats to LiveScience.com and share with you their very interesting feature on the Top 10 Surprising Results of Global Warming. Check it out!
As they say, “Earth’s changing climate is already wreaking havoc in some very weird ways. So gird yourself for such strange effects as savage wildfires, 25-mile long icebergs, disappearing lakes, freak allergies, and the threat of long-gone diseases re-emerging.”
To learn more about the causes of global warming and what YOU can do to fight it by taking action in your life, please click here.
March 21st, 2008
Is a Synthetic Lawn Right for You?
Many of you have contacted us wanting to learn more about synthetic lawn options. As you know, encouraging people to save water in their homes is a big part of our mission here at Low Impact Living. Americans use an estimated 26 billion gallons of water per day, and roughly 30% of that (8 billion gallons/day) goes to water our lawns and gardens. That means the average home uses over 35,000 gallons per year to water their lawn, and for suburban homes it’s about 10,000 gallons more than that! So the idea of a lawn that requires no water is very appealing to us.
However, we must say we are conflicted about the use of fake grass because it is made from plastics. As you know, plastic comes from petroleum, which is a non-renewable, scarce resource. So the fake grass decision comes down to sorting between the two evils– using more plastic (fake grass) vs. using more water (real grass).
We come down on the side of saving water in this case. If you live in an area where fresh water is very scarce (e.g., the Southwest, the Southeast), and you have the money to get a synthetic lawn, go for it. Saving the water is more important than saving the plastic. (And as global warming increases, the regions of the US affected by drought will only grow!) If you live in these areas and do NOT have the money for a fake lawn, we encourage you to pull up your water-guzzling grass, compost it, and plant native grasses/plants. These are gorgeous and will save a ton of water. To learn more about the benefits of native landscaping, click here.
How Do I Get a Synthetic Lawn?
The “big daddy” in the fake grass business is SYNLawn. We have touched and walked on the SYNLawn grass and we must admit it’s pretty impressive. It feels good even on bare feet. You could imagine laying on it and playing with your dog (dog not included with purchase). SYNLawn materials start at $2.50 per sq. foot, and go as high as $6.90 per sq. foot. For a fully installed lawn it’s $6 to $11 per square foot. So you’re looking at $12,000-$22,000 for a normal 2,000 square foot back yard. It’s certainly not cheap, but remember– no water bills, no mowing, no fertilizer. They say the yard will last 10-15 years.
I asked one of SYNLawn’s regional leaders, Dwayne Ruth, why they can’t make the grass out of recycled plastics. He said at this time they cannot make the grass durable, recycled and reasonably priced– but that they are always looking at new materials and processes that will allow them to up the “green quotient” of their products. They also offer a cushy under-layment called “green foam” that you can put under the grass to make it extra safe for kids who like to fall down (and what kid doesn’t?). This foam is actually made from 98% recycled material.
Another company on the market, Green Grass Forever, is doing some beautiful synthetic lawn work. They are based in Los Angeles, but can do projects anywhere in the country. They have two types of grass– one called Nico Green (darker) and Jackie Two-Tone (lighter and definitely wins the award for best name!). They will come to your home, pull out your existing lawn, level the area, put down a composite stone mixture (critical for drainage!), and lay the faux turf. Then they spike it to hold it down and lay “crumb” or infill, which is made from recycled rubber. This infill settles into the grass, helping to hold it steady, but it also makes a nice flexible bottom that is great for kids knees and doggy rumps. Green Grass Forever charges $8.50/square foot all in– including materials and installation. So for a 2,000 square foot lawn it will run you $17,000. But Joe Cortese, the CEO, says that the costs of a natural grass lawn for water, fertilizer, re-sodding, and other maintenance will cost you more over a 10 year period. I’m not sure it’s a complete wash on the money–that would depend on where you live and how much you spend now on your grass. But surely you would save quite a bit of money after you installed the synthetic turf. And you’d have the peace of mind of knowing you were saving tens of thousands of gallons of water every year!
Other synthetic lawn companies you may wish to check out:
February 22nd, 2008
Where’s the Thrill in Cheap Shopping?
There was a time, not so long ago, when I would meet my two girlfriends for a fuel injected latte at our favorite chain coffee store for one purpose: to rev up for a super fun, marathon day of Cheap Thrill Shopping. The Thrill came from the Cheap and the Cheap came from those less expensive stores we often referred to as members of The Vortex – stores such as say, Forever 21, The Gap, Old Navy, Target and H & M, where you could expect to spend an hour (or two), trying on hundreds of clothes, ogling the low prices, giving the yay or no way to your friends and walking out of there with two giant bags full of clothes that cost you less than your cable bill.
But things have changed. It’s a new time, a socially and environmentally conscious time. And that’s really good and honestly, what it should be. But the downside is that the Thrill isn’t so thrilling anymore. In the “olden days,” it was easy – just stay away from WalMart and Kathy Lee Gifford and you were good. But my raised consciousness has brought me to a whole new level of awareness that has made it next to impossible to enjoy shopping anymore. Where I used to get excited by a price tag that read $19.95, I now get depressed by a label that reads, “Made In China.” It’s on every item, in almost every store. And now that I think I know what that label really means, I can never again shop with the sort of careless glee I once had.
So what do you do if you are a not-rich-yet, conscious person who cares about the environment and social justice, who loves to shop without breaking the bank but can’t stand feeling like a big ol’ hypocrite?
Research. Or so I thought. But as it turns out, like almost everything in this new world of green and social consciousness, there are so few standards by which to measure who is good and who is not that it makes it next to impossible to find the truth. It’s all a gradation of grey. Some dark grey, some light grey and some darker or lighter than others. After Googling myself to death, it became clear to me that I couldn’t find out all the information I was seeking from one angle and maybe I had to broaden my approach by looking at it a couple of different ways. The first one being…
Who’s been nailed.
It appears that of the larger, chain companies, the ones who have been “outed” in the past five years for social or environmental violations have better than average standard practices at this point. Take Nike for example. After facing constant accusations regarding human rights and conditions for workers in developing countries, Nike now has a well developed focus for its corporate responsibility on improving conditions in contracted factories, aiming for carbon neutrality and making sports available to young people (girls in particular) across the world. In other words, they got in trouble so they got their act together. And, if the company continues to be successful, they will continue to be a target and will most like have to continue to work hard to be a positive example of how business should be done.
So here’s the skinny on some of my old faves.
The Gap Inc. (Includes Baby Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic)
+ 2003 – The Gap Inc. was involved in a class action lawsuit filed by sweatshop workers in
Saipan. The allegations included workers not being paid for overtime, unsafe conditions, and forced abortion policies.
+ 2007 – Gap Inc. is evaluated as one of the 100 “Most Ethical Companies” by Ethisphere Magazine, a leading, world wide publication that studies the ethical business practices of global companies. Gap was also ranked 25th by CRO Magazine on it’s “100 Best Corporate Citizens” list.
+ Then, on October 28, 2007, BBC outs a Gap factory in
India, airing video of children working in one of their factories. Gap denies knowledge of this violation and vows to investigate and stop such practices.
You can bet they are probably more aware and behaving better than ever at this point.
Forever 21
+ 2001 – Factory workers called for a store boycott until working conditions and payroll are improved. Forever 21 agrees to pay back wages and the lawsuit was dropped.
+ 2004 – Forever 21 agrees to cease selling clothes featuring animal fur after being targeted by PETA.
+ On-Going - High profile designers file lawsuits against Forever 21 for ripping off designs. Designers include: Diane von Fürstenburg, Gwen Stefani, Anna Sui and most recently, Anthropology.
+ December 2004 – The Garment Workers Center, Sweatshop Watch and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center reach an agreement with Forever 21 on behalf of garment workers. All remain committed to ensuring that the clothing Forever 21 sells in its stores is made under lawful conditions.
So while it appears Forever 21 may have reached acceptable levels of social consciousness and they do manufacture a portion of their clothing in Los Angeles, they are infamous design thieves and a big question mark when it comes to their environmental practices.
Target Corporation
Okay, some have been nailed and learned from their mistakes and some have not and look pretty good but the details are fuzzy and hard to pin down. Welcome to Target. In April of 2000, Target received the Minnesota Environmental Initiative Award for it’s environmental program. The store has since gained notoriety for extensive community outreach and charitable giving and states impressive social and environmental principles on it’s website. However, there is little previous info available for consumers to evaluate the company’s progress or effectiveness in these areas And let’s face it, any store that takes up that much space can’t be all that great for the environment. Yet, overall, it seems the cuter, cleaner version of WalMart isn’t as bad as we thought it might be and in fact, has signed an agreement with National Retail Federation’s “Statement of Principles on Supplier Legal Compliance,” (translation: commitment to high ethical standards and has stated that they will continue providing environmentally friendly goods that meet customers needs. I recently bought pajama bottoms there and found, when I got home, that they were made from organic cotton!
H & M
Okay, here we go, we have a winner!!! It seems that the Swedish based company has a long history of positive social and environmental practices. Yay! H & M’s Code of Conduct states, “…it’s suppliers must comply with all relevant environmental legislation. In practice, the requirements cover the handling of chemicals, waste management and waste-water treatment.” In January of 2008, an international branding and business think-tank, The Medinge Group, released its fifth annual Brands with a Conscience list and H & M is in the top eight. The goal of the organization is to show that it is possible for very successful, high profile brands to practice business in sustainable, socially responsible and humanistic ways while continuing to build profits. Not for nothing but skincare giant Aveda also made this list. H & M has also started selling a few organic cotton items for men and women so there’s hope in that department too. The worst thing I could find on H & M was a resistance to their US, in-store workers all forming a union but they are apparently open to talking about it.
SO WHAT’S THE VERDICT?
Things are getting better but they’re certainly not even close to perfect. The best choice is still clothing made by local manufacturers in organic or sustainable materials. And there are hundreds of green clothing manufacturers now in this exploding field, many of them you can find right here in our green clothing section. And for those who still need to get their shopping thrills from finding a bargain, there’s always vintage! Just think how much amazing pre-loved fashion there is out there, just waiting for you! Read our earlier piece on finding vintage and used clothing near you so you can get the deal of a lifetime and still feel great about yourself!
January 9th, 2008
What is the Smell of Clean?
Cloud Conrad of Maid Brigade, a green home cleaning service, has written an excellent piece on healthy home cleaning. We wanted to share it with you.
*****
Ever since the advent of manufactured cleaning products, consumers have equated the smell of their cleaning products with their efficacy. In fact, consumer focus groups conducted by The Haystack Group identified smell as an important criteria cleaning service customers use in evaluating the quality of the cleaning. We have confidence that our homes are clean and germ-free because we can smell bleach, ammonia or fragrance additives in other cleaning chemicals and rest assured that we are doing something positive for our families’ health.
The irony is that these products commonly contain ingredients which can actually be harmful to our health, right down to the fragrances! One in five people experiences health problems when exposed to fragrances, whether in perfumes, air fresheners or other household consumables such as laundry detergent and deodorant. Fragrances in these products can trigger asthma and allergy attacks or worse. Most fragrance chemicals are respiratory irritants that trigger and compound asthma, allergies, sinus problems and worse.
The ingredients in several top household brands of air fresheners include certain Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCS), chemicals that keep the fragrance molecules airborne so the fragrances linger longer. According to the EPA, VOCs are emitted as gases and include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects. These VOCs commonly include propane, butane, ethanol, and/or phthalates. Propane is a suspected neurotoxin and respiratory toxin. Butane is a neurotoxin. Ethanol is suspected of several human health hazards, including carcinogen, developmental toxin, endocrine toxin, liver toxin, neurotoxin, reproductive toxin and more.
The potential health hazards associated with air fresheners in particular is not limited to certain VOCs. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) studied 14 of the most popular air freshener brands this past September, finding that 12 contained phthalates, chemicals known to cause hormonal abnormalities, thyroid disorders, birth defects and reproductive problems and possibly cause cancer. The NRDC maintains that there is a lack of regulatory testing for household products prior to bringing them to the consumer market place. Although the Federal Hazardous Substances Act requires cautionary labels for hazardous household products, manufacturers are not required to list all ingredients. The ingredients in household cleaners are considered proprietary information, or trade secrets, and as such the government does not require their disclosure at this time.
As consumers, the only way we can be sure we are protecting our families’ health is to refer to the Material Safety Data Sheets for the air fresheners we purchase. The MSDS sheets reveal the active ingredients in each product. There are many convenient online resources for MSDS sheets. One that does not require user registration to access the data is the Food Services of America’s MSDS database: http://www.fsafood.com/msds. Once the ingredients can be identified, consumers can consult www.scorecard.org, an online resource for identifying environmental and health polluting substances, to learn what health risks may be associated with those chemicals.
From a green standpoint, however, virtually all commercial air fresheners contain VOCs. Green Seal, an independent non-profit organization dedicated to safeguarding the environment, requires cleaning products to emit low VOCs in order to earn the Green Seal certification for environmentally preferable products.
Medical evidence shows that these chemicals have a cumulative effect in the body and are difficult to purge. In other words, even though the scent actually dies from the air, what has been ingested through the lungs or skin remains in the body. Exposure to fragrance chemicals adds to the “total body load” of synthetic chemicals, which can greatly increase the chance of developing health problems. Continual exposure to these common, low-level chemicals can cause an initial reaction and then a spreading effect where one then reacts to many other kinds of chemicals also present in the body.
Consumers who are interested in providing the healthiest home for their families may eventually forsake air fresheners and other scented household products that previously signaled a clean home. A healthy home should smell like nothing at all. ***
Find healthy, green home cleaning services in your area by clicking here.
