Sophia Dembling

We were recently introduced to Sophia Dembling on Facebook. Sophia is a writer on The Huffington Post, among other venues; she also blogs at Flyover America and at her own eponymous site. We asked Sophia to please take the Practically Green Quiz, and she did:

Took your quiz–it’s fun and a great idea with lots of useful information, though I ended up feeling kinda bad ’cause I’m a 1 but can’t afford to do a lot of the things that would green us up. (Replace appliances? Nope. Upgrade toilet? Nope. Faucets? Nope. Windows? Nope…)

She gave us lots of helpful suggestions, and we’re working on them as we speak. Sophia pointed out that it’s difficult to be environmentally friendly when you live in Dallas, Texas:

We do have some recycling. But we also have pollution. We live in our cars. I have a supermarket within walking distance, but the sidewalks aren’t decent. It wouldn’t take much for a car to hit a pedestrian.

For mass transit, we have light rail, but it’s really geared to the commuters. I can take it into town, but then I’m stuck if I want to go someplace that’s not walking distance.

Busses run regularly at rush hour but not in the middle of the day. It’s not like New York where you can get where ever you want, whenever you want.

Light rail has been successful here beyond their wildest dreams, but it’s not adequate to give up cars.

Sophia grew up in Manhattan, and last year she and her brother had to clean out her parents’ apartment. This prompted an article about Stuff, which is a favorite subject at Practically Green: we have zillions of actions on it, from Green my take-out one night to Switch to cloth napkins for a week. Sophia has graciously allowed us to reprint an excerpt from “The Burden of Stuff” here. Enjoy.

The apartment

I am recently home from three weeks in New York City sorting through my late parents’ possessions with my brother.

Wow. I have something to say to all you parents out there: If you have a lot of stuff, as a loving gesture to your children, get rid of some, OK? My parents had a lot of cool stuff but they also had a lot of junk. A lot. See the photo? Multiply it by an eight-room apartment. Where they lived for nearly 45 years.

Books. Books. Books. My dad loved books. “Dark brown books,” my mother called them. Hundreds of them. Some might have been valuable if they had been cared for, but they spent their lives in steam heat, drying out. When I visited last year, Dad gave me a book I’d wanted to read, but when I opened it on the airplane home, it crumbled to dust in my hands.

I know that people who love books love having lots of them. “Too many books? No such thing!” I understand the wealthy feeling a full bookshelf inspires. But friends, hear me now: There is such thing as too many books. Really. They are bulky and heavy and nobody really wants most of them. No, not even libraries. Not if they’re old, brittle, out of date. Sure, I took a few of Dad’s books. Not many, though. Just a few. We threw a lot away. We’re not sure what to do with the hundreds remaining. We organized one roomful, more or less, and then grew exhausted and left the rest, and further decisions, for another day….

I am having nine cartons of stuff and several pieces of furniture shipped home and the apartment is still crammed. I barely made a dent.

Back home, my attitude towards my own stuff has changed. I’m not half the pack rat Dad was, but I still have shoes in my closet that are never worn but with sentimental value, a file drawer full of aborted creative endeavors, bric-a-brac kept for no particular reason. I brought two cartons of books to the library yesterday. I have put some clothing on e-bay. I’m just getting started.

For the full story, please click here. Follow Sophia on Twitter @sophiadembling.

We agree that composting is a win-win: good for our garden soil and its produce, good for the local landfill. And, if you play the Practically Green game, you get 50 points for composting. What’s not to like?

After all, the EPA estimates that food residuals account for 11.9 percent of the Municipal Solid Waste stream (or 29.2 million tons) and are the single largest component of MSW generated by weight. Staggering! Schools, conferences, prisons, and supermarkets are among the highest offenders. We don’t want to contribute our leavings to that disgraceful tally. But when Jack objected to my use of BioBags, an ingenious invention that keeps my sleek kitchen compost crock from becoming an oozing stinking slop pail on our kitchen counter, I had to investigate.

Compost crock with BioBag

Gorgeous clean compost crock

I called the customer service at Gardener’s Supply, where I purchased the Bio Bags. In seconds I was on the phone with Janet. I explained the situation as best I could:

My job is to collect the kitchen scraps; Jack’s job is to take them outside to the compost bin. I like to use bio bags, because they cut down on smell and mess. He thinks an unlined container is better. He says his mom never used a bag; he says the bags don’t break down; blah blah; he says the ones he threw into the compost bin five months ago are still sitting there. Shouldn’t they have decomposed by now, he asks me. And, even if they did decompose, Janet, he suspects these bags might be made of plastic that’s harmful to our soil and thus to our future vegetable garden and us. Is it? Could he be right? He thinks we should stop using the bags and go back to the old way: throw scraps into the compost crock and empty it when it’s full, smelly, and/or breeding fruit-flies.

“I really don’t want to go back to the old way, Janet. Can you please settle this?”

“I really don’t want to get in the middle of it,” she replied calmly, but I’ll try to help.”

I could hear gentle tapping on her keyboard at the other end of the phone: “Yes, as I thought: the bags are made of 100% biodegradable cornstarch. They’re totally fine for your garden. But the bags are apparently not breaking down fast enough. You may need to consider the heat in your compost. The more heat and moisture you have in the compost bin, the sooner the bag will break away,” she said.

“Heat?”

“What’s your mix of browns and greens?”  she asked me.

“Huh?”

Janet directed me to “All About Composting,” a superb rundown of how compost happens, including a primer on browns and greens.

From How Compost Happens:

Organic matter is transformed into compost through the work of microorganisms, soil fauna, enzymes and fungi. When making compost, your job is to provide the best possible environment for these beneficial organisms to do their work. If you do so, the decomposition process works very rapidly—sometimes in as little as two weeks! If you don’t provide the optimum environment, decomposition will still happen, but it may take from several months to several years. The trick to making an abundance of compost in a short time is to balance the following four things:

Carbon. Carbon-rich materials are the energy food for microorganisms. You can identify high-carbon plant materials because they are dry, tough, or fibrous, and tan or brown in color. Examples are dry leaves, straw, rotted hay, sawdust, shredded paper, and cornstalks.

Nitrogen. High-nitrogen materials provide the protein-rich components that microorganisms require to grow and multiply. Freshly pulled weeds, fresh grass clippings, over-ripe fruits and vegetables, kitchen scraps and other moist green matter are the sorts of nitrogen-rich materials you’ll probably have on hand. Other high-protein organic matter includes kelp meal, seaweed, manure and animal by-products like blood or bone meal.

Water. Moisture is very important for the composting process. But too much moisture will drown the microorganisms, and too little will dehydrate them. A general rule of thumb is to keep the material in your compost pile as moist as a well-wrung sponge. If you need to add water (unchlorinated is best), insert your garden hose into the middle of the pile in several places, or sprinkle the pile with water next time you turn it. Using an enclosed container or covering your pile with a tarp will make it easier to maintain the right moisture level.

Oxygen. To do their work most efficiently, microorganisms require a lot of oxygen. When your pile is first assembled, there will probably be plenty of air between the layers of materials. But as the microorganisms begin to work, they will start consuming oxygen. Unless you turn or in some way aerate your compost pile, they will run out of oxygen and become sluggish.

Bottom line: Jack and I will be tending our compost better now. Best of all, the bio bags are safe for the time-being.

The best source of information about compost? Easy: any active gardener will have strong opinions on the subject. You can get major points for composting at Practically Green. And, you might want to curl up with one of these books. Especially, this little brief from one of our favorite gardeners, Eliot Coleman.

Let it Rot! Storey Publishing

Starter Vegetable Gardens has lots of compost info

I was selling real estate at the time. As I talked to my clients about nuts-and-bolts stuff like getting an energy audit and insulating the attic and the basement, I saw they wanted to do these things because they’re money-saving, but they didn’t know where to begin. There aren’t a lot of easy resources for information on how to do it. I realized it didn’t have to be so hard.

As Elmhurst’s first EcoBroker Certified sales agent, she’s “working on a shift from green real estate to green real-estate consulting. My niche is around home retrofit. I found I really wasn’t touching enough families in the one-to-one real estate approach. I’m putting the pieces in place and working it out so my children (4 & 6) don’t notice the shift, and I hope to launch officially in the fall.”

She’s already developed two programs for buyers and sellers: Ready, Set, Green Homes(SM) and the 5×10 Project Challenge:

I created The 5×10 Challenge to help any homeowner take five smart steps towards energy efficiency before the end of 2010.  I recommend a project budget of $5000 because it earns the maximum tax credit of $1500, so the project really only costs you $3500.

My niche is around the boring side of energy efficiency. That is what I call it. I have no problems if you want new windows, geo-thermal, solar, etc. But you have to do your homework first: get an audit, air seal, insulate, etc. It is expensive (even with tax break), so it’s not realistic for everyone. But if you can cut your energy bills by 20-30% by doing 5×10 you can stop there for now and feel great about the green you did do, instead of not doing anything because you don’t have the funds to do geo-thermal.

“I’m Impressively green on the Practically Green Quiz,” she told us. “Our remodel was very green, but it was insightful to see how much better we can do on daily purchases. To be honest, I’m always rushing at the store and never really thought about how easy recycled tissue, etc. would be.  So we’re one step greener now thanks to your site!”

Another fact about Laura: Ray hates air conditioning. Especially, he hates to sleep in it. Even in torrid conditions. “We definitely use the air but when we’ve tried everything else. When it is humid and above 83 or so we will turn on for the day. On some days we run only overnight if temps are not going to drop.” In the interest of a happy marriage, she recently investigated alternatives to not turning on the AC. Here’s an excerpt from the article she posted earlier this week:

The Spin on Fans

Temperatures are heating up for the next week.  With warm days and cool nights, the end of summer in Chicago is a unique opportunity to virtually eliminate your need for air conditioning – and it is easier than you may think!  I think being green is all about doing the most with the least. “Fan Season” (late spring and late summer) is an ideal time to do more with less!

All you need is a couple of fans and a quick check of the weather. My list below will tell you when to use which fan to slash your AC use.

Fan Options:

Ceiling fans - Consumer Reports found good options around $50-250.

1 window fan per bedroom – Window fans like this one recommended on Amazon run about $40 each.    Window fans can pay back in a season!

Fan unit on your AC equipment.

Paying a wee bit of attention to your local weather is key to getting the most out of your fans. Go to http://www.weather.com/, enter your zip code and hit “find weather,” then select the “hourly” forecast. Get a general idea of:

Local humidity

When night-time temperatures will start to drop and how low they will go.

If the winds are going to be breezy or calm.

Don’t forget to factor in neighborhood considerations. Open windows are not good for allergy sufferers or light sleepers!  Be sure to consider allergy levels and sound issues before switching over to fans.  Oh yes, and don’t forget to consider local wildlife too.  Skunk mating season does not work well for using fans, and you could end up discovering a family of sparrows at 4 am that you didn’t know were your neighbors!  If sound is an issue overnight, consider using fans with open windows at dusk and running on high for a few hours to cool the room completely.  Then shut the windows before you go to bed.

Excerpted with permission from Not Yet Green: Solutions for the Not YET Green Home. Click here for the rest of the story.

“Inspires awe”

That’s what The New York Times said about The Daily Grommet earlier this month.

Their goal is to promote innovation by endorsing what they call “nice companies,” ones with well-made products and impeccable service. If those products preserve a craft or protect the environment, they say, all the better.

Daily Grommet CEO Jules Pieri with New York Times article

We agree. We think the Daily Grommet is superb: it’s an on-line personal-shopping advisor that arrives via email every day at noon with a cool new product discovery and a snappy video that tells the story behind it. Even if you don’t want it, or don’t need it, you’ll likely be interested in it. No ads, no hype, no registration fee: just the true inspiration as told by inventors and designers. Five days a week.

Discoveries are introduced by Grommet CEO Jules Pieri and/or a member of her team. Here’s a good example: the Ecosystem Life Journal (August 23) presented by Pieri and colleague Jesse Buckley: “This was a story that slowly grabbed me… they’re almost jewel-like….” Jules might as well be handling a Tsarina’s Faberge egg — except that it’s a $15 notebook made entirely of recycled materials. Jesse reveals the innovative clincher: a tracking code on each notebook that shows where it was made and all of the materials that went into it. “Quite revolutionary!” says Jules. “It looks humble, it’s a journal, but it’s really quite heroic to me!”

Washable, insulating lunch totes (8/16 Grommet)

Robe from rural India preserves ancient techniques

There are dozens of recommended actions about reducing, reusing, and recycling at Practically Green: we take Stuff seriously. The Daily Grommet’s approach to appreciating every purchase for its origins, its creators, and its materials strikes us as thoughtful and prescient. So we called Jules to find out more about the underpinnings of The Daily Grommet and why it’s resonating with so many people.

“Today the true story of a person or a product is more knowable, and social media is driving that,” she says. “Facebook, Twitter, eBay, CraigsList — all of these are drivers, making the laws of commerce permeable. My goal is to accelerate that dynamic. I believe that when a business is nimble and flexible, it can solve big problems, such as environmental issues and cultural preservation. I’m passionate about preserving craft and about promoting domestic technological innovation – in the US, yes, but in any country.”

Jules believes that people are increasingly supportive of “little Guy” companies, and she knows that stories make for a meaningful transaction: “… knowing the back story of a product–its invention, or craft, or social benefits, or environmental impact, or technology, makes its experience much richer and even deeply meaningful.”

I had an a-ha moment at Thanksgiving, 2007. Amazon had a surprise release of the Kindle. They had authors and celebrities talking about it, but as real people, in a very low-fi and under-produced way. When Michael Lewis told why he loved the Kindle, I said That’s it, I’m buying one! I had no previous notion of buying that thing — and it was expensive! — but because of the authenticity of the story, I bought one that minute. And then I went to my co-founder Joanne, and I told her we had to have video of the two of us presenting these stories, and later she told me she was thinking, Well, we’ll get over that one. She’ll give up that idea. But it makes such a huge difference when the creators of the products tell the story. They convey their direct personal passion.

Visit The Daily Grommet to sign up and to view video stories organized across themes (e.g. “Grommets for Getting Gussied Up”) in 30 categories, from Art to Wedding/Shower Gifts (here’s “Green/Eco-Living; here’s Kitchen). And look for a new vetting area in October, which Jules announced on her blog this week: “I’m very pleased we are developing a new submission process which will openly publicize the ideas we are seeing. What is now visible only to our team will live in a  public “Citizens’ Gallery” on our site. This change is going to be huge.”

Watch this video to learn more.

Everyone knows what NIMBY means: “Not in My Back Yard” (raised-eyebrow alert). So what’s IOBY? “IN our backyards”! IOBY is a website that connects environmental projects in NYC with people who want to donate to them and volunteer. ioby believes that “environmental knowledge, innovation, action, and service begin and thrive in our backyards.” Here’s a post on Seventh Generation’s blog that tells more. What a terrific idea for a Back to School project!

SF’s list of green vendors now available to you: For the past five years, the city of San Francisco has instituted strict standards regarding the products their municipal departments buy: they have to be truly eco-friendly. What sets SF’s list apart is that they require manufacturers to fork over information that commercial guides aren’t likely to get. See which products made the cut!

Food for thought: put salad bars in schools! Whole Foods is teaming up with chef Ann Cooper to help schools switch from processed foods to fresh, natural ingredients. Their goal is 300 salad bars in schools by January. Click here to donate to Project Salad Bar, or simply visit your local Whole Foods. Get credit for your fresh food efforts at Practically Green.

Multi-Media Pick:

“The Majestic Plastic Bag” California is preparing to vote on the nation’s first state-wide plastic bag ban, and Santa Monica-based nonprofit Heal the Bay, filmed this nature documentary-style “mockumentary” to boost support for the ban. The state senate is expected to vote by the end of August (aka SOON!). While the votes are tallied, enjoy this gut-busting four-minute video.

Get PG points for switching to reusable bags at the grocery store.

New and Cool Pick:

You thought only your faucet had leaks: When you turn your electronics off, they’re not really “off,” they maintain a “trickle” of electricity, otherwise known as an electrical leak. This great article not only tells you how to track your product’s energy consumption, but also reviews lots of products to help you manage this. For example, Belkin’s Conserve AV power strip automatically turns off your DVD player, in home theatre and game systems when you turn your TV off. The Belkin Conserve Insight measures the amount of energy plug-in appliances draw. Get PG points for saving energy here.

Martha's Kitchen at her House

You can prowl the archive for hours or make snappy choices. Recipes are organized by ingredient (from A: Apricots to Y: Yogurt) or theme (B: Breakfast Grains to W: Winter Greens) This week’s theme was tomatoes. Next week: picnics. The following: stir-fry (she just bought a new wok). From the intro to “Recipes for Health”:

The easiest and most pleasurable way to eat well is to cook. Recipes for Health offers recipes with an eye towards empowering you to cook healthy meals every day. Produce, seasonal and locally grown when possible, and a well-stocked pantry are the linchpins of a good diet, and accordingly, each week’s recipes will revolve around a particular type of produce or a pantry item. This is food that is vibrant and light, full of nutrients but by no means ascetic, fun to cook and a pleasure to eat.

Martha is a prolific author, including co-author gigs with Wolfgang Puck and Dr. Dean Ornish; she’s given classes all over; she’s great on TV; and she co-founded the professional foodie site Zester Daily. Her newest cookbook, The Very Best Of Recipes for Health, comes out this week. In short, she’s a rock star.

It fits that she has a busy cooking school – in LA. I’m scheming to attend…. It was a treat to have a conversation with her recently — about her column, her life, and Practically Green.

The Times column began exactly two years ago. I want the column to demystify healthy eating and empower people to cook, prepare their own food from fresh ingredients, as opposed to eating out or bringing in. The country has gone astray because we aren’t in control of what we eat! If you have an egg and a vegetable, you can make a meal. The recipes are very simple.

Which recipes have been most popular?

One is the Spicy Quinoa Salad. People seem to really love quinoa. It’s fantastic! The week that Obama was elected, that recipe was #3 on the most emailed list of all of The New York Times! Another recipe people really love is anything with beets. It’s always fascinating to me, but any recipe with beets is popular. [Note: I found 14 recipes for beets.] Sometimes recipes get REdiscovered, and I don’t really know how! One of those is one of the first recipes I did, for oriechetti, tomatoes, arugula and parmesan. It’s just a really great summer recipe.

Spicy Quinoa Salad

I took the Practically Green test and I got a 6 out of 10, and part of that’s because I have a landlord. I don’t know what kind of a dishwasher I have, but I do know that the fridge is Energy Star, because I bought it myself. I composted until my landlord freaked out; he thought it was attracting rats. [Sigh/humph.] I have a garden, and everything about it is organic. And I still compost because we have green baskets in LA – LA’s bureau of sanitation has a great recycling program. If you enter “green bin” in the search box on that link, you’ll get a pdf with the 3 different bins and what you can put in them, including a green one for compost. We put kitchen scraps into the bin that’s there with all the rest on the curb and it’s picked up!

I have a twelve year old. His generation is much more aware. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to eat crap if he gets a chance – he’s a healthy twelve year old. If he’s taking a long shower and I say, “Liam, you’re taking a long shower, it’s time to get out!” nothing happens. But if I go in there and say, “You’re really wasting shower water, Liam,” He’ll get out. They are getting the message.

Aren’t you a little bit hungry now? Motivated? Visit Practically Green for dozens of ways you can make healthy, eco-friendly decisions in your kitchen and at meal-time! Maybe you’d like to start with these three:

• Shop at a Farmer’s Market Each Week in Season (10 points)
• Buy Cereal Without Artificial Colors or Flavors This Week (5 points)
• Eat Meat Only on Weekends (Whoa! 100 points!)

Martha’s website: www.martha-rose-shulman.com Join her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @MarthaRShulman

We’re all about helping to demystify what makes a green building product green and what doesn’t…. I decided it was time to start a blog dedicated entirely to green building materials available in the greater Toronto area, so here it is!

Cathy lives in center-city Toronto “within walking distance to the subway, shops, movie theatres, bookstores, and five (5) authentic French patisseries. Our new location has cut our driving miles in half annually and my teenage boys know the subway system by heart.” Her favorite green product is Concrobium, a mold-control substance. She rhapsodized about it here.

My greenness is of the practical, almost armchair kind. If it’s easy to do and within my price range, I’ll do it. Conservation in particular is one of the rules I live by — it’s probably why our house looks so dark at night! I’m not one to easily part with my money, so a green product has to be something that actually makes sense before I’ll consider buying it…. We don’t live a green lifestyle: we’re not vegetarians, we drive two cars (one is a mini van, the other a Jetta Diesel) and we have three kids — all pretty much environmental no-nos. I am a walking contradiction — like most humans.

Cathy Rust and her family

Cathy discovered Practically Green a few months ago, and she blogged about it this week:

When you first use Practically Green you can take a quiz to find out just how green you really are. It’s a way to see what you’re already doing and what steps you can take to lighten your CO2 load. Unlike other online “green lifestyle” quizzes I’ve taken, this one is quick but accurate. For the most part, when I’ve taken other quizzes, the quick ones are incredibly inaccurate while the detailed ones have you pulling out a year’s worth of utility bills for measurement. Practically Green has done a lot of thorough research behind their quiz, so if it seems simple, it is, but the results are sophisticated. The quiz focuses on your current lifestyle behaviour. Once you’ve completed the quiz you’re given a rating from “Barely Green” all the way up to “Superbly Green.” I hate to brag, but I’m, ahem, “Impressively Green,” second highest level. The quiz gives you points in four categories: Water Use, Energy, Health and Stuff. These are great categories because they basically cover everything from the kind of materials you shop for and put in your home, to what you eat, what kind of transportation to use. Your initial score serves as your benchmark. My worst marks were in water efficiency, something I’ll have to investigate further because I thought I was actually doing well in that area — I see aerators in my future!

Achieving the next level of “greenness.” Once you’ve figured out your starting point, the site offers endless ways for you to advance to the next level of “greenness.” It also gives you the opportunity to commit to different actions and you’re awarded a different number of points depending on the action taken (ie. “carpooling” gets way more points than “using cold water for laundry” which also acknowledges the increased effort level and benefits).

Each time you log in and go to your account you see how you’re doing. You can also share your efforts with your friends and invite them to join in. Doing something in a group can further help you achieve your goals. Practically Green also shows you how you’re doing in comparison to other Practically Green participants. If you’re competitive, this is a great way to push you to do better.

The detailed explanations as to why you should take a particular action are also helpful and all of the information on the site is backed up with authoritative data and more resources if you’re interested in learning more about a subject.

Finally, once you’ve committed to taking a particular green action, the site offers suggestions for the materials you can use and, if possible, where they’re available. Practically Green is still in its early stages so give it a try! They’re always looking for feedback to continually improve the site.

Last year, Cathy earned a LEED AP (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). She holds a B.Sc. in Biology (specialist, Human Genetics) from McGill University, and an M.A. in Political Science and Environmental Studies from the University of Toronto. Before becoming a mom, she worked as an environmental consultant, in the 90s, “which was pretty much like talking to a brick wall.”  You can find her at http://becgreen.ca

“I’m a working mom taking a stand against yucky stuff in my food, cosmetics, etc. and gradually turning my family towards more eco-friendly, natural choices. I’m learning, so this is about our journey towards going green. There may be a few stumbles so hopefully you can laugh with me not at me!”

With that, Shannon Hoffman Hinderberger burst into the blogosphere on Working Mom Goes Green. She wrote about Practically Green earlier this month, and subsequently posted on adding “10 points to my Practically Green profile by drinking locally brewed beer.” Of course, we wanted to know her story!

Shannon grew up in Nebraska, where her “mom fed us as best she could….   on corn-fed beef, Kool-aid and Velveeta cheese.” She describes her green journey as a series of steps over several years:

Let’s just say I discovered veggies when I arrived in Bend, Oregon, seven years ago. I started getting Martha’s Stewart’s little magazine Everyday Food. There’s a website [and an iphone app], too. I use that as my bible.

Oregon is green, recycling is a big deal, and they rolled out these comingle bins at the same time we bought a house, four years ago. That was the next step. Then I got pregnant. I started to watch what I was eating. I was trying to eat more organic food. Then my son came. [Huge sigh] I had big aspirations. I wanted to breastfeed, use cloth diapers, make my own baby food. I went back to work and everything fell by the wayside. The day-care woman wouldn’t do cloth diapers. There was only one person in town who would, and she was booked.

Hubby's shaving-cream label

Anyhow, I started to look at the labels on household products, food, baby products. One day I picked up my husband’s shaving cream and I read the label. I told him, There’s propane in this! He said, I don’t want to put that on my face any more! I thought, I have to do something: I’m going to blog about this.

Sound bites from a few recent posts:

If you don’t have any idea what to do with a certain veggie, ask your friends. I often use Facebook to poll my friends on what to do. You’ll get some amazing results from folks that have tried the veggies.

Announcing her Summer Hair "No-product, No-blowdry" Challenge

I’m not going to hide it. I like Wal-Mart. And I like Wal-Mart even more now that they’ve partnered with Seventh Generation….

If you could only keep 100 items? What would they be? I think this would be easy to do if children weren’t involved. My son alone has more than 100 pieces to his Thomas the Train set!

Son Ben at age Two

Shannon has joined Practically Green’s Motherboard. We hope you’ve enjoyed meeting her as much as we have!

Find her on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/shanlee?ref=ts

Twitter @shanlee

email her: Shannon@workingmomgoesgreen.com

Subscribe to http://www.workingmomgoesgreen.com/

See all Shannon’s links here: http://flavors.me/shanlee – _

Credit: The Help Company

Today I approached a task that’s familiar to the point of boredom and had one of those Practically Green Startle moments: I realized OMG there is a more eco-friendly way to do this. In “this” case, I was trying to stay ahead of the tsunami of laundry that accumulated at our house during a busy family weekend at the end of summer. I shoved a load into the washing machine as usual and prepared to dial “Heavy Duty,” as I have done for the past umpteen years.

Then I thought, why do that? Why not choose the shortest washing cycle? And, why not use cold water instead of hot? After all, all these towels did was dry the newly clean bodies of my family and guests. There’s no reason why they need to be laundered for 84 minutes (heavy duty) when they can be washed for one-third the amount of time.

How much energy would this save? I went to research it at the Energy Star website. It turns out that with washing machines, the most energy is expended for the drum inside the machine to spin. Thus the longer the washing cycle, the more inefficient it is. If you can get away with the shortest washing cycle on your washing machine, go for it.

Settings on washing machine

My laundry turned out beautifully after 26 minutes in cold water. And I line-dried everything — except for the towels. Towels become crunchy when line-dried. Call it a pet peeve, but I won’t go there. I want my towels to be soft.

Our clothes line: everything but the towels

Here are some of the energy-saving “Best Practice” tips for clothes washers that I found on the Energy Star site. I highly recommend you go there for answers to questions on all your household appliances, including rebate info.

Best Practices

Clothes Washer Tips

Always use HE (High Efficiency) detergent. Front-loading clothes washers are designed to use High Efficiency detergent. Using regular detergent creates too much suds, which will affect the machine’s washing and rinsing performance. Over time, it can lead to odors and mechanical problems.

Fill it up. Clothes washers use about the same amount of energy regardless of the size of the load, so run full loads whenever possible.

Wash in cold water. Water heating consumes about 90% of the energy it takes to operate a clothes washer. Unless you’re dealing with oily stains, washing in cold water will generally do a good job of cleaning. Switching your temperature setting from hot to warm can cut energy use in half. Using the cold cycle reduces energy use even more.

Use a drying rack or hang clothes outside. Where and when possible, air-drying clothes instead of using a dryer not only saves energy, but also helps them last longer.

Avoid the sanitary cycle. This super hot cycle, available on some models, increases energy use significantly. Only use it when absolutely necessary.

Activate the high spin speed option. If your clothes washer has spin options, choose a high spin speed or the extended spin option to reduce the amount of remaining moisture in your clothes after washing. This decreases the amount of time it takes to dry your clothes.

Leave the door open after use. Front-loading washers use airtight seals to prevent water from leaking while the machine is in use. When the machine is not in use, this seal can trap moisture in the machine and lead to mold. Leave the door ajar for an hour or two after use to allow moisture to evaporate. Make sure children do not climb into the machine while the door is open.

Rinse the washer every month. Some manufacturers recommend rinsing the washer each month by running a normal cycle with 1 cup of bleach to help reduce the risk of mold or mildew buildup. Consult the product owner’s manual before attempting.

When you’re ready to upgrade your appliances to Energy Star models (and get tax credits and PG points); or if you’re considering line-drying at your house (exhilarating on a sunny afternoon!), visit Practically Green to get more info, encouragement, product reviews, and points!

Think Green and Young: Children’s clothing and toy store Area Kids has a fabulous collection of eco-friendly duds for your little ones. The store is in Brooklyn, but offers products online. You shouldn’t have to sacrifice the “style” part of your “green lifestyle.”

Calling all Green Entrepreneurs: YouGoods is a design contest that challenges you to submit a product idea that is “practical, unique, and eco-friendly.” Act quickly, submissions are due on the 19th!

Are Chemicals Speeding up Your Daughter’s Childhood? There has been much talk in the news lately about exposure to chemicals such as BPA disrupting girls’ hormones. Hopefully the Safe Chemicals Act and the Toxic Chemicals Safety Act will help to put a stop on this disturbing trend. Click here to get PG points for your chemical free-cleaning.

Mulit-Media Pick:

Save That Stuff can help your business with its recycling needs by providing cost-effective alternatives to traditional waste disposal. See the video below for astonishing visuals of all the waste they recycle! The video is a little long, but everything worth seeing is in the first three minutes. Get PG points for recycling your stuff. Enjoy!

New and Cool Pick:

No more shoving a sponge into your Klean Kanteen: This cool brush made from recyclable materials will save you some serious time and effort. It’s hard to clean sticky drinks out of your eco-friendly reusable water bottle (my water STILL tasted like apple juice for at least three re-fillings), but this nifty brush makes it a breeze. It cleans both the inside and the outside at the same time.

Until now! Our family is undergoing a major construction project, and I’m deep into everything from LED lighting to cellulose insulation. Cell-you-WHAT?! Enter Green Building Advisor to the rescue! This is an amazing resource for homeowners and professional, and if you are considering any of these projects, it’s worth checking out.

We recently caught up with Alex Wilson, GBA’s co-creator and visionary, in the words of U.S. Green Building Council President and CEO Rick Fedrizzi:

“He was paying attention to how the built environment affects people and the planet 30 years ago, and played an instrumental role in the early development of USGBC and LEED both as a hands-on participant and as a respected journalist. When it comes to visionary, Alex is the real deal….”

Alex Wilson

We asked Alex what are the top three things you can do to make your house more energy-efficient. “I only get three?” he said. It turns out he has nine, and he’s just getting warmed up. Here are the top four suggestions for homeowners from one of the most renowned building advisors in the country. (Stay tuned for more in a future installment.)

1) Get an energy audit. Have it done by a weatherization professional. In most states there’s a state energy office that can help you with this, easy to find on the internet. In Vermont, where I live, it’s Efficiency Vermont. The professional will want to dig around a little bit to see where you might improve the envelope. Expect to spend $500 – it’s worth it. Often the local utility will subsidize this and you can hire an energy auditor for free. It’s not uncommon for a house in New England to have leaks that a cat could sneak into. Deal with those first.

2) Replace your incandescent bulbs with CFLs. This is easy to do. Start with the light bulbs that are on six to seven hours a day — in your kitchen, at your desk. You get a rapid payback. LED is a great technology but it’s early for that; it will take a while for it to be affordable.

3) Programmable thermostats are a really easy, cost-effective thing to do that will yield great returns. You get multiple set points during the day, and I recommend resetting the temperature before you got to bed and setting it again for an hour before you wake up. If the home is not going to be used during the day, you have the opportunity to program for that. And, you’ll probably have a different program for the weekend, when you’re there more. Lux Pro is a good brand; Honeywell is the best known.

4) Replace old showerheads. They can deliver 5 gallons per minute (GPM), which is hugely inefficient. You get a very rapid payback with a thirty-dollar water-efficient showerhead that delivers a maximum of 1.6 GPM. I’ve been using the Delta Faucet H20Kinetic. It’s mainly been marketed to commercial buildings – hotels, dorms where they’re looking at the bottom line — but they work great at my house.

H2oKinetic technology

For Alex’s tips on surviving hot weather, see our previous blog post on him. In addition to his Energy Solutions blog, he writes the weekly blog on BuildingGreen.com: Alex’s Cool Product of the Week, which profiles an interesting new green building product each week. He is founder of BuildingGreen, LLC and executive editor of Environmental Building News. He can be found on Twitter @atwilson, and he is the author of Your Green Home.

Annie Leonard

Can I tell you, I love my Pantene Pro V. Of the dozen or so personal care products I use everyday, it’s the one I can’t live without. Says it gives my dull hair “the ultimate cool shine.”  How does it do that?

I was wondering that, while I was lathering it into my hair one day, so I read the ingredients right here: Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Tetrasodium EDTA, Methyl–iso–thiazo–linone… What is this stuff?

I took this list to some scientists who know how to read it. Turns out my Pantene contains a chemical linked to cancer.  And lots of other products in my bathroom from sunscreen to lipstick and even baby shampoo also contain chemicals linked to cancer or other problems like learning disabilities, asthma and even damaged sperm. Like most parents, I try to keep my family safe but now I find out my bathroom is a minefield of toxins. What are we supposed to do?

So begins Annie Leonard’s newest film, The Story of Cosmetics. Like its viral-hit predecessor, The Story of Stuff, it promises to illuminate a few minds – this time on the subject of the need for regulation of the $50 billion beauty industry.

Last week we caught up with Annie Leonard’s collaborator and Berkeley neighbor, Stacy Malkan. She’s the communications leader for the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and the author of Not Just a Pretty Face. Stacy told us more about the film, the passion behind it, the potential for improving the nation’s regulations on the stuff we put on our bodies, hair, and faces – and how she became interested in make-up in the first place.

Stacy Malkan

I grew up in Lynn, Massachusetts, half a mile from the biggest incinerator in the state. I was crazy about make-up. We never thought about chemicals in cosmetics. At the same time, when I got to high school some of the kids in my class were developing health issues. Some of them had cancer. Later, others had infertility problems. But we didn’t talk about it in those days.

When I graduated from college I worked for a newspaper and covered pesticides applied to grass near a bike path that was heavily used by kids and pets. I began to realize the negative health effects of chemicals, and the fact that often we use chemicals without thinking of the consequences.

My next job was with Health Care Without Harm, where I learned about phthalates. Weird word, I know. Scientists have known about problems with testosterone and phthalates for years – hundreds of animal studies have shown defects to the male reproductive system, especially in the womb. Turns out most hospitals were using phthalates in the plastic of IV bags and tubing. It leeches right out of the bag and into the patient. Most hospitals have made progress since then.

In 2000 the CDC conducted a large bio-monitoring study of blood and urine and found phthalates in every single person they tested. Women of childbearing age had the highest incidence? Why? Because they were in cosmetics. We tested a bunch of body-care products at a lab and found phthalates in more than 70% of them, but the chemicals weren’t listed on labels. After that, cosmetics started to be tested for dangerous ingredients. At this time, Jane Houlihan initiated Skin Deep at the Environmental Working Group. This is the best source for cosmetic safety reviews in the world, the largest database of chemicals, in 60,000 products, gathered from the fifty leading government and academic databases in the world.

With the launch of the film on July 21, Congress announced the Safe Cosmetics Act legislation [on July 20]. This is a real chance to overhaul completely outdated regulations that affect so many people. Johnson & Johnson recently celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their famous baby shampoo and they said, ‘We’re using the same chemical formulation we used fifty years ago!’ I saw that and I said, ‘That is not a plus! How many huge scientific discoveries have been made on chemicals in the past half century? Why are we still putting carcinogens into baby shampoo?’

Interested in knowing more? Click here to watch The Story of Cosmetics (free, 7 mins.). Afterwards, you might feel like making a change or two in the personal-care products you and your family use. Practically Green can help you figure it out! You’ll find clear suggestions on what to do and why it’s important, from switching to a safe and effective sunscreen to using all-natural floss – and just about everything in between. We have thirty-three personal-care actions for you to consider – and yes, switching to all-natural baby shampoo is one of them.

At Water Use It Wisely, you can download 100 Ways to Conserve, from

#2: 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 to

#108: When you have ice left in your cup from a take-out restaurant, don’t throw it in the trash, dump it on a plant.

Tip # 15 can be ordered in 22″ x 28″ poster size:

#15: Use a broom instead of a hose to clean your driveway and sidewalk and save water every time.

“We want to promote popular, easily implementable water-saving tips,” Kathleen Orazio explains. “Often this is common sense. We live in the Phoenix area and there are lots of resorts and golf courses. You can imagine how much water they use to keep all that looking good! But here we are in the Sonoran Desert! So we created #15, to sweep your driveway instead of hosing it off. Really, it’s almost just stop and take two seconds to think about it.” Already the cities of Phoenix, Mesa, and Glendale, Arizona, have displayed it at bus stops, kiosks, and office locations.

Ready to make a few smart water-related decisions at your house? You’ll find plenty of great ideas on your personal dashboard at Practically Green. You can find out why installing a low-flow faucet (10 points) is so effective, and how to do it. You can decide to run the washing machine only when you have a full load (20 points). And, yes, you can get points for using a broom instead of a hose to clean the driveway!  Best of all, you’l learn how these simple actions all add up to significant health and savings for you and your family.

Walmart Hybrid Truck

We really started to pay attention when Seventh Generation said they were involved, because they’re one of our favorite companies for everything we use around the house. Monday’s Wall Street Journal had a feature on some of the details, including Seventh Gen’s “dramatic shift in the way we see the world,” as co-founder Jeffrey Hollender puts it. Excerpts follow. Click here for the full story.

For years, Seventh Generation Inc. co-founder Jeffrey Hollender liked to say “hell would freeze over” before his company’s environmentally friendly household products would be sold by Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

He feels differently now. Starting next month, Seventh Generation staples, including laundry detergent, dish soap, all-purpose sprays and disinfectant wipes, will be sold in about 1,500 Wal-Mart stores. By September, other cleaners, diapers and baby wipes will be available on Walmart.com….

Five years ago, the world’s largest retailer by revenue began setting goals to reduce its energy consumption, cut waste and introduce more sustainable products. Last year, Wal-Mart introduced a program to screen chemical-based products for ingredients that could have harmful health or environmental effects. It involved the government representatives and environmental groups like the Environmental Defense Fund in developing the program, which has helped the retailer earn more credit for its initiatives.

“We’re not just putting [Seventh Generation's] products on the shelf,” says Al Dominguez, Wal-Mart’s vice president of household chemicals and paper goods. “We want their help in developing a category that’s more sustainable.”

To be sure, selling green products is also increasingly lucrative. While many shoppers switched to cheaper labels during the recession, sales of household products billed as environmentally friendly have held up relatively well despite their premium prices.

Sales of green household and laundry cleaning products rose to $557 million last year, having more than tripled since 2005, according to estimates from market-research firm Packaged Facts. Green products are still a niche category, however, representing only about 3% of the overall $19.9 billion household cleaners and laundry market.

But all this Practically Green stuff has got me thinking.

Rings in weekly Windex bath

As I poured Windex into their sweet little ring-cleaning dish I thought – for the first time, I’m embarrassed to say — what’s IN that Windex? I inspected the bottle in vain for ingredients. So I went to the Good Guide and looked it up.

Good Guide rating for Windex

That’s 4.5 out of a possible 10: a C. Turns out Windex includes 2-Propanol, which is “known to be neurotoxic” and which “is suspected of causing respiratory toxicity,” among other concerns. Windex also contains Propylene Glycol, which “is suspected of causing immunotoxicity [whatever that might be], skin or sense organ toxicity, and respiratory toxicity.”

NICE.

My first impulse was to empty the bottle down the sink drain ASAP. But then where would it go? Should I flush it down the toilet? Probably not. Maybe dump it on some rocks out back? Wince.

All this thinking began to give me a headache, frankly. So I reached for my trusty Tylenol container, shook out two capsules, opened my mouth to swallow them, raised my water glass, and stopped mid-air, frozen.

What was in that Tylenol? Acetaminophen, of course! But before I could go look that up, what’s that miniscule expiration date say? 04/07! I took aim to pitch the container into the recycling bin. But wait! Where to put the remaining 230 or so capsules?

Tylenol capsules that expired more than three years ago

Knock knock: It was Kevin the electrician! (Did I mention we’re building a house? Kevin’s been working hard this weekend to stay ahead of the insulators.)

Kevin

“Hey, look at this cool iPhone app I just got,” he said. “It shows you the best sunscreens to use, did you know that sunscreen can sometimes have bad things in it?” I’m impressed. Kevin is an intelligent and worldly person, and if he knows about the EWG’s database of safe products, then maybe millions do. That is good news.

Sunday’s New York Times brought me right back down, however. Eric Schlosser (Food, Inc.) explains the in-limbo food-safety bill to prevent poisoning, e.g.: “… the Peanut Corporation of America knew that peanut butter from their filthy, rodent-infested plant was testing positive for salmonella — but shipped it anyway, for months.” Thomas Friedman says “We’re Gonna Be Sorry” to bag the climate-change bill. “We’ve basically decided to keep pumping greenhouse gases into Mother Nature’s operating system and take our chances that the results will be benign….” All this capped a week of extreme climate weirdness: tornadoes in Maine, strong thunderstorms and record heat in the East, heavy flooding in the Midwest, record cold in California, tornadoes and downpours all over.

Dare I connect all of these dots?

To console myself, I limped up the street to my favorite farm stand, where Karla Young can always make sun from gloom.

Karla

We agree that her peaches this year are the best ever – even if they are oddly ahead of schedule. I think I’ll stop worrying and slice into one.

photo

Debbie and her lead-dog Dakar, at eight months, out for a fun run in April

We’re refreshed just thinking about being there!

“I loved the quiz at Practically Green. It encouraged me! Alaskans are behind, you know. Yes, we have some LEED National Park Service buildings, but for most of us, recycling might mean leaving stuff off that would get shipped to Seattle. So that sets you back, you stop doing it. Alaskans face recyclng challenges, due to low volumes and long distances. We are trying hard however! We have changed our habits over the years. We use cloth napkins. And when I took the quiz I thought, I’m not doing that badly! I liked it, and I wouldn’t like it as much if it made me feel guilty.”

Debbie's birthday present: a greenhouse!

“This is a really unlikely place to have a greenhouse. The summers are so short. But the days are so long and the temps so cool, nothing bolts! Right now my greenhouse is a jungle! I don’t have anything that isn’t organic in the greenhouse. I love going out there, cutting some chard and eating it. It makes me really happy.”

Debbie is working on a memoir as part of her work toward an MFA in Creative Writing at the Rainier writing workshop. Here’s a preview, reflections on gardening near the Arctic Circle:

Like many details in our Denali Park home, my greenhouse bears no resemblance to those of my Connecticut childhood. My mother was a horticultural wizard, and although we never had a greenhouse, I often tagged along when she went to visit others’. Those wondrous glass caverns were set on manicured lawns, beneath towering oak and maple trees. A visit inside revealed rows of orchids and lilies, begonias and geraniums, destined for blue ribbons in the upcoming garden shows.

No, my greenhouse would not turn heads in Fairfield County yet I know Mom is smiling down at my little treasure. Hand-built by my husband and son for my 54^th birthday, my greenhouse is tiny – 8’ x 10’ if you stretch the measuring tape. It has a Dutch door to keep out the arctic hares, one window, and a ceiling fan that comes on (a few times a week) when the temperature rises above 75 degrees. It sits fifty yards from our sled-dog team, and as I run to it in the mornings before feeding the dogs, they serenade me with an exuberant “it’s-a-new-day” howl.

The dogs’ home – our home – is located just 200 miles south of the Arctic Circle, in a landscape fiercely bound to winter. Summer is short here – some say you might miss it if you travel out of state for a weekend. Still, the hours of daylight are long, offering the possibility of horticultural miracles. My greenhouse holds the warmth of the midnight sun, and yet stays cool enough for leafy crops to thrive for long weeks at a time. Stir fried greens with eggs and goat cheese for breakfast, basil pesto, butter leaf salads with pea pods and radishes–these are a few of the delights we are enjoying this season. Aware of the recent heat wave in the “lower-48,” last week I walked into my little warm haven, closed my eyes, inhaled and tried to recall summers when this would have felt cold.

Young greens by Debbie

It’s mid-July, and there’s a new chill in the air. The long hours of daylight have peaked, and now a construction heater sits alongside my peas and rainbow chard, set to turn on when the night temperatures drop below forty. I know harvest will take place in the next four to six weeks, but with the trusty heater, my crops just might make it to September 1. There are other things to harvest between now and then. The blueberries along the dog trail are ripening, and they’ll be followed by plentiful low-bush cranberries. By mid-August we’ll be running the dogs daily, then coming in for lunch salads and the traditional blueberry pie. Finally we’ll busily gather what’s left in the greenhouse and preserve what we can for brightening the dark winter nights. I’ll sadly close her up, but not before detailing the drawings for the little addition we’ll add in the spring. Maybe I’ll try some of those geraniums next summer.

Debbie is a Princeton graduate who found her way to Alaska after college and never looked back. She works for Innisbrook, the ubiquitous school fundraising gift-wrap outfit: “Innisbrook is striving to be the greenest it can be….they’ve introduced paperless online ordering, taken tubes out of the inside of the rolls, all of our giftwrap rolls are printed on partially recycled paper, etc., but let’s face it, my friends who are really green wrap their presents in cloth!”

We mentioned the video when it was released, in February, and we still love it and think it deserves a wider viewership. So we caught up with the Program Director at Healthy Child Healthy World, Mandy Geisler.

Mandy Geisler

We created the video internally, as an intro for one of our fundraisers. People really loved it. It’s a great piece to raise more awareness very quickly, in a creative, touching, and also strong way. So we made a website around it to do a bigger push and launch.
We like to offer solutions. We don’t want to scare people, but we do want to educate them on toxins and teach them about the steps they can take that lead to prevention. We have a “5 Easy Steps” program. Manage pests properly, use non-toxic products, clean up indoor air, eat healthy, be wise with plastics. Even if you just take one of those steps you’re doing something great. You can get comfortable with that one and then move on.
One of our best programs is called Healthy Home parties. This year we’re close to sending out 1,500 party kits! People are having parties at their houses to share information and ideas on safe products.

The Healthy Child Healthy World website is a comprehensive resource for further research; e.g., on diseases and conditions (allergies, asthma, autism, cancer among them), chemical profiles from aspartame to xylenes, and relevant legislation such as the Safe Chemicals Act.

Don’t forget to visit Practically Green.com to take the Green Quiz and decide on healthy actions for yourself and your family! Switch to all-natural dish-soap, stop using treated cotton fem-care, wear pure jammies or any of the dozens of other healthy actions on Practically Green, and you’ll get points when you do!

She says, “My life and my work, it’s impossible to separate the two. There’s rampant green washing out there. I drive a minivan, I have three kids. Sometimes I drive five kids to karate after school. I don’t apologize for this. I’ll bike. We grow vegetables in our front yard. I can do certain things.”

We caught up with Lisa recently and she told us the story of how she became eco-aware:

I had my second child, a daughter. She had a problem with her skin. I got advice from my father, who is a physician, and from the pediatrician, and I also went to a dermatologist who gave me some medicine. I tried it, and it worked. I thought, Wait. Here are serious ointments to be putting on this teeny little thing. This can’t be right: I apply toxic ointment and the rash goes away, it all clears up. But when I stop applying it, she breaks out. I began to feel that I was keeping the toxins locked in this little body.

Meanwhile, I was breastfeeding. I made my own organic baby food. It seemed like the intelligent thing to do. I cleaned the kids’ highchairs with Lysol, with these single wipes. I thought this was so smart! Efficient!  But she still wasn’t getting any better.

Lisa describes her a-ha moment:

So now I started to seriously look into what was in these things I was using in the house. I looked at every single product we used. I thought, I’m up for anything for these children, for my family. There was no amount of money, time, or effort I wouldn’t spend. So I took all those chemicals out of my house. My husband thought I was crazy. My father, same thing. But within a week, my daughter’s skin was clearer. I realized that their bathtub was rinsed out with chemicals. Basically I was having them sit in a warm chemical cocktail every night.

It’s amazing, because if I could be making such horrid errors — me, who is an obsessive researcher, whose friends make fun of her for that — then what about everyone else, people who might not have the time or inclination? Here I was freezing breast milk in a bag with BPA in it, and then putting it into a bottle with BPA. If I was making these errors…. So: I stopped everything. I lost a lot of my business and income stream. I was young enough, and on fire enough — on a business level this was not too good, but I couldn’t do things the same way any more. I watched the success of my daughter. My father and the pediatrician said, you can’t argue with success.

I reasoned that there was no down side – I’m saving time, because I can be cleaning the sink and answer the phone without worrying about spilling something dangerous. I’m saving energy. I’m saving my health and my family’s health. Saving our indoor air quality. And I’m saving the planet! This chain of events was so exciting to me!

You can see Lisa’s video bio and follow her on Twitter @lisaborden

We don’t know the answer to that question, yet, but we’re glad that the Environmental Law Foundation is on the job. In case you’re not familiar with the ELF, here’s its mission:

The environment is the place where we live, work and play. Given accurate and complete information, and the opportunity to make a choice, people will choose products or actions which improve or do not degrade the environment. However, not everyone in our society has a choice about the quality of his or her environment. Those who most need the Environmental Law Foundation’s resources are those who lack choice and lack access to the political and economic power that ensures choice.

On July 9, the ELF filed a pre-suit complaint against dozens of fruit-juice and packaged-fruit companies:

“Notices of Violation of California Proposition 65 Toxics Right to Know law, alleging the toxic chemical lead was found in a variety of children’s and baby foods.  The specific food categories included apple juice, grape juice, packaged pears and peaches (including baby food), and fruit cocktail.”

Please scroll to the end for the full list of juices and fruits that didn’t make the grade. The ELF website includes the full story, press release and useful links:

California Department of Health, Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Branch,www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/CLPPB/Pages/FAQ-CLPPB.aspx

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Why not change the blood lead level of concern at this time?” (June 1, 2009), http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/policy/changeBLL.htm

Toxicological Profile for Lead, U.S. Department Of Health And Human Services, Public  Health Service, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 2007, http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp13.htm

We thought the answer to this FAQ would be especially helpful to Practically Green blog readers:

Q. Sometimes my child’s lunch has 3 different items that are from your list!  What should I do?

A. The most important step you can take is to become informed.  Find out about the levels of lead in the fruits, juices and other items your child consumes regularly…. Decide for yourself and your family whether there are more protective alternatives you can choose.  Stay informed and support efforts to clean up our food supply.  And remember, the American Academy of Pediatrics has long recommended placing limits on the amount of juice consumed by children.

The list of the good and the not as good: http://www.envirolaw.org/documents/ProductsTestedforLeadFINAL.pdf

If you have further information or perspective on this, please comment. Thank you.

House built in 1919

Most summer days it’s delightful to be here, with the birds playing happily in the high grasses, and the ocean breezes wafting through the old window frames. The west-facing living room, with its time-worn paneling, glows in the late-afternoon. The setting sun makes the entire room throb with golden light.

It is a bit rundown, but that’s part of the charm. We inherited it recently, from a family who used it as their cottage from Memorial Day to Labor Day. It has no insulation to speak of, no basement, and if you were to mention air conditioning I would have to collapse. During a thunderstorm, the whole place comes to life with rattles, bangs, and leaks. We don’t even have shades on all the windows, that’s how shabby chic we are in this place.

Last week, the house was an inferno. The sun was HOT streaming in through the windows. I got up on a chair and bang bang nailed random odd sheets and pillowcases onto the remaining bare window frames. Yes, the décor now reminds me of a fourth-grade play, but this old house is now many degrees cooler than it used to be. Don’t ask me how much cooler, exactly, we don’t have a thermostat. And I’m busy: I’ve got to go switch the sprinkler again.

The Green Building Advisor’s special on energy savings during hot weather couldn’t be more timely. It’s full of helpful advice, e.g., creative improvisations for shade, guidelines for when to open windows and when to keep them shut, and other simple passive measures for staying comfortable in hot temperatures. This is not stuff they teach you in school, and it’s most welcome.

From Alex Wilson, a leader in the green building space:

“We’re into those hot days of summer–really hot–with temperatures predicted in the mid- to upper-90s, even in Vermont, this week. In this column I’ll provide some simple tips for keeping (reasonably) cool in hot weather or, if you use air conditioning, operating that air conditioning equipment most efficiently.”

Please click here for the full column. Abbreviated version below.

Keep the sun out

Shading windows is the easiest way to keep your house cool or keep your air conditioning bills down.

Keep hot air out

Closing windows on hot days seems counterintuitive to some (don’t we want open windows for breezes?), but it makes sense.

Minimize interior heat loads

Try to avoid generating a lot of heat and humidity in your house in hot weather.

Use a fan to circulate air when you’re in a room

All other things being equal, a breeze will keep you a lot cooler.

Wear lighter clothing

This is common sense, but bears repeating.

Control your air conditioner wisely

To save energy, raise the temperature setting on your air conditioner’s thermostat when you’re not home.

If you’ve already been to Practically Green, you know that many of these practical, energy-saving suggestions are described more fully there. Take the assessment quiz for a personal selection of smart next-steps you can take to be comfortable and energy-efficient in every kind of weather.

Note: GreenBuildingAdvisor.com is an offshoot of the venerable BuildingGreen, LLC, which publishes Environmental Building News. Alex Wilson is a founder of Building Green and the Executive Editor of EBN. You can read his blog, “Alex’s Cool Product of the Week,” follow him on Twitter @atwilson, and consider his book Your Green Home (2008).

Alex Wilson of Green Building, LLC