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.

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.

My husband and I agree on many important issues, but he is deeply, darkly suspicious of my BioBags.

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.

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.

News Picks:

Water Footprint: Find out how much water some of your favorite products use! Did you know that the “Global Water Footprint” for a single apple is about 18 and a half gallons of water? Reduce *your* Water Footprint with these actions.

Fall is coming, is your garden ready? If you’re a gardening newbie and just planted a garden this summer, here are a couple tips to increase your garden’s longevity. The legendary gardening gurus at Rodale have tips on fall garden cleanup that will have you looking like a pro come spring.

The Happy Planet Index: Nic Marks discuses why we should measure success in terms of happiness in this 16-minute TED Talks video, tracking well-being against the amount of resources we use. Though the U.S. does quite well in terms of well-being, it is one of the countries that also uses the most resources. What country should we emulate? You may be surprised!

Multi-Media Pick:

Cafeteria Man: Chef Tony Geraci is on a mission to make-over Baltimore public schools’ cafeteria food. In this 2.5-minute trailer for the movie “Cafeteria Man,” students complain of “mystery meat” and tons of pizza, pizza, pizza. Geraci plans to swap unhealthy mystery food for local produce.

Get PG points for your healthy food actions!

New and Cool Pick:

DIY mini BBQ for Labor Day Weekend: Recycle a container of Altoids Sours into a mini BBQ. All you need besides the tin are some salvaged computer fan guards and a few nuts and bolts. The kids will marvel at making the little cooker, capable of cooking a full sized hot dog or small hamburger patty. The kids will love to use it for some yummy s’mores too! Don’t forget the organic chocolate.

Laura Reedy Stukel lives in Elmhurst, Illinois, a city of 45,000 people 18 miles west of Chicago. Last year, she and her husband Ray rehabbed their 1960s house “around energy efficiency” – lower utility bills and a healthier home were the goals. They performed an energy audit, added insulation and weatherstripping, upgraded their windows, bought energy-efficient appliances, installed water-saving fixtures and programmable thermostats. Her project won the Better Homes and Gardens magazine’s 2009 Home Improvement Challenge. Laura decided to create a business out of the experience:

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.

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!”

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.

News Picks:

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 Rose Shulman’s weekday Food column at NYTimes.com is my equivalent of having a personal chef in my kitchen: here’s someone who realizes how busy I am and how determined I am to serve healthy delicious meals regardless. Someone friendly and inventive, impeccably thoughtful, worldly, always aiming to please and never ever full of herself. Oh, and this personal chef won’t fatten me up: she includes detailed nutritional information at the end of every recipe.

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

Catherine Rust is the Founder of Butterfly Effect Consulting, or BEC Green.

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.

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 – _

News Picks:

A new definition of dumpster diving: For those of you who follow us on Twitter (@practicallygrn), you know that we are just thrilled with this story! A year ago a guerilla design project turned dumpsters into swimming pools in Brooklyn. They were such a hit, more pools popped up this summer, including some on Park Avenue in Manhattan! What a great way to be resourceful and have some summer fun!

Pencils? Check. Paper? Check. Net-zero energy? Check! The first public net-zero energy school will be open for classes at the end of the month. The school was built as a teaching tool for students to learn about energy conservation, solar energy, water conservation, and recycling. Get PG points for saving energy here.

Lounging around: How about a 33 ft. long hammock made of 4,278 feet of rope from recycled bottles! The Boston project was a result of the first-ever $1,000 grant from The Awesome Foundation, and it’s meant to help bring city-dwellers together. What better way to get to know someone than to share a hammock?

Multi-Media Pick:

Green your kitchen: We taught you how to clean your microwave without using any chemicals, now Danny Seo can show you how to clean your coffee-maker, sponges, and garbage disposal as a part of Epicurious’ “Green Kitchen Videos.”

New and Cool Pick:

Oldie but goodie: Ok, so this product is far from new. You’ve likely been using it for decades! However, Crayola recently “plugged in” their solar-powered factory. Crayons will be made with solar power, marker barrels with recycled plastic, and colored pencils with reforested wood.

I’ve been on a basement-cleaning frenzy over the last few weeks, after discovering mold growing on a cardboard box. Molds not only grosses me out, it totally freaks me out for its potential ability to create airborne toxins. It is just about the only thing that could convince me to spend several gorgeous summer weekends in the basement.

My basement had a bunch of stuff that was perfectly good, but that we no longer needed or wanted, so we started creating a pile to drop off at Goodwill. It got me thinking what an absolute marvel, and how totally green, organizations like Goodwill are.  Did you know that:

Last year, more than 66 million people donated to Goodwill. Goodwill accepts your new or gently used items — like clothing, appliances, electronics and furniture — and sells them in our well-known Goodwill retail stores. There are more than 2,400 Goodwill donation locations in the United States and Canada.

The sales of your donations help fund job training programs, employment placement services and other community-based programs for people who have disabilities, lack education or job experience, or face employment challenges.

In fact, donating clothes to a charity is so green that you can earn 20 points for it at Practically Green. But I never really thought much about how much benefit my basement stuff would provide until I got news from an industry friend, Park Howell, about a massive fire at the logistics and operations center for their local Goodwill. Without those donations, the 36 community programs they run don’t have funds so they are doing a MASSIVE drive (if you are reading us from Arizona, please donate!).  I never realized that cleaning my basement isn’t just green, it creates jobs!

Then last night,  I had the opportunity to visit another key player in the re-use market, Gazelle.com. Gazelle gives you cash for your unwanted gadgets (or if there isn’t any value, you can still send them in to be responsibly recycled).  They offer their services directly, but also power trade-in programs at places like Costco and Sears. I got to see part of their “logistics and operations center” and it’s really a marvel (and a perfect home for my box of random electronic stuff). Here are some photos:

First shipments arrive and are packed into bins and contents are verified.

Then each bag is sorted into bins labelled for every kind of gadget.They have bins for everything from Blackberries to iPhones to Camcorders.

Every item is then inspected and readied for reuse or recycling.  The inspection station ensures data is wiped and the product is functioning appropriately.  It then goes into a huge inventory room until someone repurchases the item through eBay or other outlets or it is dismantled and recycled appropriately.

Of course it’s great to get cash for electronics.  But what Gazelle.com has helped create is a way to extend the life of gadgets. This is really green because it combats the issue of perceived or planned obsolescence in technology AND helps keep e-waste from being disposed of improperly. By using Gazelle or services like theirs, you also can get 10 points for recycling your old computer, 10 points for recycling your cell phone, and 10 points for recycling other electronics on Practically Green. The final “feel good” benefit? These services makes technology available to people who might otherwise not be able to afford it.

So–one eco-friendly basement-cleaning later, and I’ve created jobs, battled planned obsolescence, kept e-waste out of landfill, helped someone access digital technology, and cleaned up our indoor air quality. And oh yes, earned 50 points on Practically Green!  Who knew basement cleaning could be so rewarding?

What is grey water?

Any washwater that has been used in the home, except water from toilets, is called grey water. Dish, shower, sink, and laundry water comprise 50-80% of residential “waste” water. This may be reused for other purposes, especially landscape irrigation. — http://www.oasisdesign.net/greywater/

Put simply, grey water is water that you can’t drink (non-potable) but you can use for watering your plants.

Laura Allen is one of the co-founders of the Greywater Action, one of the county’s first and foremost resources for training and information. She is also a founder of Greywater Alliance, which does policy work. Laura lives in Oakland, California.

This video is a great introduction to Laura’s beliefs and practices. Follow her as she patiently shows a friend how to divert washer to water plants in the yard:

I never wondered where the water came from until I got my first water bill, as a tenant, about eleven years ago. I was ashamed and shocked! I happened to be taking a plumbing class at the time. My roommates and I spent three days figuring out how to take the shower water and send it outside to the garden. The system we built was so dysfunctional! I’ve learned that the more simple the design, the less work it takes to maintain.

Typically the easiest source of grey water is the washing machine. Think of its location in relation to the landscape that you need to irrigate. You can access the grey water from the washer hose itself, which usually pumps into a standpipe anyway. Shower water can be difficult in a house that’s already built. But it all depends on the accessibility of the plumbing. Find a good plumber who is open-minded and trained!

Our organization offers a five-day training for people who want to be installers. Mostly California, but people come from all around the state and US and Canada.

We’ve grown little by little. Our first organization was very informal: me and Cleo and a couple of others. My day job was teaching elementary school.

We became involved in rewriting the state code, and we formed the Greywater Alliance. We participated in the state code rewrite and helped make simple, low tech, low cost systems legal.

We usually have half women in our classes — in a one-week training you can’t learn everything, but you can at least know who to partner with.

People should look at how they reduce consumption. Look at the size of your lawn.  Look at what you don’t need that wastes water — or exchange to a low-flow showerhead: easy!

As for my own green lifestyle: I bike everywhere. I do borrow a car sometimes.  I live with other people. We grow our own food and we buy from farmers in our community.

Bottom line: We don’t need to be irrigating with potable water; greywater is a great source for irrigation. You can plant water loving plants near the house where they can be irrigated with greywater, and then have drought tolerant landscaping in areas that aren’t accessible. Changing how water is used in our own homes is something that each of us can do, starting today. Most of these technologies are very simple and just require interest and commitment.

For more information about the greywater laws and other greywater tips check out: greywateraction.org. In 2009 Greywater Action joined with a water organization called A Single Drop to connect international clean-water work with US hands-on water conservation strategies (workshops on greywater reuse, rainwater harvesting, and composting toilet construction).

And for additional motivation on conserving water, visit Practically Green’s (rather amazing & substantial, if we do say so) Water section: 34 suggestions for actions you can take today on smart water usage, from tracking your monthly water usage to turning off the faucet when you brush your teeth!

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.

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.

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!

News Picks:

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.

Nancy Mims is a Practically Green Motherboard member who really knows her way around home decor. She’s a co-founder of ModGreenPod, an environmental leader in sustainable and fashionable design. Nancy has a thriving young company, two ingenious children, and a husband who we imagine is exceedingly content. When she told us about her passion for furniture makeovers, we asked her if she’d blog about it for us, and here’s the result, illustrated. Enjoy!

One of the perks of my job is seeing the great “before & after” photos and hearing the accompanying stories that our customers send us when they use our fabric on an upholstery project. It’s so satisfying to see a shabby old piece of furniture not only avoid landfill doom but be completely reinvented with fresh, new fabric through the skills of a local upholsterer. The result is a one-of-a-kind, locally produced piece of art filled with stories and soul.

Chair: Before

All of the upholstered furniture pieces in my house are vintage, and all were lovingly reupholstered and with Mod Green Pod’s organic cotton by my favorite two Austin upholsterers. Last year, when I went through the process of working with the very creative and capable upholsterers at Spruce to recreate the Victorian camelback sofa in my living room, I blogged about each step in hopes that I could demystify the process: http://modgreenpod.blogspot.com/search/label/nancy%27s%20chair. For that project, we salvaged everything that we could from the original piece and sourced the greenest materials we could for whatever needed to be replaced. It remains a great “how to” resource for working with an upholsterer, for those who have never done so.

Detail of restored chair

The most recent piece of furniture in my house is The Anticipate Chair, which Practically Green featured in its rather unfortunate “before” state in late spring: http://blog.practicallygreen.com/2010/05/home-decorating-with-ec-friendly-wallpaper-fabric/.

Seeing beyond the tattered brown exterior, I instantly loved the shape of the chair the second I spotted it at Room Service, my favorite vintage shop in my neighborhood. I‘ve learned from most upholsterers that furniture that predates the 1970s is usually built really well and can withstand much more time if properly refurbished. So I could see that it would make a gorgeous statement for a new pattern I had designed, Anticipate https://modgreenpod.com/item/52/.  I selected a lush but neutral medium grey for the ground color and a pop of citrus yellow for the center of the cream colored swirling motif. I had the opposite colors printed for a contrasting throw pillow. (For more information about ordering Mod Green Pod’s fabrics in custom colors, click here: https://modgreenpod.com/tep-user/i/customguidelines.pdf and contact us.)

"Anticipate" chair: after makeover

I delivered the chair to Sabrina at Under Cover Upholstery in Austin, and she measured and told me how much fabric to order. When the fabric was ready, I delivered it and she and I discussed the basic orientation of the pattern. Like most upholsterers, she had worked with a huge variety of prints and had great ideas about how the fabric should be laid out. A few weeks later, the chair was ready and WOW, did it exceed my expectations.  Even Sabrina was stunned by how well it turned out. It’s really amazing to look back at the “before” photo; I can’t even believe it’s the same chair.

The “after” result is fresh and modern but also elegant and timeless–the perfect combination for a side chair that is now a usable piece of art!

Follow Nancy on Twitter @modgreenpod and friend her on Facebook for terrific updates on all the new designs at ModGreen Pod.

Are you thinking of making some energy-efficient home improvements? Until quite recently, the thought of insulating my water heater or dealing with my ductwork (where’s that?) made my hair hurt. I don’t know about you, but I have a more enjoyable time time thinking about a new bedspread or saucepot.

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….”

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.

It’s renewable, recyclable, biodegradable and 100% natural. If we had an award here at Practically Green for an all-around environmentally friendly and sustainable material, it would be the winner.

Can you guess what it is?  Cork!

Yep, that little stopper in your wine bottle is an across-the-board eco-friendly substance.  Which also means that it is prime recycling material.  But we rarely think to collect all of those wine bottle stoppers piling up in our kitchen drawers and dispose of them efficiently.  In fact, they’re pretty easy to lose track of once you pop open a bottle of your favorite organic wine or bubbly.

The useful life of cork is extended through recycling.  Almost 60% of the world’s cork is used in wine production, so that’s a lot of cork that could be diverted from a landfill and used to manufacture a range of products such as floor tiles, place mats, memo boards, coasters, shoes and bags.  Organizations dedicated to recycling natural cork, such as Cork ReHarvest and ReCORK by Amorim hope recycling will raise awareness of the usefulness of cork and help to create a greater demand for it.

Recycling also saves resources and reduces the demand placed on cork plantations.  According to Cork ReHarvest, cork forests are highly important to the planet’s ecological health because they absorb millions of tons of CO2 each year and are a vast provider of oxygen to the planet.  The cork forests of the Mediterranean Basin are among the most sustainable and environmentally harvested forests in the world.  Trees are not cut down to harvest cork, rather, the bark is stripped by hand every 9-12 years.  (Fun fact: cork oak trees can live up to 300 years!)  We can support these responsible practices by recycling and reusing cork products.

Fortunately, there are many practical uses for recycled cork.  From flooring to trendy new bags from Cork Chic, the uses for recycled cork almost seem endless.

A unique way to reuse your cork stoppers is to make your own cork board or coasters.  There are kits available on Amazon that supply you with the wooden frames, glue and instructions, and then you provide the cork from your favorite bottles of wine (or all the corks saved in a box in your pantry!)

But if you’re not the arts and crafts type (don’t worry, some of us aren’t) you can find cork drop-off locations in your area through ReCORK by Amorim or Cork ReHarvest.  These two organizations are not only focused on recycling natural cork, but educating the public on the importance of the Mediterranean cork forests for the world’s ecological balance.  Whole Foods has launched cork recycling bins in most of their locations as well.

Susan just dropped off a load of wine corks to Whole Foods and Sarah is planning to do the same.  And although I have another 6 months (not that I’m counting) until I can buy a bottle of wine, I plan on recycling the cork stoppers during my Whole Foods runs…although the homemade coasters are tempting.  So what do you think? Recycle your cork at one of the many locations, or are you an adventurous arts and crafts type?  Either way, you can earn 10 points for this action, so give it a try!

Photo Credit: Amazon.com and Flickr

Today I faced the fact that I have two pairs of running sneakers that are dead, i.e., not performing, hurting my feet, ready to die. I threw them in the trash.

But I couldn’t stand the sight of them there, ready to be taken to some already laden landfill.

I Googled “recycled running shoes” and found a number of interesting programs, including RecyledRunners.com. The best program for me, I think, is the Nike Grind “Reuse a Shoe” process. According to the website, I can bring the shoes to my nearby Nike store, and they will send the shoes to one of two facilities:

Memphis, Tennessee: Recently relocated from Wilsonville, Oregon, our Memphis center uses a “slice-and-grind” technique, where each shoe is cut into three slices – rubber outsole, foam midsole and fiber upper. These slices are then fed through grinders and purified.

Meerhout, Belgium: Our Belgium facility, which opened in 2005, grinds shoes up whole, then passes the material through a series of complex separators.

There’s a video here that shows the amazing process.

No matter how your shoes are processed, the end result is the same – three high-quality Nike Grind materials ready to be put back in the game:

Nike Grind Rubber, made from the shoe’s outsole, is used in track surfaces, interlocking gym flooring tiles, playground surfacing and even new Nike products, such as the outsoles of the Nike Pegasus or the Jordan XX3. It’s also used in trim items like buttons and zipper pulls.

Nike Grind Foam, made from the shoe’s midsole, is used as a cushion for outdoor basketball and tennis courts, as well as futsal fields.

Nike Grind Fiber, made from the shoe’s fabric upper, is used in the creation of cushioning pads for facilities like indoor synthetic courts and wood courts.

I can’t wait to have my shoes participate in such a fabulous program!

There are 28 recycling recommendations at Practically Green: helpful tips on responsible disposal of all sorts of stuff, from televisions to cell phones, from corks to gift wrap. If you decided to do all 28, you’d earn a total of 326 points! (That singleton is for watching a four-minute video, The Story of Stuff.)

News Picks:

Five kids who are changing the world: Read about five inspiring kids who are making the world a better place. Whether it’s growing organic crops and donating them to soup kitchens, or knitting home-made hats to fight hunger, these kids make us feel better about the world we live in.

How to turn an old iPod into cash: Every time you turn around, Apple is releasing a new generation of the iPod — making them smaller, more fun colors, touch screen…. (Does anyone remember the iPod with the original scroll wheel and four individual buttons?) It’s enough to give you whiplash! This article uncovers a few ways you can get cash for even the most archaic of gadgets, so you can get rid of that iPod mini collecting dust in your desk drawer. As a bonus, you can get 10 PG points for recycling your electronics.

Can we green our Planes next? Have those monthly business trips or annual family vacations put an annoyingly significant dent in your carbon footprint? Hopefully, soon this will be less of an issue. Many airlines are testing plant-based biofuels in an effort to reduce greenhouse emissions.

Multi-Media Pick:

Farmers market frenzy: Happy national farmers market week! People everywhere are becoming more interested in farmers markets, PG is lucky enough to have one right outside of our office in Boston on Tuesdays and Fridays this summer. You can find one near you here. Get 5 points on Practically Green for buying local produce. Check out this video featuring organic farmer Rebecca Schwen, as she discusses the growing interest in farmers markets.

New and cool pick:

Scrub your veggies clean: Skrub’a is a cool line of gloves you can use to scrub those veggies you just picked up at the farmers market, without losing any of the nutrients. There are different colors for veggies, carrots, and potatoes, and they sure beat the heck out of peeling or using (gasp) a paper towel.

ThredUP is a kids’ clothing swap site that lets parents exchange boxes of outgrown clothing for ones that fit, all in the convenience of your own home. Public relations and Marketing director Karen Fein opened up to PG about how the ingenious “Netflix for kids’ clothing” idea got started — and, of course, about what steps she takes to live a greener life!

How did you guys come up with this brilliant idea?

Founders James Reinhart and Oliver Lubin realized there wasn’t an efficient way to exchange clothing online. All of the outlets available to exchange clothing, such as Ebay, consignment shopping, and craigslist were just really time-consuming and inefficient. When a child outgrows one shirt, they outgrow their entire wardrobe, and if you think about putting all of that on Ebay, a parent has to list all of the items, take pictures of them, set the biddings, monitor the auctions, etc. Parents just do not have the time to do this every six months. The goal was to create an easy way for parents to exchange outgrown clothing for clothes that fit.

How did ThredUp get started, and what did people think?

The site originally started as a men’s and women’s shirt-swapping site. There were a lot of people that really loved it, but it was more of a hobby than a necessity. We realized we could use this same concept for kids to help families cut down on waste and consumption and we were shocked at the response we got! We found that because nothing like this had existed before, people were really waiting for it. People were really excited to share ThredUP with their friends and family, because it’s such an easy way to save time, money and help the environment.

Speaking of the environment, on your website you discuss teaching kids the importance of green living by creating a “thredbank”, can you explain this a little?

If you have an interest in helping your children learn about the importance of sustainable living, ThredUP can help with that. By telling your kids to set aside clothes when they outgrow them, they soon realize that these clothes can be exchanged for “new gifts,” or clothes that fit them. It reinforces the fact that you don’t always need to buy new things, you don’t always need to throw out old things, and that used clothing has value. We encourage parents to get their kids involved in the process and have them create their own “thredbank” of outgrown clothes. It can feel like Christmas morning to kids to get a box of new clothing completely for them, and they can feel proud that they took part in that exchange.

Ok, we want to ask, how green are you?

Our company is incredibly green. Personally, I take all of those simple green steps that everyone should take, like using a thermos instead of a water bottle, turning your water off when brushing your teeth, recycling always, or making sure to turn the lights out. From a clothing aspect, I take part in swap parties and shop at consignment stores. I use the options that are out there for adults right now, to promote sharing what we already have in order to cut down on waste and consumption, rather than shopping for something new and throwing clothes away. (Which I would never do.)

Now that you’ve told us some of your preferred green actions, we’re always curious to know what your least favorite green action taken you’ve taken is, or something you’re working on?

I haven’t quite made the transition to washing my clothes in cold water.

What more do you want to know about being green?

I think that for most people the main reasons they don’t take certain green steps is because they’re not necessarily convenient. It’s always good to learn about ways to go green that are not only incredibly easy, but can also save time and money. If you have those extra benefits, why not take the green option, and why not cut down on waste?

We couldn’t agree more! One last question, is there any way that you track the things you do everyday to be eco-friendly?

Not me personally, but ThredUP is about to start tracking how much waste we are saving in terms of kid’s clothing. We’re making an assumption that for every box of kid’s clothes, half of that box would normally have been thrown out and ended up in a landfill. 20 billion pounds of clothing and textiles end up in U.S. landfills every year, and every 3-6 months kids outgrow their clothing, making it a large part of that statistic.

Get PG “stuff” points for using ThredUP! Get five points for getting used clothing with this action, and get another five points for giving away/selling used clothing with this action.

You can find out more information and start swapping on ThredUP here.
Follow ThredUP on Twitter @ thredUP_Kids .