Practically Green » Improve Health

Superbowl Special: Green Your Tailgate! Watch the Game and Play Your Own!

Sarah Finnie Robinson — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:42:41 +0000

Superbowl Sunday promises to be a spectacular event this year. Practically Green offers 20 ideas worth a total of 360 points to make your Tailgate Party greener and more fun!

Giants vs. Patriots: Superbowl XLVI (nfl.com)

While the real action is on the field, think of the following as your very own game; the more actions you take, the more points you earn. Enlist your friends to do the same and get a friendly competition going. If we all take some of the actions below, we’re in for a great season where we’re all winners. Go Team Green!

We admit it! Obsessed with SustyParty’s compostable plates and bowls. Order in your team’s colors & toss into the compost without even scraping the food off!

Go Waste Free

Pack your own reusable plates, water bottles, glassware, and utensils: 20 points!

BYO cloth napkins or PeopleTowels: 20 points!

Or use recycled paper napkins and you’ll still get 10 points.

People Towels: We think Coach Belichick would go for the heart tree! Coach Coughlin: "Dream Green"?

Drink And Eat Sustainably

Fill your (reusable) bowl with organic or at least more natural chips and snacks, snag 10 points.

Drink wisely – celebrate touchdowns with organic and/or local beer (10 points), hydrate with filtered tap water in a reusable bottle (10 points), and stay awake and warm with organic coffee (20 points). You winos want to look for eco-friendly wine (20 points). Jack your score by 10 more points when you recycle the corks — and add a big 50 when you recycle the bottles!

Whew! Is it half time yet? If you’ve done ALL of those actions, you’ve got 180 POINTS already!

More:

Fire up your grill with eco-friendlier briquettes (10 points) and cook up some sustainably raised meat (another whopping 50 points!) and/or organic veggies (50 more!). Who knew eating guacamole could be SO extra-green?

Southwestern Layered Bean Dip: one of a zillion drooly ideas on EatingWell's special Superbowl recipe collection

If you’re a sausage fan, definitely throw some of Applegate Farms’ organic hot dogs (10 points) on the grill. Do you have a solar-powered grill/oven? Our friends Corey and Lynn of Celebrate Green swear by them — they’ve got another 20 points each!

Applegate Farms cheezy bacon organic hotdog: Yes, please!

Clean Consciously

Before you chow down, clean your hands with a natural hand sanitizer or hand soap and score another 10 points.

When the game is over, recycle everything in sight. We already mentioned bottles; beer cans count for another 20 points!

Wipe up spills and degrease the grill with a natural all-purpose cleaner for 10 points, not to mention reduced air pollution.

That’s a total of 360 points! Sounds like a nice round number to us. How’d you do? If you’ve got more ways to Green up Superbowl Sunday, please post them or drop us a line. (Hmmm, maybe Practically Green should give points for suggesting new actions?)

Not everyone can win a fancy Superbowl ring, but we can ALL be Practically Green!

Food Week, Day 4: Avoid Food Packaging and Cling Wrap Containing PVC

Sarah Finnie Robinson — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:43:51 +0000

Avoid food packaging and cling wrap containing PVC.

We’ve been obsessed with tasty healthy food all week: lobster rolls, salmon, and sushi; takeout craves you can just as well make at home; hormone-free burgers and chili; and even roasted potato dominos. YUM yum yum. Now let’s get serious: what about the stuff that TOUCHES your food when you store it, transport it, or reheat it? Today’s action rewards you for choosing anything but PVC to wrap and reheat your food!

If you know of cooler storage-bowl covers, please let us know asap. For now our favorite is this set from Hunter Gatherer. Only possible drawbacks: 1) they're not organic cotton; 2) they're flown from the UK. But still. We love them.

Beaba Multiportion Baby Food Freezer Tray... not just for babies! Grown-up pesto will freeze gorgeously in these BPA-free trays.

Cling wrap is an easy solution for leftovers and a common packaging material. But not all plastic wraps are alike: some are polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, which environmental groups like Greenpeace refer to as “poison” plastic. From manufacture to disposal it’s highly toxic—for humans and for the earth. Traces of the chemicals used to make it pliable can migrate into food, especially things that are fatty or warm (never microwave plastic, especially PVC!). Exposure to PVC has been linked to dizziness, headaches, asthma, liver damage, brain/nervous system damage, and increased cancer risk. People who work in or live near PVC factories have it the worst.

Here's another cool idea: Laurie David's PVC-free shower cap solution, featured in The Family Dinner. Rinse caps after using to cover food and dry them on the window sill!

PVC is particularly difficult to dispose of as it is made with heavy metals like lead and cadmium; less than 1 percent of it is recycled.

Use empty glass containers & bottles to store food--or splurge on this set from Williams Sonoma!

Ask your grocery store what kind of wrap they use, especially for meats and cheeses. If it’s PVC, encourage them to change to safer plastic #4. Get your neighbors to speak up; there’s nothing like positive pressure for green and healthy changes!

Great Deal: Pyrex storage containers. These bowls are a great alternative to plastic wrap or plastic containers for food storage. They are safe for use in oven, microwave (take the plastic tops off!), refrigerator, freezer, dishwasher.

To minimize exposure, shop for minimally packaged food and things that come in glass; PVC is also found in plastic trays, candy bar wrappers, and bottles.

At home, store food in glass, stainless steel, or lead-free ceramic containers instead of plastic. If you’re going to use plastic wrap, check to see what yours is made of (“3″ or “V” denotes PVC). But truly, a safe plate over a safe bowl tucked in the fridge does the trick.

GLAD says that they do not use any PVC in their products. They also say their products are BPA-free.

Food Week Day 3: Buy Meat that is Raised Using Sustainable Farming Methods

Sarah Finnie Robinson — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 02:19:34 +0000

Vegetarians, vegans, and pescatarians have the day off. But those of us who love eating meat from time to time are invited to Buy Meat that is Raised Using Sustainable Farming Methods: and boost your score by 50 points! (Vegetarians already have 200 points! And weekday vegetarians have 100 points! See dozens of Food actions here.) Leading up to Superbowl Sunday, we’re looking forward to buffalo wing platters, chili bowls, and an alternative boeuf bourgignon along with everyone. Today’s action encourages you to be picky about the meat in those tasty recipes: Buy Meat Raised Using Sustainable Farming Methods.

By the way, Practically Green’s actions are written by our editorial director Alexandra Zissu, the author of The Butcher’s Guide to Well-Raised Meat (among other books), so rest assured this is prime tenderloin info.

The word sustainable is widely used in natural food circles. Unlike USDA organic, it isn’t government defined or third party certified. It signifies a lot: healthy farming practices that don’t harm the environment, humane animal treatment, support of farming communities, fair wages and treatment for laborers. But in order to know what is truly meant by sustainable, and if you can trust it, you need to know your producers. Since sustainable meat is local meat, it’s pretty easy to ask questions of your farmer. Good subjects to raise include farming practices (i.e. if they’re using pesticides and fertilizers for the animal’s feed), drug use (i.e. are they administering hormones and non-therapeutic antibiotics to their animals), and general questions about how the animals spend their days. Just because something is local doesn’t mean it is automatically sustainable.

There are many benefits to meat from sustainably raised local animals: it’s usually safer and better for you and the environment, and its transportation footprint can be considerably less than its factory-farmed and mass distributed counterparts.

Smart shortcut: buy Applegate Farms meat products... totally know where each product came from (as in what farm, what town)... and enter their recipe contests on Facebook!

The biggest challenge related to buying sustainably raised meat is finding the good stuff. The process of figuring out what is truly sustainable and where you can buy it can take some time. But it’s very worthwhile. And well-raised meat is becoming increasingly available as consumer demand grows—in butcher shops, farmers’ markets, CSA-style meat shares directly from farms, natural food stores, and even in some supermarkets.

Get your grill on with healthy burger recipes at EatingWell.com!

Browse the recommended links to locate farms near you that are producing sustainably raised meat.

Food Tip: Reduce Take-out Food to Once a Week (or Less)

Sarah Finnie Robinson — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:32:34 +0000

Reduce Takeout Meals to Once a Week or less

You’ve been working hard, you’re too tired to cook, it’s so easy to dial up a pizza or shrimp pad thai. We know. We love takeout too. It’s probably not a great idea for counting calories, and it’s not so economical either, but it is terribly convenient to have someone else make dinner — and deliver it, too. You don’t have to lift a finger! We know… but this action may encourage you to think twice before placing your next takeout order.

The National Restaurant Association states nearly a third of adults say takeout food is essential to the way they live. And a survey by the Institute of Food Technologists shows that while 75 percent of Americans eat dinner at home, half of those meals are fast food, delivery, or takeout. Fewer than a third cook dinner from scratch.

Shrimp pad thai recipe from Food52's "9 Takeout Classics, Done at Home"

Reducing how often you rely on takeout is a good green idea. It’s the rare restaurant delivering takeout made from carefully sourced ingredients—local, organic, free of hormones, antibiotics, and pesticide residues, and trans fats. When you make your own food, you control what’s in it. This is healthiest for you, your farmers, and the earth we all share.

Planning a Superbowl Tailgate? Whip up these Jalapeño Poppers from EatingWell!

Then there’s the waste. According to CleanAir.org, the U.S. population tosses out enough paper bags, plastic cups, forks, and spoons every year to circle the equator 300 times. Many (often nonrenewable) resources go into making these, we use them for mere moments, and then they clog our landfills for hundreds of years. And questionable chemicals in these one-use items get into your dinner; some of the grease-repellant coatings used in pizza boxes contain PFOA, a likely human carcinogen.

Make your own meals instead of ordering takeout. If you prefer not to daily, try for once a week, then build up. Bonus: you’ll save money.

Imagine your 4-star takeout served from this spiffy stainless-steel To-Go ware... buy from Reuseit.com

To cook, you must grocery shop. Check out farmers’ markets and natural food stores near you. Make large batches so you can have takeout-esque leftovers to reheat the following evening.

When you DO order takeout, why not look for someplace that loves to use fresh local ingredients, like Dave's Fresh Pasta in Somerville, MA

Sustainable Seafood: Choose Safely & Eat Well!

Sarah Finnie Robinson — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 03:03:21 +0000

Choose Safe Seafood. Back in the day if you craved seafood, the conundrum was: salmon or tuna? Now it’s: wild vs. farmed, is it sustainably caught, and crucially—is it safe? How much mercury (a neurotoxin) and PCBs (chemicals deemed probably carcinogenic by the EPA that persist despite being banned in 1978) do you want to serve for dinner?

Salmon from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch

The bad news: our waterways serve as a sewer system for our environmentally destructive behavior–chemical runoff, factory dumping, plastic waste, garbage, settled air particle pollution, and even what we pour down household drains contaminate fish and aquatic life. Some hormone disrupting chemicals have even managed to feminize wild male fish; they’re able to grow eggs.

Give your sushi choices a grilling at blueocean.org!

The good news: there’s no need to give up on lobster rolls! There are still safe, environmentally ok, and tasty choices to be had. The best is wild, sustainably caught, low contaminated, and local (if your waterways aren’t too polluted). Farmed fish is trickier; it may be fed hormones, antibiotics, feed containing animal byproducts, and flesh-coloring dyes.

There is presently no USDA organic certification for seafood. Consulting a safe seafood guide is a must. The best of these blend sustainability and overfishing concerns with government seafood safety advisories. Remember: the pregnant and the young are most vulnerable.

Avoid imported fish from China and countries known to have contaminated waters and unsustainable fishing methods. Check country of origin labels.

Shop where you know and trust your fishmonger. Buying off a boat is ideal. For supermarket counters, consult Greenpeace’s helpful yearly scorecard.

Check the Greenpeace Supermarket Scorecard: easy!

From the Food & Water Watch Smart Seafood Guide

Greenpeace’s Sustainable Seafood Supermarket Scorecard

Supermarkets play a big part in the future of our fragile oceans, so Greenpeace has rated popular supermarkets in terms of their seafood sustainability. Find out how your store stacks up and shop accordingly.

Blue Ocean Institute’s FishPhone

Ensure that your seafood purchase is sustainable by dialing Blue Ocean Institute’s FishPhone. Text 30644 with the message FISH and the name of the fish in question, and they’ll send a text back with their assessment and recommended alternatives. Great for standing in front of a fish counter or texting while reading a restaurant menu. There is also an iPhone app available.

Greener Choices Seafood Buying Guide

Published by the people behind Consumer Reports, this online guide provides recommendations on how to avoid buying contaminated fish and tips on how to buy seafood.

The Environmental Defense Fund’s Pocket Seafood Guide

Your seafood choices matter! Many popular seafood items are fished or farmed in environmentally destructive ways, this handy pocket guide helps you make smart choices about the seafood you buy. It also considers health hazards.

Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Guide

Another great pocket guide that you can download to keep on hand the next time you head to the market. They have a comprehensive list of ‘Best Choices,’ ‘Good Alternatives,’ and fish to ‘Avoid.’

Food & Water Watch’s Smart Seafood Guide

Food & Water Watch analyzed over 100 different fish and shellfish to create a guide that assesses not only the human health and environmental impacts of eating certain seafood, but also the socio-economic impacts on coastal and fishing communities. Download the pocket guide.

Save Money & Be Yummy: BYO Lunch!

Sarah Finnie Robinson — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 03:21:19 +0000

Instead of Eating Takeout, Bring Meals in Reusable Containers—from Home to Work (or to School, or Wherever you’re Headed)

We admit to a slight obsession with food: delicious, simple-to-make food that won’t make us fat or sick. Food that’s healthy, and with the simple style that comes from smart recipes and great ingredients. Lucky for everyone: in 2012 we inhabit a Foodie Culture. Most of us have unprecedented access to celebrity chefs, home-cook bloggers, and inspired organic entrepreneurs. Just check out EatingWell or Food52, or the Family Dinner website. Frankly, anyone who says they can’t figure out how to eat right just isn’t giving it a fair chance.

Follow @MarthaRShulman on Twitter

One way to stay mouthwateringly inspired is the daily dose of Recipes for Health from Martha Rose Shulman of The New York Times. Every week Martha picks one ingredient, or one type of food (muffins, anyone?) and goes nuts (heh heh). This week’s theme: “Lunches to Take to Work.”

Although I work at home, my lunch requirements are probably similar to those of many of you who work in an office. I don’t like to eat complex dishes with strong flavors like raw garlic or onion at midday, because I don’t want those flavors lingering when I get back to work. I want a lunch that’s light and simple, enjoyable but not distracting….

I so enjoyed working on these recipes, as they provided me with great lunches all week long. They’ve kept all week in the refrigerator, and they don’t require refrigeration during those few hours between the time to get you work and the time you eat your lunch, though all of them will taste fresher if they have been in the fridge.

Egg Salad & Greens Wrap: If you can hard-boil an egg, you can make a scrumptious wrap to take with you for lunch (TY nytimes.com)

Have fun with Martha’s recipes, post your lunchbox favorites for all to share—and please, don’t neglect to check off this 20-point action!

There are many great reasons to BYO meals to work. First up, the food. Who knows what sort of produce, meat, preservatives, and chemicals are in the corner deli’s turkey club or the coffee shop’s muffin. When you pack your own meals, you control the ingredients. If you’d like lunch to be local, organic, and free of hormones, antibiotics, pesticide residues, and trans fats, brown bagging it is healthiest for you, your farmers, and the earth we all share.

Black Bean Chili: A medium-hot vegetarian chili that freezes well. From "Clean out the Pantry" week on Recipes for Health

A Goodbyn bento box makes your BYO meal more fun, guaranteed!

Speaking of brown bags, packing meals in reusable containers reduces waste. According to CleanAir.org, the U.S. population tosses out enough of them plus plastic cups, forks, and spoons every year to circle the equator 300 times. These one-use items clog our landfills. Many resources go into making takeout containers. Our food is in them for mere moments before we toss them. It’s a system that doesn’t make much common sense.

If you can’t commit to bringing your own food daily, try for a few times a week. Bonus: you’ll save money.

Grocery shop and pack your lunch. If you eat breakfast or even dinner at your desk, try packing them, too. There are many waste-free reusable containers and wraps available in stores and online. Shop around. And don’t forget a cloth napkin and a reusable water bottle.

Ask your office manager to stock the kitchen with real plates, reusable utensils, and glasses.

When eating takeout, BYO reusable containers for the counter staff to use instead of their disposables.

Today’s Money-Saving Green Action: Avoid Idling Your Car

Sarah Finnie Robinson — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 22:50:19 +0000

Avoid idling your car. We know: It’s cold, you’re waiting to pick someone up, they’re late, and you don’t want to turn off the car and get out, or you can’t park it, or both.

Credit: Slate.com

Sometimes it seems easier to sit in that car with the motor on. But the next time you’re tempted to idle, keep this action in mind. That’s all we ask: avoid idling. Not: don’t idle your car under any circumstances! Simply think twice about it, even if you don’t own a car but use one sometimes. Even if you ride in a taxi or an airport shuttle occasionally—and, for example, you notice the driver has the engine running in seasonable weather, with his window open. This way, you’re informed. And you can add 20 points to your score!

Of course, if you have an electric car you can idle all you want. Right?

No gas: no fumes! Volvo XC60 Plug-in Hybrid Concept

Idling is a common—and unfortunate—practice among drivers, although there is little evidence that it has any benefit. Some people claim that idling in the winter is good for warming up your vehicle, but gently driving your vehicle will warm up it up much faster than letting it idle.

Others claim that it takes more fuel to start your vehicle than to let it idle for a minute. This is a myth; according to the Department of Energy, the fuel used to start your vehicle is equivalent to amount of fuel your vehicle uses when it idles for a few seconds. When your vehicle idles, it gets zero miles per gallon.

Idling also pollutes. There are schools that have adopted idle-free zones for dropping-off or picking-up kids so they won’t be inhaling that much exhaust—both inside and outside idling vehicles.

Did you know that children breathe in twice as much air for their body weight as adults? Here's a sign that's available from the Portland (Oregon) department of transportation.

In London, a new campaign urges drivers to 'make a small switch' to help deliver cleaner, healthier air... see www.tfl.gov.uk

Reduce unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions by turning off your car if you’re going to be stopped for more than ten seconds.

During winter, try idling for ten seconds, then start gently driving to your destination.

Consider asking your school or local business district to adopt an idle-free zone.

Today’s Green Action: Switch to a Natural Body Lotion

Sarah Finnie Robinson — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 02:30:04 +0000

SKIN. Now that’s something we all have in common.

Why is it green to pay attention to what we put on it?

You might be interested to compare this action to the other Personal Care actions on Practically Green. (Why does Switch to natural body lotion have an impact of 20 points, whereas Switch to natural toothpaste, Switch to a natural deodorant, or Switch to natural face cream are worth half that amount?)

Note: This post is illustrated with the lotions that other PG users have already recommended… all natural, all great, i.e. all vetted by our team. If your favorite isn’t pictured, we all want to know what it is! Please submit it pronto! PG’s product team will review for possible inclusion on the action page.

An enriched moisturizing lotion made with Biodynamic sea buckthorn oil. It’s perfect for revitalizing your skin after a bath or following damaging exposure to the sun.

Like most conventional cosmetics, body lotion can contain a number of synthetic chemicals that have been linked to everything from cancers to hormone disruption to birth defects to skin or eye irritation. Not so pretty.

Highly scented lotions likely contain synthetic fragrance, which the Environmental Working Group deems a high hazard due to its links to allergies, dermatitis, respiratory distress, and potential effects on the reproductive system. Natural versions perfumed with essential oils are a safer bet. While cream formulations vary brand to brand, they tend also to be made with parabens and multiple controversial petroleum-derived ingredients.

This moisturizing chocolate truffle is made from absolute cocoa essential oils blended with 100% premium, unrefined, organically grown & produced shea butter.

Be especially careful with conventional lotions that claim to make you look younger, tan your skin, contain sunscreen, or be antibacterial; the chemicals in all these tend to be particularly suspect.

An ultra-rich whole-body cream that deeply hydrates, restores and protects dry, rough skin of any age. Active ingredients include organic sunflower seed oil, organic pansy, & organic, biodynamic calendula flower extract.

If your current lotion doesn’t have natural or organic certification, look it up on the on the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetics Database or the GoodGuide. If it turns out to be too risky to wear, replace it with one that scores better and contains natural, organic, or biodynamic ingredients.

Rated extremely highly on EWG's Skin Deep database, Trillium Organics body butter is 97% USDA certified organic. Great for lips, feet, cuticles & all over smooth, deep, protective moisturizing.

Paraben-free, made with stimulating certified Fair Trade shea butter, kola + ginger infusions & virgin palm oils. Handcrafted using traditional methods; intended for everyday use.

Not available in your drug store? Check natural product stores and online.

You can also use safe food grade organic oils like safflower, coconut, or olive as moisturizer. Buy one just for the bathroom or your vinaigrette may suffer.

Rated well on EWG's Skin Deep database. Borage Therapy is formulated to relieve dry cracked skin in days, promotes growth of healthy new skin cells. Active ingredients: colloidal oatmeal, shea butter, borage oil & rooibos extract.

A safe, effective, powerful blend of herbal extracts & vitamins to gently calm dry skin anywhere on the body. Does not contain coal or pine tars, or steroids

Earning high marks from GoodGuide, this rich body lotion provides long-lasting moisture... leaves skin feeling soft, smooth, supple with natural ingredients like coconut oil, honey & vitamin-rich orange wax.

Why Eating Vegetarian is Sustainable―and Healthy, and Cash-Smart

Sarah Finnie Robinson — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:39:49 +0000

Why is Eating a Vegetarian Diet worth a whopping 200 points on Practically Green?

Why is this a super-score action, as impactful as Sell a car and don’t replace it and Buy a pre-owned home instead of building new? Eating your veggies is good for your innards, and it’s usually great for your wallet―you know this already―unless your idea of veggies is truffles (see photo please) and Gianduja at Le Bernadin. Here’s why it’s also a top action for Sustainability.

A favorite veggy recipe: White Truffle Grilled Cheese (you only need a drop of truffle oil!); TY Food52 & KarmaCucina

Remember, you’re in charge! You can ease away from your juicy sirloin habit just one day a week, or decide to eat meat only on weekends.

Mark Bittman: "In the USA we eat almost 10 billion chickens, pigs, cows, turkeys each year. And that’s just us! That kind of settled it.... with the Food Matters Cookbook I’ve proven to myself (and hopefully to all who cook from it) that {it} doesn’t feel like a sacrifice & leads to incredibly inventive, delicious food.

A vegetarian diet is an environmentally friendly one. The conventional production of meat–from feed to slaughter to transport—is energy intensive. By not eating meat, you basically eliminate that entire footprint from your personal consumption.

Not all cows are for eating... these Brown Swiss beauties at Shelburne Farms help make award-winning cheddar

The global demand for meat has risen dramatically in the past few decades, leading to an increase in factory farms. The average family of four consumes between 500 to 800 pounds of meat yearly. This kind of mass production consumes enormous amounts of energy, pollutes the air and waterways, and requires increasing amounts of corn, soy, and other grains—often genetically modified and intensively sprayed with pesticides. This has led to the destruction of vast plots of the world’s tropical rain forests. There are many studies comparing vegetarian and meat-based diets. One often quoted stat: a meal of fruits, vegetables, and grains generates 24 times less greenhouse gas emissions than 6 ounces of conventionally raised beef.

Get inspired with tasty veggy recipes at EatingWell.com, like Elise's Sesame Noodles!

If you’re eating conventionally produced dairy, you’re still involved with the factory farm system. Dairy from local, pastured animals—preferably organic–will have a lighter footprint.

The health benefits of being vegetarian depend largely on what you eat–processed packaged foods don’t have the same nutrients as whole foods. There has been some concern about the health effects of highly processed soy. Also, for people interested in eating local foods, soy might not be grown locally.

There is no single type of vegetarian. A classic vegetarian avoids eating animals, even fish, but there are certainly vegetarians who maintain a bacon or a chicken exception.

The eagerly awaited update on this classic has easy-to-read tables, figures, menus & food guides to help you determine how to meet your daily nutritional requirements. The book also suggests what plant-based dietary components and factors play active roles in both prevention & treatment of chronic illnesses.

New Year’s Resolutions! Water Sprint Day 2: Replace Bottled Water

Sarah Finnie Robinson — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 20:07:51 +0000

Sometimes it’s handy to buy a bottle of water, especially if you’re traveling, especially if drinking water is sketchy. We know. But for most of the time, it makes sense to establish another routine: Replace bottled water with filtered water. Once you read this explanation, you’ll probably agree.

Water bottle with built-in filter, from Brita

By switching to filtered water or just plain tap water, you can save significant amounts of money, natural resources, and avoid a huge source of waste. Americans drink 21 gallons of bottled water per capita per year and it’s not a cheap habit. Water costs 240 to 10,000 times more than tap water.

In terms of resources, supplying Americans with plastic water bottles for one year consumes more than 47 million gallons of oil. That’s enough to take 100,000 cars off the road and 1 billion pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, according to the Container Recycling Institute. And only ~30% of water bottles are recycled.

Bottled water is not necessarily safer than your tap water. Municipal tap water is tested much more rigorously than bottled water. An investigation of 10 brands by the Environmental Working Group found that several ranked the same as municipal tap water, and several were worse. Unless you have a special health concern, tap water is likely to be just as safe.

Want one in every color! Each pitcher holds 10 8 oz units of filterable H2O. Perfect for home, office, or dorm. Brita Grand

If you like the taste of your town water, then get a few jugs and cool it in the refrigerator.

Posh Chez Panisse restaurant serves filtered tap water & house-aerated sparkling water in lieu of bottled water...You can too! Use repurposed clear wine bottles (soak off label) as water carafes; just fill w/ cold water. (Thank you, Remodelista)

PUR 3-stage faucet mount

If you want to filter it for taste or to get out an impurities, decide whether you want to go with a filtered pitcher or add a filter to the faucet or system.

Pur Stage 3 Faucet Filter

Brita Aqualux

Brita Faucet Filtration

Multi-Pure Stainless Steel Countertop Water Filter

Multi-Pure: This stainless-steel model sits on counter next to the sink & is connected to your existing faucet. Filter life: 750 gallons.

New Year’s Resolution #3: Switch to Organic Chocolate

Sarah Finnie Robinson — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 19:49:05 +0000

Okay, now that you’ve nailed the first two New Year’s Resolutions*, here’s a reward: 10 points for eating chocolate that’s delicious, doesn’t contain chemicals, and treats workers fairly.

Dagoba Lavender Blueberry organic chocolate bar

Chocolate! What’s not to love? Well, as it turns out, conventional chocolate production is hard on the rain forest and harder on workers (some of them children).

Conventional cocoa plantations, like most farms, use large amounts of pesticides and fertilizers. They harm the environment and can remain in chocolate. Organically farmed cocoa isn’t permitted to use these synthetic chemicals.

There are a few cacao-specific things to consider as well before your unwrap a bar and devour it. It, like coffee, is a shade tree. To increase production, large plantations cut down the rain forest canopy in an effort to grow trees in direct sunlight. Beyond damaging the forest, this increases the need for chemicals. Many organic chocolates come from shade grown cacao grown on small farms. Some of these farms are also fair trade.

Mmmmm, dark chocolate with hints of orange and spice that's made with Fair Trade Certified Organic Cocoa & Sugar

Taza's 100% USDA certified organic chocolates are handcrafted in small batches from a single origin

Chocolate, coffee, caramel, and salt all in one!

USDA certified organic chocolate is widely available at supermarkets as well as natural food shops. Taste a bunch to see what you like (tough work but someone has to do it!).

A benefit of organic chocolate is that it won’t contain artificial colors or flavors. Go dark enough and it can almost be considered health food.

If you want a fair trade chocolate, look for the label.

As we write, 8 products are live recommendations on Practically Green. For example:

Would you like to buy one? Please do! How about rating it? Simply go to the action page and click click to give your thumbs up.

Do you have a product to suggest? From the same action page, click this button:

Product specialist Rebecca Sama will be delighted to test your suggestion and put it through her no-nonsense approval procedure! (Munch, chomp, YUM.)

Organic Fair Trade Vegan Chocolate Cherry Hearts.. great gift, but you might eat it first!

This gourmet very dark chocolate bar is certified organic, fair trade & contains no soy products.

Organic Dark Chocolate w/ Cacao Nibs, Yacon & Acai. Endangered Species Chocolate

And don’t forget the cocoa!

We found a truly droolicious recipe for hot chocolate at EatingWell.com

*New Year’s Resolution #1: Use Reusable Shopping Bags Regularly

*New Year’s Resolution #2: Turn Off the Lights When You Leave a Room

Cooking Healthy Tasty Food with the Entire Family

Sarah Finnie Robinson — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 20:53:46 +0000

No matter what you’re celebrating, family time and school vacation means a busy kitchen!

Cooking Quesadillas ChopChopMag.org

You can tell we’re obsessed with great healthy food on Practically Green. We follow lots of foodies to stay inspired and informed @practicallygrn; e.g., @EatingWell, @WholeFoodsPR, @CKummer, @barry_estabrook, @Food52, @famdinner. We can never resist a new cookbook. Some of our favorites this year:

The Art of Eating Well won 2011 James Beard Award for best Healthy Focus cookbook

Check out Alice Waters’s EdibleSchoolyard project

Thank you, Corby Kummer, for pointing out two excellent books for leftovers, aka recycling food:

And one from last year that’s truly stained/beloved by now:

We had a Q & A with Sally Sampson of ChopChop magazine to get psyched to involve friends and relatives and have a great time in the kitchen this season–not just eating and drinking but also dreaming up menus and helping to prepare.

PG: Lots of families will be home together during the school vacation and what better time to get cooking! Please give us a few pointers.

ChopChop: Cooking is one of the best ways for families to bond. It’s also a great way for kids to take ownership of their health. ChopChop’s mission is to educate kids to cook and be nutritionally literate. The first step in this process is getting kids excited about spending time in the kitchen and making them an integral part of meal preparation. To draw them in, let them pick what you will make together. Show kids what to do, and then let them do it themselves or with help, when necessary. Even very young children can measure, pour and stir. Make sure each young chef has an age appropriate task that let’s them feel that they are part of the process.

Baked Veggy Frittata

PG: What are some recipes that families can do together for fun meals — e.g., dinner where everyone does something, even smaller kids.

ChopChop: Recipes that involve everyone are the most exciting for families. Our Baked Vegetable Fritatta is an example of this. An older child can help chop vegetables and grate cheese (organic, if possible!). A younger child can measure out ingredients and help crack the eggs. Either can help stir the vegetables and add ingredients. Adults can move the dish from stovetop to oven, and everyone can eat it.

PG: Looking ahead to the New Year, what are some great recipes and strategies for bringing delicious lunches to school and work?

ChopChop: Try this great recipe for lemony hummus (from White House chef Cris Comerford) spread onto a wrap and filled with turkey and cheese. We also had a romaine lettuce roll up filled with hummus, vegetables, pumpkin seeds and rice. Many of these wraps and sandwiches can be made with leftovers right after dinner. Salads are always easy, but make sure the dressing is in a separate container so it doesn’t get soggy. Remember that salad doesn’t have to be just lettuce and vegetables.

Lettuce Roll-Up

Don’t give your kids food you don’t think they should be eating! Sit down with them and make a list of what they want and plan lunch options together. Put in a few different textures and flavors for variety-some crunchy (carrots or peppers), some chewy (dried fruit), some sweet (apple sauce) and some spicy (like our spiced pumpkin seeds).

Many of these recipes are available under the lunch section at chopchopmag.org.

Holiday Candy for Allergy Kids and Health-Conscious Eaters of all Ages!

Sarah Finnie Robinson — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 16:35:59 +0000

Close friends of Practically Green know the story: Susan’s son Hunter was diagnosed with myriad allergies, she went crazy trying to find reliable clear information to make her household healthy and green, and she decided to create a LEED for Life: Practically Green.

Challenges remain. For example: how to stock up on candy and special treats that are safe for everyone, family, guests, visitors. Ta Da! A few weeks ago, Susan found a wonderful site called the Natural Candy Store. This small California company is run by two sisters, Dawn and Irene, and their mom Molly. You can see their favorite candy here.

For example, Caramella Vegan Salted Caramels, $13.95. Ingredients: Organic unrefined cane sugar, organic coconut milk, organic agave nectar, organic cocoa butter, organic dark chocolate (organic cocoa mass, organic unrefined cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, sunflower lecithin, natural vanilla), organic coconut oil, sea salt.

Our customers have a variety of lifestyle and dietary needs – natural, organic, vegan, gluten-free, allergen-free, corn syrup-free, kosher, food dye sensitivities, fair-trade, GMO-free, etc…. they pay very close attention to ingredients. We work hard to provide as much information as possible about each item, including a complete ingredients list…. We want to make it easy for anyone, whatever their special dietary requirement, to find candy they can eat and feel good about eating.

The increasing incidence of conditions like ADHD and autism is also a significant factor. Many parents find that a diet free of artificial ingredients reduces symptoms, with research suggesting artificial colors and preservatives do indeed increase hyperactivity in children. Sugar always gets blamed for making kids hyper, but the research has never supported that — it’s probably all the artificial, petroleum-derived artificial colors and flavors that usually goes along with sugar that’s the real culprit!

Find out what food you buy regularly that contains artificial sweeteners (5 points on Practically Green)

Find out what food you buy regularly that contains artificial colors and flavors (10 points)

Find out what food in your house has artificial preservatives in it (5 points)

Choose organic or natural candy as a treat (10 points)

What makes this frosting blue? Cabbage!

Surf Sweets Organic Jelly Beans w carrot juice concentrate

Let’s stop talking and start ordering and enjoying! Dawn promises excellent customer service, and expedited deliveries are available for last-minute types.

Bonus: choose free samples with every order.

Cruise through the Candy Store guided by this key

Did we mention salted caramels? From Dawn’s description:

Enrobed in award winning milk chocolate & sprinkled with grey sea salt. Wrapped in festive holiday label! This simple & beautiful caramel highlights the richness of true Madagascar vanilla beans. From the first and only organic & fair trade bean-to-bar chocolate factory in the US!

Size Information: Each 1.83oz/52g box contains 4 caramels.

Ingredients: Sugar**, cream (milk)*, non-GMO corn syrup*, cocoa beans**, milk powder*, butter (milk)*, cocoa butter**, grey sea salt, ground vanilla bean*. *Organic **Organic & Fair Trade

Organic info: USDA Certified Organic

Theo Salted Caramels, Organic & Fair Trade

Last but not least, the Hangover Drops from England are miraculous, according to Dawn: “These all-natural, curative candies taste like yummy fruit punch (non-alcoholic, of course!).” Ingredients: Sugar, glucose syrup, citric acid, ginseng, natural flavors: bramble, lemon, orange, raspberry, rosehip, natural color: beetroot red.

Find them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter @cleancandy

Easy, Mostly Affordable, Charming Tips on Living Eco-Friendly

Sarah Finnie Robinson — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 21:02:43 +0000

Sometimes when we want the advice of a chic, worldly, bossy big sister, and we mean that in the best possible way, we turn to blogs like Dominique Browning’s Slow Love Life, Zem Joaquin’s EcoFabulous, and Ronnie Citron-Fink’s EcoNesting, … and, Priscilla Woolworth’s Almanac.

These women are stylishly green, intelligently and brilliantly green: they’re strict about ingredients, family, and process; they seem to travel everywhere and know everyone; they always have fresh flowers; and they are ready with sharp poison daggers to stab greenwashers. Also, they almost always have a French grandmother.

From SlowLoveLife.com

We recently caught up with Priscilla for a Q & A. (The first in a series, if you like the idea!)

Q. How did you get started?

A. I started developing the concept for my store 6 years ago, when I couldn’t find the non-toxic cleaning products I needed when I was at my house in Maine in the summer. I started shipping them from Los Angeles to Maine a week before I was leaving! Just nuts! Also, my friends were always asking me where I bought things or asked for advice about my lifestyle. I never imagined having my own store, let alone online and I discovered it was the most natural thing for me to do. Maybe it’s in my genes…

(Ahh, yes… that Woolworth!)

Golden Rules painting by Priscilla Woolworth, 24" square, on wood

Q. What makes you bounce out of bed in the morning?

A. How did you know that I bounce out of bed in the morning?! I can’t wait to get to work, especially if I’ve just read something fantastic in the newspaper. I must share it right away. I am a compulsive sharer of good, inspiring, exciting information and all of it is connected to my mission of educating and inspiring the public to make changes they can feel good about.

Penguin egg cosy (or puppet?), made of carpet remnants. $12

Q. What’s your mission?

A. My mission is twofold: to provide my favorite practical non-toxic, organic, energy-saving, water-saving products in my store; and to be a trusted resource for information about living a more sustainable lifestyle. I am my own best customer and use most of the products I sell. The market bags, reusable produce bags, stainless steel compost pail, African kettle, olive soap, glass water bottles and Valentina outdoor composter are a few of my products I use every single day.

Here’s the “delightful Kettle”: “I keep it by my kitchen sink, where I pour water from unfinished glasses, or saved water from washing lettuce, etc. Do not put any soap in it, only water! When it’s filled up, I use it to water my potted plants outside my kitchen.”

African Water Kettle made of salvaged plastic. $12

Q. I’m interested in your big thoughts on why sustainable living is important. Why bother?

A. Sustainable living is the way we all need to live if we are going to have a chance at leaving our world a livable and hopefully better place for our children. People need to know that they don’t have to sacrifice their lifestyle but instead can transition easily to something as easy as using reusable market bags or water bottles. I have heard people say that anything we do won’t make a difference, and I strongly disagree. We all have the power to change the world by what we buy… if we all support, for example, the companies that make non-toxic cleaning products or the ones that use recycled paper for paper products, the more those products will become the norm rather than the exception. The awesome United States is a consumer society, so we as the consumers have a lot of power we don’t even realize. Everything we buy is tracked, and when more people spend their money buying non-toxic cleaning products rather than the traditional brands, those environmentally products will become more available and more affordable.

I am inspired so much by my French grandmother, who at 93 years old, has explained to me the way everyone used to live, decades ago: people bought local and produce in season, using market baskets or cloth bags. Very little was wasted and people lived more simply and were content with less. I feel there is a movement to aspire to this kind of lifestyle.

Priscilla's Valentina Outdoor Wooden Compost Bin

Q. We would love your personal recommendations for products and services that make the process easy and terrific.

A. The easiest recommendations are for things we do on a regular basis, such as shopping for food and personal care. Bring your own market bags with you, buy organic food whenever you can, and buy paper goods made with recycled paper. If you live in an area where water is getting scarcer, get in the habit of keeping a bucket in your shower to catch as much wasted water as possible and use it on your plants instead. EWG.org is a great resource when it comes to checking the safety of beauty products and suntan lotions. Check with your local DWP (Department of Water and Power) and find out what energy saving programs they are offering, and learn ways you can reduce the energy and water wasted in your home, and save money. Add indoor plants like a Spider plant, which acts as natural air cleaners, busting indoor air pollutants in your home or office.

Priscilla on a building, location TBA

Q. What are you doing posted on the side of that huge building?!

A. Just hanging around…

You can find her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @ecowoolworth.

Football Tailgates for Team Green!

Sarah Finnie Robinson — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 23:46:51 +0000

Tailgate to heaven: grill, beer, food! There’s two months of football to go on the schedule, and SoCal Jocelyn Anne has some fantastic ideas on how to green up your tailgate festivities!

GREEN TAILGATE, by guest blogger Jocelyn Anne

Our guest blogger enjoys her tailgate in Southern California

We’re particularly excited about the opportunities for going even greener than years prior! It may mean digging a little deeper, stretching our brains, and perhaps investing a little more time than normal, but it also means bigger pay off than ever before, and I think, even more delicious samplings and drinks to be had! So here’s to the greenest tailgates yet. Whatever team colors you’re rooting for, we’re all rooting for green around here.

First Things First: The BBQ

What tailgate, really, is complete without a barbecue? So, let’s get the real answer when it comes to what’s green and what’s just not. If you have the budget for it, a hydrogen grill is about the very best because it produces zero emissions. Solar is probably a close second, but let’s face it, sun is a pre-requisite and it’s pretty time consuming (neither points good for tailgates). My fave is the corn grill: 100% efficient and burns a 100% renewable resource. Plus, no gases, creosotes, hydrocarbons or chemicals. And, bonus: it’ll never explode! But, okay: benefit of the doubt, college student without the budget for a new-fangled green grill. What you do need to know is that propane beats out charcoal. In fact, charcoal has a footprint about three times greater than propane. I’m also a very big fan of the FlameDisk by uGO. You get 40 minutes of burning per recyclable disk, and it produces 90% fewer pollutants than a charcoal grill. And, if you already have a charcoal burning grill, you can easily make it a greener bbq by replacing the charcoal with eco-friendlier briquettes.

Even Before First things First? The Beer

Let me preface, I’m not a beer drinker. But, I hear from the “crowd” that any real tail-gater gets started on the beer first. If you’re going to go green here, your very best option is to brew your own. I’ll let you research that on your own if you feel so inclined. Following brewing your own, the next best thing is to drink organic and locally brewed beer. We just so happen to live in a time when we can not only find beer made in an eco-friendly process, with locally grown organic and chemical/pesticide free hops and barley; but also, the buildings themselves are becoming more eco-friendly. Plus, for you beer drinkers, the good news is that the bigger the container, the better; in this case, we are keg approvers! Kegs eliminate glass bottles that don’t always get recycled and they can be re-used over and over. Even better, they require less energy to keep cool and can often be found locally distributed. If you need a list of green-approved bottled beers, try these: New Belgium Brewery, Sierra Nevada Brewing, Full Sail Brewing, Alaskan Brewing, and Great Lakes Brewing. (And don’t forget to submit your favorites on Practically Green!)

Truly Most Important: The Food

This is basically why I go to tailgates. To go greener, consider ditching the burgers and dogs, at least traditionally speaking, and try some Boca burgers or Tofu dogs. Personally, I think the soy versions taste better, not to mention they should be better for you nutritionally speaking. Mix things up and do veggie shish ka bobs. Make some killer guacamole. Veggie tacos, anyone? Or, a personal favorite: vegetarian chili. Some chips and super hearty chili, and I’m set. My favorite idea of all? Shop at the local farmer’s market before the game! Nothing like some warm, freshly baked pitas to go with that local hummus!

YUM!! Rosemary-Thyme pita chips from Food52.com (photo: Sarah Shatz)

The Bottom Line

Going green at a tailgate is really actually just as easy and simple as you want it to be. Remember to go local and organic as much as possible. Forget the disposables and bring your own dishes. Recycle when you’re done and clean it up like you were never there. If you can do that, Team Green will win every time!

Note on the author:

Jocelyn is a native Montana ranch girl who recently made the move to California, where she’s found it especially important to incorporate her green roots into her new city life. She now works as a writer for Air & Water, an appliance e-retailer, where her research has greatly awakened her to just how much energy a single house drains in a day and how imperative it is to cut back and start conserving. She’s vowed to skip central heating this year and opt for small, eco-friendly infra red heaters when she needs extra warmth this winter. But, if she does have to use central, you can bet she’ll be turning it down two degrees lower than standard room temperature. And if she isn’t convincing friends to unplug appliances and use low-flow faucets, she’s probably dragging them out to the farmer’s market to teach them about real food!

Thanksgiving with all the trimmings — and please hold the BPA

Sarah Finnie Robinson — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 16:25:32 +0000

6 easy ways to avoid BPA at the Thanksgiving table, by Founder/CEO Susan Hunt Stevens

Is anyone else in Thanksgiving planning mode? While Googling stuffing recipes this week, I read a report from the Breast Cancer Fund. I want to share it with you because I have several VIPs in my life battling breast cancer—and I bet you do, too.

Herb roasted turkey from EatingWell.com

They were curious about how much bisphenol A (BPA) might be in an average Thanksgiving meal. BPA is in can linings because it acts as a protective barrier between the metal and the can’s contents. But it actually gets into the food, acts as a synthetic hormone, and has been linked to breast cancer as well as many other health issues. So they tested the canned foods that are typically found at a Thanksgiving meal—things like cream of mushroom soup, creamed corn, green beans, and cranberry sauce by big brands including Campbell’s, Carnation, Del Monte, Nestle, Ocean Spray, and General Mills. Here’s what they found: “Single servings of almost half of the products tested had levels of BPA comparable to levels that laboratory studies have linked to adverse health effects.”

Apple cranberry pie, thank you First Prize pies!

Thankfully, there are ways to reduce the amount of BPA in any meal—holiday or otherwise. The first step is to stop using canned food, or to reduce the amount you use, and to buy fresh produce instead. These 6 actions from Practically Green will help you ditch the BPA for Thanksgiving and still have a truly tasty meal:

1. Shop at farmers’ markets, where cans are extremely rare (many end shortly after Thanksgiving, but there are also winter markets)

2. Eat local produce in season

Sure hit! Sweet potato recipe from Food52.com, photo courtesy Sarah Shatz

3. While you’re at it, buy organic when you can–if not fresh, frozen is preferable to canned organic veggies

4. Use BPA free cups and bottles

5. When reheating or defrosting in a microwave, use glass or lead-free ceramic instead of plastic; heating plastic speeds the release of its chemical components into food

6. BPA can be found in soda cans, too, so why not replace them with fizzy natural juices in glass bottles?

Which brings me to this week’s PG Holiday Tip, a friendly reminder: Take your reusable shopping bags while out gathering all of your holiday meal goods!

We’re loving this four piece insulated kit from our partner BlueAvocado and are thrilled that they are offering you, PG members, 25% off your holiday orders! Just use the code balovespg25 at checkout. The bags are made from recycled fibers containing plastic bottles, and hold up to a total of 70 pounds—that’s at least several holiday roasts! If you have too many bags already, these would also make a great gift for someone who is still trying to break the bag habit.

Deluxe 4-piece Shopping Kit from BlueAvocado.com

10 Rules for Conscious Eating

Sarah Finnie Robinson — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 20:45:19 +0000

10 Rules for Conscious Eating, by Chris Keenan

Chris in action in the kitchen

1) Eat the colors of the rainbow. Not only is this good for your health, the more fresh fruits and vegetables you eat, the less meat and processed foods you eat, which are not as sustainable or environmentally friendly.

2) Plant a garden. You just can’t beat the taste of homegrown, garden fresh vegetables, but did you know having a garden is also environmentally friendly? A healthy garden is good for the soil, and it creates an environment for bees and other insects that play a huge role in our ecosystem.

Eat the Rainbow! (Photo credit: karimian @flickr)

3) Buy local. Organic is appealing to conscious consumers, but remember that the bulk of organic produce is grown thousands of miles away and must be flown in. Instead of buying organic, buy local, which traveled a much shorter distance.
4) Cook more. Preparing meals yourself is not only a great way to save money and eat healthier, it’s a great way to reduce waste. Plastic utensils, metal or paper containers, plastic bags and paper napkins can all be eliminated when you cook at home.

Rule 4: Cook More! (credit cheesy42@flickr)

5) Pack an eco-friendly lunch. Most brown bag lunches generate a lot of trash. The brown bag itself, plastic baggies that hold food, and the food containers themselves (i.e., yogurt). Use Tupperware containers instead of plastic bags and buy in bulk rather than buying individualized items. You can store your bulk items in the garage, just keep them away from the garage door and closer to the home. Also, keep everything sealed or you will attract bugs and rodents.
6) Kick your soda and bottled water habit. Recycling is good, but not having to recycle at all is even better. Say “no” to beverages that come in cans or bottles.
7) Participate in Meatless Mondays and eat more vegetarian meals. The less meat we eat, the greener we’ll be.
8) Buy green products. Whenever you have the option, chose brands that use recycled paper or are otherwise committed to environmentally safe practices. Support eco-friendly companies whenever possible.
9) Bake your own cookies. Instead of buying a bag of cookies, bake some. Processed foods, like cookies, are mass produced on equipment that uses a lot of energy. Then they are packaged in materials that you ultimately throw away and are then distributed all over the United States. Be green and bake.

Rule 9: Bake Cookies! (credit marshsu @flickr)

10) Buy free range, grass fed, and humane animal products. Factory farming is cruel and wreaks havoc on the environment.

Join in the discussion in the comments below and/or share the piece.

Chris & Rachel

About the Author: Chris lives in New Jersey with his wife Rachel and their baby boy. He works at a Mom & Pop operation.… He says “being middle middle class, living green and healthy can be difficult but we do our best. We mostly concentrate efforts on the mantra reduce, reuse, recycle; avoiding wastefulness; and keeping our energy consumption to a minimum — even if it means getting an earful from parents every time it’s cold out on why we won’t raise the thermostat higher. We run a food blog, thekeenancookbook.com.” Chris also writes for Precision Garage Door, and he maintains a personal house and garden blog.

Water Sustainability Webinar: Optimize H2O at Work, Home & in Your Community

Sarah Finnie Robinson — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:46:39 +0000

Water: Got too much? Not enough? What are the coolest new products for conserving water? How do the experts view this precious resource?

** Please join our free webinar on November 16, 1-2pm ET to get expert advice and answers. **

Register here: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/458003078

Practically Green has 51 Water-related actions, from Wash only full loads of laundry (99% of PG users have done this already; 20 points) to Install a shower timer (Only 1% of PG has done this one! Why is it the least favorite Water action?)

What would happen if the entire country decided to Turn off the faucets while brushing teeth? Or if every Fortune 1000 headquarters Installed a rainwater harvesting system? (150 points!)

We’re hosting an online event for a deep dive on the subject.

Panelists:

• Molly Hislop: Program Director, Green Education Foundation

• Michele Hudec: VP of Product and BizDev, American Standard Brands

• Stephanie Thornton: Community Outreach, WaterSense, EPA

• Martin Wolf: Director of Product/Technology at Seventh Generation

• Peter Yost: Director of Residential Services, BuildingGreen

• Alexandra Zissu: Editorial Director, Practically Green; Author, Planet Home and more

Moderated by Practically Green’s Founder & CEO, Susan Hunt Stevens.

Easy, Cash-Smart Ways to be Green

Sarah Finnie Robinson — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 22:32:36 +0000

Save money being green

In a skittish economy, money trumps all. Everyone wants to boost efficiency, reduce waste, and be healthy not only because it’s the right thing to do but because it’s miserable watching cash float away any more than we must. Practically Green has 70+ actions you can do that are either free or that will yield impressive financial results.

Check the list! You’re probably doing lots of these things already. You’ll see several to do starting, well… Now!

Here’s a sampling. The point value tells you the relative impact of each action:

Turn thermostat down by 4 degrees in the winter (50 Points)

Turn down hot water heater (20 points)

Turn off the heat dry feature on your dishwasher (20 points)

Switch to reusable towels or dish cloths at home (20 points)

Install one low-flow shower head (20 points)

Use reusable shopping bags regularly (10 points)

Unplug (or avoiding buying) your second refrigerator (50 points)

Turn off the lights when you leave a room (10 points)

Unplug chargers and appliances when not in use (20 points)

Buy antique or secondhand furniture and home goods (50 points)

Buy a pre-owned home instead of building new (200 points)

Commit to 25 of these next steps, and you’ve earned the Frugalista badge. Who wouldn’t want this coy pig on their Practically Green dashboard?!

So go ahead, pick your 25 actions and get this savvy oinker on board your green program!

Urban Compost: Easy, Reasonable, & Quite Possibly Available in Your Town!

Sarah Finnie Robinson — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 22:13:15 +0000

We’ve got a fabulous panel of experts coming to our Water webinar on November 16. Please mark your calendars for 1pm Eastern, full details coming soon!

* * *

Meet Martin Wolf, one of our panelists; he’s the Director of Product & Environmental Technology at Seventh Generation. He also goes by “Scienceman.”

We asked Martin for the two or three most salient points he’d like to address during our Webinar, and here’s one of them:

Our water supply pipes and our drain pipes are connected. What goes out our drain pipes goes into a system, and is brought back into our homes and other buildings through our supply pipes. Knowing this, how should we change our thinking about what we put down our drains?

That got me thinking about my kitchen sink at home, and the drain in the sink that leads to a disposal, which grinds up all our food scraps into… pulp? mush? and then all of that glop goes … where?

To the rescue: Bootstrap Compost, a can-do composting entrepreneur who supplies households and businesses in metro Boston with a cool bin, lined with a biodegradable bag. It has a happy green lid and it looks just fine on the kitchen floor.

Who can resist this message from Bootstrap’s impresario, Andy Brooks?

Bootstrap Compost is Greater Boston’s only year-round kitchen scrap pickup service. We use bikes, trains, hand trucks, and the occasional vehicle to collect and transport compostable material from houses, apartments, dorms, co-ops, and condos. Additionally, we’ll happily collect scraps from farmer’s markets, cafes, restaurants, concerts, festivals, cult gatherings — you name it. And the coolest thing is this: all active Bootstrap customers receive a portion of super rich compost 10-15 weeks after their initial deposit to the Bootstrap Compost bank. The second coolest thing is this: We donate finished compost to urban gardens in Roxbury and Jamaica Plain.

I was amazed at all the scraps we had accumulated after one simple dinner for two and a light breakfast the next morning – and this was before we scooped in our coffee grinds! There’s something a bit intimate, revealing, about showing you our compost, but here you are:

Personal compost, after one dinner, half a breakfast, and before coffee grinds

Turns out Andy is not alone: there are compost services in many other cities (go Philly Compost and New York Compost!), some of which are actually provided by the municipality (go San Francisco and Seattle!). And composting isn’t just for home: we know restaurants, companies, and even a major-league baseball team that composts 85% of its waste (go, Seattle Mariners!).

Find out why Compost kitchen food waste is worth a big fat 100 points!

Have you ever considered composting at your home, office, school? This might just be the way to ease into the practice…. Google “NAME OF YOUR CITY + compost pickup” and see what you get!

In a couple of months, the reward: they’ll deliver a bag of urban black gold – worm-processed soil that’s perfect for houseplants this winter.

Thank you, White Flower Farm