Why use toxic cleaning products when you can use healthy, nontoxic and safe cleaning alternatives? Here are some green cleaning ideas to help you be clean, healthy and make a planet difference:

All-Purpose Cleaner
Seventh Generation and Sun & Earth make non-toxic cleaning products which you can use for kitchens, bathrooms, tubs, floors, counters, tile, carpets, spills, stains, and other.

White Distilled Vinegar
Inexpensive and versatile, white distilled vinegar is a very powerful nontoxic disinfectant. Use it to remove stains, grease, mildew, wax buildup, polish some metals, clean coffeepots, toilet bowls, brick, stone, and windows. Also, one tablespoon during rinse cycle makes a fabulous fabric softener.

Window Glass Cleaner
Seventh Generation makes a wonderful nontoxic window cleaner.

Baking Soda (sodium bicarbonate)
Use baking soda to deodorize every room of the house, unclog drains, removes certain stains, and clean and polish jewelry, chrome, silver, copper, tin, stainless and tin.

Hand Dishwashing Liquid
Seventh Generation, Ecover, Earth Friendly, and Sun & Earth produces eco-friendly dishwashing liquid that can be used to clean pots, pans, dishes, glasses and anything else you don't want in the dishwasher.

Automatic Dishwashing Detergent
Seventh Generation makes a great nontoxic dishwashing detergent.

Laundry Liquid
Earth Friendly, Seventh Generation, & Ecover, all make eco-friendly nontoxic laundry liquid.

Lemon Juice
Use as a natural deodorizer and cleaner for aluminum, copper, porcelain and clothing.

Table Salt
Use to remove rust and, when combined with lemon juice, cleans copper. When salt is combined with vinegar, it polishes brass.

Hydrogen Peroxide
Use in diluted form to remove stains from dirty whites and other clothing/fabrics.

Happy cleaning!

In 2001, when petroleum prices began to spiral upwards, Ricardo Asturias in Guatemala saw an opportunity with biofuels. With a background in agribusiness and petroleum, Asturias knew that alternative fuels would be a promising investment and he had just the plant oil in mind, the nonedible fruit of the Jatropha tree (Jatropha Curcas), called the piñon. This small tree grows in abundance in Guatemala and has had little every day use but is known for its success in preventing erosion and deforestation. Asturias is quite confident that the piñon, and other renewable sources of energy, “will result in an agricultural revolution in our countries.”

This amazing non-edible fruit is a strong source of alternative fuel; it is good for consumers and the environment.

Other Benefits of Jatropha Curcas:
- It can grow almost anywhere, with little or no maintenance or water
- It grows in abundance
- Produces year round seed, if watered
- Medicinal and industrial uses, including: soaps, cosmetics, toothpaste, high quality paper, & cough medicine.

References:
http://www.biodieseltoday.com/
http://www.jatrophacurcasplantations.com/
http://www.iadb.org/idbamerica/index.cfm?thisid=4329

All of us are experiencing the pain at the gas pump, unless you have a hybrid, hydrogen or electric vehicle. Meanwhile, oil companies are experiencing tremendous profits, thanks to many reasons, including gas guzzling vehicles, successful marketing campaigns, and starry-eyed consumers. Many consumers bought into the marketing lie that "bigger is better" and now they financially suffer at the pump, while also negatively impacting our small planet. As we look at the various alternatives to petroleum, we must ask, are biofuels really sustainable? A document prepared by the House of Commons Environmental Committee (January 2008), addresses this very question. The fact is that biofuels are contributing to a global food crisis. According to a recent article in the Guardian, "Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75% - far more than previously estimated - according to a confidential World Bank report obtained by the Guardian."

Considering the growing rhetoric of the depletion of oil reserves, let's take a look at the pros and cons of five sources of biofuels: corn ethanol, sugar-cane ethanol, cellulosic ethanol, algae biofuel, and biodiesel.

Corn Ethanol
Pros: Could reduce US reliance upon oil imports and decrease greenhouse gases.
Cons: Production is energy intensive and the price of corn, meat and grain have gone through the roof. 450+ pounds of corn are required to fill a 25 gallon tank with an ethanol (enough calories to feed one person for a year!).

Sugar-Cane Ethanol
Pros: Less energy to produce than corn and yields more per acre than corn.
Cons: Requires a warm, rainy climate to grow.

Cellulosic Ethanol
Pros: Made from wood chips, nonfood crops, and farm waste.
Cons: More expensive than sugar or corn and very energy intensive.

Algae Biofuel
Pros: Algae grows quickly and can produce 30x more energy than other biofuel alternatives.
Cons: Growing algae is expensive. The technology is not yet developed to make extensive fuel from algae.

Biodiesel
Pros: Made from vegetable oil, like canola and soy, and animal fat. Unfortunately, it requires 90% more energy to create it than to use it. Biodiesel is estimated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40-80%.
Cons: Boosts "agflation".

Related articles:
U.N. Says Food Plan Could Cost $30 Billion a Year (New York Times, June 4, 2008)
All Biofuels Are Not The Same (Washington Post, June 16, 2008)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jul/03/biofuels.renewableenergy

What are your thoughts about this? I really like reducing the landfill but I am not crazy about the RFID chip. Nothing is private anymore.

Did you know that although a fresh coat of paint may perform wonders to the look and feel of a room it can also be detrimental to your health? Think about the last time you painted a room or house and the trouble you had breathing, especially when the air was stagnant. Indeed, standard paint is toxic for the planet and our bodies. In fact, the nasty effects of paint fumes can impact the body for up to 3 years! With this in mind, the next time you go to paint your room, house, or office, use eco-friendly paints.

Learn more from the EPA and start shopping for eco-paints here.

Here is a video abstract from Season One of PBS television show called "Building Green," hosted by Kevin Contreras, exploring the basics of eco-friendly paints and green brands.

• Benzene - Found in inks, oils, plastics, paints, detergents, synthetic fibers, etc.
• Formaldehyde - Found in plywood, grocery bags, waxed paper, fire retardants, etc.
• Trichloroethylene - Found in inks, varnishes, & adhesives
• Carbon monoxide - Found in unvented kerosene and gas heaters, leaking chimneys and furnaces, tobacco smoke, automobile exhaust from attached garage, gas stoves, & generators and other gasoline powered equipment.

Bamboo Palm (Chamaedorea seifritzii)

Chinese Evergreen (Algaonema modestmu)

English Ivy (Hedera helix)

Gerbera Daisy (Gerbera jamesonii)

Janet Craig (Dracaena)

Marginata (Dracaena marginata)

Mass Cane/ Corn Plant (Dracaena massangeana)


Mother-in-law's Tongue (Sansevieria laurentii)

Pot Mum (Chrysantheium morifolium)

Peace Lily (Spathuphyllum "Mauna Loa")

Go shopping, clean your air and live free!

• Dr. Bronner's Castile Liquid Soap-Peppermint
• Nurture My Body Shampoo ~ fragrance-free
• Nurture My Body Shampoo
• Burt's Bees Grapefruit & Sugar Beet Shampoo
• Kiss My Face Natural Styling Gel, Upper Management
• Perfect Organics Mandarin Rose Coconut Body Glow

• Mountain Girl Botanics Aspen Spa Soap
• Dr. Bronner's Castile Liquid Soap-Peppermint

• Tom's of Maine Natural Baking Soda Toothpaste with Propolis & Myrrh, Peppermint
• Nature's Gate Toothpaste-Creme Peppermint
• Desert Essence Tea Tree Oil Toothpaste

• Sure Invisible Solid Antiperspirant & Deodorant, Unscented
• Avalon Organics Roll-On Deodorant, Peppermint

• Terressentials 100% Organic Pure Cocoa Butter
• Perfect Organics Orange Ginger Shea Butter

We have all been tricked (brainwashed) into believing bottled water is more pure and fresh than tap water; a brilliant yet deceptive tactic of corporations to fatten their profits. Streams, fountains, and other "fresh" landscapes on their labels further convince us that the water is really pure. In 1999 the NRDC tested 1000 bottles of 103 brands of water (most recent major report of water bottle safety) and the organization discovered that:

1. At least one of the samples of 1/3 of the brands contained chemical or bacterial toxins, including carcinogens exceeding state and industry standards.
2. Samples of two brands were contaminated with phthalates, exceeding the EPA standard for tap water!

1. Get a water-quality or consumer-confidence report from your local water utility. If you have well water, get it tested every year. You can also call the EPA's toll-free Drinking Water Hotline at 800.426.4791. or visit the website for the Campaign for Safe and Affordable Drinking Water at www.safe-drinking-water.org.
2. Reconsider drinking from the office watercooler. First, it is rarely, if ever, cleaned. Second, they are made of polycarbonate and have the nasty potential to leak bisphenol (BPA), a chemical that causes neurological and other problems. Recent research linked the BPA to a variety of disorders, including breast cancer and obesity, and one disturbing 2007 study, published in the journal PLoS Genetics, found that BPA exposure can cross generations.
3. Get a reusable stainless steel container and fill it up with your own tap or filtered water. Check out Klean Kanteen, SIGG, Greenfeet, and New Wave Enviro.
4. Never drink bottled water exposed to hot temperatures.
5. Buy only bottled water when necessary and make sure it has the NSF logo on it.

Go Green on the Little Things is a 7 part series, providing various tidbits and advice about green living and choices for the following: home living, office spaces, school, shopping, health and beauty, money and finance, and buildings.

Today, we are finishing up our 7 part series with Go Green on the Little Things: Health and Beauty. Looking good on you does not necessarily mean your look is good for the environment. Did you know that consumers use about 200 pounds of plastic a year and that 60 pounds of it is just packaging that we discard? The health and beauty industry is a whopping $160 billion dollar a year industry and not very keen on caring for the planet in their big packages and unnatural products or toxins they use. Let's take a look at how you can green your planet in the area of health and fitness with the following steps:

1. Showering: Drop your showers to once a day instead of two and save about 200 gallons of water, or 30,000+ gallons a year.
2. Exercise Outside: Leave the electrical elliptical and treadmill and run outside when you can.
3. Swimming: Swim in saltwater (saline) or solar-ionized pools instead of chlorinated ones; healthier choices for your skin, eyes, hair, and lungs, as well as the environment.
4. Baby Oil: Instead of baby oil (which is made from petroleum), use oils produced from the seeds of nuts and fruits.
5. Shampoo and Conditioner: Use the 2-in-1 and save on plastic, time, water and money.
6. Deodorant: Avoid anti-perspirants as they use aluminum salts to seal your pores, a toxin to the body and costly ingredient to mine (dig, unearth!).
7. Eyeliner: Use eyeliner contained within wood chips versus encased in plastic.
8. Foundation: Use foundation in recyclable glass containers.
9. Lipstick: Make sure you lipstick made from plants instead of from paraffin waxes, synthetic oils and toxic coal tar dyes.
10. Hair Dye: Choose semi- or demi-permanent dyes made from plants versus synthetic dyes.
11. Mascara: Choose mascara made from plants and minerals versus petroleum.
12. Perfumes/Colognes: Switch to natural botanical perfumes and colognes. Most perfumes and colognes are derived from petroleum.
13. Razors: Buy recyclable razors, saving on packaging and energy.
14. Soap: Forget the liquid soap as the packaging is expensive and wasteful; stick with bars of soap.
15. Sponges: It's time for us to return to the good old reusable hand cloth, saving money on the packaging and production of the synthetic nylon sponge.

Go Green on the Little Things is a 7 part series, providing various tidbits and advice about green living and choices for the following: home living, office spaces, school, shopping, health and beauty, money and finance, and buildings.

Today, let's discuss Go Green on the Little Things: Money & Finance. There are easy steps you can take to make the world greener, simply by making wiser choices with money and finances, reducing waste along the way.

1. Socially responsible investing and advisors: These days it easy to find socially responsible companies and opportunities to invest your resources. Click here to get started.
2. E-Checks & E-Payments: Paying electronically reduces paper usage with a point and click.
3. Electronic Tax Filing and Refunds: It's time for you to do your taxes electronically. Buy TurboTax, file online and get your refund back without a shred of paper (tree) exchange!
4. Online Banking: Forget the paper statements, it is dated! Take care of all your banking on the internet and place a hold on your monthly statement.
5. ATM Deposits and Withdrawals: Forget the paper receipts and make a difference (remember, you can check your balance and activity online!).

Go Green on the Little Things is a 7 part series, providing various tidbits and advice about green living and choices for the following: home living, office spaces, school, shopping, health and beauty, money and finance, and buildings.

Today, let's discuss Go Green on the Little Things: Buildings. Constructing eco-friendly, green homes are becoming imperative, as well as modifications and upgrades to one's existing home. We are living in an age where the conservation of resources is proving vital to the sustainability of human life. Let's look at some simple ways you can green your home:

Garden and Landscape

1. Gravel, wood chips, nutshells, or other salvaged materials make great covering for your patio, walkways and paths, allowing for water to seep into the ground instead of water running off your property.
2. Minimize the removal of vegetation to help prevent soil erosion.
3. Keep the landscape of your property planted with natural vegetation in order to reduce the emissions from gas powered tools required to maintain lawns.
4. Planting leafy trees to shade your home could help you reduce your air conditioning usage during summer months.

1. Air Conditioning: Buy an Energy Star System, saving 20-40% on your energy usage.
2. Cooling/Heating Systems: Use a programmable thermostat to control energy usage.
3. Reflective Roofing: Save money by making your roof an energy powerhouse.
4. Lighting: Use motion sensors and light dimmers to save energy.
5. Solar Panels: With tax credits and rebates, you can get free energy from the sun.
6. Solar Water Heaters: Think of it this way - why pay for hot water when you can harness it naturally?

1. Carpets: Buy carpet made from recycled products, such as plastic bottles.
2. Bathroom Countertops: Buy 100% recycled countertops.
3. Drywall: Save energy by buying at least 75% recycled content or synthetic gypsum or fly ash.
4. Dual flush Toilets: Save water by installing low flush toilets.
5. Glass Tiles: Buy 100% recycled glass instead of using ceramic tiles.
6. Bamboo Flooring: Forget the wood floors, use bamboo; it grows abundantly and quickly.
7. Insulation: Buy 100% recycled insulation.
8. Kitchen Countertops: Choose durable composite, paper stone, terrazo, stainless steel, or tile countertop with 50-100% recycled content.
9. Linoleum Floors: Made from 100% natural resources, it is a much better alternative to the petroleum-derived vinyl flooring.
10. Paint: Use 100% recycled paint.
11. Pavement: Make sure you use porous pavement so water can seep into the earth versus running off.
12. Windows: Double pane windows will prevent precious heat from escaping your home easily.
13. Wood: Use recycled wood or at least wood that is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

1. Furniture: Buy used, refurbished, or antique items.
2. Textiles: Use recycled fabrics versus polyester fabric.

Go Green on the Little Things is a 7 part series, providing various tidbits and advice about green living and choices for the following: home living, office spaces, school, shopping, health and beauty, money and finance, and buildings.

Today, let's discuss Go Green on the Little Things: Shopping. Even as the US economy is shaking, we are still the world's top consumer nation. With 6.6 billion people on this small planet, just imagine the amount of refuse collected on a daily basis. Manufacturers require a vast amount of energy and water for production, as well as waste, and this is long before the products reach you and me, the consumers. Along with buying tons of products a year, we also produce tons of waste (literally) as a result of packaging and discarding used products and other.

Grocery shopping
Before you begin your grocery shopping, make sure you buy an eco-friendly, reusable bag(s). When you buy your food, consider this: less is more. Less packaging is much better for the environment and will help to make the planet greener. Also, shop for your fruits and vegetables at your local farmer's market. Buying bulk foods will also help to reduce packaging waste.

Natural Colors and Cotton
Did you know that the process of dyeing fabric is highly toxic? Therefore, consider natural colors. Also, buy organic cotton clothing, thereby eliminating the use of toxic fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides.

Fair Trade & Eco-Friendly Gifts, Coffee, Clothing
Buy fair trade clothing, accessories, coffee, tea and other fair trade goodies. Visit the Fair Trade Federation or Trans Fair for additional fair trade information. Also, use Co-op America's Business Network Directory to find green products.

Second Hand Shopping
Buying used goods is a fantastic idea to curb waste, while taking hold of a unique items and saving money. Indeed, you can find used and almost new products for a fraction of the cost of a new item. In addition, used items usually come without the packaging, another way to reduce waste and green the planet. So the next time you need to buy something, consider shopping at a thrift store, garage sale, eBay, Craigslist, local want ads, and other. You may be delightfully surprised with the price, product and one-of-a-kind gift for you or your loved one!

Health
Homeopathic medication is an eco-friendly alternative to over-the-counter medication. Not only are homeopathic treatments better for the body, they are also better for the environment as the production of drugs emits toxins, negatively impacting our water, soil, and air.

So these ideas, if applied, will help you become an eco-friendly, socially responsible, and savvy consumer!

Happy shopping and making a difference in and for the world at the same time!

Go Green on the Little Things is a 7 part series, providing various tidbits and advice about green living and choices for the following: home living, office spaces, school, shopping, health and beauty, money and finance, and buildings.

Today, let's discuss Go Green on the Little Things: School. US college and universities are said to create more than 3.5 million tons of waste year, 2% of our nation's total waste problems. These statistics don't even include high schools, junior high or elementary schools! A majority of the waste, as you might imagine is paper (art, copy, tests, exams, study guides, research and more) and food (cafeteria food and vending machines). So let's look at how schools can join the rest of us to green the earth, simply through better decisions:

• Getting There: Bicycle, carpool, walk, skip, run, or scooter your way to class.
• Food: Donate your cafeteria food to people in need (tons of good food are literally thrown away and the hungry continue to go without).
• Markers: Use water based markers as they have nontoxic ink with refillable heads.
• Pencils: Use pencils made from recycled material in lightweight or reusable packages.
• School Supplies: Always buy recycled products for binders, folders, paper, etc. Remember to reuse rubber bands but don't buy them as they are made of crude oil.
• Textbooks: Buy used and sell back at the end of the year.
• Vending Machines: Bypass the temptation and save calories and the landfills. If you do drink a soda, recycle the can.
• Whiteboards: Use whiteboards over chalkboards as chalk is horrible for asthma sufferers and other respiratory illnesses.

Go Green on the Little Things is a 7 part series, providing various tidbits and advice about green living and choices for the following: home living, office spaces, school, shopping, health and beauty, money and finance, and buildings.

Today we'll look at Go Green on the Little Things: Office Spaces. Water, electricity, paper, print cartridges, e-waste, disposable packaging, office supply waste, toxins and more all have an impact upon the environment. Let's look at some easy ways you and your colleagues can make the planet greener:

• Coffee or Tea Break: Buy fair trade coffee, pour cream and then coffee into your own mug first so you don't need the plastic or wooden stirrer, and bring your own mug instead of wasting a paper or styrofoam cup.
• Electricity: Turn off lights, printers, computers and all other electronic products when not in use.
• Getting to Work: Consider carpooling, public transportation, bicycling or walking to work (let's not give oil companies more money than necessary).
• Meals: Bring your own lunch to work in glass containers and use silverware and not plastic utensils (good for your waistline and for the environment!).
• Paper and Envelopes: Use recycled paper products so more trees can stay here on earth.
• Pens: Buy refillable as disposables are not recyclable nor biodegradable.
• Printers: Print on recycled paper, double-sided, for tree's sake.
• Rubber Bands: Recycle rubber bands but try to avoid buying them as they are made out of crude oil.
• Stamps: Buy e-stamps and forget the machine, ink and maintenance fees.

Go Green on the Little Things is a 7 part series, providing various tidbits and advice about green living and choices for the following: home living, office spaces, school, shopping, health and beauty, money and finance, and buildings.

Today, we begin our 7 part series with Go Green on the Little Things: Home Living. Did you know that on average, you create 4.5 pounds of trash every day?! In addition, Americans use more than twice the amount of water and energy per person as anyone else in this small world. In order to be better stewards of our limited resources, below are some recommendations to begin living a more eco-friendly lifestyle, right in the comfort of your home environment:

• Compost: Add your scraps of fruit, vegetables and coffee grounds to your garden to help your garden thrive and create a deeper topsoil.
• Food Storage: Store your food in glass or porcelain containers, instead of using plastic. It will be healthy for the planet and for your body, as chemicals from plastic transfer to food.
• Junk Mail: Stop the insanity of unwanted junk mail by going to www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailinglist.com and registering your information. Recycle your remaining mail.
• Dry Cleaning: Tell the cleaners to hold the plastic and when you pick up your clothes, bring your own hangers.
• Grow Your Own Garden: Fruits, vegetables and herbs are so much better fresh and you can save money and gas! If you can't grow your own garden, consider buying your produce at a Farmer's Market.
• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: From paper to aluminum cans to clothing, do the right thing and reduce, reuse, recycle.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and big corporations, like Walmart, are aggressively promoting compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs because: 1) a 20-watt CFL provides as much light as a 100-watt incandescent bulb, 3) they are 10 times more expensive than incandescent light bulbs, and 4) they will make a lot of money for corporations and shareholders.

The downfall of CFL's include: the cost, the toxic amounts of mercury, and the lack of proper recycling programs for this toxic product. In addition, if you break a CFL, you will be required to pay thousands of dollars for a hazardous clean up crew because mercury is a potent neurotoxin. Indeed, it is a very toxic chemical, for anyone who gets in contact and breathes the vapor, but even more so for children and babies in the womb. In Britain, the UK EPA urges its citizens to vacate a room for fifteen minutes because of the dangers of mercury.

So what are the dangers of mercury? After only one large breath of mercury vapor, the lungs become the main target of mercury poisoning. Other potential symptoms include: headache, cough, kidney damage, bronchitis, metallic taste, chills, vomiting, mouth sores, nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea, shortness of breath, swollen gums, weakness, confusion, chest tightness, and pneumonia. In light of these awful health dangers, can you believe the packages don't even mention these hazards?

Corporations must be held accountable for the proper disposal of these toxic CFL's. Why should consumers be required to pay for the hazardous clean up a product made with mercury? Something is seriously wrong here. The least GE and other manufacturers should do is to find a cost effective, safe, and easy way to dispose of their product. Although the EPA is actively encouraging retailers to step up and get involved in the proper recycling of CFL's, only IKEA has such a recycling program in place. Indeed, it is the moral responsibility of retailers of CFL's to provide proper handling and recycling of such toxic materials.

NPR's All Things Considered "CFL Bulbs Have One Hitch: Toxic Mercury" podcast

What comes to your mind when you think about technology? Do you ever ponder what happens to electronics once they are discarded? In 2005, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated that between 1.5 and 1.9 million tons of electronics, or e-waste, were thrown out, including: monitors, keyboards, hard drives, televisions, cell phones, and VCR's. Per year, it is estimated that the world produces as much as 50 million tons of e-waste! The EPA believes that 30 to 40 million PC's will be destined for "end of life management" for each of next few years.

The EPA estimates that 70% of discarded computers and monitors and 80% of TV's end up in the US garbage dumps. Such e-waste continues even though many states prohibit such toxic dumping. What kind of toxins are produced from e-waste? Mercury, lead, chromium, barium, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, and more. At the same time, valuable metals, like gold and silver, can be found in items such as motherboards. Indeed, for these precious metals alone, it makes environment and economic sense to recycle the motherboard, all the time.

If you take your used electronic equipment to a US recycling center, be aware that it doesn't guarantee that your technology will be properly disposed. Instead, your e-waste may be sold to a broker who ships it to China, the world's largest electronic graveyard. In 2001, the Basil Action Network produced a powerful documentary, Exporting Harm, exposing the environmental and human impact of exporting e-waste to China. We are polluting China with our e-refuse.

It is astounding to me that technology manufacturers are not held accountable for the environmental impact of their products. Don't you think they should be on the front lines of green e-waste recycling, given they produce it? I do! Corporations should be just as concerned of getting their product to market as much as how the eventual disposal of their products impact the environment. Instead, shamefully, many manufacturers are more interested in the short-term pleasing of shareholders than caring for the environment. A balance, in my opinion, is clearly needed.

Today, we are in desperate need of a globally socially responsible process for recycling e-waste. We are far from this, though companies like Creative Recycling Systems in the US are making headway.

In the midst of our e-waste export to China, we are outraged about the lead found in our Chinese imports. What is the difference? They give us lead, we give them toxic e-waste. Take your pick.

When one thinks of babies, a common image is a baby swaddled in disposable diapers, a $5.7 billion dollar industry. Recently, however, cloth diapers are taking the market by storm amongst eco-friendly, socially conscious consumers. The new cotton diapers hitting the market have velcro, buttons, and snaps instead of the old pins that would invariably pierce you every now and again. They also come with elastic around the openings (so you don't need to worry about messy spillage), as well as water-resistant covers made of soft merino wool, nylon or polyurethane laminate. Cost: $6-18.

The Real Diaper Association estimates that 27.4 billion disposable diapers are used in the US every year. According to research done by the Environmental Protection Agency (1998), this translates into over 3.4 million tons of waste filling our dumps. Such waste is problematic for our environment in the US, and even more so in the developing world as human waste often pollutes rivers and drinking water. As if these were not enough reasons to use eco-friendly diapers, the production of disposable diapers requires a significant amount of petroleum, chlorine, wood pulp and water (and we wonder why babies get rashes!).

So what are the most eco-friendly diapers out there? We recommend gDiapers found at Wholefoods or online. They are fashionable, washable and made with disposable inserts. See a nifty video here and buy gDiapers here.

(Click here to see the ecological breakdown differences between eco-friendly diapers and disposable diapers.)

Happy swaddling!

Did you know your rubbish can be a potential source of alternative energy? Integrated Environmental Technologies (IET) has created a system that converts any waste material into valuable commercial products, including eco-friendly fuels to generate electricity, a glass-like substance used to create building materials and more. IET can vaporize about one ton of garbage into approximately five cubic feet of glass! Scientists at IET placed a rubber shoe in the system and the shoe was evaporated into a small glass pellet that can be used a filler for the construction of roads! In addition, this process created nearly four gallons of gas, which can be used for alternative energy.

Their Plasma Enhanced Melter (PEM) system address two major issues: 1) waste treatment and disposal, and 2) eco-friendly sources of energy. It converts hazardous and waste material to renewable energy!

The PEM system is now being used in Washington, Hawaii, Japan, Taiwan and Malaysia. It is a cost effective, environmentally safe and efficient way to convert trash into treasure! My question is why has this technology not been implemented all over the nation?

Wouldn't you rather use this form of alternative energy than going to war? I think of the ridiculous cost of gasoline, the diminishing quantity of oil, innocent lives lost, and our dependency upon oil rich nations; I know this method is a viable way around such insanity.

See a video about their system here.

From their site:
Integrated Environmental Technologies, LLC ("IET") (www.inentec.com) provides high-tech solutions to the problems of waste accumulation and the need for clean renewable fuels. Through its proprietary waste recycling system, the Plasma Enhanced Melter ("PEM™"), IET transforms municipal (household), commercial, medical, and most industrial and hazardous wastes into clean renewable products, such as ethanol, methanol, syngas and hydrogen, with minimal environmental impact and low costs. The system exceeds the EPA’s standards for comparable facilities in all areas including: air emissions, water discharges, and solid waste generation, and comes closer to 100% recycling of waste than any other such commercially available technology.

As a result of San Francisco finally enacting a ban against plastic shopping bags and California requiring large supermarkets to sell reusable shopping bags, green entrepreneurs are creating reusable shopping bags. Traders Joes, Wholefoods, and Costco are my frequent shopping destinations and I have reusable shopping bags for each. When I forget my reusable bags I feel guilty about it; it takes the joy of being a planet friendly shopper to an ignorant consumer using more trees or causing pollution in the ocean! This brings up another planet unfriendly practice in need of eco-friendly alternatives: plastic and styrofoam packaging. Awhile ago, I saw this show on the Home Garden TV Network, where an artist recycled styrofoam plates by cutting them into various shapes to be used as cut out stencils. Naturally, I thought this to be a brilliant idea. But I am not a painter and so my plates collected and just took up space. So eventually they found their way to the garbage bin and into the California garbage dump. Now that I think about it, I'll start donating these styrofoam plates to a local school!

Become an ethical shopper by beginning with green, eco-friendly shopping bags. Buy them at one of the following online stores: Chicobag.com, MyOwnBag.com, Olive Smart Bags, or Reusable Bags.

Shop green, buy fair and be globally minded all the time.

With the depletion of oil and rising oil prices, we should all be intent upon using alternative energy, especially for our homes. Indeed, solar panels on the roof of your home will greatly benefit the planet and your finances. The initial financial investment required to go solar is worth the returns on the environment and future generations, while hedging you against future electric rates. In addition, investing in solar panels will increase the resale value of your home, making you a very happy seller. As you consider installing solar panels, let's look at price, quantity, net metering, financing, and future outlook.
PRICE
The price for solar panels varies from state-to-state, but in California, Connecticut, New Jersey and New York generous incentives are available. To find additional information about your state, click here.
QUANTITY
You can get an estimate of how much money you will save by installing solar panels by going to FindSolar.com (a joint partnership between the American Solar Energy Society, Solar Electric Power Association, Energy Matters LLC, and the U.S. Department of Energy).
NET METERING
Offset your utility bill by giving excess electricity back to the power grid. Note, however, that net-metering states only cancels out your bill and does not pay you for excess electricity you may provide. Learn more here.
FINANCING
Get a solar home equity loan versus spending the capital to do so. This is a fantastic solution, especially if the estimated savings from your utility bill and tax deductions for the loan are more than the amount of the loan.
FUTURE OUTLOOK
Although solar cells are beginning to be built into roofing materials, take heart because today's solar panels may be tomorrow's energy source for your electric or plug-in hybrid car.

To learn more about solar panels for your home, click here.

So what are you wanting for? Go solar!

Former Vice President Al Gore won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for efforts to "build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change." There is growing rhetoric that climate change could have a devastating impact on living conditions for animals and mankind, including a mass exodus from areas deficient in natural resources to areas rich in natural resources. This type of migration has the potential of inciting wars and conflict within states and between countries.

During Gore's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, he said "It is time to make peace with the planet". On Friday, Gore attended a news conference stating, "We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity."

Sounds to me like Gore thinks climate change is a religious issue. Thoughts?

• Natural resource efficient
• Energy efficient
• Clean air friendly, and
• Water efficient

Decrease Your Utility Bill

• Use energy efficient compact florescent light (CFL) bulbs. Merely changing 5 of your most frequently used lights keeps $100+/year in your pocket.
• Program your thermostat 78 degrees plus in the summer and less than 62 degrees in the winter. This could save you $100+/year.
• Weatherstrip your doors and windows from any air pockets, saving $100+/year on your utility bill.
• Replace your heating and cooling filters and you'll save another $100+/year.

Use Green Products

• Think globally and buy locally, while reducing fuel consumption, packaging and plastics.
• Buy energy efficient appliances and cut your energy bill $50/year per appliance.
• Reduce water usage by using low flow toilets and water heads, installing aerators, fixing drips, and incorporating native plants in landscape.
• Improve your indoor air quality with natural cleaning products like baking soda or vinegar.
• Use wood alternatives, specifically rapidly renewable products: bamboo, linoleum, recycled content tile or non-volatile organic compounds carpet and wood products from sustainable managed forests, such as those certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.
• Use rapidly renewing floor materials like cork, eucalyptus, or bamboo.

• The National Biodiesel Board
• Biodiesel & SVO Discussion Forums
• PlantDrive