Go Green on Little Things: Health & Beauty
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:
- Showering: Drop your showers to once a day instead of two and save about 200 gallons of water, or 30,000+ gallons a year.
- Exercise Outside: Leave the electrical elliptical and treadmill and run outside when you can.
- 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.
- Baby Oil: Instead of baby oil (which is made from petroleum), use oils produced from the seeds of nuts and fruits.
- Shampoo and Conditioner: Use the 2-in-1 and save on plastic, time, water and money.
- 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!).
- Eyeliner: Use eyeliner contained within wood chips versus encased in plastic.
- Foundation: Use foundation in recyclable glass containers.
- Lipstick: Make sure you lipstick made from plants instead of from paraffin waxes, synthetic oils and toxic coal tar dyes.
- Hair Dye: Choose semi- or demi-permanent dyes made from plants versus synthetic dyes.
- Mascara: Choose mascara made from plants and minerals versus petroleum.
- Perfumes/Colognes: Switch to natural botanical perfumes and colognes. Most perfumes and colognes are derived from petroleum.
- Razors: Buy recyclable razors, saving on packaging and energy.
- Soap: Forget the liquid soap as the packaging is expensive and wasteful; stick with bars of soap.
- 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.
Embracing these small steps alone will make a mighty difference, one person at a time.
Go Green on Little Things: Buildings
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
- 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.
- Minimize the removal of vegetation to help prevent soil erosion.
- Keep the landscape of your property planted with natural vegetation in order to reduce the emissions from gas powered tools required to maintain lawns.
- Planting leafy trees to shade your home could help you reduce your air conditioning usage during summer months.
- Air Conditioning: Buy an Energy Star System, saving 20-40% on your energy usage.
- Cooling/Heating Systems: Use a programmable thermostat to control energy usage.
- Reflective Roofing: Save money by making your roof an energy powerhouse.
- Lighting: Use motion sensors and light dimmers to save energy.
- Solar Panels: With tax credits and rebates, you can get free energy from the sun.
- Solar Water Heaters: Think of it this way - why pay for hot water when you can harness it naturally?
- Carpets: Buy carpet made from recycled products, such as plastic bottles.
- Bathroom Countertops: Buy 100% recycled countertops.
- Drywall: Save energy by buying at least 75% recycled content or synthetic gypsum or fly ash.
- Dual flush Toilets: Save water by installing low flush toilets.
- Glass Tiles: Buy 100% recycled glass instead of using ceramic tiles.
- Bamboo Flooring: Forget the wood floors, use bamboo; it grows abundantly and quickly.
- Insulation: Buy 100% recycled insulation.
- Kitchen Countertops: Choose durable composite, paper stone, terrazo, stainless steel, or tile countertop with 50-100% recycled content.
- Linoleum Floors: Made from 100% natural resources, it is a much better alternative to the petroleum-derived vinyl flooring.
- Paint: Use 100% recycled paint.
- Pavement: Make sure you use porous pavement so water can seep into the earth versus running off.
- Windows: Double pane windows will prevent precious heat from escaping your home easily.
- Wood: Use recycled wood or at least wood that is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.
- Furniture: Buy used, refurbished, or antique items.
- Textiles: Use recycled fabrics versus polyester fabric.
So what do you think? Will you commit to greening or investing in green homes, one project, one purchase at a time?
Read more about building a green home here.
Go Green on Little Things: School
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.
Naturally, there are many more ways you can help to green your way in schools. Keep your eyes open and always remember the 3R's: reduce, reuse, and recycle.
Happy learning (don't neglect your studies!) and greening the earth!
Go Green on Little Things: Office Spaces
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.
This list is clearly not exhaustive. Simply apply common sense and always have the 3 R's in your mind, even at work: reduce, recycle, and reuse. When in need, use Co-op America's Business Network Directory to find green business suppliers and products.
Feel free to let us know another go green at work idea.
Go Green on Little Things: Home Living
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.
Happy planting & eating from your fresh and luscious garden!
Go Green with Eco-Friendly Diapers!
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!
Converting Trash to Alternative Energy
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.
Green, Eco-Friendly Shopping Bags: Ethical Shopping!
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.
Green Your Home: Install Solar Panels
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!
Eco-Travel around Lake Atitlan, Guatemala
Lake Atitlan is one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. Lake Atitlan is surrounded by three majestic volcanoes, lined by twelve villages around the shores of this gorgeous lake. Although the national language is Spanish, three Mayan dialects are spoken amongst the indigenous: Tz'utujil, Kaqchikel, & Quiche. One never tires of the magnificent views and scenery, although the poverty is staggering.
When you go to Lake Atitlan , I highly recommend staying and/or visiting the following unforgettable hotels on the shores of the Lake:
Casa Del Mundo - A must-stay hotel in Jaibalito
Hotel Atitlan - A beautiful hotel in Panajachel
Hotel Aaculaax - An eco-friendly hotel in San Marcos La Laguna
Villa Sumaya - A gorgeous hotel in Santa Cruz
Posada De Santiago - A lovely hotel and restaurant in Santiago Atitlan
The area around the Lake is an outdoor enthusiast's playground: kayaking, diving, volcano climbing, mountain biking, swimming, hiking, horseback riding and more. Jovenes Mayas organizes and leads eco-tours around the Lake. They can be found in the charming village of San Marcos La Laguna. I highly recommend using their services because they are knowledgeable, interesting and trustworthy. Also, for you non-Spanish speaking folks, the guides are tri-lingual (Mayan dialect, Spanish and English)!
If you want to go horseback riding or climb the San Pedro Volcano, simply take a boat from Pana to San Pedro La Laguna, across the majestic beauty of Lake Atitlan. You can inquire where to set up such adventures right when you get off the dock. Stay at Hotel Sak'Ari and dine at Tin-Tin, a great restaurant owned and run by Gary, a Canadian guy.
If you want a guided horseback ride above the clouds, contact the folks at Posada De Santiago, make a reservation for a night or two and another one for a horseback riding adventure.
You can rent kayaks at Casa Del Mundo (where you can also stay for a night) or in numerous villages around the Lake. Trust me, you don't need a reservation but you will want to go kayaking in the early morning before the wind starts or around dusk, when there is little wind.
Mountain bikes can be rented in Pana or San Pedro La Laguna. Again, forget the reservations, there will be enough bikes for you. Just go and ask where the bike rental stores can be found.
Please remember: NEVER go hiking or volcano climbing alone. There are numerous stories of robbers along hiking trails. A local guide will be of great benefit and security as you step into the wild beauty of Guatemala.
The sunrises and sunsets can be spectacular around the Lake, though the afternoon will bring a wind across the Lake. The best time to travel to Guatemala is between October and May, otherwise you'll hit the rainy season. While in Pana, make sure to dine at the Sunset Cafe where you will enjoy great sunset views of the Lake and volcanoes, listen to great music and eat delicious food.
Check out Atitlan Resource for more information.
Happy Traveling!
Go Green this Christmas: Gift Wrap and Gift Ideas
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans increase their trash by 25% between Thanksgiving and Christmas, resulting in 25 million tons of garbage a year! With these staggering statistics in mind, let's agree to a be more green this Christmas simply by giving or wrapping presents in a more globally minded, earth friendly manner. Here are some ideas to get you going:
1. Forget the traditional gifts of things, simply give love! Volunteer, spend quality time with your loved ones and be the present to another!
2. Give gift cards: This reduces environmental waste substantially while making your loved ones thrilled. Gift cards can be for book stores, movie tickets, museums, music stores, spas, manicure, coffee stores, and more.
3. Give plants: This great gift is inexpensive and enjoyable all year long.
4. Wrap oversized items with just a bow. Save paper and time.
5. Wrap boxes or presents with brown garbage bags and decorate the outside using markers, ribbon, or other creative decorations.
6. Stuff boxes with newspapers and/or shredded paper.
7. Give a homebaked pie, cookies and/or fudge, instead of buying a gift.
8. Buy online gift certificates.
9. Make a homemade gift (calendar, recipe book, photo book, etc.)
10. Buy fair trade gifts online and multi-ship to save money.
11. Use reusable gift bags.
12. Buy unique gifts at a thrift store (something novel, not dated!).
When it comes to gifts, be socially responsible, eco-friendy and globally minded. Buy fair trade and give fair trade gifts. Make a difference today!