New posts to this blog are now being made at the Fresh Green Image website, at (surprise!)
http://www.freshgreenimage.com
Hoping you'll join us there!
2/03/2010
1/18/2010
Beware BPA Exposure, Says the FDA (At Last!)
Why does this look to me like another (obvious) argument against letting an industry self-regulate and self-test?
Today, Lindsay Layton of the Washington Post revealed that after years of rumblings from the scientific, medical and public health communities, the FDA has finally expressed concerns that perhaps Bisphenol A - the chemical compound used to harden plastics in water bottles, can liners, food storage containers and a host of other products - might not be as safe as two studies funded by the chemical industry asserted it was.
In choosing these two studies for its decision to bless BPA as safe, Layton writes, the FDA "ignored more than 100 published studies by government scientists and university laboratories that raised health concerns about BPA. Recent data found health effects even at low doses of BPA -- lower than the levels considered safe by the FDA."
In response, a representative from the American Chemistry Council stood by the study results due to the convenience and usefulness of BPA: "Plastics made with BPA contribute safety and convenience to our daily lives because of their durability, clarity and shatter-resistance. Can liners and food-storage containers made with BPA are essential components to helping protect the safety of packaged foods. . . . ACC remains committed to consumer safety, and will continue to review new scientific studies concerning the safety of BPA."
While BPA is used in a wide variety of products, you do have alternatives if you choose to question the chemical industry's two self-serving studies, and prefer to follow the weight of scientific evidence and the FDA's belated advice to avoid exposure.
Here are just a few tips to help you and your family stay safe:
Today, Lindsay Layton of the Washington Post revealed that after years of rumblings from the scientific, medical and public health communities, the FDA has finally expressed concerns that perhaps Bisphenol A - the chemical compound used to harden plastics in water bottles, can liners, food storage containers and a host of other products - might not be as safe as two studies funded by the chemical industry asserted it was.
In choosing these two studies for its decision to bless BPA as safe, Layton writes, the FDA "ignored more than 100 published studies by government scientists and university laboratories that raised health concerns about BPA. Recent data found health effects even at low doses of BPA -- lower than the levels considered safe by the FDA."
In response, a representative from the American Chemistry Council stood by the study results due to the convenience and usefulness of BPA: "Plastics made with BPA contribute safety and convenience to our daily lives because of their durability, clarity and shatter-resistance. Can liners and food-storage containers made with BPA are essential components to helping protect the safety of packaged foods. . . . ACC remains committed to consumer safety, and will continue to review new scientific studies concerning the safety of BPA."
While BPA is used in a wide variety of products, you do have alternatives if you choose to question the chemical industry's two self-serving studies, and prefer to follow the weight of scientific evidence and the FDA's belated advice to avoid exposure.
Here are just a few tips to help you and your family stay safe:
- Shop naked - buying naked produce, that is, not wearing your birthday suit. For one thing, you'll be able to see all sides of your fruits or veggies; for another, you'll be keeping those Styrofoam trays and shrinkwrap plastic covers out of landfills....and avoiding the BPA in food wrap.
- Store food in Pyrex, Corningware or other nonporous, chemically inert materials rather than plastic, especially if it is still warm.
- When you buy reusable water bottles, choose stainless steel rather than plastic or aluminum.
- If you microwave food, use wax paper to cover it rather than plastic wrap.Don't microwave food in plastic bags or cover hot foods with plastic wrap.
- Before you buy pacifiers, teething rings, bottles, nipples or other baby gear, check to be sure it has "BPA-Free" on the label. Look for stainless steel sippy cups rather than plastic.
12/17/2009
Newsflashes from the Front Lines of Climate Change
Since I began working with Green Irene, I've made it my business to reach out to an inclusive audience that crosses political and environmental lines.
And I've been pretty careful to focus on the many personal and economic benefits of going green, and stay away from issues that would raise conflict.
But just this once I'm going to break that rule...mainly because I've found a growing collection of dispatches that offer powerful stories, images, and testimonies from the people and nations that are witnessing the impact of global warming on their lives, economies and cultures.
They're from places like the Base Camp of Everest, where house flies are showing up at an altitude of 17,585 feet - and the permanent ice cover, that used to melt at about 12,300 feet, is now melting as high at 18,000 feet. The photograph at right shows what is left of the powerful Khumbu Icefall that stopped the first Everest expeditions as seemingly impassable (see the Icefall in 1998)
...Places like the Carteret Islands, where a high tide literally runs over the land, washing houses away, contaminating freshwater sources, and making gardens too salty to grow anything.
...Places like the Nile Delta, home to two-thirds of Egypt's population of 83 million and the source of 60% of Egypt's food. Most of the region is just one meter above sea level, and large portions actually below sea level. While the land may not sink beneath the waves until 2100, groundwater salinity is already rising, requiring farmers to load the soil with fertilizer to get any crops at all. In the next 20 years, the population is expected to explode to 110 million, while crop yields are expected to decline by 50% by 2040.
...Places like the U.S., where tropical diseases are expected to spread well beyond the warm regions of the nation. Dengue fever outbreaks, for example, have already been reported in Vermont, Minnesota and California, and may spread in a broad swathe up to New York and across the continent. .
I could go on...there's a large and growing number of dispatches in that collection. But whatever your political viewpoint, whichever pundits you follow, these are newsflashes from a planet in trouble.
Whether you accept the evidence of global warming or attribute it to some other cause, the fact remains that by going green - conserving energy and water, detoxing your home, reducing, reusing and recycling, and so forth - you are not only benefiting the planet, but also benefiting yourself, your health, and your budget.
If taking action offers clear benefits, while doing nothing brings increased personal, financial as well as planetary costs, why not choose enlightened self-interest, and act?
And I've been pretty careful to focus on the many personal and economic benefits of going green, and stay away from issues that would raise conflict.
But just this once I'm going to break that rule...mainly because I've found a growing collection of dispatches that offer powerful stories, images, and testimonies from the people and nations that are witnessing the impact of global warming on their lives, economies and cultures.
They're from places like the Base Camp of Everest, where house flies are showing up at an altitude of 17,585 feet - and the permanent ice cover, that used to melt at about 12,300 feet, is now melting as high at 18,000 feet. The photograph at right shows what is left of the powerful Khumbu Icefall that stopped the first Everest expeditions as seemingly impassable (see the Icefall in 1998)...Places like the Carteret Islands, where a high tide literally runs over the land, washing houses away, contaminating freshwater sources, and making gardens too salty to grow anything.
...Places like the Nile Delta, home to two-thirds of Egypt's population of 83 million and the source of 60% of Egypt's food. Most of the region is just one meter above sea level, and large portions actually below sea level. While the land may not sink beneath the waves until 2100, groundwater salinity is already rising, requiring farmers to load the soil with fertilizer to get any crops at all. In the next 20 years, the population is expected to explode to 110 million, while crop yields are expected to decline by 50% by 2040.
...Places like the U.S., where tropical diseases are expected to spread well beyond the warm regions of the nation. Dengue fever outbreaks, for example, have already been reported in Vermont, Minnesota and California, and may spread in a broad swathe up to New York and across the continent. .
I could go on...there's a large and growing number of dispatches in that collection. But whatever your political viewpoint, whichever pundits you follow, these are newsflashes from a planet in trouble.
Whether you accept the evidence of global warming or attribute it to some other cause, the fact remains that by going green - conserving energy and water, detoxing your home, reducing, reusing and recycling, and so forth - you are not only benefiting the planet, but also benefiting yourself, your health, and your budget.
If taking action offers clear benefits, while doing nothing brings increased personal, financial as well as planetary costs, why not choose enlightened self-interest, and act?
If Americans Are Savvy on Energy-Efficient Lighting Savings, Why Are They Slow to Cash In?
A new study by Osram Sylvania found that while awareness and adoption of energy efficient lighting is growing, Americans don't seem to be feeling any urgency about saving money and energy by switching.
Seems that while 74% of survey respondents have switched in 2009, almost 75% of the respondents were unaware that the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 calls for incandescent bulbs to be phased out, starting with 100-watt bulbs, as of January 2012.
So - why are consumers holding back?
Fear of Buyer's Remorse?
The survey results indicate that first reason is cost. While buyers are aware of the savings CFL and LED bulbs offer, they question their value versus their cost. While 91% of respondents consider energy consumption per bulb to be an important factor in their purchase decisions, only 66% of them expect to purchase a CFL or LED bulb in the future, and 52% pecent say that price is a major factor in their buying decisions.
This question is often raised in my Go-Green workshops. Usually my response is something like this:
Yes, you're paying a higher price for an energy-efficient bulb than you would for a standard incandescent. However, you'll quickly regain that expenditure in savings:
- For every standard CFL, you're saving the cost of up to 10 incandescents
- For every cold-cathode (dimmable) CFL, you're saving the cost of up to 25 incandescents
- If you calculate the cost of the energy you're saving at 16 cents per KwH, that comes to roughly $735 per standard CFL or $1828 per cold-cathode CFL, over the life of the bulb
Incandescent Loyalty
Despite the near-total awareness of CFL and LED energy savings, loyalty to incandescents remains strong: 13% of respondents plan to stock up on 100-watt bulbs before the phase-out, and 16% plan to switch to lower-wattage incandescents rather than moving to energy-efficient bulbs.
In my workshops, I hear some possible reasons for this loyalty...
- Buzzing, flickering, delayed lighting - Energy Star standards require that new CFL bulbs must be free of these defects
- Sickly greenish or harsh white hospital-like light - New CFLs offer a spectrum from soft-white incandescent-like light (2700K), to green-blue (4100K), to “daylight” or bright-white light (5100K)- so you do have options!
- Not usable in all settings (e.g., 3-way or dimmable) - Green Irene and some other vendors sell hard-to-find specialty bulbs 3-way, dimmable, candelabra-bottom flame-tip dimmable, vanity globes, outdoor floodlights and bug lights
- MERCURY! – Yes, a standard Energy-Star CFL contains 0.05 mg of mercury; a premium CFL contains 0.01 mg, while incandescents have none. But the real difference is in the coal-powered energy that it takes to burn them: The power to burn an incandescent bulb results in 10 mg. of mercury in the air versus 2.4 mg. of mercury emitted to light a CFL for an equal period of time.
Bottom Line - A Small Up-Front Investment, A Big, Long-Term Return
Yes, times are tough right now, and the prospect of swapping out all your bulbs for energy-efficient alternatives can be pretty overwhelming when you count all the bulbs in your house. However, nobody is saying that you need to trash the bulbs you're burning now (though that's all you can do with incandescents when they burn out -- unlike CFLs, they can't be recycled).
Incandescents are short-lived critters, liable to burn out at any moment. Start by buying a few energy-efficient bulbs for the lights you use most (i.e., the bulbs that are likely to burn out soonest). Once you've replaced those, look for the next, and so forth. Don't try to swap out all your bulbs at once.
And this holiday, look for lighting companies that have recycling programs for your outdoor light strings, along with discounts for buying LED equivalents. You'll save in the short run and the long run!
11/29/2009
Simple Steps for an Eco-Friendly Holiday
Ahh, the holidays...time for family gatherings, warm wishes and.thoughtful remembrances...
...frenzied shopping, gift-wrapping, card-sending, tree-trimming, over-spending....
...and tons upon tons of trash! Shopping bags, packaging, giftwrap, envelopes, catalogs, not to mention the forests' worth of Christmas trees on the curb by December 26.
The good news? With some simple, affordable alternatives and a little advance planning, you can reclaim the meaning of the season, cut back on the expense, the stress and the waste, and have a happy holiday that's easy on the planet.
Here are a few tips to get you started....
Plan Your Gift List
The holidays are a time for reconnecting and appreciating the people in your life...what can you give them that's more personal than the latest mass-produced tchotchke?
Writing holiday cards is a time-honored tradition that's growing increasingly pricey as postal rates rise. Not only this - but what should be done with the cards after the holidays?
Instead of spending travel time and gas on holiday shopping trips, and bringing home innumerable plastic and paper bags from the stores, try these strategies:
That doesn't necessarily mean giving cash (though it fits all sizes and matches all colors)but giving in a way that benefits both the recipient, and the planet and people.
Many people have their own decorating traditions and boxes of heritage holiday ornaments, collected through the years - but if you don't, consider some zero-waste alternatives.........
We've all seen (and lived!) the cartoons where paper, ribbon, bows, tape and scissors are flying in all directions...and we've all seen the bags upon bags of giftwrap that get toted out to the garbage after the celebrations are over. This year, try some other tactics....
Celebrate Sustainably
Even when your house is bulging with guests, you can stay green...
Remember, the heart and soul of the holiday is about - well, heart and soul. Giving, sharing, and connecting with loved ones, Spirit...and the Earth. It doesn't take much effort to create a celebration that's light on your budget AND on the planet...just a little extra thought and planning. Have fun with it - and have a stress-free, green holiday!
...frenzied shopping, gift-wrapping, card-sending, tree-trimming, over-spending....
...and tons upon tons of trash! Shopping bags, packaging, giftwrap, envelopes, catalogs, not to mention the forests' worth of Christmas trees on the curb by December 26.
The good news? With some simple, affordable alternatives and a little advance planning, you can reclaim the meaning of the season, cut back on the expense, the stress and the waste, and have a happy holiday that's easy on the planet.
Here are a few tips to get you started....
Plan Your Gift List
The holidays are a time for reconnecting and appreciating the people in your life...what can you give them that's more personal than the latest mass-produced tchotchke?
- Time is a gift. For the elders on your gift list, consider giving a day's outing, a weekly visit, or a monthly dinner. For working parents, a weekend's babysitting could be a blessed breather. Use programs like Avery Design and Print Online to set up simple coupons to tuck in a card.
- The value of a gift doesn't depend on brand names or store tags. If you have the skill, think of offering handmade items like homemade bread, herbal delights from your garden, or your own handcrafted accessories.
Writing holiday cards is a time-honored tradition that's growing increasingly pricey as postal rates rise. Not only this - but what should be done with the cards after the holidays?
- E-cards have come a long way. Artists like Jacquie Lawson and sites like KatiesCards.com offer stunning, dynamic designs for a subscription fee; and the Spirit Card Center, Hallmark.com and AmericanGreetings.com (among others) offer beautiful free designs.
- Recycled - but recyclable? Holiday greeting cards, while they may be on recycled paper, are often not recyclable - particularly those that are deeply colored, embossed with metallic ink or glitter, or backed with metallic foil. On the other hand, companies like FlowerSeedPaper.com offer beautiful, gift-worthy holiday cards that can be planted in the spring as a lasting remembrance.
Instead of spending travel time and gas on holiday shopping trips, and bringing home innumerable plastic and paper bags from the stores, try these strategies:
- Save gas - use mass transit. Support your local MTA - you'll save gas and force yourself to consider your purchases (who wants to schlep a trunk's worth of bags on the light rail?).
- BYOB - bring your own bag, You bring 'em to the grocery store - take them on your holiday shopping trips as well.
- Research online, then call ahead and map your route.. As the holidays near, time pressures can send us zig-zagging madly across town in a search for the perfect gift. Instead of wasting gas and time on the road, call ahead to find out which store carries which product, and cluster your trips geographically.
- Buy local. What do the stores in your own community offer? Are there local farms selling trees or wreaths? Local crafters selling their products at holiday festivals? Many schools, churches and civic groups have holiday fairs - consider supporting them with your purchases, rather than anonymous corporate stockholders.
That doesn't necessarily mean giving cash (though it fits all sizes and matches all colors)but giving in a way that benefits both the recipient, and the planet and people.
- Push the envelope. Gifts like concert tickets and gift certificates to reduce packaging waste and the need for wrapping material.
- Give a green nudge. Consider giving products that will help your loved ones go green. Green Irene offers a wide variety of practical, eco-friendly giftables, as well as gift certificates for green home and office makeovers, and 5% of the profit from each purchase is donated to a related nonprofit.
- Consider the source. If you're buying imported goods, look for certified Fair Trade products from companies like Ten Thousand Villages or other members of the Fair Trade Federation. You're helping the handcrafters and farmers who made or grew those products to support their families on a living wage.
- Batteries not included? Parents will appreciate a complete set of hybrid rechargeable batteries, complete with charger - they can be loaded into toys right away, and last 3x longer than the average rechargeable.
- For the person who has everything? Charitable donations in the recipients’ names make great gifts. Heifer International and Seva Foundation are just two of the organizations that offer this option.
Many people have their own decorating traditions and boxes of heritage holiday ornaments, collected through the years - but if you don't, consider some zero-waste alternatives.........
- Cut tree? Artificial? Or live? If you don't like sacrificing a living tree for the holiday, consider investing in a live, balled tree that can be replanted after the holiday. It will take some extra TLC - see Forestry.About.com for tips. Why not artificial? Manufactured trees are made from mainly non-renewable plastics, often containing PVC. They are non recyclable and non biodegradable.
- String for the birds. Spend some time stringing cranberries and popcorn...then, once the tree comes down, set it up outside with your handiwork for the birds.
- O the Holly and the Ivy... Look outside in your garden for decorating ideas: this is a good time to prune your evergreen trees and groundcovers. Spent seed-heads make interesting accents for tabletop decorations.
- Recycle your lights...With energy-saving LEDs available this year, it's time to replace your gazillion miles of holiday lights...but how? HolidayLEDs will happily take and recycle your strings of lights and give you a coupon for 15% off the price of any product on their site.
We've all seen (and lived!) the cartoons where paper, ribbon, bows, tape and scissors are flying in all directions...and we've all seen the bags upon bags of giftwrap that get toted out to the garbage after the celebrations are over. This year, try some other tactics....
- Fill up a basket. Gift baskets add a decorative touch and can be used again and again.
- Try textiles. If you have handcrafter friends, consider wrapping their gifts in holiday-themed fabric and securing them with cloth ribbons.
- Gifts within gifts. Antique shops often offer inexpensive decorative tins, hatboxes, and canisters that will be cherished and used long after your gift is extracted.
- Reuse boxes and bags. If conventional wrapping is really necessary, buy with an eye to reuse: decorative boxes and durable print bags. To recycle these later, avoid deep colors and metallic papers.
Celebrate Sustainably
Even when your house is bulging with guests, you can stay green...
- Loads of dirty dishes? Not! If you’re the host this year, consider renting reusable plates, cups, utensils, etc.In most cases, the company will take care of the cleanup for you. If worst comes to worst, remember - a well-loaded Energy Star dishwasher is far more efficient than a team of humans could ever be.
- Compost scraps - Keep a bucket on hand to compost vegetable scraps, plate scrapings, and paper towels with food juices (no meat, dairy, or chemicals).
Remember, the heart and soul of the holiday is about - well, heart and soul. Giving, sharing, and connecting with loved ones, Spirit...and the Earth. It doesn't take much effort to create a celebration that's light on your budget AND on the planet...just a little extra thought and planning. Have fun with it - and have a stress-free, green holiday!
11/23/2009
Give Green this Year - and Double Your Impact!
It's not often that I devote a blog post specifically to promoting the products in my online shop - but this post offers you more than the opportunity to get great green gifts for your family, friends, and pets (not to mention your home!)
Your gifts can help your loved ones save energy, conserve (and purify) their water, detox their homes, improve their indoor air quality, reduce waste, make their homes safer, and reduce their carbon footprint. Here's just a brief sampling of the gifts you can find....
And that's just the beginning..........
For every item you purchase between now and December 31, 5% of the profits will be donated to a related charity....
Sure, the simple choices you make to go green have a tremendous impact in themselves. But why stop there?
Give a little extra for the Earth and the People this year -- without spending a penny!
And - thank you!
Your gifts can help your loved ones save energy, conserve (and purify) their water, detox their homes, improve their indoor air quality, reduce waste, make their homes safer, and reduce their carbon footprint. Here's just a brief sampling of the gifts you can find....
· Standard & specialty CFLs | · Hybrid rechargeable batteries & charger |
· Water heater blankets | · “Smart strips” to stop phantom energy loss |
· Water conservation kits | · Stainless steel water bottles & sippy cups |
· Air purifiers | · High-powered plant-based cleansers |
· Waterless car cleaning kit | · Odor/worm-free indoor composters |
And that's just the beginning..........
For every item you purchase between now and December 31, 5% of the profits will be donated to a related charity....
Purchases from this category… | Support this charity… |
Energy Conservation | |
Water Conservation/Water Purity | Water for People (www.waterforpeople.org) |
Home Detox/Indoor Air Quality | Environmental Working Group (www.ewg.org) |
Waste Reduction/Reuse/Recycling |
Sure, the simple choices you make to go green have a tremendous impact in themselves. But why stop there?
Give a little extra for the Earth and the People this year -- without spending a penny!
And - thank you!
11/18/2009
How You Can Give the Earth's Simplest Gift
Why? Because here in a country where we can bring fresh water gushing from our spigots at a moment's whim, it's easy to forget what a rare and precious blessing that fresh water is.
Rare - the element that covers 70% of the Earth's surface? Indeed. Just take a look at the numbers, drawn from the University of Michigan, the U.S. Geological Survey, and Water.org.
- While 70% of our planet’s surface is covered in water, 97.5% of that water is salty; only 2.5% is fresh. Nearly 70% of Earth’s fresh water is frozen in the polar icecaps and the Greenland glacier. Most of the remainder is present as soil moisture, or in deep, inaccessible aquifers. Only 0.007% of all water on earth is fresh and available for human use.
- Of the available water that is used globally, just 8% serves the basic daily needs of nearly 7 billion humans. Agriculture consumes 80%; industry consumes 12%, and much of that water is not reusable when it is returned to the global supply.
- According to the U.N., a human being needs a minimum of 13.2 gallons per day for drinking, sanitation, bathing and cooking. However, many people in drought-stricken nations get only 4 to 5 gallons of water per day.
- Almost 1 billion men, women and children lack access to safe drinking water, and 2.5 billion lack access to safe sanitation. Every year, 3.575 million people die from water-related illnesses - 84% of them children under 14 years of age.
- Meanwhile, here in the U.S., 20 states are facing shortages...while the average American uses 80-100 gallons of purified water per person per day. Your 5-minute shower uses more water than the typical person living in a developing country slum uses in a whole day
How can you do this? You can begin by discovering your daily water use with a household water audit.Then,once you’ve discovered where you’re using (or losing) the most water, you can begin making changes:
- Repair leaks yourself, or call in a plumber
- Install aerators in your kitchen and bathroom sinks to reduce the flow rate to 1.5 gallons per minute (gpm) or less
- Install low-flow showerheads (2.0 gpm or less) to save water while you get a spa-quality shower
- Replace your water-guzzling toilet with a Water Sense model (1.28 - 1.6 gallons per flush), or install a dual-flush converter, a Toilet Tank bag or flow diverter
- Check the age and water usage of your dishwasher and washing machine. Ideally, a dishwasher should use less than 7 gallons per load (gpl); a washing machine should use less than 23 gpl
- Rather than giving a tschotchke to sit on a friend's table, consider giving a gift of water to a thirsty community in their name through Seva Foundation.
- Or browse through this list of water charities, and give where you can.
- Finally, browse through my website for products to reduce water use in your own home...5% of the profits from any water conservation products you order will be donated to WaterForPeople.org.
10/17/2009
How Many Vampires Are You Feeding In Your Home?
From Lestat to Angel, to the Twilight and Moonlight crews, it hasn't been hard to find vampires in pop culture - especially at this time of year. But while they may be fascinating on the tube or in print, slurping down lifeblood isn't exactly an endearing habit for a real-life connection.
Nevertheless, I'd make a bet that you have at least one vampire, and probably closer to a dozen, in your own home!
No, I'm not harboring Buffy fantasies...and the vampires I'm talking about aren't after your corpuscles. At this very moment they're plugged in and consuming your home's lifeblood - the electricity you pay for every month.
It's (appropriately) called "phantom energy loss" - just as silent and insidious as the legendary visitor who comes to sip while you sleep. And while you may not waste away as a result, your bank balance will show the drain.
So how do you recognize them? While hunting two-legged vampires at night is never a good idea, this is actually the best way to find your home's resident energy-suckers. Turn off your lamps, walk through your house, and count the little lights...
- your cell phone and iPod chargers...
- your computer and peripherals - modem, router, printer, backup drives, speakers, webcam, etc...
- your microwave, programmable coffeepot, and answering machine...
- your TV, Nintendo, PlayStation, WII...
- the chargers for your electric toothbrush and shaver...
How many watts are they pulling? It's easy to find out by using a Kill-A-Watt diagnostic tool, which measures the energy that enters a gadget over an hour, day, month, and year, along with the dollars it costs you. You can even run comparisons of energy used when the item is turned "off" versus "on".
So you might discover, for example, that your computer uses 200 watts when it's running, and still slurps down 35 watts when it's powered down.
Fortunately, you don't need a stake or a silver bullet to slay your home's energy vampires...and it's really more a question of taming than slaying, anyway. You need to make sure the energy they consume is used only to power your electronics at the time they're needed.
So how do you stop the energy hemorrhage? Begin with the familiar surge protector, which allows you to completely stop the energy flowing to your electronics after you've turned them off.
But what do you do when you need to have your computer running all night for critical backups or downloads, without powering your printer, monitor, etc.? Simple: an energy-saving power strip lets you plug in your peripherals into a block of six outlets controlled by the master switch, while your server plugs into an adjoining outlet that does not cut off.
When you stop for the day, turn off your peripherals and flip the master switch. You'll cut off your phantom energy loss while your nighttime processes continue undisturbed.
Don't be a victim to the energy vampires you've brought into your home. You can give them the energy they need to do their job, and no more.
10/14/2009
Are Your Promotional Products Part of the Problem – Or Part of the Solution?
Whether you’re onsite at a sales call or staffing a booth at a conference or festival, you don’t leave home without promotional products to hand out. Pens, letter openers, hand sanitizer…whatever the occasion or season require.
Gifting is a powerful way to make a good impression. But as your clients grow more aware about green issues, what are your giveaways saying about you? Follow these tips to send an earth-friendly message that’s sure to boost your positive impact.
Are your gifts made of recycled, recyclable, or easily renewable materials?
Be warned – it’s a popular myth that any plastic item that sports the triangle of arrows can be recycled. In many cases, the exact opposite may be true. Items made of #3 plastic, a.k.a. polyvinyl chloride or PVC , for example, are highly toxic from manufacture to disposal and cannot be recycled. For a good guide to the different types of plastics, see http://www.greensage.com/ezine/08zines/05May08/ezine05-08GSGuidePlastic.html.
If you’re offering paper products, such as calendars, look for the highest possible percentage of post-consumer content, along with soy vegetable-based inks.
The best material of all? U.S.-grown bamboo – which grows back quickly, requires less shipping, can nearly replace any type of wood, and can be processed into fibers to make deluxe paper and textile products.
Can they be reused repeatedly?
If you’re giving items such as pens or containers of liquid or gel-based products, ask the vendor what happens after their contents have run out. Can your prospects run to Staples and buy refill cartridges for your promotional pens? Can they open up your purse-sized sanitizer bottle and refill it? Can your tin of breath mints become a handy paper-clip box? Or are you giving single-use products that go straight into the landfill once they’re emptied?
What about packaging?
Are your promotional products shrinkwrapped inside a nest of boxes, braced with molded Styrofoam and bubble-wrap? Or is the packaging integral to the product, as HP recently modeled by presenting its laptop computers in stylish messenger bags rather than boxes?
Bottom line: Be the change.
While sustainable products do sometimes cost more, this is changing as demand increases and supply grows to meet it. The more we all seek sustainable promotional items, the more suppliers will offer them, and our prospects will be inspired to follow our example. Never underestimate the power of a single decision.
Gifting is a powerful way to make a good impression. But as your clients grow more aware about green issues, what are your giveaways saying about you? Follow these tips to send an earth-friendly message that’s sure to boost your positive impact.
Are your gifts made of recycled, recyclable, or easily renewable materials?
Be warned – it’s a popular myth that any plastic item that sports the triangle of arrows can be recycled. In many cases, the exact opposite may be true. Items made of #3 plastic, a.k.a. polyvinyl chloride or PVC , for example, are highly toxic from manufacture to disposal and cannot be recycled. For a good guide to the different types of plastics, see http://www.greensage.com/ezine/08zines/05May08/ezine05-08GSGuidePlastic.html.
If you’re offering paper products, such as calendars, look for the highest possible percentage of post-consumer content, along with soy vegetable-based inks.
The best material of all? U.S.-grown bamboo – which grows back quickly, requires less shipping, can nearly replace any type of wood, and can be processed into fibers to make deluxe paper and textile products.
Can they be reused repeatedly?
If you’re giving items such as pens or containers of liquid or gel-based products, ask the vendor what happens after their contents have run out. Can your prospects run to Staples and buy refill cartridges for your promotional pens? Can they open up your purse-sized sanitizer bottle and refill it? Can your tin of breath mints become a handy paper-clip box? Or are you giving single-use products that go straight into the landfill once they’re emptied?
What about packaging?
Are your promotional products shrinkwrapped inside a nest of boxes, braced with molded Styrofoam and bubble-wrap? Or is the packaging integral to the product, as HP recently modeled by presenting its laptop computers in stylish messenger bags rather than boxes?
Bottom line: Be the change.
While sustainable products do sometimes cost more, this is changing as demand increases and supply grows to meet it. The more we all seek sustainable promotional items, the more suppliers will offer them, and our prospects will be inspired to follow our example. Never underestimate the power of a single decision.
10/12/2009
Small Steps or Big Vision to Go Green? Both.
Whether you're looking at going green as a way to reduce your ecological footprint, or simply as a means to reduce costs, the question is always - where to begin?
Do you start with a transformational vision that draws everybody together and affects every aspect of your routine, or do you start small, with one simple change at a time?
Quoth Walmart's senior vice president of sustainability, Matt Kistler - Both.
Quoted by Rebecca Cole in the GreenBiz blog today, the word from Walmart is to "just do it." Companies should “do the small things, look for the big ones, but just get started,” says Kistler.
It may be a bitter pill to agree with Walmart, but as a Green Irene eco-consultant, I must admit - they're spot-on. Green practices at The Biggest Box have evolved from a small experimental step with light bulbs to an overall sustainability index that nudges product suppliers like HP into line with earth-friendly practices.
Whether you're a homeowner or a business owner, it's wonderful and important to have an all-encompassing green vision - but don't hold off until you have the time or resources or buy-in to pursue it. Instead, choose an immediate, measurable goal and plan the simple, affordable steps to achieve it now. For example:
You can also get a good handle on the hidden ways in which your property may be losing energy (for example, through cracks in your foundation or thinly-insulated walls), by scheduling a home energy audit through your power company or through LEED-certified consultants. Investing in a comprehensive audit can yield a long list of simple, often do-it-yourself changes that can save you thousands of dollars.
Whether you reach for support or do it yourself, though, don't wait. Even the smallest changes can yield big results. Imagine what you can achieve when you do more!
Do you start with a transformational vision that draws everybody together and affects every aspect of your routine, or do you start small, with one simple change at a time?
Quoth Walmart's senior vice president of sustainability, Matt Kistler - Both.
Quoted by Rebecca Cole in the GreenBiz blog today, the word from Walmart is to "just do it." Companies should “do the small things, look for the big ones, but just get started,” says Kistler.It may be a bitter pill to agree with Walmart, but as a Green Irene eco-consultant, I must admit - they're spot-on. Green practices at The Biggest Box have evolved from a small experimental step with light bulbs to an overall sustainability index that nudges product suppliers like HP into line with earth-friendly practices.
Whether you're a homeowner or a business owner, it's wonderful and important to have an all-encompassing green vision - but don't hold off until you have the time or resources or buy-in to pursue it. Instead, choose an immediate, measurable goal and plan the simple, affordable steps to achieve it now. For example:
- Cut your electricity consumption by 50% just by swapping your incandescent light bulbs for CFLs. Just changing 14 incandescent lightbulbs to CFLs can save you more than $100 per year in energy costs and nearly $1150 over the life of the bulbs, in addition to keeping more than six tons of greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere. Just one CFL can yield $185 in lifetime savings.
- Reduce your heating fuel consumption by 30% or more per year just by getting your HVAC unit tuned and ductwork cleaned. Adding to your water heater insulation can reduce standby heat losses by 25%–45%, saving you around 4%–9% in your yearly water heating costs and keeping roughly 1000 pounds of CO2 out of the atmosphere.
- Save more than 40,000 gallons of water, $1150 in energy costs, and 1500 pounds of CO2 over the next five years by installing one spa-quality low-flow showerhead.
- cutting your electricity, heating/cooling and water bills
- cutting your medical costs by eliminating common indoor toxins
- getting the greatest value out of the things you buy by reducing, reusing and recycling
You can also get a good handle on the hidden ways in which your property may be losing energy (for example, through cracks in your foundation or thinly-insulated walls), by scheduling a home energy audit through your power company or through LEED-certified consultants. Investing in a comprehensive audit can yield a long list of simple, often do-it-yourself changes that can save you thousands of dollars.
Whether you reach for support or do it yourself, though, don't wait. Even the smallest changes can yield big results. Imagine what you can achieve when you do more!
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