Apply for the Plastics are Forever International Youth Summit

By sarajean on 9/2/10 3:29am
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The scary thing about plastics is that they are, indeed, forever. Long after we are dead and gone, our filthy plastic crap—from bottles to bags, food packaging to the bubbles our kids’ toys come in—will still be littering the Earth, floating in the ocean, and killing wildlife. It’s a sick and sad thought, but it’s definitely not news—so why do we keep making unnecessary plastics when there are so many viable alternatives that will break down over time?

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Don’t Claim to Be Green When You’re Red

By sarajean on 8/23/10 12:55am
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To preface this, I don’t mean that if you are a Republican you can’t be green—though, obviously, there are more green folks on the left than the right. What I mean is if you profess to have such high eco-friendly standards, you shouldn’t be serving stuff like red meat, bottled water, and bulls*** on your menu. It makes people who do strive to be green see red.

I was reading about a restaurant in St. Louis that professed to be one of the first “green restaurants” in the Midwest. Intrigued, I checked out the menu—only to find that more than half of it contained meat items, as well as bottled water. It even had hotdogs on the menu. Hotdogs, really?

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But What About The Dog Poop?

By erika on 8/17/10 5:16pm
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It's the question on every dog owner's mind.  "If I start bringing a reusable tote to the grocery store, what about the dog poop?"  It seems that every dog owner in the country uses plastic grocery bags for poop scooping.  Even the contemplation of seeking an alternative sends many dog owners into a tizzy.  

One wonders, what happened to all the dog poop before plastic grocery bags became the norm?  As it happens, I am old enough to remember the answer: it just kinda sat there.  Gross, right?  Gross.

Cities may have had poop scooping laws on the books, but it wasn't until fairly recently (the last 15-20 years) that they started enforcing these rules.  That timing dovetails nicely with the rise in the use of plastic grocery bags, which crept into the market in the late 1970s and early 1980s.  


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Plastic Bag Push-Back

By erika on 8/9/10 2:30pm
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I recently read an editorial (which I'm not able to find now) which advocated for single-use plastic grocery bags over reusable tote bags.  I have seen a lot of this kind of thing lately, including an entire ad campaign funded by the plastic bag companies.  Guess what?  They think plastic bags are awesome!

There was also a study done which found bacteria including e. coli on reusable tote bags.  Guess what?  Funded by the plastic bag companies.  Guess what else?  They didn't test plastic bags.  Which I bet had e. coli on them.  As does everything, really. 

Have you ever read a study about the germs you find on money?  If that doesn't make you a confirmed germiphobe, I'm not sure what will.


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Save The Planet, And Your Teeth!

By erika on 8/3/10 2:49pm
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How long has it been since you replaced your toothbrush?  I'm willing to bet it's been a while.  Consider this your reminder to get a new one!

Most sources recommend changing your toothbrush every three months.  (Frankly, this is just not the kind of thing that's even on my radar as I move through life.  But you know what?  I just set a series of calendar reminders to nudge me to replace my brush!) 

For a family of four, that's sixteen toothbrushes thrown away every year!


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The Greatest Threat to Rare Species: We All Have It

By sarajean on 7/29/10 6:13am
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It’s not a machete, a string of poachers with stubbly beards, or a right wing conspiracy that animals and plants do not exist. The Internet itself has been declared the biggest threat to rare species. (And while I’ll note that many people do not have access to it, those of us able to read this post right now obviously do.) Since the invention of the Internet, poachers and animal smugglers across the globe have had better access than ever to selling their “wares,” such as gorilla hands as ashtrays, baby lions as pets, and even wine made from the bones of endangered tigers.

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10 Alternative Ways to Cool Off, Part II

By sarajean on 7/15/10 6:43pm
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5. Use an Evaporative Cooler

These machines cost less and use less energy than traditional air conditioning units. They work by evaporating hot air and transferring it outside your home. These machines don’t work so well in the humid area where I live, but people who live in drier climates might find that they do just the trick.

4. Use a Single Unit

Single unit air conditioning uses a lot less energy than ones used for whole homes. Just use one for the room you’re in the most. My parents used to do this when we were kids, and they would put up sheets to block off the rest of the house during the summertime to keep the main rooms nice and cool. You could also use erika’s suggestion and try turning your thermostat up just five degrees for a major energy saving impact.

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10 Alternative Ways to Cool Off

By sarajean on 7/15/10 6:41pm
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As environmentally conscious as I try to be, I’ve definitely got my faults. One is using too much air conditioning in the hot weather. We’ve been having heat advisories for the past few days, and I’m not sure if our air has kicked off at all. Sure, I have to keep my little girl cool, and being hot makes me super uncomfortable, but there are alternatives to use whenever the weather isn’t this unbearable every day. Here are ten alternatives that we all could try to cut down on our energy use this summer.

10. Open the Windows

This one is easy enough to do, if there is a nice breeze going on. Unfortunately for us, the only room that cools off if we do this is the living room; the rest of the windows don’t receive much of any breeze. So if we’re having a rare family evening, we can pretty much do this. If not, well, we’ll have to look toward another option!

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The World Is Your Clothes Dryer

By erika on 7/6/10 4:27pm
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This time of year is the brief period when we in the Pacific Northwest can actually take advantage of a clothesline.  The rest of the year it's too cold, or too damp, or both.  (Ever tried drying your clothes on a clothesline when it's 48 degrees with 98% humidity?  I have.  It doesn't work.)

Clothes dryers of course use a ridiculous amount of electricity.  Fifty cents of electricity a load, or $193 a year according to this calculator.  (Which presupposes 15 cents per kilowatt hour.)  Aside from the cost, that electricity looks tidy coming out of your electrical outlets, but there's probably some messy environmental consequences on the other side. 

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Houses made from Plants or Meat

By becksta on 7/6/10 10:14am
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In the interest of sustainability, Urban Planner Mitchell Joachim has some simple advice: Don't build your home, grow it. In this short TED Talk, Mitchell Joachim talks about building houses from plants and even the possiblity of making houses from actual MEAT without harming any living animals.

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