August 2010

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

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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?

But What About The Dog Poop?

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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.  

Plastic Bag Push-Back

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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.

Save The Planet, And Your Teeth!

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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!