Carnival of the Green #206

Daily Mitzvah is delighted to host this week’s installment of the Tree Hugger Carnival of the Green. A big thank you to last week’s host, Pragmatic Environmentalism. And you’ll definitely want to check out the carnival’s next stop, Lighter Footstep, on December 21.

Let the carnival begin!

Want to see your climate question answered live on television? Earth PM has the details in “COP 15: Let your voice be heard.”

Fake Plastic Fish is offering a plastic-free lip balm and body cream giveaway. As a bonus, the containers are compostable. Check it out!

Other blogs are embracing gender roles this week. For the boys: Guffly has green gifts for the men on your list, including my faves the upcycled Lego® cufflinks, as well as vegan sneakers, old-timey razor kits, and more. And for the young ladies: Go Green Street has tips on eco-friendly nursery decorating for a baby girl.

After you finish the nursery, Home Addition Plus has ideas for Inexpensive Green Home Improvements. And while we’re focusing on a happy home, Pragmatic Environmentalism offers useful advice for How to Preserve Your Laptop Battery

For those who are paring down, The Digerati Life reminds readers that they can donate older cars for a tax deduction

For those of a more theoretical bent, Project Earth offers thoughts on the connections between psychology, human behavior, and environmentalism.

And What Green Investments muses on climate and language

Last but not least, here is our Best Green Tweet of the week:

• @SallyKneidel tweets about the Irvine, CA, school system’s plans to go solar
  

(Gang, we need more Twitter action! Interested in submitting your own tweets to Carnival of the Green? Learn more here.)


Thank you for visiting. Don't forget to stop by Lighter Footstep next week for the next installment of Carnival of the Green!

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Secret Tips for Saving Gas

A few small tips — including a trick involving turning the nozzle upside down to get an extra half cup of gas.

With thanks to Mom Go Green for the link!

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Turn It Off for Earth Hour - March 28th

Earth Hour is coming . . . Saturday, March 28.

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Back to School

I’m not sure how I feel about this, yet the time is now. Back to school! I’m finishing up classroom tasks for the first day, but I did have time to check out this week’s Carnival of the Green, where I discovered a useful post from Nature Mom about choosing a BPA-free water bottle — a must for every backpack and bookbag. You can even win a free bottle from a very nice array of choices; see the post for nature Mom’s contest! (You might even win a neat Sigg “Sunray” like mine, pictured at right.)

Keeping with the school theme, CotG also includes an interesting post from Philobiblon linking the fall of the Roman empire to their dependence on food-based fuel. A few parallels there, eh?, which the blog post explores.

And on an energy theme: La Marguerite contributed a post on grocery shopping, but I was also intrigued by another post on her blog: her GreenWatch personal energy consumption project on Twitter. It’s like a food journal for energy use, with a public micro-blogging component.

You can see all the posts in this week’s Carnival of the Green over at Savvy Vegetarian’s blog.

I hope everyone’s Tuesday is off to a good start!

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August Update: Cool Down Summer Energy Use

Thanks more to the weather than to me, I’m back on track with the summer energy reduction project. Last month’s increase over the previous year was a surprise, since I hadn’t realized how much I was running the A/C. The mid-August bill isn’t a model of economy, but for one of the hottest months of the year, and with me home writing most days, I was still pleased to see a reduction from 2007. I’ve been trying to turn off the air conditioner overnight as much as possible, and also just getting used to being hot during part of the day, which seems to be paying off. The mid-August bill shows we used 456 kWh in the invoice period. While this is certainly up from July, it’s still less about 9.5% less than the same bill last year.

Here’s where we are. Meter readings and dates (better month bolded):

• June 2007: 276 kWh / June 2008: 179 kWh
• July 2007: 236 kWh / July 2008: 334 kWh
  
• August 2007: 476 kWh / August 2008: 456 kWh
  
• September 2007: 232 kWh
• TOTALS: Summer 2008: ???? / Summer 2007: 1220 kWh

Overall we’re slightly ahead of this point last summer (969 kWh this year, vs. 988 kWh at this point in 2007). My math skills are tenuous at best, but this looks like a 9.8% improvement. My goal is 10% for the summer, with just one more billing period to go. Will we make it? Stay tuned!

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Trash, Anyone?

I’m on a writing deadline and not spending as much time as I would like here on Daily Mitzvah. But I did want to mention that Carnival of the Green — the traveling digest of eco-friendly blog posts — has set up its tents at Everyday Trash this week. That makes two reasons to visit, since Everyday Trash is one of my favorite web destinations, full of great photos and quirky stories.

I’m hosting Carnival of the Green in December 2009 — if you don’t want to wait that long (hah!), tootle over here to see what’s new and green this week.

Wish me luck on the writing!

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July Update: Cooling Off Sumer Energy Use

Ouch. Ater a strong start, our latest electric bill is a big step backward. The mid-July bill shows we used 334 kWh in the invoice period, a big increase from 2007. I knew we might be up a bit since I was out of town for a couple weeks this time last year, but I still thought it would balance out with a lot of nights that were cool enough to do without the a/c. Moral of the story: it’s useful to have an independent confirmation of energy usage, since one’s own perceptions may not be accurate.

Here’s where we are. Meter readings and dates (better month bolded):

• June 2007: 276 kWh / June 2008: 179 kWh
• July 2007: 236 kWh / July 2008: 334 kWh
  
• August 2007: 476 kWh
• September 2007: 232 kWh
• TOTALS: Summer 2008: ???? / Summer 2007: 1220 kWh

So far we’re almost exactly almost exactly the same as last year at this time (513 kWh this year, vs. 512 kWh at this point last year). Not good news since we’re moving into the hottest part of the summer. If anyone has tips, send ’em on over!

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Being the Squeaky Wheel

Sometimes small successes make me very happy. After being an unhappy accomplice to the eco-debacle at this year’s AP Reading, I wanted to encourage places in my daily orbit to be more eco-friendly. So last month I emailed my credit union, asking (nicely) if they would consider replacing the styrofoam cups they used for their much-appreciated free coffee. I received a form-letter reply and wasn’t feeling very optimistic, and had almost forgotten about this when I went to the neighborhood branch Friday to deposit a check. Et voila, paper cups! The coffee area is right next to the customer service desk, where the desk-person heard me say, “Hey, cool, no more styrofoam!” She smiled and said, “Yes, we switched to paper cups at members’ requests.”

I was so pleased, I brought the cup home so it could see itself on the blog. (And, yes, it’s paper that’s been bleached within an inch of its life, and there are better options, but I figure one step at a time.)

Moral of the story? The squeaky wheel gets the coffee.

Today’s mitzvah: Can you gently nudge a local business to be a bit more earth friendly?

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If You Can't Do "A," Try "B" . . .

I’m still thinking about a post I read last month on The Tao of Change. The blog author (who’s trying to cut back on driving) was going to bike to visit a friend, the friend thought the trip wasn’t safe by bike and urged her to drive instead — and quietly gave up his own car trip to the coffeeshop the next day as an “offset.” What a cool definition of friendship: taking on a friend’s interests and concerns as one’s own. This also got me thinking that there are workarounds for many situations when one can’t do the obvious eco-friendly thing. Here are some ideas from me — I’d love to hear yours, too!

If you can’t reduce car trips . . .
Unfortunately the U.S. has been built up for individual car travel, not public transit. People have kids, jobs, need groceries, etc. If you can’t reduce as many car trips as you’d like, consider an inexpensive carbon offset to help neutralize your annual driving. TerraPass and Carbonfund.org have calculators and info, including offset plans. (I’ve been using Carbonfund when I fly — they’ll also calculate driving offsets — and TerraPass for an annual household offset.)

If you’re not ready to stop using petroleum-based laundry and dish detergent . . .
I’ve been making a gradual switch, basically keeping two versions on hand (petro-based and plant based) and trying out the new stuff periodically. I finally put away our bright blue dishsoap when I realized I was using the nice almond-scent ECOS Dishmate for almost all the dishes. And we’re currently transitioning into new laundry soap. I still have Tide but I’m trying out more earth friendly options on different types of laundry loads (towels one week, socks and undies the next), just to see if I like it.

If it’s too hot to turn off the air conditioner . . .
I have friends and extended family in Florida; I feel your pain (and I use the a/c a lot, too). At my house we’re compensating with household offsets (see above) and by signing up for our utility’s “green power” plan. The Dept. of Energy has a handy page with links, “Can I buy green energy in my state?”

If eco-friendly is just too expensive . . .
I’ve noticed two new-ish ideas. Clorox worked with the Sierra Club to develop its Clorox Green Works line of products, all of which have earned a Sierra Club seal of approval. They’re plant- and mineral-based, and all ingredients listed on the containers. Those I’ve seen in the store are comparably priced to familiar brand-name cleaning products. (I’ve tried out the toilet cleaner, which works as well as the really toxic stuff I was using before.) For cheaper laundry alternatives: Purex Naturals, while still containing about 1% petroleum based preservatives, is roughly 99% plant-based and is often priced lower than commercial brands (although I wish Purex was more forthcoming about ingredients. I had to hunt through their media pages to get this info). The one caveat here: do some pre-research, since I’ve also seen a couple well-known brand names just throwing “natural” on their labels to indicate fruit or flower scents.

Those are my ideas. If you have good workaround ideas, I’d love to see comments.

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No More Filmy Plastic Bags, Redux

I finally found reusable produce bags I like! This is actually what started my Etsy visits last week, but I wanted to wait for the bags I bought to arrive so I could road test them before writing. Definitely worth the wait. The bags are made from a slightly stretchy netting, they’re feather-light (no extra weight on the scale), and almost transparent when produce is inside (easy for checker or you to read PLU stickers on fruits and veggies). I got mine (pictured) from an Etsy shop called DaisyDots. The drawstring cord color coordinates with the stitching and she offers lots of colors. They were 3 for $6, which I thought was quite reasonable.

There are quite a few Etsy sellers who offer reusable produce bags — all with the nice added benefit of buying something handmade directly from the person who made it, instead of going all mass-produced. Plus, I haven’t seen bags this light commercially.

Today’s mitzvah: Consider buying handmade — and bug your grocery to offer alternatives to the roll of tear-off plastic produce bags.

Photograph © 2008 by DaisyDots.

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A Visit to WEAVE on the Thai-Burma border

I posted last week about To-Go Ware, sustainable bamboo utensils that you can take-with to avoid disposable plastic cutlery. The utensils come in convenient carry packs, made either from recycled plastic bags by the Conserve nonprofit in Delhi, which I featured in the post; or in pretty cloth wraps made by WEAVE, a group working with Burmese women in refugee camps on the Thai-Burmese border. To-Go Ware founder Stephanie Bernstein visited WEAVE last year, in a video I really like. For your viewing pleasure (11 min.):




You can learn more about WEAVE here. To-Go Ware in WEAVE carriers is available at many Whole Foods or online at To-Go Ware.com.

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Update: Cooling Off Summer Energy Use

As I noted a couple weeks ago, my goal for the summer is to cut our electric usage by 10%. We recently received our mid-June electric bill, with a happy surprise: we used only 179 kWh. This certainly compares favorably with last year’s mid-June reading of 276 kWh, as well as our 2007 average of 240 kWh/month. Being away for a week helped, as did the relatively cool nighttime temps, since I was able to avoid running the AC overnight until just a few days ago. So we’re ahead of the game, but not slacking off!

Here’s where we are. Meter readings and dates (better month bolded):

• June 2008: 179 kWh / June 2007: 276 kWh
• July 2007: 236 kWh
• August 2007: 476 kWh
• September 2007: 232 kWh
• TOTALS: Summer 2008: ???? / Summer 2007: 1220 kWh

So far we’re ahead of last year by 64.8%. If this keeps up, I’ll increase our savings goal, but for now I’m focusing in ensuring the next month’s bill is also at least 10% lower than last year. If anyone has tips, send ’em on over!

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350.org Launches 350 Campaign

What’s 350? Dr. James Hansen, a NASA scientist, has calculated we need to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere to no more than 350 parts per million, if we want to to avoid catastrophic and irreparable harm to the planet. The good news: there’s still time. Just like high cholesterol or high blood pressure, a red flag number doesn’t mean the situation is hopeless but instead means it’s time to make changes. The 350 Campaign (which launched this week in eight languages) believes the first start is to get the number fixed in people’s heads (especially politicians’ heads), as a goal toward which to work — and at the same time working internationally to reduce dependence on coal and oil. (BTW, a reminder that today is “Dump the Pump” Day.)

Here’s a video from the 350 Campaign, intentionally using pictures and music instead of words, in order to be accessible transnationally:




Today’s mitzvah: What can you do this week, this month, this year to reduce coal and oil use? This doesn’t require going off the grid; small actions matter too. Daily Mitzvah will post periodic “350 Thursday” ideas: I’d love to hear yours!

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Thursday, June 19: "Dump the Pump"

This month’s MPowering Madison newsletter reminded readers that Thursday is the third annual “Dump the Pump” Day in the United States, to help raise awareness about public transportation options. It’s especially timely this year, with gas prices soaring. But in any year it’s a handy reminder to try to take public transportation when possible. I know this is easier in some locations than others. (I’m totally spoiled by our public transit system. Why people drive in our city during rush hour is beyond me.) I wonder if a massive no-driving day would help with gas prices as well? It would certainly give the atmosphere a breather.

Today’s mtzvah: Can you dump the pump on Thursday? Some cities are even offering free rides on public transit. Here’s an iSearch list to get you started.

Update 12:00 pm: The Money and Values blog took the time to compile a list of about 20 cities that are offering free rides on Thursday. Check it out, you might get lucky.

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A Wind-Up Remote (and Other Stuff I Want)

I found a cool store, which sadly for me is based in the UK not here. Ethical Superstore has a bazillion things I want. At the top of the list: a “wind-up” universal remote control. No more batteries, just turn the crank and this powers itself. (I am mad for all things wind-up: so far I have a wind-up radio, wind-up flashlight, and wind-up camping lamp.) This really intriguing store also has solar chargers for almost everything. And something called EcoBalls (below), which one can allegedly throw in the laundry instead of laundry soap.

I am off to see if I can locate any of this stuff from a U.S. vendor — with an envious nod to our UK readers! If I could find a way to ditch the remote batteries, charge my laptop and cell phone with solar, and do laundry without laundry detergent — not bad for a Tuesday! I’ll post back later in the week if I have success.


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Cooling Down Summer Energy Use

My goal for the summer: I want to cut our electric usage by 10%. I switched us to “Green Power” a few months ago. But I know the air conditioner is my weakness. I hate being hot, and since I’m an apartment dweller I can’t replace the inefficient wall unit (like the ones in hotels) with a proper EnergyStar air conditioner. The power company reads our meter mid-month; last year’s mid-June reading was 276 kWh. That’s actually not too far above our 2007 average of 240 kWh/month. But I’d still like to get the amount for the summer bills lowered by 10%. (I chose a modest reduction since we traveled a lot last summer, which made our energy use lower than normal.)

Here’s where we’re starting. Meter reading dates:

• June 2007: 276 kWh
• July 2007: 236 kWh
• August 2007: 476 kWh
• September 2007: 232 kWh
  

Summer 2007 TOTAL: 1220 kWh. So we’ll be trying to reduce our bill by 122 kW over the course of the summer months. For now, it’s cool enough to turn off the A/C at night. But that will end soon — if anyone has tips (other than just being hot!), send ’em on over!

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How Green Were My Travels?

It's good to be home, even arriving back to tornado warnings, torrential downpours, and much of my state under water. After an extreme winter and now an extreme spring, it's hard not to assume this is a result of climate change.

If the weather didn't turn me greener, the past week at a surprisingly environmentally unfriendly event would have radicalized me by itself. I consider myself “light green” at best at home. But I was saddened to be in a group of 2500 people who were fed three meals and two snacks each day for a week, all with plastic plates, plastic cups, and plastic cutlery. Our teachers’ group really earned an F on environmental awareness. Here’s the bad, the ugly, and some rays of hope in the good.

The bad and ugly: about 7500 thick black plastic plates thrown away each day, or more than 52,000 plates for the week, just for the meals. Add to that the smaller plastic plates and bowls at meals and snacks, the plastic cups at each meal and snack, and the plastic utensils — I think we were over 100,000 for plastic dishes and utensils, and roughly 25,000 for plastic drinks cups and bottles of water. It’s beyond depressing. I hate committees but I’m going to have to volunteer for one to ensure this doesn't happen next year.

Any bright spots? I brought my empty water bottle through security and used it all week, and also brought a Baggu for my local shopping (thanks, EnviroMom for both tips!). I also remembered to throw a travel coffee mug in my bag at the last minute and I saw a lot of others who also brought their own mugs. Some people also brought their own plastic containers to make their meals to-go — which made me realize I could have brought camping stuff (or just my own reusable containers) to reduce my personal plastic consumption. I don’t think this would fly at a fancy conference but we were a bunch of teachers in shorts, t-shirts, and baseball caps scoring exams in a giant hall; eccentricity wasn’t really a problem. My own small solution was to re-use my fork, knife, and spoon all week. I just wiped them off and put them in a bag pocket and then washed them at the end of the day at the hotel. Weird, I know, but at least it kept 6o pieces of plastic cutlery out of the trash.

A few areas reminded me more of home. The convention center where we worked and ate had recycling bins for cans and plastic bottles. I stayed at a Hyatt that has instituted its own green plan, which was a relief. All the light fixtures in the room and even the bathroom had CFLs. They also place a card in the room noting that bed linens and towels will be changed “as needed” but not every day unless requested. It looked like my sheets were changed once during the week (which was just right); the used towels were changed a couple times. And I curbed my enthusiasm for all things tiny and didn’t use or purloin the little shampoo and lotion bottles (I just brought my own from home in small reusable travel containers).

Overall the week was a rough awakening. I get spoiled in my community where green thinking and actions are easy and abundant. I also realized the importance of stepping up. All week at our event people were aghast at how much plastic we were throwing out, and talked about it a lot, but no one was really proposing any solutions.

Today’s mitzvah: Do you keep noticing a bunch o’waste somewhere in your daily world? Consider making a suggestion for change — you’ll get lots of moral support here!

Bus photo courtesy of the Oxford & Chiltern Bus Page.
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Why Pay More for Expensive Airport Bottled Water?

Here’s my doh! moment of the day. I’m getting ready for a trip next week and looking for ways to make the flight more eco-friendly (and just less of a drag for me). So I was delighted to stumble upon an EnviroMom post which, in its brilliance, realized something I had completely overlooked: just because you can’t bring water through airport security doesn’t mean you can’t bring a water bottle. EnviroMom Heather advises bringing an empty and just filling it up at a fountain after security.

This is why moms rule. (Why didn’t I think of this, instead of spending 4 bucks/flight for airport bottled water?) This also gives me a chance to use my reusable, compostable “corn bottle” with the screw-in filter, which I can fill at any tap. (I know I should embrace unfiltered water, but I’m not there yet.) While I don't think I’ll buy another corn bottle now that I’ve read about the problems in diverting food crops for other purposes, since I already have it I want to get some use out of it. This will also double as my workout water bottle at the hotel gym. One week, no throwaway plastic bottles at all.

Today’s mitzvah: Give a shout-out to EnviroMom, who has other practical travel tips here.

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Memorial Day Weekend Round-Up

Here’s your Memorial Day Mitzvah round-up. Now turn off the computer and go outside :-)

• Looking for a thoughtful way to celebrate Memorial Day? Check out my post on the bipartisan Women Veterans Health Care Act of 2008. Tell your Senators you support this act for our female vets.

• Green your picnic #1. I dashed into Whole Foods last week for snacks for my students on the last day of class. My poor planning meant I was stuck with paper plates, so I was just hoping they had something recycled — but instead I discovered something called bagasse. Bagasse is the leftover after liquid is extracted from sugar cane. It’s often just burned, but now entrepreneurs are using it as an alternative to cellulose for paper plates, cups, and cutlery. I like this better than corn-based disposable plates since bagasse is a waste product and doesn’t entail diverting food crops. If you can’t use reusable dishes for your Memorial Day BBQ, see if your store stocks bagasse products.

• Green Your Picnic #2. Daily Green has lots of tasty tips!

Enjoy your weekend!

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May 22: International Day for Biodiversity

The United Nations has designated May 22 as the International Day for Biological Diversity. This year’s theme is agriculture, which is very timely given the current world grain crisis and well as hard questions about bio-fuels. Eco-Space has more. Overall the day is designed to promote the importance of addressing agricultural biodiversity and climate change simultaneously, as the best path for success.

The Convention on BioDiversity’s suggestions for action include:

• conserve biodiversity that is especially sensitive to climate change
• preserve habitats so as to facilitate the long-term adaptation of biodiversity
  
• improve our understanding of climate change – biodiversity linkages

The CBD also has a youth portal for elementary and middle school-age kids.

Today’s mitzvah: Take a moment to acknowledge International Biodiversity Day with a free click-to-give at The Rainforest Site to preserve biodiversity internationally, or at Care2 to preserve fragile ecosystems in the U.S. Sponsors will make a small contribution for each click, at no cost to you.


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