Earth Blog

Have you picked up the reusable bag habit yet? If you have, where do you keep your bags? Is it safe to assume you don’t keep them in a bathroom? Are you a reusable bag owner looking from your bag to your bathroom as you ponder the question and can only answer: “Well, that is just silly-grocery bags in the bathroom.”

Unfortunately, someone once kept a reusable bag in a hotel bathroom and it resulted in a stomach flu outbreak that affected a group of girls ages 13 and 14 and their four chaperones from Oregon during a 2010 soccer tournament trip in Washington state.

Today is National Arbor Day and Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) tweeted a link to their "Right Tree, Right Place" tips to remind their 4.6 million customers to make “informed landscaping choices” before planting trees and shrubs.

FPL has been designated a "Tree Line USA" utility for ten years in a row by The National Arbor Day Foundation. The non-profit is known for their “Tree City USA” and “Tree Campus USA”  but they also recognize utilities that are mindful of trees by their implementation of excellent tree care practices and teach their workers proper tree stewardship.

"Walkability” is like a slew of other fake words now commonly bandied about in our daily conversations.  The word is similar to a portmanteau like momager, tofurkey, and mathlete but has more in common with our country’s penchant for adding the word “gate“ to whatever hot scandal is the subject of our 24 hour news network.

Just add ability to whatever word you would like to make something that was once unmeasurable measurable. “Readability” which is certainly more clear than words like concise and legible or “quotability” instead of memorable. But this isn’t a blog about made-up words (blog is a portmanteau) it’s a blog about walkability and public transportability.

You are undoubtedly reading this on a computer; either a desktop or a laptop. If not one of those machines, a smaller device with a screen: a smartphone or a tablet. Whatever your chosen method of browsing the Internet, it has a screen, a battery, and if you have a portable device a charger that plugs into a wall outlet.

What is your standard search engine? It has to be Google because they are known for their interactive and eye-catching logo changes on holidays and notable days like an artist’s birthday or like today’s- a celebration of the zipper!. But what if you found a more efficient search engine and it had nothing to do with how quickly results were aggregated? This search engine was sure to suck less power because it used a black background rather than a white background. Would you switch?

According to the latest results from the Harris Poll, consumers are getting off the sustainable bandwagon as “green behaviors” are on the decline. They are doing this even though could be saving money and the poll also found “considerably fewer U.S. adults now express concern for, and awareness of, environmental issues.”

How bad is it? 2012’s poll says that about 1 in 3 adults or about 34% “say they are concerned about the planet we are leaving behind for future generations.” The percentage in 2009 was 43% so there was a ten percentage point decrease. Perhaps the people polled don’t have future generations to worry about or could we be seeing the opinions of the post-emotional millennials? Either way, that is still less than half.  

Significantly less than half of adults surveyed describe themselves as "environmentally-conscious" (27% 2012 vs. 30% 2009) and they also don’t “personally care a great deal about the current state, and future, of the environment” (31% 2012 vs. 36% 2009 and 34% 2010).

Well, that is depressing news to take into this Earth Day weekend.

Today the EPA released their annual top 25 metropolitan areas with the most Energy Star certified buildings.

Three California cities are in the top ten with Los Angeles ranked 1st, San Francisco at 3rd, and Riverside is ranked 9th. According to the EPA, Los Angeles has been in the top spot since 2008.

California has a total of six cities on the list with Sacramento (12th), San Diego (19th), and San Jose (21st) making the Golden State the host with the most.

How do Energy Star buildings differ from buildings that carry LEED certification?

“Here comes Peter Cottontail
Hoppin’ down the bunny trail
hippity hoppity
reducing his carbon footrprint
along the way!”

Tomorrow is Easter and Peter Cottontail asks in his famous song that you: “Try to do the things you should!” He also mentions you should be “extra good” and if so “he’ll roll lots of Easter eggs your way.”

Here are some tips to make Easter egg-stra special and green! That was the only and last egg pun that will be in today’s post.

As more towns pass ordinances banning plastic bags, shoppers not in the habit of bringing their own reusable bags are scrambling to buy a few when they happen to remember. Some are simply going to take their business elsewhere- to neighboring towns where laws don’t prohibit stores from handing out plastic bags. The restrictions might cause inconvenience, which results in sighing and eye-rolling but communities are catching on to the idea of the bans quickly.

What isn’t a habit yet for people who currently use the canvas bags is laundering them regularly. 

According to a new survey by the Home Food Safety program only fifteen percent or less than one in six  Americans who have the re-usable bag wash them.  So while they are merrily carrying their bags their bags are happily carrying germs and bacteria.

The City of Claremont (nickname: “The City of Trees and PhDs”) has been awarded Silver level status by the California Green Communities (CGC) program for their work toward sustainability. Claremont is only one of four cities that have reached Silver status; the others are Monrovia, Riverside, and Santa Clarita.  Seven other cities including Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Ventura are using the program’s criteria to better their towns and earn recognition.

"Our City takes its commitment to sustainability seriously," said Mayor Sam Pedroza.  "It is a priority for the City Council and it is a consideration in every project and program we provide. Achieving the Silver level status validates the tremendous work this community has done."

The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) is a non-profit organization with a mission “to provide innovative strategies, working models and timely information to support environmentally sound and equitable community development.” They work with communities of varying demographics to spur effective growth and lessen a town’s environmental impact.

One of their areas of focus is the big-box retailer and where there is talk of big-box retailers there is talk of Walmart. 

The ILSR released a report analyzing Walmart’s attempts at sustainability. Needless to say they think the retail giant’s attempts are insincere. Stacy Mitchell, the report’s author and a senior researcher at ILSR, is calling it as she sees it: “greenwashing.”

"Walmart's sustainability campaign has done more to improve the company's image than to help the environment," says Mitchell who is also the author of Big-Box Swindle.

Have you weened yourself off chemically fortified cleansers thanks to our tips? Switched to new greener brands or tried to clean with just one all-purpose cleaner? Are you making your own household cleaners yet ? No worries if you haven’t because companies are racing to meet demands for eco-friendly products. But before companies can rush products to the shelves they have to be developed by scientists in labs. If only mountain fresh soap was really harvested fresh from a mountain.

SC Johnson is pulling nitrogen from the air we breathe to make environmentally friendly aerosol products.  

Now we can breathe in fresher, more pleasant smelling air or spray down every wood surface to a high-shine in our homes knowing their method of production “has reduced volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by approximately six million pounds in its first year of operation. This is the equivalent of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from 1,600 passenger vehicles per year – or the CO2 emissions from 915,000 gallons of gasoline consumed.”

Familiarity breeds comfort and that applies to the relationship children have with vegetables. A new study has found that both labeling and exposure to vegetables affect what a child will eat and that sneaking vegetables into meals may not matter as much as we think.

Parents with picky eaters have turned to specialty cookbooks to teach them how to sneak around their kitchens.

User reviews of these popular cookbooks are as mixed as the bag of vegetables children supposedly refuse to eat. Some parents have enjoyed success through the method and their little ones are blissfully unaware they are eating macaroni & cheese laced with cauliflower. Other parents have found the recipes lacking and feel they are doing their children a disservice by not fostering a love of vegetables which will cause them to abandon vegetables into adulthood.

Today is important because it’s Read Across America Day! A day millions of children across the United States and throughout the rest of the world will celebrate literacy. 

Schools, libraries, and businesses will also celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday and host Seuss-centric or Lorax themed activities. The Lorax opens in movie theaters and even though it hasn’t received praise from everyone, parents and educators are using the book and new animated movie as a launching pad to discussing this year’s green theme.

There are few debates more contentious than breastfeeding- not even cloth versus disposable diapers can come close to the media attention breastfeeding has demanded recently. 

Facebook came under fire for deleting harmless uploaded photos of mothers breastfeeding their children. Facebook deleted the photos because they violated their terms of use and told the Huffington Post that they have no problem with breastfeeding and said: 

“The vast majority of breastfeeding photos are compliant with our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities and Facebook takes no action on such content. However, photos which contain a fully exposed breast, do violate our terms and may be removed if they are reported to us.” 

In response Emma Kwasnica said, “You don't want the wrath of mothers." and along with sixty moms led a “Nurse-in” at Facebook’s headquarters to protest the social network’s actions. 

Facebook may never change their actions but infant formula is changing to benefit babies and will it ever be better or equal to breast milk?

Suzy Amis Cameron knows the right clothes are needed to walk the red carpet. She has had to walk several red carpets as the wife of James Cameron, award-winning director of blockbuster hits like Avatar and Titanic.

In 2009 she founded Red Carpet Green Dress to raise awareness about sustainability and environmental stewardship through design. 

The organization recently announced the winner of their annual gown design contest, Miami’s Valentina Delfino, whose dress concept will be worn by actress Missi Pyle on tonight’s red carpet at the 84th Annual Academy Awards. Pyle is not nominated for an Oscar herself but is part of the cast of the heavily nominated film The Artist.

Valentine’s Day was a shopping holiday we covered on the blog and we urged shoppers to buy local and ethical, if possible, when hunting for last minute gifts. Ethical consumerism and the effectiveness of “voting with your money” is being debated and discussed over at treehugger.com and at least one other green blog.

The debate started when Sami Grover posted: ““Why Corporate Fat Cats Love Ethical Consumerism.” He set out to explore the concept of: "Every time you spend a dollar, you are casting a vote."  The widely-accepted idea is this: If you don’t agree with the way a company does business simply stop shopping there and they will change or go out of business as they see their revenues drop. But is that wishful thinking? Grover argues that real change occurs at the political and cultural level. He cautions that ethical consumerism could erode the political activism he believes to be more effective at getting at the core problem. Is he right or wrong or somewhere in between?

LivingHomes is considered the premier builder of pre-frabricated (pre-fab) sustainable homes.  Founded in 2006 the company features homes designed by Ray Kappe and architectural firm Kieran Timberlake. LivingHomes may be pre-fab but can also be customized and are available nationally. 

This weekend their new C6 model will open for tours in Long Beach at The Long Beach Performing Arts Center and in Palm Springs as part of Modernism Week.

Did you know that white chocolate isn’t real chocolate? White chocolate contains no chocolate liquor which is the main ingredient the treat would need to be considered real chocolate. What it does have is cocoa butter and the FDA says it must have at least 20% cocoa butter and no more than 55% sugar to be called white chocolate. Who other than Willy Wonka could have known that chocolate is a complicated confection?

Dark, bitter and semisweet chocolate is required to have 35% chocolate liquor while milk chocolate must contain 10% chocolate liquor.  Anything less is not up to the FDA’s standards and is likely labeled “chocolate flavored” or could be made of carob. 

Carob has a different texture and taste than chocolate but contains the same amount of calories. It is commonly used in gourmet dog treats to give them a harmless taste of chocolate.

Eco-rewards program RecycleBank, despite its known flaws, is a program that works for many people around the United States and in Britain.

Incentivizing home recycling on a municipal level with coupons for the mundane (buy one bottle of water, get one free) to fantastic (gift cards) would be icing on the cake for homes that consistently recycle. But not all homes do so and some towns haven't always had curbside recycling which means a commitment to one of the easiest ways to be earth-friendly isn’t present in every home. Therein lies one of the problems with RecycleBank.