Do You Make Green Choices for your Pet?
Bella, an Earth Dog faithful, was wondering…
Do you want to? Check out How to Green Your Pet at TreeHugger
A Low-Carb Diet for 2008
The Green Guide has a good diet in mind for this year, Lose 3,000 Pounds…of Carbon Dioxide, and it’s a lot easier than you may think. They’ve got a surefire month-by-month plan that can help all of us shed some extra emissions by taking one green step at a time.
For each calendar month, The Green Guide has chosen one activity you can easily do to make your CO2 footprint smaller and reduce your impact on global warming. They’ve calculated for you the CO2 savings for each step and tallied together the sum of what your efforts can do.
If each of us followed this diet plan, we’d each reduce our carbon emissions by 3,035. If every US household followed this diet plan it would add up to 160 million tons of CO2 - 160 million tons that would not enter the atmosphere just in one year!
If reducing your carbon footprint is on the resolution list this year, go check the Green Guide’s Low-Carb Diet for 2008.
Website Wink: Global Issues Webguide
I stumbled upon an interesting website that I keep returning to: the Global Issues Webguide from The World Revolution.
The World Revolution is an idea for a new, global activist social movement for progressive social change. It aims to resolve in a definitive and comprehensive manner the major social problems of our world and our era. Major issue areas of the World Revolution include: peace, human rights, the environment, and world poverty.
The Global Issues Webguide is a comprehensive resource that covers a wide range of topics including access to medicines, aging, aids, biodiversity, child labor, climate change, coral reefs…the list in almost inexhaustible. While it may sound extremely broad, I like the way they founders have included all these diverse topics in a way that shows how these global issues are interconnected.
Each category is detailed with links, resources, organizations, websites, articles and research. Coral reefs, environment, climate change, forests, mountains, oceans and coast, population and water all have their own sections with overviews, key facts and key resources.
I really like the understated way that the information is presented. The pictures are engaging, the links are extremely useful and there’s no hype. It’s definitely worth checking out if you are interested in finding a good portal to environmental issues.
Do You Know Your Green IQ?
Do you know your GreenIQ? The GreenIQ site has a super easy green quiz where you can score points for your eco-actions. While the quiz is geared towards US residents, its not for kids - even though their mascot is kid-friendly.
Questions are on transportation, food and energy. At the end you can enter your email for you score and get tips on how to improve your GreenIQ. The site has a direct marketing approach with retailers like Organic Style and Organic Bouquet, and other green retailers that you may not know.
I’m not so sure how accurate the quiz is, but it’s fun and the site has a lot to offer. Like room-by-room tips for going green at home, a green gift guide, news and more. So if you’re wondering, go take your GreenIQ quiz.
Fed Up With Excess?
I really dig this gem from Wooster Collective: Culture Jamming because most of us are fed up with excess and frustrated about how to make it stop.
Like these flyers I get in the mail, endless printed guides wrapped in plastic detailing stuff on sale that I don’t need!
There are ways to get a handle on excess, streamline your life, take the clutter out of your day and take a load off the planet.
Here’s a few ideas…
Green Delivery No More Junk Mail: How to get help cutting back junk mail to conserve natural resources, reduce CO2 emissions and save your sanity
How Many Licks?: Tips for saving cash, hassle, trees, and energy by switching to online bill pay services, at Ideal Bite.
Mail Order Divorce: Tips on breaking it off with catalogs, how to cut from catalog mailing lists to save energy, and paper, at Ideal Bite.
Got any other ideas for getting rid of excess this year?
Kid-Friendly Fridays: Kids R Green
Although my idea of a green kid is one with lots of outdoor free time I think that the internet can be a useful place to explore as well and Kids R Green is a great place for kids to adventure into green ideas, green projects and green games, as well as other online activities.
Kids R Green is from the Center for Environment Education of India. The site is set up into a couple different sections like Spaceship Earth, where kids can find out what makes the planet so unique. Or Green Games that challenge kids to think about different environmental issues. There’s also a good list of books and web resources to check out. And kids can join the Kids R Green club and share their ideas online with other kids around the globe. Get connected at Kids R Green.
A Great Green Clean Option
I often mention the health and environmental hazards that come with toxic chemical cleaners but realize I probably don’t talk enough about alternatives. One company that has been helping clean get green for several decades is Shaklee.
The Shaklee line of cleaning products uses natural, non-toxic and often organic ingredients to keep your home free of dirt, bacteria and toxins. And they are having a great sale this month - 33% off of their starter kit and 15% off of other products.
The starter kit has cleaners, wipes, dish wash detergent, laundry concentrate, hand wash and lots more good stuff so it’s an excellent choice. Or if you’re just looking to get a little green going the Get Clean Basic H2 concentrate is a good all purpose cleaner that is non-toxic, natural, doubly concentrated and biodegradable.
Behind all Shaklee’s great green products are the principles of the company’s late founder Dr. Forrest C. Shaklee Sr., an Iowa farm boy who built the business on environmental ideals that help people clean in the healthiest way possible. Great stuff and the sale makes it a great time to get 2008 off to a green start.
Birds do it, Bees do it…Guest Post at Lively Women!
I was just checking out Lively Women’s favorite posts from last year and it was quite a year! This is one of my favorite blogs on the Health & Science Channel and I recommend paying a visit, often.
In case you haven’t yet discovered Lively Women or just missed it, I did a guest post over there in November with How to Green Your Sex Life. I was psyched because I dig the blog and blogger there so it was a ton of fun…went something like this…
Everything we do has an effect on the environment but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun and look out for Mother Nature. There are some easy ways to keep your eco-values alive when giving in to, er, human nature. Here’s how…read it at Lively Women
Have an idea for how to green your sex life? Let me know, leave a comment because we are all curious creatures…
You also might enjoy Love is Green over at New American Dream, a little guide to keeping it romantic and green. And my all time favorite charmer, EcoGeek’s Guide to Getting Girls. Want more green love, romance and sex tips than you can spank a FSC-certified wood paddle at? Check out Ideal Bite’s Tip Library. Grrr, baby.
What are your Green Resolutions This Year?
I just did an “ecological footprint” check-in, I hadn’t done that for awhile and it’s always a good wakeup call. I try to live as green as possible but even so my footprint is too big! Compared to the footprint of others in my region, my footprint takes up about half as many acres as the average person, but we’d still need more planets.
While I’ll give myself a little atta girl for being below average (which is good in this case), I still want to make less of an impact on the planet so I’m going to try to get my footprint down this year, let me know what you think.
Food: When I visit old friends or family, they still ask if I am a vegetarian and nowadays I sort of shrug and say not really. I’ve never been a true vegetarian but I did try to eat very little meat. I stopped eating most meat products about 12 years ago but still ate fish and poultry on occasion.
Then I moved to Germany where, after two years, I’m still trying to find the balance between what works for me and what is actually on the table. Meat is a big part of the diet here and I’ve met very few vegetarians and no vegans.
It’s sort of like in My Big Fat Greek Wedding where the bride tells everyone her fiance is a vegetarian, the record stops and the aunt says, no problem I’ll make a lamb. That is my food world in Germany. So my food resolution is to buy less processed foods and get back on the very close to vegetarian track.
Personal Care: Don’t worry, this isn’t that personal! The other eco-thorn I have is the amount of plastics that find their way into my life, mostly through shampoos and soaps. Most of the drinks I buy are in glass bottles or cartons - I avoid plastic bottles whenever possible.
Still, my recycling ends up filled with plastic containers for shampoo, conditioner, soaps and so on. I’ve got laundry tackled by using only soapnuts, which work great and come in a canvas bag. So, my personal care resolution is to make my own shampoos and soaps and keep them in reusable containers. I’ve done it before and loved it - the process, the products and the lighter recycling bin.
So, wish me luck and let me know,
what are your green resolutions this year?
Great minds do think alike: Announcing Astronomy Buff’s First Giveaway Contest!
I was over at Astronomy Buff this weekend checking out Tony’s holiday post, the one where he’s traveling out West. It got me reminiscing about my snowbum days, traversing the country along the route he was on this past New Years.
It also got me thinking that I would have loved to have even half of the star gazing devices that he must have had on his journey.
Well, lo and behold, as of yesterday, Tony is running a contest where the winner takes home an iOptron mount with a GPS unit. Astronomy Buffs, go check out the contest for your chance to win! It’s the Great iOptron Giveaway!
Announcing the Naturally Clean Contest!
So, since I’m always touting the health and environmental benefits of using natural, non-toxic cleaners I’ve decided to hold the Daily Tomorrow Naturally Clean Contest! It’s going to be fun and easy and the winner will get their very own copy of this book…
Naturally Clean: The Seventh Generation Guide to Safe & Healthy, Non-toxic Cleaning
Book Description
Naturally Clean explains the dangers of traditional cleaners and provides illuminating statistics that illustrate how the chemicals found in almost every home are known or likely to cause a host of serious health problems. The book’s easy-to-understand introduction discusses basic household chemistry, concepts of toxicity and types of toxic exposure, and the difference between natural, organic, and synthetic chemicals.
Naturally Clean also features a comprehensive Product Selection Guide that analyses over 300 natural and traditional cleaners: everything from laundry products through oven cleaners, disinfectants, spot removers, carpet cleaners and bathroom cleaners. This handy, easy-to-use reference rates the household cleaning products found on the shelves of natural food and grocery stores providing Seventh Generation’s pick of your healthiest and safest options. A resource guide tells readers where to find additional information, and an at-a-glance glossary helps understand key terms.
And
Royalties from the sale of Naturally Clean will benefit the Children’s Health Environmental Coalition in their efforts to educate parents about environmental toxins that can affect children’s health.
How to play…
Here are the five questions (answers are here on Daily Tomorrow)
1. Instead of chemical detergent, what product do I use to clean my clothes?
2. What are two ways you can green your commute?
3. What was the name of Rachel Carson’s groundbreaking 1962 book?
4. What type of whale has Japan said it will not hunt this season?
5. What antioxidant is increased by growing tomatoes organically?
That’s it!
Here are the rules:
- Entries must be sent via email with “Naturally Clean Contest” in the subject line to daily.tomorrow@yahoo.com by 11:59p.m. EST on January 12, 2008.
- You must include your full name and your email address with your entry. I won’t publish your email address, but I do need contact information for the winning entry and for your shipping address. I respect your privacy, and I will not send you anything unrelated to your entry in this contest.
- Remember to leave a comment on this post that you are playing along.
- Have fun and check back next week to see if you won!
Kid-Friendly Fridays: Earth Heroes ‘Express Yourself for the Earth’ Contest!
It took me a minute to realize it’s Friday, with all the holidays and the fact that I just took a couple of days over New Years to visit an island in the North Sea. Which was cold, yes, but beautiful even though the North Sea is filled with industry. Anyhoo, it is Kid-Friendly Friday and a post over at TreeHugger just reminded me that I wanted to remind you of a great kid-friendly creativity contest…Earth Heroes Express Yourself for the Earth Art Contest.
The Earth Heroes Program is an all-inclusive program for kids ages 9 through 17. Where youth of all ages come together to IGNITE their passions, get EMPOWERED to follow their dreams and UNITE in community on a local and global scale. The goal is to get youth active in their communities and schools with regard to environmental conservation, and to help them feel “heroic” about their contributions in co-creating a safer world for themselves and future generations. They will inherit the earth… so it’s time we assist them in becoming Earth Heroes!
The contest invites kids ages 9-17 to share their passion for the environment through writing, painting, photos, or even a video documentary. It is sponsored by The World Trust Network, a place where kids can interact with each other through a global connection to learn about different cultures and inspire one another. Entries can be submitted until March 14th, 2008 so if you know a creative kid who might enjoy sharing their view of the environment, invite them to Go Green over at Earth Heroes!
Via TreeHugger
Follow Along with Jonah and the Whales
Last week I mentioned that Japan had backed down from the hunt, at least for humpback whales. The Japanese whaling fleet is still out hunting other types of whales, like minke and fin, by sailing through a very large loophole in whaling regulation. They are hunting whales for commercial gain under the guise of scientific research.
If you want to follow along with whale happenings in the Southern Ocean, BBC correspondent Jonah Fisher is tagging along with Greenpeace to find and track the Japanese Fleet. He’s maintaining an online journal while traveling on the Esperanza avoiding icebergs, looking for whales and giving readers a first hand account of what’s it’s like to “journey down to the ice”.
In addition to the appropriately named reporter, Jonah, Greenpeace and the Japanese whaling fleet, there are other sailors and whale advocates braving the Southern Ocean to protest the killing of these endangered species of whales - although the Japanese government has given endangered humpbacks a reprieve, fin whales are still on the hunting list for Japan as well as the endangered species list. The Japanese whaling fleet of six vessels has plans to kill 50 fin whales this season and 900 minkes.
The Beebs has some nice media on whales, the background leading to this season and video journal of Jonah Fisher on board the MV Esperanza. It’s a great place to get a lot of information in one stop, over at Diary: Jonah and the Whale-chasers
Website Wink: Volunteer Match
If you’re looking to make a difference this year by donating your time to a good cause you can find the place to do it through Volunteer Match. This organization is the largest online network of nonprofits, attracting thousands of volunteers every day just like you!
TIME magazine selected Volunteer Match as one of 2007’s Top 10 sites in its annual survey of news, business and cultural touchstones, because they are helping to make a difference by connecting good people with good causes.
It’s easy to get connected to volunteer positions where you want them and in the type of organization you want to help. There are countless opportunities to help in everything from the arts to outdoors to housing. And Volunteer Match makes it easy to get involved.
If you want to make a positive change this year, check them out online! http://www.volunteermatch.org
Starting the New Year with Giving in Mind
A new year, a fresh start! What better way to start the year right than to give a boost to a non-profit that is making a difference. Here’s some ideas…
These guys were doing more than their part in 2007 and you can help 2008 be even better. They’ve been the leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people for over fifty years. Check out their latest projects and get involved with a donation of time or money!
Sustainable Harvest International
Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) is working hard to build a global network of partners working towards environmental, economic and social sustainability. They facilitate long-term solutions between farmers and communities to foster best practice land-use to eliminate poverty and restore ecology.
Oxfam International is a confederation of 13 organizations working together with over 3,000 partners in more than 100 countries to find lasting solutions to poverty and injustice. Oxfam International seeks increased worldwide public understanding that economic and social justice are crucial to sustainable development. Help wipe out poverty, support Oxfam’s projects!
Founded by renowned primatologist Jane Goodall, JGI is a global nonprofit that empowers people to make a difference for all living things by creating healthy ecosystems, promoting sustainable livelihoods and nurturing new generations of committed, active citizens around the world including kids - check out Roots & Shoots where the power of youth is global!
Got another idea where to give? Let us know, leave a comment!
A Little Fireworks in Nature
I’m pretty sure you’ll get your fill of manmade fireworks today so to close out the New Year and ring in 2008 Daily Tomorrow style here a few of my favorite “firework” flowers…
Clerodendrum quadriloculare, or winter starburst
Delosperma floribundum, or starburst
Passiflora, or passion flower
and this tiny little beauty, a single bloom of a hydrangea
Happy New Year!
Kid-Friendly Fridays: Arbor Day Foundation Poster Contest for Kids!
‘Trees make a world of difference’ and the Arbor Day Foundation inspires planting and celebration of these natural resources. Now there’s one more way for kids to get involved, the 2008 Arbor Day National Poster Contest.
More than 75,000 fifth grade classrooms and home schools across America participated in last year’s Arbor Day National Poster Contest. This year the theme “Trees are Terrific… Inside and Out!” includes activities that will help increase students’ knowledge about the way trees grow and function. Activities also correlate with National Science and Art Standards. And fifth-graders from across the U.S. are invited to share their artwork and compete for prizes in the process.
For contest details and prizes check out the Arbor Day Foundation’s website and learn all the great ways fifth graders and students of all ages can get involved with the great activities at Arbor Day Foundation.
Did You Keep it Real for Christmas?
If your family was one of the 30 million that opted for a real Christmas tree this holiday season then you also picked a renewable, recyclable resource. Artificial trees use non-biodegradable plastics and can bring metal toxins such as lead into your home. It was a good choice and now it’s time to keep it real earth-friendly by keeping your tree out of landfills.
Even organic stuff takes up space and takes a loooonnnggg time to breakdown in landfills so when you’ve packed up the ornaments and unplugged the sparkling lights, look for a tree recycling program to make the season complete.
Recycling a tree can be done curbside in most municipalities and responsible tree recyclers will put the wood to good use. Check with your waste removal contractor to find out what happens after tree pick-up or, better yet, stop by the National Christmas Tree Association to find a tree recycler, in partnership with Earth911.
Happy Holidays!
More Reason to Clean Green: New Findings on Endocrine Disruptors in Soaps
Y’all know that clean can be chemical-free but there’s more research that has proven the health hazards with chemicals in soaps. A new UC Davis study has found a common antibacterial chemical in bath soaps to alter hormonal activity in rats and human cells in a new way not found before. The culprits once again are endocrine disruptors - compounds that mimic human hormones and are responsible for health problems like cancer, reproductive disorders and birth defects.
The UC Davis study
is the first endocrine study to investigate the hormone effects of the antibacterial compound triclocarban (also known as TCC or 3,4,4′-trichlorocarbanilide), which is widely used in household and personal care products including bar soaps, body washes, cleansing lotions, wipes and detergents. Triclocarban-containing products have been marketed broadly in the United States and Europe for more than 45 years; an estimated 1 million pounds of triclocarban are imported annually for the U.S. market.
The researchers found two key effects: In human cells in the laboratory, triclocarban increased gene expression that is normally regulated by testosterone. And when male rats were fed triclocarban, testosterone-dependent organs such as the prostate gland grew abnormally large.
The new study was published online this week, Triclocarban enhances testosterone action: A new type of endocrine disruptor?
More:
Via ENN
Japan Backs Down from the Hunt
The Japanese government has, for now, backed down on plans to hunt humpback whales in the Southern Pacific Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Japan’s announcement came after strong protests from the UK, US, Australia and New Zealand and a bevy of environmental and conservation groups that the killing (of some 1,000) whales including humpback, minke and fin, under the guise of scientific research was, well, a load of B.S. Non-lethal scientific research techniques provide ample data on whales and Japan has yet to produce evidence that their “scientific whaling research” has yielded any data.
Australia was threatening to follow the Japanese whaling fleet with an armed observation ship to gather evidence to present in a possible lawsuit at the International Court of Justice. The Japanese whaling hunts occur in what Australia considers a national whale sanctuary. Eco-tourism and whale watching are a strong part of Australia’s tourism economy.
Although Japan has claimed no planned hunting of humpbacks next season, they still plan to hunt up to 900 minke whale and 50 fin whales in Antarctic waters. But even the International Whaling Commission has labeled the “research” needless and urged the Japanese government to stop. The “research” is commercial whaling in disguise - and the whale meat actually ends up in supermarket shelves in Japan, even though few people eat it anymore. Commercial whaling is banned under IWC rules.
Japan Calls Off the Hunt