CSA (aka bringing the Farmers' Market to you)

Community Supported Agriculture = the best way for busy people to get local, fresh, organic produce into their kitchen. If you're anything like me, sometimes motivating to go to the Farmers' Market on a dreary Sunday morning is a little more than you're up for. However, if you join a CSA, the Farmers' Market comes to you. That's right...according to LocalHarvest.org the definition of a CSA is as follows: a farmer offers a certain number of "shares" to the public. Typically the share consists of a box of vegetables, but other farm products may be included. Interested consumers purchase a share (aka a "membership" or a "subscription") and in return receive a box (bag, basket) of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season.

Eric and I have recently joined a CSA called Eating with the Seasons here in the Bay Area. Now, every Thursday (starting in December) we'll get an extra small box (6 types of produce for $17) of super fresh fruits and veggies delivered from the farm to a pick-up location a few blocks from our house. In addition, we can add extras like eggs, granola, and olive oil if we choose. Quite a deal, right?

And CSAs are so hot right now. In fact, my friends Jillian and Christina recently started an awesome blog called Farm and a Frying Pan that was inspired by the huge amounts of unusual vegetables brought to them by their CSA (think kale, celery root, and leeks). They are learning how to cook and eat these fabulous local, sustainable items, and with their blog, they are sharing their adventures with all of us. As they put it, "this blog is our attempt at uncovering what you can really do when you have access to a FARM and a FRYING PAN."

If you need additional recipes for out-of-the-ordinary vegetables, there are plenty of great vegetarian cookbooks out there. The Everything Vegetarian Cookbook is one great example, and The Enchanted Broccoli Forest is another. Happy veggie cooking!

Aaaaaand, I'm Back

Hi readers!

As promised, it's the end of October, and I'm back and ready to blog my organic cotton socks off. A lot of really exciting stuff has been happening since I've last posted, so I should probably begin by catching you up. First of all, I spent my late summer/early fall doing quite a bit of very cool field work in exotic places of the world like Anniston, AL (burros); Marietta, OH; and Kalamazoo, MI (big bass).

While the field work was fun (great people) and interesting, I have known for a while now that my time at my current company was growing short, AND low and behold, I got a new job last week! Yep, I'm going to work for a cleantech company that may or may not make an electric sports car. It's a big move, but I'm really excited about it. Inside sales/cars/clean technology (i.e. my new position) is quuuuite a bit different than ecological field work, so I have a lot to learn...which is kind of the point in the whole switching-careers thing.

Finally, because of friendships with great people in high places, YBG is going to be part of a test program with Overstock.com to increase its social media outlets. This means that I'll be blogging about and noting cool, green, and inexpensive products that can make your life more sustainable. Like I said, exciting things are afoot!

Keepin' it YBG,
Dale

A Brief Sabbatical

Hi loyal readers,

I wanted to jot a quick post to let you know that I haven't forsaken you and YBG. I am in the middle of an epic stint of fall field work, and 13 hours days in the field aren't terribly conducive to blogging (...or bill paying or calls to friends and family or QT with your dog). I will be back at a desk and regular working hours by the end of October, I hope, so if you can be patient with me until then, I greatly appreciate it.

Until then, keep thinking YBG!
Dale

Climate change and wildfires

An interesting and relevant tidbit from Earth2tech:

Climate Change and Cali Wildfires: “To the average person a 1-degree rise in average spring and summer temperatures may not seem like much. But for residents of the western United States—including California, which is fighting at least eight fires right now—it could mean a staggering increase in the extent and cost of fires.” — Climate Progress

Saison...review to come

Because I'm battling through a mild, wine-induced hangover from my incredible dinner at Saison last night while trying to catch up in the office after a week of field work in Ohio, my review of last night's amazing meal will have to wait another 24 hours or so. But, until then, you can at least check out our menu. It was worth every penny.

LocalHarvest

Question: What's one way to eat like a king, save money, and be green all at the same time?

Answer: Dust off your pots and pans and cook the amazing food you bought this weekend at your local farmers' market.

Check out LocalHarvest.org to find a farmers' market near you, and spend your Sunday morning tasting the wares of local farmers while mingling with your neighbors. The food is guaranteed to be fresh and local, and because many farmers' markets remove the middle man from the equation, you're getting the best of the nearby farms for much less than you would at the grocery store. The salsa you make from the $5/15 lb bag of tomatillos you bought will taste WAY better than the store-bought brand, and I bet you'll have a lot of free fun making it as well.

Time to rethink your shampoo

This is quite an eye-opening article from Salon about the ingredients in our shampoos. In a nutshell, the article claims that there are only 3 necessary ingredients in any hair cleaning product, and everything else in your shampoo is unnecessary or even toxic. The author even finishes his article by stating that he uses Sunlight Dish Detergent to wash his hair...it has only 4 ingredients, and he uses 1/10th of the volume that regular shampoo requires. He states that one bottle of detergent will last him a year...compared to $8 a bottle for Pantene ProV and the like (that only last a month or two). If you're not down with using dish detergent on your head, consider Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap (and Hair Rinse). They're made for use on your body but lack most of the extraneous ingredients, and since you dilute them, they last forever.

No Brainer

Libraries, people! Libraries!

It's books for free. What else is there to say? Sure you have to give them back in the end, but how many books do you read more than once anyway? Save trees, save money...go get a library card.

Also, the excuse that "they never have what I'm looking for" is no longer valid. Most libraries now allow online book reservation, and you are notified by email when your request shows up at your local branch. I picked up two last night that were available a mere five days after I posted my requests (though a third is going to take a while to show up, but it's a new release). In the meantime, I'll keep myself busy with less popular but equally as satisfying oldies but goodies.

Splurge Alert

Sometimes it's worth blowing your well-earned cash on something special, and on August 30th, I will be spending mine on a fabulous dinner at Saison with Eric. Saison is a new restaurant located in the Mission that "is a place where one can come and dine on the finest local bounty and where wines are poured with the same care as a Michelin starred restaurant yet be totally at ease in a casual environment. We have decided that we should remove the unnecessary frou-frou and provide what is most important to us in a dining experience." The food is all local and organic, as are the wines. I'm SO excited, and a review will definitely be posted on the 31st (I'll be in a food coma until at least Monday).

And actually, compared to what we would pay for a similarly amazing meal at almost any other highfalutin restaurant here in SF, $90 for a four course meal with wine paring is a straight-up deal.

GoodGuide: Your Guide to What's Good

I happened upon a great new website today, GoodGuide.com. The story of how I happened upon it will have to wait, but the effect that GoodGuide can have on your life should not. According to the NYT, Newsweek, and may other sources, GoodGuide provides the world's largest and most reliable source of information on the health, environmental, and social impacts of the products in your home...FREE! Using criteria tied to three overarching performance areas (health, environmental, and social), GoodGuide assigns scores to consumer products, deeming them good, iffy, and/or bad choices based on their criteria. The results can be surprising. For instance, who would have guessed that a Kashi cereal would be at the bottom of the cold cereals list, while plain Cheerios are near the top (the complete list is here). See, you're already learning things... So next time you're thinking about changing shampoos or buying your nephew a present, you can look at GoodGuide to assess the impacts of the products you're about to buy. You might rethink that Nerf Rocket Pass you were eying.

It's official: Save money, reduce carbon emissions...Go veggie

Since the Copenhagen Climate Congress in March, there has been a fair amount of hubbub about the climate benefits of changing one's diet. The bottom line, as put by Treehugger, is that a vegetarian diet, or one at least that radically reduces meat consumption, can have massive climate change mitigation benefits. According to a presentation at the Congress/Treehugger, if this transition of dietary norms was started in 2010 and completed by 2030, and that pasture and cropland was allowed to regrow as forest, it would soak up such large amounts of CO2 that, in combination with the resultant reduction of methane emissions due to the animals themselves, the costs of climate change mitigation would drop by 70% by 2050, as compared to a business-as-usual scenario.

In addition to reducing carbon emissions/climate change mitigation costs, being a vegetarian saves you SO much money (I can speak from experience). I don't need to go into the cost-savings of cutting meat from your diet...we all know that veggies cost way less than meat. So, even if you aren't going to full-time veg, think about cutting meat out of your diet a few days a week. You'll be doing both yourself and the environment a favor.

Kindle Goes to Princeton

Also in the NYT today:

"In May, Amazon introduced the electronic book reader Kindle DX, touted as a new way to read textbooks, newspapers and other large documents. This fall, six colleges and universities will test the technology in a pilot, which includes making the textbooks for certain courses available online.

The Kindle DX (for “deluxe”) is searchable and portable, a plus for students accustomed to toting heavy backpacks. But there is another reason that some institutions jumped at the chance to try it out: the technology could substantially reduce their use of paper.

“Sustainability is the driving force behind Princeton using the Kindle,” said Lauren Robinson-Brown, the assistant vice president for communications at Princeton University, which is participating. She explained in a telephone interview that the Kindle pilot project was part of a Princeton initiative to use less printed paper."

I'm very interested to see how this turns out...

White is the New Black

I love when an environmental piece is the most popular article on a news website. All day today, NYT readers have been loving this piece about white roofs being the new, hot thing in energy savings. In fact, the article states that "studies show that white roofs reduce air-conditioning costs by 20 percent or more in hot, sunny weather." Awesome, now to see if I can convince my parents to buy into this trend. Since we don't have AC in SF, they'd probably benefit a bit more, you know, living in Atlanta and all.

PS puns intended.

Restaurant Review: Tataki

One of the main reasons that I'm an "almost vegetarian" instead of an honest-to-goodness vegetarian is that I'm obsessed with sushi. I can't live without it. I NEED it (yes, getting a bit dramatic, I know). So, when I found out about Tataki on Yelp, I got super excited. What enviro-pescatarian wouldn't jump up and down and squeal about a sustainable sushi restaurant? I immediately jumped over to Tataki's own website, and, as if I needed more reasons to love them, their mission is as follows:

Our Mission at Tataki is simple: to showcase the beauty and delicacy of Japanese cuisine while respecting the sanctity and fragility of our environment. If we are to preserve the art of sushi, we must also safeguard the health and biodiversity of our oceans. With this in mind, we strive everyday to integrate the concept of sustainable dining into our menu options.

Yes, yes, YES! Now I only needed to actually go there and fulfill my dream of gorging myself on fully sustainable sush. The dream became a reality on a ordinary Thursday night. Having been warned the place was very small, my BF, brother (recent addition to the Bay Area population), and I showed up with our ready-to-wait pants on, and I'm sure glad we did. We were told by a very snobby host/server that it'd be at LEAST a 30 minute wait, and that we should put our name on the list and clear out. Yikes, that wasn't a very good first impression, but undeterred, we put our name down and headed next door to Solstice to have a beer (I should mention that said waiter scoffed at us when I mentioned writing down my phone # so he could call us when a table was ready, despite their being no waiting area thus requiring us to vacate the premises). Two beers and three check-ins later, we headed back to Tataki to squeeze ourselves into the sushi bar. To make a long story short, I will grade the meal on three factors:

Sustainability - A
- Seafood Watch cards everywhere, menu limited to seasonal and sustainable fisheries, press about fisheries conservation all over the walls, etc.

Food - B
- While the fish was fresh and generally good the portions were tiny and expensive for what we got. None of it was really anything to get terribly excited about.

Service - F
- If this place wasn't aggressively supporting a cause about which I feel strongly, I would have walked out. The service was abysmal. Not only was all the staff snobby and too busy for us (it's a SUSHI restaurant for goodness sake), but the service was extremely slow. I saw a roll for one poor table sit at the window for 10 MINUTES!!! before getting taken to them. Also, the waitress was constantly bumping us and twice spilled water on us without saying sorry. Finally, they tried to charge us for things we didn't order.

Sooo, needless to say, I was a little disappointed by my experience. I plan to try again on a different night of the week to see if we simply had a bad crew, but until then, I'll be taking my Seafood Watch sushi pamphlet to my fave mom & pop sushi hole-in-the-wall...and eating sush that IS worth getting excited about.

Carbon Offset Cheat Sheet

To accompany my post from about a week ago concerning carbon offsets and Terrapass, I found this handy-dandy website that rates offset providers, Offset Consumer. It talks about different providers, carbon calculators, reasons to offset, etc, etc. According to OC, NativeEnergy is the best US offset provider...but Terrapass isn't on there, so I don't know what to think about that (I'll do more research and get back to you...it's late).

Happy perusing. Night.

Reduce, reuse, and train your dog

For those of you with a dog, you know the trials and tribulations of reliable recall (i.e. coming when called) from your four-legged-friend. If there's another pup or an interesting patch of grass to sniff, the chances of your dog coming to you the moment you call are pretty slim (at least they are in my case). But, as we recently learned in obedience class, all that can change the moment you bring high-quality treats into the mix! Seriously, give your dog something really special every time he comes to you, and you'll immediately see a difference in recall response time and enthusiasm level.
"What does this have to do with being YBG?" you might think. Well, there's no treat my puppy finds more special than people food...of any kind...we're talking everything from ribeye to corn to salad dressing. So these days, we've taken to putting all our inedible (from a human standpoint) leftovers into plastic bags and putting them in the fridge for future use with Wally (our dog). This means we spend a lot less on expensive, packaged doggie treats, and we have to take fewer trips to the compost bin (cause you're not throwing that organic refuse away, right? RIGHT???). An important note though: Not all human foods are dog-friendly. Chicken/fish bones and chocolate immediately spring to mind, so be mindful about what you give your pup.

Carbon Offsets: A Globetrotter's Best Friend

Hello my thousands (and by 1000s, I mean 4) adoring fans,

I've been traveling a LOT recently. A trip to Denver/Boulder for the 4th of July, a trip to Ohio for work (which was AWESOME, btw. We were electrofishing as a part of stream community surveys), and now I'm headed to Vegas for a friend's bachlorette party. Given the fact that I'm already dishing out all kinds of $ for these trips, it's sometimes hard to also think about the added cost of buying carbon offsets for my trips...However, Terrapass is making it just a little easier for all of us to get that much closer to carbon-neutral traveling. They have an air travel option in which you by one year's worth of flight carbon offsets. In this package, $50 buys offsets for 4 short, 3 medium and 2 long-haul flights, and luggage tag is included (so that you can show off your commitment to reducing global warming, obvs).

Given the thousands of dollars that you'll spend on the 9 flights accounted for by your air travel package, $50 really isn't much when it comes down to it. Air travel is an individual's single largest contributor to their carbon footprint, so do the right thing and take steps to make yours that much smaller.

Taste the Wildness

This post is for all the dog and cat owners out there: Try Taste of the Wild pet food! I promise you won't be disappointed. TOTW is a grain-free, all-natural pet food that is so good for your furry buddy, and animals LOVE it. We switched our puppy from Iams to TOTW, and the results were immediate. Wally (our pup) began eating more, his dandruff-y skin issues cleared up (saving us on vet bills), his #2s were smaller (due to better nutrient absorption), and his owners felt better because he was eating more naturally. What isn't to like about this wonder-food? Ok ok, I know the food isn't magic, but we've had such a great experience, my exuberance gets ahead of me :)

DIY Surf Spray

Is anyone else addicted to Bumble and Bumble's Surf Spray but hates the cost and the fact that you are spraying chemicals in your hair? Well, for those out there like me who love a little body without all the scary chems, search no longer. I found a recipe on another blog for a DIY spray, and it actually works pretty well! Give it a try, and let me know what you think.

http://blog.strawberryhedgehog.com/2008/08/beach-babe-hair-spray.html

And now it's time to go surfing to get some REAL sea spray in my hair.

My Favorite Kind of Recycling

Raise your hand if you love Craigslist...my hand is most definitely raised (and even waving around a little bit. You know, like that brown-noser from your freshman econ class?). Having spent the last few weekends trying to furnish my new apartment in both the cheapest and greenest way possible, I've realized that "recycling" used furniture is most definitely the way to go. Not only do you save large pieces of wood/metal/plastic from going to the landfill, but you can find some really great stuff for almost nothing. We got a giant, wooden, and very attractive bookcase/shelving unit for $43 because the previous owner had to get rid of it immediately (if not sooner). I also ended up with a great futon-type-thing that was originally $400 at Cost Plus...guess what I got it for? $60!!! Not only did I save $340, but I avoided consuming virgin materials. Not bad, eh? So next time you're looking for new end tables or a bed frame, don't head to Ikea. Hop online and with a little persistence, I promise you won't be disappointed.

PS I tried hard to find things at garage/estate sales here in SF, but speaking from experience, it's pretty much 100% junk at those things. I haven't tried any of the flea markets yet though.

Just in case you were wondering...

...this is one of the main reasons I haven't blogged since then end of April. Hard to pull myself away from playing with the little tyke, but don't worry, my sabbatical is almost over. He's given me all kinds of new fodder for posts as well. Bring on the pet tips...I won't pretend puppies are cheap, but there are definitely ways that they can be less expensive.

Just Say NO to Plastic Bags

A battle is underway in California’s San Francisco Bay area and it’s the latest front in the nationwide effort to ban the plastic bag.

The bag’s got some powerful allies in the plastic industry who have been suing Bay Area residents to stop these bans.

Check out this 2 minute video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSD21zp89zM - and learn how you can take action to say no to the plastic bag industry.

It's Earth Day! It's Earth Day!

Maybe there are some people out there who believe that Christmas is a better holiday than Earth Day. Heck, there are probably people out there who don't consider Earth Day a holiday at all, considering we still have to work and everything, but those attitudes don't diminish the importance and awesomeness of Earth Day for a single second.

I won't bore you with a recap of what ED is and why it exists (you can read about it farther down on this page if you haven't already), but I will say that I hope everyone is taking a least a few minutes of their busy, work-filled day to do one green thing for their community and/or the planet. It can be as small as picking up a few pieces of trash on your way home or deciding to skip the chicken breast and eat vegetarian this evening...just do SOMETHING. This is one day that everyone who cares about the future of the Earth needs to band together and show their solidarity against the degradation of our planet, and if we all do one little thing, it can add up to great change. Seriously, if we all take the time to pick up and recycle one or two bottles today, that's hundreds (if not thousands) of bottles that will never reach a landfill...and that's simply if the readers of this blog make an effort. Think about the effect we could have if we encourage our friends and family to do the same! Our humble, initial efforts could end up with a far greater result than we had expected.

So, let's make this effort's growth exponential. If all my readers make sure that at least two other people know that today is Earth Day and encourage those other people to do the same, today's message could go viral Susan Boyle-style. What are you waiting for?!!? GO PASS SPREAD THE WORD, YBG-STYLE!

Inexpensive and Easy Earth Day Activities

I know, I know...you're beyond excited for Earth Day, but you have no idea what to do? Don't worry, YBG (via ecomii) has plenty of things you can do that are cheap, easy, and fun.

For $10

• Make a $10 donation (or more!) to Replanting the Rainforests, an organization collecting donations to help restore and permanently rebuild some of the 80% of the world’s native forests that have been destroyed.
• Offset your carbon footprint. Carbonfund.org allows you to see how much your carbon footprint is for your home, car, travel, or event and allows you to offset it. Or just select the Gift option to choose your offset in $10 increments (it’s tax deductible!).
• Go see Disneynature’s first film: Earth, adapted from the Emmy Award Winning Planet Earth, which follows three animal families and their journey. During opening week Disney will plant a tree for each ticket purchased (this is one thing I am DEFINITELY doing. So excited!).

For Free

• Volunteer at a local environmental or pro-green organization. Make a once a month commitment.
• Start a green habit. Buy reusable bags, get biodegradable poop bags for your pooch, start timing your showers, carpool, walk, take the bus, whatever you’ve been meaning to do, use Earth Day as a green New Years Eve.
• Plant something. Nothing feels greener than planting a tree or a garden.
• Get outside! Take a walk in the park or a hike in the woods and say thanks to Mother Nature up close.
  

Also, if you want to find events in your area, go to http://www.epa.gov/ and navigate to the interactive map.

7 Days till Earth Day: A History Lesson

Earth Day, which was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in in 1970, is celebrated in many countries each year on April 22.

In September 1969 at a conference in Seattle, Washington, U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin announced that in spring 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on the environment. This occurred during a time of great concern about overpopulation and when there was a strong movement towards "Zero Population Growth."

Nelson viewed the stabilization of the nation's population as an important aspect of environmentalism and later said:

"The bigger the population gets, the more serious the problems become ... We have to address the population issue. The United Kingdom, with the U.S. supporting it, took the position in Cairo in 1994 that every country was responsible for stabilizing its own population. It can be done. But in this country, it's phony to say 'I'm for the environment but not for limiting immigration.'"

Senator Nelson first proposed the nationwide environmental protest to thrust the environment onto the national agenda.” "It was a gamble," he recalls, "but it worked."

Five months before the first April 22 Earth Day, on Sunday, November 30, 1969, The New York Times carried a lengthy article by Gladwin Hill reporting on the rising hysteria of "global cooling":

"Rising concern about the environmental crisis is sweeping the nation's campuses with an intensity that may be on its way to eclipsing student discontent over the war in Vietnam...a national day of observance of environmental problems...is being planned for next spring...when a nationwide environmental 'teach-in'...coordinated from the office of Senator Gaylord Nelson is planned...." Senator Nelson also hired Denis Hayes as the coordinator.

April 22, 1970, Earth Day marks the beginning of the modern environmental movement. Approximately 20 million Americans participated, with a goal of a healthy, sustainable environment.

Denis Hayes, the national coordinator, and his old staff organized massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values.

Mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and lifting the status of environmental issues onto the world stage, Earth Day on April 22 in 1990 gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

As the millennium approached, Hayes agreed to spearhead another campaign, this time focused on global warming and a push for clean energy. The April 22 Earth Day in 2000 combined the big-picture feistiness of the first Earth Day with the international grassroots activism of Earth Day 1990. For 2000, Earth Day had the Internet to help link activists around the world. By the time April 22 came around, 5,000 environmental groups around the world were on board, reaching out to hundreds of millions of people in a record 184 countries. Events varied: A talking drum chain traveled from village to village in Gabon, Africa, for example, while hundreds of thousands of people gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., USA.

Earth Day 2000 sent the message loud and clear that citizens the world 'round wanted quick and decisive action on clean energy. Earth Day 2007 was one of the largest Earth Days to date, with an estimated billion people participating in the activities in thousands of places like Kiev, Ukraine; Caracas, Venezuela; Tuvalu; Manila, Philippines; Togo; Madrid, Spain; London; and New York.

Source: Earth Day Network

Get (Online) Coupon Crazy

Looking for an eco-friendly way to save money on all those things you just can't live without? Quit wasting paper on coupons that can be redeemed online. According to Simmons Market Research Bureau, currently more than 40 million people nationwide are printing online coupons. While coupons are a great way for YBGers to save money, paper coupons equate to a staggering amount of wasted paper. Instead of printing and clipping, go green by visiting free online coupon code and deal site Coupon Craze (www.couponcraze.com) before you shop.

If you need more convincing, check out Coupon Craze’s top 5 reasons why you should stop clipping and start clicking instead:

BE A SAVVY SHOPPER: If each of the 40 million people printing online coupons replaced one paper coupon with an online coupon code, 80,000 reams of paper would be saved!
SAVE TREES: 500,000 trees must be cut down to produce each week's Sunday newspapers, including the massive coupon section. Why? When only 0.5 percent of coupons inserted in Sunday newspapers were redeemed in 2008
BE GREEN: The average household throws away 13,000 pieces of paper each year, most of which is junk mail consisting of printed coupons and promotions. Reducing paper use reduces greenhouse gases and using 40 million pieces of paper translates into 3,000 acres of pine forest absorbing carbon for a year
CONSERVE WATER: Who knew? It takes more than 1½ cups of water to make one sheet of paper – meaning that the 40 million people who have printed coupons have wasted 3.75 million gallons of water.
STOP WASTING: The United States alone, which has less than 5% of the world's population, consumes 30% of the world's paper. As if that were bad: Approximately 1 billion trees worth of paper is thrown away every year in the U.S

So, visit Coupon Craze to find online deals and coupon codes that can easily replace those paper-wasting printed coupons. You can also shop the newly launched Coupon Craze Green category to find deals and codes for eco-friendly products.

PS - Yes, this is a press release from my friend Bailey at SHIFT Communications. How cool is it that I'm getting pitched by PR firms (even if it is by my friends)?

Eco-Fashion for Cheap

Ideal Bite beat me to this post...I had started writing it and everything, and then, what do I see in my inbox this morning, but the following (and being all about efficiency, why rewrite what's already been written, right? Thanks, IB!)...

Check out these under-$50 fashion-forward finds from stores you already know, like Target. So cheap, you can make like a thug (but not dress like one).

Check it out:
H&M - in addition to its plan of upping its organic cotton use by 50% over last year (note: it doesn't label most of its organic apparel as such), on Earth Day H&M will debut a line made partially from recycled plastic bottles (many pieces under $50)
Loomstate for Target - full line of limited-run men's and women's casual-cool clothes (jeans, dresses, even swimwear) from Loomstate; available starting Sunday, ending mid-May ($45 and under).
Zoe&Zac - Payless's new line of casual footwear, bags, and jewelry made with materials like hemp, organic cotton, and water-based glues; designed with help from eco-model Summer Rayne Oakes, available now. For every pair you buy between now and May 4, Payless will donate $1 to plant trees ($30 and under).
Urban Outfitters Urban Renewal - bid on hand-picked vintage clothing, many from big-name designers; available now with new stuff every week (starting at $10; note that items may get bid up beyond $50).

San Francisco wins!

Yet again, I'm proud to be a San Franciscan. Why? Well, because the US News and World Report had the following to say about a study that came out last week (as well as a few other recent studies):

In news that surprised absolutely no one San Francisco was declared America's Least Wasteful City in a study sponsored by reusable water bottle maker Nalgene. Indeed, five of the top 10 cities on the list are on the West Coast, mirroring trends in nearly every city-ranking green study that's come out recently. Witness:

• America's Most Walkable City: San Fransicso, joined in the top 10 by Seattle, Long Beach, Calif., Portland, Ore.
• America's 50 Greenest Cities: Portland, Ore., joined by #2 San Francisco, #4 Oakland, Calif. #5 Eugene, Ore., #7 Berkeley, Calif., and #8 Seattle.
• SustainLane's Greenest Cities: mirrors the list above, except Seattle is moved up to third place, Oakland is ninth, and Eugene and Berkeley are knocked out of the top 10.
• America's Greenest Economic Cities puts Sacramento, Calif, in first place, followed by all of the usual suspects.
• America's Top 10 Energy Star Cities put Los Angeles , and San Francisco in first and second place, respectively.

You get the idea. (Find the full list of least wasteful cities here.)

Southern cities consistently rank towards the bottom of these lists, due to lack of public transportation, inadequate recycling, and energy usage, among other factors. What do you think: could Houston, Orlando or Birmingham, Ala. ever be as green as San Francisco? Or are these cities just too fundamentally different?

Dishwashing by Hand or Machine

In honor of the new apartment I will be moving into at the end of the month (that has a dishwasher!!!), I want to educate my readers about energy and water-use involved with hand-washing dishes versus washing your dishes in the dishwasher. A scientific study done at The University of Bonn in German thoroughly explored the age-old question of hand vs machine, and those inquisitive Germans discovered the following: the dishwasher uses only half the energy, one-sixth of the water, and less soap than washing by hand. The study also rated the level of cleanliness achieved by both methods, and again the washing machine won. Don't you just LOVE when the lazy method is also the better method? I do! I do! So, next time you have a dinner party and your guests try to wash the remainder of the dishes in the sink after the washer is full, tell them to DROP THE SPONGE. You can load the rest of those dishes into the machine in the morning. Sometime even the best intentions aren't the eco-friendly ones.

Last note - be sure to use eco-friendly soap and always wait till the d'washer is full before running it. Have a great weekend!

A Sale!

Just FYI...my fave online eco-fashion store is having a sale, and I wanted to pass it on to everyone. Let me know if you want me to forward you the email that can get you free shipping :)

I Can't Help It. I Love Target.

I know, I know...there are so many reasons to hate and shun the "Big Box" store, but I just can't help it. I love going there. Thankfully, Target is giving me one great reason to feel less guilty about my inevitable, non-local, impulse purchases. The store is now making its own eco-friendly clothing. And while that link only shows a few of the options, I saw many more cute t-shirts when I was over there during my lunch break today. Way to take a step in the right direction, Tar-jet!

Additionally, with a little research, I discovered that (at the time of this post) there are 8343 organic products sold in Target's online store. From baby clothes to home goods to beauty products, it looks like the store is making a real effort to give its customers more green choices. With even more research, I learned that Target is also making a significant effort to understand its environmental impact and continuously improve its business practices in many different areas. Seriously, check out that link to their corporate website. Their commitments are definitely more than just "greenwashing."

Maybe Target isn't SUCH a bad guy after all. While buying local is always better, we don't need to feel so bad about our wayward megastore moments.

Light Green

The website cOnservitude posted this definition of "Light Green" environmentalism over the weekend.

"Light green environmentalists tend to emphasize lifestyle/behavioral/consumer change as key to sustainability, or at least as the best mechanism for triggering broader changes. Light greens strongly advocate change at the individual level. The thinking is that if you can get people to take small, pleasant steps (by shopping differently, or making changes around the home), they will not only make changes that can begin to make a difference in aggregate, but also begin to clamor for larger transformations. Light green environmentalism, as a call for individuals to change, has helped spread the idea that concern for sustainability is cool. Consumers make a big difference when they stop supporting products that negatively impact our environment."

This particular definition struck a chord with me because it didn't simply state that "light green" environmentalists promote small, "easy," minor ways to impact the environment. Instead, it defined the movement in the way that I see it and the way YBG embodies it...if YBG can effect small, painless changes in its readers' thoughts and actions, then hopefully these little efforts will grow in both magnitude and number as my wonderfully responsive readers become more conscious of the ways in which they can make an impact and comfortable with making larger and/or more numerous changes. YBG strives to show its readers that being green is fun, easy, cheap, and cool, and once y'all realize that, there's no end to the positive impact you can make!

Earth Hour Activities

Initially, I was going to post a list of Earth Hour activities for people to partake in, but on second thought, I'd love to hear what my READERS are planning to do for Earth Hour. Set your fingers a typin' and please leave a comment below letting me (and the rest of my totally devoted YBG following) know what you'll be up to on Saturday night. For example, I'll be out celebrating my friend Jenn's birthday, and since I have no idea where we'll be at 8:30 sharp, I plan to carry candles and headlamps so that I'm prepared to celebrate Earth Hour anywhere in the city. Additionally, because I'll be with a crowd of similarly green-minded friends, I'm hoping to convince them to head to Dolores Park for "Fun in the Darkness" or Medjool to dance under the stars on the rooftop. Howevs, I know no matter what we do, we'll take part in the action...even if we have to crawl over a bar and turn off the lights ourselves (which is not unheard of)!

So what are you waiting for?! Let's up know what you're up to.

Earth Hour: Cast Your Vote

Hi YBGers,

This Saturday, March 28th, from 8:30-9:30 pm local time is the 3rd annual Earth Hour. If you're not familiar with Earth Hour, it is a global movement in which people all over the world turn off their lights for an hour to show worldwide unity in fighting global warming. Famous landmarks all over the world also participate, and I'll have the pleasure of watching the Golden Gate Bridge go dark for an hour on Saturday night. Earth Hour is not simply an exercise in saving energy. It is a demonstration of our personal commitment to sustainability and a greener Earth. So, if you care about the future of our planet and want to be a part of a worldwide movement to make a change, turn off your lights for an hour on Saturday and make a difference.

Stay tuned for fun Earth Hour activities to be posted tomorrow!

YBGly,
Dale

The following information was taken directly from the Earth Hour website:

VOTE EARTH: YOUR LIGHT SWITCH IS YOUR VOTE

This year, Earth Hour has been transformed into the world’s first global election, between Earth and global warming.

For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote – Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming. WWF are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009.

This meeting will determine official government policies to take action against global warming, which will replace the Kyoto Protocol. It is the chance for the people of the world to make their voice heard.

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness.

In 2009, Earth Hour is being taken to the next level, with the goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights as part of a global vote. Unlike any election in history, it is not about what country you’re from, but instead, what planet you’re from. VOTE EARTH is a global call to action for every individual, every business, and every community. A call to stand up and take control over the future of our planet. Over 74 countries and territories have pledged their support to VOTE EARTH during Earth Hour 2009, and this number is growing everyday.

We all have a vote, and every single vote counts. Together we can take control of the future of our planet, for future generations.

VOTE EARTH by simply switching off your lights for one hour, and join the world for Earth Hour.

Saturday, March 28, 8:30-9:30pm.

Old Dr. Bronner...and His Magic Soap

Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My dad has used it since I was a kid, and I especially remember its inclusion in our family camping trips (the soap is biodegradable). Even though it's been 10 years since I've lived at home, I continue to make sure that Dr. Bronner is a part of my life.

First off, the soap is magic. It says so on the label. How could you not want magic soap? Second, Dr. Bronner's soaps are all natural, organic, free trade, and live in recycled plastic bottles. Those are 4 reasons to love them right there. They also come in multiple delicious scents. I'm currently using peppermint, and after a shower, I not only smell minty-fresh, but I also feel all tingly and awake. Other scents include rose, citrus, tea tree, and eucalyptus.

Additionally, the soap can be used for just about any cleaning task you could possible imagine, and maybe even some you can't imagine. Seriously, from sudsing up in the shower to laundry to brushing your teeth, the magic soap is purported to have 18 uses. In fact, I have a list of said uses in Dr. Bronner's own overly-excited words:

1. Always dilute for Shave-Shampoo-Massage-Dental Soap-Bath!
2. Peppermint is nature's own unsurpassed fragrant Deodorant!
3. A drop is best Mint Toothpaste; brushes Dentures Clean!
4. A dash in water is the ideal Breath Freshener & Mouth Wash!
5. Peppermint Oil Soap for Dispensers, Uniforms, Baby, Beach!
6. Dilute for ideal After Shave, Body Rub, Foot Bath, Douche.
7. Hot Towel-Massage the entire body, always towards your heart.
8. Pets, silk, wool & body tingles head to toe - keeps cool!
9. 3 dashes in water rinse most Sprays Off fruit & vegetables!
10. 1/4 oz in qt H2O is Pest Spray! Dash, no rash Diaper-Soap!

Another reason to love Dr. Bronner's soap is the fact that he was a complete crazy-train (as the 18-1 list hints), and he decided to share his crazy-train life philosophy (the "Moral ABC," if you will) with the world on the labels of his magic soap. A few choice quotes include: "Each swallow works hard to be perfect pilot-provider-builder-trainer-teacher-lover-mate, no half-true hate! So, each day like a bird, perfect thyself first!" and "100% Vegan! Health is our greatest wealth." The entire label of the soap bottle is plastered with his rantings and prove VERY entertaining reading if you ever get locked in the bathroom.

Finally, the soap is very reasonably priced, especially considering all it's uses. In fact, you can buy it in the gallon size for about $50 dollars, and not only do you save packaging waste, but you may not need to buy soap again for years (remember that you dilute the soap for most uses). Do the math...it's FAR less expensive than the Dove Body Wash you're using now, so what are you waiting for? Bring the crazy doctor into your life!!!

Oh, almost forgot to mention that you can get the magic soap at places like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, as well as Target and some drugstores. It's magic AND easy to find.

Make Your Own Dry Shampoo?

A fellow green blogger recently wrote a post about creating your own dry shampoo that I just have to share. For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, if you have greasy hair but no time to wash it, there are now products out there that you can spritz/spray/squirt on your hair that fight the greasiness without water. Bumble and Bumble has an great but pricey ($35) option, and while B&B doesn't test on animals and they use some natural ingredients, they aren't 100% eco-friendly (yes, those mystery ingredients). Another option is the Fekkai Au Natural Dry Shampoo, which IS all natural but is also pricey ($23). Therefore, Becky at Green Updater wrote a great post about making your own dry shampoo.

Basically, all you need is a little cornmeal or cornstarch and you're good to go. Sprinkle the corn product in your hair, massage it in a bit, brush it out (thoroughly!), and off you go. Sounds crazy, right? But apparently it works. I'll give it a try sometime soon and update this post with how the experiment worked out.

Back Away from the Bottled Water

When was the last time you bought a bottle of water? How much did you pay for it? $1? $2? $5??? Well, did you realize that, by purchasing and carrying around a Klean Kanteen or a Nalgene water bottle, you not only significantly reduce the resources required to quench your thirst (plastic bottle, shipping, etc), but after only a few fill-ups, your reusable bottle has paid for itself! It's a no-brainer. For example, I brought my beat up Klean Kanteen with me to SXSW this weekend. Not only did I fill it up twice in the airport(s) during both days I spent traveling, saving myself about $20 in expensive airport water...but it also went with me to Waterloo Park on Saturday afternoon and kept me and my friends hydrated in between adult sodas. All in all it probably saved me $25 this weekend, which is more than it's original $17 cost.

So, save some money, oil, and energy, and buy yourself a durable reusable bottle...and if you have an emergency and absolutely HAVE to purchase a regular bottle of water, at least save the bottle for a bit of reuse before it reaches the end of it's lifespan and must be recycled. You'd be surprised at how convenient it is to have a few extra bottles around.

YBG Goes to SXSW

Wooohoo! Vacation here I come! I am currently chilling in the Houston Airport, waiting for my connecting flight to Austin, TX, where I'm meeting two of my best friends for South by Southwest. One friend, Elizabeth, is a 3L at UT law school, so I'm going to enjoy the glorious experience of having a "local" as my tour guide for the weekend. Does it get any better than your best friends in a fun city full of awesome music? I'm not sure it does.

SXSW, while a large and crazy multimedia extravaganza, definitely makes an effort to be a greener large and crazy multimedia extravaganza...and despite the fact that cross-country air travel is decidedly NOT environmentally friendly (or cheap), I can feel a little bit better about my weekend's carbon footprint, knowing the steps SXSW is taking to reduce the impact of the week's activities. From paperless planning to promoting films with a green agenda to making lists of sustainable hotels, the event's website has tons of tips and suggestions for greening your festival experience. While it's no burning man, SXSW is taking baby-steps in the right direction.

Additionally, Austin is a very walkable city, so we plan on hoofing it everywhere, saving not only dollars but carbon emissions (and burn off a few calories too). Apparently, there are pedi-cabs too! Just in case we do end up a little fatigued after a long day outside.

I've already done a bit of research on local watering holes, and I think there going to be more than a few local beer options. Local microbrews are something that I will never cease to get excited about each time I travel to a new city.

Finally, if you're trying to find a music festival that won't break your wallett, SXSW is a great one to explore. With ZILLIONS of free events and lots of free music, I'm fairly convinced you can spend the entire weekend eating, drinking, and listening without spending a dime. In fact, we're hitting the Insound's Party the moment I touch down for free music and $2 all-you-can-drink beer. YES, PLEASE!

Free Food/Drink for a Good Cause Alert!

SF YBGers, I have a great event for you! Tomorrow night (yeah, late notice) Greg Mcnamara, the big wave surfer, is going to be at 111 Minna for an event in partnership with Outside Magazine and Surfrider. Check out the details on the flier below.

Just in case you can't read it, the details are this:

5:30-9pm tomorrow - Free Hawai'ian food and beer at 111 Minna
7pm - Mcnamara will speak

Space is limited so sign up fast! Reply to cwaldrup@outsidemag.com if you want to attend. See you there!

A Question for All Those Twitterers Out There

I have recently joined Twitter in an effort to gain friends/contacts in the green blogging community, keep up with friends outside the Bay Area, and most importantly, effortlessly stalk my favorite celebs. Being fairly new to the Twitterverse, I have an etiquette question...some of my green tweeting colleagues send me, um, approximately 92,785 tweets a day. A little on the high side, no? Can I politely suggest that I don't appreciate 12 tweets in 1 minute? Should I just de-friend them and call it a day? How do I deal with the over-aggressive social media spammers?

PS You can follow me at twitter.com/YoungBrokeGreen. I promise I won't spam you.

"Green" Beer

No, no, no...not beer that's colored green (though we all know St. Patty's is right around the corner), but beer that's organic and environmentally friendly. Because work is killing me right now and I don't have time to research my own post (yes, I'm admitting it), I borrowed today's post from Ideal Bite.

IB recommends the following green beer choices:

• Eel River - The IPA or Amber comes highly recommended.
• Wolaver's - This is the best-selling in the US, for good reason - the taste.
• Samuel Smith - the old English fave now has organic brews.
• Stone Mill Pale Ale - nice and light, but not without a bite.
• Wild Hop Lager - a refreshing lager from the makers of Bud.
• Seven Bridges - brew your own with easy-to-use kits ($26-38).
• The Complete Joy of Homebrewing - from pilseners to porters, learn how to brew it all at home ($10).

Having brewed beer with my grad school roommate, I can definitely attest to the fact that it's no only fun, but you can end up with some really delicious (and occasionally not so delicious) brews. Also, the following info tidbits are ALL great reasons to choose organic:

• Convenience. Even the big guys like Anheuser-Busch have started selling their own organic brews.
• Cheers to your health. A 2003 FDA study found about 17% of barley and 32% of wheat products sampled had pesticide residues...ewwwww. We prefer the less than 5% offered by organic beer.
• Smaller microbreweries like Wolaver's have made a commitment to sustainable agriculture. Organic farming reduces topsoil erosion - 1/3 of which has disappeared due to modern farming.
• And the BEST part about organic beer...most organic brews compare in price to regular microbrews (about $8/6-pack). It may not win the price war against that Natty Light you were eying, but it will at least tie the Dogfish Head. And if more of us buy organic, it will drive prices down even more.

Buying LOCAL beer is also vastly preferable, and you win the prize if you're drinking local, organic brewskis. So, tomorrow when you're drinking your green pints, look for "green" green pints and do both the earth and your taste buds a favor.

Looking for a Green Deal?

White Apricot has an entire page devoted to deals at sustainable fashion and beauty websites. Using the coupon codes listed on the website, you can get up to SEVENTY PERCENT off of goods at the affiliate websites. Not a bad deal, I say. The interface at White Apricot is a little bit annoying because you have to scroll down, sorting through lots of capital letters, colors, and bold faced type...but if it means I can get 20% off at Nimli every time I shop there, well, I think it's a no-brainer.

Lesson of the day: being sustainably stylish doesn't cost any more than being unsustainably stylish.

Clean veggies for pennies

Want to know a super cheap way to make sure your fruit and vegetables are dirt and pesticide free? Mix up at batch of 3 parts or water to 1 part of white vinegar in a squirt bottle. Now all you need to do is give your apples a few spritzes in the sink, rinse, and you'll have fruit that just a clean as if you'd used an expensive eco-cleaner. Not a bad way to use that rando vinegar on your pantry, is it?

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Green Light Reflections

Readers, I have a great blog written by a very good friend from college that you all should check out: Green Light Reflections. GLR (we're all about acronyms at here at YBG) documents my buddy's attempts to adopt a greener lifestyle, as well as shares his thoughts, tips, ramblings, and developments relevant to the "green" movement as he sees it. Because my friend is being Bobby Bigtime and is too cool to let his identity out to the e-masses (shhh, I can't blow his cover), I get to be all cryptic about his identity...but let's just say we went to college together, he may or may not have a twin, and he's an all-around awesome, closet eco-geek. Anyway, check out GLR...it's definitely worth a read.

Guilty as Charged...

I put air in my tires this past weekend, and I am very embarrassed to say that they were terribly low. Who knows how many gallons of gas I wasted? I definitely learned my lesson that going multiple months without checking tire pressure is pretty much equivalent to dumping gallons of gas (and many dolla billz) out on the sidewalk. AND what's even worse is that, with all the hype about Obama's "tire pressure" comment, I knew that I needed to check my tires, but still didn't do it. Inexcusable. So YBGers, please don't follow my example and check the air in you tires at LEAST once a month, ok? Promise? Ok.

Drakes Bay Oysters

Yesterday evening, my boyfriend and I finished off a phenomenal weekend hiking and camping in Pt. Reyes National Seashore by stopping by Drakes Bay Oyster Farm for sixty of their finest. Armed with naught but an oyster knife, a dirty t-shirt (our towel), a lemon, and some cocktail sauce, we spend the last hour of daylight cracking those babies open and slurping them down.

Drakes Bay is a pretty amazing place. It's the only sustainable oyster farm in NorCal, using no inputs, chemicals, fertilizers, or feed. Additionally, the water temperature of Drakes Estero is too cold for the non-native oysters to spawn on their own, so they must be seeded by hand, eliminating the risk of unintended invasion. The Farm also employs an off-bottom, Japanese-inspired, “hanging culture” method (like I know what that means, but it sounds good) that is used by less than 5% of U.S. oyster farmers, and results in "uniquely flavored, ultra-clean oysters." I can definitely say that these are some of the very best oysters I've had in my whole life, and we enjoyed these local, sustainable delicacies at wholesale prices right from the source. I mean, when are the last time you ate huge, perfectly delicious oysters for $0.60 a pop? Yeah, that's what I thought.

So, Bay Area readers and tourists, next time you're planning a YBG weekend of camping, hiking, sea kayaking, or whatever up in Marin County, stop by Drakes for an experience not to be missed.

PS I almost forgot to mention that Drakes Bay needs your help! The National Park Service plans to shut down the historic oyster farm in Drakes Estero, but your participation can help protect sustainable shellfish farming in Marin County. Visit www.alsamarin.org and support the campaign to SAVE DRAKES BAY OYSTER FARM by signing up and learning more about this threat.

Meet A New Favorite Website: Green Loop Apparel

I discovered Green Loop today, and I think I'm in love. Green Loop is "a style conscious, eco-retail company, specializing in sustainable apparel and accessories for men and women, grounded in good design." See that everyone! They are style-conscious and grounded in good design! No fuddy-duddy beige hemp bags or recycled patchwork skirts/shirts reminiscent of the trust-afarians lining Haight St in San Fran. No, no, no...Green Loop has really cute clothes and accessories for both men and women from designers like Simple, Grace and Cello, and jack&marjorie. While they don't always fit into the YBG budget (no, I can't afford that $1000 Vegan Queen hobo bag...but I can wish), their sale section has tons and tons of great stuff on it, like this great men's Loomstate jacket that's %50 off. Also, if you sign up for their e-newsletter, you get a coupon for %15 off your first purchase...only $850 to go on the hobo bag...

Seafood Watch 2009

Speaking of sustainable fish, I think it's important my readers know that every year Monterey Bay Aquarium puts out a free pocket guide called Seafood Watch that is "designed to raise consumer awareness about the importance of buying seafood from sustainable sources. We recommend which seafood to buy or avoid, helping consumers to become advocates for environmentally friendly seafood." The little guide easily fits in your wallet and/or purse, and if your budging wallet (full of $1 billz and change, I'm sure) can't handle anything else or you don't have the patience to wait for them to arrive in the mail, there's a new iPhone application (free, obvs) available. The Aquarium also puts out a sushi guide, which follows that same principles as the regular Seafood Watch but also lists the fish with their Japanese names.

Initially, you might feel a little "high maintenance" pulling out your SW card at a restaurant and asking the waiter, "'Scuse me, where is your yellowfin from? Oh the Atlantic? And it was pole caught? Oh then I would definitely like the seared ahi this evening?" But honestly, it's a great conversation starter, and your dinner companions will be impressed by the confidence you showed in making a sustainable decision. Doooo iiiiiit.

The REAL Cost of Farmed Salmon

It's Tuesday morning and you're mentally making your shopping list for a spin by the grocery store on the way home from work. Butter, pizza dough, toilet paper, and salmon...because you've been told that salmon is a sustainable fishery. This afternoon when you get to the store, you'll see "Fresh Farmed Atlantic Salmon $7.99" and "Frozen Wild Alaskan Salmon $10.99." So, as a YBG, you'll choose the cheaper farmed fish and be on your merry way, right? WRONG!

On the surface, it seems that farmed salmon are cheaper than wild, but when you look at the real cost of the farmed fish, it's actually much higher than the wild variety. But...I see...$3, you stutter. Well, wild salmon eat fish, but at the farms they are fed pellets of fish meal, fish oil, and added food coloring to make their flesh artificially pink. The fish meal food is made up of wild fish, and it takes 8 tons of wild fish to make up 1 ton of fish oil for their feed. Not very efficient, is it?

Also, crowded farm fish are fed antibiotics to ward off infection. In fact, farmed salmon have more antibiotics administered by weight than any other form of livestock.

Finally, Atlantic salmon are being farmed in the Pacific, and they regularly escape from their nets. Because Atlantic salmon are not native to the Pacific Ocean, when they breed with Pacific salmon, their offspring are rendered infertile further depressing wild salmon populations.

So, next time you're at the store, contemplating that $3 you could save...think again and make the right decision for yourself, salmon, and our oceans (you can put back that pint of B&J's instead, right?).

PS It is important you know that fresh wild salmon is available in the winter only. If you are eating wild salmon any other time and you bought it fresh, it had to have been previously frozen or it is not wild salmon.

A Tip for Those With LCD Computer Screens (i.e. most of us)

Well, while Blackle is all fine and good for those people who still use CRT monitors (i.e. the giant, bulbous, old-school ones), it turns out that Blackle only results in significant energy savings if your monitor is stuck in the 1990s. Most people these days have LCD screens...think laptops and flatscreens. Therefore, the best and easiest way to save a few watts on your laptops is...drumroll please...turn down your monitor's brightness! Pretty obvious, right? But, I know from experience that even smart people don't think of that simple tip. Another added bonus to reducing your screens wattage is longer battery life, so you'll be thanking me for multiple reasons next time your trying to watch Wedding Crashers, crammed into an Amtrak Coach seat on your way to NYC from DC.

Getting a Good Night's Sleep

Like I Tweeted last night, I have an hand-me-down hand-me-down mattress that was originally owned by my aunt circa 1956. Needless to say, it sucks. It is currently make somewhat bearable by the pillow top that I randomly inherited from my best friend's ex-boyfriend after college...but even with a few pillowly inches of synthetic cotton, I need a "ticket to a better night's sleep."

There are two green options for a nice but affordable mattress (cause a decent bed is expensive! and mattresses are resource intensive). Either you can look on Craigslist, or the like, for a lightly (and hopefully cleanly...ew) used mattress, thus avoiding both the consumption of resources and paying full price. Alternately, you can get a new, green mattress from Keesta without breaking the bank. According to the company, "Keetsa is committed to presenting a line of sleep products that has a minimum impact on your pocketbook and on the environment." They also get GREAT reviews on Yelp. Using organic and recycled materials, Keesta mattresses start as low as $439. Heck, and if you can get a nicely used Keesta mattress...well, then you're really in business.

I know where I'm headed this weekend.

Lightweights rule!

Last night, after getting unacceptably tipsy off of two glasses of local pinot noir (please note that I hadn't eaten dinner yet), I realized that, if reducing our consumption is the key to living a green lifestyle, then lightweight drinkers have a distinctive head start. Let's think about this...alcohol is a decidedly wasteful way to use crops, requiring lots of resources/pesticides for result that is low in nutritional value. However, it is a staple of many world cultures, and therefore, we're not going to give it up anytime soon. This means that the next best way to reduce our booze consumption while maintaining our social acceptability is by simply drinking less. And that's where lightweights win because we just can't function past a drink or three. If I can reach the same state of fuzziness with two drinks that my brother requires an entire case of Fatweisers to acquire, then, well, I'll let you do the consumption math.

This is obviously the argument I'll use at my 5th college reunion in June when being coerced into my 9th game of quarters for the evening. Right? Right.

Being Used

Who here knows about half.com and/or the used book option of amazon.com? Did you know that you can get books for half price while using none of the natural resources?! While borrowing from the library (or a friend) is obviously the greenest choice for readers, everyone has books that they have to own for one reason or another. For instance, I bought a used copy of "The Writer's Market 2009" last night because I didn't think the library would appreciate me writing/highlighting all over their copy, and I knew I'd need the book for more than a few weeks. Therefore, I searched Amazon and found a used copy of the book for 25% off. Who doesn't like a deal, and we can feel great about saving trees, water, and oil.

Putting My Codes Where My Keystrokes Are

In honor of my last post, I redesigned YBG to use less energy while you read it (i.e. changed my white background to dark green). Hope you like the redecorating!

Blackle

Ready for something super easy and free to do that will save energy? Meet Blackle, a Google search page that is black and therefore uses far less energy. According to ecoIron (a green IT firm), an all white web page uses about 74 watts to display, while an all black page uses only 59 watts. ecoIron then did a little match to see what kind of savings we'd accrue by using Blackle vs regular old Google:

Google gets about 200+ million queries a day. Assuming each query is displayed for about 10 seconds, Google is running for approximately 550,000 hours every day all over the world. Assuming that each user runs Google in full screen mode, the shift to a black background (on a CRT monitor...aka not a flatscreen) will save a total of 15 watts per view per person. That turns into a global savings of 8.3 megawatt-hours per day (8,300,000 watts/day), or about 3000 megawatt-hours per year. Now, taking into account that about 25 percent of the monitors in the world are CRTs, at $0.10 a kilowatt-hour, that's $75,000 per year, not too shabby for changing a few color codes on a single website.

Another NYT Article: About Urine (and #2)

If you haven't figured it out yet, I love the New York Times.  While perusing it this morning, I happened upon another article that I just HAD to share.  This amazingly interesting article talks about a way to solve the following problems:  human waste, fertilizer production, water consumption, and even energy creation/use.  As I read it, I kept thinking "wow, this is brilliant...and WHY has no one implemented this before?"  Well, I guess there are good reasons why, and those reasons will keep this technology away from the US for a while to come...but it's definitely worth a read.

How much water does pasta really need?

An article in the New York Times today talks about cooking pasta in less water, thus saving both water and energy...

"After some experiments, I’ve found that we can indeed make pasta in just a few cups of water and save a good deal of energy. Not that much in your kitchen or mine — just the amount needed to keep a burner on high for a few more minutes. But Americans cook something like a billion pounds of pasta a year, so those minutes could add up."

Grief for Being Green

Does anyone else out there get a lot of grief from some of their friends or even strangers because they try to live a sustainable lifestyle? When I tell people I'm a biologist, it is often assumed that I am some crazy-liberal greenie, who is going to stand on my soapbox filled with compost and preach to the world about humanity's evil ways, while green lasers shoot from my eyes, zapping all those who walk by carrying a disposable cup. Or, alternately, I spend all my time in the woods hugging trees and crying over their destruction, while making hemp potholders and waiting for my hair to start dreading.

Well peeps, I hate to break it to you, but the vast majority of us environmentalists are most definitely not either of those people. Sure we have our views, but we don't (usually) judge people because we think differently about the environment. We know we're right, and we'll just wait patiently for you to come around :)
For example, I received the above e-card (which is admittedly pretty funny) from a friend who adores razzing me for being an environmentalist and thinks it's hysterical to mock my "hippie ways" (somehow he misses the fact that I am far more preppie than hippie). And you know what? I laugh right along with him. On day, when green is mainstream, I hope he'll say "You know what, Dale? You were right all along." And I'll just laugh and say "I know."

No car = no car payment

There has been a lot of speculation on whether the economic downturn would help or hurt the green revolution. Though this article about stocks of unsold cars piling up around the world doesn't even mention the environment, I can't help but think about the carbon footprint of the production of all the vehicles sitting in those lots...it's seems so wasteful and unfortunate. Maybe as the demand for cars continues to drop, we can make changes during the downturn to ensure that the demand remains depressed (bad for the economy in the short run but better in the long run for both the economy and the environment)...like buying used cars, carpooling more, vowing to take public transit, sharing a single car between your roommates/family, using a car sharing program, etc.

I know not having a car seems like a huge change, but think about ALL the money you'll save on car payments, insurance, gas, and repairs, while also taking a huge step towards living more sustainably. We're talking about thousands of dollars per year and thousands of lbs of carbon dioxide...not having a car (or sharing a car) is most definitely a way to be young, not-as-broke, and green.

Follow up to "Plastic Kills"

In case you aren't all reading the (5) fabulous comments left by my millions (and by millions I mean a few hundred) readers, I wanted to share a link from my friend, Kevin. Apparently, the next generation's high school science projects are going to deliver us from our evil consumption. Click here to read about 16-year-old Daniel Burd's science project. I'm very, very impressed.

Plastic Kills

A couple of weeks ago, my friend, Lotti, sent a great email out to her friends and family, and I was a lucky recipient.  It was such a great, heartfelt email that I want to share it with everyone else out there in the e-world:

"Dear Friends and Family,

The other day I was browsing the web for some plastics pollution information for a project I'm working on for the SF chapter of Surfrider Foundation (here is their website if you want to check it out: http://www.surfrider.org/).

Then I came across this article and it really shocked me. (http://killedbyplastic.blogspot.com/2008/01/greenpeace-article.html) Its called Killed By Plastic and was written on Jan. 3rd, '09 by Green Peace. It pretty much sums up exactly why I am such a recycle Nazi. Everyone is human and can't be a super recycler, but it is so important to try to do the little that we can. Just wanted to pass on some info so we can all understand why we should recycle (and compost).

For most of you, I am preaching to the choir, but I find it important to remind ourselves of why we take responsilibty of our actions, and our trash. Since it does not only affect us but so many other animals on Earth. Happy recycling and have a great weekend!

Cheers,
Lotti

P.S. There is a graphic photo of a dead bird in the front, so if you're a little queezy with dead things, maybe you should keep a trashcan near by, or make sure you're near a bathroom..."

Lotti is very right...every little bit counts.  So the next time you finish up your bottle of water (which you know you shouldn't be drinking anyway, right?), don't be lazy and toss it into the nearest trash can.  Stick it in your pocket or purse until you find a recycle bin.  It's worth it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Being on a Umbra kick, I thought I'd pass these tidbits onto my own readers. This is simply a little list of everyday things you can do to reduce your footprint...

Should I use paper or plastic bags at the grocery store?

Neither one is better. Best choice: bring your own cloth bag.

Should I dry my hands with paper towels or the electric blow dryer?

Use the dryer if you can't drip dry (I like to use the bottom of my jeans. Who cares if your pant leg is a tad damp?).

Should I wash my dishes by hand or use the dishwasher?
If you and your dishwasher are efficient, avoid the sink (and use biodegradable soap!).

Is it better to leave [lights, cars, computers] on when I'm not using them, or turn them off and restart them?

Restart! Whether you're driving, defeating darkness, or doing work, it takes more energy to keep your power-suckers running than it does to turn them off and on.

My old [car, refrigerator, washing machine] isn't energy efficient. Is it worse to keep using it, or to toss it and buy a new one?

In general, it's better to upgrade (whether washing machine, fridge, dishwasher, or car) -- but make sure your old machine is reused or recycled if possible (and PLEASE don't do anything like this).

Is it better to buy organic food from far away, or non-organic food grown locally?

Ideally, buy food that is both organic and local -- but if you have to choose, local is the way to go (farmers' markets rock).

I want to follow your recommendation and buy compact fluorescent lightbulbs, but I've discovered they contain mercury. What should I do?

Buy them anyway -- the small amount of mercury (less than in a watch battery) can be handled by a hazardous-waste facility. Just be sure to dispose of the used bulbs correctly.

Which plastics are OK?
We don't like plastic, in general. But just make sure you avoid polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics.

Which is better: Diesel? Biodiesel? Straight vegetable oil? Hybrid?

They're all bad. Stop driving! But while you work toward that goal, here are thoughts on some of your quandaries: diesel vs. regular gasoline; converting to biodiesel; converting to veggie oil; biodiesel vs. veggie oil; and hybrids vs. veggie oil.

What's the one thing I can do to help the environment?
There's no one answer, but try to limit your consumption and keep the big picture in mind.