sustainable ideas
Al Gore hasn't forgotten. On 7.7.07 in all 7 continents of the world, there's going to be a 24 hour concert to raise awareness of our climate crisis and to kick off a campaign to address it. The campaign is called Save OurSelves. They announced it at a press conference held in LA last week. It's a huge event and I'm sure you'll hear more about it in the months to come. I love that they're using the SOS (•••---•••) as their mark. It's a global crisis. Save yourself.
P.S. If you still haven't seen An Inconvenient Truth, what are you waiting for?
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All plastics are NOT made equal. In fact, only a handful of the many types are actually recyclable. The triangle (with a number in it) on the bottom of plastic containers indicates the type. I was told that only numbers 1, 2, and 3 use less energy to recycle than to make a new one from scratch. That was a sad fact to me when I heard it, and now having read this very understandable breakdown on the matter, it looks like even our 3 precious recyclable types aren't all that great for recycling. The lesson: When possible, avoid using plastic, and when that's not an option, use #1, 2, or 3 only.
It always seems like Denmark is 20 steps ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to sustainability. According to my totally reliable source (of which I became familiar only today), Denmark is planning to build a fully hydrogen powered city. Looks pretty interesting from the pics, but the buildings could be in a bit more visual harmony with the surroundings for my money.
Design Tex is "a leader in sustainable materials and the industry's largest source of sustainable research and data." If you're in the market for some carpet, wall covering, uphostery and/or other home oriented materials, this might be a good place to start.
Sometimes it's important to see what you're protecting. Also, check out some of the other photos from this person. Great stuff.
Water is necessary for life. We use it to digest food, lubricate joints, regulate body temperatures, transport nutrients, food production, power generation, transportation, recreation, heating, cooling, fire fighting, cooking, bathing , and on and on. In short, it's important. And I haven't even mentiond that storing, collecting and converting water for drinking costs money and natural resources. Thus, the more water we use, the high your water bill is and the warmer the globe becomes from the burning of fuels.
What can you do to conserve water, you ask. Try turning the water off when you're brushing you teeth for starters. If you want more easy ways to save water, check out savingwater.org.
FYI, you get a 5¢ discount on your purchase at Wild Oats if you decline a bag at checkout. If that isn't a reason enough to carry a reusable grocery bag, then I just don't know what is.
And don't think you're off the hook just because you choose "paper" over plastic. Contrary to popular belief, according to reusablebags.com neither is really better than the other. In general, decline bags wherever you can...clothes shopping, grocery shopping, bag shopping, etc...
The Future of Food. Check it out, and then buy organic for the rest of your life.
I have to confess that I work at Yahoo! and therefore I may be biased. However, they consistently put up great Earth Day sites, and the 2006 site is the best yet. Make sure to take the quiz and find out how green you're habits are on a daily basis. And then, make some small adjustment in your life. Theyadd up. Yahoo! suggests this for example: Use the double-sided feature whenever you copy or print.
If you've not seen An Inconvenient Truth, go see it.
I've been told (and believe) that clothes dryers suck up a ton of energy heating up air and it's especially bad if the dryer isn't an "Energy Star" model (our building's isn't). Becasue of this, we've decided to rack dry our clothes. All you need is a little space (preferably in the sun) and a rack. We found ours at Ikea for $16.
Method is an evolution "of the household cleaner from a toxic object that hid under the sink to an all-natural, biodegradable, and stylish counter-top accessory." We found our Method products at Target.
Cork
I just had pergo floors installed in my apartment. Since I rent, the choice of materials was out of my hands. I like the look of wood, but had it been my decision I would have chose cork. It's "nature's most perfect gift", but not just because it also happens to be easy on the eyes. The most interesting reason to me is the sustainablity of it. "Cork is the bark of the cork oak tree (Querus Suber) which grows in the western Mediterranean...The first stripping [of bark] takes place when the tree is 25 years old, thereafter, stripping is repeated every nine years. At no time during the life or the tree is more that 50% of the bark removed. Harvesting of cork is not harmful to the tree. During the cork manufacturing process, all material is either used for a finished product, or used to generate energy used in the fabricating process. Very little, if any material is wasted. This makes cork one of the most environmentally sensitive products available." If you're getting new floors, consider cork.