A few neat things and a request

A quick round-up of some eco-related happenings on the web:

• Low Impact Living’s blog has a great list for the person who thinks they’ve read every tip out there on going green. (Although, why would that person be reading my blog? Hm.) The comments below the list are equally good, and at least one of the tips I truly never had heard before. Another helpful, if not new, list of ways to green your lifestyle is available thanks to The Nest.
• A new magazine for women going green is launching soon; you can preview Positively Green here, and subscribe if you like. Either way, it’s a free digital magazine this month, and it’s glossier in appearance than in content, covering a bit of everything with class. For something a bit marketing-powered but worth a look nonetheless, try the newly reborn Organic Style, also in free digital format right now.
• Some happy news: looks like the SUV market is finally taking a significant downturn (Ecollo.)

The request: if you see any certified organic tea available in chain supermarkets, please let me know. Loose or bagged, it doesn’t matter; I am curious to see if organic tea is a product available to the masses, as food for which you pay shipping is not financially sustainable for many.

Driving Saner

It’s time to face facts, friends. By all accounts, gas prices aren’t going away. While you can chase the best prices near you with GasBuddy.com, the more time-efficient solution to saving money at the pump is watching your aggressive driving. You may immediately say, as many people do, that you are an above-average driver who doesn’t speed or tailgate or commit any other bad road behavior. But if you really think about it, when was the last time you drove with a little chip on your shoulder? Today? Don’t worry; you’re not alone. With all the other aggressive drivers surrounding you on the roads, it can be hard not to blend in with the crowd in the name of self-defense.

Think with me now, however, of the benefits of conscious driving. Hopefully you are already aware and alert behind the wheel; I am talking about a reflective driving style that pays off in dollars and sense. Fueleconomy.gov and ConsumerReports.org both offer excellent online resource centers about increasing gas mileage, and besides keeping your car’s maintanance current, I think the most important takeaway messages are these: drive slower, and idle as little as possible.

Most people know that driving over 55 mph decreases your overall gas mileage, but the rate of acceleration is also a large factor. Hasty acceleration and braking simply use up more gas, which means lost fuel efficiency. Examine your own habits and you’ll probably laugh: how many times do you rev up the engine when you know you’re going from one red light to the next? And do you really need to go 70 up that hill? Allowing yourself to take it slow(er) will benefit your bank account and your peace of mind: by dropping out of the literal race on the roads, you are buying yourself some (relatively more) tranquil moments.

Idling is a more little-known gas waster, but it’s a serious problem, both environmentally and practically. Consider these startling facts from IdealBite: “An idling car creates twice the emissions of a car in motion.” “Idling 15 minutes per weekday can cost you up to $100 in wasted gas over the course of a year.” And, “American drivers use more than 2 bil gal of fuel each year while idling.” (Read the rest here.) The facts speak for themselves: turn off your car if you’re going to be stopped for a few minutes. I’ve even turned off my car at a really long light. Restarting your car is not bad for your engine (as some have thought), and unlike idling, it doesn’t waste some resources (oil) while damaging others (air and water).

I hope driving more mindfully brings greater peace into your commute and trips both near and far.

Fun With Next to Nothing

This is the first of probably many shout-outs to my parents. Growing up, I would declare boredom in waiting rooms, restaurants, backseats, and many other places. My parents would immediately come up with a game, or my father would create a flower or toy out of the McDonald’s napkins. When I smiled in relief, my father would often exclaim, “See? Fun with next to nothing!”

This was only one of the ways my parents taught me the benefits of frugality by example. Now, there are the extremely frugal–those who write books on living off the grid and such–who can be commended for living lightly on the earth. But practical frugality doesn’t require you to give up the investment possessions that may contribute to your happiness, whether to you that means a house or a T.V. or a chic trenchcoat or a new Jeep. What it does do is teach you to be happier with what you have–whatever that is. It also inspires creativity, and that’s something the world needs more than ever.

Yes, frugality can be fun, and it usually is, if you’re doing it right. Although I complain when I know I should live without the gourmet chocolates, most of the time it is enjoyable to see how little money we can spend on food and other goods. Everyone loves a bargain, and hunting for one is certainly a staple of frugal living. Here are few other ways to live more lightly on the earth and on your wallet:

• Invent a solution. Sometimes I’ve wanted things without wanting to pay the price. So, I’ve made my own flower press out of cardboard and rubber bands (which I still use today); I’ve made greeting cards out of pieces of other cards and leftover craft materials. In college, a friend made me a shelf for my coffee and filters out of cardboard, thumb tacks, and string. And a certain man I know made a camera bag out of an old sock. A good resource for making something out of nothing is The Complete Tightwad Gazette.
  
• Try less . . . and I don’t mean stop attempting things. Try to use less of any product you routinely use, and keep using less until you notice a difference. Chances are, you will be surprised how long it takes you to notice a different result, but you will notice the difference in how often you buy the product. Great things to try this with are shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, dishwashing liquid, laundry detergent . . . you get the idea. A related tip is to cut the remainder of a product with water to make it last longer. This works especially well with liquid hand soaps. Can you believe they are selling foam hand soap when you can make it yourself?
• Wash clothes in cold water. You will seldom have a time when you need to wash clothes in even luke-warm water. Cold water washes and rinses as well as warm or hot for all but the most obstinate stains.
• Play a game. Even though I have been wanting to get a coffee from the locally famous Queen City Creamery cafe, I keep telling myself, “wait some more.” It’s become a sort of competition with myself, and it adds an element of fun and accomplishment to frugality. The self-control game is not the only variation; try making dinner from what’s in your house right now. Many people don’t realize how much food is in those assorted cans, and this is another way to strengthen your creative (and culinary) powers.
• Find fun for free. Open your favorite search engine and type in “free activities in [city or place of choice].” There is an amazing wealth of parks, museums, and other attractions in most cities.
• Enact a moratorium. Yet another variation of the “play a game” tip above, this entails not buying any new books until you read what you have, or not buying new clothes until you’ve tried on and refined your existing wardrobe (stylists call this “shopping your closet,” and it’s all the rage right now). You can let yourself work around the moratorium, of course; for books, try getting library card. For clothes, try online clothing swap sites. For both books and clothes, try exchanging with friends.

More ideas will follow, but they deserve their own posts. Please share your own ideas in the comments.

Money Strategies for Uncertain Times

Today I’m starting a series of posts called Money Strategies for Uncertain Times. Some might not see the connection between saving money for oneself and benefiting the planet, but what I strive to do on this blog is connect simple and green living concepts as much as possible. I believe that someone is most likely to begin a nature-friendly habit that is also simplifying to their lives, and many times, this results in saved money. That is where frugality comes in. I interchange the terms simple and frugal for the purposes of being broad in describing this blog’s theme, and although they are not always the same thing, the places in which they coincide are the interesting places I want to highlight here.

In that spirit, this series will explore ways to save money and environmental cost at a time in which oil prices are obviously not likely to return to more reasonable levels any time soon, and in which the economy is experiencing some middle-aged ailments. We have come through the boom times of post-World War II productivity and the technology start-up era, and now the growth chart seems to be leveling out. Sadly, the rich truly are getting richer while the poor cope with an even greater gap between what they get paid and what it costs to live.

While my job, and my husband’s, are not threatened by layoffs and other volatilities, we are feeling the crunch along with everybody else. It will be a joy to share some of the positive ways we are dealing with limited funds–ways both practical and philosophical. It is my hope that this will be a time for us and all of America to learn how living within shortened means is better for the environment–and for our state of mind–than we ever expected.

A few more Earth Day goodies

I hope everyone’s having a peaceful Earth Day. It can be easy to focus on things like climate warming and endangered species on this day, and those things should be addressed pronto. But I believe that the success of Earth Day, even among those who hardly do anything environmentally-friendly the rest of the year, is a result of the positive message and the community spirit it has spread throughout the nation. So, in that light, here are a few more resources to ponder, today or any day:

• Oprah’s Earth Day Event. Oprah has been on a green and frugal kick lately, helping me with this blog. Well, she didn’t intend to, but she did. Today’s show featured Al Gore and movie stars discussing everything from composting to Gore’s newly solar home.
• Glamour’s Eco Guide. Some roll their eyes at my Glamour magazine habit, but in amongst the beauty tips and silly celebrity pages, there are stories each month about women making a difference and causes anyone can support. Here’s the page where a recent issue’s going green how-to extravaganza has made its home.
• NPR’s All Things Considered did a story on green building today, and as usual, the page is chock full of interactive features and guides for those inspired to try it themselves.
• The New York Times has an Earth Day super-issue, and it’s worth it for things like this: “Bill Nye, the television host and science educator, lives in a retrofitted, eco-friendly, 1,300-square-foot, 1939 stucco home in Los Angeles.”

I could keep going, but there is enough wonderful information in the links above to keep you busy for quite some time. Happy Earth Day!

Earth Day 2008

What would I be if I didn’t mention tomorrow, a day that has inspired Americans to environmental acts of good will since 1970? Earth Day is always held on April 22, but somehow it sneaks up on one between Easter and Memorial Day weekend. At least, it sneaks up on me. So even if it’s too late for me to do something extravagant, you might be able to. I encourage you to visit the professionals: Earth Day Network, the self-appointed Masters of Ceremonies, if you will, for the holiday. On their website, you can search for local activities, get directions to said activities, and post an activity (there’s still time!). Even if you can’t make it outside, you can sign petitions, register to vote, listen to celebrity pitches for the fight against climate change, read about the environmental impacts of plastic bags, find our your ecological footprint, watch Earth Day TV, and (gasp) even more green things than you can shake a solar-powered cell phone charger at. So try it. And when you’re done, visit ohranger.com, where you can get detailed info and fun activities about all the national parks, so you can start planning your nature-loving vacation. You could even win one.

Green Cleaning Update

Thanks to all who commented about yesterday’s post on earth-friendly cleaning products. I wanted to add that Martin’s (the southern chain for Giant Food Stores) now carries both Seventh Generation and GreenWorks brand cleaning products. I compared the prices today and was happily surprised to find that the Seventh Generation’s 25-oz., vegetable-based dish detergent was running a bit cheaper than the 22-oz., petroleum-based Dawn detergent. This may not always be the case, as the Generation products were placed, along with GreenWorks’, in a special promotional spot for Earth Day, but I think it sends a positive message about the efforts of a chain supermarket to make green products more affordable (and therefore more attractive) to the masses.

Many people probably don’t realize how many things are derived, even in part, from the same oil we use to heat our homes and drive our cars. I certainly didn’t know that my dishwashing liquid–the Dawn of my youth–was made from crude. My (25% post-consumer recycled plastic) bottle of Generation dish detergent adds this: “You are making a difference. If every household in the U.S replaced just one bottle of 25 oz. petroleum-based dishwashing liquid with our 25 oz. vegetable-based product, we could save 81,000 barrels of oil, enough to heat and cool 4,600 U.S. homes for a year!“

One final word about petroleum-based dish detergents: many contain the antibacterial agent triclosan, which is now notorious for its suspected contribution to the development of the antibiotic-resistant superbug, MRSA. The Seventh Generation detergent I picked up did not have triclosan. Furthermore, in a recent study, regular soap and water killed bacteria and cleaned hands just as well as the antibacterial soaps, anyway. It would behoove us all to begin the move away from our obsessive reliance on antibacterial everything. And if that move also helps improve our indoor and outdoor environmental health, all the more reason to follow Martin’s (and Target’s, and Wal-Mart’s, and many other stores’) lead. Even if you aren’t ready to give up the traditional dishwashing soaps, you can at least check the label for triclosan or for the word “antibacterial.”

So, I put my money where my mouth was yesterday and also bought some Seventh Generation toilet bowl cleaner. I’m already finding that one great thing about blogging on this topic is that the need to live what you preach is a great motivator.

Beauty and Peace of Mind

Simplicity often comes from having less to worry about. I’ve bought skin and beauty products with a nagging fear about their ingredients. Now, I don’t have to push it all to the back of my mind for lack of guidance. Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Database allows you to search for either a specific product or an entire product line, and each product in the database is rated based upon current research on the safety of its ingredients. The site isn’t perfect, and some may question the reliability of the ratings, but overall the information is invaluable for gaining confidence in your purchases. Until the U.S. joins the E.U. in more closely regulating cosmetic ingredients, Skin Deep is a helpful tool. It’s even somewhat green, as certain ingredients can’t be all that beneficial for the environment, either. Avoiding such things is, in my mind, a good idea all around.

Spring cleaning that’s really clean.

I admit it: I use the nasty cleaners, the kind with bleach and other things that end up polluting streams around the country. That’s mostly because our household needed cleaning supplies quickly when we started out last year, and we aren’t exactly in the position to be buying fancy earth-friendly cleaners online. More and more, however, eco-cleaning products are appearing in the abundant chain stores; even Wal-Mart is carrying a green(er) cleaning line. Recently, the wonderful folks at Ideal Bite showcased the variety of environmentally and health-friendly cleaners that are also remarkably affordable. You can see the tip here; note that it includes a link to ideas for those old stand-by cleaners made from household ingredients like baking soda and vinegar. Hopefully I will come to the day when I never use bleach voluntarily again. It still scares me to think of my days cleaning floors as a waitress, as I’m rather certain that the two cleaning powders we were ordered to mix together contained ammonia and bleach, respectively.

But what to do with the remainder of my conventional cleaners? Some argue that in the interest of respiratory health (indoor pollution is frequently shown in studies to be at a more dangerous level than outdoor), I should throw them away now. But when one takes into account the overall health of the planet, it seems selfish to dump the noxious stuff down the drain or to throw it into a landfill, where it will most certainly end up in groundwater and soil. For now, I’ll still clean the toilet with the door open and my breathing shallow.

Food For Thought: Pavement

Pavement, asphalt, cement–all of these qualify as impervious surfaces. Environmental scientists talk about them a lot, especially when trying to find ways to reduce pollution from runoff in urban, suburban, and (increasingly) rural areas. The chief problem with impervious surfaces, you see, is their absolute inability to absorb water from both the spring shower and the torrential thunderstorm. Hence, the name impervious–the surfaces are not permeable to liquids.

The design was loved, in its infancy, for exactly this quality; unlike dirt roads, pavement did not turn into a shape-shifting, liquid mire feared by all motorists. These days, however, as runoff from so many roads, parking lots, suburbs, and industrial parks is affecting nearly every inhabited watershed in the country with disturbed water quality and increased flooding, concerned citizens are looking for a better hard surface. There are now permeable pavement materials, but these are not yet stable enough to be considered for heavy traffic surfaces like highways, and are mostly used on parking lots. They are nevertheless a great start, allowing rainfall and snow-melt to trickle into the lower layers of surfacing and even to the ground, mimicking the natural ability of soil to return water to the groundwater system so crucial for humans and ecosystems alike.

This little lesson is all to say that you might do yourself and all other living things a favor if you try to reduce the amount of pavement in your own little corner of the world. This pertains mostly to those ready to build or modify their home, who can make choices about the amount of impervious surface associated with it. Permeable pavements are certainly a worthy option, but might be cost-prohibitive for some. Other options include brick and flagstone paving with spaces between stones to filter runoff through sand and gravel. The next, admittedly logical thought goes to grass, but to step up the green quotient, consider natural landscaping options like native plants. That is a subject with much to mine–for another day.

For now, consider that the ground has been controlling rain flows for as long as it has been around, which is longer than even cement. So, before you coat your lawn in black-top to make room for your RV, consider whether it’s really necessary. Besides, it reflects solar heat so well, you may have more global warming in your own back yard than you bargained for.

P.S.  For the scientifically minded and curious, here are some effects of impervious surface on aquatic organisms and stream health, from Maryland Department of Planning:

>2% impervious surface: brook trout and other pollution-intolerant species disappear;
>10% impervious surface: fish habitat is degraded with loss of fisheries and crab production;
>15% impervious surface: biotic integrity ranges from fair to poor;
>25% impervious surface: restoration is difficult, and only hardy species are present.