By: Jenilee Rivera
It’s Summer Vacation time, which gets me in the mood to plan a trip. Home or abroad, I’m still the same person who can’t bring herself to toss a pop can. Why should I leave my green ways behind me just because I’m traveling? Green vacationing means choosing activities that have less impact on the planet: staying closer to home, driving instead of flying, or choosing lodgings that use sustainable practices. You might already be taking green vacations!
Close to Home
By enjoying time off in your own stomping grounds, you can save money and resources by not consuming extra fossil fuels through extended travel. You’ll find that staying close to home helps your family relax and connect without the distractions of a big trip.
Explore fun destinations in and around your own neighborhood. Try a new restaurant. Visit the city zoo or a museum. My family plans bicycle excursions into town for lunch, then heads off to the library or the park. On warm nights, pitch a tent in the backyard, stay up late and stargaze.
Take nature hikes in your own backyard and make a list of what you find there. My family’s been working to make our yard a habitat – a place that supports wild creatures, especially beneficial insects. The National Wildlife Federation’s Backyard Habitat program suggests ways to make your property creature-friendly. To find out more about National Wildlife Federation’s Backyard Habitats, visit http://www.nwf.org.
For more ideas on how to plan an eco-friendly day trip, check out:http://www.greeniacs.com/GreeniacsGuides/Take-an-Eco-Day-Trip.html.
Hitting the Road
Sometimes getting out of town is a life-saver! You can lessen your travel impact by following some simple guidelines.
1. Flying uses twice as much fuel as driving, so try to enjoy destinations close enough to drive to, and drive your car with fuel economy in mind, keeping it tuned up for maximum efficiency. Avoid jack-rabbit starts, excessive idling, and driving over the speed limit. More fuel efficiency equals less carbon emissions – true whether you’re on vacation or not.
2. Save more fuel by walking and using public transportation. If you vacation in a city, see your surroundings through the eyes of the people who live there. My family has strolled through Boston’s North End, looking for the best cannoli, and we have negotiated subways in Washington, D.C. and Chicago. For more ideas on how to plan an eco-friendly vacation, check out: http://www.greeniacs.com/GreeniacsGuides/Take-an-Eco-Vacation.html.
Green Lodging
Try low-impact activities such as camping if you’re spending the night. I grew up camping in Indiana state parks and have wonderful memories of stories and s’mores around the campfire, hiking, swimming, and finding my way to the campground restroom in the middle of the night. Local state park inns are also great places to stay if camping is just not your thing.
More hotels are going green. Even if your hotel isn’t considered “green lodging,” you can still conserve resources. My family reuses towels and skips daily housekeeping services. I bring an extra sack to stash recyclables in until we can dispose of them. Instead of eating out for every meal, we bring along our own snacks and carry our own water bottles. If we get a chance, we try to patronize local eateries, not just chains – it’s more interesting and it boosts the local economy.
My family vacations provide a time to connect with each other and enjoy the diversity of our beautiful planet. Knowing that we are lessening our environmental impact is just icing on the cake!
Resources
For more information on green hotels or trips, visit www.sustainabletravel.com orwww.greenhotels.com.
Monday
Going Green on Your Phone?
By: Terry Shannon
Did you know there are almost 100,000 “green” smart phone apps? There are, and that number is going to continue growing every day as more and more developers enter the “green” arena. But which ones are the best? According to greenparenthood.com, there are seven apps worth your consideration.
Locavore makes it easy to find and prepare seasonal, locally-grown food. Based on your GPS location, Locavore will let you know what produce is in-season, suggest nearby farmer’s markets and farms where you can purchase it, and even give you recipe ideas.
Good Guide is a database of over 120,000 household, personal care, and food items. Simply scan a product’s barcode with your phone and you’ll be provided with detailed info and user ratings. Good Guide can also recommend products based on the eco-living issues that are most important to you.
iRecycle allows you to search recycling locations for nearly 300 materials based on your current location or a given address. Input what you’re seeking to recycle, and iRecycle will give you the name, address, phone number, and operating hours of the closest place to do so.
Mailstop Mobile: If you’re not already using it, you need to sign up for Catalog Choice, a free service that allows you to significantly reduce the amount of junk (snail) mail that you receive. Their Mailstop Mobile makes the process even easier by allowing you to simply snap a picture of any unwanted mail and submit it through your Catalog Choice account – they’ll take care of the rest. The first five submissions are free – after that you can purchase reasonably-priced packs of 5, 20, or 50.
Green Shine provides recipes for over 130 household cleaning products using common, Eco-friendly ingredients such as vinegar, salt, and baking soda. The solutions are organized by category so you can easily find the perfect concoction for cleaning the tub, removing a stain, or washing the windows.
If you like to stay up-to-date on green living trends, you’ll love the TreeHugger app. You can use it to read the latest eco-living news and helpful tidbits within several categories including Business, Climate Change, Energy, Green Gadgets, Green Food, and Green Jobs.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) created Dirty Dozen, which gives instant you access to the “dirty dozen” – the notorious list of the produce items with the highest pesticide levels as well as the “clean 15” - those with the lowest levels. You can also download these lists in PDF form on the EWG’s website.
It’s certainly not necessary to download a bunch of cell phone apps to live an eco-friendly life. There are many ways to “go green” without the use of technology – but no doubt, apps like these can make things just a bit easier.
Have A Green Spring Break
1. Take a Spring Break Eco-Trip
You might get a cheap air deal to the coast, but those emissions will cost you. The biggest carbon footprint for your week more than likely is your transportation. But, you have a yearning to see the beauties of the world that won’t go away, so instead choose an eco-friendly spring break destination. This may involve sustainable housing, low-impact activities, and supporting local artisans and restaurants.
2. Find Fair Green Spring Break Air Fares
Darn it. Your airplane tickets are already purchased, so there is no way to avoid those awful carbon emissions your flight will generate. Now what's a green guy/gal to do? Now wait just one second because carbon offsets are one way to take care of all of the CO2 you will generate. Another helpful option is to use tips to Green your Air Travel to make your time on the flight itself as green as possible.
3. Take a Classic Spring Break Road-Trip
The open road, or maybe just free housing in a friend’s timeshare, is calling your name. Pack as many people into that car as it will hold, to pack the biggest punch in reducing your personal carbon footprint for what will surely be a memorable week. Better yet, why not rent a hybrid car while you’re at it. You'll save on gas as well as save wear and tear on your car. Many car rental companies now offer hybrids among their fleet of rentals.
4. Take Your Bike To Go
It'll take a little more planning, but traveling by bike for a week is definitely the greenest way to go. Hop aboard a bus or train to a city or town you've never been in and spend the week learning the area, hanging out with the locals and just cruising around on your two wheels. Make sure you take a map with you and maybe a weird pair of biking shorts, and get ready to see the town on an up close and personal level.
5. Enjoy a Green Spring Break Party Scene
If you’re headed down to the beach and the party scene, remember that there are myriad ways to go green when you imbibe, whether you prefer beer, wine or cocktails. And if you hit it off with someone, and things get hot and heavy, keep it safe with these healthy, green between-the-sheets tips. Remember, enjoy everything in moderation, and keep it all legal, please.
6. Find Green Spring Break Hotels, Hostels and Housing
To get a better sense of the local flavor and possibly get a personal invite to area events and celebrations, stay with a establishment. Rooming with locals will give you a better flavor of the local community, as well as clue you in to unknown treasures around town. You will also be supporting the local community, where tourism dollars are often a major source of income. If that's not an option, choose to stay in a sustainably certified hotel.
7. Get Your Hands Dirty
The concept might seem counterintuitive, but many students these days are choosing to join in on what is known as known as an Alternative Spring Break. Most colleges organize volunteer opportunities, either partnering with Habitat for Humanity, or with local community groups painting schools, planting trees, or engaging in another worthwhile green activity. Other opportunities include traveling out of state, or even out of the country. Sometimes you can even get college credit for your week spent "working." Check with your local campus community service and/or volunteer office to see if they have anything in the works. Don't worry—you don't have to clean up garbage in some polluted swamp. There are plenty of alternative trips—going to Cancun to protecting sea turtles, for example that hardly seem like work at all.
8. Eat with the Locals
Avoid fast food and support the local community by eating a "slow" cooked meal and laying off the grease. After a night of fun with your friends, your stomach is probably begging for a hangover cure, so do yourself a favor and opt for something you won't regret later. Plan ahead and find the local farmers' market to stock up for the week—you can find the closest market to your destination at Local Harvest. What could be better than taking chilled fruit to snack on while laying out at the beach under the hot sun?
9. Be a Local Tourist
Chances are, if you've spent your entire semester studying and working on campus, you have'’t had much time to explore the area outside of prison, er, school. If that's the case, enjoying a staycation is the way to go. Spend the week checking out area museums, concert venues, parks, and other local hidden gems. Local alternative newspapers, and our very own Green City Guides, offer plenty of tips for fun local activities that'll teach you the finer things about your own backyard. So sleep in late, and then enjoy your own, local treasure hunt.
10. Take the Kids
If you're staying local and still need plans, museums and other educational organizations often offer (Spring Break week "camp" options with daily activities and outings for kids. While many of these do come at a price, they ensure daily (planned) activities, outings and entertainment for your children for the entire week. Or, instead of taking the family to Disneyland, why not take them someplace they will remember for years (and later use on college admission essays) like trekking through Mayan ruins or swimming with sharks in Belize. These activities don't have to break the bank and also support local communities that often are dependent on tourism dollars.
Wednesday
Paper, Plastic, or Something Better?
The next time the clerk at your favorite grocery store asks whether you prefer “paper or plastic” for your purchases, consider giving the truly eco-friendly response and saying, “neither.”
Plastic bags end up as litter that fouls the landscape, and kill thousands of marine mammals every year that mistake the floating bags for food. Plastic bags that get buried in landfills may take up to 1,000 years to break down, and in the process they separate into smaller and smaller toxic particles that contaminate soil and water. Furthermore, the production of plastic bags consume millions of gallons of oil that could be used for fuel and heating.
Is Paper Better Than Plastic?
Paper bags, which many people consider a better alternative to plastic bags, carry their own set of environmental problems. For example, according to the American Forest and Paper Association, in 1999 the U.S. alone used 10 billion paper grocery bags, which adds up to a lot of trees.
Reusable Bags Are a Better Option
But if you decline both paper and plastic bags, then how do you get your groceries home? The answer, according to many environmentalists, is high-quality reusable shopping bags made of materials that don’t harm the environment during production and don’t need to be discarded after each use. [You can find a good selection of high-quality reusable bags online at reusablebags.com. In addition, many organic grocery stores and consumer co-operatives carry reusable shopping bags.]
Experts estimate that 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed and discarded annually worldwide—more than a million per minute.
Plastic bags end up as litter that fouls the landscape, and kill thousands of marine mammals every year that mistake the floating bags for food. Plastic bags that get buried in landfills may take up to 1,000 years to break down, and in the process they separate into smaller and smaller toxic particles that contaminate soil and water. Furthermore, the production of plastic bags consume millions of gallons of oil that could be used for fuel and heating.
Is Paper Better Than Plastic?
Paper bags, which many people consider a better alternative to plastic bags, carry their own set of environmental problems. For example, according to the American Forest and Paper Association, in 1999 the U.S. alone used 10 billion paper grocery bags, which adds up to a lot of trees.
Reusable Bags Are a Better Option
But if you decline both paper and plastic bags, then how do you get your groceries home? The answer, according to many environmentalists, is high-quality reusable shopping bags made of materials that don’t harm the environment during production and don’t need to be discarded after each use. [You can find a good selection of high-quality reusable bags online at reusablebags.com. In addition, many organic grocery stores and consumer co-operatives carry reusable shopping bags.]
Experts estimate that 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed and discarded annually worldwide—more than a million per minute.
Monday
Drive Green
Resolutions for Greener Driving
Make no mistake about it: the biggest polluter in the Northwest can be found sitting in your driveway.
Driving has a larger impact on our air quality than any other source, and the same is true of global warming - cars and trucks are Oregon's major sources of emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and the chief culprit in changing our climate.
Advances in pollution control technology, such as catalytic converters, mean that newer cars emit fewer smog-forming compounds and less carbon monoxide. But Americans drive more each year, undermining these gains.
Furthermore, catalytic converters don't reduce CO2 emissions, which are skyrocketing because cars are becoming less, not more, fuel efficient. Consider this; Ford produces less fuel efficient cars, than its first car, the Model T, which got a respectable 25 mpg. Perhaps not surprisingly, Ford has dropped to fourth place world-wide in sales among major auto manufacturers.
You can help our local environment buck these trends. And it's easy. You don't have to make huge sacrifices to make a big difference.
Join the 'Once a Week' Club.
If everyone chose just one day a week to leave the car at home, take the bus, walk, or ride a bike, it would cut commuter-related pollution and congestion by 20%!
Get pumped.
Check your tire pressure every month and maintain it at manufacturer specifications. If your tires are under-inflated by just 4 pounds, it will cost you a half mile per gallon.
Stay tuned.
A badly tuned car uses almost 10% more gas than a well-tuned car. Replace the oil and oil filter regularly - check you owner's manual for how often. Be sure to check for worn spark plugs, dragging brakes, and low transmission fluid. Have your wheels aligned and tires rotated; and replace the air filter if needed.
Buy green.
If you're in the market for a car, buy the most fuel-efficient and low-emission vehicle that meets your everyday needs. When you service your car, ask for re-refined oil and recycled antifreeze.
Stop idling!
Letting your engine idle for more than 30 seconds will burn more fuel than turning off the engine and restarting it.
Drive less.
If you leave your car at home one day a week, you will prevent 55 pounds of pollution each year from being emitted into our air.
Go with the flow.
"Jack Rabbit" starts and abrupt stops increase both fuel use and emissions. Try to manage your lane changes so that you avoid slowing down and speeding up. Anticipate traffic stops.
Know your limits.
For every mile an hour over 55 mph, the average car or truck loses almost 2% in gas mileage.
Avoid high speeds.
The Department of Transportation reported that if all drivers observed the speed limit, approximately 71 tons of pollution would not be emitted and 4 million gallons of gas would be saved.
Plan ahead.
Plan your car trips carefully to keep unnecessary driving to a minimum.
Take a load off.
The heavier your car is, the more gas it uses. Every extra 100 pounds costs you about a half-mile per gallon - so lose the unnecessary weight.
Drag is a drag.
If you drive with a roof rack, aerodynamic drag increases. If your roof rack is removable, take it off when it's not being used regularly; this can increase fuel economy by as much as 5%.
Park and walk.
Don't drive around the parking lot waiting for a convenient place to open up. Park in the first space you find and walk. It's probably faster, and will give you some exercise too.
Driving has a larger impact on our air quality than any other source, and the same is true of global warming - cars and trucks are Oregon's major sources of emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and the chief culprit in changing our climate.
Advances in pollution control technology, such as catalytic converters, mean that newer cars emit fewer smog-forming compounds and less carbon monoxide. But Americans drive more each year, undermining these gains.
Furthermore, catalytic converters don't reduce CO2 emissions, which are skyrocketing because cars are becoming less, not more, fuel efficient. Consider this; Ford produces less fuel efficient cars, than its first car, the Model T, which got a respectable 25 mpg. Perhaps not surprisingly, Ford has dropped to fourth place world-wide in sales among major auto manufacturers.
You can help our local environment buck these trends. And it's easy. You don't have to make huge sacrifices to make a big difference.
Join the 'Once a Week' Club.
If everyone chose just one day a week to leave the car at home, take the bus, walk, or ride a bike, it would cut commuter-related pollution and congestion by 20%!
Get pumped.
Check your tire pressure every month and maintain it at manufacturer specifications. If your tires are under-inflated by just 4 pounds, it will cost you a half mile per gallon.
Stay tuned.
A badly tuned car uses almost 10% more gas than a well-tuned car. Replace the oil and oil filter regularly - check you owner's manual for how often. Be sure to check for worn spark plugs, dragging brakes, and low transmission fluid. Have your wheels aligned and tires rotated; and replace the air filter if needed.
Buy green.
If you're in the market for a car, buy the most fuel-efficient and low-emission vehicle that meets your everyday needs. When you service your car, ask for re-refined oil and recycled antifreeze.
Stop idling!
Letting your engine idle for more than 30 seconds will burn more fuel than turning off the engine and restarting it.
Drive less.
If you leave your car at home one day a week, you will prevent 55 pounds of pollution each year from being emitted into our air.
Go with the flow.
"Jack Rabbit" starts and abrupt stops increase both fuel use and emissions. Try to manage your lane changes so that you avoid slowing down and speeding up. Anticipate traffic stops.
Know your limits.
For every mile an hour over 55 mph, the average car or truck loses almost 2% in gas mileage.
Avoid high speeds.
The Department of Transportation reported that if all drivers observed the speed limit, approximately 71 tons of pollution would not be emitted and 4 million gallons of gas would be saved.
Plan ahead.
Plan your car trips carefully to keep unnecessary driving to a minimum.
Take a load off.
The heavier your car is, the more gas it uses. Every extra 100 pounds costs you about a half-mile per gallon - so lose the unnecessary weight.
Drag is a drag.
If you drive with a roof rack, aerodynamic drag increases. If your roof rack is removable, take it off when it's not being used regularly; this can increase fuel economy by as much as 5%.
Park and walk.
Don't drive around the parking lot waiting for a convenient place to open up. Park in the first space you find and walk. It's probably faster, and will give you some exercise too.
Chipotle’s Anti-Factory-Farm Ad Captures Hearts and Changes Minds
The Super Bowl is well known for expensive, flashy commercials that tend to be even more highly anticipated than the game itself. But this year, the commercial that’s gotten the most attention wasn’t a Super Bowl ad at all. This year’s unlikely advertising showstopper turned out to be a Chipotle ad that’s been on YouTube for months, but was aired nationally for the first time during the Grammy Awards show last Sunday. The two-minute spot, Chipotle’s first national television ad ever, features Willie Nelson singing Coldplay’s potent and popular song “The Scientist” over a sweet and simple cartoon story about a farmer’s journey to industrialization and back. A review in Time’s Entertainment section captures it well:
“Like many a great commercial, “Back to the Start” is a journey, in this case both figuratively and literally. The action unfolds linearly in a continuous left-to-right flow on the screen, absorbing you in the simple, children’s show-like visuals and engaging you in figuring what its narrative is about. It starts with a farmer, and some pigs, a pastoral setting that becomes gradually more industrial and alienating, as it erects corrals, then sheds, then animal warehouses and a mechanized distribution system—the modern industrial-food chain. The grim scene plays out, and out, until the music crescendoes and the farmer decides to “go back to the start,” tearing down walls and letting his animals range free.”'
The ad’s clear and potent message, simply and beautifully illustrated using graphics and music, seems to have really hit home with a lot of people. The ad is being talked about all over the internet and was even praised by the unlikeliest of all news outlets. Believe it or not, Fox News came out in support of the ad’s message in an article on Monday, saying that “while people may dream of animals roaming free before being taken to slaughterhouses, in reality, most meat comes from animals held in cramped cages their entire lives, pumped full of drugs and food that plumps them up in a short amount of time.”
Is it possible that the trend toward more sustainably and humanely produced meat has finally entered the main stream? Chipotle has been making strides on the issue of local food sourcing as my colleague Akhila Vijayaraghavan covered back in June. All of Chipotle’s pork is raised in a humane, ecologically sustainable manner which means that the pigs get to be pigs. They also get no antibiotics and vegetarian feed with no animal by-products. One hundred percent of Chipotle’s chicken and 50 percent of its beef is also sustainably raised and the company is working to get all its beef to meet these standards as well. As Akhila pointed out, this makes Chipotle the largest restaurant buyer of humanely raised meat.
Other fast food outlets should take notice of the positive attention that Chipotle’s sustainable food sourcing is having as it presents a distinct opportunity for them to get into the game.
Friday
Sink Your Shucks Slated for Spring
~ by Leigh Anne Geiter
You can shuck ‘em, bake ‘em, or fry ‘em, but did you know a single oyster can filter up to fifty gallons of water a day? That’s cleaner water for everyone! But sadly, oyster reefs are in decline. That's why Moody High School’s Oyster Awareness Team, under the supervision of the Texas State Aquarium, is supporting Harte Research Institute’s Sink Your Shucks program, which recycles oyster shells from local restaurants and creates new oyster habitat. You can visit the Sink Your Shucks Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Oyster-Recycling/133883023325703, and sign-up to volunteer at an upcoming restoration event! Currently, tentative bagging events are planned for March 10th and April 28th, with the big sinking event slated for May 19th. For video story on this project, as reported by KRIS-TV, please visit this link: http://www.kristv.com/videoplayer/?video_id=17220
“The world is your oyster…let’s take care of it!” The radio campaign to recruit “baggers” and “sinkers” is sponsored by the State Farm Youth Advisory Board and will air on Hot Z95, 92.7 K-Bay, and ESPN 1440.
For more information on the Moody High School’s Oyster Awareness Team, you can visit:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)