Getting duped!

So, as a newly minted "greenist," I admit to not being fully informed yet on what all this means. It's easier than ever to find green products--even in the local grocery stores. Everyone sells something that claims to be green somehow. But, are they really? And what do these labels mean?? What is the difference between "natural" and "organic" and "environmentally friendly" and "plant-based"? Etc. I've done a little research recently and have found out that most of us who are buying green products at the grocery store are probably getting duped! At the very least, we are paying way too much money for the product. At the very worst, we are giving our money to a company who purports to be saving the environment while they're simultaneously killing trees, putting pesticides in their other products, and raking in money from both sides of the spectrum: shoppers who don't care about being green so they stick with traditional products, and shoppers who try to be green but who will buy from this "trusted" label. I tell you, when I found this out, it made me mad!

Case in point: Kimberly Clark makes a line of "natural" toilet paper (Scott Naturals), but all the while, they have been cutting down acres upon acres of previously untouched forest land in Canada. You can read moer at http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/new-evidence-of-kimberly-clark.

Another example: Clorox and its new "Green Works" line. Although this actual line of products has been deemed "not the worst offender" by TreeHugger (Full Article), the problem is that this line is only one of many they sell. So, if you buy Green Works, you are definitely doing a better service to the environment that if you buy their regular line, you are still supporting a company that is absolutely environmentally UNfriendly when you look at the big picture of their consumption and waste.

Granted, it's very difficult to find a company who is 100% sustainable. But it's easy to find those who try way harder than the big names you might be tempted to buy just because you recognize the name brand.

So, for starters, you could check out Green Sol (www.green-sol.net); they only sell products that are manufactured by companies who ONLY manufacture green products. One of them has been doing it since 1964 -- WAY before it was the cool thing to do! No matter where you get your products, do a little legwork. Find out if the company only sells green products, or if they "offer a line" of them. Always choose the former. And look for companies whose products are backed by a green certification body, like Green Seal, DfE, or EcoLogo.

Oh, and the labels I mentioned earlier -- like "green" vs. "natural," etc. I'll discuss those in a future post, I promise!

Do you have any suggestions for finding green companies? Share them with me!

When Should You Speak Up?

So I was talking to an acquaintance of mine the other day who is very involved in holistic healing. We were talking about how the holistic approach to the body should mirror the way we treat the earth, so he agreed that being green is very important. But then, he proceeded to tell me that he had been invited to participate in a holistic health convention that takes place -- wait for it -- on a cruise ship!! I'm sorry..WHA??? I don't get it. How can anyone who purports to be holistic and green set foot on a cruise ship? Don't people know that cruise ships basically have destroyed our oceans? Here is a fact from Oceana.org:

Cruise ships generate an astonishing amount of pollution: up to 25,000 gallons of sewage from toilets and 143,000 gallons of sewage from sinks, galleys and showers each day.

That's just one astonishing fact. There are many more disturbing facts about the impact of cruise ships on our oceans. (For more: http://na.oceana.org/en/our-work/stop-ocean-pollution/cruise-ship-pollution/overview or http://www.odec.ca/projects/2006/kutp6p2/)

So, at any rate, being the OCD-ish greenist that I am, it was difficult for me not to lecture this acquaintance! But I didn't. I thought: What difference will it make? He's not going to cancel his appearance just because I launch into a diatribe about the evils of cruise ships.

But isn't this the dilemma we all face? What if just one person said just one thing to one person, and that one person made one different choice? If that happened just once a day, it could add up over time, right? Where do we draw that line between being a responsible inhabitant of this earth and a good conversationalist? I guess it all comes down to priorities. I'm not sure I had mine straight the other day. Maybe I'll send him an email with a link to Oceana.org... What would you do?

Composting: Not Just for Hippies Anymore!

When you were growing up, did you know any of your parents' friends who composted in their own back yard? You probably saw a giant barrel filled with lord knows what and thought, "Riiiight....." (a la Dr. Evil). But, get this, we live in a neighborhood in Denver that has a city-run composting program. We just went online and requested a new can, which was delivered right to our door, along with a mini-compost bin to keep inside. Ok, yes, it is a little much having 3 giant trash cans (one for trash, one for recycling, and one for compost) outside our garage. But, it's awesome feeling like we're doing one more thing to help the earth. And you can't believe how much used-to-be-trash we now composte! Food scraps, teabags, paper towels, greasy pizza boxes, etc. It's good to see.

So, now, true to form, I keep two baby trash cans in each room in the house: one for trash, one for composting. The Kleenex alone that I go through in a week is enough to fill a composte can!

Now, I had a friend who stayed with me for a couple of months. I'll call her Tea, for the fact that I've never known anyone who drinks as much of it as she does. When she first came to stay, I explained to her (totally NON-anal-retentively, I'm certain) about how we now composte. But one day, I noticed her throwing a tea bag in the garbage. Remember the scene in "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls" when he walks into the room filled with animal heads and has a full-on meltdown? I think my reaction was slightly less manic than that. So, the good news is, that's the last time she threw away a tea bag!

So, if you don't have this fancy program in your neighborhood, you can still composte. There are lots of places to get bins, and they aren't nearly as gross as they used to be. It just takes some getting used to. Oh, and Tea? She's a convert now! :-)

Driving Minnie Bonkers

I have this friend -- one of my dearest friends in the world. We'll call her "Minnie," after Minnie Mouse -- think number of beers equating to level of octaves above normal voice range, and you'll understand the reference. She is truly and honestly the nicest, most patient person on Earth. It takes a great deal to make Minnie angry. I've seen it, but I've known her for a very long time, and I think I've seen it once. Enter my new obsession with being green.

We were on a "Girls Only" vacation, which a good group of friends and I do biannually ("biannual" sounds better than "that's as often as we can afford it"). I had already driven everyone crazy (or at least driven them to laughter) by going around obsessively turning off lights and unplugging unused appliances. Minnie started to tell us a story. We weren't talking about being green, the environment, nature, or anything of the sort. Minnie started to tell her story and she said, "So I went into the convenience store to buy a bottle of water..." when I jumped with "You shouldn't buy bottled water!" and proceeded to inform (er...lecture?) her on the plight of the environment due, in large part, to the billions of water bottles that have ended up in our landfills.

I had to laugh because Minnie -- who, let me reiterate, is the nicest human I know -- looked at me with darts coming out of her eyes. Had she had a water bottle in her possession at that moment...well, let's just say I'm glad she didn't.

 Is trying to persuade someone to be Green like trying to persuade an addict? They have to really WANT to change or you can't make them? Can you lead by example? Or do you need to educate people? I don't know the research, but I'm pretty sure there's a link between annoying someone and having them decide to do exactly the opposite of what you want them to. Minnie still buys bottled water.

It's the Little Things

Perhaps one can relate to my need to commit to the idea that if I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it 100%. If not, why do it? Am I right? (Can I get an "Amen!" from my fellow perfectionists?). However, if you don't fall under this general OCD/perfectionism/anal-retentive category -- say, for example, you do not untie your tennis shoes in the car so that you save time and can slip right out of them when you walk in the door (plus, then they're untied for the next wearing) -- then you may find this posting a little...nuts (as if I haven't already established that with the aforementioned example).

My Green habits extend far beyond what is probably normal and necessary. For example:
* I chew gum anytime I'm in my car (that's not the green part). I separate the inside gum tray, which is plastic and cannot be recycled, from the outer carton, which is cardboard and can.
* I tear my paper towels (recycled, of course) into quarters. I use half of a half of a paper towel at a time.
* I rewash and reuse plastic baggies until they are literally the texture of facial tissue
* I am so obsessive about unplugging an appliance that is not being used that I even challenged my husband about whether it was really necessary to have the bedside alarm clock plugged in while we're gone at work.
* I turn off the water in the shower while I'm shaving my legs.

But with all these silly little things, I know I can do more! Being green is definitely a work in progress. For example, I drive too much. I'm struggling with this one. Anyone got an idea about how I can balance my obsession for saving the earth with my obsession for stylish heels?