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Ten Steps To Green Living
As the new year kicks off it’s smart to be aware of the basics of green living.Everyone has a different opinion about which green living skills matter most and I’m no different. In my opinion, if you focus on the skills and tasks below, you’re doing great.
1) AUDIT: Green audits are your first and best tools on the path to green living. If you don’t know what you’re doing well and what needs work, you’ve got zero platforms to work from. Read Green Audit Know-How for the scoop then conduct some of your own green audits…
Green Home Audit: excess packaging [...]
Post from: Blisstree
Three BIG Green New Year’s Resolutions
There are plenty of green-minded New Year’s resolutions you can make for 2010. Some green goals are totally easy, which is cool if you’re new to green living. However, there are also some heftier resolutions that pack more of an eco punch. If you’re up to the challenge choose one of the bigger green resolutions below.
THE FIRST STEP: Before you commit to a green resolution, especially a big one, I highly suggest reading Keeping Green New Year’s Resolutions, in which my pal Peggy goes over how to succeed when you make a green resolution. Her main, and most important point, [...]
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Advocate for safe & healthy school lunches
In a previous post we looked at how fast food is possibly far more safe than USDA provided school lunches. Neither are too healthy, but fast food at least has more rigorous testing in its favor. Still, even if you ignore the fact that meat in school lunches is questionable, there are tons of other reasons (pdf) why we need to provide better, greener, healthier school lunches for kids. Following are ways you can make sure your kids and other kids are getting the best school lunch possible.
If you have the means don’t purchase USDA provided lunches (at least until [...]
Post from: Blisstree
All Londoners Will be Within a Mile of a Charging Station by 2015
London mayor Boris Johnson launched a new plan called the Electric Vehicle Delivery Plan for London that will allow all Londoners to be within one mile of an electric vehicle charging station in five years.
The plan calls for the installation of 25,000 charging points at public, residential and commercial spaces by 2015 in order to encourage the addition of 100,000 EVs within the city ASAP. The city government is doing their part by committing to add 1,000 EVs to the Greater London Authority fleet over five years.
This is another aggressive move by the city to clean up their transportation. The city successfully instituted congestion pricing in 2003, added hybrid double-decker buses, converted the Scotland Yard fleet to hybrids and air-powered vehicles and is testing state of the art fuel-efficiency technology.
With its track history, I have little doubt the city will meet its EV goals and can only hope that their ambition will rub off on the rest of the world’s major cities (and small cities, and suburbs…).
via Treehugger
Fast-food meat safer than school lunches
You know it’s bad when KFC and Jack In the Box shun meat due to low quality. However, the USDA doesn’t mind that the meat has been declared icky by fast food standards, they’ll buy that meat and serve it to your kids for lunch!
According to a new a USA TODAY investigation, “The government has provided the nation’s schools with millions of pounds of beef and chicken that wouldn’t meet the quality or safety standards of many fast-food restaurants.” Awesome. Not that this is a big shock. For years many campaigns have been focused on getting rid of the crap [...]
Post from: Blisstree
Greener Exercise for the New Year
Many people make resolutions about exercise for the new year. If getting fit and healthy is one of your goals this year why not amp the stakes a bit and also make your workout plan as eco-friendly as possible…
Forget the gym: Plant a tree and burn almost 300 calories. Take a hike in the woods to burn even more. Heck even growing organic veggies can be a workout. Being outside in the fresh air is very good for you. It’s just plain smarter to skip the gym anyhow, green or not. Studies show that very few people (less than 20%) [...]
Post from: Blisstree
Will Dolphins Need Noise-Canceling Headphones? Rising CO2 Could Lead to Louder Oceans
Researchers at the University of Hawaii have discovered a strange and potentially damaging result of increased CO2 in the atmosphere: louder oceans. More CO2 in the atmosphere leads to more acidic seas and more acidic seas produce fewer sound-absorbing chemical reactions meaning noise will travel farther and be louder.
The researchers have used ocean models and CO2 projections to predict regional sound absorption changes. They found that seas in the upper latitudes and deepwater formations will be most dramatically impacted (these areas are facing the worst acidification) with sound absorption falling by 60 percent.
Low frequency sounds (1,000 – 5,000 hertz) like ship propellers and military sonar will be louder, but scientists aren’t sure yet what the impact on marine life will be. The worst-case scenario is that those louder man-made sounds will interfere with marine mammal communication and echolocation sounds. On the other hand, the animal sounds will be louder and travel farther too, so their calls might not be drowned out. The researchers are continuing their studies to find out.
via NY Times
Hidden Danger – Arsenic Treated Wood
Right now, before spring shows up and before kids spend more time outside, you should start thinking about your wooden outdoor products and consider if they’re safe or if they’re hiding a hidden danger.
Arsenic used to be a common additive in wooden outdoor products because it does act as a preservative. However, as you may have guessed arsenic is no good from a safety standpoint. Arsenic is a deadly poison and a known cause of cancer. Arsenic is linked to skin, bladder, liver and lung cancers and reproductive hazards, disrupts adenosine tri-phosphate (ATP) which is vital for normal body functions, [...]
Post from: Blisstree
Green your home and health for the new year
Poor indoor air quality, chemicals, dust, nasty germs and more can affect your home and health; getting you sick and bringing the eco-quality of your home down a notch or two. All of these issues can also seem overwhelming to fix. Where should you even start?
Luckily, not all changes to improve your home and health are hard, too time consuming, or even expensive. This year vow make some simple changes that will improve your home’s health and greenness factors at the same time.
Learn to love plants: Plenty of indoor house plants actually fight indoor air pollution and improve your overall [...]
Post from: Blisstree
Good green business and product guides
If you live in one of three major urban areas; Los Angeles, San Francisco, or New York, you can snag up a Greenopia guide that will make it a little easier to stay green in your area. Greenopia guides are a little like yellow pages for tree huggers with local listings for green retailers, service providers, and organizations. Organic restaurants and grocery stores, dry cleaners, organic fashion, organic pest control services, sustainable building suppliers, landscapers and interior designers and more are included in the guides. Basically these small green guides contain all you need to keep it green when you [...]
Post from: Blisstree
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