About.com Green Living

Happy Thanks-greening

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:03:48 +0000

Here's a smart, funny look at a country -- the good old U. S. of A -- that's searching for its agricultural roots. This being the holiday season, it's a good time to remember those parts of our heritage that made us what we are today, and to reflect on what we've become in recent years.

For everyone who still docks their SUV at the McDonald's drive-thru, it seems there's someone else who's starting an organic garden at an inner city elementary school. For everyone who makes big money investing in big agribusiness, there's a farmer who no longer sprays chemicals on his crops.

And for that, we can all be thankful.

Happy Thanks-greening originally appeared on About.com Green Living on Saturday, November 28th, 2009 at 18:03:48.

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Meat, the Neighbors

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:05:31 +0000

You grow your own tomatoes, harvest your own herbs, and cultivate a few fruit trees (or you wish you did). Why then would you buy meat from a butcher?

More and more people are taking the locavore approach to getting their own meat, including hunting local deer for venison. Though it may seem extreme to some folks, hunting and dressing your own deer, boar, turkey or other game has been a way of life for, oh, thousands of years. And you can't get much more free-range than a wild animal.

Where I live (in the country north of New York City), the air these days is filled with the sound of deer rifles. The animals are pests, wiping out forests and gardens alike, so taking out Bambi's mom seems like green living at its finest. In fact, I feel a bit foolish for serving a store-bought turkey this Thursday, since my backyard is home to a family of turkeys.

Here's wishing you and your family a happy, healthy and local Thanksgiving.

Meat, the Neighbors originally appeared on About.com Green Living on Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 at 23:05:31.

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Best Holiday Light Since Rudolph's Nose

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:36:23 +0000

LED Christmas lights use just 10 percent of the energy of incandescents, last for some 50,000 hours, and are cooler and safer than older incandescent lights. So why are you hanging onto those old Christmas lights?

Perhaps the best news of all is this: HolidayLEDs.com will take your old lights, recycle them, and give you a coupon for 15 percent off any LED lights they sell. So now you can save money on saving money.

That should make your Yuletide bright.

Best Holiday Light Since Rudolph's Nose originally appeared on About.com Green Living on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 09:36:23.

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Superfreaks Tackle Climate Change

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:39:25 +0000

A recent article in the New Yorker reviews Superfreakonomics, the latest book by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, authors of the best-selling Freakonomics.

Reviewer Elizabeth Kolbert makes the Steves sound like glib amateurs who are simply out of their depth. When they assert the solution to global warming lies at the end of an eighteen-mile-long hose that would shoot sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, thereby mimicking the cooling effects of a volcanic eruption, Kolbert coolly rips them a new one: "Though climate change is a grave problem, Levitt and Dubner treat it mainly as an opportunity to show how clever they are."

And with a title like SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance, it's hard to believe that the two authors are more interested in serious debate than in provocative soapboxing.

Massive geoengineering projects like the ones they propose have a pathetic track record, and Kolbert delivers a knockout punch to the two econo-hacks: "To be skeptical of climate models and credulous about things like carbon-eating trees and cloudmaking machinery and hoses that shoot sulfur into the sky is to replace a faith in science with a belief in science fiction."

Brava, Kolbert!

Superfreaks Tackle Climate Change originally appeared on About.com Green Living on Saturday, November 21st, 2009 at 23:39:25.

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No Tannenbaum, No Tannenbaum

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:04:45 +0000

I'm inclined to agree with folks who believe it just ain't the holidays without a big ol' Christmas tree hogging all the space in your living room. Putting presents around the Solstice branch doesn't really cut it for me.

Then again, chopping down a beautiful, living tree doesn't seem all that eco-sensitive, either. Is it possible to have a sustainable holiday and a traditional tree? Yes, Virginia, there is such a thing as a green Christmas tree.

No Tannenbaum, No Tannenbaum originally appeared on About.com Green Living on Saturday, November 21st, 2009 at 23:04:45.

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Political Climate Not Changing

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:06:01 +0000

There are two reasons I chose a turtle to illustrate this blog post. The first is unhappy news about the fate of Costa Rica's leatherback turtles: As sea temperatures rise due to global climate change, the reefs on which the turtles feed are disappearing. When this threat is added to coastal development, egg poaching and drift net fishing, it becomes apparent that this endangered animal may be extinct within a few years.

The other reason I chose a turtle is to illustrate what's expected at next month's climate talks in Copenhagen: an approach to environmental catastrophe that's incredibly slow to evolve and moves at a sluggish pace. The primary obstacle? The U.S. Congress.

As a result, even more plants and animals may be extinct within a few years. As I've said before, humans are reactive species, not a proactive one, and we'll probably get around to working on climate change after it's too late.

I'm running out of optimism. Anybody have some I can borrow?

Political Climate Not Changing originally appeared on About.com Green Living on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 20:06:01.

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The Holidays Are Here. Bummer.

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:15:16 +0000

Years ago, I went to Montreal for Christmas, expecting to find the old Colonial city bustling with shoppers and merry-makers. Imagine my shock at discovering that, like many places, in Montreal Christmas is a quiet, family-oriented religious holiday.

A WHAT?!? Where are the shoppers screaming at each other? The crying children, the traffic jams, the price gouging, the anxiety and depression? Don't these people understand what the holidays are all about?

They say down in Whoville that my small heart grew three sizes that day, and I gained the strength of 10 Grinches, plus 2. I realized that the season is about peace and togetherness -- like sharing a green holiday with family and friends.

The Holidays Are Here. Bummer. originally appeared on About.com Green Living on Saturday, November 14th, 2009 at 13:15:16.

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Saving the Planet, One Beer at a Time

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 12:52:36 +0000

Ah, beer. Perhaps one of mankind's greatest inventions, it refreshes us, relaxes us, and restoreth our souls.

And like many other products, beer has a considerable environmental impact, the most significant of which is storage in the open-air refrigerator units found in grocery stores. (I personally wouldn't mind opening a glass door to get my 6-pack, if it means we could all breathe easier.)

Another way to enjoy a brew that's healthier for everyone is to try an organic beer. They come in all styles -- from a light Pilsner or IPA right down to the darkest and heaviest of stouts -- and are as affordable as they are tasty.

Ah, beer. Saving the planet never tasted so good.

Saving the Planet, One Beer at a Time originally appeared on About.com Green Living on Saturday, November 14th, 2009 at 12:52:36.

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Cold Water Dishwashing? An Experiment in Green Living

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:31:00 +0000

When you live in an old, drafty dump of a house -- like, for example, mine -- you learn to innovate in order to keep your energy bills from looking like the Pentagon budget.

So last night I ran my dishwasher using only cold water. Blasphemous, I know, but Ed Hagerty (one of my readers) inspired me to try something different. Like me, Ed lives in the cold Northeast and we both use an oil furnace to heat our hot water.

Ed wrote to say that he'd slashed his oil bill by switching off his oil furnace except when he knew he'd be using the shower or dishwasher. Otherwise, the unit runs every hour or so, 24/7/365, to keep a ready supply of hot water. Oil companies LOVE you for that, but it gets expensive. Trust me.

I decided to go one step further and try running my dishwasher without hot water (turning on the furnace only for showers). After all, cold water works fine for clothes washers -- why not dishwashers?

The results? Surprisingly good. My dishes were as clean as usual, though I saw a few more spots on my glasses.

A little reading tells me why: most newer dishwashers are self-heating, and don't rely on incoming hot water anyway. It's also worth noting that hot tap water isn't really hot enough to kill germs -- the detergent does that -- so there's no reason not to wash with cold water.

Thanks, Ed!

Cold Water Dishwashing? An Experiment in Green Living originally appeared on About.com Green Living on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 09:31:00.

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Can't Trust the Danged Gubberment!

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 09:30:58 +0000

Two disturbing news items recently crossed my desk. The first reports that LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification -- the gold standard for green buildings -- has been given to buildings that are not in fact energy efficient.

A building can be designed on paper to be LEED-certified, but the way it's actually constructed and operated can strip from it any sort of genuine environmental credibility. Some experts propose giving LEED certification only after a building has been occupied for some years, as a way of proving its energy efficiency.

In other bad news, an internal audit by the U.S. Department of Energy discovered that the coveted Energy Star label has been bestowed upon appliances that aren't really energy efficient.

The Energy Star program is in the spotlight now because the Obama administration has earmarked $300 million in rebates to consumers who buy Energy Star products.

What the hell is going on here? The LEED program has come under fire for years by architects and contractors as a rather cumbersome process bedeviled by bureaucratic ineptitude. And kudos to the Energy Department for discovering this reality gap on their own.

But certifications like these need to be trustworthy, or consumers will lose faith in the programs, the government, and soon the whole fabric of Western civilization will unravel. Or something like that.

Let's tighten up our game, folks, or we'll all lose the race to true energy independence.

Can't Trust the Danged Gubberment! originally appeared on About.com Green Living on Saturday, November 7th, 2009 at 09:30:58.

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