Eco-Thinker

Perhaps eco-newb is a bit much. The gentleman in the story after all does sell locally grown produce. Those of us green minded folk, who are subconsciously drawn to exploring the unlimited resourceful ways of minimizing our contribution to pollution, are often times reminded just how gratifying our work of educating on sustainable ideals can be.

While running some errands today I happened upon a new (to me) produce market baring “locally grown” signage. I enthusiastically pulled in for a peek at the goodies. Long story short, I found some amazing prices on some delectable fruits and veggies.
I walked up carrying my own tote bag, of course. I made my selections and the older merchant man reached for the plastic bags and I said “well we can just throw ‘em in here if you like”, in my own polite little way. He nodded and proceeded to fill er’ up.

The bag I was using was the one you’ve been bypassing in the WalMart lines for a few months now. That black and green recycled/reusable number that you should certainly pick up if you happen to be a WalMart shopper. The reason I make mention of this particular bag is because of the small graphic on the bag’s side grabbed the merchant’s attention. He read it aloud and said ‘well I’ll be’. I explained my story on living green, 98% of which he was already aware of. And after agreeing on the BYOB ideology he said he would be sure and tell his customers from there on out about bringing their own bags.
I facetiously asked him if he received his produce in plastic bags. He obviously chuckled and replied with a big “no”. I am glad I could make a difference, no matter how small it may seem.

As for the well established green shopper, you are more than likely well equipped with hemp, bamboo, or even organic cotton bags. A quick search reveals Reusable Bags, a site containing facts concerning plastic bag devastation as well as how to get your hands on some toxin free baggage.

“estimated at well over 500,000,000,000 (that’s 500 billion) plastic bags annually, or almost 1 million per minute”

Most of the plastic bags you see are polyethylene, a petroleum based plastic.
“Over 60 million tons of the material are produced worldwide every year” Wikipedia

Another quote from Reusable Bags on Ireland’s successful Plas Tax.

In 2001, Ireland consumed 1.2 billion plastic bags, or 316 per person. An extremely successful plastic bag consumption tax, or PlasTax, introduced in 2002 reduced consumption by 90%. Approximately 18,000,000 liters of oil have been saved due to this reduced production. Governments around the world are considering implementing similar measures.

How about that. A 90% reduction! Although I am not a huge fan of big government regulation, in the case of reducing plastic it might be justified. Here in the U.S. some cities are trying to curb the waste by banning plastic bags from major retailers. Do we really want the government to have to waste effort on our trashy ignorant habits? It was reported in 2005 by United Nations Environment Program that ‘currently over 13,000 pieces of plastic litter floating on every square kilometre of ocean’.  That is unacceptable.

This has to start with you as the individual consumer. As common sense as it may seem to the choir upon which I preach, without being exposed to these ideas one will continue to think just as the status quo-upholders tell them.

Stop trekking your happy asses to the store knowing you’ll be hauling away plastic bags bound for a landfill, where it shall release poisons into the ecosystem for thousands of years. Do not be embarrassed because you rarely or even never see anyone bringing their own bag. Tell the lookers why you do it, as if they didn’t know. Say something like ‘currently over 13,000 pieces of plastic litter is floating on every square kilometre of ocean, do you really want to add to that?’ and say it loud.  BYOFB.  Figure that one out.

Now this is a fascinating idea. Not that it is a new idea since we can assume chemical-byproduct free water existed before we industrialized everything around it. A natural pool is the only way an eco-thinker can do any green swimming without having a beach handy, that is if beaches were waste free… These look very relaxing and I would love to try one out. You can find some truly impressive designs over at Woodhouse Natural Pools. The outdoor ambient sounds on the homepage are quite serene. I am still listening to it as I write.

Thanks Michael d’Estries at GroovyGreen for the great find!

For those of us in the U.S., a quick search led me to Total Habitat based in Bonner Springs, KS, says not to be fooled by installers unless certified by the Natural Swimming Pool Association, and sport this logo.

Here are a few pics from their site of their gorgeous work.

So this should give you something to think about when your skin is absorbing those toxic chemicals used to treat conventional swimming pools.

ZapRoot is a weekly webcast show from ViroPOP, a green pop network, and is the next generation approach to educating the asses on how to live greener. Host Jessica Williamson enlightens us with some of the more uncommon yet fun ways to be green. Yes she is gorgeous, and yes she talks about sex toys a lot!

In this episode the eco-beautifying host reports on toxic perfumes, edible plant internet maps, Paris Hilton pulling an Al Gore first, a system to recycle your household’s urine oversupply, and more informative green pop culture witticisms.

ZapRoot episode 30 | Paris Hilton is Greener Than You!

Don’t forget to stop by ViroPOP and join the community.

Links referenced:

Eco-Chick

This is an incredible idea and reflects one of the most green uses I’ve ever seen for the internet. Go check this one out!

Urban Edibles

Ecorazzi

TMZ: Paris Hilton

Drink Pee

Rice Field Art

Retro Rocket Ships

Superfund365

…which is always good news for the solar industry.

In the video below, CEO of Solaria, Suvi Sharma, is interviewed and discusses Solaria’s new technology for manufacturing solar panels. Solaria solar panels use only half the silicon that older conventional panels use. This is an improvement from an economical and environmental standpoint, cutting costs and waste. The new panels can be produced using the existing equipment and facilities saving even more on time and expense.

That’s why our technology is so critical. By doubling or tripling the ability of the industry to produce the kilowatt hours from the existing silicon supply, we can really make the industry more scalable with less silicon which I think is the key to unlocking the potential of solar.

solaria.com

Via:Technology Review and Good Clean Tech

Check out this attractive building of sustainable proportions set to be built in Chicago. It comes equipped with wind turbines and solar panels. Clean Technology Tower.

Read the full story and see more pics at Metaefficient

Mike Adams wrote a fantastic article over at NaturalNews.com detailing the tricks and psychological secrets used by the food and dye chemical industries to fool you into believing your purchase is the nutritionally optimal choice.

Humans have the innate ability to see exactly which foods have the most enticing amount of nutrients, by simply examining the color of them. When you shop for fruit, do you not choose the brighter more vibrant looking of the bunch? This is your brain letting you know that this particular fruit is the most favorable choice for your body. These instincts have served humans well for thousands of years, if not hundreds of thousands of years.

Mike says:

For example, a red cabbage that is actually a dull grey doesn’t look very appealing, but a purple cabbage with a saturated, bright-purple color looks fantastic. That’s because we have an innate perception gauge telling us we should be attracted to these foods — they are healthier for us, and the health quality is indicated by the saturation of the color.

And the corporations are fully aware of these facts, and have built an entire market around this lesser known reality. Artificial dyes such as Yellow #2 and Blue Lake #40 can cause health problems on a scale so complex that it is difficult for even doctors to trace. These dyes, along with the bleached sugar in candy, are disastrous combinations for your health and should never be considered as a food supplement for you or your child. These toxic ingredients are hardly limited to candy. Other chemical additives such as MSG, bleached flour, bleached sugar, or some other form of preservative, are found in most all processed foods, chips, junk foods, and just about all non-water shelf drinks.

Get educated on how to shop for foods that are petrochemical free. Getting involved with Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and buying locally grown organic produce is a way to ensure a high quality exchange, plus reducing the distance the food needs for transporting, using even more fuel, more emissions, not to mention the more hands your veggies have to pass through or get tossed around by. Buy locally and support your community. That is one of the most positive and sustainable choices you can make.

Mike also tells us how salmon feed farms add toxic chemical dyes to the salmon to give them a more appealing appearance. We are more likely to prefer the lively colored salmon.

And don’t miss the finale of the Health Ranger’s report, explaining how some of the food colors comes from boiled and ground up insects!

Carmine Wikipedia:

Carmine may be prepared from cochineal, by boiling dried insects in water to extract the carminic acid and then treating the clear solution with alum, cream of tartar, stannous chloride, or potassium hydrogen oxalate; the coloring and animal matters present in the liquid are thus precipitated. Other methods are in use; sometimes egg white, fish glue, or gelatine are added before the precipitation.

Read the informative article at: How food companies fool consumers with food coloring ingredients made from petrochemicals and sign up for Mike’s newsletter @ NaturalNews.com with more than 800,000 monthly readers.

Ultraviolet rays take a toll on solar cells, just as they do human cells. While it may not manifest itself as a sunburn, UV light does expedite degradation of solar cells. As a promising answer to this dilemma, a scientist at the University of California in Los Angeles, Yang Yang, says his new material can change UV rays into visible light, reducing damage and even enhancing efficiency of a solar cell.

The new “photon conversion material” (PCM) converts harmful UV into longer wavelengths, enhancing efficiency of solar-energy conversion and reducing damage to cells. This should help the solar cells last longer, as well as increase their electrical yield. – Source article

The process for manufacturing solar semiconductors already has a nasty byproduct called silicon tetrachloride which is highly toxic. To add another layer of a polymer, and a fluoride compound at that (”polymer blue polyfluorene”), could make solar power an even less attractive alternative for energy. Of course this new PCM material is made just for adding sustainability to solar cells. If the lifespan of the solar cell, which is already in question, is greatly extended then I suppose the reduction in pollution would be worth the new technology. Besides, emissions resulted from solar production plus the new material cannot compare to the pollution levels of coal combustion and other unsustainable electricity generating methods.

EAT GREEN

The first step in greening out your St. Patrick’s Day feast, is to have green foods. Duh? And I don’t mean the clever marketing term that signifies environmental consciousness, I mean the color green. We’ll get to that, but think green. Not only does it adapt perfectly with Ireland’s national holiday tradition of green, but green fruits and vegetables provide cancer fighting antioxidants, phytochemicals, beta-carotene, fiber, potassium, vitamin A,C,E and many minerals such as calcium and folate vital for life. You will need to include a variety of the following for your menu: broccoli, romaine lettuce, zucchini, collard greens, artichoke, brussel sprouts, turnip greens, spinach, asparagus, celery, cucumbers cabbage, kiwi, honeydew, melon, lime, green bell pepper and so forth.

Secondly, to truly go green with your holiday feast you should have 100% organic foods. Non-genetically modified, pesticide free, naturally fertilized veggies for your celebration. Organic food is a no-brainer. Not only are you virtually eliminating toxic chemicals in the food itself, but eliminating eco-unfriendly pesticides from food crops and promoting a clean and sustainable method of agriculture long forgotten by the top tier agriculture corporations.

WEAR GREEN

In order to claim a green unofficial U.S. et al holiday you will also have to consider the material of your apparel. All synthetic fibers must go! No nylon, and for all drunk Irishman’s sake don’t get out the spandex. Sorry. These types of fabric are petroleum based fibers which, as we know, are destructive to the environment and all lifeforms. No recycled petro fibers, especially. To support our green habit and passion you’ll have to find some organic cotton, organic wool, hemp fabric, cork, bamboo or other more renewable and toxin free fabric to drape over your oversensitive and susceptible skin. Conventional cotton requires more pesticide than any other crop in the world, and account for 25% of the world’s pesticide usage, so make sure it is 100% organic.

The very dyes in your clothes are the toxic products of one of the largest petrochem industries in the world, dyestuffs. So keep in mind your already pricey green threads will also require an eco-friendly coloring process. There are various methods and products for coloring fabrics but usually dyes can also be made from berries, roots, and flowers and require only natural fixatives such as salt. Researchers are even working on ways to use pond algae to produce fade resistant eco-friendly dyes for fabric and paints.

DRINK GREEN

Now on to what is no doubt our favorite part of the celebration, the drinking of the green. The brew industry is another complex beast to tackle, but know that the best way to acquire your suds is to make it yourself, from organic ingredients, of course. This also eliminates the unnecessary overproduction of aluminum cans and glass bottles, both of which are heavy polluters during production and as waste we end up recycling or discarding into landfills.

If you haven’t found the time to plunge into such a hobby as homemade brewing then you can always shop for organic beer. This way you at least can at least drink assured that your your barley, hops, yeast, sugar, and water are from the highest quality sources free of any unwanted chemicals.

Green Dye for your Green Beer? If you do not want toxic dyes in your clothing, then your most certainly do not want to consume them. There are alternatives.
Browse over to Seelect Organic Natural Green Dye to make your perfect St. Patrick’s Day brew as green as possible, for you and your environment.

Have a great St. Patrick’s Day everyone and keep sustainability in mind even if you can’t pronounce it by the end of the night.