Greenwashing Won't Go Away

Greenwashing is a nemesis to consumers and as long as there is green to be made it will continue.  Recently CBC conducted a review of "green cleaners".  Guess what they found?  There are two ways to avoid this.  One, read the labels and do some research.  Just because it's on the shelf in a nice package doesn't mean it is green.  Second, use homemade green cleaning techniques to save money and you don't have to worry about being duped.

Green Cleaning

Homemade cleaners are by far the best way to protect yourself and your family from the dangerous chemicals that traditional cleaning products contain. Here are a few recipes to get you started.

Furniture Polish- 1/4 C. of olive oil mixed with 1/4 C. of fresh squeezed lemon juice in a spray bottle work wonders on all wood surfaces in the home. A little of this homemade cleaner with some elbow grease on each surface goes a long way! I have used this recipe for years and would never go back to the store bought stuff. Remember to skip the paper towels and use a cloth rag instead.

Kitchen and Bath Cleaner-  A few drops of Tea Tree oil in a spray bottle is an effective way to clean and disinfect all kitchen and bathroom surfaces.

For those of you that use a microwave- using the remaining lemon from the furniture polish recipe in a small bowl of water for 2 minutes on high will steam clean the inside of your microwave and leave it smelling great! All you have to do is wipe the splatter off with a rag.

More green cleaning tips to come.

Seafood Sources

Many people eat seafood whether it is fish for Omega-3 or a fancy lobster dinner.  A lot times we pick things up at the grocery store without thinking.  In the past I wrote about the Seafood Watch program and how you could use that to help you pick seafood.  Now, Greenpeace has launched a survey (PDF)that monitors the grocery stores to determine which ones are mindful of where they get their inventory.  Another section let's you search grocery stores by state along with other information.

Seafood is not excluded from the industrial food system and just like the rest of it we don't know where anything is coming from or how it gets to us.  Tools like this help consumers stay informed and make better choices.

Alternative Health Remedies

There is no shortage of alternative health remedies out there. Various foods, herbs and supplements are available that claim to cure everything. This article has 5 interesting ones that remedy various ailments. Some are more commonly known and all have been supported with some research.

At home I try to use some natural remedies for general health. I'm not sure if taking one specific thing cures anything but I think if you incorporate healthy choices into your lifestyle then they will all combine for overall good health. Recently I have started making my own teas from lemon balm and peppermint that I have grown in my garden. Combined with some local honey it is a great tea that may help with colds. Either way, I like it and I'm sure it has some positive properties. These are the kinds of simple things that we can all do without spending loads of money in the supplements aisle.

No Impact Man

No Impact Man is a film, book and blog about living with no impact on the environment. A very interesting and informative experiment on a dramatic lifestyle change. Get more details here and watch the film trailer here.

I think Colin Beavan has done what many of us would like to do; "unplug" and still live a productive life. I hope his experience along with the book and film prove to people on the fence that it can be done. I am one of those people and want to do it so badly but I'm terrified of how it will impact my life. I already live pretty modestly but I still rely on a lot of things that seem too hard to give up. I look forward to seeing how Colin's experience went and see what I can do.

Make It

Lots of people are making their own things or repurposing what they have. Mister Jalopy is probably on of the more famous people in this arena. Here is a piece about him on CNN and his Owner's Manifesto that he wrote for Make.

While this type of work is not for everyone due to technical limitations I think everyone can learn a little bit and there are plenty of DIY and MIY resources on the internet. It's like we all became lazy about everything because we could always buy another one or there was always a new gadget that would solve that problem. Thinking about products differently and incorporating a cradle-to-cradle design mentality will go a long way in addressing our garbage problems.

Keep Produce Fresh

If you're spending a small fortune on good produce or growing more than you can handle check out these tips on storage from Farm Fresh to You.

Self-Sufficiency and Being Eco-Friendly

In writing the blog over the last few years I have raised my own awareness and of those around me. Sometimes I doubt if I'm doing enough to make a difference and whether it is even eco-friendly in any definition. I'm probably like most people: living between worlds of eco-friendly and regular life. One thing I have noticed noticed is that self-sufficiency is one of my main goals. You can define that any way you like. I found a blog called Walnut Spinney that is about a family striving for self-sufficiency. They seem to be further down the road than most and offer an inspiring story. I think self-sufficiency is an integral part of environmental stewardship because we can better appreciate finite resources. The grocery store never runs out of everything and it is always a short drive away. If you're being self-sufficient you have to manage better and by doing so waste less.

Changing to "Green"

So much information is out there now on how to change your life to a greener way. Not everybody is an environmentalist but many do realize that changing a few things can make a difference. In Canada, the national statistics agency has released a survey on households and the environment (PDF). It shows a fe things that you would expect like increased use of CFL and recyclable bags. It is interesting because it shows that habits are changing and have done so in a relatively short period of time. This is good news for future changes even if they are incremental.

Self-Sufficiency in Suburbia

I read an article about suburban agriculture and how suburbs could produce a lot of food. I can't summarize the article to do it justice so go check it out here.

Collapsing Oil Prices and Alternative Energy

Oil prices have plummeted in recent weeks. There has been a lot of analysis on what will happen to alternative energy. Seeking Alpha has a section that aggregates loads of information on what is going on and what can happen from a financial perspective. Generally, as the price of traditional energy supply drops the need to replace them with alternatives diminishes and the appeal of these investments is generally declining.

I wonder if the general "green" trend will decline along with the changing attitude in the financial markets. Further, petrochemical alternatives were also being developed, such as bioplastics, and these are probably falling out of favor as well. It will be interesting to see how quickly and to what extent environmental concerns will be cast off. Critical mass was not quite achieved and I don't think it will now for some time as people are going to be more concerned with keeping their house rather than the size of their carbon footprint. I think the idea of being "green" is still holding but as the economic decline becomes more severe it will likely fade.

Cheap Green Products

Payless has come out with a new line of eco-friendly shoes for under $30. Making green products widely available is great thing. Achieving scale for these products is a good way to make them cheaper but, in my opinion, one element of the message is missing. Less consumption is the best way to minimize our environmental impact. Just like conserving energy is the best way to "generate" new power the same can be applied to other consumption activities. Creating less waste and garbage is one of the best things we can do for the environment.

Life Happens

The last couple of weeks have been busy for me and I have not been able to post as regularly as I normally do. I have realized that having children in school, people being sick in the house and having to keep things going at home makes life busy and hectic. I'm fortunate that many changes have been made in our house that makes it a habit to keep life "green". I'm not as green as I would like but overall I think we're doing pretty good. For people who have not made it a routine it must be difficult to make changes. That's why I like to try and keep my writing here practical and informative for everyone.

Being "green" is not about being trendy or proving credentials in my opinion. Doing your best to minimize your negative impact on the world around you is what I try to do and I think that is a good start for all of us. Once you start living in that mindset you can go beyond that and make bigger changes in your life. You can stop commuting and move, build a house out of recycled materials or start working to make changes in your community. Remember, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Insider London

Insider London is a service that takes tours around the city and shows all the sustainable aspects of it on their Cutting Edge Green Tour. If you will be in the U.K. this is definitely worth looking into. Getting a chance to see sustainable elements of a different city might help spread good ideas.

Plasma TVs vs PHEV

Plasma TVs Draw More Juice from Grid than Plug-In Vehicles

Probably one of the reasons we will have a tough time becoming "sustainable" is our never ending supply of gadgets. Plasma TVs might be great but is it really worth it if it uses more electricity than a car? I doubt it. We need to start valuing everything in a larger scale to see if what we want matches the resources around us and the usefulness of it.

IzzitGreen.Com

I just received an email regarding IzzitGreen.Com. It is a website that rates local businesses for how green they are along with how good they are to shop at. Currently it is local to the Boston area but it sounds like they have plans to expand. I think this site combines the peer-review nature of the web with the local content that everyone is trying to develop these days. Add the green element to it and I think it could help us in supporting the local businesses that are great places to shop and have real green credentials. It will also help us cut through the greenwashing. It is a well designed site in my opinion and I hope they are successful.

Greenwashing and Green noise

With all the media coverage of green issues and advertising of everything that is turning green a lot of green noise is being created. It is important for us as consumers and citizens to cut through it and find what is really green and what is relevant.

To help in this regard check out Greenwashing at SourceWatch. Great information and definitions to help you figure it out.

More Green Confusion

Do We Really Need a Few Billion Locavores? is an interesting article from the Freakonomics blog. In my opinion, it puts the buy local movement into a global economic perspective and discusses the economic concept of specialization.

It is a great point but I find it frustrating. What the hell are we supposed to do to make a difference? Their points make economic sense but I like buying local and doing things for myself. However, I think many people feel they have a responsibility to the world around them. It is getting more difficult to reconcile personal actions with global responsibility. I think this may be the undoing of the "green" movement when people get to confused or frustrated about doing the "right thing". Green fatigue might set in and it will definitely happen if oil drops below $100 a barrel and waste becomes affordable again.

How To Make Nutritious Granola Bars

There are so many organic snacks flooding the market these days. This is a nice recipe for making granola bars that you can use instead of buying them. Substitute some organic ingredients and you've got a great snack without large amounts of sugar.

How To Make Nutritious Granola Bars | eHow.com

Shopping Local

Shopping local for produce is becoming more popular as people realize the impact of their shopping habits. We are realizing that what we buy has impact far beyond our use of the product and impacts the producers, the waste stream, and more. The economy is inextricably linked to all of this. Mass retailing combined with mass production has wreaked havoc on many communities across North America. Small Biz Survival is a blog that discusses business in smaller towns in the United States. They have collected a few links about how local businesses have a larger, positive impact on local economies.

The idea to "think global act local" is truer than ever. By shopping locally for locally produced goods we can help our local economies and minimize negative global consequences. The question that will need to be answered is how do we make global trade work in relation to the environment and distributing wealth around the world?