Creation Care Team

What does a label mean?

noreply@blogger.com (CBrulee) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 23:07:00 +0000

WebMD warns that while many "green" or "natural" cleaning products are indeed safer, others are “greenwashed”. That means they are marketed as "natural" but still have suspect chemicals.”

How can you tell? “Get in the simple practice of looking at product labels to see if the cleaning manufacturer is clearly disclosing all ingredients,” reports WebMD. “If it is not…it could mean the manufacturer is trying to hide a particular suspect ingredient.”

Also, just because a product has an eco-certification printed on its label doesn’t necessarily mean it should be trusted. To make sure, check the Eco-Labels section of Consumer Reports’ Greener Choices website, which gives the low-down on what labels really mean and whether they are backed up by government regulations.

The Greener Choices site asks, "Did you know? ..."

The "free-range" label doesn’t necessarily mean the animals went outdoors.
"Fair Trade Certified" means more than paying producers a fair wage.
Meat labeled as "natural" can contain artificial ingredients.

Another good resource is the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Household Products Database, which provides ingredient lists for thousands of products on U.S. store shelves.

If you want to play it safe and natural when cleaning your home, WebMD suggests using white distilled vinegar—it kills mold and mildew, eliminates soap scum and sanitizes, all in one fell swoop—to clean windows, tile, cutting boards and countertops. Another effective yet gentle natural cleaner for countertops and bathtubs is baking soda, especially when mixed with a few drops of mild soap. Borax can be called in for tougher stains.

If you’re interested in cleaning greener, there are many sources of natural cleaning recipes online. Or check out the cleaning products aisle at your local natural food store, where you will find a wide range of cleaning formulations from the likes of Seventh Generation, Ecover, Green Works and Earth Friendly Products (which sells a “Safeguard Your Home” retail pack that includes one each of a window cleaner, an all-purpose cleaner, a dishwashing liquid, an automatic dishwasher gel, a laundry detergent and a fabric refresher), among many others.

Eco-label center, Greener Choices (a Consumer Reports site)
Free range -- U.S. vs. Europe (WikiPedia)
Free range issues
Green and clean - top picks for cleaning your home (WebMD)
Household products database (NIH, NLM)
Looking behind the "natural" label on foods (NPR)

Disclaimer: The author subscribes to Consumer Reports online

Source: Based on an article in "EarthTalk"®, a registered trademark of E - The Environmental Magazine (http://www.emagazine.com/). You may be interested in the online archive of past EarthTalk articles or in the EarthTalk article news feed.

Dirty data - Apple, Facebook, IBM

noreply@blogger.com (CBrulee) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 19:42:00 +0000

Apple, Facebook, and IBM are all especially guilty of getting significant amounts of power from coal-fired power plants. This finding was came to light in a Greenpeace report about the energy use of the 10 biggest tech companies.

You'd think that these rotten apples would be red-faced!

Facebook also came under fire earlier in 2011 when reporters found that the company planned to buy electricity for its new eco-friendly data center in Prineville, Oregon — one of the greenest such facilities ever designed and constructed — from a utility that gets most of its power from coal.

Green cloud services firms

The companies that scored best scored best in use of renewable alternative energy sources for cloud services?

Yahoo
Amazon.com
Microsoft

Google also leads in green

Google has been a real leader in the building of green data centers, even powering them with renewable energy. The company released environmental footprint scores for several of its data centers. While the energy usage required to run its cloud services (Google Search, Google+, Gmail and YouTube) seems huge in the aggregate (it used 260 megawatt hours to power its data centers in 2010), it boils down to only 7.4 kilowatt hours worth of energy annually per user.

Google reports that to provide an individual user with its services for a month uses less energy than leaving a light bulb on for three hours. And because the company has been carbon neutral since 2007, “even that small amount of energy is offset completely, so the carbon footprint of your life on Google is zero.”

Cloud computing will help environment

In the long run, analysts think that the widespread shift to cloud computing will be a great boon to the environment. A report released in September 2011 by Pike Research, “Cloud Computing Energy Efficiency,” predicts that because of the shift to cloud computing and increasing efficiencies, data center power consumption will decrease by 31 percent between 2010 and 2020.

Learn more about green IT and cloud computing

How dirty is your data? (Greenpeace report) (PDF)
Energy Star
Cloud Computing Efficiency (Pike Research)
Cloud comuting's green paradox (CNET)
Green Computing via Cloud Computing
Green Data Center Alliance

Source: Based on an article in "EarthTalk"®, a registered trademark of E - The Environmental Magazine (http://www.emagazine.com/). You may be interested in the online archive of past EarthTalk articles or in the EarthTalk article news feed.

Climate change effects

noreply@blogger.com (CBrulee) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 21:40:00 +0000

Climate change doesn't just mean bad changes in weather patterns or a warmer overall climate. It also affects all God's creatures on his planet.br />

Some are more at risk than others. “Species with small population sizes, restricted ranges, and limited ability to move to different habitat will be most at risk,” reports the National Audubon Society. “Similarly, different habitats and ecosystems will be impacted differently, with those in coastal, high-latitude, and high-altitude regions most vulnerable.”

Audubon also reports that the timing of reproductive events (egg-laying, flowering, spawning) across different species that depend on each other is happening earlier than ever “in some cases interrupting delicate cycles that ensure that insects and other food are available for young animals.”

Another leading conservation group, Defenders of Wildlife, has detailed how a long list of other North American fauna is in decline as a result of global warming.

While the problem is serious and many leaders is serious denial, you can still be part of the solution.

Swap incandescent bulbs for compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL) or, even better, the new generation of LED bulbs.
Bike, walk and take mass transit more.
Drive your car less.
Telecommute when you can.
Try to source as much of your food and other goods locally to cut down on carbon-heavy transcontinental freight shipping.

Links to organizations listed:

Another reason to buy local food

noreply@blogger.com (CBrulee) — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 20:38:00 +0000

Freight companies generate a lot of pollution. While transportation technologies and fuels have become more efficient, freight demands have also surged over the past two decades. Today, in the U.S. alone, for example, freight is responsible for about a quarter of all transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions.

Most freight trucks, locomotives and ships run on diesel engines, which pump out nitrogen oxides, small particles, and carbon dioxide (CO2). Repeated exposure to nitrogen oxide-based smog and small particles has been linked to a wide range of human health problems. Then there's the damages being wrought in our atmosphere and ecosystems by CO2 emissions.

A 2005 analysis by the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) showed that heavy duty trucks cause 78% of the freight-related pollution.

So how can you help? One way ... choose to buy food that is grown locally. This helps the local economy and small farmers plus it reduces pollution.

Buy from farmers' markets.
Support restaurants that buy locally grown items.
Join a food co-op. Get in-season produce from local growers.

Links about locally grown food

10 simple things that help

noreply@blogger.com (CBrulee) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:34:00 +0000

Below are ten simple things you can do to help protect God's earth (adapted from a World Wildlife Federation flyer).

Do anytime...

Drive less; walk more.
Go for second.
Watch your waste.

Plan meals better so you don't have to throw away some food.
Don't overeat. When you do it's garbage in - garbage out (as waste).
Recycle paper in its many forms -- cereal boxes, "junk mail", bill envelopes, ...

Bag it

Use your own canvas or similar reusable bag.
Buy bags that do not have lead-based paint (some made in China allegedly do).

BYOB (Bring your own bottle) of water. Don't keep buying plastic bottles that only create problems at landfills.
Get in touch with your roots. Tree roots that is. Plant a tree.
Support the good guys. That is, support non-profit organizations that actually help the environment.

Winter

Put on a sweater. Use a sweater to keep you warmer, then turn down the heat a few degrees.

House strips EPA of water authority

noreply@blogger.com (CBrulee) — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 21:32:00 +0000

The U.S. House of Representatives recently voted to strip the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of its authority over state water quality. Why did they do this, what are the ramifications and what do leading green groups have to say about it? -- Joseph Emory, York, PA.

The legislation in question, the Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act of 2011 (H.R. 2018), passed the House of Representatives this past July with strong support from Republicans and will likely be voted on by the Senate in the Fall. It aims to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (also known as the Clean Water Act (CWA) in order to give authority over water quality standards back to the states.

The bill’s backers—including most House Republicans and lobbyists for the mountaintop coal mining industry and factory animal farms—claim it will bring jobs to Appalachia and other distressed regions of the country where they say economic growth has been crippled by stringent environmental regulations. The bill would prevent the EPA from overruling decisions made by state regulatory agencies. The GOP web site says:

“By second-guessing and inserting itself into the states’…standards and permitting decisions, EPA has upset the long-standing balance between federal and state partners in regulating the nation’s waters, and undermined the system of cooperative federalism established under the CWA in which the primary responsibilities for water pollution control are allocated to the states ... EPA’s actions have created an atmosphere of regulatory uncertainty for the regulated community, and have had a chilling effect on the nation’s economy and job creation.”

But those opposed to the bill, including the White House and many Congressional Democrats, say that its provisions would undermine stringent federal water quality protections some four decades in the making.

“H.R. 2018 could limit efforts to safeguard communities by removing the Federal Government’s authority to take action when State water quality standards are not protective of public health,” said the White House after the bill passed in the House by a count of 239-184. Such changes, they added, could adversely impact public health and the environment through increased pollution and degradation of water bodies that provide drinking water, recreation and tourism opportunities, and habitat for fish and wildlife.

For their part, environmental groups couldn’t agree more.

“Make no mistake: This bill would take the environmental cop off the beat and put at risk drinking water for millions of people, the habitat for scores of wildlife, and the jobs and economic growth that depends on a safer, cleaner environment,” said Larry Schweiger of the non-profit National Wildlife Federation, adding that, if enacted, the bill would take us “back to a time when rivers caught fire because of rampant pollution.”

Environmentalists are optimistic that backers won’t have enough Senate votes to pass the bill. Meanwhile, President Obama has pledged to veto any such legislation that does make its way across his desk. But political winds shift quickly inside the Beltway, and only time will tell if the bill will gain enough support to withstand a veto. The quality of the nation’s water supply hangs in the balance.

Sources and more information

EarthTalk", from E/The Environmental Magazine, 28 Knight Street, Norwalk, CT 06851. Phone: (203) 854-5559 ext 106, FAX: (203) 866-0602, earthtalkcolumn@emagazine.com.
HR 2018
National Wildlife Federation
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Magic sand filters heavy metals from water

noreply@blogger.com (CBrulee) — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 16:13:00 +0000

A huge concern in many parts of the world is drinkable water. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that about 884 million people around the world do not have access to clean drinking water.

Researchers have now come up with a novel idea that could help ease this health issue. Sand itself is a good filter for biological waste, but not so hot at removing heavy metals, which can make people sick.

The research shows that coating grains of sand with a carbon material dramatically reduced the heavy metals in water.

Green grilling

noreply@blogger.com (CBrulee) — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 19:35:00 +0000

Just in time for the summer grilling season, The Weather Channel has a special section of Green Grilling Tips. The tips really come from the Mother Nature Network.

I found it disappointing that the tips about what type of grill to buy are not really tips at all. They are "think about this" and "consider that" statements. Nice and valid, but the comments may not actually help you select a grill.

Likewise their link to "Seven Tips for a Guilt-free BBQ" is not really about the BBQ itself. It's about the side dishes. I guess it's true -- there is no BBQ that is truly healthy. I was hoping, but ... [sigh]

Nevertheless, the Green Grilling Tips section is interesting and has some good advice. And that page led me to search and find more.

Green Grilling Tips (Weather.com / Mother Nature Network)
Green Grilling (My Carolina Today)
Green BBQ - 5 Ways to Green your outdoor celebrations (Green Living Eco)
Savor Great Green Grilling (6-slide slideshow)

Creation quote of note

noreply@blogger.com (CBrulee) — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 16:39:00 +0000

"All Creation is the Lord’s, and we are responsible for the ways in which we use and abuse it."

-- United Methodist Social Principles ¶160 – The Natural World

Over 300 new species found in Philippines

noreply@blogger.com (CBrulee) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 23:44:00 +0000

Scientists working in the Phillipines have discovered hundreds of new species, some of which may hold potential for new drugs.

During our zeal to develop more territory for a profit, we need to pause and reflect on not only the consequences to God's creation, but also to our own future health and that of our descendents.

Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com

Contaminated produce

noreply@blogger.com (CBrulee) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 18:30:00 +0000

People trying to eat healthier and eat more fresh fruits and vegetables may never think about which ones have more pesticides. We just don't mentally link "fresh" with pesticides. But maybe we should pay more attention to that.

This may be another reason to shop organic for fruits and vegetables that are high on the pesticide list.

This year, bumping celery from the number one spot as having the most pesticides is the ever-popular apple. Though the amounts of pesticides found on produce are within FDA limits, you may want to consider consuming foods with less pesticides and buying more organic produce for the "dirty" ones.

Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com

Related sites

Ashes and Eco-Justice

noreply@blogger.com (CBrulee) — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 04:01:00 +0000

The National Council of Churches for Christ (NCC) Eco-Justice blog is featuring a weekly Lenten series on eco-justice as applied to local communities.

The first posting, just in time for Ash Wednesday, is "Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust. Trash Forever?"

The series will use the below Bible passages:

Week 1: Ezekiel 34:18-19
Week 2: John 20:21-22
Week 3: Acts 2:44-45
Week 4: Mark 8:1-9
Week 5: Matthew 18:20
Week 6: John 20:24-27

Top EPA accomplishments

noreply@blogger.com (CBrulee) — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 18:59:00 +0000

The Aspen Institute has published a list of “10 ways the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has strengthened America over the past 40 years.” By the way, the EPA was founded by the Nixon administration in 1970. The EPA has helped protect and preseve God's earth in many ways.

Banned widespread use of the pesticide DDT, which was killing off wildlife and threatening public health.
Greatly reduced acid rain due to reductions in sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions. Acid rain pollutes water sources.
Changed public views of waste, which led to innovations making use of waste to create energy and make new products.
Banned lead from gasoline.
Classified secondhand smoke as a known cause of cancer. This led to smoking bans in indoor public places, thereby improving public health.
Set strict emission standards for pollutants emitted by cars and trucks.
Regulated toxic chemicals and encouraged development of less harmful ones.
Established a national commitment to restore and maintain the safety of fresh water (the Clean Water Act).
Promoted fair environmental protection for minority and low-income citizens.
Increased the amount of public information about chemicals and/or pollutants people may be exposed to in their daily lives.

Current EPA focus areas

Dealing with climate change.
Further improving air quality.
Assuring the safety of chemicals used in everyday products.
Protecting increasingly compromised waterways and coastal areas.
Building stronger state and tribal partnerships.
Expanding protection for underrepresented communities.

Potential future problems

Any of the possible types of roadblocks listed below could hamper the EPA in improving our national stewardship of God's earth.

An unfriendly Congress.
Weak White House resolve.
Public apathy
Future natural and man-made disasters that divert both attention and resources.

Sources and more information

EarthTalk", from E/The Environmental Magazine, 28 Knight Street, Norwalk, CT 06851. Phone: (203) 854-5559 ext 106, FAX: (203) 866-0602, earthtalkcolumn@emagazine.com.
Apen Institute report (PDF)
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Thank the EPA!

noreply@blogger.com (CBrulee) — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 04:32:00 +0000

The National Council of Churches of Christ's newsletter today asks all interested in protecting and preserving God's earth andGod's children to say a big, "Thank you!" to the EPA. Their email is quoted below:

"Join us in saying “Thank You” to the EPA for saying “no” to the devastation that Mountaintop Removal mining has on God’s Creation and God’s children.

Two weeks ago, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a veto of permits for a new West Virginian mountaintop removal coal mine - the Spruce Number One mine. After years of litigation and debate, the EPA said “no.”

No to the destruction of God’s Creation.

No to polluted water and choked waterways.

And No to adverse health impacts and high rates of poverty in Mountaintop Removal communities."

If you would like to sign an electronic petition of thanks, surf on over to the NCC Eco-Justice page.

Google Earth Outreach

noreply@blogger.com (CBrulee) — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 19:12:00 +0000

In case you didn't know ... Google has a special outreach effort for Google Earth that encourages nonprofit organizations to use Google Earth to help tell their story and follow their actions.

At the Google Earth Outreach site, Google proclaims, "You want to change the world. We want to help." All sorts of projects and actions with either the full Google Earth program or the Google Earth web browser plugin, called EarthView.

Below is a video introduction about Google Earth Outreach.

Sports go green

noreply@blogger.com (CBrulee) — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 20:21:00 +0000

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has helped makes sports more environmentally friendly through its “Greening the Games” initiative. The NRDC has helped dozens of pro sports teams evaluate and improve their environmental impacts.

Philadelphia Eagles. The NRDC started working with the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles in 2004, providing advice for the team's "Go Green" effort. Today the Eagles:

Get all of their energy at Lincoln Field from wind power
Pour fans’ drinks in biodegradable corn-based plastic cups
Power their scoreboard with solar panels
Have reduced overall electricity use by a third

Major League Baseball. In 2008, NRDC teamed up with Major League Baseball (MLB) to first green the All Star Game and, in 2009, the World Series. The NRDC later assessed each team’s environmental footprint and recommended improvements. Several teams then built or refurbished their stadiums with sustainability in mind. Boston’s Fenway Park, Atlanta’s Turner Field, Washington, DC’s Nationals Park, and San Francisco’s AT&T Park all get high marks for pro-environment features and operations.

U.S. Tennis Association. Also in 2008, NRDC began working with the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) to green its top event, the US Open. Results included a move to 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper for tournament programs. An environmental review of all operations at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, New York led to a number of green improvements for the 2009 US Open, including the switch to 90 percent post-consumer recycled paper for some 2.4 million napkins, increasing the percentage of Hybrid vehicles, and a move to wind turbines for the tournament’s electricity. For the 2010 US Open, the USTA expanded its efforts at the National Tennis Center to help ensure that the US Open registered as little impact on the environment as possible. The NTC grounds featured site-wide composting for the first time. Hybrid vehicles made up 60 percent of the player transportation fleet and a sponsor held a daily MetroCard giveaway, where 125 fans each day won a $4.50 MetroCard to encourage use of mass transit to the US Open.

National Basketball Association. The NBA jumped on the NRDC sports bandwagon in 2009, working with the group to organize its first annual Green Week in early April. During Green Week, the entire league works to increase environmental awareness and generate funds for related causes. As part of the festivities, which took place in 2010 as well and will happen again in April 2011, each NBA team hosted community service events including tree plantings, recycling drives and park clean-up days.

National Hockey League. NRDC got the NHL to skate in on the act as well, helping to green the Stanley Cup Finals and working with individual teams as it did with baseball and football. In announcing the launch of the NHL Green program, league commissioner Gary Bettman commented that it’s only fitting for professional ice hockey to care about staving off global warming: "Most of our players learned to skate on outdoor rinks. For that magnificent tradition to continue through future generations we need winter weather—and as a league we are uniquely positioned to promote that message."

National Football League. The NFL itself has also come aboard, putting varied green initiatives in place at the Super Bowl, the Pro Bowl and other big events. The NFL website states that Super Bowl XLV's Climate Change Initiative includes several steps to reduce the overall greenhouse gas impact of Super Bowl activities and events:

Renewable energy credits. The NFL is using renewable energy credits to provide "green" power for all major Super Bowl XLV event venues including Cowboys Stadium, the Super Bowl Media Center, NFL Super Bowl headquarters, the NFL Experience and the AFC and NFC team hotels.
Tree planings. Several thousand trees are being planted at sites that include all 12 North Texas Super Bowl host communities as part of the overall "greening" of Super Bowl XLV. Partners include the Texas Forest Service, the Texas Trees Foundation and the US Forest Service. On Monday, Jan. 24, a luncheon event called "Touchdown for Trees" will honor the mayors and the students in each of the twelve communities for their participation in this regional project.
Monitoring of tree planting results. In partnership with the US Forest Service, the environmental benefits of all trees planted the past seven years in connection with Super Bowl will be monitored and the quantitative results certified by researchers at the US Forest Service.
Biodiesel fuel. One third of all buses in use on game day will be using biodiesel fuel.

Sources

EarthTalk", from E/The Environmental Magazine, 28 Knight Street, Norwalk, CT 06851. Phone: (203) 854-5559 ext 106, FAX: (203) 866-0602, earthtalkcolumn@emagazine.com
NRDC's "Greening the Games" web page
National Football League news story, January 14, 2011
US Tennis Association News, "USTA launches new programming and fan enhancements for 2010 US Open", May 25, 2008

Recycling in DeKalb County

noreply@blogger.com (CBrulee) — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 22:25:00 +0000

DeKalb County, Georgia, offers curbside recycling, though you pay a bit extra for it. But that's not the end of the recycling opportunities in the area. Decatur has an annual electronic recycling.

And there's more. The Keep DeKalb Beautiful organization has partnered with DeKalb County Sanitation and offers year-round electronics recycling.

Here are links to recycling information for our area:

Print nature calendars

noreply@blogger.com (CBrulee) — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:59:00 +0000

HP offers some free templates to print calendars with varied eco-friendly themes:

Flowers (use your own photo image files)
Eco-tips (images provided)
World of Nature (use your own photo image files)

So ... have you taken photos of flowers, trees, landscapes, or animals? Locate the electronic files and create a printable calendar.

You can use photos from a source such as Flickr.com but only if the creator has given permission for that -- check the creative commons license for the photos you like. Tip: You can do an "Advanced search" and select photos and only ones that allow any use.

Get eco alerts by cell phone

noreply@blogger.com (CBrulee) — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 01:15:00 +0000

You can get the latest conservation news, action alerts, event info, and more from the World Wildlife Federation by cell phone.

Just text
PANDA
to 69866

Your normal text messaging charges apply, of course.

10 simple steps to help protect the earth

noreply@blogger.com (CBrulee) — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 00:06:00 +0000

A flyer from the World Wildlife Federation lists 10 simple things you can do to help protect God's earth:

Drive less; walk more.
Go for second. Reuse when possible.
Three-peat. Recycle what you can.
Bag it. Use your own bag, not a plastic or paper one.
BYOB ... your own water bottle, that is.
Flip 'em. Turn off lights.
Get in touch with your roots. Plant trees.
Get off it. Stop getting catalogs you don't want.
Put on a sweater [in winter, that is!]
Support pro-earth organizations.

Future postings will expand on each of these steps separately.

Cycling in our area

noreply@blogger.com (CBrulee) — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 01:52:00 +0000

Specialized Google maps are popping up everwhere, it seems.

If you enjoy cycling, check out the map of cycling in our area. Cycling is a great way to leisurely appreciate our surroundings.

Bananas bad for the environment?

noreply@blogger.com (CBrulee) — Sun, 16 May 2010 00:26:00 +0000

Historically, growing the world’s most popular fruit has caused massive degradation of rainforest land across the tropics, spread noxious chemicals throughout formerly pristine watersheds, and poisoned and exploited farm workers.

The Rainforest Alliance is helping with this problem. The organization certifies as sustainable those banana farms and plantations that meet certain criteria for responsible farm management set by the Sustainable Agriculture Network, a coalition of non-profits striving to improve commodity production in the tropics. As a result of the program, some 15 percent of all bananas sold internationally now come from farms certified by the Rainforest Alliance. The group is especially proud of its agreements with two of the largest growers, Favorita and Chiquita. All of Favorita’s farms in Ecuador and all of Chiquita’s farms in Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama are certified sustainable under the program.

But other groups bemoan the fact that even certified plantations are on land that was once tropical rainforest. According to Rainforest Relief, Americans should still avoid purchasing bananas altogether and instead opt for fruit grown locally, such as apples, peaches, cherries or pears. The group is hopeful, though, that its work with farm cooperatives growing organic bananas under the shade of a diverse forest canopy in Costa Rica can eventually drive the larger international banana market toward better land use and worker safety standards.

[Source: EarthTalk, from e-magazine, 28 Knight Street, Norwalk, CT 06851. Phone: (203) 854-5559/x106 - FAX: (203) 866-0602, earthtalkcolumn@emagazine.com]

Related links

Eco Tidbit

noreply@blogger.com (CBrulee) — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 23:54:00 +0000

"According to the U.S. Geological Survey, greenhouse gas emissions from volcanoes make up less than one percent of those generated by human endeavors."
-- from an Earthtalk newsletter, from E - the environmental magazine

Decatur Electronics Recycling - March 27

noreply@blogger.com (CBrulee) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 06:34:00 +0000

Recycle your old electronics at Decatur High School on Saturday, March 27, from 9:00 am - 1:00 pm.

The items you drop off will be dismantled for parts, which will either be reused or recycled by a private company. The following will not be accepted: vacuum cleaners, microwaves, light fixtures, lamps and household appliances.

Household batteries as well as clean styrofoam blocks and peanuts will also be accepted.

TVs will be accepted, but require payment of $10 cash (exact change).

Eco-friendly umbrellas

noreply@blogger.com (CBrulee) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:07:00 +0000

While reading E-Magazine online, I noticed a short piece on umbrellas mostly made from recycled items. One is the Coby Eco Umbrella, available from Crate and Barrel online.

Even better is that if you have installed the GoodSearch toolbar and have specified Decatur Cooperative Ministries as the charitable organization that your searches support, DCM will get 2.5% of your purchase cost donated to them.

It's a nice Win-Win situation.