melissa shoes

I am so pining for these adorable ankle strap flats by Melissa. They're plastic, but a plastic that's both recycled and recyclable. Based in Australia with manufacturing in Brazil, sustainability and fair employment are at the core of Melissa's ethic -- despite its multinational presence. The shoes are made with close to zero waste, with the utmost care taken to reduce use of resources like water and energy. How could I not love a pair of shoes like that?

chris elliot and gerry mulligan's tips for green living

Chris and Gerry teach us how to compost [via The Late Show with David Letterman]



But seriously, why should anyone compost? For starters, more than 60% of household waste is recyclable or compostable. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 25% of the food we make each year is trashed. The EPA also reported that in 2005, food scraps accounted for 12% of all landfill waste in the US. This waste contributes to the release of methane -- a greenhouse gas that's 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide -- into the atmosphere. And we all know by now that releasing all that greenhouse gas into the environment contributes to climate change.

So here are some resources for the novice or more experienced composter or gardener:

Books on Composting

• Basic Composting: All the Skills and Tools You Need to Get Started by Erich Ebeling
• Let it Rot! A Gardener's Guide to Composting by Stu Campbell
• Garden My Heart: Organic Strategies for Backyard Sustainability (Kindle Edition) by Cecil Bothwell
• Teaming with Microbes: A Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web by Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis
• Worms Eat My Garbage: How to Set Up and Maintain a Worm Composting System by Mary Appelhof
  
  

Composting Contraptions

• Naturemill (especially for pets version)
  This is supposed to be the best indoor composter on the market -- great for apartment dwellers. A quick tutorial here
• Green Gusanito Factory of Worms
  If you're into vermicomposting, this worm farm is for you!
• Norpro 94 Stainless Steel Composter Keeper
  Useful for storing food scraps before bringing them to the compost heap; air fresh
  

Composting Tips

• 30 Unexpected and Unusual Things You Can Put in the Compost [EcoSalon]
• Composting 101 [Marquis Project]
• How to Make Compost Tea [Pennsylvania DEP]

Sources:
NRDC. The Past, Present and Future of Recycling. (3/28/08)
EPA. Why Is Food Waste an Issue?

less toxic nail polish

I used to be a regular at the local nail salon, until I started thinking about the chemicals I was exposing myself to. Many popular nail polish brands include formaldehyde, petrochemicals, and other nasty ingredients. So for the last couple of years, my digits have usually been unadorned, except for a few special occasions. Fortunately, a few months ago during a spa day (a Christmas gift from my sweetheart) I came across a less toxic nail polish brand: SpaRitual.

It's free of dibutyl phthalate (DBP), formaldehyde, and toluene and after wearing it for a month on my toes, there was no yellowing -- something that commonly occurs with more chemically laden brands like OPI and Essie.

Acquarella is another brand of nail polish that is said to be the least toxic of them all. It's water based, and contains no phthalates, toluene, formaldehyde, or petrochemical solvents. It's also cruelty free and vegan. There is a bit of a learning curve though, as the application method varies slightly from traditional nail polish. Plus it's a little pricier than mainstream polish at $18 a bottle.

If you want to skip the 3 toxic ingredients (and support cruelty-free products), go with these brands:

• Acquarella
• No Miss
• Orly
• Peacekeeper
• Sante
• SpaRitual

And for polish removal:

• Acquarella (though it gets mixed reviews)
• HoneyBee Gardens
• No Miss
• Suncoat (this one gets mixed reviews as well)

Don't forget the organic cotton balls!

sustainable seafood news

• Maine seeking sustainable status for lobsters [Telegram]
• Brits start replacing cod and chips with more sustainable species [Telegraph]
• Top safe & sustainable fish named [Plenty Mag]
• Learning to live with frozen fish [Washington Post]
• FDA to ease rules on China seafood? [USA Today]

colbert on the environment

Stephen Colbert asks Slate writer Brendan Koerner (aka, The Green Lantern) such questions as which is better, paper or plastic, and how he can shoot his gun during a high speed chase while saving gas at the same time.





Get your CFLs here ($14.49 for 4-pack)

Reusable shopping bags
Hero Bags (recycled, made in USA, set of 3)
Eco Totes (organic cotton, fair trade, made in India)
Econscious Bag (organic cotton twill)

end mountaintop removal

The destructive process of mountaintop removal coal mining must be stopped. It destroys entire mountains, ecosystems, communities, and economies. Here, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. explains:

"In May 2002 I flew over the coalfields of Kentucky and West Virginia. From the air, I came face to face with one, but only one, of the enormous costs we pay for our nation’s dependence on coal. Leveled mountains, devastated communities, wrecked economies and ruined lives—this is the coal truth.

Half of our electricity comes from coal. In the Appalachian chain, ancient mountains are dismantled through a form of strip mining called mountaintop removal. We’re cutting down these historic landscapes—where Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett roamed and that are the source of America’s values and culture—with giant machines called draglines. These behemoths stand 22 stories, cost half a billion dollars, and practically dispense with the need for human labor.

That, indeed is the point. I recall a conversation that I had with my father when I was 14 years old and he was fighting strip mining in Appalachia. There was no environmental issue about which my father cared more passionately than strip mining. He visited the Appalachian coalfields in 1966 and many times thereafter. He explained to me that the strip miners were not just destroying the environment, they were permanently impoverishing the region; there was no way that Appalachian communities could rebuild an economy from the barren moonscapes the strip industry left behind. “And,” he told me, “they are doing it to break the unions.” Back then there were 114,000 unionized mine workers in West Virginia digging coal from tunnels and supporting the families and communities of Appalachia. Today, there are less than 11,000 miners in West Virginia taking the same amount of coal and only a fraction of them are unionized because the strip industry isn’t." Read more...

Join over 30,000 others who are standing up against this heinous act against the environment.

Pin this badge on your site.

pedal power

I love my bike. It's comfy, pink, and lovely. But I feel I've been neglecting my pedal-powered friend. One reason: I take the subway to work and walk everywhere in my neighborhood, so there's really no need to ride it except for exercise. Maybe I'm a bit timid when it comes to traversing thoroughfares like Flatbush Ave, or a bit skittish around those double-parked Fresh Direct delivery trucks that like to take up a whole lane on a narrow street. When I'm planning my route, I also like to know there's a bike lane and that I'm riding with traffic to avoid a head-on collision with a bike messenger.

My bike, the Electra Townie

Well, I've just been tipped off (thanks, Ideal Bite!) about a site that takes all the guesswork out of planning your bike route: Ride the City. Like any other map site, enter your starting point and destination -- then Ride the City plans your route based on your specifications. You can choose between safest route (like me), safe route, or most direct route.

I think this beta site may still have some glitches, because when I tried to find the safest route from my apartment in Brooklyn to the office in Manhattan, it did not compute. Kinks aside, like HopStop, I'm sure Ride the City will be another indispensable tool for navigating the urban jungle.

water-saving shampoo

Maybe you've heard of dry shampoos, a way to clean hair or at least fake it in between washings. In the past, women might throw some cornstarch-based product in their hair, comb it out, and call it day. While this method worked for some, it was more like masking the appearance of dirty hair rather than actually cleaning it. Apparently there's a more effective way to wash hair without water. One such product is Klorane Gentle Dry Shampoo -- and they've just come out with a non-aerosol version. Great for travel, going out after the gym, or when you're just in a rush, this dry shampoo is one of those secret weapons of stylists at fashion shows or film sets.

Since I'm always looking for ways to save water and wash my hair sans toxins, I'm just going to have to try it. Get yours here.

Eco bonus: Pierre Fabre, creator of the Klorane Institute, has long been a supporter of plant biodiversity, through research of botanicals for cosmetic and therapeutic applications.

wrap it up

Trying to reduce the presence of disposable plastic things in your kitchen? Ditch the cling wrap and tuck your sandwich or leftovers in one of these:

If You Care Aluminum Foil

• Made with 100% recycled aluminum

Natural Value Wax Paper Bags

• Made with unbleached wax paper
• Non-toxic when incinerated
  

Chef's Select Soy Wax Paper

• Made with petroleum-free wax paper

Frigoverre Food Storage Containers

• Glass container with polypropylene top, safe for food storage
• Microwave and freezer safe
• Made in Italy

Pyrex Glass Food Storage Containers

• Glass container with polypropylene top, safe for food storage
• Oven, microwave, refrigerator, freezer, and dishwasher safe
• Made in USA
  

To-Go Ware Stainless Steel Food Tin

• Safer than plastic, lighter than glass, with this tin you can take your lunch to work or on a picnic with ease
• Two dishes are separated by a plate
• You can also get it with a handy insulated sling bag
• Try the To-Go Ware Bamboo Utensil Set, too
  

If you really want to have cling wrap and plastic bags, try these bio-friendly products:

Natural Value Clear Plastic Wrap

• PVC and plasticizer free, this plastic wrap won't leach chemicals onto your food
• Works just as well, if not better than traditional Saran wrap, I swear!

Natural Value Sealable Sandwich Bags

• PVC and plasticizer free

don't flush!

Your drugs that is... Since we're on the topic of medicine and waste, I thought it apropos to issue this reminder. When you want to dispose of expired or unused drugs, don't send them on their merry way down the toilet into sewageland. That drug-laced sewage ends up in our precious waterways, changing the sex of fish, or in the case of flushed Prozac, making fish too happy they forget to eat. Medical waste does all sorts of fun damage to the environment.

So what do you do with those old drugs? Some suggestions:

• Contact your pharmacy -- they may have a drug recycling program
• Call your local hazardous waste facility -- they may have recommendations for drug disposal [The New York State site here]
• Smash the pills, put them back in their original container, and put that container in a sealable plastic bag. Throw it out with the trash. The problem here is that plastic doesn't degrade well, and once it does, that medicine is still finding its way out into the environment

Just remember, whatever you do, don't flush!

toxic gowanus hotbed of medical discovery

Ah, the Gowanus Canal, glowing radioactive green. Reflecting the scrap metal heap and its cranes, reminiscent of brontosaurus eating lunch. How can anyone not appreciate the toxic splendor of thee?

If you're not familiar with the much-discussed (at least in Brooklyn), much-joked-about waterway, here's a taste:
(MMmmm, delish!)

It turns out, surprisingly enough, oil slicks and various toxins aren't the only things swirling around in there. A team of researchers --New York City College of Technology Biology Professors Nasreen and Niloufar Haque -- has determined the Gowanus is a breeding ground for future medical agents, specifically antibiotics.

An excerpt:

"Despite the canal’s toxicity, which includes cancer-causing chemical agents,” explained Nasreen, “microorganisms are surviving by adapting to the harsh environment there that shouldn’t survive at all. Working in synergy, they seem to sense if nutrients are available; they exchange genes and secrete substances — some of which operate like antibiotics. I believe these substances may provide clues that lead to the development of new drugs to combat human disease.

Who knew?
Read the whole story here.

[Newswise via Gowanus Lounge]

summer sale @ kaight

Sorry for the brevity and infrequency of posts this week. The day job is keeping me busy. Just wanted to tell you about a sale at my favorite eco-boutique. Check it out:

it just takes a dollar

One dollar can buy you a heck of a lot more than a lottery ticket. Through Plant A Billion Trees, a Nature Conservancy initiative, every dollar you donate will plant a tree in the deforested Atlantic Forest of Brazil. It's home to 23 primate species, 1,000 bird species, and over 20,000 plant species. The restored forestland will take 10 million tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere every year, the equivalent of taking 2 million cars off the road.

Through this program, The Nature Conservancy is working with local partners to restore 2.5 million acres of land and plant 1 billion trees in 7 years, and you can be a part of it. See below for details.