Green Cleaning- Good For the Health of You and the Planet

January 18, 2010 at 7:07 pm · Filed under air quality, carbon footprint, green home, living green ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

While there are many green practices worth adopting, switching to green cleaning products is one of those actions I advocate for both as a way of helping the environment but also of protecting our own health.

Why Switch to Green Cleaning Products?

A Safer Home

Each day, families are put to risk by household cleaning products found throughout their homes, most of which are unregulated and untested, and many whose toxic ingredients are not disclosed on labels. According to National Geographic, only about 30% of the roughly 17,000 chemicals found in household products, including those used for cleaning, have been sufficiently tested for their effects on human health. Healthier and safer cleaning products offer natural, non-toxic, and biodegradable alternatives that are just as effective as synthetic chemical cleaners.

A Safer Environment

The use of synthetic cleaners has adverse effects on air and water quality, as well as land-based environmental concerns. Many of the chemicals in household cleaners are harmful not only in their use, but also in their manufacturing process. For example, the first step in bleach production produces dioxin as a byproduct—a chemical that has been identified as a carcinogen and has been linked to birth defects and genetic changes. Natural cleaners are manufactured in a way to leave the smallest impact possible on the environment and the healthiest atmosphere in our homes.

How to be Green and Clean

Don’t Be Green-Washed

The search for truly green products may not be as easy as reading “organic” on a label.  Many companies engage in greenwashing practices, including words such as “organic,” “eco-friendly,” “biodegradable,” and “non-toxic” on their labels to make products more appealing to consumers. Unfortunately, these claims are often unverifiable and meaningless.  Look for products with full ingredient disclosure or third party certifications to ensure that product claims are substantiated.  Independent groups such as Green Seal, Cradle To Cradle, the Leaping Bunny and the EPA’s Design for the Environment program analyze product ingredients and certify that those chemicals don’t pose harm to your health or to the environment. My rule of thumb is to buy products with less than 5 ingredients and with names that I can pronounce and recognize. I also look for products packaged in post-consumer recycled materials or that offer refills to  further reduce environmental impact.

The Bleach Debate

It has been argued that because bleach breaks down into salt and water, it can be considered biodegradable and does not necessarily pose an environmental hazard. Bleach is a popular cleaning product because it is effective on a wide range of bacteria and viruses and has the added benefit of being cheap. However, despite the fact that bleach breaks down when released into the environment, it is an eye and lung irritant and mixing bleach with other acids (such as vinegar) can produce dangerous and potentially lethal fumes. Furthermore, the manufacturing process of bleach creates the known carcinogen dioxin as a toxic byproduct. It is best to find alternatives to bleach to ensure both a healthier planet and home.

Some Good Green Cleaners

  • Better Life. This company was started by two dads, one a chemist, the other a greenie. This is the most effective green cleaning line I have used to-date and one that I use in my home for every surface.  Buy in DC: ACE Hardware locations, Green Living Consulting. Online: Walgreens.com, Drugstore.com. Delight.com.
  • BioKleen. Family-owned, with all products receiving a third party review. Order through Greenshops.com
  • Ecover. Belgian company that started making eco-friendly products in 1980. In DC: Whole Foods, Yes Organic Market, Nora, Java Green, Brookville Supermarket. Online: HerbTrader.com
  • Mrs. Meyers. Biodegradbale, phosphate free and made with essential oils. In DC: Ace Hardware, Bed Bath & Beyond, Container Store, Dean and Deluca, Greater Goods, Whole Foods, Frager’s Hardware.

National Geographic’s Green Guide also reviews and sells products that meet their environmental criteria.

Green Cleaning Recipes and Tips

Vinegar

Vinegar naturally cleans like an all-purpose cleaner. Mix a solution of 1 part water to 1 part vinegar in a new spray bottle and you have a solution that will clean most areas of your home. Vinegar is a great natural cleaning product as well as a disinfectant and deodorizer. Always test on an inconspicuous area. It is safe to use on most surfaces and has the added bonus of being incredibly cheap. Improperly diluted vinegar is acidic and can eat away at tile grout. Never use vinegar on marble surfaces. Don’t worry about your home smelling like vinegar. The smell disappears when it dries.

Here are some uses for vinegar in the rooms of your house:

Bathroom – Clean the bathtub, toilet, sink, and countertops. Use pure vinegar in the toilet bowl to get rid of rings. Flush the toilet to allow the water level to go down. Pour the undiluted vinegar around the inside of the rim. Scrub down the bowl. Mop the floor in the bathroom with a vinegar/water solution. The substance will also eat away the soap scum and hard water stains on your fixtures and tile. Make sure it is safe to use with your tile.

Kitchen- Clean the stovetop, appliances, countertops, and floor.

Laundry Room- Use vinegar as a natural fabric softener. This can be especially helpful for families who have sensitive skin. Add ½ cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle in place of store bought fabric softener. Vinegar has the added benefit of breaking down laundry detergent more effectively. (A plus when you have a family member whose skin detects every trace of detergent.)

Lemon Juice

Lemon juice is another natural substance that can be used to clean your home. Lemon juice can be used to dissolve soap scum and hard water deposits. Lemon is a great substance to clean and shine brass and copper. Lemon juice can be mixed with vinegar and or baking soda to make cleaning pastes. Cut a lemon in half and sprinkle baking soda on the cut section. Use the lemon to scrub dishes, surfaces, and stains. You can also put a whole lemon peel through the garbage disposal. It freshens the drain and the kitchen. Orange peels can be used with the same results.

Baking Soda

Baking soda can be used to scrub surfaces in much the same way as commercial abrasive cleansers. Baking soda is great as a deodorizer. Place a box in the refrigerator and freezer to absorb odors. Put it anywhere you need deodorizing action.

Olive Oil/Lemon Juice

Mix together 1 cup olive oil and 1/2 cup lemon juice to create a homemade furniture polish. Mix together in a clean new spray bottle. To use, remember to shake before each application. Apply a small portion to your cleaning cloth. Spread the polish over the furniture, trying to polish evenly. Use another clean cloth to polish the surface dry.

be well. live green.

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E-Waste Recycling Jan 9 at Whole Foods

January 8, 2010 at 11:22 am · Filed under Uncategorized

As much as I try to stay up on local green events, especially when it comes to getting rid of waste responsibly, I don’t catch it all early. So here is a last minute bit of info I just read on our friend’s at GoingGreenDC’s blog:

On Saturday, January 9 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., drop off your old electronics before you shop for your organic groceries. Accepted items include laptops, modems, phones, faxes, printers, wires/cables, CD ROMs, floppy drives, keyboards, mice, circuit boards, CRT monitors, mainframe computer systems and much more. Televisions are not accepted. Esquire Environmental will scrub and destroy memory on all hard drives.

Participating Whole Foods include Bethesda, MD; (Kentlands) Gaithersburg, MD; (Tenleytown) DC; (Georgetown) DC; Reston, VA; Falls Church, VA; and Fair Lakes, VA.

Additional Resources:

eCycling (EPA)

Washington Post article by Rob Pegoraro

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Eco Brokers that Truly Care About the Environment: Arbour Realty

January 4, 2010 at 9:38 am · Filed under green business, green operations, green services, living green

Happy 2010! It’s a new year, a new decade and we’ve got more green stories to share with you, including those from our clients about what they are doing to be green.

In our first client feature of 2010, we talk to Arbour Realty about their green efforts and how working with an environmental consultant can help even when you’ve already taken steps to green your operation. While we are proud of all of our clients’ green efforts, we are particularly excited about Arbour Realty’s commitment to green at every level. Not only do they help people buy and sell homes with green features, they take time to educate them about green renovations and green living practices that are good for the planet and their often their pocketbook. Arbour Realty has also shown their environmental commitment through every level of their business operation, from designing their Virginia office with green materials to eliminating huge amounts of paper waste typical of most real estate agencies, to even offering energy audits and eco-home assessments to their home buyers.

Learn more about their green efforts in Sonia’s interview with Adam Gallegos, green visionary and principal of Arbour Realty.

interview by Sonia Heiles

Green Living Consulting: What does “green” mean to you?

Arbour Realty: Green means living healthier, conserving our natural resources and leaving a lighter footprint on our planet.

GLC: What was your biggest motivation in wanting to get your business green?

AR: We wanted to do more than run a business.  We wanted to set an example that would inspire positive change. 

GLC: Why did you choose GLC to assist in your green endeavors?

AR: We want to align ourselves with companies that truly believe in the benefits of green.  From day one, GLC has shown their commitment to us and to the green movement. 

GLC: What have you done to date since your initial GLC assessment?

AR: We have already implemented over a dozen suggestions from GLC.  A few of my favorites:

1) placards around the office explaining the green features and benefits.

2) an overview of our green commitment that we now include on our website and in our brochure.

3) the addition of live plants around the office.

4) an XLerator hand dryer that has eliminated the use of paper towels in our office.

GLC: What was the biggest challenge in greening your business?

AR: We knew from the beginning we did not want to be a green shell trying to prosper from people wanting to live more green.  It was important that we find ways to “walk the talk” in ways that truly make a difference to the planet, our community and our clients. 

GLC: What role did GLC play in greening your operations?

AR: We hit a ceiling with what we were able to come up with on our own.  GLC brought new energy and new ideas.  They really helped us take our green business initiatives to the next level.  We have also implemented a program to offer Green Living Consultations to our home buyers.  We have found this to be a great way to spread the excitement of green living.

GLC: What level GLC rating do you currently have? Do you hope to receive a higher rating in the near future?

AR: Gold. We would love to step it up and reach the next level.  Our next project is lighting.  We would like to transition our office to all LED lighting.  This along with some smaller projects should get us to the next level. 

GLC: Have you been successful in creating a culture of green with your staff?

AR: We have been lucky in attracting people to Arbour Realty that really embrace the benefits of green living.  It’s great to have our staff contributing ideas and volunteering time.  

GLC: How have you tracked your eco-practices progress since their initiation?

AR: I can’t say that we have done a great job of this.  GLC really helped us take an inventory of what we are doing green.  That was a big help for our own piece of mind and what we are communicating to the public. 

GLC: What have been the most effective eco-practices?

AR: The process of writing contracts for home sales can be extremely wasteful.  Lots of printing and faxing going back and forth.  There is typically a lot of driving involved as well.  We implemented a new technology that allows us to use electronic signatures, virtually eliminating the need to ever print a contract or addenda.  It also eliminates the driving around needed to get signatures.  We save more than a ream of paper a week with e-signatures. 

GLC: How have you communicated your green efforts to the public?

AR: We have added our green efforts to most of our communication materials so that the public understand what we are doing differently that the other real estate companies out there.  So far we have gotten a great reaction.  Just this year we have won two prominent awards for best green business. 

GLC: What have the most visible benefits of going green been for your business? Lowered operating costs? Increased sales as a result of your green efforts? Something else?  

AR: There are over 10,000 real estate agents in the DC area.  We are happy to not be just another one out there telling everyone that we are the best.  Operating as a green real estate company really helps people understand at least one aspect of what makes us different and opens the door for them to learn all the other reasons we are a great choice for their real estate needs. 

GLC: If money wasn’t an issue, what other green actions would you consider implementing?

AR: LEED certification of our office.  We would love to go for a LEED rating.  The only thing that has held us back is cost. 

Thank you Arbour Realty for your continued green efforts. We look forward to working with you achieve a Platinum green business rating, educating homeowners, and making the DC area a greener, healthier place to live!

Stayed tuned for our next client feature: Brooksfield School

be well. live green.

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EPA: Greenhouse Gases Threaten Public Health and the Environment

December 13, 2009 at 6:41 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

People are environmentalists for many different reasons – many of which stem from a desire to preserve the amazing natural beauty in the world, but more so I am realizing (and hoping) people are caring about the environment because they also see the great risk to us – as humans- if we don’t care about it. This is survival we are talking about! And this newsfeed from the EPA I just read is just one more reality check that we are contributing to a changing earth and really need to wake up and do something about it. According to the EPA: “Science overwhelmingly shows greenhouse gas concentrations at unprecedented levels due to human activity”.

Here is the full article:

WASHINGTON – After a thorough examination of the scientific evidence and careful consideration of public comments, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that greenhouse gases (GHGs) threaten the public health and welfare of the American people. EPA also finds that GHG emissions from on-road vehicles contribute to that threat.

GHGs are the primary driver of climate change, which can lead to hotter, longer heat waves that threaten the health of the sick, poor or elderly; increases in ground-level ozone pollution linked to asthma and other respiratory illnesses; as well as other threats to the health and welfare of Americans.

“These long-overdue findings cement 2009’s place in history as the year when the United States Government began addressing the challenge of greenhouse-gas pollution and seizing the opportunity of clean-energy reform,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “Business leaders, security experts, government officials, concerned citizens and the United States Supreme Court have called for enduring, pragmatic solutions to reduce the greenhouse gas pollution that is causing climate change. This continues our work towards clean energy reform that will cut GHGs and reduce the dependence on foreign oil that threatens our national security and our economy.”

EPA’s final findings respond to the 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision that GHGs fit within the Clean Air Act definition of air pollutants. The findings do not in and of themselves impose any emission reduction requirements but rather allow EPA to finalize the GHG standards proposed earlier this year for new light-duty vehicles as part of the joint rulemaking with the Department of Transportation.

On-road vehicles contribute more than 23 percent of total U.S. GHG emissions. EPA’s proposed GHG standards for light-duty vehicles, a subset of on-road vehicles, would reduce GHG emissions by nearly 950 million metric tons and conserve 1.8 billion barrels of oil over the lifetime of model year 2012-2016 vehicles.

EPA’s endangerment finding covers emissions of six key greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride – that have been the subject of scrutiny and intense analysis for decades by scientists in the United States and around the world.

Scientific consensus shows that as a result of human activities, GHG concentrations in the atmosphere are at record high levels and data shows that the Earth has been warming over the past 100 years, with the steepest increase in warming in recent decades. The evidence of human-induced climate change goes beyond observed increases in average surface temperatures; it includes melting ice in the Arctic, melting glaciers around the world, increasing ocean temperatures, rising sea levels, acidification of the oceans due to excess carbon dioxide, changing precipitation patterns, and changing patterns of ecosystems and wildlife.

President Obama and Administrator Jackson have publicly stated that they support a legislative solution to the problem of climate change and Congress’ efforts to pass comprehensive climate legislation.  However, climate change is threatening public health and welfare, and it is critical that EPA fulfill its obligation to respond to the 2007 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that determined that greenhouse gases fit within the Clean Air Act definition of air pollutants.

EPA issued the proposed findings in April 2009 and held a 60-day public comment period. The agency received more than 380,000 comments, which were carefully reviewed and considered during the development of the final findings.

Information on EPA’s findings:  http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/endangerment.html

View the news conference live on EPA’s home page: http://www.epa.gov

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Live (and Give) Green This Holiday!

December 10, 2009 at 12:48 pm · Filed under green purchasing, living green, waste reduction ·Tagged

It’s estimated that between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, Americans generate one million tons of waste a week. Holiday gift giving and decorating doesn’t have to sacrifice the environment – with some creative green thinking and action, you can have a festive holiday that is good for the planet, and maybe even your pocketbook! Here are Green Living Consulting’s tips for a Green Holiday:

Keep up the 3 R’s Through the Holidays

More than 8,000 tons of wrapping paper are used for presents – the equivalent of 50,000 trees. Try these eco-practices to reduce waste:

  • Wrap gifts with paper that is made from recycled content or recyclable. I often use the off-white paper included in shipments and decorate using colored ribbon or stamps. Comic strips from the newspaper also make great wrapping paper.
  • Buy gifts with minimal packaging and wrap in a reusable bag.
  • Recycle wrapping and tissue paper, bags, and boxes after the gift unveiling is over.
  • Send e-cards instead of buying and mailing holiday cards or buy cards made from recycled paper. Around 744 million holiday cards are sent each holiday season. If all these were made from recycled paper, it would help to save the equivalent of 248,000 trees!

Green Decorating

Greener Tree Options

  • The majority of Christmas trees are dumped in landfills every year, yet there are many uses for discarded trees. Old Christmas trees can be ground up and used for mulch. Some can be replanted and used for increased stabilization near waterways, preventing beach erosion, or fishing reefs. You can also plant your tree in your winter garden as decoration or as a bird feeder.
  • You can buy plastic trees that you can reuse every year, but these trees often end up discarded after about 6 years, ending up in landfills. They also contain polyvinyl chloride (PVC) which produces cancer-causing dioxins during its manufacture and incineration.
  • The ideal choice for a truly green tree is to buy a potted Christmas tree, available at farmer’s markets, garden centers, and some tree farms. After you’ve enjoyed it, you can celebrate the New Year by planting it outdoors or donate it to your local parks department. Visit earth911.org to find out where to recycle your tree!

Energy Efficient Holiday Lights

Indoor LED (light emitting diode) holiday lights run on about 1/10th of the energy of conventional lights. Since they produce no heat, they don’t present a fire risk, making them green and safe!

  • Decorating your home with LED lights could reduce holiday lighting energy use by up to 95%. A typical 50-bulb incandescent strand of lights uses 250 watts and an equivalent 70-bulb LED strand uses only three watts. For a house that operates holiday lights for six hours a day through the month of December, with an energy price of 8.27 cents per kilowatt hour, six strands of incandescent holiday lights would cost over $23 to power versus a mere 28 cents for LEDs. By replacing the incandescent strands with LEDs, it would save you $22.79 in energy costs for the month.
  • For outdoor decorating, you can buy Solar LED lights that charge by daylight and automatically turn on from dusk until dawn.

Don’t forget to always turn your lights off before going to bed at night!

Eco-friendly Ornament Options

  • Buy Fair Trade Federation-certified ornaments that are lead-free and made from materials such as silk, wood, or gourds.
  • Make your own ornaments out of gingerbread cookies, prior year’s Christmas cards, origami patterns, ribbons, and the old-time favorites like popcorn-and-cranberry garland.

Electronics and Batteries

If you receive electronic goods this season, don’t throw your old ones away. Dispose of them properly by:

  • Returning old cell phones to your cell phone provide (many take them back and donate them to community organizations, battered women’s shelters, etc)
  • Sell them at YouRenew.com and make money if they are still working or mail it to them anyway and they will recycle or dispose of properly.
  • If you are buying toys or electrical goods that need batteries, buy rechargeable ones, then add a battery charger to your shopping list. Make sure to recycle those old batteries instead of tossing them in the trash (libraries often take old batteries or go to earth911.org for disposal locations near you!).

Shopping and Gift-Buying

Around 125,000 tons of plastic packaging are thrown away over the holiday season.

  • Take your own reusable shopping bags when you do your shopping.

Get Green Gifts for Your Family and Friends

for some gifts that give back…

  • Alternative Gifts International – support global humanitarian causes that will gladly accept a holiday donation in the name of a loved one. www.altgifts.org
  • Tom’s Shoes – for every pair purchased Tom gives a pair of shoes to a child in need. www.tomsshoes.com
  • Better World Books – Collects and sells books online to fund literacy initiatives worldwide. www.betterworld.com

Post-Holiday Clean-Out

New sweaters, scarves, jeans – all the items on your fashion wishlist were delivered by Santa and now you need room in your closet. If you do a clean-out, be sure to donate your old clothes to someone in need through your local church, Goodwill, or shelter. You might even check with a second-hand shop to see if they’ll consign or buy you used clothing. It would be new to someone else and give you a little extra $green$ in your pocket for your good green acts!

Don’t forget to make your New Year’s resolution to live greener in 2010!

be well. live green.

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Increasing number of shoppers showing willingness to spend more on green products

November 28, 2009 at 9:50 am · Filed under green business, green purchasing, living green

For those of us whose lifestyle and livelihood are focused on educating others about healthy, sustainable choices, it’s a always a feel-good moment to read that consumers are increasingly putting a high value on green products, and willing to spend a little extra $green$ to have them. I’ve been intrigued by the various studies and consumer polls that are showing a preference for green products despite the struggling economy. This may be a testament to the “less is more” philosophy but also “quality over quantity,” with a growing number of Americans committed to purchasing practices that are both socially and environmentally responsible, and also simply better for them.

A study by Miller Zell, Inc. reported that the “majority of shoppers polled indicated they would be most likely to pay a 10¢ premium for household products.”  Interestingly, the study also showed that low-income shoppers were more willing to pay a 10¢ premium compared to middle and upper income groups.

Writer Basil Katz’s recent article, “Shoppers going green despite struggling economy” in Reuters said that “despite the worst U.S. recession in decades, sales of organic and sustainable products have continued to grow, with shoppers willing to spend a few more dollars in a bid to become more green.”

The article also reported that U.S. supermarket sales of environmentally sustainable or “ethical” products — from energy-efficient light bulbs to organic produce — will rise about 8.7 percent in 2009 to nearly $38 billion, according to a recent study by Packaged Facts, a market research provider.

Other excerpts from the article state that “President Barack Obama’s commitment to tackle climate change, a string of scandals over tainted food and effective marketing of sustainable products have helped convince more Americans, whose environmental credentials lag behind Europeans, to buy green.”  And, that sales of goods specifically labeled organic rose 17 percent to $24.6 billion in 2008, according to the Organic Trade Association.

The Miller Zell study reported that women are more eco-conscious, closely followed by Gen Y. One of the frustrations with both of these groups, however, is the level of communication offered in-store about green products.This is something that I hear often from my household clients, especially when I educate them on pros and cons of certain green products.

For example, many people are willing to spend a little more money upfront on compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) to save energy and money long-term, but many people are not aware that you should not throw CFLs in the trash (See Earth911.org for recycling centers), and that there are safety precautions if one should break in your home (See EPA guidance).

With an increasing number of consumers purchasing green products, companies producing them have a responsibility to be transparent about what makes their products green. Consumers also have some due diligence of their own to do in making sure they are not victim to green-washing.

Here are some resources that can help consumers determine what companies and their products have been vetted by a third party and are legitimately green:

Green America – offers a directory of green businesses that have been Green America approved

Green Seal – provides science-based environmental certification standards for products and services

Responsible Purchasing Network – an international network of buyers dedicated to socially responsible and environmentally sustainable purchasing

Green Guide – National Geographic’s buying guide for green products

With the holiday season in full force, there are many ways to be an environmentally responsible shopper and gift giver. Our West Coast sister company, Greenshops.com, has many green products to offer this holiday, and eco-labels to explain exactly what makes their products green. Enter Code GLC2009 for a 10% discount on your first purchase.

be well. live green.

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DC Residents Get Ready to Skip the Bag and Save the River!

November 18, 2009 at 1:30 pm · Filed under living green, water conservation

It’s official! Beginning January 1, 2010, Washington D.C.’s businesses that sell food or alcohol must charge 5 cents for each disposable paper or plastic carryout bag.

According to DC’s Department of the Environment (DDOE), the business keeps 1 cent, or 2 cents if it offers a rebate when you bring your own bag, and the remaining 3 or 4 cents go to the new Anacostia River Protection Fund. DDOE will administer this fund. The money will be used it to provide reusable bags, educate the public about litter, and clean up the river.

The District has also partnered with CVS/pharmacy to produce and hand out 112,000 reusable bags primarily to District residents, with many going to seniors and low-income communities. Some of the bags have been distributed at recent kick-off events, but it was not clear exactly where and when new distributions will be made other than announcing they will take place in 2010.

What does this mean for green in DC?

This tax sends a pretty clear message that DC is getting serious about it’s Green Agenda. If you don’t already know, DDOE offers a number of FREE eco-support services:

  • Free ENERGY STAR appliances (must meet household size and income requirements)
  • Free weatherizing help (must meet household size and income requirements)
  • Free home energy audit (All residents can apply for homes under 4,000 square feet)

Guess what DC? It looks like it’s time to finally get our green on and be a model green capitol (or at least aspire to be)!

be well. live green.

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GLC Green Tips: How to Reduce Junk Mail

November 9, 2009 at 10:59 am · Filed under carbon footprint, waste reduction

Did you know that approximately 4 million tons of junk mail are sent every year? The U.S. spends 340 million dollars to dispose of that junk mail, often with it going straight from the mailbox to the trash. That’s a true waste on a lot of different levels.

Here are some simple steps you can take to reduce junk mail:

1) Catalogs - call number on catalog and ask to remove your name. This can be time consuming, especially when you account for holding times and navigating the automated voice messaging systems of most businesses today. But it’s a start and if you don’t have that many then an easy fix.

2) For first class mail - cross out your name and address, circle and write Refuse, Return to Sender.

3) Credit offers – call 1-888-5 OPTOUT  (1-888-567-8688) or go to https://www.optoutprescreen.com

4) Coupons – Val-Pak or Velassis, call and ask to be taken off list. There is usually a number on the packet (you may have to hunt a bit).

5) Hire someone to do the dirty work for you! There are various organizations/companies that you can pay to remove you from lists and help you manage unwanted mail. One we recommend is Precycle. Formerly Green Dimes, Planet Green and Tonic.com partnered to form Precycle (better than recycle because you stop it before it hits the bin). There is a one-time fee of $36 + shipping and handling. You receive a kit for stopping unwanted mail. They plant 5 trees. Sign up at http://precycle.tonic.com.  You might also check out DMA Choice – an organization that will also help you manage which marketing lists you want to be on versus those you don’t. It also helps you with email subscriptions.  Call  888-567-8688 or visit www.dmachoice.org

Check out Green Living Consulting’s West Coast Partners on Bakersfield news giving Junk Mail tips!!

http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/mornings/64015477.html?video=YHI&t=a

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Plastic vs. Paper: Which is the Eco-Friendly Choice?

October 15, 2009 at 1:01 pm · Filed under carbon footprint, energy efficiency, living green

The Plastic vs. Paper has been an on-going debate in the environmental world, and one that Everyday Health recently decided to talk to us about. Find out which one we said is the more eco-friendly choice in Diana Rodriguez’s article:

Paper vs. Plastic: Making an Environmentally Friendly Choice

One of our favorite analyses of this issue was done by the Washington Post. Click on image below to link to the original source so you can actually read the report – you might be surprised by what you find out! I also find this to be one of those  debates where you really have to get to the bottom of both sides of the issue, and even consider something you didn’t think of before to make the choice that is best for the environment.

~ be well. live green.

Adrienne

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Achieving Nirvana through Vegetarian Indian Food and Green Operations

October 1, 2009 at 10:54 pm · Filed under carbon footprint, green business, living green

Nirvana Indian restaurant, one of Green Living Consulting’s newest clients, recently achieved a SILVER certification for its green operations. As a lunch and dinner service in the heart of DC’s downtown area, Nirvana’s vegetarian-only menu is the perfect option for lowering your carbon footprint (see below for how going veggie one day a week can reduce your environmental impact). Combining a wide range of Indian flavors that change daily, the Shah family owners present their take on the eight-fold path to Nirvana through their delicious food.

Nirvana will be participating in the Washington DC Green Festival, October 10-11, as one of the select food vendors at the event.

Stay tuned for more information about Nirvana and their green efforts!

Now, here are some stats I recently read in article posted by a Huffington Post writer on the Startling Effects of Going Vegetarian for One Day:

If everyone went vegetarian just for one day, the U.S. would save:

● 100 billion gallons of water, enough to supply all the homes in New England for almost 4 months;

● 1.5 billion pounds of crops otherwise fed to livestock, enough to feed the state of New Mexico for more than a year;

● 70 million gallons of gas — enough to fuel all the cars of Canada and Mexico combined with plenty to spare;

● 3 million acres of land, an area more than twice the size of Delaware;

● 33 tons of antibiotics.

If everyone went vegetarian just for one day, the U.S. would prevent:

● Greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 1.2 million tons of CO2, as much as produced by all of France;

● 3 million tons of soil erosion and $70 million in resulting economic damages;

● 4.5 million tons of animal excrement;

● Almost 7 tons of ammonia emissions, a major air pollutant.

be well. live green.

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