Low VOC Paint ROCKS! Well, I suppose it actually rolls, but you get the idea.

I've wanted to paint my bedroom for the entire 4.5 years I have lived in my house. For many reasons it hadn't come to be until yesterday, not the least of which was choosing paint. I'm glad I waited until I knew enough to ask for low VOC (volatile organic compounds) paint.

That "new paint" smell we have come to associate with a fresh interior? Not a good thing. Indoor air quality is as big an issue as outdoors. Paint is a major contributor to indoor air pollution. Thankfully, there are choices available in most colors, and you can use something that is easier on you and the planet.

I have to say, good vibes from planet-sparing or no, my highest recommendation goes to the complete and utter lack of "paint smell". The entire time we were painting I was struck with how nice it was to be able to breathe without the stifling odor.

The room is gorgeous, there is no stink and the planet suffers less - triple win!

Simple Human Compost +!

I know one cannot shop one's self out of a climate crisis, but I do have to admit that there are some purchases that turn out to be good investments for the lighter-impact tool-kit. Several months ago we were faced with needing to get a dog-proof composting solution. We were also looking for something that would be easier to use than the separate bucket we were currently using so we could see if we could increase our overall composting.

The perfect solution to our problem is depicted on the left. The Simple Human Butterfly Recycler is a gorgeous solution to a very practical problem. We choose to use one bucket for garbage and one for composting. Our family challenge is to see if we can fill the compost side before we fill the garbage side. We have absolutely seen a dramatic increase in our composting! Our recycling is still under the sink, but even though it hasn't changed, we seen that go up too. Something about having it be ridiculously simple to divert an item from the general waste stream - as easy as adjusting your hand by an inch before you drop the item - is too perfect to fail.

Whatever your solution, I encourage you to think through the practicality issues surrounding your personal waste stream and see if you can't help The City in it's goal of banning food from the garbage. If you have questions, I can't say enough good things about the people at Sunset Scavenger. I've contacted them several times throughout the last year with questions, and I have always found them to be outstandingly helpful and friendly.

Happy composting!

Biked to Work!

Yesterday was Bike to Work Day! For the first time I participated in the event with my favorite cyclist. While I did not enjoy the ride on Mission Street, overall the experience was incredible.

By the time I arrived at UCSF, I was completely won over by the idea of cycling instead of driving. Since I've been trying to figure out how I could work in some regular commute riding.

It's quite interesting to consider alternatives to moving one's butt from point A to point B....

Sorry, Oprah, but it's called "Green Washing".

It is inevitable. As the popularity of something increases so does the risk that the unscrupulous will join the parade without integrity. What am I yakking about? Greenwashing.

Looking around I have mixed feelings when I see Clorox touting their care for the earth and little, sweet frogs in particular. Yes, it definitely better than the alternative; standard clorox fills the earth with chlorine. Somehow though I am still left wishing that I could believe it was more than financially motivated.

Of course, it is better to have mainstream greener choices available. Yes, even though I can't imagine shopping there, it is a good thing that Wal-Mart wants to make a name as the Green Retailer. But sometimes these types of green movements are exposed for exactly what they are, attempts to capitalize on the attention given to the real issues of the environment to stay trendy and topical.

Case in point. Oprah had an Earth Day episode this week, of course she did. Now I need to pause here and say that I generally like Oprah. I find that even though her passion for spreading personal empowerment and positive action can be extremely sappy, it is generally a good thing. Yet, I was very dismayed to find O exposing herself as a faux environmentalist on Earth Day. Here's the poop. Oprah had Julia Roberts on, along with the author of Gorgeously Green to discuss the importance of composting. What you won't find on her sanctioned site is her saying things like "that is completely disgusting, I'm not going there with you." in response to the compost bin. You also won't see her "compost queen" screaming when she opens the lid to the worm farm to find (GASP!) worms. Of course, those telling tidbits won't be seen on the Oprah web site, but they were there if you saw the episode. Sad. I found it to be the perfect example of doing the right thing for the wrong reason. What is the effect of Oprah declaring composting "icky"? Seeing how see influences behavior it might have canceled out the entire show! Bummer.

Who is your most favorite faux-environmentalist?

Sometimes The First "R" is Forgotten

Yes, reusable shopping bags are a great idea. They save the planet in numerous ways. Less plastic blowing about mucking up wild life and eventually circling around in the Pacific in the plastic soup I still can't truly, truly fathom. Less energy used in creating and hauling whatever non-reusable bag you would receive, etc...

However, what about "REDUCE, reuse, recycle?" Yes, buy reusable bags, but do you need to spend ridiculous amounts of money to do so? OK. I have to admit, I like cute stuff. I have a reusable bag I picked out specifically because of its super cute blue color and nifty little attached bag. However, it cost me $5 (By the way, I think it looks an awful lot like the over-priced versions).

I don't get it. Get a fun bag. Definitely get something you find appealing. There are plenty of choices, but really, don't pay more than a sack of groceries for it.

Lady Bugs to the Rescue!

Spring is here and with it the tender red shoots of the roses stretching into the sun...not far behind are the aphids. ICK. Nasty, gooey munching machines, the aphids have been trying to take over my front yard for the past few weeks.

I had been washing them off with a mixture of earth-friendly soap and water. Swishing the infected shoots in the soapy water every few days rewarded me with a bowl full of bugs and pest-free plants, but it was labor intensive and required me to get very personal with the aphids.

In come the lady bugs! To keep my flowers happy as well as the planet we planned an aphid genocide. Little Man and I picked out what appeared to be the very best tub of lady bugs and set the stage. Carefully watering the garden right before sunset we waited until dark to start the battle.

We dumped the lady bugs at the base of the roses and wished them luck. In the morning we were treated the lovely view above - lady bugs congregating on all the little shoots gorging themselves on the nasty little aphids. Success!!!

Not only will the ladies help the pests, they have proven to be quite the interesting science lesson. Discussions of the food chain, parasitic relationships, unintended consequences of chemical uses, and other interesting topics have risen for discussion. Can't believe that at one time I might have used some chem! This is much more fun and a much better choice for Mom-Earth.

It's a family affair

What does this sweetheart to our left have to do with my family? More than one might think. First, I received this picture from my maternal unit, so it originated with family. But more, I am referring to my little version of a nuclear family; this bear has become a bit of an environmental mascot for me and mine.

I've discovered that much of my journey to greener living has been a confrontation of some of my less-savory habits. For example, laziness can be an environmental hazard - feeling like doing the better thing is just too difficult, time consuming or neurotic. That one was pretty obvious to me at the start, and happily, it is one that is often more of a myth than a reality. But I digress...

Recently I found myself thinking back to an episode of Planet Earth where the plight of the polar bear was there in my face in HD (but on an LCD, which is, in general, the best of worst in terms of energy efficiency in home monitors.). The thought of these beautiful animals swimming until they drown, sometimes more than 60 miles, is heart breaking to me. The guilt began to rise in my chest as I thought of how my driving habits likely contribute to the problem, both by needing oil and by expelling green-house gases. I'm a rather rush-to-a-stop sort of driver, the worst kind for fuel efficiency. I decided I had to try to change.

In comes the cutie pie snuggling in the ice. I printed a copy of the picture and put it on the sun visor of the car (thanks to my sweetheart who didn't think I'm a kook for doing such to our shared vehicle). I swear, it has helped me ease off the accelerator. I see that bear just outside my main field of vision and I simply don't think of stomping on the gas as hard. Lot's of only good things can come of this, so thank you polar bear, from me and the entire citizenry of San Francisco. So Mr. Bear is my mascot.

Mr. Bear is also my Little Man's reminder, too. On the way to school earlier this week I was asked about the picture by my 6 year old son. I explained the idea behind having the picture in the car and he was quiet for a moment, contemplating. A bit later he declared that he felt he should cut down on playing video games a little bit, just to help save a little more ice. Funny, that comment seemed more likely to melt ice to me, but you get the idea. ; )

We <3 polar bears!

Exciting new curbside battery pick-up!

Even though it has only been a short time that throwing batteries into the general waste stream has been illegal in San Francisco, for years I have been collecting used batteries in an old latte bowl and when it is full, I've hauled them to work where I could safely dispose of them. Well, no more I say!

San Francisco is now instituting a curbside battery collection! Once again the Green City is making it easier than ever to do the right thing and pull more batteries from the landfill. The new program is being phased in by neighborhood, so you'll want to call your sanitation company to find out when your neighborhood will be included. Both Sunset Scavenger and Golden Gate Disposal are participating. In participating neighborhoods you can collect your old batteries in a zip lock bag and place them on top of your black refuse cart for collection. How easy is that?!

Here is the interesting part. I learned about the program through an information card mailed to my home. There is no mention of the program yet on the website for either company. I've put in a verification request and I'll update when I receive confirmation, but for now I am choosing to believe the snail mail announcement. Stay tuned and start bagging your old batteries!

Feeling like an outlier...

I am currently away attending a professional meeting that I attend each year. For the first time since I joined the association and began to attend the annual meeting I am noticing the horrific impact such an activity has on the planet. I am finding it so distracting that I have been making notes on the things that could easily be done to improve the situation that seem to simply not have occurred to anyone doing the planning.

The result is that I am wandering about wondering if I am a freak. Have I taken my concern for my effect on the globe way beyond the norm? Example, last night I was having a very lovely meal with two colleagues and a person I had not met previously who was a friend of one of my friends. The topic of my vegetarian diet came up and the person I did not know asked me what started me on that path. Before I could answer she said with a tone, "I would never do something like because of the planet or anything else like that!" [insert eye roll here]. I was a bit shocked. As it happens, I did not initially take that step for any reasons other than meat didn't appeal to me any more, but the thought that considering the impact of such things was silly struck me as very odd and a bit insulting, to be honest. I suppose you had to see the facial expression and hear the tone to understand. It was if I was suddenly patchouli-soaked, hairy and hugging a tree at the table. To be very fair, I do consume seafood from time to time, but when I do, I do not chose over-fished species. I have loved Chilean sea bass in the past, but I simply cannot order it knowing what I do. I do let the health of the world weight in on my dietary choices. Am I a freak?

I would really like to see the association make an effort to chose more sustainable options where possible. What kinds of things would I suggest? For one thing, I would banish the plastic bottles of water on every single speaker's table and provide a durable pitcher and glasses, or if the costs were reasonable make a statement by using compostable water bottles. Who needs to use the petroleum for the bottle, the shipping, etc? This is especially important given that the recent figures on plastic bottle recycling is low. I would ensure that all the handouts (thousands at this meeting) were at minimum printed DOUBLE-SIDED! Better, I would encourage presenters to make their materials available electronically - most of us throw those things away anyway. I would look into the feasibility of using recycled paper and soy-based inks for the meeting materials, and I would definitely provide recycling for those materials at the of the meeting. I'm sure there are tons of other things that could be rather easily done and implemented if there were interest, these are just off the top of my head. (I'd love it if you would comment on other ideas!)

Can't wait to get home to the bosom of good ole tree-hugging San Francisco. I might even pretend to throw something recyclable into the trash to illicit a friendly reminder from someone to remind myself I am not alone. ; )

Like you needed an excuse.

Sometimes doing some good for the environment is especially sweet. Haagen Dazs is providing sweet incentive for you to help this cute little girl to the left. Being quite partial to vanilla I can see a pint of Vanilla Honey Bee in my future!
Bee sure to check out the cute site!

300 days left. Will we make it?!

Bush intervention led EPA to scale back ozone limits.

I can't believe that I find it appalling any more. Haven't the limits of my disbelief been trampled and demolished time and time again already? How could more ass-clownery from the numero uno A-clown even get my notice these days?

I remember years ago when I found a list of the environmental atrocities that W oversaw in Texas and how unbelievable it seemed to be. Unbelievable, yet verifiable and unfortunately accurate. Number one on the EPA's Toxic Release Inventory during his governorship is just the beginning, as Texas also ranked 49th in budget for environmental protection and conservation. I wish it were that he changed his ways when he took office, but sigh, you and I both know he is the same short-sighted industry whore he has always been. If you would like to make your skin crawl you can take a quick scan at Bush's environmental record and enjoy such headings as "White house weakens EPA cancer safeguards".

Anyway, good morning.

More reasons to toss that plastic water bottle for good! (in every sense of the word).

Way to go San Francisco! I love the new program to encourage more of us to eliminate our dependency on plastic water bottles.

Once again there is an elegant way to protect your health, stop the unnecessary use of fuel to haul around water, and save money doing it! Mother Nature is always quite clever.

So I say forget about the temporary convenience of retail bottled water. Get a durable non-plastic bottle you like (don't forget my ode to Sigg from earlier) and fill it with Hetch Hetchy's best.

Stop Junk Mail!

Remember when you might even be a little excited to check your mail? Maybe there would be a note or a card from someone, just maybe. Seems that never happens any more. All I feel going to check my mail is irritated that my next action will be to have to recycle or shred THEN recycle numerous "resident", "current occupant", or my fave, any of the 20 or so computer-generated versions of my name.

No more. I registered with Catalog Choice a month or so ago to assist me in refusing the mass mailings that flood my mailbox. It's a great free web tool that can simplify some of the work required to get your point across to marketers. What I found very interesting is the immediate refusal of both Nordstrom and Macy's to acknowledge my request. Catalog Choice provided me with the contact information though, so even if they couldn't stop the mail they greatly simplified my follow-up. In 4 weeks the site has managed to get me confirmation of removal from 3 catalogs and it is helping me track some of the others that are unconfirmed.

There is also some good information about how to stop unwanted mail at stopwaste.org that will give you templates for requesting to be removed from mailing lists. It's been about a month since I started mailing requests to the companies that spam me out here in meatspace. One of the first things I noticed was that a large number of BS mailings come from the very same PO Box in Wilmington, DE. Some jerk company is sending me numerous "offers" each week from various other companies - Southwest Airlines, Citibank, Marriott, etc. What a gross way to make a living!

Since embarking on my private little war against unsolicited mail I have mailed out 31 requests for removal to companies ranging from Pottery Barn to USC Continuing Dental Education. I've gotten into quite the efficient little groove and for once the junk mail gives me a tiny retaliatory thrill when I see it. I open up a template from the last request I sent (Oh! Maybe it's from PO Box 17198 too!) put in the new address and print it to my printer in my office. Next time I am at the printer I use the tools menu to print the envelope (I stocked up on plain envelopes at the same time I hit the post office). The entire task of responding to week's worth of junk is less than 5 minutes. It is too soon to see a difference yet, but at least my reaction to the stuff is more positive already!

If you are interested in your own assault on mail waste there are several other tools you may want to check out. Here's to more cards from Grandma and fewer "You could already be a winner" cards!

Say it isn't so!

NO! Really, how far can I take this?! I am a self-admitted Splenda® addict. As a dental hygienist, the fear of caries (tooth decay to the less geekified) has been drilled into me (sorry about the pun, unavoidable), and now my means of enjoying liquid sweetness while feeling smug about the safety of my tooth enamel has just been outed as an environmental hazard. ACK!

Funny, there have been those who have questioned the safety of artificial sweeteners for humans before, and that had no effect on my consumption. Now that I fear it could contribute to global warming I have found that my latte is slowly becoming Splenda®-free. Do I really care more about algae than myself? Seems so.

Plastic bottles pile up as mountains of waste

Plastic bottles pile up as mountains of waste
This MSNBC article is quite sobering. Enough to make you think that dehydration may not be so bad after all.

However, recognizing that humans need water, including yours truly, I have embarked on a new method of maintaining my humidity while protecting Mother Earth from mountains of plastic water bottles. Enter Sigg! The cutest ever solution to the problem on crowding landfills with "convenience" items not expected to live beyond a day, or an hour, in the case of a water bottle. Not only does an aluminum Sigg bottle solve the problem of tossing an empty, useless plastic bottle, but it also protects you from the latest health fear - the leaching of plastic components into drinking water. There are numerous reports from various sources on this issue.

The important thing to recognize, in my opinion, is that the bottles so many of us carry for the health of the planet (sorry Nalgene, but your name has to come out) may be compromising personal health. Here is a little information about the popular polycarbonate bottles. "#7 Polycarbonate contains the hormone disruptor bisphenol-A, which can leach out as bottles age, are heated or exposed to acidic solutions. Unfortunately, #7 is used in most baby bottles and five-gallon water jugs and in many reusable sports bottles."

So, what is a poor person to do? Take heart, you can protect yourself and planet and look darn cute doing it, too. Just grab a durable non-plastic container and feel good about doing something that will make a difference.

And away we go!

Without really meaning to I accidentally made a New Year's Resolution that seems to have stuck. Sad about the legions of "resolutions" that never see mid-January, I started out eschewing them entirely. Instead I threatened "reasonable changes for positive growth"(RCfPG). Perhaps that is the difference, for this year the pattern changed. It is mid-March and the RCfPG are not only still in place, they have GROWN.

What am I blathering about? I've decided to stop letting the hugeness of it all weight me down and have instead decided to save my planet on my own with my own little changes. I know, sounds a bit megalomaniacal, doesn't it? Well, perhaps, but I figure I have saved over 200 paper coffee cups from the landfill already and it's only the first quarter of the year!

Not only have I managed to stay the course, I have also apparently been talking about my little mission excessively, for the suggestion to blog on this topic has been heard numerous times. Of course, it could be that those making the suggestion are hoping they can simply ignore the RSS and be done with my eco-chatter, but I can deal with that. So here I am. Mom? Are you reading? ; )