Green Talk

The other day while washing my hands in a public restroom, I could not help but notice a young girl putting on make-up and spraying her hair with some sort of hair spray. As she primped and checked herself and sprayed a little more hair spray, I wanted to reach over and stop her.  How could I explain that she was exposing herself to chemicals such as formaldehyde, heavy metals such as chromium and neodymium, toluene, phthlates, and acetone?  Like most teenagers, she probably would have rolled her eyes and thought I was a crazy woman.

The beauty industry promises us youthfulness and glamor but the ugly side is those same products are depriving you of your health.  Stacy Malkan’s book, Not Just A Pretty Face, chronicles the story of those women and men who sought to change the beauty industry to make cosmetics safer. These brave people created the Compact for Safe Cosmetics, signed by companies that adhere to or exceed the European Union’s formulation standards, and the Skin Deep database, which provide detail information about the toxicity of 25,000 plus products.

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Doesn’t this make you hungry? 

Every summer I grow something a little different than the previous year. My first year, I only grew tomatoes. Figuring I mastered tomatoes, even with an ugly hornworm trying to eat my tomatoes for dinner, I was ready to move on to the intermediate leagues and decide to grow go green peppers, peas, green beans, basil, and the list goes on. Yeah, I know, I bit off more than I could chew last year (literally.) But, I made it through the season with just a few ugly slugs, a bunch of beetles, and blue corn when I thought I planted some other type of corn.

 So, this year, it was time to think of something different. I thought and thought. What could I grow that would be amazingly cool and my family would actually eat? Sweet Potatoes! Then I stopped and said, “how am I going to grow organic sweet potatoes?”

 When I did a little research I found that I could grow the slips myself, following these instructions. But which type of sweet potato would I like? I turned to my trusty Mother Earth News Magazines, to find a great article on which sweet potatoes their editors suggested.

 Sweet potatoes grow best when it is hot outside. In the north, you don’t have a long hot period, so I sourced sweet potatoes that had shorter growing periods. I decided the Beauregard sweet potato was the right one for me with its ninety five day growing period. Doesn’t this potato just reek Gone with the Wind?  “Rhett, pass me the Beauregard sweet potato …”

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I can’t think of a more boring and tedious housework job as ironing. How many of you don’t know how to iron or just avoid it in favor of the nearest dry cleaner? Okay, so why the article? Life is too short, just go to the dry cleaner, right? I have never been fond of the chemicals used by dry cleaners and have resorted to washing and ironing my own clothes.

When I grew up everyone learned to iron. Either you were taught by your mother or you learned in Home Economics. (Remember making french toast for the first time in Home Ec?) Am I dating myself?

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 As of December 31, 2008, you will not longer be  able to purchase chlorofluorocarbons propelled albuterol inhalers as  a result of the Clean Air Act and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.   This type of product is used to treat people who suffer from bronchospams (wheezing) from asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

“Although chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in medicines are safe for patients to inhale, they are harmful to the environment. CFCs reduce the amount of ozone in the ozone layer that surrounds the earth and protects the earth against the sun’s harmful rays. The loss of ozone can increase the risk of skin cancer, cataracts, and otherhealth problems. Replacing the CFCs in your metereddoseinhaler with another substance, called HFA, will make the environment safer for everyone,” according to the FDA.

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Over the weekend, we were in Washington DC looking at colleges for my oldest. We decided to make Washington a family weekend trip while we visited Georgetown and George Washington. Of course, I always have my trusty camera to capture the greening of America as I travel. Here are some of the green finds I found in the Nation’s capital:

I saw this sign near the grass right by the Lincoln Memorial. I have a fascination with Buffalo grass and have always wondered how it would fare in New Jersey. (I know, an odd thing to have a fascination about.) It is supposed to be drought tolerant. Does anyone have Buffalo grass? Is it like fescue grass?

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I am in the throws of planning a Bar Mitzvah and have made a commitment to make this one as green as possible. For those who do not know a lot about a bar mitzvah, the amount of detail involved is similar to a wedding. It is a ritual in Judaism when a boy reaches the age of 13 (and a girl, the age of 12), that he has come of age to observe the commandments of the Torah. Today the ritual has been expanded to include a religious service led by the child and a party or reception afterwards. For a 101 on bar mitzvahs, read here.

Each bar mitzvah (this being my third), I try to do something different. The first son’s theme was puzzle pieces reflecting the various pieces of his life. I cut out 200 plus puzzle pieces, strung them on a white ribbon as a necklace. Each puzzle piece identified how the guest was part of my son’s life whether the guest was family or friends from his soccer team or nursery school.

The second son had a DVD invitation which featured a montage of his life. Since his bar mitzvah project was both the Nike Recycle-a Shoe program that I discussed in this article and recycling electronic media through GreenDisk ( see my GreenDisk article), we decided to enclose a self-addresses envelope to return the DVDs for recycling. I did receive many of the DVDs back. In reflection, my carbon creative footprint was huge. Not only did I create a product that could have ultimately ended up in the trash, I requested that they re-mail the DVDs back to me! What was I thinking?

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Every day, we are bombarded with numerous advertisements pushing various drugs to make our quality of life better. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could rely solely on natural cures rather than prescriptive drugs, which may have side affects, to alleviate our aliments?

Take for example the recent research of the use of WATERMELON in lieu of Viagra to cure erectile dysfunction (”ED”). It was reported in CNN Money in the first half of 2007 that sales for Viagra were $816 million! However, the treatment does not come without side affects. On the company’s website the following side affects are listed:

“The most common side effects of VIAGRA are headache, facial flushing, and upset stomach. Less commonly, bluish vision, blurred vision, or sensitivity to light may briefly occur.” The website further states that in some rare cases, men might have a decrease or loss of vision or hearing which may be due in part to taking PDE5 inhibitors, including VIAGRA.

As you continue reading the known side affects, your eyes are drawn to this warning for obvious reasons: “As with any ED tablet, in the rare event of an erection lasting more than 4 hours, seek immediate medical help to avoid long-term injury.” That sounds downright scary.

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Make a splash by winning this Quiksilver eco-boardshorts. See details below.

If I were to ask my teenage sons what summer is all about they would reply, “swimming, going to the beach, and hanging out with my friends.” What better way to do this in a comfortable, breathable, eco-friendly boardshorts, which is not only lighter on the Earth, but a portion of its proceeds go towards a good cause?

Well, look no further since Quiksilver, has partnered with The Surfrider Foundation to create an organic 100% cotton Slightly Choppy special edition boardshorts. It features original artwork donated by Quiksilver’s renowned artist, Scott Richards, as well as the Surfrider Foundation’s iconic wave logo throughout the patchwork design. So now you can be environmentally stylish as well as helping the Surfrider Foundation through a portion of the sales of the shorts to protect the worlds’ oceans and beaches for others to enjoy. The Surfrider’s Foundation has been in existence since 1984 and currently maintains over 50,000 members and 80 chapters worldwide.

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What are some of my pet peeves? They are as follows: People who urinate on the toilet seats and don’t clean up after themselves, CFLs recycling, people who do not call you back, and plastic pots recycling. Okay, 2 green pet peeves and 2 annoying pet peeves. Well, one pet peeve might be going by the wayside, since Home Depot announced at the end of June that they will be taking back expired and UNBROKEN CFLs. Thanks to Beth of Fake Plastic Fish, who alerted me to an article on Tiny Choices, I now need to find another pet peeve to rant about. Like, I don’t have enough to do, Beth?

 According to Home Depot’s press release, all of their stores will be offering free CFL recycling. Although Ikea offers free CFL recycling, driving to one of their stores may not be convenient.

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Two Rabbits plotting against me to get into my veggie garden

What are your first thoughts when you see those cute little bunny rabbits in the picture? You are thinking, “they are sooo cute.” I can see why you think this because we associate bunny rabbits with Peter Rabbit, Bugs Bunny cartoons, and the Easter bunny.

I too felt that way. I loved to watch them hipidy hop around my lawn and wiggle their little noses until one day we tangoed. They invaded by inner sanctuary. My garden. Then I realized that they were wolves in rabbit clothing and the garden gloves came off.

In order to explain how we tangoed I need to start at the very beginning. It all began with a dream of the perfect garden with eight raised beds with butterfly and bees dancing in the sun, and of course, Steven Spielberg filming this beautiful scene. In order to protect my garden, I had to fence it in against the deer, who believe me are not related to Bambi. They eat everything, even if they are not supposed to.

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