During the month of July, you can help donate a tree just by tweeting! The folks at the blog, Choose Cartons, are partnering with Trees for the Future to donate a tree each time the hashtag #shopcartons is mentioned!
By partnering with Trees for the Future, Choose Cartons, an Evergreen Packaging initiative, aims to help replant as many of the valuable resources they use for their packaging as possible.
In fact, they are donating up to 10,000 trees during the month of July. All you have to do is tweet. Pretty cool, huh?
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Choose Cartons is a blog for eco-conscious parents (particularly moms!) that teaches the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling through DIY projects, up-cycled crafts, and fresh ideas. They also speak to the importance of using renewable resources, and as the name suggests, the positive effects of choosing cartons at the grocery store!
Top 3 Reasons You Should Choose Cartons at the Grocery Store:
They are recyclable & renewable
Cartons keep the contents inside super fresh
Cartons take up less space in your fridge so you can buy even more groceries for the kids!
A few months ago, a good friend, fellow mom, and super responsible eco homesteader sent out an email to all the mothers in her community about a new study on BPA-free plastic. Essentially, the study has found that even plastic products claiming to be BPA-free contain traces of BPA high enough to be harmful to test subjects and, more importantly, our babies. BPA, or bisphenol A, is a plastic additive that is an endocrine disrupter mimicking the structure and function of the hormone estradiol, and exposure to it has been linked with serious health issues including cancer, accelerated puberty, inhibited neurological development, and behavioral and prostate gland issues when fetuses, infants, and children are exposed to it. Practically everyone uses plastic bottles, sippy cups, and toys, and unfortunately not even all of these products on the market advertise themselves as BPA-free. Exposure to this chemical in the early developmental years is especially harmful, making it even more important to eliminate your plastic use, especially when it comes to baby and children’s products. The following are three great ways to ditch plastic.
#1 Switch to Stainless Steel or Glass Bottles and Sippy Cups
Bottles and sippy cups are probably the number one way babies and children become exposed to BPA (and other harmful additives like phthalates and PVC) because they are literally drinking out of them and subsequently drinking traces of these chemicals that have leached into their juice, milk, or water. Fortunately there are a few great companies making stainless steel and glass alternatives. My personal favorite, which the friend I mentioned turned us on to, are Pura Kiki Stainless Steel bottles and cups. The bottles are 100% BPA, PVC, petroleum, and phthalate free, and use silicone sippers and nipples instead of plastic. Bottles become sippy cups just by substituting the nipple for a sipper. Some other great brands that are now producing kids’ products include Klean Kanteen and Lifefactory.
#2 Switch to Wood and Cloth Toys
When I began researching harmful additives in baby toys, I found a list from the Healthy Toys Project of the top ten most dangerous toys, including the “killer zerbra“. I was shocked to find two of my daughter’s favorite toys on the list–one of them at the top. Since babies put everything in their mouths, I’ve come to feel that no plastic is safe in our daughter’s toys. Of course it can feel impossible to avoid it 100% (we still have MANY plastic toys and will get rid of some as she grows out of them), but choosing solid wood toys–made with wood that is safely sourced and non-toxic–with safe, non-lead paint is a safer option. Some of my favorite wood toy brands include Haba, Hape, Boikido, and PlanToys. Under the Nile makes some very cute organic cotton toys including friendly little vegetables with faces. While I’m 100% a supporter of reducing, reusing, and recycling, when I’ve discovered that one of my daughter’s toys contains harmful toxins like lead, PVC, BPA, phthalates, or any number of toxic dyes or any of the other 66 Chemicals of High Concern to Children, I’ve thrown them out. The way I see it, if the toy isn’t safe enough for my child, it’s not safe enough for someone else’s. If you want to help provide toys for impoverished children, donate ecologically responsible, safe toys during toy drives or simply purchase some and donate them to a thrift store.
#3 Don’t Eat off of Plastic
Plastics leach their harmful chemicals continuously, especially when heated (like when you dump still-hot soup or mac and cheese into a tupperware). One of my favorite brands selling safe, non-plastic baby food storage, tableware, and cutlery is Green Sprouts by iPlay. Their collection includes bowls, spoons, plates, cups, and even toys and hygiene products made of silicone, bamboo, stainless steel, and corn starch. I have yet to find a high chair tray that is not made of plastic, but luckily most convertible high chairs these days have a removable tray and can be pushed up to the dinner table so your little one can eat with the family instead of eating off the tray. Once again, we haven’t found it possible to get rid of all the plastic eating-ware in our home, but we’re slowly replacing it at a rate we can afford.
Above all else, the most important thing is that you do your own research and stay up to date on emerging information. YOU know what’s best for you and your family, but having the latest information helps you make an informed decision, whichever way you go. Our babies are little sponges soaking up everything in their environment. Yes, wood toys, silicone eating ware, and stainless-steel baby bottles are more expensive–but so are the harmful diseases these toxins can cause. Because I am someone with an estrogen-fed, chronic condition (endometriosis) that will supposedly be passed down to my daughter, the cost of replacing the plastic in our home is worth it. I’ll do whatever I can to help her avoid developing endometriosis and the resultant infertility and chronic pain it can cause. As always my goal is to support all moms regardless of whether or not we agree. My hope is that this information will help someone else as much as it helped our family.
I came across this video recently presenting an entirely novel, brilliant idea for solar powered roads that would generate energy, hugely reduce America’s carbon footprint, and make roads safer—just to name a few of the idea’s many benefits. Invented by a husband and wife in Washington, the Brusaws, Solar Roadways consist of hexagonal solar panels are covered with tempered glass and equipped with microprocessors and LED lights. These interlocking panels would replace roads, parking lots, sidewalks, driveways—basically any concrete or asphalt surface you can think of.
What’s made the Solar Roadways project the most popular Indiegogo campaign in history is not only the fact that Solar Roadways would produce three times the energy that the United States currently uses while reducing greenhouse gases by 75%, but also that the roads have ingenious safety features that would make driving safer, would lower energy costs, and would boost our economy by creating jobs and literally generating capital. The technology is simple enough to understand: interlocking solar panels replace roads, sidewalks, parking lots, etc. and generate electricity. Underground cable tunnels would run beneath roads allowing workers to easily perform maintenance without shutting down highways for months. When a panel is damaged (which should happen only rarely as the double-laminated glass covering the panels can withstand 250,000 lbs.), it can be popped out and replaced without an entire section of road needing maintenance. Glass-topped roads sound slippery and dangerous, but two safety features actually make them safer than the asphalt and concrete currently in use.
First, panels heat up to temperatures just above freezing in colder climates to melt snow and ice on roads which will help prevent accidents as well as eliminate costly snow removal. The underwater channels that house power lines also have a chamber for runoff that diverts the polluted melted snow and rainwater away from streams and soil and into water treatment facilities—a huge added eco-bonus. Second, the glass’ texture has shown through friction testing to be skid resistant: a car moving at 80 mph can slam on its breaks on a Solar Roadway without sliding. LED lights within the panels can be programmed to mark traffic lines, bike lanes, and parking spaces, but that’s just the beginning. Because displays can be quickly and easily changed, warning signs on roads can be updated in real time to help prevent accidents. Additionally, panels are pressure sensitive and light up ahead of drivers to signal that an animal or person is in the road, or that a boulder or other obstruction is ahead.
Those who worry that eradicating asphalt and our dependence on oil would destroy jobs and the economy can take comfort in the fact that this entirely new schema would require thousands of jobs that could easily replace all those eliminated and would hugely boost the manufacturing industry. Solar Roadways are not cheap, but they pay for themselves many times over by using an essentially infinite source of power that would generate incredible amounts of capital—something our economy sorely needs. By choosing this technology we also invest in our children’s generation by providing them with cleaner air and resourceful technology. Julie and Scott Brusaw invented the technology behind solar roadways in 2006. They’ve since created prototypes with funding from the Federal Highway Administration and have received $1.9 million from backers on Indiegogo to move forward with production on a larger scale. Practically speaking, implementation of this technology will likely begin with private driveways, roads, and parking lots, but the couple (and their millions of supporters) believes that once people see solar roadways in action the sky is the limit. Their grand vision for this technology includes providing aid to those hit by tsunamis and earthquakes by airdropping solar panels so that rescue workers who wouldn’t otherwise have access to power could provide medical care and distribute food. Third world countries without practical access to electricity could use the panels to create clean drinking water and energy to power lights and computers for education. This technology is so dynamic and innovative that all of its uses certainly haven’t been explored.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. The Solar Roadways Indiegogo campaign has been extended through June 20th, and supporters can donate here. The money generated through this campaign will be used to hire engineers and scale up production of Solar Roadways. The economy, our climate, and our communities are all desperately in need of smart, resourceful technology that is practical while looking towards future needs. Luckily, we’ve found it. The hard work is done; all we need to do now is make sure Solar Roadways don’t remain a prototype.
Hello, Friends! How was your week? Did you have a fun Memorial Day weekend? Did summer finally arrive at your house?
My family traveled to Georgia over Memorial Day weekend, we hadn’t been back to visit since we moved away over 7 years ago! It was a much needed break and it was so much fun to visit those beautiful Georgia trees and stay with amazing friends! (Thanks Dion + Gina!) Not to mention, I am a huge sucker for a road trip, I swear I would jump in a car anytime and hit to road to anywhere!
This weekend, we are celebrating another dear friend’s birthday and spending the rest of the weekend at the beach. I am looking forward to sitting in the sunshine with my toes in the sand. I am in full summer mode and really can’t get enough of our Florida summer weather, it is definitely beach weather.
While I wrap birthday gifts and pack my beach bag, here are a few green things I thought you might enjoy:
NOTE FROM SWEET GREENS: This post, A Substitute for Clean Water: There is None was written by Jenna. Jenna is a freelance writer who writing focuses on eco-lifestyle, health and wellness.
That cool, clean water straight from the tap. I grew up with it. As an inhabitant of the Northeastern Washington to Boston population corridor in the United States, it was a sure bet that drinking whatever came from the tap would be safe, plentiful, clear and delicious.
It was on a trip to Philadelphia in the 1980s that I first saw water for sale in a supermarket. What’s the deal, I asked a friend. “Oh, we never drink the water from the tap,” the friend replied. “Not in this city, we don’t.”
Water reminds me of that very pointed cliche about freedom: You don’t understand what freedom is until you have it taken away from you.
Water falls into that category. You don’t appreciate clear, clean, fresh water until you have that taken away from you. Yes, I knew that states in the West viewed water in an entirely different manner that I was used to. Now, however, with energy companies seeking to using fracking methods to mine natural gas throughout the country — including the Northeast corridor — suddenly clean water is the talk of the town. We’re living now with a clean-water scare that is hard to overestimate. Where it takes us at this point is hard to say.
That said, clean water is tasteless, odorless, colorless. This makes it very hard to describe.
So, let’s describe what clean water is not. That is easier, even though it is much, much scarier.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in fact, can define what clean water is not supposed to be based on contaminants that include microorganisms, disinfection byproducts, disinfectants, inorganic chemicals, organic chemicals and radionuclide. That would be, in less scientific jargon, living organisms, chemicals of various types and varieties of radiation that could poison the water.
The EPA chart on pollutants quantifies the scare factor. The microorganism cryptosporidium, is safe only when it is not present — it has a zero tolerance level. If it makes it into your water, expect stomach aches, cramps and diarrhea. Where does it hail from? From human and animal fecal waste.
That happens to be the first containment on the list. There is, likewise, zero tolerance for Giardia lamblia, Legionella and various coli-form bacteria.
Disinfectants include chlorine, which can cause eye and nose irritation, stomach discomfort above its tolerance level. Inorganic substances include lead, which can cause delayed development and serious neurological damage in children and kidney problems in adults. Nitrates above 10 parts per million, can kill infants. Thallium at 0.0005 parts per million, can cause changes in the blood, intestine, kidney and liver problems, as well as hair loss.
The point is made: Messing with the water can quite simply kill you and does more frequently than most Americans realize. One Pacific Institute report from 2002 estimated that 135 million people would die from unhealthy drinking water between 2000 and 2020.
One rule of thumb holds that if your drinking water is unsafe, it is a good time to pack your bags and move. If your local well is unsafe, there is not much you can do about it.
Often, however, that isn’t the case, especially if the problem is unhealthy microorganisms. Water in that case can frequently treated (often with something that is also toxic) and left to flush itself clean again. If the source of the problem is found, water can return to health after some time has passed.
Whatever the problem, finding the source of the pollutants is key and this is one of the critical factors when it comes to fracking, which involves many, many drilling sites. As such, if the practice is proven to be unsafe, then there could be tens of thousands of wells each contaminating local water sources.
Many people turn to water purifying systems installed in their home, including the use of water softeners, filters and desalination techniques. Some systems use reverse osmosis. Others use descaling.
Much of the effort of water treatment in the home is to protect the pipes, the bathroom tiles and the kitchen utensils from a build of of residue that is created by hard water, which is water with a heavy concentration of minerals.
While minerals can build up on pipes and cooking ware, some minerals are good for you and are not harmful. Clean water, in that case, is a requirement for life. Clean, clear, fresh water softened with a private system, in that case, is a very popular luxury.
During the month of July, you can help donate a tree just by tweeting! The folks at the blog, Choose Cartons, are partnering with Trees for the Future to donate a tree each time the hashtag #shopcartons is mentioned!
