How to recycle old makeup

Posted on September 3, 2010 by Jen| Leave a comment

Recycla doesn’t wear much makeup, so her stuff tends to hang around her bathroom drawer for a long time.  She hates to throw away old mascara, but what else can she do with it?  Answer:  Recycle it.  Check out this great article on how to recycle your old makeup!  Now Recycla needs to go round up some ill-chosen lipsticks and mascaras…

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Posted in 3 Rs, personal care

Fast fact: Go dark

Posted on September 3, 2010 by Jen| 1 Comment

This one is a no brainer, but when you leave a room, turn off the lights.

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Posted in fast facts, house stuff

Yes, you can make a difference

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Jen| 2 Comments

Continuing with Enviro Girl’s post yesterday about how California did not ban plastic bags after all, Recycla has some easy peasy reminders for all Eco Warriors, regardless of where you are on the eco spectrum.

  • This should be obvious, but do not use plastic shopping bags!  If you’re only getting one or two items at the store,  you don’t need a bag at all.  Otherwise, keep reusable bags in your car/purse/bike basket.  [The Eco Women are partial to this bag.  It's well made, it's the right size, and any profits go to charity.]
  • Give your family and friends gifts of reusuable bags or wrap their gifts in cloth bags.  When Recycla and her family were on vacation this summer, they visited family and friends along the way.  Their hostess gift of choice was a cloth shopping bag filled with food and wine from their town in Virginia.  [See the Eco Women's favorite bag, above.]
  • Encourage small business owners in your town to either eliminate plastic bags altogether or at least charge people for them.  At the beginning of the year, Washington, DC implemented a 5 cent tax on plastic bags for grocery store customers.  DC residents immediately responded by using far fewer plastic bags — down from 22 million per month in 2009 to just 3 million in the first month after the tax went into place.   The monies generated by the tax will be used for environmental causes around the city, including cleaning up the Anacostia River.
  • Cut back on your plastic use in general.  This means don’t buy bottled water or produce wrapped in plastic.  Try to reduce your plastic consumption in any way you can.  You don’t have to be perfect, but please make an effort.

While this all might not seem like much, every little bit makes a difference.  And remember, plastic comes from oil — think of the Gulf oil disaster — and it does not biodegrade in landfills.

Tell the Eco Women:  What are you doing to reduce your plastic use?

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Posted in 3 Rs, issues

Environmentalists Lose Plastic Bag Battle–But the War’s Not Over

Posted on September 1, 2010 by melissawest| 7 Comments

Enviro Girl has long despised the plastic bag.  It’s the #1 form of litter she finds when cleaning rural ditches and fields.  It represents the ultimate form of single-use waste.  Heck, a lot of times she’s watched people purchase an item at a store and carry it to the door in a plastic bag before removing their item and throwing the plastic bag away before they’ve even reached the parking lot.  No kidding.  What a ridiculous thing.

Enviro Girl has watched with interest various efforts to ban the plastic bag.  Yesterday California voters had a huge opportunity to ban plastic bags–a ban that would have surely spread like smoking bans.   Effectively the ban would have been a ban on litter.  But the petrochemical industry’s lobby proved stronger than common sense. The ban was rejected and the “magnificent plastic bag” will continue to float free, traveling unabated to the Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch.

It costs us all less to reuse old bags or buy or make shopping bags.  The question of “Paper or plastic” is a false choice. It costs us all less to NOT have to deal with garbage and litter and beach clean-ups.  But the fear of inconvenience and false cost calculations won the day.  Enviro Girl is gnashing her teeth with disgust–a ban would have cost taxpayers nothing and had a tremendous environmental impact.

Team Plastic Litter–1, Environmentalists–0

The Environmentalists will have to knuckle down and keep fighting–like smoking bans, it looks like plastic shopping bag bans will have to start locally.  It’s not time to give up the good fight.

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Posted in 3 Rs, issues

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Getting your morning cup of joe a little more green

Posted on August 31, 2010 by Jen| 3 Comments

It’s Tuesday morning.  The chances are good that you are sitting at your computer reading this with a cup of coffee nearby.  Since Recycla is still feeling the post-weekend blues — yes it’s Tuesday, but she’s still unhappy that summer is over and the kids are back in school, plus their homework last night was insane — and will be a bit lethargic until her caffeine of choice hits her bloodstream, she’s going to talk to you today about coffee.

Did you know that even your daily choice of coffee can have an impact on Planet Earth?

Here are three EASY suggestions to help you make a difference, one cup at a time.

  • Look for Fair Trade Certification. When you buy coffee that is fair-trade certified, you are guaranteeing that the farmers who grew the beans are paid a fair price, are provided much-needed credit and given technical assistance, such as help in making the transition to organic growing.
  • Select organic coffee. It is worth the small cost premium to use organic coffee beans, too, which eliminate your exposure, and that of the environment, to hazardous pesticides that are commonly applied to conventional crops.
  • Look for shade-grown beans. Coffee was originally a shade-loving plant, and was traditionally cultivated underneath existing trees in a process that protected the native forest. Today, many farmers continue to raise coffee beneath shade trees, and the plants provide sanctuary to important migratory birds, many of which are now threatened. These are many of the same birds that fill American yards with song during the warm months.

That’s it.  Just three easy things to remember the next time you stock up on java or dash into your favorite coffee shop for a cup to go.

Tell the Eco Women:  What’s your caffeine of choice in the morning?

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Posted in food

A Question of Milk

Posted on August 30, 2010 by melissawest| 22 Comments

Enviro Girl has long bought milk from Lamers, a local dairy, because she supports a family farm locally owned and operated.  The milk is rGBH free, which means her children aren’t sipping bovine growth hormones.  She buys this milk in returnable glass bottles to significantly decrease the amount of plastic in her household.  Every week Enviro Girl hauls her crate of empty bottles to the customer service counter at her local Piggly Wiggly and collects her deposit before she starts grocery shopping.  Every week she reminds the person bagging her groceries to load the crate in the shopping cart so they don’t have to lift it twice–glass bottles of milk are heavy.  But Enviro Girl’s committed to the environment and local businesses, so she shrugs off the little inconveniences of clanging glass and bottle deposits.

Last week she stopped in front of a cooler in the dairy section to pick up her family’s five bottles of milk for the week.  A sign alerted her to a new promotion: Lamer’s Dairy Organic Milk.  Organic milk!  Enviro Girl had never bought such a thing–it hadn’t been available from a local source before that day.  She picked up a bottle and glanced at the price.  $4.87 for a quart!  It was almost twice the price of regular rGBH-free milk!

Enviro Girl had a small moment of crisis beside the dairy coolers while holding the cold, heavy glass bottle of organic 2%.  On the one hand, organic milk is puported to have greater health benefits.  Enviro Girl knows that organic milk comes from pasture-grazed cows, which is healthier for the animals.  She also knows organic milk comes from cows fed organic feed–this harkens back to soil, water and air quality issues close to Enviro Girl’s heart.  The “trickle-down” effects of organic milk means fewer chemicals involved in the production process.  It means better care for the cows.  A demand for organic milk means a demand for organic feed, which means fields of grain and hay grown without pesticides or herbicides.

But $4.87 a quart!

Enviro Girl weighed the bottle in her left hand and the environmental economics in her right brain.  Her family has the means to pay for expensive organic milk.  She could cut costs elsewhere if pressed, paying nearly double for her family’s milk every week wouldn’t destroy their food budget.  But more importantly, Enviro Girl recognizes her family’s place in the system of environmental economics.   Demand increases supply and increased supply decreases cost as a general economic rule.  Her family can afford the organic milk now, and by choosing to buy it, they’re choosing to support the production of organic milk.  Their support (and demand) will increase the volume sold by Enviro Girl’s local Piggly Wiggly.  Enviro Girl’s weekly purchase could help increase accessibility and decrease the cost, making organic milk a viable option for more families.

At $4.87 a quart Enviro Girl paid for more than just milk.  She paid an endorsement to the farmer’s efforts, to support the production of organic milk.  Her $4.87 a quart paid for pasture-grazed cows and chemical-free fields of feed.  Enviro Girl paid that money today in the hope that a year from now the milk costs less, allowing more families the ability to enjoy it.

Tell the Eco Women:  have you bought organic milk?  Do you pay more to support locally produced or environmentally responsible products?

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Posted in food, issues

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ARCIMOTO- PULSE – All Electric Car

Posted on August 27, 2010 by kimkasch| Leave a comment

Nathan Fillion who plays in Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and Castle was in Eugene, Oregon test-driving these sustainable vehicles.

And The Green Queen’s son, who played Captain Hammer here in town from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, rushed down to see the event.

This car is supposed to be a “new way to drive.” The Pulse is debuting in 2010 and is supposed to combine style and innovation for fun, affordable, emission-free driving.  The Green Queen’s son had to hop in the car and check it out too.

The Target Price is $17,500 for a base model.

And The Green Queen’s son enjoyed his chance to meet a celebrity and test a sustainable car at the same time.

The Drivetrain is ALL-ELECTRIC with a range of 40-50 miles with and equivalent efficiency of 150 MPG and a top speed of 65 MPH.  The charge time takes 5-7 hours.  Seating allows for the driver and one passenger and safety features include a full roll cage and crumple zones, with disk brakes.

If you are interested in seeing more, check out Arcimoto.

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Posted in transportation, travel, websites & blogs

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Bibliomania

Posted on August 26, 2010 by Jen| 25 Comments

Recycla and her family are avid readers and every evening the whole family can be found in their living room with their noses deep into books.  Because of their bibliomania, the family has stacks and stacks of books all over the place, as well as in bookcases throughout the house.  Even though the family regularly visits their library, they still manage to pick up plenty of other books along the way, whether they’re from used book stores or gifts from friends.  As you can imagine, shelf space is at a premium and Recycla is constantly trying to figure out how to squeeze more books onto each shelf.  (Hint:  Go with vertical stacks to maximize all available space.)

Luckily, Recycla has found a way to deal with some of the book chaos and keep the stacks of books from overwhelming the family — PaperBack Swap.  Captain Compost wrote about PBS a couple of years ago and Recycla was intrigued.

The concept is simple:  People post their extra books at the PBS website.  Other people browse the offerings and, when they find something they like, ask the owner of the book to mail it to them.  The owner of the book prints out a mailing label, pays Media Rate postage (usually around $2.50), and sends the book to the person who wants it.  Once the book is received, the first person gets a credit that can be used to acquire a new book at no cost to them.  That’s right, it doesn’t cost any money to receive books, as long as you have credits in your account.

Through PBS, Recycla has been able to share dozens of her books with other people, then use her credits to find new books.  Some are books that she had wanted to read for a while, but they weren’t at her library; while others have been serendipitous finds that she discovered while browsing the PBS website.

Getting a free book in the mail is like Christmas all year.  And when Recycla is done, she often re-lists it at PBS so that someone else can enjoy it.

PaperBack Swap also has a couple of great sibling websites that offer similar services for swapping DVDs and CDs.

Swapping books — whether through PBS or a more informal system with your friends and family — is a great way to reuse and share resources!

Tell the Eco Women:  How do you get your hands on books — from the library, from used bookstores, or somewhere else?

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Posted in 3 Rs, books, living green on a budget

A Greener Grill

Posted on August 25, 2010 by melissawest| 2 Comments

Yesterday Recycla wrote about how it can be a challenge to “green” the people you live with.  They agree in theory that doing better for the environment is a good thing, but in practice they still toss their recyclables into the trash and leave TV sets on throughout the house.   Enviro Girl lives with this kind of person and it has taken patience to change them.

One such matter took place over a year ago when Enviro Girl suggested that, while she loves being a carnivore and a steak grilled over charcoal briquettes is a culinary masterpiece, perhaps the Grill Master should ditch the lighter fluid.  Lighter fluid is basically gas–petroleum–packaged in a petroleum-based plastic bottle.  It’s not a healthy choice for the environment and at $9.00 for a 64 oz. bottle, it’s expensive.  Liquid lighter fluid also gives off emissions, half of which are purely due to evaporation before you even set a match to those briquettes, according to a 1990 EPA report.

Enviro Girl and her Grill Master watch the Food Network and saw many of the chefs using a chimney starter. Enviro Girl asked her Grill Master if that wouldn’t be a preferable way to grill–the professionals use them, why shouldn’t he?  But the Grill Master adheres to the BLTC philosophy (Better Living Through Chemicals), and besides, he has always grilled using lighter fluid.

Disregarding his protest, Enviro Girl ordered the Grill Master a chimney starter for his birthday.  For $15.00 (about the cost of two bottles of lighter fluid) she purchased a heavy-duty metal chimney starter with a wooden handle.  The chimney starter is a cinch to work–you simply crumple up some old newspaper and place it in the bottom of the chimney, then place your coals on top.   Openings at the bottom of the tube allow you to set a match to the newspaper and the Laws of Physics then go into play, setting fire to the charcoal briquettes.  Once the briquettes are ready (a couple of minutes later), you grab the handle and pull the chimney up, allowing the briquettes to fall into a neat pile in the bottom of your back yard Weber.

The Grill Master was miffed by the gift and snubbed it.  But Enviro Girl didn’t buy lighter fluid ever again and eventually he ran out and necessity forced his hand.  Reader, two days ago the Grill Master confessed that he loves his chimney starter–loves how it’s easy to use, it works quickly (no restarting the flame, no adding more lighter fluid and lighting another match).  The chimney starter costs nothing to use and it doesn’t smell like lighter fluid.  It’s mess-free and uncomplicated.  The Grill Master became convert to the chimney starter.

Make your back yard charcoal grill more environmentally friendly by using a chimney starter instead of lighter fluid.  Make your family more environmentally friendly by gifting them the right “green” tools.   Trust the Eco Women–it really works.

Tell us, reader.  Do you grill with charcoal?  Do you use a chimney starter?

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Posted in 3 Rs, food, living green on a budget

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Greening the people you live with

Posted on August 24, 2010 by Jen| 2 Comments

One thing Recycla has learned over the years is that while most people are fine with going green in theory, the reality can sometimes be different.  For example, she has spent years getting her husband to accept eco cleaning supplies — in theory, he understands that they are healthier to have around the house; however, in reality, he does not believe that they are as effective in dealing with dirt and grime. (Hogwash, says Recycla).

With all this in mind, Recycla was pleased to read this article with seven great suggestions for how to ease your loved ones/roommates into a greener lifestyle.  Quoting directly:

  1. Make it simple. Sometimes getting someone to be green is about making it easy for them. Clearly marked recycling bins, cleaning products that smell nice and do the job, a Bokashi composter instead of a traditional one (you can just scrape all your leftover food into it after dinner, even meat and dairy!), tasty substitutes for their favorite snacks.
  2. Be willing to do the work. If the people you live with aren’t being as green as you are, we’re sorry but you’re just going to have to do the extra work with a smile and no lectures.
  3. Start slow/. Instead of trying to change everything at once, introduce one new thing every week.
  4. Be observant, pick your battles, and then get creative: What are their non-green habits that bother you the most? If, for example, they leave the lights on, invest in some timers that turn off the lights automatically.
  5. Negotiate and experiment: I have one friend whose boyfriend still labors under the misconception that green products don’t clean as well. When his allergies flared up, she suggested they try some green products, just to see. When he saw that his allergies were clearing up and that the products worked just as well as the ones he was used to, he relented.
  6. Frame it so they can understand it: Another friend wanted to switch to CFLs but his wife balked because she thought they were ugly. When he pointed out that they’d save enough money over the life of the CFLs to get those shoes she’d been eyeing, she agreed. (If you want to find out how much money you’d save, click here).
  7. Be patient: Eventually, they probably will come around, or at least be a little greener, but it may take some time.

How are things in your house?  Is everyone on board with getting a little more eco or are you having to work hard to convince some people?

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Posted in Uncategorized