Monthly Archives: June 2008

A couple of weeks ago, Recycla’s family lost electricity during a thunderstorm. Services were not restored for many hours, which meant the family had to find some way to bring light into their dark house. Luckily, they had a good supply of candles on hand and the family ended up sitting at the kitchen table and reading by candlelight. (Well, until Recycla’s husband remembered the portable DVD player the family uses on car trips and then set the children up on the sofa with the little screen glowing in the darkness.)

Recycla doesn’t burn candles often, but when she does, she prefers to use either beeswax or soy candles, instead of paraffin candles.

Why?

Paraffin candles are made from petroleum, which is heavily processed and treated with carcinogenic chemicals. The black smoke that a paraffin candle emits is basically diesel exhaust.  You don’t want to  create air pollution in your house, do you?

Luckily, the Eco Women are here to share their favorite beeswax and soy candle sources:

• Enviro Girl shops at the Eco Candle Company and often buys their candles as gifts for family and friends. For her, it is a local business and one she is happy to support.
• Recycla prefers unscented candles because of her allergies and she recently found two Etsy sellers who sell unscented beeswax candles — OneHoney and Dragon06.  She bought a large supply of tapers, votives, and big chunky columns and is now set for a summer of thunderstorms.
• Bluecorn Naturals sells both beeswax and soy, both scented and unscented.
• Tigerflag Natural Perfumery sells unscented beeswax candles.
• If your town has a farmers’ market, it’s possible someone is selling candles there. Recycla is going to investigate this option the next time she’s at her local farmers’ market.

Beeswax and soy candles are usually more expensive than their cheap, made-in-China paraffin cousins. However, when kept out of drafts, beeswax candles are dripless and burn for much longer than paraffin candles. So while they cost more at first, they save you money in the long run.

So, the next time you buy candles, give beeswax and soy a try.

Photo courtesy of BeeswaxCandles.com.

As you are probably aware, Recycla is passionately committed to doing her part to save Planet Earth. She is always trying new things, whether it’s sampling a new product or testing a tip before she posts it here. Yes, it’s true: Recycla and Enviro Girl do try to test as many products and tips as possible before they blog about them. For example, when Recycla wrote about how to recycle Crocs shoes, she really did mail her daughter’s old Crocs off to be recycled.

Here is a partial list of the EASY things Recycla does day in and day out:

• Recycles all paper, most plastics, etc. Also, REDUCES use of materials whenever possible.
• Uses almost all organic personal care products. One exception is deodorant and you can read why here.
• Buys organic foods, shops local, cooks most days instead of eating out, etc.
• Not only takes cloth bags to the grocery store, also takes cloth produce bags. Also takes cloth bags to other stores to avoid bringing home more evil plastic bags.
• Turns lights off when leaving a room and (of course) uses fluorescent bulbs.
• Bundles errands when driving, so as to minimize outings and save on gas.
• Uses reusable water bottles instead of disposable ones.
• Uses cloth napkins for dinner almost every night.

That’s the good stuff. Then, there are the areas in which Recycla could do a better job.

For example, Recycla’s family tried eco toilet paper last year, which she can assure you did not go over well with everyone. While Recycla really didn’t notice the rougher texture, another member of her family did notice the difference and HE complained. The family is now back to using conventional toilet paper. Ditto tissues. And, no, cloth handkerchiefs are not an option as far as Recycla is concerned.

Another area in which Recycla could improve is shopping online. Shopping online means that the mailman or the Big Brown Truck of Joy has to make a trip to Recycla’s house to deliver the goodies. Those trucks use gas to get to Recycla’s house, lots of it. Recycla understands that it would be better if she instead shopped at stores in her town — bonus points if they’re locally owned. Recycla TRIES to do this, but she really does not like to shop, and so this is one area in which convenience often wins out over the environment.

One issue Recycla wrestles with is the cost difference between conventional and eco products. When two products work equally well and there’s a clear reason why the eco one is better for the environment and/or human health, Recycla is going to choose the greener item every time. However, what if the greener option is just so much more expensive that you cannot justify the cost? Recycla has tried several eco laundry detergents in recent months. There were two that she really liked, but one was expensive and not available locally, which means shipping costs on top of an already costly product. The other detergent Recycle really liked, but it too was far more expensive per load than the conventional product Recycla’s family had used for years. So, the jury is still out on that one.

As you can see, Eco Warriors are not perfect. They are not 100% eco. The important thing to remember is that EVERY SINGLE THING YOU DO CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Even seemingly small changes can have a large impact, especially when lots of people make that change.

Now imagine if you made one change every single month and other people made a change every month. The changes would all have a positive impact on the environment and help save Planet Earth. So this is Recycla’s challenge for you: Try to do one new thing this month. Just one thing. See how it works out. Think you can do that?

Don’t forget to enter the Eco Women’s contest.

Now for part two of our look at the presidential candidates and their positions on environmental issues …

On the one hand, McCain seems to comprehend the clear connection between the environment and the economy. On the other? The word “Environment” doesn’t appear much on his campaign website–environmental issues are filed under “National Heritage.” One wonders…is he pandering to a Republican base or is he truly trying to redefine the conversation about environmental issues?

And while he rightly connects the dots between our economy and our ecology, he’s promoting “relief from high gas prices” when every economic analyst is saying that the only way to reduce our dependency on foreign oil is to reduce consumption–and the only way to reduce consumption is to raise the prices.  This first clear initiative is contradictory at best.  And if he believes that a healthy environment is the product of a strong economy, so at all costs we should bolster that economy–well, we’ve had our years of prosperity and what it’s done for our environment is pretty obvious.

While Enviro-Girl likes his stance on ethanol, McCain doesn’t seem to have a clear plan to reduce our oil dependency. Eliminating the tax that pays for our aging infrastructure seems like a “feel-good election year idea” that will only hurt Americans in the long haul.

Here are the facts gleaned from his campaign website and from On The Issues. What do you make of McCain’s stance on our environment? Will he help Protect the Planet?

• GovWatch: 2003: Ethanol doesn’t increase energy independence. (Feb 2008)
• End reliance on petro-dictators with market-based reform. (Feb 2008)
• Be more active in addressing the issue of climate change. (Jan 2008)
• In favor of cap-and-trade. (Jan 2008)
• FactCheck: Oil independence will take 25 years, not 5 years. (Dec 2007)
• Climate change is real and must be addressed. (Dec 2007)
• Climate change is real; nuclear power is solution. (Oct 2007)
• Public pressure on oil industry to invest in alternatives. (Oct 2007)
• FactCheck: nuclear plants do emit no GHGs, but do have waste. (Jun 2007)
• Reinvest oil profits in nuclear power. (Jun 2007)
• Ethanol made no sense in `05 but with $60/bbl it makes sense. (May 2007)
• 2000: Held hearings on mounting evidence of climate change. (Jan 2004)
• 2000: Criticized Bush’s withdrawal from the Kyoto Treaty. (Jan 2004)
• Energy 2001: 1st Republican to sign onto reducing GHGS. (May 2002)
• Strength Clean Air & Water Acts; but not Kyoto. (Jan 2000)
• Supports alternative fuels, emission controls, & CWA. (Jul 1998)
• Voted YES on disallowing an oil leasing program in Alaska’s ANWR. (Nov 2005)
• Voted NO on $3.1B for emergency oil assistance for hurricane-hit areas. (Oct 2005)
• Voted NO on reducing oil usage by 40% by 2025 (instead of 5%). (Jun 2005)
• Voted YES on banning drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (Mar 2005)
• Voted NO on Bush Administration Energy Policy. (Jul 2003)
• Voted YES on targeting 100,000 hydrogen-powered vehicles by 2010. (Jun 2003)
• Voted YES on removing consideration of drilling ANWR from budget bill. (Mar 2003)
• Voted NO on drilling ANWR on national security grounds. (Apr 2002)
• Voted NO on terminating CAFE standards within 15 months. (Mar 2002)
• Voted YES on preserving budget for ANWR oil drilling. (Apr 2000)
• Voted YES on defunding renewable and solar energy. (Jun 1999)
• Voted YES on approving a nuclear waste repository. (Apr 1997)
• Voted NO on do not require ethanol in gasoline. (Aug 1994)
• Sponsored bill for greenhouse gas tradeable allowances. (Feb 2005)
• Rated 17% by the CAF, indicating opposition to energy independence. (Dec 2006)
• Supports immediate reductions in greenhouse gases. (Sep 1998)
• Support much tougher regulations on emission requirements. (Jan 2008)
• FactCheck: Criticized $3M “bear DNA” study, but voted for it. (Nov 2007)
• Economic & environmental interests not mutually exclusive. (Sep 2007)
• Scored 40% on Humane Society Scorecard on animal protection. (Jan 2007)
• 1996: Put 3.5B acres of land into wilderness protection. (Jan 2004)
• Preserving wilderness among proudest achievements. (Sep 2002)
• Preserve and help our National Parks. (Jan 2000)
• Repeal ban on new roads in wilderness due to bad process. (Dec 1999)
• Use park visitor fees for park development bonds. (Dec 1999)
• Preserve natural resources for future. (Jul 1999)
• Voted YES on including oil & gas smokestacks in mercury regulations. (Sep 2005)
• Voted YES on confirming Gale Norton as Secretary of Interior. (Jan 2001)
• Voted YES on transportation demo projects. (Mar 1998)
• Voted NO on reducing funds for road-building in National Forests. (Sep 1997)
• Voted NO on continuing desert protection in California. (Oct 1994)
• Voted YES on requiring EPA risk assessments. (May 1994)
• End commercial whaling and illegal trade in whale meat. (Jun 2001)
• Supports grants for brownfields remediation. (May 2002)
• Make EPA into a Cabinet department. (May 2002)
• Rated 53% by the LCV, indicating a mixed record on environment. (Dec 2003)
• EPA must do better on mercury clean-up. (Apr 2004)
• Focus on results, not regulation. (Sep 1998)

John McCain believes that America’s economic and environmental interests are not mutually exclusive, but rather inextricably linked. Our economic prospects depend greatly upon the sustainable use of ample and unspoiled natural resources. A clean and healthy environment is well served by a strong economy. History shows that poverty is a poor steward.

As John McCain said, “Americans solve problems. We don’t run from them.” He believes that ignoring the problem reflects a “liberal live for today” attitude unworthy of our great country, and poses a serious and unacceptable threat to our environment, our economy, and U.S. national security. He has offered common sense approaches to limit carbon emissions by harnessing market forces that will bring advanced technologies, such as nuclear energy, to the market faster, reduce our dependence on foreign supplies of energy, and see to it that America leads in a way that ensures all nations do their rightful share.

Americans need relief right now from high gas prices. John McCain will act immediately to reduce the pain of high gas prices.
Hard-working American families are suffering from higher gasoline prices. John McCain calls on Congress to suspend the 18.4 cent federal gas tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
International demand for oil is bolstered by federal purchases for the SPR. There is no reason to fill it when oil is so expensive; the overall SPR is of adequate size, and when it places further upward pressure on prices.
Ethanol subsidies, tariff barriers and sugar quotas drive up food prices and hurt Americans. However, we cannot take the wrong direction and cut off trade for American goods.