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Archive for category Environment

Water on the Go

Apr 29

Posted by admin in Environment, lifestyle

I’m always on the lookout for new products, and this season promises no shortage of possibilities. Here’s a good one to begin a discussion.

With all the landfill anxiety about plastics and especially plastic bottles, it’s no surprise that one of my new darling pieces of info centers around a reusable water bottle. Yes, I know we all have plenty of reusable containers for water and other beverages, but this one’s unique feature is its ability to provide filtered water in the container. No need to carry your Brita or Pur along for long days to replenish yourself, the Hydros Bottle is a filtered, reusable BPA-free water bottle with a built-in, fast flowing filter that turns water from any source into a safe, drinkable solution.bottle-for-blowout

The filter (filters last several months) removes chlorine, chloramines, and particulates. BTW, it takes just 20 seconds to fill the 24-ounce bottle with odor-free, good tasting water. Such products do not come inexpensively ($29.99), but think of the environmental savings and the opportunity to have water on the go.

The company also points out that last year alone consumers spent over $15 billion on disposable water bottles! To help countries without potable water, they have an impressive give-back program (Operation Hydros) that helps communities in need of safe drinking water, and there are over a billion people worldwide who do not have access to safe, drinkable water!

It’s spring. Get ready for your run, hike, or bike. You now know you can stop anywhere and fill up your container with water that will be transformed into a safe drink.

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Putting the Earth Together

Apr 23

Posted by admin in Environment, gardening

As we conclude a week of attention on all matters of our environment, we need to figure out how to put all the pieces together.

Let’s start with the compost pile. It sounds like an ending for many of our thoughts, but today we focus on its multi-tiered value. For instance, every time you avoid running your garbage disposal, you are saving electricity. Create a compost pile or collect your compostable items and take them to a business that accepts them. A number of farm markets or green grocers are happy to let you join their efforts. Look at what New York City is doing. All that waste has a great second life. If you have the space, purchase a composter, but buy one that makes it easy to turn the contents so that you are diligently mixing up the items and making terrific compost. Numerous examples.

For many people, this week needs a heads-up on being a locavore, being a consumer of goods that we can purchase locally from nearby growers and producers. Those who live close enough to a farm market have a distinct advantage; a parallel to those who live in the country and can easily visit the nearby producer. For others, great distances are involved and then the inverse question needs to be asked: How much money does one save by supporting local if we are adding significant carbon miles to our outings? Likewise, if the farmer travels great distances, what impact does his farm market participation have? OK, the obvious answer is, he has an outlet for his products and we as consumers have the advantage of purchasing truly fresh foods. We are helping maintain a farm.csabox_120x120

The emphasis on buying local has convinced numerous grocers to sign agreements with producers as consumer awareness, especially at the beginning of the farm-fresh, produce season, is focused on buying local. Many grocers now have huge entryway signs telling us how many local products they have for purchase each day. More grocers are making deals with the nearby producers giving us an additional outlet to support the smaller grower. Freshness remains unmatched; we just need to calculate the distance and put it into the equation.

Maybe this is the week you focus on your own growing efforts. We are just weeks away from being out of the frost zone in most parts of the country. The markets have plenty of starter plants. Plenty of opportunities to have your own garden. Nothing more local than that!

One day; one week: It will take an on-going dialogue and action to help put our house in order.

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What’s it All About?

Apr 21

Posted by admin in Environment, food universe

images-2No, Alfie refrain, just the big Organic question. If there is a word that confuses most people when they shop for the so-called right foods, the healthiest products, it’s the word ORGANIC. Yes, there is a definition as supplied by the USDA, and there are multitudes of farmers out there willing to talk to you about the trials and tribulations of going organic. Did I mention the costs? Yes, for many farmers that last element is the deciding factor when it comes to the care, maintenance, and monitoring of their fields. To be certified Organic involves time and money.

The same conundrum applies to the consumer who stands in front of a product and wonders Organic or Conventional. The health value and the good-for-you feeling may win over the shopper but not everything we purchase needs to be an organic product. Here’s a good list of products we are better off purchasing as organics and those in the no-need column. Print it out and keep it handy as we move into the summer growing season when all the market attention gets focused on LOCAL, you’ll see the double winner signage: Local Organic.

So what is a consumer to do? Decide your family’s needs and budget and do the math. With young children in the household, purchasing organic dairy products are a wise, health-proven choice. You’ll even find that the dairy cases at markets that have an organic focus often have organic products that are less costly than the more limited organic supplies at regular markets: Significant savings.When meat is discussed, there are numerous grocers who carry products from non-antibiotic feeds for their poultry and meats. This strategy is a welcome middle-ground for many. As for produce, if you only purchase some of the organic selections, refer to the list of the most harmful products, those that retain the pesticides, and buy the organics most recommended.

Here’s your opportunity to do a good job for your family and our environment. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle means making numerous purchasing decisions that are beneficial for all of us.

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Kermit was Right

Apr 19

Posted by admin in Environment, news

Each year taking on the green, subscribing to earth-friendly ways, becomes an ever-more important challenge and commitment. This year it seems no one is celebrating Earth Day, April 22, as an isolated example. We are at the beginning of Earth Week. Let’s join the field and concentrate our efforts on a week’s worth of changes and improvements.

Let’s begin with a look at sustainable fish and ways to not depleting our supplies. Poor fish report cards have had their effect on Trader Joe’s and Target, and they promise to join the legions of grocers who support the sustainable movement.

Hats off today to The Cleanfish Alliance. They are all about bringing fish to the marketplace that are not examples of overfishing. They support the efforts of sustainable fisheries and try to establish a link between producers, chefs, and consumers. One of their greatest strengths comes from supporting and finding farmers who are raising fish that many thought had disappeared from the everyday landscape. Some examples of fish that are grabbing headlines are the American White Sturgeon and the all-popular Caviar grown in mineral rich spring water. Laughing Bird Shrimp from Belize, a favorite among grocers broadcasting their sustainable seafood list and from restaurants that proudly list the Caribbean white shrimp. Farmed Arctic Char has become a popular fish both in markets and restaurants.

If you want to study the scorecard and determine which fish are best for eating and not depleting, then check out Seafood Watch from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This will help you make proper purchases and stay within the sustainable guidelines. Check out the sushi recommendations, too.sw002t

Good work: Sustainable fish and seafood and healthy green, earth-friendly eating.

We are off to a good start for Earth Week.

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A Wine Solution

Apr 7

Posted by admin in Environment, news, wine

corkreharvest_org_partner_sign_tnOK, time to fess up: You have a drawer full of wine corks. You’re planning to do a creative art project with them but that seems more unlikely with each bottle you open. Wouldn’t it be nice to gain that drawer space back? Hold off, don’t toss: Recycle. Now in addition to bringing your plastic bags back to the grocers and carrying in your reusable bags, you can take your wine corks to Whole Foods.

Where are all these corks going? Whole Foods will ship them to different vendors who will turn them into new consumer products such as cork floor tiles. Don’t try that one at home!

In a recycling program that began as a pilot test in the Oregon markets, the company has expanded its trial and partnered with Cork ReHarvest to let customers at all their stores properly deposit wine corks. With over 13 billion natural corks produced annually, this system will help reduce the demand on cork plantations and help maintain the ecosystem of the Mediterranean forests.

Here are some interesting cork facts (and reasons to recycle) from Cork ReHarvest:

–Cork is a 100% natural, renewable, recyclable, and biodegradable material.

–Trees are not cut down to get cork but rather the bark is stripped by hand every 9-12 years.

–There is enough cork in the cork forests of Portugal and Spain to last more than 100 years.

Thus we have two dilemmas at once: Many bottlers have switched to plastic stoppers which may prove more difficult to recycle and are possibly not biodegradable. (We already know that the plastic stopper does not easily fit back into the bottle for storage). Second, what happens to the art project? Go get paper and draw. In the meantime, head out with your bagful of corks.

Thanks to Whole Foods’s newest partner that process has become easier and sustainable.

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Go Green: The Wine Industry

Mar 17

Posted by admin in Environment

Everyday is St. Patrick’s Day in the green wine industry, a growing segment of overall viticulture. For the same reasons many agriculture farms converted their soil to meet the strict organic guidelines, a number of vineyards have undergone the change to the organic, green life label.

Those who plant vines in soil without chemicals and adhere to the pesticide-free guidelines are bringing an ever increasing new crop of flavor-rich, intense terroir to market. In California’s Mendocino County, there’s Frey Vineyards, a winery devoted to the sustainable, organic, and sulfite-free production since its first plantings in the 1960s. Maybe a better known and more easily attainable wine comes from Fetzer. Their  view on sustainability impacts every part of their wine operation. They admit that there are still a shortage of grape growers producing strictly organic grapes, but see the number steadily increasing. More oenologists are moving in this direction and various organic certified sustainable wine organizations are advocating the message. Grouping these wines together with an easy to recognize stamp or label helps consumers sort through the myriad of wine selections.frey

So as you go green and think green today, consider the ever-growing Organic Wine market. If your wine merchant does not have an organic section, help educate him to the positive possibilities.

Sip responsibly, go green.

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Bottled Water Dues

Oct 31

Posted by admin in Environment, news

IMG00239Everyone’s been talking about it for a long time. Some places have even tried to implement such a program, but now it looks as if New York State has stopped the conversation with a weekend fait accompli: 5 cent tax, starting on the 31st, on each water bottle under a gallon. OK, mini reprieve: Law does not go into effect until November 8.

The question always is the same: Who benefits? Is there any proof that the extra nickel helps people put the bottle into the recycling bin? Or is this just an easy tax that the state collects? All those food vendors lining the city streets are probably ready to hike the water cost to $1.25 rather than go up just a nickel and waste time fishing for change instead of filling food orders.

I’ve always appreciated these guys who do just charge a dollar for water as so many other cities demonstrate the spiral effect: Let’s see how much we can charge for a bottle of water that costs us 14 cents when we buy it by the case at Costco! We see these vendors everywhere with the $2 water signs!

San Francisco has a new law that demonstrates the value of recycling. Their original ordinance gave buildings plenty of time to comply. They have the statistics to demonstrate that building recyclables and compostables are going to the right places. They are collecting an extra 100 tons of product than at the outset!

Yes, everyone knows the effect of all those mountains of plastic bottled water, but grabbing water on the run is still a far better option than most other beverage choices.

The irony is that bottled water sales are down. It may be the economy or the environmental truth. A new Harris Poll finds 36% of respondents switching from bottled water to tap water and refillable bottles!

Wonder what tax is next?

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Swimming with the Fish

Aug 22

Posted by admin in Environment, health, lifestyle

Every time I think we have a path to clarity about fish–such as in which fish to eat–a new, troubling report comes out. This one sounds like a planet: Yes, Mercury is back into the headlines once again. Maybe it never left, but the latest study indicates that if we try to eat fish, thinking that is a healthy alternative to beef, and we try to focus on the sustainable variety, we are still left with a crisis. The focus again is onone-fish-thumb
mercury contamination. Not just a single kind of fish, but it seems almost all fish.

Once again there is a handy fish guide (A Mercury Calculator) directing us to safety and telling us what to avoid. The big question is simply: Is fish safe? Well it depends. Assume there is mercury contamination present in all US-water based fish. Then decide if you are asking about a young child, a pregnant woman, or a healthy adult. Recognizing that some fish contain less mercury than others and some should be avoided all together helps minimally. You need to know which fish to eat; some, such as canned light tuna, you can have multiple helpings of each week. One that is particularly high in contaminants is swordfish, a fish small children and women of child-bearing age should avoid altogether. The EPA even has this “One Fish…Two Fish” poster available as a reminder.

The most recent announcement from the US Geologic Survey says mercury contamination is higher than expected and almost impossible to avoid.

Know what you eat. It just gets harder to find safe, healthy foods.

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Composter Love

Aug 10

Posted by admin in coffee, Environment, gardening, lifestyle

This has been quite a year: I’ve learned to use very few paper towels, I’ve stopped scrubbing dishes clean before putting in the dishwasher, and I’ve become E, the Environmental woman. Yes, it’s true, as with everything I do, I do it wholeheartedly. All or nothing; it’s all.

I’ve been trying to figure out the whole composting ritual. I know New Yorkers who take their scraps in little Ziplocs on the train from the outlying boroughs into Manhattan to the GreenMarket composter. I know someone out in the country who has been swearing by these little green machines. He’s right. I’m sold.

I’ve had it two days and become a master. After all, you know how much coffee I drink and how I revere my espresso, and that coffee grounds make the soil thrive. Am convinced if I just composted the coffee grounds, my soil would be smiling and writing thank you notes. In the two days I have been in love with my new toy, we’ve been to the Farm Market and bought plenty of fresh veggies and fruit. The composter gracefully accepted the tops from the fresh beets, the peach pits, and the inners from the tomatoes.

The important wet-dry balance enabled me to shred all the class Z mail and feed it into the composter. Now we’re talking.

Maybe the best is I’ll no longer have to warn people about olive pits going into the garbage disposal (Yes, I know, we still use the disposal, but use it far less). The composter does not want meats, fish, and dairy, but loves egg shells.  Olive pits get composted, and we all appreciate the quiet.

Step aside, coming through with my kitchen counter gleanings.

This is a perfect solution for hard-rock soil and my newly minted environmental attitude.

thankyou

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Salad Wars

Jul 17

Posted by admin in Environment, food, lifestyle

It’s hard to believe that we are midway through July, and the interminable humidity has literally just arrived on the East Coast. Anyway you slice it, these are salad days, and several new companies are sprouting up ready to accommodate. Some blocks have them positioned within eyeshot of each other so you can watch the parade of new fans.

I like the new salad bar concept–not pre-made, nor open double-aisled lines where customers create their own salads, but the new counter version where you choose the type of lettuce you want, the ingredients, the dressing, and all the extra toppings. These new places are different from the first entrant, Cosi, which stepped out into this terrain several years ago. These new companies have dedicated themselves to being green or organic and in the process have elevated the overall appearance of the experience and attention to ingredients.

Sweetgreen should be credited with starting the new concept in the Washington DC area with their yogurt and salad menu. Now they travel the city with what they affectionately call Sweetflow Mobile to reach out to more yogurt fans. The concept was created by 3 Georgetown U students (yes, they did eventually graduate), and they have successfully targeted the community’s love for freshness.

Their major new competition is from Organic to Go (OgoBethesda) which had a less pleasant ride into the marketplace including a shift in management and strategy. Their Bethesda, MD location is directly across the street from Sweetgreen and serves as the model for the company’s future expansion. Both have outdoor tables so you can just sit and watch competition in action. It’s a fun game. Yogurt’s not the second focus here but pizza and sandwiches make this concept a favorite for those looking for more than a salad.

Let’s break it down: Both Sweetgreen and Ogo tout their environmentally friendly approach to products (all compostable and recyclable, ecologically sound dining). We should feel good about their purchasing power and supportive of their efforts.

As for the taste test, I prefer the organic approach and the breadth of possibilities at Ogo. So many choices to personalize my meal. I did salad:salad matching of ingredients and preferred the end result at Ogo. Pricewise they scored high as well. They both offer pleasant outdoor dining, so that’s a draw, but Ogo wins the indoor contest as their space is more ample and less claustrophobic. The fact that it is less chaotic makes the overall experience more pHomePg1_02leasant.

I have never eaten this much salad in my life. It’s seldom of interest to me, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the new salad experience.

I could grow to like arugula!

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