Change Your Margins

Want to live an eco-friendly life?

Here's another terrific and terrifically simple way to make a contribution to the sustainable living movement

Best part - it doesn't cost anything!

Here's an excerpt, Changethemargins.com -

"As I was doing my usual margin-changin' thang while printing out a document for my boss, a light bulb went off in my brain. What if you could get people to adopt changing paper margins on a large scale? What if you could get companies to adopt narrower margins as their printing standard? It would result in a lot less paper consumption. Which of course means saving a lot of trees and cutting down on a lot of waste...but only if a massive amount of people changed their margins.

It's not a new idea. It's not complicated. But if we all did it, it just might work."

--Tamara Krinsky

There's more information at the EPA site entitled, Federal Electronics Challenge.  "The Federal Electronics Challenge (FEC) is a partnership program that encourages federal facilities and agencies to:

• Purchase greener electronics
• Reduce impacts of electronics during use
• Manage used electronics in an environmentally safe way"

Another great site I've discovered is the Environmental Paper Network. It offers loads of great information about paper, and features a Paper Calculator to translate sustainable choices into tangible benefits.
 

 

Kudos to Tamara for living by the idea that doing a little is more fulfilling than thinking that a little won't matter. 

Won't you join her? Post your comment and share that you've changed your margins and taken one small, but mighty step toward being environmentally sustainable

 

Air Filters and Flame Retardants

Have you wondered how the chemicals around you are affecting you? There are so many synthetic chemicals in use that it can be dizzying to try sorting through the information.

How can you live a more eco friendly life in the presence of these toxins?

It helps to understand what you're dealing with. One example of these chemicals can be found in our furniture, clothing, bedding, carpet padding and more...

like flame retardants.

There's important information on the effects of common flame retardant chemicals and fertility and according to Scientific American, the use of these chemicals is on the rise.

Here's an excerpt from an article at NaturalNews.com: "for every ten-fold increase in blood levels of four PBDE chemicals tested, there was a 30 percent decrease in the odds a woman would conceive a child during a month." This is a serious concern and illustrates the importance of choosing green products for your family and home.

You can visit the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for the abstract of the study. "Conclusions: We found significant decreases in fecundability associated with PBDE exposure in women. Future studies are needed to replicate and confirm this finding

In the meantime there are more reasons than ever to detoxify your home, your bedroom and your childrens' rooms. We can't eliminate everything, but we can create a healing environment where we sleep.

1. Install a quality air filter. It should be capable of removing volatile organic compounds, as well as mold spores. 
2. Use organic bedding.
3. Use toxin-free flooring.
4. Use low voc paint.
5. Keep computers & tv's out of bedrooms.

The Environmental Working Group offers more excellent information in this article: Reducing Your Exposure to PBDEs in Your Home.

Remember, doing a little is more fulfilling than 
thinking that a little won't matter.

Live Simply, And Greenly, That Others May Live

How to go green is pretty challenging if you try to do everything at once. You may find it easier to start with small steps, literally.

Natural Life Magazine offers ease - y, baby steps anyone of us can try that combine the concepts of sustainability and economy. Take for example, the suggestion to make one of those "2 mile or less" trips on foot or bike. Most people have access to at least one of those modes of transportation. The added benefit being that the exercise, itself, can increase one's sense of wellbeing and contribute to a healthy body.

Another powerful environmentally friendly, yet simple, choice each one of us can make is to embrace a beef-free diet - as writer, professor, Gene Sager notes, "I am afraid the bottom line is this: Beef production is a complex, messy and inefficient business. Compared to producing vegetables and grains, beef production involves much more energy..."

Beginning a path to sustainability by eliminating beef can be painless, and impactful, as it is the commercial, feedlot beef industry that creates such a tremendous amount of greenhouse gases, as well as water and ground pollution. Recently, there's also been a lot of attention on the heavy use of antibiotics for the steer and the impact this is having on our health.

The Protein Question
While creating a vegetarian diet is a worthy goal, for so many of us it's like contemplating moving to a third-world country - disorienting and a little scary.  I have found a few protein sources that are non-animal products that offer a healthy dose of those amino acids - proteins - that we all need to be healthy. They also, interestingly, offer a variety of the essential fatty acids.

One item I recommend is Hemp Seeds - they are tasty, light and very satisfying. They provide all the amino acids needed by humans as well as those Omega fatty acids. 

Another item is Barley Grass extract. It contains 19 of the 22 known amino acids, including the 8 essential amino acids the body does not produce itself. The facts on this wonder food are amazing - email friendsforagreenworld@gmail.com for a booklet; it costs $3.95 plus shipping.

The Alpha & The Omega
And what about those Omega fatty acids - fish sources are tricky, both from an environmental and purity perspective - what about a combination of non-animal sources like flax, red algae and cranberry seed oils?


How Simple Is Sustainability?
It can be as simple as walking one time this week. It can be as simple and money-saving as not buying any beef this week. It can be as simple as finding safe, organic sources of protein and omegas.

• Make a choice to incorporate one of these actions today. You will educate and inspire the rest of us as you help us move toward a sustainable world. 

Every change is valuable; every story powerful. It is our stories and the sharing of them that create connnection.

• You may be the story that changes someone's perspective, perhaps, even a life.

Send us your story - tell us what choice, big or small, you made today to move us toward sustainability. Let us post your choice, a pic, a video - to inspire all of us and affirm our choices.

Remember, doing a little is more fulfilling than 

thinking that a little won't matter.

Best Way To Reduce Arsenic in Your Rice

Courtesy FDA

Recently the FDA and Consumer Reports have shown dangerous levels of arsenic in our rice. It doesn't appear to matter very much if the rice is grown organically or by synthetic-farming methods. 

The source of the arsenic is in the water used to irrigate the rice, and that was contaminated when arsenic-based pesticides were used in the past, and that overall, many drinking water sources contain arsenic. 

There is a proven method for reducing your family's risk:

"High volume water : rice cooking did effectively remove both total and inorganic arsenic for the long-grain and basmati rice (parboiled was not investigated in high volume cooking water experiment), by 35% and 45% for total and inorganic arsenic content, respectively, compared to uncooked (raw) rice."

Based on this research, enjoy this recipe from Saveur.com:  

Perfect Brown Rice 

Cooking brown rice, or at least cooking it well, is tricky. The goal is to soften the texture of each grain's fibrous bran coating—a process that takes longer than that called for in the cooking of white rice—without causing the rice to become mushy. 

Unfortunately, the labels on most packaged brown rice recommend an ineffective method that suggests boiling water and rice in a two-to-one ratio, then allowing the mixture to simmer for 40 minutes or more, until all the liquid is absorbed. 

We followed those directions and ended up throwing away more than a few pots of unsatisfying rice. What we ultimately found is that brown rice looks and tastes the best when it has been boiled and drained like pasta and then steamed in the small amount of moisture that remains in the pot. 

The boiling cooks the rice, while the subsequent steaming allows the grains to retain their integrity and come out light and fluffy. 

MAKES 2 CUPS INGREDIENTS 1 cup short, medium, or long-grain brown rice Kosher salt, to taste 

 INSTRUCTIONS 
1. Rinse rice in a strainer under cold running water for 30 seconds. Bring 12 cups water to a boil in a large pot with a tight-fitting lid over high heat. Add the rice, stir it once, and boil, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Pour the rice into a strainer over the sink. 

2. Let the rice drain for 10 seconds, then return it to the pot, off the heat. Cover the pot and set it aside to allow the rice to steam for 10 minutes. Uncover the rice, fluff with a fork, and season with salt.