The Joy of Skoy!

From our friends at recycledproducts.org

A paper towel replacement for the holidays and beyond.

 This new product is an economical and environmental alternative to disposable paper towels. The use you get out of one SKOY cloth is equivalent to 15 rolls of paper towels! The SKOY cloth is made from cotton and wood pulp, is non-toxic, produced chlorine free and is made using only water based colors and inks.

You can use it as you would a paper towel or sponge and when it gets dirty it is durable enough to throw in the dishwasher or the washing machine. In between washings to keep it germ free you can immerse your SKOY cloth in water and microwave it for 1-2 minutes - no more germs! When your SKOY cloth has met its end it can be safely composted either in your back yard compost bin or in a commercial compost facility.

The RPC proudly gives SKOY cloths two thumbs up as a new, innovative, resource saving, waste stream reducing product!


Thank you Recycled Products Cooperative for all the work you do. Readers, don't forget to order all your sustainable office and home products from this worthy group. Just browsing the catalogue is an education.

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

Even Gamers Can Be More Green

If you or someone you love is a gamer - Wii, Playstation, XBox - the NRDC has published a study on the impact gaming is having on our nation's energy consumption and the accompanying greenhouse emissions that results from it.

Why is this important?  Well, it turns out that current energy usage for gaming is "roughly equal to the annual electricity use of the city of San Diego." (page 4)

Having recently become one of the '4 out of 10' households with a gaming console, I was relieved to see that by mere chance we had chosen the most energy efficient console, the Wii.  It hadn't occurred to me prior to our purchase that I should even check to see what the efficiency was.  We'd do it if it was a frig, a tv, a car, but the energy conscious part of my brain was, until now, disconnected from my playing brain.  No excuse, but enlightening.  It is making me wonder what my other 'green blindspots' might be.

For owners of the less efficient consoles the NRDC has recommendations for reducing energy consumption (page 24) - and this will save you money - while you lessen your carbon footprint.

This very helpful section of the NRDC website is a wonderful place to begin or continue your education - who knows what I'll learn next.

Remember, doing a little is more fulfilling than thinking that a little won't matter - make one small change, learn one new thing about sustainable lifestyle and you will educate and inspire those around you.

Eco My Brain

I've learned about an interesting website, Ecobrain.com. I've found far too many interesting titles in just the first few minutes of looking. Here's their story from their site:

"EcoBrain: Our Story
EcoBrain was started by two families living across the continent from each other - one in Canada and one in the US - who were both passionate about learning to live green and setting an earth-friendly example for their children.

Both families also have publishing backgrounds. They love books, but they are also familiar with the environmental costs as well as the actual production costs absorbed by the publisher. So how can people learn more about the environment from the experts while helping reduce waste and costs? By selling books and other media in a digital format!

EcoBrain knows it isn't always easy to get published. And the costs can be staggering. But by publishing in an eBook format, new publishers can produce and publish their material much more quickly, cheaply and profitably. Publishers who are going green can and should be rewarded for their efforts by earning more, while reducing both their own costs and environmental costs as well. EcoBrain makes it possible for publishers to get the green word out in a cost effective and environmentally friendly manner!

The two families are proud of how EcoBrain has come together and how its conception has helped their children learn about new ways to help the environment. EcoBrain is becoming the green community destination and resource and continues to be a great success not only for publishers and authors, but for the environment. And that is how it should be.

Best wishes from EcoBrain."

I've wishlisted quite a few titles already, but this is the one I want to start with, since healthy homes are my passion as well as my business: Homes That Heal (and those that don't): How Your Home May Be Harming Your Family's Health.

You can find more information about the why's and how's of creating a healthy home - a company called Nikken offers a Wellness Home - I encourage you to view the videos and learn how simple the tools can be. Every illness you prevent for you and your family translates directly into a healthier environment.

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

Burning Questions, Hot Answers

The December issue of Mother Jones is titled "how to RESCUE THE ECONOMY and SAVE THE PLANET" and offers alot of interesting news on the climate change/sustainable living front. One particularly useful segment offers answers to "20 econundrums". Here are a few for your consideration and implementation. Painless, simple, effective - small actions that are bricks to begin building an entire sustainable living home. Go to the link above for the entire article.

Laptop or Desktop? Laptops remain more energy efficient than desktop systems, but they're harder to upgrade, and it's usually better to replace individual parts than to buy a brand-new computer. Smaller desktops get better energy performance: Apple's Mac Mini has been estimated to draw about a fifth as much power as a Mac Pro when both are in idle mode.
Netflix or Video Store? The mail carrier takes the same route every day, so a few dvd envelopes add little to his carbon footprint. Online rentals' computer use and packaging create a small amount of carbon, but the video store—and the schlep there—generates about 65 percent more emissions.
Wash Your Car or Keep It Dirty? It's true that a wash 'n' wax can reduce your wind resistance and boost your fuel economy. On the other hand, a layer of filth might even mimic a golf ball's dimples, encouraging air to follow a car's contours and minimizing the energy-sapping zone in the wake.
Disposal or Trash Can? Disposals use less water all day than a single toilet flush and increase electricity usage by only 0.1 percent—and that's more than offset by the savings from flushing waste instead of trucking and dumping it. New York's Department of Environmental Protection found that ground-up kitchen scraps didn't clog sewers or treatment plants; another study suggests that trash collection produces four times as much greenhouse gas as disposals. Composting is best, but if your backyard pile isn't aerated—by a fistful of worms, for example—noxious bacteria will churn out more greenhouse gases per pound of waste than filthy city dumps.
Death: Buried or Burned? When a conservationist croaks, what's the greenest way to say goodbye? The average cremation releases more than 35 pounds of carbon (burials generate fewer than 9), and high temperatures can vaporize dental fillings—in the UK, cremations create up to a sixth of the country's annual mercury emissions. Mowed and fertilized graveyards are hardly carbon neutral, so some cemeteries now recycle old plots; others are considering vertical burials. Swedish researchers have figured out how to freeze-dry bodies in liquid nitrogen; the resultant corpsicle can be ground into ecofriendly dust. But for now, best to splurge on a biodegradable coffin and plan on pushing up daisies.

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

Rock, Paper, ...... Dioxin?

According to an article from Emagazine.com, loss of forests isn't just about the trees.  What I mean by that is, the absence of the resource isn't the only bad news when it comes to America's paper habit.  Those trees we just ran through our printers now can't filter out carbon dioxide, CO2, the most prevalent global warming gas.

As I read over a variety of websites:  Union of Concerned Scientists, Arbokem, Environmental Health Perspectives and others I was struck by the idea that paper, one of the tools civilization has been made wildly prolific by, has become one of the greatest sources of environmental threat.  You see, once the trees are cut, the greenhouse gases increase and the pulp for the paper is processed in a highly toxic manner.  According to Jim Motavalli, "the pulp and paper industry is the third largest industrial polluter in both Canada and the US, releasing more than 220 million pounds of toxic pollution into the air, ground and water each year."

The chlorine used to bleach conventional paper creates a deadly waste called dioxin.  This highly cancerous chemical is now found in humans the world over.  It is found in breastmilk - this means every new born is given the gift of this poison all in the name of bleaching paper products.  There are alternatives - whenever you buy any kind of paper product make sure it says its been produced with a chlorine-free bleaching process.  This isn't just good for those babies out there - the dioxin created is ending up in your groundwater and fish.

What can you do?

Join the Recycled Products Cooperative.  Order your paper, school and office products from them.  This can include tissues, copy paper and more.  Tell your school, church and local government offices that you want them to buy recycled paper goods.  Tell them you want them to change the margins on their documents.  Then change the margins on your documents.  Make a commitment to using only recycled paper goods - this will make an impact.  You will make a difference.  Tell others your story - let them see that change doesn't always have to be difficult and making changes now may mean less difficult changes later.

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

Words of Wisdom

"It is a curious situation that the sea, from which life first arose should now be threatened by the activities of one form of that life. But the sea, though changed in a sinister way, will continue to exist; the threat is rather to life itself." – Rachel Carson

There are a number of ways our oceans are currently threatened - by pollution, climate change and human plundering.  For two of these three outcomes we cannot argue our culpability.  Some still argue our influence on climate change.  Regardless of that argument, we can agree that sentient, evolved beings are ones who see the consequences of their actions and make choices accordingly.

I read a book a number of years ago, Ishmael.  The author, Daniel Quinn, has come up with a unique viewpoint about how and why the human community, as we know it, has rationalized the taking of nature for our species' benefit.  It's a viewpoint that is worth taking a look at because it raises questions that each one of us would benefit from answering.  It's viewpoints like this that inform our character and subsequently shape the way we live our lives.

"The world today will either be stepping forward into an era where conservation and the environment really matter, or it will be stepping back into the Dark Ages, where the people of the world think that the slaughter of whales using grenades, electric lances and shooting them with rifles is something that we should accept."
Ian Campbell, Australian Environment Minister - 57th IWC AGM, Monday, June 20, 2005
from http://www.whales.org.au/

Take an action this week - read a book, question the status quo, send a letter, fund a group that works to heal our environmental sores.

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