Leo’s Eco Auction

I love it when people with influence and money use their wealth or name for a good cause. That’s the case with Leonardo DiCaprio. Not only is he one of my favorite actors, but he has consistently been involved with educating people about the environment and global warming. Now he’s auctioning off on ebay a chance to meet him at the premiere of his new movie, Shutter Island. Not only do you get to meet Leo, but you get to stay at a green hotel and with an eco car service to take you to the premiere. Also the profits of the auction will go the Global Green, an organization that combats climate change…

There are other items being auctioned off as well such as movie memorabilia like actual costume pieces from Catch Me If You Can and signed guitars from top recording artists. All these profits go to Global Green. The auction starts tomorrow April 15th and ends on Earth Day April 22nd. To bid on these items go this link: http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Auction-Cause/Global-Green.html_.

So what does Global Green actually do?  Well, they are involved in almost everything green.  They educate students about climate change as well as being involved in making schools more green.  They work with other non profit organizations to build greener cities as well as affordable green housing.  They are the leader in the green rebuilding of New Orleans.  To learn about all the other cool stuff they do, check out their site globalgreen.org.

Did I mention how cool I think Leo is for doing this?  I have to give him props.  Often times in this celebrity obsessed world, it takes a well known name to get people interested in a brand or a cause.  Leo is seriously concerned about the environment as we all should be.  No matter who we are, rich or poor, we should all try to find a way to make this world a better and safer place for the next generations and for all of the earth’s inhabitants.  Check out the video below narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio to learn more about global warming.

Clean With Green Products

I never used to think about harmful chemicals being in my cleaning products. I mean duh, everyone knows not to ingest cleaning products (why would anyone do that anyhow) or let it get in your eyes, but I just blindly never questioned what exactly is in them. In fact, I used to think that the more like alcohol the cleaning product smelled, the better the cleaning product is. Needless to say, I’ve come a long way. Most cleaning products are full of chemicals and smell really, really bad. I mean does anyone else feel like they might pass out when cleaning with bleach? So now I just use all natural chemical free products and I just learned how to make my own at home.

My favorite products to use are 7th Generation. 7th Generation’s multi purpose cleaner is awesome! I use it on pretty much everything; cleaning counters, bathtubs, toilets and floors. It’s all natural and completely odorless. 7th Generations is a great company that makes everything from cleaners to biodegradable garbage bags to unbleached cotton tampons to laundry detergent. They also donate 10% of their profits to various non profit programs and do not conduct any sort of animal testing. You can also find 7th Generation coupons in this link http://www.seventhgeneration.com/coupons .  You’ll have to create a free account, but they have all sorts of special deals on there.  7th Generation is sold at Target, Stater Brothers, Longs, Whole Foods, and pretty much every other large chain.

I actually don’t mind cleaning too much and knowing that I’m not breathing in any harmful toxic fumes makes me want to clean even more.  Now, if I want the purest most natural cleaning products, I can make them myself.  Here are some ideas thanks to National Geographics Green Guide:

EIGHT ESSENTIALS
These eight items make up the basic ingredients for nearly every do-it-yourself cleaning recipe.

Baking soda: provides grit for scrubbing and reacts with water, vinegar or lemon by fizzing, which speeds up cleaning times
Borax: disinfects, bleaches and deodorizes; very handy in laundry mixes
Distilled white vinegar: disinfects and breaks up dirt; choose white vinegar over apple cider or red vinegars, as these might stain surfaces
Hydrogen Peroxide: disinfects and bleaches
Lemons: cut grease; bottled lemon juice also works well, although you might need to use bit more to get the same results
Olive oil: picks up dirt and polishes wood; cheaper grades work well
Vegetable based (liquid castile) soap: non-petroleum all-purpose cleaners
Washing soda: stain remover, general cleaner, helps unblock pipes; should be handled with gloves due to its caustic nature. Washing soda is usually found in the laundry aisle of grocery and drug stores.

Warning, Borax is a natural alternative to chemicals, but can be toxic when ingested, so keep it away from children and pets.

Don’t forget to pick up an empty spray bottle at the hardware store, and keep those old rags and used toothbrushes for wiping up and scrubbing.

WHOLE HOUSE

All-Purpose Cleaner
1/2 cup borax
1 gallon hot water

Mix in pail (or use smaller amounts in a spray bottle: 1/8 cup borax to 1 quart of hot water) dissolving the borax completely; wipe clean with rag.

Floors

Wood
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 gallon warm water

Linoleum
1 cup white vinegar
2 gallons warm water

Mix in mop bucket, rinse afterwards.

Furniture Polish
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon olive oil

Mix and apply with a clean rag to dust and polish. Reduce the olive oil if wood looks too oily.

Metal Polish

Copper and Brass
2 Tbsps salt
White vinegar

Add vinegar to salt until you’ve created a paste. Adding flour will reduce abrasiveness. Apply with a rag and rub clean.

Stainless Steel
Baking soda
White vinegar

Apply baking soda with a damp cloth, using the vinegar to eliminate spots.

Renewable Energy Equals Better Future For The World

We all know it and feel it. Times feel pretty dismal right now. More and more people are losing their jobs. People can’t afford to pay their mortgage and bills. The effects of global warming haunt us. There are people starving in many places around the world and wars are being fought based on fears and lies. Man, it can be very depressing. But can change happen? Can it happen quick? Actually, it can.

We all learned about the Great Depression in school. It started with the stock market crash of 1929 here in the U.S. and soon the recession turned into a depression that spread around the world. Similar to times now, people, banks, and companies lost a lot of money in the stock market, thus people started to lose their jobs and their homes. To make a long story short, here are the Depression statistics according to BBC World News:

Effects of the Great Depression in the United States:

* 13 million people became unemployed.
* Industrial production fell by nearly 45% between the years 1929 and 1932.
* Home-building dropped by 80% between the years 1929 and 1932.
* From the years 1929 to 1932, about 5,000 banks went out of business.

While we are not in a depression of that caliber, if we and our government don’t make some big changes soon, we could be headed in that direction.

First let’s look at what led to this current recession.

• Many Americans bought homes they couldn’t afford with subprime and adjustable mortgage rates.  Result; once the interest rates went up, so did the mortgage payment.  Many couldn’t afford their new mortgage payment which resulted in foreclosures.
• 911 happens which causes a recession in the early 2000s and fear in the American public of another tragic terrorist attack happening.
• With fear instilled in the American public, we go to war with Iraq to eliminate their so called Weapons of Mass Destruction (which were never found) which leads to the collapse and the occupation of Iraq by us.
• Instability in the Middle East leads to higher oil prices.
• Many companies start manufacturing in China and other countries where labor is cheaper than the U.S. leading to many people losing their jobs.
• Credit before the current recession was given out easily thus leading to overspending and high balances that many can’t pay off, let alone afford to the minimum payment.
• High oil prices led to high food prices.
• The American Government has not been held accountable for anything that has happened in the past eight years.

According to the The International Labour Organization, a prediction of 20 million jobs will be lost here in the U.S. by the end of 2009 for a total of over 200 million jobs lost world wide.  That’s more people unemployed than during the Great Depression.

Okay, so now that we have all that grim stuff out of the way, let’s focus on how we can make this situation better.  First of all, Obama, I voted for you and I really hope you can do what you said you were going to do.

First off we need to get our troops out of Iraq.  An estimated total cost of the war to the U.S. economy is $3 trillion.  $3 trillion dollars!  With tax payers paying an estimated $1.9 trillion.  And for what?  What has America gotten out of this?  Well, we’ve gotten a very scary recession out of it.  Not to mention all the lives lost, both American and Iraqi.  You know, I never really wanted to talk about political stuff on this blog except for environmental causes and animal cruelty.  But this just can’t be ingnored.  That money could have been used for something positive.

My roommate gave me a flier he had gotten from a environmental activist outside of Trader Joes yesterday.  It’s for the website EnvironmentCalifornia.org.  They are a non profit that is pressuring the government for 100% renewable electricity nationwide by 2030.

According to Environment California:

• “California is already home to wind farms that can power a city the size of San Francisco-nearly 1 million people-and avoid 1 million tons of global warming pollution.
• “Clean energy legislation in California created 1,400 jobs in 2007 alone and prevented up to four polluting power plants from being built.”
• “From plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles that can go up to 150 miles per gallon, to solar roof tiles that can capture the sun’s energy, researchers are finding ways to do more with less and to tap into unlimited energy sources.”

People, if we and the government really put an effort into this, this could be one of the answers to many of the problems we have today.  Not only is it better for the environment, but it will release us from our dependency on oil.  So how do we implement something like this?  Basically our government has got to step up.  Yes, we are in a huge deficit right now, but what exactly are we spending our money on?  The Iraq War is something that comes to mind.  If we took the money we spend on the war to building renewable electricity plants, not only would it be creating jobs, but also saving the lives of our troops.

War is not the answer anymore (not that I think it ever was).  War only creates more terrorists and more hate.  Let’s focus on making America a better place, which will in turn make the world a better place.  Think about it.  Change has got to start locally and then it will spread.  If things are bad and getting worse here, how the heck are we going to help anyone else?  And that goes for wherever you are.  I know I have readers in many places around the world.  Spread the word about clean energy and try to implement it where you are.

Dependency on oil has caused so many problems that affect people in so many ways.  If you want to help, spread the word!  Go to environmentcalifornia.org where you can donate money to the cause or spread the message to friends and family.  If you know of any other organizations that you think can create a better future please leave a comment to let us know who they are.

Host Gator Goes Green

Okay, how cool is this? I just found out that my hosting service, Host Gator, invests in renewable wind powered energy to run their servers. Servers that are used to host all the millions of websites all over the years supposedly project more emissions than cars…I just found this out yesterday. So I was also glad to learn that my hosting service, Host Gator is doing something about it.

How do they do it? Host Gator purchases certified renewable energy credits representing 130% of the energy they use to power and cool every last one of their servers. This is huge since many companies will claim that they’re green, but will only use renewable energy to power their servers, not cool down. For every watt of energy it takes to use a server, it takes another 1-2 watts to cool it down. 3% to 4% of the world’s energy is used up by the IT world. Bet you didn’t think that by just being on the computer affects the amount of emissions going into the environment. I didn’t, this is all news to me.

So what exactly is a certified renewable energy credit and how does investing in them help? According to Host Gator’s blog:

“Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) are tradeable credits representing all the environmental benefits of 1 megawatt hour of renewable energy. So when HostGator purchases 4,009 Texas wind RECs, it’s basically paying a Texas windfarm to generate renewable energy on HostGator’s behalf. HostGator doesn’t own the windfarm, but for every REC purchased by HostGator, that windfarm generates 1 megawatt of Texas wind power and puts it into the grid. When HostGator draws power from the grid, it can then claim credit for that wind power generated on its behalf.”

Not only are they purchasing these credits to make up for the amount of energy they use, they purchase it from their home state of Texas, where Host Gator was started.  Why is this important?  Number one, they are supporting the local green environment in Texas and number 2, they aren’t just going to where they can buy the cheapest credits.  Imagine if every company and person did this in their local city or state?  That would be a huge impact.

According to their site, by doing this they are:

Vegetarian Vs. Vegan or Gasp…Neither?

In the past year and a half I have gone from heavy meat eater to light meat eater to vegetarian to vegan (tried for three days) to pescatarian ( no meat, just fish). Yes, I have tried it all this past year and learned a lot. It gets pretty confusing with all the information out there about eating vegan and getting my emotions involved about not wanting to kill animals…ughhh…but you know, I’ve been thinking about it and here are my final thoughts.

The main reason I don’t eat meat is because there’s just so much evidence out there linking meat with diseases like cancer and heart disease. We all know Americans are huge meat eaters. Most people have it at least everyday, if not in all three meals. I used to eat meat in almost every lunch and dinner up to about a year ago. Then I educated myself on eating healthy not just trying to lose weight. Every book I read said to limit your meat intake, not necessarily exclude it all together.

I also became sort of obsessed with adopting the same diet as those communities that have a high number of active, healthy older generations and centenarians (those over one hundred years old). In these communities it is normal for people to live up into their 90s doing what they’ve always done like gardening, cooking, cleaning, being active outside, etc. Then I compared that to what is normal for people here in the U.S. which is by the time they get into their late 70s, early 80s, most Americans start to develop major health problems and many cannot care for themselves.

So after reading many books on these subjects it became evident to me that your diet affects the quality of life you will have when you get old. The Standard American Diet in mainly protein from meat, little carbohydrates and little veggies and fruit. If you want to take it even further, The Standard American Diet is full of processed foods with chemicals and preservatives. Compare that to the long living cultures I read about who ate a diet mainly of veggies, fruits, whole grain, little fish, little diary and very little meat. You see, these cultures pretty much grew everything themselves, fished themselves, and slaughtered the meat they ate. They truly had to work for what they ate, here we have everything in abundance available to us. But just because it’s there, doesn’t mean you should eat in abundance…

So here’s my dilemma. I read about all of this and my decision was to eat mainly whole grains and veggies, cut the meat intake down to about once a week and no junk food! So I did that, lost 10 lbs within a month that I didn’t even know I had to lose and I felt great. I’m cooking all the time and I’m loving it. Then, I see the movie Fast Food Nation. Have you seen it? Needless to say, it’s about the f***** up meat industry. Great movie, very interesting and I’m glued to the T.V. watching it. Then the last scene comes and it’s real footage of a cow getting slaughtered and they show everything. Everything you don’t want to think about when you bite into a hamburger.

After seeing that, I decided I just couldn’t eat meat. You see, before when I ate meat I would just look at it for what it was, a piece of meat. It didn’t even cross my mind that what I was eating used to be a living, breathing cow. Now when I look at meat, all I see is the animal it used to be. So after seeing the movie, I went to the PETA site and watched Meet Your Meat, a short documentary on the meat industry. This introduced me to all the abuse towards the animals before they’re even killed. Not to mention, how the dairy industry totally supports the veal industry. I felt so bad for the animals that I went from being a vegetarian for about a day to being a vegan.

Well that didn’t last long. Being a vegan is definitely difficult. Pretty much forget going out to eat. And on top of that, all that soy vegan food that supposed to taste like meat is full of chemicals and preservatives. So I think I was a vegan for about 3 days. I decided to stick with just being vegetarian at that time, but I still felt like my body was missing some key nutrients. I was getting my protein from combining foods, but I was easily getting sick and didn’t feel that full of energy.

The thing is, the healthiest my body felt throughout this whole process was when I was eating a MAINLY vegetarian diet, but with a little fish and meat every once in awhile. So lately I’ve been reevaluating my reasons for not eating meat. Number one is that I don’t think our bodies were meant to eat a lot of meat. First of all we are not made to attack an animal like others do in the wild, but we are smart enough to hunt and slaughter an animal. I do believe that for most people it’s okay to eat meat once in a while meaning no more than twice a week. For me, I eat it about once a month or so just because I’ve pretty much lost my taste for it. The only time I truly eat it is if someone I know has worked hard on a meal that includes meat like on Easter or Christmas. Then I’ll eat it, but only if it’s organic.

I’m not totally against eating meat, but I am totally against factory farming and the amount of meat that most Americans eat. If I’m going to eat it, it has to be from a organic free range farm. I don’t believe animals should live their lives in cages only to be slaughtered so people can have their bacon and hamburgers. I’m all about the natural circle of life. Some animals are meant to eat only meat, others only grains and veggies. Us humans are naturally meant to eat mainly grains and veggies with a LITTLE protein from fish and animals. There is so much written evidence of this…check out the books The China Study, The Okinawa Program, 50 Secrets of the Longest Living People…they all have real studies on real thriving communities that have eaten like this for centuries. Now think about all your grandparents or great grandparents…how many of them have lived well into their 90s or longer with no major health problems and have died peacefully because of old age. I can tell you none of mine have. We are taught that living into our 80s is old. These books beg to differ saying the maximum human life expectancy could be up to 120 years if we treat our bodies right with balance diet.

So I’ve come to the conclusion that eating a little bit of meat is okay as long as you know where it comes from. Therefore, if you don’t know where your meat is from, I wouldn’t recommend eating it. I’m still very passionate about animal cruelty and it might sound like I’m contradicting myself, but I’m trying to give my body what it needs as a human. I think instead of giving up meat altogether, that if most people limited their meat intake, it would make a major difference in the meat industry, the environment and our health.

Global Warming; It’s Not Just About Us

Awww, isn’t that a cute picture?  Did you know that polar bears are close to being endangered, possibly extinct due to the rapid progression of global warming and pollution?  Want to know more about these mysterious creatures, why they’re important and what you can do to help?  Read on…

Polar bears are the largest predator on earth.  While they are adorable from a distance, they can be very dangerous wild animals.  Regardless, polar bears are essential to bio dynamics in the arctic region which is why it is so important to keep this species from becoming endangered.

A little about polar bears you might not know:

Although polar bears usually grow up to lead solitary lives, they can often be seen playing with each other or cuddling while they sleep.

Polar bear mamas usually have litters of two cubs which they raise for about two years before the cubs set out on their own.

They actually have two layer of fur; a dense under fur and their outer fur is actually transparent.  Each hair is actually hollow which allows them to float.

Polar bears can live up to 25 years, but rarely live beyond that.

Their main source of diet are ringed and bearded seals.  Large amounts of marine blubber and fat is essential to polar bears because they live off fat reserves during the summer and autumn months.

While polar bears can be very dangerous, they are not territorial.  Actually polar bears are more like to approach confrontations cautiously and run away rather than attack.  Polar bears that are well fed rarely attack humans unless violently provoked, but if a polar bear is hungry, watch out!

Dangers to polar bears:

Global Warming:  This is the most significant danger to polar bears.  Polar bears’ bodies are made to live in extremely cold climates.  Because of global warming, the icy environment they depend on is disapearing.

Polar bears hunt seals on large beds of ice and now with global warming those ice beds are melting, which will make it nearly impossible for them to hunt.  Polar bears naturally need the fat and the calories they get from seals for fat reserves in order to get through the sparse food seasons in summer and fall.

As the ice beds melt it also means the polar bears must look for food on land, meaning hunting through trash and more human interaction.

Pollution:

Earlier this year the Bush administration leased about 30 acres of polar bear habitat in the Chukchi Sea to oil companies for drilling.  Due to global warming, polar bears were put on the U.S. government’s Endangered Species List, but now have to also face the possibilities of oil spills.  Oil spills are fatal to polar bears for a couple of reasons:

1. Polar bears try to lick the oil off their fur which they end up of digesting and can lead to kidney failure.

2. The seals polar bears hunt are also covered in oil, which the polar bears end up digesting.

3. Oil spills destroy the land meaning dens where mother polar bears keep their cubs are demolished.

So not only are polar bears affected, but all other wildlife in that area can be destroyed by oil spills.

What we can do:

I think it’s so important to find new less toxic forms of energy.  There is technology out there to take the place of oil and it needs to be implemented now.

Global Warming is already affecting us not to mention wildlife.  There is a natural order in the world which will be gone if we continue to live wastefull lives.  Polar bears are essential to regulate the population in seals and vice versa.  Certain animals get their food from scavenging what the polar bears kill.  It’s the circle of life.

So like I said in previous posts, reduce waste, reduce energy and reuse, reuse, reuse!  Do it for yourself and earth’s other inhabitants.  Whether we like it or not, we’re all in this together and will be affected sooner or later.  Polar bears are getting a lot of press because they are directly affected by global warming right now, but think of all the other animals and people who will be affected down the line.

Check out this amazing video of some dogs and polar bears playing together.

Cute Reusable Bags to Rock

If you read my post on Easy Ways to Go Green then you know one of my biggest pet peeves is excessive use of plastic bags.  You know, leaving the grocery store with 15 plastic bags double bagged.  Plastic bags are such a bummer on our environment. Did you know that it takes about 300 years for one plastic bag to photodegrade?  Did you know that around 500 billion plastic bags are used each year?  So think about this…That’s a heck of a lot of plastic bags and a heck of a long time to get rid of them.  What happens to all those bags in the meantime? They pollute our oceans, rivers, wild life.  They get caught in drains and cause flooding.  They’re overtaking our landfills.  San Francisco actually banned plastic bags because they didn’t have room for them in their landfills. Plastic bags are super harmful to wildlife.  Animals are hurt or killed by getting caught or ingesting plastic bags. An estimated 100,000 marine animals die each year from plastic bag pollution.  When plastic bags do start to break down the toxic particles from the plastic poisons our soils and taints our food. Not to mention all the energy it takes just to make plastic bags in the first place.  And reclying plastic bags is actually very costly.

Also, let’s look at the other areas in which we use plastic bags; garbage bags and zip lock bags for food.  There are biodegradable garbage bags available that break down in as little as 8 months without releasing any toxins.  As far as using zip lock bags for food, try using reusable tupperware containers for all your food storage. So what else can you do to help stop plastic bag pollution?  Well, if you go to the store and buy a couple of items you can carry without a bag, then skip the bag.  Buy items with little packaging so you have less trash at home.  Most importantly start using reusable bags whenever you go the the grocery store.  Keep them in your car so they’re on hand. When I visited my friend in Germany 10 years ago, I went to the grocery store to get some items and guess what?  There were no free plastic bags or bags of any kind to put your items in.  You had to either bring your own bag or buy one on the spot.  At the time I was actually a little annoyed that I had to buy a bag, but now I get it.  It’s worth the extra couple of bucks to save our environment. With that said, there are some really cute reusable bags now available.  Envirosax has a collection of very trendy reusable bags that hold the equivalent of 2 plastic grocery bags.  Below  are some Envirosax bags available at Amazon or you can check out their website for the latest collection. One more thing; if your guy thinks it’s not manly to carry a reusable bag, tell him to get over it!  I think it’s hot when I see a guy that cares enough about the environment to use a reusable bag. So let’s say it together!  No more plastic bags!!

Easy Ways to Go Green Part I

Hey guys, I wanted to give you some tips on how you and anyone you know can help our environment.  I firmly believe there’s no reason why any of us can’t lead a less wasteful lifestyle.  The good news is there are a ton of easy ways to help our planet and all of it’s inhabitants.  Please remember that everything you do affects our environment and thus affects everyone.  So please be conscious of how you live…that said, let’s get into the easy ways to go green.

In no particular order:

1.  Use reusable bags when you go grocery shopping.  One of my pet peeves is when I see people coming out of the grocery store with a basket full of double bagged plastic bags.  Come on!  There is no reason for this.  Spend $10, buy 10 reusable bags, leave them in your car so you always have them on hand.  Plastic bags are such a waste.  Sure most of us use them at home for trash, but chances are you have way more than you would ever use.  If you do have a bunch at home, most grocery stores have recycling cans for bags so recycle them and then use reusable bags.  You’ll be making a world of difference.

2. Unplug devices that you are not using.  Devices like phone chargers, televisions, dvrs, and hair dryers still derive energy from our energy grids when they are turned off, but still plugged in.  Not only will you be saving energy, but you’re also saving yourself money on your electric bill.

3. Eat less meat.  18 % of greenhouse emmissions are from all the crap that comes from factory farming and I’m not just talking about the meat.  I’m talking about literal crap from the billions of animals slaughtered a year from factory farming.  Animal waste is put into manure lagoons where bacteria thrives.  These lagoons often get so full that there are manure spills like the one in New York in 2005 where 3 million gallons of animal waste spilled into the Black River which was normally used as the public water supply.  How nasty is that? For more info on that spill click here.  That animal waste also produces 18 % of the worlds’ greenhouse gases, mainly methane and nitrous oxide.  And back to the crap that we actually eat from factory farming, think of all the emissions from fuel used to transport meat.

4. Buy local produce from your local farmers markets.  Buying local fruits and veggies cuts down on emissions from fuel used to transport food.  Not only that, but you’ll be supporting your community and you’re buying directly from the source so it’s cheaper!

5.  Use a company like Earth Friendly Moving when you move.  Think of all the wasteful cardboard boxes we use when we move.  Most people end up tossing them when they’re done.  At Earth Friendly Moving you can rent boxes made of recycled plastic delivered to you and picked up by bio-fuel trucks.  According to Earth Friendly Moving “for every hundred box order, the company keeps more than 350 pounds of cardboard and 500 pounds of trash out of the landfill, spares the atmosphere from 2,500 pounds of carbon dioxide and saves three trees, 50 gallons of gas and 300 gallons of water.”  How awesome is that?