Green Daily

It looks like one of the few beneficiaries of the current financial crisis may be the alternative energy industry.

As giant banks around the world are looking for bailouts and handouts, a few small "ethical banks" like Triodos, are actually seeing their businesses grow. This is great news for the green, social and cultural projects they invest in, like wind turbines and medical centers.

Even though these smaller banks usually offer lower interest rates, customers are flocking to them because of the transparent way they do their business. Some, like Britain's Co-operative Bank, actually have a public stance on climate change and human rights. And they post it on their website!

Customers are happy to reward this candor with their savings and investments. Both Triodos and the Co-operative Bank are looking at record highs in the middle of a global recession.

Imagine how powerful it will be when one of the big banks, like Wells Fargo or Bank of America, finally catches on and makes a big -- BIG -- investment in things like green energy, alternative transportation, and sustainable farming?

They could solve the climate crisis, the financial crisis and all kinds of human suffering in the blink of an eye! Well, maybe not that fast, but it would certainly help. In the meantime, I'm sure the smaller banks will be happy to take all the customers they can get.

First it was Pope Benedict who announced to the world that we should save the environment. Now the Bishop of Rochester is urging his congregation to opt for free range poultry.

Speaking in Rochester Cathedral with caged battery hens by his side, Anglican Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali announced that "free-range" originated in the bible, specifically Isaiah 11. I'm not sure exactly which verse he was looking at but it also says that the wolf will be the guest of the lamb and I can't see that happening.

The bible says a lot of things from giving man dominion over animals to telling him not to eat anything that chews cud. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about religious figures urging their flock to support responsible chicken mongers, however, claiming that God supported free-range when there was not alternative seems a little far fetched to me.

If you are feeling frustrated because you want to buy organic, free trade, free range, grass fed or some other type of green food and your grocery budget is getting lower instead of higher, here are some interesting thoughts from Eat. Drink. Better. along with some ideas that have worked for me.

• Explore local options like a CSA, farmers market, produce stand, orchard, farmers, dairy, bakery, etc. You may find some things will be a little more affordable because they involve fewer transportation costs. You'll also be dealing face-to-face with people who could be willing to make you a deal on a larger purchase or would be happy to throw in a little extra at the end of the day.
• Visit the bulk bins. Stores like Whole Foods and others have a bulk section where you can purchase everything from sugar and grains to cereal and candy. Compare prices between the bulk bins and the packaged items and you will probably find some good deals. You can also buy as little or as much as you want, reducing the possibility of things going bad before they are used up. And, you can frequently bring your own containers to reduce waste.
  
• Don't rule out the "regular" grocery store for organic items. My local regular Kroger has added many specialty items which don't always have quite as much mark up as if I shop at a more upscale market with more choices.
  
• Eat less meat. Beans cost much less than meat (and you can find them in the bulk bins!).
  
• Cook more things at home instead of buying convenience foods. You will save packaging, calories, and money.
  
• Do some research at the supermarket or farmer's market. Some things may be grown organically but the farmer has not gone through the organic certification process yet. If you don't know quite what a label means, ask about it. You might find a good deal.
  
• Ask for coupons. More organic producers are offering coupons. You can sign up for email newsletters from web sites and have them sent to your inbox and even writing or calling to say how much you enjoy the product with the suggestion that some coupons would be useful will get you on the mailing list to receive more coupons in the future.
  

In case you missed it -- and didn't spend a good portion of your Wednesday playing Turdly Winks on WaterAid.org -- yesterday was World Toilet Day. And by my calculations that makes this World Toilet Week. Which explains why the leading health and conservation authorities in Australia are calling on the world to ditch the old school flush toilet and take a seat on the water conserving throne of the future.

At yesterday's World Toilet Summit in Macau, founder of the WTO (World Toilet Organization) Jack Sims railed agaisnt the water-slurping model that most of us use today, calling it unsustainable. Instead, the WTO is getting behind a new type of poo receptacle. Details are a bit sketchy on exactly what kind of "dry" toilet they're recommending, but one thing seems clear: instead of dropping the kids off at the pool, the new toilet would be more akin to sending them to work on the sustainable farm. The new toilets separate solid and liquid waste, making it easier to compost and turn into fertilizer.

Are you having a hard time keeping all the recycle spin off terms straight? Here are a list of definitions to keep you in the know.

• Recycle according toWebster is "to pass again through a series of changes or treatments." In other words you put the paper in the bin, it gets turned into mush then back into paper again.
• Freecycling happens when you clean out your closet and pass unwanted goods directly to someone else's closet via Freecycle.org.
• Precycle has been covered here before. It means buying something that has little waste to deal with in the first place.
• Upcycle was first used in Michael Braungart and William McDonough's book, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. It means to take an element and recycled it into something of equal or greater value than what it had in its previous life. For example, have you seen the price of those recycled glass countertops?
• E-cycle refers to recycling your old walkman or last year's phone.
• Bicycle a motorless vehicle with two wheels propelled by pedals.
  

[via: Epicurious]

The Guardian has listed a bunch of environmental regulations George W. Bush wants to either weaken or totally reverse in the two months he has left in the Oval Office.

Bush's to-do list of dismantling eco-safeguards include eroding current protection for parks, rivers and wildlife and reducing rules that get big factory farms to clean up their planet-damaging waste. He's looking to get these last-minute, not-so-green rules set in place before Obama is sworn in, making it much harder for the new administration to reverse them. These last minute regulations are sometimes called 'midnight regulations', or as I call it, 'screwing-over-the-new guy'.

Bush made a move this week to allow the development of super polluting oil shale on 800 000 hectares of land in Rocky Mountain states. The law would go into effect only three days before Obama is sworn in. A regulation, finalized this past October, would let huge pig and cattle farms and mountain-top mining operations to essentially ignore the Clean Water Act. Yet another midnight regulation would allow government agencies to start new projects without having to study how they impact wildlife.

This strategy isn't sitting well with green groups, Congress or Obama's transition team who have said they will seek to repeal anything that's not in the interest of the country once he is in power in January.

January suddenly seems to be a long, annoying two months away.

Christmas stockings at my house are a big deal but aren't exactly eco-friendly. This year, I've been trying to think of alternatives.

Some of my choices are what might be considered very good like fair trade chocolates and coffee. Striking a balance between the more expensive items of high quality or that are organic and the expected idea of a full stocking have been tricky though.

In the past stocking have moderate amounts of candy, usually lip balms, small books, gift cards for things like fast food or Starbucks, holiday socks and various little gifts. This year, I went for two objectives. Organic and green items whenever possible (and affordable) and items that are very useful but still fun.

For example (I have a wide range because my family has a big sleepover on Christmas Eve and we all contribute to stockings for the group) for my 6-year-old nephew I got some kid friendly soaps and shampoos, a new toothbrush and some kid toothpaste. I also got a small travel toiletry bag for when he goes on overnights to friends, Grandma's, my house, etc. For that bag I also got a collapsible camping cup and a small package of band-aids. Crayons, a little candy and a book will round out my contribution there.

For my Grandpa, I got some books, some sugar-free candies and snack sized packages of cashews. Grandma gets word puzzle books, fresh pencils and a pretty washcloth.

Some of the items are organic or made from recycled materials or have other green properties. Some of them are just regular items from a big box store. I think, this year, for me at least, it's all about striking a balance, not going overboard and finding things people will actually use. It's rather challenging when you are looking at stockings for eight people!

What are your best green stocking stuffer finds so far? Or maybe I'm too far ahead in my Christmas shopping!

Look, there's no reason to sugarcoat the fact that the Arctic ice cap is melting at an unprecedented rate, it's pretty disturbing yet it's virtually unstoppable. I think almost everybody is a little freaked out by the idea that earth is rocketing out of the cozy, predictable ice age that we've all grown pretty accustomed to -- and into a strange, unpredictable future. Still, according to the EU, there are some things to look forward to as the ice sheets decline.

For one, shipping routes can slice through the region formerly know as the arctic ice cap, creating way shorter routes from the Atlantic to the Pacific. That's kind of a nice thing, because until the Skysail has fully caught on, ships are a huge source of carbon emissions. Also, for those of you who like to rally against foreign oil, the EU is licking its chops over the completely untapped oil reserves hiding out under the ice -- as is the US.

The same thing goes for Arctic fishing. Since we've already wrecked many of the world's most productive fisheries, the fishing industry desperately needs some kind of unspoiled waters. So, there you go, not exactly optimistic, but there it is. Thanks for looking at the bright side, EU. I guess.

If you're having a hard time finding a variety of Fair Trade food items at your local market and don't mind a little online shopping, Alter Eco is a great place to look. I am so in love with the options available here.

You can find organic chocolate products from Ghana and Bolivia like the Dark Chocolate Velvet - dark with just a touch of milk chocolate to make it smooth and creamy. Coffee from Peru and Ethiopia in blends like Moka Harrar and Bright Notes are also organic.

Alter Eco also offers tea, including the wonderful South African rooibos which, to me, tastes a little bit like honey and unrefined ground cane sugar from The Philippines.

If you are looking for grains you can find black quinoa from Bolivia and purple or red coral jasmine rice from Thailand. The colored grains really add interest to the plate when someone is expecting regular white or brown rice. It's a fun addition to the pantry.

The best part about Alter Eco is that I can read about the people and places where the food is being produced and learn how my choices can really make a difference.

You can find products online or use the store locator to see if a grocer near you offers Alter Eco products.

Need something to give to someone in the office, or want to have something on hand just in case someone stops by during the holidays? You know, the easy, quick, yet thoughtful and appreciated gift. Here's a good list of go-to green gifts for those just-in-case situations.

Sure, T. Boone Pickens gets a lot attention these days for his plan to ween America off of foreign oil, build ginormous wind farms, and all that jazz -- but this week it's Mrs. Pickens' turn to make headlines. Not to be outdone, Madeleine Pickens has come up with an eco-friendly plan of her own. On Tuesday, she announced that she will purchase one million acres to serve as a giant sanctuary for America's famous wild horse population.

Most people are familiar with the popular toy company Little Tikes. They make great stuff, the kids like it and some of us even grew up with their toys. What else could we possibly need to know?

Y'all are probably familiar with that massive area south of the Mississippi that is the dumping ground for all of the nitrogen rich fertilizers that feed the corn belt. It's called the Dead Zone and it's growing. Dead zones can be found in many coastal areas around the United States. They are called "dead" as they are completely devoid of marine life. But wait! According to a new report, there might be life in there after all.

Ecologist, Andrew Altieri, studies dead zones in Narragansett Bay near Rhode Island. He found that that the quahog clam thrives in oxygen depleted waters. Without predators, this species is plentiful and can be harvested for commercial uses.

Altieri is quick to point out that dead zones aren't good. However, New England's commercial fisherman can make the most of this silver lining by harvesting quahog clams in these areas that were thought to be devoid of life. Now if only Altieri could help the fisherman in the Gulf of Mexico.

Wanna be like Matt and Sara Janssen, give up your stinking mortgage, and strike out on the open road -- permanently? Well, the sustainable home on wheels -- formerly known as the RV, motorhome, or camper -- has been generating lots of interest as of late for the adventurous and eco-friendly lifestyle it seems to advertise. Well, up until recently, the one thing the mobile life didn't offer was a stylish, glamorous existence that others would envy.

Luckily, designer Alexandre Verdier has already come up with a solution to that problem. His greenovated VW buses are a dream come true for the design-oriented ecophile with a lust for life on the road. Based on beloved VW Westfalia, these luxury cruisers boast a self-sustaining solar array, a GPS Sun Tracker System that helps you find the perfect parking spot, a hybrid drive train that also serves as a generator, and a super stylish design inside and out.

As you can see, the amenities don't stop there. The Verdier camper is equipped with a pop-up roof, stow-away lawn furniture, 2 sleeping areas, and even a kitchen complete with an electric range.

[via Inhabitat]

When Hurricane Ike blew through Texas last summer, it left a lot of debris in its wake. More specifically, 6.5 million cubic yards of felled trees and branches were cleaned up from homes. Now the city wants to know the best way to recycle the wood and they are paying for the best ideas.

The top three ideas for tree recycling can earn $10,000, $5,000 and $2,500 respectively. If you are tempted to simply tell the city to "mulch it" and collect your cash, don't. They have already done that and surpassed any demand for Texas grown mulch. The best answers appear to be a way to use the trees locally to save on shipping expenses.

I'm proud of Houston for taking such an approach rather than to send all of the debris to a landfill. Having lived through Katrina and the aftermath, I am ashamed to say that New Orleans did not have such foresight whether it was recycling trees or rotten refrigerators.