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- Entering sweepstakes or contests
- 26 trees
- 2,460 lbs of greenhouse gases
- 11,847 gallons of water
- 2.5 cubic yards of landfill space
Great ideas for Earth Day and beyond!
Fantastic column! Okay, so I'm biased (it was written by my husband). He got more emails from strangers following the publishing of this column than any other he's ever written. Many emailers told their own stories of how they never got participation trophies and how much more their few trophies meant to them because there were truly earned. Some told Dave how they were handing this column out to everyone in the league (emailing of course to save trees) and encouraging their league to forgo participation trophies or at least downsize to small medallions. Give it a try with your sports league! There is no need to sacrifice romance for the environment this Valentine’s Day, Consumer Change has collected some tips to help you keep your red-hot love life green.
1. Card. According to Greeting Card Association, almost 1 Billion Valentine’s Day cards are sold each year; laid end to end, they would circle the world five times.
What can you do to reduce the impact? Send an ecard, buy a card made from recycled paper, or buy a ‘tree-free’ card - cards are now available made from (among other things) banana skins, reclaimed sugar cane or elephant poo, although that last one may not be the best idea for Valentine’s Day.
2. Flowers. According to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, around 70% of flowers are imported into the US, many of which are sprayed with harmful pesticides and fungicides which are banned here. Even flowers grown in the US can be harmful to the environment as flowers are one of the most pesticide intensive crops.
The easy fix? Buy locally grown organic flowers. You will reduce the carbon footprint from the transportation of the flowers and avoid toxins potentially harming the watershed and streams.
3. Chocolate. According to Global Exchange, 284,000 children are employed abusive labor conditions in West Africa’s cocoa fields. Many cocoa companies pay so low that many farmers cannot meet their basic needs.
Guilt free chocolate? Organic fair trade chocolate. Organic to reduce the impact on the environment. Fair trade to make sure that forced and abusive child labor are prohibited, farmers get an adequate price and environmentally sustainable production methods are used in the making of chocolate for your loved one. Not calorie free but definitely guilt free.
4. Jewelry. There are several environmental and humane issues connected with jewelry. Mining destroys habitats and uses harmful toxins. According to No Dirty Gold the production of one gold ring generates 20 tons of mining waste.
Is there such a thing as eco-bling? If jewelry is on your shopping list, consider antique, pre-owned jewelry or purchasing from jewelers who are certified to be sourcing precious metals and gemstones in an ecologically and socially responsible manner.
5. Dinner. Arrange dinner at a local restaurant specializing in organic or locally grown food and wine. The Green Restaurant Association has a search function on their website that allows you to search for Certified Green Restaurants in your neighborhood.
6. Candlelight. Conventional candles can pollute indoor environments, use beeswax or soy-wax candles that burn much cleaner.
7. And then? One of the most innovative areas of green entrepreneurialship is eco-sex toys. An online search for green sex toys has over 12 Million results. Have fun finding the perfect one for you and your partner.
But at this point they are totally confused by the reality of it all. What constitutes environmentally or sustainable packaging?
Reduce: That is use less packaging where possible. Example the Ultra detergents.
Refill: Have a container that can be easily refilled with products using a lot less packaging material. Example: Method
This week, we are continuing the series of Blogs about the issues addressed by the Consumer Change iPhone App. Last week I shared an article I wrote about Polystyrene disposable containers that was published by Eucalyptus Magazine (see page 23). This week I thought I would Blog about the second eco-sin which is addressed by the Consumer Change iPhone App – over-packaging.
There are three main problems with over-packaging:
1) It wastes raw materials, usually cardboard, plastic and sometimes Styrofoam too. The more cardboard that is used, the more trees that are cut. The more plastic that is used, the more petroleum is used. To read about the environmental issues associated with Styrofoam, see the Blog of January 5, 2010;
2) Over packaged goods are heavier to ship, wasting more fuel in the distribution process;
3) Over packaging creates more waste filling up our landfills. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, one-third of our waste is due to packaging.
Clearly, some packaging is required to keep goods and products clean, safe and free from wear and tear. However, right-packaging (as opposed to over-packaging) should be a low hanging fruit for any business; they would save money on packaging and shipping costs in addition to helping the environment. A great example is Dell who in December 2008 announced that they would switch to greener packaging and that would result in savings of over $8 Million over 4 years and eliminate 20 Million pounds of packaging.
What You Can Do:
· Buy bulk and, where necessary, separate out individual servings into your own reusable containers;
· Vote with your pocket; choose the goods or products with the least amount of packaging or the environmentally friendly packaging. Buy loose fruits and vegetables instead of those packaged in Styrofoam trays and shrink-wrap;
· Recycle your packaging. For a list of your local recycling centers, visit Earth911;
· Reuse your packaging - hang onto those Styrofoam peanuts and cardboard boxes they might come in handy. I see a lot of people requesting these on FreeCycle.org;
· Buy or acquire used wherever possible to reduce the environmental burden of the product, its packaging and shipping. And you’ll save money too;
· Tell companies what you think by submitting Reviews on ConsumerChange.com or through the Consumer Change iPhone App.
