Eating Differently

It's all the buzz in today's environmental news; when it comes to climate change and food, it's not just about eating locally, it's about eating differently. That's because only 11% of the greenhouse gas emissions from meat and dairy comes from transportation. The rest comes from fertilizer, feed production, manure management, animal digestion (which results in some serious methane) and the food production.  So even buying locally grown meat and dairy does not cut emissions by that much. The study says that you are better off making different choices like more chicken, fish, legumes and vegetables. 

Since raising livestock contributes a whopping 18% of greenhouse gas emissions (that's more than transportation) the food choices you make can have a significant impact. Here's an experiment; go animal protein and dairy free for 2 weeks. Get your protein from combining grains and beans and your calcium from leafy greens. Keep track in a journal of how you are feeling physically and mentally. You might just find that whereas you thought your body needed all that meat, what it actually needed was a cleaner source of nutrients. And one that is better for the environment!

Here's a recipe to get you started:

Chop some broccoli, carrots, and onion. Throw the chopped vegetables in a pot with a cup of brown rice, some salt and pepper and 2 cups of water and a tablespoon of olive oil. 30 minutes later add some freshly shelled peas and some chopped swiss chard. Cook for another 10 minutes. Eat, enjoy!

Mother's Day

According to Wikipedia, Mother's Day "was imported by social activist Julia Ward Howe after the American Civil War. However, it was intended as a call to unite women against war. In 1870, she wrote the Mother's Day Proclamation as a call for peace and disarmament. Howe failed in her attempt to get formal recognition of a Mother's Day for Peace. Her idea was influenced by Ann Jarvis, a young Appalachian homemaker who, starting in 1858, had attempted to improve sanitation through what she called Mothers' Work Days. She organized women throughout the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides, and in 1868 she began work to reconcile Union and Confederate neighbors.

When Jarvis died in 1907, her daughter, named Anna Jarvis, started the crusade to found a memorial day for women. The first such Mother's Day was celebrated in Grafton, West Virginia, on 10 May 1908, in the church where the elder Ann Jarvis had taught Sunday School. Originally the Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church, this building is now the International Mother's Day Shrine (a National Historic Landmark). From there, the custom caught on -- spreading eventually to 45 states. The holiday was declared officially by some states beginning in 1912. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson declared the first national Mother's Day, as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war.

Nine years after the first official Mother's Day, commercialization of the U.S. holiday became so rampant that Anna Jarvis herself became a major opponent of what the holiday had become. Mother's Day continues to this day to be one of the most commercially successful U.S. occasions. According to the National Restaurant Association, Mother's Day is now the most popular day of the year to dine out at a restaurant in the United States."

It's time to move away from the commercilaization that so upset Ann Jarvis and move Mother's Day back to its activists roots. Here's a few suggestions:

- Join True Majority and Greenpeace in a day of Mommy Meetups and stroller marches this Mother's Day weekend, either as an attendee or as a host. At these gatherings on May 10th or 11th, families will use cells phones to record short voicemail messages calling for climate action. Those voicemail messages will be featured as an audio collage on the True Majority website, along with group photos, so that Congress, the press, and the public can see and hear from families across the country about climate change.

- Host a party to support people in need.   A dear friend lost her beautiful 16 year old daughter to cancer just over a year ago. She started an organization to help families with critically ill children, Normal Moments. She is suggesting that people host their own fundraisers on Mother's Day to help support the organization which sends volunteers to do things like mow the lawn and walk the dog so that parents can spend more time with their ill children without having to worry about household chores. Hosting a party/fundraiser is a way to spend time with the people you love while helping others, and isn't that what mothers do best? You can register your event here.

- Gather the family and organize your own beach or park clean up. All you need are some rubber gloves, some trash bags and determination. If every family celebrated Mother's Day this way, think of how much trash we could keep out of our waterways and environment.

- Volunteer at a shelter or soup kitchen on Mother's Day weekend. Being a mother is about nurturing, so why not spread some of that nurturing spirit to those that may need it most. In a way, this is more pampering for yourself than a spa day, because it feeds your soul and teaches your children how good it feels to give back. Try Volunteer Match or Network for Good to find an opportunity near you.

Whatever you decide to do, let's give a gift to Mother Earth by making a commitment to reduce, reuse and recycle this Mother's Day.

The Great Diaper Conundrum

The debate about disposables versus cloth diapers has long raged among environmentalists. Disposables end up in land fill. Cloth diapers require water and chemicals to wash. Which is worse on the environment? Now a team of Dutch researchers have answered the question by looking at the energy and waste lifecycle of both. That is to say that where previous studies have looked at the environmental impact of each once they were purchased by the consumer, this new study accounts for the resource use, production and transportation, for each kind of diaper.

The answer is, drum roll please, it is better to go with cloth! Now for those of you that are thinking cloth are inconvenient, I used cloth and it has not only environmental advantages, but children tend to get potty trained much earlier. According to the study, children use an average of 5000 diapers and are usually potty trained at 3.2 years of age. My daughter was potty trained just after she turned 2. And it wasn't difficult training either. We put a little potty in the bathroom, she would try to use it. Then one day we were driving back to New Hampshire from Boston. She said she had to go to the bathroom. She was wearing a diaper but she didn't want to go in it. We got home, she used the potty and that was the end of the diapers. So while the cloth diapers were occasionally inconvenient, my diaper changing days were also over much more quickly.

According to one of the authors of the study, "Although multi-useable diapers need to be washed, which also puts a strain on the environment, we found that washable diapers are up to seven times better for the environment than single-use diapers."

Seven times better for the environment and faster, easier potty training, made from a renewable resource (cotton). As in so many things, turns out what worked for our grandparents, great grand parents and great great grandparents is the way to go.

Bike To Work Week

It's Bike to Work Week people and Friday is official Bike to Work Day so get out the old Schwinn (or in my case, a Peugeot I have had since college!) and saddle up! Things you will need:

- a good helmet. Make sure it fits properly and is sturdy. A guy last year had his head run over by a truck and walked away because of a good helmet!

- a good bike lock. I use a kryptonite lock. It helps to have an old bike that nobody wants!

- a tire pump. They are cheap and easy to use. No flat tire excuse for not riding your bike!

There are other accessories you might want like biking shorts, shoes, baskets, a messenger bag and places to carry things, but these aren't essential. I have a rack and some bungie cords on the back of my bike and I can fit just about anything on there, accept fruit which tends to get squished when you fasten it on!

As far as helmet head goes, get over it. We are all going to have perpetual bad hair days when the planet heats up by a few more degrees. Throw a brush and a spray bottle in your bag and you can fix it when you get there. Plus, with those killer legs you have from biking, nobody is going to notice your hair anyway!

Better World Club

Want the security of roadside assistance and someone to help you with your travel plans, but don't want to support an organization that fought the clean energy bill? Join Better World Club. The Car Talk guys call them an auto club with decent values. Not only do you get roadside assistance for your car in about 30 minutes, you will also get roadside assistance for your bicycle, discounts on hybrid car rentals, eco-travel services, insurance and gas rebates. The price is comparable to other auto clubs, less if you drive a hybrid or plug in. Plus they give 1% to environmental clean up and advocacy.

I'm not yet a member, but after reading about them, I plan to join!

Why I am Against Suspending the Gas Tax

Gas is insanely expensive. Here in Southern California, we are at over $4 a gallon in parts of the city. As Bill Maher says, when gas is this expensive, it's time to stop with that 9/10 cent b.s. As much as this hurts all of our pocket books, I am against suspending the gas tax for the summer. First off, it's $9 billion in revenue that we cannot forego. We will end up borrowing that money from places like China to fix our roads and transportation infrastructure and further destabilize our national economy. Second, by artifically lowering the price of gas, we are encouraging more consumption, which will drive up prices, as well as add to greenhouse gas emissions.

It's time to come to terms with the fact that oil is a finite resource and we are getting to the end. Exxon, for example, only replaces about 75% of the oil it sells. Exxon is running out of oil which is why the Rockefeller family, who's great, great grandfather founded the company once known as Standard Oil, made a public statement that Exxon must diversify into renewables if they want to remain competitive. This despite quarterly profits of $12 billion, a record for a U.S. corporation.

Speaking of record profits in the oil industry, if Congress really wants to do something about prices, how about capping profits on gas sales and imposing a real carbon tax on those corporations, one that cannot just be passed through to consumers. In a way, the high price of gas is in proportion to the finite supply, and is, in a sense, a carbon tax. But it is one that does not incentivize companies to seek other forms of energy supply as they reap the profits in the short term based on the instability of the oil market.

The other thing Congress can do is force the American auto makers to build in greater efficiency. It is pathetic that Ford made a car in 1920 that got better mileage than its cars in 2008. Hybrids, plug ins and fuel cell technology is one thing, but how about focusing on good old fashioned fuel economy like the Japanese have been doing for decades? How about smaller cars like the Europeans have been demanding for decades? How about investment in public transportation rather than fighting it and becoming a company that transports people from one place to another instead of a company that sells cars?

As consumers, we can do a lot. We can drive less and more efficiently. Slower speeds, properly inflated tires, less stops and starts and combining trips. We can ride bikes, walk and take public transportation. When it is time for a new car, we can look at fuel economy first, status and luxury second. We can come to terms with the fact that oil is a finite resource and we need not use as much of it as we are. There's a lot we can do, but suspending the gas tax won't get us where we need to be, it will do the opposite and take us further away. That is something that we simply cannot afford.

About Going Green

This site is about how to live a more sustainable, environmentally friendly lifestyle, and how to do it without breaking the bank or suggesting such a drastic change in the way you live that it seems impossible to accomplish. The thing about going green is that it should be a win-win; it should make your life easier, more fulfilling, more pleasurable, healthier and more fun, while taking care of the health and well being of our planet and the millions of folks that share it. It will feature green tips and suggestions, as well as resources for anyone and everyone. I welcome questions, comments and suggestions.

Leslie Berliant