Liveasy

I canNOT believe my ears! I just found out that styrafoam CAN be recycled, and here's how:

Styrofoam: Interestingly enough, it seems there’s always a way to bring everything back to nature: bacteria appear to be the answer to recycling polystyrene foam, commonly known as Styrofoam. Over 14 million metric tons of Styrofoam is produced annually, most of which previously ended up in landfills due to the lack of an efficient system for recycling it.

In 2006, scientists at the University College Dublin found a bacterium that eats polystyrene foam and turns it into a useable plastic. The foam first must be heated without the presence of oxygen and converted into styrene oil. Then, it is fed to the bacteria who convert it into PHA, a biodegradable plastic. Like most plastics, PHA is resistant to oil, heat and grease and lasts a long time. It can be used to create packaging film and plastic forks. Unlike polystyrene foam, it is able to biodegrade in water and soil.

This fabulous news was just offered up by our friends over at Earth911, via www.msn.com found here: http://green.msn.com/Home/you-can-recycle-that/?gt1=45002

I have not yet found out whether or not there's a way to begin collecting and sending styrafoam to a site that will recycle the styrafoam. But stay tuned!

Well, Happy Earth Day!

I couldn't let this day go by without posting a very short blog!

In the spirit of keeping energy usage to a minimum, I will keep this short (so I don't waste energy on my end, and so you don't waste energy reading/using the computer on your end).

Here are some green tips to keep top of mind today, and hopefully everyday!

1. Buy organic.

2. Look for concentrated products.

3. Install compact flourescent light bulbs.

4. Use resusable shopping bags.

5. turn off the faucet while you brush your teeth (and if you do dishes by hand too!)

6. Use eco-friendly cleaning supplies.

7. Reduce water in your toilet tank.

8. Turn down the heat during the Winter.

9. Calculate your carbon footprint and learn how to reduce it. www.nature.org/initiatives/cliematechange/calculator.

10. Attend an Earth Day Event. www.EarthDay.net.

***All these tips brought to you by Safeway Grocery Stores!!! www.safeway.com

Ready Made Mag

Okay people.  So part of green living is of course prevention, and another huge part is recycling and reuse, which of course helps lead to reduction of waste.

There is an awesome magazine that shows you what you can do with all that crap you either can't recycle (like styrafoam cups) or stuff you have left over (like extra cardboard boxes, or shirts, or tires, etc.)

What is this magazine called? ReadyMade.  Now, yes there is something to be said for a company that focuses on recycling actually printing their mag, but they have an awesome website, and they only print bi-monthly so it's 6 issues instead of 12 issues a year!

I will be asking them if they print on recycled paper, so stay tuned for their reply (here's hoping I get one!)

Check them out!  READY MADE MAG: http://readymademag.com

Earthbabies

Okay all you organic moms!!!! Get ready for the next best and cutest, and softest thing in green baby care:

Earth Babies!!!!  Check it out:  www.earthbabies.com

Read their story to find out how it came about. Best of all they are a green company, not just making green products, but doing so in a green way. Gotta love it!  They're goal is to be 100% organic in the future, but for now they're taking as many steps as possible to proactively limit their carbon footprint.

I'm sure this will show up on Oprah's list of Favorite Things soon enough! 

Babybel

Hello tree huggers!

So, I wanted to share with you a happy little story about the Laughing Cow cheese company, who own and operate the Baby Bel line of mini cheese wheels.

I buy the large bags of the Original Baby Bel mini cheese wheels at Costco (www.costco.com) here in Seattle. I take the bag to work and eat two a day as a mid-day snack (helps get my servings of dairy in, at a low calorie cost).

Yesterday, I was opening the plastic wrapper, followed by the wax casing and I thought to myself "why all the packaging? What's up with that?"  So, of course, like any self-respecting tree hugger, I emailed them and asked "What's up with that." You can read the exchange as follows:

Commentaires/Comments :
I always buy the large bags of the mini babybel's at the grocery store, or at costco. and I eat two mini's a day as a mid morning snack.....and every time I unwrap them, I wonder to myself, "Why so much packaging?" I love the wax part, but hate the plastic! Plastic will NEVER biodegrade, adn you can't recycle it, and you really don't need it with the wax on there. Couldn't you just imprint your logo on the wax? and save all the plastic? You'd cut your costs substantially too! These days, little bits of plastic like that are becoming more and more a part of the resistance to purchase things (at least in my generation-I'm 25).  I think pursuing a more eco-friendly packaging would really speak to your consumers desire to waste less and still enjoy a favorite treat! (Also, I live in the United States, but couldn't find a website for the states, so I went to Canada's site instead....what's up with that?)

To: siiriguapa@hotmail.com
CC: DDurbin@belbrandsusa.com
Subject: Re: Fw: Site Minibabybel.ca - Contact us
From: KProdanov@belbrandsusa.com
Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2008 15:08:32 -0600

Dear Siiri,

Thank you for contacting us. While we share your concern we certainly make an effort to use as little and less harmful packaging material. However with the size of the Mini Babybels, the outer cellophane is required by law to have the information on the product unit of each individual piece. It also helps protect the small piece from being damaged or spoiled. However we appreciate you taking the time to inform us of your concerns. Also we manufacture our wedges with recyclable cardboard, and try to make appropriate efforts when packaging our products.

Thanks for taking the time to write. For future reference, our U.S. contact information is available on www.laughingcow.com.

Thank you,

Kari Prodanov
Bel Brands USA
Office: (847) 879-1900
Fax: (847) 879-1999
kprodanov@belbrandsusa.com

So, I'm back from the depths of the black whole.....or I just realized it's been a while since I've blogged. So, um, sorry about that.  But of course, I saw something from a friend of mine over at IdeaBite.com that got me to speak up and ask:

"What's so gosh darn important about organic, sustainable meat?"

No, seriously, I don't get it......okay well maybe I do, but for those of you that don't I wanted to provide some easy, quick resources so you can find a little more out about sustainable meat.  Here are the characteristics of what makes meat sustainable:

Typical minimum requirements for eco-meat labels:

• "Organic" - animals get access to the outdoors (cows, sheep, and goats get pasture time), bedding materials, and aren't injected with hormones or antibiotics.
• "Cage-free" Poultry - birds aren't kept in cages.
• "Free-range" - animals are given access to the outdoors.
• "Pasture-raised"/"grass-fed" - animals get access to the outdoors and can graze.
• "Humanely raised" - animals get exercise and their cages are big enough for them to move in.
• "Hormone-free" - cows aren't injected with any hormones (using hormones on chickens and pigs is already against the law).

And I'm thinking....."Isn't that the way things should be anyway?!?!??!!??!" Well, guess what? It's not the way things are anyway. Which is really sad, and also GROSS!

So, here are a couple resources that you can take a look at, and pass on to your less enlightened friends, about why spending a dollar or two more on those steaks could totally pay off for them and their bodies in the long run:

The Meatrix

The Meatrix:  http://meatrix.com/

Eat Well Guide

The Eat Well Guide: http://www.eatwellguide.org/i.php?id=Home

Hey all.  So on the MSN.com home page today, there was this video on the truth about plastics.  Enjoy.....or not.....  http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-US&brand=&vid=93487bf0-7cf5-4f7d-b2e2-3fb5bf961f96

Ideal Bite

Here's something totally great.  This is a great website that focuses on green issues and a college friend of mine works for it.  They have a great tip of the day you can sign up for an dhtey also have almost all of their journalists blogging daily, which adds great humor to their site and posts.  Check it:  www.IdealBite.com.

Propel Fitness Water

Okay, so I know that this is really, really small, and that I haven't posted in quite a few days. But, I wanted to share this cool find with you.  I have been paying more attention to what I eat and all that jazz, and one of my favorite things to guzzle down is Propel.  The great thing about Propel is that you feel like you're having a treat, when you're really just drinking flavored water.  It's only 20 calories for a whole bottle.  Now here's the great thing:

I had been purchasing 6 packs of the bottled Prople, which is a HUGE WASTE of plastic, except here in Seattle we can recycle those bottles, so it's not all bad.  However, I found the Propel flavor packets that you can dump into regular water and VOIA LA! You have instant Propel, minus the bottles! GREAT!

So now not only am I saving plastic bottles, but I'm also saving money.  It's usually $3.99 or so for a six pack of the bottles, but it's only about $4.50 for a flavor pack box of 10! So I'm doing myself two favors in one! YAY!

Here's more information about the Propel line: (my favorite is berry flavor, but this week I'm drinking Strawberry & Kiwi.....)

http://www.propelfitnesswater.com/