Conservation is key.  Sure, conservation is b-o-r-i-n-g when compared to cool things like wind turbines, solar panels and bio-fuels.  But with all of the talk about alternative energy this, and renewable energy that, we lose sight of the fact that we already have the capability to make a tremendous difference by reducing our consumption of energy.  How?  Really, it can be as simple as turning off a light switch.  Powering down may not seem like a big deal, but think of all of the electronics and lights that are left on or plugged in when we’re not even home.  Those things all draw power when they’re not in use.  Plugging electronics into power strips and then turning those off can really add up to big energy (and money) savings.  In addition, if every American household changed just one light bulb to a compact fluorescent (CFL), collectively we could save enough energy to light over 3 million homes for a year, save more than $600 million in energy costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to taking 800,000 cars off the road!  That’s HUGE!  Just think about how much energy we could save if we changed all of our light bulbs to CFLs.  We could be reducing our need for greenhouse gas-producing  power plants all over the place.  Wouldn’t that be neat?

Recycle. If we consume less and throw out less garbage, it’s a win-win for us and the planet.  This might seem like a no-brainer but what most of us don’t know is that the average American throws away 4.5 pounds of garbage every day.  And the EPA estimates that 75 percent of that could be recycled and could create jobs in the process.  Recycling 10,000 tons of waste creates 36 jobs. Wow!  We could be throwing a whole lot less away and create jobs.  Talk about making more green!  Unfortunately, that is still only part of the story when it comes to garbage and recycling.  According to Annie Leonard’s Story of Stuff project, for every one garbage can of waste you put out on the curb, 70 garbage cans of waste were made upstream to make the junk in that one garbage can you put out on the curb.  So we still need to focus on consuming less while recycling more.  Find out more about recycling at Earth 911.

Drive less.  No matter how you look at it, the U.S. is dependent on foreign oil.  The more we conserve, the less dependent we are on foreign oil and the better the environment is for it.  Depending on where you live (urban, suburban, or rural areas), you may have limited options for public transit.  But we can all drive less and save some green by combining errands into fewer trips, carpooling, telecommuting, bicycling or walking whenever possible.  A point to ponder:  According to the New Jersey Transit Authority, commuting 40 miles per day alone in a car costs roughly $8,768 per year.  Carpooling with one other person can save $4,384 and with two other people, $5,845.  So putting a little bit of thought into driving less can really add up to a lot more green for you!

Plant a tree.  With Earth Day and Arbor Day right around the corner, what better a way to go green than to plant a tree?  It can be a fun and meaningful way to give a little green back to Mother Nature.  And while you’re at it, be sure to wish Earth Day a Happy 40th Birthday this year.

To find out more about how you can make our environment and your wallet a little greener, you can visit the EPA website or calculate your own carbon footprint by taking the Earth Day Eco Footprint Calculator.

Other posts by Amy Considine:

Get Real! Reclaiming Authenticity in an Artificial World

About Face! Lookin’ Good the Natural Way

On My Soapbox

MSG by Any Other Name: Part I

MSG by Any Other Name: Part II

That’s where the FDA comes in.  As mentioned in my previous post, shortly after MSG was introduced to the United States back in 1947, reports started showing up that maybe MSG and its relatives (monopotassium glutamate, glutamate, glutamic acid, gelatin, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, hydrolyzed plant protein, autolyzed plant protein, sodium caseinate, calcium caseinate, textured protein, yeast extract, yeast food or nutrient and autolyzed yeast) weren’t so good for us.  A quick search on the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed website for MSG returned 1120 results.  Study after scientific study has come back tying MSG consumption with obesity and a host of other health problems.  And yet the FDA, and hence, our government, still doesn’t think it’s a problem.  Why?  Well, it gets complicated and perhaps the answer lies with Big Agra and Big Pharma and the zillions of dollars they pump into political action committees.

With neurological disorders like autism, ADHD, and childhood obesity at an all-time high (and rising), we have to ask ourselves if our food supply is truly safe and who is (and should be) educating and protecting us.  Who?

Something just isn’t right here.  We have a right to know what is in our food so that we can make educated and informed decisions about what we do or do not eat.

I encourage everyone to read your food labels and avoid as many foods containing MSG and MSG-related ingredients.  Vote with your dollars and don’t buy those products.  I also encourage you to contact your local senators and congressmen and women to ask the FDA to take MSG off the market.

For further reading about what else Big Agra is doing with GMOs, check out  the Get Your Gen Mo Out of My Food Yo series.  You’ll be glad you did!

Read the MSG Series:

MSG by Any Other Name: Part I

MSG by Any Other Name: Part II

Other posts by Amy Considine:

Get Real! Reclaiming Authenticity in an Artificial World

About Face! Lookin’ Good the Natural Way

On My Soapbox

What has caused much of the debate about MSG’s safety is that it is a naturally occurring substance.  MSG is a sodium salt of the amino acid called glutamic acid, and a form of glutamate.  Glutamate is naturally found in foods such as vegetables, milk, meat, cheese and mushrooms and when natural form it is not harmful.  Some people are extremely sensitive to it and some are not at all.  However, the problem comes in when MSG is manufactured.  MSG is mass produced  by the fermentation of starch from plants like sugar beets, sugar cane and molasses.  So what’s the big deal?

The manufacturing and fermenting process is where the bad nasties come in. Manufactured MSG is in a class of chemicals called excitotoxins.  These chemicals jazz up or “excite” nerve cells (neurons) throughout the body until they die.  If lower amounts or concentrations are consumed, these excitotoxins fizzle out the connections, or synapses, between the neurons.  In his book, Excitotoxins: The Taste that Kills, Retired neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock, MD claimed that excitotoxins are a major cause of degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, ALS and MS.  Additionally, excitotoxins like MSG interact with other excitotoxins like aspartame, mercury, and aluminum to increase their toxicity.

John Erb, a research assistant at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, linked MSG consumption to obesity in his book, The Slow Poisoning of America, in 2006.  But shockingly, the evidence had been coming through in studies since 1978 where MSG injections were shown to cause obesity in rats.  1978!  Where was the FDA back then?

Additionally, a recent study at UNC Chapel Hill has linked MSG (and it’s derivatives) to obesity.  According to the study: People who use monosodium glutamate, or MSG, as a flavor enhancer in their food are more likely than people who don’t use it to be overweight or obese even though they have the same amount of physical activity and total calorie intake.

If you are still a non-believer that MSG is bad for us, you can draw your own conclusions by checking out the National Library of Medicine at: http://www.pubmed.com and key in “MSG Obese.”

For further reading about what’s in our food, check out: Get Your Gen Mo Out of My Food Yo.

Next up in MSG by Any Other Name: Part III:  Why is there MSG in our food and what is the FDA is doing about it?

Read Part One:

MSG by Any Other Name

Other posts by Amy Considine:

Get Real! Reclaiming Authenticity in an Artificial World

About Face! Lookin’ Good the Natural Way

On My Soapbox

• Obesity
• Alzheimer’s Disease
• Petit Mal seizures
• Migraine Headaches (uh, hello!)
• Children’s Disorders
• Insomnia
• Cancer
• Fibromyalgia
• ADHD and Autism
• Numbness

(Read more on the above here).

Yikes! So how can we stay away from this nasty stuff?  Well, it’s hard.  MSG (and posers) is found in many of the foods in our modern society such as fast foods, prepared and processed foods, salad dressings, sauces, soups, cooking stocks, snack foods and chips.  Your best bet is to avoid these foods as much as possible and to arm yourself with information.  You can do that by always reading the labels.

Foods always contain MSG if the following are on the label:

• MSG
• Monosodium glutamate
• Monopotassium glutamate
• Glutamate
• Glutamic acid
• Gelatin
• Hydrolyzed vegetable protein
• Hydrolyzed plant protein
• Autolyzed plant protein
• Sodium caseinate
• Calcium caseinate
• Textured protein
• Yeast extract
• Yeast food or nutrient
• Autolyzed yeast

Of course, there are all sorts of conflicting studies, stories, and everything in between on the relative “safety” of MSG.  Believe what you will.  I know for certain that I suffer from migraines when I eat MSG-laced food so I do my best to stay away from the stuff.

Learn more about MSG and its effects here: MSG by Any Other Name: Part II.

In short, yes, we are.  But where is this taking us?  How is this affecting our interpersonal relationships, our health, or our ability to deal with reality?  I heard an interesting statistic on the local news yesterday about prescription drugs:  60 percent more prescriptions are dispensed compared to 10 years ago.  That seemed like a pretty big increase to me.  I couldn’t help thinking that that the jump in prescription drug use had to be somehow correlated to our lack of ability to deal with our collective reality.  Maybe that’s a pretty big mental leap.  But it seemed to make sense that if somehow we could be more engaged and involved in our communities, etc., (hence, reality), we may be happier and less reliant on prescription drugs to make us feel okay.  In fact, there is a plethora of information available (again, out there on the Internet), on how changing your activities can revitalize and breathe new life into your life.  One such article had a list:  Easy and Natural Ways to Raise Your Low Serotonin Levels.

So, what now?  I am not advocating that we should cancel our subscriptions to our favorite ISPs, Facebook , Twitter or IM accounts.  That’s really not practical, especially for those who make a living through those channels!   But perhaps we can be a bit more aware and conscious of our communications and activities while we’re “plugged in” and save a little time to “unplug” ourselves to experience and enjoy the real world around us.

Related Posts:

Would You Mind?

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, we all want to look good for our special somebodies, or somebodies-to-be.  And, most of us admittedly need a little “help” in putting our best face forward.  But why cake on synthetic makeup made with all sorts of unrecognizable or unpronounceable things like cochineal extract (ground up beetle skins to you and me) or preservatives or plasticizers like parabens or phthalates?

There are far more kinder, gentler, and more natural ways of enhancing your best features than applying a chemistry set to your face every day.  Luckily for us, there’s a group already on the lookout to help us sort all of this out.  They are called The Environmental Working Group and they have a database called Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Database which has a host of information about what products are safest (freest of nasty chemicals) and which ones should be avoided entirely.  You can key in any ingredient and find out just how good (or bad) it is for you.  Or, you can go “shopping” and choose your own criteria for products you’d like to see.

If after you’ve read through the ingredients list on your cosmetics and have become completely disgusted, do not fear. You do not have to venture out makeup-free!  There are ways to make your own beauty-enhancing products.  A friend of mine has given up conventional soap altogether and uses a mixture of olive oil, honey and lemon on her skin and swears by it.  There are also recipes and websites out there for homemade skin care and makeup products.  A good source of information is Better Basics for the Home, by Annie B. Bond.  And, I am sure any Google search for homemade cosmetics (or the like) will return a bunch of fun recipes to try!

As you prepare for Valentine’s Day, or even if you think Valentine’s Day is a bunch of hooey, do yourself and the earth a favor by learning more about what is in your makeup and how to make safer cosmetics choices. 

Related Posts:

Neck Deep Beauty

Not Much to Cheer About-The Exploitation of the NFL Cheerleader

Feminists Fight Over Change, Not The Wedding Bouquet

Faceoff:  Soap vs. Laundry Detergent

Short of taking your clothes down to the nearest stream and beating them on a rock, there are far more environmentally friendly, healthier and cheaper ways to get your clothes clean than using the highly advertised, chemical-laden, and expensive laundry detergent.   The good news is you can buy environmentally friendly laundry soap just about anywhere.  The even better news is that you can make it yourself and save a bunch of money in the process!  You can control the ingredients, and can create your very own signature scent by using different soaps or adding essential oils. Any Google search on the Internet for homemade laundry soap will give you many recipes from which to choose.  Here’s a popular recipe that I have used as have several friends and family members.

So, the next time you are running low on laundry detergent and are heading to the store to buy more,  think about a kinder, gentler alternative and consider making your own or going with a more environmentally-friendly brand.

Eco-Step: For added environmental and wallet friendliness, hang your freshly-washed clothes out to dry (or over bars, on hangers) instead of tossing them in the dryer.

Related Posts:

A Car Free Life

How to Go Green at Work

People’s World Conference on Climate Change

Firstly, it’s new in our community and I thought I would check it out. I like to give new local businesses a try.  As a society, we have lost our way in the “Big Box Mart” industrialization for more and more profits, while sacrificing people and our environment.  Plus, shopping locally keeps more money in the local community.  And, shouldn’t we really be re-building our economy from the inside out vs. mortgaging our future with loans from overseas?

Secondly, Sacred Grounds offers locally roasted, fair trade organic coffee.  And that’s important to me (and it should be to you, too).  Why?  In short, “fair trade” means that someone was paid a sustainable wage using earth-friendly practices to produce the coffee.  And organic means that it was made without pesticides or chemicals.  I am much happier knowing that I am drinking coffee that wasn’t produced by relative slave-labor then sprayed with toxic chemicals.

Thirdly, there’s something rather nostalgic and restorative about going somewhere local vs. a nationally-owned chain.  It’s like giving yourself a “time out” to regroup, restore, and breathe a bit.  You can get to know your neighbors and connect with the local culture and goings-on.  People watching takes on a whole new level as well.  You get to play connect-the-social-dots with the familiar faces you’ve seen around town.

So, the next time you’re tempted to swing on in to a corporately-owned, generic “Big Box Mart,” chain eatery or coffee shop, try to find somewhere a little more local and more personable.  On many levels, you’ll get more flavor for your dollar.

Related Posts:

A Car Free Life

How to Go Green at Work

People’s World Conference on Climate Change

That’s where Michael Pollan and grandma come in.  You may remember Michael Pollan from his other books like The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food (both are good reading).  Michael Pollan has come out with a new book called Food Rules, An Eater’s Manual, which contains 64 rules for eating wisely.  And, most of them boil down (pardon the expression) to only eating what your grandma would recognize as food.

Here are a few excerpts from Food Rules:

#11 Avoid foods you see advertised on television.
Food marketers are ingenious at turning criticisms of their products — and rules like these — into new ways to sell slightly different versions of the same processed foods: They simply reformulate (to be low-fat, have no HFCS or transfats, or to contain fewer ingredients) and then boast about their implied healthfulness, whether the boast is meaningful or not. The best way to escape these marketing ploys is to tune out the marketing itself, by refusing to buy heavily promoted foods. Only the biggest food manufacturers can afford to advertise their products on television: More than two thirds of food advertising is spent promoting processed foods (and alcohol), so if you avoid products with big ad budgets, you’ll automatically be avoiding edible foodlike substances. As for the 5 percent of food ads that promote whole foods (the prune or walnut growers or the beef ranchers), common sense will, one hopes, keep you from tarring them with the same brush — these are the exceptions that prove the rule.

#19 If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.

#36 Don’t eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk.
This should go without saying. Such cereals are highly processed and full of refined carbohydrates as well as chemical additives.

#39 Eat all the junk food you want — as long as you cook it yourself.
There is nothing wrong with eating sweets, fried foods, pastries, even drinking soda every now and then, but food manufacturers have made eating these formerly expensive and hard-to-make treats so cheap and easy that we’re eating them every day. The french fry did not become America’s most popular vegetable until industry took over the jobs of washing, peeling, cutting, and frying the potatoes — and cleaning up the mess. If you made all the french fries you ate, you would eat them much less often, if only because they’re so much work. The same holds true for fried chicken, chips, cakes, pies, and ice cream. Enjoy these treats as often as you’re willing to prepare them — chances are good it won’t be every day.

#47 Eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored.
For many of us, eating has surprisingly little to do with hunger. We eat out of boredom, for entertainment, to comfort or reward ourselves. Try to be aware of why you’re eating, and ask yourself if you’re really hungry-before you eat and then again along the way. (One old wive’s test: If you’re not hungry enough to eat an apple, then you’re not hungry.) Food is a costly antidepressant.

#58 Do all your eating at a table.
No, a desk is not a table. If we eat while we’re working, or while watching TV or driving, we eat mindlessly-and as a result eat a lot more than we would if we were eating at a table, paying attention to what we’re doing. This phenomenon can be tested (and put to good use): Place a child in front of a television set and place a bowl of fresh vegetables in front of him or her. The child will eat everything in the bowl, often even vegetables that he or she doesn’t ordinarily touch, without noticing what’s going on. Which suggests an exception to the rule: When eating somewhere other than at a table, stick to fruits and vegetables.

Maybe if the majority of us stuck to these rules (and the rest of the other 58), we would not need our massively expensive, confusing and downright maddening “health” care system.  Our government could, instead, turn their attention to the actual root cause of the problem and actually subsidize health-promoting food and not food-like products.

So, I highly recommend that you check out Food Rules, An Eater’s Manual, by Michael Pollan.  It’s a good deal at $5 on Amazon.  Your grandma will be proud of you.

Related Posts:

A Car Free Life

How to Go Green at Work

People’s World Conference on Climate Change

1) Work from home / telecommute (my personal fave). 44 million Americans telecommute. With all of the communications media available, (instant messaging, video conferencing, phone conferences, online classes), it’s hard to argue against! It saves time, money and is better for the planet. Just make sure your boss knows how to get in touch with you!

2) Use power strips. Plug all that high-tech equipment into a power strip, then power down when not in use.

3) Keep it digital. Do you really *need* to print out hard copies of emails, presentations, etc? If not, then use digital storage to keep your documents and files tidy. It will save trees and take up a lot less room!

4) Go recycled. If you must use paper, use recycled paper. Also, refill printer cartridges whenever possible and always recycle them when they’ve outlived their useful life.

5) Carpool or take public transit. If telecommuting isn’t an option, consider carpooling or checking into your local bus or train routes and schedules. You may find a viable alternative to driving to work. And, you might make some new friends.

6) Get Thrifty! You can still look sharp and work-worthy by getting gently used clothing from your local thrift, second-hand or consignment shops. You’ll save a ton of money and can feel good about not feeding the cycle of consumption.

7) Bring your lunch. Use reusable and earth-friendly containers to bring your lunch with you– including a cloth or washable napkin. Think about all of the plastic ware, plates, and take-out containers you’ll keep out of the landfills. You’ll also save a boatload of money by bringing your own lunch with you!

Switch to CFL light bulbs. They use 75% less energy than regular incandescent bulbs.

9) Spread the word. Share your tips with your co-workers and colleagues. They may roll their eyes at you, and even if they do, they’ll be learning some good stuff and you’ll be leading by example! At least they’ll be *thinking* about it every time they see you bring your lunch (especially if you remind them), or carpool, or show off your spiffy new-to-you duds from the local consignment / thrift / second hand store. Your good earth deeds will catch on.

Learn more at www.treehugger.com or www.planetgreen.com. Happy Eco-Stepping!

Related Posts:

A Car Free Life

People’s World Conference on Climate Change