What steps have you taken toward green living?

It seems like everywhere I look these days there are easy-to-adopt tips for green living. Granted, I spend a lot of time reading about environmental issues, watching documentaries, and cruising around the web to see what others are saying, but it really seems like useful tips are popping up all over: change a light bulb in your house to a CFL, use re-usable shopping bags, recycle, use more natural products, buy local, plug your electronics into a single power strip, and turn the strip off when you go to sleep.

I was curious to see what people would say, then, when I came across a thread on craigslist where someone asked about starting points for helping the environment — and saving money. “FostAdpoptMom” says she’s done the following so far, but wants to do more:

• Recycles papers and bottles; is buying containers to keep the recycling organized
• Is buying linen bags for groceries, and re-uses plastic ones that she has already
• Tries to use Tupperware instead of plastic bags for school lunches and food storage in the freezer
• Uses energy efficient bulbs and keeps the thermostat set low
• Is interested in composting

Others chimed in with the following:

• Biking, walking, taking the bus
• Unplug products that you rarely use (DVD player, VCR, etc.)
• Reduce red meat consumption (this person cited the March/April 2007 issue of The Green Guide by pointing out:

If, like most Americans, you get close to 30 percent of your calories from meat, dairy and poultry,
your diet contributes over 3,274 lbs [of CO2 emitted]. Vegetarian diets contribute half that, but you can also
replace your calories from red meat with fish, eggs and poultry, for savings of over 950 lbs.

• Eat locally grown food; subscribe to Community Support Agriculture (CSA) to buy food
• Line dry your laundry

FostAdoptMom also posted a link to an A-to-Z list of ideas, some of which were pretty clever! (My favorites: Avoid fast food, Boycott a product that is bad for the environment and write a letter to the company telling them why, Feed the birds — a natural pesticide!, Spend your money wisely, Support green companies, and Yell at a litterer.)

What changes would you suggest to green living newbies?

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Product Review Friday: Trader Joe’s Liquid Laundry Detergent

Well I guess I’ve drawn a line in the sand now, and Fridays are now Product Review Fridays! (And just to put in a disclaimer, these are personal reviews, not the opinion of Greener One, and I’m not affiliated with the makers of anything I’ll review here.)

I’m kicking off this regular blog feature with a product that I’ve just started using recently, Trader Joe’s Liquid Laundry Detergent. This product isn’t in Greener One, but I did put in a request to have it added.

In terms of clothes-cleaning, I really like this product. The smell is very clean and light, with a hint of lavender (it contains lavender oil, but it is not overpowering in the least). I actually like the smell so much that I hold the wet clothes up to my face and breathe in before tossing them in the dryer. It also seems to clean as well as any other detergents I’ve used in the past: Tide, Arm & Hammer, some generic stuff that I found in my sister’s garage, and Persil.

On the environmental side, this is a product that a green neurotic like me can feel OK about bringing home, at least insofar as the packaging claims go. So, let’s drill down on that, now that I bought the stuff and have used it on a few loads:

Packaging and Recycling: The jug is made from #2 plastic, which means it is made from high-density polyethylene (HDPE). While this is a petroleum-based plastic, it is one of the most commonly recycled types of plastic. Because I have to climb 85 steps to get to my apartment, I chose a small jug; however, you only need to use a little bit for a standard load, so this jug will still last me a good while.

Ingredients: Per the label, this product contains Plant Based Surfactants, Earth Salts, Soy Based Fabric Softener, Cellulose Optical Brightener, Lavender Oil, and Water. Of these, two things jump out at me: surfactants and optical brightener. (Actually, “water” jumps out at me too, since it probably would have been smarter to find a powder-based detergent, but that’s another topic entirely.)

Surfactants can cause a whole host of problems, though plant-based ones do have a lighter impact. Since the ingredient list is vague about exactly what plant-based surfactant is being used, I really can’t judge. However, I did dig this up on the Green Guide in the article Virtuous Cycles by senior editor Emily Main:

Still, detergent manufacturers have yet to find a perfectly healthy replacement for LAS, NPEs and other APE surfactants. Alcohol ethoxylates derived from plant and vegetable oils have a lighter impact but are created using a process called “ethoxylation,” which produces the probable human carcinogen 1,4-dioxane as a byproduct. Present in very small amounts in the final product, dioxane poses a serious cancer risk when inhaled at high levels in occupational settings.

Optical brighteners cause rashes and eye irritations, and are toxic to fish and other plant and animal life. But what is the impact if optical brightener is made from cellulose rather than petroleum or synthetics? I haven’t been able to find an answer to that specific question, but I can tell you that “cellulose optical brightener” is found in other “green” products, such as ECOS. Synthetic and petroleum optical brighteners also are not biodegradable, but Trader Joe’s Liquid Laundry Detergent claims to be 100% biodegradable. Since Trader Joe’s is using a cellulose optical brightener rather than a synthetic or petroleum-based, and since the product is biodegradable, I can only assume that the its brightener is OK.

A Few Other Claims: Cruelty Free – great! No Phosphates – good, but they have been phased out of laundry detergents already. I suppose it still makes sense to put it on the label since other household products still do contain phosphates. 100% Biodegradable – good, but is it 100% readily biodegradable?

So what is my overall assessment? I like the product and it seems to be pretty good environmentally, though like many things, there is probably an alternative that is greener still. What are your favorite detergents with a low environmental impact?

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Thank you for your support in the Net2 Mashup Challenge!

NetSquared (Net2) announced the top 21 projects voted to participate in this year’s NetSquared Conference (N2Y3), and we are thrilled to be selected among a group of terrific projects!

In the coming weeks, we will be hard at work to more of our ideas to reality with the support of Net2. N2Y3 will be held on May 27 and 28 at Cisco Systems Vineyard Conference Center in San Jose, California. At the conference, we’ll be displaying and discussing Greener One with attendees, who will be voting for the Top 3 projects. All Projects will receive a portion of $100,000 prize money, with the amount determined by votes at the conference. You can find additional information and a list of all competing projects on the Net2 web site: http://www.netsquared.org/blog/britt-bravo/announcing-netsquared-mashup-challenge-21-featured-projects

Please wish us well, and stay tuned for more updates!

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Buy out a liquor store to fight global warming

I’m sure that isn’t a title you read every day! However, when I hear about a project this clever, I feel obligated to spread the word!

Carrotmob held a bidding war among stores in the Mission neighborhood of San Francisco to find one most committed to fighting global warming. The carrot? Carrotmob is mobilizing the community to come out to the winning store on Saturday to buy everything in stock. The store will then take 22% of the total receipts and use it toward the greening of the store.

The Details:

Who: You and everyone you tell to come
What: Buy out a liquor store and attend a fun afterparty
When: Saturday, March 29 at 1:00 P.M.
Where: K & D Market on 16th at Guerrero, San Francisco, afterparty in Dolores Park
Why: To help a store go green!
More info: www.carrotmob.org/mission.html

And as long as I’m spreading the link love around, I’d like to give a shout out to EcoTuesday in San Francisco for having such a great speaker last night: Jonah Sachs from Free Range Studios (the group that produced award-winning The Story of Stuff – the. best. movie. about. consumption. ever.). EcoTuesday is a monthly networking event for those in the green biz, and it is expanding to other cities. In addition to San Francisco, the group holds events in L.A., Atlanta, Seattle, Minneapolis. If you are interested in starting EcoTuesday events in your area, check out the EcoTuesday web site for more information.
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Worldwide Lights Out with Earth Hour

You don’t have to ask me twice to turn off the lights and enjoy a quiet candlelight dinner. But if romance isn’t your thing, March 29 provides a great reason to turn off the lights and do whatever it is that you like to do in the dark: Earth Hour!

Join cities, businesses, and millions of people around the world and turn your lights from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. local time in support of World Wildlife Fund’s Earth Hour.

The first Earth Hour was held in 2007 in Australia, anchored by Sydney. During this hour, energy consumption was saved by 10% due to the incredible participation of our friends Down Under. Imagine the possibilities for this year when the whole world is involved!

To sign up, to get more information about the event, or to see what your community is doing for Earth Hour, visit http://www.earthhour.org.

And remember: lights out this Saturday from 8:00 to 9:00!
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Update! Net2 Mashup Challenge Voting Extended to March 24!

NetSquared (Net2) has extended voting on projects for the 2008 Mashup Challenge! The new deadline is 5:00 P.M. Pacific time on Monday, March 24.

If you haven’t already cast your vote, you still have time! Please visit http://www.greenerone.com/vote for more details.

And to those of you who have voted for Greener One, thank you so much for your support!

Sifting through green marketing claims: a reason to vote for Greener One in the Net2 Mashup Challenge

The more I educate myself about the green movement and green marketing, the more I find myself paying scrupulous attention to clues on product packaging. Case in point: I was recently surprised to see that Trader Joe’s toilet paper is greener than a popular green brand, Green Forest, at least as described on its package.

Green Forest toilet paper depicts a nice tree on the package, and points out that it is made from “at least 40% post-consumer recycled content.” It also says that the company does not use chlorine bleaching in making the product. Don’t get me wrong: these are good things and I would have been happy to use Green Forest even though I found it a bit on the thin side in actual use.

Trader Joe’s also has a nice green image on its package, including mountains and trees. Trader Joe’s, however, puts forth numerous green claims on its package, including:

• It is made from 100% recycled material, 80% of which is post consumer content
• No chlorine bleaching was used in making the product
• The plastic wrapper “has a predetermined life span and will expire in 18 months after the manufactured date”

Comparatively, then, it seems that Trader Joe’s toilet paper is greener. And, bonus! It actually is pretty good toilet paper too. But would you know this unless you were in a store that sold both brands and each package with care? Probably not!

This confirmed again why I’m excited about our work on Greener One, bringing environmental comparisons to consumers so they can see which products are better at a quick glance.

If you think this kind of transparency is important, and you also think that getting this kind of information to consumers in an easy-to-understand way is also important, I ask you to take a few minutes to support Greener One in the Net2 Mashup Challenge.

What’s Net2, what’s a mashup, and what’s this challenge all about? Well Net2, or NetSquared, is a group that supports non-profits and organizations that are working for social change, helping them to bring their ideas to fruition. A mashup is simply combining data from more than one source to make it more meaningful. And the Mashup Challenge? This is a competition put together by Net2 to help push the Top 20 projects involved in the contest to the next level.

Voting has just started to select the Top 20 projects, and Greener One would be delighted to have your vote. To help keep things fair, Net2 requires that you vote for at least 5 projects (up to 10), and I’m happy to report that we are in some fantastic company in this contest.

Here’s the quick rundown on how to vote:

1. Register at http://www.netsquared.org/user/register (you need to get an email with your password and then log in after the registration to be able to vote).
2. Click “Projects” on the top.
3. Find Greener One and click on it to go into the detailed description and click “Vote for My Mashup.”
4. Vote for at least 4 other projects that resonate with you.
5. Once you’ve selected the minimum of 5 projects you need, cast your ballot here: http://www.netsquared.org/projects/vote/ballot

The deadline to vote is 5:00 p.m. Pacific time on March 21.

Thank you very much for your support!

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