11 April 2012
By Amber
In Green
Here is an article I’ve read lately with a little added commentary by me! Since this one is so long I’m only doing one.
Looking for Fossil Fuels in Africa
Up and down the country’s shoreline, Western energy companies, as well as a number of Asian competitors, are drilling wells thousands of feet below the Indian Ocean in hopes of striking it rich. The rewards could be huge. Mozambique may have more deposits of natural gas — used in everything from manufacturing to electricity generation — than the European energy giant Norway. By MARK SCOTT of the New York Times
My thoughts:
First of all I need to tell you I don’t know much about drilling or fracking and how it impacts the earth. I know its not good but may be one of those ‘nessacary evils’ since as much as we don’t like it we are fossil fuel dependent.
So with that in mind, I’m glad we have found somewhere outside of the middle east to look for these resources. I hope we are respectful of their country and the environment during our search but I’m not sure we can stop it…..My big issue with this is on the 2nd page of the article when they start to explain the impact on Green Energy. They said that the availability of more fossil fuels has people un-intersted in the more expensive development of alternative energy (wind farms and solar panels.)
I think no matter what we need to be investing in our future with clean energy and the development of these methods. At some point we are going to run out of oil and natural gas and then what? What will the drilling and fracking do to the earth? Shouldn’t we pursue better options while we still have the time to?
What do you think?
Green in the News
28 March 2012
By Amber
In Crafts, Green
Have you “liked” my Facebook page? You should! I post up green crafts, Ideas, and such almost daily. Click on that fun green button above and check out my page and then like it so I know you care 
But for those of you who aren’t on facebook, or if you aren’t on often, here are my green craft favorites from the last month of facebook posts.
By: The Forge
Cute right? What a great surprise for the back of a ‘boring t-shirt.’
By: Itty Bitty Impact
Baking Soda + Essential Oil=Simple!
By: Homemaker on a Dime
There are so many creative ways to up-cycle old fruniture.
By: Loopy Loop Creations
Great use of fabric scraps and an ugly frame.
By: How Does She?
I wonder if this would work with other vegetable skins?
Feel free to grab a button if you were featured!
Green Craft Round-up
21 March 2012
By Amber
In Green, Running, Uncategorized
Do you remember last year when I told you about my crazy Go Commando first 5k ever but if not, it looked a little like this:
I’m in the black
It was so muddy! But that was the point, after the mud slide (which is when that pic was taken) we also had to wade through a bog! Anyway the point is, when everyone was done running there were some nasty shoes around… but they had a plan for them. Before the race they suggested that people where their oldest shoes and then at the end they had a place for you to donate them to Green Sneaker!
Last year I didn’t run enough to have shoes to donate so I just ran in my kayaking shoes I knew they would come clean. But this year is different, I’ve got shoes to donate! Woo hoo for worn out shoes!
But maybe donating at the Go Commando race with me in June isn’t an option for you, no worries I have two other recycling options for you!
Where can I recycle my shoes?
First is the Nike Reuse a Shoe/Grind Program they use your old shoes in the following ways.
Buy Greener Shoes
Here are a few options I’ve found for ‘green’ shoes.
Brooks has a great running shoe with lots of green features. I’ve been reading about Brooks and how amazing they are and now with the added ‘greenness” I have a good idea what my next running shoe will be…although I still want a crazy colored pair.
I also found this website that has lots of options of eco friendly shoe companies. Including ones that use bamboo, organic cotton, cork, coconut, hemp, recycled rubber and much more. I would imagine a cork sole would be very comfy. So check out Planet Shoes!
Green, Running
14 March 2012
By Amber
In Green
Here are just a few articles I’ve read lately with a little added commentary
Study Highlights Hidden Dangers in Everyday Products — Even the “Green” Ones
The study included both conventional products, such as Windex original glass cleaner and Irish Spring deodorant soap, as well as “alternative” products marketed as containing safer ingredients than their conventional counterparts, such as Seventh Generation Free and Clear natural glass and surface cleaner and Tom’s of Maine natural moisturizing body bar. Lab tests detected 55 chemicals of concern-including parabens, phthalates, bisphenol A (BPA), antimicrobials, cyclosiloxanes, glycol ethers, and fragrances-in the conventional product samples tested and also found 41 concerning chemical compounds in all but 11 alternative products. Very few of these chemicals were included on product labels. ~Forbes Woman By Amy Westervelt
My Opinion:
This honestly just makes me mad, how can you make a product and not list all of the ingredients? Blah I mean I guess I don’t know the laws for non food items but for people like me who read those labels its really annoying. Especially on the baby stuff, boo. I wish somewhere in the article they told us what 11 alternative products did not contains concerning chemicals. I’m also wondering what we can do to get proper labels on these things, they come in contact with us our food eek!
I’m going to start making my own instead of buying the ‘natural’ stuff. As I run out I’ll start testing things and let you know what I find.
Edwards Air Force Base Gets New Solar Power Installation
What’s big, green and set to save taxpayers money over the course of the next 30 years? A new 3.4 megawatt (MW) solar power installation at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California, that’s what. Comprising three ground-mounted, single-axis tracking solar farms, the system was built and is owned by Borrego Solar, which will sell power to the military base under the terms of an in-house power purchase agreement (PPA). ~From Earth Techling’s Susan DeFreitas
My Opinion:
I was all excited about this when I first started to read this artical, until I read this line“What we’re trying to do (with this project) is not so much conserve energy, but save money.” Well at least the way they save money is green!
I know there are only two articals today but I would really like you to go and read at least one of them in its entirerty (may I suggest the first one?) So I didn’t want to bore you with a long post.
Green in the News
07 March 2012
By Amber
In Food, Green
So I have to be honest with you guys, life is busy and I’ve become a green slacker. I’m eating more packaged (diet/health) foods, not looking for new ways to be green and just generally stuck in a rut. But last week I had 2 moments that shocked me back out of that. So look forward to Green Wednesdays being back on target.
Both of my moments last week dealt with canned soup. First off when I was eating my soup at work I noticed it had 4 grams of sugar in it. That really caught me off guard. I know its not a high number but the problem is I know that not all 4 grams were from the vegetables, some were from the ‘extras’ the added to the soup. I’m sure you cant read the picture so I’ll give you a few of the ingredients that I know would never be in a homemade version: Modified Food Starch, Sugar, Carmel Color, Salt + Potassium Chloride (who needs both?) and Calcium Chloride. Blah
Eek the one I’m eating today has 14g of sugar!!!!
Then over the weekend I read an article in one of my fitness magazines that referred to a study claiming that
“People who consumed one serving of canned soup a day for five days had a more than 1,000 percent increase in urinary BPA over people who consumed fresh soup for five days.”
~Canned Soup Consumption and Urinary Bisphenol A: A Randomized Crossover Trial
You can’t read the full trial info without subscribing but based on this article from the NY Times you would have to eat a lot of soup but its a drastic increase 1000 times eek. I would imagine that even 1 can a week would increase it a little bit…
So why is BPA bad for you?
Well in the New York Times article states “Most of the research on BPA, a so-called endocrine disruptor that can mimic the body’s hormones… It has been linked in some studies to a higher risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity…”
I checked around and found another article on Scientific American states a lot of the same things as above but it also adds that the Canadian government has banned it in baby bottles and have lab led it a toxic substance. Eek! It also cautions against heating up any foods in a container with it (normaly marked with the recycle symbol #7) or pouring any hot liquids into it. So keep that in mind better safe than sorry though right?
My BPA free soup Plan
So based on those bits of information, I’m going to try and make and freeze my own soup before I run out of my current stash. I’ll keep you updated about my soup progress.
Food, Green
