The Planet is my Friend

Showing posts with label eco-friendly. Show all posts

Every Day is Earth Day

Earth Day was April 22, 2010, but we can celebrate it year round by practicing little green habits every day.

PULLMAN, Wash.—Lacey Wilmot, second year graduate student in WSU's Apparel Merchandising, Design and Textiles program, used her love for jeans as an inspiration to develop long-lasting, sustainable jeans. Her thesis project, “Designing Culturally and Environmentally Sustainable Denim Jeans,” was presented at the 2010 Academic Showcase.

"I aimed to design American-made environmentally sustainable jeans,” Wilmot said.

“Jeans are iconic, but that’s been lost in the materialistic world,” Wilmot said. “I wanted to go back to the roots of American jeans.”

According to Wilmot, people spend $200 on jeans that only last seven months. The idea behind her project was to marry the iconic symbol of jeans with quality, and to make them sustainable. Her collection included five pairs of jeans, from trousers to skinny fit, all of which were meant for different body types.

“One thing that is wonderful about Lacey’s project,” said Carol Salusso, associate professor of AMDT, “is that she is combating throw away fashion and designing jeans that will last.” Wilmot wanted people to know that quality jeans can be made to be sustainable.

Eco-fashion is beginning to be trendy, but many people do not want to jeopardize fashion for the environment. Wilmot wanted to show people that she could design fashionable apparel that is eco-friendly and American-made.

“You shouldn’t have to advertise that something is environmentally sustainable, it should be a given,” Wilmot said.

Through research, Salusso discovered that the American Cotton Growers produce safe denim, which stands for sustainable, American and friendly to the environment. According to their Web site, the American Cotton Growers and its farmers produce an average of 37 million yards of denim annually, enough to make 26 million pairs of jeans, every yard of which is grown, spun, dyed, and woven from the cotton its members produce.

Salusso also found a company that produces eco-friendly products that can be used to lighten denim. The company, Dyadic, even sent samples as a contribution to Wilmot’s project.

“Lacey’s jeans have integrity,” said Salusso. “Visual integrity. Social integrity, Environmental integrity. Industry should be reestablished on a basis of integrity.”

“It’s really about making a good choice for yourself and for the world,” Wilmot said.

The Visual, Performing and Literary Arts Committee at WSU created a video about Wilmot’s thesis project. The video was being exhibited in the CUB Art Gallery and can also be viewed here.

Not Your Average Vegans... These are Freegans!

According to an article on the Food Production Daily Web site, a shocking forty to fifty percent of all food ready for harvest never gets eaten and household food waste along adds up to $43 billion. This is a serious economic and environmentally un-sound issue.

Freegans are trying to reduce this waste . Freegans are people who employ alternative strategies for living based on limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources, according to the Freegan.Info Web site.

"Freegans embrace community, generosity, social concern, freedom, cooperation, and sharing in opposition to a society based on materialism, moral apathy, competition, conformity, and greed."

In other words freegans are dumpster divers or "urban foragers" who forage through dumpsters and trash bags outside of grocery stores and bakeries to recover usable items and to avoid being wasteful consumers. Dumpster diving is probably the most shocking freegan practice, but others like squatting and ride shares are outlined here.

Find out more about freegans and watch a video here. Or check out CNN's segment on freegans below.

Organic Fashion

A new trend that seems to be gaining more and more attention is organic fashion, like shirts made of organic cotton. But what does it really mean for cotton to be organic? I asked myself the same question and decided to do some research.

According to the Organic Trade Association, organic cotton is grown using materials and methods with low environmental impact. Organic production systems replenish and maintain soil fertility, reduce the use of toxic pesticides and fertilizers and build biologically diverse agriculture. In addition, the use of genetically engineered seed for organic farming has been prohibited by federal regulations. All organic cotton grown in the U.S. must beet strict federal regulations covering how the cotton is grown.

The market for organic cotton is growing and this interest has resulted in the use of cotton fiber in products, other than just clothing items. Organic cotton is used in personal care items like cotton balls and sanitary products, as well as in home furnishings, children's products, and even paper products. Organic cottonseed is even used for animal feed.

The Sustainable Cotton Project Web sites has a Fiber Footprint Calculator for both growers and consumers to compare the carbon footprints of different growing systems.

"Because of cotton's versatility, it is used for many food and fiber products, making it one of the most widely traded commodities on earth. Yet the simple act of growing and harvesting one pound of cotton fiber to make a T-shirt takes a toll on the earth’s air, water, and soil, and has significant impacts on the health of people in cotton growing areas," said the SCP Web site.

Also check out recycled cotton for another earth-friendly choice in cotton clothing.

Simple Green Updates for Spring

Spring cleaning is around the corner and it's time to add some easy, green updates to your list. The Natural Abode online or in Moscow, Idaho offers a wide selection of green home products. More importantly, their Web site features a click-able home to help visualize where a green project fits into your life.

A few examples:
Bathroom | low flow shower heads can save up to 7,300 gallons of water a year
Living Room | let your petroleum based candles burnout and switch to 100% beeswax candles
Kitchen | Kirei counter tops made from sorghum stalks
Attic | solar powered attic fan
Roof | solar energy panels

Eco-Vacations All Over the World

Best Eco Lodges is a eco-tourism Web site featuring eco-friendly hotels, eco-resorts and green hotels all over the world.

The hotels and lodges featured on the site have been selected to meet eco-friendly requirements to be an ecological and environmentally friendly accommodation that offer travelers an unforgettable experience.

Best Eco Lodges' goal is to create awareness among fellow travelers about genuine sustainable lodging.

Eco lodges must meet the following eco-friendly requirements:

-Be energy efficient

-Protect the environment, including flora, fauna and landscape

-Conserve natural resources

-Support, respect and benefit local culture and economy

(More exhaustive definitions of the requirements can be found here.)

The eco-lodges featured on the Web site are located in Australia, the Bahamas, Belize, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Laos, Seychelles, Mexico, Nepal, New Zealand, South Africa, Tanzania and the U.S.

Rates vary greatly with eco-lodges in South Africa, Laos and India only costing $25 and $30 a night for a double room and a villa at Cousine Island Eco Lodge in Seychelles costing as much as 1700 euros.

An example of an affordable accommodation is the Black Rock Lodge in Belize, which is surrounded by rain forest and is one of few places in Central America where you can observe three Toucan species. The electricity at Black Rock Lodge is supplied by a custom hybrid of hydro and solar power and the staff comes from surrounding communities. The restaurant of the lodge serves fresh, organic fruits that are grown on-site and 100 percent of the water is supplied by a nearby mountain spring. Double rooms start at $80.

Try making your next vacation an eco-friendly one, check out Best Eco Lodges.

Eco-Spirits Extremely Affordable

On a recent trip to the liquor store I came across 360 Eco Friendly Vodka. It was priced at $19.95 and I decided to give it a try.

The packaging includes a lot of useful information about the company’s environmental impact. It claims to be the first and only true eco-friendly premium vodka and has received awards in taste, quality, packaging and marketing. I am no vodka coinsurer, however I thought it was good and better than the similarly priced Skyy Vodka.

The store only had the regular 360 Eco Friendly Vodka, but after researching on the Web I discovered that 360 also distills cola and double chocolate flavors.

The vodka comes in an 85 percent recycled glass bottle and 100 percent recycled eco-friendly paper products are used in the labeling, packaging and promotional materials. The shipper uses 100 percent recycled cardboard. Environmentally friendly water based inks are used for printing of all materials. A program called Close the Loop was developed for the metal bottle closures with the purpose of enabling infinite reuse which reduces waste and conserves resources needed to produce new closures. The vodka came with an envelope with prepaid postage to return the closure.

The vodka is four times distilled through an energy efficient process, with every bushel of grain being fully utilized and nothing going to waste. The vodka is also five times filtered at a facility that has improved its eco-footprint measurably over the past five years. All grain is locally grown to significantly reduce fossil fuel consumption in transporting raw materials to the distillery.

According to an Eco-Audit with calculations based on research by Environmental Defense and other members of the Paper Task Force, the Earth Friendly Distilling Co. saved the following resources in the production of 360 Vodka’s labeling:

193 fully grown trees
82,766 gallons of water
9,255 pounds of solid waste
139 million BTU of energy
18,052 pounds of greenhouse gases

Magic Soap

Have you ever wondered if the same soap you use to wash your clothes could be used as toothpaste and shampoo? Sounds outrageous right? Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap does just that, in fact, it has 18 different uses. The soap, which has been made for decades, is also certified under the USDA National Organic Program and Fair Trade.

Below is a list of just some of the soap's uses, according to the product Web site:

1. Always dilute for Shave-Shampoo-Massage-Dental Soap-Bath!

2. Peppermint is nature's own unsurpassed fragrant Deodorant!

3. A drop is best Mint Toothpaste; brushes Dentures Clean!

4. A dash in water is the ideal Breath Freshener & Mouth Wash!

5. Peppermint Oil Soap for Dispensers, Uniforms, Baby, Beach!

6. Dilute for ideal After Shave, Body Rub, Foot Bath, and Douche.

7. Hot Towel-Massage the entire body, always towards your heart.

8. Pets, silk, wool & body tingles head to toe - keeps cool!

9. 3 dashes in water rinse most Sprays Off fruit & vegetables!

10. 1/4 oz in qt H2O is Pest Spray! Dash, no rash Diaper-Soap!

All of Dr. Bronner’s Magic All-One liquid and bar soaps are completely biodegradable and vegetable-based. They are made with Certified Fair Trade and Organic oils. Both the bar and liquid have 18 uses and there are no synthetic foaming agents, thickeners or preservatives in the soap. The cylinder bottles and paper labels used in the packaging are 100 percent post-consumer recycled.

Dr. Bronner’s is the number one selling natural soap brand in North America. Although I have never used it, I am eager to try it out. A classic bar of soap costs $4.19 and an eight ounce bottle of the liquid version is only $5.99. Not bad at all when you consider all of its uses.

Dr. Bronner must have been an interesting character. This is evident when reading the soap bottle label, and is demonstrated in a 2006 documentary, Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soapbox. Click here to see the movie trailer.

Eco-Grooming Products

As I was reading through The Daily Evergreen I came across an advertisement for Red Devil Grooming. It is an online retailer for affordable, organic personal care products. With a tag line "So Natural. It's a Sin." I knew I had to check it out.

There are only 11 products on the Web site, but they are extremely affordable in comparison to similar items. The products, which are aimed towards men, include shampoo, hair gel and body wash. Most of these items cost $8.95, with the most expensive item being a 3-pack of personal care items for $24.95.

The site is very well organized and links to a blog about men's grooming, a Twitter account and a place to sign up for the newsletter.

Red Devil Grooming's mission is to provide products to people that are good for the environment and the people who use them.

In 2009, the company was created in order to "...take the challenge of trying to save the world." The company sought to curb some environmental issues like eliminating the harsh chemicals used in grooming products and shipping products in eco-friendly packaging.