I know I know, I said this about March, but MAY really is one of my favorite months. And THIS May is Super Duper special. My first born, Noah, is turning twelve. I can't believe it. Thanks to him (and his sister) I get to celebrate Mother's Day along with my mom and so many of you in this beautiful month. Speaking of my mom, she and my dad (84 and 89 years old respectively) will be celebrating their 50th anniversary this month! Congratulations to them and to all of you celebrating something this month!
One of the greatest things about being a mom is getting involved with my kids' schools. We've had a greening committee at my daughter's school for a while, thanks to the tireless work of Wellness in the Schools' Co-Founder and PS 166 Parent Kirsten Brashares and one of my green heroes, Emily Fano. But many schools are just getting their "greening" efforts started. I had the pleasure of attending the 2010 Green Schools Alliance fair in NYC and was amazed by the resources out there to help schools with everything from using non-toxic cleaning products to educational programs to starting their own recycling, composting, and gardening efforts. Check out my blog post about this event and the GRA's Climate Action Toolkit to get some ideas.
Back on the shopping front, I am so pleased to announce that the EcoShop now carries jewelry! Just in time for Mother's Day, we have brought on board Shanti Boutique's fair trade and eco-friendly jewelry line (see special offer below). Also for mom (or for yourself, your teenage daughter, really anyone who needs to cover that blemish), in her beauty column this month, Chryso covers eco-friendly concealer (no pun intended). I love finding out what products she liked and didn't like and why. If jewelry or makeup is not your thing, certainly food is! The Environmental Working Group has just updated its SHOPPER'S GUIDE TO PESTICIDES for 2010. I find this guide absolutely indispensable when I go grocery shopping so I know which fruits and vegetables really should be certified organic and which ones can be grown conventionally. I'll never forget when one of EcoPlum's more radical interns said "I'd rather eat SH*T than eat anything that is not organic." That's a little extreme, but it certainly got the point across!
One last thing, speaking of Organic. I am thrilled that my dear friend and successful entrepreneur Anne Maxfield has agreed to let us reprint posts from her blog: The Accidental Locavore. I hope you enjoy it and find some great recipes for the spring!
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL OF YOU CELEBRATING, AND HAPPY MAY TO THE REST OF YOU!
Thanks for your support!
Best,
Gia Machlin
President and CEO
Please feel free to forward this newsletter to your friends and family!
Picturing A World Without Trash- Life Cycle Assessment and Cradle to Cradle Design
Recycling
everything we use is a massive undertaking, from sorting items
correctly to processing them in the most efficient way. To fully
eliminate waste from the picture, it's crucial to assess how a product
is manufactured, used, and handled in the waste stream. Life cycle
assessment and cradle to cradle design are two tools that have been used
successfully to improve manufacturing so that items are useful for a
longer period of time, and sometimes stay out of landfills entirely.
In
their book "Cradle
To Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things," William McDonough and
Michael Braungart define a philosophy of ecologically intelligent
design. In the simplest of terms, an object abiding by this philosophy
generates no waste. They permit only two types of materials: "technical
nutrients," which are non-toxic, synthetic, and endlessly recyclable
(glass, for example), and "biological nutrients," which are
biodegradable and can be discarded without harming the environment.
Cradle-to-cradle production mimics a functional ecosystem, where
nutrients cycle in a constant balance. McDonough and Braungart also
emphasize the role of renewable energy, especially solar, to create
manufacturing frameworks that can sustain themselves. Read More!
EcoTip: Recycle Your Bra!
Here's an
eco-tip from Smart2BeGreen
that's really supportive. The Bosom Buddy Program
actually recycles old bras! They take bras that don't fit or you don't
wear anymore and they donate them to women in shelters and other
programs who can really use them. So, when you're cleaning out your
closet to find old clothes you can donate, don't forget to look in your
underwear drawer. You can actually be supporting a good cause!Read More!
Chryso Beauty Buys Welcome to
my beauty column! We will devote this space to a different product
category for the month, be it body wash, nail polish, or bath salts.
We'll let you know which brand outshined the rest in the categories of
safety, environmental responsiveness, packaging, practicality, and
results so that you can make informed choices about what you slather
on, dust on, and lather up with. This month we take on under-eye concealer...
A
good concealer is like an undercover lover. It works incognito without
anyone ever knowing it's a part of your life-and it might even make
you glow.
Use concealer to banish under-eye circles, redness,
acne scars and pimples, minimize fine lines and brighten your eyes and
skin. Wear it under foundation or solo-that's my M.O!
I started
using concealer as a teen to cover up those pesky pimples and it's been
a part of my life ever since. In fact, this seemingly hum-drum product
is the one item I can't live without. I apply it daily to cover
under-eye circles, even my skin tone and disguise light scars-remnants
of my glorious hormone-rich teen years! Read More!
Dede's Green Scene
Celebrities
walk the red carpet, but what about mountains? Do they walk to the top
of an infamous mountain such as Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest peak in
Africa? That's exactly what a group of celebrities, led by the
musician, Kenna, did in January to raise awareness of the global
drinking water crisis.
Kenna's
father inspired him by saving $10,000 to build a well in his native
land of Ethiopia. Kenna's father suffered from a waterborne illness
when he was a child and Kenna's uncle actually died from one at the age
of four. To engage the world with this problem, Kenna gathered some
friends, including actors Jessica Biel, Emile Hirsch, Isabel Lucas and
musicians Lupe Fiasco and Santigold, to hike 19,340 feet to ensure that
everyone has access to one of the main essentials of life, clean
water. Read More!
From The Blog: Greening Our Schools
This past Saturday, I spent the day with actor Matthew Modine and
1,000 other parents, educators, students, vendors, facilities managers
and community leaders at the Green Schools Alliance Resource Fair here
in NYC. OK, I didn't really "spend" time with Matthew Modine. Actually,
I didn't even talk to him and I arrived a little late for his
presentation, but the point is that he and I and 1,000 other folks
decided to spend a precious spring Saturday indoors, away from our
families, because we all believe that school should be a place for our
kids to learn about environmental stewardship in a safe, non-toxic
facility.
The event was a mix of presentations, break-out workshops, and a
resource fair with almost 100 exhibitors showcasing everything from
"litter free lunch" materials to climate education to various schools'
green accomplishments. What's amazing is that many of these school
greening efforts were spearheaded by parent volunteers who selflessly
devoted hours and hours to working on committees, meeting with the
school administration as well as the NYC Board of Education, decoding
the maze of city bureaucracy, dealing with unions and associations, all
so that our kids learn to be responsible citizens of planet earth while
not getting exposed to toxic chemicals and wasteful practices at such an
early age. Read More!
Last week, I was on the
bus going to an appointment, doing the usual stuff, Blackberry, and the
book I've been carrying around. The woman sitting next to me seemed to
have a lot of eggs with her and not your usual eggs either. While most
were brown, a few were a light tint of green-blue. Think Martha Stewart.
As she got ready to get off the bus, I made a comment about all the
eggs. "Oh, I'm a farmer and I sell them." She has a farm in the
Catskills and she brings her eggs down to sell, not at the Greenmarket,
but at a music store in midtown. "I'm at Frank's Music on 54th Street,
come and see me" as she got off the bus. On my way home after the appointment, I went over to 54th Street,
looking for Frank's Music, thinking that a good New York story like
this was too good to pass up. Upstairs on the 10th floor is a treasure trove of sheet music, and
behind the counter, the farmer from the bus. She looked at me as though
she couldn't place me. "I met you on the bus, I came for some eggs." I
told her about this blog, and how I thought this would be a great
subject since it's definitely accidental , and local. She turns out to be Heidi Rogers, and has owned Frank
Music Company since 1978. Along with endless aisles of sheet music,
there are pictures of her chickens and eggs, and the farm they frolic
on. We talked for a while about local and fresh, and the challenge that
farmers face, and I bought a dozen lovely looking eggs in a plastic egg
box, that Heidi was quick to explain was reused/recycled. We've been in
the habit of recycling egg cartons, since our butchers upstate use them
for their duck or pheasant eggs. The big question: does an $8/dozen egg (feed costs) taste better than
it's supermarket cousins? It certainly looks better with a huge orange
yolk, and even from the non-egg lover (me), it tasted creamier, and was a
beautiful color when scrambled or made into a perfect omelet by my
husband (pictured above, with local bacon). But how many eggs have you
eaten that come with such an interesting story?
On Heidi's side of the Hudson, property values have skyrocketed with the
discovery of natural gas. She's worried about the future of farms and
would like everyone to sign the petition banning drilling for natural
gas in New York. It's on the Frank
Music Company site, or on the site Catskill Citizens
for Safe Energy.
Please follow us on Facebook, and Twitter. We TWEET ABOUT AND POST NEWS ON ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES EVERY DAY! We will be sure
to keep you posted on all the latest information and especially any kind
of new regulation or policy that may require action on your part.
Picturing A World Without Trash- Life Cycle Assessment and Cradle to Cradle Design
Dede's Green Scene
This past Saturday, I spent the day with actor Matthew Modine and
1,000 other parents, educators, students, vendors, facilities managers
and community leaders at the Green Schools Alliance Resource Fair here
in NYC. OK, I didn't really "spend" time with Matthew Modine. Actually,
I didn't even talk to him and I arrived a little late for his
presentation, but the point is that he and I and 1,000 other folks
decided to spend a precious spring Saturday indoors, away from our
families, because we all believe that school should be a place for our
kids to learn about environmental stewardship in a safe, non-toxic
facility.
