Green4u’s Weblog

Today is National Bike to Work Day! Do you know anyone riding their bike to work today? I don’t and not just because it is raining out either!

People have very long commutes these days that take them on the highway. There is no job I have ever had that I could ride my bike to with maybe the exception of an after school job in high school. Because Americans commute so long I am not sure that it could ever work.

Some interesting facts about bike riding:

According to the National Sporting Goods Association, the number of Americans who bike “frequently” — 110 days a year or more — fell almost 10 percent in 2007 to 3.7 million people.

Similarly, the number of people who ride bikes at least six times a year fell to 35.6 million in 2006, the lowest since the survey began in 1984, from 56.3 million in 1995.

I think the fact that Americans cannot ride their bikes to work shows the need for better public transportation nationwide. Urban planners, state and local officials and businesses need to sit down and figure out how they can provide better options to their workers to get to work. Telecommuting can help in some ways but there are still alot of jobs that require us to actually go to the office, store…etc. We need to think of a better way to get us there so we can reduce emissions and save ourselves some money!

I had the opportunity to test drive a Smart Car (made by Mercedes-Benz) over the weekend. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it ran and how comfortable it was. I test drove the Smart ForTwo, which has retail price of $11,000 to $16,500. Currently, in my area there is a 1 year wait for a car and in order to get on the list you need to put a $99 deposit down for the car.

All cars come with automatic and a push button standard (I do not know how to drive a stick so I cannot elaborate on how this is different than other cars other than there was no clutch or pedal on the floor). If you drive the car in standard you get better gas mileage.

This is a gas fueled car that is legal to drive on the highway and to my surprise can go as fast as 90 MPH!! When looking at its size you wonder what it can do on the highway.

Once I got into the car I was surprised to see how big the passenger space was. You feel like you are sitting pretty high in the car and there is a huge sunroof so you feel like you have alot of space. The controls on the car felt like they were in the right place and it was easy to see out of. As I started driving the car it had a good start as you step on the gas, my biggest complaint is when you get to about 15 mph you hesitate as you switch gears and you feel this much more than you would in another car. Overall, the car drove well and handled well.

The cargo space was also larger than I thought it would be, although not cavernous. You could easily fit several full grocery bags in the back. There is also a ton leg room space so if you are traveling alone in the car and you bought more than could fit in the back you could easily fit it in the front. I think the obvious caveat is that I would not recommend this car to make a big trip to Ikea or Home Depot for large items.

The car comes in a limited amount of colors white, grey, black, orange (they say red, I am not so sure though), yellow and blue. They also have a convertible version. There are million features you can add on to the car to like heated seats, 5 cd changer, mp3 plug in jack, bike or ski racks, safety plus package (emergency equipment), and lots of others.

So here is what you have been waiting for it is a gas car so what is its mileage… 33 city 40 highway. It has an 8.7 gallon tank so if gas is $4.00 a gallon it would cost $34.80 to fill up and drive anywhere from 287.1 - 348 miles.

Features:

• 4 Start Crash test rating
• Tight turning radius of 28.71 ft.
• Electronic Stability Program
• Anti-lock Brakes
• passive safety systems
• Full-size 2 stage front airbag, head and thorax side airbags, belt tensioners and belt force limiters (the steering column can also retract away when necessary)
• Hill Start assist (which will be helpful in a car this size)

Who is this car perfect for:The commuter (train or public transportation) who needs a ride to the station, someone who works close to home, a second car, or any single person or couple who just needs a car on occasion.

Cons of this car: It is still a completely gas run car so it does not help you get rid of your dependence on oil or gas. Cars are going to have to have equally competitive gas mileage soon anyway.

Environmental Info:Production of these cars takes place in ’smartville’ where they use a process of painting the cars that uses 40% less energy than conventional painting methods and solvent emissions are low because they use water based lacquers. Their industrial waste water and sewage is purified which reduces waster water contamination to what a population of 50 people would produce rather than a population of 3,000. Some of the components of the car are also made with 100% recycled plastic. They even went so far as designing the car to be recyclable when you are done with it!!! Talk about innovation!!

For more information go to: http://www.smartusa.com

In my dreams I would be able to control my energy consumption by knowing how much energy I am using at any given time. You could easily tell your kids or your husband “we need to use less electricity this week because we have gone over our budgeted limit.” From a financial and an environmental perspective it would be great to have this kind of information at hand. Arguably you can say you do if you know how to read your meter in your house and know how much the cost of the energy is and the cost of delivery? To complicated to be useful right now if you ask me. It would be great if there was just a monitor in my house that could tell me everything I need to know.

If I take my dream a step further (hit the snooze button) and I would be able to program my house, to do all the energy efficent things I need it to do. Basically, a device that will think green for me. Well there is a company that is doing that. Here is an article I came across today that details the dream plan I had:

Xcel Energy, the leading provider of wind energy in the United States has just announcedthat it plans on building the US’s first fully integrated Smart Grid in Boulder, Colorado. The idea behind a smart grid is to integrate high-speed communication technologies with the electric grid, allowing for real-time, two-way communication between the utility, the consumer, and throughout the distribution grid.

So I asked this 7 year old I know (she also drew my avatar) some questions about the environment here is the interview:

What do you learn about the environment in school? We talked about it for a week. Our teacher told us to recycle our newspapers, cans, and soda bottles. I think she said something about composting but I do not remember what that is.

Do you recycle at school? No not really, not bottles or plastic. When we use a piece of paper and we are done with it we put it in special garbage can.

What do you think you could do to save more water?Turn off the sink when I am done with it. I could also shut off the water when I do not need it when I am brushing my teeth like when I am putting the toothpaste on my toothbrush and when I am brushing. I could not leave the shower water running too. I also forget to flush the toilet alot so that saves water, at school our toilets flush themselves so sometimes when I am home I forget to flush the toilet.

Do you think you could use less electricity?Yes, I could turn off the lights when I am not in the room and we can use the curly lightbulbs.

Would you ever drive a small car? No, I like big cars so more people can fit in them.

What if it cost more to drive a big car? Well then maybe I would get a smaller car so I could buy other stuff.

Which do you like better hot or cold weather? Hot, I like to wear shorts.

What else do you do to save the environment? Mommy waters the plants with the water from the water bottles we leave in the car. We also walk to the bagel store down the street on the weekends. Oh and we also re-use our grocery bags.

What animal do you think needs our help more the polar bears or the bees? The polar bears because they are cute. I do not like bees, the only good thing about bees is they die after they sting you. I learned that when I went to the farm on a class trip.

It is to bad that school is not reinforcing more the idea that conservation and environmentally friendly practices should be part of your daily life. If you are not doing it in school then how can they learn what needs to be done. This interview shows that the No Child Left Inside Act should be seriously considered. Children have the ability to learn the right ways to do things now but they need opportunities to learn it and school is a great place to show them. A parent can recycle, compost, and buy organic food but school is a great place to learn about how solar panels work and what happens when you compost…etc. Unfortunately, schools are not ready to teach our children the information they need so that can make better decisions about the environment.

Well our grass fed beef, from La Cense Beef, party was a success. We had our 12 reviewers come over for sliders and london broil. We prepared the meat with no additional additives (nothing added to the meat before cooking) so every reviewer was just eating the meat plain (we did marinate one london broil but we made sure everyone got a piece of the non-marinated kind as well).

Below is a listing of everyones comments and I included their occupation not because you would care for most of them but I wanted you to get some idea of what were dealing with. Several of the people sampling the meat are self proclaimed meat lovers. The 4-year-old attending was very excited in the days prior to be coming over to our house for steak because she loves it. This was honestly a crowd that I think would be hard to please when it comes to meat because they like what they already eat so this had to be better or their comments would show that. Here is everyone’s comments, exactly as written and their rating of the beef on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the best):

Construction Manager- It was yummy in my tummy 9

Architect- The meat was flavorful and juicy. Sliders were excellent, tender, juicy burgers. No fixin’s required! A great paring for a cold beer particularly a porter stout.  9

Executive- The ground beef was very juicy and flavorful. It had a great meaty texture with minimum grizzle. Awesome for burgers- low fat and lack of shrinkage when grilled.  8

Executive- Very tender and juicy. Amazing flavor. Super lean. 8

Construction Manager- The steak was delicious. I would recommend this meat to my friends.  9

Financial Advisor-Hamburger meat was great. Tasted just like a regular burger. The steak was good but not as good as the burgers. Meat was a little dry and gamey. Burgers 9 London Broil 6

HR Professional- Liked the meat and would like to sample more to figure out the best beer is to go with the meat. 8

HR Professional- Hamburgers were very good as was the london broil. They both tasted a little gamey but not in a bad way. Burgers 10  Steak 8

HR Professional (and my husband)- Burgers were fantastic! The meat did need to be cooked differently than other meat. 9 

Me- Burgers were so great. I did not put anything on my bun like a I normally do. It was also very juicy which I was concerned about, I worried the meat might be dry since it is lower in fat. The london broil was also good although it was along the same lines of the ‘conventional’ meat we get the grocery store.  9

Chef- Ground steak had a nice clean flavor, not as heavy feeling as grain fed meat. 8

4 year-old- Yummy!!  10

Average rating: 8

Overall, I think everyone was pleasantly surprised at how good the meat tasted. I know some people were concerned that the flavor would be significantly different and not to their liking. There was also concern that the meat would not be as tender because of the reduced calories and fat. I personally would definitely eat this meat again and knowing that it is more healthy for me and the cows were raised in a more healthy, humane, and environmentally friendly manner makes it that much better.

As I have said in previous posts I am not a vegetarian and I do not think I can ever become one. I could personally reduce my meat intake but never cut it out. La Cense Beef or other grass feed beef allows you to enjoy meat eating in a way that does not harm the environment as much as all our other meat alternatives so if you are like me and not willing to cut meat out of your life this an option to make better choice.

I highly recommend you goto La Cense Beef’s website and check out their products at: http://www.lacensebeef.com/

La Cense Beef is also running a contest right now to help them come up with a slogan for their beef (you can enter without a slogan too, if you cannot think of anything), the prize… a cow! Don’t worry its a cow the way a beef company would give you a cow with a freezer! To enter or vote on entries go to: http://www.winagrassfedcow.com/

Important note the meat came shipped to us frozen with dry ice. We thawed in the refrigerator overnight and it was perfect for cooking the next afternoon. Because the meat was vacuum sealed it did not taste like previously frozen beef so you should not be concerned.

If you have ever read Fast Food Nation you probably have a good idea of the things that go on behind the scenes in the meat industry. The cattle are kept in in-humane conditions and are bred and fed to maintain a certain flavor that the consumer is used to. Cattle are fed grain which is not what cattle would eat in the wild and their digestive systems are not ‘built’ to handle. Cattle generally get ill from eating grain and need antibiotics and other medical treatment. These treatments can be passed on to us when we eat the meat. Grass fed cattle are generally healthier and live in more human conditions because they are free to graze.

Grass fed beef generally has less fat and calories than grain fed beef. There is also more beta-carotene and omega 3 fatty acids in grass fed beef. Certain grass fed companies like La Cense feed the cattle on grass that does not have any pesticides on it.

Grass fed beef has a different flavor than conventional beef. Beef from Argentina is generally from grass fed cows and considered by many the best beef you can get.

To test the flavor of the beef I invited 15 people to my house tomorrow to sample La Cense grass fed beef. Each person who attends the party will give their feedback on the grass feed beef. So check back Monday morning for the full report on the flavor. We have a real mixed crowd of reviewers including a chef!! I will also report in a separate post next week how I made this a ‘green’ party in other ways!

For more information on La Cense Beef go to: http://www.lacensebeef.com

On my commute home tonight I noticed the garbage cans at the stops along my way home. They are all clear and see through now so we can see if a bomb in them so I was able to really see what people throw out on the train platform. Basically it was all recyclable, there were newspapers, soda cans, glass bottles, plastic and paper soda cups from fast food restaurants and plastic bags. I assume some of those may have had left over food or what I would call “actual garbage.” There are no receptacles at any of the four stops that I have ever gotten off at on my train line that have recycling containers in them.

Since two stops are actually in the town I live in I plan to write to the town and the local newspapers and give them my solution… have paper, plastic, and tin recycling bins at each train stop and other high traffic areas. These are items that are already recycled in the town recycling program. I have to think that the bins themselves in the two train stops and some other high traffic areas cannot cost more than $500-800 total. I know there are other expenses like emptying them but I am under the impression that it is probably every day that they are emptied and even if they are not they are recyclables they have a longer life of being out without smelling terrible.

This is just one of the very simple ways our towns can do something to help save the environment (with little to no effort).

As continued consumer interest grows in shopping in a more environmentally conscious way, non-profit organizations and companies are developing “seals of approval”  for things that are evaluated and found to pass the organizations test. As part of a series on this blog I am going to tell you what most of them are so you know what you are buying.

The Rainforest Alliance is a non-profit organization dedicated to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior. They created the certification seal to show consumers that the products they are buying adhere to their strict standards that meet their mission.

This information is directly from the Rainforest Alliance website:

What is Rainforest Alliance certification?
Certification, as defined by the Rainforest Alliance, is a conservation tool whereby an independent, third party awards a seal of approval guaranteeing consumers that the products they are buying are the result of practices carried out according to a specific set of criteria balancing ecological, economic and social considerations.

What is the goal of Rainforest Alliance certification?
As a growing human population impacts ecosystems around the world, we see certification as an increasingly important tool for driving continual positive change. It provides an effective method for ensuring that natural resources are managed for the long term. Certification offers land users and businesses guidance on producing goods and providing services according to practical, efficient practices that will not deplete resources or negatively impact the environment or local communities. And through the purchase of certified products, it gives consumers the choice to “vote with their dollars” — to influence corporate commitment to sustainability.

What does the certification process entail?
At the request of a resource user, such as a forest or farm manager, or a tour boat operator, a multidisciplinary team of Rainforest Alliance experts may conduct a “scoping.” This preassessment is designed to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the operation and to outline the steps needed to bring its management practices into compliance with our standards, which are detailed, comprehensive, objective and verifiable.

When a manager feels that an operation is up to par, he or she may request an inspection or “assessment,” where a team of Rainforest Alliance-trained specialists measures compliance with the standards. The team writes a report, which is evaluated by an independent, voluntary committee of outside experts (i.e. peer reviewed), and — based on the team’s recommendations and peer review comments — the Rainforest Alliance decides whether or not to award its seal of approval to the operation. Operations that fail the test may continue making improvements and apply again when ready. Once the standards are met, the operation is permitted to display the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal.

The Rainforest Alliance offers certification in foresty, agriculture, tourism, and carbon services.  You can find products with this label in stores all over the world and you will know that it has gone through a rigrious assement to get that “seal of approval.”

To learn more about the Rainforest Alliance go to:

http://www.rainforest-alliance.org

I was driving yesterday to run an errand and I swear this is a true account of what I saw… a woman smoking a cigarette in one hand and pumping pesticide or weed killer in the other. It appeared she was spraying a choker vine that was winding through a bush. She had not cut the vine down, try to take out the root, nothing. She was spraying this chemical on every single leaf of the vine. I was at a red light watching her and she just keep pumping the entire time I was there.

What I saw was the perfect arguments as to why our water supply is filled with chemicals and why we are in so much danger. It is almost impossible for anyone who lives around this woman to not have those chemicals seep into their soil after a good rain storm. I am trying really hard to keep our yard organic but I know that my neighbor two doors down uses chemicals on everything so I am pretty sure I am not “clean.”

We cannot ask our neighbors not spray chemicals, they can do whatever they want. The problem is people mis-use these chemicals. The woman I saw probably does not have a serious vine problem that is killing her other plants. She did not try to do anything about this vine except use chemicals. They are so readily available at drugstores, grocery stores, garden centers, and hardware stores that why not spend 2 minutes spraying chemicals rather than trying to just dig it up. If chemicals were not so readily available then maybe people would explore more eco-friendly (and in some case more logical) solutions.

As our water supply continues to get contaminated by all of the these chemicals we need to figure out a way to reduce it. We need to keep people like this woman from using chemicals for no reason. One of the ways we can make that happen is to restrict the use of chemicals to licensed or certified professionals. Have Tru Green ChemLawn come in and fix the problem with regular non-chemical solutions have not worked. There will be an additional cost for a licensed person to come administer the chemicals but that will help encourage people to try other methods first.

We cannot continue to let people like her continue to use the chemicals out of laziness.

I need to start out by saying I entered several times in hopes of winning the house but the reality of the whole thing is, it is a not a very green home. To the best of my knowledge they did not equipt the house with rain barrels to water the beautifully manicured lawn. They have talked alot about the light bulbs in the house and the Energy Star appliances (these are two things that would probably qualify most of our houses as green homes if that was all that mattered). Even the cleaning products that they display as part of the promotion are not environmentally friendly. And really lets face it even a hybrid SUV is not the best “green” choice to make.

On the plus side the hot water heater although not solar powered, is tank-less. There are solar panels on the house but only enough to provide 10% of the power the house needs (more than my house) but with the ability you have when building a new house I would have thought they would have put more panels on to show what it can do.

The location itself in a low lying coastal waterway that makes the house possible victim of global warming by hurricanes or worse the rising water level from melting icecaps (OK that will take awhile but really it could happen).

I think the thing we can probably learn the most from the HGTV Green Home is how to decorate green. Bamboo carpeting, bamboo flooring,  no tropical hardwoods on floors, low-VOC paint..etc. They used quartz countertops and used extra insulation through out the house to make heating and cooling more efficient. They also used local materials whenever possible and recycled the construction waste. All of these things are wonderful ways to be green and help the environment.

Like I said I would not say no to winning the house but I am not sure it is the best model of what a “green” new build should be. For the amazing resources that HGTV has I would have thought that they could have done alot more than they did. I will try to find a house that I can write about that is “greener.”

To enter to win the house or take a look at it go to:

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/pac_ctnt_988/text/0,,HGTV_22056_66123,00.html