Green Paige

How would you like to save energy every time you open your web browser?  The Green Spider can help you do just that.

The Green Spider is a search engine that saves energy by using a colored background.  How can such a small change make a difference?  According to their website, your average monitor that displays a white background as it’s default uses 74 watts of power.  A monitor using a black or dark background uses only 49 watts with an energy savings of 20%.  That adds up.

I do, however, have to admit that I have trouble reading white text on black backgrounds so I have my search engine default set on green - my favorite color.

Set The Green Spider as your homepage and visit their green tips wiki page for a list of small things you can do that will add up to big positive changes for our planet.

Entry #9

Where have I been?  I am embarassed to say, not on my bike.  As the brisk autumn breezes turned to snow, I found it more and more difficult to motivate myself to ride my bike to work.  Finally, about a month ago, I put my bike on the rack and my Burley in the garage.  I haven’t even looked at them since.

Out of sight but not out of mind.  Even if I haven’t been biking, I have been reading about biking.  It was in the latest edition of Bicycling magazine that I found this interesting piece of news: 

“The Bicycle Commuter Act has been signed into law.  The measure was recently passed as part of the 451-page Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008–known as the $700 billion bailout bill.  Businesses will receive a montly $20 tax credit for every employee who rides to work, which they can use to reimburse those workers.”

I thought to myself, “An extra $20 a month to ride to work is a little bit of motivation.  Maybe I could find more reasons to convince my cold and weary self to get on my bike and ride through the snow.”  Here is what I came up with:

1. It’s a great way to work off the weight I am gaining by indulging in all those holiday treats.
2. It’s still faster than driving and I don’t have to worry about limited parking spaces once I get to work.
3. It gives me time to de-stress from work before I get home.
4. It saves me money and is the most environmentally friendly form of transportation I know of.
5. I like it.  I really do enjoy riding my bike regardless of the weather.

For more motivation, visit Ice Bike or share your own compelling reasons for bike commuting in the winter with us by posting a comment. 

I remember the day when our neighborhood market closed its doors.  I felt that an important part of my childhood was disappearing along with the home-made snickerdoodles-one free to each customer.  We have all heard that corporate globalization is causing the decline of locally-owned businesses and family farms but what can we do about it here in our own community?  If you ask someone from The Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE), their answer would probably be to buy local.

BALLE is  an umbrella organization of more than 55 smaller networks.  It serves to inform, educate and support local, independent business alliances.  These smaller independent business networks offer opportunities for local businesses to connect.  Their goal is to support community-based businesses, encourage local purchasing by customers and businesses, advocate programs and policies that strengthen independent businesses and promote social equity and environmental responsibility.

Buy Local Week is December 1st -7th.  This year with our economy the weakest it’s been in years, the Local First movement is encouraging people to buy their goods from local, independently-owned businesses.  Why?

1. Buying goods and services from local businesses is a great way to strengthen community.

2. It reduces the environmental impact of transporting items cross country. 

3. Buying local gives us an opportunity to be part of a cooperative movement to create an alternative to corporate globalization and bring economic power back to our communities through a sustainable local economy.

4. Locally-made foods and crafts make great gifts because they are unique and often come with a story attached.  I still own the doll that I received as a Christmas present when I was 6 years old.  It was hand-crafted by our neighbor to resemble me right down to the dimple under my left eye. My daughter loves to hear the tale of how this doll was made.  These are the kinds of stories that you don’t get with items made on assembly lines by machines, sold in big box stores.

This week, communities throughout North America will be celebrating Buy Local Week with events, contests and poster campaigns.  To locate a locally-owned business in your area, visit BALLE.  They list networks of independently-owned businesses across the nation. 

Each year in October the EPA celebrates Children’s Health Month by creating educational materials and activities focused on protecting children from environmental hazards.  For 2008, the EPA has created a calendar  with an environmental health tip for each day in October.  Tips include:

• Protect Children From Too Much Sun Exposue
• Join International Walk To School Day
• Promote Food Safety
• Protect Children From Chemicals At School
• Improve Indoor Air Quality In Schools
• Protect Children From Mold

The Challenge: 

This year,  Healthy Child Healthy World  has also created a  calendar of tips for the month of October to help you establish a healthy environment for your family.  They are challenging families to complete as many of their suggested tips as possible.

To enter this challenge:  Go to the Healthy Child Healthy World blog  and post your answers to the following questions during the first week of November:

1. How many days of the month did you follow the tip?
2. Which were your favorites?
3. Which ones didn’t you do and why?

According to the Healthy Child Healthy World  website:

“Everyone who submits answers will be entered into a drawing to receive an, as of yet, undefined prize.  Maybe a copy of Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home, maybe a gift from a Healthy Child Healthy World partner, maybe a used bowling trophy from the thrift store down the street.  I know, it’s terribly un-coordinated, but, hey, you’re doing it to protect your children’s health, not for the prize, right?”

I don’t know about you folks, but our family is going to accept the challenge.  If you decide to accept the challenge, post a comment and let me know how you progress.

Co-op America, a national nonprofit at the forefront of creating the green economy for 25 years will be changing it’s name to Green America on January 1st 2009.  

Best known for it’s directory of businesses that are screened for their responsibility towards the environment, individual workers, communities and consumers, this 100,000-member organization has been helping customers and businesses adopt environmentally-friendly and socially responsible practices since 1983.

Executive Director Alisa Gravitz announced, “After 25 years of leadership in creating the green economy, we feel now is the time to bring the word “green” into our name.   As more people embrace “green” we want them to know we are a resource and authority on building authentically green lives and businesses.  For Co-op America, and its over 100,000 members, creating a green economy always means social and economic justice along with community and environmental health.  As Green America, we’ll have the same mission with a new name and even greater outreach and impact.”

Gravitz added:  “In our first 25 years as Co-op America, we helped put ‘green’ on the map and encouraged millions of people and businesses to seek out green products, investments, and solutions, stated Gravitz.  “In our next 25 years, as Green America, we’ll introduce millions more people and businesses to the green economy and help them build an economy that is authentically green.”

I have to admit that I am not a regular television watcher but when I heard that Discovery Communications was launching Planet Green, the first and only 24-hour eco-lifestyle television network, I was excited.

Planet Green  promises to air the freshest and ecoist shows on TV with solutions-oriented tips and information that can help you make your life greener. Their programs feature eco-minded personalities including Sara Snow, Annabelle Gurwitch, Emeril Lagasse and Steve Thomas.

To find the Planet Green network in my area, I visited PlanetGreen.com and clicked on channel finder.  I was able to upgrade my DISH package immediately to include Planet Green. 

We recycle, drive a Prius and use canvas bags when we do our shopping but to be honest, I was not sure where my family would stand on a world-wide “green” scale.   Thanks to the National Geographic Society’s Greendex, now we know.   

The National Geographic/GlobeScan “Consumer Greendex,” is a scientifically derived, sustainable consumption index of actual consumer behavior and material lifestyles across 14 countries.  National Geographic created the Greendex because they wanted to give people a better idea of how consumers in different countries are taking action to preserve our planet.

Visit the National Geographic site and click on the Greendex Calculator.  Answer the series of questions they ask and calculate your score.  You might be surprised.

When I took the Greendex survey, I scored 50 which put me in league with Spain who is ranked 10th out of 14 countries. Their positive transportation habits balanced by their less-sustainable high consumption of fish/seafood and meat landed them in the second to lowest spot on the scale. 

The sad news:  Consumers in the United States rank 14th out of 14 countries on the Greendex, scoring last on three out of four of its component measures: transportation, housing and consumption of goods - and near the bottom on food.  For more information on the US Consumers’ Greendex  and to calculate your own green score, visit the National Geographic Society’s  Greendex. 

Apparently, Green Paige wasn’t the only environmentally friendly blog launched yesterday.  The Take A Bite website, created by bestselling author Anna Lappe, was created to connect people with the growing movement to develop a climate-friendly food system around the planet.  The site is filled with interesting facts, ideas for action and inspiring culinary tips-all geared toward helping people understand the huge impact of industrial agriculture on global warming and how we can help bring to life a climate-friendly food system.

The Take A Bite website includes:

• A blog with news and analysis about food and climate change
• A directory of experts on food and climate change
• Q&As with thought-leaders and innovators
• Resources to help you choose a climate-friendly diet
• and more..

From the press release:  “I created this resource because I was stunned so few people are aware that our food system is responsible for nearly one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions,” said website founder Anna Lappé. “Moreover, few people seem to realize the potential sustainable farming holds for helping us reverse climate change.”

The site launches just a week after a landmark report was issued by the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development, a committee commissioned by the United Nations and World Bank.  The report urgently calls for drastic changes to agriculture practice worldwide, including promoting local food systems and sustainable farming practices that minimize fossil fuel and pesticide use. Modern agriculture “will have to change radically if the world is to avoid social breakdown and environmental collapse,” the report states.

The Take a Bite website can help all of us learn how we can be a part of this historic, radical shift toward a food system that is good for people and the planet.

Green Paige Review:   This is a great site.  It’s full of information and easy to navigate.  I especially liked their Six Climate-Friendly Diet Ideas.