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Eat Local!

Posted by krissy on July 28th, 2010

Why eat local?

Eating local lowers your carbon footprint, because it doesn't need to travel far.
Local food is usually fresher because it didn't have to spend days in a truck being transported.
Local farmers often engage in organic practices, even if they aren't certified organic. (Being certified organic is costly, so some farmers forgo the certification process but still avoid harmful chemicals.)
Local food often contains less packaging. Sometimes fruits and veggies from the grocery store (even organic ones!) come in plastic containers, are shrink-wrapped, etc. If you shop at a farmers market and buy local produce, you can bring your own bag.
It's important to support local farmers, local economy, and your community.

How do I find local foods?... read more

Garden! What's more local than a tomato picked from your very own backyard? Or, if you don't have a yard, find a local community garden.
Go right to the source! Find you-pick farms in your area. It's fun, too!
Find a local farmers market -- and visit regularly.
Join a CSA. (Community Supported Agriculture)
Find farm stands and produce markets -- but read the labels. Whole Foods often has local stuff, too.

Food

Cigarette Litter

Posted by krissy on July 28th, 2010

Last summer, I wrote a blog post about how bad cigarettes are for the environment. Today, I want to follow-up with the problems associated with cigarette litter.

Seeing people toss their cigarette butts outside makes my blood boil. I don't know why some smokers think that somehow cigarette butts don't "count" as litter. Throwing cigarette butts on the ground is disgusting, careless, and ugly. And it needs to stop.

SmokeFree.Gov has resources for those who want to quit smoking. But for those who haven't been able to successfully quit, please do not litter your butts. Even SmokingSection.com, a PRO smokers group, says: "Considerate smokers don't litter. Those who do deserve criticism as much as any other litterer."

Billions of cigarettes are littered every day. They are not biodegradable, and even if they were, I find this to be an invalid excuse. My used tissue is biodegradable, but I'm not going to toss it out from my car window, like one would a cigarette. And while one may think that it is just "one little cigarette," one cigarette from each smoker who litters their butts adds up to a lot.

Cigarette litter can cause fires. They also end up in waterways and sometimes marine life will ingest them. There was a study done last year stating that they kill fish. Read here. ... read more

Killing two birds with one stone (not literally)

Posted by sarahberon on July 27th, 2010

How about saving the planet and its animals, all at once?

Many people give up the consumption of animal products for numerous reasons, which may include personal health and well-being, ethical beliefs, food expense reduction, and more. Thinking today about the reasons why I choose to follow a vegan lifestyle lead me to considering the environmental impact of the lifestyle. For those of you who are opposed to giving up your cheeseburgers regardless of the information presented, this will at the least provide you with some food for thought (a small side order for your burger).

In the past, the United Nations issued a report, somewhat like a call-to-action, for the world to reduce its consumption of animal products (both meat and dairy). As quoted in the U.K. Guardian, the UN feels that a "global shift towards a vegan diet is vital to save the world from hunger, fuel poverty and the worst impacts of climate change." Clearly, this is a pretty serious issue.

... read more

Penn & Teller: The Truth About Bottled Water

Posted by krissy on July 27th, 2010

Rob's post about bottled water reminded me of a 2003 episode of Penn & Teller Bullsh*t. It's absolutely hilarious. It shows how ridiculous the bottled water industry is, as well as the people who only drink bottled water. Enjoy!... read more

Water

Plug-in 2010: Leaf Test Drive

Posted by tlewis on July 27th, 2010

I was fortunate enough to drive a real Leaf yesterday. The dash provides a techie turn-on sequence when powered up. As you can see in the below picture showing David Harron at the wheel, this vehicle included the optional navigation in the dash. If you put it in a special ECO mode, then acceleration requires more throttle travel and the regenerative breaking is stronger. But you can temporally override ECO just by tromping on the "gas". You can see my knees in the back are not against the seat back, but I did notice that I could not tuck my feet under the front seat.... read more

Transportation

Bottled Water can give you cancer?

Posted by R Tocchio on July 27th, 2010

Is bottled water any better than the water flowing from your tap at home? Most people assume if you’re paying money for something in a plastic bottle then it’s of superior quality compared to something that’s piped into your home for a lot less money. This isn’t always true. Many times the bottle being labeled as “spring” water is really just filtered or unfiltered tap water. According to the NRDC there isn’t much of a difference in quality either. Our conclusion is that there is no assurance that just because water comes out of a bottle it is any cleaner or safer than water from the tap.... read more

Food

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Green Careers

June 2010 - Business Awards event

Posted by Michal Lenchner on May 23rd, 2010

Acterra’s 2010 Business Environmental Award reception will be held in Palo Alto, California on June 3.

Acterra is an environmental non-profit organization in the San Francisco Bay Area, which brings people and businesses together to create local solutions for a healthy planet. See more information about Acterra's programs below. Image from flickr.com... read more

Using social networking to find a green job

Posted by Jenica on May 11th, 2010

Finding a job in any field can be very challenging these days - the old saying "it's who you know" applies more than ever before. Luckily for you, finding who you know is so much easier than ever before. Enter social networking! Facebook allows you to find every friend, friend of a friend, or friend of a friend's friend - surely, one of those friend's friends knows somebody who's worked in a company that you've always wanted to work for, or who is involved in a start up that you may want to work for (but don't know yet). And you don't have to stop there.... read more

Business

Green education - top Green colleges and high-school initiatives

Posted by Michal Lenchner on April 30th, 2010

As the green economy has moved to the center of the economic recovery in 2010 and environmental and social reponsibility awareness have increased, more and more students are looking for 'green' education.

Nowadays, about two-thirds of college applicants are interested in environmentally responsible schools and whether the campus is ‘green’. Prominence, location and vibrant social life are not the only criteria. Several higher education collges and universities in the US have a strong commitment to sustainability and have been working rigorously to reduce their environmental impact. Some of their initiatives are inspiring as the colleges go beyond recycling or using biodegradable tableware and utensils in the cafeterias, or retrofitting solar panels on roofs. Several have organic gardens, waste treatment centers, and programs to offset carbon emissions.

Based on the results of a survey by the Sierra Club (published last October), read more about the school's list Colleges go green-The top eco conscious schools in the US.

Image from flickr.com

The younger generation is inspired into environmental activism and entrepreneurship even earlier. At the fourth annual Tech Titans of Tomorrow: Teens Plugges In 2010 conference on April 23, 2010, several outstanding teenagers presented their initiatives. Intersecting technology and environmental activism, there were two teen entrepreneur environmenatl teams who have been changing one school at a time, through an eductional initiative of climate change curriculum and lifestyle behavior changes to 9th grade students, as well as, energy metering and management in school facilities, reducing costs and alleviating scarce school resources. Read about Menlo-Atherton High School (Menlo Park, CA) and Harker School (San Jose, CA) and their green teams: Green teen entrepreneurs of tomorrow.

... read more

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Our Team of KeenForGreen Bloggers

Emily Golding	Kristine Munroe	Tom Lewis
Michal Lenchner	Mark Munroe	Sean Fitzpatrick
Jenica Szymanski	Aki Lewis	Michelle Fitzpatrick

Cloth Diaper Myths

Posted by krissy on July 26th, 2010

Myth #1: Cloth diapering is an all or nothing deal.
Reality: Not at all. Cloth diapering part-time makes sense for many people. Even if you replace just one disposable diaper every day with a cloth one, that is 365 LESS DIAPERS in the landfill. That is a huge difference. There are also hybrid diapers, which are cloth on the outside and use disposable liners. (Read here for more info on the types of cloth diapers)

Myth #2: Cloth diapering is expensive.
Reality: Disposable diapers are expensive! There is the initial overhead of buying cloth diapers, but since you can reuse them over and over again, you won’t have to spend money again on diapers in a while. Particularly if you use one-size diapers, meaning you can adjust the size to grow along with your baby. They can last for years! Check this chart out about the money savings associated with using cloth diapers. ... read more

Check us out on Facebook!

Posted by Emily Golding on July 26th, 2010

Keen for Green will be doing giveaways and contests on Facebook so if you're not already one of our fans, like us so you can keep up with the green and stay involved! We will also have discussion ideas posted so you can share your questions and comments!

The power of geothermal energy

Posted by sarahberon on July 22nd, 2010

It's been around since the beginning of our earth's existence. Ironically, it's just now starting to become popular. Geothermal energy is, in most simple terms, the energy of the earth. It's a form of renewable energy, different than solar, which transfers heat from the earth's crust to provide an extremely efficient, sustainable, and wallet-friendly source of both heating and cooling. If you think about how this works, it's pretty basic. Regardless of what the weather may be outside our windows, the underground temperature in the core of the earth stays constant.... read more

Energy Management

Green Dry Cleaning?

Posted by krissy on July 22nd, 2010

Over the past few years, I've seen many local dry cleaners claim to be eco-friendly. I rarely have to use dry cleaners, but I've gotten curious over whether or not such a thing exists.

As of 2007, 85% of all dry cleaners in the US used perchloroethylene (perc) as a solvent when dry cleaning. Perc is a synthetic, volatile organic compound (VOC) that is both a health risk to humans and it's dangers to the environment. Even minor exposure to it can cause dizziness, headaches, drowsiness, nausea, skin and respiratory irritation. What's worse is that prolonged exposure has been linked to liver damage, kidney damage, and cancer. Perchloroethylene was identified as a "probable" human carcinogen by California’s Proposition 65 in 1986.

Even dry cleaning methods that claim to be green, are often not. Ask them what their methods are before dropping your clothes off. Some use hydrocarbon, which is petroleum based. Some use liquid CO2, but that will sometimes require a Solvair machine. The Carbon Dioxide Dry Cleaner Alliance does not allow dry cleaners using Solvair to become members. Solvair replaces perc with glycol ether as a solvent, and according to the EPA, glycol is a suspected toxin and hormone disrupter. ... read more