Staff Blog
Freeze Frame
From urban composting to green-minded gorillas, check out our latest and greatest video picks of the week.
| 1) What exactly is rain harvesting and how do you do it? These college kids show just how simple saving the planet can be. Learn the techniques for an easy way to save water. |
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2) Best way to get those kiddies to care about the planet? Have a cartoon tell them! Check out "Gorilla in the Greenhouse," the new series from National Geographic Kids that teaches kids of all ages what happens when we don't reduce, reuse and recycle. |
| 3) The Plastic Battle This video is the winner of Friends of the Earth's 2007 One-Minute Film Competition, which dares contestants to come up with a one-minute film that promotes awareness of environmental issues. Check out the subtle yet powerful message about the amount of plastic that is used on products. |
| 4) Apartment composting If you think that composting and apartment living are not synonymous, think again. Even if you don't have a garden, this video will show you how to compost in a tiny space. We love the Gorilla Gardening tactics. |
| 5) The tissue box Second Chances: This clever DIY project reuses an empty CD spindle to create a useful household product. It's perfect for all those film and television production houses that use thousands of these spindles a year. |
Wal-Mart Goes Local
"Attention Wal-Mart shoppers, those peaches you are buying just might have been grown at a farm near here." They may not broadcast it over the loudspeaker, but in fact, 20 percent of the vegetables sold at the megastore this summer are grown in-state, according to a company spokesperson. Rising fuel costs are the primary driver behind the superstore's pledge to grow its partnership with local farmers, followed by its much less quantifiable goal of selling products that are earth-friendly and ethically sourced.
No real surprise: Remember that old Econ 101 cost-consumption curve? But is something more significant happening now? Might this be one of a series of corrections that will force some sense into our topsy-turvy food system? I'm hoping so.
Skyrocketing fuel prices are hitting consumers hard, but maybe it will be worth some pain at the cash register today if we end up with a more sensible food production and distribution system tomorrow. Nonrenewable fossil fuels are used to make synthetic farm chemicals such as pesticides and herbicides, power farm equipment, make plastic food storage containers, ship products around the world, and store those items in temperature controlled facilities. If the biggest retailer on the planet is saying, "Let's cut our fuel oil use and source what we can from farms that are close to our stores," then that's the sort of dollars-and-sense response to tough economic times we all should be lining up to support.
© The Green Guide, 2008Decode Your Water Quality Report
Don't be fooled by the scary chemicals and lengthy jargon you'll see when you get your water quality report this month; if you'll let Food & Water Watch decode it for you, you'll see that water from the tap is still your best choice.
Since amendments in 1996 to the Safe Drinking Water Act, public utilities have been required to inform you of exactly what's coming out of your faucet, presented in a report at the beginning of July each year. When you get your report, riddled with frightening words like arsenic and chromium, you could be inclined to panic and race to your grocer for 24-pack of the bottled stuff. But hold off on the petroleum-packaged H2O until you've read Food & Water Watch's new guide, "How to Read Your Water Quality Report," which will put the report in laymen's terms and likely dispel your fears.
The guide clarifies the source of your water, the susceptibility of the water to contamination, the EPA regulations for drinking water contaminants, what contaminants exist in your water and what potential health effects exist. The EPA requires extensive testing of public water supplies, and federal, state and local governments are bound by the Clean Water Act to ensure that our water is safe. Although occasionally water can become polluted thanks to poor water treatment or a deteriorating infrastructure, you'll usually find that your tap water is clean and delicious, and you can rest assured as a confident, informed consumer of water from the tap (and save money while you're at it).
To ensure that the government has the funds to continue to keep our water safe, support implementation of a federal clean water trust fund. Help by telling Congress to protect our water by signing a petition here.
So head to Food & Water Watch to learn about your water, and fill 'er up--straight from the tap.
© The Green Guide, 2008
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