Use Reusable Bags Responsibly

While it is clear that reusable bags have reduced our reliance on and use of plastic shopping bags, earlier last week the Mother Nature Network discussed an interesting topic: “Are reusable bags doing the good we think they are?”

Most people are likely to own a few reusable bags. These bags may have been bought at a store, given away at a green event or offered as a goodie bag. The point of reusable bags is to help us all use less plastic and paper bags, but are these reusable bags ending up in landfills or collecting dust on a shelf?

Long gone are the days when reusable bags were isolated in the aisles of Whole Foods. Nowadays, you can purchase them at virtually any grocery store or Walmart.

The Bag Matters

Not all reusable bags are created equal because some reusable bags are not made with environmentally-friendly materials. Bags made from recycled plastic are much better than bags made with PVC and died with chemical color dyes. While PVC requires less petroleum than many other polymers because 57% of its mass is chlorine, and it is such a durable material that it is not biodegradable. PVC material will retain its form for decades, and even then, will only break down into smaller pieces.

When manufacturing PVC material, dioxin is created. Dioxin is a deadly poison and is considered a “cumulative toxin” because it stays in the body for a long time.

Solutions

Own a few reusable bags, keep them in your car and use them. If forgetting them is a problem, purchase the reusable bags that collapse and can be kept in a purse. Also, if you have plenty of reusable bags at home, stop accepting free bags if you know they won’t be used and give the excess reusable bags you current own to friends and family members who will put them to use.

Another way to limit packaging waste during grocery trips is to look beyond the bag and examine your purchase. Are you purchasing processed foods with a lot of packaging? Are they foods that could be purchased from bulk bins with reusable containers?

From a legislative standpoint, a few cities have started to enforce plastic bag bans. Among the most notable include the cities of San Francisco, San Jose and Palo Alto, and, of course, the entire country of Italy! Talk about great motivation for remembering your reusable bags!

Green Your Wardrobe with Organic Fabrics

Few people question the benefits of buying organic foods. Organic foods are better for the environment because pesticides are not used on the crops. They are also better for your health because you are not ingesting a host of chemicals, pesticides and genetically-modified foods. However, there seems to be a disconnect between purchasing organic foods and applying those same ethical principles to buying organic clothing.

Cotton is the most widely sprayed crop in the world. Some estimates state traditional cotton farming accounts for 25% of the world’s insecticide consumption. While the pesticides and insecticides are harmful to other plant and animal life in the area, they can also leak into groundwater reserves and contaminate tap water. Aerial spraying is commonly used to spray cotton crops. With this spraying method, the insecticides often blow through the air into residential areas or on neighboring crops.

These chemicals can also end up on the cotton and in the clothes that touch your skin every day. Some natural health experts believe your skin can absorb the chemicals from clothing. The chemicals in cotton can also cause skin allergies. By purchasing organic cotton, you can have peace of mind knowing your clothes are not causing any harm to the environment or human health.

Organic bamboo is another natural fabric that is gaining popularity, and there are many benefits to wearing bamboo clothing. Bamboo fabric is softer than cotton and it is naturally a hypoallergenic product. Bamboo plants are also grown without pesticides, insecticides or fertilizers. They grow fast and are a renewable and sustainable crop because new bamboo shoots are always growing to replace the old ones. Another surprising benefit is that a bamboo plant releases more oxygen into the environment than a tree. It also requires less water to grow and less water is used in the color dye process.

Browse through our collection of organic apparel to see how fashionable choosing organic fabrics can be!

Green Your Halloween in Five Easy Steps

Halloween is a wonderful time to spend time with family and friends, enjoy the outdoors and see the excitement on children’s faces. However, between the candy, costumes and parties, Halloween, like most holidays, encourages spending. This year in the United States, consumers are expected to spend more than $5 billion on Halloween-related items. These items may include costumes that will only be worn once, non-fair trade chocolate, candy packaging material waste and pumpkins sprayed with pesticides.

While it wouldn’t be practical to forget about Halloween completely, here are some ways to make your Halloween a little more environmentally friendly.

1. You would probably be amazed by the treasures you have stacked away in attic boxes or at the back of your closet, so pull together a costume from materials you already own. If the closet hunting returns no good finds, check your local Goodwill for costumes. Borrow old costumes from friends, or search for costumes on Craigslist. Recycling costumes, instead of purchasing a new costume every year, wearing it once and tossing it or storing it in boxes, is much better for the environment. The Daily Green website features 100 Homemade Halloween Costume Ideas.

2. Avoid candy with high fructose corn syrup, strange animal ingredients and hydrogenated oils. Instead, hand out apples, fair trade chocolate and organic, vegan candy. If you want to avoid food all together hand out little toys and trinkets, such as baseball cards and stickers. Choose recyclable toys over non-recyclable plastic toys. Apple cider is also a welcome treat for kids who have been running around all night.

3. If you do plan on decorating with lights, conserve energy by using LED lights – these can also be used to light up walkways, making them safer for children. Using pumpkins, gourds and hay could provide more natural décor and can be sourced from a local farmer or even your own garden. Use soy candles to light up jack-o-lanterns – these are more environmentally friendly than petroleum-based paraffin candles.

4. Use reusable bags for trick-or-treating. Endless plastic bags are an environmentalist’s nightmare. Use your reusable green shopping bags or give your kids empty pillowcases to fill with candy.

5. Talk to your neighbors and see if they are also interested in handing out healthy treats. Your effort may not catch on with everyone, but it is worth a try.

Spotlight: AASHE-Connecting Sustainable Education Nationwide

The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, or AASHE, is really making a big impact on the nation. AASHE is a membership driven–501(c)(3) institution that is leading the way in empowering sustainable colleges and universities by connecting and standardizing sustainability practice on campuses nationwide.

Being apart of the AASHE network grants resources, programs and professional development for those involved. The most important factor that AASHE contributes is its ability to unite colleges and universities that lead in sustainability transformation. By working with campus faculty, students, administrators and staff alike, they provide a professional home for sustainability in higher education.

There are two ways to get involved. As a student, AASHE offers a variety of professional development programs and resources to its members including conferences, webinars, workshops, conference calls and the wide network that it is connected to. As a business, it connects them with their communities and aligns themselves with green leaders by becoming a business partner.

More than anything, AASHE is designed to help higher education practice sustainability as a norm, not as an exception. They achieve this by encouraging collaborations and helping facilitate the generating and achievement of goals for the campus as a whole.

There are many ways of getting involved in AASHE. Whether you are a business looking to become a partner, or a student that is already a member of AASHE,  a student looking to getting their college involved, or a K-12 school—AASHE is attempting to connecting and transform the everyday standards of our educational system as we know it.

If you are interested in inquiring whether your school is or should be involved, please contact AASHE

Green Living Online Resource Review: Focus Organic

We strive to make Feed Your Eco a valuable resource for anyone searching for ideas and information on healthy and eco-friendly living; but we also want to acknowledge the many voices on the blogosphere that contribute to this movement. There are numerous online resources and blogs that making a real change by inspiring their readers to make simple and necessary changes that will have a lasting and positive impact on the environment.

This month, I came across Focus Organic, an open blogging community that is ideal for green living advocates who wish to share their ideas- but do not necessarily have the time to start and maintain their own blog. I love that the site encourages their readers share their knowledge and perspectives by submitting their blog entries (all posts are reviewed)- and the result is a wonderful range of ideas and tips that is not limited to just 1-2 authors.

The primary intent of this blog is to help educate people on the facts about organic products…but the site also covers a range of topics that promote a more sustainable lifestyle. I like how they categorize posts according to our daily routine: cleaning, food, money, transportation, well being, fashion, etc. They also help by reviewing and recommending innovative products and suggest best practices to help incorporate “green living” into your day to day routine.

When you visit the site, be sure to check out their link page- I have bookmarked this page myself as a wonderful list of many online eco resources that are broken into helpful categories. The list they have compiled in an excellent place to start when researching on how to incorporate green living your life.  Be sure to check them out and let us know what you think (tell them Organic Bug sent ya!).

Earth Day Special: Our Favorite Green Living Sites

As Earth Day 2009 nears (April 22)….we wanted to devote some time to sharing our favorite “Green Sites” on the Web.  These sites are devoted to educating and promoting healthy lifestyles not just for our planet, but are devoted to our overall well being for humanity.  These sites are very much in line with Organic Bug’s vision:

 We envision a compelling future where people collectively embrace the idea of living in harmony with Mother Nature while respecting life in all its forms, further effecting dramatic change for the common good beginning with the simple practice of conscious consumerism.

Tree Hugger

Tree Hugger has brought together a community of eco minded folks who want to share ideas on how they can make our planet a more sustainable place to be.  The site shares daily news and thoughts in it’s blog, newsletter, and has expanding their reach by incorporating a weekly radio show and video segments to their menu.  The forum is a place where readers can discuss and post ideas, tips and more to share with one another.  To go to About Tree Hugger  learn how to best utilize this eco rich resource. 

Ecorazzi 

Ecorazzi has the unique ability to blend our celebrity gossip vice with good intentions.  This site is lots of fun as it glams up green and sustainable living as only Hollywood can do.  Learn the latest green trends in shopping, fashion, and film. music and more. 

Grist

A friend introduced me to this smart and hip site some time ago, and I have been hooked ever since.  We appreciate Grist for their ability to present their news and information in manner that is clever and useful. A review in Time Magazine describes Grist as:

the Colbert Report of climate change, the Daily Show of deforestation, the Oprah of oil dependency — except with real reporting and analytical journalism.

Need we say more?

 

1GreenProduct

1GreenProduct is devoted to helping consumers take the guesswork out of deciding how to best use their purchase power to benefit our planet.   Words like “Green” and “Eco” are often used as marketing terms and do not represent products that are environmentally sound or even healthy for us to use.   We greatly appreciate the work this site does to review and highlight products that are truly wise choices for eco minded consumers.  

Carbon Rally

Carbon Rally engages their readers by inviting them team up with other users and participate in a series of simple challenges designed to make it fun and easy for average households to take a more active role in reducing our carbon footprint.  The challenges also give brief, to the point information on how this act contributes to the solution.  This site is ideal for people who are motivated by the spirit of competition. 

Ideal Bite 

Ideal Bite lends itself to busy people who do not necessarily have the time to read lengthy articles or blog posts devoted to the environment.  They deliver to their subscribers quick and easy “Bites” to spread good ideas and tips on what you can do to live a greener and healthier lifestyle.   This site is very appealing to busy moms and women of all ages.  

The Daily Green

The Daily Green is another consumer driven site that distributes information through its Daily News, Blog Posts, Newsletters, Eco Living Tips, and Product Reviews. We love this site because it contains so much helpful information on how to green your home environment through DIY NonToxic Cleaning  , Seasonal Recipes and Green Gardening .

 

Do you have a favorite “Green Site?”  We want to know about it!  Leave us a comment and tell us why this is a great site to promote sustainable and eco friendly living!