Friday, June 22, 2007

Green Paper Towels

I’m gearing up to have a heart to heart five minute chat with about a hundred and fifty or so individuals in the hopes of convincing them to give Shirts of Bamboo’s 100% bamboo compressed towelettes a try. These handy little gems start out the size of a poker chip and pack an environmental wallop the size of Canada’s Boreal Forest, which consists of ¼ of the world’s remaining ancient forests. At least today, it contains one quarter of the remaining old growth trees, but if Kimberly Clark, the parent company of Kleenex and paper towels has its way, the clear cutting will decimate that forest in a few years.

What I’ve discovered about toilet paper and paper towels has me scared. According to the Green Report of March 2004:

· 40% of trash in US landfills consist of paper products

· 30% of timber consumed in the US is used to make paper products

· Paper use is expected to increase by approximately 46% by the year 2040

One more way for me to be a bit greener – paper towels. Currently, I use Shirts of Bamboo’s compressed 100% bamboo towelettes whenever plausible, that is to say, most of the time. I simply open the package, add water, unroll, and get real busy. Busy doing what, you ask?

  • Polishing crystal
  • Dusting
  • Cleaning glass
  • Drying up spills
  • Wiping fingerprint smudges off my laptop
  • Polishing furniture
  • Washing dishes
  • Keeping sweat out of my eyes while mowing the lawn
  • Wrapping a wet towelette around my neck while mowing the lawn to lower my core temperature about 30 degrees in ten seconds
  • Keeping the roots of soon to be transplanted plants moist while I find the potting soil and a suitable pot.
  • Using in lieu of paper tissue

When the rinsed and dried towelettes resemble the stuff from the lint trap in my dryer, I compost them, or use them in the bottom of potted plants to cover that opening where the potting soil tends to fall out.

I use Seventh Generation paper towels on those rare occasions when I have to wipe out something greasy that I don’t want to go down the drain. I thought I’d take a look around at the paper towel industry as a whole to see if there were more I could do, more I could learn, more I could pass on to others who want to be a tiny bit greener every day.

While researching for my upcoming talk, I found the Green Report and its article about toilet paper and paper towels. I scanned the list of recommended paper towels. There, to my surprise, I found Kimberly Clark’s Scott products were 100% recycled and 70% bleach free. Another Kimberly Clark Scott paper towel was labeled 70% postconsumer, 30% elemental chlorine free.

The chlorine used in bleaching all paper products is a huge concern, since chlorine bleaching releases dioxins and other toxins into the environment, harming every level of the food chain.

I was so pleased to see Kimberly Clark doing their part! That bubble was soon popped when I discovered an article in the Vanguard, a student run newspaper since 1946. Greenpeace alleges that Kimberly Clark is clearcutting Canada’s Boreal Forest to make Kleenex and other KC products. So, it would seem, once again, my theory that it all boils down to money holds true. Kimberly Clark wants people like me to fall for their “environmentally responsible” posture by selling me what I demand, 100% postconsumer waste – bleach free paper towels. But behind the smoke and mirrors, they continue to decimate forests, habitat, and contribute mightily to climate change so that selfish, thoughtless, and careless individuals can blow their delicate, plastic surgery enhanced noses into lily white Kleenex.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Stop the Insanity- Sign the Petition Joining in the Millions Against Monsanto

My lifelong disdain for Monsanto developed in the early eighties when I read about farmers in India committing suicide because they’d used their daughters’ dowry to repay Monsanto “loans” when the crops failed. This hasn’t changed much, indeed, it seems it has worsened over the years. See End of a Wedding Dream for details.

I despised Monsanto for creating Agents Orange, Purple, Pink, White, and Blue (though lesser known, the rest of the 'rainbow' contributed to veterans’ illnesses,) not to mention the long lasting horrific effects on the people of Viet Nam. Monsanto compensated each soldier $1200 in the form of a one time lump sum payment. $1200 – now that’s what Monsanto thinks of exposing soldiers drafted to fight a war no one wanted to Dioxins and other toxic chemicals. Monsanto continues to this day to refuse to compensate Veterans and their families further for exposure to the toxic chemicals, including Dioxin.

Monsanto has its dirty paws in Genetically Modified (GM) cotton and foods. Monsanto's bt cotton in India has proven to be an abyssmal failure. The BT cotton, corn and soybeans may very well be killing livestock like the 1600 sheep which died after grazing on BT cotton, along with killing bees. When the bees die, so will we.

Farmers in India and Africa have rejected bt cotton but it may very well prove to be too late. Here in the United States, and Canada, we have GM corn, soybeans, and canola growing by the thousands of acres.

As if that were not enough, Monsanto produces Posilac, otherwise known as rBGH, (Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone.) Also called BGH, rBGH, BST and rBST., Monsanto sells the genetically engineered copy of a naturally occurring hormone produced by cows to dairy farmers. However, unlike the naturally occurring hormone, the rBGH increases milk production by 10% to 15%. The FDA approved rBGH in 1993 and it has been in use since 1994. Monsanto and the FDA claim milk from cows injected with rBGH cannot spread Mad Cow (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy) , but scientists disagree.

Monsanto and the FDA continue to lie about how Mad Cow disease is spread to humans. Of course they do. They want the labels we read on our milk cartons to neglect to mention whether the cows were injected with rBGH. They don’t want us to know that the milk production from a cow with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy might have been increased by 10 to 15%, potentially infecting 10 to 15% more people with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

This should come as little surprise when one looks at the resume`s of many of the FDA’s top executives. Take, por exemplo, the case of Margaret Miller, one of Monsanto’s top researchers. Ms. Miller submitted a scientific report about whether Monsanto’s growth hormones were safe or not. Then, she left Monsanto, and was hired by the FDA. One of her first FDA responsibilities – determining whether or not to approve the report she had written.

She had help from Susan Sechen, another former Monsanto researcher. Oh, and the guy who decides whether the FDA should require rBGH milk to be labeled as such or not fell under the jurisdiction of Michael Taylor. Attorney Taylor’s previous employer- you guessed it if you guessed Monsanto.

Not much has changed with regard to Monsanto’s complete disregard for the people and the planet, instead continuing to focus on the only “P” in its corporate mind that matters, that is Profit.

So I’ve joined forces with Millions Against Monsanto and I am asking you to do the same. Please sign the petition and join me in forcing Monsanto to:

· Stop intimidating small family farmers.

· Stop force-feeding untested and unlabeled genetically engineered foods on consumers.

· Stop using billions of dollars of US taypayers' money to subsidize genetically engineered crops - cotton, soybeans, corn, and canola.

Thursday, June 07, 2007

The Green Week in Review – 1st Week of June, 2007

You can’t call yourself an environmentalist if you eat meat. Since I call myself exactly that, I’ve returned to my vegetarian (bordering on vegan) roots . Veg for Life and PETA point out that by consuming only fruits and vegetables, one person saves the lives of over 100 animals annually. So, by my action of adopting a vegetarian lifestyle, I saved at least one animal this week. If it was a cow, that means I reduced greenhouse gasses, specifically methane. .

According to The Marian Koshland Science Museum Livestock lead rice-growing, gas-flaring, and mining in global emissions of this highly potent greenhouse gas. Options for reducing methane emissions go beyond reducing beef and dairy consumption. These mitigation strategies also include reducing methane emissions from mines, gas production facilities, and landfills.

So this week, I took on the beef. I also have seriously dented the quantity of trash I’m contributing to landfill by utilizing the three R’s – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

I’ll look to my hero, and captain of my heart Albert Gore Jr. to take on the project of reducing methane emissions from the mines. You can help the 2008 Draft Al Gore Grassroots Campaign by signing the petition begging him to run.

And now, it’s time for me to head off to work, where, with any luck at all, I’ll solve a few customer challenges facilitating their transition to clothing made from sustainable resources.

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Green Hurricane Puppy Preparations

June 1st marked the opening of hurricane season in Florida. Hurricane Season Will Be "Very Active," Forecasters Say, and for the first time in my life (I’ve lived in Florida for over forty years) I am very very afraid; very afraid.

John Roach
for National Geographic News

April 3, 2007

Batten down the hatches: A "very active" Atlantic hurricane season is brewing, and at least one major storm is likely to strike the U.S. coastline, experts said today.

The hurricane forecast team at Colorado State University in Fort Collins anticipates 17 named storms to form in the Atlantic between June 1 and November 30.

Nine of the named storms will become hurricanes, five of them major hurricanes with sustained winds greater than 111 miles (178 kilometers) an hour.

And there's a 74 percent chance that at least one major hurricane will make landfall on the U.S. coastline. The long-term average is 52 percent.

That said, and that says too much for me, I’m trying to figure out how to be greener with hurricane preparations. I don’t want to be caught unaware, but want as little negative impact on the environment as possible.

Beginning with the dogs, I’ve learned that the following should be ready:

  • Vaccination papers
    (Be sure your vet includes vaccinations for Kennel Cough, Parvo, and Distemper) I’m going to make a copy and laminate it, placing the copy inside the crates.
  • Leash
  • Collar with Pet's Identification Tag – again, I’m going to make tags with emergency contact info even though my dogs are microchipped.
  • Pet food and water (Socking away an extra case of can for hurricane season. I’m also saving empty gallon containers for filling with dog water, and kibble.
  • Food and Water Bowl
  • Medications
  • Name and contact information of you're pet's veterinarian
  • Recent Picture of Pet (check)
  • "Airline Approved" Pet Carrier
    (Carriers should be large enough for the animal to stand up, sit, and turn around) – Got that covered.
  • Muzzle for Chuck & Colin ( I suppose terrified dogs might bite, so I was going to see about either finding used muzzles or making muzzles from an old backpack or leather jacket. Until I read what this person (http://leerburg.com/muzzleselection.htm) had to say, that is: that when stressed, or in a hot environment; as in Florida with no power during a hurricane, a cloth muzzle may prevent a dog from panting, and that could lead to death. So no, no muzzles.