This week’s blog will be a little different than the rest, to keep you (and myself) entertained. Here are some things that you may or may not have known about the environment—ok, some of them are fun but some of them are scary. What did you expect??

1. Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours.
2. During the time it takes you to read this sentence, 50,000 12-ounce aluminum cans are made.
3. An aluminum can may be recycled ad infinitum (forever!).
4. We consume over 80 trillion aluminum cans every year.
5. The world’s tallest tree is a coast redwood in California, measuring more than 360 feet or 110 meters.
6. The world’s oldest trees are 4,600 year old Bristlecone pines in the USA.
7. Every day, American businesses generate enough paper to circle the earth 20 times!
8. Each year, Americans throw away 25 trillion Styrofoam cups.
9. Only 1% of the world’s water supply is usable, 97% are the oceans and 2% is frozen (for now).
10. Mel Blanc (voice of Bugs Bunny) was allergic to carrots (just checking that you’re still paying attention!).
11. Recycling a single run of the Sunday New York Times would save 75,000 trees (I’m guessing it’s about the same for more major papers’ Sunday editions).
12. On average, ONE supermarket goes through 60,500,000 paper bags per year!
13. An automatic dishwasher uses less hot water than doing dishes by hand—an average of six gallons less per cycle, or over 2,000 gallons per year.
14. The amount of wood and paper we throw away each year is enough to heat 50,000,000 homes for 20 years.
15. Every time you open the refrigerator door, up to 30 percent of the cold air can escape.
16. Americans use 2,500,000 plastic bottles every hour, most of which are thrown away!
17. Plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1,000,000 sea creatures every year.
18. A modern glass bottle takes 4000 years or more to decompose.
19. About one-third of an average landfill is made up of packaging material.
20. The U.S. is the #1 trash-producing country in the world at 1,609 pounds per person per year. This means that 5% of the world’s people generate 40% of the world’s waste. We toss out two billion plastic razors, a million and a half tons of paper towels, and 12 billion disposable diapers annually.
21. More than 20,000,000 Hershey’s Kisses are wrapped each day, using 133 square miles of tinfoil. All that foil is recyclable (guilty…now I know)!!
22. Rainforests are being cut down at the rate of 100 acres per minute.
23. If you walk a mile along an average US highway, you will see, on average about 1,457 pieces of litter (yuck!).
24. Consumer Reports tested disposable mops and found that they can cost $115+ a year, compared with $50 for a traditional sponge mop with replacement heads and cleanser (so get rid of that Swiffer!).
25. You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching TV (ok, now you can go take a nap).

These facts were taken from various sites, too numerous to list, but the figures kept popping up pretty consistently. Feel free to add any other eco-facts that you’ve come across.

If you haven’t heard of the Live Earth concerts last week and you’re reading this blog, please tell me that you’ve been on vacation in Bora Bora for the last couple of months!

And if you have heard of them, I’m sure you’ve formulated some opinion, which we, of course, would love to hear. Likewise, I won’t miss the opportunity to share my thoughts, since I was there, in New Jersey (NOT New York!), on the floor, close enough that I didn’t need binoculars to see the screens (or the artists on stage).

I’ll keep it short (though I don’t know about sweet), and, in usual fashion, I’ll bullet point it out (“bullet point” is now officially an action verb):

The Good

• Artist performances were, overall, great! There was a large variety, which appealed to different audiences (as could be seen from the different constituencies clapping when their artist(s) came on, especially for Bon Jovi—go Jersey!).
• There was public transportation (buses) provided to and from NYC.
• Inside the stadium, there were recycling bins and signs that the trash will be sorted out and 90% of it will either be recycled or composted (I saw one recycling area out in the parking lot, too).

The Not-So-Good

• Pepsi was there, asking everyone to recycle and when they did, they got a wrist band…made out of plastic! Ok, recycled plastic, but plastic as a give-away at a “save the earth” concert??
• Phillips was there giving out tips on energy efficiency but they packaged the tips to make them look like press passes, in plastic sleeves (how many CFLs do you need to offset the cost of producing those?).
• I asked one of the guys at the door, before going in, where the recycling was, and he had no clue—people were just throwing everything out in one container.

The Ugly

• I met one guy who was asked to throw out the top of his Nalgene bottle. The whole point of his bringing the bottle was to be eco-friendly, but apparently, the woman at the entrance missed the fact that if he threw out the top, he’d have to get a new bottle (or get a new top—does anyone actually just sell those?? they should’ve for this concert!).
• Wasn’t that enough? I’ll stop there.

That being said, it was a great concert and it’s awesome that awareness is being raised and that stars are getting in on the act. My guess is that it was such an enormous effort that some of the details fell through the cracks. And yes, we can fault the artists for the pollution they created flying all over the world, or for not knowing enough about global warming, or the venues for not doing all they could have, but I’d like to give credit where credit is due (after my grumblings). I also understand that TV watchers were sub-par, but on-line viewership was larger than any other event. That speaks to the type of audience it attracted—it was popular, just not with the traditional TV crowd.

So, thanks Al Gore & company for a great kick-off to what I hope will be an expanding and ongoing awareness-raising effort. It wasn’t perfect, but it’s a start. I think it really planted the seed in people’s minds that this is something that’s here to stay….oh yeah, and that TO BE GREEN IS TO BE HIP & COOL…so what are you waiting for?? At least calculate your carbon footprint! I do have to say that I was saddened to miss Leo DiCaprio’s appearance…must’ve been off waiting in line for the margaritas from a plastic bag (but really, they weren’t that bad!).

It’s summer, it’s time for the beach! Obviously, we all know by now that we should be wearing sunscreen to protect from the sun’s ultraviolet rays, but with so many sunscreens, which is the best? Here are some criteria to help with your decision:

• Protect against UVA and UVB rays: UVBs are better known because they cause sunburn and wrinkles, but UVAs are just as bad. UVAs damage the collagen that gives skin its elasticity. So opt for a broad spectrum sunscreen.

• Choose a sunscreen with a physical blocker: There are chemical and physical sunscreens. When exposed to sunlight, chemical sunscreens generate free radicals that increase the likelihood of developing cancer. Other chemicals have also been shown to mimic estrogen and to be endocrine disruptors for fish. Chemical sunscreen ingredients include: avobenzone, cinnamates, octocrylene, oxybenzone, PABA (para-aminobenzoic acid), padimate-O, and alicylates. Physical blockers, on the other hand, contain titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. Some studies state that titanium dioxide might also react with other sunscreen chemicals to further free radical production (i.e. cancer-causing cells). The best choice seems to be zinc oxide, and the latest advances virtually eliminate the white discoloration that used to be associated with using it. Here are some examples of brands and one more.

• Inorganic is better than organic in this case: Probably the only time I will suggest going inorganic. This is another way of saying the same thing as the previous bullet, but it’s important to be aware of this terminology. Organic sunscreens are partially absorbed by the skin and work by absorbing light within the epidermis. “Organic” means that the sunscreen is made of carbon and hydrogen. The chemical sunscreens are organic. Inorganic sunscreens are the mineral based non-chemical pigments such as zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. They work by creating a physical barrier between the skin and the sun, reflecting sunlight away from the skin.

• Don’t go higher than SPF 30: The protective level of a sunscreen plateaus around SPF 30-32, so anything more is just as effective as SPF 30.

• If in the water, use water-resistant sunscreen: Per FDA requirements, “water resistant” means that the sunscreen retains its SPF rating after 40 minutes in the water whereas “very water resistant” means it last up to 80 minutes.

• Reapply every 2 hours: After a couple of hours, the sunscreen sinks into the layers of the skin cells and is no longer on the surface to protect against UV light. The sunscreen particles trapped beneath the skin’s surface react with the UV light and create more free radicals than the UV light would cause alone. The way to prevent this is to reapply so that the rays don’t get under the first layer.

• Consider natural alternatives: Of course! Natural topical products such as green tea extract, turmeric, and licorice root extract offer protection against premature skin aging and skin cancer.

• Use other protection methods: Wear a hat and sunglasses and avoid the 10am to 3pm period, when the sun is strongest.

Well, the first full week of summer has come and gone and I’m still on expedition in the Mediterranean. Tough life, I know. It’s been amazing, and it struck me the other day that you are probably counting down the days until your summer vacation—your own expedition. While making plans for your getaway, keep in mind that nearly one billion tourists are traveling around the globe every year and the volume of people traveling takes a toll on our environment. Don’t add to the statistics—do good by yourself and the planet by promising that your summer vacation will have a positive earthecho!

While planning your vacation, I encourage you to visit Independent Traveler and read this recent MSNBC.com article with eco-friendly tips you can refer to. The subtitle of the article, “How to leave nothing but a footprint in your travels,” says it all. Individuals who minimize their environmental footprints by traveling green are able to protect the places they love to visit not just for themselves, but for future travelers and the people that live there.

Here are a few easy actions you can take to make your summer travel more ecofriendly:

• Choose a green hotel hotel: For a list of eco-friendly options, visit Independent Travel’s Green Resource Center, environmentallyfriendlyhotels.com, or the Green Hotel Association.
• Be good to your hosts: Reuse your sheets and towels rather than having the hotel change them every day; keep your showers short and turn off the water when brushing your teeth; and turn off the air conditioning, heat, lights, television and other electric devices.
• Get around green: For shorter trips, take the train rather than flying (especially within Europe); rent a hybrid car or the smallest vehicle that can comfortably accommodate you; remember you can always walk or bike!
• Sightsee with care: When snorkeling, do not touch the coral or stir up sediment; try to buy local products whenever possible instead of those that have been flown or shipped in from overseas; and always treat the locals with respect.

Need more info? Visit the International Ecotourism Society for additional traveler’s tips and check out Anca’s blog on how to offset your carbon emissions. And although they don’t have an environmental focus, Lonely Planet has an awesome website.

I’d love to hear where you are off to this summer and what you’ll be doing to make a positive difference for the environment. If you haven’t already, share your summer vacation story with us. Bon voyage!