Beware of Greenwashing!
What is greenwashing and what can you do to protect yourself?

Companies have started realizing that doing good for the planet is good for business. Unfortunately, they’ve also figured out that making consumers think they’re doing good can be just as beneficial. This deception is known as “greenwashing.” The term refers to a marketing technique whereby a company falsely claims to have taken environmentally friendly actions.

According to a 2007 report by TerraChoice Environmental Marketing, a large majority of environmental marketing claims are inaccurate, inappropriate, or unsubstantiated. Some good news can be had in the fact that the Federal Trade Commission is currently looking to tighten its voluntary environmental marketing guidelines. However, keep in mind that these will still be voluntary, not enforced.

The most blatant greenwashers are often large corporations that have had a controversial environmental past, such as chemical, oil and car companies. For example, an energy corporation might tout the fact that it’s investing millions of dollars in sustainable sources of energy while concurrently dumping toxins into public waterways.

A more easily identifiable form of greenwashing can be found at your grocery store. Numerous companies have started using the word “natural” on their household cleaning and personal care products to entice consumers who are looking for an eco-friendly alternative. “Natural” may sound healthy and planet-friendly but it means very little since there is no third-party certification required to make that claim.

Here are some ways you can identify greenwashing:

1. Examine the claim. Is the product certified by a legitimate third party organization? Are they claiming that the entire product is green or just some of the ingredients/materials?

2. Ask for proof. Is the company willing to provide a copy of the environmental standard or testing protocol? Is the process open, public and transparent? Does it address the product’s lifecycle and larger environmental effects?

3. Check for consistency. If this is an international organization, are they selling the same products in other countries? If they advertised themselves as ‘green’, are they still doing what they claim to be doing six months or a year after the ad came out?

4. Follow the money. What organizations is the company supporting? Who are they donating their money to?

To learn more about greenwashing and companies that are and are not doing it, check you these sites:

• Corp Watch

• The EnviroMedia Greenwashing Index

• Greener Choices

• Do The Right Thing

Turkey Day is past us, and the rest of the holiday season is right around the corner. In celebration, and to encourage you to buy green gifts for the holidays, we wanted to provide you with a list of green stores in the Washington, DC, area. I’ll keep the list short since you’re probably eager to get started right away!

• Eco-Green Living: Keith’s store has been around for a few years and offers a great variety of green and fair trade products, ranging from home and building to home and personal accessories to organic and fair trade clothing. It is located in Logan Circle, one street away from Whole Foods.
• Greater Goods: Recently opened, this store on U Street focuses on products for energy efficiency, water savings, and waste management. As a side note, Eco-Coach will be doing workshops there in the new year, so check out their website for an upcoming schedule!
• Hoopla: Another recently-opened store, this Adams Morgan store is for the green fashionista. They carry a range of fair trade, green, and eco-friendly jewelry, handbags, clothing, and art.

And if you want to take a break from shopping and get some good, sustainable food, here are some of our favorite restaurants for you to try out!

• Java Green: Absolutely wonderful vegan food - I’m not a vegetarian nor a food critic, but Java Green has a loyal following (yours truly being one of the disciples), not to mention that all the plastics used are biodegradable (down to the straws!).
• Hook: For those of you who like fish but don’t eat it because it’s not sustainable, I’ve got great news! Now there’s a place to go to get your fix! Did I mention that EarthEcho International helped them with their sustainability messaging? The food is great, can’t say enough about it!
• Restaurant Nora: A classic - or should I say two classics - Restaurant Nora and Asia Nora are both certified organic. Actually, Restaurant Nora was the first certified organic restaurant in the United States. Pretty exciting and, again, great food.

If you’re in other parts of the country, we’d love to hear what your favorite places are - and if you’re in DC and have discovered other green places, let us know!!

You’ve all heard of the Atkins diet, and the Miami Beach diet, but have you heard of the latest diet craze in green circles? It’s the “low carbon” diet and many of you are probably “dieting” without knowing it. If you’ve been reading this blog and others on how to “green” your lifestyle, and have been making changes to be green (or greener), then you’re on your way.
Why is this important? Because we (I’m referring to Americans right now, though really, it’s humans in general) are the biggest polluters on a per capita basis. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration states that the average American emits about 35,000 to 40,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. This includes home, work and recreational habits, as well as the products we consume.

So, how can we decrease our footprint? Here are some interesting facts, following on the heels of the last blog (Did you know?), but this time focusing solely on the action and carbon emissions generated by that action. As always, there are many sources available, and though the numbers may differ somewhat, this should give you an idea of the impact:

* Amount of carbon dioxide that is saved” or not released in the air.
I’m sure you’ve heard of carbon calculators, and I’ve covered them in a previous blog as well. A couple of others are the EPA and Live Earth ones—take a look and see which you prefer given the amount of information you have (some require you to have detailed information about monthly energy used, etc…). Happy dieting!

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.

If you’re like me, and others in the US right now, you’re hearing about how to be green from your morning anchor person, the sign at your supermarket, and your dry cleaner. So who should you listen to and how can you figure out which sources are the most accurate? Well, there’s good and bad news. The good news is that there are a lot of valid sources; the bad news is, well, the same. Below, I’ve picked out and described a few of the major resource sites. I’ve tried to keep the list short, so as not to be overwhelming, but there really are a lot of great sites out there!

Which conventional product is the most eco-friendly?

• Environmental Working Group: Their consumer tools section provides information on which regular products are safe to use. This ranges from cosmetics to vegetables and fish.
• Greener Choices: Hosted by Consumer Reports, this site rates appliances, cars, and electronics, among others.
• Lite Green: International site that rates different mainstream products, ranging from H&M clothing to Coca-Cola.

Which green product should I buy?

• EcoLabels: Consumer Union’s guide to environmental labels. You can search by label, logo, or certifier.
• SustainLane: Directory of green products and businesses rated by the user community.
• FiveLimes: Canadian site for green products, rated by users.
• Pristine Planet: Offers comparison-shopping capabilities for green products with coupons and product reviews.

Where can I get general info on green lifestyle?

• Treehugger (of course!): Aims to be a one-stop “shop for green news, solutions, and product information.”
• Hugg: User-submitted news stories related to all aspects of the environment. Get bite-sized info and decide whether you want to read more and rate it (kind of like Digg).
• RiverWired: Compiles news from about 200 sites and categorizes them—lots of info!

Now it’s your turn to look through these resources and figure out which you like best. Also, feel free to tell us your favorites so we can add them to the list!

If you’re thinking about planting trees to offset the carbon dioxide emitted by your car or plane trip, think again. Don’t get me wrong - I LOVE trees and green spaces. But planting trees is not the most effective way to counterbalance CO2 pollution.

US Today had an interesting article about this, which goes hand in hand with research that I have read about in the past. Essentially, the article points out that planting trees is a short-term solution, and we can’t possibly plant enough trees to cover the amount of CO2 emitted. Not to mention that different types of trees take in different amounts of carbon dioxide, and trees emit carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere when they die.

What should you do instead?

• Calculate your carbon footprint: There are many carbon footprint calculators out there, such as those found at Conservation International, BeGreenNow and World Wildlife Fund in the UK, to name a few. Though they are not an exact science, it’s always interesting to use a couple and see what your average footprint might be.

• Now that you’ve got a sense of your footprint, MINIMIZE IT!
  First and foremost, minimize your overall carbon footprint. This includes transportation, energy use, and items that you own—the majority of actions you take directly or indirectly impact the amount of carbon dioxide emitted. The websites listed above all have tips on how to reduce your footprint, as does the Inconvenient Truth website.

• Offset the rest of your emissions: Once you’ve calculated your footprint and implemented some changes, your footprint will be smaller and you can now offset the rest of your emissions. To get an idea of companies, pricing, and method by which they offset emissions, take a look at this comparison chart. Pick a company that is third-party certified and that also funds renewable energy resources as a means of reducing CO2, such as Carbonfund and Terrapass.

Now you can get on that plane, if you must. And don’t forget to wave “HELLO!” to the trees from the air!

A couple of days ago, I received an email from a friend about a clothing swap. She is getting ready to move and was about to donate her clothes when she got the idea of having a swap with friends. I’ll admit it, I still have some clothes with tags on them that looked cute in the store but somehow never made it out of my closet. Perfect for the swap! This got me thinking about the evils of impulse shopping and consumerism, but before I digress, and since I’m also a culprit, I’ll stop and offer some suggestions on how to make your wardrobe (and mine) more eco-friendly:

• Think before you buy: Are you really going to wear that micro mini outside your house? Remember, your closet is not a storage unit! If you have limited closet space, like me, you might end up losing clothes in the back of the closet, only to have them resurface at the end of the season. So, buy only what you will realistically wear, and before you do, you might want to check whether the clothes have been manufactured in a sweatshop, just in case!

• Buy higher quality clothing when possible: I’m not advocating you spend all your money on trendy designer names. However, there are certain basic pieces in a wardrobe that can withstand the changes in fashion from year to year. Buying higher quality pieces means they will last longer and you will save money in the long run, not to mention that they will look better on you!

• Choose eco-friendly fabrics: More and more affordable choices can be found in regular stores. See Alexandra’s great blog about eco-fashion and organic cotton clothing for more info.

• Consider vintage or used: Yes, it’s used, but if you’re going for a unique look that won’t be found on everyone else this season, you might want to check out a vintage shop near you. Freewill Fashions in New York is an example of how vintage can be fashionable.

• Limit your washing: Washing is energy intensive, so only wash when you have a full load, and use the lowest temperature. There are very few items that need to be washed in hot water, so warm and even cold are perfectly acceptable settings. It goes without saying that you should use biodegradable detergents. As for dry cleaning, switch to a green cleaner. Perc (perchloroethylene), the major active ingredient in conventional dry cleaning, is a carcinogen and has been associated with reproductive and nervous system issues. There are a few green cleaning alternatives, including wet cleaning, cleaners that use the Green Earth method, and cleaners that clean with carbon dioxide.

• Donate your clothes or organize a clothing swap. On average, we each throw away about 68 pounds of clothing and textiles a year. I’m sure there is someone out there who could benefit from items you don’t wear. Check with your friends, look for organized swaps, or donate it to a local charity or on Freecyle.

The great thing about taking these steps is that, not only will it make your wardrobe more eco-friendly, but it will re-acquaint you with the clothes you own. You will look inside your closet and find clothes you could actually wear, instead of reciting the “I have nothing to wear” mantra every time you look in there.

Wondering what to get the graduate in your family? How about getting them something that’s eco-friendly and matches their interests? Eco-friendly doesn’t necessarily mean an organic shirt or Fair Trade items, although those are great as well. You can get something related to your graduate’s interests that he/she will use longer term or something for his/her next stage in life, be it college or entering the “real” world. Some ideas:

• An adventure: They’ve graduated and have the whole summer in front of them—it’s time for some adventure! Excitations or the Green Tortoise Bus Tour provide some fun experiences that they’ll remember for a long time.

• Transportation: Whether it’s a brand new bike and/or related accessories, or a Eurail pass to help them on their wanderings, having a way to get around is always appreciated it (if it’s an old car, you might want to promote the biking!).

• Sports equipment: Encourage him/her to spend time outdoors and play their favorite sport. Whether it’s at the park or on a field, they’re still experiencing a bit of nature and hopefully learning to appreciate and respect it!

• Music: No, I don’t mean CDs, I mean a gift card for music downloads, from a source such as iTunes. If they don’t have an iPod or MP3 player, that might be an option. While you’re at it, you can also get a solar charger like Solio to help them power it up (or power up their cell phone, which they are sure to be using!).

• Eco-friendly furniture: Be it for their dorm room in college or their apartment out of college, or even after grad school, home-related items are always welcome (but make sure they match your graduate’s tastes!!). Choices include: Ikea, Eco-Furniture, 2modern (their eco-friendly section), Re-Modern and Vivavi, among many others.

• Eco-friendly anything! There are so many products out there, there’s bound to be one that fits his/her tastes. Great Green Goods is a blog to check out on eco-friendly items to buy. Take a look, or make something (as always, a good option for the creative types).

Let us know of other ideas you’ve come up with!