This new ‘eco’ company is selling Vermont Maple saplings in sets of three to dog owners everywhere. I wasn’t planning on posting this at all (more on why in a sec) but then today I ran across this piece: Guide to the bleeding obvious, which made me laugh, and I wanted to share. The bleeding guide is a hilarious look at Fetchstix. It’s totally worth a read, but that might be where the funny stops; at least for green-minded dog owners.

Here’s the scoop. I get a promo email about 12 days ago about said Fetchstixs. I head to the site, because natural dog toys seem pretty green to me, and what am I greeted with? The image below.

I find it funny when people send me emails about products for my green blogs then send me to a site with a forest that’s there one minute and gone the next. I also see that the sticks are made with saplings, which excuse me if I misunderstand, but aren’t saplings baby trees! I think to myself, maybe they’re getting these sticks from scraps, so I look around the website and nothing.

I email back noting one, I don’t write about pets, and two, I might if the pet product is eco-friendly but that I’m not seeing the eco-connection here. It’s been 12 days and I haven’t heard back so I’m guessing there is no eco-connection.

If you top off this product with emissions made by the shipping process, this becomes an even less suitable ‘eco’ dog toy. That said if you bookmark their page you’ll see they’ve tagged it with “Funny eco gifts for dog lovers” so… I don’t know, maybe they think it’s an eco gift.

Around the eco-blogosphere folks are on the fence as well.

• Treehugger is ambivalent. BUT read the comments to see what their readers think (not so on board).
• Alternative Consumer (a favorite green blog of mine) seems ok with them.
• My friend Peggy, also a green blogger is fine with them on her pet blog. (I still adore her).

There are also folks who aren’t so on the fence. Some of us think this is a lame idea. Like Pet Show Blog and this person who I randomly found on Facebook - BTW - I’m not on board, I wouldn’t buy them. I can’t sign on with these as a green product. Sorry folks.

What do you think?

Post from: Blisstree

Three ‘eco’ dog sticks for $13!? Um…

I mention this because every so often I’ll run into what I call an Green-Nazi. In Humboldt it happened a lot. In Portland it happens less, but it still happens. Green Nazis think they’re greener than everyone else and criticize you on lots of lame little things. You use a reusable water bottle, live in a small house, use reusable grocery bags, and make all homemade cleaners - it still isn’t enough for the Green Nazis, they’ll just whine about the fact that they found one piece of plastic in your fridge or a clothing item in your closet made from conventional cotton.  If you have kids it can be even worse because the crunchier than you parents descend in and attack.

To be fair, Green Nazis types are good in a way because they do remind you of what you could be doing to be greener. But on the far bigger cons side, these folks use shame and guilt to make you feel like you should be greener, not education and support. Personally, I hate that these folks turn some people off to green living and make other green-happy people look bad. Lastly, as noted above, the Green Nazis are just plain wrong; they aren’t perfect. It’s totally impossible; well, maybe not totally, but in today’s society, being perfectly green and leaving zero footprints would be a huge feat.

If you’ve run into folks like this, or if green living is frustrating you because you’ve made mistakes, take heart and keep on trucking. To make you feel better I’ve made a list of ten anti-green things I did this week.

1. I left the coffee pot on overnight: This mistake surprised me because I’m normally really good about turning stuff off, and even unplugging items when not in use. When I noticed the coffee pot had been left on for about 24 hours, my first thought was HOW not eco-friendly. The second - um, I could have burned the house down (see how my priorities are screwy).
2. I used toxic Raid to terminate a spider and trust me I will again.
3. I bought non-organic apples: I HATE doing this. Apples are one of the dirty dozen but the organic apples at the store this week looked like someone ran them down with a semi, so I bought conventional.
4. I bought non-organic, non-fair trade coffee along with the apples. The organic was too expensive this week where I was.
5. I bought my son a Lunchable. One, not organic. Two, so much excess packaging it’s crazy.
6. I forgot to refill the water bottle in my fridge so I let the water run before filling my glass when I should have just gotten ice.
7. I drove to the store for just two items. Could I have lived without them - yeah probably.
8. I threw a toilet paper tube in the trash. I suck with toilet paper tubes.
9. I ran one load of wash that could have been fuller had I tried.
10. I bought a toxic car air freshener. Stupid because duh, I know how to make homemade and or non-toxic ones.

Do I feel guilty? Actually yeah somewhat. I usually realize when I make green mistakes and it eats at me a bit. Some mistakes bug me more than others, especially when they affect my son (like the non-organic apples). BUT I don’t let the mistakes get me too down. I’m pretty good about green living overall and more importantly I try. If you make mistakes, but try, you can’t really let yourself get too down about it, or you’ll get so frustrated that you’ll give up. Giving up is the worst green choice you can make. Small steps are better than no steps. Tell yourself that the next time you feel bad about a choice you make, avoid the Green Nazis, and trust me, it’ll all be fine.

Do you ever feel green guilt? How come?

[image via stock.xchng]

Post from: Blisstree

How to be perfectly green - just like me!

Perks of the new site:

• It looks amazing compared to the old site; very chic now and much easier to navigate.
• A new chart that will help you to choose the best sunless tanning products for your skin type.
• Complete ingredient lists for products (yay!).
• New important information on healthy skin care and sun dangers.
• Fabulous self-tanning tips from creator Dera Enochson.

The deal: Visit Xen-Tan and get 15% off purchases with coupon code VACATION09 - good for all orders place before August 30, 2009.

[image courtesy of Xen-Ten]

Post from: Blisstree

Xen-Ten Self Sunless Tanner Coupon Code

First of all - look where you like. Places like Gaiam, Origins, The Arbor Day Foundation and Whole Foods all list career pages. You can search the job boards, or go right to the source. If there’s a green company you’re interested in, odds are they have a job page at their website. However, if you do want job boards, read on…

Green job boards:

The Treehugger job boards list all sorts of green jobs. From PETA marketers, to staff accountants, to green tech, to fashion interns, this job board has a little something for everyone.

Find a job working for one of the many green non-profits - i.e. the Environmental Defense Fund, the National Audobon Society, the Rainforest Alliance, the Sierra Club and more. Part of the much larger Green Jobs Network.

Grist job boards - all kinds of green jobs. Plus, it’s been updated much more frequently as of late.

Renewable energy related green jobs.

Green Dream Jobs has many cool gigs to browse.

Excellent and frequently updated list of green job expos and conferences.

Green Gigs is a great board. They don’t post scads of jobs, but always seem to post good ones. Plus since this is ablog, not just job board, they post helpful tips, interviews with green employees, and more.

Environmental jobs - lots of mainly upper level green jobs.

If you’re into green building, urban planning, or eco-architecture, the Green Construction Guide is a must read.

Also see the previous post; California’s Green Job Guidebook

Are you searching for a green job right now? What sort?

[image via stock.xchng]

Post from: Blisstree

Where are all the green jobs?

Walmart  recently held an “Earth Day Every Day School Challenge” in which schools could send  in videos and essays about their school’s green qualities. Walmart, who is trying to go more green, although, presonally I think they could do better (another story for another time), chose 20 green school finalists and online voters picked the grand prize winner.

Ok, do you have a school in mind (did you peek)? The winning school was…

Corvallis High School in lovely rainy Oregon (my home state!).

Some of the reasons why Corvallis came out the winner include:

• The school consumes 30 percent less energy than every other school built to the Oregon code. The school is furthering these efforts with plans to eventually install solar panels.
• The school’s Green Club spearheads a campaign to encourage students to use carbon-neutral transportation by offering incentives to bike or walk to school.
• In 2009 a group of Corvallis students traveled to the national Power Shift environmental conference in Washington D.C.
• Recycling is easily accessible throughout the school.
• The school is certified with a LEED Silver Rating.
• Lastly, Corvallis High offers school offers environmentally focused classes including: Economics of Conscious Consumption, AP Biology with a bio-diesel capstone project, Political Action Workshop and AP Environmental Science.

Corvallis High was awarded a $20,000 grant from Walmart to further its environmental efforts and in a nice turn of events, Walmart also gave $500 gift certificates to the other finalists.

To read more about Corvallis High and other schools making the green grade, visit the Earth Day Every Day School Challenge.

Post from: Blisstree

America’s Most Eco-Friendly School

Basically it works like this…

1. See if RecycleBank is offered in your area. RecycleBank serves more than one million people across 19 states (TN, PA, NJ, NY, MA, VT, VA, DE, CT, NE, MN, SD, TX, OH, KS, NM, FL, MI, and AZ).
2. Sign up for RecycleBank.
3. Gather up all your recyclable materials and place them into a cart for curbside pick up.
4. Recycling carts have an identification tag that is recorded by the recycling truck, which in turn gets back to RecycleBank.
5. The amount recycled is converted into RecycleBank Points, which you can use to order rewards such as free Yo Baby Organic yogurt, $ off green products, and more.

If RecycleBank is offered in your area, it’s a cook perk on top of helping make the world a cleaner place. Visit RecycleBank to learn more.

Below is RecycleBank’s piece; Recycling…as American as Apple Pie:

What is patriotic? Fighting for one’s country is patriotic, flag-waving is patriotic, singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” is patriotic. Now, let’s think outside the bin (sorry, recycling humor) to something you do everyday. That’s right. Every time you reduce, reuse and recycle you’re celebrating your love for your country.

During World War II citizens were urged to recycle (or “salvage”) metal, rubber, paper and even kitchen fat to help in the war effort. Today’s soldiers don’t need recycled steel for guns, salvaged kitchen fat for explosives or scrap paper for packaging, but recycling is still patriotic.

By recycling, we show our love for our country by protecting our nation’s resources, reducing our dependence on the resources of other countries and boosting our economy.

Here’s how:

-Recycling plastic reduces the need for virgin plastic. Of course, virgin plastic isn’t a natural resource, but the petroleum used to make it is. In fact, approximately 4% of our annual oil consumption is used to make plastics. By recycling more plastic we reduce the need for the production of virgin plastic and that reduces our dependence on foreign oil.

-Manufacturing products using recycled materials instead of virgin materials requires a lot less energy. Making an aluminum can from recycled aluminum requires 95% less energy than making an aluminum can from virgin aluminum. In 2003, we reduced our oil usage by more than 15 million barrels by recycling 54 billion aluminum cans.

-Of course, oil isn’t our only source of energy. Recycling materials also reduces our need for coal—and that protects those purple mountains majesty.

-Using less energy also saves money. Saving money improves the national economy, but the recycling industry has given the national economy a real boost by creating over a million jobs. In fact, a recent report by the Pew Charitable Trusts found that jobs in conservation and pollution mitigation (including the recycling industry) make up 65% of the United States’ clean energy economy.

-Recycling reduces the amount of solid waste we need to dump in landfills, which in turn, reduces the need for landfills. By protecting our land from being “filled” with garbage, we’re helping to keep America beautiful.

-Recycling paper protects our forests by reducing the need for trees to produce paper. Recycling cars and other objects made of steel and iron reduces the amount of iron ore we must mine and recycling aluminum reduces the amount of aluminum we have to pull out of the ground.

There you have it. You love your country. You just have a different way of showing it. Now, gather your friends and family and enjoy your 4th of July barbecue. Don’t forget to grab your recycled (and recyclable) plates and your recycled American flag.

Post from: Blisstree

Recycling…as American as Apple Pie

Major changes you can make to minimize your car dependence:

• Live closer to what you need. If you live closer to schools, shops, work, and so on, you’ll obviously drive less.
• Live in a town with excellent public transportation.
• Get rid of one car. One newer study found that Americans alone own about 2.28 vehicles per household. If you learn to live with just one car you can make a huge difference to the environment.
• Carpooling can take some work, which is why I’m placing it in major changes, but once you get going with a carpool plan (for you to work, for the kids to school, etc) it gets easier.
• Make the things you need at home - i.e. grow a garden and drive to the grocery store less. Sew some clothing, fix an item that’s broken instead of buying new, and so on.

Easy changes you can make to minimize your car dependence:

• Use public transportation or bike at least once a week.
• Merge your errands and other car trips together. Short trips actually create more pollution as studies show that more emissions are released during cold start ups.
• Walk somewhere once a week. In my neighborhood we have a community mail area, and I’ve seen people driving to their mailbox, then right back to their home. WTF? Walk somewhere close, walk somewhere far, but do walk at least once, and never drive to the mail folks; not if it’s just down the street.

What other ways can you think of to minimize your dependence on cars?

[image via stock.xchng]

Post from: Blisstree

Minimize your automobile dependence

According to How to Make the World a Better Place: 116 Ways You Can Make a Difference gasoline and diesel fuel are linked to as many as 30,000 deaths annually (and that’s just in the U.S.).

Cars contribute to rising ozone levels and as these levels rise so do human deaths. Not counting death, cars create scads of health issues. According to the EPA, outdoor air pollution from cars, SUVs, trucks, and buses may cause the following negative health issues:

• Cancer
• Birth defects
• Reduced oxygen to body tissues.
• Developmental delays
• Reduced immunity
• Difficulty in breathing, decreases in lung capacity, inflammation of lung tissue and respiratory damage.
• Headache, dizziness, and nausea
• And more.

When gasoline is used to power cars it contributes to soil, air and water pollution.

The EPA notes that air pollution caused by gasoline can cause reproductive effects and developmental delays in wildlife, toxicity to aquatic plants and animals, and accumulation of pollutants in the food chain.

An excess of resources, energy, and materials are used to manufacture cars and in most cases all parts of a car are not recycled at the end of the car’s life.

If you want to ignore eco-issues created by cars you might take a look at other health issues like obesity and the related problems to being overweight. People walk far less now than they used to which of course is not entirely related to all this driving we’re doing now. Seriously, you can drive a lot, still exercise, and be fit, but overall, research shows that driving times do contribute to weight gain.

Of course the fact that gasoline is a limited resource, one that won’t be around forever, is a much more in-depth topic then we have time for right here, but it’s also is part of the negative auto dependence issue.

Coming up, some ways green your auto use and be healthier.

[image via stock.xchng]

Post from: Blisstree

Problems with automobile dependence

Many e-cards are free while other companies offer a mix of paid (low cost) and free e-cards. The exception is with premium wedding and other celebration e-cards that usually include photos. Check the fine print at the following e-card shops.

Here are some good e-card options:

Fresh Produce e-card, part of the 4th of July collection at E-Cards shown above

GREEN CHOICE - E-Cards - This site offers e-cards and eco information. They also support various environmental organizations by donating links, news space and a percentage of their revenue. Organizations supported include; World Wildlife Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Defense, Grist Magazine, The New American Dream and The Green Schools Initiative.

Hallmark e-cards - huge selection.

GREEN CHOICE - Care 2 ecards - this is a greener choice than other e-cards because for every e-card sent, Care2 makes a donation to an environmental nonprofit to save a square foot of rainforest. All holidays and just because cards are available.

pingg - some of the most stylish e-cards available. I love their cards.

GREEN CHOICE:  Ocean Conservancy’s Free eCards

123 Greetings

GREEN CHOICE: Nature Conservancy e-cards for Earth Day or general nature e-cards.

Getting married this summer? E-cards of all sorts are available for weddings now, and they’re just as pretty as paper cards…

• Engagement Party & Wedding Invitations Go Digital
• Perfect Digital Wedding Cards

Post from: Blisstree

Send a green e-card for any occasion

You can get a pink baby basket, a blue baby basket, or other baskets, but all come with the same gifts mentioned above, just in varying styles.

[image via Burgundy Blue]

Post from: Blisstree

Tree Baby - Green Baby Shower Gift