Archive for December, 2009

Green De-Icing Tips

For many of us in Northern climates, snow and ice buildup on roads, driveways, and walkways during the winter is inevitable.  There are many options out there for de-icing, but not all of them are safe for the environment.  Before you run down to the home store to pick up a bag of de-icer, consider these factors: The most common de-icing compound is rock salt, or sodium chloride.  Rock salt is widely available and effective, but as it dissolves releases a high amount of chloride into the environment.  This chloride pollutes streams, rivers and lakes, kills vegetation, and corrodes metal (such as bridges and cars). Another de-icing salt is calcium chloride.  Calcium chloride is also readily available and effective, working even at lower temperatures than rock salt, but still releases high levels of chloride into the environment and can cause skin irritation when using it.  Calcium chloride can also break down the chemical composition of concrete driveways and walkways. Two de-icing salts that are less detrimental to the environment are potassium chloride and magnesium chloride.  They are said to release about 40% less chlorides that calcium chloride and sodium chloride, and as a result are less toxic to plants, trees, and waterways. A greener ...

Genetically Modified Foods (GMO) and Their Impact on our Health

Genetically modified food is food that has essentially had its DNA changed for one reason or another.  For example, say you have a watermelon, and you want to be able to grow the watermelon in a cooler climate, so that you can have watermelons all year round.  A genetically modified watermelon could accomplish this.  The "seedless" watermellons, grapes, and citrus fruits so bountiful in the supermarket produce section are also genetically modified.  Unadulterated fruit has seeds.  At some point, a scientist demised that a seedless variety would be more convenient for consumers and thus altered the fruit's DNA to create a new variety. Genetically modified foods are created with genetic engineering, and it has been causing quite a scene over the past few years.   Many people do not agree with this process, due to the ethics of the practice and the safety of the environment.  It is not always healthy or right for the environment when our crops are genetically modified in order for more to be produced, to make more profit.  But then there is the case of selective breeding, which also creates some uproar within the people. Selective breeding is basically selecting different traits or characteristics from a parent plant ...

Ten Right Reasons for Recycling

According to estimates, every American produces an average of 7.5 pounds of trash on a daily basis.  This number may seem little but when you add it up, said waste will amount to one ton of trash a year!  Now, multiply that with the US population and you will quickly realize why we need to recycle our wastes lest we find ourselves on sinking boat of trash.  With that being said, here are ten more reason to recycle now. 1- It Makes For Good Economy Recycling makes good economic sense in many ways.  Many states profit from recycling revenues, often running in the billions of dollars, which can then be poured into making the economy stronger.  It does not hurt either that our country exports its recycled products to other nations.  Also, many companies rely on recycled materials to produce new products. 2- It Creates Jobs The recycling industry is on a roll.  As such, it requires manpower that means more jobs even in these recessionary times.  In fact, the industry earns more than $236 billions annually, employs more than 1 million workers and continues to do so. 3- It Reduces Waste This is a no-brainer as recycling is intended to lessen the wastes in our ...

Green Tips for Using Vanilla in Your Home

Vanilla is considered one of the world's most expensive spices, next only to saffron and cardamom.  In fact, it is so highly-prized that growers will do just about anything and everything within the bounds of the law to protect their crops from thieves.  These facts are not surprising considering the wide range of culinary uses vanilla has in many global cuisines. Did you know, however, that the vanilla extract can be used to make the Earth a greener place to live in?  Yes, indeed but first a few basic things about vanilla just to enrich your knowledge of this aromatic spice. Spice Description Vanilla traces its origins in Mexico although countries as far away as Tahiti and Indonesia also produce the plant in large tracts of land.  The flavor comes from the bean, or seed pod, of the plant itself although synthetic extracts are also available.  Take note that synthetic vanilla is identical in flavor to the natural beans, if and only if it is of the highest quality. Speaking of the beans, these contain thousands of tiny black seeds that are scraped off for their strong flavors and smells.  All vanilla beans have a rich, full and powerful aroma although the Indonesian and ...

Greener Holiday Wrapping Paper and Gift Bags

Gift giving is a tradition that has been practiced for years, especially during Christmas season.  Thousands of dollars are spent each year on wrapping paper, gift bags, and ribbons.  Unfortunately, all these wrapping materials become wastes within minutes on Christmas day itself.  However, we can do our part on preserving the environment by planning our gift-giving tradition and using greener wrapping materials. Many manufacturers produce handmade wrapping papers that are tree-free.  These sheets of wrapping paper are obtainable in various natural materials, such as woven grass, tree bark, spun silk, banana fiber, hemp, and lokta.  Lokta paper is made from the inner bark of lokta bush, which grow plentiful in Nepal.  The lokta bushes grow very quickly, which makes them as great papermaking sources.  On the other hand, banana paper is made from the fiber off banana tree barks, commonly found in Asian countries.  Other materials used to make green wrapping paper are recycled office paper and recycled rags.  When purchasing recycled wrapping paper, watch for products with 100 percent post-consumer waste (PCW) content and processed chlorine-free (PCF) paper products.  This means that no additional chlorine was used to bleach the recycled paper product. Besides using recycled wrapping paper and gift bags, ...