Green Zone Broadcasts
December 6-14, 2011

December 6
Today’s Tip:  Buy the Perfect Gift

When shopping for the perfect gift for friends and family, you want to make sure you’re not only getting them something they will love, but something that’s healthy and sustainable, as well.  Here are some festive, and GREEN, gift ideas:

• A cell phone headset, to limit exposure to radiation
• Safe cookware, like stainless steel, cast iron, and glass
• Great documentaries like “Gasland,” “King Corn: You Are What You Eat,” and “Food, Inc.”
• Insightful books on green living and healthy eating like The Conscious Kitchen, Green Goes with Everything: Simple Steps to a Healthier Life and a Cleaner Planet and Green, Greener, Greenest: A Practical Guide to Making Eco-Smart Choices a Part of Your Life. Of course, you can always gift a copy of my latest book, Green Clean, a helpful place to start a program of greening up your living space.
• Shopping for a new baby? Check out safer bath toys, natural wood rattles, or comfortable organic cotton onesies.

And where to buy these green sustainable gifts? They’re all available online through a special link at Amazon.com. It‘s set up by the Environmental Working Group, or EWG for short, my favorite site for information on all things green. Bookmark http://ewg.org/amazon so you can always find it when you do your holiday shopping. A portion of what you pay will support EWG and the good research they do on all year long to keep us informed.

December 7
Today’s Tip:  Top ten sources of vitamin C

Its cold and flu season and no one likes being sick, especially during the holidays. A good way to ward off germs is by getting lots of vitamin C. Vitamin C helps the body maintain healthy tissues and a strong immune system, and it aids in the absorption of iron. Vitamin C is considered a powerful ally if you’re trying to avoid or kick a cold or other illness.

The recommended daily allowance for adult men is 90 mg and for adult women it's 75 mg. Recent research has called into question the efficacy of vitamin C pills, so its much much better to get your vitamin C naturally.

Here are the top ten food sources of vitamin C, in order from most to least, according to the USDA's Dietary Guidelines for Americans.  You may be surprised to find that oranges don't rank No. 1.

• Guava  * Red sweet pepper  * Kiwi  * Oranges
• Green sweet pepper  * Grapefruit   * Vegetable juice
• Strawberries  *  Brussels sprouts, and  * Cantaloupe

So grab your shopping bag, go to your nearest organic market, and stock up on natural vitamin C to stay healthy this holiday season.

December 8
Today’s Tip:  Buy “Go Green” postage stamps

I went to the post office the other day to get a book of stamps. Rather than just buy any old graphic on a stamp, I like picking out my own, something that speaks to who I am and will pretty up an envelope. To my surprise, the post office now sells a sheet of “Go Green Step By Step” stamps. One sheet gets you 15 44 cent stamps for $6.60.

Each stamp illustrates a simple thing we can each do every day, with only a few small changes to the way we live. I’ve talked about most of these in past “Green Zone” broadcasts, but it helps to have a list, and a daily reminder. Here are the 15 tips:

• Buy local produce and reuse bags.
• Fix water leaks.
• Share rides.
• Turn off lights not in use.
• Choose to walk.
• Compost.
• Dry clothes outside on a clothesline.
• Recycle as much as possible.
• Ride a bike.
• Plant trees.
• Insulate your home.
• Use public transportation.
• Use energy efficient light bulbs.
• Adjust the thermostat
• Maintain correct tire pressure.
• And the last tip, “Go green: Reduce our environmental footprint, step by step”

Not only do these stamps make good daily reminders, they help spread the word and raise eco-awareness. I don’t know about you, but I think they make a good little Christmas stocking stuffer. Check ‘em out at your local post office.

December 9
Today’s Tip:  When it comes to crop yields and profit, organic farming is better than conventional farming

A three-decade study of corn, soybean, and wheat farming has concluded that organic farming outperforms conventional, chemical farming when it comes to crop yields, sustainability, and profit. The Rodale Institute’s Farming Systems Trial set out to assess high-acreage crops and included farmers who are veterans of chemical farming as well as advisory board members who are strongly entrenched in chemical agriculture.

Here are a few of the study’s conclusions:
   • An organic farmer can expect to earn double, on less land, than a chemical farmer. And that gap will grow as the demand for organic products grows.
    • Genetically-modified crop farmers typically end up using more herbicides, making it more expensive to farm with genetically-modified crops than with heritage crops.
    • Crop yields for organic and conventional systems were equal throughout the trial except in years of drought, when organic corn yields were 31 percent higher than conventional yields.
     • Organic farming uses 45 percent less energy than conventional farming.
     • Conventional farming produces 40 percent more greenhouse gases than organic farming.

While the study is an important one for farmers, the goal is really to change the mind of the individual who eats food. As a consumer, you vote with your dollars. What are you going to choose to buy? That's where we'll make the difference.

Plastic storage bags may be easy and convenient, but they're also disposable and wasteful. We often toss sandwich and freezer bags after using them only once, tossing those fossil fuel-derived plastics into landfills and incinerators.

However, now we have the option of recycling these bags at any plastic bag-recycling bin, like those found in many grocery stores and supermarkets. That's right – those bins we all thought were for plastic shopping bags are good for other plastic bags, too, according to a Ziploc spokesman.

A recent partnership between Ziploc and RecycleBank means consumers can claim rewards for each Ziploc bag they recycle. RecycleBank rewards individuals for being green by assigning points for recycling and other actions. The points can be redeemed for rewards like gift cards and discounted products, similar to the way the rewards systems work on many credit cards.

So, if you can't reuse plastic storage bags, clean and dry them, then recycle them along with any other plastic bags you have in a supermarket recycling bin. If your favorite grocery store doesn’t have such bins, ask to speak to the manager and demand the store install one.

We all need to buy less plastic, and reuse and recycle—not toss in the garbage—the plastic we have.

December 13
Today’s Tip: Repair rather than replace

Although some people seem to have an uncanny ability to fix things, most of us aren't so lucky. Still, there are many benefits to fixing things rather than tossing them and buying new replacements.

It shouldn't surprise you that fixing things rather than buying new can save you a lot of money. In many cases simply sewing on a missing button, touching up a nicked paint job, or gluing on a broken corner can get your possessions back up to snuff with only minimal effort and very low expenditure. The trouble is, these days many of us fail to go beyond the easiest small repairs, instead opting to buy new at the smallest sign of trouble.

Travel to the developing world, and you'll see many examples of patched-up products providing long service, from makeshift plumbing to reworked clothing. Our grandparents and great-grandparents were probably quite adept at fixing things, since stores and funds were often limited. But in America today an abundance of cheap manufactured goods, a consumer culture, and relatively high labor costs have conspired to turn us into a bunch of wasters.

Not only are we filling up landfills with stuff that could readily be reused, it takes a great deal of natural resources to make new stuff, in terms of water, minerals, metals, timber, petroleum products, and more. Buying new means more transportation and storage costs, and mountains of packaging -- important because experts estimate that 44% of U.S. global warming emissions are due to products and packaging.

So next time you’re faced with the option of fixing or replacing, try fixing first.

December 14
Today’s Tip:  Give a little comfort, share a little joy.

If you’re sick and tired of greed and materialism, as many of us are this holiday season, think about giving to charity in your giftee’s name instead of giving a tangible gift. In this deep recession non-profits need all the help they can get.

A few of my favorites are the Sierra Club, the World Wildlife Fund, and the Environmental Working Group (or EWG for short). It goes without saying that my all-time favorite non-profit, one that is always in need, is KFMG, this very radio station you’re listening to, which is listener supported. Without your continued help, KFMG would not exist.

Another favorite nonprofit that does good work is Heifer International. Heifer’s mission is to work with impoverished communities throughout the world to end hunger and poverty and care for the earth. They do this through gifts of livestock and training. A share of a flock of baby chicks costs $10. A share of a milk cow is $50. You can buy a share in a flock of geese for $20.

Heifer’s website refers to the animals as "living loans" because in exchange for their livestock and training, families agree to give one of its animal's offspring to another family in need. It's called Passing on the Gift – a cornerstone of Heifer’s mission that creates an ever-expanding network of hope and peace.

To find out more check out their website: www.heifer.org. A gift from Heifer is one sure-fire way of sharing comfort and joy this holiday season.

Monday, Dec. 19, 2011
Today’s Tip: Give Ho Ho gifts

It isn't a stretch to say this is a year when most of us are rethinking gift giving. Heartfelt is going to go a lot further then empty-the-pockets lavish. An elaborate homemade present, which sends a lot of us into white knuckle mode, is not necessary. Consider a small basket of apples with a big ribbon, a jar of chutney, the flea market plate with a goofy design that you've piled with brownies, or an old cookbook or novel you love for someone you know will enjoy it, This is what the season can and maybe should be about.

Friends started us on a new Christmas tradition - Ho-Ho gifts that come with rules.

Rule One: You have one ho-ho gift wrapped for everyone you will share the holiday with (if it's a crowd, then you just bring whatever you can). The idea is that there will be several gifts for each person.

Rule Two: No money can be spent. Ho-ho gifts have to be things you want to get rid of. We are talking about anything - the uglier, more bizarre, more mundane the better.

Rule Three: All the gifts are piled together and then passed out one by one around the room from right to left as the group chants, "Ho, Ho, Ho; Ho, Ho, Ho." Once everyone has a gift in their hands, they tear into it.

Rule Four: Now the real fun starts. Everyone has opened their gifts. Then they have a minute or two to decide to keep that gift or try to trade it for another person's ho-ho. Cajoling and begging are encouraged.

Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011
Today’s Tip: Give a gift of America the beautiful

Here’s a great gift idea for the retiree on your gift list—the one who ca’t wait to pack a suitcase and hit the road. For only $10, you can gift him or her a lifetime Federal Recreational Lands Pass. The pass covers entrance fees at national parks and national wildlife refuges, as well as standard amenity fees at national forests and grasslands, and at lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Reclamation. A pass allows your recipient (plus a behicle and three additional adults) free entrance.

You can buy a pass through the National Park service by calling 1.888.ASKUSGS.

Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011
Today’s Tip: Today is the winter solstice. Celebrate it.

Make it a Santa-free day. Don’t buy a thing. Don’t even wrap a gift. Just take a break from the commercial hubbub and ponder the meaning of the holiday season. Celebrate the day with meditation and reflection.

Here’s something important to mediate upon. A quote from Wendall Berry (author, farmer, and dedicated environmentalist). This quote is from his book Inverting the Economic Order.

“An authentic economy is based on renewable resources: land, water, ecological health. The economic virtues are thus honesty, thrift, care, good work, generosity, imagination, and compassion.”

Happy winter solstice everyone.

Monday, Dec. 26, 2011
Today’s Tip: Arsenic has been found in fruit juice

Arsenic has long been recognized as a poison and a contaminant in drinking water, but now concerns are growing about arsenic in foods, especially in fruit juices that are a mainstay for children.

Controversy over arsenic in apple juice made headlines as the school year began. There’s no federal arsenic threshold for juice or most foods. The Food and Drug Administration, trying to reassure consumers about the safety of apple juice, claims that most arsenic in juices and other foods is of the organic type that is “essentially harmless.”

But an investigation by Consumer Reports shows otherwise. That magazine’s study, including tests of apple and grape juice, found that roughly 10% of the juice sampled, from five brands, had total arsenic levels exceeding federal drinking water standards. Most of that arsenic was inorganic arsenic, a known carcinogen.

The study concluded that apple and grape juice constitute a significant source of dietary exposure to arsenic.

What to do? Limit your children’s consumption of prepackaged juice. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that infants younger than six months should not drink juice. Children up to six years old should consume no more than four to six ounces a day, and older children, no more than 8 to 12 ounces a day. Diluting juice with water can help meet those goals.

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