Why all these Products when Baking Soda Works Just Fine?

In today's day and age, there is a specialized product for everything. We have a multitude of products to help us keep our hygiene up and our houses clean which expose use to countless chemicals which are untested by the FDA and are thought to be dangerous to our health. Let me present baking soda, the miracle all-in-one product. Baking soda has the ability to neutralize products that are seen as either acidic or basic. Too add on to the fun, it does not contain harmful chemicals and endocrine disruptors that are harmful to the environment and our health like many hygiene and cleaning products do. Here is a nice post from the Care2 Be Green blog that highlights forty uses.

Here are some uses that I noticed that are particularly easy, useful, and still reduce exposure to chemicals:

2)To Freshen Your Mouth-Many mouthwashes contain alcohols that have lead to a increased risk of oral cancers of 900 percent (according to Australian Universities . This can be replaced by a safer alternative of mixing baking soda in water which kills odors without the increased risk of cancer.

5)Body Deodorant- Many deodorants contain parabens which have been known to mimic estrogen (endocrine disruptor). It is best to avoid as many of these estrogen mimics as possible and baking soda provides a great alternative that neutralizes odors much like its use as a mouth wash.

12-26) Anything in the cleaning section- All these uses simply call for mixing baking soda with water and help to prevent the use of harmful cleaners such as bleach, fabric softeners, etc. which contain a lot of phosphorus which leads to algae blooms and harms wildlife. These cleaners also contain other compounds such as ammonia, triclozan, naphthalene, phenol, sodium nitilotriacetate, and many other chemicals which have been linked to cancers, respiratory and skin irritations, hormone changes, and more.

27-36) Deodorizing off the body-From shoes to carpets and closets, just putting a box of baking soda or dashing it on a surface is enough to help neutralize just about any odor around the house

Baking Soda is versatile and easy to use just about anywhere around the house and even throughout the body. It is green and relatively cheap and reduces your exposure to harmful chemicals that surround us in our everyday lives.

Pesticide Rich Foods

Organic food is a growing trend. The idea of organic food is to exclude the use of synthetic materials in the production of agriculture such as fertilizers and pesticides. In this post, we are going to focus on the reduction of pesticides.

Pesticides damage the nervous system, reproductive system and other organs. They also lead to developmental and behavioral abnormalities, disruption of hormone function (endocrine disruptors) as well as immune dysfunction. These chemicals remain in the fat deposits of our body for weeks and months. There are several foods in particular that either have large amounts of pesticides applied to them or absorb pesticides particularly well. These include apples, strawberries, potatoes, and cherries. These are some of my favorite foods! With the organic food craze, this means that many of these foods can be bought at a comparable price organically and these foods do not have to be avoided in total. But even with that there are several foods that do not need to be purchased organically because they are pretty much pesticide free.

Here is a slide show from Daily Green that shows the 12 foods that should be eaten organic to avoid pesticide consumption.

Here is another slide show with 15 clean foods that do not need to be purchased organically.

Organic foods offer a safer alternative in many cases in terms of pesticides, but are not always necessary to protect your health.

The Green Bike

Two days ago, I was biking along the Capital Crescent Trail from Bethesda to Georgetown when along the way I stopped in at my buddy's workplace, Big Wheel Bikes. There I saw the hybrid electric bike. This new age bike can use battery power or manual pedaling to get from point A to point B. I took it for a spin myself, and found it was quite fun. You would be surprised to find that it has quite the get up as well with no manual input. Its battery has a range of 15-22 miles per charge with top speeds of 20 MPH. The battery can be charged by taking it off the bike and plugging the battery in at home or at work. A basic hybrid bike costs about 1400 dollars. For me, the college kid who is about to enter the real life in a year, my eyes lit up. This is a great alternative to a car which would set be back at least around 10,000 dollars. The up keep costs include a bike tune up about every year or two and charging the battery at home. A car costs approximately .91$ per 10 miles while the electric bike costs .02$ per 10 miles. The bike also does not need insurance or a license and registration to drive. The bike saves thousands of dollars in up front costs, and hundreds if not thousands per year after that in upkeep and costs for fuel. If you live close to work and have bike paths between work and home, the electric bike would provides a great alternative to a car trip. It is fun, saves money on gas, and saves green house gases as well. In all, the bike seems like a great green investment that will have paybacks for years.

Here is a basic hybrid bike which is priced at 1399$ and has all the features listed above. If you are looking for a longer range option with a higher price tag, here is another bike with a range of 35 miles per charge and that can go 20+ MPH that costs 3499. Still, both options are greener than the new electric car at around 1/10th the price and even the most expensive bikes are 1/5th the cost of a new, traditional gas car.

Parking Lots, Opportunities for Green Change

Because of "Urban Sprawl", land has become a premium in suburbs that were once deemed rural. Over the past decade, parking lots have become an opportunity to maximize land use. In some cases, they have become green projects. These parking lots have been made into parks, condominiums with artificial wetlands to stop runoff, and in some cases, solar power generators.

But where do these parking spots go? Many times these parking spots are simply placed underground or in multilevel garages eliminating the need for the traditional parking lot and optimizing land use. Parking lots are seeing a change from level plains of asphalt to more efficient, greener structures that allow for land to be used efficiently.

Here is a great article from Time Magazine that tells more about the suburban parking lot change to combat urban sprawl. This is just another example of the type of thinking it will take to create an efficient, sustainable world (a lower need for parking spots would be nice too :)).

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The Move for Climate Change

The support for climate legislation has seemed to take a turn for the better. Here is a letter from 60 big companies (including Google, The Big Three automakers, Pepsico, Duke Energy and Honeywell) and environmental groups to President Obama that calls for climate legislation to be passed.

Dear Mr. President and Members of the U.S. Senate: We are a broad and diverse group of businesses and organizations that believe America must take control of its energy and economic future while enhancing our national security. We are writing to urge you to move forward this year on comprehensive energy and climate legislation that preserves and creates American jobs while protecting our environment.
The time to act is now. The U.S. needs a comprehensive energy and climate policy that will get us back on track by creating American jobs in the new, low-carbon economy.

The United States has an opportunity to lower greenhouse gas emissions and become the world's leader in a burgeoning clean energy economy. We face a critical moment that will determine whether we will be able to unleash homegrown American innovation or remain stuck in the economic status quo. Much as the transcontinental railroad ushered in an unprecedented era of expansion, innovation and economic growth, the transition to a diversified clean energy economy offers extraordinary opportunities for environmental and economic rewards. Americans need and deserve a comprehensive energy and climate policy and we urge you to take action without delay.

We are businesses with revenues of over $1.2 trillion and more than 1 million employees; as well as environmental, faith-based and labor organizations representing millions of Americans, all saying that we must secure America's clean energy future.

It's time for Democrats and Republicans to unite behind bipartisan, national energy and climate legislation that increases our security, limits emissions, and protects our environment while preserving and creating American jobs.

Ten years ago, it was hard to imagine that big corporations would call for such a major green step in legislation. Today, the problem is real and it has great potential to create massive changes that the world will have to adapt to, costing the human population trillions of dollars and changing the ecological world forever. The effects of climate change are already being seen here in the US. We are seeing the effects from smaller snow packs, disappearing glaciers, and 50/100 year floods happening on the same river in the same decade. This change is happening faster than we think and it needs action. It is great to see some support from an area on constituents that have traditionally been opposed to green legislation.

I found the comparison of options between "American innovation" and "economic status quo" to be quite powerful. This shows that the change will take effort and change, but the ability to make these changes are what makes America become so appealing. We have the power to create change to prevent a climate catastrophe. If inaction is taken, America will become second to other nations that choose to lead the way in stopping climate change and become a part of that "economic status quo". This is going to be a monumental movement meaning huge changes in lifestyles that are needed to prevent disaster, but if action is take out correctly, America will be the great innovator that can lead the world once again.

As much as I don't like Notre Dame, here is a great video from Notre Dame's commencement by Brian Williams with his confidence that America has the power to change. It is both moving and comical.

Bottled Water is Scary

If I had not scared you away from bottled water already because of BPA, here is another reason to avoid it. In a recent study carried out by at Montreal's C-crest Laboratories in Canada, over 70% of bottled water from leading brands of bottled water had bacteria levels that were beyond the level considered to be acceptable. In some cases the water had 100 times more bacteria than was permitted. These levels are set by the NGO United States Pharmacopeia.

Read more one the article at The Montreal Gazette

Bottled water contributes to an amount of plastic swirling in the Pacific Gyre the size of Texas. Bottled water should be limited to emergency circumstances and should not be consumed on a day to day basis because of the potential trouble posed to our health from pharmaceuticals and BPA in the water and the amount of waste that is created with each plastic bottle.

Benefits of Going Vegetarian and Some Tips For Those Who Love Meat

I love meat just as much as the next guy. But I hate to say that going to a vegetarian diet is good for the environment and apparently a lot better for your health. Here is an article from Grist.com that points out that industrial meats are laced with toxic chemicals and antibiotics. By limiting intake of meats and dairy, pesticides and other toxic chemicals in the body dropped dramatically when urine samples were studied. One of the chemicals of concern are phalates which are considered the "other BPA" because of their prevalence in common consumer products and their effects on the body. We will leave phalates for another day.

A few tips to reduce exposure to chemicals and help the environment without having to go vegetarian:

Eat organic-Not nearly as many chemicals used and less exposure to pesticides
Limit red meat and processed foods-These foods have a much higher fat content which dissolve many of these chemicals. Not to mention, studies have shown that reducing these meats helps to reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease.
Try to buy meat with minimal packaging-The plastic that wraps around meats can seep in endocrine disruptors and chemicals that cause hormone changes. This will also help you go green.
Eat more fish-Although some fish have high levels of some chemicals (mercury, PCBs) fish have high levels of Omega-3 fatty acids that boost your heart health and other functions of the body

A vegetarian diet is a good idea, but is not ideal for all of us. Simply limiting your meat intake is a good idea for reducing exposure to chemicals and reducing you carbon footprint.

More on BPA

I came across this in depth article on BPA in the New Yorker. Check it out New Yorker BPA article

Search Amazon.com for bpa free water bottles

Our Choice: Al Gore's (Almost) Impeccable Plan for the Future

My first green book review as promised.

Al Gore’s new book Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis lays down a beautiful background to the climate problem at hand, an in depth look at the sources of the problem, and a multifaceted approach to solving the problem, all in 18 chapters.

Our Choice uses a wide variety of images to help visualize the problem as it is occurring today. It supplements these pictures with further graphs and figures demonstrating the future risks at hand if action is not taken. This book offers a wealth of knowledge for the layman, making it easy to understand the scope and complexity of the climate problem while keeping the strain off their eyes. Our Choice steps beyond the common view of global warming as energy consumption, fossil fuels, and forests in the carbon cycle to the connection that the carbon cycle has with everything around us such as soil, consumer consumption, and human population. He goes beyond the problems created by weather and displacement of people to the simple economics that are in jeopardy with climate change. Gore does not simply create a guide to what to do and what not to do for the environment, but lets the reader decide for himself based on the vast amounts of information provided and visions from across the world that show the need for an active plan for the future. The book offers endless alternatives to the problems we have created. With each alternative, it seems as though Gore is able to create a pro and con, but is able to tie the pros together to create a foreseeable, sustainable future. He goes onto link climate change as an obligation from one human to every other human on the planet in a way that is opinionated, but not forceful. Climate change becomes less of a debate and more of a moral challenge right in front of the reader’s eyes.

Gore also creates a plan for the future. Our Choice not only supports the need for conservation, renewable resources, population control, etc. with monetary numbers, he provides the concepts for how each of these tasks should be done. One example, is the new updated power grid that are needed on both the micro and macro scale. A major problem that is pointed out is that renewable energy is only usable at the time. Our Choice supplies the idea for how to gather energy in the varying weather conditions that many renewable energy sources depend on while storing them in lithium or cadmium ion batteries throughout the community for later use. In addition smart meters (that are already in existence) are placed around the grid along with efficient appliances such as LEED lights and cogeneration systems that produces power and heat simultaneously create a highly efficient use of energy. Modern technology that is available today is applied to solve the aging and decaying grid systems currently in place. This is an ingenious plan, but here comes about Gore’s one flaw.

Gore’s plan fails to bring about how the materials are attained to create these solutions. Our Choice always talks about how expensive it will be for our future if we do not change. It fails to see the pollution and the bottle neck for refining the materials and raising the money needed to put smart gird and renewable energy in place. For example, lithium, cadmium, and other metals used for the creation of solar panels, batteries, and wind turbines that Gore’s smart grid are based on are often “rare earth metals”. The metal itself is not “rare” as the title implies. Instead they are often embedded in large mixtures of elements throughout the earth’s crust. 95 percent of today’s “rare earth metals” come from China. To extract and purify these elements requires a process that uses toxic chemicals, acids, sulfates, and ammonia. These combine to create harmful air emissions and vast amounts of wastewater containing sulfur, fluorine, acid, and radioactive materials. The air emissions further exacerbate global warming. The wastewater ends up in the ground water around the extraction and is often unfit for small farmers to irrigate their crops or give to their animals leaving them hopeless and starving. Like many of the problems associated with global warming, this is one that society does not see because it is across the world. People using “green energy” fail to see the not-so-green side as a result.

Another economical problem arises as well. Mark Smith, CEO, Molycorp Minerals points out that “if the purpose is to lower our dependence on foreign oil, and all we're doing is asking that we put hybrid cars on the road that need Chinese rare earth materials, aren't we changing, you know, inter-trading one dependence for another?” China only has 50 percent of the amount of rare earth in the world, yet produces 95 percent. In the coming future, the growing demand for rare earth will turn oil shocks into rare earth shocks as we transition from oil to this new “green” energy source.

In a time of political turmoil along the climate front, Al Gore is able to create an accessible and practical view of the problems faced by global warming while bringing it to the forefront for the layman with his new book Our Choice. His solutions are often practical, wide in scope, and integrated to help create the mindset that this can be done. He offers solutions from local farming to conservation to new forms of energy and smart girds. He shows what needs to be done politically to defeat this problem. While he reiterates the point that the energy is available and it will be economically beneficial in the future, he fails to see the one thing that holds back the green revolution that he envisions, materials. He creates a great overview and does point out that technology will help to overcome these flaws, but the time frame that he puts forth as being realistic to get carbon emissions down to 1990 levels (2050) just seems a little farfetched with the strain in rare earth metals that will be seen in the future and the damage they will cause.

A Great Week for Land Conservation

Wetlands are critical ecosystems. They are nutrient sinks that help to keep excess nitrogen and phosphorus from entering bodies of water. Large amounts nitrogen and phosphorus from agriculture and livestock contribute to dead zones(bodies of water with extrememly low levels of dissolved oxygen) that cannot support life. These zones have been proliferating in the past century due to large loses of wetlands and large increases in the use of fertilizers and lawn care products world wide.

As everyone knows forests are carbon sinks that help protect against global warming and can also help protect against excess runoff. Deforestation accounts for 20% of man-made green house gas emissions. They are also critical for biodiversity as they are the home for many different species.

Last week was a pretty memorable week. Funding to protect 75,000 acres of wetland in 22 states was just approved in the US. And the neighbors to the north just decided to protect 70 million acres of forest. These land conservation moves are critical to reduce green house gas emissions and water run off to help protect against climate change and the proliferation of dead zones in aquatic ecosystems.

The Future of Farming

In the future, we are going to need to make innovations to keep living in luxury like we do today. For one thing, land is going to become a premium as the human population grows. Some predictions believe that we are going to have food shortages in urban areas by 2050. Vertical farming seems to be a viable solution. The farm of the future will contain a few hundred acres in a single 10-20 story building within a city block. This will cut down on land use, decrease water use, and reduce GHGs used for transportation of food. The vertical farm is still a few decades away. Advancements in irrigation, solar, and evaporation technologies to reduce costs need to take place before these farms can become profitable. Nevertheless, vertical farming is a great example of the type of thinking and innovation needed to create a sustainable future.

Here is a good article from WhatItCosts.com about the costs and resources needed to create a vertical farm.

The Degrading Diet that Food Labels Don't Tell You About

In the developed world, obesity, diabetes, heart disease and other preventable diseases have risen dramatically. Many of these diseases have been linked to an over abundance in food and specifically a dramatic increase in simple sugars(glucose, fructose, dextrose, and starch), saturated fats, and sodium in our diets. The food industry labels their products to make you believe you are avoiding these problems by eating foods fortified with vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids with positive effects. In reality, you are still consuming large amounts of unhealthy nutrients that cause problems simple vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids cannot fix. To add on to the trouble, vitamins can have trouble being absorbed outside of their natural source proving to be just a number on the box and may have little to no effect at all.

The best option is to avoid processed foods as much as possible and create a diet containing lots of fresh fruits and vegetables to avoid falling into this consumer trap. Try to avoid premade meals and make as much of your food from scratch. This will also help you cut down on your carbon footprint by reducing the amount of packaging used in processed foods. You even have the option to buy local and organic produce to reduce the GHGs that are used in the transportation and production of these foods. This may be time consuming, but pays off in the long run for your health and the environment as well.

Here is an interesting article I found from The Daily Green to help you look beyond the labels of processed foods.

9 Food Label Lies

BPA: Watchout, its Everywhere

The other day I posted about endocrine disruptors. Today I would like to introduce you to the most famous of the common endocrine disruptors, BPA.

As you have probably seen, BPA has gotten a lot of bad press recently and it is well deserved. Two years ago, the "BPA scare" came about. After years of research suggesting that this chemical is an estrogen mimic, the first major consumer product was taken off the shelves. Nalgene, under pressure from consumer groups, decided to pull their famous bottles from production (the same bottles that everyone who considered themselves green had). It was now in the public eye that BPA, contained in most plastic products, has effects on many hormone systems.

BPA leeches out of plastics over time and increases rapidly if exposed to heat, direct sunlight, or powerful detergents(soap). It dissolves readily into liquids and foods undetected. Alternatives are viable and economically feasible, but still clear plastic, single use beverage bottles have it, magazines and receipts are covered with it, and cans are lined with it. Even if you try to switch to glass containers, it is in the caps that keep them sealed. Just about everywhere you go, you will run into something that has BPA in or around it.

Studies have shown that the dangers of BPA are widespread. The most dangerous hormone changes were found in fetal development. As of only a few decades ago, the placenta barrier was thought to protect the fetus from most chemicals. But research has found that false. Endocrine disruptors affect hormones that control fetal development and are very sensitive to BPA. In fetal development, even a change of a few parts per TRILLION of a hormone could cause significant developmental changes. Research has shown that even minimal levels of BPA were found to interact with hormone receptors (especially those of estrogen and insulin) and lead to higher rates of adult onset diabetes, aggression, and growth problems in offspring. In addition, BPA alters the DNA composition of offspring and increases asthma rates. Below is an article that helps you see just how little BPA is needed to create problems in cells and organisms.

BPA Levels and Effects

Outside of the womb it is thought that BPA exposure can increase the risk of breast cancer and maybe a factor in the decrease of the average age of puberty among girls. BPA slows the rate that synapses are created in the brain leading to a decrease in brain power. In males, it is thought to lead to fertility problems dealing with sperm development. The effects of BPA go on and on, but often correlate with trends in the general population of the US. Below is another article showing the correlation between increases in disease in lab animals treated with BPA and general trends in the human population.

BPA and the Rise in Animal and Human Disease

BPA is a scary chemical that is unlike many conventional chemicals. It has the ability to create significant changes at very low levels of exposure across the whole body and surrounds our everyday lives making it nearly impossible to completely avoid. The good news is that BPA clears out of your system quickly, within a few hours. The bad new is that in most people, the level remains relatively constant because it is in plastic bottles that store our drinks and the cans that store our food. BPA is a chemical of concern that needs to be regulated and reduced to allow our endocrine systems to regulate themselves naturally.

The Endocrine Age

Since the 1940's, 80,000 different chemicals have been produced by the private sector that make our lives easier. Pesticides to prevent our crops from being eaten. Fragrances to make ourselves smell nice. Hand products to kill 99.9% of bacteria. But what is often forgotten about these chemicals is that they have negative effects on the body. The FDA is too overwhelmed to regulate these chemicals because so many new chemicals come out each year. They are under manned and under funded to carry out the research necessary to analyze these chemicals. Most of the active chemicals (and some of the inactive ones) researched by independent groups have been found to be endocrine disruptors. These endocrine disruptors often either mimic or block hormones in your body. Hormones are important for the regulation of many bodily functions. They regulate your blood sugar levels, your growth, your sleep, and much more. Because of hormone disruption, endocrine disruptors have been seen to create a variety of problems including, but not limited to adult onset diseases, cancer, fertility problems, early puberty in girls, and behavioral problems. Even at levels that are barely detectable, these chemicals are having profound effects on most of the US population.

Here is a website by the National Institutes of Environmental Health Services that has an overview of endocrine disruptors and many different studies that have investegated the effects of some of the major endocrine disruptors of concern.

NIEHS on Endocrine Disruptors

Here is another website with tips on how to avoid endocrine disruptors even when we are surrounded by them.

Avoiding Endocrine Disruptors

Gulf Oil Spill: Blessing in Disguise?

With a new health care bill passed and ready to be implemented and now the possibility of a climate change bill being ratified with increased attention brought on by the oil spill, this could be a monumental term for Congress. But keep the emphasis on could.

Last summer, the house passed a version of the infamous 'climate change' bill that environmentalists only dreamed about and coal and oil feared. The bill seems to be making progress as a compromise bill was brought forth on Wednesday in the senate. The major problem is that it is only supported by the democrats along party lines. They will need support from a few of their fellow GOP members in order to get the 60 votes needed to get the bill through the senate without being filibustered. But even after the senate, this bill will have to go back to the house to be ratified as it has some different terms.

This climate bill kicks to the curb the national standard of emissions, instead focusing on emission standards for each individual sector. And even with the big oil spill in the gulf, it aims to encourage offshore drilling. The kicker is that it requires an investigation to take place, carried out by the Department of the Interior, to determine if a state will be economically or environmentally affected by a spill and leaves the final decision up to the state. On top of all this, billions of dollars of federal money would make its way to clean coal technologies and improving the national transportation infrastructure and efficiency.

Regardless of what the bill entails, there are still two sides that are very opinionated. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) stated that "Whatever its intentions, this bill is little more than a job-killing national energy tax". Greenpeace has found the bill to be "a hand out" to big oil and coal and opposes the bill believing that it is not strict enough on carbon emissions. On the other side, Joe Lieberman (I-Conn) is optimistic in the bill and finds that reaching 60 votes is "doable" because of the support of big business such as Duke Energy, Honeywell, Dow Corning, and the Edison Electric Institute. These businesses make up the republican base.

Whatever the case, the new oil spill may be an environmental blessing in disguise. It has instilled a new hope into a climate bill that was once seen as dead on the senate floor. It may take a few more compromises, but this bill could make this year in congress one of the most important and memorable years in the past few decades.

More on the issue from the Washington Post

Carbon Footprint in Perspective: Developed Nations vs. Developing Nations

When a country considers carbon footprints, only the amount of carbon a country produces is taken into account. Looking at a carbon footprint by production often leaves developing nations in between a rock and a hard place. Developing countries are often outsourced for the production of cheap goods and as a result bear the brunt of the carbon footprint by burning CO2 and producing carbon that is needed to manufacture these goods. Wealthier and developed nations end up consuming the outsourced goods leaving behind the carbon emissions to poorer, developing nations that have trouble mitigating them. Goods and services that are outsourced to other countries can contribute up to a third of the carbon consumed by a developed nation. This is termed 'Emissions Outsourcing' and results in disparities in the carbon footprints of developed and developing nations. Below is an interesting article from March on businessgreen.com that helps to show the ramifications this has on global climate policy.

Carbon Outsourcing

Simple Steps to Reduce Your Cancer Risk

Cancer rates in the US have been declining since the 2000's. One main cause for the drop in cancer rates is the decrease in tobacco use. Still 1.5 million people are diagnosed with cancer every year. The American Cancer Society predicts that one out of every two men and one out of every three women will get cancer at some point in their life. There are a few easy steps you can take everyday that can help to reduce your risk (and no I am not talking about a colon cleanse or magical fruit). Below is an article from treehugger.com that gives you a few ideas of how to reduce your risk with minimal effort.

5 Simple Things