Back to Green School Shopping 101

I love back-to-school shopping!  Notebooks, folders, backpacks…it makes me want to be back in a small wooden desk smelling worksheets fresh off the ditto machine.  Of course, the ditto ink smell was probably the toxic equivalent of an elementary school BP oil spill.

Growing up, back-to-school shopping was a ritual.  We piled in the car and headed off to Bradlees and Caldor to get our supplies.  I can still remember my first Snoopy loose-leaf binder and my blue Trapper Keeper.  Come to think of it, I sniffed those too.


While my school supplies were more than likely filled with BPA and toxic substances, today’s school supplies are much eco-friendlier.  Kids have choices now.  And since our kids are going to be making decisions and running the world sooner than we think, this is the perfect time to step in and teach them which supplies are the right ones to sniff!


School supply shopping does not have to be a complicated word problem.  Instead, it can be a simpler multiple choice.


Here’s a little mnemonic device to shop SMART this back to school season:


Solar calculators and chargers are best.  Harness the sunshine!

Make your child’s lunch using healthy, local and organic foods and pack it all up in a reusable lunch bag!

A reusable water bottle is key to keeping your child hydrated and away from sugary soft drinks.

Recycled products are best!  Look for backpacks, notebooks, pens and other supplies made out of recycled materials.

Thrift store shopping for new clothes.  Today’s thrift stores carry items that still have tags on them!  Don’t be afraid to venture in and take a look.

Your choices and actions will be picked up on by your kids.  Make sure you score an A+ for your kids…and the earth!

(The Ultimate Green Store is a great place to complete your one-stop shopping for "green" school supplies!)

Tales From The Shark Side

After years of being inundated with shark movies, Shark Week and being told how to save someone from a shark attack, now we are learning how to save sharks from humans.


Sharks have been swimming the world’s oceans for 400 million years.  They have survived mass extinction events but are now endangered because of us.  Sharks may be popular villains, but they are a vital part of the world’s ocean ecosystems.


Last weekend, I was volunteering for Oceana, which had a booth at Nautica’s New York City Triathlon in Central Park.


Oceana is a non-profit ocean conservation and advocacy organization created ten years ago by several foundations.  It merged with Ted Danson’s American Oceans Campaign to become the largest such group working hard to prevent collapse of fish populations, stop ocean pollution, protect sea turtles from extinction and other important causes.


At the Triathlon their focus was their Shark Campaign.  Oceana is pushing for shark finning bans, reduced shark bycatch (sharks caught in nets) and other forms of protection through policy, science and legal work.


Our goal was to accumulate 500 signatures to send to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration to help save sharks in the Gulf of Mexico.


We moved through the park like . . . sharks.  While we didn't attack anyone, we did keep moving, hungry for signatures, offering bracelets of support to those that signed our petition.


Soon it looked like I was gonna need a bigger clipboard.  I was being harpooned with one strange rejection after another.


One woman asked when the sharks had arrived in Mexico.  Um, I guess we weren’t clear we were talking about the Gulf of Mexico .


Others gave the simple “No…I’m good.”


“Yeah, but the sharks aren’t!” I wanted to say.


“I’m with the Ocean Conservancy, but no.”


Huh?


“Sharks!  Not while I’m swimming,” one girl exclaimed.  “Dolphins, yes.  Whales, yes. Sharks, no way!”


They say the same about you, I thought.


One man started off sensible and then said that we should round up all the people who catch sharks and shoot them instead.  No thanks, Chief Brody.

My favorite response was “Call Spielberg.”  I just might, considering how much Jaws – which is one of my favorite movies – has hurt the image of sharks.

As Hooper said to Mayor Vaughn in Jaws: “I think you're going to ignore this particular problem, until it swims up and bites you on the ass!”

Despite everything, we made our goal of 500 signatures.  We didn’t bite anyone, but we did swim up to them.  To truly protect these important creatures, we are going to need an even bigger clipboard.

Big Brother After Shark

Like many Americans, I was obsessed with Shark Week last week.  My TV had not left the Discovery Channel, except for side trips to Showtime for Big Brother After Dark.


Last week, the Big Brother house was also affected by Shark Week, as the “Have Nots” were subjected to sardines and seaweed. 

While the contestants in the BB house are called “House Guests,” every time you set foot in the ocean, you’re a “house guest” of the sharks.  Thankfully, most of the time we’re welcome.  But should a hungry, confused Great White become “Head of Household, ” there could be a slight chance of being “evicted.”


In 2010 there were approximately 60 shark attacks, most of which did not end in death. If you consider the hundreds of people at your local beach on the hottest summer day and multiply that by the thousands of beaches worldwide, that number is pretty miniscule...especically since humans kill more than 70 million sharks worldwide every year.


While sharks may be one of the most-feared animals, they are an important part of our eco-system. In their role at the top of the food chain, they keep other fish populations healthy. They are powerful yet provide balance (like BB’s Jeff and Jordan).


These beautiful, majestic creatures are actually the ones in danger of being evicted.


Shark finning, trawler nets, high mercury levels and extinction are just some of the challenges facing sharks.


But you can help.  You have the "Power of Veto" and can take these sharks off the chopping block!


Oceana and Shark Savers are doing amazing work to help save sharks.  Visit their websites to find out how you can make a difference.  Sign a petition, know where your seafood comes from and stay away from shark fin soup (Big Brother’s Slop would be a better choice).


Taking these small steps can make a huge difference for these amazing creatures of the deep.  Sharks need us to build an alliance with them, so they can make it to the end.


Nothing comes between me and my sharks!

Journey to the Center of the Green Earth

I have been busy cleaning out my apartment.  It was definitely time to purge, so for a while there, there was literally nowhere to sit while I had bags, clothes, and a myriad of other crap lying over every flat surface.


Ironically, I threw very little in the trash and recycling bin.  Most things had another home to go to.


Once I had sorted the good, the bad and the ugly, I loaded up my granny cart (or, as John and I lovingly refer to it, "the cart that paid for itself" since it's saved us on many an occasion) with all sorts of stuff and began my way down the six flights of stairs and around the neighborhood unloading my stuff.


Here is my journey of how I kept things out of the landfill:


1. C-Town.  This was my favorite drop-off. 

I had been collecting our glass milk bottles to re-use for iced tea and impromptu vases. However, I'd collected so many (17 to be exact) that I no longer had room. It was time for them to head off into recycling-ville.


But as I lifted the lid off my recycling can, John shouted, "Wait!"


Apparently, we'd paid a deposit on those bottles and he wanted to return them to the store. 

I argued a bit with him asking if $.05 was worth the trip.

As it turns out, it was one time I was happy to be wrong as the deposit was not $.05 but rather $1.50!  I collected over $25 for my 17 bottles!  I stood in front of the cashier with a look that clearly frightened her. "Are you sure this is right?" I asked.  She assured me it was. 

 I continued happily on my way with "the cart that paid for itself" and made my way to the next stop.


2. Ventura.  Not the boulevard or the city.  The apartment building.  It's where the Wearable Collections box is.


Wearable Collections is a company I discovered in the NYC area that collects old clothes, bags, and shoes. The things that are in good condition are given to people in need. The stuff that is torn, ripped and headed for the landfill is turned into new fibers to make new things. The in-between stuff is made into rags.

 3. Goodwill.  I did have some household items that were ready for a new home.

4. The Animal Shelter.  Here is where I drop off old towels, sheets, and t-shirts. They are used to line the cages of the dogs and cats.  They are always at a shortage for this type of stuff and much appreciate the donation.

5. Aveda.  I was not shopping but rather dropping off all of the bottle caps I had collected. Well over 100 of them!

Since bottle caps can't be recycled, I collect them at home and at work and turn them over to Aveda who turns them into their bottles.  And sometimes, if you get a really nice salesperson, they'll give you a hand massage or a free sample of hand lotion as a thank you!


6. UPS.  My final stop was the UPS Store where I dropped off all those horrendous styrofoam peanuts I'd been saving from packages at work.  Those were the worst since they seem to fly around and get stuck everywhere.  I was happy to unload those.

I returned home and finished my delivery day by posting some stuff on eBay which turned out to be somewhat lucrative this time around!


The entire process probably took less than 45 minutes and was well worth it.  Not only did I keep a lot of things out of the landfill, but others will benefit from it.


So tell me...what can you keep out of the landfill this week?

Thar She Doesn't!

Every Father's Day season when I was growing up, Tom Carvel's raspy voice would come onto our television set and announce that it was time for Fudgie the Whale.  The ice cream cake.  "For a whale of a dad."

So I decided that the first humpback whale I saw in person I would name Fudgie.

John took me on a New York whale watching cruise for my birthday.  Arriving in Riis Landing in Rockaway singing "Rockaway Beach" by the Ramones, we were excited to embark on our three-hour tour (ok...we sang that song, too) to see all sorts of whales and dolphins.


Riis Landing is pretty desolate.  However, there is a very tiny stretch of beach that we found while waiting for our boat to leave that offers free kayaking lessons in the bay.

As we walked the beach, we saw lots and lots of seashells.  And lots and lots of trash.  I started to pick up some of the smaller plastic bags and caps that I knew were immediate threats to the marine life.  John helped, others watched.

Before we knew it, we were aboard our vessel heading out to sea.  Immediately the captain told us of reports of humpbacks in the area.  John nabbed a spot for us at the very end of the boat's bow and we let the sea air flow through our hair like Leonardo and Kate as we raced to the reported spot.


We were told to yell "Thar she blows!" should we be the one to spot Moby Dick first and were informed that there was a $250 prize for the best photo.  I wasn't sure how comfortable I was yelling like an 1800's whaler to a boat full of strangers, but hoped that what we would see would be so huge that I could yell, "I think we're going to need a bigger boat."


With my camera ready, I scoured the vast ocean.  I spotting ginormous freighters and several plastic bags, but no fins.  The bags left me feeling sick to my stomach.


By the time we got to the site, there were schools of bunker, which whales like to feed on, but no whales.  Turns out a humpback can hold its breath for up to an hour.  We waited and then moved on to the next spot.


We covered a lot of ground and our captain did his best to help us spot something but to no avail.  At one point, over a school of bunker, John saw a spray of water shooting out of the surface.  The captain steered the boat slowly over to investigate.  But again, no Fudgie.


Yet it was exciting to be a part of this incredible ecosystem.  We learned from the on-board naturalist that the reason the Atlantic is so dark is because it's one of the highest nutrient-rich waters on the planet.  This is why most of our seafood comes from the Atlantic as opposed to the Carribean waters, which lack nutrients, making them crystal clear.


Not seeing any whales just made us more determined to see them the next time we go. Which we will.


John and I agreed that the next time we do, we will be taking a trash bag with us and doing a bigger beach clean-up on Jamaica Bay.  We might even try our hand at kayaking. And we'll definitely be on the lookout for Fudgie, whose humpback whale song is still easier to understand than Tom Carvel.

Greendependence Day

America is celebrating her 235th birthday this year!  I don’t know about you, but I want to do everything I can to keep our country and our planet beautiful!  So this July, I pledge to celebrate this monumental birthday by doing the following:


1.  While searching for seashells at the beach, I’m also going to pick up some trash.

2.  When I go to a picnic, I’m going to bring something everyone will love – and less of it - so that no food will go to waste.  I will bring it in a reusable container and will use as many organic and local foods as possible.  Of course I’ll carry it over in a reusable bag!

3.  Wherever I go, I’m going to make sure that I recycle everything I possibly can.

4.  It’s important in this hot weather to stay hydrated so I’m going to carry my reusable bottle everywhere I go.

5.  I will stay away from disposable plates and utensils.


Let's Keep America Beautiful during her 235th Birthday month and have a wonderful and safe 4th of July!

Seasonal & Local

John and I decided that we really need to do more shopping at the farmer's market as the produce selection at the local grocery leaves little to be desired. 

During the summer months we're lucky because there is a small stand right on our corner.  But that doesn't open until the end of June.

Our other option is to trek down to Union Square which is challenging because of the crowds of people.

But recently, I discovered a small farmer's market 10 blocks from my apartment.  How I've been living here for two years and never realized this before is beyond me. 

On Saturday, John and I set out to visit this little gem.

We were very excited to arrive and find all of the amazing foods it had to offer. 

We went with the intention of buying ingredients to make gazpacho but we quickly learned that that wasn't going to happen as most of the ingredients still aren't in season. 

Our choices were limited as it is much smaller than the Union Square market however, it did the job. 

We bought asparagus, scallions, strawberries, kale and bread. 

I was mad at myself for having visited the Food Emporium the night before and buying non-organic potatoes and onions to make our breakfast when I could have purchased the local variety at the market.  I did buy organic peppers.  However, they were wrapped in plastic.  There's something wrong with that picture.  Below was our breakfast...

Last night, I roasted our beautiful, local asparagus, the other plastic wrapped pepper and the left over scallions to create a delicious dinner. 

This was followed by my kale chips (kale, salt, pepper and a tablespoon of olive oil.  Mix together and put in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes.  Delish!)

I capped off the evening with the most amazing strawberries.

Finally, when all the veggies had been cut up and devoured, the scraps went into our new composter (look for a future post about that!).

As John and I test out our ability to eat local and seasonal, I can hardly wait to see what this week's farmer's market holds for us!