the greener side

Carnival of the Green # 115!

Brr. During this frosty week, it's no wonder that travel is on the brains of many bloggers at this week's Carnival of the Green.

MadEejits (What's an eejit?) hosted last week's Carnival. Step inside EcoLibertarian's tent to find the Carnival next week.

Judith of the Savvy Vegetarian longs for sunny beaches in tropical climes, but finds it a drag to fly to some third world country as a hated tourist. If you need a real reason to travel, Volunteer Latin America (VLA)  offers assistance to humanitarian volunteer travelers.

Karina of Tiny Choices recently hit the slopes at a ski resort powered partly by wind turbines.  She offers  great trips for greening your next ski trips.

Many people may not realize the polar fleece jacket keeping them toasty on that Antarctic expedition may be bad for polar bears, as polyester comes from petroleum. But as David of the Good Human notes, Patagonia's new Synchilla Marsupial polyester is a fine blend of 85 percent plastic bottles and used garments. He's psyched that the fabric is soft, and many colors are on sale. But is it better to opt for something with a smaller "travel pattern?"

If you're only going places in the bedroom, condoms can save lives. But do they help to save the planet too, or just create more litter? Beth of Fake Plastic Fish finds that regardless of the plastic waste condoms create or not, their potential for curbing the population may be ecologically beneficial overall.

In the wake of Valentine's Day, can you offset those non-green gifts and greetings? Lynn of Organic Mania likes crafting organic Valentine's Day cards with her son, but now the grown-up kindergartener is into Hot Wheels.

Don't get your panties in a bunch when there are more eco-friendly underwear options. At Life Goggles, Adam interviews the designers behind GreenKnickers. He also reviews Dr. Bronner's gel and a Minnie Meile Bag. Is The Green Book a worthwhile go-to guide? Check out a review by Joel, also of Life Googles.

When you want to go green for less, it's a bright idea to start by swapping old incandescent bulbs for compact flourescents (CFLs). But as Jean Paul notes at Green Deals Daily, new LED bulbs last five times longer, contain no mercury and they're twice as efficient. Should you switch again?

Styrofoam, aka polystyrene is evil, right? Bans have cropped up in San Francisco and elsewhere. But Joe of Eco Joe's finds that paper cups may be worse. The solution? BYOC.

Please see Treehugger for more details on the Carnival of the Green. Thanks for stopping by!

Less than green at Black Rock

Contrary to expectations, I actually made it to Burning Man this year. You can check out some of the damage here. Despite so many good intentions and the hard work of many burners, Green Man was no Las Vegas, but it wasn't so green. Then again, what is? For me, the least green aspect was losing my shirt--not literally, but figuratively, in advance of the event, by shopping at Target and about four other big-box stores for a tent, cooler, LED lights for the bike, and so many other overpackaged, phthalate-ridden camping products.  (I felt less crazy after a new artist friend admitted that she, too, nearly cries in such emporia. Oh, the humanity.)  I didn't realize that the last time I used my own tent was for post-high school graduation bacchanalia on the beach. Because I decided to go at the last minute, I didn't have the luxury of collecting these things slowly and sustainably from friends, craigslist, or resale shops.

My petroleum-based "powdered" wig had to be new too. Or maybe the least green aspect was supplying gasoline to the theme camp's generators. Oh wait, that five gallons was nothing compared to the gasoline filling up the rental car. While I hate air conditioning in real life, some of my happiest Black Rock moments were of resting inside of other people's freon-cooled RVs and trucks for several hours during withering mid-day desert heat.

But I congratulate myself, as any self-righteous San Franciscan should, for spending $25 on a bucket of biodegradable, organic lavender handi-wipes, a hot item under the hotter sun. I brought a bottle of rosewater to spritz on dried-out compatriots too. The bottle claimed that people had prayed over it, and that it possessed special magnetic properties, but my failure to cover up the label made me feel as if I were advertising, a big burner no-no that may have demagnetized all that energy.

And despite the rush to shop at the last minute, the Alemany flea market the week before the burn was the best source of sustainable gifts. I bought a hat box worth of hand-embroidered, mid-century handkerchiefs, which my grandmother still requests at holidays, and passed them around to people. The least commercial, big tent aspect of the Burning Man experience was stopping at local shops and "Indian" taco stands on the way in and out of Black Rock, and sharing small talk with some Paiute people. Pyramid Lake is the bluest thing I've ever seen, especially after nearly a week of so much burning of the brain and fossil fuels.

P.S. See what I wrote for work on this subject here.

All that glitters isn't green, but this jewelry is.

I'm not big on jewelry. Note the $2 tin ring that I bought in Cozumel in high school my first trip out of North America. Other than that, I'll wear pieces that were worn or given by people I love.

But after a recent visit to an Oak Park, IL, bead store and the splurge it provoked, I'm left with hundreds of dollars' worth of unstrung Czech glass, Swarovski crystal, silver, wooden, dyed coral, wannabe pearl, jade, and vintage mid-century plastic beads, plus the wire and sterling clasps. I even spent a full day exploiting the worskhop table at an SF bead shop, crafting necklaces for my cousins for Christmas. While I waited two hours for a jump after my Zipcar battery died another day, I kept popping back into General Bead down the street, where the shopkeepers' rainbow hairdos match the beads.

But how sustainable is this jewelry hobby? For example, Swarovski crystals are supposed to be the best because of their high lead content, which sounds not so good, but how bad could it be? Are dyed beads a bad idea? Shoud you leave coral alone? Vintage jewelry is always a safe bet--best if you're lucky to get it handed down from family and friends. If you want to make your own pieces, you can buy box lots of broken pieces at estate auctions and yard sales. I'll be looking into the eco-friendliness of the ingredients you'll find at bead shops. In the meantime, here's the prettiest and greenest jewelry I've found:

You can see sunsets in the jasper and wear ancient history with the dinosaur bone fossils within Kirsten Muenster's strikingly modern, one-of-a-kind necklaces (left, above), rings, and bracelets. Lucina uses fair trade beads, such as Colombian red choclo seeds and vegetarian ivory, which add an earthy touch to the company's elegant, sparse pieces. How about an espresso pearl bracelet (below, right)? I also like 19 Moons' funky brooches (above, right), bracelets, and picture pendants, which embrace imagery from the Victorian and atomic eras. K. talis's North Carolina maker keeps old-fashioned, protective talismans in mind (right) when crafting wearable art from lost keys, shoe buckles, and other detritus. Viva Terra sells nice green jewelry, housewares, and other stuff. Vik Jewelry's fun Indio collection sources materials from Brazil, including dyed acai seeds (left) and feathers. Yvette Doss hand-crafts pendants (right) with semi-precious stones and recycled doodads such as Mexican milagros for her Yew Tree necklaces. By the Sea Jewelry uses softened sea glass in teal, seafoam, cherry and other hues. My favorite necklace pendant was a thousand year-old Roman coin I picked up in Jerusalem, but beware of looted and fake antiquities.

At the Green Festival, Moonrise Jewelry sold beautiful necklaces with real orchid pendants (left) dipped in resin. Vortex Green Jewelry's artists design pieces with lots of recycled beads. They also guide tours of Sedona, Arizona. Motherboard Inc.'s cufflinks are the ultimate accessory for the nerd who is taking over the world. Castaway's bold wood, leather, and horn designs aren't for the faint of heart--but you'd never know that these mature pieces are all sourced from castoff materials.

People make jewelry out of practically anything--like bike chains, gumball charms, and vinyl records. Verde Jewelry makes use of Timber Bamboo and vintage baubles (left). Transit tokens, dice, and Scrabble letters become cufflinks and rings thanks to tokens & coins(right). I used to glue quarters to my barrettes (don't ask). Japan's Harvest even sells jewelry made from old skateboards--supposedly. That part of the site is under construction. Israel's Ayala Bar costume jewelry involves lots of recycled goods. If you're making jewelry and need a sustainable silver source, Cloth of the Gods from Yellow Springs, OH (the original Twilight Zone) sells silver beads and more from tribes in Thailand.

Making a commitment? Skip the blood diamonds and the greed-gold. Brilliant Earth offers a line of fair trade, conflict-free diamonds. Sumiche Jewelry, fair-trade certified, is the work of an Oregon couple, Susan and Michelle. Leber's Earthwise Jewelry makes use of Canadian diamonds and fair trade ingredients. Green Karat sells engagement-ready, ecologically-sensible stuff (left). The Ringworks Studio in Puget Sound focuses on conflict-free gold as well as diamonds. Rather knock on wood than rocks? You could get a custom-crafted wooden ring made in Vancouver with all sorts of sustainbly-harvested trees such as cherry, the tree of the heart, or pine, which represents peace. Steve Wiser of Wiser Jewelry crafts pendants, engagement rings, and other 18 karat golden things from recycled gold in a Washington state studio that will soon be solar-powered.

Update: Another option is to check out synthetic diamonds, which cost 10 to 15 percent less than those from open pit mines. Companies like Apollo, Chatham, and Adia are cultivating gems in labs.

Major jewelry sellers such as Tiffany & Co., and even Zales are signing on to support less brutal ways of mining precious gems and metals (Find out more from the Council for Responsible Jewellry Practices.). That won't stop companies' brutal marketing campaigns that shove diamonds in our faces. I couldn't think of a much emptier symbol of enduring love than a colorless cut rock. How about a blue sapphire instead?

For more, Happy Hippie offers a good list of eco jewelry. Inhabitat has some other ideas. So does Delia at In Business.

Wash those breasts right in through your hair

You buy organic milk and eat Ben & Jerry's ice cream because it's free of hormones, which can throw your body out of whack in mysterious ways. But what are you rubbing into your scalp? Many shampoos and conditioners--especially those marketed to smooth the hair of black women--are packed with synthetic hormones, which your body easily sucks in through the skin. How about organic brands instead? In test tubes, even lavender oil mimics estrogen.

A debate is raging about why nearly half of black girls and 15 percent of white girls seem to be starting puberty by age 8. (I couldn't find any way around the P word, yech.) Some toddler girls and boys even develop breasts, suffering what the NYT highlights as "preschool puberty." Could it be mom's shampoo--Super Gro being so aptly named? Or plastics, with hormone-disrupting phthalates rubbing into our mucous membranes through pacifiers and sex toys? What about the omnipresent industrial chemicals that monkey with our endocrine systems and so much more? It's been seven years since the government was supposed to take a hard look at how such ingredients mess with the environment and our bodies.

Scientists don't even know enough about how hormones work to endorse them after menopause, or to warn women about a breast cancer link. But the FDA lets drugstore bodycare products contain just as many artifical female hormones as grandmother might swallow in her daily change-of-life horse pills.

The estrogen compounds in the urine of millions get flushed into our groundwater, streams and oceans, probably rendering frogs and other delicate creatures infertile. Yet gynecologists regularly push birth control pills on tweens. Women even take the pill year-round so they'll never have to have a period; a new drug will make that even easier. What to do? Stuntmother puts the lack of an answer better than I can:

Problem is, there's something worrying every time I swing my head around. Water has lead. Shampoo has lavender. Food has growth hormones or has been genetically modified. Our vegetables are sprayed. Our playgrounds have glass in the grass and needles on the swings. Our cars are spewing out carcinogens, as are our factories and air conditioners. Our crackers have preservatives and polyunsaturated grease. Fish is riddled with mercury. George Bush is president. Perverts lurk on the internet and reality television is weird. North Korea has nuclear bombs and the Gulf Stream is slowing. Oil is over sixty dollars a barrel and clothing is sweat-shopped. Children are dying in mines and orphanages and pressure treated wood has arsenic. New paint and carpets off-gas and old carpets have dust mites and old paint has lead. People still think that Paris Hilton is pretty and the authorities (ha!) can't decide whether 10,000 or 600,000 Iraqis have died since we charged into Iraq.

There are dangers everywhere and a thousand more I do not know or that have not yet been discovered. I cannot be a one woman shield against all that is poisoning, threatening, lurking and destroying my children. I want to be -- but I can't. So where is the line?

When not to be flexible

When in the mood, we cover the intersection between all that's clean and green versus all that's dirty in sex machines, whether roaming the halls of the Adult Expo in Vegas or observing marketers' attempts to sell sustainability with sex. And it 's really a laff riot when you bring sex toys out on the street. I don't know this last part firsthand, but Treehugger TV found out how to raise New Yorkers' eyebrows by pimping cleaner, greener sex toys in public; watch the video here.

If you think that this sort of blogging is just a cheap ploy to attract attention, then check out the latest "sex scandal" headlines being teased by the world's most famous green group. If the cute factor doesn't work with polar bears because it's too depressing that they're drowning in the melting Arctic, you've got to pursue prurience. Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone in between should take note of the dire September 11th warning issued by Greenpeace's Amsterdam (where else) office about unsavory sex toys such as the clitofing, the anneau d'erection, and spectra gels. The names sound to me like control panel buttons on the "Lost in Space" craft.

Such products are poisonous because they contain plasticizers called thay  pthay  phfft phthalates. Words this hard to spell and with that many syllables (left) are usually a turnoff. Phthalates (THAY-lates) make the props flexible, but their factory-spawned chemicals have been linked to the kind of unfun gender-bending that makes frogs infertile.

Can you believe that inserting what looks like a glass bong into your body is probably less dangerous than these bendy things? Rule of thumb: anything with that new plastic smell is offgassing unsavory ingredients, and I think it's fair to say that offgassing is a big turn-off even for kinky people. This stuff also leaches into the environment (ew, leeches  leaches: Turn Off) once you toss that corroded vibrator into a landfill.

The European Union frowns upon baby toys that contain phthalates, while American babies still suck on them. But governments won't test the adult goods, just as the FDA doesn't regulate cosmetics. So Greenpeace commissioned its own study on plasticky props for grown-ups. Results: seven of eight were packed with phthalates, which made up as much as 51 percent of the ingredients. What, Greenpeace could only afford to buy eight sex toys? They should have just gone out onto the streets waving dildos like Treehugger did, and asked some Dutch people for loaners. After all, that market is worth some $28 million each year in the Netherlands alone.

Veganism with legs

No cows: that's the culinary message of Tanjareen, Sky, and their fellow cleavage-busting SoCal vegan sisters. I just ran across the Vegan Vixens' show, which promotes organic cuisine and clothing. There are few better examples of people trying to sex up an eco-friendly lifestyle. (The joy of public access in the Bay area, as you never know how cable channel 29 might warp you. But this silly show is more fun than that weekly 9/11 conspiracy documenary, no matter how certain feminists might scowl.)

On their low-budget broadcast, this group of veg-obsessed models and actresses mouth kisses llamas and kitchen-dances in threesomes while frying tiny soy sausages. The vixens' brand of dairy-free cheesecake aims to convert men to beat their meat-loving ways. Their antics air in California, New York, Madison and Iowa City, and have earned them entree into the Playboy mansion and onto the (yech) Howard Stern show. However, the ladies should really promote more almond or rice milk instead of all that soy, which has estrogen mimicking compounds that might be just as bad or worse for women as drinking

hormone-loaded milk. Disclaimer: I ate a salami sandwich yesterday and don't give a *@&$.

Chocolate: do it raw

Our obsessive Valentine's-era efforts to rate some of the world's finest organic, dark chocolates barely hinted at cacao's sweetness and power. If you're truly cuckoo about getting a health kick from cocoa, then cut the sugar and go raw.

Gregory mentioned that Stacey was glowing brighter than a firefly since she'd added a bliss-inducing cacao concoction to her daily food regime, so I plotted to share her snack for the sake of fellow felinekind (the benefits seem to be extra potent for women thanks to magnesium and more). Voila: Stacey and Five Point Wellness released this secret recipe that will balance your body and help manifest more dreams than a fortune cookie. Scoop up some cacao in bulk and fill up a tall, dark, handsome jar with this heady mixture to keep on your countertop:

1 handful raw cacao nibs
20 goji berries
1 T pumpkin seeds
1 T coconut flakes
3 coarsely chopped brazil nuts
dash of celtic or Himalayan sea salt

You could drizzle on some agave nectar if your sweet tooth feels bitter. Keep reading for cacao smoothie secrets (thanks, Stacey!)...

Fighting disease with citrus power

Why would UC Berkeley students wear lime juice-soaked tampons for two weeks? Are people that eccentric on the left coast, or is DIY douching in vogue? Neither, or both--but really--those Cal coeds were part of a test trying to find whether citrus power might safely fight HIV. Women account for 60 percent of the world's new HIV cases. If you grew up far from Berkeley, in a place where your father sold you for cows, chances are that you lack the security or health knowledge to make a man wear a condom. Could a dash of lime-based microbicide become a low-tech secret weapon for such women? That's what Berkeley public health researcher Anke Hemmerling hopes. For two decades, health educators and advertisers pushed lubricants containing HIV-killer nonoxynol-9 until realizing that the chemical instead made it easier for women to get the virus. As the East Bay Express explains:

Natural microbicides extracted from fruit or other plants could be a particularly elegant way around the pharmaceutical industry. It's not such a weird idea -- for centuries, women have whipped up homemade contraceptives and microbicides from things like lime or lemon juice, vinegar, honey, and olive oil. With a pH of 2.2, lime juice is sufficiently acidic to kill most microbes, and can neutralize HIV in a test tube in less than a minute...There may be other natural options -- the second-best HIV killer is pomegranate juice -- and the active substance in Carraguard, one of the lead pharmaceutical microbicides being tested, is carrageenan, which is derived from seaweed.

Acidic citrus fruits and seaweed make some strong cleaning products, too. Although limes may eat away at condoms, early tests with willing human guinea pigs show that the tart fruit isn't too harsh for women's bodies. Maybe green microbicides will be a mainstream sexual safeguard for when condoms aren't an option, but more tests are needed. Unfortunately, makers of phony HIV-slayers such as Green Sun (and even spray on condoms), are scamming people into believing they can already get natural protection in a bottle.

"Novelty" props just too dirty

I've been surprised at how hard it is to get details about the eco-safety of props made by the vast, hilarious, and often sketchy sex toy industry--even from well-known sex educators. Maybe it's because Googling such things can take you down some dark, way-too-well-trodden paths. But Violet Blue has a thorough post and podcast on the topic (highlighted by Boing Boing):

The short of it is that because sex toy companies label their products "for novelty use only", they can get away with anything -- even though they explicitly know their products are for sexual use (genital application)...

Belated Adult Expo report, in time for Valentine's

Did I forget to mention that alongside other nerds in Las Vegas last month for the Consumer Electronics Show, I headed across the Sands Convention Center hall for the Adult Entertainment Expo 2006? Both events share the same space, an annual source of amusement. The Sands center becomes a hub of business suits, skintight bodysuits, and bejeweled birthday suits.

The week's after-hour parties were a nightmare-inducing mix. Combine Microsoft flacks in spaghetti straps, steroidal SoCal pornsters, and wannabe Ludacris groupies. Add the backdrop of a high-up hotel suite, TV screens embedded in mirrored walls, marble hot tubs, bubbles, and a bar nearly as long as the private bowling lane.

Ya think the sex and tech industries care about clean technology? Finding some green products was my mission as I parted the curtain and entered the Adult Expo. Was there anything for your Valentine? Keep reading...

Somehow, amidst the boobs of both mannequins and real people who consider themselves dolls, I spotted the booth for Naked Scents lubes and oils right off the bat. Unlike lubricants that use stuff found in antifreeze, these are natural enough to whip up in your kitchen. The essential scents--like cinnamon vanilla--make you hungry and the texture of the lubricants is light, while the pleasure butters are rich enough to butter bread.

Company multitasker Carrie Wheeler said the plant ingredients nourish your skin and repel germs. She showed how the fragrances take on your unique signature, smelling different on her wrist than on mine. Then she handed me articles about the health benefits of healthy sex. The company, one of the first of its kind, is revamping its packaging to attract hipper customers.

Around the corner, Cheryl Flagel showed off Kama Sutra oils, which offer few eco-friendly selling points (and which I spied at said after hours party). But their corn-starch-based honey dust, which comes with a feather duster and pouch, is the bee’s knees. It's also free of talcum powder, which is linked to cervical and ovarian cancers.

Prolube was introducing its silicon lube, the medical kind (not industrial) used to grease up hospital needles and aid in artificial insemination. Flavorless, odorless, hypoallergenic, it maintains its consistency without getting tacky or, like water-based types, requiring more H2O to revive it. Siliconepro is ok for latex and other condoms, but not with silicone accessories. It supposedly helps avoid irritating skin, throwing pH out of whack, or cultivating infections. Here are some rival brands. The company already has Walgreen’s distribution.

At the Tantus booth, sex-positive pioneer Diana Cage (left), author of Box Lunch and former On Our Backs editor, showed off a dizzying array of high-end, silicone dildos. After a while, they all start to look like bookends you might find in Jeff Koons’ house. Unlike Koons’ “Michael Jackson with Bubbles,” Tantus’s works are oilable, dishwasher safe, and bleachable (but I say keep that Clorox away no matter how well it disinfects).

Said Cage of the less discriminating sex toys standing at attention throughout the convention: "You’re putting this in your mucous membrane. It goes int o the bloodstream…People don’t understand that sex toys aren’t safe…why wouldn’t you think about what we put in our bodies?"

oops--gotta run--will cap this off in a bit...

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