Steven's Thoughts

Forgot your cell charger?

There have been so many times that I forgot to bring my cell charger on a business trip.

Ideal Bite had a great tip this morning :

"Put down that charge card. If you're staying at a hotel, chances are the front desk has a few chargers other people left behind. Ask before you waste cash ringing up a new one. "

Great way to save some money and recycle a charger.

How about clean water? Is clean water a human right?

Sienna and I have a house with the view of the Ashokan reservoir in the Catskills. In the early 1900s, New York City was facing a severe water shortage and had to go all the way upstate to find enough space to collect millions of gallons of water. Hundreds of families were displaced to build the reservoir and there are still home structures located at the bottom of it. Since we've moved up here and have the opportunity to see the reservoir  right from our deck we have become more aware about the water that we get in the city. Apparently, 240 million pounds of toxins flow into our waterways each year, and the long-term effects on human health and the environment could be disastrous. Check out this video about water and the EPA:

FOOD and the Environment

Man, it is so hard to make the right environmental decisions. Does a non organic local apple have a smaller carbon footprint then a organic from Washington state? Does a French Merlot have a higher footprint then one from Sonoma? The problem is it is not only an environmental, but also a health decision.

Mark Bittman, New York Times food & cooking columns, gave an interesting talk at TED about the link between our food and global warming, environmental degradation, and human health problems. Check it out 

Happy Earth Day

I am not a big fan of Earth Day. Living a green lifestyle should be practiced every day, not  once a year. But, I do believe Earth Day is a great reminder that there are many things that we can do to revert climate change.

Here is a list of things that I have started to do:

1. Call your Representative or Senator-  push for tough and fair climate legislation - 202-224-3121. Here is a pdf of worldwide numbers to call.
2. Change Your Business - the company that you work for contributes to climate change through their operation and products they provide. Push your organization for carbon neutural business practices. Start here
3. Change to Alternative Energy - go online and switch to renewable energy.  Con Ed let's you do this with a few clicks.
   
   
4. Cut Your Junk Mail - sign up with a service like Green Dimes and reduce your junk mail by 90%.
5. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - try to be conscious of what you buy. Think about if you really need to buy that item nor, or if you can get it on craigslist.
      
6. Eat Less Meat - livestock generates more global warming greenhouse gases than transportation. If you do feel like a burger get local grass fed  beef.
   
   
7. Local and Organic - how the food is grown and how it gets to us contributes to green house gases. It is not easy to figure out the environmental impact of the food that we buy. Just think about where it comes from and what chemicals might have been used to grow it.
   
   
8. Take Your Bike or Drive a Hybrid - Many of us have to drive to certain places. Think about the mileage that you can get out of your car. The Prius gets you 45 miles per gallon.
   
   
9. Offset Your Travel - Most of my clients and family live to far away for me to take a train. I have to fly. I try to off my carbon emissions through one of many sites such as Carbonfund.org, TerraPas  or NativeEnergy.
   
   
10. Give A Damn - I know it can get very overwhelming specifically if countries such as China and India are just getting started. There is still some time (maybe 8 years) for us to reverse the course. Check out Micheal Pollan's NYTimes article "Why Bother".

Earth Day is not going to save our planet, but it might get a few more of us on board the green bandwagon. Just doing one of the things I've listed is not going to solve the problem, but a combination of government, business and personal effort will.

Happy Earth Day

No more plastic bags

Yaah, no more plastic bags. I have been trying to remind my girlfriend not to use the store plastic bags for years. I have to admit sometimes I feel silly and dogmatic about insisting on bringing our own bags.

Finally, Whole Foods stepped in to help us. Starting on Earth Day, April 22, 2008, Whole  Foods will end the use of disposable plastic bags in all of its 270 stores in the U.S., Canada and the U.K.

I hope that other grocery stores will follow and that my girlfriend and I have one less things to quarrel about ;-)

Clinton or Obama on the Environment

I was hoping to help people who are still struggling between voting for Hillary or Barack for the Democratic nomination. In terms of their environmental policy proposals, there is very little difference. As with most issues, they both have very similar plans. Clinton and Obama support a cap and trade system that would reduce energy by 80% below the 1990 levels by 2050, both want more money to be invested in research, and they have an impressive grasp of the policy details.

A few interesting facts:

Obama promises $159 billion to develop  biofuels and hybrids and a $50 billion venture fund for clean technologies. He wants to have a quarter of US energy to come form renewable sources by 2025.

Clinton wants to cut energy demand by 20% by 2020. She also wants to tax oil companies to raise $50 billion for clean energy.

Obama drives a hybrid, but it is an SVU.

Clinton had motion-sensors and energy-saving lights installed in her  house.

David Roberts at grist had a good blog about the issue.

I am not really struggling, because I can't vote.

 

Stuff is Cheap, is it?

When we go shopping, most of us, try to get the "best deal" that we can get. Intrinsically there is nothing wrong with that. Why should we pay more for a product if we can get it cheaper somewhere else? We typically don't take the time to think why products are so inexpensive. We don't consider the ramifications of how a company can offer a product for so little money.

The Story of Stuff is a video that talks in simple terms about how "stuff" is made. The piece draws a connection between the environmental and social issues that are the fruits of "stuff" being so cheap. 

I find this video very effective, but am not as excited about the tone of it. I don't believe in the idea of "Big Business" as an entity. I agree that we need to change the way we produce products, but I think individual businesses are actually the answer to this problem.  The book "Cradle to Cradle", that I blogged about before, talks about how we can re-conceive the way we make "stuff". We are intelligent enough to make products in a way that don't  negatively affect our planet. Some of us are making products that actually have a positive impact on the environment and our society at large. There are a number of companies that have started to move in this direction: Herman Miller, Patagonia and Cliff Bar, to just mention a few.

Once we become conscious about the consequences of how "stuff" is made it becomes harder and harder to justify buying whatever is the cheapest.         

Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things

I just finished reading "Cradle to Cradle", a  book that is one of the most important environment and business books of our time. McDonough and Braungart redefine how we should develop products and run companies at large. The book is a must read for anyone who is interested in ensuring that our planet stays a place where humans want to live.   

Continental ties Carbon Offset to online booking

I just booked a ticket for a friend of mine who is visiting me from Japan.  Continental has added a nice feature to their booking site that lets you offset your carbon from the flight:

"Leave the World a Better Place™ - Carbon Offsetting Option
	Continental has partnered with Sustainable Travel International (STI), a non-profit organization that supports global climate protection and environmental conservation. STI offers customers the option to make a contribution to offset their carbon footprints for travel on Continental. All contributions are paid directly to STI. Continental does not receive any portion of any contribution."

This program would even be better if they donated the offset as their contribution to the environment.

Health Conscious Kids

My parents were vegetarians and we only had healthy food at home. As a child, I took every chance that I could to eat junk food.

Kids today are different. My 5 year old, Sebastian, and I were at our friend Irene's place.  We ordered  pizza from Gruppo and one of  Luna's four year old friends told me that she was vegetarian and could only have pizza without meat.

Anu send me a link to a similar story:

...you make tortillas for the 4th grade "Mexican fiesta!" and a 9-year-old girl asks you, "Is that organic beef?" and when you say no, she doesn't want one.

Wow, our kids are better then we were. Now, as an adult, I appreciate my parents healthy vision and I try to pass it on to my son.