<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[The Environment Site Green Living Guides]]></title><description><![CDATA[Articles]]></description><link>http://www.theenvironmentsite.org/guides/</link><copyright><![CDATA[Copyright The Environment Site Green Living Guides]]></copyright><generator>sNews CMS</generator><item><title><![CDATA[Eco Friendly Lavatory Cleaners]]></title><description><![CDATA[  Bicarbonate of soda and vinegar are often suggested as loo-cleaners. But according to Which? magazine they cost three times as much as Ecover and require paper towels or cloths to remove stains, which would eradicate their benefit.    

  Blue loo deodorisers - which turn the water blue and have a powerful, cloying smell - are on a par with air fresheners on my eco-horrors list. They're unnecessary, and if you have a push-button loo they could even be corroding the valve and making it prone to leak.  

  Many of us feel uneasy using bleaches and loo-cleaning fluids. However, they don't contaminate the sewers because when they encounter bacteria, they disintegrate. On the other hand, stains in your loo attract germs. So bleaches may not be so bad.  
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 14 May 2007 10:01:57 +0000</pubDate><link>http://www.theenvironmentsite.org/guides/green-bathroom/eco-friendly-lavatory-cleaners/</link><guid>http://www.theenvironmentsite.org/guides/green-bathroom/eco-friendly-lavatory-cleaners/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Eco Friendly Nappies]]></title><description><![CDATA[  If you want to use fewer nappies you'd be better off having a girl. By the age of two-and-a-half 90 per cent of girls but only 75 per cent of boys are out of nappies. Clearly this is not something that we can choose, but we do have a choice as to what sort of nappy to buy.    

  The main choice in nappies is between disposables, which are the most popular, and reusables, which are generally assumed to be the eco-friendly option. But this eco-choice is not as clear as it appears.  

  Certainly, reusable nappies mean that much less waste is sent to landfill - around 2.5 billion nappies are thrown away in the UK each year (about 7 million a day). This accounts for 2.4 per cent of all household waste. On the other hand, reusable nappies use far more energy in washing and drying and are therefore worse for climate change.  

  Also, disposable nappies are less bulky than they were: there has been a 40 per cent reduction in the volume of material used in the last 15 years. In part this has been achieved by using an extremely absorbent gel which soaks up the liquid and keeps the baby dry.  

  However, this gel is made of a plastic material, which doesn't rot and so adds to the debate about nappy biodegradability.  

  Another issue to consider is that the pulp used in nappies comes from forests. Nappy manufacturers should be making sure all the pulp is FSC-certified, guaranteeing it comes from sustainable sources.  

  Most people think it would be a good thing for nappies to biodegrade in landfill sites. Disposable nappies are certainly more biodegradable than they were: an unused nappy is around 50 per cent biodegradable, whereas a used one is on average 80 per cent biodegradable.  

  But laws covering landfill sites are aimed at reducing the amount of biodegradable waste put into them. The greenhouse gases released from the rotting waste are difficult to capture from this source.  

  The good news is that nappies can be composted in industrial systems that collect the methane released, which can then be used for fuel.  

  This approach is being developed in the Netherlands, and there's no reason why it couldn't also work in the UK. Currently, 90 per cent of our disposable nappies end up in landfill sites. I think manufacturers - and local government - should be doing a lot more to change this by helping to set up composting systems for biowaste, including nappies.  

  Whilst the eco-credentials of disposables come down to the design of the product, for reusables it's largely down to the user.  

  Unfortunately, nappies are a bit of an exception in that they need to be washed at 60°C to get rid of the nasty bacteria. But if you use a disposable liner in a reusable nappy, or put the nappy in bleach before washing, you can put them in a 40°C, or even a 30°C wash like the rest of your clothes. Most of all, avoid using tumble dryers because they'll eliminate any eco-benefit you may have accumulated.  

  As we all know, nappies can be very smelly, and a lot of people are meticulous about wrapping them up in plastic bags, sometimes in multiple layers. If you're out and about this may make sense.  

  But at home I think putting them directly into a bucket with a lid, and emptying it regularly, should be enough. And there's absolutely no point in buying degradable bags for your partially biodegradable nappy that's on its way to landfill.  

  My verdict: I'm afraid the choice between disposable and reusable nappies is not clear-cut. You have to decide whether you're more concerned about waste, in which case you'd choose reusables, or climate change, in which case you'd go for disposables.  

  If you go for disposables, it's worth asking the manufacturer about their policy on sustainable forestry and promoting composting systems. If systems were in place to collect biogas from disposable nappies, I think they'd be a clear winner over reusables in terms of their eco-impacts.  ]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 14 May 2007 04:41:00 +0000</pubDate><link>http://www.theenvironmentsite.org/guides/eco-friendly-bedroom/eco-friendly-nappies/</link><guid>http://www.theenvironmentsite.org/guides/eco-friendly-bedroom/eco-friendly-nappies/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Green Guide to Cartridge Recycling]]></title><description><![CDATA[    The guide below is written by   Wobs  , a member of our forum, and gives a few pointers as to the best places to recycle consumables such as printer cartridges, fax and copier toners. Many models cannot be recycled for a variety of reasons, and it is worth checking this before purchasing a new piece of equipment. A printer may be cheap, but it can still cost the Earth.   

  Many cartridges are refillable, but eventually even these will wear out, and require careful disposal.   

  How you recycle your printer cartridges will depend upon how many you consume. If you are a resident or small business, with a single inkjet, you need to be looking for either a local collection point, or a charity that sends out plastic envelopes (such as ActionAid or Childline). They are free post, so it will be a free service, with minimal effort.   

  Many stationery shops have cartridge collection points, so as you buy new ones, you can safely dispose of your old ones. Just make sure you have the box so it remains in good condition.   

  If your cartridge needs are on a more commercial scale, then a collection box of your own will be more worthwhile. Again, many charities and suppliers provide these for free, and can benefit yourself financially or you can contribute to a charity.   

  Services such as Lasertech or ActionAid provide this choice, and will take most (but not all) makes.   

  This is one of the problems with cartridge recycling, there are many cartridges that are not recyclable, and what make the printer is, is rarely an indication to its recyclability. Each of the links below will help in working out who will accept your consumables.   

    http://www.actionaidrecycling.org.uk/   (last updated August 2006)   

  Childline will send out envelopes for inkjets  : 
  http://www.childline.org.uk/extra/cartridgerecycling.asp     

  Oxfam  : 
  http://www.laserxchange.co.uk/COMPATMAY06.pdf  

  Lasertech accept a wide range of cartridges  : 
  http://www.lasertechgroup.com/uk/lrp/cartlist.html  

  All require the box that the cartridge came in.   

  http://www.inkagain.co.uk/check/index.shtml     
  http://www.takeback.ltd.uk/which.htm     
  http://www.helptheaged.org.uk/en-gb/HowYouCanHelp/Recycling/Toners/     
  http://www.tonerrecycling.com/index.new.php     
  http://www.cartridges4charity.co.uk/     
 ]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 19 Apr 2007 02:58:00 +0000</pubDate><link>http://www.theenvironmentsite.org/guides/green-study/green-guide-to-cartridge-recycling/</link><guid>http://www.theenvironmentsite.org/guides/green-study/green-guide-to-cartridge-recycling/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Green Pets]]></title><description><![CDATA[.  Ah, the pitter patter of four-legged feet as they whip through your living room at overclocked speeds or uproot your prize gladiolas with manic fervor. But Snookiepuss and Mrs. Fluffypants are practically family, right? So why should they settle for anything less than top drawer when their health and wellbeing are at stake? Throw the planet a bone while you’re at it; we’ve got the goods on how to reduce your pets’ carbon paw prints—without making your wallet roll over and play dead. 

  1. Adopt from a shelter   

Pet breeders have only one goal in mind—to raise large quantities of purebred animals for profit. They’ve also been pilloried for misdeeds such as overbreeding, inbreeding, poor veterinary oversight, lousy food and living conditions, overcrowding, and culling of unwanted animals. Why buy when you can adopt one of the 70,000 puppies and kittens born every day? Love knows no pedigree. Check out Petfinder.com to find your perfect match.

  2. Spay or neuter your pet   

Did we mention 70,000 puppies and kittens are born every day? That’s 15 puppies and 45 kittens for every hairless biped that slides out of a birth canal. And “multiplying like bunnies” isn’t just any old trope. We don’t need any more homeless animals than we already have. As a bonus, spaying and neutering helps dogs and cats live longer, healthier lives by eliminating the possibility of uterine, ovarian, and testicular cancer, and decreasing the incidence of prostate disease. 

  3. Rein in your pets; protect native wildlife   

Always keep your dog on a leash when outside, and confine your mangy feline indoors. Topped only perhaps by habitat destruction, cats are the biggest, baddest bird killers of all time. Even wind turbines have got nothing on them. While you may poo-poo high cat-related bird-mortality rates as collateral damage in the great Circle of Life, domestic cats do have an unfair advantage. Unlike wild predators, house cats are always well fed, well rested, and in tip-top fighting shape. They’re also present in more concentrated (and rapidly increasing) numbers than say, the San Clemente Loggerhead Shrike.    

That aside, two out of three vets recommend keeping cats indoors, because of the dangers of cars, predators, disease, and other hazards. The estimated average life span of a free-roaming cat is less than three years; an indoors-only cat gets to live an average of 15 to 18 years. If kitty needs to heed the call of the wild, an outdoor cat enclosure is a good compromise.

  4. Swap out the junk food  

Most conventional pet-food brands you find at the supermarket consist of reconstituted animal by-products, otherwise known as low-grade wastes from the beef and poultry industries—you know, inedibles you wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot fork. In fact, the animals used to make many pet foods are classified as “4-D,” which is really a polite way of saying “Dead, Dying, Diseased, or Down (Disabled)” when they line up at the slaughterhouse. Unless that can of Chicken ‘N Liver Delite explicitly states that it contains FDA-certified, food-grade meat, you should know that its contents are considered unfit for human consumption—but apparently good enough for your cat or pooch.    

Now, since nutrition is one of the key determinants of health and resistance to disease, ideally you’ll want your pet’s chow to be comparable in quality with what we would eat.    

Natural and organic pet foods use meats that are raised in sustainable, humane ways without added drugs or hormones, minimally processed, and preserved with natural substances, such as vitamins C and E. 

  5. Clean up their poop  

Scoop up your doggie doo in biodegradable poop bags so your buddy’s No. 2 isn’t immortalized in a plastic bag, while deep-sixed in a landfill somewhere for hundreds of years. Cat owners should avoid clumping clay litter at all costs. Not only is clay strip-mined (bad for the planet), but the clay sediment is also permeated with carcinogenic silica dust that can coat little kitty lungs (bad for the cat). Plus, the sodium bentonite that acts as the clumping agent can poison your cat through chronic ingestion through their fastidious need to groom. Because sodium bentonite acts like expanding cement—it’s also used as a grouting, sealing, and plugging material—it can swell up to 15 to18 times their dry size and clog up your cat’s insides. Eco-friendly cat litters avoid these problems; a happy cat is a cat that doesn’t claw your face off. 

  6. Give them sustainable goods   

Your furry friends can get in on some saving-the-planet goodness, too—and have plenty of fun—with toys made from recycled materials or sustainable fibers (sans herbicides or pesticides) such as hemp. A hemp collar (with matching leash) is a rocking accessory for a tree-hugging mutt. These days, you can even get pet beds made with organic cotton or even recycled PET bottles. 

  7. Use natural pet-care and cleaning products  

You don’t use toxic-chemical-laced shampoos and beauty products, so lather up your cats and dogs (or ferrets, rabbits, or hamsters—we don’t judge) with natural pet-care products, as well. And if your cat horks up a hairball, or Fifi doesn’t make it all the way to the bathroom, clean up the mess with cleaning products that are as gentle on the planet as they are on your critters’ delicate senses.

  8. Pets, not fads  

Sure, everyone’s ovaries ping when they see a five-year-old moppet cradle a tiny chick or a bunny during Easter, but nature dictates that baby bunnies grow up into rabbits, and little chicks into full-size chickens. Unless everyone involved understands that a pet is a long-term commitment that involves demands on both their time and money, you’re better off giving the kid a stuffed animal. Impulse buying (say, rushing out an grabbing the next available Dalmatian puppy after watching 101 Dalmatians) isn’t a good idea, either, as the large numbers of fad dogs that pass through shelters (often to their death) can attest. Repeat after us—especially you, Paris Hilton: Pets are not fads or fashion accessories.

  9. Melt the ice, nicely   

Use a child- and pet-safe deicer such as Safe Paw’s environmentally friendly Ice Melter. Rock salt and salt-based ice-melting products, which kids and animals might accidentally ingest, can cause health problems, while contaminating wells and drinking supplies.

  10. Tag your pet  

It might be a stretch to call inserting an electronic ID chip into your pet an eco-friendly move, but losing your buddy causes extreme emotional distress that turns you into nobody’s friend. Then there’s the paper waste from printing out Missing posters, the fuel cost of driving around your neighborhood trying to find them, the phone bill as you bawl your eyes out to everyone you know … well, you get the idea. Ask your vet for more info. For hanging tags, check out these recyclable (and recycled) aluminum ID tags and these WaggTaggs made from recycled silver.]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 05 Mar 2007 00:57:00 +0000</pubDate><link>http://www.theenvironmentsite.org/guides/garden/green-pets/</link><guid>http://www.theenvironmentsite.org/guides/garden/green-pets/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[How to Green your Meals]]></title><description><![CDATA[  The dailies? You know - milk, bread, eggs - the dailies. These are the things that you find yourself running out each week (or each day) to purchase. Now, you spend a lot of money on these purchases because of their purchasing frequency, so its important that something worth so much money is chosen carefully.

  Our top 10 tips for greening your meals  

  1. The Big O  

When you eat organic, don’t just picture the healthy food you are putting in your body, picture the healthy ecosystems which produced that food, the workers who are safer from chemicals, the land, water, and air that is being protected, and the wildlife that is being allowed to thrive. Organic vegetables, fruits, grains, juice, dairy, eggs, and meat (and don’t forget the organic wine and beer), are grown and processed in ways that support healthy people and a healthy planet. (While you may not be able to find or afford organic options for everything you need, certain fruits and vegetables are more pesticidy than others.) 

  2. Fair fare  

Fair trade certified food ensures a proper wage and working conditions for those who harvest and handle it. But fair trade is green for the environment as well. TransFair, the only fair trade certifier in the US, has strong environmental standards built into its certification process that protect watersheds and virgin forests, help prevent erosion, promote natural soil fertility and water conservation, and prohibit GMOs and many synthetic chemicals. TransFair claims that their environmental standards are the most stringent in the industry, second only to USDA organic certification.

  3. Go local  

Buying seasonal, local food is a boon for the environment for a lot of reasons. Since most food travels many miles to reach your table (1,500 miles, on average), locally sourced food cuts back on the climate-change impacts of transportation. Local food also generally uses less packaging, is fresher and tastier, and comes in more varieties. It also supports small local growers and lets them get more for their produce by not having to spend so much on packing, processing, refrigeration, marketing, and shipping. The best way to track down local food is at farmers markets or through community supported agriculture (CSA), which often offer home delivery. 

  4. Don’t follow the pack  

Instead of buying foods that come in extensive packaging (most of which is petroleum-based plastics) look for unpackaged or minimally packaged foods, experiment with bringing your own containers and buying in bulk, or pick brands that use bio-based plastic packing. And of course try and recycle or reuse any packaging you end up with. 

  5. Compost the leftovers  

Greening your meals isn’t just about the food that winds up on the plate—it’s the entire process, the whole lifecycle shebang. Composting leftovers will ease the burden on the landfill, give you great soil, and keep your kitchen waste basket from smelling. Apartment dwellers and yardless wonders can do it too! And yes, a composting toilet can be part of the miraculous cycle as well. (see our guide for   how to compost  )

  6. Grow your own  

In the garden, in the greenhouse, in the window box, or something fancier. Even urbanites can get quite a bit of good eats from not much space.

  7. To and from  

Just as buying locally grown food cuts on “miles per calorie,” buying from local sellers cuts back on emissions, fuel consumption, and unnecessary traffic.

  8. Just enough  

Put some extra planning into the amount of food you cook will cut back on waste. If it’s something that will spoil quickly, try to avoid making more than you or your family can eat. If you’ve got extra, make a friend happy with a home cooked surprise. If it’s a bigger affair, give the leftovers to those who may need it more.

  9. Raw  

Many people swear by the benefits of eating raw. Whatever the health advantages may be, preparing raw food consumes less energy and because raw food is usually fresh by definition, it is more likely to be locally grown. 

  10. Ease up on the meat  

Meat is the most resource-intensive food on the table and eating less of it can be the single most green move a person makes. Producing meat requires huge amounts of water, grain, land, and other inputs including hormones and antibiotics, and leads to pollution of soil, air, and water. A pound of beef requires around 12,000 gallons of water to produce, compared to 60 gallons for a pound of potatoes. If you’re a meat eater, for starters, try cutting out a serving of meat each week. Going vegetarian or vegan is a profoundly meaningful environmental choice, and it’s done wonders for Chris Martin and Prince.]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 02 Mar 2007 00:59:00 +0000</pubDate><link>http://www.theenvironmentsite.org/guides/green-kitchen/how-to-green-your-meals/</link><guid>http://www.theenvironmentsite.org/guides/green-kitchen/how-to-green-your-meals/</guid></item></channel></rss>