Jodi Helmer, author of The Green Year: 365 Small Things You Can Do to Make a Big Difference, offers tips for green summer vacations.
The final school bell has rung, the sun is shining and temperatures are rising, which all add up to just one thing: summer vacation.
This summer, keep the environment in mind when making summer travel plans. It is possible to have a memorable beach vacation without harming the planet.
Jodi Helmer, author of The Green Year, offers the following tips for greening your summer vacation:
* Reserve a room at a “green” hotel: The Green Hotels Association (http://www.greenhotels.com/) has a list of hotels in every state that have implemented programs to conserve resources and reduce waste. During check-in, request that sheets and towels be changed only if they’re left on the floor and leave a note for the housekeeping staff asking that the air conditioning be turned off when you’re not in the room.
* Planes, trains or automobiles? Make the right choice: Carpooling in a fuel-efficient vehicle has the least impact on the environment (ask car rental companies about hybrid vehicles). On longer trips, consider taking the train instead of flying. A transcontinental flight generates 2.5 tons of carbon dioxide emissions; train travel creates between 4 and 15 percent of the CO2 emissions (depending on the length of the trip). Bonus: You can avoid long lines at the airport and get a glimpse of parts of the country you could never see from the air.
* Pack light: Excess weight in the trunk of the car (or in the cargo hold on the plane) will decrease your gas mileage. In the car, every 100 pounds of cargo decreases fuel efficiency by 2 percent. It might not sound like much but it adds up on a round-trip to the beach, so only pack the essentials.
* Slather on biodegradable sunscreen: Sunscreen is essential for summer vacation but the same ingredients that help protect against UV exposure might be harming marine life. Scientists have found a link between dying coral reefs and the estimated 6,000 tons of sunscreen that wash off of swimmers every year. Biodegradable sunscreens are made with ingredients that break down in seawater and won’t harm marine life.
The Green Year (December 2008, $14.95, ISBN: 9781592578290, Alpha Books), provides 365 simple and inexpensive eco-friendly ideas for each day of the year. Organized by date, the green living tips suggest small changes and environmentally friendly ideas that make a big green impact.
The Green Year is more than a calendar. It offers practical, affordable and engaging activities that help make going green a blessing rather than a burden.
Author Jodi Helmer is a freelance writer who specializes in writing about eco-friendly topics. Her work has appeared in Plenty, Yoga Journal, Women's Health, Natural Solutions, Backpacker, Woman's Day, Family Circle and American Way. She is the co-author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Green Careers and a professional speaker who offers workshops on green issues. Helmer also maintains a website, www.green-year.com. She lives in Charlotte, NC.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
How to protect your family’s dwindling clean and available water supply from Terra Wellington
Because of increasing water pollution, drought conditions, and unpredictability of water availability, your family’s clean and available water is to become progressively more scarce and expensive and threatens to be one of the prevailing health and environmental issues of the next 20 years.
According to a recent Gallup poll, water pollution is the number one environmental concern of Americans. And as of mid-June, more than a third of the U.S. was experiencing drought conditions, with the Southeastern U.S. just emerging from a long-standing drought.
“No matter where you live, there are now serious water issues. Clean drinking water is an issue for everyone and sufficient water for community and household use is increasing in concern,” says Frequent Television Contributor Terra Wellington, author of The Mom’s Guide to Growing Your Family Green: Saving the Earth Begins at Home. “Now and in the coming years, families will need to take upon themselves a mounting interest in water conservation, preventing global warming, and keeping our waters clean in order to preserve a healthy way of life they have become accustomed to.”
In fact, the United Nation’s recent World Water report outlines how climate change’s main impacts will occur through water and water issues. And with only one percent of the world’s water supplies being fresh water for us to drink, it is imperative that we look after our natural resources.
Here are Wellington’s quick tips on how the average person can 1) conserve water and 2) preserve water’s cleanliness – to save money and to help your community. She has more ideas and information in her book, The Mom’s Guide to Growing Your Family Green:
CONSERVE –
○ Go low flow: Install low-flow aerators on all your bathroom faucets and low-flow showerheads. A dual-flush or low-flow toilet is a huge water saver as nearly a third of all the water you use in your home goes down the toilet.
○ Grow native: Gradually switch out your outdoor landscape to native plants. Plants that should be growing in your area already have adapted to your local climate and will require less irrigation water from your pocketbook.
○ Sweep: Let the broom or rake do the work instead of water from a hose. Sweep driveways and sidewalks without the use of water rinsing. Don’t use water to blast leaves off the yard.
PROTECT –
○ Be a friend to the drain: Don’t flush or dump medicines or chemicals down the drain. They often end up in waterways or back in our drinking water -- not all chemicals and medicines can be removed at wastewater plants.
○ Reduce fertilizer use: Use less fertilizer and choose organic, non-polluting fertilizers when possible. Manure can still be polluting.
○ Choose organic and local: Organic and local foods are much less polluting because they tend to zero-to-less, large-scale fertilizers in the agricultural process.
FACTS:
* “The main impacts of climate change on humans and the environment occur through water. Addressing the threats and opportunities of climate change and its impacts on water resources and supplies is vital for even the most remote rural areas....”
-- U.N. 3rd World Water Development Report, March 2009 http://bit.ly/8gx0L
* “Only 1% of the world's water can be used for human consumption. Half of the global population will be living in areas of "acute water shortage" by 2030. In India, where water shortages are already being felt, there were over 50 reported acts of violence over water during the month of May [2009] alone. And while experts estimate 2.5 gallons per person per day is a sustainable amount to use, the average American consumes 100 gallons per day. And that's just household use, not counting the amount used for agriculture and manufacturing of the goods we consume.”
-- Treehugger.com http://www.treehugger.com/water-crisis/
* The June 9, 2009 Drought Monitor report detailed more than a third of the U.S. in drought conditions.
-- National Drought Mitigation Center, http://drought.unl.edu/
* According to a recent Gallup poll, water pollution is the number one environmental concern of Americans.
-- Gallup, 3/25/09 http://bit.ly/TULrp
* At the 2009 Western Governor’s Association meeting, water use and climate change were the top issues. Water conservation in the West needs to become key, along with finding other water sources like capture of rainwater, treated wastewater, and desalination of water.
-- Associated Press report, 6/15/09 http://bit.ly/15Z3h2
* A desalination plant to be built near San Diego is the largest operation in the hemisphere and has been battling lawsuits by environmentalists who raise concerns about “the amount of fish that will be killed by the pumping process and about potential change to the aquatic ecosystem when leftover brine is returned to the sea.”
-- New York Times, 5/14/09 http://bit.ly/cXuEN
* Researchers in Germany have found ways to make drinking water from humidity in desert air.
-- ScienceDaily, 6/8/09 http://bit.ly/3kZF0B
* “Rice University scientists warned that the United States must be careful that the new emphasis on developing biofuels as an alternative to imported oil takes into account potential damage to the nation's water resources.”
-- Rice University, 6/12/09 http://bit.ly/F7cEu
According to a recent Gallup poll, water pollution is the number one environmental concern of Americans. And as of mid-June, more than a third of the U.S. was experiencing drought conditions, with the Southeastern U.S. just emerging from a long-standing drought.
“No matter where you live, there are now serious water issues. Clean drinking water is an issue for everyone and sufficient water for community and household use is increasing in concern,” says Frequent Television Contributor Terra Wellington, author of The Mom’s Guide to Growing Your Family Green: Saving the Earth Begins at Home. “Now and in the coming years, families will need to take upon themselves a mounting interest in water conservation, preventing global warming, and keeping our waters clean in order to preserve a healthy way of life they have become accustomed to.”
In fact, the United Nation’s recent World Water report outlines how climate change’s main impacts will occur through water and water issues. And with only one percent of the world’s water supplies being fresh water for us to drink, it is imperative that we look after our natural resources.
Here are Wellington’s quick tips on how the average person can 1) conserve water and 2) preserve water’s cleanliness – to save money and to help your community. She has more ideas and information in her book, The Mom’s Guide to Growing Your Family Green:
CONSERVE –
○ Go low flow: Install low-flow aerators on all your bathroom faucets and low-flow showerheads. A dual-flush or low-flow toilet is a huge water saver as nearly a third of all the water you use in your home goes down the toilet.
○ Grow native: Gradually switch out your outdoor landscape to native plants. Plants that should be growing in your area already have adapted to your local climate and will require less irrigation water from your pocketbook.
○ Sweep: Let the broom or rake do the work instead of water from a hose. Sweep driveways and sidewalks without the use of water rinsing. Don’t use water to blast leaves off the yard.
PROTECT –
○ Be a friend to the drain: Don’t flush or dump medicines or chemicals down the drain. They often end up in waterways or back in our drinking water -- not all chemicals and medicines can be removed at wastewater plants.
○ Reduce fertilizer use: Use less fertilizer and choose organic, non-polluting fertilizers when possible. Manure can still be polluting.
○ Choose organic and local: Organic and local foods are much less polluting because they tend to zero-to-less, large-scale fertilizers in the agricultural process.
FACTS:
* “The main impacts of climate change on humans and the environment occur through water. Addressing the threats and opportunities of climate change and its impacts on water resources and supplies is vital for even the most remote rural areas....”
-- U.N. 3rd World Water Development Report, March 2009 http://bit.ly/8gx0L
* “Only 1% of the world's water can be used for human consumption. Half of the global population will be living in areas of "acute water shortage" by 2030. In India, where water shortages are already being felt, there were over 50 reported acts of violence over water during the month of May [2009] alone. And while experts estimate 2.5 gallons per person per day is a sustainable amount to use, the average American consumes 100 gallons per day. And that's just household use, not counting the amount used for agriculture and manufacturing of the goods we consume.”
-- Treehugger.com http://www.treehugger.com/water-crisis/
* The June 9, 2009 Drought Monitor report detailed more than a third of the U.S. in drought conditions.
-- National Drought Mitigation Center, http://drought.unl.edu/
* According to a recent Gallup poll, water pollution is the number one environmental concern of Americans.
-- Gallup, 3/25/09 http://bit.ly/TULrp
* At the 2009 Western Governor’s Association meeting, water use and climate change were the top issues. Water conservation in the West needs to become key, along with finding other water sources like capture of rainwater, treated wastewater, and desalination of water.
-- Associated Press report, 6/15/09 http://bit.ly/15Z3h2
* A desalination plant to be built near San Diego is the largest operation in the hemisphere and has been battling lawsuits by environmentalists who raise concerns about “the amount of fish that will be killed by the pumping process and about potential change to the aquatic ecosystem when leftover brine is returned to the sea.”
-- New York Times, 5/14/09 http://bit.ly/cXuEN
* Researchers in Germany have found ways to make drinking water from humidity in desert air.
-- ScienceDaily, 6/8/09 http://bit.ly/3kZF0B
* “Rice University scientists warned that the United States must be careful that the new emphasis on developing biofuels as an alternative to imported oil takes into account potential damage to the nation's water resources.”
-- Rice University, 6/12/09 http://bit.ly/F7cEu
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