PLAYgreen

Green Your Fitness Gear!

 

When your goal is to get fit, having the right type of shoes, clothes and support is essential. With so much workout gear to choose from nowadays, it’s not always easy to know which products are the best for you, and for the environment. Before you go out to buy an armful of synthetic products (yes, spandex, nylon, and their brethren were invented in a lab), remember the many green-thinking companies that produce sustainable apparel and leave your money in their hands instead!

Source: Sierra Club

 

Two graduate students from NYU recently created an interactive new project called “Warning Signs.” The two students invented t-shirts that change color when exposed to high carbon monoxide levels. The shirt designs feature a heart or a set of lungs. This isn’t any ordinary type of clothing because when the fabric is exposed to pollution (ranging from cigarette smoke to car exhaust), blue veins appear on the organ image!

Co-creator Nien Lam explains, "When people would step out to have a cigarette, they would see our project, and then feel guilty going out to have that cigarette realizing, 'Oh, this is actually what I'm doing to myself.'” The American Lung Association reports that 6 in 10 Americans live in places with dangerous levels of air pollution. Cigarette smoking leads to over 440,000 deaths per year in the U.S. alone. 600 million trees are destroyed per year to make dry tobacco.

The NYU duo are now thinking about creating clothing with alcohol sensors. They may have the liver change color when the wearer has consumed too much!

Source: The Huffington Post

Still Need to Buy a Gift this Holiday Season?

 
Low-impact luxury for high-impact giving is in this holiday season! TreeHugger is redefining the meaning of luxury this 2010 holiday season. With 10 different categories to match the type of person you are shopping for and over 100 low-impact gifts to choose from, you will be able to find the perfect gift.

This year's holiday gift guide features quality, durable, and environment-friendly gifts. From a child's first bike (made of sustainable wood!) to gorgeous vintage china, this gift guide will help you find something for everyone! Whether you are looking for shimmering one-of-a-kind bangles (welded from architectural scraps), a pup-sized recycled raincoat for your pooch, or rockstar-worthy coasters for your music buff, there’s something for everyone! Check out the holiday gift guide.

Source: TreeHugger

The Gift of Conservation

If you’re still stumped about what to get the people in your life for the holidays you should consider a sponsorship in their name. If your friend has a favorite charity, cause or animal, why not donate a small some of money in their name? This kind of gift is thoughtful and has a low impact on the environment, here are some organizations that will allow you to do just that: 

Sierra Club: This holiday season, the Sierra Club is offering virtual sponsorships for a variety of natural habitats such as the Everglades, the Arctic and the Grand Canyon. Your donation will help preserve a location of your choosing and in return you can even receive pamphlets, adorable stuffed animals or even a backpack. For more information visit the Sierra Club’s Sponsor a Wild Place Page 

World Vision: This organization allows you to donate money to help children and families in a variety of underdeveloped countries. Your donation can go to the provision of clean water, shelter, medical aid and food. For more information check out the World Vision’s Giving Center

 

Image from: 3Jokes.com

 

Green Gifts for the Holidays

The Holidays are fast approaching and its time to start thinking about all those friends and family members you still haven't gotten gifts for. Here are some gift ideas that are both thoughful and good for the environment:

Services Instead of Goods: Stumped on what to get someone? How about a massage, music lessons, childcare, car wash, dogwalk, lawncare, tutoring, cooking, gardening or a book of coupons for household chores? A non physical gift is both thoughtful and ecofriendly because they require very few natural resources.

Think Old, Not New: Pick up an antique clock or some vintage jewelry at a flea market or thrift store. Antiques and collectible items make thoughtful gifts and that have no impact on the environment because they have already been made.

DIY: You can always make that special someone a gift. Be it a necklace from a cool seashell you found or a decorated photo frame with your favorite snap shot inside.

Baked Goodies: Make your buddies their favorite tasty treats, not only is it thoughtful and heartfelt the food is likely not to go to waste.

 

Tips from EarthEasy.com

Photo from Gaiam.com

Make Your Thanksgiving Green

The holidays are officially upon us! But in this time of excess we can all do our part to make our celebrations a little more eco-friendlily. Here are some handy tips to trim down your Thanksgiving waste:

• When shopping for your Thanksgiving feast, use canvas or cloth shopping bags.
• Make sure to plan your shopping trips ahead to so you only have to make one trip which will save you gas and aggravation.
• Turn down your heater before guest arrive, the added body heat of your guests will keep everyone warm.
• Encourage your guests to walk or carpool.
• Make your own Thanksgiving decorations instead of buying them; you can make place cards out of leaves, center pieces out of pine cones, wreathes from twigs in your yards etc.
• After your party don't throw away those leftovers! Pack them into containers or send them home with your guests.

Now, leftovers are a wonderful part of Thanksgiving, but it's still a good idea to keep track of your portions. Here is a handy estimate of the amount of each food a single guest will consume

• Turkey- 1 pound
• Stuffing- ¼ pound
• Sweet potato casserole- ¼ pound
• Green beans- ¼ pound
• Cranberry relish- 3 tablespoons
• Pumpkin pie- 1/8 of a 9 inch pie

 

For more holiday conservation tips visit Earth911.com and UseLessStuff.com.

Photo source: Blogs.dixcdn.com

Animals in Everyday Products

Ending your consumption of meat doesn't necessarily mean that you are ending your consumption of animal products. According to the Ontario Farm Animal Council  "on average, 98% of an animal is used. From that 98%, about 55% (on average) of the animal is used for edible products and the remaining 45% for inedible by-products." Here are some common products that actually contain animal byproducts:

1. Plastic Bags: manufacturers  often use animal additives to improve material properties and to aid in processing

2. Car and Bike Tires: manufacturers sometimes use animal based stearic acid to help tires hold their shape, for a list of companies that use plant based alternatives click here

3. Glue in Woodwork and Musical Instruments: animal glue, created from boiling animal tissues, is commonly used to to fix musical instruments such as violins and pianos as well as for glue general woodworking

4. Biofuels: while sugar and corn are both used to make biofuel, within the last couple of years animal fat has been used to create beef and chicken biodiesel

5. Fireworks: the same component used in the tire industry, stearic acid, is present in the production of fireworks

6. Fabric Softener: some fabric softeners contains a substance (Dihydrogenated tallow dimethyl ammonium chloride) that comes from the cattle, sheep and horse industry

7. Shampoo & Conditioner: according to PETA there are upward of 20 components from animals that can be used in the production of shampoo and conditioner; these components can be either plant or animal based so the only way to be sure is to purchase a vegan brand

8. Toothpaste: the ingredient glycerin can be derived from either plants or animals

9. Sugar: some companies use purified ash from animal bones in filters to refine sugar, to avoid this you can either choose unrefined sugar or choose from the list PETA has complied here

 

For the full article and more detailed information visit Treehugger.com

Image from: Worldproutassembly.org

Green Up Your Cup of Joe!

As a Berkeley student you likely have turned to a nice hot cup of coffee during a long night of studying or as a pick-me-up right before a big test. But what you might not know is that with your choice in coffee you can help to make the world a little more green. Here are some tips to help you green up your morning 'cuppa Joe' :

• Look for Organically Grown Coffee: Usually this means that the beans have been grown without the use of artificial pesticides and weed killers. This helps to minimize pollution from wastewater and fertilizers.
• Buy Fair Trade Certified Coffee: This is a sign that the coffee harvesters have been adequately paid and worked under humane conditions. Fair Trade Certified buying is ecologically responsible because there is a  link between the alleviation of poverty and the likelihood of conservation efforts. Farmers who are paid a fair wage are less likely to level native habitats in order to grow more crops.
• Purchase 'Shade Grown' Coffee: Coffee trees grown in the shade of larger tropical plants help to provide valuable habitats for wildlife and increase the biodiversity of these environments.
• Buy Locally Grown Coffee: Choosing to buy coffee that has been both grown and manufactured close to where you live helps to cut down on the emissions that result from long distance transpiration and distribution.

 

For the full article by Johnathon D. Colman visit Nature.org

Image from guardian.co.uk

 

Cal Bears Auction: An Eco-friendly Way to Shop for the Holiday

 

It’s that time of year again! Do your holiday shopping in a fun, eco-friendly way with the 7th Annual Cal Bears Auction: Holiday Edition.  A portion of the auction proceeds will support the Cal Rec Sports Youth Camp Scholarship fund.
 
Did you know that the Cal Bears Auction is a green way to purchase gifts for loved ones this holiday season? Since it’s hosted online, the Cal Bears Auction avoids frantic cross-town sprints on Black Friday and allows you to find the perfect gift with over 250 items.
 
How green you say? Mindclick SGM -- a sustainable business research group -- reports that: “Carbon emissions related to purchasing an item inside a store represents an increase of more than 15 times that of an online purchase.” In addition to offering a greener shopping method, the Cal Bears Auction also offers a variety of eco-friendly items, including recycled rubber coasters from Treehouse Green Gifts,  gift certificates to local eateries like San Francisco Soup Company and Guerilla Café, and gift certificates for Me To We Style, who offer sustainable and environmentally responsible clothing.
 
To top it off, if you successfully bid on more than one item we’ll minimize shipping waste by packing items for winners of multiple auction prizes in a single box or envelope.
 
This year we’re also offering a Buy It Now option. Use the Buy It Now option for selected auction items to save time and stress by avoiding bidding and simply paying the Buy It Now price.
 
Go Bears and Go Bid!

Source: O’Connor, Mary Catherine. “Researchers Compare the Carbon Price tags of In-Store and Online Purchases”.  Triple Pundit.

Green Bike Buying

Many students and faculty here at UC Berkeley have gone the green route and purchased a bicycle to navigate our 1,232 acre campus. The decision to buy a bike in itself is very much a green decision, but what people might not know is that this ecologically friendly decision can be even more green with just a little forethought. Here are some tidbits to keep in mind when you think about buying a bike:

• Carbon fiber frames are less durable and made through an energy-intensive process that produces toxic wastes
• Making frames of metals is also energy intensive, but metals tend to be more durable and thus last longer 
• Most metal frames are recyclable
• Purchasing a locally manufactured bike cuts down on the ecological costs associated with shipping
• Most types of bike accessories, such as water bottles, chain lubricant and handlebar tape, have environmentally friendly versions you can purchase instead
• Do-it-yourself repairs save you money and save your bike from the landfill

For more in depth bike tips visit National Geographic's Bike Buying Guide. 

 

Image source: National Geographic's greenguide.com