Green Daily

Last week Josh wrote about the exciting new Chipotle restaurant in Gurnee, Illinois, which will be powered by wind energy. It turns out that this is not a one shot deal, but yet another in a series of cool, green decisions by Chipotle founder, Steve Ells.

On the Chipotle website you can read all about Steve's Food With Integrity vision. He explains it as a philosophy that "we can always do better in terms of the food we buy." Educated at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America, Steve takes his food seriously, always striving to find better ways of sourcing, prepping and serving delicious, responsibly created foods.

After reading about Niman Ranch and humane, antibiotic-free pork farming, Ells switched all of the restaurants to naturally raised pork. Since then, he also switched all of their chicken and half the beef to naturally raised, with the ultimate goal of 100% their meat coming from these sources.

In addition to making better tasting burritos, this also creates and supports a market for farms that follow these healthy, humane practices.

I think this kind of leadership deserves to be rewarded, plus the food really is fast and yummy, so I'm definitely heading out to my local Chipotle to vote with my dollars!

And for all of you green foodies out there, check out this video of Steve making a delicious meal with New York Times food journalist Mark Bittman.

As Sea shared last week, a bunch of penguins washed ashore in Brazil, basically making a migration of almost 2,000 miles. Experts believe this behavior may be related to climate change, the resulting availability of fish, and possibly pollution.

Last Friday, as a follow up to this report, the World Wildlife Fund released a report stating that climate change is likely to cause a decline -- or even wipe out -- 1/2 to 3/4 of the penguin colonies in the Antarctic.

You know who lives in the Antarctic? Those cute Emperor Penguins from March of the Penguins. Except that pretty soon the only way anyone will know what they look like is by watching that movie, because the penguins cannot adapt fast enough to the changes in their environment.

Here are some scary stats from WWF:

• Surface temperatures along the West coast of the Antarctic Peninsula have already increased nearly 5 degrees Fahrenheit over the last half-century – many times the global average
• Sea ice coverage in that area is 40 percent less than it was a quarter century ago and that penguin populations have already declined significantly.
• Adélie Penguin populations have dropped by 65 percent over the past 25 years and at least one population of Emperor Penguins has declined by half over the past 50 years.

Something has to be done to reduce the warming in the polar regions, or you'll be taking your kids to see a double feature of Death March of the Penguins and Polar Bears: Arctic Tales of Extinction.

I've been hoping for this day, but I never suspected it would be courtesy of my old friend, Clorox. Their new Green Works dish soap, which is 99% natural, actually works. Like with soapy bubbles and everything.

When it comes to cleaning, I'm sort of a "scorched earth" bleach fiend. I'm not looking for aromatherapy, or hand lotion ingredients. I want my soap products to make things clean, killing the bugs before they kill me.

Of course, the chemical stew in most cleaning products kills people, too, so I've been grudgingly trying all of those "natural" cleaners. They smell good, they have cute bottles and clever names, but I find them incredibly frustrating because they don't work very well.

Until now.

At West Coast Green I was given a sample (really a full size bottle, very nice) of the Green Works dish soap in "free and clear" their unscented flavor.

It's biodegradable, made with plants and minerals, and I'm told that they're working on making the remaining 1% natural, too, but right now that ingredient is simply not available. Still, close enough.

Here's why I'm so impressed: when i use it, I forget that it's all natural because it works just like the other (totally not natural) soaps on the edge of my sink.

At last, a natural dish soap product that actually works. What's next? Cute hemp clothes? Pretty Birkenstocks? Funny vegans?

After this, I'm ready to believe anything is possible.

It seems like every day we're reading about another exciting new development in the world of alternative fuel. The latest? Poop power.

Well, not entirely poop. Mainly scientists are looking at ways to power microbial fuel cells by feeding cellulose to bacteria, which then digest the plant matter and create electricity. But they are also looking at ways to process human waste or manure with bacteria, using the same process. They hope to one day be able to produce enough electricity this way to power processing plants.

Wouldn't that be cool? A poop-powered poop processing plant!

So far they've managed to power AA batteries, and they're almost ready to move up to C or D batteries. In theory, right now you could run your MP3 player on poop-power. Rock out with green-brown power!

A few weeks ago I told you about SPUN Organics, a super stylish and affordable line of organic cotton clothing. Sara from SPUN believes that the best way for someone to appreciate her clothes is to try them out, so SPUN is sponsoring this week's Green Daily Giveaway.

One lucky reader will win a SPUN Cardigan, in gorgeous Tibetan blue. The six button, v-neck style goes with everything in your wardrobe, and the rich color looks great on everyone!

Ready to rock this eco-chic cardigan? Here's how to enter:
Click here for complete Official Rules.

Winners are notified by email, so double check to make sure we have the right address!

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the plight of parrots, and their champion John Cleese, At the time I knew that parrot people are crazy for their birds, and that parrots are super smart. And I sort of knew that they're demanding and tough pets, because they're so smart.

I had no idea, until I read Dr. Irene Pepperberg's book, Alex & Me, just how smart, demanding and interesting they are.

Alex & Me is the story of Dr. Pepperberg and the research she did with Alex, the world's most famous African Grey parrot. She refers to him as a very close colleague, and it is clear from the many impressive and moving anecdotes in the book that they built a very special relationship over the 30 years that they worked together.

As Josh mentioned the other day, Paul McCartney is sort of known for converting women one by one to vegetarianism. Now he's broadening his range, and encouraging everyone to boycott McDonald's.

McCartney singled out the chain for criticism after discovering that an over-ambitious dining room decorator placed a photo of the Beatles in a McDonald's restaurant in Liverpool.

You'd think that someone who liked the Beatles enough to hang a photo would also know that Paul's a prominent vegetarian. As in, he's President of the Vegetarian Society of Great Britain. Obviously, he was pissed, and he wants all of his fans to help him spank the golden arches.

What can I say? Paul's one of my two favorite Beatles! It's been a while since I've ventured into a McDonald's and now it's going to be lot longer. Like maybe...never.

PETA is so good at getting attractive celebrities to participate in their campaigns, I guess because they do good work when they're not busy being nutjobs and throwing blood on Anna Wintour. For example their Animal Birth Control (ABC) campaign to spay or neuter pets -- that's a great cause.

Their newest spokesperson is the lovely and talented Dancing With The Stars judge, Carrie Ann Inaba. Carrie Ann has three rescue cats, including Shadow, the gorgeous black longhair she poses with in the PETA ad.

In addition to the ad, Carrie Ann did a terrific video which you can watch here on The PETA Files. She talks about the responsibilities of pet ownership, and why it's so important to keep unwanted pets from being born.

Carrie Ann joins some past PETA ABC lovelies, including the very sexy Dita Von Teese in a similar pose. Even though I'm a huge Dita fan, I think Carrie Ann's ad might be better. What do you think?

You may have already seen this ad from We Can Solve It somewhere, but you definitely didn't catch it after the debate on Tuesday night, because ABC refused to run it!

Even though We Can Solve It has the money to pay for the air time, and even though climate change is one of the biggest issues in the presidential campaign, ABC won't put the ad on the air. Not only that, they won't give a reason for their refusal!

Here is the totally innocuous script:

The solution to our climate crisis seems simple.
Repower America with wind and solar.
End our dependence on foreign oil. A stronger economy.
So why are we still stuck with dirty and expensive energy?
Because big oil spends hundreds of millions of dollars to block clean energy.
Lobbyists, ads, even scandals.
All to increase their profits, while America suffers.
Breaking big oil's lock on our government ...
Now that's change.
We're the American people and we approve this message.

I can't see anything in there for ABC to object to, unless they hate the environment, or are so scared of the Big Oil cabal that they don't dare anger the giant.

Go check out the We Can Solve It site, where they have have a super fast form that makes it easy for you to ask "WTF ABC?"

Maybe we can get ABC to at least explain what their problem is with the ad. Even better, if enough people write in, maybe ABC will agree to run the ad during 20/20 on Friday!

Ugh. I know, here we go again with the greenwashing. But yes, as an article in the Christian Science Monitor points out, sometimes the greenest choice for an item of clothing isn't intuitive. As in, sometimes polyester is greener than organic cotton.

As we see more and more "eco-friendly" choices arrive in the marketplace, it takes more research to sort them out. Since the industry is largely unregulated (and we see how well that worked for the financial markets) a shirt made of organic cotton may have been dyed with toxic, harmful chemicals. And then shipped halfway around the world. Not exactly a green choice, and pretty much impossible for the consumer to discern.

Note: this cute shirt from Edun is totally organic and cool, and an example of good organic clothing.

The author of the article reminds us that the greenest item is the one that we don't buy. Since that's not gonna happen, the next best solution would be a LEED-like certification process so consumers could tell at a glance if an item is truly green, or just cleverly marketed environment-killing junk.

I know I'd be into shopping that kind of label -- how about you?

I keep hoping that one of these days I'll go to a conference and someone will be giving away solar iPhone chargers. Now I have a new gadget to passively wish for: a solar powered combination iPhone case and charger.

The case is kind of awesome and kind of not that great, which is why I'm wishing for it and not actually buying it.

It takes 12 hours for the solar battery to charge up, then it can completely recharge the phone in 3 hours. Not exactly spontaneous or fast. As The Alternative Consumer points out, it's made of leather (strike one!) in China (potential strike two!) and it's sort of ugly and bulky, which is the opposite of why I wanted an iPhone in the first place (strike three!)

But wait -- before you write it off, remember that there is something incredibly cool about being able to charge your phone without the grid. Maybe I wouldn't buy this case, but I'll keep watching for the soon-to-come greener, faster, prettier version.

PETA is in the business of being kind to animals. All kinds of animals, including the all too easily excluded fishes of the sea.

Their newest campaign is aimed at stopping fishing by creating accessible, Finding Nemo-ish personalities for fish by renaming them Sea Kittens. Yes, as in, "Hey little Billy, do you want some Sea Kitten Sticks for dinner tonight?"

As usual, they have multiple sites to support the campaign, including a terrific micro-site set up called "Save The Sea Kittens" with all sorts of interactive propaganda, like making your own Sea Kitten. I designed this Green Daily Sea Kitten - isn't she cute?

I laughed out loud at the incredibly dark and cynical Sea Kitten Stories, which have endings like: "With no room to swim, and no chance for escape, Tara looks forward to the end."

The point of the campaign is to stop fishing, so PETA also makes it very easy for you to send a message the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to ask them to stop promoting fishing.

Before I forget, you have to check out the Fishing Hurts Empathy Quilt. No, this is not an SNL skit, these are real people, and real fish, and real feelings, thank-you-very-much.

Sea Kittens. Snort.

Lately Elizabeth Hurley's been getting more attention for her bio-dynamic farm than any acting she's doing - quick, name her last film! Can't do it, can you? But you probably do know that you can buy Hurley Old Spot Bacon, if only because Kelly just told you about it last week. Not to mention all of the "Hurley's Got The Best Pork" double entendre headlines.

Well, Liz knows how to milk a good thing. In New York for a Breast Cancer Awareness event, she told People that her next enterprise will be developing a line of healthy, organic and low fat food. She talked about the connection between food and health, and how important it is for women to maintain a low fat diet.

I'm not sure exactly how she's going to reconcile the whole pig-bacon-fat thing with low-fat-healthy, but I do applaud her effort to spread the word about organic foods and women's health. Plus, she looks pretty amazing, so if she practices what she preaches, you can't argue with the results!

Maybe that vegan red velvet cake at their wedding was the tipping point. Vegan Soapbox reports that Ellen Degeneres, who has been a vegetarian for years, has now crossed completely over to veganism.

Ellen is a well known animal lover, and made her big vegan announcement at a fund raiser to support Prop 2, the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act. If passed, this proposed legislation will phase out the small, confining cages that factory farms use to pen calves, pigs and hens.

Recently Ellen's been under fire for becoming the face of Cover Girl makeup because the company still does animal testing. While I'm sure it's not any kind of publicity stunt, I do think Ellen's vegan announcement will earn her back some animal loving points. Which she deserves, because Ellen is a good egg, even if she doesn't eat them any more.