Green Daily

My favorite traditions for the 4th of July involve eating outdoors. Picnics, BBQs, coolers at the beach, nothing says summer holiday like the smell of sunscreen mixed with the salty goodness of a crispy hot dog.

And while I must admit a weakness for Cool Ranch Doritos, as a rule I like to keep my al fresco dining practices in line with my "regular" organic, sustainable and local habits.

One place where that's most important -- and easy -- is in the "meat/not-meat" main dish department:

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Why didn't anyone tell me that last week was National Pollinator Week? The festivities ran from June 22nd through the 28th, but we can still celebrate pollinators by planting some pollen-rich wildflowers in our backyards!

There's been a lot of media coverage about Colony Collapse Disorder, the mysterious phenomena that is wiping out whole hives of European honey bees, the pollination workhorses of industrial farming.

I recently interviewed Ed Flanagan, the president of Wyman's Blueberries, for Tonic, and we discussed the importance of bees for wild blueberry pollination and how the agriculture industry is responding to CCD.

I don't know anybody who actively dislikes the farmers' market. However, I do know plenty of folks who don't take full advantage of markets near them. Are you one of them?

Don't be! This time of year is perfect for stocking up on fresh fruits and vegetables. In-season produce is often more affordable than you think. In fact, you might be surprised at how many meals you can make with just $20 worth of food from your local market!

Not sure what to shop for? Or maybe you're just not sure what certain fruits look like when perfectly ripe. This article has a few tips for not only choosing, but using delicious farmers' market fare. Additionally, you might benefit from these tips on how to save money when you go (who knew those quarters you've been saving could save you money?).

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On Monday Josh's Eco Beat included an item about Andy Dick dressed as a maniacal Ronald McDonald on behalf of our dramatic friends at PETA.

It reminded me that it's been a while I checked in with those masters of PR and media manipulation. So clicked on over to the PETA homepage and found, to my surprise and delight, that it's been a whole year since Leona Lewis and Anthony Keidis were selected as the Sexiest Vegetarians alive.

That's right, there's a new pair of Sexiest Vegetarians According to PETA! The big winner for the ladies is Kellie Pickler ("Pick Pickler!" -- I guess the fake boobs didn't disqualify her) of American Idol and country music fame. Representing Dude Vegetarians is Hayden Panettierre's ex-boyfriend, and Heroes co-star, Milo Ventimiglia.

(Photo by Natura)

As I've mentioned, one of my other jobs is writing for UpTake.com's hotels blog. It's a fun gig that lets me indulge in my love of travel and in the best of cases, sometimes it also overlaps with my eco-interests.

A great example of this is the Kimpton group of hotels and restaurants. I just recently stayed at one of their properties, the 70 Park Avenue, in NYC, and as always it was a delightfully green hotel stay. In-room recycling, energy efficient water and light fixtures, organic toiletries, and of course we reused our towels.

The San Francisco-based organization consistently demonstrates some of the best environmental practices in the hotel and restaurant industries. In 2005 they formally launched the "EarthCare" program in all of their properties, but they've been practicing green as far back as 1981!

Think back to your school days -- what foods filled your tray? Reheated tator tots, square slices of greasy pizza, and unidentifiable meat all come to mind ... which is probably why I brown bagged it almost every day of high school.

Unfortunately, in many areas, those highly processed foods still make up the bulk of school lunches. However, according to OnEarth Magazine, at least one person is stepping up to make a big difference.

After paying her dues in the celebrity chef circuit, Ann Cooper has turned her attention to the food served in schools. And her efforts have paid off, big time. In the schools she's worked in, she's introduced real chicken, whole grains, and fresh produce to the noontime meal.

It might sound crazy, but lately I've been really enjoying commercials. Yes, those (usually) annoying ads that interrupt a perfectly interesting show about lawyers or dancers or ER doctors. But instead of scowling or taking a bathroom break, I've been watching with fascination as mainstream companies finally jump on the recycled, sustainable, compostable bandwagon. Happy Days are here!

Reynolds Wrap has a new 100% recycled foil available, in regular and heavy weights. The foil is made of pre- and post-consumer aluminum, the boxes are made from 100% recovered paper and printed with water-based inks. According to the site, this recycled product takes 80% less energy to make than when they use virgin materials. And it produces fewer emissions and reduces landfill waste.

And now Ziploc has a new line of sandwich and storage bags made with 25% less plastic than regular Ziploc bags, and work exactly the same way. The "evolve" bag is made from a new resin blend, and manufactured using at least 50% renewable wind energy. Packaging is 100% recycled paperboard carton with a minimum of 35% post-consumer content.

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One of the biggest discussions in the eco-community is about food. Choosing organic, eating vegetarian one a day week or growing vegetables on your back patio are all common changes people are making to reduce their impact and improve their health.

Just like businesses are discovering that green practices are good for the bottom line, a lot of us are learning that eating healthier is connected to making environmentally-friendly choices. A few weeks ago I wrote about Good Guide, a site that helps you figure out ingredients, environmental practices and how a product compares to similar brands. They just came out with a helpful list of 10 tips for Eating Healthier. Some of the ideas are common sense like avoiding processed foods and checking the sodium levels -- hint, lower sodium is better, even if salty = tasty!

Some of the other ideas include eating low on the food chain, which is another reminder that red meat is probably best limited to an occasional snack, and watching out for bright, artificial colors. Sure, hot pink M&Ms might be festive, but the dye that makes them so vivid might also contain some nasty compounds. In fact, Europe is considering eliminating some colors from use in foods!

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Last November California voters passed the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act which makes it a criminal offense to confine hens in battery cages, pigs in gestation crates or calves in veal crates. Animal rights supporters, including the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), hope that this will get more big volume egg users, like fast food restaurants Wendy's, McDonald's and Denny's, to make the switch to cage-free eggs more quickly.

Right now, most eggs are still produced on factory farms that use tiny battery cages. The hens can't get up, stretch their wings, or nest. These cruel conditions aren't necessary, and the HSUS is working very hard to eliminate them. One way is to get the farms to change, like through the legislation in California. Another way is to change the market, creating a demand for cage-free over those laid by hens in battery cages.

Just last week, after a long campaign by the HSUS, Wendy's committed to sourcing at least 2% of their eggs from cage-free suppliers. Calling it "a modest but meaningful step in the right direction," HSUS also took the opportunity to call out McDonald's.

Scientists and agriculturalists and beekeepers continue to struggle to find an explanation -- and a solution -- for the worldwide disappearance of honey bees.

Maybe disappearance is the wrong word -- one in three bee colonies is actually dying. This phenomenon is known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), and has been linked to cell phones, climate change, parasites, and even UFOs. As in, aliens are coming to Earth, landing in fields, collecting our bees, and flying away.

In other words, we just don't know why it's happening!

One of the biggest benefits of having bees around is that farmers depend on them to pollinate crops, including one third of the produce grown in the U.S. So when you don't have any bees ... no pollination ... and no produce.

You used to be able to walk down the aisle of a natural foods store, and tell just by looking at the packaging which products didn't have any bad chemicals or dangerous ingredients in them. All natural products were:

• wrapped in ugly brown paper packaging
• sold in bulk out of grimy vats
• tied up with hemp string
• utterly devoid of luxury and prettiness

But then the ugly eco-duckling of natural products was captured by the girls in marketing and given a glamorous make-over. Today there are hundreds of organic, natural, and green products that you want to buy just for the pretty ribbon on the box. Here's the problem: Now that it's cool to be natural, and you're allowed to have pretty packaging, it's almost impossible to tell which products are healthy and safe, and which ones are just really, really well packaged.

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For most of us, the day doesn't start until we have a cup -- or two or three! -- of rich, aromatic, eye-opening coffee.

Even if you're the kind of person who wouldn't dream of buying anything that contains high-fructose corn syrup, or your vegetables anywhere but at the farmer's market, there's a chance you're less discerning about your coffee's eco-pedigree. I know there are mornings when I'll drink anything in a mug, as long as it has caffeine!

There are a few important things for to consider when selecting our morning mocha or cappuccino. Remember to ensure that your coffee is:

• Sustainable - Coffee & Conservation offers 5 tips for identifying sustainable coffee, including making sure it has one of many certification seals, and checking to see where it's grown. Mexico and El Salvador are top shade growing coffee countries.
• Free-trade -- making sure that the people who grow the coffee are fairly compensated for their crop
• Organic -- pesticides do nothing for flavor!

And remember the cup! As I've said one million times, Starbucks hot cups are not recycleable! Find a local coffee house that serves your espresso in a demi-tasse, or a chain that has compostable cups, like Tully's. Or even better, bring your own reusable mug!

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I have a "big" birthday coming up soon, so lately I've been thinking about parties. Gone are the days of buying loads of paper plates and matching plastic forks. No more throw away decorations, or gag gifts, and don't even think about mylar balloons!

All that doesn't mean we can't have fun festivities. We just have to be more thoughtful ...

Invitations
I love paper, but electronic invitations are the way to go. It's faster, easier for people to reply and you know it's less wasteful. Email or Evites!

Themes and Gifts
From kids to adults, more people are having a theme party to raise money for a beloved cause. Guests are asked to donate to a specific organization rather than bring a gift. It might raise traditional etiquette eyebrows, but imagine how good you'll feel saving the rainforests while dancing the Samba and drinking celebratory caipirnhas, or funding cancer research while enjoying pink grapefruit sorbet and rocking out to Pink?

Check out Echoage, an online service for kids parties that lets you organize the entire thing -- from invitations to donation -- online.

Cakes and Party Food
Food can be a great way to bring your theme to life. As always, pick food that is in season, grown locally and of course organic. Rather than buying a lot of packaged "party" foods, like chips and candies, roast up some spiced nuts (bought in bulk), or make your own sweet potato chips. How about a cake with edible flowers?

And remember, you can reuse those beeswax birthday candles!

Servingware
No, you can't buy that jumbo pack of plastic sporks at Costco. But that doesn't mean you'll have to do dishes for two days after your event.

Stalk Market plates are made of sugar cane, and are surprisingly sturdy. Even better, you can recycle or compost them. Pair them up with utensils made of corn or other vegetable starch, which are also compostable. Also compostable are cold cups made from corn -- especially good if your tipsy guests can't be trusted with the good crystal!

This way you can sweep leftovers, plates and utensils into a paper bag, and dump it all in your composting bin. When you clean up, you'll be helping your garden grow!

Decorations
What's a party without decorations? Before you hit the party superstore, check out Green Party Goods, an online party store with neat eco-friendly decorating options like garlands made of muslin flowers or biodegradeable paper butterflies.

Before you set up vases of cut flowers, consider festive potted plants, or arrangements of fruit. A bright bowl of oranges and limes smells as great as it looks, and you can always use them to garnish drinks!

And believe it or not, latex balloons are actually biodegradable and fairly earth-friendly. So you can have your balloon bouquet and still be green!

It's so easy to love Cloris Leachman. This woman has range! She won an Oscar for best supporting actress in The Last Picture Show, was on the Mary Tyler Moore show for five years, appeared on the Muppet Show, displayed pure genius in three Mel Brooks films, and let's not forget her star turn on Dancing With the Stars!

Where does Phyllis get the energy to leap from project to project? Partly from her vegetarian diet, which she believes in so much that she stripped down and appeared in cabbage leaves in the latest PETA Lettuce Ladies "Go Vegetarian" ad.

Don't freak, she's wearing the "formal version" of the Lettuce Lady uniform, which in this case involves a purple and green ballgown. It's actually pretty, and far more age-appropriate than the usual sporty cabbage bra and panties.

I always feel so good when I'm organized enough to make -- and bring -- my lunch. But the ziplock bag at the end, inside the plastic grocery store bag ... that part always feels bad. Because, plastic, like love and diamonds, is forever.

So far I've made the switch to wrapping my sandwich in tinfoil (recyclable) or wax paper (compostable) in a brown paper bag (compostable) but there is a further green step I am checking out: the reusable sandwich wrap.

Before someone comments that I can rinse out ziplock bags and use them again -- seriously, I've tried it, Not Going To Happen. Just, yuck. I'd rather give them up entirely.

There are a few different kinds of resuable sandwich carriers, but they all are basically a piece of fabric with some kind of leak-proofing, that you can wrap around a sandwich and also use as a placemat. When you're done you wipe it clean, or wash and drip dry, then reuse! I like the Wrap-n-Mat because they're easy to clean, affordable (about $8 a pop) and come in lots of cute patterns.

If you're supercrafty, you can even make your own -- I found these cool directions on CraftyStylish. She recommends a fabric that's backed with polyurethane laminated fabric. Just make sure you're not using anything with PVC -- that's the bad plastic because it has chlorine, hence the "C".

Happy lunch time!