Green Daily

Free the celery! Switzerland could be the first country in the world to give rights to plants. The Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology has issued a report saying that plants have certain inalienable rights simply by virtue of being living things, and we can't just do whatever we want with them. In the words of the report, "we may not use them just as we please, even if the plant community is not in danger, or if our actions do not endanger the species, or if we are not acting arbitrarily."

The report does allow - rather grudgingly - that human life takes precedence over plant happiness, so eating a potato now and again to stave off starvation is probably ok. However, casual violence against say, tulips, is an affront to the dignity of the flower, to avoided at all costs.

Is veggie liberation the next great frontier of social justice? Can we look forward to being taken to court by our hibiscus for underwatering? Will we see a million-melon march on Washington?

Probably not - this concept is a little extreme even for the most committed treehugger, and likely doesn't demonstrate much except that there are people within the Swiss government who have way too much time on their hands. Still, something to think about next time you're torturing steaming that head of broccoli.

The full English language report is available here .

via [The Weekly Standard]

Food prices are rising, rising, rising, all around the world, causing much hardship and even political unrest. The hardship extends to the U.S., and as always, it's the poor that are the first and most affected in hard times. And they probably weren't buying organics to begin with.

According to a recent Reuters article, nearly one in 10 Americans, around 28 million people, are expected to use food stamps this year, the highest number ever, excluding a spike after the hurricanes of 2005. Food stamps are hardly an answer these days though, as the average benefit per person is about $100 per month, which is $1 per person per meal.

Program officials say that food stamps were never intended to make up a family's entire food budget ,and are counseling people on how to make their stamps last as long as possible. Lawmakers also plan to add over $10 billion to the food stamp program over the next decade, as part of a massive agricultural bill.

One of my biggest interests, and one of the biggest topics I bring to the table at GreenDaily is a way to live a more sustainable life through raising your own food free of hormones and chemicals. This includes vegetables and animals, but mainly chickens. This series is an on-going introduction to the wonderful world of raising chickens in a non-rural environment.

Something you may not think of when planning your new suburban chicken farm is what to do with all those eggs! With me, it was a problem I postponed contemplating because I just wanted to raise some chickens, but it can become a serious problem unless you have a plan.

Since all eggs (free-range or cage-raised) have the same amount of cholesterol (around 70% of your daily recommended allowance for each egg!), it's safe to say you won't be eating dozens of eggs every day. But luckily, the demand for free-range organic naturally-raised eggs is growing every day.

At the end of last year, Fiji announced it's plans to offset its carbon emissions by 120%, so that -- according to their website -- drinking Fiji will "result in a net reduction of carbon in the atmosphere." While that sounds great and all, I'm finding Fiji's claims a little hard to swallow. How about you?

The truth is that Fiji has done more than most bottled water companies to lessen its impact on the environment, but still: bottled water is bottled water. Despite their buying huge carbon offsets and shipping their water on container ships that are already destined for US ports -- bottled water is simply not as green as drinking from the tap. According to estimates from Triple Pundit, it takes almost 6 times more water to produce and transport a bottle of Fiji than the bottle actually holds. No matter how they offset it, that is not a very green equation.

I've got to hand it to them, they've come up with a pretty good marketing tool -- but seriously. If Exxon bought 120% offsets for it's operations, would we believe that filling up with Exxon results in a net reduction of greenhouse gases?

As you're preparing to throw together a last-minute gift idea for Mother's Day (again) this year, consider the following: I bet, right now, your mom is thinking to herself, "Sure, it's nice that the kids remember every year, but really, I wish we could all spend a little more time thinking about how our actions affect the planet."

So true, right?

Good news, now can kill two birds with one stone. The Climate Change Chocolate bar will not only satisfy mom's sweet tooth, but will also buy 133 lbs of carbon offsets -- the average daily use of one American.

Then you can burn her a CD of your favorite mom-friendly music and send her an e-card instead of picking something out at the store -- not because you're lazy, but because you love your mother, and she loves Mother Earth. Aww. Cute.

[via Alternative Consumer]

Why can't you just take a normal vitamin or supplement, you ask? Well, Real Food Organics claims that those typical pills tend to contain dangerous synthetic materials, and they came up with nutritional supplements derived from organic fruits and veggies.

In addition, the company has pledged to be green: the vitamins are packaged in a glass bottle within a biodegradable box, which is made from mineral powder. And its paper marketing materials are made from food by-products.

And groups like the Organic Consumers' Association are touting organic vitamins, and even launched a campaign, NutriCon, to get the word out that Big Pharma is giving people unhealthy supplements.

Going through lots of paper napkins eating lunch at your desk?

One of my biggest interests, and one of the biggest topics I bring to the table at GreenDaily is a way to live a more sustainable life through raising your own food free of hormones and chemicals. This includes vegetables and animals, but mainly chickens. This series is an on-going introduction to the wonderful world of raising chickens in a non-rural environment.

The behavior of chickens is a fascinating and peculiar thing. They're unlike dogs or cats or your "normal" household pet, but they also share many of the same behaviors of these animals. Chickens are trainable to a certain extent, and of course their personalities are primarily dictated by their upbringing and surroundings.

I covered the most common behavioral "issue" with hens in yesterday's article about brooding, so in this article I will cover a few more common behaviors you may discover with your chickens.

I hate it when I go to a take-out restaurant or I'm grabbing a bite in the airport (where I seem to be frequently these days) and I have nothing else to use but plastic silverware. Fortunately, while reading FitYoga magazine today I came across something portable and most likely airport friendly. To-Go Ware Bamboo Utensil set includes a fork, knife, spoon, and chopsticks for your eating pleasure without the guilt over the waste of plastic. It comes in a fold-and-wrap cotton holder which is handmade by a women's cooperative on the Thai-Burma border. There are some other great reusable products from To-Go Ware, featured in the gallery below, which makes eating on the run much more green!

One of my biggest interests, and one of the biggest topics I bring to the table at GreenDaily is a way to live a more sustainable life through raising your own food free of hormones and chemicals. This includes vegetables and animals, but mainly chickens. This series is an on-going introduction to the wonderful world of raising chickens in a non-rural environment.

While it may be fun to hunt Easter Eggs once a year, doing it several times a day can be daunting. As with any animal, you can train your chicken to perform a certain behavior just the way you'd like. In this case though, it's not fetching your slippers or going in a litter box, it's laying their eggs in their nests.

Let's first get one thing straight. Hens don't need roosters to create and lay eggs. Many people don't realize this, but there's a simple distinction. If you want fertilized eggs and to continue the generations of backyard chickens, the roosters will be needed, but to just simply lay unfertilized eggs, a rooster is not needed. In fact, according to most suburban or city codes, roosters are actually illegal to own because of the constant noise they make. No, they don't just crow at dawn.

First, Häagen-Dazs releases a Vanilla Honey Bee flavor to raise awareness on the barley understood issue of those disappearing bees. Now, they want to go a bit further.

Look out for an ad campaign from the ice cream maker to include TV spots and the web site helpthehoneybees.com. An upcoming print ad in certain issues of Newsweek will consist of a page lined with real flower seeds on recycled linen asking readers to physically "plant this page. save a bee,".

Colony Collapse Disorder is the official name for the puzzling and ominous news that millions of bees are disappearing. Häagen-Dazs wants to help fight the problem.

Why should the ice cream maker want to get involved? Turns out a lot of ice cream flavors (40% of Häagen-Dazs varieties in fact) require the sweet, bee-produced stuff.

I try to buy local before I buy organic but when it comes down to organic apples versus apples from some unknown source, I'll take organic every time (well, unless they're $5 a pound and then I pass ... quickly). I do this automatically because I believe that organic is better for me and my family. The question is, how much of what I believe is fact and how much is myth? A recent article by Ronald Bailey would have me believe that nearly everything "good" about organic is a fallacy.

If you've been following the news lately, you'll know that the enormous hog farms supplying our ham are bad for our health, hard on the environment, and all around gross. This is a bummer, especially if you enjoy the occasional tasty strip of scrumptious bacon.

Step 1: Shop local, and shop organic.

Step 2: Divert your attention from this depressing situation by playing Pig Blaster!

I remember back when I was a young whippersnapper, Ma and Pa used to keep chickens in the house, which we treated just like family, except we ate 'em. Course that was afore we found oil out in the yard and moved to Beverly Hills.

In recent years, urban poultry farming has declined in popularity, but with food prices rising and people becoming more interested in eating locally, the practice may be making a comeback.

The Toronto Star reports that more and more city-dwellers are turning towards personal chicken coops for fresh eggs and even meat (even here in Toronto, where it's technically illegal to raise poultry other than pigeons for "sport".)

In other jurisdictions, including many US cities, raising chickens is legal so long as basic hygenic precautions and specific regulations around the size of coops and runs are observed. If it's something that interests you, check out backyardchickens.com, or Green Daily's own resident expert to help you get started.

Next week, the coming trend: backyard cattle ranches.

At the opening of The Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan has purchased a cow. He hoped to follow Steer number 534 from his start in a massive feedlot to his end, on a dinner table. Unfortunately, Pollan wasn't able to follow his steer as far as he hoped. But his idea may have had some influence on Scott Ballum, a Brooklyn resident who has decided to follow the chain of his consumption.

His Mission: "A year-long effort to meet the laborers and craftsmen who build what I buy – and put a human face on consumption. For every transaction, there must be a personal connection with someone along the production chain."

That hasn't meant he's given up his Kentucky-brewed Maker's Mark, but he did shake hands with one of the guys who turns the barrels.