Green Daily

I started reading labels as I was reading Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma. I was shocked at how many products contained high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). We've talked a lot about the stuff here at Green Daily; the wacky PR campaign and the fact that it's been found to have mercury in it. Bruce recently addressed Corn Refiners Association's form of newspeak in a press release (a must read).

I try not to be alarmist but there are just some things that I don't want my children to consume and I've decided that high fructose corn syrup is one of them. So, for this month (and beyond) I will be obsessively reading labels, scouring the internet for ingredients and declining various offerings.

HFCS is the sweetener that has been linked to mercury but it's parent, corn syrup, sneaks onto foods as well. I will be eschewing both of them this month (I can't promise forever because I like the occasional soft drink). Please join me and be sure to let me know the unexpected places that corn shows up.

Here's an informative video that I found in response the the Corn Refiners Associations PR campaign.

Join the Green Challenge every month and make one small change to help the environment. Keep us posted on your progress throughout the month and keep an eye out for spectacular giveaways.

Although I did buckle and buy some (recycled) paper towels for my husband, I have yet to touch the things this moth. This challenge has made me realize just how infrequently I was already using paper towels. I frequently use cloth napkins with meals, tea towels for spills and sponges to clean. I have a stash of rags from torn apart old clothing that I dust with. It's only the occasional counter wipe down that I might reach for the paper if an actual cloth towel is not nearby.

The key to this month's challenge for me is to keep paper alternatives within arm's reach. My laundry isn't piling up any faster than it usually does and this has given me the opportunity to see just what kind of paper towel alternatives are on the market.

Join the Green Challenge every month and make one small change to help the environment. Keep us posted on your progress throughout the month and keep an eye out for spectacular giveaways.

In the interest of full disclosure. I have lost this month's challenge already. My husband threw a small fit when I explained to him that we would be going paper towel-less. He could not forfeit his requisite two paper towels per meal. So, I drove over to Whole Foods and paid a premium for recycled paper and sheepishly returned home.

Join the Green Challenge every month and make one small change to help the environment. Keep us posted on your progress throughout the month and keep an eye out for spectacular giveaways.

You'd think that the world stopped spinning when we run out of paper towels in our house. Apparently I'm the only one who knows the secret location of the rags and dish towels. This month I've decided to do a little experiment and not replenish our paper towel supply, forcing everyone to be conscientious of the waste.

Join the Green Challenge every month and make one small change to help the environment. Keep us posted on your progress throughout the month and keep an eye out for spectacular giveaways.

This month's challenge was to reduce the amount of packaging that comes into my home. This meant eliminating any single serve products that I regularly buy. Though I buy very few, these types of purchases are wrapped in waste and it was a pleasure to rethink my shopping list.

Join the Green Challenge every month and make one small change to help the environment. Keep us posted on your progress throughout the month and keep an eye out for spectacular giveaways.

I'd like to share with you where I am on this month's Green Challenge to rethink my food purchases in order to reduce my packaging waste. I've been encouraged as I peruse the grocery store shelves as I've found that less packaging often leads to lower prices.

Join the Green Challenge every month and make one small change to help the environment. Keep us posted on your progress throughout the month and keep an eye out for spectacular giveaways.

This month I have challenged myself to reduce the amount of packaging waste that I generate by rethinking what purchases I make. I'll be reporting on some of my findings next week. But for how, here are a few tips on avoiding excess packaging.

Join the Green Challenge every month and make one small change to help the environment. Keep us posted on your progress throughout the month and keep an eye out for spectacular giveaways.

You may (or may not) have noticed that there was no November Green Challenge. This was because November kicked my butt. However, I am back and ready for this month's challenge. Cutting down on packaging is something that I have been thinking about for a while. It's not especially seasonal but maybe by cutting out single-serve containers, I'll feel better about the amount of wrapping paper I'm going to tear through later this month.

Join the Green Challenge every month and make one small change to help the environment. Keep us posted on your progress throughout the month and keep an eye out for spectacular giveaways.

In correlation with this month's challenge to cut down my idling habits, I've created a quiz to show off some of the things I've learned. There are a lot of myths that are floating out there. You may be surprised to learn just how damaging idling your car is for your wallet, the environment and your vehicle.

How did you do? Has this month's challenge prompted you to change any of your habits?

Join the Green Challenge every month and make one small change to help the environment. Keep us posted on your progress throughout the month and keep an eye out for spectacular giveaways.

Fall is here. A crisp coolness is in the air and you can almost smell the leaves turning orange on the trees. There is also another smell -- one common to schoolyards and drive-thrus. It is the smell of exhaust from the idling car. I count myself as a moderate offender in this category. I'm better now that I've moved out of the Northeast when idling the car early in the morning ensured that my hands would not freeze to the steering wheel. However, there are plenty of times that I catch myself idling unnecessarily.

For this month's challenge I will be more conscious of my idling habit and in addition will take the following steps to lessen my impact on the environment:

Join the Green Challenge every month and make one small change to help the environment. Keep us posted on your progress throughout the month and keep an eye out for spectacular giveaways.

Thank you to everyone who left a comment for the giveaway. I read every comment and even learned a few tips on how to save water.

• For example, Kam A uses the water from the dehumidifier to water houseplants. Great idea!
• Chris uses super-absorbent polymers in garden soils/pots to prevent runoff and retain water to keep plants from drying out.
• DH goes as far as to turn the water of when their daughter's shower runs too long. Ouch!!
  

Join the Green Challenge and make one small change to help the environment. Keep us posted on your progress throughout the month and keep an eye out for spectacular giveaways.

If you have not already entered to win your very own Indoor Conservation Kit in conjunction with this month's Green Challenge, head on over to this post and leave a comment. This kit has everything you need to lower the water consumption in your household to conserve water and save you money.

I'd also like to remind everyone that the month is almost over and September's Green Challenge is drawing to a close. If you haven't already, check your faucets in your house to make sure that they have aerators. If they don't, put one in. For extra bonus points, you can switch out the existing aerator for a low-flow version.

To gauge how much water flows through your faucets, turn them on and collect the water for fifteen seconds. Multiply the amount collected by four and you now know your gallon per minute output. Two gallons per minute is good though one or one and a half is best. For low flow aerators, check out Eartheasyshop.

Join the Green Challenge every month and make one small change to help the environment. Keep us posted on your progress throughout the month and keep an eye out for spectacular giveaways.

Since this month's challenge has to to with saving water, the EartheasyShop has been generous enough to give us a Water Conservation Kit to giveaway to one lucky reader. Within this small kit, you will find nearly everything that would possibly need to cut back on your water consumption in a big way.

The kit includes a low flow shower head, leak detection tablets, Teflon tape, kitchen aerators, bathroom aerators, a toilet tank bank and a toilet water saver. Everything is packed in a convenient flow meter bag that will measure what your current output is from your sinks and shower head (you could also use it daily to collect bath water while you are waiting for it to heat up).

EartheasyShop has a great line of low flow shower heads as well as solar ovens, lighting, natural pest control and even children's toys.

If you win this prize, there is no reason not to ACE this month's challenge.

• To enter, leave a confirmed comment below telling us one easy way to conserve water.
• The comment must be left before 5pm EST on Friday, September 26th.
• You may enter only once.
• One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
• The winner will receive one Indoor Conservation Kit from EartheasyShop (valued at $24.95).
• Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older.

Click here for Official Rules.

GOOD LUCK!

Join the Green Challenge every month and make one small change to help the environment. Keep us posted on your progress throughout the month and keep an eye out for spectacular giveaways.

This month's Green Challenge is about conserving water at the faucet with aerators. It's easy, it's fast and I completed my own challenge in a total of thirty minutes. This included driving to the local hardware store, looking up and down every aisle in case there was some gadget that I needed, and the ten seconds it took to install the new aerator.

Join the Green Challenge and make one small change to help the environment. Keep us posted on your progress throughout the month and keep an eye out for spectacular giveaways.

This week we had three times the prizes to give away. I am excited to announce the three lucky winners of Margaret M. Wittenberg's New Good Food Shopper's Pocket Guide to Organic, Sustainable, and Seasonal Whole Foods. This compact book is a must have for anyone looking to lead a healthier lifestyle. Not only does it outline the best food choices for you and your family but this book gives the low down on what's best for the environment.

Here are this week's winners:

1. Jessica who wrote, "This booklet is just what I have been looking for to use on my shopping trips!!!"
2. Aimee says, "Wow! This looks like a fantastic book."
3. Nell writes, "Great giveaway! I'm in!"

Be on the lookout for a special giveaway this month related to September's Green Challenge to save water with faucet aerators.