Oprah Power, Green Style

We here at Green is the New Pink love Oprah! (Shocker, we know...)

Even if you think it's annoying the way she consistently stretches her guests names out ("Please welcome my friend, John Travooooooool-ta!"), you've got to admit, it's amazing how she worked her way up in life from nothing and is now one of the most significant and influential women in the world. When she says to read Steinbeck, people read it. When she told us to eat the red Velvet cake from Doughboys in Los Angeles, we did it gladly. And last week, she did a special "green" episode, telling us all to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle, so we guess we have to listen! Come on, if Oprah's doing it....how can you not?

The resources and tips she suggested on her show last Friday are many of the tips we have talked about in the last 6 months, but we can all use a refresher. Remember the compact flourescent light bulbs you intentioned to buy...but didn't. Or the junk mail lists you want to get off of...but haven't yet? Our Tip this week is to CATCH UP on your resolutions! Oprah, being the wonderful mogul she is has compiled a ton of resources for you....see our highlights of her ideas below (or go to www.oprah.com for even more info).

WATCH… It's easy being Green Slide Show
Sweet, short and informative. It gives you of all the tips and stories from the show of which there were many little gems, including really easy tips like using less paper napkins per day and choosing not to get a reciept at the atm. Plus there are some nifty videos about recycled products....

READ… The Green Book by Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas Kostigen
Things you can do to save the planet. Find more info here.

BUY… Re-usable water bottles and Canvas Shopping Bags
GrOcery Bags…Oprah wants you to start using canvas bags at the market so badly that she created her own from organic cotton on sale for $10.00. To try to buy one click here, but last we saw they were already sold out (told ya everyone listens to Oprah). You can also get great shopping bags at www.ecobags.com.

New Wave Enviro Products Water Bottle…The amount of plastic water bottles we all go through is astounding and a huge waste. Get a filter for you home and get the next-best-thing when you’re on the go. The New Wave Corn-resin bottle comes WITH A FILTER so you can fill it with tap water and it turns it into pure, clean drinking water before it touches your lips. It can be reused up to 90 times, and the bottle biodegrades in just 80 days ($8.99). For more info click here or call 800-592-8371.

SAVE... Energy, that is.
BITS Ltd. smart power strips…Even after turning off a computer, power continues to flow to peripherals like printers and scanners. This power strip ($32.99) stops the energy from being wasted. For more info, click here.

GE Energy Smart lightbulbs…GE Energy Smart bulbs use 70 to 75 percent less energy than incandescent lightbulbs and last up to 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs. For example, by using a 26-watt compact fluorescent lightbulb—equivalent to a 100-watt incandescent lightbulb—users can save up to $59 on energy costs over the life of the bulb. Saving energy saves money and is better for the environment.

CLEAN…With Green Friendly Cleaning Supplies
This part of the episode was classic Op-dogg..there was a family on there who's son was greatly suffering from asthma. After they changed to non-toxic cleaning products, all his problems went away. Kind of makes you wonder what YOU'RE breathing in at your supposedly spic-and-span abode.

Method Home…Method offers some cleaners that are dye- and perfume-free, nontoxic, biodegradable, naturally derived and never tested on animals. For more info, click here.

Mrs. Meyers cleaning supplies…All of their cleaning supplies are made with natural essential oils, are biodegradable and phosphate-free. For more, click here.

Seventh Generation products…Seventh Generation is one of the leading brands of nontoxic household products. For more info, click here.

Shaklee…Find out how to get a discount on Shaklee's Healthy Home Pack. You can order the Healthy Home Pack starter kit by calling 800-225-0600.

LEARN...a few new eco-tricks

Engines Off…Lynn Romanek from Glencoe, Illinois, has organized parents at her childrens' school to turn off their cars instead of idling in the parking lot during carpool. Idling 10 minutes less per day can keep 550 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the air every year. For more information, visit www.enginesoff.org.

Greendimes…A group that gets your name OFF junk mail lists and then plants a tree for you, too! Added perk: Matt Damon is on the board and if you missed it, he recorded a very cute message to Oprah about it. For more information or to sign up, visit www.greendimes.com.

Stop Global Warming Tour…Learn more about Sheryl Crow and Laurie David's tour and what you can do to find solutions for global warming. Visit www.stopglobalwarming.org for more information.

Then you can write Oprah and tell her what you did and how inspired you were! And mention us because we want to be her new best friends! Sorry, Gayle!

The Green on Sundance Channel

Your mom always warned you that watching TV would make your brain rot (and sometimes, after your 5th hour of watching the America's Next Top Model, Marathon you know what she meant).

But now even couch potatoes have a way to be eco-conscious....The Green on the Sundance Channel. (Maybe you've seen the posters...everywhere.)



This programming block on the Sundace channel will "present original series and documentary premieres about the earth’s ecology and concepts of 'green' living that balance human needs with responsible environmental stewardship."

The programming JUST LAUNCHED this week. So set your Tivo's for the following shows--all on the Sundance Channel on Tuesdays (programming starts at 9pm).

Here's a sampling of what they've got in store for you...


Big Ideas for a Small Planet-
Addressing some of the most important issues facing humanity, this original documentary series from Sundance Channel focuses on environmental topics with interviews with forward-thinking designers and features on green products and alternative ideas that may transform our everyday lives.

Eco Biz-
Eco Biz profiles individuals who are visionaries in strategy and have worked to establish more environmentally sustainable policies and innovative eco-friendly business tactics. Watch Eco Biz to explore these practices and their subsequent impact to the bottom line.

Ecoist-
Some of today's most active and recognizable environmental activists share ideas, information and enthusiasm about their cause of choice. Participating talent includes Robert Kennedy Jr., Daryl Hannah, Laird Hamilton, Gabby Reese, Tim Robbins, and Josh Lucas.

We did a little extra research on the upcoming programs...and the shows sound pretty fascinating. One Big Ideas episode focuses on the green revolution coming to the fashion industry (May 8, 9pm). Another focuses on the resurrection of the electric car (May 22, 9pm) . A documentary entitled Five Disasters Waiting to Happen explores how extreme weather conditions related to Global Warming are going to affect 5 major cities, including London, Paris and Shanghai, addressing the different dangers facing each place (July 10, 9:30 pm).

For more info on programming, check out The Green website.

And for all the budding filmmakers, renaissance people and entrepreneurs out there check out The Big Idea contest. Submit a 1 minute video by the April 30, 2007 of your Big Idea to make the world a cleaner, greener place. Prizes included a Lexus hybrid (sigh) and $10,000 in venture capital to greenlight your green idea!



So tell Tyra, Mr and Miss Jay, "later" and tune in to something that actually makes you feel a little bit less brain-dead this week.....

Please Mr. Postman, look and see...

...is there a letter, a letter for me? Oh, Mr. Po-o-o-ost man, deliver the letter, the sooner the better..."

Sorry. But how nostalgic is that song? A time where you waited for a POST MAN to bring you tidings--and not your cell phone or inbox?

Look, we know mailboxes are almost a thing of the past.You get your bills sent to you via email. Ditto invitations (what was the last invite that didn't require a witty response over Evite?). The idea of actually writing someone a letter (or waiting for a postman) is as downright quaint.

So then why, when you open your mailbox, is it always stuffed to the brim? (And now we get to our point...)

JUNK MAIL. Unfortunately not the kind that advertise pills to enhance your sex life that you can just drag with a mouse to the trash bin. No, we’re talking about REAL junk mail. That comes to your REAL mailbox. That wastes REAL resources like trees, water and energy to get to your door.

Credit card apps, coupon books, catalogues you never ordered. Chances are, you toss it all. Hopefully, you’re at least tossing it into the recycling bin.

But here’s why you might want to do more (taken from the Native Forest Network ):

• The average person gets only 1.5 personal letters each week, compared to 10.8 pieces of junk mail.
• Each person will receive almost 560 pieces of junk mail this year.
• That's 4.5 million tons of junk mail produced each year!
• 44% of all junk mail is thrown in the trash, unopened and unread.
• Approximately 40% of the solid mass that makes up our landfills is paper and paperboard waste.By the year 2010, it is predicted to make up about 48%.
• 100 million trees are ground up each year to produce junk mail.

Did you hear that last part? 100 million trees per year?

Here’s what you can do to activate your “Snail-Mail Spam Filter”:

• Take your name off junk mail lists with the Direct Marketing Association (the DMA).
• Signing up with with DMA will stop 75% of all national mailings coming to your home.
• To do this, send a postcard with your name, address and signature to: Mail Preference Service, Direct Marketing Association, P.O. Box 643, Carmel, NY 10512
• Who are we kidding? You’re not going to actually send a postcard! When was the last time you did that? On your jaunt through Europe after college? Instead…you can also download the online form and get your name off.
  

• Pick and choose what mail you DO want to get. ANOTHER great service that takes your name off lists is Direct Mail.com.
• The cool thing about Direct Mail is that it gives you the option to still receive certain items you may want (for example, if you still want to get phone offers but not mortgage offers, it’s a simple mouse click).
• Go to their website to sign up. It literally takes less than 5 minutes (we just did it ourselves).
• And if you sign up for both DMA and DirectMail, you’ll get even less junk mail.

• Sign up with OPT OUT and never receive a pesky pre-approved credit card offer again.
• To have your name removed from lists used for unsolicited credit card and insurance offers all you need to do is call 888-567-8688 or sign up online.
• Jess did this a few months back and the results have been amazing. Especially because she was always so paranoid that if she just tossed these credit apps (even in the recycling bin) that somehow identity theft criminals could rummage through, find them and use the info to steal her identity.

• Stop the catalogues from coming. U.S. catalogue companies sent out 17 billion catalogues last year - 59 for every man, woman and child in the nation.
• Shop online instead (and when you see that little checkbox—Do you want to receive our catalogues?—check NO!)
• Call the numbers on the catalogues you receive to stop them from coming…if it’s too hard to part with your Victoria’s Secret catalogue, at least cancel the ones you never look at.

• Secret tip…don’t send back the postcards!
• When you buy new appliances, they always enclose a postcard in the box and tell you to return it so your product will be covered under warranty.
• BUT you are covered under a manufacturer's warranty whether a card is returned or not! These cards are primarily used to gather names for mailing lists. So next time, don’t send it in.

• We know it might be your chance to win 10 million dollars, but if you want to remove your name from major nationwide sweepstakes mailers, contact:
• Publishers Clearinghouse, 101 Channel Drive, Port Washington, NY 11050 Phone: (800) 645-9242
• Readers Digest, Readers Digest Road, Pleasantville, NY 10570 Phone: (800) 234-9000
• American Family Publishers, PO Box 62000, Tampa, FL 33662 Phone: (800) 237-2400

Okay...so, to review....junk in the trunk: good. Junk in the mailbox: bad. Get off those lists today!

Sweet Justice

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the environment on Monday April 2, 2007!

Jigga What?

In honor of this pretty monumental occasion, your weekly tip has been hijacked by a Green is the New Pink NewsFlash. Here’s the deal…we explain in normal-person-non-legalese terms what happened and why it’s important. Then you go out in the world full of facts and ready to back yourself up the next time someone at a bar (or by the office water cooler, or at the next family get-together) picks a fight with you about the validity of global warming.

Okay… A little (condensed) background…13 states, several U.S. cities and a number of environmental groups were suing the Environmental Protection Agency (the EPA). Their beef? So far, the EPA (an agency under the wing of the current not-so-green Bush administration) has had a very laissez-faire attitude about greenhouse gas emissions. These groups, cities and states WANT the EPA to create some mandatory regulations to lessen the greenhouse emissions from cars and power plants, but so far, the EPA has done nothing, saying that “voluntary” industry regulation is enough—no need for government imposed regulation. Shockingly, not many automobile manufacturers are jumping at the chance to regulate their products fuel emissions. So surprising, we know.

At this point you may be asking yourself WHY the EPA (yes, the environmental PROTECTION agency) has no desire to help curtail these emissions if they have the authority to do so? (And especially when these fuel and power plant emissions are such a key component of global warming and when the technology to clean up these emissions already exists).

Well, again the EPA is not necessarily a non-partisan agency…and so though they are committed to protecting the environment, the degree to which they do varies on the administration that’s in office.

Back to the case. After going back and forth with appeals and what not, this case landed in the hands of the Supreme Court. The Court had to answer 3 specific questions:

1. Can states sue the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to challenge its decision?

Okay, do these states even have a right to be suing the EPA in the first place? The Court ruled “Yes”, these states do have the right. This makes sense especially when you consider that if the EPA does not start imposing some greenhouse gas regulations, several plans by California and 11 other states to require reductions in carbon dioxide emissions from cars would have been jeopardized. Point 1 for the green team. Next question…

2. Does the Clean Air Act give the EPA the authority to regulate tailpipe/power plant emissions of greenhouse gases?

Without going into all the details of the Clean Air Act, they were basically asking the court whether or not the EPA could even impose these regulations on CO2 emissions if they wanted to. The court ruled that YES the EPA CAN impose regulations like that. Point 2. Last question….

3. Does EPA have the discretion not to regulate the emissions from cars and power plants?

So, if the EPA does indeed have the authority to regulate tailpipe and power plant emissions, does that mean they HAVE to? Just because they have the power to, do they have to exercise it?

This third question yielded the trickiest—yet still positive—response. Essentially, the court said that if the EPA doesn’t want to regulate, they have to give a good reason why not—in other words, prove that tailpipe and power plant emissions don’t harm the environment or contribute to global warming.

Justice John Paul Stevens said in the majority opinion. "EPA has offered no reasoned explanation for its refusal to decide whether greenhouse gases cause or contribute to climate change." The court said the agency has so far provided a "laundry list" of patchwork reasons that include foreign policy considerations, but that in the future, they must only give reasons that tie more closely to the Clean Air Act and environmental concerns.

So that means the EPA could still decide not to regulate carbon dioxide, BUT only if it also concluded that such emissions do not contribute to climate change or endanger public health. And that’s a point that’s going to be almost impossible to make considering the widespread view among top climate scientists that carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels is the principal heat-trapping "greenhouse" gas that, if not contained, will lead to significant warming of the Earth, rising sea levels and other marked ecological changes.

So, the court is essentially saying that unless the EPA can show them a good reason not to, they MUST START REGULATING GREENHOUSE GASES in cars and power plants. And it also means a huge boost to California and the other states’ prospects for gaining EPA approval of their own programs to limit tailpipe emissions, beginning with as early as next year.

Yay! Break out the Dom! Have a drink on us… and don’t be shy…you know the facts now…go be smart.

Monday Morning Motivation

Sometimes it’s easy to lose sight of the big picture…we all get lazy (we know it’s not just us) and that little devil on our shoulder tells us “Just toss out those cans, it’s easier than recycling”, “It’s okay to keep the lights on all over the house, you don’t need to get up from the couch”, or “Low-energy bulbs? But they’re $2 more…maybe next time.”

So to paint the big picture of why we need to try so hard to combat global warming, we give you what we call…incentive. As reported on The Grist late last week:

If you are one of the 634 million people worldwide living in a coastal zone, be advised: you may be in deep trouble. New research using population models and NASA satellite data estimates that one in 10 people in the world -- some 75 percent of them in Asia -- live in coastal regions that will be at risk of being affected by flooding and intense storms brought on by global warming. The low-lying coastal areas, defined as less than 33 feet above sea level, are found in more than 180 countries and include some 70 percent of the world's large cities, notably New York City, Tokyo, Mumbai, India, and Shanghai, China.

(This was also reported in: The Sydney Morning Herald, Reuters, 28 Mar 2007 and the Houston Chronicle, Associated Press, Thomas Wagner, 28 Mar 2007)

This is NASA research, not a scare tactic by some fanatic green group—populated areas of Northern Alaska and elsewhere have already begun flooding. Whole towns have needed to relocate further inland. In the sparse wilderness of Northern Alaska, that’s hard, but not nearly as catastrophic as relocating the entire cities of New York or Tokyo…..really scary when you think about it.

Just a little food for thought from the team at Green is the New Pink (aka the angels on your other shoulder….). Go do something green today—recycle, get Green Energy for your home, replace a few more bulbs in your home with low energy ones, take one more serving of meat out of your weekly diet……in the small picture of our everyday lives it seems hard, but in the big one…it’s worth it.