Eco-Libation

According to wine writer Tyler Colman, Ph.D., who blogs at DrVino.com, upwards of 90 percent of American wine is produced on the West Coast, and then shipped to the East Coast, where the majority of wine consumers live. He notes that almost half the weight of an ordinary case of wine is from the bottles, whereas 95 percent of the weight of a case of boxed wine is the liquid. Colman concludes that switching to wine in a box for the 97 percent of wines that are made to be consumed within a year would reduce associated greenhouse gas emissions by about 2 million tons, the equivalent of removing 400,000 cars from our roads.

Sources: Emagazine.com; BetterWinesBetterWorld.com (lists bag-in-box brands).

Donated Dollars
Charity Navigator Guides Intelligent Giving
’Tis always the season for lending a helping hand, and it’s vital that we place our hard-earned financial support with worthy causes who use our dollars wisely. Charity Navigator is a good first stop. It’s the nation’s largest and most popular guide to the objective evaluation of more than 5,300 American charities. At CharityNavigator.org, we’ll find user-friendly assessments of an organization’s financial health, insightful articles on industry trends, and tips for effective giving. Their findings clearly signal who is doing a good job and who is not.

The researchers have done a good chunk of our homework for us; they even verify each charity’s commitment to keeping donors’ personal information confidential, to help them avoid becoming victims of mailing list appeals. Check out their “Top 10 Best Practices of Savvy Donors.” The site is easily navigable by charity name, location or type of activity.

Integrated Medicine & Nutrition Brings Concierge Practice 
to NYC

Dr. Michael B. Wald and Dr. Nilay Shah of Integrated Medicine of Mount Kisco have additionally brought their practice to New York City with the opening of new offices at 48 West 68th Street. Integrated Medicine & Nutrition offers Concierge Medicine to their patients. Concierge Service is relatively new in the U.S. and offers unique services to patients. Dr. Wald and Dr. Shah appreciate the balance of traditional medical and complimentary medical approaches for the prevention and treatment of all varieties of health issues.

Their mission is to be their patients’ trusted source for wellness. To accomplish this goal, they see fewer patients, maximizing time spent with each person.  Individualized attention is an extremely rare commodity in health care today and the Integrated Medicine & Nutrition Physicians ensure each patient has enough time to fully express health concerns and goals. They also provide lifestyle education in a practical and individualized style, always with the goal of teaching their patients how to get and stay healthy.

As Director of Nutritional Services, Dr. Michael B. Wald provides detailed and highly specific consultations and recommends appropriate tests to assess nutritional needs. Dr. Wald’s training allows him to incorporate medical health history, nutritional tests and dietary recommendations into a holistic, comprehensive program that addresses each person’s health concerns. Dr. Nilay Shah, Director of Medical Services, combines traditional medical training with a ‘nutritional and holistic spin,’ ensuring his patients receive a wide range of health care options – including those from both natural and conventional medicine.

Appreciating the diverse needs and schedules of New Yorkers, Integrated Medicine & Nutrition has 24-hour accessibility for scheduling and rescheduling and can arrange special appointments on off-hours or weekends and will even come to your home, for an additional fee.  Dr. Shah and Dr. Wald look forward to becoming New Yorker’s gateway for internal medicine, neurologic and nutrition expertise.

To celebrate their NYC launch, Integrated Medicine & Nutrition is offering complimentary 15-minute consultations. For more information about services or appointments call 914-242-8844 or visit their website: intmedny.com.

Santa’s Reindeer
Vast Antlered Herds are Fast Growing Thin
Disruptions in climate and its consequences in diminishing food sources and rising pest populations are believed to be behind precipitous drops of caribou herds circling the planet’s arctic rooftop from Alaska and Canada to Siberia.

A global survey by researchers at the University of Alberta, published in Global Change Biology, reports that 34 of 43 monitored herds have declined an average 57 percent from maximum numbers of recent decades. Human populations who rely on the migrating animals as a primary food source are also in jeopardy.
This year, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society launched a public video campaign to fight logging and road-building that is further threatening woodland caribou in Quebec, Manitoba and Ontario.

Canadian citizens are making their voices heard via a companion letter campaign at CaribouAndYou.ca.

by Judith Fertig

Living simply is not a new idea. The Shakers, a celibate sect founded in the 18th century, believed that, “Tis a gift to be simple.” In the 19th century, Henry David Thoreau went back to basics on Walden Pond. “Less is more,” proclaimed Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the renowned post-war minimalist architect, a century later.

The urge to simplify is timeless. What is new is recognizing the ripple effect when we choose a smaller life, explains Duane Elgin, in his new edition of Voluntary Simplicity: Toward a Way of Life That Is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich. “Contrary to media myths,” observes Elgin, “consumerism offers lives of sacrifice, while simplicity offers lives of opportunity. Simplicity creates the opportunity for greater fulfillment in work, meaningful connection with others, feelings of kinship with all life and awe of a living universe.”

In 1977, Elgin was part of a think tank group at Stanford Research Institute that studied the voluntary simplicity movement. Each of the movement’s values identified by Elgin’s group—human scale, material simplicity, environmental awareness, self-determination and personal growth—build on each other. When an individual first chooses to live on a smaller, more human scale, the other values seem to fall in line.

Human Scale
Human scale means that we easily fit with our surroundings, our schedule and our stuff. When that isn’t happening and we realize we’re overwhelmed by the demands of a too-much life, we ask, “Is this really all there is?”

Architect Sarah Susanka asked herself that question when, as a managing partner in a firm of 45 people, she realized she was “asleep at the wheel, while barreling down the road of life on cruise control.” She was working long hours and doing well, but not doing what she had wanted to do since childhood. “Often, the things we were passionate about as children are good indicators of natural proclivities that may have fallen by the wayside as we’ve moved into adulthood,” she observes.

One thing Susanka felt was not working for her anymore was the pace at which she raced through her days. “We’ve become incredibly productive in recent decades,” she remarks, “and our successes are measured by income and by acquisitions.” But what Susanka wanted was not a bigger house or a new car—she wanted time to write.

“Our culture is grappling with time,” Susanka reflects. While we can get multiple things done with a press of a button, we can’t seem to allow ourselves the slow, unstructured time to just be present with our own thoughts. Trading superhuman self-perceptions for simply human views allowed Susanka the time to recollect herself and begin to write. The process of simplifying her life in order to pen The Not So Big House became the subject of her next book, The Not So Big Life.

Linda Breen Pierce experienced a similar self-revelation. In 1991, she downsized her six-figure income as a Los Angeles attorney, moved to a smaller house in a quieter community, and has since been living and writing about the simplicity movement until recently retiring to Mexico. “We are living the American dream gone amuck,” she writes in Simplicity Lessons: A 12-Step Guide to Living Simply. But now, we are learning that, “A fast-paced lifestyle prevents us from living mindfully.”

Material Simplicity
When life seems overwhelming, it’s time to take a good look at where we are, figure out where we want to be and eliminate obstacles. Do we want a smaller dwelling? Less to keep organized? More time for ourselves?

“If your goals aren’t clear and your thinking isn’t focused, you can’t break the habits that stand in your way,” states psychologist and author Peter Walsh, who appears regularly on The Oprah Winfrey Show. “So many of my clients seem to have lost focus in their lives.”

Walsh’s main refrain is that in accumulating more things than we really need or want, many of us have been trying to meet a need for something more. Sometimes, he says, “There is an element of boredom, combined with a simmering sense of frustration, even anger.” Either way, the hope is that material things will bring meaning and fulfillment. In his experience, “It never works.”

In deciding how we can best simplify our lives, Elgin encourages us to ask the following questions: “Does what I own encourage activity and independence—or the opposite? Does what I buy satisfy or not? How tied is my present job to keeping up a large  lifestyle?”

An even simpler approach is to heed the words of William Morris, a leader in the 19th century Arts and Crafts movement: “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” Simplicity involves not only clearing out the physical and emotional clutter and replenishing mindfully, but also clarifies our view of how our actions have a wider impact.

Environmental 
Awareness

“Reduce, reuse, recycle” is a philosophy that Zoe Weil has lived for years. As the author of Most Good, Least Harm: A Simple Principle for a Better World and Meaningful Life, Weil understands that most of us have lived at least part of our lives looking through a single lens, focused on “what’s good for me.”

Weil challenges us to look through multiple lenses that see beyond personal interest, to embrace what’s also good for other people and animals and the planet. It can start with a simple act, such as choosing to refill a stainless steel bottle with filtered water, instead of consuming plastic water bottles that can languish for generations in landfills or require recycling.

Her mantra, “most good, least harm,” means considering the big picture to arrive at a better solution. For example, we might choose to buy fair trade coffee. Or we can seek out local produce to serve at meals and help independent farmers, even though we have to drive farther to the store. We might even decide to grow our own produce to cut the carbon emissions of the drive.

We can choose to use green cleaning products that don’t relay toxins into our bodies and our environment, even though they cost more. We can shop for cage-free eggs and free-range chicken, because these foods come from animals raised in a more humane manner, even if they’re harder to find.

The benefits are twofold: Making our lives simpler yields the time to make more thoughtful choices, and making thoughtful choices can make the world a more desirable place in which to live.

Self-determination
According to Pierce’s research, simpler living results in “more time, personal freedom, reduced stress, a slower pace of life, control of money, less stuff to maintain, fulfilling work, passion and purpose in life, joyful relationships, deeper spirituality, better health and a connection with nature.”

She has observed that while many people approach a simpler life with an interest only in these self-directed values, they soon develop other-directed values. People who have a simpler life also have the time, energy and passion to turn their talents towards the betterment of the community, the environment and the planet.

Personal Growth
What it all boils down to is this: Living simply can make us happy. “Happiness studies through the years show that what makes us happy isn’t stuff,” concludes Elgin.
“That can be a revelation,” adds Susanka, “because for so much of our lives we’ve been oriented toward the accumulation of things to prove that we’re getting somewhere or making it ‘up’ some sort of hierarchy. What is critical is companioning with that which is most significant to you.”

For more information and inspiration, contact: Duane Elgin at AwakeningEarth.org; Sarah Susanka at SarahSusanka.com and NotSoBigLife.com; Linda Breen Pierce at GallagherPress.com; Peter Walsh at PeterWalshDesign.com; and Zoe Weil at ZoeWeil.com.

by Jordana Gerson

For most Americans, memories of Thanksgiving focus on succulent, brown, juicy birds and a week of turkey sandwiches and cranberry sauce leftovers. While these images are typically guilt-free, the truth is that most turkeys come from industrial farms, where producers are more concerned with quantity than quality, raising the fowl under often foul conditions.

Tottering under the weight of immense breasts and packed into huge warehouses, industrially raised turkeys are kept tightly confined, with as many as 10,000 to a room, and fed additives and antibiotics, reports Ian Duncan, a professor of ethology in the Department of Animal and Poultry Science at the University of Guelph, in Ontario. “To some extent,” remarks Duncan, “we’ve created a monster.”

The cramped conditions often lead to turkeys infected with salmonella, campylobacter and other bacteria that may persist even when treated by antibiotics. Common practices include mixing antibiotics into rations to stave off such diseases, as well as adding animal fat to feed to bulk up the birds.

The Free-range Choice
The good news is that choices for naturally raised turkeys are on the rise, so careful shoppers can purchase their holiday entree with an easier conscience. Free-range turkeys that are allowed access to the outdoors and may live a significant portion of their lives at pasture can be purchased at natural products stores or ordered from a free-range farm. Yet, experts still caution us not to be fooled by just any free-range label—that alone doesn’t guarantee we are getting a high-quality bird that’s been raised naturally, without the use of antibiotics or additives.

Although free-range turkeys live in conditions closer to their natural habitats and are less likely to carry disease, the classification guidelines are loose. According to Margaret Riek, spokesperson at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, “To have the label ‘free-range,’ poultry producers must provide a brief description of the birds’ housing conditions.

This written description is reviewed to ensure the birds have continuous, free access to the out-of-doors for more than 51 percent of their lives, i.e., through their normal growing cycle. During the winter months in a northern climate, birds are not [considered] free-range if they stay in coops all winter.” She further notes that producer testimonials must state how the birds are raised in a northern climate in winter in order to conform to the meaning of the term “free-range” during the winter months.

Free range doesn’t mean organic, so even when accurately applied, the free-range label doesn’t ensure that turkeys have been raised on pesticide-free feed or without antibiotics, hormones or additives. Currently, the USDA is permitting certain meat and poultry products—including turkey—to be labeled Certified Organic by the name of the certifying entity. But again, labeling can be confusing, because some producers freely use the terms “organic” or “natural” without certification to back them up. Consumers must carefully check for Certified Organic labels and/or contact the producers directly to determine the conditions under which the birds were raised.

Mary Pitman, of Mary’s Free-Range Turkeys, in Fresno, California, emphasizes the importance of prudent label reading. “Consumers can really be fooled,” she counsels. “Some farms can qualify for free-range, but they raise [turkeys] in the same conditions as industrial farms.

“Here, we have four times more space than industrial farms. We provide 8 to 12 feet per turkey. Some people think that just because turkeys go in and out of pens, they’re free range. If they’re truly [naturally raised], their feed doesn’t have any drugs or hormones or antibiotics in it and they have the freedom to roam.”

Sleuthing a Turkey’s History
If we have any questions about the production or treatment of a certain brand of turkey, it’s best to call the company. Many turkey farms have toll-free information lines; the best of these can vouch for the fact that their turkeys have been raised with ample space—a minimum of four square feet per turkey when they are inside—in natural, primarily outdoor settings, and have not been fed or injected with preservatives or additives.

Getting to know a bird’s biography may seem like just another chore on a long list of Thanksgiving preparations, but knowing that we’re feeding our family safely and humanely is a satisfying payoff. Best of all, buying a natural bird has palate-pleasing benefits: It’s as good to our taste buds as it is for our bodies, and that’s something we can all be thankful for.

Jordana Gerson writes about travel, the outdoors and holistic living.

Beware of Debeaking
Virtually all industrially raised turkeys in the United States are debeaked. This partial removal of their beaks, done without anesthesia when the chicks are newly hatched, is a preventive measure to reduce compulsive pecking among birds in close confinement. Animal activist groups consider debeaking inhumane, and noted ethologist Ian Duncan says the practice causes immediate agony and chronic pain.

Despite having more space in which to roam, free-range turkeys often also arrive from breeders already debeaked. A growing number of poultry farmers, though, are opposed to the practice.

“Turkeys are good foragers and grazers, and can glean as much as 50 percent of their calories from insects, grass, clover and other greens,” relates John Clark, of Applecheek Farm, in Hyde Park, Vermont. To graze most efficiently, he reports, they need intact beaks. Clark notes that his operation is a certified organic, sustainable family farm. “We raise our animals humanely—our turkeys are neither debeaked nor declawed.”

Before reserving or purchasing a free-range turkey, ask the farmer or company about its practices. Those who follow humane practices welcome questions.

For more information visit United Poultry Concerns at UPC-online.org.

Green Halloween

Tricks for Earth-Friendly Treats
The scariest aspects of Halloween are the unhealthy sugar overload and disposable waste in costumes, decorations and pumpkins left to rot. Ranking second only to Christmas as America’s best-loved holiday in a FamilyFun.com poll, Halloween started going green across the country last year with the help of a grassroots, volunteer-run initiative on the Web at GreenHalloween.org.

While the movement started in Seattle in 2007, spreading to New York City and Phoenix, neighborhood, school and community groups around the United States and Canada are now getting in on the act. Founder Corey Colwell-Lipson is behind the move to get people to “think outside the candy box.” Thousands are logging on for start-to-finish ideas for staging local eco-Halloween festivities.

One twist is to substitute alternative keepsakes like yarn bracelets, seed packets, polished stones, organic fruit leathers and foreign stamps instead of candy. A 2003 Yale University study found that nearly half of young trick-or-treaters picked a small toy over candy when given the choice. Another option is reverse trick-or-treating, an initiative of Global Exchange, where kids hand out free samples of fair trade chocolate with an informational card on the benefits of supporting fair practices in the cocoa industry (search trick-or-treat at GlobalExchange.org).

Europe Leads
International Support for Small Farmers and Artisans
Although fair trade is still modest in scope, given the factors of smart product design, business strategies and economies of scale, Europeans are proving that it can be a viable market, even in recessionary times. More than 70 percent of the British populace, for example, now recognizes the fair-trade mark, while just 28 percent of U.S. consumers do, according to a recent survey by the Fairtrade Foundation.

More, one in four UK shoppers now regularly buy several fair trade products, while fewer than 6 percent of Americans could even name a fair-trade organization.

Fair trade is based on the principle of paying workers a fair price for sustainable products. Damien Sanfilippo, a cotton project manager with the international Pesticide Action Network, points out yet another benefit: “Fair trade can provide a stepping stone for [Third World] farmers to convert to organic, because it’s easier to become fair-trade certified,” he says. “Once they have access [to higher fair-trade prices], they can decide to use the premium to finance the training that they need to move towards more sustainable practices—all the way up to organic.”

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

Climate Treaty
Why 350 is the Most Vital Number on Earth
Grassroots activists around the globe will rally October 24 to try to convince negotiators wrapping up the United Nations global climate treaty this December to target 350 parts per million as the safe upper limit for greenhouse gases. It’s the number, say leading scientists, like James Hansen, Ph.D., and his colleagues at NASA, that humanity needs to cut back to as soon as possible to avoid runaway climate change.

The 2008 atmospheric loading hit 387 ppm, according to the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii. That’s up almost 40 percent since the Industrial Revolution and the highest for at least the last 650,000 years.
More than 1,350 grassroots events in 98 countries are gearing up to make a meaningful statement on this Global Day of Climate Action. Everyone is invited to join this necessary call to action to arrest Earth’s climate emergency.

To find or schedule a local event on October 24, visit 350.org.

Savvy Students
Colleges Demonstrate Environmental Literacy
The Princeton Review’s second annual ranking of “Green Colleges” shows that schools are responding to rising demand for eco-conscious academic environments. This year, 697 institutions of all sizes participated in the green rankings, from Ivy League universities to small, private colleges.
David Soto, the magazine’s director of college rankings, notes that while paying for college is a top worry for students and parents, environmental concerns are right behind that. A quarter of students and nearly a fifth of parents attest that an institution’s commitment to the environment would “very much” impact their choice of a college or university. Comments Soto: “They know they need these skills to get a job in the green economy.”

Source: GreenBiz.com

Easy Access  Green Info to Go
Anyone tired of wading through websites and blogs trying to locate that one bit of information that will answer their question about which is the better way to go green will appreciate GreenYour.com. Categories include home, office, body, lifestyle and transportation. But that’s only the beginning. Inquirers can simply type in the query of the moment and voilá, up comes brief, well-organized bulleted lists of easy-to-understand tips and insight on the topic. Plus, in some cases, bonus comments by helpful bloggers.

Green Royals

Long Live the Green Ruling Families Around the World Grist.org has posted its picks for rulers who are leveraging “their media magnetism and sovereign sway to draw attention to a variety of eco-causes.” These leaders are helping to green their homelands, counter climate change and make sure the cake we’re eating is organic, too. Initiatives range from support for healthy ocean, rainforest and wildlife populations to sustainable energies to high-quality food, water and air.

Royals leading the way include: Prince Charles of England; Princess Basma bint Ali of Jordan; Prince Albert II of Monaco; Princess Lalla Hasnaa of Morocco; Princess Takamado of Japan; Princess Chulabhorn Walailak of Thailand; Prince Hassan Bin Talal of Jordan; Queen Elizabeth II of England; Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand; and King Carl Gustaf of Sweden.

For more information visit Grist.org and search “10 green royals.”

Opt Out
Stop Junk Mail at its Source
The average American adult receives 41 pounds of junk mail a year, even though, as Newsweek reports, polls show that 89 percent of us prefer not to receive direct-marketing mail; 44 percent of it is never opened. Opposition from the U.S. Postal Service and the Direct Marketing Association has so far helped defeat passage of any Do Not Mail legislative relief in 19 states.

Low-cost initiatives like 41Pounds.org ($41 for five years includes a $15 eco-cause donation) and StoptheJunkMail.com ($20 a year) are coming to citizens’ rescue with services that solve 80 to 95 percent of the problem for us. Do-it-yourself types also can make it happen using how-to tips courtesy of The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse at PrivacyRights.org/fs/fs4-junk.htm, with an assist from OptOutPrescreen.com and CatalogChoice.org.

Nationwide annual benefits of getting out from under junk mail include: preventing production of greenhouse gases equal to the emissions of 9 million cars; destruction of the 100 million trees and use of 28 million gallons of freshwater it takes to produce 4 million tons of junk mail; $550 million in transportation costs; paper waste comprising 40 percent of the U.S. landfill load; and $320 million in local taxes spent on junk mail disposal. That is not to mention the estimated 350 hours each household spends sorting and shredding it to protect against identity theft and fraud.

For more tips, visit BigGreenPurse.com and search “control catalog overload.”

Sustainable Consumer
Green Becoming a Tiebreaker 
in Shopping Decisions
A 2009 Grocery Manufacturers Association survey at 11 national chains found that more than half the shoppers interviewed consider green attributes when making purchases. Yet, less than half of the shoppers who were there looking for green products actually found them; only 22 percent of the 6,400 people surveyed ended up buying green products. Researchers concluded that grocers need to do a better job of educating shoppers and promoting green products in stores.

Other key statistics also emerged: About 2 percent of those surveyed classify themselves as committed to buying products based on sustainability attributes whenever possible; 18 percent consider themselves proactive in weighing environmental factors with other values; while sustainable products influence 34 percent, all other things being equal. On the flip side, a third of shoppers were unsure or neutral about eco-attributes and 13 percent rejected or didn’t know anything about going green.

More Student Farmhands Go Organic
More liberal arts students seeking an academic break, meaningful work or training and engagement in social change are headed to farms this summer. It’s a way to act on their growing enthusiasm for locally raised food, concerns over food safety and the environmental impact of conventional agriculture.
The New York Times reports that interest in summer farm work among college students has never been so high, according to dozens of farmers, university professors and people who coordinate agricultural apprenticeships. Katherine L. Adam, of the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service, says that 1,400 farms sought interns this year; that’s almost triple the number 2 years ago.
Stipends are generally modest, with room and board included. Academic credits may also be offered.

Find internship directories by state at organicvolunteers.com and attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/internships.

Groundbreaking Films
New Wave of Movies with a Message
Food, Inc. by filmmaker Robert Kenner, opening this summer, lifts the veil from our nation’s food industry. It exposes the highly mechanized underbelly hidden from consumers with our government’s consent. “Our nation’s food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations,” the movie notes. “We also have new strains of e-coli, widespread obesity particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.”

Fuel, an award-winning production 11 years in the making by activist/director Josh Tickell, that has been touring schools and town halls around the country, tracks the rising domination of the petrochemical industry. Then it reveals a gamut of available solutions to re-power America with sustainable, clean energy sources.

The Story of Stuff, a 20-minute online video by activist Annie Leonard, is a simple, stark assessment of how much stuff Americans waste, which is proving popular in classrooms. It spells out the disastrous environmental consequences of a consumer-driven economy and lists 10 ways to use less stuff.
 
Learn more at FoodIncMovie.com (includes online petition); TheFuelFilm.com; and TheStoryofStuff.com.

Eco Spoilsports
U.S. Consumers Rank Last Worldwide
Again in 2009, Americans as a whole came in at the bottom of National Geographic’s Greendex survey, which scores consumer progress toward environmentally sustainable consumption in 17 countries. Yet, we maintain a stronger-than-average 
belief that an individual’s environmental efforts can make a difference.
Survey responses indicate that Americans are less concerned about the environment than those polled in the other countries. In particular, they are less likely than average to feel that their personal lifestyle is harmful or to feel guilty about their environmental impact. They also are less likely to feel that environmental problems are bad for their health or to agree that global warming will worsen their way of life. Meanwhile, they insist on driving alone daily and in large vehicles, while being least likely to use public transportation or to walk or bike to destinations.
Still, Americans exhibited some incremental improvements in housing, goods and food categories the past year. These included keeping heating/cooling settings on low, laundering in cold water, using their own bags in stores and preferring to repair, rather than replace, broken items.
Food is the only category monitored in which Americans aren’t dead last, ranking 13th out of 17 countries. Factors contributing to their biggest improvement of the year include eating locally grown foods several times a week and drinking less bottled water. Americans also continue to be relatively infrequent consumers of imported foods.
 
For details, visit NationalGeographic.com/greendex.

Country Life
Where to Have Fun on the Farm
Each year, 62 million people enjoy finding things to do at farms and farmhouses, ranches and wineries as guests, visitors or volunteer workers, according to RuralBounty.com. Agritourism is often a fast-growing dimension of regional tourism. Many family farmers now welcome the public onto their properties so they can sustain their agricultural lifestyle.

From hayrides to cattle drives; from gathering free-range eggs to sugaring maples; and from picking cherries to walking fields of lavender, it’s all available and waiting. Inquirers can tap into a vast array of local food production and garden nursery experiences at AgritourismWorld.com. Here, they can search by category or specific interest, as well as state or country. Information on tours is also provided.

Vacation Biking

Rent Any Type of Bike Onsite Online
Coast-to-coast, independent bicycle dealers in 144 cities now make it easy to hook up with everyone’s bicycle of choice by the hour, day, week or month. Reserve anything from a comfort or recumbent bike to a road, mountain or kid’s bike at RentaBikeNow.com. Trailers and accessories can be specified right along with destination and travel dates, like with booking a hotel or car. Route information, too, is available at a click of the mouse.

 The new service addresses three critical issues making headlines these days: environment, gas prices and health awareness, notes company President and Founder George Gill.

     Connect with a convenient bike shop at RentaBikeNow.com, a division of Go. Play. Everywhere. LLC.

Wild Zones

Congress Gets Going on Wilderness Conservation
This year has seen big wins in preserving America’s wilderness heritage. The first new National Land Conservation System in a generation now unites more than 26 million acres in permanent protection and restoration status. Areas encompass more than 850 of the most scenic, ecologically and historically significant lands under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management. These include national monuments, conservation and wilderness areas, wild and scenic rivers and scenic and historic trails.

Also, another two million acres of wilderness across nine states have been added to public lands permanently protected in the National Wilderness Preservation System, bringing the total to about 110 million acres. That’s five percent of the country. The additional acreage approved by Congress and President Obama is in California, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, New Mexico, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Oregon.

The victory will help restore and maintain the healthy, resilient landscapes essential to helping ecosystems and the species that depend on them adapt to climate change. Grassroots voices contributed to another victory, this one for Arctic wildlife. Earlier this year, a federal court vacated the Department of the Interior’s five-year plan for oil and gas leasing in Arctic waters off Alaska’s coast.
 
Source: The Wilderness Society, Wilderness.org 

Thousands of concerned citizens will gather on World Ocean Day, June 8, to deepen awareness of the universal benefits and alarming plight of Earth’s oceans, and the need to stop human activities from harming them. Inspiring community events, activities and celebrations will roll out at aquariums, zoos, museums and other educational institutions in all 50 states and 70 countries, based on the 2009 theme, “One climate, one ocean, one future.”

According the World Ocean Network, the oceans have, “never deteriorated so much in five years.” Fish populations are falling sharply; invasive species and diseases are spreading; coral reefs are dying; and pollution continues to threaten marine life, including plankton and shellfish that form the base of the food chain. Escalating carbon dioxide saturation is acidifying and altering ecologies in the warming waters of our oceans, which play a crucial role in maintaining Earth’s climate.

Find ideas for individuals, families, communities, artists, educators and conservationists who want to join in at

theoceanproject.org/wod/wod_ideas.php

Pump Savvy
Portal to Real-time Gas Prices

GasBuddy.com offers instant, user-friendly access to the today’s lowest priced gasoline pit stops, 
by area. The nonprofit 
GasBuddy Organization, Inc. notes that gas prices not only change frequently, but can vary by as much as 20 percent within a few blocks. Motorists, too, can contribute updates online, based on information gleaned as they combine 
errands around town or take a fuel-wise local vacation. The site helps everyone save bucks for more fun activities.

Kindness Counts
Accelerating Animal Advocacy

In 1993, just seven states had felony animal cruelty laws; today, all but four do—Idaho, Mississippi and the Dakotas. In 2000, nine law schools had animal law studies; today about 100 do, according to an Associated Press report. “Animal law is where environmental law was 20 years ago. It’s in its infancy, but growing,” says Pamela Frasch, adjunct professor and head of the National Center for Animal Law, at Lewis & Clark Law School, in Portland. State laws vary widely

Lewis & Clark opened the first Animal Legal Defense Fund chapter in 1992. Today, it oversees branches at 115 law schools in North America. The reason is student demand. David Favre, an authority in the field who teaches the subject at Michigan State University College of Law, says that most private practice animal law cases deal with dangerous dogs, divorce settlements, purchases or other 
property-related difficulties.

But, it is the animal rights cases that draw public attention. According to Scott Heiser, criminal justice program director for the Animal Legal Defense Fund, new laws in many states put animal abuse on a par with drunken driving cases; this pre-empts offenders from plea bargaining to a lesser offense.

Sources: Associated Press; AmericanHumane.org; reference ASPCA.org.

Survey Surety
Underwriters Laboratories 
to Verify Green Products

A survey by Cone Inc., of Boston, found that 34 percent of adult consumers said they are more likely to buy green-leaning products in the current economic climate; 44 percent said their environmental shopping habits have not changed because of the economy. Only 8 percent said they were less likely to buy Earth-friendly products due to the downturn

Now, Underwriters Laboratories is parlaying its 115-year track record in evaluating the safety of millions of products to its new UL Environment mark, which will be use to reliably designate environmentally sustainable products. Their independent auditing, testing and validation of manufacturers’ claims, as well as a separate certification that products meet industry-accepted environmental standards, will “help industries and the public make sense of green claims, while helping manufacturers maintain transparency and credibility in the marketplace.”

Universal Power
New Charger Will Work with Most Mobile Phones

The GSM Association, representing the mobile communications industry in 219 countries, will embrace a universal charger standard by 2012. The new universal charger, using a Micro-USB connector, will be compatible with the majority of new phones. It’s expected to be 50 percent more efficient in its standby energy use than existing chargers and will help eliminate an estimated 51,000 tons of e-waste, because fewer chargers will be thrown away with each new phone purchase.

Source: GreenerComputing.com

Earth Day Network is joining with playwright Michael Johnathon in exploring the vital role we each play in protecting the Earth by living more simply and preserving natural environments in our home communities. Walden: The Ballad of Thoreau will stream online via EarthDayTV.net and be broadcast over public TV and radio and in theaters on Earth Day, April 22. To date, 7,200 schools and community theatres have performed the play in 35 countries, bringing to life the lessons of Henry David Thoreau, father of the environmental movement in America.

Thoreau’s records of Walden’s plant species from 1851 to 1858 provide a baseline for today’s naturalists. They report that 27 percent of this Concord, Massachusetts pond’s flowers have vanished. Another 36 percent are on the brink. Boston University scientists report that the average annual temperature there is now 4.3 degrees higher, due in part to surrounding asphalt and buildings, causing species that can’t adapt to earlier bloom times to die out because spring pollinators are arriving earlier, as well. Climate change is throwing off the synchronicity of nature.

Evolutionary biologist Charles Davis notes that “Major branches in the tree of life are being lost, groups that we all know and love: dogwoods, orchids and members of the lily and rose families.”

For more information visit WaldenPlay.com.

by Geraldine Marcenyac

“Climate Change,” an inspiring exhibit currently showing at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), illustrates an opportunity that is as proactive as it is educational. The curators of the exhibit, Edmond A. Mathez and Michael Oppenheimer, have done a formidable job of highlighting the different elements composing our planet’s climate and how they interact to create a livable environment. Upon entering the exhibit, visitors see 400 years of atmospheric change documented, via graphic aids that bring to mind Al Gore’s Academy Award-winning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth.

The clock is ticking for Earth’s problems, but we still have time to change the situation. This fact-filled and surprisingly optimistic exhibit shows museum visitors what they can do to help our beleaguered environment.

Driving fuel-efficient cars, eating seasonal fruits and employing alternative forms of energy are some of the suggestions the exhibition invites guests to explore. The museum also encourages viewers to get involved in their communities to raise awareness of environmental concerns. With the push of a button at the exhibit, you can decide to actively “join,” by committing to making changes in your daily life.

Also featured are samples of environmentally friendly projects from around the world, including the new Songdo City, in South Korea, a project accommodating 65,000 residents, that meets the United States Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. Other examples include U.S.-based projects, such as the use of solar energy at Oberlin College, in Ohio; green roofs at the Bay Education Center, in Providence, Rhode Island; and water conservation measures at the newly built Bank of America tower, in New York City. The exhibition also includes an interactive computer program that allows you to calculate the effectiveness of your “green” behavior.

The exhibit points out that we already possess many tools to save the planet from further damage. Several charts highlight sources of energy and rate them according to their environmental impact. The most exciting news is the possibility of covering 100 percent of global electricity needs through the use of solar panels. Nationally, renewable energy possibilities include nuclear, wind and geothermal power, which could collectively meet 5 to 25 percent of our nation’s electricity needs. Other immediate solutions proposed are the use of underground storage for carbon dioxide, fuel-efficient transportation, reforestation and greater reliance upon natural gas.

“Climate Change” provides informative and empowering answers to complex questions and illustrates how every action counts. The exhibit is linked to an extensive educational website, with a special section for children. Through the website, children can create a weather station, read stories and play games and puzzles.

It’s important to note that AMNH practices what it exhibits. The museum established a Sustainable Practices Committee in 1998 and received funding for its energy-saving initiatives, such as energy-efficient lighting, efficient air-conditioning in public halls, waste recycling and the use of Green Seal-certified cleaning products. All new exhibits are built from sustainable materials, the cafe serves organic and locally grown produce and AMNH no longer sells bottled water in the building.

The “Climate Change” exhibit continues through August 16, 2009. The American Museum of Natural History is located on Central Park West and 79th Street. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5:45 p.m., daily. Admission to Climate Change is by ticketed, timed entry only. For details visit amnh.org.