Enviro Mentality

Plastic bags have become a staple of modern life.  First introduced in the 1970’s, they  became the standard in the 1980’s.  Worldwide, we use about 500 BILLION to 1 TRILLION plastic shopping bags a year .It’s estimated that here in the United States we use about 84 BILLION bags a year.  They littler roadsides, flutter from trees, clog catch basins and ultimately end up in landfills and the ocean. Marine life suffers, too:  each year over 100,000 whales, turtles, birds and fish die of strangulation or starvation from eating or being caught up in plastic bag litter.  There’s even the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”, a floating island of trash:  most of it plastic!  Plastic bags come from petroleum, so every one that’s used requires Middle East oil. The Earth is being destroyed and depleted for our convenience.

Retailers like Wal-Mart have jumped on the bandwagon and are selling reusable bags.  While a noble effort, consider where these bags are coming from.  Noting Wal-Mart’s reliance on cheap goods from China, I’d hardly think that these bags ARE fair trade.  They first had the black bags which were completely made out of recycled plastic.  Then they switched to the blue ones but they are only made from about 50% recycled plastic, and last half as long!  Leave it to Wal-Mart to LOOK ‘green’ but not be.

Australia,  Italy, Ireland, Mumbai (Bombay), and others like Taiwan have begun to charge for plastic bags. Here in the United States, several localities have either started charging for plastic bags or banned them outright. San Francisco has banned the use while Washington DC is imposing a 5 cent fee.  Of course, some residents are fuming and the oil lobby and retailer’s association are against it.

Chico bags are a light, easily packable way to reduce your plastic bag consumption. Many of you forget your bags.  Chico bags are easily packed into a purse or for you guys, a knapsack.  Mine are in my purse all the time.  I’ve loaded them the 14oz cans of cat food plenty of times., easily topping over 20 pounds! The good news is — they are really RECYCLABLE!  The company that makes them will take them back and rework them into something else!

Each of us on this Earth must make a choice every day to save resources.  Whether its turning off lights,  buying a solar charger, fixing leaking faucets, switching to a composting toilet or buying a more fuel efficient car:  everything — EVERYTHING — we do does have an effect!

It’s only fitting that today, Earth Day, I make mention of the responsibility of caring for our HOME.

This IS our home, but like irresponsible and selfish little children, we’ve messed it up. Our “Mom” (Mother Earth) has been trying to tell us.  The animals, plants, oceans, atmosphere, insects have been trying to tell us too.  The climate is … s c r e a m i n g … at us to pay attention.  Still we spew, still we pollute, still we ignore the cries of a damaged ecosystem.

We think it’s someone else’s responsibility.  The guy next door, the crazy environmentalists, the government or some other country.  In fact - it’s everyone’s job…. yours, mine, the government and the rest of the world.  Unfortunately, we haven’t been too good at it.

This ‘hippie’ thing started in the 70’s - 39 years ago, to be exact.  It looked good for awhile but then people forgot.  They continued to drive their gas guzzling cars, made by car companies with interests in the oil industry; the government blind and deaf except to the whispers of the lobbyists and corporate America.

Electricity consumption - fueled by our voracious need for luxuries and entertainment and unnecessary ‘necessities,’ has jumped despite electricity saving techniques.  One family showcased on TV had a monthly bill of over $700!  How can this be? What do they NEED that their costs should be so much?  How can they save?  Do they even TRY?

What are YOU doing to help this Earth?  Not just today, when we can proudly say ‘We celebrated EARTH DAY’ - but  EVERY  SINGLE  DAY?  What is your water useage? Do you waste water?  What about electricity? How much can you save by really making an effort - not just putting band-aids on things.  How about your driving?  Have you gone back to driving more since gas prices went down?  What are you giving back to the earth, instead of taking away?

What are you doing to be environmentally responsible - instead of irresponsible? Are you really making a difference - every day?

The environment is tops on everyone’s list.  Browse the ‘new and notable’ tables at your favorite book store and GREEN jumps out at every turn.

You can help introduce your friends and family to environmentally friendly living, too.

Give them a GREEN GIFT of organic personal care,  or bath salts,    or perhaps some

mustard bath.   or a detox seaweed bath 

Henna hair coloring     is a great way to lessen a loved one’s exposure to possible carcinogens in chemical dyes.

You can promote sustainability, independence and encourage environmentally friendly business in impoverished nations by purchasing fair trade gifts.  

Artisans worldwide produce crafts and are paid a fair wage.    This also helps preserve ancient crafts which are rapidly disappearing as populations move to urban areas.

Another great way to introduce environmentally friendly living is to get a GIFT CERTIFICATE to start a friend sampling some environmentally responsible products.  Often people are a bit hesitant to give up what they know, but once they try things, they find they are doing TWO things at once:  saving the environment and being more environmentally responsible themselves!

This could be toward the purchase of a Sun-Mar composter  or   perhaps a rain barrel…,   or even for a composting toilet    or maybe for a portable solar powered battery charger,  which is great for travellers!

We also have unusual    art and   gifts like original art  

by local Virginia artists.

There are many ways that you can spread the word about sustainable, green and helping the environment!

Last weekend here in the Mid-Atlantic states we had a winter storm which knocked out power.  Almost a week later, there are still households without electricity.  Am amazing portable solar charger can help in times like this.

Solio Classic - 3 solar panels = faster charge

The Solio portable solar charger is completely portable, can charge cell phones, i-Pods, Game Boys, digital cameras anywhere.  It even will hold a charge - believe it or not - for a year!  Just an hour of solar charging time will give you 20 minutes of talk time, or about an hour of MP-3 music.

Solio Hybrid 1000

These solar chargers are perfect for campers or those whose job may take them away from their car charger for long periods.  If you travel to foreign countries where electricity is unreliable or unavailable, this is the perfect charger to have.  The Hybrid 1000 is the economy model and works just as well as the bigger solar chargers.

As we saw at the Washington DC Green Fest, portable solar chargers are the coolest things because they go anywhere and charge lots of electronic devices.  They’re not only practical just for around-town use, either.

A solar charger is perfect for someone who travels a lot or spends a lot of time outdoors, be it for their job or favorite hobby.

Golfers, bicyclists, motorcyclists, hikers or avid campers can use a portable solar charger. Anyone who travels to foreign countries, where reliable electricity is a problem, can benefit from owning a portable solar charger. There are no electric outlets or car chargers if you’re on a tractor, inspecting a trail, hunting, fishing, on a 100 mile bike ride, on the 12th hole of the course or 1,000 ft high in your Cessna.

Anyplace where there’s lots of direct sun is perfect for a portable solar charger. It even holds the charge for later use.

As a back up for emergency situations, such as power outages or as a saftey item in a car’s emergency kit, a solar powered portable charger could be life saving.