Roses are Red, Not Green, Give Chocolates Instead!

The number one reason to give chocolates instead of roses is of course TASTE! Have you ever tasted a rose? I don't advise it, especially with all those thorns. In all seriousness, roses, especially those flown in from Latin America for Valentines day are not environmentally friendly and have a whopping environmental impact.

So, how bad is the environmental impact of roses?  Let's take a look.

First, cut roses in the US during February are almost exclusively imported from Latin America by plane because they only last 10 days with refrigeration. William Armshaw wrote in The Environmental Impact of Cut Flower Imports a year ago January that:

A bouquet of flowers has a high lifecycle carbon footprint: conservative estimates suggest that the air transportation to the United States alone creates 3.1 pounds of carbon per bouquet - and that does not include carbon released via constant refrigeration, by distribution within the US, in production, or in the manufacture of fertilizers, pesticides, and other chemical agents.

Estimates of roses sold for Valentine's Day in the US range from 189-215 million.  At a dozen per bouquet, that's 24-28 thousand tons of CO2 emitted as a conservative estimate for the transportation of the roses for Valentine's Day.

Next, let's consider the environmental impacts where the roses are grown.  Roses grown in Latin America are grown through the heavy use of fertilizers and numerous other chemicals to increase the yield.  Many of these chemicals, such as methyl bromide, are so dangerous they have been banned from use in Europe and the US.  The fertilizers and chemical use lead to water pollution through runoff.  William Armshaw writes: 

As with most monoculture agricultural production, large amounts of dangerous chemicals are used in growing operations, including many agents, such as methyl bromide and methyl parathion, which the United States and European Union deem to be too dangerous or too toxic for use within the US. Florverde, the primary Colombian growers' association, claims that exporters there apply nearly 90 pounds of active ingredient per acre per year. 36% of the toxic chemicals applied by Florverde plantations in 2005 were listed as extremely or highly toxic by the World Health Organization.

So if roses are out, what do you do for that special someone?

Give those you love something edible for Valentine's Day, like the delicious stone ground organic chocolates from Taza Chocolate.  Taza Chocolates are a real treat.  They are delectable and responsible.  Taza Chocolates supports sustainable agriculture and direct trade by buying direct from organic certified farmers in the Caribbean and Latin America (not Africa or Indonesia).  They have made it a point to keep their factory green by recycling, using CFLs, and running equipment only when actually in use.  I toured the factory in Somerville, MA and can report the lights were off in the rooms that were not in use.  They use recycled materials for packaging and even go as far as using pedal power to transport their products to various retailers around Boston through Metro Pedal Power.

For more details about how green the chocolate is, visit Taza Chocolate's Sustainability page.

And did I mention how delicious this Mexican style stone ground organic chocolate is?  It is the best I've ever had!

So don't give roses this year, give something much tastier like organic chocolates.  For other alternatives to roses your loved ones will love, check out Alicia's Green Gift Guide.

Happy Greening!
Jon

Disclaimer: Neither Taza Chocolate nor William Armshaw had any involvement in the writing of this article.

Getting Started with Bulk Purchasing of Dry Goods

I recently wrote an article on bulk purchasing that focused on buying things in larger quantities.  Two of the comments pointed out the environmental and local economic benefits of buying dry goods in bulk, however, I had never done this!  Somehow I had decided that that food in bins couldn't be as clean, or as fresh as packaged goods, and even if it was, it must be more expensive. I challenged my earlier impression and went to check it out, boy was I surprised.

Why is bulk food environmentally friendly? First, you can buy only what you need, so there is less waste.  It uses less packaging, so less packaging is made, shipped and thrown away.  Also the food is usually sourced more locally than packaged foods so there tends to be less shipping and it often supports local agriculture.

Where should you go to buy dry goods in bulk?  Jeff suggested that you should go to the local food coop because then you are definitely supporting local agriculture as well.  I fully agree with this,  but it doesn't look like that's an option in my area.  Some google searches on "Boston food coop" seem to support the thought that there are not any real food coops in the Boston area (a few that market as coops, but are not what you would picture if you're from the mid-west for example).   Also, I know that in our area there are farms that grow fruits and vegetables, and some dairy and meat farms,  but we don't really have wheat or rice in the New England area.   We have CSAs for fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy (which will make a great post later), farmers markets (mostly in the warmer months) and Trader Joe's and Whole Foods in our area. I recently learned that Whole Foods has a strong commitment to sourcing locally when possible,  so I headed over there to start my research.

To Cloth Diaper or Not To Cloth Diaper?

We had a tough time deciding whether or not we would use cloth diapers. We thought they'd be expensive, that the laundry would be too much, that they'd smell or that I'd be grossed out by them, but through the debates, we kept coming back to the fact that they are just much better for the environment than disposables.  I know that some people argue this point, so I've asked Jon to write up some of the research he has done on the environmental impact of cloth versus disposables.  For now I'll just say that at the most basic level, I balanced the environmental impact of doing more laundry versus adding to the landfills and the oil used to make most disposables, and decided to go with doing the laundry.  At about $0.25 a piece for disposable, instead of piling up in the landfill, I have a little bit extra cash in my wallet. 

We've been using cloth diapers for almost six months now, and love them!  We wouldn't go back.  We've changed over 1,100 diapers and the vast majority have been reusable cloth diapers.  There are situations where we use disposables, but Jon has commented that that always makes him feel guilty.  One of my fellow mothers-of-twins (in her case, to be) asked about using cloth diapers with twins recently and my response to her inspired me to fix it up to be a blog post.

Disposables versus cloth? We used disposables on our twins and we use them on our baby now when we travel, when he has a very bad diaper rash or when we don't do the laundry soon enough.  I find the disposables are a teeny tiny bit easier than the cloth.  Mostly because with disposables I never have to match a liner with a cover (pocket diapers) and it's just two velcro/sticky tabs to attach (prefolds and covers can be a little tricky).   However, cloth diapers are not hard in any sense of the word.  Once in a while I'll fall back to a prefold and cover, but really, that's not often and not actually necessary.

Another drawback to cloth diapers is that they are bulkier, both under clothes and toting around in a diaper bag.  Besides, babies don't care if they need the next sized onsie.  On the plus side, I never have the dilemma of "what should I do with this dirty diaper?"  I always know what to do with it - stick it in my "wet bag" attached to my diaper bag. Given the environmental benefits of cloth, I'm happy to use them in most situations and happy to give advice and help.

I've been pleasantly surprised by how many of my friends and acquaintances are using cloth.  I had no idea until I started mentioning it on facebook and twitter.  If you're concerned you'll be the only one,  just ask around your social groups a little bit.  You might even find some hand-me-downs or loaners to get you started.

The multiple-children question: We're really only doing it on one, but I expect that it would be no harder on 2 or 3 children. The start up costs would be higher (but less than double), because you'd need more diapers, but you would have needed to buy more disposables anyhow.  From an environmental point of view, I always feel bad when I'm washing them because I never have a full washer load. If I was washing for 2 or 3 children I would still wash the diapers every 1-2 days,  but my washer would have more in it each time. There's really no folding, just a little stuffing or sorting - depending what you're using, so you're not adding the time consuming parts of doing laundry (folding and putting away).

How to get started?

Keep Out The Drafts Quickly and Cheaply

Last night the wind was blowing here in Massachusetts, and it was blowing hard.  I'm working on a post about windows, and whether you should replace them, but right now, in January, I think most people want to know what they can do today to keep out the drafts.

My favorite quick solution is plastic film over the windows and rope caulk (usually "Mortite") for the big gaps. Both of these items can be purchased for a few dollars at your local hardware store, so you could have them this afternoon if you want them.   They also remove easily, so if you do not like them, you've only invested a few dollars and a little time.   These two items will give you some breathing room to think about more long-term and higher cost solutions,  like storm windows. These are also easy ways to get your children involved with weatherizing your house.

First, make sure that the latches are shut on your window.  These latches are not actually designed to keep a burglar out, but rather to keep your window firmly shut and prevent any drafts.  Do this first, because after you put on the Mortite and plastic film, you won't be able to move the window again until you take them back off at the end of the season.

Then, figure out where the drafts are.   These products are designed to help with the big drafts, the ones that are annoying you and easy to find.   They are for the windows that rattle, the gaps you can see or where you feel a light breeze on a windy day.  

Next, take your Mortite (pictured) and press it into the big gaps.   These will likely be the places where your window moves, and after putting this on, you won't be able to open or shut your windows anymore.  Using Mortite is like using clay (or playdough), only it will never harden.  At the end of the season you can just pull it off and throw it away or save it for next year.  We had our children put it on and take it off when they were just 4 years-old.

Next, get out your window film.  EFI has a great explanation of how to put it on,  but basically you just put your double stick tape around your window, then press on the plastic film, and then use a hair dryer to shrink it tight and keep out the drafts.  If after you've put it up it billows in the window, you have learned two things 1. you really needed it and 2. Put it up tighter next year.  At 4 years-old, we let our children hold the hairdryer to shrink the film.

If you live in an apartment, these are probably your long term solutions, although you could look at weather stripping and caulking as well.  However, if you are a homeowner (or landlord), while these solutions are very helpful, you should consider interior or exterior storm windows as a longer term solution.  We will discuss those, repairing old windows and replacing vinyl windows in other posts.

Happy Greening!
Alicia

p.s. if it is easier to order it online or your local hardware doesn't have a good selection, check out EFI.org, our favorite online vendor for energy saving products. Browse to the Air Sealing/Insulation section where you will find the rope caulk under Windows Air Sealing and the window film under Window Storm/Panels.

Stand with Haiti

With all the news about Haiti, we wanted to share with you our personal information about one of the groups already on the ground in Haiti and encourage you to donate there.

Partners in Health has been working to help the people of Haiti for nearly 25 years.  Their mission is to provide a preferential option for the poor in health care.

Partners In Health (PIH) works to bring modern medical care to poor communities in nine countries around the world. The work of PIH has three goals: to care for our patients, to alleviate the root causes of disease in their communities, and to share lessons learned around the world.

With the devestating earthquake near Port-au-Prince, the people of Haiti desperately need help and PIH can do even more with our support.  Please donate now.

I personally know some of the people at PIH.org and truly believe in and support their mission and work. I ask you to consider donating to PIH to support their work in Haiti.

Thank you,
Jonathan