This Green Blog

Your Own Kitchen Garden

2010-02-24T12:23:00.000-08:00

Have you been thinking about planting a kitchen garden this spring with vegetables and fruits you love to eat?

Food grown in your own garden will be fresher than anything you can buy -- even from a farmer's market. In many cases, it will be tastier, too. My favorites are just-picked, sun-warmed tomatoes and sweet peas straight from the pod.

Home-grown food is also cheap. If you start from seed rather than starter plants, it's practically free. Growing from seed also gives you the option of many more plant varieties. It's not that hard either, as this video from retrovore.com shows:

If you do go with starter plants, get yours from a local nursery that grows their own, rather than a big box store. Superstores don't tend to have good controls in place for monitoring plants for disease. If you unwittingly buy diseased plants, you can not only ruin your own harvest but spread the disease to other gardeners and nearby farms. Just last year, diseased tomato plants bought by home gardeners at big chains ended up destroying tomato crops across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states.

Also, keep chemicals out of your garden. They're not something you want on your food, seeping into groundwater or running off into rivers and streams.

Read my February column for NRDC, Kitchen Gardening -- Not Just about the Food, to learn more and subscribe to This Green Life to get the column by email every month.

BPA Linked to Heart Disease, Study Confirms

2010-02-13T06:47:00.000-08:00

Heer's another reason to steer clear of food and drink packaging containing BPA -- it's been linked to higher rates of heart disease.

In a sampling of U.S. adults, those with the highest levels of BPA in their urine were almost twice as likely to suffer from coronary heart disease than those with the lowest concentrations of BPA.

Read more: BPA Linked to Heart Disease, Study Confirms

The original reason to avoid BPA? Hormonal changes in fetuses, babies and children that might affect their brain development and cause reproductive abnormalities.

Unscented Products -- Why and How

2010-01-21T06:54:00.000-08:00

Air freshener, laundry detergent, soap, shampoo, moisturizer, lip balm -- these and other common household and personal care products are scented with fragrances that can be dangerous to your health. Dozens if not hundreds of synthetic chemicals go into these fragrances, including:

Phthalates -- endocrine disruptors that cause hormonal abnormalities, birth defects and reproductive problems;
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that affect the neurological and respiratory systems and are carcinogenic;
Synthetic musks, which may also be endocrine disruptors and additionally, are persistent chemicals that remain in the environment and are contaminating marine mammals.

If you think bah, that can't be -- surely, some government agency vets the products before allowing the public to be exposed to them -- think again. Advance safety testing is not required before the products go to market.

If you think you can find what chemicals are used in fragrances by checking product labels, rethink again. The composition of fragrances is considered a trade secret and may be kept confidential.

And if you think the word "unscented" on a package means what it says, well, you know what to do. That just means the product doesn't have a smell that seems scented. It could very well contain a "masking" fragrance used to neutralize the natural smell of other ingredients.

Here's how to avoid toxic fragrances:

Avoid air fresheners. Open the windows instead.
Use water, white vinegar and baking soda for routine cleaning jobs. If soap is needed, try castile soap.
Look up fragrance-free products and homemade alternatives in the Guide to Less Toxic Products.
Check Skin Deep, the Environmental Working Group's cosmetic safety database, to see if your favorite personal care products are safe and to find safer alternatives.
Make sure the words "fragrance" or "parfum" do not appear in the ingredient list of cosmetics.
Use fewer cosmetics and reduce or eliminate your use of perfume.

Read my January column for NRDC, Scented Products -- Intoxicating and Toxic, to learn more and subscribe to This Green Life to get the column by email every month.

Green Holiday Entertaining -- and a Recipe for Vegan Latkes

2009-12-09T19:19:00.000-08:00

When you throw a dinner or party for the holidays -- whether for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or New Year's -- you use a lot more of the earth's resources than you do in day-to-day life. How can you reduce the ecological footprint of your feast without compromising on hospitality? Follow the game plan in Holiday Entertaining for a Small Planet, the December issue of This Green Life.

One of many recommendations is reducing the amount of animal products you serve -- not just meat, but dairy and eggs. If you celebrate Hanukkah, try this recipe for vegan latkes (potato pancakes):

Here's a printable version of the whole article:

Please share your own green holiday tips and recipes.

Switch to Green Power in NYC in 3 Clicks

2009-12-09T19:06:00.000-08:00

New Yorkers: if you've been meaning to sign up for green power, but found it too difficult till now, head on over to greenpowernyc.com. Pick a wind product or a blend or let the site choose for you. Any which way you'll reduce your contribution to global warming for a few dollars a month. (The exact amount will depend on how much electricity you use.) The site is a project of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and ACE NY -- and was designed by my web development firm, Mixit Productions. Give it a whirl and let me know what you think.

Daily Trash: How to Reduce It

2009-11-19T06:15:00.000-08:00

One day this month when I was on my own (sans family), I weighed all my trash -- both garbage and recycling. It amounted to 2.48 pounds and consisted in the main of packaging. At that rate, I'd waste a staggering 10 tons in 25 years.

In Trashy Habits, my November issue of This Green Life, I pick through the trash from that day and offer ideas for reducing it.

Have you been successful in cutting back on your waste? Please share your tips!

Are Brita and Pur Water Pitchers BPA-free?

2009-10-31T11:57:00.000-07:00

My family has used a Brita pitcher for years to filter our water and make it safer to drink and I have always insisted our kids use it, rather than drink directly from the tap. Recently, though, I began to wonder if the pitcher itself might contain a dangerous chemical -- bisphenol A (BPA) -- that could leach into the water.

So, a couple of months ago, I used the contact form on Brita's website to ask. I didn't mention BPA directly. I simply asked what kind of plastic the different pitcher parts were made of.

Since Pur makes a similar pitcher, I decided to submit the same question to them. As Pur claims that its pitcher reduces pharmaceuticals from the water -- which would be wonderful if true -- I also asked what drugs the pitcher filters and how.

Following are the answers I received from each, and below that, an assessment.

Brita's Response

Dear Ms. Eisenberg,

Thank you for contacting us.

The pitcher lids and filter housings are made of Polypropylene plastic. The reservoirs and pitchers are made either from NAS (a Styrene based plastic) or SAN (Styrene Acrylonitrile). The soft-touch handles are made from an elastomer called Santoprene (not to be confused with Latex or Neoprene). Our products do not contain any bisphenol A and are all tested by the NSF (National Sanitation Foundation) for safety and wetted contact. Unfortunately the pitcher materials are not recyclable, and therefore do not have a plastic number. Please contact us at any time if you have additional questions.

Again, thank you for contacting us.

Sincerely,

Candy Thoma
Consumer Response Representative
Consumer Services

Pur's Response

Dear Ms. Eisenberg,
Hi Sheryl,

Thank you for contacting Pur.

There is no BPA present in any PUR pitchers/dispensers or lids. Pur pitcher/dispenser bodies are manufactured from an acrylic-based polymer classified as recycling code #7. Pur pitcher/dispenser lids are manufactured from polystyrene, code #6. Pur pitcher/dispenser filters are made from polypropylene, code #5, and also contain no BPA.

All Pur pitchers/dispensers undergo independent safety testing by NSF International, a not-for-profit certification agency for water treatment and other products. Our products meet all industry standards and specifications for material safety and chemical extraction. I’ll share your comments with the team.

Pur water filtration system is the first leading brand to claim reduction of pharmaceuticals identified in U.S. tap water. The new research shows that Pur Water Filtration Systems remove more than 99 percent of pharmaceutical compounds from America’s tap water using the Pur faucet filters and more than 96 percent with Pur pitchers.

Pur effectively reduces five different categories of medication including:

Hormones: prednisone, prednisolone, progesterone, testosterone and cortisol.

Antibiotics: ciprofloxacin, administered in tablet form to prevent certain infections caused by bacteria,as well as sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim, which are administered intravenously to treat a wide variety of bacterial infections including pneumonia, and urinary tract and intestinal infections.

Antidepressants: fluoxetine, prescribed to treat a variety of conditions, including depression and other mental/mood disorders.

Anti-anxiety medication: meprobamate, a treatment used to relieve nervousness or tension that exceeds stress of everyday life.

Painkillers: ibuprofen and naproxen.

Thanks for writing.

Jim
Pur Team

My conclusions

Brita: Neither polypropylene nor the styrene compounds used in Brita pitchers contain BPA, so I feel comfortable that the company's BPA-free claim is true. Styrene is a worrisome chemical in its own right, but I feel reassured in this regard by the statement that the pitchers are tested by the NSF for safety and by NRDC's and EWG's comments on the subject. I am continuing to use our Brita pitcher at home.

Pur: As far as I know, acrylic does not contain BPA, so the Pur pitcher would also seem to be BPA-free. That said, I did not find the statement about Pur products meeting "industry standards and specifications for material safety and chemical extraction" at all reassuring. Industry standards are rarely stringent enough. (Sadly, even the standards of the FDA, which continues to allow BPA in food and beverage containers, are not high enough to protect people's health.)

On the question of how Pur's pitcher reduce pharmaceuticals -- there was no answer at all, only a vague assertion that "the new research shows" pharmaceuticals are reduced. My feeling is that Pur would have been more specific if it had convincing, independent research to back up its claim. I would therefore not put any stock in it.

Orca Watching PDF for Distribution

2009-10-31T07:53:00.000-07:00

I'm posting a pdf of my column on the risk to Southern Resident Killer Whales from whale-watching boats and the alternative -- land-based whale-watching. Feel free to print and distribute it to anyone who might be interested.

Orca Watching -- with No Harm Done

Orca Watching with No Harm Done

2009-10-15T10:26:00.000-07:00

This summer, I had the time of my life on a whale-watching boat trip to see orcas around San Juan Island. The orcas I saw are known as Southern Residents -- a sub-group or maybe even sub-species of killer whale (the other name by which orcas go). Much to my chagrin, I later discovered.that the presence of the boats can harm this endangered population -- not just from collisions as you might guess, but from air and sound pollution, as well as other factors.

Altogether, there are 80 to 90 Southern Residents, distributed among three pods, or extended family groups, known as J Pod, K Pod and L Pod. Each whale has distinctive markings by which it can be recognized. Scientists have used these markings to identify and name the individuals. They have also drawn up genealogical charts showing who is related to whom.

When whale sightings occur, naturalists are able to say which animals they are -- whether J1 (born 1951) or J2 (born 1911) and so on. Many of these animals also have English names.

You can imagine what if feels like to return from a whale-watching ride in awe from seeing "Mike" breach, only to learn that your boat may have put Mike's very health and safety at risk.

Does this mean you should give up the idea of ever whale-watching for orcas in the Pacific Northwest? Not at all! Just don't take a boat to do it. There are excellent locations for watching whales from land along the Washington and Oregon shores, including Lime Kiln Point State Park on San Juan Island.

Read Orca Watching, my October 2009 This Green Life column to learn more. You may also enjoy In the Bay of Whales, a kiss-and-tell story about gray whales at Laguna San Ignacio in Baja, where, by the way, stricter regulations of whale-watching boats exist to protect the whales.

Donating and recycling old clothes

2009-08-18T07:43:00.000-07:00

In my home, when we're through with clothes or shoes, we typically hold onto them a long, long time -- not out of sentimentality, simply for lack of a convenient alternative.

Typically, most of the clothes are in good condition or even "like new" -- so they are obviously not garbage material. But I have long suspected that even worn-out garments have life remaining in them. A little investigation shows this is true.

Clothing is one of the most reusable and recyclable products there is. Just get it to an organization or company that accepts old clothes and they will take it from there. (Some even offer pick-up service.)

Here's what happens to the clothes next.

The best clothes -- those that are still in fashion and top condition -- are resold in thrift shops, or distributed to the needy, in our own country.

Second-best clothes are sold to secondhand clothing markets in less-developed countries. (Some people worry that this could undermine local textile industries there, but a study by Oxfam concludes that the used clothes trade is not the main obstacle to local industry. Meanwhile, it does create hundreds of thousands of jobs and benefit consumers in these nations.)

Clothes that are no longer fit to wear are turned into rags and polishing cloths.

The dregs are transformed into new fiber that can be used for other new products.

Find out how to dispose of clothes responsibly -- through clothing donations, recycling, clothes swaps, resale and more -- in my latest column for NRDC. (You'll have to SCROLL to get to all the links.)

What do Americans think of global warming?

2009-06-28T11:00:00.000-07:00

In the new interactive anthology, Thoreau's Legacy: American Stories about Global Warming, new and established writers speak out from the depths of their own experience about the climate crisis.

The 67 works in the anthology were selected from "nearly 1,000 submissions about beloved places, animals, plants, people, and activities at risk from a changing climate and the efforts that individuals are making to save what they love." Contributors include scientists, students, grandparents, activists, veterans, journalists, evangelical Christians, artists and businesspeople.

The book, which will also be available soon in a limited hardcover edition, is published by the Union of Concerned Scientists and Penguin Classics. My own firm, Mixit Productions, designed the interactive version.

Take a look and while you're at it, get yourself some free wallpaper featuring striking nature imagery and quotations by great environmental writers.

Favorite nature spots

2009-06-25T06:25:00.000-07:00

About 14 months ago, I had the idea of sharing favorite nature spots among readers of This Green Life using Google Maps as the vehicle. This nature map has received some 300 odd contributions and is still going strong today. It includes recommendations of many amazing places I'd never even heard of.

Finding them isn't always easy. Google, as fabulous as it can be in some respects (not least for making it possible to create your own maps for free), provides no way for me to organize the list of spots down the side, which means viewers just have to hunt and peck to find places that speak to them.

So I decided to advertise a few interesting places in my June NRDC column, "Vacation Ideas for Nature Lovers." They are not so much the best of the lot (though they are wonderful) as they are a representative sampling. At the same time, there are some parts of the world left glaringly out. All of Canada, for instance, and Hawaii. But space was limited and I thought it was important to highlight a few less obvious sites.

Spyhopping gray whale at Laguna San Ignacio, Baja California, Mexico

Please consult the map to see the full range of recommendations -- and add your own. (See instructions below in the right column.) People all over the world see the pop-ups when they search on the place names. So get your best-loved places out there -- and include pictures if you can.

You are also welcome to comment here on your favorite nature spots.

My own all-time favorite is Laguna San Ignacio in Baja California where gray whales congregate in winter to mate and give birth. Read my kiss and tell story from my visit there in 2006.

Low VOC paint is best

2009-05-21T07:14:00.000-07:00

Recently, I've had experience in my home with low-VOC paint as well as conventional paint. The first left the place virtually odor-free; the second filled it with noxious fumes from volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Possible health effects from VOC exposure include headache, dizziness and respiratory problems in the short-run -- and liver, kidney and neurological damage long-term.

If you are embarking on a paint job, consider low- or no-VOC paint to reduce exposure. It's widely available nowadays from major manufacturers, and at big home improvement chains, such as Home Depot and Lowes.

The safest low-VOC paints comply with Green Seal's GS11 environmental standard:

If you are the one doing the painting, wear a proper mask for respiratory protection and take frequent breaks in the fresh air while painting.

If a paint job has recently been completed in your home, air the room out for at least 48 to 72 hours. Open the windows wide and, if possible, use a box fan in a window that is set to blow out -- or make sure you have cross-ventilation. (Always secure box fans carefully in the window to avoid an accident.)

If there's a baby on the way in the family and the nursery is being painted, do make sure to air out the room well in advance. Off-gassing (the release of VOCs even from dried paint) continues for a long while, though at sharply reduced levels.

People with asthma or multiple chemical sensitivity should also take special care to avoid undue exposure.

See my May 2009 This Green Life column on low-VOC paints for more information.

Baby pigeons

2009-05-21T06:37:00.000-07:00

My daughter has two new charges, given to her for foster-parenting by the Wild Bird Fund. Unlike Pidgie, these pigeons were not injured, just orphaned and malnourished.

Here's what they looked like the first day. The somewhat older one, Buddy, who is standing, was already doing a great deal of wing-flapping and making flight attempts a few inches here or there. Max, the real baby, would just follow Buddy around by foot.

After a couple of weeks, they could both fly, but Buddy was able to go higher. Their favorite place quickly became the bookshelf. I guess they liked the height. Buddy would go to the highest shelf he could manage and Max, who continued to follow Buddy around, would settle in a couple of shelves below. One day we decided to make him happy and put him on the same shelf.

By now -- about a week later -- they can both get to the top and are almost ready for the big wide world.

My Daughter Saved the World!

2009-04-20T06:37:00.000-07:00

Watch this video to see how -- and read my companion piece on NRDC's This Green Life, where I make the connection between saving city pigeons and saving wild wolves, who are now facing government sponsored hunts in the west. Save the wolves and save a world, too.

By the way, the group where Rita, the wildlife rehabilitator my daughter speaks about, volunteers to help injured birds (not just pigeons, by any means) is the Wild Bird Fund. Check them out and if you're so moved, please contribute a little something. They do great work.

Online chat with students

2009-04-16T10:38:00.000-07:00

4/21 UPDATE: The chat was delightful. The kids had so many interesting questions, I was only sorry I couldn't get to them all. Here are a couple of pictures sent to me of some of my correspondents.

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In a few minutes, I'll be having an online chat with students participating in GoNorth, an online adventure learning curriculum from the University of Minnesota.

I'm looking forward to this and would like to offer them a few tips for things they can do to live more sustainably -- and also invite them to comment, ask more questions and talk about things they're already doing to help make the planet healthier.

These steps are all things that kids and teens can do themselves without necessarily having to get their parents on board first:

Unplug your chargers for cellphones, iPods, etc. when you're not using them. Even when they're not powering anything, they waste energy.

WHY: To help curb global warming.

Drink less bottled water. If you want to carry water around with you, get a stainless steel bottle and fill it up at home from the tap. (Stainless steel water bottles are available from Klean Kanteen and New Wave Enviro, among other companies).

WHY: To keep plastic bottles from polluting the sea and endangering wildlife. The reason to get reusable bottles made of stainless steel instead of durable plastic or aluminum is to keeping potentially harmful chemicals out of your body.

Eat less meat and fewer animal products, such as milk and eggs.

WHY: Many reasons -- to help curb global warming (yes! the livestock industry contributes more to global warming than transportation), keep waterways clean, waste less water and land and be kinder to animals.

Use fewer -- and safer -- personal care products. By that I mean, hair products, deoderant, cosmetics, moisturizers and the like. Use the Skin Deep website to find out which brands are safest.

WHY: To keep yourself safe from the many untested and potentially dangerous chemicals in these products, which could affect your health.

Best CFLs

2009-03-27T09:34:00.000-07:00

Some people have commented that they've had bad experiences with compact fluorescents. Others have written in to say they've had terrific luck with them. I'm not surprised.

Like most consumer products, CFLs vary in quality...a lot. There are differences in the color of their light, brightness and the amount of time they actually last (as opposed to the amount of time they say they do) -- as well as the amount of mercury they contain.

I wish I could tell you the brands that have worked best for me, but unfortunately, I haven't kept track.

What I can say is that I am going to try the MaxLite MicroMax next. It gets high marks on both the performance front from Popular Mechanics and the mercury front from the Environmental Working Group.

If you have your own recommendations, please post them here to help everyone out.

To check out other options, see EWG's shopper's guide to low-mercury bulbs, and Popular Mechanics' lab test results.

By the way, one thing to know as far as brightness is concerned is that the non-spiral bulbs that look like incandescents tend to be dimmer than the label would indicate (because the spirals are actually inside the outer covering, dimming the light). So when you buy one of these bulbs, you might want to go with a little higher wattage.

How to screw in a CFL bulb safely

2009-03-25T07:29:00.000-07:00

Reposting a very useful comment from Paul Ronco from Fredericksburg VA:

[T]he correct way to screw in, as well as remove, a CFL is by grasping it on the white plastic base with your fingertips and carefully twisting. This is why CFLs have extended white plastic bases that go beyond the actual metallic connector, whereas incandescents do not. It is never a good idea to attempt to install or remove a CFL by grasping the glass itself and twisting. If you overdo it or if the bulb is just a little stuck, the glass can easily break at its base because the tubes themselves are so thin.

Thanks, Paul!

Compact fluorescents and mercury

2009-03-24T05:36:00.000-07:00

This much is true -- compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) contain mercury and mercury is toxic.

Also true -- the mercury is sealed in, so you won't be exposed unless a bulb breaks AND you don't follow a few simple clean-up steps (below).

This, too, is true -- many of America's favorite food fish are contaminated with mercury from coal-fired power plants. Use less mercury by using energy-efficient CFLs and you will reduce the mercury in our food supply. Meanwhile, use this guide to steer clear of the most contaminated fish.

Finally -- watch out for processed foods made with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), including many yogurts, dressings, condiments and cereals. A recent study found mercury in nearly a third of the products tested, including foods and beverages by Quaker, Hershey's, Kraft and Smucker's. You can't tell from the label which do or do not contain the kind of HFCS made with mercury, so it's safest to avoid foods made with HFCS altogether. Probably healthier for you anyway.

But back to bulbs.... read my piece for NRDC for more information and PRINT and keep this guide handy in case a bulb ever breaks:
CFL Clean-up and Disposal Guide

12 most important foods to buy organic

2009-03-11T13:25:00.000-07:00

If you can't afford to get all your food organic (how many people can?), you will be interested in the latest edition of the "Shopper's Guide to Pesticides" from the Environmental Working Group, which lists the fruits and vegetables with the highest and lowest pesticide loads. EWG says its research shows that "people who eat the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables consume an average of 10 pesticides a day." So these are the ones to spend the extra dollar on to buy organic.

Most important foods to buy organic

Peaches
Apples
Bell Peppers
Celery
Nectarines
Strawberries
Cherries
Kale
Lettuce
Grapes (imported)
Carrots
Pears

The 15 least contaminated fruits and vegetables, according to EWG, include broccoli, tomatoes, cabbage, watermelon and mango.

Go to EWG's Food News site to learn more and get a wallet-sized guide.

Local foods in March: Jerusalem artichokes and fava greens

2009-03-08T18:34:00.000-07:00

The big greenmarket at Union Square in Manhattan was jammed yesterday due to the pseudo spring weather. I went there hoping for a taste of the real thing, and while disappointed in that regard -- most of the produce still came from winter storage -- I got the usual lift from buying, and later cooking, ingredients straight from the farm.

What was available? In the fruit department, still nothing but apples. The vegetables were divided into two camps:

1) Roots, roots and more roots, including potatoes, onions (many
varieties), parsnips, celeriac, carrots (yellow and orange) and Jerusalem artichokes.

2) Sprouts and micro-greens, including fava greens, pea shoots, corn
sprouts and sunflower sprouts, among others.

I chose the Jerusalem artichokes, also known as sunchokes, and fava greens.

There are countless ways to prepare Jerusalem artichokes. One that I learned from Marcella Hazan is a gratin with butter and parmesan. But I like them even better raw, in which state they are crisp and crunchy like water chestnuts, but with a slightly sweet, nutty taste.

Combined with the fava greens in a salad, they actually do taste of spring. Here's the recipe:

3 c. fava green leaves (stems removed)
1 c. Jerusalem artichokes, peeled (or well-scrubbed) and sliced
1 tbsp. minced red onion
Olive oil
Lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Toss the greens with enough olive oil to lightly coat the leaves, a few drops of lemon juice and salt and pepper. Scatter the slices of Jerusalem artichoke on top, and then the red onion. Drizzle with a little more olive oil. Serve and enjoy.

BPA-free water bottles

2009-02-20T09:06:00.000-08:00

Are the new breed of clear, hard "BPA-free" water bottles made with Tritan -- from Nalgene, Kor, Camelbak, Thermos and others -- safer than the polycarbonate bottles they replaced?

Not necessarily.

To assess their safety, we would need to know what chemicals are in the bottles, not just that BPA is not. After all, other toxins are used to make plastic, including, sadly, FDA approved ones.

In the case of Tritan, the chemical ingredients are unknown. Neither the bottle-makers nor the Eastman Company, which manufactures Tritan, will disclose them.

The same is true of Sigg's aluminum bottles. They are lined with a mystery material whose ingredients Sigg will not reveal.

In the absence of information, a reusable plastic water bottle made with HDPE, LDPE or PET would be a safer choice. (Nalgene actually offers bottles made with these materials, too, as do many other companies.)

Or, if you're worried that plastics, in general, have not been adequately tested, use a stainless steel bottle. Both Klean Kanteen and New Wave Enviro offer stainless bottles with a choice of plastic or stainless tops.

For more, read my latest This Green Life column : "Plastic Water Bottles: Is BPA-free the Same as Safe?"

Which plastics are microwavable?

2009-02-18T20:44:00.000-08:00

The answer may be none.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which has been investigating chemicals in consumer products in an award-winning series called "Chemical Fallout," tested 10 food containers that are labeled "microwave safe" or are marketed for infants. All 10 products leached BPA after normal heating in the microwave or oven.

What I found especially interesting in these results is that some of the products were plastic containers with the plastic identification numbers 1, 2 and 5. Anyone who's been following the news this past year knows that plastics with these numbers are supposed to be BPA-free. (Only #7 is said to contain BPA.)

So, how can that be?

The purpose of the plastic identification system is only to facilitate the sorting of discarded containers to aid in recycling should a recycling program be in place.

It is not intended to ensure consumers that a container actually is accepted for recycling -- let alone that it is BPA-free, does not leach chemicals or is in any way safe. Indeed, the usage guidelines from The Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI), which developed the code in 1988, explicitly states that manufacturers should "[m]ake the code inconspicuous at the point of purchase so it does not influence the consumer's buying decision."

However, health and environmental advocates have seized on the numbers as the only way of advising the public on which plastics to avoid.

If the U.S. had adequate safety standards in place for food packaging -- or even adequate labeling requirements -- this wouldn't be necessary. As it is, you really don't know what's in plastic containers and packages -- or what might migrate from them into the food and beverages you consume.

This is why Frederick vom Saal, the University of Missouri researcher who has been studying BPA for more than a decade and oversaw the tests for the Journal Sentinel, said, "There is no such thing as safe microwaveable plastic."

Similarly, the Environmental Working Group, which focuses on environmental health issues, especially for babies and children who are particularly vulnerable to endocrine disruptors like BPA, recommends that you never microwave plastic.

Safer ways to de-ice

2009-01-23T06:42:00.000-08:00

My local landscape has been covered with road salt the last couple of weeks, due to periodic snowfalls and temperatures consistently below freezing. I can't say I am sorry to have steps and sidewalks clear of ice (with my bad back, a fall could be disabling), but I wish the landlords and homeowners that dispense it knew more about what they were doing.

Most people use far more salt than is necessary and apply it too late. They also think that salt is a substitute for shoveling, which it's not.

It wouldn't be a big deal if salting were safe, but it isn't. When salt blows over soil, seeps into groundwater and washes into lakes and streams, it destroys habitat for plants and animals. (The ill effects on roadside plantings, grass and trees are a common sight come spring.) And that's not all. Infrastructure is harmed by excessive salt use, as are cars and footwear. Pets whose paws have been exposed to salt may end up ingesting a toxic amount when they try to lick their paws clean. The effect on human health of drinking water with excess salt has yet to be studied.

But not de-icing isn't safe either.

Unfortunately, there is currently no competitively priced de-icing alternative to salt. Calcium magnesium acetate (CMA) appears to be the best option, based on current research, but it is many times more expensive than salt. Still, it's not expensive in itself, just comparatively, and won't break the bank if you only have a small amount of pavement to de-ice. A less expensive solution is to use a de-icing blend containing salt mixed with CMA or another, less studied but promising alternative called potassium acetate (KA).

All work best when applied early on to pavement that's been cleared of snow.

For more on the subject, see my latest This Green Life column for NRDC, The Safe Road in Winter.

New year's wishes

2008-12-31T07:28:00.000-08:00

A propos the following verse from Tennyson's wonderful poem, In Memoriam, [Ring out, wild bells] --

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true

I am reminded of the ubiquitous -- and fake -- green sales pitch of 2008, one of many things I would like to ring out tonight.

What I wish we could ring in with 2009 is the real green thing -- a genuine effort on the part of corporations to clean up their manufacturing processes, reduce packaging and other waste (especially the toxic variety), increase energy-efficiency and develop more product take-back programs. Maybe this will be the year...