When I started becoming more of a health nut, I stopped drinking coffee in the morning and started drinking tea more frequently.  I am a a little emphatic about it now because I loved that they combined taste with health benefits.  I had echinacea  tea, detox tea, ginger tea, and others that I can barely remember.  At one point I had 8 different varieties (yes, I was that obsessed!) 

I usually like to buy Yogi Teas because I like their tastes and health options.  My favorite one is Skin Detox, because it helps clear up my skin.  But once I bought some Celestial Seasonings tea, and noticed the difference in packaging.  Each Yogi Tea bag had a wrapper, a string, and a tag.  Celestial seasonings only had the small pouch that carried the tea; there was no tag or string or wrapping.  Yogi Tea I have only found at natural food stores (or in the organic section of the grocery store if they have any), while Celestial seasonings seems to be widely available at any grocery store.  I read the side of their box and realized the reason there is less packaging is because the company wanted to be more sustainable.  I think it’s a bit odd that Yogi Tea, which is usually mostly organic, would be wasteful with unnecessary packaging.

Anyway, being the “GreenMinded” person that I am, I started to read into options to be more sustainable in my tea-drinking habit.  I never even flirted the thought of buying myself loose leaf tea and using my own metal “infuser”, similar to what I found here.  That uses virtually no packaging, which is the “greenest” of the options.  Of course, you can also buy teas similar to those of Celestial Seasonings: no wrapping, no strings, no tags. 

Next time you’re at the grocery store or natural food store, look in the bulk section.  Last time I visited my favorite organic store, I found that they had loose leaf tea that was way less expensive than the packaged loose leaf tea, even though it was also organic.

I must say, I still do enjoy a couple of my Yogi Teas.  I haven’t been able to find certain benefits in any other brands (i.e., my Skin Detox tea).  So the way I try to make it “greener” is by using a trick my thrifty Polish grandmother taught me: reusing tea bags!  I usually drink my Skin Detox tea in the morning, and then store it in an airtight container.  I usually stick the container in the fridge because I am paranoid about bacteria growth in the “danger zone.”  Another tip I should mention is the first time you use the tea bag, make sure that you do not brew your tea for too long-maybe 3 minutes maximum.  I know that I like my tea stronger; however, if I brewed my first tea bag as long as I generally do, the next time around my tea would be very weak.  This reusing tea technique also helps save money, because my box of tea will last me 3 or 4 weeks instead of 2 (depending on how much of the tea I drink in one day).

Well, the lightning bugs are finally out by my house and the garden is bursting with buds. This all can only mean one thing — mosquito bites, critters munching on the leaves of my plants, and ants contemplating their move to enter my home. What is a green minded homeowner to do?

Fear not eco-warriors! There are plenty of things you can do to keep the bugs where they belong and protect your skin and plants from the biters without harming nature too much.

Much like last year, the slugs are in full force in my garden but I am prepared to stop them from making a meal out of my veggies. Beer. Thats right! Beer. Its all you need to keep the slugs away. They like the hops in the golden liquid and they aren’t even snobs about what kind you buy them. I have trays in my garden which get filled up every now and again. I have also heard some gardeners bury a bottle of beer so the soil is at the lip of the bottle allowing less rain water to get in and the beer lasting longer.

Last year we ended up with a swarm of flies around the house. Turned out they came from a loaf of bread we had purchased at a local bakery — what a mess! We tried fly tape but really the best thing that worked wonders — a jar full of vinegar. They fly in and they don’t fly out. Done!

Mosquitoes in your backyard? Tired of all those itchy bites? We can help that too! I recently purchased Bonide’s Mosquito Beater. Its a bottle you attach to your hose and spray it on. Has very little smell and lasts even after a few rains. It really did work wonders for our swampy backyard which was a breeding ground. And for those bites? Try defending your legs and arms with some lavender essence. Planting lavender in your yard can help too. Whatever you do, steer clear of any product which contains DEET. Its dangerous to you, your kids, and the environment.

Have ants (or may other similarly annoying bugs which manage to get inside) and not really into homemade fixes? I am a bit of a fanatic about what gets sprayed around my cats, but there are some new products out on the market that are less toxic and can be used around cats, dogs, and kids. EcoSMART is the brand I have recently been trying. Works on the spot, but has a bit of a strange smell. Not chemical smell, but sort of a hippie herb-like fragrance. Apparently it doesn’t leave a pesticide residue and so far as I can tell there was nothing to clean up afterwards.

EcoSMART also makes a weed killer that does an incredible job and has been instrumental in helping us get a new home’s yard in shape from all the weeds which came with the seed the builder put down.

There are many many more remedies for summer pests. What is your favorite natural pest control or repellant?

Photo courtesy of Jeff Kubina through Creative Commons License.

Tiny steps you take everyday can make a huge difference in the impact you can have on the planet. If you are a beginner, slightly altering your laundry habits can not only save water but also save in your power bills and conserve energy.

Ninety-two percent of American households own clothes dryers. In comparison, less than 4% of Italian households own dryers. Further, eighty percent of American households dry between 2 and 9 loads per week, not to mention the millions of us who use multi-housing laundry or coin-operated laundry facilities. Pretty shocking right? If that weren’t enough, while a quarter of Americans use Energy Star washers, there are no Energy Star dryers on the market, further compounding the amount of energy we use to dry our clothes.*

Just by line drying even one of the loads you do a week you can make a significant impact. Project Laundry List, an organization dedicated to helping people line dry their clothing, estimates that about 8% of households in the United States line dry their clothes during 5 months of the year. According to them, if all Americans line dried their clothes for ten months a year, we could avoid 12 million metric tons of carbon dioxide a year from entering the atmosphere. That’s the same as the annual greenhouse gas emission from 2.2 million cars or 3 coal fired power plants.

Needless to say, we aren’t talking about small fries here!

The problem is that while there are more than 300,000 community associations, but the majority of them restrict or ban clotheslines. In response, Levi Strauss & Co. is encouraging consumers to think differently about their laundry habits with its “Care Tag for Our Planet” campaign and now with its “Care to Air” contest. The company is working to spread the word about the positive environmental impact of line drying and encourage creative design solutions that may change the way people dry their clothes.

Starting on June 1, you can submit original air-drying solutions as part of Levi’s “Care to Air” contest, with the chance to win $10,000 in prizes. The company is looking for the next generation of air drying design ideas that will improve or replace the typical clothesline. Design ideas will be accepted from June 1- July 31, 2010, and winners will be announced on August 16. Full contest details are available on www.levi.com/care.

The best part of changing your laundry habits is that your clothes will last longer (don’t you wonder where all that lint came from?), sunlight bleaches and sanitizes your clothes, and air dried clothes smell great without chemicals! Considering 23.8 billion pounds of clothing and textiles end up in landfills each year.

In case you need an extra kick to make some change in your laundry you can also promise to care for your jeans and the planet by taking the Care Tag Pledge on-line at www.levi.com/care, vowing to washing in cold, washing less, line drying and donating unwanted clothing to Goodwill®.

*This is due to the fact that all dryers operate at the same efficiency because no technology exists to improve them and differentiate their efficiency from one product to another.

Last week, I wrote about Sun Chips new completely compostable chip bag. Tommie wrote in, asking what to do with corn-based compostable containers that won’t compost in a home composting bin.

There aren’t any big composters in her area, and she’s running out of room for all of her containers.

This wasn’t a problem I had encountered yet, so I had to do a little research. Her containers are made of bioplastics, which are plastics made from renewable resources like corn. These require more heat to break down than the typical home composter can produce.

While corn-based compostable plastics are made to bio-degrade more quickly, some bioplastics can take hundreds of years to break down.

Still, corn-based compostables need more heat than the average home compost bin provides. They need bigger compost heaps, commercial or city compost heaps.

These containers are not recyclable — meaning you can’t just toss them in your recycling bin and forget about them. They can reduce the quality of the other plastics being recycled.

And throwing them in the trash isn’t a good idea either. Most landfills are air-tight, but if these containers get wet, they can emit methane. It’s a big conundrum.

Some cities compost. Some even collect scraps like they collect recycling and trash. Many do not do this, but do have a compost pile where people can drop off their items. My city will collect branches and yard clippings for mulching and compost, but nothing else. Call your city’s waste management or parks department to see if they offer any composting services.

Since that’s not an option for Tommie, I was thinking that calling around to local farmers and restaurants might be an option. Maybe ask the farmers at the farmers’ market if they compost and if they think their compost pile would be big enough. Restaurants that specialize in organic foods might also have a compost bin that would be bigger than the average home.

If that’s not an option, I would suggest trying craigslist. It’s such a great local tool. Someone looking at craigslist might either have a need for those containers, or have their own personal compost bin that would be big enough to generate enough heat.

She could also contact the company that provides the containers and ask for their suggestions. Maybe they would pay for her to ship the containers back to them so they could be disposed of properly.

Organic gardening is on an upswing, and I think more cities and farmers will get into the composting practice. It cuts down on waste and can save money. Hopefully finding a big enough composter won’t be such an issue in the near future.

Any other advice?

To make it easier to experience America’s Great Outdoors, the National Park Service is waiving entrance fees, so visitors can enjoy all 392 national parks for free April 17-25. This is great news for all of you spring breakers out there looking for a quick trip to the great outdoors. For others, its a perfect opportunity to experience your local national parks in bloom this spring.

At more than 100 parks, there will be specials on concessions, lodging, and transportation in the parks to give further incentive to get out and explore.

If that were not enough to get you out in the nice weather and out of the winter doldrums, take a moment to check out the list of events parks plan to have around the country nearly all of which are family friendly. For those of you looking for ways to give back to your community as a way to celebrate this year’s 40th Earth Day, the National Parks Service has more than 400 volunteer opportunities announced.

For those of you resigned to spend the week in your office staring longingly out your window, check out the virtual tours of your favorite national parks and enjoy the scenery virtually!

So which park are you making plans to visit next week? Get out there and explore!

I’m all for water-conservation, but I’m wondering about some methods — specifically the whole, “If it’s yellow, let it mellow.  If it’s brown, flush it down” rule.

According to Appropedia.org, this means that you don’t flush for number ones, but you do flush for number twos. 

I read about this in an eco-magazine a few years ago. While I guess it’s good in theory, I don’t think it would be good in practice.

The Appropedia article doesn’t suggest this practice if you have a low-flush toilet, because it could make the bathroom smelly.

This is also my reason for not liking the practice. We’ve all smelled school or locker room bathrooms. Do we really want our homes or work places smelling like that?

If so, how many pees before you flush? Two? Twenty? What about toilet paper?

We have pretty much successfully potty-trained our toddler. I think the whole only flushing for certain times would confuse him.

And what about company?

We’ve opted to install low-flow toilets. I think selective flushing is an extreme way to save water. The people doing that should either invest in a low-flow toilet or just go outside.

What are your opinions?

Purchasing a car is likely the second largest investment you will make – and one that you will likely have to live with for at least the next few years – so you want to make the best, cleanest, most fuel efficient, safest, and cost effective decision. For my husband and I this decision has lead us beyond the land of hybrid vehicles and into the land of diesel engines.

The 2009 Green Car of the Year award went to a Turbo Diesel Injected (TDI) vehicle – the Volkswagen Jetta Clean Diesel (TDI). This is the first time the award has gone to a clean diesel vehicle. For Americans, a diesel car probably sounds like an old, dirty engine, but its time for all of us to get back on the diesel bandwagon. Europeans have been driving these new diesels for years, but these cars have only recently been able to meet the stringent American emissions standards. In fact while adventuring to Copenhagen, Denmark, it was hard not to see one of these (or the wagon version) cars on the street — even as taxi cabs!

Hands down, this is a performance vehicle. Its powerful, even though it is only a four cylinder vehicle. Because my husband and I have been seeking a car that would allow us to become a one car family and yet still have plenty of space for lugging things home, someday growing a family, and hopefully space for a dog, we looked at the sportwagon version of the VW TDI. Testing driving this car, we were nearly sold, but it was the little bonuses for the price that really sealed the deal. This car has gadgets galore — and most of them are standard! Between the Bluetooth (which even allows you to play music over the speakers that is streamed from your iPhone), the touch screen radio, and the digital dashboard readouts, this car has just about everything a geek could want! Further, the seats fold down perfectly flat, the front seats (and back!) are heated, and the side view mirrors have a defrosting option. All around, this car is fun to drive.

Its not all fun and games in these cars though. Some of the toys genuinely help the driver drive more efficiently. Much like the Ford and the Toyota hybrids which display the fuel efficiency of the car, the VW and Audi clean diesel cars show the average fuel economy for your current driving trip and your tank of fuel. They also show you instant fuel economy based on the speed you are traveling. These gauges help drivers learn which driving styles generate the best fuel efficiency for the vehicle. Of course, also like most of the hybrids, most clean diesel cars also offer built in navigation which can also help you increase your fuel economy by showing you the most efficient way to get from place to place.

But what’s so great about the clean diesel technology and how is it different today than it was years ago? First of all, today’s diesel engines are highly efficient. The VW Jetta Sportswagon, for example, gets 30mpg in the city and 41mpg on the highway. Best yet, these mpg stats are likely to be surpassed. (It is a Jetta TDI that currently holds the world record for best fuel efficiency with 67.1mpg.) With 236 foot pounds of torque, this vehicle is powerful to say the least, able to move quickly from a standing start and pass other moving cars with a light tap of the petal. In comparison, old diesel engines were known for being loud, hard to start, and belching smoke, a far cry from these clean engines, even if they were efficient for its time. With prices for diesel fuel not much more than that of gasoline and the prices staying far more steady, its no wonder why Americans are beginning to again look towards these new technologies.

Interestingly, the Audi A3 clean diesel TDI is the 2010 Green Car of they year. This makes two years running for a clean diesel cars to win the coveted award.

So if you are wondering what it is my husband and I purchased… you guessed right! The VW Jetta Sportswagon TDI. We call her “Gretta the Jetta.”

As I mentioned some time ago, my husband and I have been in the market for a new vehicle – but not any old car! As professional advocates on climate change issues, it is extremely important to us to make a choice that supports our daily efforts to improve fuel efficiency, keep our air clean, and reduce our carbon footprint.

When we’ve spoken about out interest in purchasing a new car with our friends, they all seem to simply think the obvious choice for us is a hybrid vehicle. But just because the vehicle includes hybrid technology, does not always mean that it’s the most fuel efficient. New technologies are always coming out and while we rely on manufacturers to tell consumers about the benefits, most have done a pretty lousy job. The educated car buyer is challenged to keep up with the innovations, learning the benefits, which manufacturer is using the technologies and when they will be brought to the marketplace. It’s not an easy task.

All hybrid technology is not created equal – and they differ from one manufacturer to another.Learn more about hybrids by checking out a post I wrote about them some time ago. You cannot rely upon car salesmen to tell you about the technology as many have not taken the time to learn about it or will be able to explain it well. Do your own research.

Compare vehicles that include hybrid technology with conventional models making sure to look at price, miles per gallon, and even maintenance. If you are more of a long distance, highway driver, hybrid vehicles may not increase your mpg enough to make it worth the extra money. For you, it may make more sense to seek out a conventional or diesel (TDI – Turbocharged Direct Injected) vehicle with excellent highway ratings. More on TDI another day… For those of you who are more short distance, city traffic drivers, hybrids may better suit your needs since the vehicle recharges the battery while breaking and operates utilizing the battery while slowing and stopping.

It’s important to also realize that hybrids will soon be coming out with another big improvement – plugs! No, this doesn’t mean you will be required to plug in your car or park near an electricity source. What it means is that you will have the option to charge the battery of the car with electricity from your home, allowing the vehicle to rely on the battery more than the gas tank. Still you can always fill up at the local station and still recharge the battery through slowing and stopping. Best of all, this improvement to the hybrid technology will come with a battery with much improved energy saving capacity. Hopefully, theses cars are only right around the corner, so if you are not quite in the market for a new car but are just starting to think about it, look out for new plug-in hybrids coming to a car dealer near you in the next few years – if not sooner!

Still, while the U.S. market has just barely more than a handful of hybrids currently available, they simply do not seem to fit our bill when it comes to picking a car. Sure the Toyota Prius, the best selling hybrid currently on the market, is worth a look and remains on our list, it does not have the hauling capacity we had hoped to maintain. The capacity is ok, and certainly doable but for a young couple likely to one day use the car for cross country trips, kids, and our occasional furniture shopping, it is only barely as big as we want – even with the seats folding down flat (a major perk in our book!). We do not prefer the relative low quality and lack of comfort of the Ford Escape and while the Saturn Vue was a pretty good ride, we felt it had very few tech options we wanted for the price, not to mention that we learned just after test driving that GM would be closing the line at the end of this year.

If price were no matter, the Lexus RX450h would be on the top of our list. It’s gas mileage is excellent (though could always be better!) and truly is an exquisite design of luxury. Unfortunately, that luxury comes with a hefty price tag that happens to be out of our ideal range.

So the question remains, will we find a vehicle that is both fuel efficient and family friendly in size which fits into our (hardly meager) price range at under $35,000? Stay tuned!

Do you shun dry cleaning because it’s not green? We don’t dry clean. Probably more out of convenience and cheapness and anything else. But I’m quick to throw out the chemicals excuse as well.

I didn’t really know anything about dry cleaning chemicals, and if they were bad for the environment.

Traditional dry cleaners use perchloroethylene, or PERC. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), PERC is a colorless, non-flammable liquid that can be dangerous to those working around it. Breathing a small amount can, “adversely affect the human nervous system,” causing problems such as dizziness and fatigue. Prolonged exposure can lead to liver and kidney damage.

The EPA reports that while PERC by itself isn’t likely to harm the enviornment, it can “contribute to the formation of photochemical smog when it reacts with other volatile organic carbon substances in the air.”

But there are dry cleaners that don’t use PERC. Some use a carbon dioxide (CO2) cleaning method and others use a wet cleaning method.

The CO2 method uses liquid carbon dioxide, which is non-toxic. A case study by the EPA found that this method, “produces no hazardous waste, eliminates exposures to traditional drycleaning solvents, and does not use ozone-depleting compounds.”

Wet-cleaning uses milder detergents than those we use at home, along with special washing machines. According a case study by the EPA, is also environmentally preferable.

Beware of some dry cleaners that claim they are organic. Some use a solvent called DF-2000 that is actually a petroleum product.

How do you find dry cleaners near you that use a CO2 or wet cleaning method? Try NoDryClean.com. It’s simple to use. We live in a fairly rural area, and the closest one to us is 83 miles away.

What to do then? Well, one option is at home dry cleaning.  We have tried Dryel. Dryel is an at home dry-cleaning kit, that does not contain PERC.

We had pretty good success with it, but we weren’t sure of the ingredients used and if the chemicals were bad for us. They don’t list the specific ingredients on their packaging or their website.

Many dry clean only garments can be hand-washed and line-dried. We mainly just try to be very careful when we wear dry clean only items.

What do you do with dry clean only clothes?

It’s hard to believe, but more than 28.3 billion pounds of clothing and textiles make their way to U.S. trash heaps annually. In Santa Barbara alone, more than 11 million pounds of usable clothing and household textiles end up in the landfill every year. The good news is that people are starting to take notice!

Forming a new partnership, Levi Strauss and Goodwill announced this week a new label – the Care Tag for Our Planet, a new initiative that aims to put billions of pounds of unwanted clothing to good use instead of into landfill.  Beginning in January 2010, the Levi’s® brand will be the first major retailer to include messaging on product care tags that encourages people to donate unwanted clothing.

Donating your clothes should be the first option when deciding what to do with clothes you no longer want. Even worn out clothes can be donated because many thrift stores and homeless shelters work in close partnership with textile recyclers who will take items which are no longer suitable to be worn. Donating makes a significant difference in the amount of clothes entering our landfills. The 166 community-based Goodwills in the United States and Canada collectively divert more than 1.5 billion pounds of clothing and textiles every year from landfill by recovering the value in people’s unwanted material goods.

You can make donating easy by keeping a paper shopping bag in your closet so that when you have a piece of clothing you no longer want, you can store it until there are enough pieces to make the trip to your local thrift shop or homeless shelter. In my closet, I actually keep a couple of bags – one for clothes ready for donation and another for clothes that I no longer want but is in near excellent shape so I can make a few bucks selling them to our local upscale thrift shop. Whatever the shop won’t take, goes right into the other bags destined for the homeless shelter.

With Levi and Goodwill getting in the act to remind you and I to donate the clothes when we are through with them, millions of pounds will be diverted from the landfill – clothing thousands more people and adding to the stream of recycled raw materials available.

This is not the first green minded action for Levi Strauss. For years, they have been a leader in encouraging environmentally friendly practices, from water quality guidelines to restrictions on the substances that can be used to make its clothes. Embracing the cradle to cradle concept of their product, the company conducted studies which showed that they greatest impact their clothing has on the environment is actually after the pair of jeans leaves the store to go home with the customer. For this reason, Levi encourages their customers to wash their clothes in cold water and line dry when possible – a significant savings the energy needed to warm the water and dry the clothes.

With the help of company initiatives like Goodwill and Levi, consumers are being given the reminders and opportunities they need to do right by nature. Have more great ways to utilize old clothing or ideas for how to give your clothes a new lease on life? Let us know in the comments below.