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Everyday Eco: Arianna Huffington & Digital Detox

3/9/2015

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I've talked previously about personally going unplugged.  I don't have cable or wifi at my house.  I've been happily without cable for a year and a half now, and only recently lost wifi.  When I first started in this unplugged state, I thought it would be for a short while.  I thought that after a few months I would get wifi back.  It's inevitable/required for every modern day person right? 

Interestingly, I've found workarounds that work well for me, and don't make wifi an absolute requirement.  Primary of which is I have the internet all day every day at work.  I have cellular on my smartphones and iPad to check email.  I'm now an "old school" DVD Netflix subscriber.  I am getting an HD antenna to watch the primary networks for free.  I'll visit wifi to download episodes of my favorite shows onto my iPad to watch later offline.  My house is a place of rejuvenation.  A place where I have become more mindful.  A place where I feel I have a choice on checking my technology or not.  And sometimes I do not.  Now that I have created such space in my life, I don't want to go back.

Arianna Huffington has been talking about this for a year now.  Darling, you can have a meal or watch a sunset without Instagramming it.  In her case, she literally passed out from exhaustion leading to a broken jaw and stitches, and it led to her digital detox break from technology on a vacation to Hawaii.  Talk about a wake up call.

She brings up interesting points as well...seeing parents on their phones instead of interacting with their children.  Darling, they are growing up, you can never get this time back.  It's what I've found from my own experience. Disconnecting from technology has actually led me to be more connected in all of my personal relationships.  I am restored enough that when I do have "connected time", I can pour more of myself in.  Because there's balance.  "Taking care of yourself is not just a luxury, it's a necessity" she says.

There's a lot of imbalance when it comes to technology.  How are you staying balanced?  What steps do you take to disconnect?

Infographic courtesy of Mind Valley Academy.
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EverydayEco: Choose Positive in Face of Overwhelmed-Ness

3/4/2015

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Back in college, when I was studying environmental issues all day every day, I went through what I call "eco depression".  A downswing emotionally on how much we have messed up the planet.  Pick your issue - water, carbon, pesticides, deforestation, oil/gas, ozone, acid rain - and when you spend time really thinking about it...it can overwhelm you with negativity and hopelessness.  Despair at the massive damage we as humans have managed to do to this planet, this gift that gives us life, this Creation.  (And I don't just mean the depression we get from not being in nature...true story).

Have you ever felt that way?  Or a smidge of the "eco depression" despair?  The "why try it's so overwhelming"? Well this post is for how I overcame and you can overcome.  You can, I promise!

Despair is surprisingly common, and perhaps not so surprisingly, a thesis statement of many in the environmental field and environmental academics.  Last fall at SXSW Eco I went to a speaker who titled his talk "Coping with the Cascading Crises of Our World".  He's a professor who has made his profession writing books on "Arguing for Our Lives" and how we've reached the limits of every natural resource and now is the time to change our mindset to deal with the coming catastrophe.  I spent time listening to the science behind his talk (it's well founded), and appreciating the extremely thoughtful approach  he took to get there...but also in my head having more than a few"oh please!" moments....hope and innovation is our greatest renewable resource and we would do well to remember (write that down enviro(ish) friends!)

And even at GreenBiz Forum two weeks, a business conference for sustainability professionals, the head of that organization spent time at length over how companies aren't doing enough....how the problems are so vast and we've not moved the needle.  It's not that the message is untrue....it's just perhaps the wrong message in the first place. As if preaching to the choir and demoralizing those who are in the trenches working hard inside business to solve environmental problems really gets us anywhere. To think, most of the professionals like myself who go to these things do it for the inspiration, the cross-collaboration potential....the hope  (jokes on us?!)


Before I go into my favorite analogy for you to hang your hat on, steeped in actual environmental history....think on the good Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and choose the light.  Amen!
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Links I Love: Obsessed Edition

2/23/2015

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I've been spelunking abouts the interwebs and discovered that a few things have happened on enviro(ish) issues I've posted on.  How exciting!  Here's some updates.

Apple. Is. (Maybe). Making. An. Electric. Vehicle.  [APPLAUSE]
If the rumors are true, let the heavens rejoice...and by heavens, I mean all of us on planet Earth.  Guys, everything Apple touches is the best possible design and turns to sold.  For good reason.  If they truly are taking on making an EV....it will be a vehicle that massively moves the consumer needle.  And I know this because I want one right now.  As I previously went enviro(ish) in depth on, EVs are good for the planet and convenient in so many ways.  This is great news.  YAY!
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Microbeads are already in phase out!

enviro(ish) wrote about these nasty plastics that we were putting on our face (and sometimes in our mouth...yuck!)  Turns out 5 Gyres has already moved the needle on this issue as covered in FastCo.  Congrats!

"But what’s surprising many is that companies aren’t actually fighting against taking action. Approached by environmental groups including 5 Gyres in the last three years, many major manufacturers, including L’Oreal, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, and Colgate-Palmolive, quickly agreed to remove microbeads from their products within the next few years. For example, a Johnson & Johnson spokesperson told Co.Exist that it will complete the first phase of product reformulations by the end of next year and a complete phase-out of all plastic microbeads by the end of 2017."
Photo courtesy of gizmodo
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EverydayEco: Going Unplugged

2/19/2015

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I wondered whether to make this an "Inspirations" post or "EverydayEco"....and landed on the latter because, well, everyone can incorporate a few of these practices every day (and I hope you do!). 

So I went hiking this past weekend, and yet, I feel more like Thoreau-going-into-the-woods when I am sitting at home than ever before...
"
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."
                                                    - Henry David Thoreau, Walden

You see, I have not had cable at my house for over a year and a half.  Like a lot of cord cutters in the digital age, I'm not a big live/sports events watcher...and find it fairly easy on the occasions I do want to watch the SuperBowl or Golden Globes or Oscars to find friends who will host me in exchange for snacks/wine/good company.  With better HD antennas available, and new over-the-top (OTT) services coming out left and right (and winning the Best of CES award), I'm one of oh-so-unbelievably-many frustrated former cable subscribers. For about a year, I was your classic OTT watcher....streaming my favorite shows on Hulu the day after they aired, streaming movies on Amazon Instant Video and Netflix....  
Disclosure: I happened to be moving when Time Warner fueded with CBS here in LA so took it as an opportunity to say sayonara to the company that raised my bill inexplicably (holla at Cable Tipster for solving this problem for peeps!) and gave me terrible hardware that didn't work and wouldn't replace. Considering their handling of the Dodgers/SportsNet issue...they appear to have learned nothing...

But here's what's going to really bake your noodle....for about 2 months now, I've also stopped having internet/wifi connectivity at home as well.  Yes, I am disconnected (gasp!)  I know what you're thinking..."oh that's why she's terrible at posting regularly on this blog" (truth!)....but seriously...you are most likely thinking "aack!  how extreme! I couldn't possibly live that way!"  And some of you are right.  If you work from home or are job searching...wifi at your house is probably necessary.  But I'm here to tell you, if you are like me and sitting in front of a computer all day, every day at work....going disconnected at home is a wonderful way to create space in your life.  I've read the magazines I never used to have time for, and books recommended by friends.  My house is more organized, clean, put together than ever....I'm spending more time cooking meals/trying new things...and I feel like I have more restful time (feet up!) than I ever did.  I can still get emails or websurf on my phone or on my iPad when I turn on cellular data.  I still download my favorite shows when I am connected to wifi to watch later. 

Instead of falling off a cliff, it has felt more like a natural progression...an extension of the thinking that led me to be a cord cutter in the first place.  And while it may not be permanent in my life, here's why finding ways to unplug and disconnect is worth a try...
Photo courtesy of theworldunplugged
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EverydayEco: Not All Recycling Created Equal

2/4/2015

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OK, what I'm about to say is going to be pretty unpopular with the "dark greens" as I like to call them.  The uber-eco, off-the-grid, Greenpeace-level peeps that want you to do everything possible to save the planet right now and make you feel like you are not doing enough. (Rinse, repeat)

But listen up, we are enviro(ish)....and ish-ness is the most critical ingredient of this entire works.  It means relieving yourself from the guilt of not being perfect and doing everything, all the time.  And that brings me to recycling...

You see, there's this secret about recycling.  Our waste stream is not created equal*.  We know this because of a handy process called lifecycle assessment.  It tells us the energy it takes to make a product, the energy all the way from getting raw materials out of the ground, to manufacture, to customer, to use, and to the end of life. 
*actually the inequality of municipal waste collection and recycling in this country is abysmal....so it really is an unequal experience depending on where you live, but that's another post for another time.

What it tells us, is that materials are not created equally (duh), but I mean really...think about that.  It tells us the ecological impacts of materials when/if they get into the environment at end of life, as well as energy it takes to recycle those materials.  Which inherently means that there's some materials that have worse impacts when tossed into nature than others (obv)....and there's some materials that are too energy-intensive or degrade when trying to be recycled (true).  On the flip side, it tells us there are some materials that are of utmost importance to recycle.  You ready for a list of some of these?  enviro(ish) peeps unite!

So picture this scenario: you have an item to dispose of in your hand, and there's no recycling can in sight.  Maybe you are traveling, on a plane, or in a different city.  Do you throw away or hold onto it until you can recycle?  Ask yourself these three questions....
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EveryDay Eco: Ban the Bottle From Your Life

11/18/2014

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So this post is a bit of a cheat, because I already did a post about Hydrating Reusably at the Office (read there for facts/data/why it matters).  But last week we had an event at work honoring America Recycles Day and I got to meet environmental champion Ed Begley Jr....who was ONLY taking photos with employees that committed to refill.  My coworkers did me so proud!

And it motivated me to take my personal commitment one step further.  I changed a habit!  When I traveled this past weekend, I brought an empty reusable bottle through airport security and filled up on the other side.  I think for the first time!?  I really felt good AND there was a bit of pleasure in sticking it to the man by not paying the absurdly high post-security price of food and drink.

Want to hear a horrifying fact?  Those plastic water bottles behind Ed and I in the display represent the amount the U.S. throws away in less than one second.  The U.S. threw away 273 times that amount during the 2 hours of our recycling event.  Hundreds of people stopped by to look at it with disgust/horror faces, and it only made it clearer.  Time to ban the bottle from your life, it's the enviro(ish) thing to do.  Let's get to it!
psst....have you done it yet??  If not, why not?
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everyday Eco: say no to microbeads

10/10/2014

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So I'm at SXSW Eco, this amazeballs conference in Austin where lots of different types come together around environmental/good issues in an open and interesting way.  I'm listening to a panel on plastic pollution in the ocean with Heal the Bay and 5 Gyres Institute, and am congratulating myself on having banned the one-time plastic use water bottle from my life.  I'm a reusable bagger.  High-five! I'm eco amazing!  I'm free of one-time use plastics that go to the ocean right? 

Wrong.  Wait, what?!? There's these little thing called microbeads.  I admit I've been using them because the texture helps my skin look oh so fresh and clean (when I forget to bring my scrub brush).  In fact, the face wash I brought when I traveled to the conference had microbeads.   I'm thinking these are just little hard bits of soap, same stuff the cleanser is made out of, right?  Nope. 
Little tiny bits of one-time use polyethylene.  Apparently every major consumer products company has these plastic microbeads in products or product lines.  Even the companies that IMO are more eco than others (et tu Body Shop "Natural Products Inspired by Nature"? Unilever "Sustainable Living Plan"?). 

AACK!  And here I was, buying a product from Neutrogena, one of the worst offenders.  I am eco-shamed, but shaming is not what we do here at Enviro(ish).  It's all about the journey and learning.  Phew!
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Photo courtesy of 5 Gyres Institute

Starting today, I'm not going to use the rest of this face wash and promise not to buy personal care products with beads or using polyethylene.  It's such an easy step that makes a big difference.  Because the more I'm thinking about microbeads, the more CRAZY BANANAS it is....not just for the planet but for my health!


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Bagging it eco Style

9/19/2014

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In honor of Coastal Cleanup Day tomorrow, this post is going to be about how to be Enviro(ish) when shopping/grocerying.  But since this is a perennial “which is more eco, paper or plastic?” question going back decades, I get asked it often.  And not just in a conversation where it makes sense, I’m talking about random strangers and on a first date, OFTEN. 

Example: I'm at an oyster bar on a first date I met from online. The guy obviously knew I worked in sustainability from my profile, so one of his get-to-know-me questions was “when you go to a grocery store, paper or plastic?”  Points for doing his research and like a Boy Scout always being prepared….but it falls into that awkward “green police” bucket (plus, is knowing my bag choice at a grocery store really getting to know me?)  The guy rocketed through 20 similar questions, so everybody around us could tell it was one of "those” first dates.  Even the oyster bar shucker behind the counter was laughing out loud (which is “bagging up” according to the kids these days/Urban Dictionary….see what I did there? FTW!)  But I digress….

TELL ME THE ANSWER ALREADY

The simple answer is bring your own bags and reuse them (to take you from the land of simple, read further below).

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