Consumerist
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green
Consumers: Adopting Greener Behaviors Or Just Cheap?
This month, Consumer Reports is publishing the results of a survey of American adults asking about their adoption of "green" behaviors. Interesting, right? However, we can't help but wonder whether some of these behaviors are more about saving money than saving the planet. More » -
it's not easy being green
5 Food Tips For A Healthier Planet And Body
Is it possible to have a healthy — and sustainable — diet? Maybe. The Daily Green has some tips on how to find locally grown food, limit your use of packaging, and pick for the right organic foods, among other things. According to the site, some good organic choices include "certified organic peaches, peppers and spinach," rather than "organic broccoli, since conventional broccoli is quite low in residue." Of course, paying for all of that personal and planetary health is another story.
Top 5 Food Choices to Keep the Planet (And You) Healthy [The Daily Green]
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environment
U.S. Neglecting Clean Water Laws, To Scary Results
Today's lesson in who Is trying to kill you takes us to municipal water supplies, where violations of the nation's Clean Water Act have now become rampant. According to a harrowing report by the New York Times, polluters have violated the act over a half million times in the last five years, dumping heavy metals (lead, nickel) and other dangerous chemicals into the water, usually without recourse. More » -
waste
Why Store Receipts Keep Getting Longer and Longer
Ever run to the drug store for a tube of toothpaste and find that your meager purchase results in a receipt the length of War and Peace? Two-foot long receipts are increasingly common these days, as retailers embrace technologies allowing them to microtarget customers. The colossal waste of paper comes at a cost, not only in felled trees but on man hours spent on changing tape and fixing broken printers. More » -
one more thing to worry about
Study: Candles May Contribute To Indoor Air Pollution
You may want to think twice about covering up that stench in the bathroom by lighting up 25 votives. A new study by researchers at South Carolina State University found that "paraffin-based candles — the most popular kind — emitted toxic chemicals like toluene and benzene." More » -
environment
Attack of the Antibacterial Soaps!
Triclosan, a chemical widely used in antibacterial soaps, is turning up in dolphins. The agent gets into oceans after traveling from, for instance, your bathroom sink into wastewater streams. Though 90 to 98 percent of the chemical is broken down before it reaches fresh water, even the small percentage that remains becomes significant due to antibacterial soaps' wide use. More » -
consumerism
Scientists Say Consumerism Killing the Planet
The New Scientist has an editorial this week arguing that consumerism is "eating the future." Author Andy Coghlan sees the modern environmental crisis as the result of a Darwinian struggle: "Not only are [humans] simply doing what all creatures do: we're doing it better." More » -
Sustainability Index
Walmart To Rate Product Sustainability
Walmart is developing a universal rating system to help consumers determine which products are truly sustainable. The rating system would scrutinize a product's entire life-cycle by focusing on broad factors, rather than the usual marketing gibberish that extolls isolated virtues. So why is Walmart, of all companies, deciding which products are environmentally sound? More » -
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xcel energy
Got Solar Panels? Utility Wants To Charge You For Not Using Their Energy
Midwest utility Xcel Energy wants to charge anyone using solar panels a monthly fee for sustainably generating their own energy. According to company spokesman Tom Henley, "We just don't think it's fair that customers that don't have solar panels on their homes should subsidize these solar panel customers any further." Huh? More » -
stupid shipping gang
Sam's Club Includes Free Giant Box With Each Pen Sold
Reader Steven bought some cheap fountain pens from Sam's Club. Perhaps unaccustomed to such a small purchase, Sam's Club had trouble finding the appropriate packaging. More » -
bottled water
Can Branding Sex Up Tap Water?
City officials in Venice have come up with a novel plan for getting consumers to break the bottled water habit: they've branded their tap water Acqua Veritas and created a slick ad campaign around it. More » -
waste
Toothpaste Purchase Results In 3-foot Long Receipt
CVS asks: How about some dead trees and a bunch of ads with that purchase? Not in so many words, of course: that would actually give shoppers a choice. More » -
science says
Plastics Industry: Reusable Bags Are Bacteria Traps That Will Kill You And Your Family
Those green reusable bags that are all the rage? The plastics industry this week released a study concluding that they are nothing more than bacterial totes, which might be scary if it were true. BarfBlog looked at the study's methodology and then ate through its main points. More » -
buy.com
Is Buy.com Friendlier To The Environment Than Brick And Mortar Stores?
A study by the Green Design Institute at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh states that when comparing getting a flash drive from Buy.com versus a physical retailer, Buy.com ends up being about 30% less damaging to the environment. To reach their conclusion, the researchers compared transportation, packaging, warehousing, and energy usage both by the consumer and the retailer. More » -
do it yourself
Six D.I.Y. Tips For Cleaning Greenly And Cheaply
Harsh chemicals aren't just bad for you and the environment, they're bad for your wallet too. Cleaning most things, from clothes to your kitchen, can be done greenly and cheaply with these six nifty do-it-yourself cleaning recipes from Consumer Reports... More » -
stupid shipping gang
Ponderables: Why Must Amazon Ship Air All Over The United States of America?
Reader Marc would like Amazon to stop shipping bubbles of air all over the country. He ordered two items that would have been fine to ship in an envelope — but instead he got the usual large box with several air bubbles. This makes Marc mad. More » -
Just what the hell is "organic" dry cleaning? Nobody really knows. [NYT]
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bank of america
BoA To Stop Lending To Mountaintop Bloweruppers
After activists took them on a field trip, Bank of America has pledged to phase out lending money to companies that mine coal by exploding off the tops of pretty mountains. Well, they explode ugly mountains too, but you get the point. [Switchboard, from NRDC] (Thanks to John!)
environment
New York, 4:07 AM
Sun Nov 15
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