Eco Resolutions

This year, switch out your disposable foodware habit for a reusable one to save resources and cash, and you'll be in vogue for 2009.

The Benefits

* More cash for fashion. Just talkin' paper plates: If you use three per day in your home, you'll easily shell out more than $100 a year (for the sturdier kind).
* Stylish eco-savings. Each year, Americans toss out enough paper and plastic cups, forks, and spoons to circle the equator 300 times if you laid them end-to-end. Plus, dishwashing takes less water than producing new disposable plates.

Disposable foodware is sometimes unavoidable, but if 10,000 of us fill our own mugs at the café every day, in a year we'll avert the weight of 1,517 baristas in disposable-cup waste.

Tip from Ideal Bite

Been Away...

Hello all,

I've been so busy with work and school lately, I haven't had time to blog. However, I am back and I'm back with a Holiday Green tip and an eco-friendly cleaning product line.

Holiday Green Tip!
Recycle your old "traditional" Christmas lights and switch to eco-friendly and safer LED Christmas lights. HolidayLeds.com has a light recycling program and when you recycle your lights they give you a 15% discount on LED lights from them. For more information, visit their site. If you don't have traditional lights to recycle, most major retailers are now stocking LED Christmas lights, I've seen them at both Target and Wal-Mart.






Eco-Friendly Cleaning

With the Holiday season approaching I will be kicking my cleaning into high gear in order to get my house "guest ready". Instead of using traditional cleaning products; I've switched to eco-friendly and just plain "nose friendly" cleaning products. I had been using Method, but I've found a new company that I'm itching to try, Better Life. I've just purchased their products and will give a review once I've used them, but I've read other reviews on the web and they seem great. Plus, I'm a sucker for pretty packaging and I love the graphic quality of their labels.

Unfortunately I’m in LA on business, however if I was back in the DC Area I would definitely be representing at the Green Festival. If however, YOU are in the DC area and you want to represent the black and green segment of society, then please go! They are “celebrating what’s working in our communities—for people, business and the environment. Join us at the nation’s premier sustainability event in DC for 2 days filled with the best in green!”

There will be 125 renowned authors, leaders & educators 350 eco-friendly businesses in a unique marketplace Workshops, green films, kids’ activities, live music & delicious, organic vegetarian cuisine.

The festival pass is only $15 and includes entry to all activities for the entire weekend and 1 year FREE Co-op America membership, 10% off at a Green Festival Store or the Global Exchange Booth at Green Festival, and a free subscriptions to The Nation (2 months) and Plenty (1 year). Not only that you can receive a $10 pass with all the amenities included if you are in one of these categories:

• Seniors 62 years of age or older
• College students with ID
• Bike riders with Bike Valet ticket
• Public transit riders with a bus pass or fare card
• Union members with ID
• Better World bookdrive participants

NITTY GRITTY

November 8-9, 2008

Saturday 10AM - 7PM

Sunday Nov. 11AM - 6PM

Washington D.C. Convention Center

801 Mount Vernon Place, NW

Washington, DC 20001

Happy Halloween

My son and I made a pumpkin man/scarecrow for Halloween. We used old clothes, a pumpkin from a local farm, and an old wire hanger. To make the pumpkin man, I first folded the hanger into a V shape, using the two "spokes" of the V to stuff into the pants legs. I then used a child sized hanger and attached that to the loop of the adult hanger. I then put the child sized hanger into the shirt. Next, I stuffed the pants and shirt with old t-shirts. I then used a belt to secure the top and bottom parts of the scarecrow and stuffed boots into the pant legs (the legs were elastisized). Lastly, I painted the pumpkin face and sat it atop the body. We then took pumpkin man outside and sat him in a child sized chair that we covered using an old pillowcase. VOILA!!! A "green" Halloween decoration with little to no money used (the pumpkin was free with entry into the farm).

Announcement: Al Gore's Live Webcast for Climate Solutions

This coming Wednesday, October 29, Vice President Al Gore will headline a live webcast kicking off the final pre-election push to grow the climate vote and expand the mandate for bold climate solutions next year.

Please RSVP for this important online event here:

http://www.powervote.org/gore

During the webcast, Gore will speak about the connection between energy, climate and the economic crisis, why this election is so important to our push for bold climate action, and what we can do to get out the climate vote.

Here are the details:

• WHAT: Al Gore webcast on climate change and the 2008 election
• WHEN: Wednesday, October 29th, 2008
  5:30 pm Pacific / 6:30 pm Mountain / 7:30 pm Central / 8: 30 pm Eastern
• RSVP: http://www.powervote.org/gore

We need our leaders to know there are millions of voters for whom climate is a top priority. That's why 1Sky is partnering with the Energy Action Coalition and the We Campaign to spread the word about this event and support their get-out-the-vote efforts. This webcast will be a powerful tool to motivate climate voters to turn out in greater numbers than ever before.

Please RSVP today to watch Al Gore's webcast and share this email with all your contacts:

http://www.powervote.org/gore

I'm Dreaming of a "Green" Christmas...

Christmas in my family has always meant a lot of things, toys to the sky, wrapping paper strewn all over the floor, lots of food, etc. Coming from a family who was pretty much first generation middle class, love came in the form of "stuff". I have parents who wanted and still want me to have what they did not have. However, love and family doesn't have to mean lots of stuff. So, I'm dreaming of a green Christmas in which we can celebrate the birth of Christ, love, and family without all the extras.

While perusing the New American Dream website, I found their Simplify the Holidays brochure, which lists lots of ways to have a low cost, low impact holiday season. One thing that I've decided to do is to buy gifts from Etsy. Etsy showcases people who sell their handmade wares; I will also try and buy gifts from sellers that are local to reduce energy used on transporting the gifts . I will be giving more green holiday tips once a week until the end of December and if you have any tips to share, please post them.

My Life in Black & Green

Hello all!

I am so excited!!! Later this evening I will be heading out to the new Busboys & Poets on 5th & K for a book discussion and signing by Van Jones for his new book, The Green Collar Economy. If you're in the DC Area come on out; I'd love to see you there!

Sorry, I haven't posted so much this past week, but I am in my first session of grad school (yay me!) and I've been a little swamped. I aim to blog at least once a week though. I am currently at work on a new profile and an opinion piece on why more blacks aren't involved in the environmental movement. Speaking of grad school, I'm getting my degree in Non-Profit and Association Management, I would really like to have a position in the eco-movement in a way that gets more blacks involved, so I've been looking for those type of opportunities lately. I recently joined a group, DC Eco-Women, this is a group of women of all races that "works to empower women environmentalists by building a community that fosters networking, collaboration, and career building opportunities".

Last note, I'll be posting more links this week to organizations, agencies, and other sites dealing with blacks and the environment.

Pic is of the DC Metro System of which I am a regular rider.