Climate Counts

The role that a company takes in climate change is as big as the company itself. After all, companies produce a product or provide a service, and as long as they are making a profit, they usually don't care too much about the effect they are having on other people, or on the earth.

And it's hard to know what to do about it. How do you know which companies are the "baddies?" When it's time to buy a toaster, or a printer, or grab a cup of coffee, or take a weekend vacation, you don't usually sit there thinking "what effect will this choice have on the planet?"

I found a website that can help! Climatecounts.org scores companies on the steps they take and are taking on being responsible and sustainable. Airlines, hotels, media, food products, clothing... You can browse buy brand, you can look up items by industry, and you can get breakdowns (more or less) of the scores. It's not The Answer, but it's something to look at and be aware of. Companies with high scores can be invested in and supported, and companies with low scores can be avoided and peppered with emails - by the way, the website allows you to send an email directly to any of the companies listed letting them know you care about the environment.

This site is a non-profit, supported by Stonyfield Farms (who just happened to get a high score of 81?). I am not certain of the exact criteria used, or how accurate the results are. These types of things have to be difficult to rate cross industry, and I'm sure that they are as varied as the number of companies. But I think this site is worth looking at, and can give a good idea of where each company stands.

Seventh Generation

I saw a commercial for Seventh Generation products on TV the other day. In case you are unaware, Seventh Generation makes cleaning products - dish soap, laundry detergent, all purpose cleaner - as well as paper products - paper towels, diapers, baby wipes - that are considered safe for the environment. And for the past few months, I have been using these products.

Well, not all of them. I am horribly still using LUVS because I can't get over the cost of the more organic diapers and doubt the effectiveness... and I'm not getting into that right now.

I do have to say that, when the commercial came on, I got excited. Maybe because I hadn't heard of the brand until I dug around and discovered it in my search for safer cleaning products. I felt as though I were ahead of the game. Part of an elite club. The people trying to make things right.

I think part of what got me is the emphasis on not being so afraid of germs. I mean, you want to wash your hands before eating and after cleaning the litter box, but there is no need to use disinfectant on every surface of your home five times a day. Right? We're so into antibiacterial everything these days, and seeing an add that stressed being clean AND kind to the earth... it made me feel justified, and happy.

I know, it's an add. And it worked on me, the pre-existing customer. But if you haven't tried these products, or similar ones, please go ahead.

Global Warming Survival Handbook

For Christmas my sister gave me The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook by David De Rothschild.

This is a really cute book. It wasn't particularly informative, in that it didn't really tell me anything that I didn't already know. But it made me feel as though I were taking steps in the right direction. It offers suggestions such as "Put On A Sweater," as an alternative to turning up your heat, and using reusable grocery bags instead of paper or plastic. These are both things I am doing. And even the things I am not doing, such as composting or using solar power, I either plan on doing in the not-too-distant future, or as soon as... well, as soon as I can, or as soon as makes sense.

What this book DID do was to remind me what I was trying to do and to offer a little more motivation. It offered a little more information, a little humor, and a little motivation to make a few extra baby steps. If you're looking for a basic 'green' book to hand over to someone, this might be it.

Toothbrush

Every item you buy leaves a footprint - the material to make it, to package it, and to ship it. And it gets worse once you throw it away. Think about all that you throw away in a week. In a year, how much of it is still going to be hanging around?

Now think about your toothbrush. We all need a toothbrush, right? Unless you have no teeth. I used to buy these Oral-B things, the ones the dentist gives out. And two weeks into using it, the bristles would be bushy and I'd have to get a new one. Then I'd throw it out.

Then I found my Preserve toothbrush. You can buy them online, apparently, but I found my at my grocery store, in the "Whole Foods" department. It's made from recycled materials - in this case, yogurt cups. And three months later, the bristles are still nice.

The Preserve site is worth checking out. Not only do they have a whole line of bath and kitchen products, they also offer recycling for #5 plastics. Cool!

Always On My Mind.

I haven't forgotten this blog. Every day, performing my now mundane and now often automatic chores and tasks, I think of this blog and how I should record the things I'm doing. And I know I have been so much less than faithful about keeping up.

I do plan on posting more regularly to this site, if only to get things down so that I can look back and see how far I've come. I plan on posting about products that I am using that are safe for the environment, and books and articles that help me along the way. Not to mention the times when I find being green most challenging.