Wendy's Blog

True cost of clothing

Wendy Richardson co-author of Nerdy Books — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 10:44:00 +0000

Sunday, I spoke at our local Unitarian Universalist fellowship (ironically located in Baptistown, NJ) about my favorite subject these days "garbage." The turnout was pretty good considering the topic and the fact that every tv and radio station was predicting that a deadly Nor'easter would slam New Jersey right during my "sermon."

I had done quite a bit of research to prepare for my 30-minute talk, even preparing a 9-minute presentation that will soon be available on Youtube. The one area that I spent far too much time researching was the true cost of clothing. I figured I might as well blog about it to share some of what I uncovered.

My search started with the production of cotton, which, from researching my book, I knew was the most heavily sprayed crop in the US. What I didn't know was just how bad it really is until I ran across this 40-page downloadable report, "The Deadly Chemicals in Cotton." All you'll need to read is the Executive Summary on pages 2 and 3 and browse the photos to get the gist of the article.

The fifth bullet in the Executive Summary reads:

A single drop of the pesticide aldicarb, absorbed through the skin can kill an adult. Aldicarb is commonly used in cotton production and in 2003 almost 1 million kilos was applied to cotton grown in the USA. Aldicarb is also applied to cotton in 25 other countries worldwide.

The night before my talk, I found a roll of blue cotton fabric that I had intended to make something out of about 8 years ago before my son was born. A perfect example of buying cotton for no reason. I cut out a giant 4' x 4' t-shirt and hand sewed it to a couple of bent hangers. (I wish I'd taken a picture of it.) I then created two versions of the tag that hangs in the back of most shirts. One was a standard Old Navy tag (Large, Made of 100% cotton, Made in Uzbekistan) which I printed on a blank piece of paper and the other was much longer. I printed the second one on several pieces of paper, taped them together, then rolled them up until it was time to discuss the subject. Unfurled, it read:

OLD NAVY
LARGE
Made of 100% Cotton
Harvested by children as young as 7 in Uzbekistan where unemployment is near 70% and cotton workers are paid less than $7/month.

Children who fail to meet quota or pick poor quality cotton are punished by scoldings and beatings.

PROCESSING
The processing of the cotton required 1/3 pound of concentrated pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers and 744 gallons of water.

FABRIC
Cotton fabric was processed with formaldehyde to reduce wrinkles and bleached with chlorine producing dioxin, a known carcinogen. It was then colored blue using chemical dyes that contained toxic heavy metals including chrome, copper and zinc.

PRODUCTION
Sewn in Cambodia, one of the world’s poorest countries, by
Chenda, a 19-year-old seamstress working 80-hour weeks at 5 cents per hour.

FACTORY CONDITIONS
The “death-trap” textile factory Chenda worked in was cramped, hot, often over 100 degrees with no fans and very little ventilation. The two doors were kept locked.

WASHING/IRONING
This t-shirt will need to be washed frequently at high temperatures and require tumble-drying and ironing. 60% of the carbon emissions generated by this simple cotton t-shirt will come from the approximately 25 washes and machine dryings it will require over its lifetime.

After reading this lenghthy "price tag", I launched into my talk about consignment shops. We were running out of time, so I couldn't do my anti-Walmart, anti-cheap clothing, "5 t-shirts for $20" rant. Bummer.

Compostable picnicware

Wendy Richardson co-author of Nerdy Books — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 13:55:00 +0000

Last month, my family and I took a trip to Washington DC to the Green Festival. This was our first Green Festival and our first trip to DC in several years. Since then, I have praised the festival for their numerous fair trade vendors, tasty vegan food choices and use of compostable kitchenware. The forks, spoons, cups, plates and even the plastic water bottles were made from potato and corn starch and presumably break down in fewer than 120 days.

Large "compost bins" were strategically located throughout the convention center along with well-marked recycling bins for paper, plastic, cans and glass. (I'll bet the garbage cans were hardly used.) I thought two things: "How cool is that?" and "Are they really going to dump this stuff in a giant compost pile on the outskirts of DC?"

Two days after the festival I had a client meeting at a multi-billion dollar software firm. The corporate cafeteria where we picked up our lunch to take back to the conference room was stocked to the ceiling with styrofoam everything: food containers, soup bowls, coffee cups, etc. It did, to their credit, have several vegetarian dishes to choose from.

After that meeting, I did a quick search of the web for compostable and biodegradable cups, forks, bowls and carry out containers and found the following prices:

Compostable 7oz cold cups: 5 cents per cup (qty: 2000)
Biodegradable take-out containers: 9 cents per container (qty: 600)
Compostable forks, knives and spoons: 3 cents per item (qty: 1000)

According to Cereplast, manufacturers of the resin used to make these plastic products, price is no longer an issue. In this CNET article, the CEO of Cereplast says:

"Just as important, the stuff may be cheaper, thanks to improved technology and rising gas prices. A pound of Cereplast's resin sells for around 58 to 60 cents. A pound of petroleum-based polystyrene, meanwhile, sells for around 60 cents. We believe we are the same price or lower. In the past, one of the problems was everybody wants to be green, but nobody could afford it."

The article goes on to say that in 2000, a box of 1000 biodegrable utensils cost around $60. Today, that same box costs around $10. That's much cheaper than the prices I quoted above - and that's a good thing. If you want to know the difference between biodegradable, degradable and compostable, check out this page on the WorldCentric site - the same site that I found the pricing above.

I'm pretty sure that this multi-billion dollar software firm could get quite the volume discount considering it employees nearly 22,000 people - most of whom probably eat in the convenient (and subsidized) company lunchroom. What I'm not sure of is this: at the end of the day (a saying they like to use), who's going to compost all this stuff?

Garbage Land - A must-read

Wendy Richardson co-author of Nerdy Books — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 11:05:00 +0000

Sunday, I led a discussion group at our Unitarian Universalist fellowship, on garbage. I chose the topic and title of the talk from Elizabeth Royte's best seller "Garbage Land: The secret trail of trash." If you throw things away, this book is for you.

I didn't have the book with me - just a print out of the cover. I told the group of about 30 or so that I had loaned the book to my one friend who might actually read a book on garbage. Garbage Land is brilliant. It's a fast-paced, engaging and extremely enlightening story of one woman's investigative journey through the land of garbage and over-consumption.

I emailed Ms. Royte last week. I told her I had spoken to a group of extremely uninformed 3rd graders in the spring and that this time I would be speaking on the same topics (bottled water, plastic bags, over-consumption, etc.) but to a group of of adults. She wrote back:

Talking to kids in schools can be a bit discouraging. Even if they "get" what you're talking about, they're not the ones making decisions about buying recycled paper or nontoxic cleaning products or arguing with the custodian to set out bins for recycling. But your talk this weekend is to grownups. I think it's important, as you say in your book, that people understand individual actions DO matter, especially if a lot of people do them, and they do them over a long time. Try to give some examples of positive change (look at things states and local organizations have done for the environment - not the federal government...).

Also I think it's important that people make the connection between their buying/living habits and upstream impacts. Garbage Land is about the back end, the downstream side, but what we put on the curb is just the tip of the materials iceberg. Everything we buy comes from the earth, at some point, and we have to understand the enormous amounts of energy it takes, upstream, to make this stuff, and the water and air pollution generated. (If you read my book you know all about the negative impacts of landfills and incinerators.) Buy with the environment in mind - upstream and down.

From her email and from her book, Ms. Royte is clear that there is only one solution to the garbage problem (and it ain't recycling): Buy less stuff.

The Vice President of a New York City waste transfer station is slightly more pessimistic. He tells Ms. Royte, "You want to solve the garbage problem? Stop eating. Stop living."

For most people (in developed countries), buying less stuff is almost as hard as stopping eating and stopping living...

Sarah McLachlan video

Wendy Richardson co-author of Nerdy Books — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 13:31:00 +0000

Sarah McLachlan, one of my favorite artists, has a heartbreaking video at www.worldonfire.ca. The lyrics are below. I love the line "The more we take the less we become".

World on Fire Lyrics

Hearts are worn
In these dark ages
You're not alone,
In these stories' pages
The light has fallen
Amongst the living and the dying
And I'll try to hold it in
Yeah I'll try to hold it in

The world is on fire
It's more than I can handle
I'll tap into the water
Try and bring my share
Try to bring more, more than I can handle
Bring it to the table
Bring what I am able ...

I watch the heavens
But I find no calling
Something I can do to change what's coming
Stay close to me
While the sky is falling
I don't wanna be left alone,
Don't want to be alone...

The world is on fire
It's more than I can handle
I'll tap into the water
Try and bring my share
Try to bring more, more than I can handle
Bring it to the table
Bring what I am able ...

Hearts break ... hearts mend ... love still hurts
visions clash ... planes crash
Still there's talk of saving souls
Still the cold is closing in on us

We part the veil on our killer sun
Stray from the straight line
On this short run ...
The more we take the less we become
The fortune of one man means less for some

The world is on fire
It's more than I can handle
I'll tap into the water
Try and bring my share
Try to bring more, more than I can handle
Bring it to the table
Bring what I am able ...

The world is on fire
It's more than I can handle
I'll tap into the water
Try and bring my share
Try to bring more, more than I can handle
Bring it to the table
Bring what I am able ...

Do they know it's World Environment Day?

Wendy Richardson co-author of Nerdy Books — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 22:12:00 +0000

Believe it or not, today is World Environment Day (WED), a day established by the United Nations in 1972. According the UN's web site:

World Environment Day is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action.

Principal vehicles? Worldwide awareness? Tell that to the New York Times, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, The WallStreet Journal, NPR and the BBC. Not one of these online news sites has even a small blurb on World Environment Day, at least not on the home page. (It's pretty clear that the story of the proposed marriage amendment that would not allow same-sex couples to wed bumped the other "WED" story to an inside page.) A mention was no where to be found on the home pages of both Grist and e Magazines either.

I started to question myself and went back to Google and searched again for World Environment Day. Yep. It's today.

Speaking to a Bunch of Eco-Unaware Third Graders

Wendy Richardson co-author of Nerdy Books — Thu, 25 May 2006 23:30:00 +0000

A few days ago I had the opportunity to make a guest appearence in my daughter Tess's third grade class to talk about what we can do to reduce our ecological footprint on the Earth. (Read: stop shopping at dollar stores.) They were all eager listeners to what I had to say, but the sad part was collectively (aside from Tess) they knew almost nothing about the three R's: recycling, reducing and reusing. I spent and hour with them, starting by asking how many of them turned off the water while brushing their teeth (all of them), how many knew to turn off the lights when leaving the room (again, everyone) and some other easy answer type eco questions. But then I asked them why they should turn off the lights. "To save electricity!" they all yelled. So, I asked them why they should save electricity? Aside from the tall, skinny eight year old whose bedroom is upstairs in my house waving her hand frantically, no one had an answer. So, I finally called on Tess, who proceeded to amaze the class (and the teacher) with her answer. "Electricity is made from gas, and gas is made from fossils and one day we're going to run out of fossils and run out of gas." (I swear we didn't practice that...)

My goal was to get them to understand the whole concept of "reduce," so I asked them if they knew where the garbage that they take to the curb goes. They knew the garbage truck came to get it, but after that, it might as well have gone to the mall for all they knew. I wasn't prepared to have to explain what a landfill was, but once I told them that just this year we were opening up 500 new holes in the ground that are the size of several football fields, I think they got the point. When I asked them what's going to happen if we keep throwing away trash, one kid finally got it. "We're going to live next to a landfill, huh?" Amen.

Stay tuned...

When it comes to recycling, the Swedes win hands down

Wendy Richardson co-author of Nerdy Books — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 08:34:00 +0000

We just returned from a trip to Sweden to see my husband's family. During our 10-day visit, we saw more than just cousins, aunts and uncles, we saw what an environmentally aware country looks like.

The Swedes definitely have us beat in recycling convenience. Recycling bins are conveniently located outside of fast food restaurants - Burger King has a 6-hole collection system for trash, liquids, compost, kid's meal boxes, empty cups and bottles. Multi-bin recycling stations (like the one pictured here) are located at the zoo, around the marketplace, near schools, anywhere shoppers might have a recyclable. (The photo is from www.xonus.com.) Outside the only grocery store in the very small, country town of Rattvik, there were two additional bins for recycling batteries and light bulbs!

Did you know that fluorescent lights are 100% recyclable? (Standard incandescent bulbs are not - one more reason to switch to those energy-saving CFLs. Wikipedia does a great job of comparing bulb types.) Recyclers remove the mercury inside the light, then recycle all of the components - glass, metal and the mercury. Why take the trouble to recycle these bulbs? According to an article in the San Francisco Observer:

When fluorescent lights are put in the trash the glass can break, which releases mercury into the environment. Mercury evaporates easily and travels long distances in the atmosphere, contributing to local, regional and global pollution. Once mercury gets into a body of water, biological processes can transform the mercury into a highly toxic form that builds up in fish and aquatic animals. When people consume fish containing mercury, the mercury concentrates in their bodies. High levels of mercury can lead to neurological damage.

You can find a recycler in your area by going to one of my favorite sites: earth911.org. The closest recycler to me requires the bulbs be wrapped in newspaper or placed in their original containers. Considering that CFLs are guaranteed for 8,000 hours (an entire year if left on 24/7), I'd say you'd have to be a real pack rat to still have the original box!

It's official... Nerdy Books has gone green

Wendy Richardson co-author of Nerdy Books — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 07:58:00 +0000

Just in time for Earth Day (April 22nd), today we sent out our first national press release announcing "Just the tips, man for protecting the environment". Writing this 365-page tip book (one for every day of the year) has been a labor of love for me. I started it about a year and a half ago after reading several eye-opening books on the environment including John Robbins's amazing book, "Food Revolution", Julia Butterfly's "One Makes a Difference" and "The Better World Handbook" by several authors. Books chocked full of examples, statistics, facts, etc. Books I could never get my "I want to help save the planet but don't know what to do and don't have the time to figure it out" friends to read.

My idea for this book was not dissimilar from our other "Just the tips, man" titles. I wanted to combine the information from a multitude of books, web sites and magazine articles, update the facts and statistics, and rewrite it in our concise, fast-reading, Nerdy Book format with a dorky character making a relevant comment on every page. I was so excited after writing the first 8 or 9 pages that I contacted Julia Butterfly's publicist. (Julia is that amazing woman who sat in a giant redwood tree "Luna" for two years to help save the redwood forest from deforestation.) I told him that I thought the information in Julia's book, reformatted in our Nerdy Book style, would really work. He told me that Julia was booked solid for over a year. Oh well. Her loss.

When your ready to start making a difference, check out a sample of "Just the tips, man for protecting the environment", read our press release, then order an ebook or pre-order the printed book here. If you like what you see, tell 3 of your "I want to help save the planet but don't know what to do and don't have the time to figure it out" friends! And, thanks.

"I will never eat meat"

Wendy Richardson co-author of Nerdy Books — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 11:26:00 +0000

At least that's what the sign says. I've had this t-shirt cutout sitting next to my home computer since January. (I've been a little preoccupied trying to get our "Just the tips, man for Protecting the Environment book completed...)

Last December, my son's first grade teacher handed out "Happy New Year" t-shirts to color, cut out and fill in with each child's New Year's resolution. After the little shirts hung on the school wall all of January, my son brought his home and proudly showed us his work. As you can see, the t-shirt reads:

"I will never eat meat"

Now I doubt this shirt would sell in the t-shirt shops around town, but those 5 little words made my day. My husband and I have always been open and honest with our kids about the reasons we gave up meat. Our goal is to inform them so they can make that decision on their own. We give them age-appropriate information: water use, land use, animals treated unkindly, etc. They're not quite old enough to comprehend articles like this one but when they are, I'm sure my son will do at least one school project on the subject!

Full disclosure... the same little boy who wrote the words on the t-shirt back in December also handed me this coupon last week:

Special Olympics Ad

Wendy Richardson co-author of Nerdy Books — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 03:53:00 +0000

Too busy to blog lately... there goes my New Year's resolution to simplify my life. One resolution I'm trying to keep is to go through my email inbox.

I just came across a link to a beautiful Special Olympics ad. Go to www.specialolympicsva.org/media/video_different.wmv, turn up your speakers and enjoy!

Stayed up late reading...

Wendy Richardson co-author of Nerdy Books — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 04:05:00 +0000

... this amazing page from the Gristmill blog on the Grist magazine web site. The page features about a hundred environmental confessions from some pretty eco-friendly (and funny!) people. Reading their environmental sins is quite an education in what you could/should be doing to protect our planet: veganism, biking, composting, recycling, washing baggies, fixing leaky faucets, forgoing bleach, driving hybrids and taking cold showers.

Here's one post that could have been written by anyone in my family (except that last one about composting - not a chance):

I had no idea I was such a sinner.

I thought the worst I did was drive an SUV, but now I realize I have been very, very bad!
I don't re-use baggies. I do re-use grocery bags.
I don't recycle soda boxes. I do recycle all other cardboard.
I am not vegan, vegetarian or any other veg. I love meat. But, I very, very rarely eat fast food.
I have a septic system. Didn't even know that was a baddie. I always thought it was better than city water.
I have a lawn tractor. But, I don't use chemicals on my 3 acres of lawn or garden. And, I try to use only hand tools on all other jobs.
I do, however use pesticides...only on wasps, though..I am terrified of them.
I use bleach on my white laundry. And hot water...but, I will re-think that one.
I am starting a compost this summer and my new years resolution was to recycle..so, I am on the right track. Right?

School cafeteria trash heaps

Wendy Richardson co-author of Nerdy Books — Tue, 13 Dec 2005 14:59:00 +0000

Appalling. I can't think of a better word to describe the trash generated and food wasted in our school lunchrooms. Here's a sad statistic from an MSNBC article:

A single student produces 45 to 90 pounds of garbage a year in disposable lunches, according to New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation. A federal review of the National School Lunch Program found that wasted food costs more than $600 million, plus an untold nutritional loss.

Unless I homeschool, I have very little control over the amount of food my kids throw away. (My daughter is horrified at the thought of homeschooling. I threaten her with it when nothing else works. Just kidding.) What I can control is the amount of trash they throw away.

I typically pack my kids's sandwiches in old bread bags and the other items in plastic butter containers and ziplock cranberry bags. (Quite eclectic, don't you think?) When I do use baggies, aluminum foil and plastic utensils, they obediently bring them home for reuse.

The other day, my 6 year old son came up to me, sat on my lap and said, "We're so lucky to have a mom like you who cares about the earth and makes us not eat meat." I was speechless. (Rare for me...)

Trash bag sales in the US

Wendy Richardson co-author of Nerdy Books — Tue, 13 Dec 2005 14:25:00 +0000

My husband is reading Daniel Pink's new book "A Whole New Mind," about our move from the information to the conceptual age. In case you forgot, Mr. Pink is the former chief speechwriter for former vice-president Al Gore - which may explain why he discusses over-consumption of Americans in his book.

He points out,

The United States spends more on trash bags than 90 other countries spend on everything. In other words, receptacles of our waste cost more than all of the goods consumed by nearly half of the world's nations."

I couldn't remember the book's title this morning so I Googled "trash bags US 90 countries" and found an interesting article, "Is the economy spoiled? Are we sour?" The author, a certified financial planner and author of "The Wealth Management Index" not only quotes Mr. Pink but discusses simplifying our lives and making a difference in the community. He even wrote new lyrics to the "old lady who swallowed a fly" poem. Is this the future of financial planning? I sure hope so.

Oxfam Unwrapped - 50 unusual gifts

Wendy Richardson co-author of Nerdy Books — Thu, 08 Dec 2005 11:46:00 +0000

This is the first Christmas where there are very few presents under the tree - most bought by our kids with the $15 we gave them to spend at the school's Holiday store. The "store", set up in the library, sells about 300 cheap, made-by-chinese-kids-just-like-them junk that the kids can buy for their parents. We broke down and let them shop and they came home with about 5 or 6 items... each.

This year most of our presents were bought online - at Oxfam International. According to their site,

Oxfam International is a confederation of 12 organizations working together with over 3,000 partners in more than 100 countries to find lasting solutions to poverty, suffering and injustice.

With many of the causes of poverty global in nature, the 12 affiliate members of Oxfam International believe they can achieve greater impact through their collective efforts.

A British friend of ours told us about Oxfam Unwrapped, a site where you purchase donkeys, goats, toilets, a 2% share in a mango plantation and safe water for 1000 people. They have 50 "funusual" gifts to choose from and will send a gift card to the recipient of your gifts.

Oxfam Unwrapped can even handle "Wish-lists". Wouldn't it be cool if this is where our children put their Santa list?

Interview with an 8 year old

Wendy Richardson co-author of Nerdy Books — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 12:10:00 +0000

Now I am interviewing my 8 year old daughter Tess on the environment. (Either my kids have horrible memories or we need to do a better job!)

What is paper made from?
Trees. No bark.

Why do we need to save water?
So that we can drink it. So we can live.

Why do we TRY to be vegetarian?
1. Because they're not treating the animals well.

What do we recycle?
1. Cans
2. Bottles
3. Soda bottles
4. Containers
5. Plastic plates
6. Newspaper
7. Paper
8. Envelopes
9. Magazines

Why do we recycle these things?
So that the factory can reuse them to use again. So that we don't cut down lots of trees. If we throw stuff away, it will go in the landfill. If we have lots of landfills it will be really stinky and we won't have a place to live.

If they don't go in the landfills, where do they go?
They go in a big factory and they get melted, they shape them and put them back together and reuse them. Paper gets shredded and they melt it and put it in the thing that makes it flat and they paint it white and then we use it again.

Why do we ask you to turn off the lights?
So that we don't waste electricity and so that your bill doesn't get bigger.

What is electricity made from?
Water, air and sunlight.

What if I told you electricity was created by burning coal or oil or gas? Why then should we save electricity?
So that gas doesn't pollute the air.

What is gas made from?
Fossils.

What happens when we run out of fossils?
Then we will have no more gas and we can't drive cars anymore. Unless we make electric cars or cars that run on batteries.

Name some things we do that are good for the environment.
1. We could walk to school instead of drive (her brother helped her with this one).
2. We have a wood burning stove instead of a heater.
3. We save water.
4. We recycle paper.
5. We pick up trash.

Interview with a 6 year old

Wendy Richardson co-author of Nerdy Books — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 01:31:00 +0000

I am interviewing my 6 year old son Tucker on the environment.

What is paper made from?
Thread

Why do we need to save water?
So we can drink it. So the fish won't die because if they don't have water then they can't breath and they'll die.

Why do we TRY to be vegetarian?
1. Because people are eating too much animals with meat and then we won't have any animals like chickens and pig liver and fish or shark.
2. My mother had a mom that ate meat and she got the liver out of the pig and she cut the head off of the pig and she put the head in my mom's room.

What do we recycle?
1. Cans
2. Bottles
3. Wine glasses
4. Milk cartons
5. Egg cartons
6. Soda bottles
7. Boxes
8. Paper

Why do we recycle these things?
So they don't have to go in the landfills.

If they don't go in the landfills, where do they go?
You use them over again. They make them into the things that they were except new. Like a soda bottle made into another soda bottle.

Why do we ask you to turn off the lights?
Or else we will spend too much electricity and my mom and dad will have to pay their bills more.

What is electricity made from?
No idea.

What if I told you electricity was created by burning coal or oil or gas? Why then should we save electricity?
Because we wouldn't waste lots of coal and oil and gas.

What is gas made from?
It's made from fossils.

What happens when we run out of fossils?
We don't have any more gas. But there is not that many fossils left because the dinosaurs are almost gone. Wait, all of them are gone.

Name some things we do that are good for the environment.
1. Pick up trash.
2. Save electricity.
3. If you are close to your school, don't drive there or else you will waste fossils. So just walk there.
4. We don't eat meat (most of the time).

The environment is the water, land, trees and air. (This was a reminder...)
There is styrofoam on the ground and that kills the ozone layer.

Unplug

Wendy Richardson co-author of Nerdy Books — Wed, 23 Nov 2005 21:55:00 +0000

I calculated that Americans could provide health insurance for over a half a million kids if we just unplugged. According to the New York Times, Americans spend 1 billion dollars a year to power turned off TVs and VCRs, cell phone and iPod chargers, answering machines and computers in standby mode. Many of these items use only half as much energy as they "suck out of the wall".

I did the "half a million kids" calculation myself. I remembered seeing this pretty frightening web site (www.costofwar.com) that had a running total of the money we are spending to finance the war in Iraq compared to the cost of pre-school, kids' healthcare, education, college scholarships, public housing, world hunger, the AIDS epidemic and world immunization. According to that Web site, it costs around $1700/year to insure one kid. (Who's their insurance provider? Walmart?) I divided one billion by 1700 and got 588,235. That's a lot of kids!

According to the article, our TVs, VCRs and other electronic devices remain in standby mode drawing 1,000 kilowatt hours a year per household - enough energy to light a 100-watt lightbulb 24/7. The one statistic I wish I hadn't read:

A computer left on continuously can draw nearly as much power as an efficient refrigerator - 70 to 250 watts, depending on the model and how it is used.

Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.

Bag pushers

Wendy Richardson co-author of Nerdy Books — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 00:41:00 +0000

Bag pusher. That's what I call the woman behind the counter at our local news stand and the teenager who works weekends at WaWa. Man. It doesn't matter what I buy - a pack of gum or an apple - they insist on putting it in a bag. (Most shoppers stop, turn around and take the bag...)

"Wanna bag?" the teenager says as I start to walk away with my purchase. Obviously not. "Why do you ask?" I want to say. I also want to inform him of the environmental devastation plastic bags are causing. I should tell him that:

Americans throw away over 100 billion plastic bags each year and that plastic bags start as crude oil, natural gas, or other petrochemical derivatives, which are transformed into chains of hydrogen and carbon molecules known as polymers or polymer resin and that after being heated, shaped, and cooled, the plastic is ready to be flattened, sealed, punched, or printed on?" (Worldwatch Institute)

But no. I just shake my head and walk away.

The bag pushers are in the same category (to me anyway) as the kid at Starbucks who makes my latte in a paper cup then dumps it in my travel mug. "Why'd you do that?" I ask. "Don't know. It's just easier, I guess." he replies. "Nucklehead," I say under my breath. "You know I bring my own cup to avoid using a paper cup?" I say. "Oh," says the Nucklehead out loud. Who knows what he says under his breath. I guess the better solution would be to educate this "barister" about the environmental cost of paper cups.

I should tell him that:

Paper coffee cups do come from a theoretically renewable resource: trees. Sadly, trees aren't being harvested in a renewable fashion, and the bio-degradable alternatives, like hemp fiber, aren't being applied in any meaningful way. If those cups were produced from a truly renewable resource, and composted properly instead of being hauled to Michigan, they wouldn't have that large a negative impact, besides the losses of energy. Sadly, the paper is most often from trees from poorly managed forests, which is produced irresponsibly, and then tossed in the garbage to be driven hundreds of kilometers and buried with other trash, where even the benefits of composting are lost.

Trees that aren't harvested properly are from regions in which the trees are being harvested faster than they can be replaced. Perhaps more importantly, trees aren't just sources of fiber; they protect and generate soil and provide habitat and nourishment for the ecosystems in which they live. Removing trees removes entire communities, when it's done incorrectly. Alternatives are available, but they aren't currently being pursued on a large scale. The bleaching of tree pulp to make paper has long been known to be a source of environmental problems. Depending on the bleaching methods used, complications ranging from poisoning to birth defects have been connected with making paper white. Lastly, at least some of the nutrients and energy contained in the cups could be recaptured if the paper cups were composted instead of hauled away as trash. (www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~2ndn/tips.htm)

My excuse. I haven't even had my first cup of non-fair trade coffee.

Support your local farmer. Join a CSA program.

Wendy Richardson co-author of Nerdy Books — Tue, 23 Aug 2005 01:23:00 +0000

Every Saturday we drive down to Lambertville, NJ, to pick up a box of fresh, organic, locally-grown fruits and vegetables. The produce in the box travels a grand total of about 20 miles from a CSA farm in Hopewell, NJ to our dinner table. (Did you know that food now travels between 1,500 and 2,500 miles from farm to table?)

I heard about Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) a couple of years ago, did a little research and found Honey Brook Organic Farm, a CSA farm in Hopewell, NJ. At Honey Brook, the fields are certified organic, the staff are paid livable wages and the food is grown in an environmentally sound and sustainable manner without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers.

In 2001, Honey Brook implemented the "Boxed Share" Program. Here's how it works. In January, familes like us become members by purchasing either an individual share ($322) or a family share ($518). Each week during the 25-week growing season from June to November, members receive a box (or a half box) of seasonal, fresh, organic vegetables. Some members go to the farm and fill their box with the allotted produce (listed on the chalk board) and some, like us, pick up their box from a nearby host site.

In addition to the box of produce members receive, our farm has a weekly list of crops that are available on a pick-your-own basis. For example, this week the website says:

The pick-your-own crops are hot peppers, international eggplant, okra, flowers, sunflowers, heirloom sauce tomatoes, plum dandy sauce tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, specalty basils, chamomile, sage, anise hyssop, marjoram, summer savory, catnip, oregano, thyme, lemon balm and lavender (herbs). Herbs are 1 small bunch each - Individual; 1 large bunch each - Family/Boxed Share, with the exception of catnip, thyme, lavender and lemon balm, which are unlimited. Flower quantities: 100 stems - Family/Boxed; 50 stems - Individual, sunflowers are 2 stems - Family/Boxed; 1 stem - Individual. Hot peppers are 6 pieces - Family/Boxed; 3 pieces - Individual. String beans are 1 quart - Family/Boxed; 1 pint - Individual. Okra is 1 quart - Family/Boxed; Individual - 1 pint (pick at less than 4”) and international eggplant is 6 pieces - Family/Boxed; 3 pieces - Individual. Blackberries are 1 pint - Family/Boxed; 1/2 pint - Individual. Heirloom and plum dandy sauce tomatoes are 2 quarts per variety - Family/Boxed; 1 quart per variety - Individual. Cherry tomatoes are 1 quart - Family/Boxed; 1 pint - Individual. (Please allow yourself at least 1 hour for PYO picking.)

My kids love to go to the farm to pick veggies and fruit. My son eats the green beans right off the vine and my daughter loves the cherry tomatoes. And they both can't get enough of the raspberries and blackberries!

Finding a CSA is easy with the web. Go to the Center for CSA resources, choose your state, then click Go. New Jersey has 16 CSAs, Pennsylvania has 70, California has 81, New York has 106...

The Fresh Air fund

Wendy Richardson co-author of Nerdy Books — Fri, 19 Aug 2005 12:20:00 +0000

We have been hosting a 8-year-old "Fresh Air" child from New York City for the past week. He leaves on Monday. The Fresh Air fund is a not-for-profit agency that provides summer vacations in the country to thousands of New York City children from disadvantaged communities. We are one of many volunteer host families in 13 states and Canada.

When we met with our local representative in May she told us that there are far more Fresh Air kids than Fresh Air host families. We had arranged this initial meeting to find out more information about the program but, after learning about the gap, we signed up. (My husband was quite skeptical.)

It's been really fun showing him the area. He's petted miniature horses at a beautiful farm in Bucks County, PA, swam 7 hours at my children's birthday party, went on a picnic in the country at a lovely, old farm house, bicycled 3 miles to our favorite ice cream shop and, yesterday, took his first horseback riding lesson. He's also seen a snake, 3 frogs, thousands of upside-down hanging bats at the horse farm and spiders and bugs galore and spent a week with 4 lazy Labs at our babysitter's home.

Besides having two, high-energy boys running around the house, there have been no downsides. My kids now have the experience of living with an African-American child from the Upper Eastside and our guest will have had the experience of living with two spoiled brats from the country :-)

Power Failure is Enlightening

Wendy Richardson co-author of Nerdy Books — Thu, 18 Aug 2005 11:34:00 +0000

Our power fails 3 or 4 times a year. We had one two nights ago. By now we have a routine. My husband walks in the house, flips on the switch, yells some explicative, then starts hunting for flashlights, candles and matches. I run around reminding everyone not to run the water or flush the toilets or open the refrigerator unless absolutely necessary.

Because our well has a water retention tank, there is a small amount of water available. (Don't tell the kids - or my husband.) So, during a blackout, I wash my hands and brush my teeth with just a trickle of water. I use a minimal amount of water to scrub potatoes, carrots and apples. You get the point. When the power is out, I become very conscientious of the water we use.

There are plenty of articles on the global water crisis. In a 2003 article from the BBC's web site, the statistics are grim -- two-fifths of the world's people already face serious water shortages. According to the article, "Water is not running out: it is simply that there are steadily more of us to share it."

There are numerous comments at the bottom of that article. I pulled two that best represent how I feel and one outrageous comment about the lack of running water in homes in Kentucky. That Kentucky comment prompted me to look up statistics on US homes without indoor plumbing. A USA Today article breaks down the states with the highest number of residents without complete plumbing (Alaska wins with 6.3%) and a RCAP article states that the 2000 U.S. Census revealed that .69 percent of the population lacks access to water and/or sanitation. That's more than 670,000 households or 1.95 million people! Wow. What pigs we are here in NJ with our 5 sinks, 3 toilets and 2 outdoor water spigots!

Water is abused in America and places where it is abundant. We do not put ourselves in the shoes of countries where there is no water. The only way to appreciate the importance of water is for those who have plenty of it to go without water for a few days. The rich have no idea how the lack of fresh water affects millions of human beings. We need to focus on new irrigation techniques and on education. Maya Silliman, Rainier, WA, USA

I have read a lot about water conservation. Unfortunately none of the articles I have read mentioned how decreasing meat consumption conserves water. It takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of beef. A typical American diet requires 4,000 gallons of water per day. This clearly shows that the less meat we consume, the more water we conserve. Kody Kunda, Austin, Texas

A few things you may not know about America. About 35% of homes in Kentucky have no running water. If we can't solve water problems in a Midwestern state with plenty of rainfall a huge river to the north and large underground sources, how can we hope to fix the many problems of the third world? Not everyone in the U.S. is wealthy. Thomas Stoll, Cincinnati, USA

RAH, RAH, RAH

Wendy Richardson co-author of Nerdy Books — Thu, 04 Aug 2005 12:04:00 +0000

The statistics on Recycling Away from Home (RAH) are nothing to cheer about. Neither were the Chicago Cubs, or the stadium they played in, last night. We went to our first Phillies game in the new Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. The ballpark was built in 2004 after the old Veterans Stadium was demolished. I was impressed by the size, architecture, number of restaurants and seating layout but was depressed to see not one recycling bin. Not one. And this is a brand, spanking new stadium. I should have taken a picture of the aftermath of the game. (It looked a little like the picture to the left!) Bottles and cans EVERYWHERE. I'll bet with almost 100% certainty that we were the only family who took our bottles, cans and score cards home to recycle.

According to an MSNBC article, bottled water which is mostly consumed away from home, has about a 12% recycling rate. (The picture is from that article.) I can't believe it's that high. I rarely see a recycling bin at parks, parties, restaurants, stores and schools, and when there are bins, they're not always used. We had a street party in front of our office 2 weeks ago and we put a clearly marked, open topped recycling bin right next to our closed lid garbage can. My husband, God bless him, pulled about 50 cans and bottles from the garbage can.

Along those same lines, we recently attended a family birthday party where a giant recycling bin was located next to a giant garbage can. I was so annoyed to watch the 13-year-olds (and adults) throw food in the bin and cans in the can. And this was after I made a little "announcement" to the group about where to put what. (Can these kids read?) Even more shocking was watching a guest from California (no surprise there) actually reach into the muck and MOVE THE CANS INTO THE BIN AND THE GARBAGE INTO THE CAN. I almost fainted.

Rate your electricity provider

Wendy Richardson co-author of Nerdy Books — Thu, 02 Jun 2005 13:27:00 +0000

Last year, we switched energy companies. Our old company uses high-polluting, non-renewable resources to generate electricity. Our new, "green energy" electricity provider - Green Mountain Energy - uses a mix of 50% hydro (falling water), 40% landfill gas (gross) and 10%wind (cool). One five minute call was all it took.

According to Wikipedia:

Green energy is a term used by some environmentalists to describe what they deem to be environmentally friendly sources of power. In particular green energy must be renewable and non-polluting. Green energy is generally considered to include:

Geothermal power
Wind power
Small-scale hydropower
Solar power
Biomass power
Tidal power
Wave power

According to PowerScorecard.org, a web site that rates the environmental impact of electricity providers across the US, Green Mountain Energy is not the greenest electricity company available in our area. The winner is Windbuilders, a NativeEnergy product. Windbuilders generates 100% of its energy from you guessed it - wind. The result is almost no environmental impact.

We should all make the call and switch to green energy. It does cost a little more, though. But, for less than a penny more per kWh, you can help wean us off non-renewable energy sources like gas, oil, coal and nuclear. Go to PowerScorecard.org, select your state, select the best (or cheapest) green energy company, then make the call. If you have a few more minutes, email your friends and family and ask them to make the switch. Tell them that this is one of the easiest and most impactful environmental decisions they make.

Buying fish? Get the guide.

Wendy Richardson co-author of Nerdy Books — Fri, 27 May 2005 12:31:00 +0000

The NRDC (National Resources Defense Council) is the nation's most effective environmental action organization (I'm quoting now). The NRDC web site is beyond overwhelming. All 100 million members and activists must contribute to the content.

After sifting through the site, I came across a page on Mercury Contamination in Fish. In the toolbox at the bottom, you'll find 3 helpful tools: a mercury calculator for estimating the level of mercury in your blood (lovely), a map of state and local fish advisories and a printable mercury wallet card. There's also a guide to mercury in sushi.

The wallet card gives the mercury level of the most common fish and indicates those fish "perilously low in numbers". It also has recommended maximums for eating canned tuna. My skinny daughter is eating about 3 times the recommended amount of tuna which is one can every 3 weeks. It's OK for her to eat chunk light (the cheap, dark tuna) once every 8 days. She'll be thrilled.

Vacationing in India? Leave your plastic bags at home.

Wendy Richardson co-author of Nerdy Books — Wed, 25 May 2005 13:24:00 +0000

They're serious about eliminating plastic polythene bags in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. (No clue where that is? Click here.) I came across this BBC News article from 2003 that describes the problem of polythene pollution in Himachal Pradesh and what they are doing about it:

Under a new law, anyone found even using a polythene bag could face up to seven years behind bars or a fine of up to 100,000 rupees ($2,000). The new law bans the production, storage, use, sale and distribution of polythene bags.

After reading the article I took a quick poll of a few friends and concluded that a $2,000 fine for carrying a plastic bag would most likely eliminate plastic bag use here in the US. Since the article was written in 2003, I searched the Web and found a more recent article that listed the efforts of several countries to reduce the use of plastic bags. (Hmmmm... America wasn't on the list. Must have been an error.)

While Ireland's 15 cents per bag tax would make a dramatic difference on plastic bag use in the US, I'm guessing Taiwan's $8,600 fine on shops that use them would have a much greater impact. How about Bangladesh and South Africa? They've implemented 10 years' imprisonment for producers of plastic bags or for any shop that uses them. That would do it for me.

While other countries are getting serious about reducing their plastic bag use, what are we doing? Here. Read this article by John Roach for National Geographic News. Here's a little snippet:

The plastic bags are so inexpensive that in the stores no one treats them as worth anything... they use two, three, or four when one would do just as well. The "paper or plastic" conundrum that vexed earnest shoppers throughout the 1980s and 90s is largely moot today. Most grocery store baggers don't bother to ask anymore. They drop the bananas in one plastic bag as they reach for another to hold the six-pack of soda. The pasta sauce and noodles will get one too, as will the dish soap.

How embarrassing.