The Red, White, and Green

Here in Southern California, we’re blessed with sunny, mild weather and close proximity to the farms that produce more than half of the nation’s fruits and vegetables — hence the more than 500 certified farmers markets in California, many of which are open year-round. Taking a trip to your local farmers market is the best way to shop for the freshest produce, but all those stands can sometimes seem overwhelming. How do you know which fruits and veggies are really organic? How do you get the best bang for your buck? And what do you actually do with all those sprouts?

Take a trip with us to the West Hollywood Monday Farmers Market as we talk to some vendors (and actual farmers), taste some delicious samples, and share our shopping tips with you.

Many thanks to our vblog director Jane Steinberg.

–Jennifer Grayson

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So says Dr. Billy Goldberg, author of Let’s Play Doctor, in the June issue of Glamour, which polled nearly 1,000 women on a variety of “dirty” habits — from sitting on public toilets to going barefoot at the gym — and then sent the results to the doc.

Have you ever peed in the shower? Almost 75 percent of poll-takers have. Let’s start with a few facts: Toilet flushing accounts for almost 27 percent of indoor water use in a home. The amount used per flush ranges from a gallon in eco-friendly models to a whopping seven in older types. Where are we going with this? We beseech you: Save water. Save the planet! Pee in the shower! OK, we won’t insist. But it isn’t really that gross. Unless you have an infection, urine is sterile and nontoxic. Proponents of “urine therapy” even believe it can help treat athlete’s foot. Heck, Dr. Billy freely admits that he is a shameless shower squirter.

 See, it is easy to go green! Although I’m not sure you want to bring this one up on your next first date.

–Jennifer Grayson

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It seems the environmental problems we face are so overwhelming and the possible solutions so enormous and complex, it’s easy to be paralyzed into inaction. But when I first heard about the Meatless Monday movement (which I highlighted in the RWG Earth Day post), I thought, What a brilliant idea for a simple change that could have monumental impact.

 
The Meatless Monday movement, which works in association with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, is as straightforward as it sounds: Every Monday, forgo meat. For those who the very mention of “vegetarian” conjures up visions of sprouts and Tofurky, consider that many of your favorite healthy and budget friendly foods — like veggie chili, eggplant parmigiana, and falafel — are already vegetarian.

And then consider that if every American were to make this minimal sacrifice once a week, the resulting reduction in greenhouse gas emissions would be the equivalent of all of us switching from normal cars to Toyota hybrids.

The Meatless Monday movement is especially persuasive because it’s not only for tree huggers:

• Concerned about your health? According to Meatless Monday, Americans consume 8 oz. of meat a day — that’s 45 percent more than the USDA recommends. And excess meat consumption is linked to a plethora of illnesses, including heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.
• Consider yourself patriotic? If every American gave up meat on Mondays for a year, it would save 12 billion gallons of gasoline — helping to free our country’s dependence on foreign oil.
• Worried about possible health pandemics like swine flu? By reducing your meat consumption, you lessen the demand on the factory farms — described by University of California, Irvine, professor Mike Davis as “vast excremental hells, containing tens of thousands of animals with weakened immune systems suffocating in heat and manure while exchanging pathogens at blinding velocity with their fellow inmates” – that were created to supply our country’s ever-growing appetite for meat. 

Lost your appetite for meat tonight? Here’s what I’ll be making this Meatless Monday, thanks to this wonderful recipe posted on the MM site:

And remember, if not eating meat for a whole day seems too overwhelming at first, try replacing just one meal on Monday with a meatless one. Can’t bear to part with meat at all? Start by eating a smaller cut of meat. With a fresh salad and a baked potato, you won’t even notice the difference between an 8 oz. steak and a 6 oz. one.

–Jennifer Grayson

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Update on 6.16.09: I’ve discovered a few recycling options for that broken hair dryer. Click here.

I spoke with Remington customer service this morning about my broken hair dryer, and was informed that the company offers neither repair service for any of its hair dryers — even for its newer models — nor a take-back/recycling program. Just for the heck of it,  I asked the customer service rep if she knew of any small-appliance recycling programs that accepted hair dryers; she didn’t, of course. Her only consolation was that new Remington hair dryers come with a two-year warranty.

“So you’re saying that once the hair dryer breaks, my only option is to throw it in the garbage?” I asked incredulously.

“Yes, just throw it in the trash,” she said, completely unfazed. (She sounded as though she had had this conversation before.)

If Remington only offers a two-year warranty on its hair dryers, and doesn’t offer repair service or a take-back program, then the company is saying it finds it perfectly satisfactory to send a hair dryer to the landfill every two years. Somehow I don’t find this acceptable. Forwarding yesterday’s post — as well as this one — to some higher-ups at Remington.

–Jennifer Grayson

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Photo via Flickr: Theogeo

Update on 5.6.09: I contacted Remington, the maker of my broken hair dryer. Click here.

Update on 6.16.09: I’ve discovered a few recycling options. Click here.

My hair dryer finally bit the dust this morning. I’ve had it for so long now — at least seven years — that I don’t even remember when I purchased it. Hair dryers have a notoriously short life cycle, but mine probably lasted all this time because since moving to the sun-kissed climate of Southern California five years ago, I just let my hair air dry every day. Why waste all that electricity, right? But now, broken dryer in hand, it occurred to me that I had no idea how to dispose of it. How do you recycle a hair dryer?

Since starting this blog, I’ve found ways to recycle nearly every household item: curbside recycling for everyday glass, plastic, metal, and styrofoam; Staples for used printer cartridges; Gimme 5 for spent Brita filters; Craigslist for unwanted furniture — heck, I even mail our BPA-free toothbrushes made from recycled yogurt cups back to Preserve!

This wasn’t the only broken household appliance currently in my possession. The recent hand-me-down of a high-end Miele vacuum cleaner from my mom (I’ve learned my lesson about short life-cycle products; Miele vacuums have a 20-year life expectancy) left me wondering what to do with my old, run-down cheapo model. So what’s an eco-citizen to do?

Freecycle, a web-based network that lets you find a home in your community for unwanted items that would otherwise end up in the landfill (kind of like Craigslist, but everything is by donation only), is a possibility for my old vacuum — I’m sure there’s someone handy out there who could fix it up like new again — but who would want a broken hair dryer?

I called the Department of Public Works for LA County to find out if any kind of recycling program exists for small household appliances, but at present, electronic waste recycling only encompasses computers, printers, cell phones, etc. Next on my list? Call Remington, the maker of the hair dryer. (The office is closed for the day, but I’ll contact them first thing in the morning.) I think it’s telling, however, that even for someone as environmentally focused as myself, it didn’t dawn on me to call the manufacturer until after I had already researched community recycling programs. We as consumers have encouraged companies to keep churning out products, yet given them no requirements — let alone passed legislation — as to taking back those very things when they’re broken or we no longer find them useful. Why should we pay twice — once for the initial purchase, and again with our tax dollars for government-run recycling and waste disposal programs — for the products we buy? The onus should be on the manufacturers, yet we’ve given them a free ticket thus far. We commend companies that enact take-back recycling programs, instead of expect it. How did we allow this to happen?

–Jennifer Grayson

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