The Red, White, and Green

Photo via Flickr: Steve Snodgrass

The comments have been tallied after my Eco Etiquette column last week that questioned the safety of Gulf seafood, and quite frankly, I’m shocked: I was fully expecting readers to criticize my hesitancy to support our fishermen in their time of need. I was even bracing for the U-Word.

But lo and behold — and I don’t think this has ever happened on a HuffPost comments board — all 66 commenters (save one) were in agreement: No one thinks that Gulf seafood is safe. You guys wouldn’t touch the stuff with a 10-foot fishing pole.

A few impassioned opinions from the board:

Serve it to BP execs and regulators first to see if it’s really OK. –farmilyman

A few years ago we were at a restaurant advertising fresh salmon from Alaska, flown in to the restaurant. The only problem was that it was not salmon season and there was no fresh salmon to be had, even in Alaska…I suspect the same thing will happen with Gulf seafood: Restaurants will lie to keep people eating at their establishments. Our hearts go out to these folks as they work hard in the fishing industry, but my health comes first.  –copperqueen

Sure, let’s eat the rest that’s not already dead, right? –Siebenstein

If there was another point of consensus, it’s that the possibility of dispersant contamination is truly troublesome. I think this is a founded fear: The FDA spokesperson I consulted while researching the article disclosed that although professional seafood sniffers are trained to detect a mixture of dispersants and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (those nasty chemicals in crude), the follow-up chemical tests look for PAHs only.

Translation: The only thing standing in the way of you and Corexit-contaminated seafood is human error.

What do you think? Will you be eating Gulf seafood anytime in the near future?

–Jennifer Grayson

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Photo via The Huffington Post

President Obama, you’ve spearheaded a number of meaningful environmental reforms since taking office (raising fuel efficiency standards for cars, an $80 billion investment in clean energy technology, the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program) — and it seems like you genuinely want to move this country toward a clean energy future, especially in the wake of the BP oil disaster — so would it be too much to ask you to stop being a shill for the bottled water industry?

Yep, I’m talking about that bottle of Aquafina spotted in your hand on the way to shoot hoops with Reggie Love this past weekend at Fort McNair. (This isn’t the first time, either; you were also photographed packing the plastic last September in New York City.)

It may seem like a minor detail, but those little plastic bottles are having a big impact on our nation’s oil footprint, once you factor in the crude used to make the plastic, the energy needed to process the water, the fuel used to transport the bottles, the electricity to refrigerate them… The grand total? Fifty million barrels of the sticky stuff a year.

And by the way, what does it say about your faith in the federal government to regulate public drinking supplies if you’re choosing PepsiCo over our nation’s finest?

Now imagine the example you’d set for all of us if you were photographed sporting a reusable Nalgene or Klean Kanteen at your next pick-up game. It may not bring the DOA climate bill back to life, but it’d sure be a step in the right direction.

–Jennifer Grayson

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I woke up this morning to the scent of dill perfuming my apartment; evidently, the bunch of leftover dill in my fridge from a lovely white bean and grape tomato salad I made over the weekend proved to be quite the air freshener.

Dill doesn’t last that long in the fridge though, so in the spirit of Love Food Hate Waste, I decided to toss it into a batch of lentil soup I had planned for today’s Meatless Monday recipe. The result was truly scrumptious, and with a squeeze of fresh lemon at the end, added a fragrant summertime twist to an otherwise hearty, stick-to-your-ribs recipe.

By the way, dill is a must-eat for those concerned about environmental toxins; it contains special “chemoprotective” compounds that can help neutralize the carcinogenic benzopyrenes found in car exhaust fumes, coal tar, and cigarette smoke.

Add in the phytoestrogen-packed lentils (protects against breast cancer) and the lycopene-rich tomatoes (may fight prostate cancer), and you’ve got a bowl of benefits for men and women alike.

Dilled Tomato Lentil Soup

Serves 6

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small red onion, finely chopped
3 carrots, finely chopped
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups of water
1 1/2 cups dried French green lentils (du Puy, if available)
2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
salt and black pepper, to taste

Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, celery, garlic; season with salt and black pepper and cook until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add water, lentils, dill, red pepper, and tomato paste. Cover and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 40 minutes until lentils are tender, adding additional water if necessary. Stir in fresh lemon juice and additional salt and black pepper to taste.

Voila! A week of cancer-fighting Meatless Monday lunches.

–Jennifer Grayson

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I couldn’t agree more wholeheartedly with Andrew Knowlton’s assertion in this month’s Bon Appetit that it’s time to bring back the picnic. What could be a more eco summer weekend activity? You pack a couple sandwiches, a bottle of wine, connect a little bit with nature — and you don’t have to travel far to do it (any nice patch of green will do, whether it’s your city park or a spot on your front lawn).

But sometimes on a lazy weekend, it’s hard to get motivated and follow through on those picnic plans, in which case tired tree huggers might want to check out the Boxsal, a post-consumer cardboard picnic box that comes packed with all the eco-accoutrements (well, except food that is): compostable trays, bowls, cups utensils, napkins, and trash bag.

The Boxsal can be reused a few times before discarding, and you’ll certainly look like a hipster toting the Urban Picnic Boxsal with its old-school boom box design, but at $35 a pop, I can’t help but feel that the more sustainable option would be the original reusable, eco-friendly “picnic box”: It’s called a picnic basket, folks!

Pack it with some Preserve reusable picnicware, throw in a couple of cloth napkins, and take the money you saved and upgrade from that Two-Buck Chuck to an organic vintage.

–Jennifer Grayson

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With all the talk about cell phones and cancer, I’ve been constantly reminding myself to use a headset with my BlackBerry Curve, which was disturbingly ranked one of the worst phones (highest radiation risk) by Environmental Working Group.

Problem is, I don’t always remember to bring my headset with me wherever I go, so I’m left to: a) conduct a conversation using the Curve’s crappy speakerphone (my mom insists she can only hear every other word I say); b) cringe as I finally give up and hold the phone a couple inches from my ear; and c) try to get the other person off the line as fast as humanly possible.

The solution: An anti-radiation BlackBerry case from Pong Research (also available for the iPhone), which has been shown by FCC-certified laboratories to reduce exposure to cell phone radiation by 60 to 85 percent. Admittedly, the technical jargon on the website reads like pseudoscience, but rest assured that the gadget really works: After publishing an initially skeptical review last year, Wired magazine had to eat its words after taking a Pong case to a radiation lab and confirming that the company’s claims are indeed credible.

The debate rages on as to whether cell phones are actually harmful to one’s health, but the possibility has enough people worried that legislators in San Francisco just passed a law requiring retailers to label phones for radiation risk. I’m not taking any chances: I’ll be ordering my Pong case before the 50 percent discount offer ends on July 31.

–Jennifer Grayson

P.S. I am still BlackBerry-free, true to my Earth Day promise: I disconnected the email service, so I only use the device as a phone.

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Photo credit: Lillian Falco/USFWS

He’s the king of boat music, so it should come as no surprise that coastal crooner Jimmy Buffett has donated a specialized boat to help out with wildlife recovery efforts for the BP oil spill.

The Shallow Water Attention Terminal (SWAT) vessel, designed by Dragonfly Boatworks in Vero Beach, FL, may as yet have a name (suggestion: Oilspillville?), but it’s scheduled to begin operations this week in the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge in coastal Alabama, which has been polluted by some of the thickest oil of the spill to date. Operated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the refuge is a crucial habitat for migratory birds and nesting sea turtles.

Thanks to a flat-hull construction, the Buffett boat will be able to navigate the shallow, marshy areas of the refuge; in fact, it’s designed to operate in as little as 8 inches of water (for comparison, that’s about half the depth of a standard size bathtub). The craft also features a canopy to protect workers from the sun, a misting system to provide further cooling, and a table to examine the oil-soaked wildlife. WiFi and video cameras on board will enable remote viewing of the rescue operations.

This isn’t the first time the “Son of a Son of a Sailor” star has reached out on behalf of our sea creature friends: Buffett founded the original Save the Manatee Club in 1981 with then Florida governor (and now head of the presidential commission investigating the BP oil spill) Bob Graham.

–Jennifer Grayson

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What do you get when you cross a virtually empty refrigerator/pantry with a hungry pregnant lady so besotted by the 95-degree heat (and no air conditioning) that there’s not even a chance in hell that she’ll venture off the couch to head to the supermarket? Answer: Some seriously creative kitchen wizardry.

You most likely know by now that I’m a big anti–food waste fanatic; so I must say I was rather proud of myself for whipping up this pasta salad from half a leftover bag of gluten-free pasta spirals, a yellow pepper, a tomato, some capers, and a BPA-free can of Eden Organic kidney beans. It may not look that glamorous, but it proved the perfect light-but-filling lunch for a scorching summer day. (Actually, four days, since this recipe yielded enough for that many meals.)

Oh, and did I mention it was Meatless Monday? Make that doubly proud of myself…

Simple Summer Pasta Salad

Serves 4

1/2 bag of pasta spirals (wheat or gluten-free; I like the Trader Joe’s organic brown rice spirals)
1 15-oz. can kidney beans
1 small yellow pepper, chopped
1 large tomato, chopped
2 tablespoons capers

For the dressing:
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup olive oil
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
3/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Italian seasoning (I love the one from Morton & Bassett)

Boil water for pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cool water. Drain and rinse kidney beans, then combine with with cooked pasta in a large bowl along with chopped pepper, tomato, and capers.

In a small bowl, whisk together ingredients for dressing; pour over pasta salad in large bowl and toss thoroughly to coat. Serve room temperature or refrigerate until cold.

–Jennifer Grayson

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Before I tell you about my test drive this week of the new, all-electric Nissan Leaf, a disclaimer: If you’re looking for a review packed with performance stats (or any mention of the word torque), you’re out of luck; my experience with cars consists of putting about 4,000 miles a year on a fairly battered 2004 manual transmission Volkswagen Jetta that my husband refers to as Robocar.

(Before that, I lived for eight years sans car in Philadelphia, then Boston, then New York City; before that, I had a 1985 VW Cabriolet that spent more time on a AAA tow truck than it did on the road.)

OK, now the test drive results. Here’s what I can tell you about the Nissan Leaf:

It’s a real car. This may sound silly, but I think people expect electric cars to feel more like a toy than an all-purpose vehicle that you could take on the highway, on a road trip, and up in the mountains to go camping. The Nissan Leaf is not a novelty; when you’re in it, you would never know that it’s an “alternative” vehicle, save for the ultra-quiet driving experience and the fact that you’re fueling it for practically free.

It’s really quiet. About that pin-drop driving experience: With the absence of that familiar engine noise, it’s amazing how little sounds you would never otherwise notice seem really loud. So much so that Nissan had to actually go back and redesign the Leaf’s antenna and side mirrors to make them more aerodynamic, after they were resulting in too much perceptible “wind noise” to the car’s passengers. The turn signal clicker, to me, sounded way louder than usual; something I could totally get used to, but it took me by surprise at first.

It’s comfortable. Take it from someone who’s nearly nine months pregnant: This car has great lumbar support. I got to ride as a passenger in the back, as well as drive the car myself, and both seats were very comfy and offered a surprising amount of legroom (I’m a leggy 5’8″) for a compact hatchback. I also dug the recycled-soda-bottle fabric, though I would like to see an eco-leather option as well.

It’s zippy. I’ve always loved small, sprightly cars, and the Nissan Leaf fits the bill: It’s quick to the start, hugs the turns really nicely, and the brakes are responsive. In “eco mode,” which ups the amount of mileage you get per charge, the car does feel relatively heavier, though it’s still fine for tooling around town (not to mention being stuck in LA traffic).

It looks great. Before I saw the Nissan Leaf in person, I was expecting a Ford Focus-esque, run-of-the-mill hatchback. But in real life, the ride has style; the silhouette is sleek, the front of the car is gracefully curved, and the small rear spoiler detail gives it just a bit of edge. I saw it in that “earth blue” color that seems to be all the rage these days, but in black (see above) I think it would be a real beaut.

Let’s face it though; while it is nice to know that the Nissan Leaf stands out for all of the above, there are really two reasons you’ll want to buy or lease the Leaf: #1 It costs about 3 bucks to “fill it up” (a hefty 100 miles per charge), and #2 you’ll never again have to give a dime to dirty oil companies like BP.

–Jennifer Grayson

Related post:
Tax credits put Nissan Leaf within reach

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Photo via Flickr: Infrogmation

It seems logical that the tragedy of the BP oil spill would serve as a public opinion tipping point, that it could somehow be the impetus for this country to free itself from fossil fuels once and for all. It’s what a lot of us have been hoping for, anyway.

Turns out, this is exactly what is happening, and the stats are in to prove it: According to data from the June Congressional Conversation Index, the environment and energy now top the list of issues concerning Americans, having steadily increased in the rankings since the spill occurred on April 20. Take a look:

Of the top 10 issues prompting constituents to contact their representative, the environment now ranks second, while energy ranks fifth. (Combined, the two top the entire list.) This is a marked increase from just a few months ago; in February, for example, health and Medicare were the two most pressing issues on citizens’ minds.

The two questions I have are:

#1 Do more Americans truly care about clean energy, or have environmentalists just been more proactive about contacting members of Congress?

#2 Will Americans continue to care once the oil spill is capped (as perhaps may now be the case), or will it be out of sight, out of mind until the next one happens?

–Jennifer Grayson

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Photo via Flickr: { pranav }

So the news came in last week from the Union of Concerned Scientists, and it ain’t optimistic: Evidently, harsh heat waves like the one to recently strike the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states are going to become all-too common; so much so that in the not-too-distant future, large regions of the earth — including parts of Africa, China, and the United States — could become uninhabitable.

According to Matthew Huber, professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at Purdue University and a member of UCS, if nothing is done to curb fossil fuel emissions at their current level, then the earth could see a rise in average global temperatures by as much as 15 degrees Farenheit over the next 200 to 300 years. His research shows that under those conditions, if a heat wave were to occur in the hotter/more humid regions of the world, most people would not be able to survive outside for more than a few hours.

A recent Stanford University study warns that we may not even have to wait centuries; we could see a marked increase in the number of heatwaves in as little as 30 years.

So what can you do, right now, to help stop this from happening? It’s simple, won’t cost you anything (in fact, it might even help you save money), and will reduce your greenhouse gas footprint as much as if you went out and leased a Prius: Join the Meatless Monday movement.

–Jennifer Grayson

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