The Red, White, and Green

I’m a news junkie, but even I can only hear about massive asteroids on a collision course with Earth so many times before I need a bit of fluff to lighten it all up. Literally. Like this gigundo gourmet two-pound marshmallow from Plush Puffs that’s corn syrup–free and made with all-natural ingredients.

So delicious and amazing looking! I was really tempted to order one, but since I spouted off last year about consumerism on Valentine’s Day, I thought the better of it. (And while trying to slim down five months post-baby, I find it generally helpful not to consume anything that includes the word “puff” in the name.)

So brilliant for a gluten-free birthday cake, though. Order yours here, at Abe’s Market.

–Jennifer Grayson

Like this post? Subscribe to The Red, White, and Green RSS feed

If you live in the US, drinking champagne on New Year’s Eve isn’t the most eco way to imbibe. After all, real deal bubbly is from the Champagne region of France; those 750-ml bottles incur quite the carbon footprint on their way overseas. (Especially when there are more than 21 million of them — the amount the US imports every year.)

Still, I hate to be a buzzkill, so it’s nice to know there’s Pommery Pop Earth. It’s made from sustainably grown grapes, and packaged in a lighter bottle, sans jacket to eliminate waste. It’s even printed with water-soluble inks on a recycled label.

Since it’s probably too late to order yours from Wine.com, I say don’t be a snob and grab a bottle of sustainable sparkling made stateside, like this Soter Vineyards Brut Rosé.

I for one, will be skipping the champagne altogether and indulging in some sustainable suds. Nothing says New Year’s like a bourbon barrel–aged Old Rasputin XII. What? It’s sparkling.

Oh, and don’t forget to recycle the cork. Happy New Year!

–Jennifer Grayson

Like this post? Subscribe to The Red, White, and Green RSS feed

Why send one of these guys to an untimely death when you can rent a living one for the same price? Photo via Flickr: Birdfreak.com

Since the first synthetic Christmas tree was introduced in France in 1840, the debate has carried on: real or fake? Even without factoring in the environmental repercussions of either, there are valid arguments to make on both sides: Fake trees don’t shed needles all over the place and are more cost-effective in the long-term; real trees arguably look more elegant and fill the house with that wonderful woodsy smell.

I don’t have a lifetime of piney sense-memory (save my family’s Chanukah bush experiment when I was in third grade) placing me firmly in the real-tree camp, but I have to be honest: I kind of cringe every time I see one of those polyethylene monstrosities. But it also seems such a waste to cut down a living tree every year, even if it does come from a farm and not an actual forest.

What’s more, nearly 30 million Christmas trees will be sold in the US this holiday season, and the majority of them will go straight to the landfill. (Recycling is available, but it’s not everywhere.)

That’s why I think renting a Christmas tree –  à la LivingChristmas.com — is pure genius. Prices range from $25 for a two-to-three-foot potted pine to $125 for a seven-to-eight-foot number, which is about what you’d spend on the chopped-down variety. Plus, it’s delivered to your doorstep. You can keep your living tree for up to three weeks, and after it keeps your home Christmas cozy, it’s picked up to join its other fir friends at the nursery till next year.

With a cut tree going for roughly the same price, why wouldn’t everyone do this?

–Jennifer Grayson

Like this post? Subscribe to The Red, White, and Green RSS feed

Photo via Flickr: MSVG

Is there anything more festive than a snow-covered house lit up with holiday lights? I’ve loved the twinkly strings ever since I was little, even though my mom would only buy them in the clear variety and tastefully drape them over a potted palm in our living room. (Because of course, everyone knows that clear lights are acceptable Chanukah decorations; multicolored lights would be crossing the line.)

What’s not so festive, however, is the electricity bill most people get after the holiday season — those innocent little lights are wattage wasters! According to WholeBuffalo, a new website that’s like a Consumer Reports for green products, holiday lights in the US consume more energy in the month of December than the amount of solar power we produce in an entire year.

Luckily, the solution is a simple one: Switch to LEDs. They use 75 percent less energy and look just as good as old-school incandescents. (For proof, check out this Christmas light show. The 14,260 LED lights employed use so little power, they’re all run from the same outlet.)

Just don’t forget to recycle your old ones: Send them to HolidayLEDs.com, and receive a coupon for 25 percent off the purchase of a new LED set. Now that’s the sustainable spirit!

–Jennifer Grayson

Like this post? Subscribe to The Red, White, and Green RSS feed

Photo via Flickr: Pink Sherbert Photography

Forget the turducken: For cash-strapped Americans, even a turkey may be out of the question this year. This, from the latest results of the First Command Financial Behaviors Index, which shows that nearly 40 percent of us will be planning a leaner (i.e., less expensive) Thanksgiving. That’s up just a crumb from 39 percent last year.

I hate to rejoice in the news that Americans are suffering; I have several family members who have been out of work for some time now. But not surprising in a consumption-based economy, what’s bad for our bottom line is good news for the planet. Especially when it comes to holiday-based household waste, which increases, on average, by more than 25 percent from Thanksgiving to New Year’s.

Among the scrimping strategies for this year’s Thanksgiving:

• Dining with immediate family only (20 percent)
• Staying closer to home (19 percent)
• Spending less on food (12 percent)
• Going to someone else’s house for dinner (10 percent)

Less popular plans of action include going potluck style (9 percent) and spending less on decorations (8 percent). Only 1 percent plan on canceling Thanksgiving altogether.

Of course, just because you’re downsizing doesn’t mean dinner can’t be delicious. Check out these tips for Thanksgiving on a budget.

–Jennifer Grayson

Like this post? Subscribe to The Red, White, and Green RSS feed

I like the Nicobella truffle variety box, with six flavors: Walnut Flaxseed Crunch, Sunflower Banana Butter, Pumpkin Chai, Blueberry Almond, Ginger Green Tea, and Pure Cocoa Bliss

Looks like the holidays are going to be lean and green this year: With the US economy still at a standstill, my entire extended family has decided to keep holiday presents small and thoughtful. Fine by me; I’ve long contended that one of the biggest contributors to global warming is all the stuff we buy.

So thank goodness for small (and sustainable) indulgences! My latest obsession, Nicobella dark chocolate truffles, are the perfect pick for considered green gift-giving. They fit the bill on all eco-counts: organic, fair trade, locally made, vegan, natural — even the packaging uses vegetable-based inks and is FSC-certified.

They’re even healthy: In lieu of the traditional cream and sugar ganache filling, Nicobella truffles are infused with antioxidant-rich ingredients like pumpkin and sunflower seed butter, and sweetened with agave nectar or brown rice syrup. Take a closer look:

But most important, they’re delicious. I mean, beyond delicious. (My mouth is actually watering as I write this.) And at $13.50 a box through the Nicobella website or Abe’s Market, I can afford to throw in a little holiday giftie for yours truly!

–Jennifer Grayson

Like this post? Subscribe to The Red, White, and Green RSS feed

I’ve written before about the challenge of being both environmentalist and mother; perhaps nowhere are the two harder to reconcile than at a baby shower. (It’s called a “shower” for a reason, after all — the deluge of baby goods can sometimes seem endless!)

We think we need all this stuff, but the truth is that babies grow up so fast and have such basic needs that their parents usually end up with piles of unused clothing and toys that wind up getting tossed in the trash.

So for my special event, I wanted to do things differently and have a “green” (which actually means mindful) baby shower, and luckily my friends, family, and American Baby magazine climbed right on board. Going green wouldn’t mean that we all had to be grinches; it just meant giving extra thought to a celebration and registry that would be healthy for both baby and planet. Check it out (click here for the full-sized version):

Cover and story reprinted with permission from American Baby® magazine. ©2010 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved. All photos: David Tsay.

Thank you to everyone at American Baby, my friends at Apples & Onions LA, Auntie Em’s Kitchen, and the brilliant David Tsay (and of course, my friends and family!) for making the day so beautiful.

–Jennifer Grayson

Like this post? Subscribe to The Red, White, and Green RSS feed

Photo via Flickr: Terren in Virginia

If you haven’t stocked up yet on sweets for the trick-or-treaters, there’s an easy choice you can make to go greener this Halloween, and it doesn’t involve shelling out a lot of dough for organic candy: Buy Nestlé instead of Hershey’s.

Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff over at Mommy Greenest tells us that evidently Hershey’s still hasn’t cleaned up its act when it comes to fair labor practices. And when I say “fair” labor practices, I’m not talking about making sure that workers get their full 30-minute lunch break; I’m talking about not perpetuating child slave labor.

She writes:

I’ve written about the sad irony of child slave labor producing the candy that we give our children before, but now a new report by the The Payson Center for International Development at Tulane University specifically holds Hershey — the biggest US chocolate manufacturer — responsible for the continued prevalence of child labor, forced labor, child trafficking, and verbal, physical and sexual harassment in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, where the company sources much of its cocoa.

Nestlé, on the other hand, has instituted The Cocoa Plan, by which the company is working to improve social and environmental conditions for its cocoa farmers. Among the initiatives? Improving access to water and sanitation, preventing malaria, and improving the quality of locally sourced raw materials.

Baby Ruth or Butterfinger?

–Jennifer Grayson

Like this post? Subscribe to The Red, White, and Green RSS feed

Having a child isn’t exactly green, but I always knew I could at least be the greenest mommy on the block. Not as easy as I thought: I’ve been truly humbled by how gloriously some of my eco efforts have failed since welcoming our beautiful and healthy Isobel Beatrice into the world on Aug. 30.

There have been some successes, of course: It turns out that cloth diapers are a cinch, thanks to receiving four months of diaper service as a gift; and I swear that the gentle swaying of our organic Hushamok is the reason why Izzy’s been practically sleeping through the night since Week 2 (more on that to come).

But oh, have there been failures. Turns out that no matter how proficient you are at carving out your perfect little eco existence when it’s just you (or you and your husband), all of that goes to &$%# once you become a parent. To wit:

• The natural birth I had planned so long for: Not so natural (though I did avoid the dreaded C-section)
• The piles of takeout containers from all the food so generously ordered for us in those early days when we were too tired to cook
• The piles of baby gifts taking our apartment from sustainably spare to bursting at the seams (sorry, not trying to be ungrateful!)
• The disposable diapers (albeit chlorine-free from Seventh Generation) we’re using at night since realizing she was waking up every two hours from feeling the wetness of the cloth diapers
• The air conditioner we had to buy when the thermometer hit 113 in Los Angeles this week

I’ll elaborate on all of these in the weeks to come, but here’s the bottom line: I have newfound respect for all of you out there who are trying to balance what’s best for the environment with what’s best for your family. Looks like the new mommy me is going to have to be a lot more flexible.

–Jennifer Grayson

Do this now: Looking for great green parenting advice? There is a Mommy Greenest! Click here.

Like this post? Subscribe to The Red, White, and Green RSS feed

Photo via Flickr: Per Ola Wiberg ~ Powi

I’m now two days past my due date, and I’m starting to get the sense that this little lady isn’t going to arrive until I take a deep breath and devote the next few days (or week-plus — it’s up to her when she gets here!) to mentally preparing for her welcome into the world. So, much as I’ve loved the distraction of working and blogging and tweeting and texting right up until Week 40, I’m now going to follow my own advice and do what is unfeasible for most BlackBerry-toting, iPad-loving Americans: take a technology break.

I’ve written about the trend toward unplugging before (read about: Sabbath Manifesto), and it’s no secret that I’m a fan: Disconnecting, as it turns out, is the best way to start reconnecting — with the natural world, with our friends and family, with all the things that are essential for a simpler, greener life. And let’s not forget that taking a technology break from time to time could have a collective environmental impact as well, since information and communication technology contributes to two percent of global CO2 emissions (as much as the aviation industry).

So while I know there will be plenty of eco-related happenings to communicate about during this hiatus (my plans for a natural birth, those first few days of cloth diapering, whether or not I think that Golden Path Alchemy Beautiful Belly Oil actually spared me any stretch marks), I hope you’ll forgive me if I hold off on them for the meantime so that I can truly appreciate everything I’m about to experience. I promise to divulge all when I return.

–Jennifer Grayson

Do this now: Studies show that taking the time to relax and enjoy nature is essential to good health. And you don’t have to deliver a baby to take your own technology break, either: This weekend, turn off your computer/BlackBerry/iPhone and vow not to check your email or the internet till Monday morning.

Related posts you may enjoy in the meantime:
‘Offlining’ campaign asks dads to turn off the BlackBerry
WATCH: Give up your BlackBerry for Earth Day
National Day of Unplugging promotes rest, conservation
Take a technology break

Like this post? Subscribe to The Red, White, and Green RSS feed