Picky Polly

Consumer choices intimately linked to the natural world

floatr — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 13:08:50 +0400

Consumer choices intimately linked to the natural world

"I have reported on the Cold War, the breakup of the Soviet Union, the rise of Al Qaeda, and the wars..."

floatr — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 20:35:29 +0400

“I have reported on the Cold War, the breakup of the Soviet Union, the rise of Al Qaeda, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but nothing matches climate change in scope and severity.”

- Martin Smith @ PBS

"Our carbon instinct needs to be just like the one we have for managing our money."

floatr — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 14:12:39 +0400

“Our carbon instinct needs to be just like the one we have for managing our money.”

- Mike Berners-Lee in How Bad Are Bananas?

The Little Book of Shocking Eco Facts

floatr — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 13:35:16 +0400

The publishers of “The Little Book of Shocking Global Facts” is releasing a successor this fall: “The Little Book of Shocking Eco Facts.” The book is by Mark Crundwell and Cameron Dunn, with illustrations by Barnbrook Design. Much like its predecessor the book will be filled with striking illustrations and ‘shocking’ facts about our rainforests, wetlands, seas, and more. The intention of the book is to build awareness about threats to the natural world, in an effort to inspire people to “help avert the needless destruction of our shared and beautiful world.”

Continue reading at http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/011494.html

Bottled water is healthy water – or so marketers would have us...

floatr — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:12:30 +0400

Bottled water is healthy water – or so marketers would have us believe.

Just look at the bottled water labels or ads: deep, pristine pools of spring water; majestic alpine peaks… In reality, bottled water is just water; however, that fact isn’t stopping people from buying a lot of it. Here are some solid reasons to kick the bottled water habit.

via http://www.termlifeinsurance.org/why-you-should-stop-drinking-bottled-water/

Seeing Beyond the Expiration Date

floatr — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 13:32:39 +0400

We waste a lot of food. While the strict definition of what “sustainable food” is might not address the reality of our waste, the quantity in which we waste food goes directly against any sort of notion of sustainability. We throw out perfectly good food willy-nilly: it fills the dumpsters behind grocery stores and restaurants, it’s left on our plates and thrown without hesitation into the trash, tossed without heed when we clean out our refrigerators and kitchen cabinets. There are probably lots of factors that contribute to why many of us don’t think twice before throwing out so much food, like our ideas about food safety, food security status, and so on. Whatever the reasons, we Americans throw away over 40 percent of our food, and need to start employing strategies to counter that number and cut down on our wastefulness to create a more sustainable food system.

I’m not necessarily suggesting anything as “extreme” as dumpster diving, but I think it’s worth pointing out that, in reality, dumpster diving is not very extreme at all. However the fact that we have that perception about dumpster diving demonstrates our general discomfort with food that’s been discarded. Dumpster diving doesn’t mean rooting around in trash cans full of rotting, moldy food. It might be better referred to as food rescue, for it is saving perfectly good food from getting to the point of rotting. Behind supermarkets, bakeries, and restaurants there are bins full of all kinds of fruits, vegetables, breads, etc. that are just past their “sell by” date or are tossed to make way for a new shipment of food. Rescuing food from the landfill (or compost) also lowers the amount of money you spend on food, particularly because much of the food thrown away is the pricey produce. While grocery stores do donate a lot of just-expired food to food banks and soup kitchens, there is plenty ripe for the taking if you know where to find it. It should also be noted that many markets, particularly small, independent markets are finding ways to reduce waste by incorporating food that isn’t sell-able into prepared salads and such.

If you’re not comfortable with dumpster diving, you can reduce your personal food waste by reconsidering expiration dates. The expiration date, as it turns out, isn’t much of an indicator as to whether or not our food should be discarded for safety reasons. In most cases, it’s pretty ambiguous and more of a suggestion than anything else. Something that I think is integral to the idea of sustainable food, is being more connected, aware, and in touch with your food, which has a lot of bearing on waste. If the expiration or “best by” date says one thing, but after you look it over and give it a sniff it seems fine, then it is probably fine. Our bodies are generally capable of telling us what is ok and what isn’t ok to eat, and we should return to honoring that sense, rather than rely without question to standards set by someone else. Often expiration dates are decided upon based on the worse case scenario, like if someone didn’t refrigerate their groceries right away or didn’t seal a package fully. The shelf life of food is far extended if it is stored properly. Even the regulations that set expiration dates for staples like milk vary state to state. When it comes to something as wishy-washy as “expiration” dates, it’s better to rely on your gut instinct.

I don’t mean to say that we should lower our standards completely and only eat food that’s on the brink of bad. Even I get a bit squeamish if the raw milk in my fridge starts to smell a little off. But if we commit to supporting sustainable food, part of that is committing to be much more conscious of what we waste, whether it’s cutting down on portion sizes, buying less, or checking out the dumpster scene.

via http://www.justmeans.com/Sustainable-Food-Footnotes-Seeing-Beyond-Expiration-Date/21465.html

The Story of Cosmetics.

floatr — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 19:59:08 +0400

The Story of Cosmetics.

Tracking Water Use in Real Time

floatr — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:44:42 +0400

Smart energy meters can help us conserve energy, sure, but what about water? As anyone suffering through a heat wave knows, water conservation can be just a crucial as power to keeping a city running. Beginning this week, residents of the Bronx will have detailed access to the minutiae of their water use courtesy of a real-time, online water use and bill tracking system.

The tool is available thanks to a $252 million citywide upgrade of the water-meter system. The upgrade also includes a switch to wireless water meters that provide more precise readings. So far 834,000 customers have the wireless meters, and the city expects to have its online water use tool available to all of them by September, according to The New York Times.

NYC’s tool will help customers track water consumption more effectively, but it won’t reward customers for using water at certain times. Although tiered water pricing plans are already being used in some cities, including Seattle and Tampa, and Mayor Bloomberg says such plans aren’t outside the realm of possibility for NYC, it’s not going to be part of this program.

The smart water industry isn’t nearly as developed as the smart energy sector, where a slew of companies are scrambling to grab a piece of the market. Still, as anyone who has been stuck in an area without fresh water can tell you, water use is just as important as energy consumption. And eventually, startups and established companies alike will start paying attention.

Original Post @ http://bit.ly/byT457

Why Does Sustainable Development Depend on Individual Acts of Heroism?

floatr — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:14:24 +0400

The Sustainable Agriculture Farmer Joel Salatin wrote a book titled Everything I want to do is Illegal. The opposite question that seems to come up again and again in sustainable development is, namely, why isn’t everything that’s harmful illegal?

No, this isn’t about bringing back prohibition or wading into the waters regarding America’s drug policy. This is not about big brother or government interference regarding what an adult knowingly chooses to do to his or her own body. This is far more banal. From the routine feeding of antibiotics to farm animals, to the piles of plastic currently adrift in the world’s oceans it seems as though we’ve erected a system that not only allows us to behave in unsustainable ways, rather we’ve developed one that actually encourages us to act in unsustainable ways.

Take for example, vinyl.

Vinyl, officially known as Polyvinyl chloride is an unbelievably toxic thermoplastic polymer. Every stage in its life cycle - production, use, and disposal - is a never ending assault on human health and the planet. The chemicals in vinyl are linked to the development of brain cancer, leukemia, liver diseases, birth defects, impaired neurological development, immune suppression and many, many other disorders. Dioxin which leaches from vinyl factories is bioaccumulative, which means that as it enters the environment it concentrates from simple organisms to more complex organisms becoming ever more toxic as it moves up the food chain.

Vinyl is also not recyclable.

And yet, vinyl is everywhere. It’s used in clothes, upholstery, vinyl siding, children’s toys, vegan shoes, shower curtains (that ‘new’ smell is actually volatile organic compounds off gassing). Unless one is both aware of the problems associated with vinyl and makes a concerted effort not to purchase vinyl products they become a complicit actor in harming both the environment and their own health.

And it’s not just vinyl.

From the food we eat to the clothes we wear, unless one is knowledgeable and informed each represents a mine field of socially, economically, and environmentally unsustainable practices that even the most ardent sustainability activist can’t wade through without completely opting out of society.

It boggles the mind.

In short, why is it that the most toxic aspects of our culture are opt-out instead of opt in?

Original Post @ http://bit.ly/cftYpJ

Your Hidden Toxic Waste (and What You Can Do About It)

floatr — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 10:09:43 +0400

Your Hidden Toxic Waste (and What You Can Do About It)

Baking bread, saving the planet.

floatr — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 17:38:00 +0400

Baking your own bread eliminates the plastic waste which wholesale and pre-packed bread automatically generates.

When you bake your own bread you also have FRESH YUMMY SCRUMMY bread in the house every day. The smell of fresh bread. Mmmm nothing beats that! :-)
Did you know that let alone in the UK, 7mn slices of bread are thrown away every day. Not only would baking your own bread mean you would avoid the plastic waste which bread purchased in the super market generates, having day fresh and home made bread would also result in less waste.

Start baking! :-)

- Kristina. @disruptiveplay

“The best things in life aren’t things.”

floatr — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 13:33:06 +0400

“The best things in life aren’t things.”

What’s the carbon footprint of … a banana? The banana is a...

floatr — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 14:00:20 +0400

What’s the carbon footprint of … a banana?

The banana is a strong candidate for the ultimate low-carbon food.

Clay Shirky: How cognitive surplus will change the world

floatr — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 00:39:52 +0400

Clay Shirky: How cognitive surplus will change the world

Sustainable Living and the Quick Guide to Plastics.

floatr — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 22:32:43 +0400

Sustainable Living and the Quick Guide to Plastics.

Starbucks Disposable Cups Deemed “Unrecyclable” by...

floatr — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 22:02:26 +0400

Starbucks Disposable Cups Deemed “Unrecyclable” by Major Recycling Companies.

Conflict Minerals 101, part of the ENOUGH Project. via @artraj

floatr — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 16:25:18 +0400

Conflict Minerals 101, part of the ENOUGH Project.

via @artraj

the clean bin project: documentary filma competition where less...

floatr — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 11:10:25 +0400

the clean bin project: documentary film

a competition where less is more

Net2 did an interview with me about the Picky Polly project.

floatr — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 21:50:09 +0400

Net2 did an interview with me about the Picky Polly project.

Where Do Gadgets Really Come From?

floatr — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 09:53:48 +0400

Where Do Gadgets Really Come From?:

Armed with our laptops and smartphones, our apps and Twitter accounts, consumers enjoy previously unimaginable access to marketplace information and sometimes even power. The Web crackles with peer reviews; with the right mobile device we can scan a bar code of something at the mall and compare the price with far-flung retail rivals. And we can vent and maybe achieve some satisfaction. Remember the online video of the slumbering Comcast repairman? Remember when the consultant and writer Jeff Jarvis blogged his unhappy laptop experiences into what became the “Dell Hell” public-relations nightmare? Add it all up, and it’s a significant shift, a “transparency triumph,” as Trendwatching.com put it not long ago.

Continue reading here.