Is it Easy Being Green?

My daily adventures in attempting an environmentally-friendly lifestyle

Art meets green on PARK(ing) day September 25, 2009

Filed under: green space — isgreeneasy @ 3:18 pm
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How happy I was to stumble across the PARK(ing) Day website on the actual day of this annual event! I had heard about it probably about a year ago and thought it was such a cool idea–it’s a global event where people independently but simultaneously temporarily transform metered parking spots into “PARK(ing)” spaces: temporary public parks. I’m not always a fan of “making a statement”-type stunts, but I couldn’t resist the creativity of this event, because what I do love is when fun meets art in public spaces.

The original PARK(ing) Day. Photo credit: Rebar/Andrea Scher

The original PARK(ing) Day. Photo credit: Rebar/Andrea Scher

PARK(ing) Day (PD) started in 2005 by a San Francisco art collective; the point was to explore how public space is allocated. Hint: lots more space is allocated to vehicle-related needs than to green space. The idea caught on and now people in cities all over the world participate by creating their own little parks in parking spaces on the same day.

I had to see this in person, and fortunately I found out about a PD spot a short distance from my home, at the University of Illinois-Chicago.The parking spot was actually in a parking lot, so it lacked some of the drama that a space on a busy street might have, but it was still great to see. The group participating were students in UPPSA, the Urban Planning and Policy Student Association. They had quite the set up in their temporary park-lawn chairs, snacks, games and music-to make a great day of it.

Looks like a great PARK(ing) Day, complete with lawn chairs and a chess set!

Looks like a great PARK(ing) Day, complete with lawn chairs and a chess set!


The space was clearly visible from the street, and they drew plenty of curious attention.

The space was clearly visible from the street, and they drew plenty of curious attention.


All of the flowers, plants and sod were donated by a generous landscaper.

All of the flowers, plants and sod were donated by a generous landscaper.


I don’t know how much impact this effort will make on city planning or increasing green space, but it’s still a great example of what a little imagination and playfulness can create. It kind of makes me wonder about what else you could do with a parking spot after paying the meter…

 

Beautiful Green Thing #6 August 25, 2009

Filed under: beautiful green things, sustainability — isgreeneasy @ 2:58 pm
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IMG_0153After it sat in a pile of periodicals for quite some time, I finally got around to flipping through the summer 09 Nature Conservancy magazine. I’m really glad I did get around to reading it because I came across a very cool project that TNC did called “Design for a Living World“. TNC invited 10 designers to create products made from sustainable materials from around the world. The website states that “Design for a Living World asks us to think about the products we use–where they come from, how they are made and the impacts they have on our planet.”

The designers traveled to far-off destinations to learn about the materials and the people who harvest them. They came up with some pretty fascinating (if not always practical) results that provide both the opportunity to appreciate the aesthetic aspect, but also learn about the materials in a unique way. The website supports this project well with really nice design and descriptions. Check it out and enjoy!

 

Buying organic: a cheat sheet July 5, 2009

Filed under: food & drink, green shopping — isgreeneasy @ 2:19 pm
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produceI am so loving all of the beautiful fresh produce available this time of year. I’ve been buying up fruits and veggies like they’re going out of style (actually, soon they will be–out of season anyway). But, this has also made my goal of buying everything organic a bit more challenging; some of the prices are hard to take.

So, I decided to learn more about what really are the most important things to buy organic, and what items I can get away with buying conventional and not feel like I’m poisoning myself. I had heard of the “Dirty Dozen” but could never remember what was on the list when I was at the store. Thanks to a handy pocket card I received from Green America, I now have the list with me when I shop, and hopefully soon I won’t need the cheat sheet anymore. Here’s the list of the most important produce items to buy organic:

  • apples

  • bell peppers
  • celery
  • cherries
  • imported grapes
  • nectaines
  • peaches
  • pears
  • potatoes
  • raspberries
  • spinach
  • strawberries

    • (A list put out by the Environmental Working Group I found includes lettuce, kale and carrots in place of raspberries, spinach and potatoes. Probably better just go with the list of 15.)

    I also came across a list of the fruits and veggies with the lowest amounts of pesticide residue. I’ll call these the “Discount Dozen”.

  • onions

  • avocado
  • sweet corn (frozen)
  • pineapples
  • mango
  • asparagus
  • sweet peas (frozen)
  • kiwi fruit
  • bananas
  • cabbage
  • broccoli
  • papaya

    • (The Environmental Working Group list also included eggplant, watermelon and surprisingly, tomatoes.)

    An obvious difference between the lists is that most of the items on the dirty list either have thin skin or no skin, while the items on the discount list have thicker skin that is removed. That’s an easy way to remember at least some of the foods. Environmental Working Group has a more in depth list of 47 fruits and vegetables and where they fall on the spectrum of pesticide residues.

    So far my only big change has been buying non-organic (but fair trade when I can) bananas. It’s good to know that if it’s not realistic to buy everything organic (as is the case for many of us) that there are options to help make buying all of that beautiful produce a little less stressful.

    Download your own cheat sheet from the Environmental Working Group. Happy shopping–and eating!

     

    Is it Easy Being Green’s first giveaway! May 30, 2009

    Filed under: food & drink — isgreeneasy @ 4:36 pm
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    cookiesIn honor of my 20th post and 1,500th view I thought I would do a fun giveaway. Now unlike other high-powered blogs, I’m still a little indie blog. So, that means I don’t have any hot “swag” or “merch” to give away. I’m going to do a DIY giveaway of my favorite thing to make–cookies!

    I’m a big baker and cookies tend to be my speciality, so I thought why not make someone’s day with homemade cookies? I use all organic, quality ingredients, so you can be sure you’re getting a worthwhile prize.

    Here’s how it will work: just write a comment to this post telling me

    • your favorite kind of cookie (within reason for an amateur home baker to make)

    • what you love about eating organic
    • your e-mail address

    The winner will receive two dozen of your favorite cookies! The deadline to enter is June 13, 2009. You can only enter once, except you get an extra entry if you subscribe to my blog. Just say you subscribed (or already subscribe) in your comment. The winner will be chosen randomly in a non-high tech fahion. I’ll contact the winner to make arrangements to send the freshly baked goodness to your home. Good luck!

     

    Whole Foods, you had me at the first sample May 25, 2009

    Filed under: Chicago, food & drink, green shopping — isgreeneasy @ 6:40 pm
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    There’s a new Whole Foods in town, and it’s bigger, more enticing and more fun than any Whole Foods I’ve ever been in. It’s the new Lincoln Park Whole Foods, and I had the chance to go to their sneak preview party last week. I gawked at the store while munching on way too many (in quantity and variety) samples–it was like a foodie Disneyland!

    Whole Foods definitely knows what they’re doing, and how to suck my dollars from my wallet as quickly as I can say “organic vegan gluten-free faux barbeque”. Fortunately at the sneak preview nothing was for sale, so I worked my way through the sushi, mushroom tamales, organic sangria, curry ice cream, chilli pepper truffles, Goose Island brews and deep dish pizza. I know, sounds like a bit much, but what can I say? Gladly, my stomach made it through just fine. Plus, I was glad to know my donation went to Common Threads.

    If you dare, it’s definitely worth visiting this store. I’ve already been back twice! I need to take it easy on the Whole Foods shopping though; I’m so easily manipulated by the good-smelling, fun music-playing, great-looking natural foods mecca!

    Salad bar and prepared foods extraordinaire

    Salad bar and prepared foods extraordinaire

    Bulk foods section includes a DIY trail mix station

    Bulk foods section includes a DIY trail mix station

    Cheese anyone?

    Cheese anyone?

    Really? A bar with Goose Island on tap.

    Really? A bar with Goose Island on tap.

    View from the parking lot level

    View from the parking lot level

     

    Beautiful Green Thing #5 May 19, 2009

    Filed under: beautiful green things — isgreeneasy @ 2:18 pm
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    soyeonlee-090213110623When I came across the news that pianist Soyeon Lee’s new cd is made of reused potato chip bags, it reminded me of the cool things that the company TerraCycle is doing. TerraCycle has found ways to reuse a number of items that would normally become garbage (because they can’t be recycled) and turn them into bags, school supplies, office items and now, cds!

    TerraCycle started out as a worm composting company, but has evolved into much more. While they still make their worm poop fertilizer, they also sell cleaners, bird feeders, rain barrels and fire logs, all of which are in reused bottles and boxes.

    They also involve the public in their eco-capitalist efforts through several projects. TerraCycle invites groups to sign-up for a “brigade” to donate wrappers and in exchange receive money (usually about $.02 per wrapper) to donate to a school or non-profit organization. The packaging is then “upcycled” into a variety of fun items like backpacks and notebooks. There’s a Cookie Brigade, Energy Bar Brigade, Drink Pouch Brigade, and even a Cork Brigade (I need to look into that one because I’ve been saving corks for months without knowing what to do with them). It looks like TerraCycle has partnered with several companies like Clif Bar, Kashi and Frito-Lay for the collection and upcycling efforts. Just about anyone can sign up and once approved, they send free shipping supplies to help get you started.

    Now of course I have to interject that the goal should be to not have any of this non-recyclable stuff around at all. But, it appears that drink pouches and chip bags are here for the indefinite future so why not do something creative and useful with them? I have a drink pouch lunch box and it’s quite the conversation piece. These upcycled products may help open people’s eyes to the possibilities of using our resources creatively and wisely. And maybe we’ll change the perception of what “waste” really is.

     

    Attack of the Clinging Laundry: The Sequel May 4, 2009

    Filed under: cleaning — isgreeneasy @ 6:22 pm
    Tags: , , ,

    laundry2Spring seems to finally be peeking through the clouds here, and I’d like to forget the relentless winter we just made our way through. But before I go into my winter amnesia, I must revisit my post written in the dead of winter about wanting to get off the dryer sheet habit. I promised to report back my results from my tests with dryer sheet options, and after experimenting for three months, I think I’m ready to share my findings, even if they’re not that conclusive.

    First of all, here are the combinations of things I tried (these are in addition to detergent):

  • baking soda in the wash cycle/reusable dryer sheets in the dryer
  • baking soda in the wash cycle/nothing added to dryer
  • vinegar in the wash cycle/reusable dryer sheets in the dryer
  • baking soda and vinegar in the wash cycle/reusable dryer sheets in the dryer
  • vinegar in the wash cycle/nothing added to dryer
  • nothing added to wash cycle/nothing added to dryer
  • nothing added to wash cycle/reusable dryer sheets in the dryer
  • nothing added to wash cycle/old school dryer sheet in the dryer (just to compare!)

    • Yes, this was confusing. But I felt that I needed to try every combination I could think of (several times each) to really tell the difference. The thing is, overall there wasn’t a ton of difference in any of these, except for maybe the time I tried using nothing in the wash or dry cycles. None of the things I tried were completely as cling-free as when using dryer sheets, but they also weren’t that bad. When clothes were initially clingy, I just shook them out and rubbed them a bit and then they were fine (or as fine as anything is in the super dry winter environment).

    The combo I found that just edged out the others was using 1/4 cup of baking soda in the wash cycle and the reusable dryer sheets in the dryer. I’ve been happy with the results from these items enough to make them part of my laundry habit. Using these helps with the static, and the baking soda provides some softness that I thought the other options didn’t achieve. (Even though I’m continuing to use them, I’m still kind of on the fence about the reusable dryer sheets so I don’t know if I can recommend buying them. I would suggest first trying just baking soda and see what you think.) I found out that vinegar is good to use in the rinse cycle to help get rid of any residue, so I’m doing that monthly.

    Thus ends my dryer sheet replacement laundry experiment. I’m glad to be rid of the sheets and have that many less chemicals in my life. I do need to go to Costco and buy a giant container of baking soda; I’ve been going through those tiny boxes really quickly!

     

    Time to Revive Earth Day April 20, 2009

    Filed under: reducing waste — isgreeneasy @ 3:27 pm
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    earthday2005Ah, Earth Day. It’s been around for a long time. It used to be the only time of year you’d find an environmental article in the newspaper, see people doing a park cleanup or be able to attend an environmental event. Nowadays, being green has gotten so much more popular and environmental issues are covered often by the media; fortunately environmental awareness has become more of a constant in our lives. Still, there’s a lot of eco-hype every time Earth Day comes around. It’s not that that’s a bad thing, it just adds to the idea of Earth Day feeling a bit old and well, pointless to me.

    But, this year I’ve decided to change my attitude about Earth Day and revive its true meaning! (Does this sound like a familiar Christmas movie theme?) How will I do this? I’m going to find something new to do for the Earth each day of this week. I think that by embracing Earth Day and really doing something (hopefully with lasting effects) I’ll feel that Earth Day is more than just some token day when people who normally don’t do anything to live sustainably come out and pretend to care. Yikes, I sound cynical! That’s why I’m taking charge and making Earth Day more meaningful personally.

    I started out by visiting the Center for a New American Dream website. This is such a great resource for taking action toward living green and being a responsible consumer.

    Thanks to links on the New American Dream website, my first day’s task was revisiting reducing my junk mail. I signed up a long time ago to not receive junk mail and it worked pretty well, but I think moving to a new address has caused more junk mail to arrive in my mail box over the past several months. I visited the Direct Marketing Association’s DMAchoice website, which allows you to manage the mail (and e-mail) you receive. I was happy to be able to opt out of receiving all of those annoying credit card offers!

    Opting out of magazine and catalog offers got a little tedious because I had to go through them individually, but now that I’m registered on the website, whenever I get some pesky item in the mail that I don’t want, I can go to the website and opt out of that company’s mailings.

    I feel better already! Now, what to do tomorrow…