Eco-Chick · The modern girl's guide to living green & fabulous.

You Might Be an Eco Chick If…..

….you’ve decided that since you’ve made it this far this summer without A/C, you’re just going to keep going and tough it out, just to know you still can (and to save carbon emissions and cash).

….going to the regular grocery store (and gazing into other people’s carts filled entirely with processed food) stresses you out. And inadvertently walking down the household cleaning aisle makes you feel like you were toxified with all the offgassing going on.

….you think that Cash for Clunkers should have had higher MPG requirements.

How Sustainable is Your Favorite Wine? Greenopia Rates 25 Wineries

Greenopia has just rated 25 wineries for their environmental impact. Here’s why:

Any oenophile worth her spitting glass has heard the dire stories about how global warming will affect wineries, altering the very microclimates that make it possible to grow champagne in Champagne, France and enable growers to eke out a Pinot Noir under a very precise set of conditions. Wine production is a multibillion dollar-a-year industry in the United States, and wine-growing regions are set to migrate northward (or shrink- by up to 80%- disappear altogether) as warm days with moderating sea breezes shift with the increased temperatures, and general local and worldwide climate disruption alters the conditions and locales where grapes have been growing for hundreds of years.

So it makes sense that the wine industry (and vino lovers) would take action against climate change and environmental degradation.

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Which Cars Win First Prize in Green? Greenopia's Got the Deets

Guest Post By Ayana Meade

According to the newly-released Greenopia Green Care Guide, the top three most eco-friendly cars on the market today are:
1. the Toyota Prius
2. the Honda Civic Hybrid
3. the Jetta Clean Diesel.

All three had incredibly high gas mileage and burned cleanly to boot. To see the top ten cars in the list, check this out, there’s some surprises in the full rundown!

Two pleasant surprises were the performances of Audi and Mazda. Both did relatively well in the Greenopia Automaker Guide (which rates the overall performance of auto manufacturers), as they both had a statistically large number of cars that met at least our minimum criteria for the Automobile Guide.

When buying your next car, keep in mind that just because a car is a hybrid doesn’t mean it’s automatically better for the environment. In fact, largely because of its battery, the hybrid carries a larger environmental production burden. Where the hybrid makes up ground is once it is driven, with its superior mileage and emissions. On balance Toyota estimates that it takes about 12,000 miles before a hybrid and a similar traditional engine car ‘break even’ environmentally (the hybrid is greener from that point on), as long as it gets great mileage and burns cleanly.

Since your choice of transportation is second only to your home’s energy use in terms of carbon dioxide emissions, driving less or not at all is of course the ideal way to reduce your carbon footprint, but if you’re like many and need a car to get around in today’s fast paced world, then this guide can help you choose wisely.

About the Greenopia Greener Cars Guide: The Guide uses Greenopia’s EPA-recognized 4-Leaf rating system, and only the top 100 automobiles readily available in the US made the cut—the good news is that they come in all kinds of price points and styles. Fuel-efficiency, manufacturing materials, EPA SmartWay vehicle emissions and proxy data representing manufacturing processes were among the criteria data that were analyzed by the Greenopia research team to come up with the ratings.

Dose of Reality: Happy New Year

“The science is beyond dispute… Delay is no longer an option. Denial is no longer an acceptable response.”

I never thought I’d see the day when the President of the USA would be considered “more green” than the prime minister of Canada. I’m happy to say, that I truly believe Obama is just that. (Although…to be fair – being “more green” then the Canadian government isn’t super hard right now.)

The future looks mostly friendly with Obama on leading the way. Originally there was some skepticism over his support for “clean coal” support – but won the environmentalists back with his incredibly aggressive and undeniably ambitious plan for climate change and renewable energies. This plan focuses on an attempt to reduce 80 % emissions from 1990 levels by 2050 along side auctioning 100 % of the pollution permits. If he holds true to his plan it will also include a $150 billion investment for green jobs and clean energies.

He is calling for 30% of all the government’s electricity to come from renewable energy within the next 11 years, and 25% of ALL U.S.A electricity to come from sustainable/renewable sources by 2025. All “new buildings” would be carbon neutral by 2030 and U.S oil consumption would drop by at least 35%. He opposes oil drilling in the Arctic, supports Nuclear energy (although doesn’t want it stuck under Yucca - but did accept $159 800 in contributions from Exelon) and supports labeling foods for GMOs and country-of-origin.

So it looks as though that America is rolling into a new year with some bright light ahead of them. To the east Spain is putting forth intense efforts to start a competition for the biggest and baddest solar energy device this world can offer. They’re not even going to keep it to themselves, but have said that they will export the technology to places such as Algeria and Morocco.

The 20MW solar tower is also a forerunner for an even more ambitious idea, one that Abascal [Abengoa’s CTO] hopes will become a standard for CSP plants in future — a 50MW version that could generate electricity around the clock. “During the day, you’d use 50% of your electricity to produce electricity and 50% to heat molten salt. During the night you use the molten salt to produce electricity.”

Molten salt technology is in its early stages but Abengoa is testing the idea at a power plant in Granada. So far the company has demonstrated that it is possible to store up to eight hours of solar energy by heating tanks containing 28,000 tonnes of salt to more than 220C. “This will make it possible to have almost constant production or at least it will be able to produce energy for most of the day,” said Abascal.

India is doing it’s part by introducing such technology as the solar rickshaw!

The solar version reaches a pretty impressive speed of about 15 kilometres per hour and, fully-charged, the battery can keep going for 50-70 kilometres. The goal is to develop the current four Soleckshaws into more advanced models in time for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

Hopefully these sorts of technologies will only keep going so that the everyday rickshaw driver can afford one. But for less costly environmental efforts we can turn to Japan where they’re using recycled bottles to save people’s lives.

All over the world there are people devoting their lives, or simply just doing their best to help save the environment. I look forward to this new year, when I suspect that we’ll see many changes in America, Canada and all over the world. Although some of the governments may not have the best plans, at least they’re starting to have plans at all. And it’s going to take the effort, passion and devotion of every single person to see some major changes starting to take place.

So Happy New Year! I hope this coming year brings you lots of green-filled surprises and cool new technologies for us all to try out. Throughout the year I’ll keep you updated on coral reefs, endangered species, deforestation, pollution and the hardships that people are facing because of global warming and other environmental disasters.

“We are not acting as good stewards of God’s Earth when our bottom line puts the size of our profits before the future of our planet.”
— Obama Oct. 14, 2007, in a speech at an interfaith forum on climate change

Bamboo: Ecofriendly or Not So Much?

I’ve heard bamboo flooring is more eco-friendly than traditional pine or oak. Is this true?
—Cara Truhlar, Montpelier, VT

At first glance, bamboo is as green as it gets. It grows like a weed (technically, it’s a grass) and can reach harvestable height in three to five years. This crop—also native to the Americas—sequesters carbon more efficiently than slow-growing oak forests, which can take 10 times as long to reach maturity.

Bamboo is grown most extensively in China for commercial products, but—here’s the hitch—it can become invasive if not properly managed. Widely acclaimed for its prolific growth, bamboo doesn’t usually require fertilizers and pesticides for optimal yields. However, once it’s cut, most bamboo is treated with chemical preservatives, as is the case with some other mainstream flooring materials, says Brad Salmon, president of the American Bamboo Society. These issues should factor into a product’s measure of sustainability.

The Forest Stewardship Council, the main green-wood accreditor, has just started evaluating U.S. bamboo producers, and so far it has okayed only one company, Smith & Fong Co. If you’re shopping for bamboo flooring, it’s best to start with taking a hard look at its source. Bamboo grows in some of the most threatened ecosystems in Southeast Asia and Central America.

Look for planks made from farmed, not wild, bamboo. Also “keep its whole life cycle in mind,” says Stowe Hartridge-Beam, program manager for indoor-air quality at Scientific Certification Systems, an industry-recognized third-party certifier. “How is the product manufactured and transported? Is it recyclable when it reaches the end of its life?” He says these questions must be asked of a bamboo floor salesperson or the manufacturer; they should be able to provide answers. Remember, bamboo, like any wood, needs additional sealants if you want to use it in a place that gets wet, like a bathroom or kitchen.

Ask for varnishes and glues that have low volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, and that also adhere to California Section 01350, the highest air-quality standard for these products. Always buy the most sustainable products you can afford. You’re worth it.

For more details on the bamboo debate, specifically bamboo that’s used for clothing, check out the excellent coverage on The Greenloop’s blog.

This question and answer originally published in the Green Guru column of Audubon Magazine written by Starre Vartan.