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Starre Vartan to Speak at "Plugging Into Green" Panel in Brooklyn

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by Starre Vartan · 01/20/09

P.S. 107 Kicks off its 5th Annual “Readings on the 4th Floor” Series by Plugging into the Green Movement Leading writers from the frontlines of “green” discuss life and community-changing strategies.

Why in a city with the cleanest water in the country do the mass of New Yorkers cling to their chemical-infused bottled water? Is “reduce, reuse, recycle” a livable reality for most families?

Leading writers on all issues green will gather to sort through the facts from the garbage at the 5th Annual “Readings on the 4th Floor” series which kicks off Wednesday, January 21st in Park Slope, Brooklyn at 7:30 PM.

The theme of the first reading is “Plug Into Green.” The reading and discussion will feature:

Elizabeth Royte, author of Garbage Land & most recently Bottlemania
Helen Coronato, author of Eco-Friendly Families
Starre Vartan, author of The Eco-Chick Guide to Life

The discussion will be moderated by Graham Hill, founder of Treehugger, the internet’s leading green news portal.

Each of the authors approaches different aspects of green. Coronato has produced a hands-on guide for families that want to adopt eco lifestyles.

Royte is an investigative reporter devoted to uncovering the truth behind topics like the marketing of bottled water and the disposal of trash in America.

Starre Vartan is determined to prove that green can be fabulous, fashionable and not too expensive.

The unifying tone of the panelists is one of levity and humor toward a crucially-important topic: Green doesn’t have to be dull or scolding.

Plug into Green will be held on the 4th Floor of PS 107, which is located at 13th Street and 8th Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Tickets are $15 online at www.ps107.org or $20 at the door.

All books will be available for sale.

This esteemed topical literary series continues to raise funds for the newly renovated fourth floor library/art/performance space of P.S. 107 and has featured everyone from Pulitzer prize winning authors such as Jumpha Lahiri, Interpreter of Maladies, to leading journalists including George Packer of The New Yorker.

The series this year will continue through the spring with evenings devoted to making theater happen in New York and Brooklyn nov

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Deplasticize Your Life!

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by Starre Vartan · 08/18/08

This movie from the 1950′s shows Disney’s “House of the Future” which is totally kitted out in plastic EVERYthing. Ironic that here I am from 2008 writing about how to get plastic out of my life!

I haven’t picked up a plastic bag in weeks now*, and I’m looking for a new eco-challenge. I think a wholesale elimination of ALL plastic from my life could be a worthwhile next step towards the continuing greenification of my life.** Why plastic? Yes, it CAN be great (plastic medical devices save lives and plastic helps reduce the weight of cars so they’re more fuel-efficient), but mostly, it’s evil.

Reason 1: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, an area TWICE the size of the continental U.S. that’s filled with floating plastic debris. The smaller the plastic gets, the higher in the water column it floats, with marine life choking on the stuff. The source of the debris? North America and Asia (that’s you and me).

Reason 2: Plastic is made from petroleum, a non-renewable resource that we’re spending millions of dollars and the lives and well-being of our fellow humans to obtain. Eight percent of oil worldwide goes to make plastics. My use increases demand.

Reason 3: Many plastics (we’re not even totally sure which ones yet) leach toxic chemicals into our environment (and us, especially fetuses) when they’re created, and into our bodies when we use them for food and beverage storage. Life is toxic enough without adding to it.

Instead of plastic storage containers, try: Glass ones. There are all kinds, from traditional round-shaped ones from Pyrex, but I like these square versions with frosted tops even better.

Instead of plastic produce bags try: Cloth or reusable ‘green’ bags (or none at all). Naturally-protected produce like bananas, oranges, apples, limes and avocados don’t need a bag- I never use them and my veggies aren’t suffering. Only leafy stuff and small fruits and veggies (cherries, brussels sprouts) really need to be bagged. I use the Evert-Fresh bags (but several companies make these now) because they keep produce fresh in the fridge way longer than supermarket produce babs. You can bring these to the market for those items that demand a carrier, and you can just rinse and reuse these. (I’ve had mine for four years now.) A friend of mine likes different-sized cloth bags which she throws in the laundry every now and again, so that’s another option.

Instead of plastic wrap try: A dish! (My father who lives in Australia actually taught me this one-thanks Dad!) Instead of putting plastic over a plate of leftovers, just use another dish of the same size or smaller. Want to be able to see what’s under there? Use a clear glass plate. For bowls, use teacup saucers (you can find these a goodwill for pennies. Food will stay moist and protected sans plastic, and the plates are reusable forever.

Instead of plastic baggies try: Wax paper bags or a cloth napkin.
This is a toughie. Sometimes there’s nothing like a sealable plastic bag- for something mushy or potentially messy- if I have to, I use mine over and over until they die so I don’t buy more than a box of these every couple years, if that. But for drier items (sandwiches, fruit, cut veggies) a wax paper bag will keep moisture in and it will eventually biodegrade (unlike plastic). I use a cloth napkin for short-term transport of homemade burritos, sandwiches and veggies which won’t leak much but need a bit of protection. I can use it as a napkin while eating; plastic, not so much.

Instead of plastic silverware, try: Bringing your own.
I carry my own utensils- or I should say utensil- with me: the Aussie splayde is perfect, but a spork works too, so I never need to use plastic. You could also try a set of collapsible chopsticks (I find a need a spoon more often than a fork, but think about what you eat and what works for you).

*The key to avoiding plastic bags is to carry an oversized bag so you always have a place for small items, keeping a fold-up reusable bag like Envirosax in your bigger bag, and leaving your canvas bags for grocery shopping in the car so you’re always prepared.

** So far I’ve switched to 75% organic food in my home, I drive only on the weekends, I’ve gotten a super-efficient furnace, use only low-VOC paints, compost food scraps, grow my own veggies and herbs, buy from my local farmer’s market from April-October, adopted all my animals, buy more than half my clothes and shoes from sustainable companies (see my blog, Eco Chick for a listing), take the train instead of flying, switched from a desktop to a laptop (they use 90% less power), bought a water and energy efficient new washer, and line-dry my clothes whenever possible. I’ve been vegetarian for 15 years, so that’s not recent, but it still counts!

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Green in Paris

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by Melissa Goldberg · 05/19/08

So I think I have used up my allotment of fossil fuels for at least the remainder of this year, or more likely the next decade. Why? My husband surprised me with a birthday trip to Paris last weekend.

Americans have a love/hate relationship with the French. So of course as an American and a “greenist,” I had to do some hardcore observations of Parisian “green” habits and compare them to what we do here. What I discovered from my four days in the “City of Lights” is as follows.

(1) Recycling
There is a recycling program in place in Paris, but I am not sure if the Parisians are interested. On some streets they have huge recycling bins for bottles and cans, but most of them were covered with graffiti (which happens to be all over the city). In the parks, they have recycling bags next to the the garbage bags but as you can see in the picture, recyclables are also placed in the garbage bag. On a walking tour the Marais, I asked our tour guide about how well Parisians recycle. She said they are horrible and during our tour she opened a recycling bin from an apartment building to show us what she meant. It was filled with recyclables and non-recyclables.

(2) Reusables
My husband and I went in a few supermarkets (which I love to do whenever I travel abroad), and outdoor markets and I think I saw maybe 5 people using reusable bags. The worst was in the outdoor markets where you can buy fruits, vegetables, meats, cheese, bread, fish, flowers and much more. The biggest one we went to was in Versailles, and everything was put in a plastic bag. Many did bring their own reusable totes but those bags were then stuffed with plastic bags. It appeared to me that they may use more plastic bags than we use.

(3) Transportation
Paris is a very busy city with lot of traffic. But I would not say that they have any more traffic then New York City. They do drive smaller, and most likely, more efficient cars (I didn’t see one Hummer or SUV) and many people ride bikes and take the subway. I think more people ride bikes in Paris then they do in Manhattan–but not as many as in Beijing. But the most ingenious thing that we observed in Paris was a bike rental system called Velib. The system began in July 2007, with 10,000 bikes, and now they are up to 20,000 bikes all over Paris. Riders can buy monthly, daily or hourly passes to rent bikes stationed at more than 1,400 automated stations across the city. A bike can be rented from one station and returned to another. From what we saw, and from the doubling of the number of bikes in use, it appears that the Parisians love the system. My husband and I wished we had more time to try it out. Its funny, the first few days in Paris we weren’t sure what these bikes were. Initially we thought they were motorized, then we didn’t understand the rental system. By the time we figured out what was what it was it was time to go. I wonder if this would work in NYC?

(4) Food
You should know that I have an obsession with food. Our trip to Paris had some gastronomic highs–the picnic in Versailles– and some lows–dinner at Chez Andre off the Champs-Elysées. So of course I had to find out where the French food comes from. I think this is a department that they really do better than we do. French farmers say no to GMO’s –they even strike and riot to oppose them on a semi-regular basis. None of the fruits or vegetables grown in France are from genetically modified seeds. NONE! We can’t say anything like that here. You can also find organic produce in Paris. We spoke to some butchers and they insisted that none of the meat is treated with antibiotics or hormones and that beef is grass-fed. One of the butchers we spoke with even made a stink face when referring to grain fed beef. I could not find anywhere on the internet to confirm or deny this so I have to take their word, for now. I did ask Shannon Hayes, a grass-fed beef farmer from Sap Bush Farms and author of The Farmer and the Grill and she said “It is my understanding is that not all meat in France is grass-fed. But a fair amount is. Quite often it depends on the breed – charolais beef, for example, is supposed to be exclusively raised on grass. When I was there I saw a lot of cattle grazed and fed in the barn – a model that is infinitely more sustainable than factory farms, but not, according to our strict definitions, grass-fed. The meat is also much more likely to be raised on small farms, not from confinement facilities.”

So what do I take from my trip to Paris?

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WORLD OF WASTE: America’s Mass Consumption in Images

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by Olivia Zaleski · 05/05/08

WORLD OF WASTE: America’s Mass Consumption in Images

Look at this image.

Photo by Chris Jordan.

Pan out . . .

Photo by Chris Jordan.

Pan out a little more . . .

Chris Jordan. Plastic Bottles, 2007. 60×120″

That right there, is 2,000,000 plastic bottles. The amount of plastic bottles Americans throw out every five minutes.

Welcome to the work of Chris Jordan, a Seattle-based photographer and environmental advocate. Jordan takes beautiful photographs of waste. His hope: to disgust us to change.

Look at this one, a 7 foot long image of 60,000 plastic bags. That’s the amount of plastic bags we use in the U.S. . . . every five seconds. Are you disgusted yet?

Chris Jordan. Plastic Bags, 2007. 60” x 72”

Disappointingly, the jpegs on your computer screen can barely do justice to Jordan’s massive, high resolution photographs, most of which take up entire walls in galleries. Each image illustrates a grouping of America’s waste. But, as Jordan so often prefaces, capturing dissipation in a single photograph is impossible. The true scale of our mass consumption’s accumulation is invisible. Its magnitude is undetectable as it is spread throughout garbage dumps, storage units and landfills from Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island to a fermenting heap in Kenya.

Given the disconnect, Jordan uses “computer shenanigans” or photo shop to illustrate the true scale of our nation’s waste. He starts out with a single image, multiplying it over and over and over again to reach the statistic of our consumption. This image, for example, represents the number of cell phones America discards every few minutes.

Photo by Chris Jordan.

A few hours go by. We discard more cell phones. The heap grows larger.

Photo by Chris Jordan.

A day goes by. 426,000 cell phones discarded in total.

Chris Jordan. Cell Phones, 2007. 60×100″

To explain the shocking magnitude of our waste, Jordan has also released a video installation, Intolerable Beauty and Running the Numbers. The video premiered via the Ingeo NatureWorks Creative Gallery in New York City on Earth Day (Aprill 22nd) and will travel around the world in conjunction with Ingeo Earth Month ending on World Environment Day (June 5th). You can catch Jordan’s video as it travels with Ingeo’s Earth Month exhibit (popular stop off points include Paris and Tokyo) or you can find the film on Jordan’s website (chrisjordan.com).

I encourage you to watch this film. It is mind-blowing and depressing, but also inspiring. As Jordan says in his own words, “ it may not be the most comfortable terrain, but I have heard it said that in risking self-awareness, at least we know that we are awake.”

For larger images visit Olivia Zaleski’s blog on the Huffington Post.

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Living Modestly Is Not Uncomfortable

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by Katie Kish · 01/27/08

I hate that living modestly is starting to be equated with disregarding the comforts that we’ve been given… instead of a noble and earth saving way of life.

I have a group of friends who all live together. In a maximum 6 person house (4 “real” bedrooms) there are 13 people. They have no television, only a couple of them have a computer, when I go over there are rarely lights on and they in no way went out of their way to buy new furniture or anything for the house. On top of these smaller things they also bike around – no one owns a car – cook together with vegan, organic, dumpster dived food and they run the house on grey water.

Just a quick summary for those who don’t know – dumpster diving is when you take food out of a dumpster to eat it. A lot of people get a little grossed out by this thought however having worked in a grocery store I assure you there is more than plenty of completely fresh and fine food being thrown out. Before knowing people who dumpstered I often thought “why would those dumpsters be locked???” but now I know that for whatever reason some grocery stores don’t want people stealing their garbage.

Grey water is essentially just reusing water. Most houses that are being built in Guelph are already implementing grey water systems directly into the house by connecting washing machine water to toilets. Said friends put the plug in during a shower and use shower water to flush toilets. And to be honest – the toilets don’t get flushed that often anyway.

For me, this would be an almost impossible way of living. I hate being cold, they never have the heater one. I live on my computer, they don’t have internet. I drink a liter of milk a day, they never drink milk. I will never will with a roommate ever again in my entire life unless I’m getting married, they live with 12 other people. It takes a lot of dedication and passion for the environmental movement to live this kind of lifestyle.

When I told my brother and a friend of mine about this they had the same reaction “that’s disgusting”. … I said that you would just have to get used it, but then they corrected me. Neither meant that it was physically disgusting, but that it was disgusting to see people choosing to live like “the poor”. They felt as though this was a mockery to people who couldn’t afford food, who couldn’t afford to live with just one family in a house and who couldn’t afford to keep their hydro on. Instead you have a household of by no means rich, but by no mean poor… group of kids who are choosing to not work and live like that. They choose to eat “garbage”, to be cold and to stay in the dark.

I brushed it off at the time, but it is now one thing that has been running through my head day in and day out. The only reason grocery stores throw out “almost” expired food is because if they lower the price people won’t buy the higher priced food – so they just keep it until it doesn’t make sense to sell it at the same price point and then toss out the perfectly good food.

Granted, dumpstering started out as a way to beat economic struggling but soon became a haven for “freeganism” (those who want to escape the consumerist life and culture) so it is backpacking off something poor people WERE doing. But with grey water… 50 – 80% of all residential water waste is from grey water.

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