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If You Must Dryclean….

My little pile of separated drycleaning materials

I do have some clothes that need drycleaning and as I’m getting ready for Autumn, I’ve been making sure my sweaters and wool pants from last Winter are ready to go. You never know when you’re going to wake up in the morning with frost on the window (I can’t wait!). Besides seeking out and patronizing PERC-free or wet-drying cleaners, (sometimes called ‘organic’ cleaners) as they use fewer harmful chemicals, there are other ways you can make your drycleaning process less wasteful. For more information on why to avoid PERC, and a lowdown on the various types of alternative cleaning available, go here.

As I was organizing my closet, I had a bunch of the plastic hanger bags, paper hanger covers, and of course, hangers piling up on the floor. What to do? Well, I pulled them all apart, making little obsessive piles of the various components:

-The paper bits were folded and added to my paper recycling.

-The plastic bags were tied off on the ends, tightly (since they have that hole there for the hangars to go through), and will be used for garbage bags.

-The twisty ties go into my kitchen drawer where I will used them for everything from keeping my tomato plants held up to attaching my cat’s tail to her leg (just kidding!).

-The hangers will go back to the cleaners so they can reuse them, since I would never hang my clothes on them in my closet. Not only do they ruin the shoulders of your shirts, but have you ever seen the scene in Mommy Dearest with the wire hangers? My grandma raised me, and she had similar, though less-violent feelings about such hangers. Using them would result in my grams turning over in her grave.

-The plastic clothespin thingies and/or safety pins that keep skirts on the hangar also go back to the cleaners for reuse.

Don’t just throw a wad of plastic, paper and wire hangar into the garbage, reuse and recycle! Of course, if you can avoid drycleaning (by buying clothes that don’t need to be) in the first place, that’s the best way to go.

autumn, bags, cleaning, clothes, epa, farm, garbage, mom, Organic, paper, Plants, plastic, plastic bags, recycle, Recycling, reuse, waste

The 11th Hour, A.K.A. Leo's Movie!

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by Starre Vartan · 08/21/07

As almost anyone who reads this site knows, we are at a critical point in human history, and I truly don’t think its hyperbole to write that we are utterly screwed if we don’t make some seriously smart choices regarding our environment in the next few years.

This conceit is the same tack that 11th Hour, the doc produced and narrated by Leo DiCaprio takes, and makes no bones about the destruction that humanity has wrought on the planet. The film looks at the whys and the wherefores, and I have to say, for the first 1/3 of the movie, I was sad and uncomfortable to be human. BUT though I can’t say I ‘enjoyed’ it, it was a comprehensive look at exactly the kinds of issues we’re facing. Going beyond global warming, the film documents and explains species’ extinction, the oceans crisis, deforestation and rainforest destruction, and how these are all connected to not just saving the planet, but ultimately saving us.

The second part of the movie is the search for how we are going to solve these problems, and it actually brought tears to my eyes (OK, I cried a bit during the first part too, out of frustration and sadness), but these tears were those of hope and excitement. Showcasing EXACTLY what humanity needs to do, how we need to do it, and how we need to change the way we think about, well, everything, the latter part of the film was nothing short of incredibly hopeful and forward-looking. Changes and more wholistic views of design, architecture, and business were highlighted of course (and readers of this blog or any of the other ‘green’ blogs will know about most of it and more already), but even better was the discussion, by all the amazing folks that got together to lend their perspectives to the film, about how we have to change the way we think about our relationship to our home planet. I won’t say much more, because even if you’re an enviro-head and think you know all this stuff you should definitely go see this movie. It’s nothing short of a call to humanity to save itself.

My favorite quote? “This is all hands on deck time.”

My fave fascinating fact from the movie? There are twice as many people on the planet now as there were when JFK was president (from about 3 billion to about 6 billion). You know, I just didn’t realize that before. The idea of it is a little mind-blowing.

From the official promotions for the film:

The 11th Hour describes the last moment when change is possible. The film explores how humanity has arrived at this moment – how we live, how we impact the earth’s ecosystems, and what we can do to change our course. The film features dialogues with experts from all over the world, including former Soviet Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev, renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, former head of the CIA R. James Woolsey and sustainable design experts William McDonough and Bruce Mau, in addition to over 50 leading scientists, thinkers and leaders who present the facts and discuss the most important issues that face our planet.

If you go to the site, you can put your zip code in and they will give you info about where you can see the movie near you. If you’ve already seen it, I’d love to hear what you think!

For another perspective, check out Eco Chick blogger Olivia’s review on the Huffington Post.

architecture, business, deforestation, design, farm, Global Warming, Home, mom, oceans, produce, rainforest, sustainable, Tea

Tahoe and Yukon Hybrids: Sensible or Stupid?

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by Starre Vartan · 08/02/07

I was embarrassed. There’s no other way to describe how a green, treehugging, environmental blogger such as myself felt clambering into a Chevy Tahoe outside a restaurant on the West Side of Manhattan recently. This ‘full-size’ (read that as gigantically huge) SUV was a hybrid, true, but its slightly lower emissions did nothing for the fact that driving one of these things through New York City streets makes you feel like a road hog, no matter how obsequiously you try to maneuver. Not to mention the flit of panic that cruised across my brain as I thought about parallel parking it (but no matter, it would hardly fit in a parking space on the street anyway). And be not fooled: I have city-driving skills. I’ve been driving in Manhattan since I was 17 (that’s 13 years of competing with taxis, avoiding pedestrians, and lots and lots of street parking).

I was ensconced in the driver’s seat of the not-yet-released hybrid Tahoe because GM invited me. I’ve been writing about how to live sustainably for years now, and I thought that despite my lack of love for SUVs, I should go and try one of the hybrid models out. I’ve driven my friend’s Prius quite a few times, so I know how hybrid engines handle, and I wanted to compare. The hybrid Tahoe is similar to the Prius in that also shuts the engine off at stops, utilizes braking energy to recharge the battery, and runs on battery-only at low speeds, all of which save gas. As soon as the foot hits the pedal, it’s go time, with nary a lag, in the Prius, anyway. Except that this time I was driving a super-sized vehicle, so it still took awhile to get 5,500+ pounds going.

This is the gps thing that also shows you how your car works, in case you’ve bought a hybrid without really understanding what it is (which I’m sure will happen)! But also nice to have a visual to show your friends and family while explaining how your crazy newfangled truck works.

While I was busy praying that nobody I knew saw me driving the Tahoe through the already-congested streets (I realized that I was taking up the space two cars could drive in!), my lovely guide, Mary Sipes from GM, was telling me about how this car was mainly sold to women, who either buy or influence about 85 percent of car-buying decisions. I realized with a depressing thought that us ladies were probably responsible for the whole SUV craze. Because we want to feel safe, and most importantly, we want our children to be safe (even though SUVs, with their high rollover rates, and poor rear-crash protection stats are anything but safer for kids). Still, many people still think that driving the biggest behemoth on the road is smart, ignoring completely what that means to the safety of other drivers when you crash into them.

I am especially sensitive to this last point. I drive a 1997 Saab 900, which is a smallish, zippy car (with not-that-great gas mileage, yes I know! I make up for it by not driving much, as I ride my bike and take the train 80 percent of the time). About six weeks ago, a woman in a glowing gold Cadillac Escalade backed into my parked Saab while I was waiting on line for gas (the irony does NOT escape me here). She was going about five miles an hour and totaled the driver’s side of my car with her bumper. When she hopped out (she was the solo occupant, natch) she apologized profusely, exclaiming that, “The sensor is supposed to tell me when I’m going to hit something behind me!” I guess looking over her shoulder was too much trouble, but it taught me an important lesson: you don’t want to be in an accident with a large SUV. There’s the weight differential, which automatically puts a smaller car at a disadvantage no matter what, and then there’s the fact that her bumper was just about level with my chest as she backed towards me.

It was a scary and sobering experience. The stats back me up. According to a 2005 report by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety that looked specifically at crashes between cars and SUVs, “The car occupant death rates went up as the weights of the SUVs and four-door cars went up, but the increase by weight was much steeper when the collision was with an SUV.” And this from a 2002 Washington Monthly article, “When a car is hit from the side by another car, the victim is 6.6 times as likely to die as the aggressor. But if the aggressor is an SUV, the car driver’s relative chance of dying rises 30 to 1.” To feel safe did I need to be driving a huge SUV too? Were our highways now turning into an SUV arms race? You aren’t safe unless you have the biggest truck?

Ms. Sipes told me that there is now what GM calls vehicle-to-vehicle compensation in the new 2007 and 2008 hybrid versions of the Tahoe and Yukon, which is, “Three brackets, mounted to the frame, which manages energy in collisions with smaller vehicles. It’s really simple.” Too bad they didn’t add those earlier; they could’ve saved some lives.

Back at my test drive, I noticed I had to stop much more often since I couldn’t wiggle through spots I would have been able to in my Saab, which made it slow-going. It reminded me of the news article I read that stipulated that the popularity of SUVs was increasing congestion especially in suburban areas, since fewer of the larger vehicles could make it through an intersection in a given amount of time (3-4 SUVs could go through a light in the time it took 5-6 cars).

But onto the main reason I was here. Ms. Sipes was telling me that the fuel economy in the city for the new Tahoe and Yukon (same car, different styling), was 40 percent higher in the city, 25 percent higher on the highway, with the hybrid engine. Which is good news since the non-hybrid version only gets about 13-15 mpg in real-world city driving conditions (up to 20 mpg highway driving).

The little gauge at the upper left tells the driver if she’s driving economically or not. Hard braking and crazy acceleration will take you out of the ‘green zone’.

While I suppose it’s a step in the right direction to put a hybrid engine in a gas-guzzler, I couldn’t help reflecting on the history of the American auto industry, which has vehemently fought fuel-economy standards since the oil crisis of the 1970′s passed us by, leading to the pathetic fact that overall, cars and trucks miles per gallon efficiency has flatlined in recent years. There was a fuel-economy bill that was filibustered by the Senate in 1991 that would have raised standards by 40 percent over a decade. If adopted, we would now be saving over a million barrels of oil a day (not to mention taking a chunk of CO2 out of the global warming equation). Why was it fought so hard in the Senate? Because Ford and GM thought it would affect their profits. It is exactly this lack of foresight that has caused the American car companies to lose market share. To their new Tahoe and Yukon hybrids, I say, too little, too late.

At this point in the climate-control game, hybrids, especially on such large fuel-suckers, are a feel-good choice for soccer moms, not a serious solution. What we need now is cars that run on batteries that we can charge up at night from our solar panel, wind turbine, microhydro system or even coal-burning power plant (still cleaner than burning fossil fuels in an internal combustion engine, according to this information.

Good thing GM’s working on the Chevy Volt. Now that’s a car I can get behind without embarrassment, and it looks like it’ll even fit in the streets of New York.

This puppy’s got hybrid decals all over it but it’s promotional only. The final model will have three slightly less obnoxious silver tags on various parts of the truck, because as Mary Sipes said, “Hybrid drivers want other people to know they’re driving a hybrid.”

Article reprinted with permission from The Huffington Post. Images by Starre Vartan for Eco Chick.

autos, batteries, cape, car, cars, children, coal, death, driving, emissions, Energy, farm, gas, Global Warming, kids, Manhattan, model, models, mom, moms, MPG, New York City, News, oil, pedestrian, prius, restaurant, spa, Starre Vartan, treehugger, urban, women

Global Warming Showing Up at MOMA

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by Starre Vartan · 07/23/07

The Pejovschi exhibit is on the huge wall behind the dramatic sculpture in the foreground.

I went to check out the Richard Serra sculpture exhibit at MOMA the other day, and what to my wondering eyes should appear? An amazing exhibit of line illustrations on a giant wall on the second floor, drawn by Dan Perjovschi. Titled “What Happenend to Us?” the exhibit explores ideas like US Imperialism, the misuse of credit cards, artist-museum relationships, privacy and security, capitalism, and I was glad to see, global warming. Caught in a funny way, all these illustrations made you chuckle a bit, and got you to think, too.

Detail of “What Happened to Us?”

These cool videos explain the Romanian artist’s passion and illustrations:

Part One:

Part 2:

car, exhibition, farm, Global Warming, mom, sculpture, spa, video

Liveblogging from Live Earth!

8 Comments

by Starre Vartan · 07/07/07

—Giants Stadium, 2:45 PM EST
I’m here at Live Earth in New York, which is the last show in the worldwide music celebration so we can Save Our Selves (SOS).

KT Tunstall

KT Tunstall is up first, after a lackluster intro by Mr. Six-Degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon. Are you watching? If not, you can tune in online here. What do you think so far? KT is wearing some really cute metallic leggings under black shorts.

A Tip form uber-tan Carson Daly in the press room:
“I’ve learned when I stay in hotels and I leave for the day to unplug my blackberry and cell. And when I go to work I’ve started taking a mug for my coffee….or beer!”

Thanks Carson. Always a fount of useful information and pithy comments! NEXT!

4:05 PM EST

Checked out the musical stylings of and Keith Urban and Alicia Keyes, Taking Back Sunday, and Ludacris. Personally I’m waiting to hear Dave Matthews, Smashing Pumpkins and The Police.

When asked about what she does at home, KT Tunstall came to talk to the press and had some smart things to say (the girl really knows her environmental issues!) A couple comments:

“I do a lot of little things at home, but I’m rarely at home. I’m getting my flat in London renovated, and I’m using sheep’s wool insulation, reclaimed wood, and solar panels. As a touring musician I have to fly, but…I’m offsetting my carbon with Global Cool.
With this (concert), I thought god, six other massive events are going on just like this. I think everyone is aware of (global warming), but not that many people know what to do about it. Short films, and information available on the Live Earth. For me the best thing about it is promoting respect for other people on the other side of the planet. It’s about creating a relationship beetwen us and people in China and India and showing that we’ll help eachother and are connected to eachother.”

4:45 PM EST

And the music just keeps coming!! I feel like I can barely keep up with these 30-minute sets!

Taking Back Sunday photo by Brian Clark Howard

Backstage, Taking Back Sunday had this to say about their ‘greenie’ ways, which were surprisingly comprehensive. What was most interesting to me about them was that it seemed that Fred Mascherino, was the most environmentally-oriented of the group, and he in turn got the rest of the band, and then their team and their fans, involved in being eco. See how it only takes one person to make change?

“I’ve been passionate about this issue for years. But ever since an Inconvenient Truth, it’s helped me learn all the things I’m not doing. I recently purchased a vegetable oil burning 1982 Rabbit. I’ve also switched to wind energy in NJ, which only costs me about $3-$5 a month. ” (He’s referring to the option that most U.S. utilities have that offer alternative energy programs, for just a few cents more every year.)

My favorite quote from the group?

“(Global Warming’s) not just hippie folklore anymore, it’s mainstream.”

AFI

The band AFI, which admittedly, I don’t know very well, endeared me with a few cute statements, though they also kinda pissed me off when they mentioned that they weren’t polticial. WHAT? If there was a time to take up politics, it is NOW.

We are apolitical,” said lead singer Davey Havok. But when asked if he would date someone who’s not green, he said, “I’m vegan, so I can only eat green.”

LOVE IT!!

Dave Matthews Band, by Brian Clark Howard

Dave Matthews said (in his endearing, rambling way) that he sometimes feels like what he’s doing is insignificant, or not enough even though the band has been involved in green initiatives for years.

” I could turn cynical pretty quickly, I hop on planes and ride buses, and we’re aware of a certain amount of hypocrisy in that.”

He redeemed himself when he said,

“I grew up camping and can see that the world is finite. It doesn’t seem like it’s absurd idea that it can run out of gas. The idea of the well drying up doesn’t seem that far-fetched. In the end, what kind of world we leave for our children or grandchildren? I think it’s an effort we should make.”

And then he got apocalyptic when he said, “I’m not saying we can save the planet, but we may as well grab for straws as we go down.” Dave, where’s the positivity, enthusiasm and love for which you’re known?

When asked if he supports Al Gore in a run for president, Dave said, apolitically (BOO!!), “I want to see my Mom run for president!”

9 PM EST

I was up front and center (very up front, and very center) for Smashing Pumpkins’ set, which was musically amazing, though I’m disappointed Billy Corgan didn’t take the opportunity to plug anything other than the Pumpkins’ next album. EWWW. I’m a big fan of theirs, and was dancing like it was 1997, but why didn’t the alterna-god make a statement about what he is doing to alleviate the climate crisis? Billy, where were you?

OK, more tomorrow…Sting’s new passion, Randy Jackson’s domestic disputes over water consumption, Anne Curry’s inexcusable ignorance about green and Roger Waters’ enviro-inspiration from his fathers’ WWII war service (??)

But until then…what were your impressions? I LURVED Melissa Etheridge’s amazing speech about why we should all be in the streets to change the world (not to mention our current administration), and Robert Kennedy’s plea for us all to get involved. So I’m an issues dork. But also got into the Police performing “Roxanne”, and Roger Waters doing Pink Floyd’s “Money”.

What were your favorite moments?