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

You Might Be an Eco Chick If…..

…….you have so many tote bags that you end up giving the person at the checkout line behind you a couple to keep them from plastic-bagging it. You think that maybe some free reusable bags is all that it will take to convert them.

…….you get crazy dehydrated because you REFUSE to buy water in a plastic bottle and you forgot your Sigg at home. Then you get really mad because the public water fountain seems like an endangered species.

……..you decide to paint your wood floors (hey, it’s trendy at least) because you can’t deal with the refinishing chemicals being in your bedroom, using no-VOC paint of course.

…….you carry around your old cell phone in your bag for weeks because you just KNOW you’ll eventually come across a place to recycle it (and you do)!

Green Gifts for All the Lovable Weirdoes in Your Life

You know those lists of gifts everyone has now? They’re killing me. So I had to make my own because my friends and family are a motley bunch, and the usual stuff (even the usual green stuff) isn’t going to cut it. Plus, they have high expectations because I am an Eco Chick! Sheesh! Well here goes what I’m going to give some of my favorite folks (yes, all of these are actual people in my life!) this year:
For The Discerning Partyer

Who doesn’t love vodka? There are some great ones out there that are organic and/or sustainable. Check out my reviews of 360 vodka and Reyka, which are both good bets. I’ve also enjoyed Square One at more than a couple of green events I’ve attended in the last year. It’s delicious and made from 100% organic rye. If your local liquor store doesn’t carry it, ask them to stock it, or check here.

For the Obsessive-Compulsive Worried Mom’s Kids

Oompa toys are classy and so very adorable so they will fit in with “grown-up” decor from modern to antique. Blocks and playsets are made from wood, not plastic, a healthier, more eco-friendly (and less tacky) choice. Besides the wooden toys, there are super-mod sustainable easels and organic stuffed animals. So cute I kinda want some of these playthings!

For the Essentialist Dad

My Dad’s been a minimalist for years, eschewing anything that isn’t utilitarian; you know, he’s one of those people who’s living room looks a bit like an art gallery with barely a chotchke in sight. He’s also a surfer and loves the ocean as much as I love the mountains, so this year I’m going to give him a Starfish from Oceana, which is an organization that works to protect marine ecosystems. Of course I’m not buying a real starfish, but a symbolic one, which comes with a cute cookie cutter in the shape of a starfish (there are 15 other animals you can buy, each with it’s own cutter). A sugar cookie recipe is included from celebrity chef Warren Brown of eco-friendly bakery CakeLove in DC.

For the Ex Who’s Still a Good Friend

A laptop case from Act2Greensmart is a great gift for someone that deserves a something they can really use. This one is the only one I’ve found that’s 100% recycled as its made from recycled plastic bottles.

For the Vegan Chef

They’ll love you forever if you show up with some vegan marshmellow (technically ricemellow) or hot chocolate mix, both of which are hard-to-find items when you’re totally a totally animal-free eater.

For the Back-to-the-Lander

The Self-Sufficiency Handbook is a comprehensive, illustrated, and detailed new book that gets into the nitty gritty details of how to live an off-the-grid lifestyle. Topics include water collection and storage, soil care, sections on geothermal, wind and solar power, toilet systems, stoves, chicken- and beekeeping and more. Fun reading even if your idea of getting back to nature is sipping a soy latte at the corner cafe al fresco.

For the Design Whore

The Green Glass Company makes this gorgeous, gorgeous glassware, all by recycling wine bottles!

With the machinery Bobby and Kobus custom engineered and built (only one of its kind in the world), The Green Glass Company added a ‘twist’ to its original goblet design. Producing two separate drinking glasses from one bottle without any waste glass was the challenge. The result was separating the bottle into two pieces, creating a tumbler from the bottom portion of the bottle and a goblet from the top portion of the bottle.

For the Green Tech-head

The Hymini is just so damn cool. This little device (it’s about the size of my hand) converts either solar power or wind power into stored charge that you can then connect to your iPod or cell phone for instant energy. Use the wind-converter while you’re riding your bike, on a boat, or just out the window on a breezy day. Use the little solar panel when it’s….sunny! Either way, in about an hour you’ll get enough for two hours of playback on a device. The energy can be stored for about two weeks, so you can collect free energy now and use it whenever. You can also stick it into the wall to grab a charge from conventional power sources. The Hymini has a cool little LED light and it’s cute too!

For the Spa Junkie

There’s a lot of great eco-friendly bath stuff out there. I should know as it’s one of my jobs to keep up on this stuff. But when you’re talking luxury, and you also want some seriously sustainable suds, Maile Kauai makes quite the impressive combo. Most ingredients are organic, and essential oils are wild harvested (meaning they are culled from uncultivated lands without overharvesting). In a handmade box you’ll get (to give) a whole home-spa set including a soy candle, Body Lather, Mango Butter Bun and Body Cream. Choose your Hawaiian-inspired aromatherapy with options of Pikake, Plumeria, Gardenia or Coconut Vanilla.

Ewwww…..This is Why You Need a Water Filter!

On the left is the filter that was replaced, on the right is the new filter.

Bottled water sucks, we all know that (if you don’t know why, read this article and you’ll know everything): Here are my top 5 reasons for eschewing the bottle….

–It wastes fossil fuels during transportation (especially when it comes from ridiculous locales like Fiji!)

–Bottled water isn’t any cleaner and may actually have all sorts of bad stuff in it because bottled water isn’t regulated by any outside testing agency, whereas all municipal water is tested every day for contaminants and chemicals.

–All those plastic bottles leach toxins into the water (especially if left in the sun or subject to temperature fluctuations)

–Only about 20% of all plastic bottles are recycled; that goes for water receptacles too

–It’s a scam; why spend money on something that should be free? When you do, you’re only supporting the privatization of our natural resources, which should be available to all. Just because you can afford bottled water doesn’t mean that everyone can. By expecting, as citizens, to have access to clean water, we force our government to invest in and maintain water supplies.

At the same time, I know, I know, our municipal water isn’t as good as it could be (some areas have great water, some not so much). I live in a very populous area next to Long Island Sound, so our water is pretty low-quality and it’s chlorinated, which is not something I want to be drinking tons of or showering in. Instead of spending hundreds a year and contributing to massive amounts of plastic waste, I bought a this whole-house water filtration system from Gaiam. They have other types here. I bought a whole- house filter because I wanted to make sure I was showering and watering my garden with non-chemicalized water too.

Also, I carry my cool Sigg water bottle with me wherever I go, and fill up in bathrooms and water fountains when I’m on the go. Even though that water isn’t filtered, most of my agua is, so I think it’s worth reducing waste and energy use to subject myself to unfiltered water a small percentage of the time.

Make sure you dispose of your filters properly, though! They don’t belong in the regular garbage as they are now mini toxic-waste holders. By shipping them off to the landfill you’re taking all the now concentrated wastes you’ve removed with the filter and adding them right back into the environment. Drop those old filters off at your municipal toxic waste collection area.

Just a thought

Recently I found myself engaged in several discussions about taking care of our environment as a matter of personal integrity, choice, and responsibility. One such conversation happened with a stranger in a training course I was attending.

The man works for the EPA. He looked to be in his early 30s. He jumped into a conversation I was having with someone else about hybrid vehicles. He said that he owned one and said the name of it, one I had not heard of. He said, “Yeah I traded my Prius in for something bigger because we’re thinking about kids.” Having them, that is. So when I asked, this guy explained that he’d purchased a hybrid SUV.

Hybrid SUV, yeah, I think it was the one that Kermit the Frog was plugging during the SuperBowl in 2006.

Now, maybe I am a bit uptight about gas guzzlers, but his statement that the thing gets about 32 miles to the gallon didn’t wow me. In fact, I was shocked that someone informed, someone that works at the EPA, would buy an SUV, regardless of its hybrid status. He was incensed. “Look, we did a lot of comparison shopping; fuel efficiency, leg room…”, but here my brain just froze. I was incredulous. Are you telling me this guy is arguing that he feels validated buying an SUV because of LEGROOM?

He then started trailing off about how he used to be an environmental activist…he was one of the first hybrid buyers…but so many people at EPA are just bureaucrats and what is the point…and his whole house is outfitted with compact fluorescents…

I kept my cool and stated in the most compassionate way I could muster that I believe it is important that each and everyone of us does our part. I know that we can all justify what we do with the whole balancing out argument: I wear fur, but don’t eat meat, I walk to work so I can fly all over the world 15 times a year…I can have 5 kids because they are all so amazing…it is very difficult to have a net zero impact, but we can make an effort in our consumption rates to act responsibly. It is the easiest step we can make. And the sacrifice? Well, is it really a sacrifice?

At the conclusion of the training class our EPA man went around the room collecting our plastic bottles in a bag, saving them from the trash. When he got to me he looked me in the eye, and, with a bit of cynicism, said, “I am taking my personal initiative here.” I was quite happy. Though he probably thinks I am a jerk, I hope my words helped jerk him back to center (or maybe alittle to the left).