Sport · Eco-Chick

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Growing a Greener Apartment

Living in a city, especially one as walking and public-transport oriented as New York, is way more sustainable than the ‘burbs or the country, since resources for so many people are centralized. You can go even greener by renting or buying an apartment that’s in one of the green buildings that are cropping up in the NY-metro area. Check this fun video out on the greening of New York City’s real-estate market, and get a few peeks inside what those LEED-certified eco-apartments look like (fun)!

It’s a little light on the specifics, which I was curious about….what exactly are the energy savings over a tradtional apartment, what materials are used in building and insulation, any wastewater innovations, and how much better is the air quality in one of these pads? Still, a fun eco-centric watch for those who are into real-estate porn (guilty!).

autos, Energy, media, New York City, resources, spa, sport, sustainable, video, waste, water

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

3 Comments

by Starre Vartan · 07/23/07

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.

bath, bottled water, car, contaminants, Energy, farm, filter, garbage, garden, local, Long Island, magazine, plastic, plastic bottles, recycle, recycled, resources, sigg, sport, Tea, Toxins, transportation, waste, water, Water Bottle

An American Corporation in China

4 Comments

by Olivia Zaleski · 07/19/07

Deadly pet food, poisonous toothpaste, carcinogenic shrimp, and toxic Thomas the Tank Engine toys aren’t the only dangerous exports coming out of China. According to the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, a trusted source amongst academics and UN environmental envoys, The People’s Republic of China is now the largest producer of greenhouse gases. As China continues to pollute at an alarming and exponential rate, arguments are surfacing amongst environmentalists that Western companies, manufacturing in China, are to blame. Some are accusing American multinational corporations (MNCs) of practicing “eco-colonialism” by exporting pollution-intensive industries to China.

I’m not ready to point an accusatory finger at Western corporations just yet — according to Council on Foreign Relations Asia expert, Elizabeth Economy, “billions in environmental assistance have flowed to China from [MNCs]” and the majority of China’s pollution comes from state owned enterprises. On the other hand, Western corporations manufacturing in China are still contributors. Rather than sitting back and reaping the benefits of China’s cheap wage, Western corps should be monitoring their production pollution with the same intensity as their production labor.

After uproars from the National Labor Committee in the mid-90s, many Western apparel companies employed independent “watchdog” organizations, such as Social Accountability International, to curb child labor. When I worked in the corporate offices of a large international retailer, I must admit to being struck by the company’s substantial in-house Human Rights Compliance team. Fearing a PR scandal, big retail groups pour cash into third party auditors while some retail conglomerates even partner with competitors to survey and strategize contracted factories.

Now that China is the largest greenhouse gas producer in the world where are the corporate Environmental Compliance teams? Where are the third party auditors and spies checking emissions, transportation standards, and waste management? If “made in China” corporations could use the same strategy for pollution as they do child labor then perhaps we could make some progress to fix a very large and urgent problem.

car, corporations, emissions, farm, Food, gas, labor, party, Pollution, produce, sport, Tea, transportation, waste

Not Only Are They Gas-Guzzlers….

2 Comments

by Starre Vartan · 07/18/07

….they’re not very safe either, according to this MSN report.

The seat of a sport-utility vehicle or a pickup truck isn’t necessarily the best place to be in a rear-end crash. Despite the considerable weight and size of these kinds of vehicles that convey a sense of safety, more than one third of 59 SUVs analyzed by an insurance industry group had seatback and head restraint combinations that rated only “poor” for proper head and neck support. This means that passengers in those seats could be at higher risk for whiplash injury.

Which I knew, but plenty of people continue to believe that their families (and kids especially) are safer in behemoth vehicles. The roll-over factor makes them less-safe too. After rolling into a river in a Nissan XTerra, I’m proof-positive that’s just not true. (Yes, I was fine, mostly because I was wearing my seatbelt!)

Wait, why are so many people driving them? Because someone convinced us they were cool, right? Hey, I had one (that I totalled, as mentioned above) six years ago and I thought it was the best. Convincing people that SUV’s are NOT cool is the reason I wrote this editorial on why fashion is actually important. And now we have lots of crash data to back us up even more.

autos, driving, farm, Fashion, gas, kids, sport

The Car-free Life in Paris

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by Courtney Tenz · 07/16/07

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the trend toward building entire subdivisions as car-free communities here in Germany; though these neighborhoods eschew cars and roads for bikes and courtyards, they also offer a bit of storage space to house the bikes (either as covered garages or, in the single-family homes, on porches).

In larger, more compact cities, though, there often isn’t enough room for residents to keep their bikes inside and the threat of theft is too great to store bikes outside (nearly every person I’ve spoken to in Cologne has had a bike stolen – hence the preference for buying cheap, unexciting, used bikes instead of mountain or racing bikes). To keep people riding, then, cities like Copenhagen offer cycles free of charge to riders (the cost of the bike is supported by advertisements). All you need is a Euro coin as a deposit to unlock the bike; you get the coin back when the bike’s returned to a station in the city and locked anew.

copenhagen bikes photo (c) aisipos, via flickr creative commons

Lyon has a similar program, though you pay a small amount for each ride; it’s a popular way home for students after late-night dinners with too much wine. Now Paris is trying it out, too. From The New York Times:

The program, Vélib (for “vélo,” bicycle, and “liberté,” freedom), is the latest in a string of European efforts to reduce the number of cars in city centers and give people incentives to choose more eco-friendly modes of transport.
“This is about revolutionizing urban culture,” said Pierre Aidenbaum, mayor of Paris’s trendy third district, which opened 15 docking stations on Sunday. “For a long time cars were associated with freedom of movement and flexibility. What we want to show people is that in many ways bicycles fulfill this role much more today.”
Users can rent a bike online or at any of the stations, using a credit or debit card and leave them at any other station.
A one-day pass costs 1 euro ($1.38), a weekly pass 5 euros ($6.90) and a yearly subscription 29 euros ($40), with no additional charges as long as each bike ride does not exceed 30 minutes. (Beyond that, there is an incremental surcharge, to make sure that as many bikes as possible stay in the rotation.)

I’m really excited that this idea is catching on; wherever my husband and I travel, we rent bikes to get around the city and these ad-sponsored cycles take some of the worry out of having the bike stolen. And as tourists, we see more of the people, the architecture, and everyday life by bike than by subway, so it’s a treat I wouldn’t want to give up. I just hope someone brings this idea to the US soon … because while it’s easy enough to make the car-free lifestyle choice in your hometown, getting around as a tourist is a bit more difficult to do and a program like this takes some of the worries away. So you can spend more time indulging in the arts and wine and not worry about hitting the wrong Metro home or trying to navigate a hatchback down one-way streets cobbled together with tiny stones.