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

What NOT to do on Earth Day

Earth Day is tomorrow. I could give you a song and dance about what you should do (install CFLS, bring own bag to grocery store, move to a wind-powered Ashram), but I’ll spare the harangue. Instead, here’s a list of what not to do on Earth Day. Sure, you won’t be saving the planet, but you won’t be doing anything offensively detrimental either—and that’s better than most Americans.

1. Use your leaf blower to dust off the driveway.
I know those pine needles really add up and look messy, but try to restrain yourself . . .

Smart! Leaf blowing the forest floor.
Photo courtesy leaf-blowers.com aka mostdestructiveleastnecessary.com

2. Drink FIJI Water . . . unless you actually live in FIJI.
Sure, filling a container ship full of water then pushing that ship full of water through the water—half way around the world—makes sense, but hey, “It’s labeled Fiji because it’s not bottled in Cleveland.”

3. Torch a couple luxury homes in the swank Seattle suburb of Woodinville.
Nice work eco-terrorists. Sure are giving us eco-folks a great name and credibility to boot.

4. Feed a cow beans.

5. Make a donation to “Global Warming is Bogus.”

6. Hold your breath . . . all day.
Holding your breath will certainly cut down on CO2 emissions. Good thinking! But, you will also die. And though one less person would be good for the planet, nobody really wants you to die.

7. Buy a polar bear fur coat.

Photo courtesy “Most Hideous in 1987”

8. Put a ” I <3 pollution" sticker on your car.
Bonus Points: car is Hummer H2.

9. Bundle up a large wad of toilet paper and double flush.

Photo courtesy funfunnystuff.com

10. Do nothing at all.

SIGG for the Fashionably Parched

Need another reason to ditch the disposable plastic water bottle? How about fourteen reasons?

SIGG (you know the hardwearing yet elegant water bottle Co.), Elle Magazine and Laurie David’s Stop Global Warming have joined forces to up the anti-plastic rationale. The iconic dream team has commissioned fourteen leading names in fashion (yes, were talking Zac Posen, Diane Von Furstenberg and Stella McCartney) to create one-of-a-kind limited edition designer water bottles. Here’s a sampling. Click here to preview all fourteen.

Photo courtesy Elle.com.
Diane, how girly and flirtatious. I like it!

Photo courtesy Elle.com.
Very cool Anna.

Photo courtesy Elle.com.
Come on Tommy . . . just a signature? That’s weak.

Hmmmmm . . . there’s something funny about the idea of “designer water bottles” . . . then again, disposable plastic water bottles have long been a must-have accessory for the stylish and parched. Hopefully, these leading designers will convince fashion followers, world wide, to forgo the Evian and get hip with a SIGG.

In addition to launching a major fashion trend, SIGG and Elle will be auctioning the inimitable bottles to raise money for StopGlobalWarming.org. The bidding starts at 7pm tonight!

To learn more about the SIGG Auction visit Elle.com.

Andrew Revkin and the NY Times

With all the recent global warming coverage in the mainstream media, I find it reassuring that some journalists, though certainly not enough, are writing about the implications for people who live in poverty. Environmentalism—whether we’re talking about climate change, organic food, or access to green space— is a class issue.

In last Monday’s International Herald Tribune, Andrew Revkin reported, “Over the last few decades, as scientists have intensified their studies of the human effects on climate and of the effects of climate change on humans, a common theme has emerged: in both respects, the world is a very unequal place.”

Covering a similar story for last Sunday’s New York Times, Revkin wrote, “Africa accounts for less than 3 percent of the global emissions of carbon dioxide from fuel burning since 1900, yet its 840 million people face some of the biggest risks from drought and disrupted water supplies, according to new scientific assessments.”

I guess before I buy a Prius and cross “stop global warming” off my To Do list, there is some additional work on the horizon.

As an aside (and since I’m feeling snarky), despite Revkin’s commendable reporting, I’m still not ready to renew my subscription to the Times. If the corporate owners of America’s major newspaper chains wonder why they’re in financial crisis, I would suggest to them that it’s not all about the “changing business model.” In their complete failure to cover the early days of Bush’s War with any kind of journalistic acumen, the Times, among others, rendered itself largely irrelevant. Until the newspaper business quits acting like a personal public relations firm for the rich and powerful, it’s probably more reliable to get information from your friendly neighborhood blogger. At least here at eco-chick, Starre and her girls are not so easily owned.

(Special thanks to Miami-based contrarian Shaun Wimberly for, among other things, sending me the Tribune article.)

Ask Laurie David!

Laurie David is promoting her new book which comes out this month, called Stop Global Warming: The Solution is You– An Activist’s Guide.

I’m setting up an interview with her and I would love to ask her questions from Eco Chick readers. What question do you have for the doyenne of Stop Global Warming?

Retirement No More: The Anchor has been Lifted

The campaign to stop global warming is attracting more and more recognizable media and political faces. The respected Tom Brokaw, the former NBC anchorman, has teamed up with the Discovery Channel, in partnership with the BBC to host on Sunday July 16th, ”Global Warming: What You Need to Know” at 9 pm.

This is yet another great documentary that will help separate fact from fiction and give momentum to this important global issue. The starvation of the polar bears, the swallowing of islands, and droughts of lands are investigated in this piece. Mr. Brokaw is no stranger to speaking out about the state of the environment. His wife, Meredith Brokaw, is the vice president of the environmental organization Conservation International (NYT).

With the passion and motivation of figures such as Laurie David, Al Gore, and now Tom Brokaw, it is my hope that more and more, the political figures and decision makers who have control of some major locks, will begin to unlock the major barriers to sustainable living, like energy dependency. In the meantime thankfully we have readers like you who take the initiative to help make a difference.