Thursday Thirteen Things You Should Know About Product Labels (#21)

The source of my green educational Thursday Thirteen this week is Crissy Trask’s It’s Easy Being Green.

Thirteen Things about N. Mallory

1. Biodegradable: The Federal Trade Commission defines “biodegradable” as a substance that has been scientifically proven to break down entirely and return to nature within a reasonably short time after disposal. However, because most detergents and soluble chemicals degrade in wastewater systems, they don’t always completely break down into eco-friendly substances. Read the label carefully to make certain the product is made up of nontoxic, renewable ingredients.
2. Cage Free: While this label guarantees that chickens weren’t raised in cages, it doesn’t guarantee they spent any part of their lives outside.
3. Free Farmed: This label is administered by the American Humane Association and testifies that dairy cows, chickens, cattle, and hogs are raised humanely and under healthy living conditions.
4. Free Range Chicken: Legally, this label only requires that poultry producers allow their poultry access to the outdoors for an unspecified amount of time each day — ie. leave the door open. It does not guarantee that the chicken ever made it outside.
5. GMO Free: Genetically Modified Organisms or, rather, genetically modified plants are the product of scientific genetic manipulation involving introducing unnatural but supposedly “desirable” gene characteristics into plants — ie. animal traits into tomatoes. Some scientists are worried such manipulation could ruin the ecosystem and contaminate the food supply.
6. Green: This hasn’t been defined in standard manufacturing terms. Call the manufacturer and ask them what they mean by it.
7. Natural: Except where beef or chicken processing is concerned, this term is meaningless in legal terms. To qualify for beef or poultry processing, the USDA requires that there be no artificial ingredients and no food coloring.
8. Nontoxic: “Toxic” means poisonous. Chemicals that are Persistent, Bioaccumaltive, and Toxic (PBTs) do not readily break down in the environment and accumulate in the tissues of animals and humans.
9. Organic: Food and fiber grown or produced in accordance of the National Organic Standards Act without toxic pesticides and fertilizers, synthetic hormones, antibiotics, sewage sludge, GMOs, or irradiation.
10. Pesticide Free: There’s no standard definition for this. This label could mean the grower didn’t use pesticides in growing the produce or that there was no detectable pesticide residue when tested. You’d have the grower to be sure.
11. Recyclable: A recyclable material or product is one that, after its useful life, can be manufactured into another useful material or product, therby keeping it out of the waste stream.
12. Recycled Paper: If the three chasing arrows on your product are white on a black background, it means the paper is made from 100% recycled content. However,if the arrows are black on a white background, it is made up of recycled and virgin fiber and the manufacturer is required to note what percentage comes from the recycled fiber. But, wait…there’s more…you also have to consider the source of the recycled content. Paper made from wood shavings from a lumber mill, labeled industrial waste, can be labeled recycled, but buying this type does nothing to help support consumer recycling programs. Look for paper marked “PCC” or “PCW”, which stands for post-consumer content or post-consumer waste, respectively.
13. Sustainable Fishery: A sustainable fishery (a species or stock of fish) is one that has not been depleted or harvested in ways that harm the ocean ecosystem.

Tags: green living, recycle, biodegradable, animal rights, organic, humane, waste, Thursday Thirteen, bloghopping, memes

MP3 Player Vs. CD Player: Which is Greener?

Did you know that having an MP3 player is a “Green” Lifestyle choice?

I was surprised to learn this. Apparently, according to It’s Easy Being Green, if you download music rather than buy CDs, you are already making a “greener” lifestyle choice…even if you are only doing it some of the time. It’s still better than the alternative.

CD-Roms and DVDs are made of polycarbonate plastic which is not biodegradable. Think about all of those CDs that came to your house as advertisements in the last 10 or 15 years (ahem - AOL) and you just tossed them — me too. Now they’re sitting in landfills not breaking down and blocking out the sun from other things that need it to break down. Or worse, chemicals just melting and sizzling and poisoning our planet.

I feel so much better about my iPod Mini purchase now. And so thankful for Netflix. I kind of felt privileged to have both; now I feel like I’m doing my little part to conserve. I don’t buy CDs anymore and rarely buy a DVD and only then if it’s something I know I want to keep and watch again and again. With Netflix, I’m even conserving gasoline since I’m not driving to and from the video store to see if they have what I want.

So far, I haven’t found a good way to recycle CDs or DVDs other than passing them on to other people who can use them if they’re store-bought music or movies. However, I did find these suggestions for reusing those CDs that come to your house whether you want them or not:

• Use for household decorations using scissors and paint
• Use them as drink coasters by glueing them onto cork wood
• Place the CD under large pillar candles to catch the wax
• Hang CDs in the garden to scare away birds from fruits etc.
• Use as reflectors on fenceposts, driveways etc.
• Use as garden row markers for vegetables, glueing them onto marker posts
• Sell used CD’s or DVD’s to a secondhand shop or donate them to charities

Try also About.com’s CD Trash to Treasure Family Craft website or CD Art.

Tags: recycle, green living, CD-rom, DVD, biodegradable, landfill, crafts, iPod

Thursday Thirteen Things I’d Like To Do In 2007 (#18)

So this is the time of year when everyone is doing New Year’s Resolutions. I prefer not to do “Resolutions” because they’re generally broken and joked about by the middle of January and forgotten by President’s Day. Then, next January, they’ll be resolved again.

So, instead, I usually try to use the time to reflect and think about the things I’d like to work on in my life, changes, improvements, and so on. I don’t make myself any impossible promises though. I know my limits and I know physics. There’s no way I can lose 60 lbs in 2 months, for example; nor is it likely that I’ll be getting up at 5am any time soon to exercise 3 times a week.

Anyway, here is my list of things I would like to do in 2007, no promises, but I’m working on it. More

Tags: Thursday Thirteen, bloghopping, meme, New Years Resolutions, gardening, knitting, debt, weight, health, writing, Green Living, housekeeping, dysfunctional family