20 to 50 million tons of electronics waste (often called e-waste) are discarded globally every year, according to Greenpeace. And e-waste is the fastest growing component of the municipal solid waste stream, currently making up five percent of all municipal solid waste. According to the E.P.A., electronic waste contributes 70% of the toxins found in landfills, while only contributing 1% of the volume of materials in landfills.  Electronic waste contains many toxic materials including lead, mercury, cadmium, phosphors and flame-retardants. Recycling your electronics waste decreases energy and water use, reduces pollution, and keeps hazardous chemicals out of our air and water.

As of January 1st, 2012, businesses, non-profits, government entities, and anyone other than an individual or household consumer in the state of New York are prohibited from sending certain electronics to the landfill. This is the second phase of New York State’s Electronic Equipment Recycling and Reuse Act, which first went into effect last April, requiring manufacturers to provide free and convenient recycling options for items they sell in New York.

So what does that mean for you and me? Well, right now, we technically can still throw our unwanted electronics away with our regular garbage. But there are so many resources around that we really shouldn’t. Plus, we have to get in the habit of recycling our electronics, because the third phase of the Electronic Equipment Recycling and Reuse Act will take into effect on January 1st, 2015, when individual and household residents will no longer be permitted to discard electronics with household waste.

Below lists three ways that you can discard your electronics properly in New York City:

1. Lower East Side Ecology Center.  The LES Ecology Center offers free public compost collection and education, electronic waste recycling, stewardship of public open space, and environment education. It offers a number of programs that focus on teaching about environmental issues facing NYC and how to take responsibility for solving these problems. It holds electronics recycling events throughout the year, and in January there are a number of recycling events as part of its “After the Holidays E-waste Events”. Check out its website for more information.

2. Best Buy. All Best Buy stores in the US, including Puerto Rico, offer in-store solutions for customers to bring their old, unused, or unwanted consumer electronics — no matter where they were purchased — for recycling. And they’ll take just about anything electronic, including TVs, DVD players, computer monitors, audio and video cables, cell phones, and more. We all love Best Buy, and this is one more reason to love it even more!

3. The 4th Bin. Too lazy to go drop off your electronics? Then you can call up The 4th Bin and have them pick up your e-waste. The 4th Bin is actually the only electronic waste collection and recycling company in New York City that provides door-to-door pickup services for both business and residents. However, there is a slight fee associated with the pick-up. Check them out here for more info.

1. Continue blogging. I know I haven’t posted many blogs this past year, but I’m hoping that in 2012 I will dedicate more time to this blog. This blog has been an important part of my life for the past few years, and I want to continue educating others on the importance of living a greener lifestyle.    

2. Cut down on meat consumption. People close to me know that I was vegetarian for about 2 years and then was vegan for almost 1 year. Veganism works for some people, but it didn’t work for my body. I became pretty weak and it was hard for me to get the proper nutrients as I traveled so much for my job. In 2012, I am going to follow the Meatless Monday regimen, and eat no meat for one day a week. Although I already do eat mostly vegetarian, I think that following Meatless Mondays will be a good way to cut down my meat consumption.

3. Continue volunteering for GrowNYC. I’ve been volunteering for GrowNYC for the past few years, and I truly think that it is a wonderful program. I’ve volunteered at various events educating NYC residents on the importance and best practices of recycling, and it is a wonderful feeling knowing that I made a direct impact on someone’s recycling behavior. Recycling is free and is a city-wide program, yet so many people still do not do it. It’s important for me to continue on this journey to educate more people on the benefits of recycling.

Happy New Year!!

I stopped by the Ciao water bottle booth solely because I was thirsty and wanted to buy some water. And then I saw that the brochure advertising that the Ciao water bottle is biodegradable. The salesperson said that the bottle was made out of a special type of plastic that would biodegrade in 2-5 years, versus the estimated 100 years it would take for a regular water bottle to biodegrade. Interesting! I walked away not only with my interest piqued and my thirst quenched, but I felt good about drinking from a biodegradable water bottle!

Based on the research I did on Ciao, the bottle is made from a petroleum based plastic that is enjected with an enzyme called Reverte. When the enzyme comes into contact with the UV spectrum of light, oxygen, and moisture, the enzyme breaks and separates the chains of plastic molecules of the bottle.

That sounds pretty cool to me. But, I’d have to do more research regarding whether or not this really is the next best thing since the CFL lightbulb.  Having the right microorganisms, temperature and humidity is required to avoid harmful greenhouse gas release during biodegradation. So I’m wondering if the biodegradation of the Ciao water bottles would actually biodegrade properly without releaseing methane or other greenhouse gases in the environment of landfills. The website says that it wont, but I guess we won’t know until it people actually test it.

Despite this concern, I still think it’s amazing that people are starting companies that really focus on making the environment a better place. I try to drink from a BPA-free plastic water bottle as much as I can, but I admit that sometimes when I’m on the run it is really convenient to just buy a bottle of water. The ugly truth is that plastic bottles won’t go away. Statistics show that the percentage of plastic bottles that were recycled in 2009 was 28% - which really is not that much, since there were 5.1 billion pounds of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and jars available in the U.S. for recycling in 2009. Yes, the best solution is the substitute all plastic bottles. But it’s not going to happen anytime soon. So the next best thing is to be innovative with the actual bottles. I think it’s a great step in the right direction towards environmental sustainability.

In New York City, you can find Ciao water bottles sold at University Deli on University and 13th and at Andy’s Deli on 18th and Broadway. Hopefully more distribution channels to come in the future!

So I was really excited to find out that a bike-share program will be coming to NYC. This past week, the Bloomberg administration announced that it had selected the company Alta Bicycle Share to run its bike share program that will roll out next summer.  Once fully implemented, with 600 rental stations and 10,000 bikes in NYC, it will be the largest bike-share effort in the country. I am definitely pro-bike-share program, but I do have a number of concerns about having a bike-share program in New York City. First of all, the streets of New York are definitely not like the streets of Minneapolis. In Minneapolis, there were bike lanes everywhere. And there’s a whole lot less traffic. Although 250 miles of bike lanes have been added to New York City in the past 4 years, I am still worried about the safety of so many bikers on busy NYC street. Sure, bikers will stay in bike lanes, but you can’t trust cars to stay out of them. Drivers in New York are relentless. I wonder if bicycle-related accidents will increase. And I’m also worried about bike theft. New York is definitely a very safe place, but people can be very clever in trying to steal those things out of the kiosks. 

So there obviously are a number of questions that still need to be answered, but no matter what, I think this is a wonderful step forward for greening New York City. And if I am assured that it will be a safe option to get around, I will definitely use it, because I definitely spend too much money on cabs! Less traffic leads to less congested air; more people riding bikes leads to healthier residents;  both add up to a healthier city!

Just last month, Greenpeace initiated the Dirty Water Campaign – it released an investigative report focused on textile facilities in China that were found to be dischanrging hazardous and persistent chemicals into Chinese rivers. Not only does this pose serious threats to our ecosystems, but to human health as well. Greenpeace found that many global brands do business with these factories, such as Converse and H&M, but focused its campaign on Nike, Puma, and Adidas, three of the largest and most visible global sportswear brands.

At first, all three companies’ responses were the same: deny, deny, deny. They said that they used those factories just for knitting and sewing, and not wet processing like dyeing or printing, where the majority of chemical use in textile finishing processes occur. So that means they’re off the hook, right? Wrong. It’s unacceptable that such large and visible companies are not being proactive green business leaders!

And good thing some of them are recognizing this and doing something about it. In late July, Puma released a statement that said that it is committed to  ”eliminate the discharge of hazardous chemicals from the whole lifecycle and all production procedures that are associated with the making and using of PUMA products by 2020″. And just last week, Nike followed suit. Nike released a press release stating that it is “committed to the goal of zero discharge of hazardous chemicals by 2020″. Within the next two months, Nike will detail out a plan to eliminate hazardous chemicals within its supply chain addressing transparency, chemical management, and a timeline of the elimination of the highest priority hazardous chemicals.

What about Adidas? Well, it was pretty much in the dark. And Adidas didn’t step up until today. Today, Greenpeace released a second report of its Dirty Laundry campaign that reported the presence of nonylphenol ethxylates (NPEs) in clothing bought in Europe bearing labels from high profile brands such as Adidas and Abercrombie & Fitch. It was this that sparked Adidas to finally release a statement that it is planning to collaborate with other brands to develop supply chain standards. Not a bad start, but I think Adidas should still come up with an individual plan, as Nike has agreed to do.

As much as I think Greenpeace tactics may be at times extreme, this just shows me how important it is that organizations like Greenpeace exist. Otherwise, these three companies would have done nothing to clean up their supply chains. This is another huge win for Greenpeace and environmentalists all over the world. It’s so important for business leaders to lead us all down the path of corporate social responsibility. It’s a long road ahead, but Nike, Puma, and Adidas have shown me that they are taking a step in the right direction. And hopefully others will follow in their footsteps.

But my roommates aren’t the only culprits. According to a Scott Naturals survey, 85% of Americans throw out those tubes instead of recycle them. But with 17 billion toilet paper tubes produced annually in the United States, that is A LOT of paper that could be recycled – 160 million pounds to be more precise. Put together end to end, these toilet paper tubes can stretch for more than one million miles!

So the smart people at Kimberly-Clark thought of a solution – how about tubeless toilet paper rolls? Have you ever heard of an idea and think to yourself, “I wish I thought of that!” Well, this was one of those times. Last night, I saw a commercial for Scott tube-free toilet paper that actually made me rewind the DVR so I could watch the commercial again. What a genius idea! A special winding technology keeps the toilet paper in place without needing a tube in the middle. The hole isn’t exactly a circle, but still fits over TP spindles. And every last piece of TP can be used – no more unusable last pieces because it’s glued onto the tube! Kimberly-Clark actually began testing out Scott Naturals tube-free toilet paper at some Walmarts and Sam’s Clubs throughout the Northeast in November of last year. And due to its success, you can now buy tube-free TP in a lot of other stores such as Walgreens, Shop-Rite, and Food Emporium.

I can’t wait to start buying tube-free toilet paper that will save trees as well as save me from yelling at my roommates for not recycling toilet paper tubes!

No more tubes!

Look for these at your local grocery store!

Last week, the environmental advocacy group Greenpeace launched an attack on Mattel, the creator of Barbie dolls. Greenpeace accused the toy maker of using packaging produced by clear-cutting Indonesian rainforests. Greenpeace researchers traced company certificates to show that Mattel, along with other toy companies including Hasbro and Disney, are using packaging produced by Asia Pulp and Paper, a supplier that has actually been exposed many times in the past for destroying Indonesia’s rainforests to make products such as packaging.

I generally am not a huge fan of Greenpeace actions because I think they are pretty extreme. But I can appreciate that the reason why they are extreme is so that they can gain media attention. And this attack did not differ from their previous approaches. Activists dressed in tuxedos to mimic Ken scaled Mattel’s headquarters in LA with a giant banner say “Barbie: It’s Over. I Don’t Date Girls That are Into Deforestation.”And there was even an activists dressed as Barbie who drove around in a pink bulldozer. Needless to say, they were all arrested.

First of all, the sign is kind of misleading. Does it mean that only Barbie dolls are packaged with deforestation materials and Ken dolls aren’t? No, Ken doll packaging is made from the same stuff Barbie dolls packing is made of. But that’s just me thinking too much into this. I get it – it does have a catchy storyline.  But seriously, I do applaud these activists for taking some action that really got people talking. And it even got Mattel to take some action. The toymaker issued statements declaring that it does not support deforestation and will investigate the allegations against Asia Pulp and Paper. In the meantime, it will cut ties with the packaging supplier. It also announced that it is developing a “sustainable procurement policy” to avoid using packaging that contributes to deforestation.

Which to me is a huge step in the right direction. It makes me happy to hear that large companies are taking environmental issues seriously. Large companies have images to uphold, and it’s important to take all necessary steps to let consumers and all other stakeholders know that they are doing everything in their power to protect the environment. Even if it because they want to safeguard revenues or to avoid repeat attacks from Greenpeace – any impetus is fine as long as they understand in order to stay competitive in today’s business environment, they need to incorporate sustainability checkpoints into their supply chain and procurement processes. I wonder if they’re going to hire a consulting company to do this for them…

According to the Sheraton Green Choice website, declining housekeeping services for one night can save 37.2 gallons of water, .19 KWH of electricity, 25,000 btu of natural gas, and 7 oz of chemicals. That seems like a lot for just one night! But I guess if you take into account all the water and chemicals saved by not having to wash and dry towels every day, that could make sense. The hotel chain also stated that in the first six months of the program, “more than 200,000 guests across North America participated in the program, which resulted in a reduction in water consumption of more than 8.2 million gallons of water. In addition, 38,000 kilowatts of electricity was saved and chemical use was reduced by 11,000 gallons.” That’s pretty cool – definitely a win for the environment. And a win for the hotels too, since they are are saving money on water and electricity costs.

But this program may not be a win-win situation for everyone. What about the housekeepers? Whenever a guest decides to opt out of housekeeping for a night, these cleaning attendants are losing out on their hourly wages as well as daily tips. It really is unfortunate that going green can mean some people are losing out in terms of jobs and salaries. Green is supposed to be good, and it’s supposed to create jobs, not destroy them! So the next time I’m asked if I want to participate in the Green Choice program, I’m going to have to make a decision – the environment or someone’s job?? Hopefully one day there is a solution that will allow me to not have to choose!

Part of my Australian adventure consisted of three days aboard a boat that took us to the Great Barrier Reef. In three days Lillian (my sister from another mother) and I scuba dove nine times and snorkeled once. Life under water is just so incredible and diverse; we saw tons of coral, fish, turtles, and even sharks. YES – SHARKS! We saw a few reef sharks while doing a night dive. I was definitely very scared at first. With my heard pounding and the Jaws theme song thumping in my head, I just kept telling myself to calm down because I didn’t want the sharks to sense my fear. I remember looking at the sharks just a few feet away from me, wondering when it was going to attack me. But it didn’t. The sharks just swam around the water, just like all the other fish around us. After being in the water with the sharks for a few minutes, my fear slowly disappeared. I realized that these sharks didn’t want anything to do with us. These sharks didn’t try to eat us or even try to come anywhere close to us – they did their own thing while we did ours. What an exhilarating feeling.

The real impetus that inspired me to blog again happened on the plane ride back from Australia. I watched a documentary called Sharkwater. In this documentary, filmmaker Rob Stewart showed footage of himself swimming with hammer-head sharks in attempt to debunk the stereotype that sharks are dangerous man-eating monsters. He explains how sharks are actually imperative to the eco-system. But the crux of the documentary was exposing the corruption of the shark-finning industry. Every year, tens of millions of sharks are caught, their fins are cut off, and then they are thrown back into the water to die a slow death. In many countries shark finning is illegal, but the black market is booming due to many Asian mafia groups. At this rate, sharks are on their way to extinction.

I’m not going to lie – I have had shark fin soup before. Asians love this stuff. They think it’s some kind of panacea and will pay an exorbitant amount of money for this gelatinous thing that only tastes good after adding chicken or beef broth. But after scuba diving with sharks and watching this documentary, I will never touch shark fin soup again. I’ve learned that sharks are beautiful creatures that really do not want to harm humans, and it’s really the other way around. Some stats I’ve learned from my trip and additional research:

Average number of worldwide deaths caused by shark attacks per year: 4

Average number of deaths caused by lightning strikes per year: 38

Average number of shark deaths caused by humans per year: Between 70 and 100 million

Last year Hawaii’s House of Representatives passed a bill banning the sale, possession, and trade of any type of shark fin or shark fin product, and California’s legislature is currently debating a similar bill. I find it very interesting since there are large Asia populations in both Hawaii and California that are against the ban. I know it’s part of Asian culture to have shark fin soup, but we have to get with the times. Sharks are at the top of the ocean’s eco-system, and if they disappear, who knows what kind of mess will become of life under water.

Watch the trailer for Rod Stewart’s documentary, Sharkwater. You can watch the entire documentary on YouTube too.

Here are some simple tips that will help make your cook outs greener and healthier!

1. Use a gas or electric grill

These grills may not give your food that smoky flavor charcoal gives, but they burn more efficiently than charcoal or wood and also cook foods more evenly. Although no method is 100% without environmental impact, using gas or electric grills means cleaner air and fewer pollutants released into the atmosphere.

2. Buy eco-friendly charcoal

If you really can’t live without that charcoal-broiled flavor, choose charcoal that is harvested from sustainably managed forests or briquettes made without coal dust or unhealthy additives such as sodium nitrate, sawdust, starch, or limestone. These can all release toxic byproducts. Briquettes soaked in lighter fluid are the worst – they release volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, that contribute to smog when burned. Sometimes eco-friendly charcoal can be hard to find, but Cowboy Brand Hardwood Charcoal is one option that is available at Whole Foods and Lowes. It is created from wood-mill scraps and fired in a non-polluting wood-retort plant.

3. Toss the lighter fluid

Drenching charcoal in lighter fluid or using self-lighting pre-soacked charcoal releases VOCs, which contribute to the formation of unhealthy ground-level ozone when they interact with the sun’s UV rays. Using lighter fluids and pre-soaked charcoal can also deposit potential carcinogenic chemical residue on food. To get your grill going, use a chimney starter or electrical charcoal starter.

4. Don’t use disposable dinnerware

Use reusable silverware, plates, and cups instead of the disposable paper and plastic ones. If you really want to use disposable dinnerware, buy 100% recycled or recyclable. For example, the Seventh Generation makes biodegradable paper plates made from 100% recycled paper, with a minimum of 83% post-consumer material. They’re also microwavable!

5. Serve eco-friendly food.

- Shop at local greenmarkets: Conventionally grown US produce travels up to 27 times the distance of its locally green counterparts.

- Shop organic: Certified organic food must be grown in soil free of toxic pesticides and fertilizers and cannot be genetically modified. Pesticides and fertilizers can be harmful to our health and can also pollute ecosystems and waterways.

- Go vegetarian: The meat industry generates more greenhouse gas emissions than the entire transportation industry combined. The University of Chicago reports that going vegan is 50% more effective than switching to a hybrid car in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Add more vegetarian options to your BBQ menu such as corn on the cob, peppers, sweet potatoes, veggie burgers and veggie dogs, and portobello mushrooms.

- Sustainable proteins: If you choose to serve meat, go for grass-fed, small-scale farm options. Also choose sustainably-caught seafood.