Will you green my valentine?

(image from inhabitat)

I just got an email from Live Earth directing me to a nice blog post about organic chocolate and flowers. There are some interesting bits of information (like "A 2 lb. shipment of flowers can end up emitting 3 times that measure of greenhouse gas emissions"), so that post might be worth a read. My favorite part of the email, though, was a tip on recycling valentines:

CLIMATE CRISIS TIP: Recycle your Valentines!
Don't throw away that candy box! Decorate those heart-shaped boxes left over when the chocolate's gone and use as picture frames, earring holders, or backpacks for dolls. Use Valentine's wrapping paper, ribbon, and leftover lace as decorations.

I'm sorry, but backpacks for dolls? What? If you make a doll backpack out of your recycled valentines, please let me know--I would love to see that. No, I need to see that.

"Reducing your carbon footprint just got a whole lot tastier!"

Climate Change Chocolate wrapper (with tips)

Over winter break I spent a decent amount of time at Borders (it's my very not-guilty pleasure to peruse the art history section there and pretend I know what I'm looking at). Anyway, you know how they always have a bunch of crap at the front, designed to seduce really impulsive shoppers (basically, me)? Well, they really got me with Climate Change Chocolate. When you buy a chocolate bar, made by Bloomsberry & Co, terrapass purchases 133 lbs of carbon offsets (which is equivalent to an average person's CO2 output per day). At first I was like hey, okay, fine...but chocolate is imported, and that eats up a bunch of fossil fuels blah blah blah...except that the website says "the carbon emissions associated with the production and distribution of the chocolate bar has been balanced out." Hmm! Perhaps this is an example of a way we can maintain certain aspects of our lifestyle while still being eco-friendly. As much as I'm a huge proponent of eating locally, I realize that most people (including myself) would be more than a little reluctant to give up chocolate (btw, Climate Change Chocolate really is tasty). But then again, it doesn't seem like this product is a big seller (it was 50% off when I bought it, which makes me feel like Borders wanted to get rid of them). I'm pretty sure you can get it at Whole Foods, just FYI.

I put my new shoes on and suddenly everything is right

Via Nau:


Non-Stop Shoes (NSS) from Camper and Emil Padòs harness the energy you use daily just by walking around. After a day of wear, your steps have charged a battery which can power small appliances such as iPods. Exciting! Too bad I'm not really into the mustard/ketchup color combo.

Wespeak: Obama's for the Environment

Check out Bekka's Wespeak endorsing Obama.

SIGG water bottles

Just a heads up that Broad Street sells SIGG water bottles. They have the design pictured in blue and red, a blue yin-yang design, and a camouflage bottle.

Siggs are touted as better for your health (due to leaching that happens with Nalgenes and other plastic bottles). According to the My Sigg website, "Due to SIGG's special, proprietary internal coating, these high-tech bottles are resistant to fruit juice acids, energy drinks, alcohol and virtually any consumable beverage. Because the liners are taste and scent neutral, you can enjoy any beverage you'd like – without any lingering smell or taste of the last beverage you drank. The composition of the liner also reduces the chances of bacteria build-up. And because the liner is virtually baked into the inner walls of the bottle, it will not flake or chip even if dented on the outside.
Recently, there has been a lot of press concerning Lexan plastic water bottles (Polycarbonate #7) leaching harmful chemicals into the container's ingredients[maybe they meant contents]. It's extremely important to note that SIGG bottles exceed FDA requirements and have been thoroughly tested to ensure 0.0% leaching – so they are 100% safe."

Anyway. I promise I'm not working for Sigg...I just really don't want to do my reading right now.

Political Environment

Nate sent the listserv this NYT opinion article on Bush's (in)actions regarding global warming with the exhortation that we contemplate the topic as we head to the polls tomorrow. Speaking of which, in case you missed it, here's a link to Grist's candidate chart and my attempt to make sense of what the hell "cap and trade" actually means.

Focus the Nation

We did iiiiiiit!!!! Thanks to everyone who participated this past week. It was a really fantastic event (er...events). Thursday was great and the party was a success--we made tons and tons of money for some awesome charities. Have a look at this Argus article for a recap.