Consumerism

The folks at onefewer.com do not mess around. Check out the video below to hear how you can decide what to do with this obsolete gas guzzler. Can anyone say domino effect? Ok, that may be a stretch, but this is cool nonetheless. Here's the story from digg.

"There's no way around it: 13 MPG sucks. But what do you do with a Range Rover that's already on the road? Selling it just passes the burden on, so, should we blow it up? Drive it off a cliff? Convert it to a biodiesel or plug-in hybrid and give it to an organization that can use it to do something great? This guy will use the best idea he gets.."

Read the whole story on onefewer.com and make sure to share this with others. You can do so by clicking the green "share" icon below.

Key factors can certainly influence people to eat at one particular restaurant instead of another: the eatery’s service, its sanitation grade, and above all, the quality of the food. But do you ever consider where you will eat based on how green a restaurant is? The next time you choose where to eat, check out izzitgreen.com. IzzitGreen provides online reviews for restaurants and other businesses, evaluating their degree of eco-friendliness. The site is driven by consumers like you and me because it is us who contribute our opinions, add the ratings, and inspire companies to become more environmentally conscious.

You read all sorts of ratings in your everyday life, but never have you come across a place that gives you the opportunity to judge something by their goodness and greenness (or lack thereof). IzzitGreen changes this exact notion. Here is a tidbit behind their reasoning: “If you care about the state of our planet, you need to know ‘is it good’ and IzzitGreen? Just like peanut butter and jelly or Pinky and The Brain, ‘good’ and ‘green’ are fine on their own. But when they get together…that’s when greatness happens.”

IzzitGreen asks you to ponder, “What goes in”, “What comes out”, “How’s it run” and “What [businesses] care about,” before utilizing your purchasing power. Although it is still in the beta version and only available in Boston, the site will soon expand and will definitely help individuals help each other make wiser lifestyle choices. Browse through IzzitGreen’s guides to learn more on what it means for various establishments (coffee shops, dry cleaners, florists, food, movie theaters, nightlife, restaurants, and yoga & gym) to be green.

Photo courtesy of Toshiba.

Although I don’t think the Girl Scouts are going to be selling boxes of CFL lightbulbs instead of cookies any time soon—why change a good and delicious thing?--groups of other stripes are always looking for creative ways to raise money for their organizations. Now your group can choose to sell recycled paper goods, green home cleaners, energy-efficient showerheads, and yes, low-energy lightbulbs through several Web-based green fundraising organizations. You register your group on the Web site, tell your prospective buyers to visit it and make their purchases, and your group gets a check in the mail.

LetsGoGreen.biz and Greenraising.comoffer groups the opportunity to earn between 25% and 40% of the price on each eco-conscious product their friends and relatives buy. This percentage is not as high as on traditional fundraising items—typically 50% to 75%--because traditional items are mass-produced, often overseas, thus cheaper to produce, making it easier to pass on a greater percentage of the profit. But green fundraising contains an educational and pro-environmental aspect—for both buyers and sellers--that can make up for the lower profit.

And if consumers like the products, they can keep on buying through the fundraising websites, generating additional income for the group after the initial drive is over. So if your group can operate with a steady stream of income instead of a one-time payment as in the traditional model, green fundraising may be something to think about.

Now if only there were a way to keep on buying Girl Scout cookies…

Two members of the New York City Council have introduced a trailblazing bill, Intro. 104, the Electronics Collection, Recycling, and Reuse Act, which, if passed later this year, would be the first mandatory municipal electronics recycling law in the country. It would make manufacturers responsible for collection and disposal of products when no longer usable, instead of leaving this task to consumers, who often simply dump them in the trash.

The bill’s 43 council sponsors believe it would encourage manufacturers to adopt more environmentally friendly designs, since they would held liable if products are not disposed of properly. It would also reduce the more than 25,000 tons of discarded electronics New York City collects each year. These products comprise the fastest-growing part of the city’s waste stream, and can contain mercury, lead, cadmium, and other hazardous materials. When burned or deposited in landfills improperly, they leach into the soil and are released into the air.

Intro. 104 is supported by Consumers Union, and the Natural Resources Defense Council and other environmental groups, who are urging Mayor Michael Bloomberg to sign the legislation. If it is passed this year, companies would have a year to design collection plans, and the bill would take effect in 2009.

To learn more about the bill, visit
Intro. 104

To learn what you can do to support the bill, visit
NRDC's Action Campaign

Just when you started feeling good about buying the latest eco-friendly product, environmental marketing firm TerraChoice has reported that most "green" products are making claims that are misleading.

Of the 1,018 products that made environmental claims, ranging from toothpaste to office paper, TerraChoice found that all but one was committing what the firm calls "the Six Sins of Greenwashing."

Some of the products bragged about containing no CFCs, preying on consumers who don't know that CFCs were banned from American products in 1978. Others claimed to be organic, without any evidence of certification. And still others highlighted environmental benefits that were outweighed by manufacturing and shipping processes that actually did more harm than good.

To make sure you don't become the next victim of greenwashing, listen to the podcast on npr.org.

The New York Times features what's next in green design.

Check out this photoessay and be inspired to integrate - or create - similar innovations for your campus.

Renewable Resources

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As always, at Conscious Lifestyle we like to think about making change on the individual and institutional levels. How can we get students and schools involved with this initiative?

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"The Organic Consumer Association's Breaking the Chains Campaign is focusing consumers' attention on how each purchasing decision can lead to a safer, greener, and more equitable society. Millions of green minded consumers around the world have broken the chains of corporate control in their own lives, by supporting organic, Fair Made, and locally produced products and businesses. It is time for these individuals to come together as a single voice to break the influence of big chains, corporate agribusiness, and sweatshop driven economies the world over.You can join the Breaking the Chains network, and become a part of this powerful force for change, by signing the pledge above, by hosting a BTC Home Forum using materials downloaded from this page, and by spreading the word to family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues."

To read more, sign the petition, and get involved, visit the Organic Consumers Association's website.

Organic Consumers Association's website.