Green Products

As everyone knows, California has stricter laws governing emissions than the country as a whole. And as an effect, 12 other states have adopted their stricter emissions laws.

Now, California is requesting they be able to make their standards even stricter. What they’re proposing is to cut greenhouse gases by one third by the year 2016– “double the reductions that would be achieved by the new fuel economy standards contained in last year’s energy bill, the best the federal government has been able to do so far.”

So what’s the hold up on allowing California to do so? Well, you see, what had happened was…

Even though the Bush administration is now admitting that, well, there might be something to this whole greenhouse gas thing, they are still stuck on not doing anything about it. Why do we keep getting stumped by the fed?

 Everyone knows we should recycle metal, glass and plastic cans and bottles, but what about all the lids, tops and caps? I see people recycling plastic bottles, for example, with their caps on, but I’ve always been told to thrown them out. Is that wrong?
Many municipal recycling programs throughout the United States still do not accept plastic lids, tops and caps, even though they take the containers that accompany them. The reason is that lids typically are not made from the same kind of plastic as their containers, and therefore should not be mixed together with them.

Plastic Lids and Plastic Containers Don’t Mix
Just about any plastic can be recycled, but when two types are mixed, one contaminates the other, reducing the value of the material or requiring resources to separate them before processing.”

Recycling Plastic Lids and Caps May Pose Dangers to Workers
Also, plastic caps and lids can jam processing equipment at recycling facilities, and the plastic containers with tops still on them may not compact properly during the recycling process. They can also present a safety risk for recycling workers.

Most plastic bottles are baled for transport, and if they don’t crack when baled the ones with tightly fastened lids can explode when the temperature increases.

Most Communities Ask Consumers to Discard Plastic Lids and Caps
Some recycling programs do accept plastic caps and lids, but usually only if they are off their containers completely and batched separately. Given the many potential issues, however, most recyclers would rather avoid taking them altogether. Thus, it is hard to believe but true: In most locales, the responsible consumers are the ones who throw their plastic caps and lids into the trash instead of the recycling bin.

Metal Lids and Caps Can Sometimes Be Recycled
As for metal caps and lids, they, too, can jam processing machines, but many municipalities accept them for recycling anyway because they do not cause any batch contamination issues. To deal with the potentially sharp lid of any can you are recycling (such as a tuna, soup or pet food can), carefully sink it down into the can, rinse it all clean, and put it in your recycling bin.

Buying in Bulk Means Fewer Plastic Lids and Caps to Process
Of course, the best way to reduce all kinds of container and cap recycling is to buy in large rather than single-serving containers. Does the event you’re holding really require dozens and dozens of 8- to 16-ounce soda and water bottles, many of which will get left behind only partly consumed anyway? Why not buy large soda bottles, provide pitchers of (tap) water, and let people pour into reusable cups?

The same kind of approach can be taken with many if not all of the bottled and canned grocery items we buy routinely for our homes. If more people bought in bulk, apportioning out of fewer, larger containers, we could take a huge bite out of what goes into the waste stream.

While recent studies have documented the unique vulnerability of young children to chemical exposures, little is known about the extent to which environmental pollutants have contributed to disease in children in America. The most serious diseases confronting children in the United States are chronic, disabling illnesses that place an enormous burden on our health care resources. These include asthma, leukemia and other childhood cancers, and neurobehavioral disorders such as autism, mental retardation, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Recent studies on childhood illnesses suggest that many of these diseases are caused in part by exposure to environmental chemicals. Children are especially vulnerable to the thousands of high volume chemicals that contaminate our air, water, and food. Children receive proportionately larger doses of chemical toxicants than adults, and these exposures occur at a time when children’s organs and tissues are rapidly growing and developing.

NIEHS-supported researchers at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine estimated the contribution of environmental pollutants to the incidence, mortality and costs of four kinds of childhood diseases: lead poisoning, asthma, cancer, and neurobehavioral disorders. The researchers calculated the fraction of each disease that was attributable to environmental exposures, the prevalence of these diseases, and the size of the population at risk. Based on these factors, the researchers estimate the annual costs associated with environmentally related illness in American children to be approximately $54.9 billion. Of this amount, $43.4 billion is due to lead poisoning, $2.0 billion to asthma, $0.3 billion to childhood cancer, and $9.2 billion to neurobehavioral disorders. This figure amounts to nearly 3% of total U.S. health care costs.

These findings suggest that the costs of children’s environmental diseases are high in relation to the limited resources directed to research and prevention. This information will be useful in developing new strategies and guidelines for the detection and prevention of environmental illness in America’s children including more comprehensive testing of environmental chemicals, additional research on the causes of environmental illness, development of new methods for tracking pediatric diseases, and the allocation of resources needed to prevent pollution.

Rachael Levenson

Recycling gold allows you to live green in more than one way. Generate additional income this month while supporting a healthy environment at the same time.

By recycling old gold such as old jewelry and gold casting, you are limiting the demand for new production of gold. Although modern advances have lead to safer mining of gold, threats to the environment still exist.

For example, some miners use cyanide and mercury to divide gold from rock. These chemicals are usually inhaled by the miners themselves, posing risks to their health. Furthermore, these chemicals may spread into the surrounding ecosystem, polluting rivers and vegetation.

The reduction of gold mining lessens the use of these chemicals and the amount of explosives used to break new ground during the mining process. These explosives are also damaging to surrounding communities.

In 2007, the United States was responsible for producing an astounding 255 metric tones of gold. Second only to China who produced 276 metric tons of gold and South Africa who produced 272 metric tones.

The good news is that being environmentally conscious has its rewards. With the rising price of gold, the gold recycling industry has been booming with people trading in their dusty gold for profit.

You may be surprised to find the numerous places where you may find gold. Remember that ugly piece of jewelry from a past boyfriend? Or the old broach you received from your dear Aunt many years ago? By just looking in a jewelry box, many women may find dusty jewelry that they haven’t worn in ages. Jewelry is the most obvious source of gold but many would be surprised to know that gold may be found in old computer parts, old castings and in some foreign coins.

Before you sell gold to a gold buyer, be sure to do your research well. For example, find out if the company is a member of the Better Business Bureau and how long they have been in good standing. Also, ask your gold buyer of their experience in the industry. You want to be sure that your transaction is safe, easy and profitable.

When more of us recycle gold, we are preserving our gold resources for future generations and helping to promote a healthier environment.

Posted by William Bryant as More Green

This is a very very important video for anyone who’s on this site to watch.

Why is recycling and zero waste and being careful about how the products you buy affect those who make them and buying from local stores instead of big box stores and buying organic foods and being wary of toxins and achieving sustainability period important?

This movie brings some scary but true facts to the table. It outlines our process that is most prevelant here in the U.S. that is so destructive to our world. Greed has carried us thus far and it has ruined our lives. But we’re too busy to notice it or worry about it. We’ve let it into our homes. But we can make the change.

Following the simple steps to green available on this site will help tremendously, but they are essentially designed to lead you down the road to life-altering sustainability awareness.

We’re playing on the green buzzword in hopes you’ll realize it’s much more than that. That it’s absolutely essential to our survival.

Watch the movie here.

Reduce, reuse, and recycle.  Those three words are the most commonly used terms to help our environment.  With people throwing away tons of garbage every day, it really is necessary to do everything possible to help save planet Earth.  It really isn’t hard to do.  You just have to be more diligent in doing things around the home.  And you just have to patronize companies that help reduce waste.

One product that you might not expect to be recycled is the tire.  You can even make recycled purses out of them.  And they look fashionable too.  Who would have thought that your tires can be more than just tires?  Of course, there are many more things that can be recycled.  It is up to your imagination to think of alternative uses for items we would otherwise throw away.  Let’s do our share in protecting and preserving our environment.  Remember, our children will live in the same world.  Let’s make it better for them.

Many people nowadays are adhering to the cleaner or greener lifestyle.  They prefer organic food, supplements, cleaning products, and even clothing.  It is not even hard to find these products anymore because a lot of companies have now adhered to this green philosophy.  Some have defined being green by the way their products are made.  They clearly state that their products are not tested on animals, not manufactured in sweatshops or under inhumane conditions, and are organically grown.

You can now find organic baby clothes, bags, accessories, vitamins, soaps, and a lot more.  They make perfect gifts and are a great introduction to the green lifestyle.  It really is a great help in saving our environment.  And you are helping yourself as well.  You can be sure that you eat pesticide-free produce and wear “manufactured correct” clothes.

What’s in Deer Antler Velvet?

Deer antler velvet is named after the soft, velvet-like covering that deer antlers have before they turn bony. Antlers are organs of bone which regenerate each year from the heads of male deer. In addition to bone, support tissues such as nerves also regenerate. Nerves grow up to 1 cm each day, the fastest growing biologically active tissue known to science. Deer antler velvet contains many substances including amino acids, minerals, proteins, anti-inflammatory peptides, hormones, gangliosides and glycosaminoglycans, and Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (which is known to be the master regulator responsible for body size – NHGRI.) It represents the only renewable form of cartilage, accounting for its signficant effects on bone and cartilage health and renewal. It is loaded with beneficial collagen, prostoglandin, phospholipids, proteoglycans, minerals, fatty acids and steroids. It is also rich with both chondroitin sulphate and glucosamine sulphate.

The Chinese have long believed that Antler Velvet is a “wonder drug.” A 2,000-year-old scroll discovered in a tomb in Hunan Province, China, listed dozens of different diseases that could be treated with deer velvet. The 16th century “Materia Medica,” a standard text of Chinese herbalists, lists deer velvet as one of the most highly prized natural medicinal substances.

Furthermore, research by Dr Andrezj Bartke and the BioMarker Foundation into life-span factors, while studying long-lived Ames dwarf mice, found that the Insulin Growth Factor genetic pathways are directly involved in confering longevity by increasing resistance to stress, enhancing immune function, and altering programmed aging. Nathan Sutter of the National Human Genome Research Institute, one of the National Institutes of Health, states, “IGF1 is amazing. It pops up all over the place… for example, it can account for different risks in a person getting prostate cancer.”

Evidence is proving the Chinese were right about Antler Velvet, and is a powerful modern synthesis of this ancient and life-giving formulation.

What is meant by “growth”?

Growth requires many, many co-ordinated processes in the body, and that in turn means a complex dance of lots of different hormones, which typically are the messengers that tell different parts of the body what to do and when. Growth hormones are the power behind muscle growth. They stimulate both the differentiation and proliferation of muscle cells, amino acid uptake and the synthesis of protein in muscle and other tissues. This is where IGF-Plus’ profound ability to influence overall muscle growth comes from.

Growth but so much more! You have to try it to experience the amazing effects. In so many areas.

• Enhances strength, endurance and athletic performance
• Has a positive impact on diseases, like stomach and lung conditions or even high cholesterol and high blood sugar (thins the blood)
• Reinvigorates and supports female and male sexual organs to restore potency and pleasure
• Works to eliminate extra body fat, especially in the abdomen and legs
• Improves skin texture and elasticity
• Help you sleep better
• Improve immune and heart function, and healing time
• Improve brain function, memory and mental focus
• Profound anti-aging qualities
• Arthritis and joint relief and repair
• Protects against future injury and deterioration

These are all a lot of claims, we admit. But clinical tests (and we have hundreds of researched studies) have shown these very effects in adults ranging in age from 20 to 90. Not just a superior muscle growth and performance enhancer, This is remarkably helpful for a whole category of health benefits and assists with many and varied complaints.

Our formula uses New Zealand pure deer antler velvet, which is the highest purity and quality available on the market, and is consequently subject to quota restrictions (which also makes it hard to keep in stock, especially given its remarkable success.) The amazing re-order rate of this product is further proof of its efficacy. Try it for a minimum of 2-3 weeks to see its full effects.

In general, it is used to restore, balance and strengthen the body, support joint function, increase muscle growth and testosterone levels, facilitate athletic performance, sexual performance, and cultivate an overall feeling of well-being. It has amazing beneficial effects for both men and women. And our new extraction process has increased the growth factor percentage by 300% for an even more effective formula.

Personal care is a big subject, but basically we can take it to mean the caring for our general appearance: cleansing and cosmetics, haircare, skincare, makeup, hair removal and, of course, that time of the month most women deal with. We are bombarded daily with the coaxing of the worldwide cosmetics industry as it tries to sell us products which guarantee to make us look younger, thinner, and more gorgeous.

Sadly, these products are not regulated to a level that would make most people feel very safe. Many of these products contain ingredients with dubious implications (many of which are petroleum derived), as well as potentially toxic agents that are not even included on the label. There are, however, easy and affordable alternatives available to every consumer.

This guide aims to give you some general information, to point you in the right direction and inspire you to make a few small changes in your own routine. If we are going to invest so much time and money in our personal care and appearance, doesn’t it makes sense to do so in a productive way that doesn’t harm ourselves or our environment?

by Courtney Curtis,

There’s no doubt that the standards the USDA has imposed on organic cotton farmers has done our planet some good. After all, the whole concept of organic production is environmentally-centered. But, aside from the lessened eco-impact, is organic cotton any better for you?

Finding trendy clothes and stylish sheets certainly is a lot easier when you aren’t concerned with where they come from, right? Well, the value of shopping for organics is subjective to say the least, so check out these five ways organic cotton is grown differently, and decide for yourself if a little bit of tag-peeking is worth the difference:

1. It Starts with the Seeds

Photo credit: Terranova / Getty Images

If you think that conventional and organic cotton starts out the same way, I’m sorry to tell you you’re wrong. Actually, conventional cotton farmers don’t just start out with approximately 70% GMO, or genetically modified organism, seeds, but they also treat their seeds with fungicides and insecticides before planting. Organic farmers, however, use only untreated, non-GMO seeds for their cotton harvest.

2. Soil and Water: Where Cotton Grows Up

Photo credit: Getty Images

Maybe the seeds are a little different, but they’re planted in the same earth and fed the same water, right? Wrong. Conventional cotton is planted in synthetic fertilizers, and there’s actually less soil because of a predominantly mono-crop culture. Incidentally, conventional cotton production requires intensive irrigation, adding wasteful water management to conventional cotton farming’s list of flaws.

Organic cotton farming, on the other hand, already has strong soil because of annual crop rotation, so no additional fertilizers are needed. The cotton crop also retains water more efficiently because of increased organic matter in the soil, which means organic farms play an important part in water conservation efforts.

3. Keeping the Weeds at Bay

Photo Credit: David McNew / Getty Images

Weeds can certainly be a crop’s worst enemy, so there’s no question they have to either be removed or destroyed. The conventional method calls for inhibiting weed germination by treating the soil with herbicides, a method that often requires several treatments to be effective. Organic cotton farming, however, requires that weeds be eliminated physically, not chemically. Organically, weeds are controlled exclusively through cultivation and hand hoeing.

4. Proper Pest Control

Photo credit: Jeffrey Sylvester / Getty Images

Because conventional cotton production readily uses insecticides as its primary method of pest control, it accounts for approximately 25% of insecticide usage worldwide. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the nine most common pesticides used to produce common cotton are highly toxic, and five are probable carcinogens. Additionally, aerial spraying is a frequent method of distributing the chemicals and potential drift can be lethal.

Organic cotton production, however, avoids pesticide use altogether. On organic cotton farms a balance between pests and their natural predators is created through the presence and maintenance of healthy soil. Organic farms also uses beneficial insects instead of insecticides to control pests.

5. From Harvesting to Your Home

Photo credit: DKAR / Getty Images

Before the cotton crop can be harvested it must defoliate or be defoliated, meaning the leaves must come off. In conventional cotton farming this is done almost entirely with, you guessed it, more chemicals. In organic cotton farming, however, chemical defoliation is not an option, and farmers rely mostly on the seasonal freeze for leaf removal. If the season proves to be unreliable, organic farmers might turn water management as a defoliation stimulant.