Rubber Scraper? Really? It will make my life greener?

Okay, so this is not the biggest, greenest change you could make to your life. But it is greener and here’s how.

How many times do you have leftovers? Be it from take-out or home-made meals, baking cookies or cake, you have something left on the surface of the bowl/pot/skillet that took energy to make. So the sun had to shine down on plants to grow them, they had to be harvested (often by machine), they were transported to a store, you bought them, and finally transported them home.

Product Reviewed: Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps: 18-in-1 Hemp Unscented Baby-Mild Pure Castile Soap Made with Organic Oils

Place of Purchase: Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, others

Purchase Price: $8-$12, depending upon sales for 32 Fl. Oz. Or, about $14.50 at Dr.Bronner.com

Product replaced: Variety of all-purpose detergents, especially Pine-Sol, which I previously used on floors

Ingredients: Water, Saponified Organic Coconut* & Organic Olive* Oils (w/ Retained Glycerin), Organic Hemp Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Citric Acid, Vitamin E

* Certified Fair Trade Ingredients

Use: Good, mild detergent for use when you’re scrubbing floors, wiping surfaces, etc. Use for most cleaning applications. Actually, it’s labeled, “no detergents,” let’s call it like they do: it’s soap!

Can also be used to clean one’s body and face.

We would like to welcome you to one of the features that makes EnviroHumanImpact special: our series organize posts on specific topics so that you do not have to go looking for stories that interest you; we’ve already organized them together for your reading enjoyment.

If, for instance, you’re looking for cost-effective ways in which to be greener, our, “Greener Under Twenty,” series.  Consider this page a directory of the Series available on EHI.  You can also access them at the top of the left-hand column on the page.  We our proud to present to you our growing Series Section!

EnviroHumanImpact Series with their descriptions:

“Saved”: The “Saved” Series will include items saved from being discarded in some manner, items doomed to be put into a landfill or closeted away from use. Instead of the potential user of these products buying new, we will show how these products, still with much utility left, are being used to improve one’s envirohuman impact.

EHI Quick Tips: Series outlines very simple techniques or items you can add to your life to quickly and easily  improve your envirohuman impact.

Environ|Mental: These posts pertain to the different aspects of the “mentality” that will help you to succeed in your environmental pursuits.

Green Definitions: We’ll be using terms that may be new to you (and may even be new to us).  So as a housekeeping measure, we will be trying to put definitions down for you so that everyone is working from the same dictionary.

Green Earning Green: where we will analyze various environmentally conscious companies. Find out who’s really reducing EHI and taking it straight to the bank and who is making claims without actually making a positive EHI.

Greener Under Twenty: This will be an ongoing series here on EnviroHumanImpact showcasing simple tasks that can be completed in either twenty minutes or less, with only $20, or, in some cases, just $20 and twenty minutes. With these tips, you’re well on your way to making small tangible steps toward a greener lifestyle.

Product Reviews: These are our product reviews of greener products and are part of a journey toward a more sustainable lifestyle. Expect the straight-up truth about these products’ worth and usability.

Envirophoria: A state of well-being or happiness due to one’s improvement of the environment directly or improving one’s envirohuman impact as a means of reducing negative impact on the environment at large.

Can also be felt by thinking about or seeing someone else improving his envirohuman impact.

It’s springtime, so if you have not had a chance to do some spring cleaning, make an appointment with your broom and mop today! Spring cleaning can also be a great chance to make your home a little greener.

There is great benefit to reducing the amount of dust, dirt, and (perhaps) pet dander in our lives. If you have allergies to dust (most of us do, but you know if your reaction is extreme or not) consider donning a dust mask while you tackle the dustiest jobs.

Remember to:

• Select greener cleaning products, first and foremost. Try Seventh Generation, Dr. Bronner, Method, or other green-branded (and truly green, read your labels) items for the task.
• Using paper towels? Switch over to a brand with at least a majority of recycled content as well as ones that were not produced with the use of chlorine. Consider using old rags where possible, as they can be washed with greener laundry detergent and hung to dry.

Many have asked, “Why has this story barely been covered by mainstream media outlets?” and, “How can we get them to cover the Gade story?”

The answer can be as simple or nuanced as you want it to be.

The simple answer is that you have the potential to put this on the map. Right now I’m not talking about blogging about this, sharing it with friends on your social networks, or calling your media outlets or representatives in Congress. Those all help to keep the story from going to the wayside, but when it comes down to it, you could put this on the political landscape today (or tomorrow, or the next day).

You might hear from people that you’re preaching to the choir. “You don’t need to say that, you’re preaching to the choir.” Or another favorite: “You very well may be preaching to the choir.”

Does the choir not attend sermons? So we are supposed to keep quiet about issues we find important, simply because we tend to be around people who are also passionate about them as well? No. The way that coalitions are formed, the precise method of building a movement is to have people who believe in the same proposal, in this case, improving overall envirohuman impact, discuss that passion, share ideas, and encourage one another.

When will you know who does and does not know everything you know about the environment? I once felt that it was not important to conserve paper and to recycle what we use because I thought (I was much younger at the time) that the main problem was the burning and clear cutting of forests, and not that we use too much paper or don’t recycle.

If you have been following the controversy over why Mary Gade was forced to resign from her post as head of the U.S. EPA’s Region 5 Office in Chicago, you may have encountered the question, “So what? People get fired unfairly all the time. Why does this matter so much?”

If you’re just joining us and would like some insight into what has happened on this story so far, here are EnviroHumanImpacts articles on the matter:

EPA Ousts Mary Gade
Continuing Coverage and Commentary: EPA Gade Controversy
More Mary Gade Coverage (Or Is It Less?)

But back to, “Why does this matter so much?” Fair enough question with a fair enough answer. Sure, people are fired all the time, and many times one could conclude they were fired unfairly. Many, like Gade seems to have been, may have been doing their job and doing it well.

Of course, they all matter, but Gade’s firing is a matter of public safety regarding major industrial chemical pollution. That’s right, say it again, “major industrial chemical pollution.” Dioxin, in Michigan, released by Dow Chemical, at levels thousands of times greater than the federal and Michigan state cleanup standards is seeming to get a pass.

If you haven’t already noticed, more and more of your favorite local, corporately owned stores are carrying an increasing number of “green” products made by various green manufacturers. Everyone from Home Depot and Pick ‘n Save to Walgreen’s and Bed, Bath, and Beyond has jumped on the horse that chains like Whole Foods have been riding for years.

Now this is obviously good news for everyone minus your indie friend who buys green products as part of their yearning for all things “underground.” Sorry, now everyone and their mom will be sporting Method and Seventh Generation products in their kitchens, bathrooms, and laundry rooms. But seriously, this is obviously a great sign for all the loyal environmentalists out there, the new environmentalists, not to mention the environment. Now your favorite products are available in an ever-increasing number of convenient locations.

What do I mean by “Green Real Estate”? I think it’s important for us to understand what happens when a chain like Jewel-Osco, Target, or any other major corporate chain retailer picks up a new line of products and how our spending patterns influence their decisions in the future.

Lets try to get through this quickly: many major chain retailers make product line decisions at the corporate level for all stores across the chain. Working for the retailer, a team of buyers (think, “focus group” setting) listen to presentations given by various companies all promoting their products and competing for shelf space and national exposure.

Readers are contacting EnviroHumanImpact, curious about what has happened in the firing/forced resignation of Mary Gade, who until recently was head of the U.S. EPA’s Region 5 office in Chicago. She contends that this is about a dispute regarding dioxin cleanup between the EPA, specifically her office, and Dow Chemical.

You can read our original article on the matter, here. Our continuing coverage from May 4 is also a good read.

Yesterday, we mentioned a Wall Street Journal article that gave some more insight into the Gade matter. It does offer a little more than the original Chicago Tribune story that broke this news last Friday. Because just as yesterday, the mainstream media seems to be shirking away from this story, we’ll pull some excerpts from the Journal’s piece to help give our readers a better sense of what’s going on.

Yes, it’s from a couple of days ago, May 3, and the continued question is, “where is the mainstream media on this one?” Is what was front page controversy on Friday not newsworthy on Monday?