Green Gal

Stores that sell college dorm "necessities" give out those lists every fall with tons of awesome gadgets, furniture, and other "essentials that every college student needs"! Of course, you want to be comfortable and have all the stuff you need for college so you can focus on getting good grades and having fun. But as a third year college student who thinks she might have finally gotten the system down, I'm here to tell you that while those lists can be great reminders for the things you really do need, you do not need to get those items new and you certainly don't need to buy all of the latest "dorm" accessories--if truth be told, you don't have room for all of those things in your dorm. One of my boxes Green Gal brought to her first dorm room at UC Santa Cruz. If you want to save money, reduce your environmental impact, and still have the stuff you need to be comfortable and happy as you study and enjoy college, you first have to take th...

This week, I took Beth Terry (of MyPlasticFreeLife.com )'s  Show Your Plastic Challenge . I met Beth last Sunday at a lecture she gave for Science Sundays at the Seymour Center at Long Marine lab, and I was inspired to be more conscious of plastic in my life and begin the process of living without it. You can read a little about Beth and the lecture that I attended  here . I purchased a copy of Beth's book at the lecture last Sunday, and I am LOVING it. She has not only great resources and facts about plastic, but she also includes practical solutions. I will be writing more about her book in future posts. The challenge is to " Collect all of your own plastic waste, both recyclable and non, for a minimum of one week ." I tried my best to do the challenge this past week, but I went home for the weekend (I spend most of the year on campus at UC Santa Cruz) and lost track of a few of the plastic items that I used while out to lunch with family. I also didn't pr...

The challenge for this week's Change the World Wednesday Challenge  is... This week take a look at your yard for toxic and/or non-environmentally-friendly materials. For example, does your garden hose contain lead? Is the pool, yard toys (slides, swings, doll houses, etc.) made of plastic? How about buckets, tools, garden pots .... or window netting for insects ... are they made of harmful plastic? Identify the materials used for the things you have in your yard and then, make plans to replace those items with Eco-friendly, safe versions. NOTE: we're not asking you to run out and replace everything in your yard ... but simply to evaluate items and replace as you can or deem fitting. Or ... Don't have a yard, patio, etc.? Then your challenge is to look indoors. Focus on one room and do the same ... identify any harmful, non-Eco-friendly materials and make plans to replace them. This might include paint with harmful ingredients or a plastic shower curtain. Other ...

This morning, my family and I went to our town's downtown farmers' market to enjoy the company of our community, enjoy the fresh air and fresh produce, and to get a knife sharpened at one of the booths. I also was able to snap some photos for the green tips guide I'm editing for the City. After we dropped off the knife to be sharpened at one end of the market, we wandered back down to Main Street and explored an art gallery, which sells locally crafted art, paintings, and jewelry. I observed that the jewelry prices were all at least $40, which seemed high to me. Then I realized that in order for a local artist to make a living selling jewelry and in order to use fine quality materials, that is the true cost. I'm so used to prices you might see at big chain stores where the jewelry is made in China out of cheap materials. Though I stopped buying lots of jewelry awhile back, realizing this made me want to be selective and thoughtful the next time I do want to get som...

The free and wild spirit of UC Santa Cruz draws many different sorts of people to its forest of learning. This spirit can be contagious to those who are already inclined toward living a little on the wild side; after all, the campus is surrounded by trees and deer, and this makes it difficult not to be aware of one's place in the natural world. I feel comfortable with being myself here, wearing what I want and dancing around when I want. I feel like I can be more naturally human, instead of abiding by certain social constraints that frown on violating arbitrary rules, like the idea that women should shave their legs and that men should have short hair. The foggy, wild forest of UCSC It's not strange or appalling to see girls who don't shave their legs here, and I would guess many of those same girls don't shave their armpits. Hair is just part of being human, and many people here embrace this, with beards and mustaches of all sorts, long hair on both guys and girls, an...

We're learning about externalities, or costs of production that affect people who have no control over how much of a good is produced. So far this semester, we've watched a lot of environmentally-related 60 Minutes videos, which I find interesting considering it's an economics class. Economy vs. environment, for sure. This is the video we watched in class today: (Click here if you can't see the above video.) Makes me wonder where my e-waste ends up... Green Gal

Coffee and I have a close relationship, I'd say. This morning, I was a little rushed to get out the door because I was riding my bike and thus had to leave a little earlier than usual, and I didn't have time to make coffee. I figured it would be no big deal--I've gone without coffee in the morning before with no issues. But today, my body knew that I hadn't had my normal routine interaction with coffee and it was mad. So, in retaliation, I got a headache. I guess if I want to go without coffee, I'll have to slowly reduce my dependence on my coffee routine and begin trading in some decaf so my brain doesn't freak out when there's no caffeine. I was also really tired today after going to bed at 11 PM, which for me is late but for my fellow classmates is early; many of them go to bed routinely at 12, some 2:00 in the morning... I have no idea how they do it. My dad and I had studied poetry and Hamlet after St. Patrick's Day dinner until 10 PM and then m...

© Copyright 2010 Green Gal

Happy Valentine's Day! May you enjoy a simple, resourceful and non-wasteful day of celebrating love and apprectiation for others. Pesticide-free flowers, organic free trade chocolate, soy candles and organic dinner? I would hope! We're going to my grandparent's house this evening to celebrate with them and my aunt and uncle. Not sure that every one of those ingredients will be involved in our Valentine's Day celebrations tonight, but at least my sister and I made recycled Valentine's Day cards with old magazines, tattered books and scratch paper :-) On an entirely different note, I've been thinking lately about the greenwashing that's made its way into our minds to think that using the computer is a green alternative to using paper. In some ways, it can be. For large corporations and companies who use up so much paper in documents and reports, using the computer for emails and virtual files rather than printing everything is "greener" than using an...

This Valentine's Day, show your love for the Earth while showing your love for friends and family: create a Valentine's Day card of recycled or reused materials or make your own to avoid purchasing a wasteful card from the store. Whenever we purchase something that can otherwise be hand-made, we tell corporations that we support what they're doing and we increase demand for those products, when we otherwise could be decreasing our reliance on the corporate world. It increases the amount of trees cut down to make cards, the amount of plastic used to laminate those cards, quantities of ink used, transportation and fuel usage, and many other things that can be damaging to the environment in such a large-scale operation. Don't you wonder how many cards go unused and unpurchased every year? There are so many cards being produced for Hallmark, Walgreens, Walmart, Target--there's no way they're all used. Most of them are not recyclable. Nice Hallmark cards can show som...

Last week for Reduce Footprints ' Change the World Wednesday challenge , I agreed to the following: This week, for seven whole days, read food labels and refuse to buy anything containing the following: Hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated oils High fructose corn syrup Artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners or preservatives Bleached or bromated flour Any ingredients that you aren't familiar with and/or can't pronounce So maybe the first day I held true to my word. Then, according to my everyday routine, I purchased an "everything" bagel from Noah's New York Bagels (bleached flour) and a hazelnut soy misto Starbucks drink (artificial flavors & sweeteners) and proceeded to eat them, without being aware that I had violated the challenge. I wasn't really thinking and proceeded to buy another set the next day. It's a habit. A poor habit, I suppose. Then I realized that I'd completely gone against the challenge and pretty much gave up for...

This week I took on Reduce Footprints's Change the World Wednesday Challenge and avoided plastic wrap and aluminum foil. I didn't directly encounter either this week, but I thought I'd share with you some alternatives to those wasteful items that come along with meal time, especially lunch. 1. I bring a reusable lunch bag to school each day, which both reduces my waste as well as protects my food better (It's also quite cute if I do say so myself!). The one I use most often used to belong to my step-mom, but over time I used it more and more and now I'm the only one who uses it. I also have a metal "I Dream of Jeannie" one, but it isn't large enough to hold my thermos when I take soup and it causes apples to roll around and become dented. If you don't have a reusable lunch bag/box, you really need to get one. 2. When I take sandwiches, I bring them in my plastic Wonder Bread container (yes, it's made of plastic which is rather unfortunate, b...

One of the most annoying things I've found about reducing my consumption of resources is forgetting my travel mug or reusable grocery/shopping bag and having to use up another cup or bag at the store. The reusable grocery bag issue has been addressed all over the internet: leave the bags in the car. Reinforcement is key to remembering this, though. When you're finished unloading the groceries, go right back to your car and stick them into the little flap on the back of the front seats. Do it every time, or else you'll forget them, guaranteed. Another awesome way to remember the bag is to buy one of those foldable bags that closes in on itself into a little ball. They fit easily into purses, backpacks, glove compartments and some have little clips so you can attach it to the outside of bags (or key rings if you wish!). The two my mom owns are from Whole Foods, but more and more stores are selling them. I got mine at a hair salon! I've never seen the mug issue addressed b...