Heart of Green

One Stop Green Shopping

We all want a one stop shop for excellent green shopping. Our wishes have been answered with the launch of the new Amazon Green Store. You can browse eco-conscious products in the categories of Green Office, Green Cleaning, Green Lighting, Home & Garden, Books & Movies, Baby, and more. There is also an interesting feature called "Pick 3 Green Products you wish everyone had."  Since we can shop online, this gives us more time to recycle and compost everything, I mean go for a walk on the beach.

Please know that I am not advocating conspicuous eco consumption or buying for buying sake. Many people tell me that they have a hard time finding healthy green products in their area or do not have time to run around looking for eco-goodies, which can cost more in gas money!  To make ordering even more environmentally-sound, one can try to consolidate purchases into one shipment from a source like Amazon Green.

Other reliable and inspiring green shopping web sites worthy of a glance include Organic Style, Gaiam, and FutureNatural for eco-beauty.

I also want to give a shout out to my friend Robert Craymer of RC Green sustainable furniture fame. Whenever we needed a last-minute VIP Green Lounge, Robert was there with his hip and eco interior designs. 

Please check out his new RC Green Tree of Sustainability. He is also filming a TV show of all of his escapades in the VIP green world. A natural in front of the camera and wonderful with people, Robert is guaranteed to delight both on camera and off.

Heroes are Good

When the going gets tough, the tough get heroes. Al Gore is one of my heroes. He has all the qualities a modern superhero should have:  an enlightened vision, willingness to take on the villains, persistence, and dashing good looks - at least I think so.

Here are highlights from Al Gore’s speech A Generational Challenge to Repower America. A member of Al's Hollywood entourage, Will.i.am even came from LA to hear him speak.

If you don’t like Al Gore, then let's try to imagine that someone else is talking. One of the key things we must do is de-politicize the environment. Taking a vitamin pill is not a political issue. Going to the gym, drinking clean water, or breathing clean air are not political issues. Living on a healthy planet is not a political issue, or is it?

A grassy park brings people from all walks of life together. The day that the environment became a “left” issue was the day that we started having problems. We do not have to choose between the environment and jobs. Green jobs hold great promise for a renewed, self-sufficient, prosperous U.S. economy.  The environment can unify us, not divide us.

I admit that the former Vice President may not be the best person to de-politicize green and clean, but here is the best of Al:

Sun & Wind & Geo Rule: “Enough solar energy falls on the surface of the earth every 40 minutes to meet 100 percent of the entire world's energy needs for a full year. Enough wind power blows through the Midwest corridor every day to also meet 100 percent of electricity demand. Geothermal energy is capable of providing enormous supplies of electricity for America.”

Repower America:  “Today I challenge our nation to commit to producing 100 percent of our electricity from renewable energy and truly clean carbon-free sources within 10 years.”

We Are Doing What?: “We are borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that's got to change.”

As Oil Prices Rise, Sun Prices Fall: “When demand for oil and coal increases, their price goes up. When demand for solar cells increases, the price often comes down. That’s the difference. Sunlight is free forever.”

Green Jobs:  “When we send money to foreign countries to buy nearly 70 percent of the oil we use every day, they build new skyscrapers and we lose jobs. When we spend that money building solar arrays and windmills, we build competitive industries and gain jobs here at home.”  [Huge applause]

Who is Benefiting from the Status Quo?:  “There are those who will tell us this can't be done. Some of the voices we hear are the defenders of the status quo - the ones with a vested interest in perpetuating the current system, no matter how high a price the rest of us will have to pay.”

American People Want Change:  “To those who say the challenge is not politically viable: I suggest they go before the American people and try to defend the status quo. Then bear witness to the people's appetite for change. The time is now."

Status Quo is a No Go:  "I for one do not believe our country can withstand 10 more years of the status quo. Our families cannot stand 10 more years of gas price increases. Our workers cannot stand 10 more years of job losses and outsourcing of factories. Our economy cannot stand 10 more years of sending $2 billion every 24 hours to foreign countries for oil. Our soldiers and their families cannot take another 10 years of repeated troop deployments to dangerous regions that just happen to have large oil supplies.”

Plug-Ins For All:  We could increase the value and efficiency of the grid by helping our struggling auto giants switch to the manufacture of plug-in electric cars.”

Policy Matters:  “I have long supported a sharp reduction in payroll taxes with the difference made up in CO2 taxes. We should tax what we burn, not what we earn."

Drilling Won’t Matter:  “When people rightly complain about higher gasoline prices, we propose to give more money to the oil companies and pretend that they're going to bring gasoline prices down. It will do nothing of the sort, and everyone knows it.”

China is Gulping Oil:  “If you want to know the truth about gasoline prices, here it is: the exploding demand for oil, especially in places like China, is overwhelming the rate of new discoveries by so much that oil prices are almost certain to continue upward over time no matter what the oil companies promise.”

A Generational Call:  “This is a generational moment. A moment when we decide our own path. We're committed to changing not just light bulbs, but laws. And laws will only change with leadership.”

Man on the Moon, Man on Earth:  Just as we put a man on the moon in 1969, “we must now lift our nation to reach another goal that will change history. Our civilization depends upon us embarking on a new journey of exploration and discovery [to end our reliance on fossil-based fuels]. We have an opportunity to take a giant leap for humankind."

Thinking about this, it does seem almost silly how wedded we are to fossil fuels, which will run out.  They are fossils and by definition, they are old and finite and dirty. Decayed organic matter. Would we burn a cemetery for energy?  That is essentially what we are doing. How does that celebrate life?  The sun shines down on us every day. The wind blows every day. The Earth's core boils every day. We can take advantage of these “free” renewable and clean sources of energy every day. 

Sometimes I feel like Lois Lane, waiting for Al Gore to swoop down and take me for a ride high above the clouds to save the planet.  We need Al Gores in our life to help us envision a brighter future. But in our modern society, every person who embraces the connection between ourselves and the planet is a hero in his/her own right. So is every person who makes 1-2 small changes or spreads the word about how ecofabulous it can be to live a healthy lifestyle. Going forward, we need champions for change, not defenders of the status quo. We need heroes like Al Gore and like all of us.

Watch Al Gore's speech or visit www.wecansolveit.org

FSC vs. SFI Forests

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so I will let this photograph do the talking:

This photo shows the difference between a forest managed under the independent third-party Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification program and one managed under the industry-backed Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI).  See more photos here. The difference is as clear as a smog-free day and shocking.

A common question is “What kind of wood should I buy?”  It turns out that there are no good or bad species – only good and bad forestry.  Let’s take a moment to examine FSC and SFI with the goal of getting to the green bottom of this burning issue.

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)

Here are the principles of FSC-certified forests:

• Never harvests more than what grows back
• Protects biodiversity and endangered species
• Saves rare ancient trees
• Guards local streams
• Supports the local people
• Uses narrow skidding trails so as not to disrupt the rest of the forest
• Prohibits replacement by tree plantations
• Bans toxic chemicals
• Bans genetically modified trees (no GMO)

In the first year under FSC, you map and inventory all of the trees and assess the biology and the streams. Then you make a sustainable plan that will do the least harm and mimic the natural life and death cycle of the forest. Trees do fall down naturally which we see while hiking!

Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI)

Here is what is allowed under the industry's SFI standard:

• Allows large clearcuts
• Allows logging close to rivers and streams that harms water supplies
• Allows use of toxic chemicals
• Allows conversion of old-growth forests to tree plantations
• Allows use of genetically modified trees

Who is Behind SFI:  The American Forest & Paper Association created SFI to market US timber business-as-usual logging practices as being sustainable. It is greenwashing and is funded by the largest pulp and paper companies including:

• International Paper (no. 1 largest wood processor in the world)
• Georgia-Pacific Corporation (no 2)
• Weyerhaeuser (no. 3)
• Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation (no. 5)

Just saying that a company is planting “a million” trees is not the same as a well-managed sustainable forest. Clearcutting an old-growth forest to create a plantation of monoculture trees is a disaster and increasingly commonplace in Brazil and Indonesia. This isn’t a forest. This is a crop. As a result, the water wells for the local people dry up, the animals die, and the natural forest is lost forever. On a positive note, there are steps we can take not to be complicit in this debauchery.

What’s up with Deforestation?

After power plants, deforestation is the second leading cause of global warming in the world. Wood is a wonderful resource if managed sustainably.  It is naturally recyclable, biodegradable, non-toxic, easy to use, and relatively fast growing. Forests are also essential to the inner workings of our planet. Trees create oxygen, store carbon, store water, and produce vital rain clouds. At this moment, one football field worth of forest is being cleared per minute in the tropics. This is unsustainable and we have the power to quell it through our buying power.

50% of the wood imported into the US comes from illegal logging. 80% of South American and African hardwood and 90% of Asian hardwood sold in the US is illegally logged. Indonesia is the worst.

Guide to Good Green Wood

Here are a few small things that can make a big difference in the battle for good wood. We don't have to cut down the world's forests to print our docs and park our backside on a handsome chair.

1. Ask where the wood comes from. Ask for Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) wood. Look for the FSC seal on the box and the invoice. Check.

2. Buy reclaimed or salvaged wood. Antiques are also the ultimate in eco-chic.

3. Buy recycled paper with a high % of post-consumer content.  For high-quality recycled copy and printing paper, Staples is great choice. FedEx Kinkos is also supporting FSC. OfficeMax is still lagging and selling paper from clearcut forests.

4. Bring your own bag to the grocery store or reuse the paper bags over and over until they shred. The paper bags at Safeway and Lucky’s are made by Weyerhaeuser under SFI. Help.

5. Bamboo is a rapidly-growing grass (weed) and a solid option for furniture.

6. Avoid SFI because fake green standards are lame.

7. Support companies and stores that sell FSC-certified or reclaimed wood products such as these super stars:

• EcoTimber
• Restoration Timber
  
• Berkeley Mills
• The Wooden Duck
• Mi Workshop 
  
• Kenneth Cobonpue
• Cisco Brothers Basal Living
• Q Collection and Q Collection Junior
  
• Bamboo Cabinets
  
• Modern Bamboo 
• Heritage Salvage  
• Tropical Salvage  

No SFI in LEED Let's Hope:  I am worried because the industry is currently lobbying the US Green Building Council heavily in all 50 states to get SFI to qualify for points under the popular LEED green building standards. This would be a catastrophe for the forests and the planet. So far the USGBC has held strong but how much lobbying can an organization take?  We need to support LEED holding firm and applaud the USGBC for wanting to promote green building standards that are truly sustainable and transformational.

The best news of all is that there are now 100 million hectors of forest land that is certified under FSC. The pull from the marketplace (you) for sustainable wood is working. Every time we buy FSC, reclaimed, or recycled, we are sending a message.  www.fsc.org

Update:  Thank you for the tremendous feedback. A few people have commented that FSC is not perfect but is the best we have right now for a sustainable forestry standard. I think this is an important point. Like with industrial organics, the pressure to compromise environmental standards always increases with volume. There are reports that some FSC forests have been slipping. It is critical to keep a green eye on this because FSC is our principle hope right now for preserving true forests into perpetuity. Let's support FSC in being the best they can be. That and let's also continue using recycled materials and developing tree-free sources like bamboo, rattan, hemp, bagasse, kenaf, and abaca rope to give the forests some breathing room. They are the lungs of our planet.

Guide to Safe Nails

The manicure-pedicure, or the mani-pedi for short. Part of a girl’s pampering ritual, and that of some enlightened guys too who have discovered the magic of the hand and foot massage. We won’t tell.

So imagine our shock when we learn that one of our favorite treats is filled with toxic chemicals. Knowledge is power, and we can still have beautiful sexy nails without harming ourselves or the nail salons. Here is Heart of Green’s Guide to Nailing Safe Nails:

Chemicals To Avoid

Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) is a carcinogen that causes cancer and birth defects in laboratories. It was banned in the European Union years ago.

Formaldehyde is a neurotoxin and carcinogen with severe negative health effects. Nail polishes can emit high levels of formaldehyde when wet.

Toluene is a toxic inhalant that can cause contact dermatitis, eye irritation, depression, headaches, tiredness, nausea, loss of vision, and central nervous system problems. It can also be listed as benzene or toluol. Toluene is produced during the manufacture of gasoline from crude oil.

Good Nail Polishes

Buffing: I no longer get any polish on my hands and opt for nude buffing instead, which leaves a radiant shine without the chemicals or high-maintenance flaking. Buffing is the new French manicure for busy eco-conscious ladies. I still can’t resist red on my toes.

Peacekeeper makes mineral-based nail polishes with argan oil and without the bad stuff like FD&C coloring, toluene, or formaldehyde. Peaceful indeed.

Soulstice Nail Colour is vegan, glamorous, and free of the three undesirables.

SpaRitual Nail Lacquer comes in stylish shimmering colors and is vegan and free of synthetic dyes and the three no-nos.

Honeybee Gardens spins up a sweet water-based polish that is totally odor-free.

No Miss Nail Polish does not contain formaldehyde, toluene, or DBP and whips up colors made from the earth and UV inhibitors to protect your nails from the sun.

OPI has begun to remove the hazardous chemicals toluene and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) from their gaggle of omnipresent nail polishes.

Sante Kosmetics Nail Polish is recommended without reservation.

Good Nail Spas

Visit a nail salon that has taken the leap to treading lightly and safely on its workers, its clients, and the planet.

Priti Organic Spa in New York

Pure Nails in Austin

Julep Nail Parlor in Seattle

Honey Nail Salon in Atlanta

Nova Nail Spa in San Francisco – Enter this green nail spa with heated floors and relax in the midst of organic geranium essential oils, fresh rose petals, organic ginger scrubs, and organic ginger body lotions. It is located at 811 Mission Street in San Francisco.

Your Favorite Nail Spa: Any spa can become eco-friendly if you bring in your own favorite safe polish. Maybe they will even give you a discount, if you don’t lay on the guilt trip as thick as the salt scrub. Be light and friendly and who knows, maybe the next time you come in, they will be painting all of their clients with your chemical-free gloss.

Healthy Resources

To go deep on safe beauty products, please see these excellent resources:

Environmental Working Group (EWG) Skin Deep Database

Teens For Safe Cosmetics - these teens rock safe beauty for all of us.

Tip: People always comment on how long my nails grow and want to know my secret. I think it is because I take calcium daily and also like to drink milk?  Organic milk, soy milk, real yogurt, cheese, ice cream, the works. Try it and let me know the results!

Eco Med Spa Opens

Who can’t use a little bit of pampering in today’s modern life?   The only thing better than a spa is an eco-spa.

Tomorrow in San Francisco’s Union Square, the talk of the town will be the opening of the first green medical spa in the country – the Epi Center eco Med Spa. This oasis in the big city has actually been in existence for a remarkable 10 years, but the owner Margaret Mitchell decided she wanted to go green from the inside out. Hence, a complete LEED-certified green remodel and move to a suite filled with windows, light, organic beauty products, filtered water, and the works. Now you can have laser hair removal and clinical skin care in a place where beauty, modern science, and the environment join together to produce gorgeous results.

I love spas but occasionally it can be an unintended stressful experience for those of us with an active mind. Why are they tugging at my skin?  What chemicals are lurking in those products?  Ignorance was bliss but now knowledge is power.

The beauty of the new Epi Center eco Med Spa is that you can leave your worries behind and let the experts work their magic with organic tools in tow. Let the eco-pampering begin.  www.skinrejuv.com

As we know, beauty is truly skin deep. 70% or more of what we put on our skin gets absorbed into our body. Would we consider eating our face cream?  The good news is that companies are waking up and producing high-performance products without the baggage (parabens, polyethylene glycols, sodium lauryl & laureth sulfates, unnatural fragrances, yuck). Whole Foods has even gotten into the act with their excellent new Premium Body Care seal of approval. Look for the sign next to the healthiest products in the market. They did the testing for us so we can bathe in peace.

My other favorite eco-oriented spas in San Francisco to date are the ayurvedic Kamalaspa in Union Square and the zen International Orange spa and yoga lounge on Fillmore. Perhaps I'll see you in the waiting room.

Happy Earth Holiday

Happy Earth Day everyone!  I don’t know about you, but I think we should make Earth Day into an Earth Holiday.

Let’s all get out of the office for some air and celebrate this beautiful blue planet we call home. Earth is our only address for now, and let’s cherish it and strive to leave it better off than we found it. This is becoming easier and more possible every day with the exciting wave of eco-innovation occurring in every sector. Bring on the hip eco-fashion, cool clean cars, high performance healthy products, and of course, the rocking green parties.

Green and blue are ultimately about life, distinguishing between what is life-enhancing and what is life-destroying. A green life can be filled with an abundance of fresh flavors, vibrant colors, clean air, clean water, variety, and pleasure just like in nature. And it can be free of pesticides, untested toxins, pollution, and short-sighted thinking.

Our collective goals are renewable energy independence from fossil fuels, high-style regenerative waste-free design, no more toxins, the slowdown of global warming, and the preservation of open space, forests, oceans, rivers, native seeds, endangered animal species, and all life on Earth. This is the dream. This is within our power.

We can rejoice in the incredible green renaissance experienced over the last year by enjoying some local organic foods, biodynamic wines, and a walk on the beach or through some spectacular trees and spring wildflowers. Thank you for going on this journey with me at Heart of Green. I couldn't do it without you. While acknowledging the work we still have to do (and we are not stopping), let’s take a moment to celebrate Earth Holiday and our fabulous planet. Let the one-day vacation begin!

Heart of Green's How To Go Green Guide

Green^100

G is for Green. G is also for Google. That is G squared or is that G^100?  To celebrate Earth Day, Google has released a nifty set of features that are cool, fun, and participatory. Check these out and join the party online and off.

Google Earth Day 08 Map: “I will walk to work.” “I will bike to work.” “I will plant a vegetable garden.” “I will try to save energy.” “I will get outside more.” “I will do an Earth Day project (from a 7th grader)”  There is something very heart-warming and hopeful about reading people’s submissions on the map. I love it. What struck me was the variety. Each story was different yet equally important. View the map and post your own thought. Then hit Refresh 10 times and see if it pops up. www.google.com/earthday08

Google Checkout for Non-Profits Donation Campaign: We can’t save the world by ourselves. That is where great environmental nonprofits come in. If you want to help out your favorite organization this Earth Day, do it through Google Checkout and something extraordinary will happen. You’ll be able to see your donation on a map. I just tried it out for CalCars (advocacy for plug-in hybrids), made a donation on behalf of my dad (a car lover) and ta da! I see my donation on the map. Their goal is to start a snowball of donations among family and friends that doesn’t melt.  checkout.google.com/earthday/

Google Earth: The Ferrari, or is that Tesla, of software applications that showcase Earth’s beauty and power, Google Earth released its latest version last week. I love their eco-focused Global Awareness layers and their Google Earth Outreach Showcase. See Solar Eclipses, the work of Jane Goodall, American wilderness hot spots, the new ARKive project for Wildscreen (as in Noah's Ark), and much more in 3-D action. earth.google.com/outreach/

Google Transit: Let’s not forget the very handy Google Public Transit service. Want to leave your car at home? Just plug in your to and from addresses, and voila. Out pops the bus or train number you can take. I should be using this more instead of bugging my friend who has memorized the bus maps in his head. www.google.com/transit

Energy Saver Gadget for Google Desktop: G is also for Gadget, a useful tool that eco-optimizes the power on your PC so your computer and energy utility can rest while you are out and about.

Google is showing its green might in more revolutionary ways. Never content with the conventional and always striving to do the extraordinary, Google.org has launched a high-wattage RechargeIt program with plug-in cars that get 100+ miles to the gallon. Google also has the largest corporate campus solar panel installation to date with over 9,000 solar panels producing 1.6 Megawatts. Googlers can scoot through several green buildings thanks to a partnership with cradle to cradle design guru Bill McDonough.

Let's not forget perhaps the most important initiative of all, Google.org’s RE<C (Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal) initiative. Their goal is nothing short of 1 Gigawatt of clean renewable energy that costs less per watt than coal. High velocity wind, solar thermal, high velocity solar, and more breakthrough innovations are on the table. This is the holy grail and would change everything for the better. Thanks Google for being a role model and for making it easier to live the green life. Googling the word “green” yields 934,000,000 results. Now that keeps hope alive.

See the full scoop on Google's Earth Day initiatives on the Official Google Blog. Happy Earth Day! 

Plastic Takes The Heat

Just in time for Earth Day, a miracle has happened. Governments and retailers have woken up to the perils of Bisphenol A (BPA), a toxic chemical found in polycarbonate plastic bottles, and are taking action. Immediate and strong action.

95% of Americans have Bisphenol A in their bodies according to a 2004 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Bisphenol A is synthetic sex hormone that mimics estrogen. Too much exposure while growing up is carcinogenic. It can cause reproductive damage and may lead to prostate and breast cancer in adults. On Tuesday, the National Toxicology Program of the U.S. National Institutes of Health declared evidence of links to cancer from Bisphenol A. And this stuff is in baby bottles and the liners of baby food cans?

Bisphenol A can kiss our collective (fill in the blank). The Canadian government announced this week that Canada will be the first country to ban plastic baby bottles with Bisphenol A after concluding the chemical is toxic. On Friday April 18, Wal-Mart announced that it was immediately ceasing Canadian sales of food containers, water bottles, baby bottles, sippy cups, and pacifiers that contain Bisphenol A, and that it would phase out BPA baby bottles in U.S. stores by early 2009. Why do we have to wait? 

On the same day, Nalgene announced it would phase out Bisphenol A from its Outdoor line of products over the next few months. California State Senator Carole Migden has introduced a bill that would ban BPA from all toys and child care articles in California; it was just approved 4-3 by the Senate Environmental Quality Committee. The heat is on.

How You Can Protect Yourself

Safe Baby Bottles: If you have a baby, use glass bottles or BPA-free bottles. This is essential for newborns. Great sources are Born Free, Lamby or Evenflo glass baby bottles, Medela, and Green To Grow.

Glass or Metal Water Bottles: If you drink water, avoid plastic bottles that have become warm or hot as the chemicals leach out into your water. Use a glass or metal water bottle instead like a SIGG, a Klean Kanteen, or a new EarthLust. Fill up with filtered tap water, drink, rinse, and repeat. BYOB. Toxin-free blue is the new green.

No or New Nalgene: If you are using a Nalgene reusable plastic water bottle, throw it out or give it to someone you don’t like. Just kidding on the later. Replace with a new Nalgene BPA-free bottle from their Everyday line or a fashionable metal bottle in your favorite pattern like a SIGG.

Fresh, not Canned: Strive to eat fresh food over canned food. Nearly all can liners contain BPA.

Doing the above will not only improve your health, it will also save a ton of plastic, waste, and CO2 emissions. 99% of the time, what is good for us and our health is good for the planet and vice-versa. That is the beauty of the green movement. Everyone gets a healthier and longer-lasting planet to call home. As Earth Day approaches, let’s celebrate the victories and thank companies and elected officials for taking action. Let the singing and dancing begin.

p.s. Now that Bisphenol A is taking the heat, the poison plastic PVC (polyvinyl chloride) and phthalates (plasticizers for vinyl) are next. These carcinogens are found in everything from baby pacifiers, teething toys, and Barbie dolls to medical devices, “fragrance”, and Chilewich place mats (made out of a toxic woven vinyl called plynyl). Avoid vinyl at all costs. Just wait.

Earth Hour This Saturday

If good things in happen in the dark, then this Saturday will be a wild night because Earth Hour is coming to San Francisco and the whole planet.

To join this shady party is easy. On Saturday evening March 29, 2008 from 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm, turn off any and all lights. That’s it. And then light some candles and celebrate because the Earth is fighting global warming with the flip of a switch.

If you are really motivated to make a difference, seize the moment to switch an incandescent light bulb to an energy-saving compact fluorescent and put a few power-sucking electronics on a power strip. And then get back to your dimly-lit party for the planet.

Sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund, Earth Hour first came to San Francisco on October 20 as Lights Out thanks to surfing green man Nate Tyler. Nate is now focused on office buildings who leave their lights on all night even when nobody is burning the midnight oil.

City Hall is in. Grace Cathedral is in. The Golden Gate Bridge is in. Many restaurants are in. Sydney, Australia is in. Cate Blanchett is in. Entourage's bad boy agent Jeremy Piven is in. 24 global cities are in. I’m in. Look for your city to go dark on Saturday night.

Eco-Tip: Light a soy candle or beeswax candle. Paraffin candles are made from petroleum and give off as many air pollutants as a diesel engine. Great eco-friendly candles include Method soy candles, Pure Necessities, Something Wicked soy candles with hemp wicks, Philips Aurelle LED candles, Beeswax Candle Works, D.L. & Co Candles, and the beautiful Nomine soy candles.

The Earth Hour web site is a buggy video bandwidth disaster that is trying to promote 60 minutes as the thing. My advice is to skip it and just turn off the lights on Saturday night, and even more importantly every day and night thereafter when they are not needed at home and at work. Good green things happen in the dark.   www.lightsoutamerica.org

Best Green Books

By popular request, here is my personal list of Best Green Books - the secret sources of wisdom about all things green and about life too.

Not having my macdaddy flat screen TV hooked up at the moment gives me more time to read. I know I am missing things, like red carpet moments, mad sports tournaments, and landmark political speeches. YouTube saves me, but I still have to fake many American Idol conversations.

Best Green Books

The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan: What determines what we eat? These are some of the most enlightening books I have ever read. How did corn take over our food system, and why is organic farming so badass? I won’t spoil the punch line but in a nutshell, eat fresh real organic foods and plants. Lots of plants. Vote with your fork, and let's make the next Farm Bill a Food Bill.

Blessed Unrest by Paul Hawken: This is a blessedly concise book on how the largest movement in the world - the environmental movement - came into being and why no one saw it coming. Can you say bottoms up? Paul Hawken is also the author of the world-famous Natural Capitalism.

Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough: This book presents the ultimate vision of regenerative green design. And it is not printed on paper, i.e. you can read it in the bathtub, underwater. Imagine a modern green world where growth becomes non-toxic and good, just as in nature. What if all biological and technical nutrients could be recaptured and upcycled in a full circle way? This is not cradle to grave. There is no waste and there is no “away.” This is cradle to cradle.

An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore: The companion book to the movie that changed everything. Filled with fabulous pictures and charts, the book obviates the need to rewind the DVD over and over. It memorializes the moment in time when the world woke up to the challenges of global warming, got mad, and decided to get even. Rodale has also published some other bestsellers on organic living such as the The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook and Chickens in your Backyard. Hmmm, how about chickens in your apartment?

The Legacy of Luna: Imagine living in a redwood tree for a year?  Or rather, imagine climbing a redwood tree for starters?  Julia Butterfly Hill is a heroine for many, and her story is incredible. So incredible that a movie is being made about her life with an A-list actress. Redwood trees are great sources of inspiration for me personally. Having a mental block about something or need a creative idea? Take a walk through a redwood forest, and I guarantee something good will happen or your money back. Oh wait, it was free.

The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight by Thom Hartmann: This book led to my ah-ha moment about the true meaning of fossil fuels. Take oil for example. Oil is derived from ancient organic matter that was compressed deep into the ground billions of years ago and fossilized. This explains why fossil fuels are not renewable. Once they are extracted and gone, they are gone. Now sunlight and wind on the other hand...

Anything by David Suzuki: The renowned David Suzuki has published his own list of must-read green books because that is just the kind of guy he is, but he deserves to be on his own list. David Suzuki just gets it, and he has a wonderful way of stating things. No offense to Warren Buffet, but I would like to have lunch with Suzuki someday.

Green Chic by Christie Matheson: A new book that embraces the fabulousness of green living with a sexy cover to match. It is overflowing with practical eco-chic lifestyle ideas tested by the author. It makes a great gift!

The Green Book: This green how-to guide edited by Elizabeth Rogers and Cameron Diaz also features tips from an impressive line-up of eco-minded celebrities including Robert Redford, Will Ferrell, Jennifer Aniston, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Martha Stewart, Tyra Banks, Tiki Barber, and Justin Timberlake.

Let the Mountains Talk, Let the Rivers Run by David Brower: Famous conservationist, mountain climber, and bold hero of the planet, David Brower tells all in his final book. He puts forth many amazing ideas - some have been realized and others are just sitting there waiting to be implemented. Brower was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times. CPR for the Earth: conservation, preservation, and restoration.

Earth Island Journal: It may look old school, but this award-winning magazine is filled with up-to-the-minute new school information about the planet. It embodies great investigative journalism, the story behind the story.

What about us?: We spend so much time working on sustainability, how can we sustain ourselves through the green highs and lows? My favorite three books that have changed my life are the following: The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell, The Illuminated Rumi, and Think on These Things by J. Krishnamurti. I really believe that the key to life resides in these books, but let me know what you think and what has inspired you.

Happy reading!  If you have a favorite green book, I'd love to hear about it, and please let me know who wins American Idol.

Climate Saving Computers

While we are on the topic of green power tools, I want to give a shout out to the excellent Climate Savers Computing Initiative.

Formed by Intel, Google, PG&E, and the World Wildlife Fund, and now backed by over 130 companies, Climate Savers helps individuals and businesses buy more energy efficient computers and take advantage of power management tools.  Their noble goal is nothing less than cutting computer power consumption by 50% in three years. This would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 54 million ton per year and save $5.5 billion in energy costs by 2010.

I didn’t realize that the average desktop PC loses half of its power in heat. Boo. The Climate Savers Computing Initiative is aiming to transform the industry with a new 90% efficiency target for power supplies. 

Check out the Climate Savers online catalog of efficient computers with an Energy Star seal of approval.  PG&E’s energy efficiency czar Mark Bramfitt made a convincing case for turning on (or turning back on) the power management features of our computers. Like the bears, our computers can automatically hibernate and save energy. Real eco-warriors use green power tools. Also, many 3d animated screen savers, like the famous fish one, consume more power than no screen saver at all. A side health note, please don’t use a laptop in your lap for obvious reasons.  www.climatesaverscomputing.org

The Northern California utility PG&E has a wealth of energy saving tips and rebates on their web site. They run over 80 energy efficiency programs! 

Also see the eBay Rethink Initiative for e-waste. For web developers, check out this substantial GreenDev list of 50 eco-friendly applications and resources including the very useful Google Transit. For more scoop on the world of Green IT, visit the site Greener Computing by GreenBiz at www.greenercomputing.com

The Magic Power Strip

If 2007 was the year of the magic bulb – the CFL - let’s make 2008 the year of the magic strip – the power strip.

We've channeled Leonardo DiCaprio and replaced light bulbs with compact fluorescents. What is next on the green path? 

A few months ago, I looked around the house and office and took an inventory of every plugged-in device. Specifically, I was looking for phantom loads, electronics that suck energy out of the wall even when they are turned "off." Vampires some affectionately call them. Leaking electricity is another name. It turns out that any device with a power supply (black box transformer), remote control, or electronic clock is a culprit.  Measuring the standby power loads showed that the worst offenders were the TV, DVD player (oy!), TiVo, computer, printer, and copy machine. They may have looked asleep, but they were really awake, drawing current from the wall.

According to the Department of Energy, in our average home, 25% of the electricity used to power home electronics is consumed while the products are turned off.  Phantom power loads cost people $7 billion per year. An estimated 37 power plants are needed to fuel this vampire power. Per the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the wasted energy sends over 97 billion pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Are we going to take this standby power lying down?  We do not have to stand by while phantom power increases our energy bills and global warming.

How to Outsmart Vampire Power

Enter the power strip. We can save energy costs and save the planet with the flip of a switch.  It's fun, it's easy, it's empowering.

1. Optional - measure it:  For the eco-geek, measure how much electricity your devices draw when supposedly off. A great tool for this is the P3 Kill-a-Watt Electricity Usage Monitor. Its LCD display counts consumption by the kilowatt-hour, the same as your local utility. Or just feel the black box on the power supply. Chances are it stays warm to the touch.

2. Gather a few power strips:  Round up your favorite power strips such as these below. A boring one from a hardware store will work just fine too.

Smart Strip:  As seen on the Oprah Winfrey Show, it senses when you have turned off one device and powers down the rest of them.

Power Strip Liberators:  Big bulky transformer boxes putting a cramp in your power strip strategy?  These liberators will set you free.

Power Squid:  This friendly octopus ensures no more wasted outlets from big plugs. www.powersquid.com

3. Put electronics on power strips:  Plug in especially the following standby power hogs: TVs, DVDs, VCRs, TiVos or DVRs, computers, monitors, WiFi routers, printers, copy machines, video game players, cordless phones, and cell phone chargers. Good candidates are devices with a black box transformer on the power cord, a remote control, an always-on red light, or an electronic clock.

I ended up with one power strip in the office and one in the living room. My energy bill is now down to $15 per month. True confessions:  I decided to forgo the cable box and TiVo in a 6-month experiment. I experienced reality show withdrawal the first month but am in recovery.    

Don’t bother with blenders, fans, and other purely mechanical devices, unless of course they have a new electronic smart interface that says hello when you walk in the room.

4. Switch power strips to off:  When not using the gadgets, flip the strip's switch to off. Watch the energy savings and CO2 savings roll in. You should save at least the equivalent of one full energy bill per year. Smile because vampire appliances no longer have you by the neck. You are in control.

Here are some other high-wattage power-saving tips:

Screen Brightness:  Reduce the brightness of your TV or computer screen by half, and watch power consumption drop by about 30 percent.

Computer Power Options:  Set your computer to automatically hibernate after a set time of inactivity. On a PC, go to Control Panel - Power Options.

Unplug Chargers :  Orlando Bloom's favorite tip, don't leave chargers for cell phones, PDAs and iPods plugged into the wall.

Energy Star:  Look for new appliances with an Energy Star label, the mark of higher energy efficiency.

Designer Power Strips:  Call me an eco-fashionista, but I think there is a market window for designer power strips. Imagine if you had a choice of power strips in attractive colors and modern styles. Barneys, Target, visionary utilities, Dell, HP, Google, Apple - this green opportunity is calling your name.

Not to get too crazy here, but there could be colorful skins for power strips. Companies could even brand power strips and give them away as energy efficiency presents. I think strips have the potential to be sexy.

When you search for designer power strips, all you get is the PowerSquid Calamari edition pictured here. It is moving in the right direction, but you be the judge of whether this cephalopod is high fashion or not.

The E-Rope Modular Power Strip is promising with its sleek futuristic design. In this concept strip, each socket can be rotated for easy access. Twisting a socket 90 degrees disconnects the flow of electricity.

Think of all of the electronics plugged in right now across every household and business in America and the world. Now imagine all of them on power strips, and all of those switches turned off when not in use. This is huge low hanging energy efficiency fruit. This is within our power.

If 2007 was the year of the magic bulb, then we can make 2008 the year of the magic power strip. Let's save the planet one socket at a time.

Where is the Green Beef?

Last week the largest beef recall in US history occurred. 143 million pounds of beef from the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. of Chino, California, a third of which went to the national school lunch programs and another hunk to In-N-Out.

“Where are the inspectors? There are not enough USDA inspectors!” everyone shouted. But I am going to argue that no number of inspectors would have helped in the long run. Because those cows aren’t green. They are a mess.

There is a critical detail about this scandal that is not being reported - the cow’s diet. Corn. Mounds of cheap corn. Corn that cows are force-fed in industrial feedlots. Corn that the cows are completely allergic to and makes them sick. So sick that they fall down and can’t walk to their fate.

Cows are grass-eaters. They cannot digest corn. Ruminants is the technical term. Yet, they are forced to eat corn through tubes in feedlot operations. And they get really, really sick as a result. Antibiotics to the rescue. Drugs for all of the cows. Drugs that make their way into our systems when we eat the meat and drink the milk. Overuse of antibiotics that leads to drug-resistant superbugs no doubt. Drugs or no drugs, these cows are more likely to contract and transfer E. coli because their stomachs are too acidic from the corn. I don’t know about you, but I am losing my appetite.

How did we get here? These anti-green, unsanitary, and inhumane conditions are the result of one small change in the farm bill in the 1970s. Policy matters. Government incentives determine what the country eats. Before 1973, the government propped up a target market price for corn by buying up surpluses and offering farmers loans to delay selling. In the 1973 Farm Bill, everything changed. Direct payments were instituted. Farmers were paid for every bushel of corn they could produce, and so they produced a lot. Bushels and bushels and bushels of kernels.

The plague of cheap corn began. Corn became the backbone of our processed food system. High-fructose corn syrup, fructose, malodextrin, xanthan gum, and more. In 1984, Coke and Pepsi switched from sugar to high-fructose corn syrup because it was cheaper. Coca Cola is essentially liquid corn.

Factory farms switched from feeding their cows grass to feeding them indigestible, inexpensive corn. The cows became ill. The cows fell down at feedlots like Westland/Hallmark and were prodded with sticks. This is not an isolated incident. This is an epidemic.

At the same time, the nation’s obesity rated shot up. The government is subsidizing cheap corn and therefore, cheap fast foods. This is why a Big Mac is cheap and an organic salad is not.

What are the green solutions?  Where's the green beef?  First, we need a new Farm Bill that encourages fresh and organic foods. Second, we can eat Grass-Fed Beef from pastoral farms where cows still roam free and graze on their natural grass. This is the way Mother Nature intended. Ask for grass-fed beef at your local stores and restaurants. It is healthier with 35% less saturated fat and more natural vitamins and omega-3s. You can taste the difference too. Excellent sources of green beef include:

Niman Ranch

Marin Sun Farms

Paicines Ranch

Vermont Natural Beef

The pivotal books on this beefy subject are Michael Pollan’s riveting The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food. He makes the best case for eating whole foods as close to how nature intended as possible.

We are what our animals eat and what is in our soil. In the old days, we put cows out to pasture in the morning, and they would come back home to the barn in the evening to be milked. Let’s modernize the Farm Bill and get back to our grass-fed roots. Otherwise, we are going to be facing similar beef recall and health problems until the cows come home. 

SIGGnificant Bottles

The green question of the day is: what would you say are the most significant environmental moments in history?  No peeking now. Let's think. There is the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970.  The founding of Earth Day also in 1970. The Wilderness Act in 1964 with David Brower. The Clean Water Act (with amendments) enacted in 1977. The Kyoto Treaty initiated in 1997. The debut of the Prius hybrid in 1997. Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth movie in 2006. The signing of the landmark AB 32 greenhouse gas legislation in California in 2006. And let's not forget all of the changes individuals and companies are making. Those count a lot too.

In honor of SIGG’s 100th anniversary making colorful hip reusable aluminum water bottles, SIGG is hosting a SIGG100 web site dedicated to the 100 most significant, I mean SIGGnificant, environmental moments in history.  How did we do?  Let's check their list. Move that scroll bar down. And take a swig from your SIGG. All of this thinking can make you thirsty.

On the site, you can enter to win a trip for 2 to Hawaii to attend the Kakua Music Festival in Honolulu headlined by all-the-rage, green surfing rock star Jack Johnson and benefiting the Kakua Hawaii Foundation, which promotes environmental education in the schools and communities of Hawaii. The flight is carbon offset I assume?

Plastic water bottles are out. Reusable water bottles are in. The famous Alice Waters of Chez Panisse dropped plastic water from their menu like a gourmet potato. Plastic bottles leach chemicals into the water, have a high carbon footprint, create islands of waste in the ocean, and consume millions of barrels of oil to make and transport. That is not very sexy. The mayors of San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis and New York are urging residents to drink filtered tap water and are showing plastic the door at their City Halls.

Want to apply the 1-2 punch to plastic in your life?  Carry reusable water containers like SIGG lifestyle bottles that show off your true colors.  Add a water filter to the tap at your home and office. Fill up, drink, and repeat. For large meetings and events, consider having filtered water pitchers and reusable glassware or compostable cups on hand.  Or give out SIGGs as presents. Now that is a green promo goodie that will delight your guests and be reused over and over again. Significant environmental progress has been made in the last 30 years, and in the last 3 years. I look forward to the upcoming months. There is much left to do, and we will have much more to celebrate I imagine!  www.sigg100.com

Paper, Plastic or Planet?

San Francisco has banned plastic grocery bags. Oakland is trying to ban them, pending an expensive lawsuit (the industry's new favorite tactic). San Jose is considering a ban. China has gone negative on plastic bags. Whole Foods just phased them out. This is cause for celebration, right? 

The plastic bag ban trend is definitely a major victory for the environment. Californians used 27.5 billion plastic bags last year that took 3 million barrels of oil to produce and cost cities millions in clean-up costs. We’ve all seen these flimsy urban tumbleweeds flying through the air, and tried to chase them down.

Going Undercover

Now that the plastic bag ban is in place in San Francisco, are things better?  To find out how the plastic bag ban was going, I went undercover and visited the local grocery stores. Here are the results of the investigation.

Safeway: At Safeway, the new paper bag assembly line seemed to be running smoothly. When asked how it was going, their veteran checker said, “I'm still getting used to the new paper bags, but I really like them. They are bigger than the plastic ones.” The Safeway paper bags contain 40% post-consumer recycled content, the minimum required by the new law. And they sport the words “Reusable and Recyclable” on the bag. Great!

On the positive side, I didn’t see any plastic bag violations obviously, because they are now illegal. That is pretty cool. Safeway is pushing its black reusable bags for 99 cents, but they seem too small to be that useful?  In an ironic twist, Safeway has upgraded its plastic bag recycling receptacle. “Recycle your plastic bags here!” it pronounces in front of the store. Thanks to the ban, there will be a lot fewer bags to insert into that hole.

I even saw one girl (wearing a green sweater) bring in a Nature Conservancy canvas tote to Safeway. “Nice bag,” I yelled. She smiled. I had never seen that before. It would have made Al Gore’s day.

On the flip side, I only saw that one person bringing her/his own bag. Everyone else was opting for paper bags. And lots of them. What have we done?  Is this better?  I didn’t see any messages at the check-out counter encouraging people to bring their own bags. Where is the sign that says, “Bring your own bag and receive 10 cents”? One sign could go a long way. People are motivated by money, even 5-10 cents.

Lucky’s: The Lucky's hotly-promoted new reusable plastic bag is perplexing. That's right, plastic. Its picture even made its way into the San Francisco Chronicle as the example new bag. I was baffled because I thought we were supposed to be banning plastic bags. Should we love or hate this bag?

Off to Lucky's to investigate. Well, it indeed is a plastic bag. It costs 25 cents to buy, and every time you bring it back, you receive a 5 cent bag credit. “Reusable” is written in big letters on the front. On the back is a nice plug for California parks and no littering. According to Lucky’s, this bag is a miracle, built to last 10+ times so that you can “actually earn money on these bags.” It is proudly “in compliance” with the SF ordinance because it is reusable. Pretty clever of them you have to admit.

How is this plastic bag legal?  Per the SF plastic bag ban ordinance, stores shall provide only recyclable paper bags (with 40% post-consumer recycled content) and/or compostable plastic bags as checkout bags. The ordinance also allows stores to use "reusable bags," which are defined as bags with handles that are specifically designed for multiple reuse and are either made of cloth, another machine washable fabric, or durable plastic that is at least 2.25 mils thick. Touche Lucky's.

It is still of course a plastic bag made from petroleum. The plastic is sturdier than the old-school plastic bags, but the handles seem pretty weak. Let’s put this bag to the test and see how long it really lasts. As a plus, it contains 20% recycled plastic. And if someone really did bring this bag back 10 times to the store, it would be better for the environment than using up a brand new paper bag each time.

Paper From Where at What Cost?

Safeway and Lucky’s are using the same new paper bag. It contains the minimum required 40% post consumer recycled content, which means that 60% is virgin paper from forests needed for water, CO2 absorption, animal habitat, and more.

These bags are made by Weyerhaeuser. This is concerning because Weyerhaeuser is known for unsustainable forestry practices, i.e. cutting down too many trees too fast. In fact, they have helped to devise a bogus, industry-led program called the Sustainable Forestry Initiative or SFI. Look on the bottom of the bag, and you will see the SFI Certified Sourcing symbol. It allows widespread logging of irreplaceable old growth forests. See www.dontbuysfi.com for the full scoop.

The best standard so far is the independent Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). You may have seen labels for FSC-certified wood or FSC mixed sources paper. FSC mandates that one tree must be planted for every tree cut down. FSC is not perfect, but it is the best unbiased standard we have to date. Weyerhaeuser’s SFI is a red herring set up by the industry. How did this become the default bag for Safeway and Lucky’s?  The cities are celebrating, but are the forests in mourning?

It takes 4 times as much energy to make a paper bag than a plastic bag. As the paper bags degrade in landfills, they release carbon dioxide into the air. Some studies report that making paper bags generates 70% more air pollutants and 50 times more water pollutants than plastic bags. All the more reason to BYOB, Bring Your Own Bag.

So in banning plastic bags, we have done a good thing. My lingering question is: what are the unintended consequences of this ban for forests, for energy consumption, for pollution, for global warming?  Why did compostable bags like BioBags not pick up some of the slack?  We banned one planetary ill, but we traded it for virgin paper consumption. Did we incentivize the most planet-friendly alternative in the process?  Are more people bringing their own bags to the store as a result?

Littering a Root Cause?

Walking around San Francisco, litter is visible on the ground. Plastic water bottles, Styrofoam peanuts, cigarette butts, Starbucks coffee cups, coffee lids, candy wrappers, fewer plastic bags but still the pink ones from Chinatown and the white ones from Wal-Mart. I’m sure this is the same for every city, but it makes me wonder, how did all of this trash end up on the ground and in the park?

When cities complain about the over $3 million in plastic bag clean up costs, is a real problem littering? And/or the lack of plastic bag recycling incentives and availability?  People lament the plastic bags in the trees, but how did they get there?  They had to escape from somebody’s hands. Or from an overflowing garbage can.

I am coming to believe that we as a society need a massive anti-littering campaign again. In CA, there is supposed to be littering fines of $100 - $750 per incident plus litter clean-up duty, but I think people have forgotten. They litter with no fear of the consequences. I have seen several strangers recently throw empty water bottles out of their cars into the gutter. Mothers Against Littering. Littering Costs You & The Planet.  Littering is for Losers. Let’s pick a slogan and go big.

On that note, there is the Keep America Beautiful organization with good tips about litter prevention. One tip involves tipping point theory. Litter attracts more litter. Also see the campaign Keep California Beautiful.

Solutions Are In The Bag

Net net, what to do?  Take your new reusable bag friends with you when you shop. Don’t leave home with them. Green is passing on paper and plastic. See how long you can make your paper grocery bags last. The record is over 6 months, at a rate of one shopping trip per week. Chico Bags are a pleasant option that fit in your pocket or purse.

Incentives matter a lot. What we incentivize is what we get. There are credits for bringing your own bag which is great. Let’s advertise this delicious financial feature of BYOB more: Save Money and the Planet. Stores can make it cool and desirable to bring your own bag. In other cities considering a plastic bag ban, please consider requiring paper bags to be 100% recycled paper. That could help a lot. In an ideal world, it would cost a few cents to request a new bag from the store. This could change everything I suspect.

See the Plastic Bag Rehab post for more sexy bag ideas. Let’s make it uncool to litter again. In the Paper, Plastic, or Planet tradeoff, let's choose the planet.

Eco Beauty in the Nude

The quest for perfect skin. A continual journey that has gained some new eco-friendly exits worthy of a stop. Let the beauty contest begin.

Nude: First up is the new Nude skin care line from Bono and Ali Hewson, the powerhouses behind the Edun eco-clothing line. Note that Nude is Edun spelled backwards, and vice versa.

Nude is happily devoid of the following ugly ingredients: parabens, sulphates, PEGs, propylene glycol, TEA, DEA, phthalates, mineral oil and silicones. Less is truly more.

Nude's packaging is green too. Bottles and jars are crafted from 40% post-industrial recycled plastic with rounded corners for high shipping efficiency. Products are encased in biodegradable cornstarch sleeves with natural inks. Gorgeous!  Available at Barneys for starters. www.nudeskincare.com

Why care about going buff? The average woman in the U.S. applies up to 168 different ingredients to her skin every day. I have certainly been guilty of that of many occasions. Only 11% of the 10,500 ingredients in personal care products have been tested and approved by the FDA. Outrageous. The remaining 89% have never been tested for safety and could be hazardous to our health. 

And we already know about the endocrine disrupting perils of the prevalent parabens and phthalates. Our skin absorbs what we put on it. Would we willing to eat our skin cream?  If not, then read on.

Care by Stella McCartney: If you care what you put on your skin, then Stella McCartney’s new premium Care line of certified organic skincare could be just what the dermatologist ordered. Care is formulated with 100% certified organic active ingredients with no petrochemicals or silicones. Everything your skin needs and nothing it doesn't. Available at Sephora and Nordstroms. www.stellamccartneycare.com

Eco-celebrity and vegetarian Stella McCartney also designs a fabulous line of eco-fashion and vegan purses in keeping with her sustainable lifestyle philosophy. You won’t find any fur or leather here.  www.stellamccartney.com

Farmaesthetics: Newsflash - I think I have found a new miracle cream. It is the Nourishing Herbal Cream by Farmaesthetics. I highly recommend it for moisturizing in the winter time. Its short list of ingredients includes sweet almond oil, calendula, witch hazel, and essential oils. And a whole lot of results.  www.farmaesthetics.com

Jurlique: If you haven't seen the new Jurlique green stores, run don't walk. They are a beautiful bucolic sight to behold.  I can't get enough of Jurlique's beyond organic, biodynamic skin care wonders like their Herbal Recovery Gel, masks, and hand creams. All new eco-friendly packaging too.  www.jurlique.com

Grateful Body: Pure organic botanical skincare from a certified green business in planet-friendly packaging. No synthetics or genetically-engineered ingredients or pesticides allowed. Divine. I was excited, and grateful, to discover this family-owned business.  www.gratefulbody.com

Note: After much experimentation, I believe that organic skincare without all of the impossible-to-pronounce suspicious chemicals is the healthier and safer way to go. That said, there are certain active ingredients like pure Vitamin C and Retin-A that are proven to be anti-aging. My working hypothesis is that combining these active ingredients with the organi