Author: The GU team

Being a non-cook myself, I tend to order out a lot. Ideal Bite says that if 10,000 people whip up a meal from scratch instead of ordering takeout once a week, in a year we can keep the weight of up to 7,722 orders of chow mein in trash out of landfills. Of the more…

From Anna Aurilio, U.S. PIRG Legislative Director: Over the last few years, U.S. PIRG members have helped pass new rules to cut air pollution from cars and diesel trucks and to stop the Bush administration from weakening the Clean Air Act. Now, we need your help to strengthen air quality standards for ozone “smog” pollution,…

Patagonia has added their fleece, organic cotton t-shirts and Polartec fleece from other manufacturers to their Common Threads Garment Recycling program. You can mail your worn-out clothes to their Service Center in Nevada or drop them off at a Patagonia retail store near you.

(photo from Rotten Tomatoes) The 11th Hour is a new documentary about the environmental crisis. Narrated and produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, it features interviews with scientists including Stephen Hawking and world leaders such as Mikhail Gorbachev. It is supposedly more alarmist than “An Inconvenient Truth”. Yet it ends on a hopeful note, offering practical solutions…

Our mother and I went to Healthy Options yesterday. It used to sell mostly vitamin supplements, gradually branching out into healthier, well, options for food, beauty products, personal hygiene, etc. The prices are much, much higher than anything from regular supermarkets, but the occasional visit there won’t hurt. I even got myself some free-range chicken…

America the beautiful…land of numerous national parks and forests. A great vacation would include hiking, swimming, seeing wildlife, camping out under the stars or just taking in awe-inspiring vistas. But the Bush administration continues to look for more places to mine, drill for oil and cut trees down. Sign the petition to protect roadless forests.

Love that new car smell? According to the AAA Car and Travel magazine September 2007 issue, this smell is created when chemicals used in automotive plastics and vinyls are vaporized after exposure to heat and light. Unfortunately, these released gases can be dangerous to your health. The Ecology Center rated the interiors of 200 models…

On a recent shopping trip to Stop n Shop, a bin for recycling plastic bags greeted me at the entrance. They continue to sell reusable bags. The Sony Take Back Recycling program gets underway on 15 September. The company has partnered with WM Recycle America eCycling centers. They will accept Sony products for free while…

Seventh Generation has an official blog. Here’s the link: The Inspired Protagonist.

I loved apples when I was growing up. Unfortunately, since living in the U. S., I have become allergic to them. People don’t believe me when I say I get an allergic reaction to apples. I always believed it had something to do with the food supply and all the genetic engineering that’s going on…