Eco-Friendly Products

There is a book called "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd that I once read.  In the book is a character named May, who is a human that is more sensitive to the lives of insects than most humans.  May refuses to kill any bugs and instead uses things like graham crackers to lure the bugs out of her house.

I realize that most of us would never go to such great lengths to get an insect out of our house.  Most of us are not alright with the idea of bugs living in our homes with us and go to great lengths to get rid of them.  The problem is that these "great lengths" often involve using harmful chemicals and pesticides that do a great job of killing the bugs, but are also not the most eco-friendly.  In the same way that plastic grocery bags are perfectly capable of bringing our groceries home but are not as environmentally friendly as reusable shopping bags, there are ways that you can control pests in your home and still do it in an eco-conscious manner.

First, keep your house neat, clean, and organized.  What do you think brings all the bugs into your house in the first place?  They're looking for food most of the time.  Keeping your pantry, counter tops, floors, etc. free from food scraps will go a long way in keeping pests out of your house.  Avoid overstocking your pantry as well, as it can create situations where you have a lot of opened packages in your cabinet at once, which can attract insects.

Keeping the house tidy will go a long way, but it won't completely eliminate the issue.  If you have problems with ants, you can use either baby powder (which will be carried back to the colony and kill them) or cinnamon (which will deter them) instead of harsh chemicals.  Simply place a small line of either along the areas that you notice the ants coming in to your house and they will quickly stop coming in.

Outside is a bit of a different issue, but can be equally important.  Obviously, keeping your back yard neat and clean won't go very far in keeping bugs out nor will it be practical to cover your entire yard in cinnamon or baby powder.  However, that does not mean you need to resort to chemicals and pesticides.  One thing you can do is take advantage of natural order and use some predatory creatures in your yard.  If you have water in your yard that breeds a lot of mosquitoes, try putting a few Koi fish in there – they do a good job of keeping mosquito populations down.  Lady bugs and preying mantis both do a good job of keeping bugs off of plants in the yard and can be purchased at garden shops if they don't naturally come to your yard.  Another great predator to keep in your yard is a lizard or Gecko.  They'll naturally be attracted to yards with a lot of plants and do an excellent job of eating a lot of the pests that you're trying to keep out.  Since we're talking about green living, it's worth adding that you should remember to bring your reusable bags with you for any trip to the garden store.

Having a bird feeder or bird bath in your yard will also help keep enough birds around your house to catch some bugs.  One final alternative is to put a bat house in your yard up in a tree.  Yes, a bat house.  Bats get a bad reputation due to some folklore that associates them with vampires, but the bottom line is that they're pretty harmless when compared to pests like mosquitoes and mosquitoes happen to be one of their favorite meals.  If you have a lot of mosquitos in your area and want to get rid of them, install a bat house and watch the mosquito population decline steadily.

There is not doubt that the newer biodegradable plastic bags are more environmentally friendly than regular plastic bags.  However, biodegradable plastic bags still present environmental problems and are not as good of a solution to our plastic bag problem as reusable shopping bags.  Biodegradable plastic bags come in any number of materials.  Some are polyester-based while others are made from starches like potato, corn, and wheat.  There are also other materials that biodegradable plastic bags are made from and some bags are a "cocktail" of numerous materials.  While the materials are more environmentally friendly, one problem with using some of these materials is that it can actually require more energy to produce the biodegradable bags than polyethylene (regular) plastic bags.

The American Chemistry Council conducted a study where they analyzed the life cycle of numerous disposable bags.  They discovered that biodegradable bags made from a combination of polylactic acid, polyester, and calcium cabonate required almost three times the energy to produce than regular (polyethylene) plastic bags.  The production of the biodegradable bags also emitted four times the amount of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and required the consumption of eighteen times more fresh water.  The bottom line is that, although these bags are better for our environment after their useful life is over, the additional environmental impact that they have during their production may not actually be any better for us.  Again, the easiest and best solution is for everyone to begin using reusable shopping bags and reusable dry cleaning bags.

Another disadvantage to biodegradable plastic bags is the fact that they cannot be recycled with ordinary plastics.  So, in reality, although they are biodegradable, chances are good that they won't biodegrade in the end as they'll end up in landfills where almost nothing biodegrades.  The only option to make the most of these bags after they are used is to compost them where they can "disappear" within a few months.  However, there are only about 100 facilities in the US that have the capability to compost biodegradable bags, meaning most end up like every other plastic bag we use – as litter or in a landfill.  So what is the point of these bags?  The potential for benefits is there, yet we lack the capabilities to take advantage of them and in turn do as much harm to our planet in an effort to reduce the amount of harm we do.  It simply makes no sense.  Reusable bags are better.  End of story.

Have you ever tried to conceptualize how many paper and plastic bags we use?  The massive numbers are hard to wrap your head around, as are the negative environmental impact that each one of those disposable bags has.  The most amazing part of it all is that we can easily avoid using disposable bags and the associated environmental troubles by switching to reusable shopping bags.  Think paper and plastic bags aren't so bad?  Think again…

Plastic Bags

Over 500 billion plastic bags are consumed every year.  The majority of these bags end up in the trash and, ultimately, in landfills.  Recycling plastic bags is a futile effort as the cost to recycle them is about 99% higher than the recycled plastic is worth.

Additionally, over 240 species of marine life have been reported to be harmed by man-made plastic bags.  Some bags strangle animals, others kill animals from the inside as the animal mistakes the bag for food.  The problem is so bad that in some areas of the ocean plastic bits outnumber plankton by a ration of 6:1.

Paper Bags

Okay, so plastic bags aren't good – maybe you should switch to paper, right?  Wrong.  Don't forget about the trees!  Over 14 million trees were harvested in 1999 to product 10 billion paper bags, the majority of which were used once and then thrown away.  Yes, trees can grow back, but that's still 14 million fewer trees we had to absorb greenhouse gasses or that could have been used for much more productive and useful things.

Paper bags are also very energy inefficient.  They require 4 times the amount of energy to produce that plastic bags require, which is partly why plastic bags became so popular years ago.  Further, paper bags require 91% more energy to recycle and paper mills are notorious for using toxic chemicals during manufacture that can pollute our air and water.

The Answer:  Reusable Bags

Reusable shopping bags are great because they can be reused over and over again, hence the name.  They aren't expensive and serve purposes other than shopping, such as daily tote bags, beach bags, and so on.  They can carry more groceries than plastic bags, which makes unloading the car much easier.  Yes, they require energy to produce, but when that production impact is spread over the multi-year useful life of a bag, the overall impact is far less than paper or plastic bags.

Reusable bags are also much more durable than paper or plastic, meaning you're less likely to have damage to your groceries.  Ever had a plastic bag break and watched all your groceries spill out in the parking lot?  This won't happen with a quality reusable grocery bag.

Switching to reusable bags is easy.  The overall impact on the environment is more positive, and they're easier to use than disposable bags.  It's a win/win/win situation for everyone, so if you haven't already, make the switch today.

My most recent trip to the supermarket was refreshing – I noticed more people using reusable grocery bags than ever before.  Granted, there were still far more people walking out with plastic bags, but at least we're moving in the right direction.  Another way to have a positive impact on our planet is by shopping for eco-friendly foods.

I once saw Carlos Mencia, the comedian, make a joke about how he was more environmentally friendly than vegans because he eats beef.  His argument was that cow flatulence contains methane gas, so by eating the beef, he's lessening the amount of methane that could end up in the atmosphere.  Vegans, on the other hand, eat plants that help the environment by transforming carbon dioxide to oxygen.  Funny?  Maybe.  Better for the environment to eat beef?  Not necessarily.

Of course, the problem with is argument was that in order for him to eat beef in the first place, the cow had to exist, and likely added to the amount of methane in the atmosphere.  In fact, our growning consumption of beef in this country is leading to more methane gas in the atmosphere than ever before as well as farm land that is continually stripped of important nutrients, rendering it useless after a period of time.

That is not to say that one has to stop eating meat to eat eco-consciously.  However, avoiding gluttonous consumption of beef can help.  There's no need to eat a 16 ounce steak when you can get the same satisfaction and nutritional benefit from a smaller, organically raised piece of meat.

Eating organically raised food is key.  Organic farming avoids the use of chemicals and pesticides, which pollute our environment as well as the food we eat.  Further, organic farmers rotate their crops to maintain the integrity of the soil, ensuring that overfarming never renders land useless.

So, the next time you're at your local grocer with your reusable bag in tow, stop by the organic section for some foods instead of your usuals.  Also, try to pay attention to the amount of packaging that the foods you purchase use.  The less packaging the better as those packages require less energy to produce.

Finally, the benefits of eating green are not limited to the planet.  Organic foods are healthier for you, plain and simple.