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14 Feb 2012
2 Comments By valarie Featured Posts, New me

“They” are listening

Since I put it out there about frequenting Reno businesses, I have been trying to come up with ways I can do just that. But many times either I don’t know if a company is locally owned or it just isn’t practical or possible to buy local. I need lots more food than I can get at the food co-op. Scolaris doesn’t have as much organic and humanely-raised food. I have not found a local company that makes laundry detergent. And so I am stuck getting out-of-state products or shopping at publicly traded businesses. So how can I ensure that my money is not going to some company that supports child slave labor or that dumps toxic chemicals into rivers in India?

 

With a little research, I found www.betterworldshoppingguide.com and www.greenamerica.org/programs/responsibleshopper/ . The Better World Shopping guide is quite basic, but useful as a start. Created by Ellis Jones, a sociology Ph.D, to promote social and environmental responsibility in everyday life, he says that money is power and every dollar makes a difference. He and his team have been studying companies for 20 years. They rate the organizations based on five issues; human rights, the environment, species protection, community involvement, and social justice. They use resources that are already available such as the Better Business Bureau, Climate Counts, the US Environmental Protections Agency, and many others. Then they grade those companies and products based on their research, allowing us to choose between those that play nice and those that are only driven by wealth and greed. The website is great, the little book is a wonderful resource, and I just downloaded the i-phone app ($1.99) that helps me stay true while I am on the road. I can make choices that are relatively easy that make small differences. For example, Olay company is rated a D- and Body Shop is an A. That is totally easy. And I can read about why they are rated that way. In the case of Clairol (Proctor and Gamble), they paid $38 million in 2009 to Washington Lobbyists. They are rated by Multinational Monitor as one of the 100 worst corporations for two years, and they have one of the worst records for animal testing.

 

Green America’s Responsible Shopper website works in much the same way. Companies get an overall ranking and then a separate grade for each of the following; environment, human rights, labor, ethics and governance, and health and safety. Their findings are similar to the Better World Shopper findings but there are some differences that make looking at both worthwhile.

 

My resolution for 2012 is to make my spending count. I will try to quit spending money at all unless the purchase is necessary. Needs are different than wants. I will try to spend money in Reno that stays in Reno. And if I can’t, then I will choose to support businesses that are environmentally and socially responsible. This three pronged approach will be my goal for the now and forever.  I plan to make better informed choices that send the message that companies should be held to higher standards. If we allow organizations to behave in inhumane and irresponsible ways, continuing to support them with our money, then we will reap what we sew. Unchecked capitalism is exactly what got us into this mess and I was part of that. It is now my responsibility to take steps to change it.

 

Photo credit: GOP claims EPA costs jobs by Mike Licht  from Flickr via Creative Commons license.

13 Feb 2012
2 Comments By valarie New me

My kids are environmentally conscious, despite me

I started having kids at a very young age. At the time, I had the mistaken idea that money could make people happy. As such, I thought nothing was too good for my kids. Examples of my indulgences include: piles of presents for birthdays and holidays, expensive, well-made clothes and shoes, cars when they turned 16 (more or less), boats, skiing (both snow and water), lessons of all types (musical instruments, languages, art, sports, etc.), trips for competitions, trips for swim and track meets, family trips abroad, Pottery Barn furniture in their individual bedrooms with private baths, swing sets, hot tubs, steam showers, surround sound movies and video games, birthday parties every year, one year I even rented a limo for my 7-year-old daughter’s birthday!

 

In my defense, I never really considered that my/our gluttony was at the expense of anyone (or anything). Of course, I now understand that it is. I understand that when we allow ourselves to live in an unsustainable manner, using massive amounts of non-renewable resources for our own luxurious living, that comes at a price. Other cultures, both now and in the future, are not or will not be able to have the same luxuries. We share this earth with 6.8 billion human beings and not all of us can own cars, can take our families across the ocean on trips, can have six TVs with premium cable, can eat until we need surgery so we don’t kill ourselves, can live in four bedroom houses with two air conditioning units and a den. It just is not possible.

So I have decided to try to change my life, to stop the madness from where I am and in the ways that I can. But what about my kids? No matter what I do myself, there are three of them and they are off on their own, a bit late for me to instill more well-grounded ideals in them!

The good news is – they came through it okay. I can’t say they are perfect, but at least they are open to critiquing commonly-held ideals and they are confident enough to step away when they see something they don’t believe is right. In fact, it was my daughter who inspired me to challenge my long-held attitudes about social and environmental responsibility. She went off to college and transformed. I was amazed to watch her turn into a tree-hugging, vegetarian, academic willing to sacrifice many common comforts for what she believes is right. I am proud of her and happy to report that she has helped me to make some fundamental changes that can and will help me begin my own transformation.

But each day that our kids see us abusing the earth, and people from other cultures, and future generations, they are learning that we, that they and their own kids, are more valuable than others and we continue the cycle of damage. I am proud of my kids, their accomplishments, and especially their open-minded, forward-thinking attitudes. But I am ashamed of the indulgent way I raised them. I would guess that they would say many of the indulgences were unnecessary and perhaps even confusing. I wish I could take it back but I can’t. I just have to start where I am.

 

10 Feb 2012
1 Comments By valarie Featured Posts, Why go organic?

Synthetic fertilizer is so last century

According to a USDA study in 2001, approximately 70 – 80% of the fertilizer we put on our lawns runs off into the storm drains – and then into the Truckee River, causing problems downstream. Of the part that stays, about 10% over-feeds certain micro-organisms in the soil, which actually can harm your lawn if the soil isn’t rich in organic material, known as humus, according to Toby Hemenway, the author of Gaia’s Garden. The soil in most yards is very low in organic matter, and thus susceptible to nutritional deficiencies and disease.

This chemical approach to lawn care is expensive, environmentally unsound, requires fossil fuels to manufacture, and is wasteful. There are many alternatives available. The easiest method is probably mulching. Using a specialized mulching lawnmower and leaving the trimmings on the lawn will provide between 25% and 50% of your lawn’s nutrient needs, supplying nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.

 

Another easy method to replace chemical fertilizer is to add clover to your lawn. The clover is a legume, a nitrogen fixer. As such, it pulls atmospheric nitrogen into its roots, where it is available to feed the grass.  A lawn consisting of 5 percent clover can create up to half of its own nitrogen needs per year.

We are available to analyze and remedy your lawn and garden’s nutritional deficiencies and to help you maintain a healthy lawn and garden. Call Dan at 775-742-3376 or email him at Dan@HeirloomGardensReno.com for a free quote.

Photo credit: Day 199 – Leon Playing by DaGoaty from Flickr via Creative Commons license.