Watch out Washington, Erin Brockovich is coming your way. And it’s not a social visit. She’s on a mission to shake, rattle and overhaul the nation’s toxic chemical laws, in particular the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

The TSCA, which was passed in 1976, is seriously outdated and  offers the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) no real authority to obtain information needed to evaluate whether a chemical used in home products is or isn’t a health and safety risk.

A reformed TSCA, drafted by Senators …

Tags: erin brockovich , Kids Safe Chemical Act , million baby crawl , seventh generation , toxic chemicals , TSCA , TSCA reform

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Buying food really was a whole lot easier a hundred years ago. There was less choice, the food was usually homegrown or locally grown, and there was little in the way of additives and preservatives. Plus, the shoppers back then didn’t have to read the food labels to find out how many nutrients, calories or fat content a product contained.

Today’s shopper, on the other hand, is spoilt for choice. But along with the choice come responsibilities and obstacles – the 100 mile rule, organic vs. non-organic, food labels, sugar …

Tags: carbon emissions , food and environment , food guidelines , food labels , food's carbon footprint , Sweden

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A dedicated Elvis fan, I’m always happy to learn about new Elvis sightings. But most turn out to be run-of-the-mill Elvis impersonators, determined to mimic his look and his sound.

But there’s nothing ordinary about this Elvis impersonator. Wearing a green jumpsuit and green cape glittering with recycled pop tabs and bottle caps, Eco Elvis is determined to get everyone all shook up about the environment.

Sounds like a gimmick, but Kansas City-based Eco Elvis impersonator is the real deal. A dedicated vegetarian who eats organic …

Tags: eco elvis , elvis impersonators , environmental message in elvis songs , green elvis , kansas city elvis impersonator , matt riggs , recyling elvis songs

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Passenger airplanes may never be carbon neutral but many airlines are attempting to find ways to reduce their carbon emissions and become more environmentally-friendly. Some airline, such as Air New Zealand, have been testing alternative fuels.

Southwest Airlines, however, has decided to turn their planes green from the inside out. No, the plane isn’t made of recycled materials and it doesn’t jet around thanks to biofuel. Instead, Southwest has converted one of their Boeing 737-700’s  into a “green plane” with the …

Tags: air travel and carbon emissions , airplane's carbon footprint , eco-friendly plane , green plane , reduced carbon emissions

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Cats and dogs are the latest animals to fall under the microscope of green living with a new book called “Time to Eat the Dog: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living.” Written by two New Zealand architects specializing in sustainable living, this provocative book is bound to stir people up.

The authors, Robert and Brenda Vale, claim that these popular house pets use up more energy resources a year than driving a car. According to their calculations, published in New Scientist, …

Tags: carbon emissions , carbon footprint , cats and dogs , eco pawprint , global warming , pets and global warming

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Orange and black might be the traditional colors of Halloween but why can’t a little green fall into the mix? Here are a few simple tips to help make this weekend’s Halloween festivities a shade greener:

- When it comes time to make a jack-o-lantern, find a locally grown and organic pumpkin to carve.

- Make costumes from what you find around the house. Recycle clothes from years past or head to the nearest second hand store and rummage around. Try to convince the kids to trade costumes from last year with …

Tags: costumes , green , Halloween , holiday , kids and green living , lifestyle

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Biofuel usage has increased considerably in recent years, mostly driven by government mandates to find cleaner fuel options. But a new UN report brings into question how environmentally friendly these biofuels actually are.

The report, from the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) International Panel for Sustainable Resource Management, suggests that before we start patting ourselves on the back for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by using biofuels, we really need to examine more closely the environmental effects of producing ethanol and other renewable transportation fuels.

Using a life-cycle …

Tags: alternative fuels , biofuels , environmentally friendly , green fuel , International Panel for Sustainable Resource Management , UN report , UNEP , United Nations Environment Programme

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As a rule, hospitals aren’t all that keen on the alcohol industry. Alcohol, after all, is seen as causing many of the accidents that bring victims through their emergency room doors every day.

But one hospital in LaCrosse, Wisconsin is starting to see the alcohol industry in a totally new light. Gundersen Lutheran Hospital and the local City Brewery are participating in a joint heat and power project with the potential to create about 3 million kilowatt hours of energy a year.

The project consists of …

Tags: biogas , city brewery , clean energy , converted methane gas , energy independent , gundersen lutheran hospital , recycling , wisconsin

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World leaders are preparing to meet in December for the Copenhagen Climate Talks, but by all accounts it’s starting to look like whatever agreement they hammer out will be, at best, a mediocre attempt to appease their citizens, and each other, rather than a full attack on fighting global warming.

Is that what we want? Hell, no! We want more walk, less talk. But to get the walk from world leaders, we need to be heard.

Enter 350.org, an international grassroots campaign that uses the power …

Tags: 350 ppm , 350.org , copenhagen climate talks , grassroots movement , international day of climate change , reducing carbon emissions

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