4 posts tagged “environment”
The photo here shows the filtration system's pre-filters; I think they're made with some kind of compacted paper (like an extra-thick coffee filter). We change them out every other month. Eeew! After the pre-filter, the water that's used in the house passes through a charcoal and coconut-shell main filter.
I'm not sure that this stuff is actually unhealthy, but it's certainly not pretty. And it probably doesn't taste very good, either.
Today is Blog Action Day! Take action by posting about the environment in your own way.
Okay, the amount of mercury is very, very small, but it *is* quite toxic. E and his friend once broke a standard lightbulb while playing upstairs, and I *know* I can't count on them to report an accident right away - or not to inhale or touch the mercury when there's an accident.
Anyway, I wanted this post to be about some nifty-looking, eco-conscious lamps that incorporate LED technology. LED lighting is promising because they're safer, more durable, very long-lasting (apparently 100,000 hours per bulb), and extremely efficient. A lot of smart people are working on making them better and brighter, and I'm looking forward to LED lighting becoming more mainstream. These LED lamps are from CSN Lighting.
Show us something that's good for the environment.
My kids drink one or two servings of milk every day, so it's one of the foods I try to pay a little more attention to.
First, I was thrilled to read that Starbucks has committed to make 100% of its milk supply free of artificial growth hormones by the end of the year. Hurray! No more rBST/rBGH! I'm completely addicted to pumpkin spice lattes (they're back!), and the kids love white hot chocolate. Anyway, this is a huge step that's been many years in the making, and I hope it'll set a standard for other large food suppliers. (Read more about the campaign here.)
Also in the news lately: Aurora - a mega-dairy that supplies private-label "organic" milk to retailers such as Costco, Wal-Mart, Target, and Safeway - was on the verge of being de-certified for substandard farming practices. They just signed an agreement to drastically reform their farming conditions, which includes vastly decreasing the number of cows for better pasturing. According to CNN, people who bought milk sourced from Aurora were scammed into paying higher prices for factory-farmed milk that didn't meet organic standards.
Kudos to the Cornucopia Institute for leading a grass roots effort that ultimately exposed a giant who was competing unfairly with smaller farms and ripping off countless families - a real-life David-and-Goliath story!
Ever since we switched to organic milk at home, I've kept a bookmark for CI's review of organic dairies. Interestingly, the Whole Foods store brand of organic milk rates well above most other private labels, perhaps because they hold their supply chain more accountable.
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