Tips for a Green Thanksgiving

Holidays are always a time of waste and plenty with raging parties and overflowing trash cans. This Thanksgiving, cut down on your carbon footprint and give thanks for greener options.

If Thanksgiving is at your house this year, consider the following:

Reduce paper waste by sending e-vites. At the party, further reduce paper waste by using cloth napkins and “real” dishes and silverware in place of plastic and paper and save the world from global warming.

Minimize your lights by dining before the sun goes down and using dimmers and candles (made of natural waxes) for a festive atmosphere.

Use real leaves that you collect from outside instead of plastic, artificial versions. If you’re big on decorating, buy pieces that will last, rather than paper decorations that will need to be tossed as soon as someone spills gravy on them.

Make sure that you provide a recycling bin in addition to the trash bag (preferably made of biodegradable plastic).

As for the food, buy local and organic foodstuffs, from yams to turkey. Try a sustainable brand of turkey, like Heritage. Check out your local natural foods store for more turkey. Also, make your dishes vegetarian, by subbing in vegetable or mushroom broth instead of trimmings.

Make it easy on yourself and have a potluck, and spread the green around by having your guests bring a sustainable dish as well.

And in the spirit of giving, give a little something to your local foodbank so that less fortunate families can feast as well. Local charities often offer Thanksgiving dinners and you can donate food and time to serve up a hot meal for the start of the holiday season.

When the guests go home, use natural cleaning solutions like vinegar and lemon juice or a green store-bought cleansing product to make your home sparkle.

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Dr. Alan Bittner runs a liposculpture clinic in Beverly Hills that has recently been shut down due to his unorthodox practice of using his patients’ leftover fat as fuel for his car.

At the doctor’s site, http://lipodiesel.org/, you can read all about the Dr. Bittner’s interest in green activities as a long-time member of the Sierra Club. The site reports that starting last year, as part of his efforts to get off fossil fuels and use alternative energy, he began using some of the fat from his liposuction patients and turning into biodiesel for his SUV. He calls it LipoDiesel.

According to Dr. Bittner, "My patients universally love the idea of converting their unwanted fat into fuel. Not only do they get to lose their love handles or chubby belly, but they get to take part in saving the Earth. Patients really like the idea that the fat can be used for something helpful and good. The vast majority of my patients request that I use their fat for fuel - and I have more fat than I can use. In fact, some of my staff has begun to buy diesel vehicles so that they can use the fuel too."

Dr. Bittner estimates that he removes about 2000 gallons of fat from his patients every year, some of which he disposes of as medical waste and some of which he saves to process into fuel for his SUV. He reports that he gets 10 miles to the gallon.

He processes the fat in his own lab and tests it to make sure it works by testing it.

While lipodiesel may seem like a good idea on some levels, especially when you also take into consideration the nation’s rising rates of obesity, it also seems completely icky on other levels, like contamination.

It has been reported that Dr. Bittner’s Beverly Hills clinic has been shut down by the Medical Board. And as plastic surgeon Dr. John Di Saia, among others has pointed out, biodiesel likely violates laws about disposing of biological waste.

Although burning biowaste leaves a large carbon footprint, it seems that until laws are in place making fat into fuel will have to wait.

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Make October 31 a Green Halloween

Holidays can be amongst the most wasteful days of the year. With Halloween coming up at the end of the month, here are some tips to ensure that you celebrate a Green Halloween, from candy to costume.

When it comes to candy, China’s tainted milk problem has become a global affair, with tainted milk products being found in Asian candy sold in Britain and the US as well as Australia, choosing organic sweets are best. Look for candy that is labeled organic or natural and fair-trade. Products with these labels undergo a great deal of supervision during production and are thus less likely to be contaminated.

For trick or treating sized confections, check out Endangered Species Chocolate and Equal Exchange Chocolate Minis, which are organic and use ethically traded ingredients. For the rest of the year and especially the end of the year holiday season, also be sure to buy organic and fair-trade treats for yourself and others.

When it comes to the all-important Halloween costume, don’t rush out to buy the cheap, mass-produced at your local drugstore. Instead of being a naughty nurse or sending your kid out as the latest superhero, get creative and you might be surprised at the environmentally-friendly choices you can make.

Go to a thrift store. They can be chock full of old Halloween costumes just right for recycling. Power Ranger anyone?

Search the web for ideas on how to make your own costume, especially if you are handy with a needle and thread. Use stuff from around the house to create your own capes, swords crowns and other miscellaneous needed to make your costume come to life.

If you have a new, unused Halloween costume, donate it. Until October 26, participating Starwood hotels are ensuring that all children get a treat this year. Click here to find participating hotels that are collecting Halloween costumes for local kids in need.

Make this year’s Halloween Green, whether you are tricking or treating.

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Toyota Builds First 'Green' Dealership In Western USA

It might seem like an oxymoron, but Toyota is at least trying to off-set some of its carbon footprint. The car manufacturer will be opening its first eco-conscious dealership to the public today in Salt Lake City, Utah. The new Mark Miller Toyota facility was built from the ground up with green initiatives in mind and expects to earn a Gold LEED Certification in the coming weeks.

While not using any major technological innovations such as hydrogen fuel cells or solar panels for power, the dealership was designed to conserve energy and water. It was also built with recycled materials, using much of the original building site in it's 're-construction.' Some of the environmentally friendly features include sun-tracking skylights to optimize natural daylight (to cut down on interior light use), low-flow faucets and toilets and waterless urinals, a cistern system to collect and store rainwater and air conditioning condensation for irrigation and for washing cars, and cool-roof system to lower the overall heat that comes off large buildings.

The facility can serve as an example of many of the small ways we can make an impact on global warming--something as simple as leaving light bulbs off for most of the hours of the day can go a long way in carbon savings.

Mark Miller, the dealer principal, said, "It wasn't a cheap proposition, but we think what we've done will have a payback both monetarily and in a reduced impact on the environment. In fact, we expect the facility's design to pay for itself within a decade. As buildings are the number one user of energy in the economy, our design will help reduce our energy use by about a third. We are pleased to help lead the way in Salt Lake City with an energy-efficient and environmental facility."

The dealership has applied and expects to win a Gold LEED certification in coming weeks. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a voluntary program designed to promote and validate environmental leadership in the building industry. It is awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council, and is coveted by business owners.

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Celebrity Green Competition

Celebrity Green Competition

When it comes to living green, nobody does it better than Ed Begley Jr. His Studio City home is green as can be and he is constantly making updates and improvements. But two years ago, a new green guru moved in to the neighborhood, Billy Nye, of the television show, “Bill Nye the Science Guy.”

According to a neighbor, Frema Rood, 83, the competition kicked off soon after Bill moved in to the area, “Bill announced it: 'I'm going to best Ed Begley at his own game. I'm going to get him. He ordered panels for the garage, then rain barrels, then he had his windows done and he put in a vegetable garden."

The good-natured competition between Begley and Nye takes place over every domain. Nye’s solar panels are newer and have more features, which makes Begley jealous. The white picket fence that surrounds Begley's two bedroom, 1,585 square foot bungalow is made of recycled plastic milk cartons pressed into boards. Nye used the recycled plastic lumber to build a patio cover, and convinced Rood to use the same type of boards to repair their shared white fence.

Both celebrities use natural pest control: Begley uses beer to keep slugs and bugs away from his vegetable garden and Nye uses a tiny solar-powered electric fence to ward off raccoons.

In terms of aesthetics, Nye wins, hands down. Begley doesn’t care what green looks like, which is obvious to neighbors who cringe at the wires poking around the house and the red rainwater barrels that clash with the home’s blue exterior.

Nye, has a different philosophy, "Ed claims — and this is an extraordinary claim — that he doesn't care how things look as long as they function well," Nye said. "I'm not in that camp. Things have to look good or don't bother."
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