So...how much does that cost anyway?

Now that the Green Your Dorm campaign at Washington College has begun, I'm sure people are wondering, "So, how much money am I gonna have to fork out?" After researching the cost of eco-friendly vs. "normal" products, I've discovered that the answer is: "Not much more."

After totaling up the cost for everything you could possibly think up for a brand-spanking new dorm room, without using (mostly) anything you already have, the grand total difference was only $38.59. So, by paying $40 more, you ensure the products you're buying are supporting sustainability, animal-free testing, and keeping nasty pollutants out of the air. So, if you have to shop, shop eco-friendly. Here is the completed list:

Greening Your Bed

Organic Cotton Sheet Set (Target): $29.99

Organic Cotton Pillowcases (Target): $14.99

Organic Quilt and Sham Set (Target): $31.99

Total: $76.97

Bed

Cotton Sheet Set (Target): $29.99

Cotton Pillowcases (Target): $9.99

Quilt and Sham Set (Target): $27.99

Total: $67.97

Greening Your Cleaning

Seventh Generation All-Purpose Cleaner: $4.49

Seventh Generation Window Cleaner: $3.69

Total: $8.18

Cleaning (Amazon)

Oxy All-Purpose Cleaner: $4.99

Windex Window Cleaner: $5.63

Total: $10.62

Greening Your Bathroom

Organic Bath Towel (Bed, Bath, and Beyond): $14.99

Organic Hand Towel (B,B&B): $10.99

Organic Wash Cloth (B,B&B): $7.99

100% Recycled Bath 2 pk Tissue: $2.59

Total: $36.56

Bathroom

Bath Towel (Bed, Bath, and Beyond): $4.99

Hand Towel (B,B&B): $3.99

Wash Cloth (B,B&B): $2.99

Charmin 2 pk Bath Tissue (Amazon): $4.02

Total: $15.99

Greening Your Teeth:

Preserve Toothbrush: $2.79

Tom of Maine’s Organic Toothpaste: $4.99

Tom of Maine’s Organic Mouthwash: $5.99

Total: $13.77

Teeth: (Target)

Oral B Toothbrush (Amazon): $4.59

Colgate Toothpaste: $3.49

Listerine Mouthwash: $5.29

Total: $13.37

Greening Your Shower:

Burt’s Bees Shampoo: $8.00

Burt’s Bees Conditioner: $8.00

Burt’s Bees Face Soap: $5.28

Burt’s Bees Body Wash: $8.00

Preserve 100% Recycled Triple Razor: $7.49

Total: $36.77

Shower: (Target)

Pantene Shampoo: $4.84

Pantene Conditioner: $4.84

Neutrogena Face Wash: $7.99

Dove Body Wash: $4.49

Gillette Venus Razor: $9.99

Total: $32.15

Greening Your Kitchen

PUR Water Pitcher (Target): $12.99

Klean Kanteen Water Bottle: $19.95

Preserve Tableware Pack: $16.00

Preserve Cups (6): $5.99

Organic Kitchen Towel (B,B&B): $5.99

Organic Dish Cloth (B,B&B): $3.99

Seventh Generation Dishwashing Liquid: $3.49

Permanent Mr. Coffee Filter (Amazon): $14.99

Seventh Generation 100% Recycled Paper Towels: $4.99

Total: $94.38

Kitchen

Water Pitcher (Target): $15.99

Rubbermaid Water Bottle (Target): $9.99

Disposable Plates 25 pk (Target): $15.99

Disposable Cutlery – Spoons and Forks 144 each (Target): $27.98

Disposable Cups 72 pk (Target): $24.99

Kitchen Towel (B,B&B): $3.99

Dish Cloth (B,B&B): $2.99

Dawn Dishwashing Liquid (Amazon): $6.82

Disposable Mr. Coffee Filter 100 pk (Amazon): $2.19

Viva 2 pk Paper Towels (Amazon): $5.79

Total: $116.72

Greening Your Laundry

Seventh Generation Laundry Detergent: $10.89

Seventh Generation Fabric Softener: $4.99

Ecover Stain Remover: $3.39

Total: $19.27

Laundry (Amazon)

Tide Laundry Detergent: $9.08

Downy Fabric Softener: $4.25

Shout Stain Remover: $2.99

Total: $16.32

Greening Your Air

Diffuser (Target): $9.99

EccoMist Spray: $8.95

Crystal Salt Lamp (Target): $19.95

Air Purifying Plants (1):

Areca Palm: $12.50

Peace Lily: $4.99

Dwarf Date Palm: $18.80

Lady Palm: $15.80

Bamboo Palm: $14.95

Total (with Peace Lily): $43.88

Air

Air Wick Spray Kit (Amazon): $13.59

Febreze Air Spray (Amazon): $3.92

No Lamp: $0

No Plants: $0

Total: $17.51

Greening Your School Supplies

Recycled Notebook (Target): $.97 each (4) = $3.88

Recycled Lined Large Post-Its (Target): $14.99 a pack

Office Max PWC Paper: $7.49 500 sheets (1)

EcoWriter 90% PWC Pencils: $.25 each (12) = $3.00

Skilcraft Recycled Pens: $3.42 for 12

Abudant Earth Binders: $9.99 for 5

Total: $42.77

School Supplies (Amazon)

Notebook: $.70 (4) = $2.80

Lined Large Post-Its: $13.69

HP Printer Paper 500 sheets: $12.99

BIC 12 pk Mechanical Pencils: $6.03

BIC 12 pk Pens: $2.25

5 1” Binders: $5.55

Total: $43.31

Green Grand Total: $372.55

“Normal” Grand Total: $333.96

The Difference: $38.59!!!

Hmmmm...maybe the Green option should be the normal option. Definitely.

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Breaking News! (from the Earth)

Although there have been many long-running environmental publications, more and more college campuses continue to create their own publications that focus on green and sustainability issues. Yale University began this year with their environmental publication, Yale Environment 360. Other colleges, such Michigan State with their EJ Magazine, have published campus environmental magazines for years.

Honestly, it’s hard to beat good journalism.

What these campus magazines do is promote honest environmental journalism, one of the fastest growing types of journalism today. I can’t think of a better way to expose students to real environmental issues – doing the research and writing the article themselves. Sure, it’s one thing to encourage students to read The Ecologist and other magazines available at the campus library, but to have a publication written by students for students is another thing altogether.

Many of these colleges include their environmental magazines as part of their journalism or environmental studies major. Right now, Washington College has many, many publications, both student and faculty-run. But what I would love to see is an interdepartmental cooperative which focuses on responsible environmental journalism. It’s very important for every major to know how to write well, not just know how to write. If an environmental magazine could be integrated into a class, a major, or multiple majors, students would automatically associate those majors with writing (which should be every major, really).

So, what would we call our environmental magazine? Who would write for it? What would they write about?

Answer: The students decide.

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Reduce Reuse Recycle... Rave?

Oh, my. Jimmy's Deposit Box: Take note.

Apparently the first ever eco-conscious club has opened in Britain. Apparently, by getting their groove on, visitors to the club will help generate electricity by means of spring powered coils in the floor. The club will also serve organic spirits and feature a recycled water system.

Now this is what I call green drinks.

I also have to say its one of the more innovative methods I've heard for alternative energy. I've long said we should hook the stationary bikes in the LFC up to some kind of energy producing system- with all the athletic teams in there burning calories, we should really be putting that energy right back into powering the building. While a night club might be a stretch for WC, and possibly for Chestertown, there must be other ways we can think outside the box. Maybe something to look into for Birthday Ball? Can that be our theme next year??? According to the owner of the club, "There is no greater platform than clubbing to reach out to young people." What WC is lacking, then, is a good rave.

If nothing else, our local bars could get further onto the eco-bandwagon by serving a higher percentage of local beers and wines, and organic spirits. To my knowledge, Andy's is in the lead, serving seasonal vegetables, local seafood, and hormone-free beef, as well as having a wide selection of Maryland region beers. Andy's is also your spot for Chestertown Green Drinks, the third Thursday of every month from September to May. You can find our schedule here. Just follow the links until you find Chestertown (US: Maryland: Chestertown).

You can find out more about the technology side here. You can also read a lot of... creative... suggestions for sustainability in the comments, including self-powered glow sticks. I'm not so sure glow sticks are something we need to keep around, as the goo that keeps them lit up is pretty toxic... but dream big, econauts, dream big.

And look out for upcoming lines of "green" club wear. Talk about getting your green on.

One more thing: the website for the club itself: www.club4climate.com. This is actually a little absurd, and kind of misses the point. But more on that later.

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Farm Fresh

Whatever happened to walking to market? In my hometown of York, PA, I’ve been fortunate enough to experience the Central Markethouse, Eastern Market, and other local markets where local farmers sell fresh produce, meat, and delicious Pennsylvania Dutch food. I was used to walking across the street at work to get my lunch. I was used to knowing where it came from. In fact, my mother buys from a stand where the produce was picked by my cousin. It is never hard to find fresh, local food in York.

It shocked me that while living in Cork, Ireland, many of the people I studied with were delighted and amazed by the English Market, where a 10 minute walk down the street revealed a centuries-old markethouse that sold meat, cheeses, vegetables, pastries, and anything else in between. Besides being local, the food sold there was usually a fraction of the price of grocery store goods. It made sense – there were no transportation costs or distribution and packaging fees. Straight from farm to market to me. That’s the way I like my food.

Where is the downside of locally grown food? Availability. Many urban or sprawl areas just don’t have access to farmers’ markets, either because of transportation or simply because there isn’t one. Even in York I watch as more and more farmland transforms into suburbia and new condos. When my friends visit I always show them the old farmhouses surrounded by the sprawl. That land’s crop-growing days are over.

But, in Chestertown, we are fortunate enough to have a Saturday morning farmer’s market in Fountain Park, where I pick up fresh fruit, vegetables, and flowers. I also work for a share of produce at Colchester Farm, a Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) farm where, if I help harvest the crop weekly, I can take some of my own. I will also soon acquire some broiler chickens from the farm, and I hope to buy more local meat (very rarely do I eat any meat that I haven’t seen first or know exactly where it came from anymore).

So, why buy local? By buying locally, you help keep business in the local area, supporting local farms and fellow neighbors. It’s what helps keep small-scale farms operating; otherwise, like some farms on the Eastern Shore, they could be bought out by developers, and the same thing that’s happening in my home county can happen here. Buying at market shows that you support your community and want to preserve the integrity of smaller farms.

Next time you’re at the grocery store, picking up some California strawberries and Perdue chicken, think to yourself, “I can get some local strawberries and chicken Saturday morning. I’ll wait on these.” And, if you don’t have access to a market, look around for signs at the store that say “Locally grown!”. Every time you buy something local, you help strengthen community support for farmers, and keep that farm from disappearing. What would we do without farms? Do we really want to drive down the street to see suburb after suburb, especially here on the Eastern Shore? I think not.

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Kicking the plastic habit

When we shop, do we really think about the plastic bags we use to bag up our groceries or a new pair of jeans? If most people knew that putting that cereal box into a plastic bag contributed to over 380 billion bags of waste in the country per year, they would think again.

Plastic bags are not just impractical (most fall apart after one use), but they severely damage the environment. They are not biodegradable and kill thousands of wildlife annually, along with being an eyesore across the country.

While the reusable bag phenomenon is still new in the US, Ireland jumped on the reusable platform years ago. On March 4, 2002, the Irish government enacted the Plastic Bag Levy or “PlasTax,” where a 15 (euro) cent tax was placed on most plastic bags. This tax then goes directly back to the Irish government’s environmental agency. Since then, the tax has increased to 22 cents, and I’m sure will continue to rise in order to reduce bag circulation further.

I got to experience the (mostly) plastic bag free life in Ireland for 5 months. It amazed me at first to see barcodes on bags, but I soon got used to seeing people reusing all kinds of bags from different stores. Most stores, especially groceries like Tesco and Dunnes, sold “bags for life,” multi-use bags which ranged in price from 70 cents to 1 Euro. I picked one of these up during my first trip to Tesco, and that bag lasted my entire five month stay and beyond (I had to give it away).

In the US, I get excited when I see reusable bags sold in almost every grocery store I walk into. What pains me though is that these bags aren’t for sale at the checkout line, but are instead displayed to the side of the lines. In Ireland, at every checkout there are sturdy tote bags, usually made from recycled material, or heavy plastic bags (along with the one-use plastic bags, of course) to buy when you realize you haven’t brought enough bags or your old reusable bag finally broke after years of service.

What’s wrong with paying even 20 cents for a plastic bag? It wouldn’t hurt anyone to buy a few reusable bags or start getting out the dusty tote bags from the closet. Spend a few dollars and you could easily reduce your plastic bag consumption overnight from 328 to 21, just like the Irish did. Recycling plastic bags is not enough. It still takes a large amount of energy to recycle plastic bags, including transport, the recycling process, and transportation to be reused again. Buying a reusable bag or tote is definitely the more viable option – they are the future in sustainable practice (remember, reduce and reuse are two-thirds of the three R’s). Recently Australia and even China have now jumped on the bag bandwagon, and I think it’s time for our government to do the same. PlasTax anyone?

For more fun plastic bag facts, visit resuablebags.com. They also sell high-quality reusable items, such as bags and containers.

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Are you deep or shallow?

Since the inception of the modern environmentalist movement, there have been two major sections who both define what “being green” really means. The mainstream (and more popular) idea focuses on consumer environmentalism, where the buyer makes purchases based on whether or not the product is environmentally friendly. This is the environmentalism we are all familiar with – buy (certified) organic produce, recycle your milk jugs, and – look – you’ve helped save the world!

However, there is another branch of the green movement which feels that recycling just isn’t enough. Often, this movement, usually referred to as deep ecology or ecologism, is affiliated with radical groups such as Earth First! and PETA. With its ecocentric message, ecologism is often referred to by consumer-based environmentalists as misanthropic, which, of course, deters many people from even exploring dark green beliefs.

But is being deep really so radical? Many people don’t even realize that they are already following ecologist principles. Because ecologism is not an associative ideology like environmentalism, which attaches itself to an already existing political party, it often remains unknown to the public, especially in the United States. Ecologism has its own clearly defined principles that don’t adhere to the conservative and liberal parties. Here is just a short list of some of these principles:

• Emphasis on the spiritual and intrinsic importance of nature (Gaia hypothesis)

• Limits to growth is a reality

• Government decentralization (focus on local government)

• Anti-class posture

• Interdependence and complexity of systems

Just by looking at this list, it becomes apparent that ecologism is not part of any existing political system. It contains the aspects and principles of many political theories. I hadn’t even heard of ecologism myself until I took an environmental politics class in Ireland, where there is a much more prominent Green Party throughout Europe. After reading more dark green literature, I realized how much I agreed with ecologist principles.

Try it out for yourself. For more information on ecologism, try Andrew Dobson’s book Green Political Thought.

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Wear a Little Green

I get one of those daily “tips for going green” emails, I won’t say which, and I have to say I find them a little- well- biased. Some of the tips are interesting and informative- I found a really effective homeopathic nasal spray that puts a stop to my worst allergy symptoms- but others make me scratch my head and wonder if some people aren’t just “going green” to satisfy their shopping addictions.

Yesterday, for example, I received an email encouraging the purchase of organic cotton denim- a great idea, in theory, until I scrolled down and the list of recommended products ranged from $40 to $350 for a pair of jeans. Now, maybe some people regularly spend this much money on their pants, but not I. And really, when you think about it, what’s so sustainable about buying new pairs of jeans, organic or not? To make them, someone still had to grow the cotton, ship it to a factory, turn it into denim, dye it, ship it to another factory, assemble the jeans, use all kinds of metal bits (which had to be mined) for the rivets and the zipper (made in another factory), and finally ship the jeans to a store, where you had to drive- unless of course you ordered online, in which case they had to be shipped to you- either method of which involves packaging in the form of tags, plastic bags, and shipping materials.

Whew.

On the other hand, if you’re really in need of “green” jeans, you could head on down to the local thrift store. The jeans may not be brand-spanking new- no pun intended- but I guarantee they won’t cost $40. They may not even cost $10. And (best of all) you skip that lengthy process of producing the new pair, often support good causes, and keep perfectly good clothing from hitting the trash. Remember the four R’s- reduce, REUSE, recycle, renew. Producing with fewer chemicals is a good plan when it comes to the things you want to buy new- probably your underwear- but otherwise doesn’t do much to stop the massive over consumption of resources and fossil fuels that presents the biggest hurdle to sustainability. And it doesn’t start with R.

So where to begin? In Chestertown, you have two basic options:
Nearly New, on High Street (I found my favorite pair of cherry red heels there)
WIN (Women in Need), next to the Dollar General on Philosopher’s Terrace (which also donates proceeds to, you guessed it, women in need)

Either will provide quality, lightly loved clothing, housewares, furniture, and most anything else you can imagine, at a low, low price. Now that’s sustainable.

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