Scent of a Catwoman

The cosmetics world needs more heroes. Fortunately, we have Catwoman (well, a woman who has portrayed her on screen).

Michelle Pfeiffer, whose great acting career includes her movie-stealing performance as Catwoman in Batman Returns, grew tired of trying to find fragrances with safe chemicals. Just like Catwoman, she took matters into her own hands, and earlier this month, she launched Henry Rose, a brand of five genderless fragrances with safety certification from the Environmental Working Group (EWG). Watch the video below to hear Pfeiffer discuss the brand.



Pfeiffer has worked with the EWG before by helping promote their work to make cosmetics safer, work that includes their product-evaluation site, Skin Deep. Seeing no satisfactory options in the perfume/cologne industry, she decided to make her own, and for guidance, she turned to EWG. The result is an EWG-verified fragrance line that avoids the organization's ingredients of concern, provides full transparency about its ingredients, and adheres to EWG manufacturing standards. For more information on the certification, click here. Henry Rose also receives gold certification from Cradle 2 Cradle for health and sustainability. To learn more about the brand, click here.

With the weak oversight (especially in the United States) of the cosmetics industry and the difficulty in finding safe brands, Pfeiffer's creation of Henry Rose is a welcome development. She saw a way to help people and took action.

It's the kind of thing that heroes do.

First Pieces

My first pieces of content for The Nature Conservancy in Washington and Carbon Washington have hit the Internet.

Last month, I blogged about continuing my work in environmental communication. Now, I am excited to reveal the publication of two of my initial projects, one exploring nature-based solutions (NBS) for The Nature Conservancy and the other highlighting some important legislative work by Carbon Washington.

The most recent publication on The Nature Conservancy's City Habitats site, my article on NBS allowed me to make use of my academic background. It looks at new research into the best strategies cities can use for employing NBS. Translating the research into an article for the general public's consumption gave me the opportunity to combine my understanding of scholarship with my professional work in environmental communication. Check out the full article here.

About a week before the publication of the NBS article, Carbon Washington started making legislative headway on a bill aimed at fostering sustainable farming. With considerable momentum behind the bill, writing about it for the organization proved very exciting. I enjoyed being a part of the move toward progress. Read my write-up here.

These pieces are just the beginning of my work with these organizations. Watch for the addition of more pieces soon.

Reframing a Bad Break

When the frames on my 22-year-old sunglasses shattered, it almost broke my heart, but my search for new glasses turned up an option with a social conscience and an environmental focus.

My old sunglasses meant a lot to me. I graduated four times while I had them, and they accompanied me to Europe twice. I even blogged about them last year. Most importantly, their longevity helped me limit my consumerism. All told, they became a part of me; so when I dropped them accidentally in March and looked down to see them in pieces, I experienced a moment of shock. I just couldn't believe it. Then, after the surprise wore off, I was sad that I'd never wear them again.

Faced with the task of buying new sunglasses for the first time in two decades, I determined to make the purchase as environmentally friendly as possible. Something made from recycled and recyclable materials was preferable. I did an Internet search, and Treehugger.com gave me a list of companies that made the kind of glasses I wanted.

The environmental focus of my search paid off with a pair of glasses made by Proof Eyewear from sustainably sourced wood and recycled aluminum. They are 100 percent recyclable, and the company will take them back for recycling if the time comes that I can't wear them anymore. On top of that, the company also donates a portion of its profits to charity. It all made for a very satisfying purchase; and I look forward to a long partnership and lots of great experiences with my new optical companions. To learn more about Proof Eyewear and check out their products, click here.

Although it hurt when my old sunglasses broke, choosing a sustainable replacement for them made me feel a little better.

Under One Roof

In Tesla's vision of a sustainable future, everything comes together under one roof.

Best known until now as a maker of high-end electric cars, Elon Musk's company moved us last month toward what he called a "seamlessly integrative" way of life. Teaming with another Musk venture, SolarCity, Tesla unveiled home and vehicle options that combine to fuel a completely solar-powered way of living.

As you can see from the video below, Tesla and SolarCity bring together car and battery technology with an innovative new approach to roofing and solar panels to revolutionize electricity generation and consumption. 

The solar roof provides the key to Tesla's integrative life. For the most part, the car and battery technology already existed. Tesla simply revealed advanced forms of its previous power-storage batteries. However, by integrating roofing and solar panels and connecting them with a home battery pack and an electric car, Tesla gives people a smart, purposeful, and function power system. The system can power an entire life with sustainable energy and empowers people by putting the solution to their energy needs under their own roof (or more accurately, in their own roof). For more information on these products from Tesla, click here.

These latest advancements from Tesla have blown the roof off both the way we think and the way we consume energy.

Positive Energy

I got a little charged up when the batteries in my calculator recently ran out of juice.

The calculator is one of the few things I have been running with traditional alkaline batteries, and it usually goes three to four years on one set. When the batteries ran out this time, I took it as an opportunity to switch to rechargeable batteries.

Making the move to rechargeables was just as exciting as the company I bought them from. Responsible Energy Corporation promotes the use of reusable energy. It sells rechargeable batteries, chargers, and solar-energy devices at greenbatteries.com. The company has focused on rechargeable batteries and solar devices to foster a more sustainable use of resources. It is accredited by the Better Business Bureau with an A+ rating.

Leaving single-use batteries behind feels good. I'm also encouraged that companies like Responsible Energy Corporation are helping make sustainability more of a focus and more accessible.

Even small changes can be powerful.

College Material

Colleges and universities produce a lot of waste, but they also generate many great ideas, so it was only a matter of time before someone came up with a way to address all that waste.

Last year, Brett Chamberlin and Alex Freid, two recent graduates, started the Post-Landfill Action Network (PLAN) to help institutions of higher education better manage their waste. What began as a concern about the trash generated when students move in and out for the school year has spread into a movement aimed at minimizing waste across higher ed. To hear Freid discuss the idea and how it's grown, watch the video below:



PLAN ingrains sustainability and waste reduction into the fabric of institutions. Through its consulting, the organization allows each participating college or university to respond to its respective waste problems. Also, the approach accounts for an institution's entire impact. Finally, PLAN employs communication for outreach and education programs to ensure the campus community takes full advantage of the sustainability initiatives.

Chamberlin and Freid see the big picture. They understand that individual impacts add up, and they realize what this means for the future of a planet already taxed by the human population. For more information about PLAN, click here.

College has expanded the perspective of many individuals, but Chamberlin and Freid demonstrate the potential for students to turn the tables (or couches or whatever).

Always Another Bend in the Road

Turning a new corner means having the chance to see some unfamiliar sights.

My experience of Earth Week this year opened up a lot of uncharted territory. As I blogged about last month, I helped in efforts to boost sustainability and environmental engagement at the University of South Dakota and in the city of Vermillion, South Dakota. With its various activities, Earth Week on campus and in the community was a big success and laid the groundwork for more to come.

My favorite experience of the week served as both a celebration of this year's work and a hope for the future. On the Saturday following Earth Day, I participated in a guided nature hike at North Alabama Bend, a piece of land the US Army Corps of Engineers owns and works to preserve. The hike included information about the land's relationship with the Missouri River and the resident eastern cottonwood trees, the people who had tried to homestead it, and the work being done to keep it in a natural state. Special thanks to Tim Cowman for guiding the hike. To learn more about North Alabama Bend, click here.

Despite a strong wind blowing for the full two hours, I enjoyed the hike. I'd never been to the property before, but the experience left me with the urge to explore it more in the future. It was the perfect way to cap the week and look ahead to new projects and experiences.

There's a place up ahead, and I'm going just as fast as my feet can fly.

New Growth

A drop in the bucket may not seem like much until its water helps a plant grow.

This year, I had the opportunity to make a contribution to a budding sustainability effort at the University of South Dakota. I've already blogged about one of the initiatives from the university's Sustainability Club here, but there's been a lot more going on, and Earth Week showcases some of the fruits of our labor.

Many people at the university and in the city of Vermillion came together around the idea of sustainability. As the Sustainability Club worked to bring recycling back to campus, the Sustainability Program locked up world-renown author Frances Moore Lappé for an Earth Day lecture, and members of the community worked to build a full week of events around the author's appearance.

The schedule of events kicked off today with a showing of A Fierce Green Fire and a discussion of Lappé's books. Earth Day features a bike-to-campus event, a sustainability fair for students, and Lappé's visit. However, the slate of events doesn't end there. To see the full schedule, click here.

It's been great to contribute to the celebration of sustainability (my environmental communication students and I helped promote the events), but it's been even more fun to see the excitement for environmental issues take root here. Ideas for future efforts have already sprouted.

Drip, drop, drip, drop.

Big Picture

Although we tend to see ourselves as superior to other species, we may actually underestimate the force with which we influence nature.

However, we are beginning to see just how far our reach stretches, and Lords of Nature, a documentary about top predators and the human impacts on them, adds to that understanding. The film has recently been released to YouTube by Green Fire Productions, which produces films about conservation and sustainability. Because it's on YouTube, I thought I would do something new and use this blog to show a whole film. You can watch it below:



What I find most interesting about the film is that even though we know we have the power to eradicate species, we have been blind to the deeper connections to nature that such power creates.

As it turns out, we do have great power, and we are deeply ingrained in natural systems. The sooner we completely understand how that power is related to those systems, the better it will be for everything on the planet.

Stepping up Our Game

When it comes to the health of the environment, you have to play to win, and more and more sports teams are embracing that idea.

Partnering with the Natural Resources Defense Council, many leagues and teams, including the Pacific Northwest members of the Green Sports Alliance, are working to minimize their environmental impact. Check out the following video about the NRDC's 2013 game changers for environmental stewardship (that's "The Natural," Robert Redford, narrating):



As a sports fan and environmentalist, it makes me happy to see these teams helping advance the ball on environmental sustainability.

What a Waste

Electronic waste (e-waste) is a growing global problem because of the increasing prevalence of electronic devices and the speed at which new electronics are produced and consumed.

However, we tend not to see the effects of e-waste because, like much of our trash, it is shipped away from us. Terra Blight, a new documentary hopes to shed light on the human and environmental impacts of electronics. Check out the trailer below:



This makes me very happy I decided to improve my computer rather than get a new one. It also makes me thankful for Web sites that help people fix their devices.

You can watch Terra Blight on YouTube or iTunes.

It's Mine

As promised way back in June, I am going to share the experience I had upgrading my computer.

First, to give you a little background information, I purchased my Macbook laptop four years ago from Apple. However, it was not new when I got it. Instead, Apple had refurbished it (Apple sells refurbished computers at discounted prices on its online store). Along with saving me some money, buying a refurbished computer meant that I was essentially reusing something that already existed.

The computer has served me well from the beginning, but within six months, I began to make some changes. First, I added more memory, which I purchased from a great company called Other World Computing. Memory improves a computer's performance, and OWC sells memory that meets or exceeds Apple's standards for considerably less than Apple sells its memory. I also bought an external hard drive from OWC, giving me a reliable place to back up my information.

For the next few years, I didn't make many changes to the computer. Then, this spring, I had to buy a replacement for my power adapter. I got a used one in good condition from OWC for considerably less than the ones Apple was selling.

The next decision I made about the computer was a pivotal one. At almost four years old, the computer's software was a bit out-of-date, and I was getting low on hard drive space, so I realized I would soon have to either get something new or update what I had. I decided on the latter option.

Upgrading the computer involved getting a new hard drive (actually a solid state drive) from OWC and a new operating system plus additional software. I also decided to invest in protecting the hardware with a keyboard cover, screen protector (both from OWC), and a shell case for the exterior. (Since I was making a commitment to keep my computer around for a while, I figured I should protect it as best I could.)

All the updates were successful (it was actually pretty easy), and my computer is running faster than it ever did. Also, with the help of a kit I got from OWC when I ordered the solid state drive, I was able to turn my old hard drive into another backup device.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I found out I needed to replace the computer's battery. Again, I turned to OWC for a less expensive, more powerful version of what Apple was selling.

Importantly, I feel like my computer is truly my own now. I was able to participate in the creation process that made it what it is today (it's probably as much an OWC computer as it is an Apple). Above all, I was able to get what amounted to a new computer without discarding my old one. This helps conserve resources, making me even happier and more proud about my upgrade.

To check out what is available at OWC (they also have equipment for PCs), click here. The company is accredited by the Better Business Bureau, receiving an A+ ranking. Also, it offsets all its carbon emissions and makes its solid state drives in the United States, further cutting down on the carbon footprint when it ships to customers in the US.

This New House

I'm not really much for plugging housing developments. The truth is that each time I see a new one, I get a little sad. I hate seeing natural spaces bulldozed and built and paved over.

With that perspective in mind, I will share some information my sister sent me. It concerns a community called the Garden Atriums. You can visit the community's Web site by clicking here.

From what I can tell, Garden Atriums is a gated community (not my favorite kind). However, it is based on some interesting principles that I think could be good, especially if applied in other areas.

First, Garden Atriums has a community garden, which brings food production close to home and gives the community a central space that will hopefully make for stronger connections between residents. Also, its homes feature less lawn space, decreasing the need for water, fertilizer, and mowing.

Another interesting idea is the use of atriums with plants at the center of the houses. This provides some innovative ways of creating climate control and challenges the barriers that traditionally separate human dwellings from nature. Additionally, the houses generate the power they need with solar energy.

I like that Garden Atriums seems to take sustainability seriously, but I would like to see someone try to incorporate the ideas from this community in one that already exists. If renovation and rejuvenation projects borrow from Garden Atrium's inspiration, the need for brand new developments will hopefully decrease.

In for Repairs

One way to minimize the number of things you have to buy is to get the most out of what you already own, and one way to ensure your things get high mileage is to pick up the tricks for repairing them.

The Natural Resources Defense Council's journal, This Green Life, just released a helpful guide to becoming a repairperson for your own things. Included in the guide are shopping tips for finding durable goods, information on making repairs to a variety of products, and advice for how to decide whether to repair or replace. iFixit is one of the resources the journal article shares. It provides free manuals for repairing many different things.

I get excited about ideas like this because they focus on sustainability, help make the old new, and empower people. Empowerment against consumerism is a difficult thing to achieve, but this is a good start.

In the near future, I will begin a project to rejuvenate my computer.  I bought it as a refurbished model, and it is now more than four years old. Rather than get a new computer, I'd like to see how far I can go with this one, so I will be replacing the hard drive and updating the operating system. Hopefully, that will keep it kicking for a few more years. I'll have more about the project later as an example of getting the most out of products.

Native Landscapes

Using native plants to landscape a yard brings many positive results. Native plants usually require fewer resources and less watering because they are adapted to the environment. They also attract birds and other species.

Sound Native Plants, a company I have blogged about before, has recently expanded its Web site to include information about creating landscapes that use native species instead of non-native ones.

The landscaping section of the site is still in its early stages, but it provides information about what native species can serve as alternatives to the non-natives and what species grow best in shade or sun.

Earth Day Eve

Tomorrow is Earth Day. I hope you get a chance to celebrate it in some way or the other.

My plan for the day is going to be pretty basic. After a very busy last few months, I want to get out and have a lot of nature time. Also, I have decided to make tomorrow the day I start timing my showers. I don't usually take very long showers, but I've never actually timed them. After I get a baseline, I'll work on cutting down the wasted time.

That sounds like a pretty good Earth Day: some reconnecting with nature and a step toward greater sustainability.

Play it Again

Today, I saw a great video, in which a woman interviewed her mother about the mother's experiences during the Great Depression. It was another reminder about the value of learning from the past.

The video is a little long, but its lessons make it worth watching if you have the time. You can watch it below. Also, it was part of a larger TreeHugger article about sustainable living. To see the whole article, click here.

Local Eating in the Palm of Your Hand

Eating foods that are grown and sold locally is an important part of sustainability, and the Natural Resources Defense Council is trying to make local eating easier with a new app called Eat Local, which is available for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.

The app allows you to determine what foods are in season in your area, find where local farmers' markets are, and discover seasonal recipes. For more information, click here. Eat Local is another tool from the NRDC's collection of resources for Smarter Living.

Plastic: Time to Wrap it Up

Besides doing away with my need for gasoline, cutting down on the use of plastic is one of my biggest environmental goals. The problem is that plastic comes with so many things we use all the time.

It definitely takes a conscious effort to avoid plastic. For example, when I think I want to buy something, I ask myself if it or its packaging contains plastic. If the answer is yes, I often decide against buying it or choose to look for alternatives.

Sometimes, my attempts to keep plastic at a distance need a little help though. I found some in this article about five packaged foods you never need to buy again. It contains information about making things like soup, soup stock, and, my personal favorite, cereal.

Now, I can take my anti-plastic life to the next level.

Love Seafood and the Sea

The ocean certainly provides some tasty treats, and I've enjoyed a lot of them in my life. I'd like to continue enjoying them, and I also want to make sure that I show my appreciation to the ocean by protecting it.

Unfortunately, the oceans are having some trouble now. They are becoming more acidic and more polluted, and many areas have become dead zones. That's not good for the health of the oceans, the well-being of the animals and plants in them, or those of us who love the ocean and what it provides.

Through our seafood choices, we can improve the health of the oceans and ensure we get clean food. The Natural Resources Defense Council has provided tips for how to do that.

I particularly like the suggestions for eating locally and supporting sustainable-harvest practices.

Growing up within an hour of the ocean gave me some great experiences and much wonderful cuisine. I am indebted to the ocean for those things, so it's great to know I can do my part to keep them coming.