Extinction Stinks

So I missed last week’s episode of Battlestar Galactica. I called my friend and asked if he had taped it. “Taped it?” he laughed. “What is this? 1994?” So I called another friend. Again: “Taped? What does that even mean?” A third: “I didn’t tape it, but I can scratch it out on a stone tablet for you, Grandpa.”

I now realize that I have an endangered species attached to my entertainment center. The VHS VCR, once the undisputed king of video recording, is now, for all intents and purposes, extinct in the wild. There are some who would say, “Good riddance. My hard-drive-based DVR is better than your dumb half-inch magnetic tape with built-in anti-despooling mechanism ever was.” And they may be right. But what these cavalier technophiles don’t seem to realize is that once these last living specimens burn out, the VCR will never come back. Extinction is forever.

That’s why I went to the boss here at Tee Hugger and pitched a shirt that says “Extinction is Forever” with a big picture of a VHS recorder. He liked the idea, but thought it might be more effective if the VCR was replaced with a panda. (http://www.teehugger.com/product_p/thjs1001.htm) Apparently more people identify with the plight of the panda than that of the VCR because pandas are “more lovable” and “actual living creatures” and saving them is “important” and “not just some dumb Luddite’s crusade.”

Well, I guess he does have a valid point.

1. The most important thing we can do to help save endangered animals is to protect their natural habitats. According to the Humane Society, “Human population growth and the consumption of open space and resources destroy habitat required by wildlife for survival. Human development can disturb whole ecosystems, often irreparably.” They suggest urging your local government officials to establish “Wildlife Corridors” to connect the increasingly segmented areas of wild habitat so that animals may be exposed to a larger range of genetic diversity, which keeps their populations healthy. (http://www.hsus.org/wildlife/issues_facing_wildlife/habitat_loss_and_fragmentation/)

2. Support conservation organizations that focus on wildlife. Of course, the first one that pops into mind is the World Wildlife Fund, because of their logo depicting a lovable VCR. Er, panda. You can support the WWF with your dollars, but you can also support them with your attention and your curmudgeonly propensity for letter writing. If you join the WWF’s free Conservation Action Network email list, they’ll “send you email action alerts on breaking issues and let you send free personalized messages to policy makers. You can track which actions you've taken and learn about your victories.” (http://wwf.worldwildlife.org/site/PageServer?pagename=can_signup)

3. It would be great if saving an endangered animal was as easy as recycling a soda can, but sadly, it’s not. It takes a lot of people working together to make a difference. If you can’t support a conservation organization with your money, maybe you’d be more interested in supporting them with your own blood, sweat, and tears. Conservation International points out that “getting one's hands dirty is more than just occasional fun, it can be a life calling for many people who hate indoor desk work.” If you want to find out how to get out of your cubicle and get your own hands dirty, check out their career idea page here: http://www.conservation.org/act/ideas/Pages/ideas.aspx

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go down to the video store and rent a tape of Kung-Fu Panda: proof that VCRs and pandas can live in harmony.

Tacos are great

Hey, gang. I know I usually use this blog to talk about ways to save the Earth, but today there’s just one thing on my mind: I’m hungry. You know how it is; you work through lunch and then halfway through the afternoon you’ve got a monster in your belly kicking and growling. You know what I could go for right now? A taco. Dude. Tacos are a perfect food unit. I know soft tacos are traditional, but I’m a hard-shell guy all the way. A big bunch of crunch wrapped around a soft center of beans, salsa, and awesome? Best. Lunch. Ever.

All right, all right, on to the Earth saving. It’s just like Mom always used to say, “Earth first, tacos later.” What? Your mom didn’t say that? Seriously? Well maybe you should start saying it to her. Or maybe you should just let your wardrobe do the talking with one of Tee Hugger’s stylish, eco cotton “Earth first, tacos later” shirts (http://www.teehugger.com/product_p/thjs1011.htm). It’s even got a picture of the Earth in the shape of a taco. Hard shell, not this soft shell nonsense.

If you love tacos, or even if you don’t (inconceivable!), there are things you can do to help make your diet more ecologically sound:

1. Hit the farmers’ market - There are thousands of local community farmers’ markets where you can buy shiny new vegetables fresh from the farm. You can find family and sustainable farms in your neighborhood that are ready to fill your face with produce at LocalHarvest.org (http://www.localharvest.org/).

2. Eat locally - Eating food produced locally, or even eating in local restaurants, helps reduce your carbon footprint and helps your local economy in one fell swoop. There’s a million reasons to eat local food. Why here’s ten of them now: http://www.lifebeginsat30.com/elc/2006/04/10_reasons_to_e.html

3. Eat carefully - Though eating locally is a good idea, you can do even better by making small modifications to your diet. Scientists now suggest that eating less red meat and dairy products could reduce your carbon footprint even more than eating locally. (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080421161338.htm) Of course, eating less meat and eating locally is a one-two punch of greenhouse gas reduction.

4. Go vegetarian - Okay, let’s stop beating around the bush with these “farmers’ market” and “less red meat” shenanigans. If you’re really serious about using your diet to reduce your carbon emissions, you should do what Paul McCartney did and go vegetarian. According to GoVeg.com, “A 2006 United Nations report found that the meat industry produces more greenhouse gases than all the SUVs, cars, trucks, planes, and ships in the world combined.” (http://www.goveg.com/environment-globalWarming.asp) Madness.

All right, I’m out of here. I can’t take it anymore. My belly needs an injection of locally grown vegetarian tacos, stat.

Baby, it’s cold outside...

It’s January, and here in the Northern Hemisphere, that means winter. Cold, bitter, frigid winter. As you’re out shoveling the driveway or knocking the icicles off your roof (or off your own nose), it’s really hard to get riled up about the threat of global warming. “Global warming?” you say.“Bring it! I’m freezin’ my knees off here!”

Although it may be the farthest thing from your mind as you strap on your earmuffs and tuck into another cup of hot cocoa, even during our winter, global warming still is a significant part of our global climate crisis. This week we’re going to zip up our parkas and talk about what we can do to help.

1. Scientists currently believe that the most important thing we can do to combat global warming is for each and every one of us to reduce our carbon footprint (defined as “a measure of the amount of carbon dioxide produced by a person, organization, or location at a given time”). Of course, awareness is key. Also, wearing multiple layers is the best way to keep the chill off as you wait for the bus. Kill those two birds with one stylish stone by picking up a 100% organic cotton “A Low Carbon Diet Keeps Me Cool” shirt from Tee Hugger (http://www.teehugger.com/Low_Carbon_Diet_p/thas1001.htm).

2. But how can you reduce your carbon footprint if you don’t even know how big it is? You can find out by taking the Environmental Defense Fund’s “personal pollution inventory” here: http://www.fightglobalwarming.com/carboncalculator.cfm

3. If your results were anything like ours, you’ll have to take a moment to catch your breath and wait for the shock to wear off. (Man, cross-country flights are brutal for carbon emissions. Who knew?) Luckily, after they scare you, the Environmental Defense fund is there to hold your hand with a PDF pamphlet full of tips on how you can put yourself on a low carbon diet(complete with cute pictures of the Earth as a weight-loss enthusiast) here: http://www.fightglobalwarming.com/documents/5119_LowCarbonguide.pdf

4. Call the mayor! If you’re doing everything you can to help fight global warming in your home, maybe it’s time to step it up to the next level and get your whole city on the bandwagon. The U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement—an initiative launched by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels in which mayors commit to reduce emissions in their cities to seven percent below 1990 levels by 2012—is supported by over 500 mayors across the country. Is it supported by yours? Visit USMayors.org to find out, and if your mayor isn’t on the list, do something about it! (http://usmayors.org/climateprotection/list.asp)

Only by working together can we help reduce greenhouse gasses and reduce the risk of a catastrophic global temperature hike. Now get fired up, bean activist, and stay warm this winter!

Bagging Day

It's January, and "The Holidays" are officially over. Sure there are more holidays coming up throughout the year, but that big year-end clump is all over and done with. No more feasting, gift-giving, or boxing. Seriously, Boxing Day, what's your deal? We've heard many differing explanations, from "It's the day that the rich folks used to give bonus boxes to their serfs and servants," to "It's the day that all of the boxes from Christmas gifts get thrown away," to "It's the day that you put on padded gloves and punch somebody until they lose consciousness." At any rate, here in America the debate is somewhat irrelevant. We don't celebrate Boxing Day. We here at Tee Hugger, however, would like to suggest a new holiday for December 26th: Bagging Day.

The new Bagging Day tradition is easy to understand and easy to celebrate, for Bagging Day is the day that we all resolve to use less plastic bags in the upcoming year. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, somewhere between 500 billion and a full trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year. These bags end up in our landfills and oceans, wreaking all kinds of havoc with wildlife, as seen in this graphic slideshow put together by PoconoGreen: http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080506/multimedia02/80505016

According to that same slideshow, if just one in every five Americans stopped using plastic bags, we would save 1,330,560,000,000 bags in our lifetime. That's a messload and a half of bags! Show the world that you're ready to jump on our Bagging Day bandwagon with one of our 100% organic "No Thank You - I brought my own bag" shirts (http://www.teehugger.com/product_p/thjs1002.htm). Modeled after the ubiquitous "Thank You" bag that you'll find in your neighborhood treetops and storm drains, this shirt is the official uniform of our grocery-schlepping revolution.

But Bagging Day is about more than fashion. Here are some simple things you can do to achieve your Bagging Day goals:

1. Use a cloth bag. It's a no brainer. You've got stuff to carry, you're going to need a bag. Use one that you can reuse indefinitely. You can get 'em in all shapes and sizes at the appropriately named ReusableBags.com: http://www.reusablebags.com/

2. But what about the thousand plastic bags you already undoubtedly have stuffed in a kitchen cabinet? You can get crafty and use those to make something great, like an entire 1950s outfit: http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2007/08/plastic_bag_crafts.html

3. Bring 'em back where they came from. According to Salon.com, plastic bags are a troublesome nuisance to recycle at municipal recycling facilities, which may end up sending that bag you thought you recycled to the dump (http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/08/10/plastic_bags/index1.html). According to them, "If you want to recycle a plastic bag it's better to bring it back to the store where you got it." Some states, such as California, actually mandate bag recycling programs at large grocery stores.

Happy Bagging Day, everyone! Let's keep it up until plastic bags are a historical footnote, and, much like Boxing Day, our holiday's origins are only a clouded memory.

New Year’s Resolutions

Right in the middle of this week we'll be kissing 2008 goodbye and saying hello to 2009. If you're ahead of the curve (and you must be, if you're reading this blog), you're probably already making your New Year's resolutions. Let's get the first one out of the way: I'm going to lose weight. Yes, we are a nation of fat fatty fatsos. So let's all take a step toward reducing our carbon footprint and our own waistlines at the same time by bicycling to work. I know it's tough, but we can keep ourselves motivated with our eco-friendly "Burn Fat, Not Oil" T-shirts (http://www.teehugger.com/product_p/thjs1016.htm).

Okay, so you commute 73 miles a day through snow and bears and riding a bicycle isn't practical. Or you weigh 73 pounds already, and are afraid of losing any more weight. Fine. There are other simple things you can resolve to do to help save the planet.

1. Fight the Phantom Load Menace

Most of the electronics in your house are sucking down power even when they're turned off. Things like TVs, kitchen appliances, and laptop power adapters all "leak" power even when they're not in use. The US Department of Energy says that 75% of the electricity used to power home electronics is consumed while the products are turned off. That's a lot of juice being wasted on little green LEDs and clocks blinking 12:00. You can eliminate this so-called "vampire power" usage by unplugging your gear when it's not in use, or by plugging it into a power strip with an on/off switch that you can use to cut off all power to your favorite power leeches.

2. Replace your light bulbs

Seriously. What are you waiting for? Compact fluorescent bulbs aren't the buzzing, flickering migraine inducers of yesteryear. Today they come in lots of shapes and sizes, and work as well as regular incandescent bulbs. The Environmental Defense Fund has a handy guide to help you pick out the right bulbs for your home here: http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=632

3. Give the gift of carbon offsets

You're done shopping for your friends and family this holiday season, now it's time to buy a little something nice for the Earth. According to the EDF, when you buy carbon credits, "you essentially pay someone to reduce or remove global warming pollution in your name." It's important to buy your carbon offsets from a reliable source, so check out the EDF's Carbon Offset List at http://www.carbonoffsetlist.org for a list of fully reviewed offset sellers.

4. Get rid of your junk, but be green about it

Your New Year's resolutions might include cleaning out the ol' garage, but decluttering your life doesn't have to mean cluttering the Earth. There are safe, ecological ways to get rid of most everything, from motor oil, to pool chemicals, to those Christmas lights you just pulled down. To find out how, visit Earth911 at http://www.earth911.com

5. Get out and pitch in!

Cleaning up your own house is a good start, but there's a whole planet out there that needs a spit shine. Make it a goal this year to get out and participate in a local cleanup effort. See if there are groups in your area that let you "adopt" a section of park land, highway, or beach to keep clean. Or you can visit the Sierra Club's website to find environmental events in your area: http://www.sierraclub.org/

Happy New Year from all of your pals at Tee Hugger!

Computer Recycling

This is it, friends; the penultimate week of 2008. As the year runs to a close, we plunge deep into not only the holiday gift giving season, but the holiday gift receiving season as well. If you're on the edge of your yuletide seat waiting for Santa or Hanukah Harry to bring you a new computer this year, maybe you should stop and take a minute to think about what you're going to do with that old and busted machine once the new hotness shows up.

Many people don't know that computers and other electronic equipment contain many highly toxic materials, such as mercury, lead, arsenic, and chromium. Of course you know that. You're environmentally friendly, just like your shirt says. (And if your shirt doesn't say that, you might want to click over here: http://www.teehugger.com/product_p/thjs1009.htm) But I'm sure there are some people in your circle of gift giving that will just chuck their old computer in the trash can the second the new one successfully boots up. Here are some steps you can share with your friends to help keep those dirty bits and bytes out of the landfill this holiday season:

Step one: Clean it!

Before you get rid of your computer, you need to take all of that private data on your computer (such as financial information, personal files, and your naughty and nice list) and wipe it off the hard drive. You want to save the planet, but you don't want to lose your identity. There are lots of free programs available to scrub down your hard drive. Just point your search engine at the phrase "free disk cleaners" and let 'er rip.

Step two: Reuse it!

Obsolescence is a very relative thing. Your two-year-old computer may be too slow for you, but it's an upgrade for the guy who doesn't have a computer at all. If your computer is from 2003 or newer, many charitable organizations will accept it as a donation and give it to those in need of a hot cup of Internet. You can check your local area for computer repurposing projects, or visit the On It Foundation, which is dedicated to providing free computers and training to the children of low-income families: http://www.theonitfoundation.org/ And if saving the Earth and helping those in need isn't enough incentive to donate your old computer, you can also write your donation off on your taxes. Hear that? It's your karma and your wallet both going "cha-ching!"

Step three: Recycle it!

If you're replacing a digital dinosaur so old that charities won't even touch it, there are still green ways to get rid of that old fossil. Check with your computer manufacturer and see if they have a free recycling service, or find an electronics recycler in your area at: http://www.mygreenelectronics.org/ Make sure that your recycler is socially responsible by checking to see that they've signed the Electronic Recycler's Pledge of True Stewardship, "the most rigorous criteria for sustainable and socially just electronics recycling," at: http://www.ban.org/pledge/Locations.html

Happy holidays to you and yours from the whole gang at Tee Hugger. We hope you get that new machine you've got your eye on. And if you don't, well, it's just going to be obsolete in three months anyway.

3 ways to stay green this holiday!

Hey, everybody! Merry Christmas! Er... wait. Sorry, I didn't mean to be culturally insensitive or to imply or assume that you celebrate a certain holiday. Let's start over again. Happy Christmas or Hanukah everybody! Or, Chanukah, if you swing that way. Oh, what the heck, let's go ahead and complete the trifecta: Have a great Kwanzaa, too!

And for anyone who has slipped through the cracks, let's toss in a happy Festivus, a swell Decemberween, and a furry Life Day. And if you're really obscure, happy Refrigerator Day.

You know what? I give up. There are too many holidays all crammed together at the end of the year. I say we simplify the season and just agree that every day is Earth Day. December 22? Earth Day. December 25? Earth Day. December 26? Boxing Earth Day. There, isn't that a lot simpler? You can give your friends the memo and simplify your holiday shopping all in one fell swoop when you give everyone on your gift list a 100% natural "Every Day is Earth Day" tee. (http://www.teehugger.com/product_p/thjs1012.htm) There, now your holiday dates and gift giving are all consolidated into one neat package. You're welcome.

Okay, I admit, this "Every Day is Earth Day" idea may take some time to catch on. In the meantime, there are steps you can take to make your existing religious or pop-culture-based holiday celebration greener. Why? Because, according to the California Integrated Waste Management Board, between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day an extra million tons of waste are generated nationwide each week. Even Scrooge wouldn't give the Earth a gift that crappy.

Here are some things you can do to make every day Earth Day this holiday season:

- Don't give lousy gifts. - This one may seem self-evident, but be honest, how many of you have given someone a Clapper or a Chia Pet? Sure those things are fun for a week, but you know they're ending up in the landfill before the Super Bowl. This year try, giving gifts that are actually reduce waste, such as battery chargers, perpetual calendars, or erasable message boards.

- Save a tree, forever. - According to the National Christmas Tree Association, 25-30 million real Christmas trees are sold every year. Yes, most of these are farm-grown specifically for this purpose, but it is still a huge use of water and land resources that mankind could put to better use than seasonal decorating. Break the cycle of planned deforestation by picking up an artificial tree and keeping it year after year. As an added bonus, never again will you end up with a scratched car roof and a carpet full of pine needles.

- Wrap it up in junk mail. - According to the Recycler's Handbook, half the paper America consumes every year is used for gift wrap. Half! That's an insane amount of resources committed to temporary consumer product obfuscation. This year, let's all agree to refrain from buying rolls of shiny virgin paper impregnated with toxic metallic dyes and instead reuse something that's free and delivered daily to your front door: junk mail. If your household is like mine, every day you open the mailbox to find it chock full of large sheets of holiday sale flyers printed in festive reds and greens. Don't just toss that stuff in the recycle bin, put it into service as gift wrap for a few weeks, and then toss it in the recycle bin. That way everybody wins, especially the Earth.

For more tips on how you can have a green holiday season, check out the California Integrated Waste Management Board's holiday waste reduction page at http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/publiced/Holidays/

Happy holidays, Tee Huggers!

Tee Hugger Apparel

Hey there, blog reader. We're Tee Hugger, and we want you to be our pal. Why? Because you're not here on this Internet just to loaf around and crack wise until the boss lets you go home. You're here to make a difference while you loaf around and crack wise until the boss lets you go home. And so are we.

Like you, the gang here at Tee Hugger knows that caring for our fragile planet is hard work, but that doesn't mean that we can't have fun while we do it. We believe that the way to a society's heart is through its funny bone, and that's why our line of 100% organic cotton shirts preaches our message of green living through humor and not... well... preaching.

For example: According to the World Resources Institute, more than 80% of the Earth's natural forests have already been destroyed (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/eye/deforestation/effect.html). While this statistic is grim, strides are being made to slow the process of deforestation, and one of the most important things we can do to keep this ball rolling is to raise awareness. Tee Hugger shirts, such as our "Run, Forest! Run!" design (http://www.teehugger.com/product_p/thas1017_thjs1003.htm), are a perfect silly segue to open up that serious discussion.

But once your funny shirt has opened that dialogue, your clever brain is going to need something to say. Something like, "Good news, everybody! Brazil just announced a plan to reduce deforestation rates in the Amazon region by 70% over the next ten years." (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7759192.stm) Isn't that better than your tired old Forrest Gump impersonation?

Just stick with us and the Tee Hugger blog will fill your thinkhole with new facts, figures, and fun every week. You'll be the smartest eco-kid on your block. And the best dressed!

Environmental Tips

Go Organic. Buy clothes made from organic cotton, which doesn't harm wildlife of the environment.

Switch to low-energy fluorescent light bulbs. You'll save 150 pounds of CO2 a year per bulb!

Plant a tree. It will add oxygen to the environment and get rid of carbon dioxide!

Use a reusable bottle and fill it with filtered tap water. 80% of plastic water bottles end up in landfills!

Use a low-flow shower head. Your family could save 500 gallons of water per week!

Bring your own reusable bag. An estimated 100 Billion plastic bags end up in landfills every year.

Turn off the faucet while you brush your teeth and save two gallons of water every minute.

Ride your bike. You'll reduce carbon emissions and stay fit!

Recycle. One aluminum can saves enough energy to power a TV for 3 hours.

Decrease the amount of junk mail you receive to help reduce deforestation. Go to 41pounds.org to learn more.

Don't toss gift bags in the trash - reduce waste by reusing them from year to year to dress up presents.

Reduce garbage by using utensils that can be washed instead of tossing out plastic ones.

If you need a new computer, purchase a laptop instead of a desktop. It will require less electricity to run.

Reheat leftovers in a microwave or toaster oven. They use less energy than conventional ovens.

Fight toxins by planting peace lilies. They actually clean up indoor air.

Switch to low-energy fluorescent light bulbs. They last up to 10 times as long as regular light bulbs.

Clean the lint filter in your dryer regularly. A dirty filter uses up to 30% more energy to dry clothes.

Instead of using the dryer, try a drying rack. You will save electricity and your jeans won't shrink.

Save water by running only a fully loaded dishwasher. – not a half – full one.

Use a reusable sponge or rag to clean up spills rather than paper towels.

If you're printing a long document, save paper by changing the settings to print on both sides.

Purchase razors w/ replaceable cartridges instead of disposable razors that can't be reused.

Conserve energy by setting you fridge to 37 degrees.

Save energy by turning off the lights and television when you leave a room.

Unplug your phone charger – it draws energy just by being plugged into the power outlet.

When grabbing food on the rung, take only the number or napkins and plastic utensils you'll need.

Add oxygen to the environment ( and get rid of carbon dioxide) by planting a tree in your backyard.

When you need to jot something down, use a dry erase board instead of Post-it notes to save paper.

Avoid using the drive-through at fast –food places. Parking your car and going inside creates less pollution.

Choose ground delivery when shopping online it can be six times more energy efficient than overnight.

Use cruise control when you're driving on a highway – it will conserve gas.

Turn off the faucet while you brush your teeth and save two gallons of water every minute.

Conserve energy used to heat your room by sealing any cracks around your bedroom window.

Use rechargeable batteries instead of throwing away old ones, which can leak toxins in to the ground.

Save Paper. Pay your monthly bills online rather than through the mail.

Shorten your shower by two minutes and you'll conserve about 10 gallons of water.