Sorry to throw a little damper on the big planetary party that’s happening next week. But parties are notorious for giving people permission to waste food and leave their trash behind. (The garbage left behind on the National Mall after July 4, for example, takes days to clean up and haul away, and that’s just the “regular” Independence Day celebration, nothing so cosmic as a total solar eclipse.)

Whether you’re planning to watch the eclipse at home or head out to a viewing party, follow our eco guide to keep it green.

IMPORTANT: PROTECT YOUR EYES!

Before we offer our green party planning tips, I do want to remind everyone of how important it is to protect your eyes during the eclipse.

Even though the sun is 93 million miles away, you can’t look at it directly, even when it’s completely blacked out during an eclipse.

I got the solar eclipse glasses I’m wearing in the picture above from NASA during a special astronomy night on the Washington DC Mall earlier this summer. They’re guaranteed to protect my eyes so I can look directly at the sun without suffering eye damage.

If you order today or tomorrow, you can probably still get your own glasses from Amazon. Look for ones like these, which are approved by NASA and the American Astronomical Society, manufactured in Germany, and meet the international ISO standard for solar viewing.

They will filter out 100% of harmful ultra-violet and infrared rays, 99.999% of intense visible light, and are 100% safe for direct viewing of the sun and solar eclipses.

Also check your local hardware store, planetarium, or science center. Pick up several pairs so people in your group have them – you won’t want to give yours up once the eclipse starts.

Eco Guide to the Solar Eclipse

√Carpool
√Choose Your Location Wisely
√Get to Your Location Early
√Skip Fast Food, Junk Food
√Take BIG Reusable Water Jugs
√Take Mobile Chargers, Plug Into Solar
√Camp
√Have Fun! 

Carpool –

By all reports, there will be epic traffic on Monday, August 21, as millions of people drive all over the country to get into the eclipse’s “path of totality” or as near to it as possible.

If you don’t need to drive to a viewing spot, don’t.

If you can carpool with someone else to reduce the number of cars on the road, do.

If bicycling is an option, go for it.

Choose Your Location Wisely –

Get close. The closer you can be to your viewing location, the better. You’ll minimize driving, spend less time in traffic jams, and keep stress under control.

Choose “unpopular.” Try to avoid locations that are being billed as “the best place to see the eclipse,” as they’ll probably be overrun.

Don’t think you can just pull off the highway somewhere to see the sun go dark. Highway patrols will be on high alert and trying to keep cars moving.

Have a plan in case the sky clouds over. Figure out soon whether you are going to try to move to clearer viewing – or just give up and watch the whole thing on your phone.

Get to your location early – really early, maybe even the day before.

And plan on staying on through the day after the eclipse is over to avoid all the traffic that will be on the move once the sun passes on.

Skip Fast Food and Junk Food

Take food with you in your car, in a cooler if it needs to be refrigerated, and packed in reusable bags or boxes if it’s dry food.

Avoid fast food outlets, because everything they sell, they package in throwaway paper and plastic.

Skip junk food packed in single-serving sizes, like individual plastic bottles of water, or individual snack bags. It all just creates a lot of trash.

Don’t miss: “9 Make-Ahead Lunches You Can Carry in a Mason Jar.”

Bring a trash bag with you. As you do in parks and campgrounds, “take only pictures, leave only footprints.” Whatever garbage you generate, you own. Bag it and take it with you until you find a dumpster or trashcan that’s not overflowing.

We’ve got lots of great tips for a “green party” right here.

Take BIG Reusable Water Jugs 

If you’re out for the entire day – which you might be if traffic is horrendous – one or even two water bottles won’t suffice.

Buy a couple of larger reusable water jugs. Fill them up, and then refill your reusable water bottles from your own jug.

You can see our list of 5 Best Reusable Water Bottles right here.

Even something like this 64 oz. beer growler would be great, and it works for cold and hot beverages alike.

Take Mobile Chargers and Plug Into Solar

Your mobile devices might easily run out of battery if you’re out all day and taking lots of pictures, chatting on social media, and updating your status.

Take at least one portable mobile charger with you so you can plug in your phone before it dies. NOTE: skip the chargers that require you to recharge external batteries.

Solar chargers can provide plenty of power to a mobile phone. (NOTE: I haven’t tried the one pictured here, but it looks like a good model to work from.)

Camp

Rather than stay in a hotel, if you can still find a place to camp out for the weekend, do it.

Sleeping out under the stars the night before the eclipse seems like about the right way to watch the biggest star in our universe get wild and crazy the day of the eclipse.

Have Fun!

Are you planning to view the eclipse? Let us know where you’re going to be and how you plan to keep it green!

WANT MORE INFO? NASA’s website tells you everything you need to know right here.

The post Use Our Eco Guide to the Solar Eclipse to Keep It Green appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Plastic water bottles have become a scourge on the planet. They pollute the ocean with plastic. Their plastic debris kills birds, turtles and other wildlife. They cost us consumers way more money than we should be spending on something as simple as water. And they rob local people of their own source of drinking water. They should go the way of the dodo – and become extinct!

TradeMachines.com, a company that helps businesses buy used machinery and equipment rather than brand new (which helps save money and natural resources), has put together one of the best infographics I’ve ever seen about the impact that plastic water bottles has on us and our planet. Here are some key elements from the graphic. I hope you will visit TradeMachines.com to view the infographic in its entirety. Then, share it with your friends, family, and social media communities. Thanks!

Say NO! to Plastic Water Bottles

The oil used to make plastic water bottles could keep 1 million cars running for 12 months!

Plastic water bottles pollute the oceans and threaten birds and wildlife.

Don’t Miss: “Finding Dory Will Be Impossible If We Don’t Stop Trashing the Oceans” 

Enough plastic water bottles aren’t being recycled.

What’s the point? Water in plastic bottles tastes no better than tap water.

What Should You Use Instead?

There are so many alternatives to plastic water bottles now, there’s almost no excuse for buying bottled water unless there’s a pollution scare in your community.

We’ve identified five of your best options here:

Again, remember to take a look at the entire graphic and share it widely. People are so used to buying bottled water, they forget to consider the impacts. You can help, by using a reusable bottle yourself and by educating others.

Thanks to TradeMachines.com for sponsoring this post. As always, our editorial opinions remain our own.

The post Why Plastic Water Bottles Have to Go the Way of the Dodo appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Reusable water bottles are superior to single-use, throwaway plastic bottles when it comes to reducing throwaway plastic and saving water.

  It’s estimated that as much as two gallons of water might be wasted for every gallon that’s bottled in a factory, so filling up at home, at work, or on the go is a great way to save this precious resource.

 

Plus, one reusable water bottle can eliminate the need to buy and trash literally hundreds of single-use containers – containers that actually never really biodegrade.

 

The post 5 Best Reusable Water Bottles appeared first on Big Green Purse.

One of the places you’ll find the most plastic in your home is in the kitchen. Fortunately, it’s also one of the easiest places in our house to give plastic the heave-ho. Here’s how:

Your Plastic-Free Kitchen

1) Use reusable bags. Reusable cloth, jute or recycled fiber bags last for years and eliminate the need for plastic shopping bags. Many communities now charge a nickel for every plastic bag a shopper uses, which has been enough to convince people to bring their own bags.

2) Buy fresh, unpackaged food. One of the biggest sources of plastic in a kitchen is all the plastic that food comes wrapped in it. This is especially true if you’re buying pre-packaged food that’s supposed to be convenient – but ultimately just creates a lot of trash. In addition to reusable shopping bags, get a set of reusable mesh produce bags. For bigger fruits and vegetables like apples, oranges, pears, eggplant and onions, you can skip bags altogether.

3) Purchase food in glass jars rather than plastic containers. You can find tomato sauce, condiments, olives, peppers, soups, spices and more in glass, rather than plastic.

4) Use glass storage containers. Glass jars and dishes with lids are very effective storage containers – they don’t leach chemicals into food, they’re durable, and you can easily see what’s inside them. I re-use glass tomato sauce jars and juice bottles. I also prowl yard sales and thrift stores for glass dishes with lids that I can buy for a couple of dollars at most.

5) Make your own soda. A big source of plastic in the kitchen comes from soda bottles. We haven’t bought soda since we got a counter-top carbonation machine. We simply filter a jug of water (which takes about a minute), pour the water in the bottle that fits the machine, pull a lever to add carbon dioxide to the water (another minute at most), and add whatever flavor we choose.

6) Make your own bottled water. Single-use water bottles are a significant source of kitchen plastic. That dandy carbonator you got for making soda is also great for bubbling up a bottle of filtered water. Or skip the bottles and just filter your water and pour. We use this one, but you may be able to find others in your local hardware store. (We bought ours before glass bottles were available.)

7) Keep your own bottled water ready-to-go in the fridge. One reason why people buy bottled drinks – especially water – is because they don’t take water with them when they leave home. Keep a pitcher of filtered water in your refrigerator and an empty water bottle next to your purse or briefcase so you remember to fill up your bottle before you leave home. Teach your kids to do the same before they leave for school or a sporting event. You can also fill up a few reusable bottles of water and keep them in the fridge so you can grab and go.

8) Replace plastic utensils with stainless steel, wood, and silicone. I primarily use stainless steel or silicone spatulas when I’m frying and sauteeing, and wooden spoons when I’m baking. I have glass 1 cup, 2 cup and 4 cup measuring pitchers and aluminum measuring cups and spoons in a variety of sizes. I also use glass and aluminum mixing bowls. Look for these and other non-plastic kitchen tools in the pots and pans section of your grocery store or in the kitchen utensils section of a department store.

9) Make your own yogurt. Yogurt is super easy to make at home and will save you lots and lots of throwaway yogurt containers. Here’s how I do it.

This is only the beginning. How are you getting plastic out of your kitchen?

The post 9 Steps to a Plastic-Free Kitchen appeared first on Big Green Purse.

It is time to ban Bisphenyl-A. In fact, banning Bisphenyl-A is long overdue.

This toxic chemical, also known as BPA, can make kids sick. Previous studies have indicated that BPA can cause baby boys to be born with short penises that could ultimately make reproduction difficult when the boys become men. A study released yesterday in the journal Pediatrics links the toxin to behavioral and emotional problems in toddler girls.

That study tracked 244 moms in Cincinnati and their 3-year old children. The study concluded that children of mothers whose urine contained high levels of BPA were more likely to be hyperactive, aggressive, anxious, or depressed. The behavior of girls appears to be more affected than the behavior of boys in this case, perhaps because BPA mimics the female hormone estrogen, which is thought to influence behavioral development.

Moms, pediatricians, and many consumer groups have been up in arms against BPA for years. The toxin, which helps harden plastic like the kind used for baby bottles and no-spill sippy cups, is also used to line the inside of food and soda cans. Women, using the power of their purse, were able to successfully pressure the manufacturers of baby bottles and sippy cups to eliminate BPA; many reusable water bottle makers have followed suit.

Unfortunately, most canned foods and drinks still come in cans tainted with BPA.

It’s time to rid all food packaging of this dangerous chemical. BPA should not be allowed in food packages produced in the U.S., and it should not be allowed in food packages imported into the U.S., either.

Eleven states, including California, Minnesota and Maryland, have already put their own bans in place, while France has prohibited BPA use in food packaging, as well. The U.S. should institute a nationwide ban as soon as possible.

That decision is up to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA is already in the process of determining whether BPA should be eliminated from baby bottles – even though industry, in response to consumer pressure, has already taken that step. FDA should widen its focus to include any container used to package food and drinks.

What you can do now:

You can protect yourself and your family by:

* choosing fresh food or food and drinks packaged in glass bottles, not cans or plastic bottles

* use reusable water bottles that clearly say “BPA free”

* make sure your kids only use cups, bottles, and toys clearly marked “BPA free”

Also: Sign this petition from MomsRising asking the Food and Drug Administration to ban BPA in infant formula packaging.

Related Posts:

How to Protect Your Family from Bisphenyl-A

BPA Banned from Baby Bottles. What About Other Chemicals and Other Products?

Fresh Food Wins Again

Little Girls Are Worrying About Bras When They Should Still be Playing with Play Dough

The post It’s Time to Ban BPA appeared first on Big Green Purse.

1) Give up bottled water. How many reasons do you need? Toxic plastic is used to contain bottled water. Bottled water generates mountains of trash. Making bottled water and moving it around the globe wastes enormous amounts of energy. Bottled water may not be as safe to drink as tap water.  Here’s the real kicker: bottling water wastes water. Two gallons of water are wasted for every gallon bottled. Stupid, no?

2) Give up the idea that you have to drink water all the time. Where did that notion come from, that somehow, your outfit isn’t complete without a bottle of water by your side? I’ve gotten along just fine drinking from drinking fountains and — believe it or not — going for a couple of hours at a time without drinking water. Try it. You won’t die.

3) Filter your water at home. If you’re concerned about water quality, put a filter on your tap and keep water in your refrigerator or in a closed carafe on your kitchen counter or desk top. You can also buy reusable water bottles that come with their own filter. Cheap, good, and trash-free.

4) Take shorter showers. Get in. Soap up. Get out. I bet you can do it in five minutes; ten, max.

5) Use low-flow shower heads and faucet aerators. They’ll increase the pressure coming out of the tap so you won’t notice you’re actually using a lot less water. Get ’em at your local hardware store. Simple, yes?

6) Get a new toilet.

I recently replaced mine with one that’s Water Sense certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (you can see the water sense logo on my toilet tank if you look closely!); if I’d had time to wait a week for a special delivery, I could have gotten a dual-flush toilet that’s even more water-efficient. I loved this water-saving toilet I saw in Australia.

7) Replace your lawn. Grass is weird; in fact, it’s not even natural – really, where in Nature does a monoculture (i.e., just one plant) grow completely weed-free? Nowhere. Give it up in favor of other groundcovers that use a lot less water and require far less maintenance.

8) Stop the leaks. Inside or outside, faucets drip if they’re not tightened properly.  If tightening a faucet doesn’t stop the drip, you’ll probably have to remove the knob and replace an old washer. If I can do it, you can.

9) Wash full loads. This goes for the dishwasher as well as the clothes washer. If you’re going to use all that water, make it wash as much as the machine can hold. And by the way, washing dishes by hand uses a lot more water than doing them in the dishwasher. You don’t need to rinse in advance – just wipe off the grime with a damp sponge or cloth.

10) Turn the water off. Duhhh…Why people still let faucets run when they’re brushing their teeth is beyond me. You don’t need to let the shower run for ten minutes before you get in, either. And you don’t need to let the kitchen tap run while you’re just clearing the table or off talking on the phone. If you like the sound of running water, get a small fountain that will circulate the same water over and over. Otherwise, just let it be.

Bonus: Buy less, and buy used. Manufacturing uses an enormous amount of water. H2O is used to grow crops, process materials, mine minerals, and clean finished products. Every time you buy something, you’re buying the water used to make that thing. Every time you throw something away, you’re throwing our the water used to make it, as well. Buy less, and buy used. You’ll save money, and save water, too.

The post 10 No-Brainer Ways to Use Water Wisely. Plus, a Bonus… appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Yes, we need to phase out plastic bottles, and the sooner the better.

But in the meantime, can’t all you wizards come up with a bottle cap that will protect its contents securely but once discarded, degrade in a very short period of time?

You’ve gotta be able to do it. Talk to the folks at Frito-Lay, who have figured out how to package their snack packs in plant-based, biodegradable bags. In fact, why don’t we urge Frito’s parent company, Pepsi, to take the lead?  Start here.

The post Environmental S.O.S. For Water-Soluble, Biodegradable Bottle Caps appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Planet Matters claims it tackles all three issues head on with its water filtration bottle. Big Green Purse intern Rachel Haas took at look at the product claims, compared it to similar bottles, and wrote this review.

What Is It? Planet Matters uses a unique water filtration system to provide clean water that is affordable, convenient, and safe to drink.  In addition to reuseable water bottles, the company produces canteens, water pitchers, water pumps, water bags, emergency packs, in-line filters, and replacement filters.The reuseable products are designed to replace throwaway plastic water bottles. Throwaway plastic bottles have become the bane of the environment as well as our pocket books, given that they are made from scarce petroleum, do not biodegrade, and cost many times more than tap water.

The Product:  Planet Matters uses an Ionic Absorption Micron Filter to remove up to 99.99% of the contaminants and pollutants found in fresh water—including giardia, cryptosporidium, DDT, and heavy metals like cadmium and lead. One 18-oz water filtrtion bottle can clean up to 50 gallons of water before the filter needs to be replaced. The bottle itself is BPA-free and made of #4 low density polyethylene, so it will not leach Bisphenol-A into your drink.

What I like:  The bottle easily fits in your hand or in the cup holders in your car. If you are on the go, the hand strap is convenient to wear on your wrist or tie on your big green purse. The water flows through the cap easily and tastes great. Because it is so portable, I can drink filtered water anywhere at anytime. I also love the design—the green insulator sleeve on the bottle is attractive and makes it easy to grip.

What could improve: A cap on the bottle protects the items in my purse or bag from getting wet and keeps the bottle free of dirt and other contaminants. However, the bottle spout closes too easily—I had trouble consistently keeping it open when I was drinking water. A minor design improvement could fix this with no impact on performance, I’m sure. Also, it’s not clear that Planet Matters has set up a system to recycle its filters. Thanks to consumer demand led by Beth Terry at FakePlasticFish.com, consumers can recycle the filters they use in Brita water pitchers with Preserve, a company that turns them into toothbrushes, table ware, and kitchen appliances. Contact Planet Matters to encourage them to set up a similar filter recycling program.

Corporate Responsibility: Each month, Planet Matters donates 3% of its proceeds to Surfrider Foundation, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Doctors Without Borders, and the American Red Cross.

Product Comparison:

*Planet Matters’ filters adhere to the “strictest EPA, ANSI & NSF standard methods and protocol”  says the company on its website.

*The Exstream Water Filter Bottle by Katadyn meets EPA standards for removal of Giardia and bacteria, according to the company website but does not have a cap to protect the tip from getting dirty. Some users struggle to squeeze water out of the bottle at times.

*The 22 oz. Bota of Boulder Outback Bottle Filter is comparable to the Planet Matters bottle – take a look for yourself.

*The Liv Pure Fit & Fresh Bottle with Filter appears to filter 50% of the chlorine in water; the company website is vague on the other filtration benefits the bottle offers.

* Water Geeks BPA-Free bottles will filter up to 80 gallons of water, remove 90% of chlorine, bad taste and odor, and “significant proportion” of lead and other heavy metals.

Price Comparison:  The 22 oz. Bota of Boulder Outback Bottle Filter $19.99; it’s not clear how many gallons the bottle filters before you need to replace the filter.  The 18 oz. Planet Matters Water Filtration Bottle costs $21.95 and filters up to 50 gallons, which is about $350 worth of bottled water. Water Geeks sells a 27 oz. bottle for $19.99 that may filter up to 80 gallons before needing replacement. Prices for the Liv Pure bottle were not listed on the site.

How Many Purses? Diane gives the Planet Matters Water Filtration Bottle two and a half purses. “I like this bottle a lot,” she says. “The filter is highly effective, the cap will keep my purse dry, and the strap makes it easy to carry around. Plus, I’m inspired by the founder’s own story of how she came to build her business. If the company makes it easy to recycle the water filters, I’ll happily change its two-and-a-half purse ranking to three.”

NOTE: If you don’t feel comfortable drinking out of plastic water bottles even if they’re reusable and made from BPA-free plastic, you can still use a Planet Matters Water Filter pitcher and reusable aluminum or stainless steel bottles.

The post Environmental In-Box: Planet Matters Water Filtration Bottle appeared first on Big Green Purse.

That’s a fair question to ask, since we consumers are constantly being reassured that a product is “green” or “greener” because it is “recyclable” – even when, in reality, the product is barely being recycled at all.

Consider single-use plastic water bottles. Companies that manufacture the billions of plastic water bottles flooding the market claim the product is “eco friendly” because the bottles are recycleable.

In reality, only 12% of the 15 billion throwaway water bottles manufactured each year are being recycled. As a result, 40 million plastic bottles are thrown into the trash or otherwise become litter – every day. And the millions of gallons of petroleum used to manufacture and transport those bottles? That’s pretty much gone down the tubes, too.

What’s the best solution? Stop buying plastic water bottles and drink water from a reusable mug or cup.

What’s the reality? At least for the foreseeable future, water will be sold in plastic bottles. In fact, bottled water is the single largest growth area among all beverages, including alcohol, soda and juice, reports MSNBC.

That being the case, manufacturers should make good on their claim that their bottles are recyclable by putting a deposit on the bottles to ensure they’re returned to a recycling facility.

Such “bottle bills” are nothing new. Since the first bottle bill was passed in Oregon in 1971, ten states have followed suit, including California, Maine,Vermont, Iowa, Michigan, Delaware, Hawaii, New York, and Massachusetts (full disclosure: I helped pass the laws in Michigan, Delaware, Iowa and Massachusetts). However, only three states – California, Hawaii and Maine – include water bottles in their  program.

Do deposit laws work? According to the Container Recycling Institute, states with bottle bills on the books recycle 80% of beverage containers generally. Deposits as little as five cents per bottle are effective, but in states like Michigan, which requires deposits of a dime on a beverage bottle or can, 95% of containers are being recovered.

Which begs the question: why not pass a NATIONAL bottle bill to increase recycling?

Consumers would have a financial incentive to return the bottles for recycling, taxpayers would save money on litter pick up and the wasteful use of petroleum, and the environment would become cleaner as a result.

Seems like a big return for an investment of a dime, doesn’t it?

For more ideas on how to deal with plastic, don’t miss this month’s Green Moms Carnival, hosted by Beth Terry over at www.fakeplasticfish.com.

The post Want to Increase Plastic Bottle Recycling? Put a Deposit on It. appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Maybe it has something to do with the deal she got with Glaceau’s smartwater brand. According to a corporate statement, “Jennifer recently became an investor in the company and is even getting actively involved in the business.” She’s also lending her image, for the first time in the U.S., to full-page ads that are showing up in magazines aimed squarely at women. You don’t have to be a genius to get the campaign: “smart” women drink bottled water.

Duhhh. Despite the name, there’s nothing “smart” about a product that industry-wide wastes 2 gallons of water for every 1 that’s bottled, that depends on nonrenewable resources for packaging and shipping, and that is barely recycled.

Glaceau’s website proclaims, “Just so you know, our two favorite subjects in school were science and nature. ,,,we love to hydrate people (responsibly, of course), and we have a fresh new approach to water. Enjoy…one sip may result in a boycott of other beverages.”

Hmmm. Give you any ideas?

Rohan Oza, smartwater’s senior vice president of marketing, says “To us, Jennifer truly embodies what smartwater is all about as she combines substance and style like nobody else.”

Too bad Jennifer Anniston doesn’t embody a friend of the earth.

—-

Be Jen’s Friend – Send her a reusable water bottle

Maybe Jennifer Anniston would be more eco-friendly if she had a reusable water bottle. You can send her one, along with a note urging her to save her image for products that actually protect the planet, at:

Jennifer Aniston

Brillstein-Grey Entertainment 9150 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 350 Beverly Hills, CA 90212 USA

The post Not the Kind of Friends the Earth Needs appeared first on Big Green Purse.