Green Daily

In response to Salmonella outbreaks in 2001 and 2004, the USDA mandated that all California almonds be pasteurized before being sold. Raw almonds were forced to undergo chemical sterilization or be steamed at high temperatures which forced organic California growers out of the raw almond market.

The USDA ban doesn't mean that you as a consumer can't get raw almonds as countries outside of the United States do not have to comply (makes a lot of sense, huh?) -- it just shuts our own states out of competing in the organic raw market.

Heating almonds with steam destroys much of their nutritional value. But beyond that, there is also some concern that the most common pasteurization technique involves a known carcinogen called propylene oxide fumigation.

Almond growers have joined together to fight the 2007 mandate. Fifteen growers are suing the USDA to repeal the law. There is also a call for truth in labeling as the USDA currently allows pasteurized almonds to be labeled as "raw."

Do you pay special attention the the produce you choose to make sure that it was grown withing your region, or even within 100 miles from your home? Perhaps you select only organic fibers or clothes made in your country. You've greened your home and bike to work but what about the little things, the rituals you do every day. Here are three things that you could have overlooked.

1. That cup of joe. Let's overlook for a moment what Patricia told us about coffee crops and it's harm to wildlife and the soil and focus on miles. There is no coffee grown in the continental United States. The only state that has a favorable enough climate for the coffee bean is Hawaii and Kona beans are fairly expensive so it's unlikely that you are drinking it every morning. Just where is your inocuous appearing cup of coffee coming from? Indonesia? Brazil? Vietnam?
2. Scent-sational. If you put a dab of of perfume behind your ear, enjoy the scent of your shampoo or use deodorant, chances are that there are petro-chemicals involved to ensure that the scent lasts. In addition to being linked to health concerns, we all know just how far out of the ground petroleum travels.
3. Tootpaste. Most tubes of tootpaste have obvious plastic parts but were you aware of the non-renewable resources inside? Many toothpastes have propylene glycol as an ingredient to retain moisture and give it a cool feeling in the mouth. Propylene glycol comes from natrual gas.

It's difficult to live a completely eco-friendly lifestyle with the conveniece of coffee shops and Crest but reading a few labels and making choices never hurts.

What's the deal with celebrities jumping off the vegetarian band wagon these days? First it was Travis Barker -- you know, the dude from Blink 182 -- going back to meat after a brush with death. Now, Jennifer Connelly has revealed that she reverted back to her meat-eating ways because, during her pregnancy, she found herself unable to resist the temptation of the bird that many Americans will celebrate in exactly two weeks. In her own words:

"I'd been vegan for many years, and then all of a sudden, when I was pregnant with Kai, I wanted a turkey burger. That was the end of my being vegan."

So, maybe all of you already figure this out, but I've just had an epiphany.

This year, I am going to wrap some of my Christmas gifts in reusable grocery tote bags. We are already planning on giving many homemade jams and jellies, breads and cookies. It would be perfect to pack them up in a grocery bag.

Everyone I know is trying to use cloth grocery bags right now. My Grandma asked me if I had extras (of course I shared since I had plenty) and I know some people who have four or five but always end up needing one or two more. So, this seems like the perfect wrapping.

Stores like Whole Foods are even offering bags that aren't just plain colors with the store name. You can also use drawstring bags or wrap things in fabric. What about a wooden box for a child that can later be used as a toy box or for presents in the future? Or even a backpack if a new one is needed for school.

If you take some time to think about it, you can probably find lots of wrapping ideas that are really cool and almost as useful as the gift itself.

If you're looking for some homemade gift options this holiday season but don't want to just make cookies, Whole Foods Market has offered up a selection of recipes with matching gift tags.

Things like tangerine sugar and vanilla bean sugar and citrus salts are sure to impress your foodie friends and the labels make everything look extra swanky. You can't beat the simplicity of the recipes either.

Take tangerine sugar for example. Combine 3 cups of sugar and and 3 tablespoons of tangerine zest in your food processor. Pulse until they are combined and flakes of zest are spread throughout the sugar. Package it up however you want and add labels. Done. Try it with other citrus fruits and make a little basket of flavored sugars. How cool would that be? And simple!

Okay, get to work!

[Via TipNut]

If for some reason you still have a large stash of paper bags and haven't recycled them and used them up, here are ten ideas from Real Simple. Paper bags lend themselves much more to arts and crafts than plastic bags do.

1. Cut the bags open and make book covers for school books.
   
2. Cut out some eye holes and make a mask.
   
3. Save bags with handles for decorate it yourself trick or treat bags.
4. Cut into place mat sizes and let the kids color their own place mats just like at the big chain restaurants. If you want to get really creative put some games or puzzles or a story starter to get the kids going.
   
5. Use to help unripe peaches, plums, and tomatoes ripen more quickly.
   
6. Make a kite by attaching string to each corner of the bag (at the open end). Hold the strings and see how high your kite will go!
7. Use to deter weeds in garden beds by placing plain bags under mulch.
   
8. Use as recycling bins.
   
9. Crumple into a ball and use as a faux finishing tool.
   
10. Cut into strips and make paper chains.
    

When it comes to rain barrels, I am completely sold. The idea of collecting rainfall and directing it to a garden or potted plants is a brilliant idea. It lessens the strain on our public water system and saves me money. So what's the hitch? I don't have gutters nor do I plan on installing them. I have a 100 year old house that is raised several feet of the ground. Rain is diverted from the foundation by the roof overhang. Gutters would serve little purpose and clog frequently due to nearby trees.

Rain barrels are designed to sit under downspouts to collect water runoff from the roof. Half an inch of rain on a 1000 square foot roof will get you 300 gallons. Most commercial rain barrels have a valve and hose at the base for you to control the flow of the water. You can even link the barrels together for longer watering sessions. But alas, I have nowhere to put these barrels other than smack dab in the middle of my yard.

Has anyone out there gotten any results by collecting rain without downspouts? I live in a tropical environment so this could work for me though I would not get a big yield. I am looking for inexpensive ideas for water collection. Short of tapping into my neighbor's downspout (it's possible they'd never notice), do you have any suggestions?

Even though she's no Olsen twin, Lindsay Lohan's been known to turn up on the red carpet wearing fur. She was listed on PETA's worst dressed celebrities of 2008, and she hangs out with notorious fur user Karl Lagerfeld.

After what just happened, she may be rethinking that wardrobe strategy.

Last night in Paris she wore a fur stole over a sequined dress, festive duds for an evening out on the town with girlfriend Sam Ronson.

Then, as they entered the VIP Room Theater, an animal rights protester pelted Lindsay with flour.

No, not flowers, flour, as in powdery, white and messy.

The tiny, angry activist is also reported to have called her a "Fur Hag" which must have sounded pretty funny in French. You can see the blow by blow photos on X17.

Lindsay was fine, the flour was brushed off and she posed on the red carpet for photos with Sam. But that has to shake you up!

She should call Natalie Portman for some advice on stylish vegan looks, just to make sure this doesn't happen again.

It's a fact that the polar bears are in serious trouble because the ice caps where they live are melting, which means not only do they have less and less land on which to live but they are finding that they need to swim longer and longer distances in order to find food. How sad to become exhausted and drown before finding somewhere to rest!

ADDI has come up with the concept of polar bear lifejackets to help bring this issue to light and to encourage people to put their focus, and their funds, towards stopping global warming. It might be a totally unrealistic idea but the photo above certainly makes an impact.

[via Dvice]

I cannot tell you how sick I am of people identifying who they are by what they eat. This could be because I was one of them for my high school and college years. The only time that it is fitting for you to tell me your dietary needs is if I am having you over for dinner. Otherwise, I don't care. Furthermore, what really annoys me are "vegetarians" who eat meat. If you are going to make a point of telling me that you are a vegetarian and then offer me a tuna sandwich, you have just lost A LOT of points with me. However, if you are one of these vegetarians who eats meat every once in while because it tastes good you need the nutrients, here's a new label for you: flexitarian.

The definition of flexitarian is a person who's diet consists of mostly vegetable based dishes with an occasional side of meat. It may be a vegetarian who slips once or twice a week or a ravenous meat eater who goes veggie for a few meals. In other words, it's simply good eating.

"The Disappearing Male," a Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) documentary, aired this week. "The Disappearing Male" focuses on the toxic threat in our environment to the male reproductive system.

According to the film's makers, the last few decades have seen dramatic increases in the incidence of boys and young men suffering from genital deformities, low sperm counts, sperm abnormalities and testicular cancer. Also on the rise in boys are ADHD, autism, Tourette's syndrome and dyslexia. Sperm counts have been cut in half in the last fifty years and in the last few decades there has been a 200% increase in male genital birth defects. Male birth rates are also on the decline.

The cause? Many doctors and researchers suspect all of those "hormone mimicking" or "endocrine disrupting" chemicals, including bisphenol-A and phthalates, which can be found in everything around us from shampoo to carpets, cosmetics and baby bottles.

You can view the trailer and the entire documentary here at the CBC website. Even if you don't have time to watch the entire documentary, take a peek at the trailer. Chilling.

So, you know eating less meat is better for the planet and you've found a good place to get some organic veggies. Do you sometimes just wish you had some more good ideas on what to do with all those veggies you've been eating lately?

This week's veggie recipe hit list over at TipNut has 12 great ideas for a wide variety of veggies. Everything from Squash casserole to vegetable curry are there.

At my house we're making lots of Cauliflower Poppers lately. Put 2 teaspoons of olive oil into a bowl, add an entire head of cauliflower, cut into florets. Toss with cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper (or other spices) to taste. Roast in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes, turning halfway through. We make ours nice and spicy and it's a whole new way to eat cauliflower.

Back in October Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma, wrote an open letter to the next president elect and it was published in the New York Times. Within the article, Pollan outlines why the next president may be looking at a food crisis and how next to automobiles, the American food industry is the biggest consumer of fossil fuels. Not only did Obama read the piece but he mentioned it in an interview with Time's Joe Klein.

Pollan outlines for the next president the connection between cheap oil, the food industry and the rising cost of healthcare. When Obama spoke with Klein about these topics he clearly understood how these subjects were interconnected as well as how they fall under a larger umbrella of how we use and produce energy and its impact on our wallets and the environment.

Energy is a massive undertaking but it's about time we change our ways. This is why Obama has made it his first priority (after straightening out the market, of course) to address this country's energy use.

Read the full Obama interview here.

It's true that tourists have always found London's double-decker buses endearing, but when it comes to the UK's new burial policy, it seems like they might be taking this double-decker thing a little too far. According to authorities, populous areas in Britain are experiencing a serious shortage of cemetery space. A problem that has prompted the government to allow cemetery workers to disturb gravesites for the first time since 1852.

Kinda crazy, right? In response to the shortage, UK officials have launched a test program that allows cemetery workers to exhume their current residents and rebury them deeper into the earth -- making them stackable. The plan stipulates that graves qualifying for reburial must be over 75 years old, with no living relatives objecting. Sadly, unlike other words that begin with the prefix 're' like recycling, reusing, or regifting -- reburying is decidedly not eco-friendly. Especially because it's most likely done with a gas-guzzling backhoe.

There are plenty of eco-friendly options out there for those who wish to avoid the whole burial -- and later reburial -- process. If you're considering a water burial, you might want to read this first.

So, you've got a new hybrid vehicle and it's way smaller than your old car. If you're a fan of uh, let's call it parking, you may be wondering how that's every going to happen in your tiny car.

And while I may beat around the bush and blush and stutter, the folks over at Treehugger have totally got you covered on getting it on in your subcompact car. They even have pictures (of Barbie and Michael Jackson) to give you the general idea.

I'm guessing you might not want to check it out at work or when the kids are hanging out next to you. Of course, the people in your office might get a kick out of it, who knows!