Drive Me Crazy

 

There are many things that suck about living in Los Angeles, but joining the pack of complainers is just plain boring. Yeah yeah, the air quality is awful. The collective, citywide worship of underage anorexics is hideous, too. Star-f*cking preschool directors? Not great. Chauffeur driven Bentleys blocking the valet parking driveway at the local mall while unloading six year olds and their “Real Housewives of Orange County” ish moms on their way to an American Girl doll tea party? No, that’s not the best either. Sigh.

But there are moments when living in Los Angeles, or California in general, makes a girl proud. Even the haters out in NYC (you know who you are) have to think that the state’s groundbreaking clean car initiative is kinda great. And now that Obama is pushing this on a nationwide scale, we get bragging rights.

Here’s an excerpt from an NRDC letter sent out today:

“Less than a week into office, President Obama announced monumental decisions this morning that show America and the world that he will lead our country in a bold new direction to protect the environment and fight global warming.
The President directed his EPA to immediately review the Bush Administration’s denial of the right of California and other states to set global warming pollution standards for new cars. He also directed the Department of Transportation to set higher national fuel efficiency standards.

What will that mean in the real world? If Obama’s EPA, as expected, approves the California program, new cars sold in that state and at least 13 others will have to reduce their global warming pollution by 30 percent between 2009 and 2016. And the Department of Transportation will require more efficient new cars to be on the road starting in 2010, and set a course for the average new car to achieve maximum feasible fuel efficiency by 2020. 

Fig. 1. Yes the traffic blows, too.

NRDC’s climate attorneys were present at the White House this morning, and you can imagine their elation at this historic breakthrough. Thanks to your support, NRDC led the fight in 2002 for California’s Clean Cars Law – the very first law to cut global warming pollution from automobiles.”

Hey, thanks NRDC for making us look good. With cleaner cars on the road, maybe our SoCal kids will breathe a little easier. Sadly, lower emissions won’t prevent them from learning obscenities from their parents as they’re driving through the daily traffic clusterf*cks to get to the celebrity tea party at American Girl. But it’s a start.

Happy honking!

Got (any better ideas for a title) milk?

 I have just enough time to post this cute cow picture and tell all of you to check out the efforts being made to change the rules about labeling milk ‘organic.’ Check out this NPR story with a link to a government website where you can post your comments in support of this movement.

In short, it would require that dairy cows be able to graze and roam on plenty of fresh grass (making healthier cows and happier milk, or vice versa) in order to get that organic stamp of approval. Like most parents of young kids, we power through gallons of the stuff every week—delivered by Dan the milk man who must get up astonishingly early because I’ve actually never seen the man drop it off on our doorstep. And I think making it to 6:30 is sleeping in. Hence the short post. It’s bedtime.

What was I talking about again? Ah yes. The current standards are shockingly not that dissimilar from a factory farm situation. Some milk producers have more integrity than others, of course. But this would force everyone to step it up. 

We’ve got until the 23rd to show our support for this so get cracking.

p.s. Want to know more? www.nationalorganiccoalition.org 

p.p.s Cut and paste this letter drafted by foodandwaterwatch.org into your comment to make it super easy.

“I am writing to support the agency’s proposal to require strong pasture requirements for organic dairy and beef operations.  The controversy over organic milk has been undermining the credibility of organic for too long and I urge the agency to issue a rule clarifying the pasture rule as soon as possible.

I strongly support the provisions of the rule that would not allow certified organic beef and milk to come from animals raised in confined animal feeding operations because I expect organic animals to be kept on pasture for as long as the weather allows good pasture management and good animal health.  Therefore, I support the rule’s requirement of a minimum 30 percent dry matter intake from pasture for a minimum of 120 days.
  
But the rule does need some improvements to make it workable for farmers.  I support the detailed changes proposed by the National Organic Coalition and the Federation of Organic Dairy Farmers to address some overly prescriptive language that could cause problems for=2 0animal welfare and the environment by requiring animals to be outside on pasture even when bad weather or the season makes this inappropriate.

I think the proposal could be even stronger with the following changes:

- The rule should be changed to substitute “grazing season” instead of “growing season” to take into account the reality of the grazing season in different parts of the country.

- To protect pastures from damage and to ensure the health and safety of livestock during bad weather conditions, cows should only be required to be kept on pasture during the grazing season.  

- The rules should also allow for clean, well-managed barnyards that enable exercise and outdoor access during the non-grazing season.

As a consumer, I have always expected that organic livestock were kept on pasture for as long as the weather allowed and that a substantial portion of an organic cow’s diet came from grazing.   I urge the agency to establish strict standards for organic milk and meat as soon as possible.”

It’s a Wash

Hand washing is one of our household obsessions. So much so that when either of our kids stops moving for long enough to notice that their grubby little paws are covered in ketchup, sand, mud, dog food or all of the above, they look at me and say either “Sticky?” (Millie) or “CLEAN IT!” (Lou). As a result, we buy an astounding amount of soap. And because I am the way I am (admittedly obsessive and perpetually concerned about the environment) I wonder what happens to all of those suds once they’re rinsed down the drain.

What we know for sure is that triclosan, a common chemical in antibacterial soaps, is a mortal enemy of aquatic life. It’s toxic to algae and phytoplankton and therefore every swimming creature. And yes, I know that you don’t want little Billy to be germy, but you’re not doing him any favors by using that crap. Antibiotic resistance can be attributed, at least partially, to the increased use of anti-bac soaps. And a good old-fashioned scrub a dub will do the job just as well. Give me a second to put away my soap box. Har har har.

Anyway, how happy was I to be introduced to FURTHER by my friend and PR guru Cindy. It’s a handwash made by a Los Angeles couple that refines grease from the chicest restaurants in town in their garage to make biofuel? One of the bi-products of the fuel-making process is glycerin, which is a common ingredient in soap. They blend the glycerin with the sparkliest, cleanest fragrance from the essential oils of Bergamot, Olive and grasses to make a really lovely hand wash- and then they stock the restrooms at said restaurants with the fruit of their labor. How’s that for a nice little sustainable circle of life? 

 

 

Fig 1: Pretty cool.

Happy stocking stuffing!

Contain Yourself

Recently, I made one of my bi-annual trips to The Container Store, the friendly neighborhood organizational superstore. It’s the kind of retail environment that gives me dry mouth, in a good way. On this visit, I bought a set of colorful boxes-within-a-box, sort of a minimalist Russian stacking doll situation, that I thought my kids would love. Did they ever. Until my genetic material reared its obsessive head and they started flinging the lids around the room shouting “Open! OPEN!”  Now they’re neatly stacked in the closet for a cooling off period.

Anyway, when I was there struck up a conversation with the cashier about how much I liked those boxes. And, I’m not kidding, she touched my hand and said ‘You have a home here.’ 

Why am I writing about this? It’s because I have a packaging addiction, and I’m ready to admit that I have a problem. All of the gleaming, perfect lucite on those perfectly arranged shelves  is going to languish in landfills until my kids’ kids are grandparents. And for what? So paper clips have a cute place to hang in a drawer? And even though all of those wrapping, boxing and ribbon options are a little bit like crack to me, I know that they’re equally wasteful. Here again, I’m trying to do something about it one of my many bad habits before my kids inherit it.

Baggu, the maker of those lightweight nylon reusable shopping bags, has some very cute gift wrapping suggestions on its website. Think of them as little windbreakers for your presents.  And there’s an instructional video!

And is anyone else down with bringing back wrapping presents in newspaper with a pretty bow? This was the only option I ever remember being given as a kid.  My mom was either incredibly frugal or a recycling pioneer (I’m going with the first option). 

I hate to say it, Container Store Lady, but I won’t be returning for that cardboard ornament organizer like I said I would. But that wrapping paper with the tiny penguins on it? I might be in for just one roll.