Green Seal > Green Living As a consumer you have the right to know that the products you buy and the places where you eat, sleep, and work are safe for your health and the environment. Our focus is to create a more sustainable world for you and our family. We motivate companies to develop greener products and services by providing verification of sustainability leadership through our certification. Start with a Strong Standard A certification is only as strong as the standard upon which it is based. The Green Seal Certification Mark When you see the Certification Mark on a product or on a service's (cleaning services or hotels) promotional materials you know that it is certified safer for your family and the earth, while delivering the performance you expect. Where to Find the Green Seal Click the links below. Green Communities Our approach to community sustainability focuses on certifying green leadership products and services.
Responsible tourism marketing blog Ecological Footprint Quiz by Center for Sustainable Economy What Is Greenwashing? Editor's note: The following is an excerpt from Green: Your Place in the New Energy Revolution by Jane and Michael Hoffman. Greenwashing is what happens when a hopeful public eager to behave responsibly about the environment is presented with "evidence" that makes an industry or a politician seem friendly to the environment when, in fact, the industry or the politician is not as wholly amicable as it or he might be. We touched on this concept when we talked about the Christmas tree-growing industry presenting partial evidence of its ecobenefits—tree farms as carbon sinks—while neglecting to mention the polluting pesticides or harvesting helicopters. Let's use the commercials for hydrogen-powered cars that are starting to make appearances on television as an example. So far, so good. First of all, let's talk about the process of making hydrogen fuel. How much time do we need to do that? Why such a long time? A fuel station right in my own garage? Well, it is. Real money.
Beth Greer: 10 Ways To Tell If A Product Is (Or Isn't) Really 'Natural' "Natural," "Nontoxic" or even "Eco-Safe" on the label of your shampoo, deodorant or makeup, makes you think it'd be made with healthy, safety-tested ingredients, right? Well, not always. Unlike drugs, The FDA doesn't review cosmetic or personal care ingredients for safety before they hit the market. Also, manufacturers routinely do something known as greenwashing: using misleading, vague or even false claims about the eco/health benefits of their products. What we put on our skin matters. Top 10 Greenwashing Watchwords: #10. #9. #8. #7. #6. #5. #4. #3. #2. #1. My advice? Beth Greer, Super Natural Mom®, is a syndicated radio talk show host, former president and co-owner of The Learning Annex, Certified Build It Green® healthy home makeover specialist, and holistic health educator, who eliminated a sizable tumor in her chest without drugs or surgery.
Green algae The green algae (singular: green alga) are the large group of algae from which the embryophytes (higher plants) emerged.[1] As such, they form a paraphyletic group, although the group including both green algae and embryophytes is monophyletic (and often just known as kingdom Plantae). The green algae include unicellular and colonial flagellates, most with two flagella per cell, as well as various colonial, coccoid and filamentous forms, and macroscopic seaweeds. In the Charales, the closest relatives of higher plants, full differentiation of tissues occurs. Cellular structure[edit] Green algae have chloroplasts that contain chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b, giving them a bright green color, as well as the accessory pigments beta carotene and xanthophylls,[3] in stacked thylakoids.[4] The cell walls of green algae usually contain cellulose. All green algae have mitochondria with flat cristae. Origins[edit] Evolution and classification[edit] The Viridiplantae diverged into two clades.
Greenpeace | Greenwashing How to Detect Greenwashing Ads | Green Read labels carefully when shoppingBy Lori Bongiorno How do you know if an ad is telling the truth? It's not always easy, but there are certain clues you can look for to determine if the claims an ad is making are legit or if a marketer is purposely trying to mislead you into thinking a product is healthier, safer, or greener than it truly is. Here are some ways to determine if advertising claims are fact or fiction... Words matter. Natural Hypoallergenic Nontoxic Fragrance-free or unscented Free range Hormone-free Antibiotic-free Eco-friendly, environmentally preferable, or eco-safe Green Meaningless claims are ubiquitous in the marketplace. Some examples of specific claims: Made from post-consumer recycled paper Formaldehyde-free No additives No animal byproducts No parabens Phosphate-free Visit Consumer Reports' Eco-labels center to find out which labels and terms you can trust. Look for proof. The U.S. Rely on experts. Want to see some of the most egregiously misleading ads?
Earthbag Construction EarthBag Homes - you're standing on the building materials... earthbag home Long sandbags are filled on-site and arranged in layers or as compressed coils. Stabilizers such as cement, lime, or sodium carbonate may be added to an ideal mix of 70% sand, 30% clay. Straw may also be added. The earthbags are then plastered over with adobe. earthbag home Plastic bags recycled into plastic bags -- if plastic does not break down for a thousand years, this building is sure to last several lifetimes. earthbag construction Foundations differ as per site. earthbag construction The time consuming part, filling the bags. earthbag construction Testing the strength of an arch. earthbag home Project Seres, Guatemala. projectseres.org, flickr.com earthbag home CalEarth -- Emergency Shelter Village, Hesperia, California. earthbag home Cal Earth -- Emergency Shelters. earthbag home CalEarth let the layers show. CalEarth -- this might not be totally earthbag, but like the fish face. Resources: Lessons:
PRAKTRIK | Puzzle furniture Craig's Picture of the Day WarmDirt Last winter we tried heating our green house without success and large electric bills. This year we tried Warm Dirt. I made a wood box about coffin size. Melanie and I lined the bottom with Electric Heat Cable, poured in 4 inches of sand, then placed her clay pots on the sand. Keep the roots warm (above 40F) and you're good to grow. Here I'm putting the plants to bed. I first started with an simple AC timer that switched the heater tape on and off, but we didn't really know any temperatures. The timer worked fine for a while, but then obsession took over, I needed more data, more control, more power. Here's the WarmDirt README file Here's the WarmDirt System Architecture. Here's the WarmDirt schematic. Sure there's little problems, like via hole placement. The top silkscreen isn't too high resolution, but I can live with that. It soldered up like a dream! I mounted WarmDirt in a NEMA-4 outdoor electrical enclosure. While cool, it failed. The completed WarmDirt box.
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