NYC Guide to Shade Grown Organic Coffee

Welcome to The Core, a place for Big Apple residents to share ideas, resources and advice on lessening our impact while improving our lives.


Where to find a great cup of shade grown, organic, fair trade coffee:

Restaurants:
Bubby's: Tribeca 120 Hudson Street
Bubby's Brooklyn: Dumbo 1 Main Street

Cafe's
The City Bakery: Union Square 3 West 18th Street
Bird Bath East Village: 223 1st Aveune between 13th and 14th Street
W. Village 7th Avenue South @Charles Street
arrive by skateboard or bicycle and get 25% off WOW!
Think Coffee NYU 248 Mercer Street between 3rd and 4th

Where do you get your organic, fair trade and shade grown cup of joe? Let us know at earthwatchers@yahoo.com

The Kid's Marsh

Welcome to the Kid's Marsh, a place for kids to get their hands dirty while exploring and sharing ways to help protect our home.

Tell us what you're doing to protect the planet and you could win a set of Save the Planet Knowledge cards published by the Sierra Club. Post a comment up until July 31st when a winner will be selected.

Science project idea: Make a pizza box solar oven.

The Family Garden

Welcome to The Family Garden, a place for parents and caregivers to find and share advice, tips and resources on raising environmentally conscious kids and greening the home.


Tips:
Save on paper Dixie cups in the bathroom by using the Whale Faucet Fountain attachment. It saves water when you brush your teeth, because it turns off automatically and it's fun for kids to have a fountain in the bathroom. $3.00 at the busywoman.com.

Use a travel-toothbrush holder to carry plastic utensils with you. They'll stay clean that way and will be easy to find at lunchtime. Don't forget to carry them back and re-use them again and again.

Safer products for baby:
1. Organic crib sheets: cottonmonkey.com and cozybabies.com
2. Children's furniture from sutainably harvested wood and non-toxic including a sleek and stylish convertible crib for $685.00 at argington.com
3. A variety of wooden non-toxic toys at rompbklyn.com or visit the store in Park Slope Brooklyn where children can play and try out each toy for free.


Diapers 101:
(A personal inconvenient truth).
Awhile back I had heard that disposable diapers were the more environmentally friendly choice since re-usables require so much energy and water to clean properly. Unfortunately, that rumor is actually entirely untrue. Disposable diapers are extremely detrimental to the planet. They are consuming 1.3 million tons of wood pulp annually, emitting toxins and taking some 500 years to break down in landfills. They are also the 3rd largest contributor to landfill waste(E,the environmental magazine, May/June, 2007).

Protecting baby:
Typical disposable diapers are loaded with a host of potentially harmful chemicals, including tributyl tin(tbt), which is known to disrupt sex hormones and sodium polyacrylate crystals which aid in absorption. No study has shown a direct link between these chemicals and an adverse affect on baby's health, however, keep in mind that a baby's skin is thinner than an adults and therefore absorbs any chemical it comes into contact with more readily. Please read Toxins Toxins Everywhere for more on this topic.

Fortunately, parents have a host of options. I've listed them below from least to greatest impact.

1. Diaper Free:
Until recently India and China have been using something now called "Elimination Communication." It's a diaper free system, where parents observe their child's facial expressions and verbalizations(squirming and grunting), when they have to go. Parents then create a signal for their child to let them know when they need to go. To learn more, read, "Diaper Free: The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene," by Ingrid Bauer.
Available new and used on Amazon from $2.42.
2. Re-usables:
For washable re-usable diapers try Kushies. 5 packs run from $47.50 for newborns, $59.50 for infants and $69.90 for toddlers.
3. Chlorine and TBT free disposables:
Seventh Generation, Tushies and TenderCare, each make disposable diapers that are tbt free and are made with chlorine-free wood pulp. Tender Care diapers are made with sustainably harvested pulp.
Seventh Generation uses a non-toxic gel. I found these to be the most comfortable for my daughter, as they are thinner than the other two options. They are very absorbent and the tabs are re-fastenable. I found the best price on these at Amazon.com
Tushies: These are the cheapest of the three. I found the best price at BuyBuy Baby, but you can also order by phone 1-800-344-6379. They are a bit bulkier than 7th gen. but are gel free and quite absorbent.
Tender Care: These are very bulky and my least favorite of the three because the tabs (although they claim to be) are not re-fastenable. You can order online.

Teacher's Tree

Welcome to Teacher's Tree, a place for teachers to find and share lesson plans, activities, resources and tips on greening their classrooms.

Make recycled paper with your students. To learn how visit: talkabouttrees.org. Be sure to demonstrate to your students that recycling paper uses a lot of energy and water. The best thing to do is use as little paper as possible and then recycle what you do use.


Have a "waste less" competition. If student desks are arranged in equal groups, tape a large garbage bag to each group. Explain to students they are to throw their trash in these bags for the week. Food waste and other perishables should not be thrown there. If you're concerned students may cheat, don't disclose your intention until the end of the week. On Friday, weigh each bag on a bathroom scale. The team with the lightest bag wins. Have students brainstorm ways to reduce their waste at school.
For more ideas, visit earth911kids

Start a garden
For advice and available grants on gardening visit nationalgardenmonth.org

Energy Conservation Begins at Home

1. In the summer months, cover your windows during daylight hours with heavy, dark colored drapers or close shades or blinds.
2. Unplug appliances when not in use, including coffee pots, toasters, microwaves, t.v's etc.
Anything plugged into an outlet is sucking up electricity even when not in use. For difficult to reach plugs, and to save on wear and tear on your outlets and appliances, I recommend getting a smart strip power cord.
3. Many appliances, such as toasters, washers, driers and dishwashers give off heat when they are running. Try to run these appliances, whenever possible at the coolest time of the day, cutting down on air conditioning use.
4.If you haven't done so already, here's another reason to change your light bulbs! The reason why typical incandescent bulbs are so inefficient is because most of their energy use is expended giving off heat instead of light. Therefore, on hot summer days, requiring more effort from your a.c. to keep your home cool.
5. While using a clothes line is best, if you must use a drier, limit the time you use it. I usually put clothes that need ironing in for just 5-10 minutes so that wrinkles can be greatly reduced then hang them on a hanger in my shower.
6. Keep the oven off in summer by using other appliances instead. A stove-top, toaster oven, microwave or crock pot will give off considerably less heat and will use much less energy than a conventional oven. Need to use an oven? Why not try a solar cooker?

Raffle: The Neither Paper nor Plastic Challenge

Thank you to those of you who chose to share with me your struggles with the neither plastic nor paper challenge. I too have had my struggles.

1. This feels a lot like entering a confessional to confess my sins but this month, despite my best efforts to be "bag free," twice, I allowed the employees at the Pakistani take out place to package my already over packaged food (a sin in itself) in a paper and plastic bag! I'm going to blame my weakness on the language barrier and the long line of hungry customers I did not wish to hold up while I explained my intentions. However, I have since made it clear to them that I bring my own bag and since we are regular costumers who are now immediately recognized, most probably as "the freaks who bring their own bag," I don't foresee a problem in the future.
2. On Sunday morning, who doesn't love a freshly baked New York Bagel? Our local bagelry, like most New York Bagelries, is packed on Sunday mornings. The employees are very efficient at moving the long line along. On 2 occasions I wasn't fast enough to let my server know that I did not want a bag and it was already packaged. At this point, I very carefully, so as not to wrinkle my bleached paper bag, removed my bagel and kindly returned the bag to the woman at the cash register. She gave me an odd look, then crumpled it up and tossed it into the trash!!!Ughhh! Does that count as a sin?


Over the past ten years, I have grown accustomed to the weird looks and snickers I've gotten for refusing something that is "free." But really now, I thought we've moved beyond this notion. Oprah has even done a show on this! I guess this proves there is more work to be done on educating and hopefully inspiring others. I cannot wait until the day when saying no to paper and plastic is considered normal human behavior.



Raffle!!
Please share your struggles with the neither paper nor plastic challenge. Can you do it for 21 days? Would a nylon bag that folds into a 2"x3"x2" pouch and holds up to 25 lbs help? If so, please let us know. You can enter the drawing by posting a message or by emailing me at earthwatchers@yahoo.com. On May 28th I will select a winner of a nylon pouch, at random, so that we can challenge ourselves again from June 10th-June 30th(feel free to start sooner!).

For more tips and pointers for surviving the neither paper nor plastic challenge click here.

Baby Product Alert

This past January the city of San Francisco intended to ban phthlates and bisphenol A(BPA) from children's toys and feeding products but two lawsuits from the chemical and toy manufacturers delayed the initiative.

"Several hundred animal studies have linked phthlates to prostate and breast cancers, abnormal genitals, early puberty onset and obesity,"("What's Toxic in Toyland," Time December 11, 2006). Studies have linked BPA to hormone disruption, an increased risk to breast cancer and prostate cancer. Source:http://www.ewg.org/reports/bisphenola/part3.php

While we know these chemicals are extremely toxic in manufacturing and therefore detrimental to our environment, what remains unclear is how much of the toxins our children are exposed to when using these products. There is particular concern for young children who put everything in their mouth, especially items intended for teething babies.


Alternatives:
In, "Just One Word Phthlates" (see below), I discussed the concerns over heating baby food in plastic containers. The Children's Health Environmental Coalition recommends born free natural baby products. They are available at Whole Foods and Babies R Us.
Choose plastic bottles made with recycling symbols 1,2, or 5. Some Medela and Evenflo bottles are made from these types of plastics.

Click here for a more inclusive list of recommendations.

Just One Word: Phthalates

Almost as pervasive as parabens is a family of potentially harmful chemicals used in many types of plastics, including children's toys, baby bottles and plastic wrap, called phthalates(pronounced THAlates). According to Johns Hopkins University assistant professor, Rolf Halden PHD, phthalates are plasticizers that are added to plastics to make them more flexible and less brittle. They are synthetic hormones that can interfere with the endocrine systems of humans and animals.

Humans may come in contact with these chemicals when the plastics are heated up. For example, heating breast milk or formula in a plastic bottle, or covering a meal with plastic wrap and then heating it in the microwave, can cause phthalates to leach into the food. Naturally babies and young children are more likely to be affected by endocrine disrupters because they are still developing. It is still unclear as to what level of exposure poses a risk and what the adverse health effects are. The amount of chemicals that leach into food vary, depending on the temperature, the amount of time at that temperature and the type of food. Fattier foods tend to absorb more chemicals.

Based on the evidence, it seems as though, there is no need to panic over any phthlates you may have been already exposed to, however, avoiding them in the future seems simple enough.

Tips:

When using a microwave, always put the food in a glass or ceramic container and do not cover with plastic wrap. Use a paper towel instead. A plain paper towel is best, one without colorful dyes, or bleach.

Heat baby food, milk and formula in glass containers.

Do not leave bottled water in your car or any other place where it may get too warm, as it may cause the plasticizers to leach into your water.

Alternatives:
Bottled Water
Carry and store filtered tap water in a lightweight aluminum container rather than a plastic water bottle.

Plastic Baby Bottles:
The Children's Health Environmental Coalition recommends born free natural baby products. They are available at Whole Foods and Babies R Us.
Choose plastic bottles made with recycling symbols 1,2, or 5. Some Medela and Evenflo bottles are made from these types of plastics.

Dry Cleaning Alternatives

According to the state of Ohio, epa, "dry cleaning can be responsible for releases of chemicals to the land, air and water. Evidence suggests that the primary chemical solvent used in dry cleaning, perc, can be damaging to human health and to the environment." Perc can also, to a lesser extent, stay trapped in your clothes and off gas inside your home.

Fortunately, there are alternatives. One alternative, known as "wet cleaning" uses water instead of chemicals while another subtitutes carbon dioxide .

Find a Green Earth Cleaners near you.
In New York City, you can also check out green apple cleaners.

Ask drycleaning questions at treehugger.com

Pervasive Parabens

Parabens are found in just about all personal care products, including the Kiss My Face soap I purchased at Whole Foods. Parabens are known to be estrogen disrupters but the levels found in personal products are considered safe by the FDA. The Environmental Working Group, however, recommends people limit their exposure to parabens since their use is so widespread and they have been found in human breast cancer tissue.

Another concern is how these toxins may build up generationally as mothers pass them on to their chidren. Picture source:chemical body burden.org

Aside from our personal exposure, much of our personal care products are washed down the drain. Consider the amount of shampoo, make-up, lotions and deodorants streaming into our rivers on a daily basis! The chemicals that mimic estrogen, i.e. parabens, have been linked to the feminization of fish. Source: EWG

For a complete list of ingredients to avoid in personal care products visit ewg

While parabens may be found in the majority of personal products there are alternatives. Personally, I love Burt's Bees for moisturizer, cleansers, shampoo and conditioner, but my 6 month old baby's skin is too sensitive for their fragrances. For her I use California Baby products. For deodorants and toothpaste I use Tom's of Maine.
I found the best prices for these products at drugstore.com. Prices are comparable for California Baby but it makes sense to purchase everything from one place to save on shipping..

For natural soaps we use Cal Ben Soap Co. If you read March's tip, this is the same company I recommend for dish washing and laundry soap. Save on shipping by buying together.

We no longer use shaving cream, just soap and water. I've also given up on manis and pedis since I have yet to find a natural nail polish and simply walking in a nail salon is not recommended for pregnant (and I assume lactating) women.

Cover Story: Toxins, Toxins, Everywhere

May 2007
Dear Readers,
As you may know, our homes are loaded with toxins. They are in our personal care products, our cleaners, the epoxy for the glue that holds our furniture together, our bedding, our paint and just about everything else. Each day we are exposed to a veritable "chemical soup."

As I researched the effects of particularly worrisome compounds, I was relieved to find that the individual chemicals we are typically exposed to are, for the most part, deemed safe. However, (you knew that was coming), I was unable to find any information about the combined effect of the dozens of chemicals to which we are exposed, daily. Thinking about it further I realize it would be nearly impossible for scientists to study this "soup," since each individual's serving is different. One person might get exposure from hair dye and dry cleaning, yet eat organic food, while another might gain exposure at the workplace. Furthermore, my daughter has eczema and I am finding it very difficult to isolate which foods in my diet (I'm breastfeeding) as well as hers are causing it. When a person is diagnosed with cancer, how daunting a task it is to connect the illness with a cause.

The good news is our bodies are pretty efficient at getting rid of toxins. We can consume, as many of us do, fatty foods, refined sugars and alcohol, in moderation, and not suffer adverse effects. Each time we do this though, we are asking our livers to work a bit harder. What happens when we add chemicals into the mix? How much can we tax our livers before feeling the effects? I don't think anyone can answer that conclusively.

During cold and flu season, I often stress to my students (I teach elementary school science), the importance of keeping their immune systems strong. Germs are everywhere, I explain, you can wash your hands to protect yourself, but you cannot completely avoid them. When germs enter your body, your immune system(an army of tiny soldiers), identifies the intruder and goes on the attack. Good blood cells surround the intruder and kill it. That is, as long as you've supplied your army with plenty of vitamins and given them enough rest. But what happens when there are more intruders than your immune system can handle? Then you get sick.

In my opinion, it behooves us all to reduce our exposure to any potentially harmful chemical as best we can. Back in March, I discussed alternatives to toxic cleaners. This month I've taken a broader look at our exposure and provided alternatives. I hope you find these posts helpful and that you will share them with others.

Thank you