The activity is broken down into 4 areas: carbon footprint, housing footprint, food footprint, and goods and services footprint. When analyzing your answers to the questions several things are taken into account. For example, in the carbon footprint section, the site explains that, “the average carbon sequestration rate of all aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems worldwide is roughly .06 tons of carbon per hectare per year. Thus, for every metric ton of carbon emitted, the footprint quiz estimates the land and ocean area required to absorb those emissions to be 16.67 hectares. Starting with national per capita carbon emissions data taken from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators, the quiz first segregates out the portion of carbon emissions attributable to home energy use and transportation. Then the quiz makes a series of additions or deductions to this footprint based on visitor choices.”

The other 3 areas concentrate on things like the size of your home, your home furnishings, household water consumption, carbon emissions from the production and transportation of the food you eat, the land needed for farming or growing of the food, the waste you produce, and the amount of forestry needed to supply pulp and paper products.

Access the quiz at: http://myfootprint.org/en/

Were your results what you thought they would be? Were they lower? Higher? If they were lower- good for you! You obviously don’t need to be reading this =) But for many of us (including myself) the number of Earth’s that it would take to sustain our living is shockingly high. Luckily for us, there are many simple things we can do to start reducing our carbon footprint.

Using cleaner transportation. In a perfect world, we would be able to walk or bike to every destination; however, many of us have a lifestyle that requires us to travel long distances each day. If you are in your car for much of the day, try not to let it idle. If you are sitting in one spot for more than 30 seconds- it is recommended that you just shut the car off. Also, park and walk in rather than using drive-thrus whenever possible. Keep your car in tip-top shape, have it serviced regularly to maximize efficiency, have the air filter checked, and keep your tires fully inflated to maximize gas mileage.

Add energy saving features to your home. Just a few home improvements could have you saving money, time, and creating a cleaner environment in no time!  Installing low-mercury compact fluorescent bulbs in your light fixtures and choosing energy efficient appliances are changes are just a couple quick changes. More significant actions you can take include weather proofing your house by switching to double paned windows and keeping your home well insulated. Eliminate drafts by installing storm windows and doors or using weather strips.

Adopting energy saving habits, eating locally grown food, planting a garden, using products with less packaging, choosing sustainable furnishings and building material, adopting water saving habits, recycling, and composting, are just some of the other suggestions offered by the creators of the quiz to help you live lightly on the land. Be sure to check it out to learn more because we only have 1 Earth to share between us all..not 3.5, 5, 9, or whatever your number may be. Happy greening everyone!

-Your friends at Living Green Locally

Although sunscreen has been proven to reduce the effects of UVA and UVB on DNA, there are many chemicals in sunscreen that can actually be harmful to the body. When choosing the right product for you or your family there are many things you should be on the look out for.

In a recent study done by Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep, only 14% of 1,232 products analyzed met acceptable standards for safety and effectiveness. Many of the products even used manipulative advertisement to boost sales. In one case, Hawaiian Tropic’s Baby Stick Sunscreen claimed that it included “less chemicals”;  however, it still contained two chemicals that can be very harmful to the skin- oxybenzone (a hormone disruptor) and a form of vitamin A called retinyl palmitate (speeds up the growth of skin tumors).

Natural News explains that, “For 29 years, the FDA has refused to publish safety standards for sunscreen products. That’s nearly three decades of keeping the public in the dark about the extremely harmful, cancer-causing chemicals found in sunscreen products. Any idea why the Food and Drug Administration has taken so long to set safety standards for a product used by over 100 million Americans? If you guessed- because the greedy corporations selling the toxic sunscreen products don’t want the FDA to study the safety of their products- you got it!”

EWG research and Natural News agree that about 84% of sunscreens are harmful to humans. For one thing you are blocking your skin from Vitamin D, your body’s main anti-cancer causing nutrient. In addition to that, many ingredients in sunscreen that are linked to toxic effects are absorbed through the skin and enter the blood stream. As mentioned above, some chemicals act as estrogen and disrupt your hormone systems; while others frequently cause allergic reactions or release skin damaging free radicals when exposed to sunlight.

The bottom line- be smart when choosing what you are slathering on your body’s largest organ. By reading labels, staying informed, and not believing everything you hear, you can protect your skin from the sun while keeping your skin safe and healthy.

To read more visit:

http://www.aolnews.com/2010/05/24/study-many-sunscreens-may-be-accelerating-cancer/

And for a list of SAFE and EFFECTIVE sunscreens visit:

http://breakingnews.ewg.org/2011sunscreen/

Have a sunny and safe summer!

-Your Friends at LivingGreenLocally

Long known to be packed with antioxidants, zinc, thiamine and calcium, there’s new research out announcing 13 new health-beneficial compounds previously undiscovered in maple syrup. There are also high amounts of the trace mineral magneseum, which is especially benificial for prostate health in men.

It takes 40 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of pure maple syrup. This is why it tends to be quite a bit more expensive than the inexpensive immitation brands.This alternative “maple” syrup that so many people use today is actually made up of High fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, water, salt, cellulose gum, molasses, potassium sorbate (preservative), sodium hexametaphosphate, citric acid, caramel color, natural and artificial flavors. High fructose corn syrup is cost effective for companies because it is extremely sweet and cheap to produce. In animal studies it has been shown that the metabolic processes of fructose may induce high blood pressure, high blood triglycerides and pre-diabetes even liver scarring.

Pure maple syrup has many uses outside the breakfast table. Try substituting pure maple syrup in recipes calling for sugar or another sweetner. Use 3\4 cup of pure maple syrup in place of each cup of sugar and reduce the liquids in the recipe by three tablespoons. It’s also delicious used in coffee, tea and cereal.

Small substitutions such as these are a good way to incorporate a little more nutrition into the foods we prepare. After all, if we are to take control of our own health we need to upgrade the choices we make in eating. Enjoy!

Try this pancake recipe:

1/2 cup unbleached organic flour

1/2 cup whole wheat organic flour

1/2 cup plain organic yogurt

1 cup 2% organic milk

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 egg

1 Tsp baking powder

1/2 Tsp soda

1 Tsp cinnimon

Pinch of salt

Regards,

Jenni Wise, LGL Founder

We are working hard to create local networks that help green consumers connect with the businesses and organizations in their area who are truly making a positive impact. We choose every listing carefully and make sure that their “greeness” is clearly described, allowing you as the consumer to make informed decisions and support their local green movement!

Please check back often as we are currently updating our site to bring you more resources!

Thanks,

The Living Green Locally Administration.