eco - The Environment Report

INTERVIEW: creativecitizen.com CREATORS

If you spend a lot of time on the Internet,
you probably know about MySpace, and Facebook, and
maybe you use Wikipedia to look up things quickly.
Well a couple of guys in California are combining
social networking, web content, and citizen action
to make a green website called Creative Citizen-dot-
com. Lester Graham spoke with Scott Badnoch and Argum DerHartunian:

Transcript

Scott Badnoch and Argum DerHartunian: “CreativeCitizen-dot-com is based on the idea that we need
to infuse action into people’s lives when it comes to the green movement. So, we call ourselves
the action-based green community. And it’s essentially where Wiki meets social networks. So,
we’ve taken the best of both worlds and put them together. And so, instead of trying to be a static
content provider, what we do is we open up the playing field for the entire community to be
involved.”

Lester Graham: “Now, when you’re talking about opening up to the whole community, that just
seems you’re asking for a lot of misinformation to be passed around. Who’s monitoring this to
make sure that you ensure accuracy on this thing?”

Badnoch and DerHartunian: “It’s very rare that people provide things that are absolutely incorrect.
Now, at the same time, we also have experts. And I’d also like to add that our experts really guide
the process. They show people where to go to find more information, so then more eyes are
actually looking at it, and making sure the information is actually accurate and effective in the real
world.”

Graham: “Well, even among the experts there’s an amazing amount of confusion about everything
from everyday questions like ‘paper or plastic?’, to lawn care, purchases we make – how do you
plan to get around some of those complicated issues that might depend on where you live, or other
circumstances of your locale or your lifestyle?”

Badnoch and DerHartunian : “We’re not saying we are the sort of all-knowing Gods of green, but, in
reality, we’re saying ‘hey, we don’t know’, and neither does the vast majority of people. So let’s all
contribute, and put the knowledge that we do have together, so we can actually get a more clear
understanding of what this green-thing is.”

Graham: “Your CreativeCitizen-dot-com site seems like it might just be the perfect opportunity for
some of these corporations to come in and really spin things for systems that might not be that
great. How will you compete with corporate green-washing you might see on your site?”

Badnoch and DerHartunian: “On CreativeCitizen-dot-com, we’ve created an organic R&D system,
where each creative solution is uniform in a sense, and users can come and comment on
solutions, and edit them. And companies are really putting themselves out there by saying ‘this
product or service really has this benefit or savings’. And people can say, ‘well, I’ve tried this at
home and it doesn’t have these savings’, ‘I’ve researched this product and you’re using these types
of methods to produce this and manufacture this product and it’s not good for the environment’.
Or, vise-versa, saying that this is good, and really bringing the real green products that are not
green-washed to the forefront.”

Graham: “What have you learned on CreativeCitizen-dot-com that made you a more
environmentally responsible person?”

Badnoch and DerHartunian: “Well, I’ve transformed my entire life since the process of really
understanding sustainability. But one of the main things is really understanding that efficient living
and sustainable living is not about a sacrifice. It’s about really putting in these little acts into your
daily lifestyle that really make you happier as a person, more efficient – not only in a personal
sense but in a global sense. So, one of the most simple things is recycling laundry water. I’ve built
a system in my house where I can just put the laundry water in a bin and feed it to my garden,
using waste-water that is actually more nutritious for the plants because of the minerals in the wash
cycle. I like to call it ‘optimize without sacrifice’ – that’s actually from Amory Lovins. Green is really
about optimizing your life, and making life better for you, and then the result, fortunately, is that life
is better for the whole planet.”

Graham: “Alright guys, thank-you very much.”

Badnoch and DerHartunian: “Thank you, Lester.”

Green Weddings

Many couples are trying to be more environmentally-conscious with their big day (Photo courtesy of Kentucky State Parks)

At least two million weddings will be held
in the US this year. Many of them will be
extravagant, limousine-led events. But some couples’
walk down the aisle will more like a stroll on an
environmentally-friendly path. It’s known as a green
wedding. Chuck Quirmbach reports:

Transcript

A big budget wedding with limos, large reception halls and high catering bills can put a lot of
stress on the bride and groom. It might get at least one of the betrothed some scream time on
the cable TV show ‘Bridezillas’.

“Alright guys, I need my bridesmaids: Jackie, Amy, Kelly, Andrea, Harley, and Deb.”

But other couples are aiming for a more low-key, ‘we love each other and we love the planet’
approach to their happy day. Some wedding planners are paying attention.

“Again it only holds about 100 people, so you have cut your wedding list down, which is actually
a good thing for green as well, because then you’re not producing as much transportation cost.”

That’s Tanya Van Kirk of the company Point Zero Events. She not only had a green wedding
herself, but now advises couples on their way to the altar on how they can be more energy and
environmentally conscious. She says the green wedding movement is small but growing.

“I’ve had a couple of requests from brides. This is definitely a topic that’s coming up more often,
and I just choose to pursue that option myself, so I’m going to encourage as many brides and
event people as I can to take part in it.”

Van Kirk says a green wedding may be the right thing for environmentally aware couples in a
tight economy. She says besides maybe choosing smaller venues, they might go electricity-free
and use natural light. Other recommendations are: to register for gifts at an eco-conscious store
or website, buy locally-made wedding supplies, and consider using caterers that offer organic
food.

“We use local eggs, organic butter.”

At a recent bridal fair, Lisa Malmarowski of Outpost Natural Foods hawked her store’s version of
green catering. She contends it’s not necessarily more expensive than a regular caterer.

“You can really customize things to people’s budgets. So, if someone wants a very simple
wedding which also sorta fits into a green theme, we can do that very simply. And we’re really willing
to work with people – if they want to use things like their own dishes, or make some of the food
themselves, and we’ll supplement it.”

Some women with weddings scheduled for next year say they are hoping to be as green as
possible.

Katie Spaulding says one of her first steps may be her choice of wedding invitations.

“I like the idea of recycled paper, doing invitations like that. And I know that’s a huge trend right
now, and I’d consider doing that as well.”

Wedding planners warn it can be more difficult to convince the groom to go along with a green
wedding.

But bride-to-be Casey Kircher isn’t having that problem with her fiancé, Chris Verdig.
He seems ready to say ‘I do’ want green.

Chris: “It sounds fantastic. I’m just the groom.”

Casey: “I think that’s his catch phrase – ‘sounds fantastic’ – anything I ask.”

Well, that might be a good start toward their life together. And that green wedding might turn into a green partnership.

For The Environment Report, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

(music) “I see skies of blue, and clouds of white. The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night. And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.”

Teaching an Old House New Tricks

Environmentally friendly architecture is
becoming very common. Architects are designing
innovative, cutting edge, energy-efficient homes,
using renewable resources. But, Lester Graham
reports on another approach that recycles an
entire house:

Transcript

You know, we’re always hearing about new green building construction – new homes with all the
latest. That’s nice, but it’s a little ironic to think about all those resources being used to
build new to save resources.

That’s why I kinda got interested when I read about Matt
and Kelly Grocoff. They bought a modest, century-old house and started making
energy-efficient changes. A lot of them as Matt showed me in the bathroom.

“We have the motion-sensor light. We have the compact fluorescent bulbs. We have a
dual-flush toilet that will use only (flushing sound) use point-eight gallons for a flush.
This is actually a one-gallon-per-minute shower head. It will save you at least $100 in
electricity your first year of having that because of the eleven-thousand gallons of hot
water that you’re going to be saving. (faucet sound) This faucet aerator is also point-
five-gallons-a-minute. It’s plenty of water to wash your hands. Most people will never
notice that they’re using two-gallons-per-minute less in this faucet than another faucet.”

(stairs sound)

And that’s just the bathroom. As the couple took me upstairs, they told me about the really,
really efficient geo-thermal heat. They insulated everywhere. It’s tight. But everything
was off-the-shelf. None of that, ‘oh this is custom, you can’t buy it anywhere’, type
stuff.

Kelly Grocoff says if your house is a statement about you, then having a low-impact on
the earth’s resources and reducing greenhouse gas emissions is part of the statement they
want to make.

“For us, we proclaim loud and clear this is where our values are. And this is where we’re
going to spend our time and it’s incredibly important to us.”

And with all the efficiencies, all the updates, the house looked normal, comfortable. And
the Grocoff’s say that’s the way it should be.

Matt: “One of the things with building green, everyone thinks that you’re going to sacrifice
something, you’re going to spend more money and you’re not going to be as
comfortable. And that is completely not true anymore.”

Kelly: “We have made zero sacrifices. We have gained enormously. And we have no
time to waste. Your house is the number one place where you can make a significant
impact on a daily basis. For me there’s no other choice to be made.”

Matt and Kelly Grocoff say doing something about reducing energy use, reducing the
emissions that are causing global warming, and re-using old lumber and this old house
is just a start for them. They want to help other people do it too. That’s why they’re
launching an online site for do-it-yourselfers called ‘GreenovationTV.com’

Matt: “Uh, through Greenovation TV, we’re going to take everything that we’ve learned from
this house and teach others about it.”

Kelly: “We need that kind of resource there as we’re going through this process. And so there was hours upon hours spent researching things. And that’s kind of the goal with this station.”

Matt: “Once you have the knowlege to do it, it’s really, really easy.”

The Grocoff’s say the one thing holding people back from making their homes more
environmentally friendly is they feel like they have to do it all or it won’t be right. They
say just take the first step. Even if it’s just changing to a lower-energy compact
fluorescent bulb, it’s a good start.

For The Environment Report, I’m Lester Graham.

Organic Clothes a Bullseye for Target?

An outfit from American designer Rogan Gregory, which is made of 100% certified organic cotton. The collection arrives in Target stores on May 18th (Photo courtesy of Target)

If you want to buy organic clothes, chances
are you’ll have to order them over the Internet.
But that’s about to change. Lester Graham reports a
big retailer will soon be selling eco-friendly clothes:

Transcript

The big-box retail store, Target, will soon be carrying a line of environmentally-
friendly clothes for women.

Tim Craig is Editor in Chief for the magazine “Retailing
Today.” He thinks if Target starts carrying eco-friendly clothes, other retailers will take
notice.

“Without a doubt there will be some me-too-ism. And they watch each other very
carefully. Certainly, Kohls and Target go back-and-forth as to who has the leadership position and I
wouldn’t put it past them to have some one-upsmanship, if you will, in the area of
offering sustainable, organic product.”

Craig says it’s unclear whether there’s a demand for those kinds of clothes. But for
women who want eco-friendly clothing, being able to see, touch, and try on clothes
before buying them might persuade them to skip ordering on the internet and instead shop at
the store.

For The Environment Report, this is Lester Graham.

Tag: eco

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