Holy moly, it doesn’t seem that long ago that I last hosted the Carnival of the Green, but it’s been almost a year! Truly, time waits for no man. Just last week, Eco New Mexico hosted the Carnival, and next week it is moving on to good ol’ Enviroblog.

But enough talk of time and such; let’s take a look-see at this week’s Carnival of the Green submissions:

Health

Surbhi brings the ruckus with this in-depth look at natural ways to stay healthy.

The venerable Fake Plastic Fish continues her one-woman war against plastic with a shocking exposé on a nasty chewing gum ingredient: plastic. After reading that, I think I’ll steer clear of gum for awhile and maybe check out Glee gum, made from natural chicle.

Gracy Queen wins the award for best blog post title, with her piece on vegan food choices entitled, I Can’t Has Cheezburger. I, myself, am not a vegan, but if you’re gonna be, here’s some good tips on what to eat.

Jourdan asks if being “green” makes you feel stressed out, and breaks it down to the basics to show that you can make some small, simple changes to be greener.

Climate Change

Dr. Kneidel exposes the plight of the noble trees, brought about by recent climate change.

Green Linguistics

Colin Doyle is trying to export a linguistic gem from Australia; calling fossil fuel energy “black energy“. It might make it a lil’ easier to have talks about green vs. black energy.

Beverly decides to make a New Year’s resolution to “grab a tiger by the tail” and go green. However, she then delves into what exactly this mysterious saying means.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

The aptly named Mrs. Green contributes 11 ideas on how to reuse coffee grounds. I’ll be using some of her tips, since I do enjoy the occasional coffee.

Stuff With A Purpose has some good tips on how to reuse plastic bags. The best thing to do is avoid them altogether, but barring that, he has some good ways to reuse them.

A shorty named Renee that I met one day has some good tips for how to compost during these frigid winter months. Since my current compost bin is overflowing, I plan on using some of her advice to figure out what to do.

Do It Yourself

Emily Moser, of the strangely named Becoming A Radiologist website, has listed some good resources for making some homemade soap.

Around the House

Brenda Pike got herself a Kill-A-Watt (I got one of these a year ago and it’s great!) and ran around her house measuring how much electricity various appliances used. Very interesting, and it convinced me to fully turn off my Wii instead of putting it into standby with the Wiimote.

Stacey Doyle decides to look at some easy ways to live in a more eco-friendly way.

Case examines the pros and cons of compact fluorescent light bulbs, including examining just how green these CFLs are.

Mark Donovan show us some easy yet effective ways to reduce your home’s ecological footprint while also saving money. Sounds like my kind of post, if you know what I mean.

Pure Natural Diva has some general tips on how to go green for today’s on-the-go diva.

Transportation

Vihar tells the world of how St. Louis has opted for a tiny tax increase to help fund its public transportation system. Kudos to Vihar for breaking this story.

Phew! Welp, that about does it for this week’s Carnival of the Green. Hopefully we all laughed a little, cried a little, and, just maybe, learned a little. I leave you with the Top 5 EcoJoes Posts of 2009:

• How to Make Homemade Cat Litter from Newspaper
• Homemade Granola Recipe
• How to Clean Up Litter in Under Five Minutes
• How to Make Homemade Paper
• Art from Litter: Glass Creatures

Happy Carnival!

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1. Take bottle (lotion, ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard, etc.)
2. Cut bottle in half using scissors (please wear goggles, gloves, elbow pads, and a mouth guard, and have your parents supervise you)
3. Use a spatula to get out the rest of the sauce, salad dressing, or what have you.

Simple. A tip that reduces waste while saving you money. Now that’s an EcoJoes© kind of green tip.

I’m EcoJoe and I approve of this message.

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New Milk Jug Design Pros

• Less shipping materials – The old jugs had to be packaged with heavy shipping crates. The new ones can be stacked with just a layer of cardboard between them.
• More efficient transport – Less shipping materials means more milk jugs can be transported in each truck, so companies save money on gas and cut down on air pollution.
• Shipping labor cut in half
• Water usage cut by 60-70% – The old shipping crates had to be sprayed off after each run, since milk would spill on them and birds would roost in them
• Lower milk cost! – “Sam’s Club said [there] was a savings of 10 to 20 cents a gallon compared with old jugs.“
• The new milk jugs fit better in your fridge.

The Bad Side of New Milk Jug Design

Amy Wise, a homemaker in Ohio, said the new-fangled gallon jug spilled milk everywhere. Judging from the picture, I’d say her main problem is that she’s trying to pour the milk into an imaginary cup in her left hand. No wonder she looks frustrated.

Many people say the new milk jugs are harder to pour. But I think with more practice, people will get used to them quickly. With all the benefits (less pollution, cheaper milk, easier transportation, and more efficient use o’ materials), methinks that the new milk jug may be here to stay.

* The bodacious picture of Amy Wise was taken by David Maxwell of The New York Times.

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Well I say “No mas”. Here is how to stop getting credit card offers:

Go to Opt Out Pre-Screen and fill out the short form, or call 1-888-5-OPTOUT.

I was worried it was a scam, but it turns out that even the good ol’ government recommends this site.  So I went ahead and filled out the form (I left my SSN blank, just in case), and am now several months away from being free of credit card offers.  Hallelujah.

P.S.  You can also opt out of getting phone books here.

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Bonus Fun Fact: The host of that video is none other than good ol’ Dave Lister (Craig Charles) from Red Dwarf, a great show if I do say so myself.For more information on Rishi’s past and present islands, I heartily suggest you check out his website: Spiral Islanders.

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No Shopping Cart, No Problem

I passed rotch by the shopping carts, and just went straight to filling my cloth bag with some groceries. This was good, since I just could go straight to the food. Of course, I wasn’t getting too much stuff, but if you are, you might want to use that shopping cart.

Durability

After buying the groceries, I stuffed most of the food inside the reusable cloth bag. I didn’t have to worry about it ripping (like a plastic or even paper bag might have), so I just stuffed food into it until it couldn’t hold no more. Luckily, the tote bag held quite a bit, mainly because it had

More Room than a Plastic or Paper Bag

I was downright dumbfounded when I dared to discern the depth of the dapper cloth bag. I fit pretty much all the groceries I bought into it, making it easier to carry them all to the car and into mi casa. The only groceries I didn’t put into the bag were the ones that already came in a bag (a bag o’ apples). So the reusable cloth bag’s big volume was a definite advantage over plastic or paper bags.

Lack o’ Clutter

I would’ve used two or three plastic or paper bags today, but instead I just used one reusable cloth bag. The paper or plastic bags would’ve ended up taking up more room inside my house, but Mr. Cloth Bag just sits in the car, awaiting another mission to the grocery store.

Ecological Impact

This is what causes most people to choose reusable cloth bags over flimsy, disposable paper or plastic bags. Yes, it took some ink (and chemicals) to make my cloth bag, but now that I am reusing it again and again, that can be a sunk cost. If I was to continue to use paper and plastic bags, each one would have a double environmental impact; the considerable chemicals used in their production, plus the impact of their disposal, whether it’s in a landfill, or disposed by burning it.

Using a reusable cloth bag seems to be the way to go. It’s a tiny difference that everyone can easily make, and instead of being a sacrifice they have to make, it’ll actually give them the same benefits that I enjoyed today. So be cool, and use (and reuse) that cloth bag with pride.

Oh yeah, I got my reusable cloth bag for free. So they’re not too expensive.

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Consumption:

Paper Bags: American use over 10 billion paper bags each year. Around 14 million trees are chopped down each year for paper bag production.

Plastic Bags: If you thought 10 billion was a lot, how about this: around 100 billion plastic bags are used in America each year. That takes about 12 million barrels of oil annually, just for bags.  Dang.

Production:

It takes close to 4 times as much energy to make a paper bag compared to a plastic bag. But, plastic bags are made from oil (non-renewable resource), while paper bags are made from trees (renewable resource).

Pollution:

Paper Bags: Toxic chemicals used in paper bag production (like bleach and acid) contribute to water pollution and air pollution (acid rain).  Surprisingly, paper bag production generates 70 percent more air pollution and 50 times more water pollution than plastic bags.

Plastic Bags: Plastic bag production requires hazardous chemicals also.  According to an EPA ranking of chemicals that generate the most hazardous waste, 5 of the top 6 chemicals are used in plastics production.  Plus, hundreds of thousands sea animals die each year from eating plastic bags, which clog their digestive tracts or choke them.

Recycling:

Paper Bags: Lots of chemicals have to be used to recycle paper bags. Once a bag is recycled, it’s more likely to be used to make cardboard than another paper bag.

Plastic Bags: A lower percentage of plastic bags than paper bags are recycled. Increasingly, plastic bags collected for recycling are instead sent to countries such as China and India, where they can be cheaply burned due to weak environmental laws.  Good ol’ India and China.

Biodegradable:

Paper Bags: Paper bags do break down after a while, but not if they’re in a modern landfill. In that case, 95 percent of the garbage is buried under layers of soil, so air and sunlight can’t reach the bags to decompose them.  So they just sort of sit there.

Plastic Bags: They don’t break down.

My Conclusion:

Use a reusable bag. Keep a cloth bag in your car, and just use that whenever you go shopping for something.  When I worked at Fresh Market in Asheville, plenty of people came through with cloth bags.  These bags can hold more than paper or plastic bags, they’re stronger, and you don’t end up getting a bunch of disposable bags that will clutter up your house.  Plus, you can get bags with jawsome designs or slogans on the side, which makes you cooler than them people that are using plain ol’ plastic or paper bags, thus bolstering your poor self-esteem.   And that is what really matters.

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