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Dawn at Cromwell Valley Park, in Towson, Maryland. (By Roland Oehme)

Blog post by Roland Oehme

Ring in the New Year with gratitude for what this year has given us, and excitement for what the next year holds. Here Sierra Club Green Home writer Roland Oehme shares the top 12 things he is grateful for going into 2012.

12 Green Things I Am Thankful For:

1) My family and friends are the most important things in my life. I am grateful for the time I’ve been able to spend with them this year.

2) My local nature park that I enjoy daily walks in. The simple act of exercising in nature rejuvenates my body and spirit. I think everyone should be able to take walks in forests, meadows, hills, valleys, streams, wetlands, and other natural ecosystems.

3) I enjoy relatively clean air, water, and soil. However, I see this as the minimum of what is acceptable. Much more can be done to clean up my local environment, especially the Chesapeake Bay (the largest estuary in the United States).

4) All of my fellow human beings who are actively engaged in protecting the earth’s animals, environment, and people in order to create a healthier future for all.

5) More and more people are aware of the major impact we have on the global environment be it climate change, radiation leaks, trash, air pollution, soil pollution, or loss of animal and plant diversity. More importantly, more and more people realize that we can turn this around.

6) Many governments are taking concrete action to ensure a cleaner environment. For instance, Denmark, Germany, and Spain are committed to changing their energy supply from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

7) More people are advocating for the regenerative design model, as described by John T. Lyle in Regenerative Design for Sustainable Development and by William McDonough in Cradle to Cradle. Regenerative design allows all life to not just exist but to grow and flourish in a healthy state.

Nature’s beauty inspires and motivates me every day.

9) Many people are learning about and adopting vegan and raw food diets. Adopting a vegan diet has enabled many people, including former President Bill Clinton, to lead a healthier life.

10) Animals’ welfare and protection is important to many people.

11) By choosing a healthy living food diet and lifestyle, I feel healthy and full of energy.

12) That the planet earth is my home.

Roland Oehme is a green and healthy living reporter. Read his blog at www.we-love-rawfood.blogspot.com.

© 2011 SCGH, LLC. All rights reserved.

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This Douglas fir is transformed into a decorated, live, potted Christmas tree. (John Fogel)

By Debra Atlas

Every year, 25 to 30 million live Christmas trees are sold in the United States. Their ornaments and decorations help brighten our holiday. But after the holiday, they end up curbside as trash or, in towns offering such services, as recycling. A sad fate for such a wonderful part of Christmas.

Around the country, a new tradition is growing: renting a living tree for the holidays.

John Fogel was the first to offer this unique service in 1992 when he opened Original Living Christmas Tree Company in Portland, Oregon. He digs live evergreen trees up, root ball and all, pots them, then rents them for the holidays. Later, he picks them up and delivers them to parks, school districts, and other groups who pay around $10 to have the trees planted on their property.

“It’s something that’s good for business, for the environment,” Fogel says. “It’s about hope, feeling good about the planet and innovation.”

There are benefits to renting as opposed to buying a cut tree:

• Rented trees last longer;
• They are reused year after year until they are eventually sold and replanted as mature trees;
• You will have less mess—and no needle loss;
• Each tree that is rented reduces the amount of wasted holiday trees that end up in landfills; and
• Delivery and pick-up are included in the price of the rental.

Fogel accepts only the number of orders he knows he can find buyers for who are willing to plant the trees come January. This year he’ll accept around 200 living tree orders.

People can learn to make their own potted Christmas trees with the information on Fogel’s Web site. After the holidays, simply put an ad on Craigslist or contact your local parks department to donate it for planting.

Fogel plans to expand his operation through franchising. Anyone interested should contact him via the Web site.

Since 2005, residents of San Francisco have been able to rent live Christmas trees through a partnership between the San Francisco Department of the Environment and Friends of the Urban Forest. Residents can choose from four different species of evergreen trees: southern magnolia, small leaf Tristania, the strawberry tree, and a New Zealand Christmas tree (nothing like a traditional holiday tree). People can even give the gift of a planted tree named in someone’s honor. After the holiday, the trees are picked up, then replanted in neighborhoods around the city.

It’s all on a “first come, first served” basis.

In California, there are a few well-known Christmas tree rental companies:

LivingChristmasTrees.com, founded in southern California by landscape architect Scott “Scotty Claus” Martin in 2008, serves the Los Angeles, San Diego, and Orange County areas. Customers can choose from a variety of trees, including two-foot-tall baby sequoias, hardy blue cedars, and oh-so-fragrant seven-foot-tall Monterey pines. Orders include a watering tray to protect floors and you can even “adopt” a tree that they’ll bring back to your house year after year. Customers also can purchase “green” ornaments, LED lights, and stocking stuffers.

In northern California,  RentALivingChristmasTree.com serves the Monterey Peninsula, Santa Cruz, the San Francisco South Bay area, and Salinas. Choose the date you want your tree delivered (up through December 23), and you can even visit the nursery to pick out your own tree. They also carry LED lights to keep your green tree energy efficient.

Plant Manning, founded by Eric Manning in the Santa Cruz Mountains, has been offering live Christmas tree rentals for more than 20 years. Serving both northern and southern California, Manning delivers potted Colorado Spruce or Redwood Christmas trees to your home or office in his biodiesel-fueled bus and guarantees post-holiday pick-up. And you can adopt the same tree each year.

Manning’s business model is a bit different than other live tree rental companies. Because people ask for the same tree year after year, he trims the trees like bonsais. His vision is more long term, he says. He wants to keep the trees thriving for generations.

This is the real spirit of re-use, says Manning. “And there’s no waste,” he adds.

Rates and delivery dates will vary, so check with the tree rental dealer in your area. You can go online to find one in your area.

For related articles, see:
Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree
Let There Be Light This Holiday Season!
Tree Tip

Check out more articles by Debra Atlas.

© 2011 SCGH, LLC.

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Attending a holiday potluck can introduce you to some great new people and recipes. Why not host a potluck where guests try new organic, raw, or vegetarian dishes? (Roland Oehme)

Blog post by Roland Oehme

Want to have a green holiday? Do you ever wonder how the holidays became the biggest shopping frenzy of the year? Is it Santa’s marketing genius? Is it just force of habit?

If you are tired of the same ritual of trudging off to shop at the mall, jostling through the crowd, waiting hours to park, and struggling to find gifts within your budget, there is a solution. Yes, the solution to enjoying the holidays and not getting overwhelmed with shopping till December 25 is really quite simple.

Sierra Club Green Home’s green holiday solution is to shop less and spend more time doing fun activities that bring joy to your family and friends—and quite possibly even to strangers. After all, the holidays are meant to instill in us the spirit of giving, and this can mean many things besides material goods.

One company even made its new campaign about consuming less during the holidays. Can you believe it? What kind of a store would do such a crazy thing?

As I thought about this idea of consuming less, I realized that there are so many ways to have good times with your loved ones that I could never list them all. In fact, it’s an endless list! So instead, I will tell you some of my favorite holiday activities, and I invite you to share yours by commenting on this post or on the Sierra Club Green Home Facebook page.

Our family enjoys driving into the rural countryside to cut down our own Christmas tree, which is a great way to spend time together and get some outdoor exercise. Christmas tree farms also protect vital open space and help cool the planet.

We also like to take our son to visit the local holiday train garden displays. He absolutely adores the trains, as many other children do.

We like to make holiday foods together, whether it’s cookies, cakes, and desserts or complete, delectable meals. Sometimes, we attend a holiday vegan potluck party, too. And we always make time to get some exercise by hiking at the local nature park, walking in the neighborhood, or strolling along a nice downtown area. One of our favorite spots is Baltimore’s beautiful inner harbor, where you can walk right along the waterfront.

Many exciting events also are going on this time of year, like holiday performances at the theaters, symphony halls, and local churches. Take the whole family if you can, and relax and really enjoy the music and plays. Then there are local holiday light displays, conservatories put on colorful plant displays, and local museums usually have special holiday events.

Of course, the ultimate experience may be to travel to somewhere special to spend time with your family and friends, but this is becoming more of a material luxury than a simple experience. Locally, one can dine out and see a movie with friends and family for fun. My wife’s whole family would sing karaoke at home or go visit a hot spring or spa in her native Japan.

Perhaps the best things to do during the holidays are the simple experiences that sustain us. Like volunteering for your local charity, fund-raiser, or church, helping your neighbor with a project, spending more time than usual with your children, and making arts, crafts, holiday displays, or even gifts from items found at home.

Maybe that crazy store is on to something. Maybe the simple experiences bring us together and warm us most during the holidays.

Roland Oehme is a green and healthy living reporter. Read his blog at www.we-love-rawfood.blogspot.com.

© 2011 SCGH, LLC. All rights reserved.

(Jenosale, Flickr)

Sierra Club Green Home staff and readers recently reflected on the environmental progress we can be thankful for. SCGH understands that often the changes we need to make to live in a more eco-friendly manner can be overwhelming. It can seem like the environmental movement is all problems and no progress. To become more mindful of this positive side of green, below is a list of environmental progress we are thankful for as steps on our path to a sustainable, healthy planet.

Happy Thanksgiving from SCGH!

• I am thankful that people are trying to make changes to our environment in a sustainable way and make the earth a better place for all of us —April Fang, SCGH writer
• I’m thankful for having a supportive family who cares as much as I do about sharing a non-toxic lifestyle with other families They have been there with me at every festival! -Essential Safe Products
  
• I am thankful that we seem to be getting closer to a critical mass for citizens to support real change, realize climate realities, and change their own lifestyles to use less energy and respect Mother Nature more. —Margie Campaigne
• I am so thankful for all the wonderful eco-friendly home furnishings manufactures, designers, and retailers. Since 2008, we have helped share the journey of these pioneers. We look forward to many more years. —Nancy Kenney
• Chicobags! They are so portable and easy to use, and they prevent disposable bag waste—a major cause for concern. —J. Blalack, SCGH
  
• I am grateful that larger companies are making eco-centric practices the norm in business and hope this becomes the new “business as usual” standard. —E. Lam, SCGH
• One eco-friendly thing I am thankful is eco laundry detergents or any other type of hygienic product that is eco-friendly. When it comes to many of the name-brand laundry detergents, I happen to be allergic to the chemicals a lot of them put into their product. Eco-friendly laundry detergents give me a wider array of detergents to choose from rather than simply sticking with Gain (it’s the only name-brand laundry detergent that I have found I can use). —W. Gallios, SCGH
• I’m thankful for thrift shops, which carry clothes that are inexpensive and aesthetically pleasing , and also divert textiles from going to the landfill. —SCGH
• I am thankful that Alaska’s humpback whale population has started to come back after facing near extinction in previous decades. This shows environmental protection and the whaling ban passed in 1966 truly have an impact on the state of our oceans. Read more about it. —H. Logan, SCGH
• I am also thankful that on Nov. 10, the president authorized an independent review of the KesyStone XL pipeline. He stated that global warming would be one of the factors needed to be assessed. You can read more about it here, and continue to support the halt of the pipelinehere. —H. Logan, SCGH
• I am thankful for our transportation options, from bicycling to the train to peer-to-peer carsharing (such as Getaround) to Zipcar. I have not owned a car for three years now, and have been able to get around just fine! —J. Blalack, SCGH
  

© 2011 SCGH, LLC.

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31 Bit Designs is a socially minded business designed to give internally displaced women in Northern Uganda an opportunity to counter poverty. (Courtesy of: 31 Bits.com)

Blog post by Erika F. Washington
November 24, 2011

Admittedly it can seem difficult to stay in an eco-friendly state of mind during the holiday season with the rush of sales and Black Friday approaching at high speed. Today, more than ever, however, we need to celebrate what we have and protect it by being conscious of what our actions can do to the earth.

Before you grab “the greatest deal,” think about whether the true costs are accounted for in the sticker price—for example, the environmental costs of producing and transporting the product, your costs to drive from shop to shop in traffic. Many consumers out there are supporting the OCCUPYXMAS or Buy Nothing Day. And it is true that if stores did not open at midnight Friday morning or stay open late to satisfy the rush of hungry consumers, we undoubtedly would save energy and natural resources, but this to me doesn’t seem like a successful protest. Black Friday has been around much too long, and the powers behind it spend a lot of money pushing for this to be the American way.

Instead of protesting against the idea of shopping at un-godly hours, let’s focus on shopping smarter and not lose sight of the ultimate goal. Businesses that are completely conscious of the earth, creator, and consumer are not as hard to find as many think. A host of Web sites and boutiques offer vegan, organic, and fair-trade products.

Here are a few to start your shopping season off:

31 Bit Designs is a socially minded business designed to give internally displaced women in Northern Uganda an opportunity to counter poverty. Beautiful beaded jewelry pieces are all hand strung with love and care. The program equips women by providing literacy education, financial and vocational training, holistic care, and strong support systems, empowering individuals to further their careers and attain social equity.

How we define “style” is shifting with the growing awareness of pollution, deforestation, global warming, and resource depletion. Cri de Coeur, a completely animal-free shoe company, seeks to educate people about a vegan lifestyle. Its philosophical mission states that the company believes that “taking personal responsibility for not only what goes inside our bodies but for what we put on the outside of our bodies is crucial to our survival.”

Coyuchi sells not only sheets, towels, baby bedding, pajamas, and robes but a whole host of home textiles rooted in nature. The signature bedding is made from 100-percent certified organic cotton. All of its cotton products are certified to the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and produced using fair–labor practices.

Rosie Hippo sells handcrafted wooden toys and toys made from organic fabrics. Its toys come from individuals, companies, villages, and cooperatives around the world. All of the toys are produced under conditions that are fair to workers and kind to the environment.

While shopping for the ones we love, we must keep in mind that we all occupytheearth so don’t just be “eco-friendly.” Love it—by respecting it.

© 2011 SCGH, LLC.

(© Konstantin Sutyagin | Dreamstime.com)

We don’t always appreciate the eco-progress we’ve made, but what better time to reflect on what environmental programs we’re grateful for than with Thanksgiving? Let us know what environmental progress you’re thankful for, whether it’s your town adding municipal composting or a new United Nations program. We want to hear from you! Below are what some of our SCGH team members and readers are saying. We will publish more of your responses on Thanksgiving Day.

Let us know in these ways:
On SCGH: comment on this post!
On Facebook: facebook.com/SierraClubGreenHome
On Twitter: @SCGreen_Home
By email: editors@scgh.com

• One eco-friendly thing I am thankful is eco laundry detergents or any other type of hygienic product that is eco-friendly. When it comes to many of the name-brand laundry detergents, I happen to be allergic to the chemicals a lot of them put into their product. Eco-friendly laundry detergents give me a wider array of detergents to choose from rather than simply sticking with Gain (it’s the only name-brand laundry detergent that I have found I can use). —W. Gallios, SCGH
• I am so thankful for all the wonderful eco-friendly home furnishings manufactures, designers, and retailers. Since 2008, we have helped share the journey of these pioneers. We look forward to many more years. —Nancy Kenney
• I’m thankful for thrift shops, which carry clothes that are inexpensive and aesthetically pleasing , and also divert textiles from going to the landfill. —SCGH
• I am thankful that Alaska’s humpback whale population has started to come back after facing near extinction in previous decades. This shows environmental protection and the whaling ban passed in 1966 truly have an impact on the state of our oceans. Read more about it. —H. Logan, SCGH
• I am also thankful that on Nov. 10, the president authorized an independent review of the KesyStone XL pipeline. He stated that global warming would be one of the factors needed to be assessed. You can read more about it here, and continue to support the halt of the pipeline here. —H. Logan, SCGH
  
• I am thankful for our transportation options, from bicycling to the train to peer-to-peer carsharing (such as Getaround) to zipcar. I have not owned a car for three years now, and have been able to get around just fine! —J. Blalack, SCGH

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Robert Reed, Recology public relations manager, feels the soil made from the company's composting program. (By E.Q. Lam)

Editor’s Note: Recology announces milestone in advance of Thanksgiving, the biggest food week of the year. Read on to find out more about the company’s programs, including art, education, and falcons. UPDATED WITH VIDEO: Recology gives SCGH a tour of some of its recycling facilities.

By E.Q. Lam
November 22, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO — Waste management company Recology has hit a milestone: 1 million tons of composted materials in San Francisco. That’s enough to fill San Francisco’s famous TransAmerica pyramid-shaped building more than 16 times, as Recology put it. That’s also 1 million tons diverted from landfills.

What’s more, Thanksgiving is the biggest food week of the year, and Recology is calling for all scraps to be composted, the company announced today at a press conference. Overall, waste increases in San Francisco by 15 percent during the year-end holiday season.

Recology, which also handles all of San Francisco’s recyclables and garbage, collects from the city’s curbsides the food scraps, yard trimmings, and the like that residents and businesses throw away. The city-wide program allows even residents in apartments (without a back yard) to participate in composting.

In addition, the program makes an urban-rural connection: The compost material goes to more than 200 local farms and vineyards such as those in Napa Valley, which use the nutrient-rich soil to grow cover crops such as mustard and beans. This renewable resource sequesters carbon in the topsoil, one way the program has helped to offset the city’s carbon footprint. The cover crops pull carbon from the air into the topsoil, known as carbon fixing or carbon fixation.

“This is some of the most important garbage there is. This is where the nutrients are, the carbon,” says Robert Reed, company public relations manager, during a tour of Recology’s facilities.

Whether to compost or send the trash to a landfill or incinerator can mean the difference between life or death, as one observer put it.

“If you put it in the green bin, it’s made into compost, it goes to a vineyard. Based on this, do you throw it to the left or do you throw it to the right?” Reed asks, referring to the green-blue-black bin sets for composting, recycling, and other trash.

Compostables in landfills would have created methane (a greenhouse gas). Since 1996, the compost collection program has a total CO₂E benefit (carbon sequestered and methane avoided) of more than 300,000 metric tons—the same amount as offsetting emissions from all vehicles crossing the Bay Bridge for two years, according to Recology.

Recology sees composting programs as part of a cycle to create jobs, help grow healthy produce, and help farms retain rainwater. In the past 10 years, the employee-owned company also has created 250 permanent jobs in the city by upgrading recycling programs, says Reed. See a report from Tellus Institute about recycling’s potential to create more jobs and greater health (an attractive solution to addressing issues regarding the economy and ecology).

Recology started the green bin program in 1996, and the city of San Francisco mandated composting and recycling in 2009 for all residents. It was the first municipality to pass such a law, with the goal of zero waste by 2020. The US Environmental Protection Agency estimates that Americans send 33 million tons of food to landfills and incinerators each year, composting only 1 million ton. San Francisco composts about 600 tons a day, the most of any city in North America. About 300 US cities and universities have food composting programs, according to Recology, and more than 90 municipalities have residential composting programs, according to a national survey.

Statistics provided by Recology:

• Recology handles 626 tons of compost feedstock (food scrap and plants) per day in San Francisco, with a 75 percent increase in five years.
• 1 million tons equals 2 billion pounds.
• 1 million tons is 2.38 times the weight of the Golden Gate Bridge, not including the anchorages or approaches.
• By composting 1 million tons of food scraps and plants, San Francisco saved 2.7 million cubic yards of landfill space.

Besides composting, Recology has about 20 other programs, recycling nearly everything—from remodeling scraps to paint. (The company even tried recycling Styrofoam but decided there were health hazards, Reed says.) People drop off their leftover paint in Recology’s Household Hazardous Waste Facility, which has a chemist on staff. Recology sends recycled paint to schools, hospitals, libraries, community groups, and abroad, says Reed. Other recycled materials are sent to other cities, states, and countries (25 percent domestically, 75 percent exported).

Recology tries to make it easy on people to simply decide whether to compost, recycle, or toss. There is no need to even pay attention to the recycle numbers at the bottom of bottles.

“We left that behind ten years ago,” says Reed. “… We tested twelve different approaches, and we found a three-bin system [works best], where you put all your recycling in a blue bin, a green bin for composting, a black bin for all your materials that you don’t recycle. It’s our goal, eventually, the black bin will go away.”

Take a tour of Recology’s recycling facility and find out what happens to everything that goes in the blue bin:

Click here to view the embedded video.

About 90 percent of what comes through the door is recovered or recycled, says John Jurinek, plant manager at Recycle Central on Pier 96, where Recology recycles bottles, cans, and paper. Salvaged items are sent to St. Vincent de Paul where trained people refurbish the items for resale at thrift shops, Reed says.

Because the facility is next to the bay, along the lower eastern border of the city, Jurinek says Recology is conscious of the surrounding area. “So I have to be spiffy clean, try to contain all the material in the building as much as possible … so nothing goes into the air,” he says.

More Than Recycling: Art, Education, and … Falcons?

(Left) The Borroco Series #2 by Ellen Babcock is made from Styrofoam, construction sealant, asphalt patch, rebar, cement, and gold foil. (Right) Cara Cara by Bill Basquin is a photo of orange peels. (By E.Q. Lam)

Recology also runs related programs that might not be expected. One is an artist-in-residence program, started in 1990, from which a variety of surprisingly creative artwork has been produced and exhibited. One might not even be aware of the materials that the artists had salvaged from the waste collected by Recology. The purpose of the program is to get people to see garbage in a new way, says Reed.

“They cross the line between beauty and grotesque,” says Deborah Munk, who oversees the artist-in-residence program. “It’s just really interesting. … There’s that notion. In fact, I still expect recycled art to look like bottles and cans.”

Recology also welcomes about 4,000 children a year to its Environmental Learning Center. These kids, generally seventh graders, listen to workers talk about their jobs and receive an education on shopping choices. The idea is to start the education young and also to influence the children’s parents.

“It’s important to direct a good portion of the communication, the outreach, to young people,” says Reed, who also points out that children have less deep-rooted habits. “So kids start to recycle, and hopefully they carry that behavior through [as] adults.”

Bicycle Table by Mike Farruggia. (By E.Q. Lam)

Reed sees education and awareness as a key to changing people’s habits in how they discard their waste: “It’s really not laziness. It takes the same amount of energy to put it in the recycling bins as garbage. It’s ignorance.” He estimates that 66 percent of what goes into the garbage bin is recoverable. The company collects from more than 200,000 bins around the city, providing ample opportunity for people to recycle, Reed says. He would like to see a National Walk the Landfill Day so that people can get a true sense of what happens to their throwaways.

“Other cities hide the garbage. We’re trying to get people to look at garbage,” Reed says. “Garbage isn’t garbage at all but a mix of resources.”

Another surprising program from Recology is the falcon program. Because Recology is located along the bay, seagulls are attracted to the collected waste. “We don’t want the birds to eat what they don’t naturally,” says Indigo Redondo, company falconer, adding that seagulls also may carry diseases. The presence of trained falcons, currently three, are used to scare away the seagulls around the facilities

“We’re trying to keep a balance here within nature between predator and prey,” Redondo says. “There’s no killing involved.”

The falcons are kept well fed so that they have no interest in killing the seagulls, Redondo explains. The falcons simply patrol the area, fly around, and stand on the roof.

For related article, see:
Top 10 Reasons to Compost

Check out more articles by E.Q. Lam.

© 2011 SCGH, LLC.

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May your Thanksgiving be a collage of healthy, safe foods. (Lexnger, Flickr)

By Debra Atlas

Along with family gatherings, too much food, and football, Thanksgiving is a time for food donations to those in need. But there’s an underside to these canned goods that spells trouble.

A new report by The Breast Cancer Fund called “BPA in Thanksgiving Canned Food” reveals that many of the canned foods associated with Thanksgiving contain high levels of BPA (Bisphenol A). BPA is used in a wide variety of applications, including linings of metal canned goods. It can leach from the inner metal coatings of the cans into the food itself. It also leaches from products like plastic food storage containers and baby bottles.

The use of Bisphenol A has been controversial for years. The 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found detectable levels of the chemical in 93 percent of over 2,500 urine samples from people ages 6 and older. In 2007, the Environmental Working Group’s independent lab tests of food can lining found the chemical in more than 50 percent of the 97 cans tested. One in 10 of all the food cans tested contained enough of the substance to expose a woman or infant to levels more than 200 times the government’s supposed “safe” level of exposure for industrial chemicals.

Since 2008, Health Canada has restricted the use of the chemical, declaring it a “dangerous substance.” A 2009 report showed BPA can interfere with our hormone system at even extremely low doses. The Breast Cancer Fund’s report shows that many of the canned foods traditionally associated with Thanksgiving contain high levels of Bisphenol A.

Researchers tested 28 cans of seven holiday-related foods, including Campbell’s turkey gravy, Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup, Green Giant cut green beans, Carnation condensed milk, Ocean Spray jellied cranberry sauce and Libby’s canned pumpkin. 12 of the 28 cans tested contained Bisphenol A levels that would be harmful to the average woman. The test also revealed one exception: there was no Bisphenol A detected in any of the cans of Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce.

The report, which is part of the Breast Cancer Fund’s Cans Not Cancer campaign, states that consuming multiple cans of food with higher levels of the toxic substance could lead to health issues such as abnormalities in breast development, which can increase the risk of developing breast cancer. Even moderate levels of exposure by pregnant women has been associated with disruptions to in-utero brain development.

Donations of canned goods unintentionally pose serious health risks for those with low incomes, and in communities of color. Statistics show that African Americans are being diagnosed with breast cancer at younger ages and breast cancer is now the number one cause of cancer deaths among Latina women. As this new report shows, there is a direct correlation between canned food use, BPA and increased risk of breast cancer.

A joint study by the Breast Cancer Fund and the Silent Spring Institute, however, reveal a hopeful scenario. When three families replaced their regular diet with one emphasizing fresh produce, and did eat any canned goods or foods packaged in plastic, their BPA levels dropped by 66 percent. When they started eating canned food again, their BPA levels shot back up to pre-testing levels.

This holiday, you might want to steer clear of canned goods and go with fresh ingredients instead, or look for products in glass containers instead of metal. Some food manufacturers like Eden brand have begun making changes away from including this chemical in their packaging. Consumers should know that how we spend our dollars speaks volumes to them.

For related article, see:
A Greener, Healthier Thanksgiving Feast

Check out more articles by Debra Atlas.

© 2011 SCGH, LLC. 

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Decorate your table with fresh apples, anise, and colorful autumn leaves. (© Stephanie Frey | Dreamstime.com)

By Janice Zaltman

As we move into the cooler months, the weather conjures up thoughts of the traditional Thanksgiving feast. Your idea of traditional fare depends on what part of the country you grew up in but, most importantly, what foods make you smile when you think about Thanksgiving?

For me, the holiday evokes aromas of roasted, succulent turkey and Grandma’s cornbread stuffing, along with freshly cooked cranberries, mashed sweet potatoes, garden-grown green beans with crisped onions, and, of course, pumpkin pie—my favorite!

Over the past 10 years, I have had the wonderful opportunity to combine traditional fare along with raw and vegan options. These options are more eco-friendly, and usually healthier. Here are some great dishes to try. We are not going to talk turkey here, and I will leave the main course up to you!

These recipes will have your family and guests smiling:

Thanksgiving Menu

• Tropical fruit salad with arugula and goat cheese
• Raw curried carrot avocado soup
• Surprise South Beach Diet mashed “potatoes”
• Pecan brussel sprouts
• Raw apple pie

Tropical Fruit Salad With Arugula and Goat Cheese

Ingredients:
1 medium shallot (1 to 2 ounces), sliced into very thin rings
2 tablespoons Champagne or rice vinegar
Kosher salt
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
2 cups baby arugula or watercress
1/4 cup roasted, salted pistachios, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh mint
1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh basil
Freshly ground black pepper
3 medium-firm to ripe avocados (6 to 7 ounces each), pitted, peeled, and sliced lengthwise 1/4-inch thick
2 kiwis, peeled, halved, and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 medium mango seeded, peeled, and sliced lengthwise 1/4 inch thick
1/2 medium pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 2 cups)
3 tablespoons crumbled goat cheese

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, toss the shallot with the Champagne vinegar and a pinch of salt and set aside for 10 minutes, stirring once. Drain the shallot into a small bowl and reserve the vinegar. Whisk the olive oil and red wine vinegar into the shallot vinegar.
2.  In a medium bowl, toss 1 tablespoon of the vinaigrette with the pickled shallots, arugula or watercress, pistachios, mint, basil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and a few grinds of pepper. Arrange the avocado, kiwi, mango, and pineapple on a platter. Drizzle with the remaining vinaigrette, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Top with the arugula mixture and crumbled goat cheese, and serve immediately.

Serves 4 to 6 people. (Based on a recipe from Fine Cooking Magazine, volume 103, page 49)

Curried Carrot Avocado Soup

This recipe is so easy to make, healthy, and rich in live enzymes. Serve at room temperature.

Ingredients:
3 cups carrots, chopped
2 cups water
2 avocados (hass variety )
1 clove garlic
3 teaspoons ginger juice
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon curry powder
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon Celtic sea salt
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper or to taste
¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Directions:
In a high-speed blender or Vitamix, process all ingredients until smooth and creamy. (From Gabriel Cousens, Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine)

Surprise South Beach Diet Mashed “Potatoes”
Once you try these, you may never go back to regular potatoes again!

Ingredients:
1 ½ pounds cauliflower, cut into large florets (about 8 cups)
3 cloves garlic peeled
2  of 14 ounce lower-sodium chicken broth (I use low-sodium, organic vegetable broth)
Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
Fresh chopped parsley or basil, to garnish with

Directions:
In a large saucepan, combine cauliflower, garlic, and broth. If cauliflower is not completely covered by broth, add water to just cover. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until cauliflower is tender, about 12 minutes.

Reserve 2 tablespoons of the cooking liquid, then drain cauliflower and garlic. Transfer cauliflower and garlic to the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth, pulsing in some or all of the reserved cooking liquid, if necessary, to moisten mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Just before serving, place garnish on top and serve warm.

(From South Beach Diet Supercharged by Arthur Agatston, MD)

Pecan Brussel Sprouts

Ingredients:
2 pounds Brussels sprouts, yellowed leaves and stem end trimmed off
¼ cup pecans, chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil of choice
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place a casserole dish inside to heat up.
2. Quarter the Brussels sprouts and add them to the hot casserole dish along with the pecans, oil, salt, and pepper. Toss the vegetables to coat and then bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until tender and very lightly browned.
3. Remove from the oven, toss with the butter, and serve hot.

Serves 4 to 6 people. (From The Blackberry Farm Cookbook by Sam Beall)

Raw Apple Pie

Once you try this, you may never want baked apple pie again. This is the perfect season to use fresh apples! 

Almond Pie Crust:
2 cups almonds, dry
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups pitted dates

Syrup:
1/2 cup pitted dates
1 orange, peeled and seeded
water, as needed

Filling:
5 cups apples, peeled, seeded, thinly sliced, about 5 or 6 apples
1 cup raisins
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. To make crust, pulse almonds and salt in food processor until nuts are in small pieces. You want your crust to have chunks of almonds in it, so do not overprocess. Use some of the finer powder to “flour” the bottom of your pie dish.
2. Slowly add dates into processor in small batches to mix with almond bits. The dates will bind the almonds to form a dough. Press dough into the bottom of “floured” pie pan. Set aside (and try not to eat all your crust while you’re preparing everything else!).
3. To make syrup, place orange into your blender first. Then add dates and blend. If needed, add small amounts of water to help everything mix well (I haven’t “needed” this but like to add the water to make more volume of the syrup). Set aside.

To make filling, place sliced apples in a large bowl with raisins. Toss with cinnamon and syrup. Spoon filling into pie crust. Will keep for several days in the fridge. (That is, in the unlikely event that you have any leftovers.) (From Ani Phyo’s Raw Food Kitchen)

Have some great recipes of your own? Share them here or on our Facebook page! Now have a wonderful, eco-friendly feast.

For related articles, see:
Recipe for Healthy Eating: It’s ‘Morselicious’
White Christmas—How About a Green Thanksgiving?
Gobble Gobble Green

© 2011 SCGH, LLC.

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An oregano bouquet. (© Kuzsm | Dreamstime.com)

By Robbie Harris

It’s one thing to admire a plant for its beauty, but another to appreciate it for its taste. With this organic autumn bouquet, you could decorate your table, mine it for your meal, or both. The orange and yellow nasturtiums offer a mouthwatering combination of sweetness with a bitter finish and their bright green round leaves can be used like a dash of pepper.  Whether decorating your plate or being sprinkled on your salad, these well-known edible flowers are also a feast for the eyes.

This edible bouquet includes purple basil, in which the flowers as well as the leaves are edible. In this arrangement, some of leaves have already been removed and are simmering for pesto. You can keep the vase within reach, so if you can pluck up an extra leaf if need be. The water in the vase keeps these edibles fresh for use for up to week. Also pictured here are the tips of a stevia plant. Use them for a sweet break or to dress up dessert.

Growing edible flowers yourself guarantees that what you’re eating or drinking when you use edible flowers is organic. If you decide to buy the plants, sticking to organic ingredients is extremely important. You may have no compunction about buying non-organic flowers for the vase on your table, but don’t extend that to the flowers on your plate. Check to see where you are on the green spectrum.

Photo 107-877 Goes here.Caption:  Cutting the leaves from the purple basil  “Ocimim basilicum Purpurascense) to fill a small vase and eat the clippings.

There are so many edible plants that double as decoration for edible bouquets. They are accents to your home or workspace as well as you plate.  Most are easily grown in almost any garden; the ground’s the limit. You can also plant them in containers if you don’t have the outdoor space to raise these beautiful edibles.

And while your eyes drink in these plants, you can also imbibe a burst of vitamin C from a cup of hibiscus tea. Karen Graber, author of The Cuisine of Puebla studied the flower’s many incarnations.

She writes, “Dried hibiscus flowers, known in Mexico as jamaica (pronounced ‘ha-ma-ike-ah,’ rather than like the name of the Caribbean island country) have long been available in health food stores in the U.S. for making a tea that is high in vitamin C. With the advent of interest in south-of-the-border cuisine, hibiscus flowers are now sold in bulk in most large supermarkets.

Jamaica is usually translated as hibiscus, but more than 300 species of hibiscus are found throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world, and only the edible variety, Hibiscus sabdariffa, is the one used in Mexican cooking. This species is variously known in English as roselle, red sorrel and Jamaica sorrel, which is probably how it came to be known in Mexico as Jamaica (pronounced ham-EYE-kah.)”

Karen Graver’s Recipe for Hibiscus Tea

Ingredients:

• 2 cups dried hibiscus flowers
• 8 cups water
• 3/4 cup sugar or equivalent amount of sugar substitute

Steps:

• Rinse and drain the hibiscus flowers in a colander.
• Put them in a saucepan with 4 cups of the water and the sugar.
• Stir and bring to a slow boil, lower heat and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.
• The flowers will have lost their color into the water, which will be a deep red color.
• Let the liquid cool, then strain it into a pitcher.
• Discard the flowers.
• Add the rest of the water and stir.
• Chill thoroughly before serving.

© 2011 SCGH, LLC.