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Recycle your kitchen waste into soil for your lawn, garden, or houseplants -- all with the help of thousands of new friends. Worm composting can reduce food waste, recycle natural materials, and provide a home for these tiny organisms.

Like many of us, Jeannette Stewart didn’t always pay attention to what happened to her garbage after she tied off the tops of her trash bags. But when she learned that the landfill near her Fairfax, Virginia home was so full it had to close, she started noticing how much garbage she and her neighbors generated, and resolved to reduce her output of waste.

“I saw our enormous trash bins being filled up with these plastic bags just overflowing from the top, and I thought, ‘This is an enormous problem,’” says Stewart, who began looking for creative ways to reduce her volume of trash. Soon, Stewart found part of her solution in indoor worm composting (also called vermi-composting), a simple, compact and low-maintenance way to recycle organic household waste into nutrient-rich soil. Worm composting is so compact, it even works for apartment dwellers. All you need to get started is a bin, some worms and a habitat moist and temperate enough to keep your worms happy.

Getting Started with Worm Composting

The Bin: The size of your worm bin can vary based on the amount of space you have available or the amount of garbage you will need to compost. Stewart recommends 10-gallon plastic storage containers, for processing the waste of two people. For those short on space, a bucket under the sink can work, as long as you empty the compost regularly. Five-gallon buckets are often available for free from restaurants or supermarket. 

In general, at least one cubic foot of space is needed for each pound of worms, and each pound of worms will process a half-pound of food scraps per day. 

To keep your worms happy and healthy, ventilate your bin with at least 20 quarter-inch holes in both the top and the bottom of the bin, covered by a mesh. Because the composting process can generate liquid waste, you will want to place a tray beneath your bin to capture any leakage. This “worm tea” is an excellent source of nutrients for houseplants.

The Worms: The best composting worms are “red wrigglers”, available from bait shops or worm farms. (See the resource link at the end of the article for online worm retailers, or search for “worm farms” online to find a source near your home to minimize transportation time, cost and energy.)

The Habitat: Fill your bin to a depth of at least 12 inches with moistened bedding before adding the worms and their food. One-inch-wide strips of black-and-white newsprint is optimal bedding material, although other cellulose-based materials such as yard waste, sawdust and plant clippings can be added. The newspaper should be moistened to the dampness of a wrung-out sponge. Add one cup of dirt per square foot of bedding to aid the worms’ digestion.

When choosing were to place your bin, keep in mind that the worms will be happiest at a constant temperature of about 65 – 75 degrees Fahrenheit, but can tolerate temperatures as low as 50 degrees or as high as 80 degrees.

Feeding the Worms

Almost all of the waste produced by a vegetarian diet free from packaged pro-cessed foods can be converted to soil by your worm composting bin. Avoid adding processed foods, like potato chips, or any foods containing oils, meats, or eggs, although crushed eggshells are fine.

In addition to fruit and vegetable waste, the worms will also digest small amounts of moistened paper, like tea bags and coffee filters. (Over time, the worms will digest their moistened newsprint bedding, as well.)

Because red wrigglers are used to living in the soil, be sure to bury their food, rather than placing it on top of the bedding.

Harvesting the Compost

After about three months, the worms will have converted the entire contents of a 10-gallon compost bin into rich worm castings, useful as a fertilizer for gardens, lawns and houseplants.

There are two methods for separating the worms from the compost. Because the worms avoid light, dumping the contents of your bin onto some newspaper will send the worms wriggling toward the center of the pile. You can then begin removing the outer layers of compost. A second separation method is to divide your bin in half. If you push the compost to one side of the bin, while adding bedding and food to the other side, eventually all of the worms will migrate, and you can harvest the worm-free compost while keeping your bin in constant use. If you end up with more compost than you can use, give some to a friend or a community garden, or tuck some into a city tree box.

Obstacles to Worm Composting

Though worm composting represents responsible waste management at its best, even some dedicated green consumers, fearing unpleasant odors or the attraction of pests, still balk at the idea of inviting thousands of worms to live in their home.

Because the worms eat so quickly and efficiently, your food scraps actually won’t have time to rot, creating unpleasant smells. Some denser, tougher items may take longer for the worms to consume, but keeping them buried in the bedding will pre-empt odors. If your bin smells bad, you may be over-feeding, or not properly ventilating. Try giving the worms less food or adding more air holes.

A properly maintained bin is unlikely to attract pests. Some harmless creatures such as small snails, pill bugs and especially spring mites may be introduced to the bin when you add the dirt, but they will not escape into your house. As Stewart says, “ The composting world requires a specific habitat, and your house is not the habitat. The habitat is the bin.”

In this self-contained habitat, your healthy, well-fed worms will thrive and breed, and eventually you will need to thin the herd and start a new bin.

Consider assembling a bin for a friend, donating your extra worms to help others integrate their patterns of consumption into a natural cycle of growth and decay that is easy on the Earth.

Worm Composting Resources

• Gardeners Supply -- Offers tips, supplies and red worms for indoor and outdoor composters. Based in Burlington, VT. (888)833-1412..
• Rising Mist Organic Farm -- This organic farm in Kansas sells everything you need to get started with worm composting, from bins, to books, to the worms themselves. (785)456-6725 
• WormWoman.com -- Maintained by Mary Applehof, author of Worms Eat My Garbage (Flower PRess, 1997), WormWoman.com allows you to purchase worms (shipped from Michigan), bins and books. You can also sign up for Applehof's free e-mail newsletter about worm composting.

Nourishment

1. Hold a home-baked bread or dessert swap with friends and neighbors.
2. Grow your own fruits and vegetables to give away. 
3. Share seeds, plants, and clippings from your garden.  
4. Buy food or supplies in bulk and share with friends.
5. Start a dinner co-op. 
6. Arrange a cooking day among friends where you all get together and prepare food in bulk. 
7. Start a good times/bad times dinner program in your neighborhood. When something momentous happens to a family (having a baby, losing a loved one, illness, etc.), form a neighborhood team to provide dinners on a rotating basis until the family is back on its feet.

Care

8. Start a babysitting or childcare co-op. 
9. Start a pet-sitting co-op.
10. Arrange to look after a sick friend with neighbors.

Home Help 

11. Form a home-repair team. Give and get services from painting to putting up a fence or fixing the roof. 
12. Share infrequently used tools and garden supplies. Start a community toolshed.
13. Collect partially used or unused cans of paint to share and exchange. It saves money and cuts down on toxic waste.

Goods

14. Hold a clothes swap at work, at your house of worship or on your street.
15. Hold toy or sporting goods swaps/exchanges for kids so they can learn new sports and games.

Knowledge

16. Exchange music, art, or cooking lessons.
17. Arrange a used book swap in your apartment building, in your neighborhood, at your workplace, or at your house of worship.

Services

18. Start a skills exchange in your community. 
19. Start a carpool in your neighborhood or office.
20. Swap your skills for accommodation. Provide accounting, housework, nursing care, childcare, or other skills in return for a room in a house.
21. Alternatively, provide accommodations in your house to get the services you need and help a student or young person get started.

Community

22. Adopt a stream or a highway to restore or improve.
23. Give a traveler a place to stay.
24. Set up an area at a community center, apartment building, or hourse of worship where people can leave items they no longer need for others. Give what’s left to a charity.
25. Volunteer your time and energy in your neighborhood, city, town, or region.

Honey bees are a vital component of our food system because they pollinate many of the crops humans consume. Over 100 vital crops in our food system are pollinated entirely or in part by bees, including potatoes, broccoli, cotton, apples, beans, cherries, and tomatoes. Concurringly, bee colonies have noticeably declined in the past five years, as a result, agricultural production is suffering.

Heavy pesticide use is credited as the main cause of the plight of bees.

Dr. Jonathan Lundgren, an entomologist who worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), documented a direct link between pesticide use and bee die-off. The USDA allegedly tried to suppress his research. The USDA plays a major role in regulating the on-farm use of pesticides and Lundgren’s research called into question many of its decisions. The USDA has been receiving a multitude of complaints about “scientific censorship” surrounding pesticide research. The USDA’s failure to address pesticide-linked bee deaths is impacted by the chemical industry’s influence in pesticide regulation. 

Does this sound familiar? In 1962, marine biologist and conservationist Rachel Carson published her book Silent Spring. This book highlighted the detrimental effects of pesticides on the environment but received backlash from corporations and scientists in the agricultural chemical industry. People tried to discredit her work, but Silent Spring became widely acclaimed and is said to be a book that kicked off the modern environmental movement.

Similarly, Dr. Lundgren published his research about the highly toxic pesticide called neonicotinoids in the Journal of Pest Science and he has since been scrutinized by pesticide companies and other scientists. His research shows that neonicotinoids are the most widely used insecticide as a result of their long-term effectiveness against insects. Neonicotinoids are absorbed by the plant and can then be found in the nectar or pollen. So, if bees have direct contact, residue contact, or contact with contaminated nesting material or areas, they could be at great risk. 

Many states, including Maryland and Connecticut, have established legislation to restrict the use of neonicotinoids, but the US government has yet to address this pressing issue. Bees are a necessity for maintaining our way of life. Bees and other pollinators are responsible for “providing one in every three bites of food we eat.” There is a “food chain” so to speak. It all starts with the pollinators that pollinate plants and the plants grow to become our food. If these harmful insecticides continue rapidly killing our pollinators, we could be looking at a food crisis. This would mean the loss of almonds, peaches, kiwi, avocados, and so much more.

But there is a solution. There are a lot of different ways that society can address this problem. One way to support pollinators is a home garden filled with lavender, poppies, geraniums, and/or aster. These flowers can attract pollinators, providing them with pollen and nectar.

Individual action is simple and all about using your consumer power. The best way to stop supporting the use of bee-harming pesticides is to purchase organically grown food and honey, and to avoid products produced with GMOs.

To push for a more bee-friendly system we need corporations to change their standards for food purchasing and for farmers to shift on-farm practices. You can take action against pesticide use by encouraging Kroger to phase-out the use of toxic pesticides in order to protect pollinators!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DSODl2vjoQ

by Alex Mauthe, Food Campaigns Intern

Honey bees are a vital component of our food system because they pollinate many of the crops that humans consume. Over 100 vital crops in our food system are pollinated entirely or in part by bees. Some of these crops include: potatoes, broccoli, cotton, apples, beans, cherries, and tomatoes. Concurringly, bee colonies have noticeably declined in the past five years, as a result, agricultural production is suffering.

Heavy pesticide use is credited as the main cause of the plight of bees. Dr. Jonathan Lundgren, an entomologist who worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), documented a direct link between pesticide use and bee die-off. The USDA allegedly tried to suppress his research. The USDA plays a major role in regulating the on-farm use of pesticides and Lundgren’s research called into question many of its decisions. The USDA has been receiving a multitude of complaints about “scientific censorship” surrounding pesticide research. The USDA’s failure to address pesticide-linked bee deaths is impacted by the chemical industry’s influence in pesticide regulation. 

Does this sound familiar? In 1962, marine biologist and conservationist Rachel Carson published her book Silent Spring. This book highlighted the detrimental effects of pesticides on the environment but received backlash from corporations and scientists in the agricultural chemical industry. People tried to discredit her work, but Silent Spring became widely acclaimed and is said to be a book that kicked off the modern environmental movement.

Similarly, Dr. Lundgren published his research about the highly toxic pesticide called neonicotinoids in the Journal of Pest Science and he has since been scrutinized by pesticide companies and other scientists. His research shows that neonicotinoids are the most widely used insecticide as a result of their long-term effectiveness against insects. Neonicotinoids are absorbed by the plant and can then be found in the nectar or pollen. So, if bees have direct contact, residue contact, or contact with contaminated nesting material or areas, they could be at great risk. 

Many states, including Maryland and Connecticut, have established legislation to restrict the use of neonicotinoids, but the US government has yet to address this pressing issue. Bees are a necessity for maintaining our way of life. Bees and other pollinators are responsible for “providing one in every three bites of food we eat.” There is a “food chain” so to speak. It all starts with the pollinators that pollinate plants and the plants grow to become our food. If these harmful insecticides continue rapidly killing our pollinators, we could be looking at a food crisis. This would mean the loss of almonds, peaches, kiwi, avocados, and so much more.

But there is a solution. There are a lot of different ways that society can address this problem. One way to support pollinators is a home garden filled with lavender, poppies, geraniums, and/or aster. These flowers can attract pollinators, providing them with pollen and nectar.

Individual action is simple and all about using your consumer power. The best way to stop supporting the use of bee-harming pesticides is to purchase organically grown food and honey, and to avoid products produced with GMOs.

To push for a more bee-friendly system we need corporations to change their standards for food purchasing and for farmers to shift on-farm practices. You can take action against pesticide use by encouraging Kroger to phase-out the use of toxic pesticides in order to protect pollinators!

Wheel Pad offers the chance for living, and healing, at home.

200 square feet of universally designed and ADA accessible space allows a loved one with mobility issues to return home or stay at home. Wheel Pad is crafted in a factory and arrives ready to connect to an existing home. When your home isn’t fully accessible, Wheel Pad makes it so, now.

• Generosity Campaign to help us launch this project: https://www.generosity.com/medical-fundraising/wheel-pad-prototype

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/10576355/

Originally published on Red Green & Blue.

A funny thing happened on the way to renegotiating NAFTA, the North American Trade Agreement that Trump said is so terrible for American workers. “The Swamp” is back, and it seems to be in charge, and looking to make NAFTA more friendly for corporations (which, needless to say, is NOT better for workers).

“At first glance, it’s a very mixed bag,” David Dayen writes at The Nation. “The negotiating objectives for NAFTA are mostly vague, and in parts revisit the well-worn tactic of using trade rules to guarantee corporate profits. In fact, several provisions are ripped directly from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the corporate-friendly deal Trump loudly rejected in January.”

This is all part of Trump’s (or really, the Koch Brothers and the Mercers’) desire to “harmonize” regulations – which is to say, eliminate protections for people and the environment in a race to the bottom that will maximize corporate profits by raping human and environmental health. Canadian regulations that go above and beyond American rules would be leveled down, and then US rules would be melted down to whatever is left in Mexico in a pell-mell race for the bottom.

The biggest issue: The Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) system, which Dayen describes as:

“…a secret extra-judicial court that gives corporations monetary awards for lost profits due to changes in law that run counter to trade agreements …corporations could still functionally overturn sovereign laws outside of the court system, and win billions of damages when governments try to write rules in the public interest.”

And while Corporations could jump over the head of US courts to go directly to an ISDS panel (often composed of just 3 corporate-friendly lawyers) over trade disputes, unions and environmental groups don’t get the same right. Only the US, Canadian or Mexican governments could take each other to ISDS court to enforce labor or environmental offences, and what are the odds that the Trump regime would ever do that?

Fran Teplitz, director of Green America’s Green Business Network, and Richard Eidlin, vice president and cofounder of the American Sustainable Business Council, appeal to fellow small-business owners in an op-ed for The Hill to break with the US Chamber of Commerce in opposing the ISDS.

“Many of these lawyers rotate between serving [as ISDS judeges] on tribunals that decide cases, and attacking governments on behalf of corporations. Such conflicts of interest are forbidden as highly unethical in most legal systems.

It’s hard to believe this Orwellian power grab is real, but it is. Multinational corporations already have pocketed $392 million from North American taxpayers under NAFTA ISDS attacks on toxic bans, environmental and public health policies and more. Tens of billions of dollars are pending in ongoing NAFTA cases. 

Elizabeth Warren sums it up (in a Washington Post op-ed):

“Imagine that the United States bans a toxic chemical that is often added to gasoline because of its health and environmental consequences.

If a foreign company that makes the toxic chemical opposes the law, it would normally have to challenge it in a U.S. court. But with ISDS, the company could skip the U.S. courts and go before an international panel of arbitrators.

If the company won, the ruling couldn’t be challenged in U.S. courts, and the arbitration panel could require American taxpayers to cough up millions — and even billions — of dollars in damages.”

As Jay Henderson, Digital Strategy Manager for Democracy for America, puts it, “Fixing NAFTA is a good idea. But that’s not what Donald Trump has in mind. Trump plans to do the bidding of big corporations by taking parts of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and inserting them into NAFTA.”

And the biggest problem is: We really don’t know much of anything about what’s happening. All we’ve got is vague platitudes and closed-door discussions.

“The biggest thing needed to truly assess whether the administration actually wants to fix NAFTA’s problems or further entrench corporate control is transparency,” says Dayen. “The European Union posts its formal proposals on the Internet for all to see before entering negotiations. Trump needs to do the same; otherwise we can assume he has something to hide from the working-class supporters who were promised a revitalization of US manufacturing.”

“Big corporations have already used NAFTA to destroy millions of jobs and communities across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico,” says DFA’s Henderson. “If Trump gets his way, the big corporations will have new powers under NAFTA to destroy much more. The good news: Investor-State Dispute Settlement is incredibly unpopular with the American people. It’s the kind of rip-off that helped to defeat the TPP.” He adds that The DFA has a petition “to tell your representative to vote no on Trump’s NAFTA corporate power grab!” (that he urges you to sign).”

Reprinted with permission.

We have been Green Business certified since 2005! It's more than just about the ingredients that go into the product. It's also about the principles, policies and practices that improve the quality of life for our customers, employees, communities, and the planet. 

Green America’s Green Business Certification is the leading authentic trustmark for true green business practices. This seal recognizes businesses that excel in social and environmental responsibility, and have met or exceeded our green business standards.

Since 2002, Skin, Mind, Body Essentials has been bringing a new trifecta to healthy living: the combination of wellness, responsibility and inclusivity.

We are a beauty-wellness company that incorporates sustainable business practices to create natural, non-toxic, earth-friendly, cruelty-free beauty and wellness brands.

Our family of brands include: Lotus Moon, Plain Jane Beauty and DetoxRx and allow us to introduce everyday people to safe and natural products.

At Green America we are committed to making sure that we "walk the talk" by making our office a green and healthy place. And every year, we commit to taking one new step. Here are some ideas to help you get started on your own office greening.

1. Make your office 'Climate Cool' through Green America’s partnership with NativeEnergy

You can offset the carbon dioxide emissions associated with your office’s energy use and business travel by joining a “green tags” program. Green tags are energy credits created by renewable energy facilities that represent the environmental benefits of green power generation.

At Green America’s offices, we offset 100 percent of our global warming emissions through a green tag program with NativeEnergy, which is helping to build a 10MW wind farm on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota.

If your office holds conferences or other events, be sure to consider offsets for all the travel to the event. We make offsets available for all of our events including our annual social investing conference. 

Be sure to do an annual energy audit. Many utilities around the country offer them for free.  If your office rents its space, encourage your landlord to do the audit and require it as a condition in your next lease negotiation.

2. Switch your office paper use to 100% recycled

Did you know that the average US worker uses 12,000 sheets of paper per year?

Paper accounts for roughly 40% of all municipal solid waste in the United States. Whether you work in an office or telecommute from home, chances are you use a lot of paper. Green America committed to switching our paper for our publications and our member letters to 100% post consumer recycled paper.

To find businesses

 that supply recycled paper, check out the National Green Pages™ and search under the category “Paper.”

Learn more about eco-papers through our Better Paper Project »

Find more green office products in the National Green Pages™ »

3. Introduce Fair Trade Certified™ and organic coffee and tea into your workplace

Green America is encouraging workplaces all across the country to become Fair Trade Workplaces by switching their office coffee to Fair Trade Certified™.  Go the extra step by looking for Fair Trade Certified™ and organic coffee.

Check out the National Green Pages™ to find green business that carry Fair trade coffee as well as tea, cocoa, and other Fair Trade products.

4. Invest in reuseable plates, cups, and utensils

Ask people in your office to bring in some items from home.  Or, check out a yard sale on the weekend to find second hand items for office use.

5. Make sure your office recycles paper, aluminum, glass, and plastic

If your building does not already offer the service, look for an independent recycling firm that can come and pick up your office recyclables on a weekly or biweekly basis.  If this isn’t an option in your area, work with individuals in your office to encourage people to take their recyclables home with them to put in their own residential curbside recycling.

6. Switch office light bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs

While the initial investment may cost more than conventional bulbs, CFLs last longer-- so over time your office will save money and save energy.

Find energy efficient lighting options in the National Green Pages™ »

7. Start an office compost program

At Green America, we keep a sealed compost container in our office kitchen and individual staff members take turns taking the compost home to add to their own compost piles. You can also chip in to get a worm composter for your office kitchen.

8. Encourage use of green transportation to and from work

Offer incentives to encourage people to take public transportation, walk, bike, or car pool.

9. Buy green gifts

Whether you are buying a special gift for a client or a present for an office baby shower, make sure you buy green or Fair Trade items to show that you care about your customers and co-workers as well as people and the planet. 

Find thousands of green gifts in the National Green Pages™ »

10. Get a Green America membership for your office 

You'll get even more ideas about how to green your office purchasing choices.  You’ll receive a free copy of the National Green Pages™, a subscription to our Green Living newsletter, and much more! Join now! 

We all want to make the healthiest decisions for our homes, families, and the planet. What we eat, what we wear, and the items we use shouldn't bring us harm or cause negative health effects. Green America's vast green living resources can help you find better options, but here are fifteen things we just shouldn't buy anymore:

1.Styrofoam cups

Styrofoam is forever. It's not biodegradable.

Alternative: Buy recyclable and compostable paper cups.

Best option: Invest in some reusable mugs that you can take with you.

2. Farm-raised salmon

Several studies have found that PCB's and other environmental toxins are present at higher levels in farm raised salmon than wild salmon. Check out Green America's Safe Seafood Tip Sheet.

3.Beauty Products and Body Care with Phthalates and Parabens

Phthalates are a group of industrial chemicals linked to birth defects that are used in many cosmetic products, from nail polish to deodorant. Parabens are preservatives that have been linked to breast cancer. Be safe, choose products from companies that have signed on to the Compact for Safe Cosmetics.

4. Plastic Wrap

In the past, most household plastic wraps were made with #3 PVC (polyvinyl chloride), which may leach toxins when heated or microwaved. Due to health concerns, most brands have now removed PVCs from household plastic wraps. However, commercial plastic wraps, including those used at grocery stores, commonly contain PVCs.

5. High VOC Paints and Finishes

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can cause health problems from dizziness to lung and kidney damage. VOCs are found in products including paints as well as finishes used for wood, such a stains or varnishes. There are now a wide array of low or no-VOC paints and stains on the market.

6. Bleached Coffee Filters

Dioxins, chemicals formed during the chlorine bleaching process, contaminate groundwater and air and are linked to cancer in humans and animals.

Alternative: Look for unbleached paper filters.

Best option: Use reusable filters such as washable cloth filters.

7. Overpackaged foods and other products

Excess packaging wastes resources and costs you much more. Around thirty three percent of trash in the average American household comes from packaging.

Alternative: Buy products with minimal or reusable packaging.

Best option: Buy in bulk and use your own containers when shopping.

8. Teak and mahogany

Every year, 27 million acres of tropical rainforest (an area the size of Ohio) are destroyed. Rainforests cover 6% of Earth’s surface and are home to over half of the world’s wild plant, animal, and insect species. 

Alternative: Look for Forest Stewardship Council certified wood.

Best option: Reuse wood, and buy furniture and other products made from used or salvaged wood.

9. Conventional household cleaners

Cleaners can contain hazardous ingredients such as organic solvents and petroleum-based chemicals that can release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into your indoor environment, positing a particular danger for children.

Alternative: Look for nontoxic, vegetable-based, biodegradeable cleaners.

Best option: Try making your own green cleaner using vinegar, water, and castile soap.

10. Poultry products from industrial farms

Every year, 9 billion chickens are used for meat each year, and 305 million hens are used for their eggs. The vast majority of these chickens are raised in complete captivity and in overcrowded conditions. They are often fed drugs to make them grow to maturity faster, and those drugs may affect human health when consumed. 

Alternative: Buy chicken meat and eggs that are certified organic and have trustworthy labels that concern animal welfare.

Best option: Support farmers who are using regenerative agricultural practices that regenerate the soil, capture carbon, and care for the animals. Check your local farmers market. Our Soil SuperHeroes campaign highlights some of these important farmers and food companies. Eat less meat and animal products made conventionally. Conventional animal farming is one of the world's biggest contributors to climate change.

11. School supplies made with PVC plastic

70% of PVC is used in construction, but it is also found in everyday plastics, including some children’s school supplies. Think backpacks, pencil cases, lunchboxes, and notebooks. Vinyl chloride, the chemical used to make PVC, is a known human carcinogen.

Alternative: Avoid plastics that are labeled as vinyl, “PVC” or “#3,” especially when kids will be using them.

Best option: Buy school supplies from certified green businesses where you know that products are safe and employees are treated well. Find them at GreenPages.org.

12. Plastic forks, spoons, and straws

Disposable plastic utensils are not biodegradable and not recyclable in most areas.

Alternative: Use compostable food service items made from plant materials such as corn starch and cellulose.

Best option: Carry your own utensils and food containers.

13. Paper towels

Paper towels waste forest resources, landfill space, and your money.

Alternative: When you do buy paper towels, look for non-bleached products, and if possible, also made from 100 percent recycled materials. Search the National Green Pages for recycled paper products. 

Best option: Buy dishtowels or rags to wash and reuse.

14. Chemical pesticides and herbicides

American households use 80 million pounds of pesticides each year. The EPA found at least one pesticide in almost every water and fish sample from streams and in more than one-half of shallow wells sampled in agricultural and urban areas. These chemicals pose threats to animals and people, especially children. 

Alternatives: Buy organic pest controllers such as diatomaceous earth.

Best Option: Plant native plants and practice integrated pest management. Plant flowers and herbs that act as natural pesticides.

15. Fast fashion

Some brands are really good at getting trendy looks in stores quickly and changing their merchandise often. Think Zara, H&M, Amazon Fashion, Uniqlo and Topshop, or sites like Romwe, Shein, and Amazon Fashion. Because of their business model based on speed and low prices, fast fashion brands all too often cut corners to save money. Fast fashion also relies on products not lasting long-- either falling apart due to poor construction or being tossed in the trash when trends pass.

Alternatives: Buy from green corporations, like Patagonia, Hanna Andersson, and Eileen Fisher which are easy to find and make clothes with green practices that are designed to last. Also, find certified green businesses in your area that sell clothes that use certified organic materials.

Best option: Buying clothes from thrift stores or secondhand online is a great way to minimize your carbon footprint and keep clothes out of the landfill. 

Green America has a vision in which all communities are healthy and safe, and where the abundance of the Earth is preserved for generations to come. That may mean we reconsider our shopping choices or habits. Join the thousands of Green Americans who are doing just that! Check out our most popular green living tips.

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