NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010 ISSUE 81 LIVE BETTER. SAVE MORE. INVEST WISELY. GREEN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. AMERICAN Cut Your Energy INSIDE Use in Half 5 CANADA 10 EASY WAYS BANS TOXIC Efficiency Pullout Poster P. 12 BISPHENOL-A First! REAL GREEN Energy efficiency is the closest thing we have to INVESTING a magic bullet to help clear the air, curb climate 6 COMMUNITY change, and save money. Page 10 INVESTING IN THE ECONOMIC CRISIS REAL GREEN LIVING 8 GIVE GREEN GIFTS FOR THE HOLIDAYS 17 “PASSIVE” HOUSES YIELD BIG ENERGY SAVINGS 4 ECO ACTIONS 19 GREEN BUSINESS NEWS 20 ACROSS GREEN AMERICA 22 LETTERS & ADVICE Brittany Sivyer 15% o!! code: GREEN Gifts for Good. Join the reusables revolution! Give smart gifts that empower a positive, waste-free lifestyle. Visit reuseit.com today! “...a true champion of social change & the triple bottom line movement.” 1% for the Planet *Use the code EMAG10 for 10% off your order of $50 or more! EXPIRES 1.31.11 holiday issue ad reuseit.com design/production contact: rebecca cobb 646-345-8495 Mission-driven organizations choose Social(k) socialk.com · blog.socialk.com · (866) 929-2525 #4 2 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010 GREEN AMERICAN GREENAMERICA.ORG IN COOPERATION Your Energy Green America's mission is to harness economic power for a just and sus- tainable society. We work for a world where all people have enough, where all communities are healthy and safe, and where the abundance of Choices Matter! the Earth is preserved for all the generations to come. Our programs grow the green economy, stop corporate abuse, tackle climate change, build fair trading systems, support local communities, and help families and Dear Green Americans: businesses go green. We define “green” to mean social and economic confess: I haven’t done it yet. justice, community and environmental health—people and the planet. I haven’t had a comprehensive energy audit. Watch this video to learn about our work I Over the years at our house, guided by the A publication of Green America (formerly Co-op America) advice in Green America’s publications and Green PUBLICATIONS BETTER PAPER PROJECT COORDINATOR America’s “50% in five years” energy-reduction DIVISION DIRECTOR Dennis Greenia Keaty Gross challenge, we’ve taken many significant steps. For EDITOR Tracy Fernandez Rysavy BETTER PAPER PROJECT ASSOCIATE EDITOR Victoria Kreha CAMPAIGN COORDINATOR Sophie Glass example, we installed a tankless water heater and SENIOR WRITER Sarah Tarver-Wahlquist CLIMATE INTERN a white, heat-reflecting roof. The programmable ADDITIONAL WRITERS Joe Edwards Sara-Katherine Coxon, Joshua Marks FAIR TRADE COORDINATOR thermostat, caulking, and efficient lighting and DESIGN DIRECTION Tracy Loeffelholz Dunn Elizabeth O’Connell appliances have all done an amazing job. And I just ALISA GRAPHIC DESIGNER Jenny Thuillier RESPONSIBLE SHOPPER COORDINATOR GRAVITZ ILLUSTRATOR Jem Sullivan Victoria Kreha love our ceiling fans, which increase comfort in our PUBLISHER Denise Hamler DIRECTOR, SOCIAL INVESTING & home reducing energy bills all year long. SPECIAL PROJECTS & ADVERTISING MANAGER STRATEGIC OUTREACH Fran Teplitz Rob Hanson The results? Our energy use for heating is down by over 40 percent— GREEN BUSINESS SALES & DEVELOPMENT GREEN CONSUMER MOBILIZATION & and we use less than half of the energy of the average house our size. COORDINATOR Sandy Burke TECHNOLOGY ADDITIONAL ADVERTISING Dennis Greenia DIRECTOR Mo Alem We love the savings on our energy bills. Best of all, our home is cozy ADVERTISING FELLOW Katharine Mannix SENIOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS ANALYST and warm in the winter and cool in the summer. ONLINE & SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR Bernadette Morales Gaskin Andrew Korfhage IT/SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATOR Pat Keyes But we haven’t yet done an energy audit. Reviewing the “Efficiency SENIOR WEB DEVELOPER Shireen Karimi First!” feature in this issue, I got totally inspired. That energy audit is EXECUTIVE TEAM TECHNOLOGY CONSULTANT Hans Bauman EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Alisa Gravitz going to be my next step. I was talking to our editor, Tracy Fernandez EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT Elizabeth O’Connell DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS Rysavy about it, and she’s on the bandwagon, too. MAJOR GIFTS OFFICERS GREEN BUSINESS NETWORK™ So that’s my public pledge to you—I’ll be getting that energy audit, Amy Genevieve Kozak, Christy Schwengel DIRECTOR Denise Hamler MEMBERSHIP MARKETING MANAGER and Tracy and I will report out on what we learn. And I’m hoping that GREEN BUSINESS DIVISION ASSISTANT Misha Deborah Clive Dana Christianson through our audit, I’ll be well on my way to finishing Green America’s MEMBERSHIP MARKETING COORDINATOR BUSINESS SCREENING DIRECTOR “50% energy reduction in 5 years” challenge. Rebecca Shaloff Molly Rubin SENIOR RESEARCHER Tish Kashani As you read this issue, take a moment to decide what your next steps ORGANIZATIONAL SYSTEMS SCREENING RESEARCH INTERNS CHIEF BUSINESS OFFICER Russ Gaskin will be to reduce your energy use by 50 percent. It is totally doable. Sara-Katherine Coxon, Nabil Haque DIRECTOR OF FINANCE & SR. MANAGER, MARKETING & MEMBERSHIP As Tracy reports in her article (p. 10), the people of Juneau, AK, nearly ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF ADMINISTRATION Desireé Wolford Nora Marsh reached that mark in just four weeks in 2008, when they lost their main GREEN AMERICA EXCHANGE MANAGER Keaty Gross SENIOR ACCOUNTANT & BENEFITS MANAGER power lines due to an avalanche. If they can do it in weeks, surely, each Linda Carpenter GREEN FESTIVAL REGIONAL DIRECTORS of us can manage 50% in 5 years—that’s just ten percent per year! ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE Jacqueline Petteway CHICAGO & DC: Alix Davidson, ACCOUNTING INTERN Adelaida Kusaga SAN FRANCISCO: Katrina Zalvalney, We all know what’s at stake, from the climate crisis, to avoiding new DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY & SEATTLE: Jenny Heins oil and coal tragedies like those we witnessed this year, to the concerns DONOR SERVICES Becky LaBounty Keyes CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY MEMBER SERVICES ASSISTANT Jesse DiLaura about our economy, jobs, and peak oil—the choices we make matter. PROGRAMS DATA ENTRY Deanna Tilden Make a personal pledge to yourself and your family—then make it a DIVISION & CLIMATE SOLUTIONS DIRECTOR ATTORNEY Lara Pearson Todd Larsen public pledge. Put it on your Facebook page, or in your holiday cards, BETTER PAPER PROJECT DIRECTOR FOUNDER/PRESIDENT EMERITUS and encourage your family and friends to join with you. Send them to Frank Locantore Paul Freundlich GreenAmerica.org/go/EfficiencyFirst to get the “how to.” BOARD OF DIRECTORS Mo Alem, Melissa Bradley, Bernard Brennan, Let me know what you decide: [email protected]. It matters. I Dana Christianson, Nikki Daruwala, Paul Freundlich, Russ Gaskin, Alisa Gravitz, care. I’ll be there to cheer you on as I report on my own progress. Priya Haji, Kathy Harget, Eric Henry, Andrew Korfhage, Todd Larsen For people and the planet, Green American magazine (ISSN: 0885-9930) is free with Green America Individual Membership (starting at $20/year) or Green Business Network Membership (starting at $85/year). For address changes or individual membership information, call Alisa Gravitz 800/58-GREEN or e-mail [email protected]. For Green Business Network information, call 202/872-5316 or e-mail [email protected]. Executive Director For article reprints, call 202/872-5343 or e-mail [email protected]. P.S. Green America gift memberships are a great way to help everyone Green America you know take green steps all year. See this special offer—and to vote 1612 K St. NW, #600, Washington, DC 20006 for your Green America board rep. Please also consider a generous year- 800/58-GREEN fax 202/331-8166 GREENAMERICA.ORG end gift to support our crucial work to tackle the climate crisis, stop corporate abuse, and grow the green in economy in 2011. Donate today Copyright 2010. Printed on 100% de-inked recycled fiber, elemental chlorine-free. to get it matched and double the power! m Designates an approved member of Green America’s Green Business Network™ 3 ECO ACTIONS THE SOCIAL JUSTICE AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES OF OUR TIME BetterPaper.org + ClimateAction.org CommunityInvest.org + FairTradeAction.org ResponsibleShopper.org + Sweatshops.org BP Oil Spill has Serious Effects on Human Health in the Gulf Region the spill may have long-term effects on human and marine life. One of the main dispersants, Corexit 9527, contains the chemical butoxyethanol, a blood, kidney, and liver toxicant, writes University of Washing- ton toxicologist Dr. Steven Gilbert on the chemical database site Toxipedia.org. Nine days after granting BP permission to use oil dispersants to clean up the spill, the EPA asked the company to replace Corexit with a less-toxic dispersant. BP refused, even though EPA research pointed to 12 disper- sants it deemed “more effective” than Co- rexit. EPA tests also noted that Corexit was more toxic to shrimp—a major economic resource for the Gulf coast—than seven of the alternative dispersants on its list. In addition, toxins from the spill are mak- ing their way inland. Oil-soaked boom—or plastic and fabric barriers used to contain the spill—are currently being trucked to several landfills and incinerators in Louisiana, Missis- sippi, Alabama, and Florida. The Associated Press reports that these states are dealing with the disposal of more than 50,000 tons of boom, which are contaminated with benzene, a known carcinogen. Craig Morse Concerned local and environmental Corexit 9527, the oil dispersant BP used to clean up its Gulf of advocates question the safety of landfilling, Mexico oil spill, contains the chemical butoxyethanol, a suspected pointing out that three of the nine landfills human blood, kidney, and liver toxicant. that have accepted the oil boom recently have been cited by the EPA for groundwater pollution. These groups worry that local citi- he country breathed a sigh of relief lies along the Gulf and was one of the areas zens could be exposed to toxins leaking from Tin September, when BP permanently hardest hit by the oil disaster.