It’s Monday. Eat Chocolate!

There’s a reason we reach for chocolate when we’re stressed. It tastes good, it lifts the mood. Now, as it turns out, dark chocolate may lower blood pressure almost as well as medication does, according to an analysis of five studies, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine on April 9 of this year.

In four of the five two-week studies, participants’ systolic (top number) and diastolic (bottom number) blood pressure dropped to averages that “would be expected to substantially reduce the risk of stroke (by about 20 percent), coronary heart disease (by 10 percent) and all-cause mortality (by 8 percent),” the authors wrote.

The benefit is attributed to procyanid, a type of polyphenol, or plant compound, found in cocoa. Alas, milk chocolate won’t do the trick, because milk proteins block the absorption of polyphenols

How much do you have to eat to get the benefit? Three and a half ounces of dark chocolate a day. That’s 100 grams, the size of a hefty bar of Green & Black’s. That’s also 500 calories, more or less.

Gaining a lot of weight, of course, would negate cardiovascular gains. While stopping short of recommending that those of us with hypertension substitute chocolate for medication, the researchers say we might try to consume it instead of other high-calorie desserts. Good idea!

In addition to our health, we can do some good for the environment and labor by dosing ourselves with dark delights from the following companies, whose candies are certified organic and fairly traded.
http://www.eccobella.com/ http://www.equalexchange.com/ Green & Black’s, at http://www.store/globalexchange.org/chocolate http://www.shamanchocolates.com/ http://www.yachanagourmet.com/ Certified shade-grown by the Rainforest Alliance (preserves rainforest canopies and habitat) Plantations Arriba, http://www.echocolates.com/ Just fairly traded http://www.divinechocolateusa.com/
Enjoy eight days a week.

Please share this tip with your friends and send them to http://www.greenerpenny.com/. Thanks!
Mindy

A Gleaming Green Bathroom

A reader writes: “I have major lime and water deposits in and on shower rails. I’ve tried hydrogen peroxide and different commercial products. What do you recommend?” For tough jobs, such as lime deposits in showers, try AFM Super Clean Concentrated All-Purpose Cleaner/Degreaser, free of ammonia and chlorine. Note, It should be diluted first: AFM advises one part cleaner to one part water for heavy jobs such as lime deposits, and rinsing well after using on metal. Weaker solutions are sufficient for different jobs, such as routine cleaning of countertops, porcelain or metal. $6.95/ quart at http://www.phoenix.organics.com/ . For shower heads clogged by mineral deposits, remove and immerse in warm white vinegar; let soak for 4-5 hours, then scrub with an old toothbrush. Other quick, least-toxic scrubs include plain old baking soda, chlorine-free Bon Ami scouring powder (a mere $1.29 at drug and grocery stores), or cream cleansers by Earth Friendly, http://www.ecos.com/ , Ecover , http://www.ecover.com/ , and Seventh Generation, http://www.seventhgeneration.com/ . In a pinch, squeeze that toothpaste tube! Toothpaste works pretty well as a cream cleanser and metal polish. Recently, when guests were arriving and I’d run out of cleaning stuff, I used Colgate to clean and buff the scummy, tarnished fixtures on my bathroom sink. When using any cleaning product, including greener ones, do wear gloves, keep away from eyes, and ventilate well, as even plant-based ingredients can give off irritating fumes. Store well out of reach of pets and children. Please forward this blog to any interested friends, and send them to http://www.greenerpenny.com/.
Thanks!
Mindy

Weekend Penny: Good Food

Farm Fresh

More and more consumers want to know what’s in our food and where it comes from. The melamine-tainted chow that’s killed pets came from China, and now the FDA is testing Chinese wheat, corn and rice additives that go into processed food for people. Some breads, pasta, cereals, pizza dough, protein shakes, energy bars and baby formulas are being examined for melamine.

And unfortunately for shoppers, the U.S. has no mandatory Country of Origin Labeling, except for seafood. See www.ams.usda.gov/cool

All of which makes locavores, who try and eat only food that’s grown within a hundred miles of their homes, look more savvy than crunchy. Non-extremists do make exceptions for coffee and chocolate, thankfully! Click here to get the Green Man’s take on this hip trend. http://greenmangreenerpenny.blogspot.com/

Good Easy Green Food Tips

Go a little local:

Buy early spring produce and organic or grass-fed animal products at the farmers’ market (find one near you at http://www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/map.htm.)

Eat more vegetables, as the government and nutritionists recommend. http://www.mypyramid.gov/guidelines/index.html

Enjoy more vegetables! Liz in New York City writes, “I’ve been eating so many veggies lately—ever since I picked up Patricia Wells’s new cookbook. (http://www.patriciawells.com/books/vegetable_harvest.htm)
String beans, carrots, beets, radishes…fennel and endive are at the top of my list right now. Really tasty and I don’t have to fire up an oven—just chop and toss!”

Tender new spring spinach is everywhere now. For a quick vegetarian supper, sautee onions and garlic in whatever oil you prefer or that’s produced closest to you, add sliced mushrooms and a pat of butter for flavor, and, at the last minute, stir in a bunch of well-washed spinach. Serve over pasta or rice, or in a tortilla.

In grocery stores, look for signs and labels that identify vegetables, fruits, meats and dairy products by state, country and region.

For recipes and advice on eating local, see www.locavores.com, founded by Jessica Prentice, author of the lovely cookbook Full Moon Feasts (http://www.wisefoodways.com/moons/) and
www.eatlocalvt.org.

When you can, choose certified organic produce and meat, and certified humane or grass-fed animal products, which, incidentally, contain heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids that you can offset against those saturated fats. In up to six states, now, FDA is quarantining hogs that may have eaten melamine-tainted food. For more reasons to eschew conventionally produced meat, such as animal confinement in factory farms, and water pollution from overflowing waste lagoons, see www.themeatrix.com

At the Union Square farmers’ market in Manhattan, I bought apple/cranberry juice from Red Jacket Orchards, whose fruit is farmed with integrated pest management (IPM), using beneficial insects and turning to synthetic pesticides only as a last resort. I asked Max when their first fruit crop of spring comes in. “Strawberries. In May,” he said with a smile.

That’s just around the corner!

Please send these tips to any interested friends, and ask them to check out www.greenerpenny.com
Thanks,
Mindy

A is for April, Allergies and Air Conditioners

A is for April,Allergies and Air Conditioners

Overnight, literally, the cherry trees and lilacs have bloomed on our block. Flowering plants, which held back during a cold April, are now “just exploding” in the warmth, Professor George Hedrey of Queens College said in a New York City scientists’ talk on climate change. Meanwhile, the allergic are exploding in sneezes.

Central Park in 2007 is 2 degrees F. warmer, on average, than in 1907. The first blooms of spring are arriving earlier throughout the U.S., Dr. Hedrey said. Southern plants are moving north. And ragweed, powered by higher atmospheric levels of CO2, the greenhouse gas, is doubling its pollen production.

Allergy season is arriving earlier and lasting longer, according to the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School. How to cope?

The Pollen Dodge:

Check local weather reports for air quality, including pollen counts and smog, which can make allergies feel worse. If pollen’s high, exercise or do errands in the morning, before airborne particles rise with the heat, and close windows, especially later in the day. For local pollen levels, http://www.weather.com/activities/health/allergies/?from=secondarynav_season

When necessary, turn on the air conditioner to filter pollen and pollutants out. April is a good month to buy before demand and prices escalate. For energy- and emissions-saving models that are at least 10% more efficient than conventional ones, see http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=roomac.search_room_air_conditioners.

Cool Tip: Turn a.c.s off when you don’t need ‘em, and keep your thermostat at 72 degrees or higher in warm weather. For every degree above that, you’ll save 121 lbs. of carbon emissions.

While global warming will mean milder winters and less heating demand for much of the U.S., more and longer summer heat waves will increase air conditioning demand that will “more than offset any reduction in heating,” accrding to Professor John Waldman of the City University of New York Institute for Sustainable Cities.

Use a doormat and leave shoes by the door so particles don’t get tracked in. Natural coir and jute, groovy striped doormat, $21.95 at www.crateandbarrel.com.; striped or bird-and-leaves pattern coir doormats, $19.95 at www.target.com Colorful recycled flip-flop doormat, $49 from www.VivaTerra.com,featured in Elle Magazine (check out their stylin’ green May issue! www.elle.com)

Death to Dust Mites: These microscopic mites infest rugs, drapery upholstered furniture and bedding, and their droppings are a potent allergen. Eliminate them by washing pillowcases, sheets and duvet covers twice weekly in hot water. For extra protection, you can zip your mattress and pillows into a cotton barrier-cloth encasement, on sale right now from $65-100 at http://www.allergybuyersclubshopping.com/cottonmattressencasings.html. They sell organic cotton encasements, too. Or try your nearest home products store. Avoid encasements made of vinyl, which is softened with toxic phthalates. For more on phthalates, see http://greenerpenny.blogspot.com/2007/04/give-me-that-sexy-green-bodywithout.html.

Please share these tips with any interested friends and recommend www.greenerpenny.com. Thanks!

Mindy

bright dinner & lighting ideas

Illuminated

The longer days feel luxurious, never-ending. It would be nice to bring some of that brightness indoors!

But first, what’s for dinner? It’s never too early in the day to start thinking about the main family meal. Along with the first new spinach at the farmers’ market, one of spring’s bright spots is the first lobster of the season. On the sustainability index, Maine or New England lobster (with the claws) gets a “good” (but not “best”) rating from the Monterey Bay Aquarium, www.mbayaq.org
as a population not currently overfished.

Want to know what’s sustainably fished in your part of the country? The Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program has printable regional fish species wallet cards. Perfect for enlivening dinner conversations!

Although these mighty crustaceans do contain moderate mercury (a nervous-system toxin that can cause birth defects and learning problems), the Natural Resources Defense Council, www.nrdc.org
says lobster can be safely eaten up to six times a month—but that, alas, would be unsustainable for our budget. Plus, given the precarious balance of the oceans, it seems a bit much.

For an easy lobster pasta recipe, see http://greenmangreenerpenny.blogspot.com/

Night Brights

I just bought a four-pack of Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs (CFLs) for $7.97 at Home Depot, www.homedepot.com. That’s a good price for these energy-saving bulbs, which do initially cost more than incandescents, but hey, prices are dropping--a couple of years ago one CFL could run you $11. Plus, over its lifetime(an average 10,000 hours compared with 1,000 hours for an incandescent), a CFL will save you at least 50% in electricity costs and 55 lbs. of atmosphere-warming CO2 emissions. Home Depot’s come with a 9-year warranty. The bulb fits nicely into my goose-necked desk lamp and, true to its name, provides a “soft white” light that’s easy on my eyes.

CFLs do, however, contain small amounts of mercury and so when they do give up the ghost they should be disposed of as hazardous waste. Some Home Depot stores take back CFLs for recycling, as do all Ikea stores, www.ikea.com
For safe disposal sites in your zip code, see www.earth911.org or www.lamprecycle.com

Day Lighting

Window washing lets the sun light your interiors by day, saving on electricity and the global warming emissions from coal-burning power plants. Choose white-vinegar based products free of toxic, eye-watering ammonia. I’ve stuck with the first I tried, Earth Friendly Window Kleener,www.ecos.com,800-335-3267, but similar least-toxic ingredients are contained in Ecover Glass & Surface Cleaner www.ecover.com, 800-449-4925 and Seventh Generation Glass & Surface Cleanerwww.seventhgeneration.com,802-658-377.

Or, mix your own window/glass cleaner with a few drops of dish soap and a quarter cup of white vinegar in a quart of water.

A Greener, Cleaner Diet

A Greener, Cleaner Diet

If food security isn’t national security, what is? For the latest, human food chain implications of the tainted pet food debacle, see this week’s Word of the Week at www.greenerpenny.com. But before you get too alarmed, check out some frisky creatures in the real O.C. at http://greenmangreenerpenny.blogspot.com/.

Back to the news: For weeks, U.S. pets have been made ill, and several have been killed, by a contaminant in the wheat and rice gluten used to fortify pet food. The culprits are wheat and rice gluten imported from China and laced with melamine, a common fertilizer.

Now, it turns out that some Northern California pigs raised for human consumption have eaten some of the suspect pet food, and their urine shows traces of melamine, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). While CDFA and USDA were able to warn most buyers of the suspect pigs before their meat could enter the commercial food supply, two custom slaughterhouses, American Hog Farm and Bar None, had already sold some of the meat to private customers, whom CDFA is contacting. For more info, see www.cdfa.gov or call 916-654-0504.

Food insecurity is rampant enough with domestic products, not to mention imports like wheat and rice gluten floating around undetected in processed food. Last year we had fatal outbreaks of E. coli that caused recalls of spinach. There were also recalls of ground beef and lettuce, and salmonella in tomatoes sickened many, as well. Earlier this year, peanut butter was recalled due to salmonella. Looking down the road: As demand from Wal-Mart and other mega-retailers increases sourcing from abroad, will organic food from China be safe? It depends on whether vigilant inspectors enforce organic standards on farms and in processing plants.

Organic or not, it’s processed foods rather than fresh whole foods that more easily thwart ready solutions to food contamination problems, if only because of their many ingredients, which can be sourced from all over the globe. For instance, the exact ingredient causing the sickness in pets has yet to be identified; melamine is thought to be a non-lethal indicator of the presence of more toxic substances. For lists of recalled pet foods, go to www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/petfoodrecall/

Another link to national security is our food system’s heavy consumption of fossil fuels. The thirty percent of the average American’s diet that consists of meat, eggs and poultry is responsible for the release of 3,274 lbs of global warming emissions a year. This comes from the petroleum used to make the fertilizer and pesticides used to grow conventional corn and soy for animal feed, the fossil fuels burnt in transporting animals and their products, and the methane gas released by cattle intestines (which some enterprising dairy farmers are capturing for use as biofuel).

What to do?

It’s simple. Follow these tips.

Eat less red meat (because it’s heavy in saturated fats, you’ll be doing your cardiovascular system a favor, too.)

Vegetarian diets release half the carbon of a 30% meat eaters’ diet.

Substitute poultry and eggs for red meat, and you’ll still save over 950 lbs. of carbon a year.

When you do eat red meat, make it special. Choose certified organic or certified humane, which restrict animals to vegetarian feed, or meat from grass-fed animals raised by farmers who provide written assurances of such. When cattle are fed a grass-only diet for the last five days before slaughter, E.coli in their guts is reduced by 1000%.

Choose more locally grown meat, dairy and produce, and you’ll reduce fossil fuels used in shipping food an average 1,500 to 2,500 miles from farm to table, as the Worldwatch Institute reports. See www.worldwatch.org

Eat whole, rather than processed, foods. Processed foods are cheaper than fresh vegetables and fruits because of U.S. government subsidies, as Michael Pollan writes in the April 2nd New York Times Magazine. Processed foods are also full of added sugars and fats, warns Marion Nestle, Ph.D., professor of nutrition at New York University and author of Food Safety and What to Eat? Because of this cheap but fattening food, 32% of Amerians are obese—and growing, Pollan and Nestle concur.

Know where your food comes from and how it was produced by buying it from farmers’ markets and relying on meaningful labels. For where to find local food sources, from farms to restaurants, see www.eatwellguide.org, www.localharvest.org and
www.sustainabletable.org. For the farmers’ markets nearest you, http://www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/map.htm.

Missed a tip? Don’t worry. See my Daily Tips blog at www.greenerpenny.com. And please tell your friends to visit.

Thanks,
Mindy

Earth Day Weekend: Coffee, Cleaning, Carbon & Water Savers

For some, spring is time to clean. For others, it’s time to dawdle and smell the flowers. On the eve of Earth Day weekend, some go to benefits, such as the one for Riverkeeper on a restored Hudson River pier. My friend Rolf, on the other hand, is going to pick up trash along the riverbank. For fun in the Real O.C., see http://greenmangreenerpenny.blogspot.com/. I’ll do my usual Saturday green thing--shop for locally grown food at the farmers’ market (to find a greenmarket near you, go to www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/map.htm.)

But first, a cup of coffee.

At this time of year, the returning migratory songbirds provide sweet wakeup calls, and to support them I recommend bird-friendly coffee, grown in the shade of conserved tropical rain forests that serve as their winter habitat. A pound of organic shade grown (look for the cute green parrot stamp) certified by Conservation International, is $13.45 at Starbucks stores, and it tastes sweet and smooth. The beans are grown in the forest understory near the El Triunfo Biosphere Preserve in Chiapas, Mexico. I’m also enjoying Dean’s Bean’s “Birdwatchers Blend,” about $10 for 12 oz. at Whole Foods Markets or http://www.deansbeans.com/. Indulge in Plantations Arriba shade-grown chocolate, at http://www.echocolates.com/. And, for your cereal, Chiquita organic bananas are shade-grown, too (for more info, see http://www.ra.org/.)
For an in-depth report on the Amazon, and compelling photos, see Alex Shoumatoff’s fine story in the May “green” issue of Vanity Fair, http://www.vanityfair.com/

Quick Water Save

Global Warming will lead to more water shortages, according to the 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. So while the coffee’s brewing, I’ll turn off the tap as I brush my teeth—a good, easy way to save up to 10 gallons of water a day. Plus, every time you turn on the tap you use energy. Water pumping is the greatest single drain on electricity in California, according to the San Juan Water District’s website, full of useful tips. Http://www.sjwd.org/waterefficiency

Cleaning and Saving Energy: The Fridge

To make room for fresh seasonal produce, it’s time to remove that mouldering winter vegetable raw stew that’s been slopping around in the bottom of the refrigerator bin. A scrubby sponge dipped in a solution of white vinegar, warm water and a couple drops of dish soap will freshen things up nicely, using baking soda to scrub crusty spots.

The refrigerator is our single biggest energy draining appliance, responsible for up to one-fifth of household energy costs. You can save up to 700 pounds of greenhouse gases a year with easy refrigerator maintenance. Turn the refrigerator thermostat up from 37 to 40 degrees, and remove the things stacked on top, which make it work harder and burn more electricity. For the same reason, one should clean the refrigerator coils at least once a year.

Why not now?

For how to find your condenser coils (in back, underneath?) and then what, see http://www.ehow.com/how_112122_refresh-smelly-refrigerator.html. Whatever you do, remember to UNPLUG THE FRIDGE first, so you don’t shock yourself. You can use a dust buster or a vacuum with a hose and crevice attachment to hoover the thick, caked dust off the coils. But to really dislodge dust in between there, use a refrigerator coil brush, $4.99 at www.frigidaire.stores.yahoo.net/uncoilcle.html, or $5.71 at http://www.lowes.com/

Canister (hose) vacuums with HEPA filters, which trap microscopic allergenic particles, are getting more affordable. The Hoover Constellation S3341, with crevice-cleaning accessory, is $250 at http://www.hoover.com/

One last fridge test: Close a dollar bill in the door—if it stays put, your seal is energy tight and your food is safer. If it slides down, time to replace the gasket—quite a production, I’m afraid, but there are helpful tips at http://www.ehow.com/how_8259_replace-gasket-refrigerator.html. Time for a new fridge? Energy Star models certified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) use about 15% less energy than conventional new fridges, and 40% less than pre-2001 models. They can save you over 500 lbs. of carbon emissions and up to $70 a year. For models, see http://www.epa.gov/.

Lightbulb Bonus

If you’re feeling energetic on Earth Day Sunday, go and claim a free compact fluorescent lightbulb (CFL) at Home Depot, which is giving away 1,000,000 nationwide (until supplies run out). CFLs last up to 10x longer than incandescent bulbs. Find stores near you at http://www.homedepot.com/. Or buy a CFL for $5-8 at your hardware store. As these carbon-saving bulbs do contain toxic mercury, when they finally burn out, years from now, remember to dispose of them safely at your local hazardous waste pickup or site (see http://www.earth911.org/).

Please share these tips to your friends and send them to info@greenerpenny.com. Thanks!

Mindy