NYC's Social and Environmental Sustainability Goals

This article immediately made me think of the Michael Green's ted talk on the Social Progress Index. The mayor of New York City makes the city's plan more comprehensive by putting an equal emphasis on the environment and income inequality within the sustainable development plan. 45% of NYC's population is at or under the poverty level, and as stated in the article we cannot address physical vulnerability to climate change without addressing the local economy and inequality. Read more to see both their main social and environmental goals and their plans for change! 

http://www.greenbiz.com/article/new-york-citys-plan-fuse-sustainability-social-equity-and-resilience

Footprint Update!

Update on my goals to reduce my Ecological Footprint: 

1) Water and Energy Usage: So far, this area is going great. I'm achieving my water goals and have managed to fit unplugging appliances into my schedule at night and most mornings. However, I realized that there is really not that much to unplug in my apartment, so I'm doubtful that it will make a measurable difference. I want to make sure my footprint actually IS reduced after this project, so I signed up for PSE's Green Power Program and chose to switch 100% of our energy to renewables. My friend signed me up for the program and I was pleased to learn that only low-impact hydro power is included in the renewable energy mix.

2) Food Consumption: It has been hard for me to stick to local options for my fruits and veggies, mainly because the last two weekends I have been unable to make it to the Downtown Farmer's Market. However, I will definitely be purchasing my start-up plants for my garden from the farmer's market once I get a lifted garden set up in my yard. I have been sticking to organic options in the store.

3) Waste: So far, I have been composting, but doing so by bumming off other people with FoodPlus bins or bringing my compost to school...
I contacted SCC and it would only cost our property $8/month for composting service, so I've informed my property manager to see if she would be interested in doing this. My house has 4 units in it, and our unit alone would never fill up a whole 60-gallon bin by ourselves, so I am hoping it can be done collectively. 
As for packaging, I have not been obtaining any new plastic bags, and I have been buying food with only recyclable packaging. However, my house needs to move away from our obsession with paper towels. 

Overall it's been going well, but there is still room for improvement.

Hope for Sustainability in LA

Everyone's been talking about California's water shortage, and I came across a great story about an entreprenuer who has been working to heal the environment and help the people of LA since 1973. Andy Lipkis is the founder of TreePeople, which he created at age 18. He has been very successful at implementing forest-inspired technologies to make cities more sustainable while also mitigating floods and pollution. Most recently, Los Angeles's Mayor Garcetti proposed a sustainability plan (pLAn) on April 8th, which TreePeople proudly supports and has offered to work with city agencies, local businesses and community organization to help achieve this plan.

Find the full sustainability pLAn here

The Divestment Campaign

Here at Western Washington University and at many other universities around the country there has been a campaign to divest in fossil fuels. WWU's website states that "Western is a university of the environment, and sustainability is at the heart of what we do here." However, even with an active, on-going campaign on campus for divestment we have yet to join the movement. This article provides excellent reasons on why divesting from fossil fuels is the financially optimal and socially responsible choice. Investing in renewable energy lowers risk, increases returns and provides more jobs than the fossil fuel industry. Marketing-wise, I think this movement is doing great for targeting academic institutions like WWU. Divesting in fossil fuels is an innovative, foward-thinking decision that corresponds with our universities missions, leads other institutions and organizations to do the same, and drives the renewable energy market!

http://www.greenbiz.com/article/responsible-fossil-fuel-divestment

Toxic Cosmetics

This is not my first time using EWG's SkinDeep Database. For another class I have had to evaluate my cosmetics and I was quite shocked with the results. Since then, I have been using coconut oil instead of body lotion, switched to using a men’s deodorant that is not an antiperspirant in order to avoid aluminum, and use olive oil as a make-up remover which works great. This time I decided to evaluate my Tone Moisturizing Body Wash with Cocoa Butter and Mango Splash. 

The ingredients include:

• Fragrance
• DMDM Hydantoin (Formaldehyde releaser)
• PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate
• Cocomidopropyl Betaine
• Laureth-4
• Tocopheryl Acetate
• PEG-8
• Sodium Laureth Sulfate
• FD&C Red 4
• Propylene Glycol
• Tetrasodium EDTA
• Glycerin
• Citric Acid
• D& C Yellow 5 Aluminum LAke
• Gylcol Distearate
• Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Flower Extract
• PPG-2 Hydroxyethl Coco/Isostearamide
• Carica Papaya Fruit Extract
• Theobroma Cacao Extract
• Mangifera Indica (Mango) Fruit Extract
• Macrocystic Pyrifera (Kelp) Extract
• Cocamidopropyl PG-Dimonium Chloride Phosphate
• Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine
• Theobroma cacao seed butter
• Polyquaternium-10
• Water
• Sodium Chloride

First thought: Wow that's a lot of an ingredients, and many of them I have no idea what they are...

The data level was limited meaning there wasn't many scientific studies available on its ingredients, but even with the data available this body wash was scored 6/10 - a moderate hazard. The second ingredient listed was DMDM Hydantoin (formaldehyde releaser). This was scored as a high hazard and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) states that formaldehyde is a known carcinogen.Why is there a known cancer causing agent in a body wash that I use daily?? No matter how small the amount that can't be healthy. 

After doing some more research I found that formaldehyde releasers are found in about 1 in 5 cosmetic products, and its use is not regulated by the FDA (Congleton, 2015).These are chemicals that will decompose over time to form molecules of formaldehyde when added to water (Congleton, 2015). Formaldehyde acts as a preservative and is much more toxic when inhaled. Sodium benzoate is a safer alternative preservative so this is one thing I will pay attention to next time I am purchasing new products.

To avoid formaldehyde in cosmetics, you have to avoid these 7 main formaldehyde releasing ingredients:
-DMDM hydantoin
-Imidazolidinyl urea
-Diazolidinyl urea
-Quaternium-15
-Bronopol (2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol )
-5-Bromo-5-nitro-1,3-dioxane
-Hydroxymethylglycinate

Looks like I'm going to have to find another yet another substitute.

Congleton, Johanna (2015). "Is cancer-causing formaldehyde in your cosmetics?" Environmental Working Group. Online. http://www.ewg.org/research/exposing-cosmetics-cover/formaldehyde-releasers

EWG's SkinDeep Cosmetics Database (2015). "Tone Moisturizing Body Wash with Cocoa Butter, Mango Splash." Environmental Working Group. Online. http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/product/468061/Tone_Moisturizing_Body_Wash_with_Cocoa_Butter%2C_Mango_Splash/

National Cancer Institute (2015). "Formaldehyde and Cancer Risk." National Institute of Health. Online. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/causes-prevention/risk/substances/formaldehyde/formaldehyde-fact-sheet

Eliminating Food Waste

http://www.wehatetowaste.com/food-shift-food-recovery/

This is a great story about an amazing movement to eliminate food waste, create green jobs by doing so, as well as feeding the homeless and hungry. The movement is called FoodShift, and I felt especially compelled by this story because working at the dining hall at Western, I see a massive amount of food wasted. While it is composted, a large amount of it is still edible and untouched and there is large population in Bellingham of hungry and homeless within just a mile of our school.

As we learn about all the externalized costs of mass food production, such as pollution, waste, and health concerns, it is truly a shame to know that 40% of all food in our country is thrown away while 50 million Americans are food insecure. FoodShift eliminates this waste and closes the loop in food product's life cycle while creating social benefits and opportunities for disadvantaged or low-income individuals. It is great to see a sustainable movement such as this that gets rid of an aspect of the American lifestyle that is unsustainable, illogical, and unnecessary.

Bringing Ecosystems to the City

http://www.greenbiz.com/article/what-if-companies-and-buildings-enhanced-ecosystems

This article proposes a great idea to introduce ecosystems into cities by requiring new buildings to incorporate ecosystem enhancing services, such as sequestering carbon and enhancing pollination. I think this is a great idea because it is clear that cities and development are a prominent part of our country's physical environment and are destructive to ecosystem services. Because cities are here to stay, we need to integrate ecosystems into our cities infrastructure. I thought the Pollinator Pathways idea was especially a great idea because it adds species diversity and reconnects fragmented ecosystems and reintroduces an extremely important ecosystem service. While it is obvious that cities are not designed to be self-sustainable, creating and connecting ecosystems within cities can improve the impact cities have on the environment and lead to environmentally concious city planning. 

My Ecological Footprint

If everyone on the planet lived my lifestyle, we would need:

= 3.40 Earths

Wow! This makes me extremely disappointed in myself as I am studying sustainability! Clearly I need to make some changes. My consumption requires 131.87 global acres, which is over three times the 43 global acres that is considered sustainable. The large size of my Ecological Footprint (EF) primarily derives from my food consumption and water/energy usage. Because I live in an apartment of an old house I cannot do much to improve insulation or efficiency of my appliances, but I can still make improvements in my routines. I found it shocking that my food consumption was almost the same as the national average because I really only eat meat when I eat out or I’m at my parent’s house, but I guess these occasions do add up. To decrease my EF, I am going to take steps in these three areas: 

1) Water/ Energy Usage: I am going to limit myself to 5 minute showers, and only wash my hair once a week (for which I’ll allow myself 10 minutes). I also am going to commit to unplugging appliances if they are not in use and when I leave the house.

2) Food consumption: I already almost always buy organic fruits and vegetables, but I am going to expand my expectations to choosing local options. This has always been a matter of price for me, because as a college student I have little to no disposable income. However, I think I can make this cut in one area of my diet. I am going to be starting a garden soon, so that is about as local as you can get for herbs and veggies. I also will commit to vegetarian options when eating out.  

3) Waste: This is something I have wanted to do for a while but have never thoroughly followed through with. To decrease my waste I will:
a. Compost. I have not done this yet because of the initial cost of a composting bin and being unsure of how to dispose of the composted materials after my bin is full. I will have to do more research on this, but I do a lot of cooking at home and a lot of what I throw away could be composted
b. Using reusable bags for fruits and veggies vs the plastic bags in-store. I always reuse these bags to dispose of cat litter, but I use a walnut-based litter and I am wondering if that might be compostable, or else I will find another way to dispose of it. Going along with this I want to reduce my use/consumption/purchases that include non-recyclable and plastic packaging.