Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. Come one, come all to the Carnival of the Green! Step right up, don’t be shy, today our show will be a little different as we present for your entertainment Greenies battling against plastic (gasp!) toxins (no!) and other vile creations in the Main Tent’s Wrestle Greenia! But come quickly, as this is a limited engagement, fresh from How Ethical, and you’ll be able to catch our Green heroes next week at Greentime.

Our first fight is the battle of the Sun Gods. Witness as Jon pits his V-Dimensions Helius Solar Backpack against the Voltaic Backpack to see who wins between these two formidable solar powered backpacks.

Next up is the internal struggle that torments each computer and its user, the classic Hibernate vs Standby standoff - the most energy efficient option will emerge victorious.

And now ladies and gentleman if I may direct your attention behind curtain one, or more specifically, at curtain one, where Tao will lead you through the ghastly maze of mold and air pollutants. Only at the end will we see the light of a new fighter, the PVC free shower curtain, but will this truly be the end of mold and air toxins in the shower?

What’s this? Do my ears hear the ferocious battle cries of the plastics vs the bamboos? It’s Daily Mitzvah and the amazing travel cutlery! Believe your eyes ladies and gentleman, that most certainly is the dangerous bamboo trio of fork, knife and spoon fighting their weaker Plastic shadows.

Next up, you should be able to catch her scent wafting about the tent already. Under the soft flicker of eco-friendly candles you can catch a glimpse of our heroine Weleda, as she prepares for battle with those sneaky chemicals that lurk in your lotions and make-up.

Now, please direct your attention to the roaring racetrack! Step right up and place your bets. In lane one we have driver Signs. Lane two shows the daredevil Share-space, who will compete in the race with no traffic signals, no signs and no curbs! And wait, what’s this? Driver Share-space will compete along with a bicyclist and pedestrian, all without a safety net!

Our next fight is between the Wrap-N-Mat and a deceptive foe you have likely faced in your very own home, the plastic sandwich bag! Who will emerge the victor as these two battle for the spoils of a delicious sandwich.

Now, sworn enemies Weeds and Nature’s Avenger Organic Herbicide take to the center ring. Watch and see as the Avengers defeat the weeds, all without chemicals!

Wait a moment, what is this? Fiji, a known member of the Plastics gang, is coming out on the green side? Why, what madness is this? Let us go see if this bottle has truly defected from its platics cohorents, or if this wolf is trying to sneak into the flock.

Now, for the Main Event in the Main Tent. Our ultimate battle pits the awesome Volcano power against Nuclear power in a fight to protect the beautiful princess Indonesia.

And now ladies and gentlemen, as our fine wrestle-greenia draws to a close please take a moment to stop by La Marguerite to share with our fine fighters your reasons for being Green. And as you head back to your homes take a moment to fortify yourself against the villain Waste by reusing stuff around your house.

*Please note that Wrestle Greenia does not waste resources on advertising and PR that attempt to convince our loyal fans that we are a Green operation. We’ve adopted Lynn’s idea of Green advertising: we do simple things help to green our community and prove to our fans that we’re Green with actions instead of catchy jingles. You also won’t find any Method Foaming Hand Wash in our composting wash rooms.

Brady and I have gotten our very first blogging nod (yippee)! It’s more than that great warm fuzzy feeling but it’s also so encouraging to have a community of people working towards change. I sometimes fall to bouts of hopelessness, which is not hard considering some of the dire predictions out there but nothing alleviates this pessimism like the positive power of others. Created by the guys over at Climate of our Future who believe in blogging with a purpose, they are out to recognize and spread the network of people seeking to change the world for the better. The Accidental Environmentalist was kind enough give us the nod, and now I get to brag about 5 other supercool blogs I love. If you have been nominated by me, you can read the rules at the end of this post and choose to participate.

No Impact Man I love this blog because it makes me evaluate my daily impact, something that had previously been smothered beneath years of consumer breeding. While I don’t have the gonads to go to his level yet, I’m making my own steps and am in awe of this green superhero and will be the first to purchase his organic, fair trade package-less locally made action-hero 2nd hand when it’s available!

“A Guilty Liberal Finally Snaps, Swears Off Plastic, Goes Organic, Becomes A Bicycle Nut, Turns Off His Power, Composts His Poop and, While Living in New York City, Generally Turns Into a Tree-Hugging Lunatic Who Tries to Save the Polar Bears and The Rest of the Planet from Environmental Catastrophe While Draggin His Baby Daughter and Prada-Wearing, Four Seasons Living Wife Along for the Ride”

Reproductive Health Reality Check Full disclosure, this is a site Brady works for. This blog perhaps isn’t as intuitive as other green sites, but contains important information that effects the environment in the largest way, through population. With World Population Day just this past week, attention was brought to the exceptional rate we are growing. With many environmental symptoms stemming from diminishing resources, it is time we took a hard look at controlling our growth and one of the first places to begin is with sexual education and access to contraceptives and an end to the Global Gag Rule.

The Alternative Consumer As a retailer I love the inspiration from this site, as a consumer I just love it.

The Alternative Consumer provides product reviews, eco news and green info to the next wave of smart consumers… fresh thinkers who consciously style their lives with their health and the health of the Earth in the forefront of their mind … chic, savvy shoppers who integrate “green” into their everyday buying decisions.

The Worsted Witch Anyone who loves green and gothic horror has to be cool. Her writing is wonderful and prolific, with some great posts over at Treehugger.

The Worsted Witch is the malformed love-child of my indecorous passions for knitting, sustainability, gothic horror, and illustration

Green LA Girl Green LA Girl was the very first blog I added to my reader, and has been my companion (though she probably doesn’t know it) through the sometimes murky waters of green fair trade-ishness Brady and I continue to traverse.

Ok… the rest is for the winners of this award. Congratulations!

It’s easy to participate in this meme. At minimum, you can proudly display the BPGC badge (it’s available in two varieties: Transparent GIF and JPEG with white background) on your blog and bask in the glow of our collective good will. If you are sharing the kudos, however, please make sure you pass this list of rules to the blogs you are tagging.

The participation rules are simple:

1. When you get tagged, write a post with links to up to 5 blogs that you think are trying to change the world in a positive way.
2. In your post, make sure you link back to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.
3. Leave a comment or message for the bloggers you’re tagging, so they know they’re now part of the meme.
4. Optional: Proudly display the “Bloggers For Positive Global Change” award badge with a link to the post that you write up.

Please welcome Celeste Hamilton to the Two Hands blog. She’s a dear friend of ours from Peace Corps Guyana who now spends her time working for Idealist.org. Celeste will be contributing pieces to the blog from time to time and we’re very excited about that. Today she introduces us to GOOD magazine. Enjoy!

Alas, a magazine has come along that gives those that are tired of looking at highly airbrushed cleavage and beautiful faces something else (okay, maybe something in addition) to ponder over. Sandwiched in between the throngs of magazines that clutter racks everywhere from your local convenience store to the huge bookstore chain at the mall, if you’re lucky to find it, is a magazine called GOOD.

When I first heard of GOOD, I was intrigued. Was this a publication filled with instructions on how to decorate peanuts with googly eyes and sappy stories that catered to the church crowd? An extension of Gallant, of Goofus and Gallant fame, from the children’s magazine Highlights? Or a snarky, ironic take on society?

Turns out, it’s neither of those things. The first issue I saw had humorist John Hodgman from the Daily Show on it’s cover. Points. I opened it and read a lively article about couchsurfing.com, a site that connects thrifty travelers to a stranger’s couch, and a surprisingly engaging piece on a seed preservation vault in Norway. Did I capture your interest yet? Because GOOD immediately got me. Good. I’m hooked.

If you go to their website, www.goodmagazine.com, you’ll find back articles and illustrations on just about anything that interests you all in the range of sustainable living. There’s advice on how to turn your old vinyl records into dishes and where to recycle your out of date laptop. Musings on the demise of the farm and why we should care. A piece about a drive-in movie theatre at Kakuma, the Sudanese refugee camp where the protagonist of Dave Egger’s What is the What lived for nearly a decade. Inspiration from clowns who are sharing their funny with the developing world. Why an afternoon nap can save your life. A list of the top Green Buildings of 2007. Urban planning cues from the naked-streets movement in the Netherlands. Etc., etc., etc…

More than finally a publication about well, all things good, this is a magazine that frees activists and do-gooders from the socially awkward, uncool stereotype. We listen to Spankrock AND advocate for alternative fuel sources. We’re passionate about fair trade AND have a crush on Zak Galifinakis. We’re in love with all things organic AND This American Life. This magazine finally puts it out to society that yes, we can dork out on saving the world and be hip at the same time.

A subscription to GOOD costs a mere $20. And all of your subscription money goes to one of twelve charities of your choice. What, you’re thinking? How is that possible? Basically, GOOD explains that they’re undertaking this experiment because 1) it’s smart business and 2) they believe in it.

But just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, every issue they embark on consists of an interactive project for its readers. Right now, they’re calling for submissions for a care package like the ones mom used to send you in college to a person or organization of your choice. In the running right now is a range of people from an overworked mom to a lunch program in Madagascar to detained children of immigrants to Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes. The best item I’ve seen so far? A Skoal tin for Dennis Kucinich.

So go ahead. Give GOOD a try. There’s not another publication out there that makes socially conscious issues easily accessible—and fun to read about—while sincerely believing in the idea that collective creative concern is possible. And for nerds like me there’s the potential for infinite puns, all of which I’m eagerly awaiting.

One of the vendors that looked like the most fun was Xeko (pronounced zeekoh).

Xeko is

“the two-player trading card game, is designed to inspire the next generation of eco-leaders by connecting kids with nature through an engaging and enriching adventure. The amazing animals of Earth’s hotspots, beginning with Madagascar and Costa Rica, are the stars of the Xeko game. Xeko is sustainably made from recycled materials and soy inks; 4% of net game sales are donated to Conservation International for its programs to help save the earth’s hotspots from destruction.”

The myth of Xeko is a secret ecological knowledge order and seemed popular with the kiddos, there was never an open seat at the demo table! The game is for about 8 and up, and requires no game board, only cards similar structure to the popular Magic the gathering. There are tons of different cards of plants, animals and insects. We’ve all see bee’s, but the Aye-aye and Hairy-eared Dwarf Lemur were new to me! The cards have bright pictures and information about the species along with the game points.

The Xeko game “features remarkable plant and animal species from Earth’s biodiversity hotspots first identitfied by Norman Myers and recongnized by Conservation International. Currently numbered at 34, the hotspots contain 75% of the planets most threatened mammals, birds and amphibians while covering just 2.3% of the Earth’s surface. An estimated 50% of all vasular plants and 42% of land vertebrates exist only in these hotspots.”

The goal of gameplay is to build the strongest Xeko-system, and stresses a balance between spending and conserving not found in other games. “A Xeko Master understands that balance is required to support any ecosystem. A balance of spending resources to support diverse - and sometimes endangered - species, as well as conserving resources for the future.” Fostering this understanding of a delicate balance is an intregal, and frequently overlooked, aspect of developing a young mind.

To this end they also provide ways for kids to go green, including the 3 R’s, links to more information on hotspots and more environmental information, and their green star program. The green stars are earned by returning the booster pack wrappers to the company to be recycled.

Matter Group’s, the creators of Xeko, mission is

to foster sustainability by creating and marketing world-class products and media that entertain and inspire people to make a difference. Matter Group’s founders, investors, employees and partners believe that doing well is doing good. The company’s success is measured by our triple-bottom line: profibilty, environmental impact and social contribution.

Alicia and I are being educated and inspired along with thousands of others at the Chicago Green Festival this weekend. The festival is happening in Chicago’s massive McCormick Place on the shore of Lake Michigan. Hundreds of green companies, cooperatives and organizations have their products and services on display. Dozens of leaders of the green movement are speaking on five stages.

So far today we’ve chatted with many other fair trade retailers and wholesalers comparing notes and making connections to help grow the movement. One of the wonderful aspects of business in the fair trade industry is the willingness of market competitors to cooperate in the name of advancing the cause of fair trade. One amazing woman, Judy Wicks of progressive White Dog Cafe in Philadelphia, spoke elegantly of the need and strategic value of cooperation in a competitive market. The goal of continuous, dominating growth has proven to be unsustainable over the long run for many corporations. She contends that a network of small to medium local and regional businesses cooperating with one another can provide a healthy and sustainable living for more people than the traditional dog-eat-dog marketplace.

We saw another incredible woman speak. Amy Goodman of independent news show Democracy Now! spoke on the need for independent media to counter the subjective reporting of corporate media. She issued her rousing speech to a standing room only audience of well over a thousand people. Check out Amy on the daily broadcast of Democracy Now! on streaming online video and audio or on one of over 500 independent and public radio and television stations across America. Her broadcast reveals a starkly real alternative to network and cable news sources.

We’re off to see Chris O’brien, Beer Activist and author of Fermenting Revolution, talk about how to drink beer and save the world. Alicia and I will have much more to report in detail and with photos throughout the week. So stay tuned!

The prospect of cheap, reliable and efficient solar energy is still considered by many to be the holy grail of renewable energy to power homes and businesses. Researchers at Georgia Tech have developed a solar cell that improves efficiency by ‘growing’ carbon nanotube towers that create provide three-dimensional structure for the solar reactive compound cadmium telluride. The cadmium can then absorb photons striking the cells from a wide range of directions. This animation shows how the technology also improves efficiency by absorbing photons from light bouncing around between the carbon nanotube towers.

From the press release:

The new 3D solar cells capture photons from sunlight using an array of miniature “tower” structures that resemble high-rise buildings in a city street grid. The cells could find near-term applications for powering spacecraft, and by enabling efficiency improvements in photovoltaic coating materials, could also change the way solar cells are designed for a broad range of applications.

“Our goal is to harvest every last photon that is available to our cells,” said Jud Ready, a senior research engineer in the Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). “By capturing more of the light in our 3D structures, we can use much smaller photovoltaic arrays. On a satellite or other spacecraft, that would mean less weight and less space taken up with the PV system.”

(via Green Options)

There are several green directories and search engines on the web to help you find green related websites and resources. However most of them focus on businesses outside of the US, usually in the UK, Europe or Australia where the green movement is a bit further along in its development.

A new resource for the conscious consumer, Green Maven, makes finding fair trade products, sustainable home building resources, environmental best practices etc. easier and more reliable. Green Maven uses the Google custom search engine which allows the site to apply your search term to a defined list of websites. The Green Maven staff accepts submissions and reviews sites to compile a directory of the best green sites on the net for your searching pleasure.

As Shea over at Green Options points out, searching for ’socks’ on Google will return no green sites but do the same search at Green Maven and you’ll get sites offering organic socks and other green options. Give it a try!

It appears that San Francisco will be the first city in the US to ban plastic shopping bags. The Reuters article says San Franciscans use an astonishing 181 million plastic bags per year. That’s about 120 bags per person per year. This works out to saving “450,000 gallons of oil a year and (will) remove the need to send 1,400 tons of debris now sent annually to landfills.” Imagine the cumulative impact as similar bans spread around the planet and begin to reduce the 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags we use globally every year!

The goals are to stop using the non-biodegradable bags and cut down on oil consumption but it is certainly not to switch back to using paper bags. Remember those comes from trees. Instead the ban hopes to motivate shoppers to start using reusable canvas shopping bags. The city of San Francisco gave out free canvas bags to residents the day it voted to ban plastic bags.

So, why wait for a ban in your city? Pickup a few fair trade canvas shopping bags for yourself.

Along our quest of being cheap world-savers I came upon the CFL light bulb. We needed a light bulb anyway, so I decided to give it a try. The packaging proclaimed it would last for 5 years. I was doubtful but had heard these were better so we put it in and I had put it out of my mind for a bit.

Today I stumbled upon No Impact Man and some facts about the CFL bulb. To say a light bulb went on is modest, the old bulb exploded in a burst of glass and inefficiency! And on the selfish note, these things are going to save us some serious cash.

“Compact fluorescents emit the same light as classic incandescent but use 75% or 80% less electricity.”

The bulbs, even with heavy use, last around can last 5, 7 and 10 years!

These run more expensive than the traditional bulbs, we spent about $8 for a set of two. But this will balance out about 5 months of savings, and after that we’ll still have at least 55 months to go!

If every one of the 110 million American households replaced just one “ordinary 60-watt bulb, the energy saved would be enough to power a city of 1.5 million people. One bulb swapped out is enough electricity saved to power all the homes in Delaware and Rhode Island. In terms of oil not burned, or greenhouse gases not exhausted into the atmosphere, one bulb is equivalent to taking 1.3 million cars off the roads.”

These are not the perfect solution, so there are a few things to keep in mind. First, don’t turn your house into stadium lighting, your mother’s was right, always turn the light off. Second, there is about 5 mg of mercury in them which means never handle the glass with your bare hands if the bulb breaks, and dispose of them properly through your local household hazardous waste collection site (find yours here). That way the mercury will be reclaimed so it won’t harm the environment.

While they are not a ultimate answer to reducing the amount of energy we use, they are moving along that path. So the next time your light burns out remember to grab one of these guys, and then forget about it for a nice long time.

Unfortunately I have yet to find the magic napkin fairy and get her fairy dust in gear producing all the worlds paper products which means that until I do catch her, paper products come from trees. What?! you say. Yes, tis true.

Upon first glance, the idea that napkins and paper towels come from trees does seem to fall into the Simpson territory of DUH! But step back and think about it, or not think about it as the case may be. Everytime you grab a bunch of napkins, or some paper towels, do you really pay attention to what you’re doing? I know I certainly don’t. However, when I stumbled upon the concept of These Come From Trees I decided to grab my beakers and lab coat and conduct my own scientific experiment. This only consisted of paying attention to every napkin & paper towel I grabbed, and just that small shift in awareness made me use fewer. But if you’re looking for a more scientific experiment:

* Testing shows a “These Come From Trees” sticker on a paper towel dispenser reduces paper towel consumption by ~15%
* A typical fast food restaurant with two bathrooms can use up to 2000 pounds of paper towels a year
* The average coffee shop uses 1000 pounds of paper towels a year
* A single tree produces around 100 pounds of paper
* A single “These Come From Trees” sticker can save around a tree’s worth of paper, every year
* Roughly 50,000 fast food restaurants in the US

Pete Kazanjy journey into tree-saving “was predicated on my belief that all things being equal, most people want to do the right thing. And this extends to conservation as well. As long as it’s not terribly costly (like giving up your car, or riding to work in the rain), people are usually open to an environmental message.”

You can purchase these stickers for friendly reminders in you neck of the woods through their website. The cost $5 - 20, $10 - 50 & $18 - 100. “The charge is to cover cost of stickers, postage, and the fulfillment costs. Any overage will be donated to Sierra Club.”

These stickers are laminated, so they will stand up to rigorous bathroom cleaning, and each sticker saves about a trees worth of paper! I’ve already got mine on order, look out KU public restrooms, a tree savers on the way!