It's so easy being green

Published in The Post-Star (D12)
3/16/06

Tree-hugger. Crunchie. Granola.

If you care about saving the earth, but are reluctant to join the ranks of the hemp-wearing, soybean-eating, solar-powered "greenies," fear not. Environmentalism isn't just for extremists anymore.

"We lead what we call 'light green' lifestyles. We're not living in a yurt off the grid; we're clean-cut, normal people, but we do want to have less impact on the earth," explained Jen Boulden, co-founder of the Web site Ideal Bite. "We really believe things have to change, or we're headed down a dangerous path."

Boulden and her business partner, Heather Stephenson, launched Ideal Bite in June 2005 as a way to connect "normal people" like themselves with resources for making more environmentally friendly choices in their daily lives.

"We send out daily tips about ways to take little bites of the 'green apple,' " Boulden said. "These kinds of small bites, when done en masse, can make huge positive changes."

For example, a recent tip points out that mailing in a simple form to the Direct Marketers Association can reduce your junk mail by up to 75 percent. Another notes that the chemicals in many fabric softeners and detergents have been linked to serious illnesses like cancer, and will linger in the natural water supply for years after they've left the rinse cycle.

"Our tips are all about what's going to make your life better AND help the earth," Boulden said.
Boulden, 32, was a consultant to Internet start-up companies when she chose a greener career path about five years ago.

"I had this sort of epiphany that I was working like 60 to 70 hours a week, and I really wasn't helping the world at all," she said. "I was 'selling vapor,' as the saying goes."

She got a degree in environmental policy and management -- what she calls "a green MBA" -- from George Washington University in 2004, and started Ideal Bite about a year later. At least 35,000 people now subscribe to the site's daily tips, and thousands more sign up each month.

"It's grown really organically, no pun intended," Boulden said.

Although Boulden fits the profile of an environmentalist in some ways -- she lives in Montana with a dog named Cricket who wears a hemp collar and eats all-natural pet food -- she refuses to judge those less green.

"I think up until now, there's always been this ideology that it's green versus brown; extreme tree-huggers versus everybody else, and we've tried to have this embracing attitude toward everybody. If you don't recycle, fine, do something else to help the earth," she said. "It's OK not to be perfect. Let's just do what we can."

TIPS FOR GREEN LIVING:
-- Avoid plastic water bottles. Polycarbonate plastic used in disposable water bottles can leach bisphenol-A, a chemical linked to increased risk of miscarriage, birth defects and prostate cancer. Safer options include stainless steel, glass or reusable HDPE #2 plastic (Nalgene now offers this option, although their standard bottles are polycarbonate).

-- Slim down in the shower. Parabens, the synthetic compounds lurking in many personal care products, can disrupt the endocrine system and cause weight gain or even lead to cancer. Look at the ingredients next time you purchase shampoo, shaving gel or makeup, and try to avoid things ending in -paraben. Tea tree oil is a safe, natural alternative. Also, consider reducing your shampoo use to every other day, which most stylists recommend for optimum hair health.

-- Drink fairly traded, organic coffee. Buying brands with a "fair trade" label means that the farmers who work so hard to grow those beautiful beans get a living wage, and buying organic means the soil won't have to drink up the nasty chemicals in fertilizers and pesticides.

-- Clean the lint screen in your dryer. This is as easy as it sounds, yet some people don't do it regularly. Keeping the screen clean makes your dryer up to 30 percent more energy-efficient, reduces a fire hazard, and satisfies the obsessive-compulsive streak in all of us.
Source: www.idealbite.com/tiplibrary

ON THE WEB
Buying green: www.thegreenguide.org
Reducing junk mail: www.dmaconsumers.org
Recycling cell phones: www.redjellyfish.com
Recycling batteries: www.earth911.org
Light commentary: idealbite.blogs.com and www.lazyenvironmentalist.com
In-depth environmental news: www.grist.org