Elisa's Green Scene

Recycling electronics: Good and good for you

Consumer Reports has a piece in its June issue about recycling electronics. It's short and to the point.

The money quote:

"Why recycle? The cathode-ray tube in old-style TVs and computer monitors contains 4 to 8 pounds of lead, a neurotoxin. Cell phones and other electronic gadgets can contain mercury, cadmium, arsenic, and brominated flame retardants. Those toxins can leach from landfills into groundwater."

The article also provides some resources for people looking to find a place to recycle electronics in their locality.

I think they could have gone farther in providing resources. For example, why call out Dell's program, but not mention other computer manufacturers, such as Apple...as one obvious choice. They have extensive information on their site.

I have many a dead electronic thing lying abut my house. I guess it's better in my closet than in our dumpster, but still: This Consumer Reports article might inspire me to finally get rid of it...responsibly.

Animal Community Center and LEED certification, it's a win-win

I've had a bit of a bumpy relationship with the Humane Society of Silicon Valley. I was a donor, then they started what I considered to be a really bad idea: horse and carriage rides at a local shopping center as a fundraiser. Having lived in NYC and seen how miserable carriage horses lives are, I thought it was both ironic and hypocritical for an animal welfare organization to rely on the labor of animals to raise funding.

To their absolute credit, the HSSV exhibited a true desire to engage in real dialog about the issue, and to really understand why I felt as I did (and withheld my contributions).

And after doing it for two years, they stopped...and told me that the arguments I raised influenced their decision. You can read more about the whole back and forth at any of these links.

And so I'm back donating again.

Meanwhile, they've opened a brand-new state-of-the-art animal care center and one of the construction goals of this new facility was to be the first animal welfare agency in the U.S. to receive LEED certification.

Some of the cool features include:

• A photovoltaic solar system to be installed on the building roof and carport, that will generate about 40-50% of the facility's needs
• Roofing material that reflects sunlight, and is designed to lower AC bills
• Just the way they placed and designed the building was deigned to leverage natural lighting!
• A kennel cleansing system which greatly reduces water use

There's a long list, and you can read more about the new Green Building here at the HSSV's site.

Some day I'm going to get myself out there to check it out. I have to wait until I think I can either a) resist the lure of a new kitten or b) have the time to actually get a new kitten and take proper care of her.

In the meantime, I'm watching what they're up to and nodding my approval from afar!

Downloaded: iPhone apps to find cruelty-free brands!

Thanks to Stephanie from Change.org's Animal Rights blog for pointing me to not one, but two apps for the iPhone that help you make sure that you're about to purchase cruelty-free cosmetics and personal care items.

One is called BNB, or Be Nice to Bunnies. It costs $1.99 and shares the following info:

BNB is a searchable app for your iphone or ipod touch that helps you make an informed decision about cruelty-free purchasing anywhere, any time, at home or in-store. 

Features include:

• Multiple search option, including companies who do test, companies who don't test, search by product type
• Check if the product is vegan-friendly 
• Tagging favorites 

The other is called Cruelty-Free by Symbiotic Software. It's published by the Coalition for Consumer information on Cosmetics (CCIC) This one is free and share this description:

Know which companies are cruelty-free! Use this hand shopping guide for the iPone or iPod touch to look up cosmetic, personal care and household product companies while you're on the go.

Features include:

• Browse alphabetically or by category
• Direct links to company web sites 

 I'm going to try them both and report back!

What are you glad to pay taxes for?

OK, I've had this post from The Daily Green bookmarked for over two weeks, so at this point discussing taxes seems a little outdated.

Still I like blogger Jeff Yeager's contention that he's glad to pay taxes for things like roads. And the EPA. And there's a very lively discussion he points to here about how a lot of other things are paid for too.

I have never minded paying taxes either, and having lived in California and New York, I've lived in highly-taxed states.

Come to think of it, my company provides full health benefits to our employees, and contrary to conventional wisdom, that expense isn't one that even comes close to breaking our small business back.

I guess I'm a liberal's dream come true :)

So, anything about paying taxes that you like?

When blogging worlds collide: Theatre and Green???

Ultra-intrigued to see this Ecorazzi post about New York's first LEED-certified Broadway theatre!

The full text of the press release can be read here. There is a ton of great info about all the ways this theatre has been built to be green (and how the former building on the site was torn down and re-used, again to be green.

The Roundabout Theatre will be in residence there. They of the current celebrity-filled Waiting for Godot.

Now, I'm off to cross-post this on my theatre blog...and it's not often I write those words!!

I know this isn't a vegan shoe blog, but...

I'm totally obsessed with shoes, what can I do? It all started in college when I sold shoes part-time for three years. That was pre-veg days, so I had shoes in every material...cruel and cruelty-free.

A few years later when I went vegetarian I also phased out leather and suede (and even wool and silk) even though it would be many years before I became a vegan on the inside.

I often said: It's harder to give up leather shoes than eating meat. 

Not so much because of function, but because of lack of stylish selection. Payless Shoe Source was the place to go, and they didn't have the cute eco-styles they have now.

now there are more and more places to find cute vegan shoes, and the latest I found via this post from a blog on KABC-LA's site.

It's a store called olsenHaus, and they wear their eco-philosophies on their sleeve! Vegan, eco-friendly materials, fair-trade practices, philanthropic initiatives...it's all there. They also have a space on their site for the harder truths about the use of animals. Not a pleasant page, I warn you.

But the proof is in the pudding or, in this case, the stylish vegan shoes. So, check out their collection. What caught my eye? How about this beauty:

Insert sigh filled with longing....here!