Yahoo!'s Green Picks Blog

Build a better brunch

Trystan L. Bass — Fri, 09 May 2008 11:04:29 PDT

Whether it's Mother's Day, Father's Day, or a romantic breakfast in bed, sometimes you want to make a brunch that's really special. And nothing says you care like choosing wholesome, good-for-you and good-for-the-planet ingredients.

Let's start with that morning classic, the incredible, edible egg.

We hope the chicken who laid the little orb on your plate spent her life clucking around on a sunny farm, pecking at worms, and chasing merry chicks. But the reality of modern agribusiness isn't so pretty.

According to the Humane Society of the United States, most egg-laying hens in America are confined to cages with only 67 square inches of space per bird. These crowded battery cages are stacked on top of each other, and the chickens can't walk around or even spread their wings.

This is why many groups advocate for "cage-free eggs," sometimes called "free range" or "free farmed." But as the Green Guide notes, none of these terms are regulated or verified by a third party.

Only the term "USDA organic" is verified, and this confirms is that the chickens were fed organic feed, not given antibiotics, and were given access to the outdoors. But USDA regulations consider five minutes of open-air access each day to be sufficient -- and "access" simply means that a door is available and the chickens can use it. Nobody forces them to go outside, plus the "outside" may simply be a bare patch of ground.

And cage-free birds are not necessarily raised in a cruelty-free environment. Most cage-free hens have part of their beaks removed to limit stress-induced aggression. They live less than two years, which is less than half the normal lifespan.

Plus, it's just not that easy to find cage-free eggs, as the New York Times and others have reported. The idea has become trendy, so Whole Foods, corporate cafes (yeah, Yahoo!'s included), universities, Ben & Jerry's, and even Burger King are flocking to free-farmed yolks.

But only a reported 5 percent of American eggs are either cage-free or organic (that's up 2 percent in the past three years). And the prices are sky-high -- around $2 more per dozen, or so USA Today estimates.

If you can find genuinely free-range eggs from a small farmer, such as at your local farmers' market, some folks swear that the taste is better and the eggs are worth the price. But if you're in the city or 'burbs with only a big-name grocery store, well, it's hard to say if the cage-free label makes much difference.

A better bet to improve breakfast is organic fruit. Who doesn't love a beautiful bowl of fresh fruit in the morning, or maybe some chopped fruit topping a pancake or waffles? Just make sure you're not serving up pesticides with those sweets of the earth.

The not-for-profit Environmental Working Group has a handy list of fruits and veggies ranked by how clean they are. The results of nearly 51,000 pesticide tests on produce between 2000 and 2005 were analyzed to create this guide. You can get a printable PDF to keep in your wallet and take to the store.

This guide lists the dirty dozen fruits -- these are typically so contaminated, you should always buy the USDA-certified organic versions, which are clean. Common breakfast fruits on the list include peaches, apples, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, grapes, and pears.

The list of the 12 cleanest fruits -- ones you don't need to buy organic because they're usually safe -- also features some morning faves. Look for ordinary pineapples, mango, kiwi, and bananas.

Add a pot of fair-trade coffee, and you've got a brunch to make your mom, dad, your sweetie, and even Mother Earth proud.

Sweet tooth truth

Trystan L. Bass — Fri, 02 May 2008 16:15:07 PDT

Rich and creamy, chocolate started as the food of the gods. Now it's the ideal gift for every special occasion. But behind the dark, delicious morsels lay some unfortunate environmental truths.

If you want to give your loved one a treat that's sweet to the planet, here's some background info and recommended sources.

First, you should know that 70% of the cacao beans used to make chocolate are grown in Africa, mostly in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana. Some cacao is grown in South America, the Caribbean, and Indonesia as well. In all of these places, child labor is a big problem.

In 2002, the International Labour Organization released a series of studies about cacao farming in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Cameroon, and Nigeria. This group found that 284,000 children were working on these farms, frequently in unsafe conditions.

Children were handling toxic pesticides, wielding machetes, and working long hours. In Côte d’Ivoire, a third of kids ages 6 to 17 who lived in cocoa-producing households had never attended school.

Plus, these operations are damaging rainforests. According to the World Watch Institute, cocoa farming has destroyed 13% of the original forest in Côte d'Ivoire. Global Exchange (PDF) notes that deforestation has reduced habitat for birds. And overuse of pesticides can backfire and create more virulent pests.

The chocolate industry has taken steps recently to address child labor and environmentally harmful farming practices.

The World Cocoa Foundation created programs with farmers to encourage more sustainable farming and safer working conditions. They partnered with various non-governmental agencies, as well as TransFair USA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But the industry still has a long way to go.

If you want chocolate that's guaranteed eco-friendly, your best bet is to look for a fair-trade certification. This means a neutral, international system has certified that the farmers received a reasonable minimum price for their goods. Fair-trade also prohibits child labor and promotes sustainable farming practices that are similar to organic farming.

The inspection and certification process does cost money for a business, so this can increase the price for the consumer, in addition to the higher living wage the farmer receives. But you're getting a product that's been raised under better standards -- as the old saying goes, you get what you pay for.

TransFair USA certifies cocoa and lists quite a few retail chocolatiers. It's also worth looking for USDA organic certified chocolates; some manufacturers may not get both certifications due to the cost or beauracracy.

Theo Chocolate, Sweet Earth Organic Chocolate, Equal Exchange, and Shaman Chocolates are all organic and fair-trade certified.

I especially like Divine Chocolate. It's well named because the taste is divine, and it's fair-trade.

For more fair-trade chocolates, take a look at Nirvana Belgian Chocolates, San Francisco Chocolate Factory, and Alter Eco.

For organic chocolate, visit Lillie Belle Farms and Sjaak's Organic Chocolates.

Another personal favorite is Dagoba Organic Chocolate (I love the Latte Mocha bar!). These sweets are certified organic and sustainably grown, plus all of the dark chocolates are vegan.

If your loved one loves animals too, maybe an Endangered Species chocolate bar would be a great gift. These yummy bars are made of ethically traded, shade-grown chocolate, and 10% of profits go to different conservancy organizations.

While all of the ones mentioned so far are available online, some types are available in stores too. Newman's Own Organics has several flavors of chocolate bars and peanut butter cups sold in natural food stores and markets like Whole Foods.

The luxury UK brand Green and Black's Organic chocolate is highly acclaimed for its dark chocolates. Use the store locator on the website, and you may find this sweet delight at a Whole Foods or Target store in your neighborhood.

Dishpan hands go green

Trystan L. Bass — Thu, 01 May 2008 14:33:18 PDT

You've cooked up a tasty meal of fresh, local ingredients. Maybe you even relaxed with a glass of organic wine. Now it's time to clean up after dinner.

What if your charmingly retro house or tiny apartment doesn't include an automatic dishwasher? Can hand-washing the dirty pots and pans still be earth-friendly? Sure, but it takes a little elbow grease.

An oft-quoted study from the University of Bonn, Germany, found that people who hand-washed dishes used 27 gallons of water and 2.5 kWh of water-heating energy on average to clean 12 place settings.

This was dramatically less efficient than the dishwashing machines tested -- they used about 4 gallons of water and 1 to 2 kWh of energy.

But if you just can't afford an Energy-Star machine right now (or, like me, your 1940s kitchen is too narrow for one to fit into!), you can still learn to wash dishes better.

First, install an aerator on your faucet. These inexpensive little devices turn a wasteful sink into a low-flow water saver, and you won't really notice any lack of drippage. Put one in the bathroom sink too, while you're at it. It'll cost you maybe $3 per faucet.

Next, scrape your dishes after eating, instead of rinsing. You shouldn't need to soak them unless food has burned on. And try not to let food sit and dry on dishes, if possible.

When it's time to wash a load, do it efficiently by using dishpans or getting a plug for your sink. If you wash dishes with the faucet running, you might as well pour money down the drain. Your water bill goes up, valuable resources are lost, both you and the planet suffer. Who wants that?

Wash the dishes in a pan of hot water and rinse in a pan of cool water. Or if you have a double sink, use plugs and fill up the sinks.

One eco-bonus that hand-washing has over the machine is that many of the detergents for automatic dishwashers still contain phosphates. Dishwasher detergents are one of the last types of cleaning products in the U.S. still allowed to include this harmful agent. Liquid detergents used for hand-washing dishes are usually phosphate-free, so they don't gunk up our waterways.

How low can you go?

Sam Silverstein — Thu, 01 May 2008 10:26:57 PDT

How far will I go to save energy? I recently read the owner's manual for our dishwasher, that's how far.

Locating the manual was easy: Filing our collection gets done regularly. Actually reading one, however, generally means there's a crisis afoot.

And there is. An environmental crisis. Were there energy savings to be found in how we wash our dishes? And if so, what are the tradeoffs?

I turned to the manual in search of answers. I'll share what I learned by reading it — and by testing the results — so that you don't have to.

Our machine, an Asko ASEA 1502, is made in Sweden, and some critical passages in the manual were lost in translation. The manufacturer relies heavily on symbols to tell the story.

With some squinting, I eventually figured out there are three dials I can turn — or I should say buttons I can push — to save energy.

The first determines the duration of the wash cycle. A second controls water temperature, which can range from 150 to 110 degrees. The third turns a heating coil at the bottom of the machine on or off, for extra oomph steaming away water during the dry cycle.

The most energy-efficient scenario is the shortest wash cycle using the coolest temperature without the heated dry. We were doing the opposite. All three settings on our machine were maxed out, and had been for years.

A week-long experiment was conducted, with lots of settings tested - by which I mean, I futzed with the buttons and then eyeballed the results. Did the dishes suffer?

Yes, a little. They were clean as always. But cooler water evaporates less completely - and with the coil turned off tiny puddles appeared here and there among the otherwise gleaming glasses and plates. Opening the machine and letting the contents air dry helped.

So did giving them a quick twist with a towel prior to stowage. I figure, it's the least I can do to help. And there's no going back. The manual was crystal clear in one regard: "For greatest energy savings do not use heat during drying."

A couple extra tidbits from the week, in the name of every little bit counts:

Dishwashers do themselves need to be cleaned - at least ours does. Scraping clean a series of filters ahead of the drain made a significant difference in how the dishes turned out -more significant than water temperature.

Loading the machine with care also made a difference. Pointing the silverware up in the basket instead of down mattered most. (Sharp knives should point down, for safety.)

Turn off the machine altogether between use instead of leaving in standby mode. Though the energy saved is "negligible" according to the manual, it's a good habit to be in with all appliances, for minimizing the effect of so-called "energy vampires."

We'd been using too much detergent, filling the receptacle each time. The manual recommends this only for "hard" water with high mineral counts. It took two minutes on our local water district web site to learn our water was relatively "soft," requiring just one tablespoon of detergent.

In addition to energy, a fringe benefit was the amount of *time* saved. Running the machine on the most energy-efficient settings took 70 minutes instead of more than two hours — creating plenty of time to read up on my refrigerator.

Sam Silverstein is the editor of Yahoo! Green.

Eating right

Trystan L. Bass — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 22:39:11 PDT

You've heard of low-carb diets, right? Atkins, South Beach ... but what about a low-carbon diet?

Just like our cars and the power plants the light our houses create CO2 emissions, the food we eat can contribute to climate change. Livestock creates 18% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, so meat and dairy products have a high carbon count. Processed, packaged goods shipped across the country consume a lot more energy than fresh, local foods.

You can calculate the approximate climate impact of your meal at EatLowCarbon.org, a nifty tool created by the food service company Bon Appétit. Just drag and drop ingredients into your virtual sauté pan, and dish up an earth-friendly dinner.

I visited a couple places where Bon Appétit provides food service and encourages eco-friendly dining. See for yourself how college students and tech workers went low-carb this Earth Day.

Bon Appétit brought its low-carbon diet to more than 400 corporate and university cafés across the U.S. this year. The company contracts with places like Massachusetts Institute of Technology, adidas, Seattle Art Museum, Oracle Corporation, eBay, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Best Buy, and even Yahoo!.

At Santa Clara University, I talked to students and staff to see how they enjoyed the sustainable lunch choices. The response was very positive. An environmental studies major complimented the cafeteria for emphasizing local produce. The students also admired how Bon Appétit and the university worked together to educate people on making smart food choices.

Lindsey Cromwell, the university's sustainability coordinator, pointed out that the low-carbon diet is in line with the institution's long-term goal of going carbon-neutral. "As a Jesuit university, we're concerned with the ethical implications of all our decisions," she commented. Stewardship of the planet -- down to the food we choose -- is part of the life education Santa Clara University provides.

Bon Appétit's Director of Culinary Support, Marc Zammit, gave me a tour of the university's kitchen and pointed out what made the Earth Day meals 'low carbon.'

Cutting out beef is a big part of it, but this doesn't have to mean going totally vegetarian. Raising chicken, pork, and fish uses fewer resources than beef. If you can go meat-free a few days a week, that's great (and pretty healthy too). But trying a tilapia fish taco instead of a hamburger like some satisfied students did is a start.

Cheese is a tough one for many of us to give up. But at the university deli, Zammit showed how you can create delicious sandwiches without a slice of cheese. Yummy spreads like hummus and pesto add creamy texture and loads of flavor without dairy. Definitely worth trying at home!

I also checked out the corporate café at SAP Labs. Executive chef Melissa Miller showed me around her kitchen, where she makes tasty meals like chicken pho. This Vietnamese noodle soup traditionally has beef, but her low-carbon version was just as popular as the standard.

Miller's crew also makes potato chips from scratch -- this avoids packaging, since they can serve them from big glass jars. And fresh chips taste better too! What a treat.

The café also provides crackers for soups in jars (instead of individually wrapped), and condiments like ketchup and mustard are served in refillable containers (not packets). All of this reduces garbage.

This is something we can easily do at home too. Buying in bulk is often cheaper than buying lots of individually packaged items. We'll spend less and have less trash, so it's a win-win.

Both cafeterias encourage diners to use real china and silverware whenever possible. Paper and plastic to-go containers are frequently not recyclable or just not recycled, so they end up in the landfills. At Santa Clara University, the cafeteria uses 7,200 to-go boxes each week. If you stacked them up, that'd be almost as tall as the Empire State Building!

That's something we should remember when we get take-out food or are tempted to use paper plates at home for parties.

Want to learn more about how you can go low-carb? Check out Bon Appétit's low-carbon diet tips, including research behind why this helps the planet.

And get a recipe from the chef at San Francisco's de Young Museum for seafood stew to whip up your own sustainable dinner tonight.

Low-carbon seafood stew

Courtesy of chef Preeti Mistry — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 22:34:57 PDT

This eco-friendly recipe comes to us from Preeti Mistry, Chef at San Francisco's de Young Museum for Bon Appétit Management Company.

Editor's note: The recipe includes chardonnay wine for flavor. Depending on your location in the U.S., domestic wine isn't always the best choice. Several experts suggest that for people living west of the Mississippi River, wines from California, Oregon, and Washington State are the more eco-friendly choice. For those living in the east, wines from the eastern U.S. and from Italy, Spain, and France are more carbon-conscious.

Ingredients:
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 lb. local fish bones
2 medium size onions, diced
1 jumbo carrot, diced
2 bulbs fennel, diced
¼ cup chopped garlic
1 bunch thyme, picked & chopped
1 bunch oregano, picked & chopped
2 Meyer lemons, thinly sliced
2 cups chardonnay wine
2 fresh bay leaves
2 liters tap water

1 lb. fingerling potatoes, cut into bite-size pieces

½ cup extra virgin olive oil
4 medium sized shallots, finely diced
2 tbsp. salt
1 bunch flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 lb. local mussels, cleaned
1 lb. local clams, cleaned

Bring olive oil to a medium heat in a large sauce pan. Add fish bones, onions, carrots, and fennel sauté 10 minutes. Add garlic, thyme, oregano, and lemon slices, and continue cooking until bones and vegetables begin to brown. Turn heat to high and add wine. Scrape pot to release flavor, and let simmer until alcohol has burned off. Add water and bay leaves, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring potatoes to boil and simmer until cooked through.

Let broth cool and then puree in batches in blender. Strain broth and set aside.

Heat second portion of olive oil in large sauce pan. Add shallots and garlic and simmer on medium heat for 2 minutes. Add mussels, clams, cooked potatoes, and fish broth, and bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to medium. Simmer 8 minutes or until shells open, then add parsley and garlic.

Yield: 4 entrée servings

Chef Preeti's Thoughts

I chose the seafood stew because I have always been a fan of using every part of the protein — in this case, flavorful bones from local fish. They are instrumental in creating a savory base for the broth, which is complemented nicely by the more subtle flavors of local herbs and spring vegetables.

Paired with the fragrant and floral tones of a chardonnay and the natural tartness of Meyer lemons, the result is a hearty, aromatic stew with rich and complex layers of flavor that is light enough to enjoy in the spring, when tomatoes — the more typical base for a seafood stew — are out of season.

We've come a long way, baby

Trystan L. Bass — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:43:56 PDT

Earth Day is like the environmentalist's Christmas, New Years, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, and Fourth of July wrapped up in one.

Some may poo-poo Earth Day as having lost its true meaning, but like Charlie Brown, we can always rediscover the heart and soul of the day.

Stripped of the recent commercialism, the whole point of this day has always been to bring attention to our environment and what we need to do to clean it up.

So what better time than Earth Day 2008 to look at how far we've come in the past 12 months, and to think about what we can do to make our planet a cleaner place in the future.

Top five signs we're on the right track

Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize -- Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change were recognized for their work to spread the word about man-made climate change.

The Nobel Committee made clear the devastating effect global warming will have on human lives and security. For peace in our times, we have to reverse climate change. And thanks to Mr. Gore's work, millions of people are aware of this.

Prius sales topped 1 million -- The icon for green driving, Toyota's Prius hybrid car, hit a million cars sold worldwide in June 2007. Over half of those cars are zipping around the U.S.

The Prius is Silicon Valley's car of choice -- as evidenced by the dozens in Yahoo!'s own parking lot (and my own driveway). Other carmakers are jumping on the hybrid bandwagon every model year.

Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 signed into law -- This U.S. legislation, while far from perfect, has huge potential to increase our country's energy efficiency.

It raises standard gas mileage for cars and light trucks (aka SUVs) for the first time ages to 35 mpg by 2020. And this act bans the sale of most incandescent lightbulbs by 2014. We should see more Energy Star-rated appliances too.

The Vatican called pollution a sin -- When even the Catholic Church is going green, you know the message has spread. Church official Monsignor Gianfranco Girotti said, "You offend God not only by stealing, blaspheming, or coveting your neighbor's wife, but also by ruining the environment."

Rev. John Wauck from Rome's Pontifical University of the Holy Cross added that protecting the environment is implied in the Bible's Book of Genesis. Pollution is a variation on the mortal sin of gluttony or selfishness.

Wal-Mart went green -- Surprisingly, the world's biggest retailer has jumped on the sustainability bandwagon. How much of this is green-washing is debatable, but it's true that the mega-store has made some big eco-friendly efforts.

Wal-Mart sold more than 100 million compact fluorescent light bulbs in 2007, introduced fair-trade certified coffee in April 2008, and buys 10 million pounds of organic cotton annually.

Considering the company expects 90% of American households will shop at its stores this year, I think it's pretty important that Wal-Mart is doing something green.

We're more aware of climate change than ever before. We know something about how our choices in energy use, travel, and shopping affect the planet and our own communities. Let's pat ourselves on the back... then let's get back to work.

Top five things still we need to work on

Drive less, carpool more, use public transit -- Gas is climbing to $4 a gallon, so really, who wants to drive more anyway? If the nasty emissions don't make you want to share the ride or get out of the car entirely, the cost should.

Start small by carpooling to work a couple days a week. This really isn't that hard for most people, since statistically our commutes aren't long in distance. It's the time spent sitting in traffic that stretches our workday -- but if your city has carpool lanes, you'll zip to the office and back home easily.

Be a conscious consumer, reduce the stuff you buy -- The first step in "reduce, reuse, recycle" is often forgotten, but it's the most important one. The less junk we buy, the less we need to reuse or recycle. We're nipping the problem in the bud.

Do I really need the latest cell phone when I renew my plan? No, even if the company is giving it to me free. The old phone works fine, so why add it to the landfill?

Now personally, I love fashion, but when I feel like having new clothes, I hit the thrift store or look for vintage garb on eBay. At least then I'm not requiring new resources to be used simply for my pleasure, plus I'm keeping stuff out of the garbage.

You don't have to abandon all your possessions and live off the grid, but we can all think a bit more carefully about what we do buy, consider where it comes from, and what we'll do with it after we're finished with it.

Avoid toxic plastics -- We're starting to learn that some very common plastics leach toxic chemicals into our bodies, and these chemicals have been linked to cancer, reproductive problems, and other health dangers.

Two biggies to watch out for are Bisphenol A (also known as BPA) and phthalates. BPA is often found in plastic water bottles and baby bottles -- these containers usually have a #7 in the 'chasing arrow' symbol on the bottom. Phthalates are found in PVC and soft vinyl goods plus in personal-care products like shampoos and lotions. Look for any ingredient with "-phthalate" in the name.

Conserve water -- According to the United Nations, 41% of the world's population lacks access to clean water. The U.S. southeast was hit by a devastating drought last year, and global climate change will continue to screw with weather patterns.

It's always wise to conserve the water we have, and it's easy too. Fix leaks around the house, install a low-flow showerhead, consider drought-resistant landscaping, heck, even let it mellow if it's yellow. I've heard some famous people even do that.

Tell elected officials the environment matters to you (and vote accordingly) -- Our individual actions help a lot. But to make the biggest impact possible, we need our government to act.

Legislation ensures that corporations don't pollute the skies and oceans or use up all our natural resources. Our government can influence other countries to clean up their acts too.

So remind your representatives at the state and federal level that you care about our environment and want them to act with the planet in mind. And in November, when you have a chance to vote for a new president, consider the candidates' views on climate change too.

Inside 'The Story of Stuff'

Trystan L. Bass — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:35:52 PDT

If you're like most Americans, you have a lot of stuff. Jeans, MP3 players, kitchen gadgets, DVDs, shoes, TVs, kids' toys, T-shirts, cell phones, sports equipment ... you know, stuff.

We buy it all the time, in stores and online. We're the shopping-ist country on the planet. And our government wants us to shop more to boost the economy -- that's why some of us are getting rebate checks in May. Stores can't wait to help us spend that money too.

While we see the shiny, new gadgets in our hands and the growing clutter in our homes, what we don't see is the series of events that created that stuff and brought it to us. Sustainability expert Annie Leonard has traveled to over 30 countries and looked at factories and dumps. She's investigated the waste we export back to the Third World.

All this experience lead her to create the short film The Story of Stuff, which she launched online in December 2007.

With clever animations and straightforward talk, Leonard makes huge economic concepts approachable. She explains how the things we buy in the store are made from often-toxic chemicals and how factories use up natural resources and harm local communities. Leonard even points out that America's consumer culture is a relatively new phenomenon, created by post-World-War-II economists.

When I interviewed Leonard recently, she admitted that the movie happened because, "I realized I was too deep into this that I couldn't talk about it like normal people talk about it." Fellow activists challenged her to explain these issues so that they could understand her and maybe even so the rest of the world could too.

But Leonard says, "I was not making it to convert anyone, and I was not making it for the general public who was totally new to these ideas. I was making it for my peers who were familiar with these ideas but who didn't see the connections and the systemic nature of the problems."

Still, in four months on the Web, the movie topped 2.5 million views, and in March, it won the SXSW Interactive Award as an educational resource.

She's been surprised by the interest the film's received. Leonard put it online, "because we wanted to make it free. We're not doing it to make money. And we never expected that many people to watch it!"

In response to the buzz, she's also made DVDs available to those without high-speed net access. "We've distributed 6,000 DVDs to Third World countries, to India, China, Russia, Taiwan, and places are using them in their outreach programs," Leonard notes. "Public schools in the U.S., Native American reservations, churches have all asked for DVDs. We give discounts to anyone who asks." Sponsors like Ben & Jerry's have helped her small team support these efforts.

While the film doesn't prescribe specific actions to solve the problems it exposes, Leonard does suggest that we tackle an area we feel strongly about.

"One of the things I think is so important is rebuilding our sense of communities and a sense of engagement," Leonard says. "I think our greatest sense of joy in our lives is from coming together around a shared interest, whether it’s a book club or getting a bike lane in your town."

To encourage this kind of involvement, each section of the movie has a tab at the top of the website with a "Learn More" link. For example, click on "Consumption" if you want a sampling of groups dedicated to helping consumers be more sustainable. Or check the full list of recommended resources.

Deeper involvement is key. She's a little critical of a '10 simple steps' approach to changing the world. "It's better to change the structure and system so that the default is the right thing," Leonard advocates.

"I think the individual actions are absolutely important, but we shouldn't confuse that with political actions," she continues. "We should always choose the least toxic, most socially responsible option possible. But not because that'll bring about change -- it simply brings our day-to-day actions into congruence with our real values."

The 'grumpies' who comment on the movie often say that "they get the problem, they get the personal cost, the cost to happiness, but they don't know how to unplug from the system," Leonard explains.

"People express concern that if we reduce our consumption how will it affect our economy?" she adds. "This is a valid concern. If we seriously transform our society, it'll involve a lot of hard work. We need to be intentional, strategic, and figure it out. Let's start planning ahead instead of kicking and screaming until the last second."

In this case, knowledge really is power. "The more we can see the connections between these issues," she says, "we can be more transformative, instead of tinkering at the margins."

'The Story of Stuff' is making those connections happen. Leonard has received more than 20,000 emails from people all over the world -- and the vast majority have been very positive. She may not have set out to change minds, but she is. One comment was from "an SUV-driving, die-hard Republican who emailed and had just never considered any of this."

Schools from elementary level through college are using the movie. A fourth-grader in the Midwest saw the film and emailed saying it was "awesome" with lots of smileys. An Oxford professor used it his class.

Watch the movie, and you may not look at your own stuff the same way again.

Same thrill, no bill

Sam Silverstein — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:02:07 PDT

I'm sure my family would enjoy our backyard campfires just fine if we'd paid for our fire pit. But the fact that the hammered-copper disc landed in our backyard for free adds luster to those starry evenings. I also get a warm feeling when I see the same model for sale at Smith & Hawken for $300.

Getting stuff through a Freecycle group is satisfying that way. It's like a shopping buzz without the hangover — or bill. You get the same thrill of the chase, the same satisfaction of telling the story behind your discovery. Each Freecycle item is one less deposit to the local landfill, which is good.

And it's free. All that's required is effort. And not much at that.

Instead of throwing out unwanted furniture, dishes, bikes, or electronics, people in "reuse groups" give them away to other people in their community who want them. The givers and takers find each other online. The first step is to sign up for the reuse group nearest you (minimizing travel time when spot something you want).

The granddaddy of all reuse groups is Freecycle.org, with more than 5 million global members the globe and counting. Search here to find the Freecycle group nearest you.

Other reuse groups are less well known, but are just as successful in putting perfectly good stuff in people's happy hands. Yahoo! has compiled a master list of reuse groups around the world and plotted them on a map. Use it to find a reuse group near you.

The next step? Check your email.

Stuff you want to give away, you post as "offered." Whoever wants it responds to you directly, and off you go.

For stuff you see offered and want to go get, it's the same process in reverse. Let the giver know you're interested, and set up a time and place to make the handoff. Yes, the whole thing is based on trust. It also works.

Reuse groups keep an estimated 300 tons of waste out of landfills every day, according to a University of Iowa study. This profile of Freecycle founder Deron Beal further illustrates the power of the idea in words and pictures.

In our own home, we've given away golf clubs, children's toys, and outgrown bicycles, clearing space in our garage. We've added: the fire ring, a garden hose, and a guitar that works fine but sounds awful. Talent is harder to pass around.

Sam Silverstein is the editor of Yahoo! Green.

Sustainable, affordable alternatives to salmon

Trystan L. Bass — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:35:30 PDT

Last week, the salmon fishing season was cancelled before it even began. Due to surprisingly tiny numbers of Chinook salmon (aka king salmon), the Pacific Fishery Management Council banned commercial and recreational fishing for 2008 of this popular fish.

The only wild-caught salmon left are smaller varieties from Washington state and Alaska, so prices are expected to soar. Estimates are about $30 to $40 a pound.

Atlantic salmon is still available, but that farmed fish has a host of health and environmental problems. Environmental Defense warns about high levels of PCBs and dioxins in farmed salmon. The Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch notes that salmon farmers use a lot of pesticides and antibiotics, which get into the fish and the nearby ecosystem.

So what's a fan of fish dinners to do? Where do you go for those all-important omega-3s? What do you look for at the market or on a restaurant menu?

U.S. Tilapia - this fish is becoming more common in stores and is very affordable. U.S.-farmed Tilapia are more eco-friendly than the Latin American type, so make sure to ask.

Rainbow trout - A good choice for grilling and sometimes available smoked. Reminds me of childhood camping trips!

U.S. catfish - A Southern favorite that I find easy to cook, catfish is farmed responsibly. And it tastes great with hush puppies on the side.

Arctic char - Farmed in an environmentally sound manner, this fish comes from the U.S., Canada, Norway, and Iceland. It's also called Alpine char.

White seabass - Not really a seabass, this is also known as king croaker, weakfish, or seatrout.

Want more ideas about sustainable seafood? Read through our safe fish guide for expert resources about the best from the ocean.