Photo by Hamed Saber

The next step in going green is living a holistic green lifestyle. In other words, it’s important to green every part of your life–not just one part of your life.

Housing

There’s nothing more fundamental to lifestyle than your home.

Building a new home? Depending on your climate and family size, consider a shipping container home or a sustainable yet luxurious FlatPack house.

Photo courtesy of FlatPackHomes

When it comes to life inside your home, can you reduce heat loss? How efficient is your lighting? Can you go paperless? How toxic is your laundry detergent?

While you may not live in an eco-mansion a la Johnny Depp, consider the environmental effects of your current home. And while you’re at it, consider the future of sustainable housing, too.

Transportation

It’s no secret that a key to reducing carbon emissions is limiting transportation and reducing the amount of carbon that’s used to move people from place to place.

Reduction should be the first line of defense. When travel is unavoidable, carpooling and public transit are king. But when you simply must drive your own vehicle, travel sustainably (even if you’re the president, please).

Sustainable transportation can take many forms. For those of you leaning towards DIY transportation, it’s possible to convert a normal vehicle into one that accepts alternative fuel-sources, such as coffee grounds, ammonia, and even alcohol.

But if you’re looking for an off-the-shelf green machine, there are plenty to choose from.

Photo courtesy of Zero Air Pollution

Recreation

If you want to live a holistic green lifestyle, it means spending your free time in carbon-neutral ways.

When looking for a good read, why not tackle reading a free e-book on green living? But don’t print it out; read it on an e-book reader, like the Kindle.

If you’re going to spend some time outdoors, why not fly a kite? Although you probably won’t be generating kite-powered energy, at least you’ll be enjoying yourself outside with few emissions.

Bored? Get inspired to make something amazing out of junk otherwise destined for the landfill. You could start small and then go big!

If you want to get really crazy, you could see some sights from a fat-powered boat.

Photo courtesy of EarthRace

Your thoughts on DIY transit aside, the point is to think holistically about the impact your life has on the planet.

Whether you’re a do-it-yourselfer or a gadget-hungry CEO, challenge yourself to green every part of your life.

Photo Credits:
Hamed Saber
Flat Pack House
Zero Air Pollution Cars
Earth Race Boat

The Social Art of Holistic Green Living is a post from: Ecoble

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Ocean Vodka Maui

Guess where this drink comes from? If you’re thinking island breezes and big, big waves… you’d be right. It’s distilled in Hawaii by a couple of surfer dudes who really know their drinks. And when they say ocean, they mean ocean: the water they use is pumped from a pristine sea-bed aquifer that is both contaminant-free, and contains an out-of-the-ordinary natural mineral content. Ocean Vodka is USDA certified organic, from GMO-free organic rye and corn, and run through their cool new four-column distillation process. And we just like the idea of surf vodka.

Rain Vodka

Rain, rain… don’t you dare go away. This precipitate spirit is handmade in small batches at a Buffalo Trace, Colorado distillery. Unusually, it’s made from 100% organic white corn, a cold-water sweet-mash fermentation, and a seven-distillation process. The result: a clean, smooth drink that’s been winning accolades and awards, including gold medals at this year’s World Spirits Championship. They also offer some creatively-flavored vodkas, including Cucumber Lime, Honey Mango Melon, Red Grape Hibiscus and Lavender Lemonade.

Benromach Organic Single-Malt Scotch

Whisky is tricky – with casking times of 9 years and longer, you have to do a lot of advance planning to get a new product to market. Some companies are in that process, but so far only one Benromach has a widely-available, certified-organic single malt whisky. Even their casks are virgin oak from environmentally managed forests! This is what we call a “young spirit”, and will probably be better as it matures some, but even so it picked up a Supreme Award at the Scottish Food and Drinks Excellence Awards, 2007

Maker’s Mark

There’s more than one way to be planet-friendly. Although they haven’t gone organic (there may not be enough organic grain available to meet their production needs), their Kentucky plant has been fully greened-up with the help of Ecovation

Taking a big step beyond basic recycling and wastewater treatment, they have an on-site anaerobic digestion facility that turns waste into bio-gas, offsetting 30 percent of their natural gas use (you’d think everyone would do this, but you’d be wrong). So now they’re not just one of America’s best bourbons; they’re a leading light in the movement for sustainable distilling.

Death’s Door Gin

The name isn’t exactly auspicious – how often have you woken up after too many gin & tonics to feel like you’re at death’s door? But these folks, from Washington Island, Wisconsin, not only source locally, they name locally, too; Death’s Door is the name of the straight that separates them from the mainland.  Apparently, they live sustainablyl at death’s door – with organic Great Lakes wheat and wildcrafted juniper berries right from the island. They make a pretty decent vodka, too.

Peak Organic Eau de Vie

That’s French for “Water of Life”, but at 18% alcohol these beverages aren’t as strong as the similarly named (in different languages) akvavit or whisky. Peak Spirits (which also make organic gin, vodka, and grappa – you can see the full product line in the picture) use locally-grown Colorado peaches, pears, apples and cherries, slowly fermented in chilled stainless tanks. The spirit is distilled in very small batches in a a copper-pot still. All products are 100% USDA-certified organic.

Momokawa Saké

Ah, sake… whether cold or hot, this Japanese rice wine delights the palate and befuddles the senses. Momokawa does their Junmai Ginjo sakés (best served cold) up green, with USDA organic certification – the first and so far only sakés  so blessed. Every step is certified, from the rice to the yeast to the milling and brewing equipment. The bottles even include a recycled screwcap and tree-free labeling. The taste is exceptional, as well, smooth and delightful.

Leblon Cachaça

Unless you’ve been living (and drinking) under a rock, you’ve probably had a mojito by now. But you’ve probably never had a caipirinha, Brazil’s national drink, made with cachaça. This stuff – made from fermented sugar cane but lighter and more delicate than rum – is the third most popular drink on the planet, but hasn’t even been available in the U.S. until recently. Now you can get an earth-friendly version, made with organic sugar cane, processed in alembique copper potstills, then finished in XO Cognac Casks.

VeeV

What’s better than organic? Organic + superfood! Acai is an Amazon berry that contains 57% more antioxidants than blueberries and 30 times the heart-healthy anthocyanins of red wine; paired with vitamin C-rich acerola cherries and prickly-pear juice, this is not just a drink, it’s a hangover-prevention treatment in a bottle. Talk about pre-emptive strikes…Try it with tonic and lime, or as a martini or margarita base.

Loft Lemongrass Cello

Limoncello is a popular sweet liquor, but let’s face it, it’s not that different from drinking sugar-laden, artificially-flavored and -colored lemon pudding. Bleh! Go with this healthy, green alternative from LOFT. “LOFT Organic Liqueurs was created by Lisa Averbuch to save people from the synthesized flavor and bright neon color of your average apple martini,” says the website, and they have achieved their goal in spades, becoming the first certified-organic liqueur in the U.S. by eschewing sythetic fertilizers,  artificial colorings, or nasty processing with ionizing radiation. They sweeten with organic agave nectar instead of sugar, source from biodynamic farms where possible, and use green packaging. It’s even certified EarthKosher. If you dont feel like lemongrass, try the lavender or the spicy ginger.

Sebor Absinthe

You can’t get much greener than absinthe, and Bohemia-based Sebor’s is the greenest of the bunch, using organic herbs, including the traditional wormwood (artemisia absinthium). And while most modern absinthes use artificial colors to achieve the distinctive green color, Sebor does it old-school, with chlorophyll. The grain alcohol spirit isn’t organic, unfortunately, but the overall experience is pretty much earth-friendly (if not head-friendly – try starting your drinking with a shot of Veev to avoid the traditional absinthe hangover).

Wines

Fine winemaking is basically about figureing out what works, and then doing it over and over again for a couple of centuries. That’s why it takes so long for new wine regions to start producing spectacular wines, and the same thing applies to organics. Even in established vineyards, going organic means change – and it takes a few seasons to figure out which changes work well, and which don’t work well at all.

So while organic wines have gotten – to put it gently – a mediocre reputation, we’re moving out of the experimentation phase and into the perfection phase. There are literally thousands of organic wines on the market now, and many of them are getting very, very good.

Coturri Estate Vineyards 2005 Zinfandel

The Coturri winery has been producing certified organic wines since 1993; their 2005 zinfandel just hit #4 on the Wine Report’s 2009 list of top organic wines, a formidable achievement as this $32 bottle parachuted into a list dominated by $100+ vintages. Grown in very small batches without irrigation, the flavor has been described as “astounding”. “This wine has black fruit in the nose, a very sweet mid-palate and good balancing acidity in the finish.” (Note – within three days of the Wine Report list hitting the news, Coturri sold out of this vintage. Check out their other years, and other wines – everything these guys put out is excellent.)

Frey 2005 Biodynamic® Syrah

Another Northern California offering, Frey Vineyards has a wide selection of organic wines, but this is probably the best, with its big jammy flavors and refined tannins. It was awarded a GOLD MEDAL in the Critics Challenge at the San Diego International Wine Competition, and has a fistful of silver and bronzes from international competitions.

….Is it worth it to go organic?

These drinks will cost you a little more (or a lot!), leading some to question whether organic realy makes a difference when it comes to hard alcohol.

There is one school of thought that says, “Look, the distillation process removes all impurities and leaves nothing but basic spirit; It’ll strip out all pesticides and chemical fertilizers, so way pay more?”

Anyone who tells you that is neither a drinker nor a chemist, and they probably don’t know much about alcoholic beverages or organic living, either.

In a nutshell:

a) Cheap booze gives you hangovers while premium stuff does not – ever wonder why?;

b) lots of extraneous stuff is carried through the distillation process;

c) producers use the finest ingredients and fine-tune their production facilities because it affects the taste of the end product; and

d) all that aside, organic farming is better for the environment and the planet, regardless.

Sean Evans of  the New York Daily News did a scientific experiment, knocking back 11 shots of pure organics one night that left him feeling just peachy the next morning, while  a duplicate bender on the non-organic counterparts left him bleary and hung-over. This is not subjective, folks, this is science!

Great Green Booze: 12 Sustainable Holiday Spirits is a post from: Ecoble

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1. Clean energy – A clean furnace is an efficient furnace. Check your filters, check your ducts, dust off radiators (dust insulates them and keeps heat in). Replacing a furnace filter is cheap, and dirty filters cut your efficiency and can cut your furnace’s lifespan. Get your furnace inspected and maintained – a badly tuned furnace wastes $30 a month on average, so this pays for itself very quickly. And make sure your vents aren’t blocked by furniture – that cuts efficiency, too.  
2. Heat Smart – First, drop the temp; each degree you cut clips 3 to 8 percent from your bill. Next, get wet – moist air holds heat better and FEELs warmer. You can add a humidifier to your furnace, buy a freestanding one, or just keep a kettle on the stove pumping out steam. You’ll feel the difference within minutes.
3. Thermostat Timer – This is actually the only piece of high-tech on our list. Putting it in is an easy do-it-yourselfer; programming can be trickier, but once you get the hang of it you can save 10 percent or more. Many even now come pre-programmed to drop the temperature during down-times, like work hours during the day or when you’re all in bed at night, and then bring up the temp just before you come home or wake up, so you’re always comfy.

   

4. Circulation – Heat rises. Use your ceiling fans to circulate air (or install them if you don’t them, and get the cooling benefit in summer as well). Cut back on using kitchen and bathroom ventilation fans for the season – they suck your valuable warm air right out of the house. Also, close off rooms that aren’t being used, and shut the heat vents in there.

   

5. Insulate – Got insulation? Better check – bats can sag, leaving gaps, and animals can slip in, making holes. Now’s the time to make sure by taking a quick look. Also, make sure you’re covered all over – attics and crawl spaces might have been overlooked. Need insulation? This can be a big ticket item, but compared to the average $1900 cost of heating a home, it’s a no-brainer. And adding insulation doesn’t just save you money now – it adds to your home’s value. Along with replacing old drafty windows, and replacing an old, inefficient furnace, this is one investment that pays off both in the short term and the long term. Talk to your bank about an equity credit line…
6. Mind the gaps! – I’m sure by now you know to caulk and weather-strip around doors and windows, and make sure to cover gaps between doors and thresholds. But there are a few places you might not have thought of, like electrical outlets. On outside walls, these can make a gap in your insulation blanket – you can buy small foam inserts that go under the switchplates. You should also check around pipes under sinks, and fill any gaps with foam. Of course, you should make a point of keeping all doors and windows closed – and close garage doors as quickly as possible. And close the chimney damper! That alone can hit you 10 percent. Putting a blanket over your fireplace screen when the fireplace isn’t in use can also help cut drafts.  
7. Use the sun! – You don’t have to have an expensive passive solar setup installed (although that would be great) – you’ve got windows, so let the sun in during the day. It’ll warm the interior, providing free watts of energy.
8. Windows of opportunity – When the sun goes away at night (or on cloudy days) keep the blinds, shades and curtains closed to prevent heat from radiating out through the glass (you could lose 10 to 20 percent of your heat that way). Installing heavy drapes is good, but you can also install 2-mil plastic sheeting that ups the insulation factor hugely (put it up with blue painter’s tape, which leaves less residue). Replace those ancient windows if you can.  
9. Snug in your bed – A thick down comforter might cost a bit, but if you’re bundled up and cozy you can save a bundle by cutting the heat to 60 degrees while you snooze. 
10. Wood stove – Depending on where you live, installing a wood burning stove can save you quite a bit. Just make sure you run it efficiently (pointers here). And splitting wood warms you up like you wouldn’t believe.

One other important tip – get everyone in the family involved! Emphasize the planet-saving aspects, and the kids will be happy to join in. And that’s a lot easier than yelling at them 10 times a week to keep the darn door closed….

Image Credits:

• (Flickr Creative Commons image by Zeusandhera)
• (Flicker Creative Commons image by westy559)
• (Ceiling Fan by NorthernFan.com)
• Ultratouch Natural Cotton Fiber Insulation
• (Flicker Creative Commons image by Phototrope)
• (Flickr commons photo by sweet mandy kay)
• Woodstove by Quadrafire

10 Ways to Cut Your Home Heating Bill is a post from: Ecoble

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Getting There - Thanksgiving is one of the heaviest travel weekends of the year, and how you choose to get there can make a big difference in your annual carbon footprint. If you’re driving long distances, avoid SUVs and big gas-guzzlers – remember, you can always rent something smaller. Carpooling is also good, although not always an option. And if you’re flying, keep in mind that air miles are about the most damaging mode of travel for the environment. Avoid flying if possible; if you can’t, consider purchasing carbon offsets from a reliable source.

Set the Scene - Candles are great for creating a warm, homey environment. But paraffin candles are awful for the home environment. They’re made from petrochemicals, they put vaporized parrafin into the air, and they often contain artificial oils and scents that you don’t want your loved ones to be breathing, either. Today, we have better options, made with beeswax and soy wax. Likewise, as you’re buying decorations, think of what’s going to happen to them when the holiday has passed. Try to avoid buying a bunch of paper goods that will go straight into the landfill.

Moderate the Meat - Industrial agricultural poultry farms generate a huge amount of waste; too much to compost (which is how small farms deal with natural by-products in a natural way, returning them to the soil as fertilizer). Instead, all that manure degrades into methane – a greenhouse gas that’s 20 times more potent than CO2. Plus, these birds are pumped full of antibiotics and nasty chemicals to try to keep them healthy in that cramped, hellish environment. This does awful things for the meat – both in terms of nutrients, and in flavor. Go for a free-range organic bird – your taste buds will thank you, as will your arteries. (Or you could try going Vegan…)

Go Local - Transportation is a big part of the CO2 impact of our food. Shipping by water has a modest impact, trucking is pretty bad, and air freight is terrible. Which means that, surprisingly, (ocean-shipped) Peruvian mangoes may have a lower impact than (trucked) Idaho potatoes. Your best bet – buy local. Go down to the farmers market for the most planet-friendly potatoes and yams.

Go Seasonal - Hothouse-grown peppers, tomatoes and lettuce are also not great for the environment – because of the hefty energy used in growing them in cold climates. Think like the Pilgrims, and try to focus on things that grow naturally in your neighborhood this time of year. In the north, that might mean substituting cold-loving crops like spinach, kale and chard instead of a salad.

Go Organic - Industrial agriculature depletes the soil, then uses petrochemical-derived fertilizers to attempt to replenish it. It’s a crazy system that’s accelerating climate change. Organic agriculture, in contrast, actually returns large amounts of carbon to the soil. If all the farms in the US switched to organics, it would be the equivalent of taking millions of cars off the road! Plus, organics are healthier. And your health is always something to be thankful for.

Avoid Packaged Foods - Often, producing and disposing of food packaging takes more energy than it took to grow and process the food in the first place. What can you do about that? Cut back on pre-packaged stuff. Go with fresh local spinach instead of frozen; bake your own pumpkin pie instead of buying one in a plastic clamshell from the market.

Recycle - And of course, make sure the cans, bottles, and packaging you use gets recycled.

Compost - Don’t send your scraps off to a landfill! In that nasty environment, food waste breaks down into methane, which as we’ve noted is a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than CO2. Set up a home composting system; if you can’t, check locally – many cities now have composting programs.

Don’t Say “Yes” to Excess - Don’t go whole hog – or whole turkey. Buy a smaller bird, only make three side dishes instead of six, go for two pies instead of four. You can still eat plenty of food, there will be less waste overall, and when you step on the scale Monday morning, you’ll be able to look at that dial without fear and loathing.

10 Great Ways to Green your Thanksgiving is a post from: Ecoble

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Want to green your ride, but can’t afford a Tesla? That’s okay… there are plenty of cool (if not quite so flashy) new transportation options coming down the pike that will cost you less than $100,000. Some of ‘em you can even build yourself.

Seriously Strange Fossil Fuelings:

Who needs hydrogen? Some energy alternatives have been around for years, and are making a comeback.

1. Wood

It’s not talked about as much as the Manhattan Project, but there was a big energy crisis during WWII, when the military sucked up a huge portion of the world’s petroleum output. Individual car-owners across Europe converted their cars and trucks to run on… wood.

Wood?

Wood. Engines don’t run on liquid gasoline – they literally run on fumes. Same goes for the fire in your fireplace – when you see flames rising, that’s the fumes of volatiles coming off the logs and igniting. You can do the same thing in your car.

Some folks are working on making this high-tech, with scrubbers and sealed, carefully controlled burners. Renewable Energy Systems are currently running a demonstration coast-to-coast tour with a couple of modded 1991 Dodge Dakota V8 pickups.

But for now you can go very low-tech – plonk a stove on the back of your pickup and run a vacuum hose to the carburetor; after that your spark plugs ignite the fumes as per usual. You can get information on the web to rig your vehicle with a hundred or so dollars in parts: Jim Mason offers workshops and info, or order a how-to guide from Mother Earth News.

But either way, your fuel can be wood if you want – or any scrap biomass.

2. Steam

The British Steam Car looks like the Batmobile and runs like an iron horse. It is not quite road-ready just yet, though, as it guzzles 1,000 litres (one ton!) of water per 25 minutes of travel time. So for now it is recommended only for shorter commutes (or perhaps not at all).

3. People Power

HumanCar is driven by people – even the steering is human powered, like on a bicycle or motorcycle.

How does it work? They’re being very, very cagey – there’s lot of talk on their website about patents and proprietary trade secrets, not too much on how it will run.

But for sure, this won’t be a Flintstones-style feet-through-the-floor operation.

Already on the Market:

4. ZAP Xebra

Perfect for in-city commuting or shopping, this little car only has a 25-mile range. Still, it brags that even after counting emissions from generating the electricity it uses, it produces 98% less pollution than a gas vehicle. And it’s available now. Next up: A ZAP trucklet with a solar panel to fuel itself.

5. Smart Fortwo

This may look like a toy, but it pumps out 110 horsepower (between a 4-cylinder gas engine and a 50-kilowatt electric motor) And it is kind of cute. This vehicle seats two comfortably (depending on the individual, of course); at a stretch you can cram in thirteen contortionists.

Future Green Transport:

6. Zoop

This little electric flitter can travel at up to 120 mph (although that prospect raises the specter of “Unsafe at Any Speed”). The Zoop is more about being seen – hence the clear canopy and the flashy design by EV-proponents André and Coqueline Courrèges of Paris-based fashion house Maison de Courrèges.

7. Ecooter

It is hard to say whether this Chinese offering is even a car, and even the name implies it is some sort of scooter…

Still, it has four wheels (in a diamond layout, rather than the standard “four corners” formation) and there is a roof over your head to keep out the wind and rain, so perhaps it qualifies.

The way it parks is particularly interesting – thanks to the diamond wheelbase, you can do some remarkably tight turning with this little thing:

7. Loremo

The name stands for “Low Resistance Mobile” This just goes to show that you don’t need to wait for next decade’s technology to accomplish amazing things with milage: The Loremo combines a highly-efficient German-engineered diesel engine with extremely low-drag design to achieve 150 miles per gallon. Coming next year to Europe, with US launch to follow.

8. Helios

Want to really get off the grid? Helios has the answer: a solar-powered buggy with a saurian solar sail that spreads out to soak up the sun and recharge, photovoltaicly. This concept car won the Best Use of Technology at the Interior Motives Design Awards 2008. Note to racers: do NOT attempt to deploy the sail as a drag chute…

9. The Air Car

Coming as early as spring 2009 from MDI and Zero Pollution Motors, it runs on compressed air. Developed by Formula One engineer Guy Nègre, the Air Car is expected to make big inroads in India, where it will be sold as the Tata Nano for $2500.

10. VW 1-Liter

A few of the mainline automakers are trying to break out of the gas-guzzler mode (although not GM, who have announced they won’t be bringing their min-cars to the US market, further demonstrating their brilliant business acumen and why the government should give them a big bailout.) VW wanted a car that would go 100 miles on one liter of gas, but it’s taken them more than six years to perfect the high-tech low-weight materials like carbon fiber and titanium. Along with a super-sleek aerodynamic shell, this diesel-powered commuter car is scheduled to get a spectacular 235 mpg when it hits the roads (in a limited edition test release) in 2010.

Can’t wait – or really want to do something now? Don’t despair – you can upgrade your current rustbucket to at least make it a little more fuel-efficient.

Futuristic Green Transit: 10 Vehicles for 2010 is a post from: Ecoble

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