From Green Right Now Reports

The U.S. EPA announced Wednesday that it is taking several steps to increase the safety of flea and tick treatments for pets, including requiring better labeling and instructions to prevent misuse. The agency also promises to subject new and existing products to stricter testing.

The EPA found that small dogs are more likely to have an adverse reaction to spot-on flea treatments.

The move comes after hundreds of reports of pets falling ill, or even dying, nationwide after being treated with flea and tick treatments available on the consumer market. The agency reported that it logged more than 44,000 reports of bad reactions to topical flea and tick products in 2008, which was up considerably from the 28,000+ reported in 2007. The reactions included skin irritations, gastrointestinal problems that included vomiting and diarrhea and nervous system effects — trembling, seizures, depression.

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By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

With all the talk about natural cosmetics, organic makeup and getting the chemicals out of personal products, you’d think that finding basic, non-toxic facial foundations would be a simple matter.

You’d be wrong. We took five foundations that claim to be “natural” and free of concerning chemicals and matched them against Skin Deep, the database that rates makeup for toxicity.

The results surprised us. They’ll probably surprise you. And they remind us once again that the labels touting “organic” and “natural” ingredients, can be deceiving in body products. A cosmetic can use those labels, and still contain compounds that raise red flags.

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From Green Right Now Reports

As we contemplate that vast swath of un-prepped garden turf and weedy herb pots in the backyard, the question naturally arises: Is it too late to join a CSA – where you can buy a share of a farmer’s harvest during the growing months?

CSAs provide you with local food; you support area farmers

The answer is no. While many CSAs (for Community Support Agriculture) sell out the fall before, and even encourage pre-sales so they can fine-tune the size of their gardens, the growing number of CSAs and expanding existing CSAs are making this form of local food buying more available. We sampled some metro areas on LocalHarvest.org and found that many CSAs are still offering subscriptions.

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By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

St. Pat’s is coming up. So it’s time to decide, how green do you want to be?

Green and Sober

In this scenario, you remember to carry your reusable water bottle. If your Klean Kanteen were green that would be keen. But any reusable bottle will do.

Green and Tipsy

If you’re looking to imbibe, there’s the traditional green beer, a staple at Irish parades everywhere. You can make it at home with green food dye. It is best showcased in a chilled clear glass mug.

Green as in Apple Green

Of course, there’s your ‘Green Apple Surprise’, made with Midori Green Apple Liquor and tequila or vodka or rum. Midori is happy to oblige with recipes. But these sweeties can really go down easy, so drink responsibly. Make it greener with organic liquors…

Super Green — and also Tipsy

Organic Kiwi Crush

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From Green Right Now Reports

We know there are thousands of apps available for your iPhone. But here’s one we think will be really useful, the HappyCow VeginOut Guide.

Happy Cow phone apps help you find veggie restaurants

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From Green Right Now Reports

If you’ve eaten in a hospital, high school, college or company cafeteria in recent years, you may have been served by Sodexo, even if you didn’t know it. During the Vancouver Olympics, the ubiquitous French-based food service giant provided meals at the Athletes Village, too.

In the latter case, that involved more than flipping burgers and blending smoothies.

“They can’t use supplements, even multi-vitamins, because there are no guarantees they won’t contain banned substances, and muscle-building and recovery powders and protein powders might contain pro-hormones,” said Nanci Guest, director of sport nutrition for the Organizing Committee and supervising dietitian for the Athletes’ Village. “We’ll have ingredient lists for every food offered. Sodexo has done a lot of research and gathered information from other Olympics.”

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Still think of aluminum cans as the red-headed stepchild of the beer container industry? Bon Appetit magazine suggests that it may be time to take a second look.

According to the publication, nearly 75 breweries in the United States and Canada have switched their premium beers from glass to aluminum cans. Among reasons cited for the move: Delivering a fresher and better-tasting beer, the versatility of the can, and – yes! – a lower environmental impact.

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From Green Right Now Reports

Whether or not cell phone radiation presents a human health risk remains one of those dangling public health questions. Some studies have suggested that longtime users of cell phones face an increased chance of developing brain or salivary gland cancers. But many others have found no link, prompting some public health groups to give cell phone a clean bill.

Motorola Droid at the high end of the radiation scale at 1.49 SAR when held at the ear

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Restaurant organizations of all sizes are hungry for greater efficiency in their operations, the survey found.

From Green Right Now Reports

Sustainability practices that minimize the impact of restaurant operations on the environment appear to be gaining momentum as the foodservice industry finds ways to measure the return on its investment in green systems and technologies, according the results of a new benchmark survey from RSR Research.

The study, “The Better-Run Restaurant: Environmental Sustainability in Restaurant Retail 2010,” finds restaurant organizations of all sizes hungry for greater efficiency in their operations, particularly those solutions which cut energy costs, reduce wasteful packaging, and can be leveraged to “tell a green story” to diners. While the industry is still struggling to correlate top line revenue with green investments, it does recognize the bottom line benefits of cost savings from energy and waste management.

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By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

Concerned about all those dangerous household chemicals you keep hearing about: BPA, phthalates and pesticides with cryptic names like 2,4-Dioxane?

We’ve found just the book for you.

Slow Death By Rubber Duck:The Secret Danger of Everyday Things (Counterpoint, 2009. U.S. $25) will take you on a chilling, but informative ride through our chemically enhanced consumer product world. Starting with your kid’s Rubber Duck, which contains five chemicals of concern, imagine what the rest of the household contains.

Frankly, I worried that this cleverly titled book about the dangerous additives lurking in our house dust, furniture, hand soaps and Teflon pans would be just that, an inspired title followed by surface information. But I was quickly relieved of that concern. Co-authors Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie are not just scratching the stick-resistant surface here.

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By Shermakaye Bass
Green Right Now

Over the past year or so, there’s been a velvety, yummy buzz: Chocolate may just save the planet!

Divine Hearts are actually good for your heart

Actually, that’s a stretch. But in the months leading up to the Copenhagen climate talks last December, several chocolate-makers claimed they were venturing further into fair trade practices, including Nestle, Mars and Cadbury.

Add to that the promising method of “cabruca farming” in Brazil — a way of supplementing rainforests with valuable cacao plants to offset wholesale slash-and-burn techniques. Then multiply those happy developments by now-abundant data showing that chocolate — dark chocolates and bittersweets, specifically — are good for our health, and you’ve got a growing body of evidence that semi-sweet, Fair Trade chocolate is not only good for body, heart and soul; it could be good for the environment.

“Chocolate is considered to be a super food,” says Steven Flood, co-owner of Fat Turkey Chocolates, an organic chocolatier based in Austin, Texas. “You could actually live and sustain yourself on chocolate alone and get everything you need. And you wouldn’t get fat. Because there’s not a lot of fat in dark chocolate.”

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By Sommer Saadi
Green Right Now

New Yorkers have gotten pretty good at finding new places to grow plants: rooftops in Brooklyn, abandoned rail lines in Manhattan, and now they’re conquering the tops of old shipping containers.

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