TODAY'S TURN: Take the mileage off your food

THE ISSUE:
You may have noticed a little item in the news lately about gas prices rising slightly higher. Over dinner, we watch in horror as the local news exposes the daily price tag felony. Never mind that the tomato in our dinner salad probably had to travel about 1,500 miles to be the object of an indignant fork stabbing.

Most produce has been ridden hard over the nation's highways, airways and waterways. In fact, the stuff you find at the grocery store travels about 27 times further than produce from a local farmer.

Burning up fuel isn't the only side effect of shipping side dishes. Fruits, veggies, dairy and milk all need to be refrigerated for thousands of miles. That's serious energy. More plastic packaging is used to keep them fresh. And of course they're loaded with preservatives to last longer. Not to mention that every day that passes between pasture and plate is another day's nutrients lost.

THE GOOD TURN:
You can do one thing right now without changing your eating or shopping habits. Simply find out which produce is in season in your area and buy more of those foods. It's no guarantee, but chances are better that in-season foods don't need to travel as far or be preserved as long.

Here's a fantastic resource for finding out what's in season in your state. Right now in my area (late May near Cincinnati), seems that collards, peas, strawberries, spinach and asparagus are all in season. Sounds good to me.

CLICK HERE TO DO THIS GOOD TURN:
See which produce is in season in your area
A list of commonly airfreighted foods and their country of origin
General idea of what's in season across the country
Good guidelines for eating well locally

What's your EQ?

I never said I knew everything about showing the environment some love. Apparently, MSNBC.com agrees that I have a lot to learn.

For all you eco-knowitalls out there, try this quiz:
HOW ECO-SAVVY ARE YOU?

You'll be grilled on everything from batteries and bottled water to banking. The encouraging thing is that over half of the people who took the quiz scored an 80% or better. That means people are paying attention and environmental messages are sinking in and going mainstream.

Your humble correspondent, unfortunately, tanked. In fact, I scored worse than 93% of respondents who proved much "green"er than me. Guess I shouldn't mention that here...

After you take the quiz, please e-mail me and tell me how you scored and what suprised you about the answers.

THE GOOD TURN: Go Forest "Green" with your Burnt Sienna

Before I begin, let me get one thing straight: I'm NOT trying to stomp on a cherished bit of childhood memory. Guilt sucks.

THE ISSUE:
Went to a restaurant the other night with my three-year-old. She got her three-crayon pack and placemat maze and I got my rum and coke. When we left, the maze and drink(s) were done. But the crayons were still there, almost brand new. It didn't feel right to throw them away, but god knows she already had plenty of crayons at home. What's a "green" dad to do?

Turns out most crayons are made from paraffin wax. Paraffin wax does biodegrade and crayons are non-toxic, so it doesn't seem like they pose an environmental risk as long as some seagull doesn't start treating them like brightly colored frogs legs.

On the other hand, paraffin wax is a petroleum product. Exactly how much petroleum goes into making crayons isn't clear. But when Crayola alone churns out 3 billion rainbow sticks a year, when each kid in this country will use up 730 crayons by his/her 10th birthday, it's safe to say crayons draw a good bit of oil.

Add that to the paper used for wrappers and cardboard used for the box and maybe there are other ways to get your color on.

THE GOOD TURN:
Option #1 - Recycle your broken and discarded crayons. Okay, so it's not going to save a rain forest. But it couldn't hurt, and might be a lot of fun. Some ideas are listed below.

Option #2 - Find crayons that aren't petroleum-based. These can be a bit expensive though, so make sure your kid's not a "breaker" or "masher." Check out some of the brands below.

Next week, I attack slinkys, Smurfs and teddy bears.

CLICK HERE TO DO THIS GOOD TURN:
How to make your own crayons in minutes
Making crayon cookies
Other creative uses for crayons
Trade your old crayons in for recycled ones
Stockmar Beeswax Crayons
Crayon Rocks Soy Crayons
Waldorf Supplies Natural Wax Crayons

TODAY'S TURN: Know why you're flipping that switch

THE ISSUE:
I voted today. Got my sticker and everything to prove it. But maybe I shouldn't have.

I thought I was doing the right thing. Wrote myself a reminder note. Left the house early to drop my daughter with the babysitter. Made a point to reroute my commute. Waited (semi-patiently) while the volunteer clerk couldn't find my name in the ledger. (Hint for next time: don't look for "Kramer" under "S".) So far, so good. Doing my civic duty here...

Then I got in the voting booth and realized I didn't know what the hell I was voting for. As an Independent, I couldn't vote in either primary. So I was left with choosing between six people I'd never heard of for a single Circuit Judge position or something. See, I don't even remember what the office was!

As much as I "prepared" for it, I had no business voting today. I should have left this decision up to those who did their homework. Lesson learned.

THE GOOD TURN:
Most state boards of elections post sample ballots long before election day. Grab one, scan it and at least learn a little something. Even the local stuff - 90% of what's on the ballot is probably close to home and probably the least understood. It would have taken me two minutes to read this article and make a much smarter choice than choosing a guy "who sounds good." I'll try to think about that next time I'm in front of a judge.

Bottom line, if you're going to vote, make sure you know what the hell you're talking about. Without knowledge, it all comes down to name recognition, doesn't it? And that's a huge part of what wrong with politics today. The loudest stay the longest. If you're voting on stuff you know nothing about, you're part of the problem - like I was today.

CLICK HERE TO DO THIS GOOD TURN:
Visit the Project Vote Smart website.

TODAY'S TURN: Read more smartily

THE ISSUE:
Some magazines never die. I'm not talking about the retreads in your doctor's waiting room or the lining of your birdcage. I'm talking about magazines that get recycled and thus become immortal.

Keeping magazines alive can be a big deal. The September 2007 issue of Vogue weighed in with a whopping 727 pages of advertising. That's not 272 pages. That's 727. Of ads. Since centerfolds aren't getting any smaller, and Fabrizio Gianni ads are immune to logic, we can't count on paper demand to drop anytime soon. But maybe the pulp can be pulped a little smarter.

Here's some fuzzy math...1 ton of high-end virgin magazine paper takes about 15 trees to make. That'll give you about 1,100 magazines. Vogue has a circulation of about 1.2 million per month. That's about 16,000 trees for each issue of an ad-vomiting Vogue. (Of course, that's just a rough estimate and I take no responsbility for anyone protesting the Conde Nast Publications offices based on my calculations.) But they do give you a ballpark reason why recycled magazines can have a huge impact - if they get support from readers.

THE GOOD TURN:
All of these magazines have two things in common:
- Birds and Blooms
- Country
- Every Day with Rachel Ray
- Fast Company
- Inc
- Natural Health
- Nickelodean
- Outside
- Reminisce
- Science
- Shape
- Simple and Delicious
- Taste of Home

1. They're all made with recycled content and/or responsibly sourced virgin fiber.
2. They're all listed among the top 300 magazines in the US.

That means it's possible be both popular and sensible. That's right, recycling magazine paper isn't just for fringe pubs like Mother Jones or Utne Reader.

Still, the industry has a long way to go. The average ranking for the magazines in the above list is #193, and only one recycler is in the top 50 (Shape at #43). And this list accounts for only 4% of the top 300 mags. That means 96% of what you see on the newstand is made with brand new trees. But at least these 13 publications (and about 60 others that didn't make the top 300) give you something to look for next time you're looking for a bathroom companion.

CLICK HERE TO DO THIS GOOD TURN:
See the full list of magazines that use recylced paper.

TODAY'S TURN: Healthy pet love

THE ISSUE:
A friend of mine once had a cat, I forget his name. All I remember is that he was around forever and he was really, really fat (the cat, not my friend). Looked like he swallowed a football. One day I noticed that the cat was just staring out the window for over an hour, didn't move a muscle.

Turns out the mangy critter had passed on to Kitty Heaven and my friend had had the cat stuffed. The point is, people love their pets. When they pass on, we might like to do something special in their memory. Keep them alive, so to speak.

THE GOOD TURN:
The Cincinnati Public Library has set up a special fund to memorialize your pet and buy library materials at the same time. It's a LOT less creepy than stuffing him/her/it, and it'll help some kids bond with books like they bond with Buster.

Send at least $15 to the library, and they'll use it to buy children's books and material about pets. Here's the Pet Memorial part: each item is marked with a special gift plate inscribed with your beloved pet's name. So Patches the python, Buddy the blowfish, or Zeus the shih tzu can live forever. Without the glass eyeballs.

CLICK HERE TO DO THIS GOOD TURN:
Create a library Pet Memorial in your pet's name
(In case you're wondering, your live pets can also be memorialized.)


Thanks to my buddy Mark Kerley for the heads-up about the pet memorials. Visit his design site here.

World Fair Trade Day is May 10

This is more than just a commemorative day like Barbershop Quartet Day or International Bandana Day where you're simply asked to "observe" something. World Fair Trade Day is more like a celebration. A day of events and festivities saluting fair trade and everything it means. It's an international statement that our purchases can stand for something - but not stand on someone.

Find a World Fair Trade event near you.

If you can't get to an event, you can participate online by supporting these businesses:

Ten Thousand Villages

Global Exchange Fair Trade Online Store

Gifts With Humanity

A Greater Gift

Work of Human Hands Catalog

Lutheran World Relief Handcraft Project Catalog

Original Good accessories and gift

World Finds handmade items

A Better Footprint wholesale goods

Many of these places have brick and mortar stores that are hosting World Fair Trade Day festivities too.