By Mary Beth Gonzalez, iVillage.com

Remember the allure and thrill of being a kid in the '70s and getting a frozen TV dinner? There was something in the way the food manufacturers so consistently cared... so organized and so perfectly arranged every single time with the turkey/stuffing/gravy in one compartment, the neon red cranberries, the orange puree of some mystery vegetable and those whipped potatoes that would get a little brown on top in the oven. Nobody read labels back then so little did Mom know that she was feeding her children a sodium-rich, nutritionally depleted meal. We just felt loved.

Well, kids still love their frozen dinners and busy Moms today still rely on them so thankfully there are some healthier options.

With the excuse that a New Yorker has few options for January local and seasonal produce, I embarked on a mission of eating as many frozen/prepared dinners as I could this month. I also shared frozen meals with friends and colleagues with kids to get a broader point of view.

Here are our favorite frozen food finds: Scale ratings from 1-10
1. Taste: 1 = dislike, 10 = love
2. Ease of preparation: 1 = hard, 10 = easy
3. Would recommend: 1 =never, 10 = YES!

- Amy's Organic Bean and Cheese Burrito: 1=10, 2=10, 3=10
- Annie Chun's Organic Soy Ginger noodles: 1=8, 2=10, 3=10
- Amy's "Bistro Burger" a veggie burger made with rice/grains: 1=8, 2=9, 3=9
- Amy's Organic Vegetable Pot Pie with 100% whole wheat pie crust: 1=9, 2=10, 3=10
- Amy's Organic Frozen Mac and Cheese: 1=9, 2=10, 3=10
- Kashi's Sweet & Sour Chicken with natural chicken and whole grain pilaf: 1=8, 2=8, 3=9
- Annie Chun's Pad Thai Noodle Bowl: 1=6, 2=9, 3=7

Since navigating the frozen food aisle can be tricky, I consulted my husband who is a doctor who specializes in nutritional medicine and here is his general advice on what to look for and what to avoid:
- whole grains
- organic (natural doesn't mean organic)
- no white sugar (including cane syrup)
- no synthetic preservatives or additives (no MSG!)

Let us know what you've discovered in the natural frozen food aisle that both pleases your taste buds and your feeds your nutritional goals.

Mary Beth Gonzalez
iVillage.com
Please join my Going Green group and read my Green Blog

By KXAS NBC5

A man in Silver Spring, Md., has started a company called Global Worming Worm Tea so people can have a healthy garden in a world that's Going Green. Many people don't know that their garden's best friend is a worm. Simply by eating and excreting, worms create dirt that is full of natural fertilizers and nutrients.

The Global Worming Worm Tea factory is three wooden boxes in Chip Py's basement. The employees are 36,000 red wiggler worms who work for food, specifically Py's garbage.

Py buries his waste in the soil and puts the worms on top of it and they go to town. The garbage goes into one end of the worm and what comes out of the other end is incredibly rich dirt called worm castings.

Py then takes the dirt and puts it in a cheesecloth bag.

"It becomes like a giant tea bag, and I put it in my bio-blender and mix it with distilled water," said Py.

For 24 hours the blender forces the water through the tea bag, producing an incredibly concentrated worm broth.

Py bottles that broth and sells it as Global Worming Worm Tea, which he said could be used as a fertilizer and insect repellent.

Py is hoping his worms will show people there's a natural way to a beautiful landscape. Global Worming Worm Tea is sold at four locations in the Washington area and online.

Because the product is so unusual, Py often appears himself to explain how it works.

KXAS NBC5 - Dallas/Fort Worth
http://nbc5i.com/goinggreen/11441069/detail.html

By Zem Joaquin, ecofabulous.com

When a paint is marketed to pregnant women, parents of small children and people with allergies or asthma, it's pretty safe to say you've struck eco-gold. After all, in considering the health of the planet, we invariably improve upon the health of humanity as well.

An Arizona-based boutique color house is churning out handmade clay paints that are safe for everyone and everything at all times (as long as you don't guzzle down a gallon). Using ancient Mayan pigments and a soy resin - among a disclosed ingredient list that numbers under a dozen - Green Planet Paints provides a soft, silky clay finish in deep, complex colors. You can even create a smooth plaster finish by waxing the surface. Entirely free of Volatile Organic Compounds, these paints will smell only of soy, so you can be sure you aren't degrading your Indoor Air Quality (or outdoor!). I'm breathing easier already.

Zem Joaquin
ecofabulous.com

By Mara Schiavocampo, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams

Right now, on my desk, is something I'm pretty proud of. It's a rubber band ball. Why would a sphere of entangled rubber inspire pride? Let me explain.

I've always been a pretty wasteful person. Not intentionally, or even consciously. But for most of my life, I have thought of resources as being endless, and with no purpose other than to serve me. I would leave the kitchen sink running as I wiped down countertops, I'd walk out the door and leave all of the lights on, I'd print pages and pages of material and then re-print for trivial reasons, I never took the time to recycle. I didn't consciously rationalize it, but as much as I can remember, I couldn't imagine the world running out of anything. It's a huge planet and I figured we'd always have enough.

About a year ago, I started noticing a connection between my actions and the well-being of others. For me, that connection is key, because I care most about people and animals, not things (in my mind at least), like the ocean or the atmosphere. It was the height of summer and New York city was having a power crisis. City officials urged residents to use as little power as possible, fearing another blackout. If that happened, they said, old people could die because of the unrelenting heat. So I started turning the air-conditioner off once my place got cool. I'd make sure lights were off when I wasn't using them. My husband and I started to playfully remind each other to save energy. "Turn off that light," my husband would say. "We have to take care of the elderly." It was playful but not a joke. For the first time we saw our actions as benefiting others.

Then came the Discovery Channel documentary Planet Earth. I watched the entire series. It was appointment viewing. At one point they showed a polar bear swimming a remarkable distance looking for food. By the time he found some animals, he was too weak to attack them. He laid down and died, right in front of the camera. It broke my heart. And that's when it really sunk in that my actions were hurting people and animals. And I started to care.

Which brings us to the rubber band ball. Every morning my newspaper comes wrapped in two or three rubber bands. Initially, I threw them away. But then I wondered why. "There's nothing wrong with these," I thought. "And I always need rubber bands at the office." And so I started the ball.

Now I see stray rubber bands everywhere. I collect them and bring them into the office and add them to my ball. A few rubber bands won't save the world. But the ball represents so much more to me. It reminds me that I've turned away from wastefulness as part of my decision to care. As the ball grows, so does my commitment to the people and animals we share this beautiful world with.

Mara Schiavocampo
Digital Correspondent
NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams

By Mary Beth Gonzalez, iVillage.com

Many of us dream of a total kitchen makeover complete with Sub-Zero, Viking and Miele luxury refrigerators, ranges, countertops and cook top appliances. But not many of us can afford it. Now Green Demolitions helps make our dreams come true. This NY area based company salvages gently-used high-end kitchens from the luxury home market where new home buyers are most likely to gut, teardown and rebuild their dream house. Green Demolitions arrives on the scene, carts everything away at no expense and recycles at a very reasonable purchase price to mainstream America.

And Green Demolitions doesn't stop at kitchens... they recycle bathroom pedestal sinks, whirlpool tubs, oriental rugs, pianos, lighting fixtures, antiques and even airplanes! Their website previews kitchens that are available now and in the future, and they currently feature their "Almost Free Sale" where until 1/31/08 they've cut their prices to 95% off retail value.

With the envious eye of a rental apartment dweller, I've looked at their website and they have really top-quality stuff. They also have 3 stores where you can review the products up close in Norwalk, CT, Bethel, NY and Honesdale, PA.

To make the process even sweeter, donors get tax and renovation savings, buyers pay 50-75% off market price and the environment is protected from more landfill and energy waste. If these benefits aren't enough to get your fingers dialing, please know that all the proceeds go to Recovery Unlimited, a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to All Addicts Anonymous (AAA) for all addicts and all addictions including alcohol, drugs, tobacco, food, depression, anxiety and anger. Recycling for Recovery... sounds like a deal in which everybody wins.

Mary Beth Gonzalez
iVillage.com
Please join my Going Green group and read my Green Blog

By Pablo Pereira, KNBC

Since we started our Going Green segment here at KNBC TV in Los Angeles - viewer response and input has been tremendous. Our goal was to talk about the little things people could do in their lives to help the environment. Telling everyone to simply and go out and buy a Hybrid vehicle is a nice idea - but for most, out of the price range. So we have focused on the little things.

Our first story on Green Weddings catered to a certain group. But even if you weren't getting married, there were small things you could take away from that story you could practice in your daily lives. Buying local produce for a wedding reception saves on fuel and cuts down on transportation costs, as using local flower growers whenever possible. Should you wrap your gifts? A lot of paper goes to waste - so we suggested if someone has registered for a gift and already knows what they are getting for any occasion - why not simply present it with a nice card?

Another story we did with was Hybrid Taxi's. Not a big part of the business just yet here in Southern California, but we found where there were alternative fuel Taxi Services - people opted for it. We also saw many hybrid limos on the red carpet at this year's Academy Awards. Local amusement parks in Southern California are packed during the summer and we found that many, including Disneyland and Universal, are designing new rides with energy conservation in mind. Our story on how local energy companies are offering cash for old refrigerators was a big hit. Probably got more email about where one can recycle and how to apply for a refund more than any other story we have done. We also followed an energy auditor with a local family and learned very simple ways to save on your energy bill. Replacing air filters often and using low energy light bulbs topped the list.

Southern California has always been a leader in thinking Green and since our series began, we have found a number of people who are transforming their homes into energy efficient models for the rest of the country to follow. From solar power to planting gardens on roofs - people are saving big bucks on their energy cost while creating beautiful, safe environments for their families. Even local colleges are getting into the act. Recently we featured a four-year university that designed new dorms with green in mind. Recycling bins are everywhere and building materials were locally produced whenever possible.

In the future, we are looking at a number of new stories that will provide people with simple ways to help save our planet. From the home, to the office, to your drive and everywhere in between, there are a number of ways to Go Green and we can't wait to show people what we have discovered!

Pablo Pereira
Reporter, NBC 4 Los Angeles
http://knbc.com/goinggreen/

By Zem Joaquin, ecofabulous.com

When you have table scraps, you compost. When you have cardboard or newspaper, you repulp and reuse. Many plastics can be melted down and remolded... but what the heck do you do when it's time to dispatch your old, dead cell phone, laptop or iPod, with all those niggly little parts, to technological heaven? Considering the amount of nastiness built in, including heavy metals like lead, mercury and cadmium, it is imperative that they don't just go out with the garbage. As a matter of fact, in California - it's the law. The good news: companies like Green Citizen have arisen to ensure that your old Nokia or Dell moves on to a proper resting place (where it won't contaminate anyone's groundwater). Green Citizen operates out of the Bay Area, where (for a modest fee) it will even do pickups. Their website is a storehouse of info, as well as providing community-building tools and discussions.

Not in the Bay Area? If you're in California, the state has a county-by-county guide; in the Northeast, NLR provides a similar service, as well as focusing on keeping mercury-laden fluorescents out of landfills (NLR takes waste from all over the country). And Staples has just announced that they're taking in e-waste, too - for a fee, they'll even do data transfer to your new computer for you! And now there is now a resource so that next time you replace your laptop or printer you can purchase more eco-friendly electronics in the first place; check out Greenpeace's handy guide.

Zem Joaquin
ecofabulous.com

Mary Beth Gonzalez, iVillage.com

Bamboo, technically a grass, is one of the fastest growing plants on earth. It is a darling of the eco-friendly movement because it is highly durable, quickly renewable and a great strong, sustainable alternative to wood.

I recently visited a Long Island home with a backyard of tall bamboo shoots. The area was dense with 6 and 8 foot high bamboo reeds that had grown there in just the past month! Given bamboo's rapid growth, it can be quickly harvested in just 3-5 years as compared to the average 15 years of a typical tree. Bamboo not only grows quickly, but can be put to many uses in construction, in furniture manufacturing and as a fuel. Its stalks can be converted into fabric and clothing, and bamboo sprouts even make for a tasty edible dish. Few natural products can serve so many masters, so it's not surprising that bamboo has become an important natural resource for our eco-friendly lifestyle.

Now don't worry, I'm not going to show you how to cook bamboo, but I will let you know some great ways to cook with it and where to get the best bamboo products.

bambu is a very impressive "renewable ideas company" with a wide array of stylish organic bamboo kitchen products that affirm a commitment to innovative design, social responsibility, as well the environment. At every step of the manufacturing process, the company thinks not just of profit, but of the welfare of those who've help make their products possible, from the harvesters to the finishers in their factory. Their concern for the environment shows true as a member of 1% of the Planet, a group of business who each pledge a least 1% of net sales toward preservation and restoration of our natural world. Consumers should take heart knowing that with each bamboo purchase, you not only bring convenience and beauty into your home, but you're contributing great benefit to our environment.

My favorite bambu products:

• Chop, Scoop and Serve cutting board - an organic bamboo multitask board with scooped out area to pile the chopped scraps and then flip it to use as a serving board/cheese board with cracker well, these boards absorb little moisture which means less shrinking, warping or likelihood of bacteria growth. $32
• Veneerware - an organic bamboo alternative to a paper plate, it is sturdy, disposable and biodegrades on 4-6 months, 8 plates for $5.50
• Spoontulas - versatile half spoon, half spatula so you can stir, taste, spoon and mix to your green heart's content $15.95 (set of 3)

Green is often about making better choices. In the case of bamboo, we can choose to purchase high quality organic bamboo products and in turn help the planet. Sounds like a win win to me.

Mary Beth Gonzalez
iVillage.com
Please join my Going Green group and read my Green Blog

By Michael Marano, SCIFI.com

Frogs (1972)
Directed by George McCowan

Oscar winner Ray Milland appears in a different kind of Lost Weekend, as the wheelchair-bound patriarch of a grumpy family that has more in common with the cast of a game of Clue than any real clan. Unca Ray sets out poison traps for the critters on his private island, and in his day was quite the hunter. Frogs, snakes and other kinds of creepy-crawlies slither in for the attack. This low-budget gem famously played on a double bill with Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster, making for the most eco-aware night at the drive-in ever.

Day of the Animals (1977)
Directed by William Girdler

Ozone depletion leads to animals like hawks, mountain lions, bears and wolves teaming up to bump off really annoying 1970s stock characters. Hikers are set upon by the ozone-depletion-crazed critters and are of course picked off one by one, and not slaughtered en masse (otherwise, the movie would be 10 minutes long). How the critters know that it's Homo sapiens that are responsible for the hole in the ozone layer isn't explained, but the massive amounts of fluorocarbon-propelled hairspray in the coifs of the female cast might be a clue. With Leslie Nielsen and Christopher George. Really.

Night of the Lepus (1972)
Directed by William F. Claxton

Somehow, MGM thought that Australian SF writer Russel Braddon's satiric novel The Year of the Angry Rabbit would make a good horror movie. Genetic manipulation to control the rabbit population leads to bunnies the size of Volkswagens, played by real hippity-hoppers shot through a macro lens and by guys in bunny suits jumping on and mauling hapless victims. Starring Oscar nominees Stuart Whitman and Janet Leigh, and featuring the greatest movie line ever: "Attention! Attention! Ladies and gentlemen, attention! There is a herd of killer rabbits headed this way, and we desperately need your help!" Clips are featured in The Matrix.

Barracuda (1978)
Directed by Harry Kerwin and Wayne Crawford

In among the scads of 1970s Jaws ripoffs (Grizzly, Claws, Great White, Orca, Devil Fish ...) comes this zero-budget number, in which chemicals dumped into the water by bad guy named Jack, owner of "Jack Chemicals Company," leads to barracudas going berserk and chomping people. Turns out the chemicals are part of some government mind-control conspiracy, and the flick shifts gears from a Jaws ripoff to a Three Days of the Condor-type 1970s bit of paranoia. Think Alan J. Pakula making Piranha. With no money. Over a weekend.

Eight-Legged Freaks (2002)
Directed by Ellory Elkayem

The only revenge-of-the-animals flick on this list not made in the 1970s is a conscious throwback to 1970s revenge-of-the-animals flicks, and 1950s A-bomb paranoia flicks. Horrible, nasty chemicals dumped in mine shafts near a small town lead to local arachnids growing to giant size and feasting on local townsfolk, pets and ostriches (of the livestock variety). Great fun, in that unlike 1950s giant spiders (think Tarantula and Earth vs. the Spider), these are energetic critters, like wolf spiders, that leap on hapless prey. The flick is also of note in that it overtly addresses the economic issues that would make the town's mayor think that a toxic dump near the water table might be a good idea.

Michael Marano
SCIFI.com

By Brian Thompson, WNBC

What struck me as I reported on how homeowners are going green is the slow realization and acceptance that comes to environmentalism.

For example, one woman is all into saving money, but admits to no clue on the environment. I interviewed a corporate CEO who's totally committed to taking his company green. The vehicle he drives? A gas guzzling (albeit smaller sized) SUV. I know a dedicated environmentalist -he lives and breathes the stuff 24/7- and while he drives a small, relatively fuel efficient car, dismisses hybrids as a "drop in the bucket" gimmick.

In short, one person's idea of Going Green may be quite different from another's. In. Effect we are dealing with shades of green, which leads to this question: just how green are you?

Brian Thompson
Producer, NBC New York
http://wnbc.com/goinggreen/

By Mario Garcia, NBC Nightly News

Sometimes going green seems like it has a bad rap. People don't like to be told that they 'can't do things' or that they should do less of something'. Going "green" can be just as much about what we can do. Do one environmentally helpful act and it becomes easier to do the next.

In my personal life with the help of my wife and 5 year old daughter, we do as much as we can at home and we are always looking to do more.

Some of what we have done at this point quite frankly seems cliche. Yes we have CFL's (compact fluorescent light bulbs) in all of our fixtures. Even the dimmables. My wife swears by that modern invention called the Internet, and on it she found dimmable fluorescent bulbs. (You cannot put standard CFL's in a dimmable outlet). That said, CFL's really do make a difference. If every American home swapped out just 5 incandescent bulbs for CFL's, 1 trillion (with a "t") pounds of green house gases would not go into the air. That's equal to the emissions of 8 million cars but it's also equal to 6 billion dollars in energy savings to the "swappers".

In my household and in many cities and towns across the country you can also "opt into" sustainable energy. In New York City our utility provides us the choice. We chose to pay a slight premium to get our electricity from only sustainable sources. That said, the oldest business model is supply and demand, and if more people ask for this it will ultimately become cheaper, and in some instances it already is. This at a time when fossil fuels, last time I checked, are getting more expensive. Another easy thing to do that saves energy and money is to unplug all your chargers when they are not charging BlackBerrys, cell phones, iPods etc. When a device is not in the charger the chargers are still sucking energy, known as the vampire effect. In our house we have "smart strips - they are surge suppressors that actually cut all the energy to the devices when they are not in use. Power strips also suck energy even if the TV is turned off. All of this saves money on your energy bill. The average American household leaks about 50 watts of energy. Also when looking for appliances and home electronics look for the energy star label. Any device with that label saves 10-15% of energy compared with non-energy star appliances.

We also conserve in our house. We recycle most everything. The frustrating thing is that while some manufacturers make recyclable packaging (even some Styrofoam) some municipalities don't recycle everything. Know what you hometown does and do what you can to recycle what they do. Then push for them to recycle even more.

Mario Garcia
NBC Nightly News, Environmental Producer
http://www.nightly.msnbc.com

By Mary Beth Gonzalez, iVillage.com

I'm living the dream. Finally, after 20 plus years of living in Manhattan, I have an organic vegetable garden. Granted it lives on my kitchen countertop but it is a very real, very Green, very abundant garden.

Let me introduce you to my AeroGarden -- a present from my dear husband this Christmas. This revolutionary product is based on hydroponic gardening -- a soil less, high nutrient process that is considered by some to be the most productive way to grow all varieties of plants, for maximum yield, flavor and vitamin content. In fact, AeroGarden claims to be proven by NASA to be the highest yielding plant growth technology on the planet with nearly 50% faster growth then soil plants grown under the same conditions.

So far it has been a very user friendly, brown thumb proof, extremely low maintenance science experiment. The hydroponic concept is quite brilliant as plant roots suspend in the air in an high oxygen, rainforest-like environment. The plants thrive with ample oxygen that stimulates root growth helping them absorb nutrients faster. Just mix the pre-packaged nutrients in with the water and they feed directly to the root system several times a day.

Hydroponic gardening also offers environmental benefits. The process uses less water than soil gardening and constantly recycles and reuses the nutrients. Since hydroponic gardening systems do not require soil, topsoil erosion isn't even an issue.

However (and you knew there was a big BUT coming), now I know what it is like to have my own personal sun beaming down on me. The unit has 2 full daylight spectrum, energy-efficient grow lights that shine so brightly you'd think you had the Arc of the Covenant in your home. The system runs the grow lights for 16 hours on and 8 hours off so be sure to time it right for when you plan to sleep. The first few nights the lights were still on after I went to bed, and I found my REM sleep self lured toward the light in a creepy Close Encounters of the Third Kind kinda way.
And yet it works. I have herbs galore after just a few weeks. Basil and chives and dill, oh my! Next are cherry tomatoes, strawberries and mesclun lettuces. Just wish I could grow them all at once. I wonder how many of these units I can fit on my counter? Maybe if I move the coffee maker and the toaster oven into storage I can make enough room...

Mary Beth Gonzalez
iVillage.com
Please join my Going Green group and read my Green Blog

By Siobhan Adcock, iVillage.com

I just finished a wonderful book called The World Without Us by Alan Weisman. Since then, I have been dorking out to basically anyone who'll indulge me, trying to teach people some of the (many) things I learned by reading it. Did you know there's a huge swirling trash dump floating in the middle of the Pacific that's bigger than Texas? Did you know that we sent Chuck Berry songs into space to represent us to alien civilizations? Did you know there's forest primeval in the Bronx, but it's being basically sterilized by Bronx squirrels?

What I found most wonderful about Weisman's book, though, is its optimism. Even though our planet's overall health is, as we know, not good (and this book provides some jaw-droppingly clear examples of just how not-good that I'd never heard before), Weisman's writing and research makes clear just how resilient nature truly is. If and when we humans destroy ourselves, our planet will probably bounce back. I found that message to be oddly, counterintuitively reassuring.

Until I read about the plankton.

Just as plastic six-pack rings strangle sea otters, abandoned commercial fishing lines snare whales, and plastic bags suffocate sea turtles, on a smaller level, all the microscopic pieces of plastic that have been swept into the ocean are giving plankton, well, fatal constipation.

And it's all my fault. Okay, partly.

Apparently, two major sources of microscopic plastics in ocean water are 1.) plastic that's already washed out to sea, degrading into smaller and smaller bits like rock erodes into sand. And - this is the one that got me - 2.) exfoliating body scrubs, which are essentially made of thousands of tiny, unfilterable plastic beads that wash right into our water supply. Plankton apparently eat the "microbeads" in our body scrubs because they're the size of food, and then die of eating plastic.

Bad news, right? So I just squirted a whole bottle of Neutrogena into my trash in horror. And I switched to scrubs that contain ground-up nuts, salt, or sugar instead of plastic microbeads. Because sure, I like having decent-looking skin. But we humans are going to be around for a while longer, and I'm pulling for our planet. And I'm especially pulling for the plankton.

Siobhan Adcock
iVillage, Senior Producer - Network & Social Media
http://www.iVillage.com

By Steve MacLaughlin, KXAS NBC 5

For a state that is as "red" as Texas is, it is actually surprisingly "green." People around the state are constantly breaking the stereotype that all Texans drive big s-u-v's, have no care for the environment and simply do everything bigger with no concern for waste.

When we began doing "Going Green" reports at NBC5, I must confess that I thought it would be impossible to find people that were making a difference. But it's been incredibly easy. We have met amazing people who are flipping the Texas stereotype on its head. Young people seem especially aware of how precious and limited our resources are. No matter where you go in the country, young people are the ones that will have to live with the consequences of how we treat the planet now. Young Texans are no different. The thing that leaps out here in Texas is the space. This is the fastest growing large market with still an unbelievable amount of space to build on. Many of our stories deal with people who build green homes or develop green projects. Many stories also focus on how to preserve our natural resources since the population has exploded.

No other part of the country is changing so fast, and those who fail to see the environmental impacts may lose out to those who go green.

Steve MacLaughlin
KXAS NBC 5, Meteorologist
http://nbc5i.com/goinggreen/

Charlie White, DVICE.com

In the coming years when water is nearly as scarce as oil, you might be happy to have the Cyber-Rain XCI controlling your sprinkler system. What better device to show you than this water-saving wireless eight-zone controller? It gets local weather updates from the web a few times a day, and is aware of not only the temperature, but also of the likelihood of rain. It also lets you set up independent watering schedules for eight different areas of your yard and garden.

Cyber-Rain communicates wirelessly with your PC, where you set up its smart watering schedule. If the weather report indicates rain, it's sensible enough to suspend its wandering operations for that day. It also can adjust watering for the seasons in your area. Now if you could just connect a moisture sensor to it, Cyber-Rain would have awareness of your soil's present watering needs as well as a forecast of its future conditions.

This is a great idea, because there's nothing goofier than to see a sprinkler system watering somebody's yard in the midst of a downpour. If you already have an underground irrigation system installed, this controller can be added for $295. If water is expensive where you live, this smart box could pay for itself in less than a year.

Charlie White
DVICE.com

By Rachel Gray, iVillage.com

I'm always looking for new ways to conserve electricity, not only to help the environment, but my wallet as well. Usually this involves turning off the lights, but I've realized it doesn't have to be an all or nothing thing. Dimming your lights is a great way to save electricity and money, too.

Unlike roughing it by turning lights off the second you leave the room, dimming them makes a really cozy atmosphere in your home - and you look better under softer light, anyway.

If you simply replace light switches with light dimmers you'll not only save money on your bill, your bulbs will last longer. Even if you only dim the lights 10 percent, it saves 10 percent on electricity. And, if you want really save a bundle, set a romantic mood and dim the lights to 75 percent and save 60 percent on electricity - you don't have to tell him why.

Check out Lutron Electronics for new light dimming products - like the wireless lighting control system, AuroRa, that will work some energy-saving, mood enhancing magic in your home.

Rachel Gray, Associate Producer
iVillage.com
http://housecalls.ivillage.com/home/

By Zem Joaquin, ecofabulous.com

Being the most widely used fiber, statistics regarding the conventional production of cotton are nothing short of shocking - suffice it to say it's the most pesticide-intensive crop on the planet. That's why it's imperative to shop, not just organic fruits and veggies, but organic cotton too. Your eco-options for fabrics need not be limited to cotton alone, though. The market has expanded into greener territory with even some seemingly odd innovations, sometimes called "new organics."

Perhaps the most publicized has been Ingeo, a company that makes a fabric from corn. After fermenting the sugar from corn (much in the same way as yogurt) it's transformed into polymers that create a durable yet biodegradable fiber. Check out their website for more info, to see where it's being used and who's supplying it. Tencel is the brand name for a type of fiber called lyocell that is produced from the cellulose of wood pulp. The process of creating lyocell has been heralded as environmentally friendly - garnering a European Union's Environmental Award - as it's manufactured in a closed loop of constantly recycled additives and minimal waste. It spins out totally white, so bleach is unnecessary. Plus, the fiber degrades in just eight days in waste treatment plants. A company called EcoSpun keeps three billion plastic bottles out of landfills each year by transforming them into a fleece-like fabric. Although the process is energy intensive, we commend their use of post-consumer materials. Another notable fabric making headway comes from the byproduct of soybean oil production. Called SPF for Soybean Protein Fiber, these amino acids are said to be as good for your skin as their ingestible counterparts. Bamboo pulp can also be converted into a naturally antibacterial fabric that wicks sweat away from the body and rivals hemp in its superior sustainability. But perhaps most bizarre is Seacell, made from a seaweed base. The company claims this Oeko-Tex certified fiber promotes activity and creates a sense of well-being. Sasawashi is another fabric purported to deliver health benefits such as improving circulation and healing inflammation. A blend of rice paper and kumazasa leaves grown in the highlands of Japan, it's an ancient wisdom being put to good use. Lofty claims for mere fabrics, but given such ingenuity in the world of textiles, we're tempted to broaden the scope of our wardrobes (though shopping vintage is always an environmental boon). Lastly, I'd like to say, watch out for wool. While it is an eco-friendlier option (when compared to cotton), wool is not always as natural as it seems to be. Commercially, wool is cleaned by a chemical carbonization process that essentially puts it through a toxic bath. Best to buy organic wool or get it from small, family operations.

To further explore innovations in green fabrics check out Treehugger's Mini Directory of Green Fabrics.

Zem Joaquin
ecofabulous.com

By Mary Beth Gonzalez, iVillage.com

What if you had a place where you could donate your gently used books, furniture, clothes, luggage, jewelry, dishes, lamps, TVs and virtually anything else you think someone else, somewhere might want? What if that place housed a constant turnover of high-quality products and sold them for so little money that you just couldn't resist shopping there on a regular basis? And then what if all the proceeds went to local charities where you could see the impact right in your own backyard?

Welcome to Noah's Ark, a second-hand store run by St. Michael's and All Angels Episcopal Church on Sanibel Island in Florida. My retired school-teacher mom currently manages this beloved hub of recycled treasures, called affectionately "The Ark" by all. I had the opportunity to witness this Green wonderstore first hand while visiting my parents over the holidays.

The first thing you must know about The Ark is that the shopkeepers, all volunteers, are quite discerning about their merchandise. This isn't a dumping ground for worn or misused items. Everything for sale must be in good working order. My Dad and a few other men fix the TVs, radios, broken table legs, coffeemakers, computers and phones before displaying them for sale. All clothing is clean and often ironed before it goes on racks displayed by type (i.e.: shorts, shirts, dresses, designer goods, hats, etc...) making shopping a breeze.

This Florida West Coast island beach community has a fair amount of wealthy second home owners who buy and sell their homes fully furnished. Quite often this means that the contents of entire homes are donated to The Ark whose staff quite conveniently arrange for pick-ups so donating and recycling one's belongings couldn't be easier. Thus The Ark has become a first stop of many looking for a new bedroom set, table and chairs, bookcases, dishes and glassware.

And then there are the displays... the staff of creative, retired volunteers lovingly dress the mannequins with fancy silk sweaters, arrange book in the "Barnes & Noah" section and set round tables with beautiful china. Then they frown when everything is sold within minutes of the store opening for the regulars know that the best stuff is displayed prominently and they gobble it up.

With the prices so low ($1 for a hardcover book, $3 for a sweater and $25 for a bike) and the donations so frequent, there is a constant influx of shoppers looking for a bargain. It isn't unusual to see 50-60 people standing patiently in line at the beginning of each day The Ark is open. Some people come everyday and never leave empty handed. I must admit that I picked up a few gems this trip: a "like new" lavender silk sweater, a hand-stitched tablecloth with matching napkins and an antique china teapot to go with my discontinued tea set.

I cannot think of a better way to live Green than to donate to and shop at The Ark. For instance, my parents drink coffee yet my husband and I drink tea so rather then buy a new tea kettle for the 8 days we were visiting, we simply bought one for $1 at The Ark and then donated it back at the end of our trip. In an age of rampant consumerism, it feels good to discover that someone else's discarded goods can meet your simple needs. My mom tells me that many people who come down to Sanibel on vacation buy bikes or golf clubs at The Ark for their stay and then return to recycle them; they shop the clothes racks for a forgotten bathing suit or swing by for a wide brimmed straw hat on the way to the beach.

Last week The Ark was brimming with un-wanted Christmas presents -- a lovely Lenox China vase, unopened sheet sets, new shrink-wrapped DVDs and lots of new clothes with the tags still on them. Someone even donated a completely wrapped present with a Christmas tag on it from their mother-in-law... as if to say that they just knew without opening it that they wouldn't want it!

The Ark is a special place where misfit items can find loving homes, even if only temporarily. A place where people can easily go Green by reusing, reducing and recycling. A place where you can spend very little but do a lot to help support your own community. A place that strives to profit by helping others not by counting the cash. I wonder if this model could work in other communities. Could it work in big cities? Could it work in your hometown? Wouldn't it be interesting to find out?

Mary Beth Gonzalez
iVillage.com
Please join my Going Green group and read my Green Blog

By Scott Bernstein, Pwiz.com

When you think of environmentally friendly cars, speed isn't usually one of the first things that comes to mind. Swedish car manufacturer Koenigsegg aims to change that with the introduction of the new special edition CCXR Supercar. The ethanol burning Koeningsegg CCXR Supercar is the second most powerful production car in the world, with only slightly less power than the SSC Ultimate Aero TT. This one-of-a-kind supercar can go from 0-100 in 2.9 seconds and has top travel speeds of 400km/h.

The CCXR sports a cast-aluminum V8 engine with 1,018hp capable of running on biofuel. Koeningsegg's new car runs on E85 biofuel consisting of 85% ethanol and 15% unleaded. Ironically the burning of ethanol cools the combustion chamber allows for higher pressure in the cylinder. Add that to biofuel's increased octane rating and you get one incredibly fast sports car. But the CCXR isn't just a speedy car, it's also a beautifully designed automobile with a removable roof.

Koenigsegg designed the CCXR as a follow-up to their ultra sleek CCX model. CCX owners will have the option of having their cars converted to the same engine specification as the CCXR for approximately $100,000. The Swedish car manufacturer will continue to produce the CCX, as biofuel isn't widely available yet.

If you're interested in purchasing one of these bad boys get ready to shell out around 3 million dollars, according to some estimates.

Scott Bernstein
http://www.pwiz.com

By Siobhan Adcock, iVillage.com

I've eaten lunch at my desk every working weekday for about, oh, 10 years now. Partly that's because I'm busy, but mostly it's due to a lack of imagination on my part - I do have co-workers who manage to take their takeout...out...somewhere. Anyway, one day not long after helping to launch the iGo Green mini-channel on iVillage (Irony Alert), I looked into my post-lunch trashcan and thought, Jeez. I've used three plastic spoons today. And I just threw them all in the trash. How did that happen?

Here's how it happened.

Plastic Spoon 1: Oatmeal for breakfast. (Once you start eating lunch at your desk every day, it's a slippery slope to eating all your other meals there too.)

Plastic Spoon 2: Soup for lunch. (Which, at least, I made using veggies I got from the CSA I belong to. If you don't currently participate in a CSA program, Blog Reader, join one, like, immediately. For real. The veggies, they're delicious. They're so much tastier than the mass-farmed stuff you get at the grocery store. Trust me.)

Plastic Spoon 3: Yogurt for lunch. (I did not want to use the same spoon I used for my tomatoey soup in my apricotty yogurt. You know how that is.)

This kind of behavior, of course, is exactly where dismaying statistics like these come from:

- Disposable-lunch eaters create up to 100 pounds of garbage per person per year.
- The average American creates 90,000 pounds of garbage over the course of his or her lifetime.
- The average American produces about twice as much trash every day as the average American did in 1960.

So there I was, eating my CSA-veggie soup and feeling all proud of myself for working on all this eco-conscious Interweb content, and meanwhile... I'm throwing away about ten boxes of disposable plastic spoons every year - not even recycling them (not that our office appears to recycle anything anyway). And that's just spoons - what about all the plastic forks I've tossed for salads, and macaroni and cheese, and... um... salads?

I realized I'd been doing something crazy and stupid. And I was looking right at one of those fabled little changes that I could make right then and there, that would actually make a big difference.

So, I got two sets of these adorable re-usable bamboo utensils and stashed them in my desk drawer. I use them every day instead of burning through a box of plastic spoons a month. I don't pick up plastic forks when I get takeout salads, and I ask cashiers not to give me utensils either.

And maybe, if I keep at it for another ten years, I'll burn off some of my bad Plastic Fork Karma. I hope so, anyway.

Siobhan Adcock
iVillage, Senior Producer - Network & Social Media
http://www.iVillage.com

By Trevor Curwin, DVICE.com

Carpet stained after the big party? Forget the steam cleaner - try using the microwave to clean it up. That's kind of the gist of this trailer-mounted microwave, invented by Dr. Chang-Yul Cha, founder of Cha Corporation in Wyoming. He created the contraption to reclaim solvents that are polluting some of the most contaminated industrial sites across the country.

Cha's method uses microwaves to recover pollutants (like solvents, lubricants and fuels) by adsorption (yep, adsorb, not absorb) from activated carbon. The carbon adsorbs the chemicals similar to the way the charcoal in your barbecue fires up to cook some franks - he chemical fluids bind to the surface of the carbon in a thin layer. This saturated carbon is then exposed to microwave energy as it passes through a quartz tube reactor, condensing the chemicals.

So unlike the Hoover steam cleaner from the supermarket, Cha's microwave doesn't leave you with a bucket of dirty water, dog hair and guilt. Instead it actually recovers the original chemicals so they can be reused - hopefully more responsibly than the first time.

Trevor Curwin
DVICE.com

By Julia Boorstin, CNBC.com

In the entertainment industry, the idea of being green is very, very cool. You can't go two feet without seeing a Prius--they're even becoming the limo-of-choice for the Oscars. I myself bought a Prius in May and I love it. Not only is it eco-friendly, but it's also incredibly convenient. Not having to fill up that often saves a ton of money, and all that time wasted at the gas station. Tons of time.

It's amazing how spread out Hollywood is--there are studios in the valley, Paramount is in Hollywood proper, and then Sony is all the way over in Culver City. To get between these studios takes lots of time and gas. And for those looking for something on the higher end, the Lexus hybrid seems to be quite popular, though not as efficient as my little Prius.

In covering this beat, I've found Hollywood's love affair with green goes beyond the cars. I'm not talking about Al Gore and his leveraging Hollywood attention to spread a message about global warming. I'm talking about nuts and bolts. More and more office buildings are going up. And at the Emmy's this past year I reported on a new green building being built by New Pacific Realty in Beverly Hills. It'll be state of the art, fancy shmancy designed by Richard Meier--and totally green.

The studios are even making their productions green--Universal Pictures' "Evan Almighty" was the first carbon-neutral film: which meant that the studio bought carbon credits to account for the cost of the movie on the environment.

Just this weekend I was talking with some "industry" folks about how hard it is to be green, but how everyone is trying. One new trend-- buy carbon emissions credits to make yourself, or an event (like a big Emmy party or a wedding) totally carbon neutral. It used to be only companies could make themselves carbon neutral, but now anyone can help minimize their negative impact on the environment.

Julia Boorstin
CNBC.com
http://cnbc.com/id/21542560/site/14081545

By Valerie Denny, iVillage.com

According to the iVillage Carbon Calculator, which measures your individual impact on the environment, I'm at a 6.4 - slightly lower than the national average of 9.96.

I owe my lower-than-average carbon footprint, in part, to my former teacher, Mr. Krick. No, he didn't teach me to recycle or to reduce my waste. As my driver's ed teacher, Mr. Krick instilled in me a fear of my driving abilities - which, incidentally, has served the planet quite well. I've always hated driving, and that was one of the reasons why New York City appealed to me - I would be able to walk or take the subway everywhere. So I moved into an eco-friendly (read: tiny) Manhattan apartment with two other girls and now walk to work every day. Living in an astronomically high-rent apartment is motivation enough for my roommates and me to keep our other bills to a minimum, and that means using as little energy as possible. ("It's only 95 degrees out. We don't need AC. Don't be such a baby!") In fact, one of the added benefits of the green movement is that practices otherwise seen as tightwad or stingy, such as refusing to turn on the AC, reusing sandwich bags and letting the laundry pile up, are actually revered as eco-friendly.

Let other people call us cheapskates; I prefer "environmentalists."

Valerie Denny
iVillage, Associate Producer
http://www.ivillage.com

By Laura Wallace, MethodShop.com

Here's an easy way to reduce your carbon footprint when it comes to movie rentals.

According to reports, Apple is close to announcing plans to make Fox and Disney movies available as online rentals via iTunes (US).

That means you'd be able to electronically rent movies without driving to the store or having them mailed and delivered to your home in paper envelopes (like Netflix).

Rumors say Apple CEO Steve Jobs is likely saving the official announcement for his Macworld Expo keynote on Jan. 14.

Laura Wallace
http://methodshop.com

By Lisa Kiss, asaphouse.com

Not that long ago, maybe four or five years my kids and I went to our monthly visit to the Museum of Natural History to see an IMAX film about the depleting coral reefs. A few words uttered in that film triggered something in me to make me realize I had to act and not just be a spectator anymore. They said that in just 40 years these reefs may all be gone! 40 years! At the end of the film there was a website where one could go to help fight to save the coral reefs. Well, I went to that site, http://www.reefcheck.org, and from there I eventually signed on to some others, and once I was signed up I began getting their newsletters and action e-mails. In a matter of a month or two I was signing hundreds of petitions and internet action letters on issues of global warming. It was like a domino effect. I began reading up a storm - finding out more and more about all the other ways in which our planet is suffering at our own hands. The planet's assets that have allowed living things to thrive for millions of years are now being taken for granted and all our lives are at risk and we must face the serious challenges of change. My shock and initiative to stop sitting idle was pronounced in just those few words. 40 years. The thought that our own children will not be living in the world as it is now. And, what would they say to us as they watched it all change? When did we know and why didn't we do anything about it?

I am writing this entry to say how this one day triggered a life shift for me and my family. A trigger that turned inertia into action, how one change then led to another and then so many others in our lives. I wanted to tell you about just a couple of really big ones here. We literally changed how we live, eat, shop and sleep. It has even changed how we make our living.

Three years ago we needed a new car. My husband knew about the Prius, he mentioned it briefly but he thought it would be too small for us. It was hard to even see one on any Toyota lot. Finally we found one on a lot, but the dealer could not open it up for us to even sit in because it was for a customer. We looked in the window and knew we wanted it. If it was the only car on the road with the best available gas mileage, then that was going to be our new car! We got one without even sitting in or test driving it before ours arrived. At the time, everyone was saying how the price is not commensurate with what you may or may not save on gas, but this was not the point to us. We were buying this car because of what it could do to cut down on CO2 emissions and oil useage! And, by the way, we so save money on gas - every month!

Light bulbs? Where could we buy these new light bulbs? Once we found them we weren't going to buy just one. Sure, everyone was saying how much more expensive they were. Again, we are not thinking of the purchase as "what a light bulb usually should cost", it was for a bigger purpose, and we were not going to just change one light bulb in the house. Why not change as many as we could while we were doing it?

These purchases I speak about making are not easy for everyone, I know this. But, what frustrates us is when a family can afford it, why do they choose not to?

The biggest purchase of all was our home. My husband, Laszlo Kiss, is a great architect. So, when we sold our home we hoped to build our first house for ourselves as a zero energy house. He knew that to stay within a budget we could afford we had to build it as a prefabricated house in a factory, not stick build it. But, it had to be Zero Energy designed with a floor plan that wasted no space. It took a long time to figure this all out for just the right price. This two year project has now become our new family owned business. The house is now being marketed to the general public as one of the first Green Prefabricated homes of it's kind in the northeast that has the Solar and Geothermal energy systems included in it's overall price! We have called it the ASAP House - House About Saving A Planet! (ASAP because it has to happen As Soon As Possible plus prefab helps get the house there ASAP!)

For my husband and I, the past three years have seemed like getting a mini graduate degree with all the reading and knowledge we have acquired. Researching and brainstorming and formulating some really innovative ideas of how to help our own communities to be as inspired as we have been in just this short period of time. If it could happen to us and change our way of thinking about so many things, then it certainly could happen for lots of other people as well. Obviously the wave is occurring and more and more people are stepping up and making great changes, but not enough to really impact the kind of change needed.

We wanted to figure out how to make more happen in our own neighborhood in a big way. We came up with a great idea for a non profit organization that would act like a Carbon Offset program that would create more renewable energy systems across Long Island. We call this company GreenLIEF - Green Long Island Energy Fund. (The word "Lief" in old English means willing and able!) All the money raised will be distributed right back into our own region, not sent half way across the world. The sole reason and idea for this stems right from the "trigger" idea again. Once you see your own neighbor or local store up the block putting up solar panels or espousing all they have just done to reduce their own "carbon footprint" it is now "in your air space". By trying something for yourself, or hearing about someone else you know and respect trying something. We learn from each other. We may not always be open to hearing or seeing a lot of things all the time, but if it is happening more and more in your own backyard it gets harder and harder to miss! This is the goal and this was how our lives changed so completely.

Some of our most valuable insights came from organizations such as: Native Energy, Bonneville Environmental Foundation, and Rocky Mountain Institute. All three of these organizations are innovators in the field of getting more renewable energy into our communities and fast!

Lisa Kiss
VP Sales and Marketting, asaphouse.com

By Rachel Gray, iVillage.com

How many eco-friendly companies can say they leave a negative environmental footprint? They can if they're TerraCycle, a company founded in a Princeton dorm room by two entrepreneurial students who created a product made entirely from garbage. They've developed an all-natural plant food (worm waste) from organic garbage that would otherwise head to the landfill, and packaged it in used soda bottles collected from people like you and me.

Over one million bottles have been collected already - sign up to add yours to the program, and check out the do-good TerraCycle products for your lawn, veggies, flowers and indoor plants, that are now being sold everywhere from local garden centers to Super Wal-Mart.

Rachel Gray, Associate Producer
iVillage.com
http://housecalls.ivillage.com/home/

By Zem Joaquin, ecofabulous.com

Consider this: The San Francisco Business Times reported that more than 70% of the people who bought units at the Four Seasons Residential Project had their kitchens remodeled prior to move in (in accordance with their personal taste). That's nearly 100 brand new kitchens that were sent to landfills! M8 founders Steven and Joan Livingston understand that homeowners want to personalize their kitchens (and beyond), and they get that tastes change and evolve, as do homeowners themselves. As an answer M8 has developed a patented changeable system that lets you "remodel" your cabinets without actually remodeling them. In a few easy steps you can change the face of M8 boxes without having to replace all of the actual cabinets, thus keeping wood out of the landfill. They will even take back the discarded faces, dismantle them and return the individual parts to their vendors to be refabricated into new M8 products. Plus, they have a huge selection of eco-friendly materials and finishes to choose from, and everything is made to order to eliminate the need to have warehouses full of unused inventory. Joan Livingston says - in the spirit of her company - that while their product is inherently environmentally-friendly, really, "it's up to the consumer to decide how eco they want to be." M8 provides a vast selection, so what shade of green are you going to paint your cabinetry, metaphorically speaking?

Zem Joaquin
ecofabulous.com

By Jennie Baird, iVillage.com

I grew up in the 1970s, the daughter of Lola Granola and Hippie Al.

Summer vacation involved tent camping, outdoor "comfort stations", and a weekly (yikes!) 3-minute shower for four quarters. We lived in an old house that was always cold in the winter, but mercifully, was usually cold in the summer, too. Money was tight and my parents weren't so organized when it came to paying the bills (as an adult, I now understand these two things often go hand in hand), and after the power being shut off once, we kids learned well to always turn off the lights when leaving a room.

Flash forward 25 years and I have kids of my own. My sister has carried on the mantle of Lola Granola in my family; me, not so much. I did (briefly) drive a hybrid car, but wound up back in a minivan for practicality's sake. (I kept the hybrid in the family, passing it on to Lola Granola the Senior).

But two kids, one divorce, a mortgage and a career have all pretty much taken a front seat to any lingering environmentalism that might have carried over from childhood. Then, one typically gloomy winter evening two years ago, as I battled off the "I'm boreds" and the "You're a pests", of my loving children, there came a knock at the door. I answered it only to discover a long-haired Hippie Al the Junior type. He was from a local environmental organization and was collecting signatures for a petition to protect our nearby wetlands. I signed the petition, because after all, who could argue against protecting the wetlands? He asked if the children would draw pictures to send to Governor Pataki and said he would be back in an hour or two to collect them.

The children worked diligently for the next hour and a half. Calm reigned in my little house. No one was bored. No one was a pest. It was a miracle. Dare I say it was a miracle of environmentalism? Beautiful pictures featuring crocodiles and beavers and seagulls and "Protect the Animals" slogans were created by my loving children and handed off to Hippie Al upon his punctual return.

We never saw Hippie Al again, but over the next year or so, we saw the many family films with an environmental message that were released - Over the Hedge and Happy Feet come to mind. We took many long walks through the wetlands and on the cliffs above. As we walked, we noticed the birds - blue herons and egrets and hawks and cormorants. And as we walked, we talked. We talked about how turning out the lights and turning off the water can help the animals and the environment. And then at home, I pestered the children to actually turn off the lights and turn off the water. And after that, my son started pestering his friends at school about turning off the water and the lights. Then one day, he got into a fistfight with a kid who refused to turn off the water. Hey, suddenly, we were environmentalists!

So I guess it shouldn't have come as that much of a surprise to me when, one day last January, as we sat in traffic in our minivan, listening to the radio for news of a break in traffic, my son, now five years old, said to me, "Did they just say there's a new governor?"

"Yes", I replied in a moment of I'll-teach-you-about-citizenship parenting, "His name is Governor Spitzer. He was elected. He replaced Governor Pataki."

"Oh, then I better write and tell him about the swamp."

And sure enough, when we returned home, he got out his crayons, drew his crocodiles and beavers and seagulls, and with the help of his older sister, wrote this poignant message to the State:

"Dear Governor Spitzer,

Things are bad in the swamp."

Jennie Baird
Editor-In-Chief, iVillage.com

By Mary Beth Gonzalez, iVillage.com

Call me ungrateful but I'm a bit disappointed at some of the "Green" Christmas gifts I received this year. My feelings aren't aimed at the gift givers - in fact - I'm deeply touched that so many people who bought me a gift this year recognized that I would prefer an eco-friendly product. I am upset however how easily well-intentioned "very light Greeners" can unknowingly buy something much less Green then they had expected.

- Harry and David's online catalog seductively describes the Triple Treat Collection as "Super-premium fruit - selected by America's fruit authorities. You won't find fruit this wholesome and extraordinary at the supermarket." The box included fresh oranges, fresh pears and fresh apples but then printed in small letters on the packing box: "coated with a food grade vegetable, petroleum, beeswax, and/or shellac based wax or resin to maintain freshness." I kid you not. I could see my pupils in the shellac on the apples. I called Harry and David to inquire as to what exactly was in the shellac and neither Terry, the customer service rep, nor her manager knew but said that it was "simply there to make the fruit shiny and pretty and can easily be washed off". She then kindly offered to research it and get back to me within a few days (by which time the fruit will likely have spoiled). Now Harry and David make no claims that their fruit is organic, and I realize they must be using approved shellacs, but I'm confident that my brother-in-law had no idea that his gift of fresh fruit would be covered in shiny chemicals.

- EcoExpress.com promotes their eco-website with this tagline "Uncommon Gifts for the Common Good". Admittedly, some of their gift basket items are organic and some support rain forest conservation. But many of their products are simply fancy Gourmet goodies such as sun-dried tomatoes, Italian breadsticks, stuffed olives and dried portabella mushrooms. An avid label reader, I searched for what made these products eco-friendly or perhaps organic but to no avail. Yet I'm sure that my well-meaning brother thought that he was sending us a Green gift from this self-labeled "eco-minded" website.

- Barielle's 10 piece natural nail care system: Knowing that I blog about natural beauty products, a close friend sent me this "natural" nail care system. Surprise! Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep score is a high 7 (on a 1-10 scale) with 92% of other nail care systems having lower environmental toxicity concerns. Nothing very eco or natural about that and then I realized that their "natural" means as opposed to "artificial" nails. How confusing...

As pleased as I am that companies are now making an eco-friendly lifestyle more accessible to mainstream consumers, I'm concerned about how easily people with the best Green motivations can purchase gifts not knowing the full picture. Caveat emptor (which we all learned from The Brady Bunch is Latin for "let the buyer beware") is more necessary than ever in a market where products labeled "natural" may not be and "wholesome" might mean covered with chemicals. And don't even get me started on how many genuinely Green presents arrived packed in Styrofoam peanuts...

What were your Green gifts experiences this season? Did they thrill or disappoint? Please share your own stories as we walk this perilous Green path together.

Mary Beth Gonzalez
iVillage.com
Please join my Going Green group and read my Green Blog