WHY SHOULD WE CARE about…..?

We talked to the amazing Fran Drescher – actress and activist and founder of Cancer Schmancer for this segment and asked her what she is most passionate about when it comes to sustainable and healthy living and why should we care . . . She really gets that many of the toxins in our every day environment are making us sick and we have to start to pay attention to the food we eat, how we grow it; our homes and how we clean them, etc. AND if you haven’t check out her hilarious new TV show, Happily Divorced, you are missing out!

Please join us in being part of the solution! Visit our Why Should We Care Campaign page and please donate (and get some awesome goodies when you do)!

SLEEPING NAKED IS GREEN SEGMENT

This weekly segment is sponsored by Essentia, The Only All Natural Memory Foam Mattress in the World! Every week we will discuss an entry from this hilarious and totally practical book, Sleeping Naked is Green by Vanessa Farquharson.

Listen to this week’s 5-min segment: Turn Off the Lights When You Leave the House

The Environmental Impact

• According to The Environmental Defense Fund, 65% of pollution attributed to global warming (or climate change) comes from the generation of energy and its use.
• Coal is the most common fuel for generating electricity in the United States.
• In 2010, 45% of the Country’s nearly 4 trillion kilowatt hours of electricity used coal as its source of energy. [From EIA, the US Energy Information Administration]     
• 5 – 20% of our home electric bill comes from “phantom” or vampire electrical use.

Good Ideas

• Turn off the lights when you don’t need them!
• Get energy efficient appliances – when you buy new appliances, be sure to buy Energy Star appliances. And you might find some government incentives as well.
• Lighting – consider changing to LED, CFL or ESL bulbs, which are all more energy efficient.
• Shed light on those vampires and expel them! Even if you switch off most electronics, many continue to draw an electrical current. Our friend Ed Begley Jr., suggests that we put all the electronics that we usually off when we leave home, on energy-saving smart strips so you can just flip one switch to turn off several things.
  • Try The Bye Bye Standby starter kit
  • The Smart Strip
  • Ed also reminds us NOT to put essential appliances or electronics like the refrigerator or the cable box on the strips that get turned off when you leave the house.
  • Understand your energy use – The US Department of Energy offers this tool to calculate your household energy use. Get a home electric meter like to help monitor energy use:
    • The Kill A Watt
    • The Energy Detective

Listen to the 5-minute segment on conserving energy at home.

GETTIN LOCAL WITH THE GREEN DIVAS: WHEREVER YOU ARE 

This weekly segment is sponsored by Grassroots section of the Daily Record. Join the conversation about what’s going on in our community – share what’s going on in YOUR community and let’s bring new ideas for sustainable living to all our communities.

Megan van Dyke, Editor of Daily Record’s Grassroots section – This weeks Grassroots section Features Transitioning to Green, an orginzation out of Fairleigh Dickinson University. It is design to help people translate their talents, skills and experience into a new green career. Great for the unemployed or anyone who wants to shift careers and align themselves with being part of environmental solutions.

Listen to this week’s 5-min segment on: Transitioning to Green (careers)

GUEST GREEN DIVETTE Zoe Marcus, Environmentalism in Morristown – Her goal is to get kids excited and more involved in getting more sustainable in AND outside of school. She jokes about her ‘homework kills trees’ philosophy, but talks articulately about why laptops for all kids isn’t necessarily the answer.

FEATURED GUEST – Jessica Arinella, producer What You Can Do, TV & web video series. What You Can Do is launching a Vlog on May 1st. They have been focusing on what you can do for Ocean health and awareness. Jessica stated this frightening statistic: 60- 80% of all the trash in the ocean is plastic! Here’s another one from Jessica: 100 billion plastic bags are used in the US every year, and only 10% of those bags are recycled! There are some great organizations out there to help clean up our oceans and rescue sea animals like the SurfRider organization that now has a chapter in NJ! Jerseyshore.surfrider.org.

GREEN DIVAS GOOD TO KNOW STUFF

Earth Day Experience in Morristown – Come celebrate Earth Day at an Event which is being held in a Eco Parking Garage Check out Sustainablemorristown.org for more information.

FoodShedAlliance.org – an organization dedicated to making sure we have sustainable and locally grown food in northern NJ.

“Like” us on Facebook and mention G2 Organics to get in the running for G2 product give away!