BY: AMY SCHILLER
Green Is In
Being green is cool these days. Movie star Brad Pitt recently stepped-up to help rebuild New Orleans with green design buildings and
Al Gore won the Nobel Peace prize for his documentary on global warming. For the fitness conscious, making environmentally sound decisions
connects with the goal of personal health; improved nutrition and better air quality can be results of green living. Choosing the sustainable
lifestyle can cost you less money, too, if you reduce and alter just a few habits. Green living is not an all-or-nothing proposition, but
rather a process. And here at the ARC we are on that journey.
At the Aztec Recreation Center, health and well-being is our business. Expect to start seeing “point of decision” signs in
the ARC asking you to take shorter showers and maybe you've noticed added bins for recycling those plastic water bottles. The ARC
Newsletter is going green. This issue is the last one that one will prodcued in hard copy. “It’s an incremental process of
education and improvement,” says Eric Huth, Campus Recreation Director.
Associated Students’ Vice President of Finance, Justin Motika, spearheaded a green agenda this year to ensure sustainable practices
within the AS organization and educate SDSU students about living green. Dubbed “Green Love,” AS Executives have developed
a master plan encompassing the operations of all twelve AS facilities on the San Diego State University campus. It marks the start
of an important era of conservation and view of total health for the human race and our blue planet.
“I feel that it’s what the students want,” Motika said, “it’s what the rest of the world is doing and [SDSU
students] need to do our part.”
Sustainability Defined
When you do your cardio workout, you understand sustainable: it’s an aerobic pace that you feel good at, one that you could keep
doing for a long time. The same definition applies to sustainable ecological practices, but it’s planet earth and society we
observe. So, a first step in the green journey is to make a commitment to do what you know you can consistently do. Just like when you
alter a workout routine or your diet, you make small adjustments and build confidence as you continue.
“Sustainability is a characteristic of a process or state that can be maintained at a certain level indefinitely. The
term, in its environmental usage, refers to the potential longevity of vital human ecological support systems, such as the planet’s
climatic system, systems of agriculture, industry, forestry, and fisheries, and human communities in general and the various systems on
which they depend.” - Wikipedia
Eat Whole, Organic, Locally Grown Produce
A whole food is one that is not processed in a kitchen other than your own. The US Recommended Daily Allowance for fruits and vegetables
is 5-10 servings per day, so the green journey choice is whole, organic, locally grown produce for your daily fruits and vegetables. In
addition, you can change your carbohydrates for optimal health; consider eating more potatoes, squash, sweet potatoes, and yams over and
above processed breads, chips and pastas. These choices benefit you and your planet. See the recipe of
the month if you want an easy preparation for squashes.
Organic produce is grown, stored and shipped without the use of synthetic fertilizers, antibiotics, pesticides, herbicides, irradiation,
artificial flavors, colors or preservatives. Organic fruits and vegetables are not typically packaged excessively thus reducing waste
and allowing you to choose each item you eat and the quantity that you will be able to keep fresh. Mark Mulcahy, a contributing writer
for the Ocean Beach People’s Newsletter, notes that organic arugula, the nutty flavored green in salad mixes, has eight times the
calcium of iceberg lettuce. Going green might even save you some money at the vitamin counter.
When Ocean Beach People’s Food Coop defines locally grown, they mean produce that comes
from farms within a one-day drive of the store. According to the Northwest Earth Institute, experts
say our food travels an astounding average of 1300 miles before reaching our plates! This travel requires fuel and may take days
or weeks. By eating locally grown foods, you not only get fresher foods, you reduce your “carbon footprint”; your personal
impact on the planet which is defined by the area of land used to provide a person’s requirement for resources and waste absorption. According
to writer Craig Sams, we are at 24 acres per American whereas Italians have a 9 acre per person carbon footprint.
“The problem with the land is they stopped making it a long time ago.” - Mark Twain
Living in San Diego, we’re lucky to have access to year-round, delicious locally grown organic produce. Here’s a short
list of fruits and vegetables that are in season right now and more good news; in-season produce typically cost less, too: Squash, apples,
pears, persimmons (a great “carry along” sweet fruit with a short season), pomegranate, avocados (your author mourns the loss
of 21,000 acres of mature avocado from the recent wild fires), grapes, yams, sweet potatoes, kale, chard, raspberries, celery, broccoli,
potatoes, cauliflower, asparagus, brussel sprouts, hot peppers and dates.
Clean Sustainable
I wish that meant that once you clean, it stays clean for a really long time. Rather, I'm referring to cleaning products that are
air and earth-friendly. According to Glenn Chambliss, chairman of the department of bacteriology at UW-Madison, using anti-microbials
may inversely effect your skin’s ability to ward-off nasty viruses and bad bacteria. Eco-friendly products may allow “good” bacteria
to stay alive thus enhancing your home and body’s natural germ-fighting abilities.
Consider the immediate environment of your home and the air you breathe. A study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental
Medicine that looked at worker data from Massachusetts and three other states found that exposure to cleaning products was associated with
12 percent of total asthma cases across all jobs surveyed. While this data may be geared toward people who work with or around cleaning
products regularly, and that may not apply to you, think about what it means about the quality of the air around cleaning products.
In her Chicago Union-Tribune article, Karen Klages writes, “If someone were to load all of the disposable wipes purchased by consumers
in North America last year onto 18-wheel semis, the caravan would number 9,000 trucks and stretch for 68 miles. And it would be carrying
83,000 tons of these seemingly ephemeral cloths -- which are anything but fleeting."
The good news is that many earth-friendly cleaning strategies, such as washing windows with vinegar and water, you may also save some
money.
Inexpensive Cleaning Alternatives:
- Dish and laundry detergents; all-purpose cleaners choose products that are vegetable-based (such as coconut oil).
- To remove stains, try soaking fabrics in water mixed with borax, lemon juice, hydrogen peroxide or white vinegar.
- Fabric softening: A quarter cup of baking soda or white vinegar will soften fabrics.
- Cleansers and window washers: Hot, soapy water is an all-around option. Also, use white vinegar on everything from kitchen counters
to toilet seats.
- To clean windows, fill a spray bottle with water plus one-quarter cup white vinegar, or one tablespoon of lemon juice, to remove
grease.
- Furniture polishes: Try a mixture of one teaspoon of olive oil and one-half cup of white vinegar.
SOURCE: The Green Guide, an environmental newsletter
There is a wide array of effective, wonderfully scented, cleaning products made by reputable companies. My personal favorites are Bac-Out
by Biokleen for floors and countertops - this product smells great. I also like to use dish and laundry soap from Seventh
Generation; they cut through grease and also smell great. After using their lavender scented dish soap, I could never go back to petroleum-based
products.
Reduce Water Consumption
In San Diego county water is a precious resource piped in thanks to a few sketchy aqueducts. To promote water conservation, the
San Diego County Water Authority has a campaign entitled the “20-gallon Challenge”: that asks you to think about reducing your
personal consumption by 20 gallons per day. Visit http://www.20gallonchallenge.com/ to join the program and learn some tips about
how to conserve this precious resource.
Easy Being Green – 20 Ways to Make a Difference
- Take shorter showers and/or fill the bath half full; in the shower, turn the water off
while lathering hair, shaving, or loofah sponging.
- Change your thermostat by one degree.
- Recycle at home; you’re more likely to follow-through when you have a permanent recycling receptacle near your trash can.
- Set-up at least one house plant in each room of your place. House plants consume CO2 and studies from the Aerospace Industry
prove that plants help keep people healthy.
- Shop with reusable cloth bags; the added benefit is that they are much easier to carry and can be packed more fully.
- Reduce fast food consumption – pack your lunch and snacks using re-usable containers.
- When going to the coffee shop bring your own mug
- Buy rechargeable batteries
- Take the trolley more often
- Unplug your re-charger when not in use
- Don’t print drafts of your papers, edit on the computer
- Use both sides of the paper when you absolutely must print
- Buy in bulk
- Eat organic produce
- Walk more often; ride your bike more often
- Buy recycled bathroom tissue
- Install compact florescent light bulbs
- Turn off the lights when leaving a room
- Run the dishwasher and wash machine only with full loads. Use the cold setting on the wash machine.
- Do paperless banking
A note about recycling in San Diego County. We all know that cans and glass bottles are recyclable, but the
plastic recycling gets a little more complicated. San Diego County recycles only #1 and #2 plastic containers.
A Little Goes a Long Way.
Learning is the first step, but once you start doing, you’ll feel empowered. Just like your exercise regimen, sustainable lifestyle
is something that will evolve for you as you learn more and discover what does and does not work for you. “Forgive yourself,” is
a motto that Fitness Graduate Assistant and Personal Trainer Brenna Joyce recommends for people, “every day and every circumstance
will alter your workout or your opportunity for green living. In the end every small bit helps in reaching goals and living well.”
Green clubs on campus:
Green Campus Club and Enviro Business Society.
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