It’s a simple idea. Save water, use it later. People around the world have been harvesting rainwater for thousands of years, but the concept is now experiencing a revival in light of water scarcity problems that are caused by global warming.

How it works: While there are many ways to harvest rainwater, it is usually done in one of two ways: the water is collected either from roofs or saved in underground cisterns. Roof catchment systems move the water into a storage container (sometimes underground), like a rain barrel, through pipes or gutters. To see it for yourself, click this link for pictures of the various types of rainwater harvesting systems available. The collected water can then be used for watering lawns, washing cars, flushing the toilet or whatever else you can think of.

A model of an underground rainwater storage system

In India, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have taken an active role in generating the capital needed to build catchment systems. Groups like Jal Swaraj create rain centers that provide information, resources, and training for locals. In turn, these locals present their wealth of traditional wisdom about how best to interact with nature. The NGOs give money or building materials thereby enabling residents to put their knowledge to work and appeasing the water crisis in their area.

Rainwater harvesting is gaining momentum in the U.S as well. Because there are so many rainwater harvesting companies in America nowadays, it is becoming easier and cheaper to buy and/or install rainwater collection devices in your own home. Here are just a few companies to choose from:

RainHarvest

Rain Harvesting

American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association

Water Tanks

It’s really exciting that investing in technology that helps the environment by reusing natural resources is catching on. In Malaysia, the Environment Ministry is encouraging developers to make rainwater collection systems a selling point for house buyers and to stress the point that while these systems might be expensive today, they will save a lot of money tomorrow. Hospitals are in on it, homeowners are in on it, even hospitals and baseball teams (which I will write about later on because that’s an interesting story in and of itself). The revival of rainwater harvesting is essential in times of environmental uncertainty and I can only hope that more people will save and reuse resources in this way.

Thanksgiving is about food. Lots and lots of food. But while we loosen our belts, we are hopefully thinking about what we are thankful for. During this thoughtful and reflective time of year, I think we should also be thinking about where such bounty comes from. What steps preceded the turkey arriving on your plate? I’m not talking about your mother-in-law back seat cooking on Thursday afternoon. I mean before that. How did the turkey spend its life before it became headless and frozen?
Here is what Jonathon Safran Foer has to say about what it means to eat turkey on Thanksgiving (excerpt from his book Eating Animals):

At the center of our Thanksgiving tables is an animal that never breathed fresh air or saw the sky until it was packed away for slaughter. At the end of our forks is an animal that was incapable of reproducing sexually. In our bellies is an animal with antibiotics in its belly. The very genetics of our birds are radically different. If the pilgrims could have seen into the future, what would they have thought of the turkey on our table? Without exaggeration, it’s unlikely that they would recognize it as a turkey.

Almost 300 million turkeys are raised for slaughter each year in America. Most spend their days in windowless sheds with thousands of other birds. It is so crowded in there that turkeys cannot spread their wings even once in their lifetimes. They have to have their beaks and toes cut off to keep from killing each other in such close quarters. Many die of stress-related illnesses like heart failure at a young age or they lose the ability to walk because their legs do not support their body weight. Turkeys have been genetically modified and pumped with chemicals so that they fatten up faster and live shorter lives. Those chemicals and antibiotics are transferred to your body upon consumption.

If you can, try to find independent butcher shops near you by using this site: www.LocalHarvest.org. Talking to a farmer one-on-one at a local market about how your turkey was raised ensures that you are avoiding green washing, i.e. claims of humane conditions without proof. Avoid buying the Broad Breasted White brand of turkey because that is the type that is genetically modified. An alternative is the Heritage Turkey which is raised naturally.

Here are some recipes for side dishes, desserts, soups, and salads that are made with earth-friendly ingredients:

Carrot cake
Apple Bavarian Torte
Sweet Potato Biscuits
Butternut Squash Soup
French Onion Soup
Endive, Apple and Walnut Salad
Savory Cornbread Stuffing
Caramelized Apple-Pecan Cake

For more vegetarian holiday recipes, click here or here

Don’t be a jerk. It’s one thing to have good eco-friendly intentions, but when you start bawling out your friends for leaving the water running too long while they’re washing dishes you can turn from greeny to meany. When I watch my brother chug three, four, five plastic bottles of water per day I get the same urge to strangle him that I had as a seven year old when he hogged the TV. And when I wake up in the morning to find that my roommates have left the lights on all night I want to leave nasty little reminder notes about how they’re killing polar bears. But, I’m not a jerk. Or at least I try not to be. What I want to know is how we can be more constructive in our efforts to get the people we love to start loving the environment. So, a few tips:

Don't be an eco-elitist!

1. I’ve found that any version of ‘Thou shalt not’ is a no-no. We all have mothers who provide enough guilt trips to last us until the last ice caps melt, so, needless to say, lay off the scolding and preaching. Eco-guilt is not an effective way to get people on board with your cause.

2. When a person wags their finger, they might as well be saying “I am perfect and you are not.” Confessing a few sins you’ve committed helps to take you off your high horse. If you admit that you don’t always wash out the peanut butter jar to recycle it and instead just trash it, or that you forget to unplug your phone charger when you aren’t using it then you can level the playing field enough to create an open and healthy line of communication between you and the bottled-water-drinker.

3. Don’t make it seem like you are personally attacking the person. Present their problematic behavior in the context of wider issues (i.e. water scarcity, over-consumption, unnecessary waste…) and mention how the fight against these environmental problems is a group effort. We are all trying to make small changes in our daily lives to manage climate change, and this process is something your friend can be a part of. But when you call him/her out on littering, you make it seem like that person is single-handedly ruining the earth. It’s not like they’re setting out to hunt for the last albino baby seal, they just haven’t realized their environmental impact yet.

4. Using “I” statements is another way to avoid guilt trips and personal attacks. So instead of saying “You’re wasting water!” say, “I try not to use so much water because I realized that it might be affecting our water supply.” Ideally, you will come off sounding less critical and your friend will be more likely to emulate your green behavior.

5. Another way to address these tricky topics is to go about it from the money-saving angle. If a person realizes that installing energy-efficient light bulbs in their homes would save them $30 in energy costs over the life of the bulb, maybe their ears would perk up. Or if you mentioned that a Prius’ fuel cost per year is $829 (compared to a Hummers’ which is $3,223 perhaps they’d go green-if only for the sake of their wallets.

I hope these tips help. Keep on fightin’ the good fight.

Urban alleyways conjure images of dark, slimy, creepy things. They’re places where only the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles should hang out. But Chicago, the city with the most alleys in the world (1,900 miles of them to be exact), is transforming theirs into cleaner places as a part of the new Green Alley Program. The plan is to repave them with permeable materials to benefit the environment. Here’s how:

1. Pavement absorbs water that then goes into the earth reducing flooding and saving tax payer money which would otherwise be spent treating storm water
2. The pavement is a light color so it reflects heat and is cooler, reducing the “urban heat island effect”
3. They’re made of recycled materials
4. Lights in the alleys will be energy efficient

Green alleys aren’t exactly the first thing that comes to mind when I think of ways to reduce the effects of climate change, but I think urban renewal projects like this one can really make a difference in the long run.

As a native Californian, I am a self-proclaimed fruit snob. I have always been spoiled by an abundance of fresh berries and peaches year round. But it’s only now that I’m realizing the true costs of eating cheap produce. When I read horror stories about the chemical runoff in agricultural communities leaching into drinking water, I can’t help feeling nauseated. The Environmental Protection Agency proclaims that the use of pesticides has more than doubled since 1990. Pesticides and other chemicals used in food production have been proven to cause life-threatening diseases, certain kinds of cancer, infertility, and birth defects.

The New York Times published a great exposé on the toxics in our water recently, highlighting cases along the Farm Belt where some people have gotten violently ill after farmers poured liquid animal feces onto crops and the runoff seeped into well water. As shocking as it is that people in one of the richest nations on earth are drinking water polluted with animal excrement in this day and age, I realize that I’m not exactly doing anything constructive by sitting around reading horror stories in the media. So here are some ideas about how to stop harmful pesticides from entering our bodies, our homes, our communities, and our food.

Small things…

Grow your own vegetables, even if you live in a city.

Eat organic! Organic farmers do not use pesticides which could otherwise affect our water systems. Not only are you supporting non-polluters, but you are making a healthier choice to not ingest harmful chemicals into your own body. This is an every day, small scale way to protect your individual health as well as the health of the environment.

And here’s a list of ten more things you can do to reduce water pollution: What can I do?

Big things…

Pressure the government to enforce water pollution laws. In its last few hours in power, the Bush Administration deregulated 1.5 million tons of toxic waste, causing a major set back in previous environmental protection efforts. Click this link to make your voice heard about water pollution: petition.

I am not idealistic enough to think that banning non-organic farming all together is a good idea. It would be practically impossible to feed America if we relied entirely on organic means of food production. Instead I am proposing that the government encourage a decrease in chemical usage. As it is, 60-80% of chemicals are used just to make our fruits prettier, according to Time Magazine. I would take a bruised pear over polluted water any day. So what if my apples aren’t Snow White waxy? If that means fewer children suffering from health problems caused by toxins in the environment then I’m all for it.

Pressure the government to stop accepting contributions from corporate giants like Monsanto –one of the worst corporate citizens out there—which sacrifice environmental health for high efficiency.