How often do you think about what goes into our cars, buses and planes to make them run? All the time, right? (Just kidding.) The sources of our fuel are easy to forget. But when I saw this video about how much oil we use in the U.S. after 2010’s big spill on the gulf coast, I started wondering what a solution to this fuel problem might be.

Oil’d from Chris Harmon on Vimeo.

So what are some solutions? The first idea I stumbled upon comes from a teen who proposes that we harness heat from compost to create hot water. Her article in Teen Ink Magazine explains that using the heat that naturally comes from compost piles would help us reduce our dependency on finite fossil fuels.

While this seems like a great start to reducing how much energy we use, I wondered if compost would help us change transportation. After more research, I found out there’s a more common alternative: something called biofuel. National Geographic explains that biofuels have existed since cars were invented (some early engines even ran on peanut oil!), but we are just now starting to return to using them.

What are biofuels? Unlike fossil fuels, which come from plants and animals that have been buried for millions of years, biofuels are made from plants we grow today. In other words, biofuels are a renewable energy source. People use different plants around the world to create fuel: sugarcane in Brazil, palm oil in Indonesia, sweet potatoes in China, and corn here in the U.S.

Atlanta has recently become home to projects looking for alternative fuel solutions. Last summer, students at Georgia Tech worked with students at Mary Lin Elementary to create the nation’s first hydraulic hybrid school bus, an eco-friendly vehicle that runs on recycled biodiesel made from cooking oil. The project will hopefully pave the way to Atlanta schools offering greener transportation for students.

Just outside of Atlanta in Smyrna, city officials have also committed to making cooking oil into fuel. Like many positive environmental work, this change is expected to have multiple benefits. Not only will it save the city money and help the air, it will also help city sewers work better! (Read more about that project here.)

Even though research for better fuel sources is happening now, we are still using finite natural resources for most of our transport. Perhaps the best alternative is to reduce how much we use fuel overall by choosing transport alternatives that don’t require it, such as walking and biking. After learning more about fuel alternatives, though, I won’t look at vegetables the same way again!

Do you think biofuel sounds like a good alternative fuel solution? Why or why not?

Happy Day of Love! Today you’re bursting with appreciation for all of your loved ones and the Earth. How do you show it? With a thoughtful, eco-friendly gift of course! The ideas below should satisfy everyone on this year’s love list.

For your parents:

A recycled Valentine’s Day card. Junk mail with colorful ads is great for paper hearts, and you know how much your parents love an original poem!

That compost pile you’ve been working on? Perfect for Dad’s spring tomato planting! (Just make sure to cover any openings in the bin with upcycled wrapping paper so he doesn’t guess what it is from the earthy smell!)

If your compost heap isn’t quite ready yet, give a live plant from your nearby organic nursery. Unlike cut flowers, a live plant will help clean our air and will symbolize your growing love.

For your friends:

An invitation to pick up litter at a local park. With a group picnic made from organic ingredients afterwards, your volunteer day practically becomes a party.

A farm animal. So this isn’t a typical Love Day gift, but what could be cuter than a VIP visit to a farm animal you sponsor? That’s right, adopt an animal and give the gift of a new friend.

For that special someone:

If that special someone is especially special, you may want to go above and beyond this year. Why not try eco-friendly jewelry? Recycled gold, cruelty-free diamonds, and pearls harvested with tropical fish are a good start.

If you don’t have the funds for jewelry, you can always do something free. Using left-overs from your recycled card-making, craft an invitation for a walk in the park (perhaps the one you cleaned up with your friends). What could be more thoughtful than the gift of fresh air?

For everyone:

If the ideas above aren’t quite enough to express your love, a box of organic, fair trade chocolates made from sustainably-harvested cacao never fails to please!

What are your air-friendly plans for the day? Let us know in the comments below!

Today I thought we could drift a little off topic to talk about an awesome cause I discovered called “Teens For Jeans”, by dosomething.org. Although this cause doesn’t exactly fall under the subject of clean air, it certainly ties into the “reduce, reuse, recycle” credo.

Did you know that 1 in 3 homeless people are under the age of eighteen? I was shocked to learn this. Teens for Jeans encourages you to donate your gently worn jeans to the homeless. In only 4 years, Teens for Jeans has managed to collect and donate over 1.5 million jeans.

So how can you join this fight against homelessness? Well, you can participate in a number of ways—for instance, you can host a drive at your school (you’ll want to get permission, of course), and then drop the jeans off at the closest Aéropostale store. You can also submit photos and videos of your jeans drive and get featured on the Teens For Jeans website.

Teens For Jeans even rewards the school that donates the most jeans with $5,000, a party, and free Aéropostale jeans!

By participating, not only will you help the homeless, you’ll help the environment by eliminating waste and reusing items that you no longer need or wear.

What do you think? Are you interested in helping your school sponsor a drive to combat homelessness?

WasteFreeLunches.org offers great, workable solutions to reducing waste—for example, they encourage you to use reusable food containers, drink containers, utensils, and napkins. Also, they suggest that you avoid using items with disposable packaging. Not only do these tips help you improve the environment and reduce waste, they save you (and your parents) money! Over time, these savings can add up.

The site even recommends these super cool “waste-free” lunch kits that are really colorful and fun. So you can do your part to reduce waste—and lunch fashionably while you’re at it.

Imagine what a difference we could make and how much waste we could reduce if every school started a waste-free lunch program, which is exactly what WasteFreeLunch.org suggests that we do.

Does your school have a program that helps to reduce waste? If not, why not start one?

“The only way forward, if we are going to improve the quality of the environment, is to get everybody involved.”

Richard Rogers

Are you willing to get involved?   Regardless of age, race, religion or culture, everyone can be part of the green movement to reduce air pollution. Adopting a green life doesn’t require a big sacrifice- just a commitment to the environment and to life itself.

We can significantly improve air quality and give a light of hope to our planet by changing our transportation habits. Let’s open our minds and start considering new transportation means that are more eco-friendly. Let’s mark the beginning of our new green era. For short distances, walking and bike riding are excellent alternatives; they are absolutely harmless to environment and are healthy choices for us. For longer distances, public transportation and carpooling are ideal and efficient alternatives that will notably reduce pollutant emissions.

According to the American League of Bicyclists, only 1.1% of Atlanta citizens are bicycle commuters. Let’s raise that number and save our environment. Let’s adopt eco-friendly alternatives as our new means of transportation. A new green era is just in front of us, and through commitment and motivation we can significantly improve air quality.

Think green. Live green. Move green!

What will you do today to make a change?

I’m a lover of all things delicious. Chocolate, french fries, berries, milkshakes, sandwiches, pastas… I could go on. Usually I don’t think about what I eat beyond whether or not the food in question tastes good. But recently I’ve learned more about organic foods, and why it’s important to think about where our food comes from, rather than just how it tastes.
One of the most surprising facts I’ve learned is that the fertilizers used on non-organic foods have been linked to cancer. Not only are these chemicals bad for us, they can also impact the people who harvest the fruits and vegetables.

Another benefit to shopping organic and local is saving energy. According to Georgia Organics,  if we all ate just one meal of local and organically raised meats and produce, we could reduce the U.S.’s oil consumption by 1.1 million barrels of oil per week! Yet another reason to buy organic is to support local farmers who will continue to produce organic foods for future generations.

Even if you or your parents can’t shop organic all the time (it can be expensive, after all), try to buy the following foods organic when you can. The non-organic versions of these common fruits and veggies are grown with the most pesticides.

• peaches
• strawberries
• apples
• spinach
• nectarines
• celery
• pears
• cherries
• potatoes
• bell peppers
• raspberries
• imported grapes

If organic foods are a topic you care about, look for ways to get your friends and family behind this movement, too. If you live in Georgia, check out the Georgia Organics website to learn about advocacy opportunities near you.

Another way to get motivated to buy organic is to try a recipe using organic ingredients. I love this Black Pepper and Lime Fries recipe from the blog 101 Cookbooks. It’s super easy, totally delicious, and gives you an opportunity to buy organic potatoes!

Do you have a favorite recipe using organic foods? Let us know–we’d love to try it!

]]> http://www.blogonair.org/why-shop-organic-anyway/feed 0 http://www.blogonair.org/save-time-money-and-the-environment-by-carpooling http://www.blogonair.org/save-time-money-and-the-environment-by-carpooling#comments Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:32:38 +0000 Bethany Carnes http://www.blogonair.org/?p=453 Continue reading →]]>

Do you and your friends all drive to school? Here’s a thought—carpool! According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, if you carpool with four friends, you will be emitting 200 fewer pounds of pollution per week, assuming an average ten mile trip per person—or even more if you travel farther!

Have you ever run out of cash by the weekend because you had to gas up your car during the week? According to the American Automobile Association, it costs an average of $13.10 a week to drive a car, assuming the same ten-mile per day trip. So if you and four friends were to alternate driving each day, you would save $10.48 a week—that’s the cost of a movie ticket to the latest blockbuster hit!

Have you ever been stuck in traffic and missed the homeroom bell because of it? Carpooling can help with this stressful situation, too. Fewer cars on the road will lead to less traffic and congestion, which means you can make it school on time.

Talk to your friends and try to coordinate a carpooling schedule—you can even visit The Clean Air Campaign website to help you get started!

What’s your take on carpooling? Do you carpool now? If not, would you consider it?

Hybrids are the current “it” car of the automotive industry. Why does this matter to you? For many of us, it’s almost that time—time to start thinking about what type of car we want. So why not make a choice that is not only stylish, but beneficial to the environment as well?

The distinguishing factor between a hybrid car and a traditional car is that a hybrid uses two or more power sources, unlike gasoline engines that strictly burn fossil fuels—mainly petroleum—to power their movement (Diesel Engines vs. Gasoline Engines). While hybrid cars still use gasoline, they get an average of 15 more miles per gallon. Better gas mileage means fewer fill-ups, which translates to money in your pocket from savings at the pump!

But the question remains: can hybrids actually help the environment? According to the Environmental Protection Agency, for every one hundred miles driven, hybrid cars emit 23.3 fewer pounds of pollution than traditional vehicles. Therefore, hybrid cars will be able to significantly reduce the carbon footprint for which the transportation sector is currently responsible.

If you still don’t think that a hybrid is for you, there are other ways you can get similar benefits. Walking and riding a bike are both options that would not only save you money, but would also help improve air quality.

Whether choosing the option of the newer, more innovative hybrid, or the option of simply walking, always remember that your actions have an affect on air quality—so choose wisely!

You can check out the Hybrid Cars website for more helpful information about hybrid cars. What are your thoughts? When it comes time to buy a car, would you consider a hybrid?

In our last post, we listed eco-fashion as one way to make 2012 your greenest year yet. One fashion company we love that is really making a positive impact is Alternative Apparel.

Based here in Atlanta, Alternative Apparel has locations across the U.S. and is known for comfortable, versatile and vintage-style pieces. In addition to comfort, they value inspiring wearers and supporters to make a positive difference with how we live and what we wear.

I first heard about Alternative Apparel through celebrity fashion blogs and fell in love with their look and mission. You can see which celebrities support Alternative Apparel here, and even shop the same items they’re wearing.

Some of their classic items include soft tees, tanks and hoodies in understated colors. The look is simple, clean and totally classic.

To get more familiar with their style and values, check out their website and blog, which explores a range of do-good topics, including sustainability. They even highlight other companies committed to the environment, giving us more resources to choose eco-friendly clothing options as consumers.

If you dig their mission and need some basics for your wardrobe, I encourage you to shop their Alternative Earth line. These pieces are the most eco-friendly because they’re made with organic cotton, recycled polyester and other fibers from sustainable raw materials. In addition to material, they are colored using non-toxic dyes, biodegradable fabric softeners and natural enzymes–making them both super soft and low-impact on the environment.

Comfy, stylish, and making a difference? Yeah, we can get behind that.

Which eco-fashion brands do you support?