Baby Green

By Jennifer Chaky

It seems the best green products are those that take a good, old-fashioned, pre-plastic, pre-industrial-era practice and make it fresh for the modern day. One shining example of this is Lifefactory Glass bottles for babies and adults. Lifefactory took good ol' glass bottles and covered them in colorful silicone netting to protect against breakage.

Glass bottles are naturally BPA, phthalate, PVC, and polycarbonate free and the silicone sleeve is free of plastics and 100% non-toxic. The adult bottles come in one size, 22 oz. and six different colors and the baby bottles come in two sizes, 4 oz. and 9 oz. and six colors.

So simple, yet so forward-thinking too. Gotta love it.

We're Not Buying it!

By Jennifer Chaky

The Tap Water Movement is gaining steam as more and more people become aware of the nightmare of commercially-bottled water--where natural ecosystems are destroyed, one liter of water for every liter bottled is wasted, and millions of plastic bottles are put into the waste stream- 80% of which do not get recycled. And that doesn't even address the massive amounts of energy being consumed throughout this whole ordeal- from collection to transport. And don't get me started on the chemicals being leached from the plastic bottles into the water that we drink...ugh!

Beverage companies had us convinced for a while that we needed to depend on them to have healthy drinking water. But consider this: brands like Aquafina and Dasani are reprocessed tap water from sources like the Detroit River and other municipal water supplies. Yes, companies like Coca Cola and Nestle buy plain old tap water from municipalities for the same price that citizens pay, then they sell it back to those citizens at 500 times the cost. And this to me is the greatest injustice. Water is a right for every being on Earth, not a commodity to be bought and sold. It should not ever be controlled by corporations, but we dangerously give corporations this control when we pay them for our water.

By simply drinking filtered water from your tap you take back control while doing something great for your health and the health of the natural environment. Now, all filters are not created equal. Brands like Brita and Pur are two popular ones that remove chlorine and will make your water taste better, but if you want one that removes a wide range of contaminants you need a carbon filter system like Multi-Pure water filters that come in a variety of systems and price ranges to fit your needs and budget.

So hit that tap and know what a good thing you are doing!

Books for a Better World

By Jennifer Chaky

I frequently have customers ask me what they can do with their used books. Here at the store, I started a book swap-shelf where locals can pop in and browse the books that have been left by others and drop off books that they are finished with. Books are just one of those things that should be passed on. It keeps books out of landfills/incinerators and spreads knowledge. What can be better than that?

Well, here is a website that took that idea to a world-wide level and is going beyond just sharing books: it is also supporting world literacy. At Better World Books individuals can actually sell their unwanted books using the buyback program. Simply type in the ISBN of each book you want to sell, and Better World Books will give you a price for each book and even pay for shipping to them (using carbon-offset shipping no less!). They then sell the books, with proceeds going to five major nonprofit literacy partners and over 80 literacy-based non-profits.

Jennifer Chaky is the owner of Go Lightly, Montclair New Jersey's green-living store. She lives in Montclair with her daughter and menagerie of rescued animals.

And if you are shopping for books, you can browse the huge selection that will either come from Better World Books new or used, or from an independent bookseller partnering with BWB. They even have a database of local libraries that offer "online sidewalk sales" of discarded library books.

So when you're doing your Spring cleaning, or next time you're in the market for books, check out Better World Books and be a part of making the world better!

Green Overload? Take it One Day at a Time.

By Jennifer Chaky

Green Green Green. That’s all you hear these days. From chemical companies touting “natural” cleaners to car companies saying their car is the greenest- you need a PhD in Greenology to sort through it all. I hear ya, it’s overwhelming.

As a green retailer, it is my job to decide what is truly good for the planet and what is “greenwashed” - and it does get confusing. But my reputation depends on making the right choice…and more importantly, so does the planet. The things we buy do have the greatest impact –good or bad- on our future. Every single time we buy something we are casting a vote for what kind of world we want. Do we want a healthy, fair, abundant world or a toxic, unjust, scarce world? It really is up to us. Every dollar we spend tells companies what we want. What we demand.

But where to start? It is hard to think of revamping all of your consumption and changing over all the products you use. So I recommend taking it one day at a time. Next time you are out of coffee, choose a fair trade brand. Out of toothpaste? Choose a truly natural brand made by a small organic company. Need a wedding gift? Choose a bowl made from recycled glass. Going to a baby shower? Start the newborn off right with a set of glass baby bottles. Do you need new boots? How about checking out a thrift store? Next time you buy beer or wine, ask your retailer for a local organic option. You get the idea.

Once you get going, before you know it you will have transformed your lifestyle- where the goods you buy truly back-up your principles. At first you may have to do some leg work to read labels and research the companies but after your initial efforts, you will become acquainted with some really great products and companies, and you will gain an intuition for what is greenwashed and what is truly green.

Here are some tips on what to look for when shopping:

• Keep it simple. Products with a simple list of ingredients tend to be better than those with long list of unearthly chemical names.

• Look for these Third Party Verification Seals: Energy Star; Certified Organic; Leaping Bunny; Fair Trade Certified; Green Seal; and Green E.

• Words like “natural,” “pure,” “nontoxic,” “cruelty-free,” and “biodegradable,” do not necessarily mean anything. There is no regulation regarding the use of these terms, so be wary.

• Truly green companies do not over-package their goods.

I also highly recommend reading Diane MacEachern’s book Big Green Purse to learn everything you need to know to become a lifelong lean, clean, and green consumer.

Jennifer Chaky is the owner of Go Lightly, Montclair New Jersey's green-living store. She lives in Montclair with her daughter and menagerie of rescued animals.