Did Earth Day Make Us More Green?

Since last week was Earth Day, it is natural to wonder how much progress our world has made to be a more eco-friendly planet.

According to the official Earth Day website, this past year was the most successful yet. There were several events world wide that gathered millions of people.



One of the biggest events which took place all over the United States, the Green Apple Festival, had free performances by famous musicians in eight cities across the country. Some of the prominent artists that performed were The Roots & Friends, Los Lonely Boys, OAR,and several others.

For those who could not attend any of the festivals nation-wide because of college classes, there may have been events on your campus. Locally, University of Arizona held a Sustainability fair with exhibits and vendors.

The best way to make the public more aware of how they can impact our environment is by promiting awareness and fundraising. These are two things that my eco-friendly newspaper, The CatScan tries to do every semester.

The important thing about being eco-friendly is making an effort to reduce the consumption of disposable products.For us, the biggest contribution we make is by having The CatScan online to eradicate the use of paper all together. This way we can promote awareness and sustain the environment at the same time.



The EarthDay Network offers a list of tips for fundraising more eco-friendly and fundraisers that help the environment:

*Use recycled paper when creating handbills or posters.
*If you are going to sell products to raise money, make sure you know where the product is made and that they are created by people in human conditions.
*Reduce the consumption of junk food so that we can reduce the number of diseases,bacteria, and health problems.

Alternative Fundraisers that Help The Environment:
*Book fairs
*Coffee, chocolate, and fair trade product sales
*Printer cartridge/ Cell phone recycling

Implementing these tips into your life can help the earth and at the least, make you more conscious of how you are contributing or hurting our environment. I know that writing for CatScan this past semester has definitely made me more aware. I have a new sense of guilt when I am wasteful that I never had before.

Although, this is my last blog and I will not be able to remind all of you to be conscious, I hope that I have inspired you to think about the Earth on your own. Don't wait for EarthDay every year to become active. Act now and go green.

L'Occitane Has A Little Bit Of Earthly Magic

Men and women alike who enjoy luxurious skin products agree that L'occitane is more of an experience than just a brand. From the moment you enter the store, your nose is delighted with the French scents that make the expensive products justifiable. Most would agree that the luxurious wrapping on every item product whether it is $8or $80 is the icing on the cake, but those people only think that is the best part because they are unaware that it is naturally safe for the environment.

L'occitane products are made from plant products with the exception of the beehive line. L'occitane uses plant oils instead of mineral oils, which are not nearly as natural. All of their products are tested under medical supervision and have not been tested on animal products in the past 30 years.

L'occitane shopper, Nicole Kavanuagh agrees that L'occitane is worth the money and happy that it is good for the environment.

"I care about the quality of the product I am putting on my face. I love L'occitaine products and feel a little prestige to owning it", said Kavanaugh.

I agree with Kavanaugh that there is something prestigous about L'occitane. Two years ago, when I visited the Four Seasons Resort in Scottsdale, I was delighted to find the L'occitane lotions and soaps as amenities in the room. Now that I am writing for the CatScan and just found out about their natural and organic nature, I not only appreciate those amenities as a luxury item, but a contribution on a grand scale to purchase organically.



Throughout my blog this semester, I have been encouraging people to stay at hotels that use eco friendly methods. However, even I never thought about how beneficial earth friendly amenities were. Think about it with me. If there are 300 rooms,occupied every night and have the amenities replaced every day, that is 108,000pairs of the lotion and soap that are being purchased instead of products that are harmful.

L'occitane is an example of a company that has mainstreamed their product without changing their main values:
authenticity
simplicity
sensory pleasure
respect for people and the planet

I am changed after learning about this company and will continue to make eco- friendly purchases directly at stores, and indirectly, by staying at hotels that are trying to make a difference.

Green Power All The Time, All The Way

If you have been searching for that perfectly eco friendly vacation, look no further. The Isle of Eigg, located in Scotland has been a fully sustainable island since 1997.

In the dark ages, this island was part of the Pictish Kingdom. After various kingdoms and reigns, it eventually became a recreational and sporting estate in the early 1900s’. After WWII, the Isle of Eigg was not really profitable anymore and it went through various owners until the islanders and partners of the Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust bought it over 10 years ago.

According to the Christian Science Monitor, all the electricity on the island is made locally. The electricity is made up of a combination of:

Solar panels
Wind turbines
Hydroelectric generator

The islanders are allowed a certain ration of electricity. If they exceed the amount, then they are required to pay $40 to get it turned back on.

To get to the Isle of Eigg, visitors must take a ferry boat. In fact, no vehicles are allowed on the island except for visitors or tradesman that have a disability permit. All of the accommodations are either in farmhouses, cottages, or camping grounds.

Once you are here, there are plenty things to do although bird watching is the premiere activity. With over 196 species, it is enough to keep any visitor occupied for their entire stay. May and Early June are considered the best times to bird watch. The official Isle of Eigg website shows which birds can be seen in various months throughout the entire year.

This island has also been called the “Island of Flowers”. There are over 500 higher plantlife species and a byophite list of over 300 species.

After 10 years of trying to get the entire island on green power, the dream had come to life. The island with 45 houses, 20 businesses, and six community buildings on entirely green power is quite the site to see. So, pack your bags for an exciting green vacation.

It is quite common to rent a car when traveling on vacation. Especially, when visiting their relatives, people worry about inconveniencing them by making them drive them anywhere.

Instead, people should consider walking, carpooling, or using public transportation to make the earth greener. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, cars and trucks emit more than 300 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere each year in the United States.

Many cities, especially throughout Europe and designed for walking almost anywhere. Transportation, alone is responsible for about one-third of our nation's total production of carbon dioxide. So, the least we can do is walk from place to place on vacation and enjoy the sights around us.

When visiting relatives, carpooling is always a great option. Carpooling consists of two or more people sharing a ride to their destination. Relatives usually visit the same places anyways. So, if many people are coming in for one family function, maybe only two or three people could get cars out of a huge group. This would drastically reduce the effect on the environment.


Carpooling is always an option, thanks to Commuter Solutions, who match up people for carpools in cities all across the United States.

Hot travel spots such as San Fransisco utilize public transportation as much as possible, like the cable car, the subway in New York City, or the ferry in Catalina Island.
So next time you travel anywhere, whether in your own city or across the world, look at the city’s website to see what the most eco-friendly transportation options are.

The Not So Green View From Cantelleto Dining Room

After going on Princess Cruises for a week through the Mexican Riviera, I had hoped to interview people and find out more facts about how wasteful or efficient cruises really are.

They may be concerned with fuel and sewage discarding methods, but as a guest, they still have a long way to go when it comes to food and drink wasted and they know it.

At a formal, sit-down dinner every night, I got to choose from as many appetizers, salads, soups, entrees, and desserts as I wanted. After you are done with each course, the server dumps your plate of leftovers (if you have any) into a bucket. I was observing this "waste" bucket and saw how quickly it filled up by the second course. I thought this was outrageous, showing that either the food was not that good or that people were already full with another three courses to go!

I wanted to capture photos of this bucket that was continually filled and discarded, but the first time I tried, the servers told me I was not allowed to. I asked why and they said it was just a rule.

Then, I tried to speak with the other servers and people higher on the cruise ship in the food department and they would not speak with me about the wasted food. I was not considered any form of press and they just wanted me to enjoy my stay as a guest and not worry. I guess I did sound a little hypocritical questioning the amount of food wasted when I in fact paid to go on one of these vacations.

Throughout the week I not only snuck more pictures like these, but began to notice other little ways that they wasted food and drinks to better accomodate us.

Every night at dinner I had iced tea and my server began to expect that I would drink about five glasses per night so she would have them lined up by the time I got there, so that she could do her job more efficiently.

On this particular night pictured below, I did not want any iced tea so all of these glasses lined up went wasted and were thrown out.


Also, instead of having two bread baskets on the table for our table of six, they had four. Considering the five courses we selected nearly every night, much of this bread was thrown out as well.

Of course I knew that there is a huge amount of food wasted on cruises before I went on one. However, I did not know that the crew was so resistant to speak about it, as if this has been discussed amongst all of them and they have come up withthe same response "Enjoy your trip".

Now the real question is, do they know that the rest of the "green" world is catching on?

Fuel Efficieny Has Become Completely Green

Since I am about to go on a cruise, I would like to bring up a number of topics that will turn into an article over the course of this week. There are alot of aspects of cruises that are trying to become more environmentally friendly. However, there is one thing that comes to mind when thinking about a cruise and it is food, food, and food.

As far as food goes, we have all seen those people that go back for thirds, fourths, and fifths on cruises. Since food is included, people tend to take an entire order of something and then throw it away. It did not take me until the CatScan to realize how wasteful this is.

According to the Telegraph, cruises are the least eco friendly method of tourism. The combination of food wasted, carbon emissions, and sewage discarding methods make it incredibly bad for the environment. Unfortuinately for the earth, people love these vacations!

The Heritage Foundation recorded that the government spent $693,000 a year on the cruise industry.

Everyone thinks they have an idea about what that money is spent on, but they do not really have detailed facts, nor do they have their real questions answered, which is where I come in this week.

How many pounds of food are wasted, how many people can the wasted food feed, and how much is actually eaten. What about how many pounds do people gain on average when they go on a cruise?

After this week, I expect to educate all of you with a realistic sense of what is actually occurring. Stay tuned for my article.

No Cheese Please

I have learned from traveling in Europe that your chances of being able to substitute or request something specific at restaurants, is slim to none. I have a hard time asking for dressing on the side, so I can only imagine the difficulty of trying to eat organically.

When it is not possible to eat organically at restaurants, a doable substitute is to only order vegetarian or vegan dishes.

Pattrice Jones, Coordinator of the Global Hunger Alliance says that becoming vegan is the biggest change you can make to reduce consumption. “Every time you eat an animal, you eat all of the grain and soy that was fed to them and all the water they had”. Jones says that livestock’s operations contribute even more to global warming than transportation.

HappyCow’s Vegetarian Guide lists vegetarian and vegan restaurants all over the world. They are listed by continents. You can pick the city you are interested in and look at all of the vegetarian restaurants, comments, and prices.

I am often the tourist hoping that people speak English, but when it comes to food, you should try to learn some terms that will help you get what you want. Happy Cow lists how to say Vegetarian or Vegan in every language. It also tells you what the terms mean in different countries. “Organic” or “vegetarian” are subjective in different countries.

Travel Notes: (from HappyCow website for France)
vegan (feminine) végan, végétalien(ne)
I am vegetarian (feminine) Je suis végétarien(ne)
To the French people, "végétarien" does not necessarily exclude fish or chicken, so be clear about what you want or don't want.

People also usually fear gaining weight from all of the heavy food and eating whatever we want. Being a Vegan not only helps out the environment, but our waist. Vegans offer a variety of health benefits since you eliminate foods with cholesterol.

The Food Pyramid for a Vegan looks different and people wishing to adapt to this lifestyle should look at the Vegan version in order to eat healthily.