There are some other websites that rank products on environmental and other bases, like the Better World Shopping Guide (http://betterworldshopper.org/), which gives you the sources to check into their info & make your own decisions, & Project Label (http://projectlabel.org/), where people report & vote on product/company ratings.

Seriously, "Henry from Manhattan"?

"Then pick it up as an ebook"?

Way to keep track of the root cause (translation: Goleman and the publisher, who have manufatured the book in paper to begin with).

Eco-issues matter and deserve reflective, reasoning proponents. You and Goleman are coming up short in this resepct.

Alex (I assume you're the same Alex from NYC who periodically pops up), I always appreciate your clear seeing, no matter how bitingly delivered. This brand of fierce "emotional intelligence" we can use.

dboy said,
“Brainwashing children into the cult of veganism is child abuse.”

The caller’s daughter did her own research on the ecological subject of dairy and eggs and came to her own conclusion, so it’s hardly brainwashing.

Brainwashing children into the cult of stupid is child abuse, and unfortunately it’s by far the most common platform on this biosphere.

Kenneth from UES said,
“I wonder what these vegans will do when they realize that these organic companies have been genetically modifying their vegetables to keep up with their growing demand for fruits and vegetables.”

Personally, I don’t find GMO all that scary. Sorry, I understand how it works and it’s not threatening. We can argue about environmental impact, organic versus conventional, etc., but again, eating plants of any consumer origin, is less impactful than animal products of any consumer origin. With that said, GMO isn’t really used for vegetables, mostly grain, primarily because the demand for animal feed is so high.

Kenneth from UES said,
“And I'd love for these eco-experts to reconcile how they hate the carbon footprint of meat and dairy eating when they have no problem buying Apple computers and other technological devices that use and waste other natural resources.”

The meat and dairy impact is greater than the computer device impact.

ladyjay114 said,
“How much carbon footprint was taken up by printing the guest's book??”

Then pick it up as an ebook.

Look, the goal is to live a little lighter. We can all still have plenty of nice stuff while reducing impact; no one is suggesting that we all live in a cave. It’s not a false dichotomy of all or nothing.

mle, was it the self-promotion-o-meter? or the hubris-bop?

mle
"What was the app he mentioned?"

Ladyjay114, you nailed it:

"How much carbon footprint was taken up by printing the guest's book??"

The pretense of genuine, supposedly largely unselfish, concern about a given issue, and about other people--those one purports to "enlighten" by being "sensitive" to them and to various issues--this is itself a dangerous form of pollution.

Self-styled purveyors of "enlightened" "sensitivity" like Goleman, and even the psycho-enlightenment industry's uber-darling Mark Epstein, are almost without exception operating out of ambition and hubris. Ever notice how they can do no wrong and turn their supposed self-criticism and trumped up humility into capital for the Me-Bop industry? These men's (yes men's) contributions always have some degree of value, but that value is typically grossly inflated by themselves and by their hero-worshiping followers (and by "hero" I man a figure that is nearly unfailingly male). Sigh...

What was the app he mentioned?

How much carbon footprint was taken up by printing the guest's book??

Yeah, that caller’s daughter nailed it.

Producing animal foods for civilization requires more resources (feed, land, water, cleanup) than eating plant sources directly.

Graph from Scientific American Magazine
http://goo.gl/Txbo9

I wonder what these vegans will do when they realize that these organic companies have been genetically modifying their vegetables to keep up with their growing demand for fruits and vegetables.

And I'd love for these eco-experts to reconcile how they hate the carbon footprint of meat and dairy eating when they have no problem buying Apple computers and other technological devices that use and waste other natural resources.

Brainwashing children into the cult of veganism is child abuse.

I majored in environmental studies in the 1970s. In those days, environmental education was seen as extremely important to the movement. They were right. Environmental education is an important propaganda tool for indoctrinating the young. It is biased education, always. Discussion about DDT vs. African malaria cases, not likely. How energy use improves quality of life. How capitalism and increased wealth increase environmental quality because wealthier people have the luxury to be concerned about the environment? Not in these courses!
This education should be avoided at all costs.

This is (or will be in 50 years) the issue of existential significance of our time. The feedback of Eco impact to health (cancer, altzhiemers rate), water supply (fracking impact, chemical run-off in rain water), agriculture output (pesticide pollution), I could go on and on...

The problem with it all is that a more cautious, strategic approach would be a GDP and capitalism killer -- not very popular in the short-term.

Good point, Brian, on the perceived politicization... I think this boils down to whether you accept science as valid, or whether you think that you can simply reject scientific evidence.

So if my kids can't drink horizon milk, what can they drink? And where does the packaging come from? In the time we've been discussing this, China has built ten more drinking straw factories belching carbon into the atmosphere, so can our tiny consumer choices really stand against the tide of economics?

Does the man have tips to calculate carbon costs? It can get complicated with trucking and petroleum fertilizer costs, etc.

Comparing two types of breakfast cereals is missing the ecological forest from the trees if a child’s diet includes the typical amount of animal products (meat, fish, dairy, eggs).

How emotionally intelligent is it to be so self-promoting as to get on the eco-bandwagon and promote various "eco" websites (whether 'not for profit' or no) in the bargain? A cynical viewpoint would say that this move on Golemna's part represents a form of social intelligence, but I hope the world has enough authentically less self-promoting people in it to warrant a more optimistic definition of the latter category. I hope.

The big lesson is "understand the whole system". Everyone is surprised to find how VERY widely we outsource services from all over the globe. It's such that it's actually far more accurate to measure your global impacts as equal to the world average per $ for your income, than by any of your traceable impacts.

http://synapse9.com/SEA