On Demand
The Big Green Apple
Even when you buy pairs of jeans, get your hair dyed, or rent a car, you can make an environmentally informed decision about when choosing a company. But how? Enter Greenopia, a guide to living green in New York. Gay Browne, founder of Greenopia, and Ferris Kawar, Greenopia's vice president of sustainability, talk about the guide and how they researched it.
Greenopia is available as a thank-you gift for a pledge to WNYC.
Visit Greenopia, the website
- About the Brian Lehrer Show »
- Staff Bios »
- Contact Us »
- Tapes and Transcripts »
- Latest Episode »
- Show Archive »
Features & Series
Podcast
Stay up to date.
Subscribe to the Podcast
YOU PRODUCE The Brian Lehrer Show
Be a listener-producer with facts, questions and people you'd like to hear on the air.
More
The Brian Lehrer Show Scrapbook
Visit the scrapbook for daily photos and miscellany from The Brian Lehrer Show.
More
Shop at Amazon!
The Brian Lehrer Show picks
Start your Amazon shopping on WNYC.org and a portion of your total purchase goes to WNYC.
More
Comments
Refresh
I thought you were saying "Green Opium". That's a totally different book, I guess!
Is there a green baloney?
Greenwich Letterpress on Christopher St produces all of their custom letterpress using 100% wind power.
My favorite greenwash so far is the company Kangol (I think I'm spelling that right), who make caps/hats. I found a hat at a local store that was tagged (loudly) as "organic" cotton. when I looked at the actual fiber content on the tag, it was only 3% organic cotton!
Why do these people keep associating alternative medicine with being eco-friendly?
I think its a bit of a rediculous position to take, one not grounded in any sort of fact.
How about ECO green products and places that the common man can afford to shop and buy? Otherwise this whole green thing seems to be an elitist movement….
Don't conflate "green-ness" with homeopathy. Homeopathy, contrary to what your guest has to say, does not understand what how the body works nor how science work. Go read the founding doctrine about homeopathy and you'd just go... What?!
I don't know why alternative medicine is considered "green." Supplements and most alternative therapies are completely unregulated and most are untested -- that is, what is in the package may not be what is on the label and it may not do what it is expected to do. Further, it may or may not have anything to do with natural ingredients or manufacturing processes. It is quite misleading to suggest that all alternative pharmaceuticals are "green" or even healthy.
This is a bit unnerving.
To turn in your old polluting lawn mower to buy a new "green" one means you've decided to ignore all of the pollutants caused by the production of another mower in China.
I am very concerned at how the "green" label is being spun around to promote the accumulation/production of more stuff.
The garbage truck in jersey City has a big sign which goes more or less like this:
" Waste Management, our landfills provide 10,000
acres of wildlife habitat".
I agree Steve,
Just because its an all natural remedy it doesn’t mean it won’t kill you or make you really sick…. Especially when there are no independent studies done by a reputable lab. I could go out in my backyard and bottle up dirt from the ground and label it as the miracle erb that cures all cancer. Its perfectly legal. …. Think about that the next time you buy your vitamins…
CocoaVino
www.CocoaVino.com
Based in Brooklyn.
Handmade chocolates & confections made with organic, local, and fair-trade ingredients.
Bonbons, Drunken Figs, Fig Caramels, Truffles, etc.
Uses only fair-trade chocolate.
100% wind-powered kitchen and offices.
All printed materials printed with soy-based inks on Forest Stewardship Council certified papers.
Ships in boxes made from 100% recycled materials. Packs with biodegradable packing peanuts, which are 100% cornstarch, dissolve quickly in water and are compostable.
CocoaVino chocolates coming soon to Whole Foods in New York, northern New Jersey, and southern Connecticut.
Drunken Figs at Murray's Cheese (Bleecker Street).
Everyone should pledge to "The People's Radio"
Brian,
One way Greenopia got many contacts for the book was the monthly Greendrinks where anyone interested in green things comes to talk about services/products etc. I hope you can recommend this gathering to your listeners, here is the website www.biothinking.com/greendrinks.
Also Greenmaps is a great map resource of environmental services and organizations in NYC, they are a non-profit located in a small space in the East Village and these maps are a great resource. www.greenmap.org
Bonnie
PS I'm not affiliated with either.
I'm looking for bio-degradable plastic cups for a party event I'm planning- PLA cups or polylactide cups- is one kind I found. Is there any place in NYC where I can purchase these in NYC?
Thanks for your help?
I agree Lorenzo.
A true “green movement” would be one that is seamless. The normal products you buy made in an environmentally sane way that doesn’t jack up the price 500%. That’s why I hate Hybrids. Why should a pay $5000 to $10000+ dollars more for a car? You can get better gas mileage from a diesel car. Build a high mileage car for the common folk, not for the “look at me, I’m driving a hybrid” folk.
I agree completely with comments 5-8 and 10. I'll quote: "WHY DO THESE PEOPLE KEEP ASSOCIATING ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE WITH BEING ECO-FRIENDLY?
I THINK ITS A RIDICULOUS POSITION TO TAKE, ONE NOT GROUNDED IN ANY SORT OF FACT."
The one that's killing me right now is the Poland Spring Eco-Friendly bottle being advertised on tv.
I cannot believe they're trying to convince consumers that drinking bottled water out of a bottle that contains 30% less plastic is somehow the responsible choice...
I understand the motivation behind being green, but at what do these green methods become counter-productive?
Often times organic farming though healthier, farming it emits more carbon. Where is the balance?
these guys are fantastic dry cleaners in nyc.
http://www.greenapplecleaners.com/
What about SC Johnson's television commercials about having green products...is that true?
Well, I am not selling to consumers, since it is free, but my Web site provides information on the environment and services such as solar energy, wind, green home building etc. It is http://www.PlanetThoughts.org. All are welcome to find out about the latest science, and how to respond in various ways to the environmental crisis that we are all entering.
Does anyone know of a green butcher? I having been searching for awhile and am unable to find one. There is a place on 7th and bleeker that has a few grass fed products, but does anyone have any suggestions?
Also, schools can help with biodegradable or reuable lunch trays and encouraging recycling in school (bottle, paper, etc.)
I'd like to plug a great green cause:
Citizen Pruners!
- You train for 10 hrs. with Trees NY, in a series of five 2 hr. courses. When you pass your final test, you receive a license.
- Once you're a citizen pruner, you can take care of one tree near your stoop, or twenty on your street. It's wonderfully free of beuracracy: you are trusted to care for trees, whichever you choose to trim!
Check out Treesny.org for listings of classes, resources, and other good information about New York City street trees!
Homeopathy is a hoax. Green homeopathy is a terndy hoax. By the way "criterion" is the singular, "criteria" the plural form.
Homeopathic medicine is definitely more environmentally friendly than standard medication because it doesn't end up polluting our water supply as the latter pharmaceuticals do.
If any vitamin supplements actually worked, then according to the side of the Cap’t Crunch box, if I eat 4 bowls of Cap’t Crunch a day, I should have a completely well balanced diet. Does anybody really think I’d be well balanced by only eating Cap’t Crunch 4 times a day? So how are homeoapathy vitmans good for the envornment if they don't even do anything except create more packaging that goes into your local landfill?
I don't think we're in the book (and never seem to get mentioned on segments about green living in NYC), but the Fourth Street Food Co-op is open to the public 7 days a week; 100% of our produce is organic and probably 90% of our bulk grains, nuts, dried fruit, oils, spices and cleaning products are organic as well. We don't buy from greenwashing suppliers, support local farmers and run our store on wind energy. Our prices are competitive with other markets- sometimes we even beat prices for conventionally-grown foods.
Come on down, bring your empty bags and bottles and fill them up at our member-run, not-for-profit community co-op! EBT shoppers, students and seniors get discounts (and members get bigger ones).
58 East 4th Street, between 2nd Avenue and Bowery. 4thstreetfoodcoop.org
Homeopathy seems to be coming up quite a bit in this discussion, and I'd like to say from first-hand experience that it is not "a hoax." I first worked with a licensed homeopath (a friend of the family) when I was a teenager. It took about a year to find the right remedy for me (I was skeptical) but once she did I really noticed the difference. That said, it is not for everyone, nor is it a cure-all. And I would be wary of mass-produced homeopathic cures off a store shelf.
jet, the "keep trying until we find the right cure" trick is as old as (quack) medicine. Most ailments are naturally self-limiting and we are remarkably easily fooled by anecdote, the post hoc fallacy and other traps of illogic. But homeopathy cannot and does not work. The occult principles underlying it (like cures like, dilution to the point of absence) are barmy nonsense; so much so that unlike many other forms of CAM it doesn't even merit rational consideration or scientific investigation (anymore than does the existence of the tooth fairy). However, for various unscientific reasons it has actually been subjected to such investigation. Physicists, chemists and biologists will be pleased to know that the results are no surprise and there is as yet no need to throw out almost all of science.
Leave a Comment
Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Back to EpisodeEmail addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. WNYC reserves the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the WNYC.org Comment Guidelines before posting.