Environmental Diva

Did you know we’re facing a food shortfall for the 3 billion additional people expected to grace Earth by 2050?  That’s a heck of a lot of people needing a heck of a lot of food.  One of the solutions to feeding all those phantom people is Vertical Farming, which is an astronomically cool concept. 

They still have a lot of kinks to work out, but the city block-sized vertical farm would come with state-of-the-art technology like automated feeders and monitoring equipment.  And it would be right in the middle of your city (eliminating some of the environmental problems with transporting food across the country). You can learn all about it at The Vertical Farm Project.

Of course, there are some naysayers who worry about the problems that might come with vertical farms, like overuse of pesticides and fertilizers.  And then there’s this blahblahblog entry that has some interesting information but doesn’t say much (the first couple of paragraphs are totally pointless, so do yourself a favor and skip to the bullet points).

Seriously, though, if we’re going to continue at the rate we’re going, we need innovation like this.  I say let’s try it out and see what happens.  We either need to try some new stuff or need to stop breeding - which do you think is likelier to happen?

I spent quite a bit of time in the cosmetics aisle at Whole Foods today.  I was looking for a natural shampoo that doesn’t smell horrible, but was quite unsuccessful.  It wasn’t a complete loss because I found a new nailpolish alternative!  (Their claim, not mine.)

The No-Miss “Healthy Alternative Product” nailpolish is brought to you by No-Miss, Ltd. (They look scary, don’t they? I mean, what’s up with that makeup and what on earth possessed them to use a photo where the guy is holding his cell phone to his ear?  If this picture had been on the brochure, I probably would have skipped the product. Hmm, this site reeks of oddness - notice the URL?)

Product Review:

Price: $6.99 at Whole Foods

Color: Bunnell Blush (the picture looks nothing like the actual, which is a light silvery pink)

Packaging: It’s in a regular looking nailpolish bottle.  The nice thing about it is that there isn’t any extra packaging - just the bottle and the sticker on the bottom.

Animal Testing: Another miss on the does and doesn’t test on animals list.  VeganEssentials claims it neither has animal ingredients nor does animal testing.

Product Quality: I’m about to put on a third layer of polish.  Maybe it’s the wrong color for me, or maybe it’s not as good as regular nailpolish.  I can’t tell.  It does dry very quickly, in fact, it’s probably the quickest drying nailpolish I’ve ever used.  The application is smoother and thinner than regular nailpolish - not thick and goopey.  Other than feeling the need to put on three coats, there is no visible difference between it and a regular nailpolish.  Some things to note:  it does NOT have the overwhelming stench of other nailpolish brands.  I guess that’s because it doesn’t have formaldehyde, toluene, dibutyl pthalate, or camphor.

Colors: Tons and tons, you have to see them for yourself.

Durability:  Hard to tell, but I’ll get back to you on that one.

Comments from others: Here’s a great review from Pragmatic Woman, who also notes that it’s sold on lots of vegan websites, which I can verify is quite true!

Conclusion:  Don’t look at the No-Miss website, and you’ll love the product.

Cargo Cosmetics brings you Plant Love, a lipstick packaged with biodegradable materials.

I heard about Plant Love a few months ago and have been meaning to try it. Since I was at the mall this weekend and have been looking for a daytime lipstick, I thought I’d give Plant Love a go.

Notes: The lipstick comes in a biodegradable cardboard box that is “embedded with wildflower seeds.” The lipstick tube is made from corn (also biodegradable). $2 from every purchase is donated to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Product Review:

Price: $20/tube from Sephora.

Color: Majella.

Packaging: The wildflower cardboard packaging is kind of cool. It reminds me of the homemade sheets of paper you get at craft stores - the kind with flower petals in it. The decorations on the lipstick tube are corny (ha!). People really need to get over the hippy thing. If I was a random shopper, the packaging would only appeal to me slightly. I’m a sucker for good packaging, and this would never catch my attention.

Animal Testing: I didn’t see Cargo Cosmetics on either of the Caring Consumer animal testing lists. Feel free to correct me.

Product Quality: The application is smooth; it glides on nicely and looks great. However, it tastes (and smells) like the cheap lipstick you wore in high school when all you could afford was Cover Girl - and Almay was the stuff you splurged on.

Colors: Apparently, Cargo isn’t tired of the celebrity thing. There are five celebrity-designed colors and six derived from places (don’t ask me how they came up with that one). There aren’t a lot of colors to choose from, but give it time.

Durability: Wears better than I expected. The color lasted for hours, and even drinking didn’t rub it all off.

Gleeful discoveries: Do me a favor and go to the celebrity page. Hover your mouse over the celebrity pictures so the lipstick appears. Did that amuse you as much as it amused me?

Comments from others: Here’s a tidbit from sustainable is good and a sassy bit from Kiss and Makeup.

Conclusion: Although it’s not the best lipstick I’ve ever tried, I’d buy it again. The only negatives are minor - cheap lipstick smell and cheap lipstick taste, but that’s not a deal breaker for me. If I can wear four inch heels for the sake of fashion, I can certainly wear cheap lipstick masquerading as top notch. It does excel in innovative biodegradable packaging, after all. It’s about time.

Over and out.

Some of you kindly (note the sarcasm) mentioned the problem with CFLs is the mercury content and that I didn’t discuss that in my last blog entry.  So, I’ve taken the criticism to heart and the result is the Environmental Smack Down Challenge.

Environmental Smack Down Diva (ESDD): *in best announcer voice* Welcome to the Environmental Smack Down Challenge. I’m your host, Environmental Smack Down Diva.  Before we begin, let me introduce you to our contenders.

(ESDD gestures to one corner.)

ESDD: In this corner we have CFLs and huge amounts of energy savings!

(ESDD gestures to another corner.)

ESDD: And in this corner we have the big bad and brawny Mercury myth!  They’ve skirmished.  Fought. Passed out. And resurfaced, and today they meet again for the final smackdown.  CFLs, Mercury myth, take your places.

(CFLs and Mercury myth meet in the middle of the ring, shake hands, square off.)

ESDD: Just to go over a few rules - no hanky panky, no shattering glass, and no spilled mercury.  We want a clean fight here.  You know the rest!

Bell:  DING!

ESDD: Mercury myth pulls a newspaper out of his glove, The Ellsworth American, and tosses it to CFLs.

Mercury myth: Take that!  Mercury levels in that broken bulb were over 6 times the normal level.

ESDD: Mercury myth references an article about a woman who received a $2k estimate for cleaning up a broken CFL.

CFLs: You’ll have to do better than that to take me down. I have this!

ESDD: CFLs throws down the gauntlet!  It’s an official-looking report!

CFLs: The analysis numbers from Maine!  The mercury levels were only high where the bulb shattered, and even that dissipated to normal levels over a short amount of time. I’d say that trumps your lousy and outdated article!

ESDD: CFLs brandishes the report in Mercury myth’s face.  It’s a report from the government of Maine that lists the mercury levels found at the woman’s house after she broke a CFL.  The results were within normal limits except for the area where the bulb shattered.  But further tests showed mercury levels returned to normal levels before a second test was completed.  Mercury myth can’t take the proof and falls to his knees!

Mercury myth: B-but Energy Star says you have to recycle CFLs.  It’s so much work and people are so lazy! Plus, you have to take special precautions if you break one!

ESDD: CFLs is hovering over Mercury myth.  It looks like…, yes…, CFLs is delivering his famous knockout punch! 

CFLs: [swings] You’re done for Mercury myth!  Energy benefits far outweigh your measly mercury levels, so says Australia, Ontario, and treehuggers everywhere!

ESDD: You heard it here folks, the energy savings for CFLs is higher than the risk of mercury.  Just remember to dispose of your CFLs properly and be careful if you break one.  CFLs have a long life, so when it comes time for you to replace your bulbs in the next few years, use Energy Star’s guidelines.   This is Environmental Smack Down Diva saying Good night and good recycling.

Special thanks to the most famous debunker of all, Snopes, and especially their Light Fingered page.