Q. I’m recently obsessed with quinoa—which, apparently, is the only grain that’s a perfect protein—but before I get totally addicted, I wanted to find out if it’s a relatively sustainable grain to eat. How much water/energy/pesticides go into raising this food of the gods? – Charles, WA

A. There isn’t much information available about how various grains stack up in terms of water use, land use, and carbon footprint, so we turned to food footprint expert Laura Stec, author of Cool Cuisine: Taking the Bite Out of Global Warming.

Who confirmed that there isn’t much information out there on how grains stack up against each other. Sorry, Charlie.

“Good luck getting anybody to talk about whether quinoa has a lower carbon footprint than, say, millet or rice,” said Stec. “Those types of studies take a long time and we’re only just starting to get some of the comparisons. It was only a year ago that people were starting to get numbers on beef versus chicken, chicken versus vegetables.”

But while we can’t (yet) offer you any of those statistics we treehuggers love so much, we can offer you some big-picture advice from Stec: Take a step back, introduce diversity into your diet whenever possible, experiment in the kitchen to find out which healthy whole grains you like best, and use those grains to replace some of the meat in your diet. According to a 2006 study conducted by the UN, the livestock industry is responsible for a whopping 20% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.

So if quinoa rocks your world—and by the way, yes, it’s the only complete protein in the plant kingdom—enough that you’d be willing to replace some of the meat or fish in your diet with it, then do it up like whoa. In addition to being a complete protein, quinoa is high in vitamin B, calcium, iron, and amino acids. Plus, it’s gluten free, which makes it easy to digest and a safe bet for any dinner party or potluck.

What you should try not to do, says Stec, is get so caught up in carbon counting that you lose sight of the bigger picture. “I hope that people don’t get crazed about the carbon count,” she says. “We need eaters to learn about their food, learn how to use it, cut down on meat consumption, and eat more grains.” It’s like Michael Pollan says: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”

-         Tobin Hack

Eco-inquiries, conundrums, snafus? Write to askplenty@plentymag.com.

Posted by Tobin Hack on Oct 3, 2008 at 1:45 PM
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Q. As a movie buff that's newly interested in environmental issues, I was wondering if there's a Top Ten list of movies/documentaries out there that would give me a general overview of the big environmental questions being asked today. – Jen, MN

A. As a fellow movie buff, I had a hard time picking just ten must-see environmental movies/documentaries. So here are thirteen! Hope you’ve got Netflix….

An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
It’s an obvious pick, but this doc is a great primer on global warming. Its message is sobering, true, but Gore says that if we act boldly, quickly, and wisely, we can solve this climate crisis. 

Erin Brokovich (2000)
Based on a true story, Julia Roberts plays Erin Brockovich, a small-town gal who takes on chemical company PG&E after coming across suspicious medical records from a nearby town. It’s that rare tale of David taking on Goliath, and winning.

Who Killed the Electric Car? (2006)
If you think that electric cars are a new idea, think again. This documentary goes back to the mid-90s to dig out the GM EV1 electric car, a popular green vehicle quickly buried by auto industries and greedy politicians.

The 11^th Hour (2007)
When dealing with the global warming crisis, think big. That’s the message behind this global warming documentary that offers exciting and radical solutions from leading scientists and innovators to help save the planet from total climate catastrophe.

Wall E (Available on video Nov. 18^th, 2008)
This computer-animated science fiction tale is a futuristic look at an Earth that’s so polluted by mass consumerism, humans actually had to leave it. Wall-E clearly has an environmental agenda, but it gets the message across without preaching.

Planet in Peril (2007)
Anderson Cooper, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and Jeff Corwin travel 13 countries in this two-part documentary on some of the world’s most pressing environmental issues, including global warming, species extinction, and water pollution.

Silkwood (1983)
The true-life account of Karen Silkwood (played by Meryl Streep), an Oklahoma nuclear plant worker who blew the whistle on her company’s dangerous practices, then mysteriously “disappeared.”

A Civil Action (1998)
In this true story, John Travolta defies stereotypes about out-for-themselves personal injury lawyers. Sticking his own neck out, he sues a major corporation for contaminating a town’s drinking water with industrial solvents.

Planet Earth (2007)
This Emmy-winning series travels the world to show the connection between all animals, big or small. The beautifully scenic shots alone will give you a renewed appreciation for all things great and small.

The End of Suburbia (2004)
The white picket fence never seemed so threatening. This documentary takes a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of suburbia, and asks whether this lifestyle can ever be truly sustainable.

A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash (2006)
This documentary looks at our addiction to oil and the inevitable chaos that's sure to ensue once it runs out. The film outlines the challenge while highlighting our desperate need for an alternative energy source.

Heat (available online in late October 2008)
This Frontline documentary investigates how the world's largest corporations and governments are responding to Earth's looming environmental disaster and examines whether major corporations and governments are up to the challenge.

Flow (limited showing in theaters)
This award winning documentary builds a case against the growing privatization of the world's fresh water supply, asking the question, “Can anyone really own water?”

- Jessica A. Knoblauch

 

Eco-inquiries, conundrums, snafus? Write to askplenty@plentymag.com.

Posted by Tobin Hack on Oct 1, 2008 at 5:41 PM
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Q. My husband and I just had our first child, and we’re already anticipating the day when he starts crawling around. We want to make sure our tile kitchen floors are clean and safe before kiddo starts roaming—what’s a good non-toxic cleaner recipe to use? – Janet, MI

A. There’s not much you can’t do with a bottle of good old white vinegar. Make salad dressing and kill athletes foot (not at the same time, please), reduce the glycemic index of carb-heavy foods and make you feel more full, get chewing gum off clothes or out of hair, deactiviate jellyfish venom after a sting … and, yes, clean your floors! You’re smart to be thinking ahead about ways to spruce things up without toxins—studies have shown that tots and pets pick up far more dangerous grime than do adults (just think how often hands and paws go into mouths after touching the floor). So chuck those conventional cleaning supplies, and get in the habit of giving your floors a thorough swipe with a bucket full of white distilled vinegar and hot water (one cup vinegar per gallon of H2O). The mixture will gently disinfect, cut odors from spills, pick up anything grody that happens to be lurking down there, and leave your tiles gleaming. 

-         Tobin Hack

Eco-inquiries, conundrums, snafus? Write to askplenty@plentymag.com.

Posted by Tobin Hack on Sep 30, 2008 at 4:40 PM
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Q. My local coffee shop just started advertising some of its coffees as being shade-grown. Why exactly are these types of beans better for the environment? – Phil, MA

A. Imagine—if you dare—a life without coffee. What would be the best part of waking up? What would we waste $4 on each morning? How would we justify pouring mass amounts of acid into our stomachs, and how would we fit the words “foam”, “whip”, and “venti” into our daily routines? What would we put our Baileys in? What, for the love of all things holy, would unpaid interns do all day?

We’re all so desperate for a cup of joe that coffee is, get this, the “second most traded commodity in the international community after petroleum”—according to Laura Stec and Eugene Cordero, authors of Cool Cuisine: Taking the Bite Out of Global Warming— with between 20 and 25 million farmers growing it around the world. That’s a lotta java, which is why every time a consumer (that’s you) chooses shade-grown coffee over conventional, it actually, really, seriously, truly does make a difference.

In a beanshell: Growing coffee in the sun instead of the shade means higher output for farmers, but it also means that acres upon acres of rainforest have to be cleared to let the sun shine in. Clearing rainforest is bad news for birds, in sort of the same way that it would be bad news for you if I tore your house down. And then all the other houses on your block, too. Also, clearing rainforest gives global warming a leg up, which, let’s be honest, it just doesn’t need. According to the Climate, Community, and Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA), 20-25% of greenhouse gas emissions can be blamed on our nasty habit of cutting down tropical forest.

So when you buy coffee or chocolate, look for labels that indicate your product was shade-grown. The Bird Friendly Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center’s seal and Rainforest Alliance seal are two you can especially trust; Stec and Cordero say that if you can't find one of those, your next best bet is to look for organic and fair trade products from Latin America, which are likely shade-grown as well.

Then reward yourself by making your unpaid intern brew it for you, and pouring in a shot or three of Baileys. Savink the rainforesht ish sooo dlicious.

-         Tobin Hack

Eco-inquiries, conundrums, snafus? Write to askplenty@plentymag.com.

Posted by Tobin Hack on Sep 26, 2008 at 3:45 PM
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Q. I was recently in the pots and pans section at Target and came across Greenpan, a supposedly eco-friendly nonstick pan. Is this for real, or just more eco hype? – Emily, NY

A. With so much green washing going on these days, we can’t blame you for being a little skeptical. Actually though, Greenpan’s eco-claims do seem legit. One of the reasons Greenpan is, well, green, is that it’s 100 percent PFOA- and PTFE-free. Traditional non-stick pans like Dupont’s Teflon-based nonstick cookware use PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid), which is a synthetic chemical that’s used to manufacture PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene). PFOA is infamous for its amazing ability to kill birds when its fumes are released into the air. It’s also been shown to cause health problems in people. This alarming news is probably why Dupont recently announced its plans to phase out PFOAs in its cookware by 2015.

Greenpan also claims (and this checks out, too, as far as we can tell) that production of Thermolon-coated cookware releases 60% fewer greenhouse gases than does production of traditional PTFE-based non-stick technology. That’s because it cures more quickly, and at lower temperatures.

Unfortunately, the eco wonder comes with a few caveats. For one, Thermolon’s ceramic non-stick formulation is nanotechnology-based. While manipulating particles at the nano scale is considered safe by lots of scientists, consumers should also know that some in the scientific community question nanotech’s safety. Another sticky issue is that silicone—one of the ingredients in Thermolon’s ceramic non-stick coating (full list of ingredients: oxygen, silicone, carbon, aluminum and titanium)—can be a health issue when mixed with additives. Plus, it’s been known to melt at not so hot temperatures.

If these concerns keep you up at night, go with more tried and true eco friendly options like glass or cast iron cookware. The most important detail to remember (environmentally-speaking) is that if you don’t need cookware, don’t buy it just because some new product has come out. After all, using what you’ve got is usually the most eco way to go.

– Jessica A. Knoblauch

Eco-inquiries, conundrums, snafus? Write to askplenty@plentymag.com.

Posted by Tobin Hack on Sep 25, 2008 at 5:12 PM
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