Gas and bloating can be embarrassing for you and uncomfortable for those around you. But it may also be a characteristic of good health.

The foods that often cause those gassy side effects are also nutrient dense and important for staving off disease and increasing immune system health. Roughage, or the indigestible parts of cabbage, kale, broccoli, and so many other foods, may make you fart, but they’re also good for your heart, and it turns out, your immune system as well. As good bacteria in your gut digest your food, they also create molecules that boost immunity.

“Eating foods that cause gas is the only way for the microbes in the gut to get nutrients,” says Purna Kashyap, a gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn on NPR’s The Salt. “If we didn’t feed them carbohydrates, it would be harder for them to live in our gut.”

These microbes, along with swallowing air when you chew, cause gas and bloating. Like fiber, they don’t digest. But at the same time, they promote the growth of good bacteria. Up to 18 farts a day is perfectly healthy. And while gas is usually odorless, it’s not such a bad thing when it smells. That means sulphur made its way in the mix, and sulphur is linked to a reduction in cancer.

“Yes, a more fiber-rich diet will produce more gas,” Kashyap adds. “But completely eliminating fiber from the diet should not be the first option. You don’t want to starve your microbes.”

But if gas is downright uncomfortable and embarrassing, take a gradual approach. If you go from 0 to 60 in a day, it’s no surprise that your system is fighting back. Increase your fiber intake about 5 grams per day until you’re at the required amount for your age group. And as you add in fiber, also make sure that you’re adding in water to push the fiber through. The combination of dehydration and roughage isn’t a pretty sight.

Related on EcoSalon

Your Health Depends on Beneficial Bacteria

Reduce Hay Fever Symptoms: One More Reason to Love Probiotics

5 Delicious Ways to Get Your Probiotics

Image: Dave Austria

The post Are Gas and Bloating Actually Good for Your Health? appeared first on EcoSalon.

Urbanization and a change in attitude regarding fuel prices could help wean us off this unpredictable resource.

In the summer of 2008, gas prices in the United States hit a record high of $4.11 per gallon. Gas had never broken the $4 barrier before, and it seemed like they could just go right on climbing. In response, we grumbled. We moaned. We made bad jokes about paying with our limbs and our first-born children. Then, we started ditching gas-guzzling vehicles like Hummers and oversized SUVs. We carpooled, combined our errands and found other ways to drive less. A large number of Americans across the political spectrum began supporting renewable energy initiatives and new technologies that could reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

Then prices crept back down again, and we got complacent. While we’re still not driving quite as much as we used to – a factor that probably has more to do with the economy than learning any kind of lesson – most people aren’t exactly lining up to buy the Chevy Volt.

Now, as gas prices threaten to reach new heights, our response is not to push harder than ever for greener solutions. Aside from a drive to use rising fuel prices as political fodder to damage President Obama’s chances of re-election, the nation’s reaction has been a collective shrug of the shoulders. A recent study found that Americans are less reactive to gas prices today than we were four years ago, and that it may take breaking the psychological barrier of $5 per gallon to prompt us into any kind of action.

And once that happens, the rallying cries will probably be more along the lines of “Drill Here, Drill Now” rather than “Go Hybrid.” Because the fact of the matter is, the vast majority of us perceive cheap fuel as a basic right.

There’s a good reason for that. America is the land of personal automobiles. This sprawling nation, with its vast network of highways, is nearly impossible to navigate without a car unless you live in a big city with plentiful public transit options. Just try to get through daily life in a suburb, exurb or rural area without owning a vehicle. Some people manage, riding bicycles, catching rides with others and dealing with inefficient and unreliable bus services. But for most people, it’s just not a viable option. Therefore, we have a certain expectation: if we’re to be productive members of society, we have to be able to get around without taking out a second mortgage just for gas.

It’s easy to find ourselves glaring at the digits displayed on the gas pump. None of us enjoys feeling like we’re being gouged. We place the blame on oil speculators who artificially raise prices by as much as 75 cents per gallon, and angrily decry the record profits that oil companies have been enjoying thanks to their tax breaks and lobbyists. Justly so. But don’t we deserve the blame just as much as they do? In our defensiveness over the need to drive personal vehicles, we too often refuse to make concessions that can help us all move forward into an era of green transportation.

Fossil fuels are a finite resource, a major source of pollution and the cause of numerous international conflicts and wars. We can’t grow oil like we can grow algae or biofuel crops. At this point, we should be thinking of our fossil fuel consumption in terms of transitioning to more sustainable options.

But what is it that we can do, as individuals? Instead of just complaining, we can make even more drastic cuts to our driving than ever before. Those of us who are privileged to live in cities with public transit systems should make use of them as often as possible, and the rest of us should push for the same rights in our own communities. Learn the various ways to use less fuel. Take romantic train rides instead of driving cross-country. Ride your bicycle to the store for that carton of milk. Support political efforts to fund renewable energy innovation. Demand high-speed rail. Spread the word about clean energy, which creates three times more jobs than fossil fuels. Consider moving to the city.

The latter option may, in fact, be the single most effective thing we can do. Urbanization is by far the most efficient way to share resources, and with conscious oversight, cities can be green. Population density frees up rural land for food production, preserves wilderness and increases available green space. The 2010 census shows that many Americans are reversing the suburbanization trend, moving back into urban areas in droves. Although this raises valid concerns about potential suburban blight, and may strain city budgets in the short-term, it’s a crucial step toward a more sustainable future.

Thankfully, despite the prevailing attitudes about gas prices, there’s a dot of light at the end of the tunnel. Hybrid sales are increasing, and many people purchasing new vehicles are paying closer attention to fuel efficiency. General Motors, once again the world’s number one automobile manufacturer, reports that sales of vehicles that get at least 30 miles to the gallon make up 40 percent of its sales, versus 16 percent in 2009.

Like any addiction, cheap fossil fuels will be a hard habit to break. But when it comes down to it, do we really have a choice?

Photo: David Drexler

The post Curbing Our Addiction to Cheap Fossil Fuels appeared first on EcoSalon.

What will the future hold? It’s hard to say, but here are ten entities, industries, or trends that will impact it in various ways. 

In the past several years, we have all felt out of control of our lives. We have been hit by economic hardship, rising cost of living, plummeting home values, stagnant salaries, and waves of layoffs. Even as things slowly rebound, there are still many factors that affect our lives that we might not be able to control, but we have found ways to communicate our opinions and, in some cases, make a change. Our society is tackling new and old problems, setting new trends and following a new path, and in many ways, this is a tipping point where the decisions we make now will have a ripple effect far into the future.

Who are the people making these major life decisions for us? You might be surprised.

1. Pharmaceutical Industry

Although prescription prices went up in 2011, Americans are veering away from both doctor visits and excessive prescription use. At the same time, new government healthcare regulations over prescriptions that some women do want to take stirred up debate and crossed boundaries into local government, religious and business realms.

2. Oil & Gas

After the BP spill and the continuing aftermath, no one could fail to see the impact the oil and gas industry has on our lives. Prices have continued to rise and all indications are that they will not go down again for any significant length of time. Car companies have even come to the realization that we need transportation improvements and new higher mileage, hybrid and electric vehicles are emerging onto the market. Unfortunately, they only account for a small percentage of the vehicles on the road but they are gaining in popularity. Alternative energy solutions have become the next big thing, but we are still teetering on the edge of a precipice where we are consuming more energy than these solutions can meet, so oil and gas are still necessary evils. For how long, no one knows. While they still dominate, consumers will not only bear the financial costs, but environmental, political, and health costs as well.

3. Banks

Even before our economy hit a wall in 2008, many mistrusted banks and lenders and feelings deteriorated even further as the situation worsened. The financial landscape is changing. People are becoming more aware of the benefits and pitfalls and are speaking up. When Bank of America saw fit to tack on an arbitrary fee, account holders noticed and protested. After a storm of bad press, Bank of America canceled that fee scheme, but now they are looking to impose more.

The recently passed JOBS Act will also affect small businesses financially in ways we can’t see yet. Now that the gates have opened for people to crowdfund small businesses, this could enable organizations who might not have been able to get traditional or angel funding. Small businesses currently account for 65 percent of new jobs. Perhaps it took a major fall in order to make a change.

4. Supreme Court

We don’t think of many Supreme Court decisions as affecting our day-to-day lives, but recently the Court has weighed in on some pertinent issues. The justices pushed back against physical GPS tracking of a suspect, but the argument exposed the bigger issue of individual privacy. Justice Sotomayor articulated the future concern of eroding personal privacy, pointing out that “physical intrusion is now unnecessary to many forms of surveillance,” which puts into question freedom of expression online, information sent in email and data stored in the cloud. The laws as written by our founding fathers cannot keep pace with the speed of our technological innovations and our society’s increasing dependence on virtual communication, so this issue is sure to come up again.

5. State Government

While the Supreme Court makes decisions felt across the nation, state governments have been flexing their power lately. States have passed a number of measures chipping away at Roe v. Wade and imposing limitations and requirements on abortion that vary state to state.

Arizona went further and crafted legislation that would allow employers to opt out of covering birth control as part of their benefits package. If women wanted reimbursement for prescription costs, it then proposed to compel them to justify to their employers that if they are using birth control, they were using it for reasons other than preventing pregnancy. Using birth control for its intended purpose could be grounds for dismissal.

The legislation (in that form) failed, but this trend of state interference in personal and medical privacy seems to be gaining momentum.

6. Work

The job landscape has been a tough one. The last few years have seen layoffs, stagnant salaries, and overworked employees who had to take on the tasks of vacated roles. New opportunities lean toward freelance or contract work and fewer permanent positions with benefits, while our nation is still known for its culture of overwork.

However, mobile tools are giving rise to more work-at-home arrangements to cut down on commuting, eliminate the need for expensive, wasteful office space, and encourage more work/life balance. Will work weeks get shorter? Will more people without location-based jobs (doctors, teachers, etc.) work remotely? The current tide is toward leaner work infrastructure and roles, so expect remote work arrangements to continue to be popular, but as for Americans working fewer hours? It’s a future hope, but not likely to become a reality soon.

7. Utilities

The utility bill is a growing part of monthly budgets, factoring in landlines, smart phones, tablets, cable, internet, as well as basic heating/cooling and water. We use more energy and spend more money, while the big utility fish are gobbling up the smaller ones, so we have fewer choices. If that wasn’t troubling enough, Verizon recently decided to follow in Bank of America’s footsteps and have added an additional fee onto their customers bills. And again, people noticed and protested. Will the future improve people’s abilities to read and comprehend their cell phone bills? Probably not, but hopefully conservation and alternative energy solutions will lessen our utilities’ control over our energy, and impact on our budgets and our planet.

8. Food

Hundreds of emerging books and blogs examine the content of food on the supermarket shelves and have found much of it full of unsavory ingredients. Despite the higher prices, organic food is gaining popularity and gardening has become cool again. Consumers are more food savvy than ever before and are scrutinizing their fare. The demand for healthier food is a positive trend, but it may come at a price, putting it out of reach for many that are still recovering economically or live in a food desert. How consumers shape this industry now will set the tone for the future.

9. Water

It’s easy to forget that water is precious. For most of us, it comes out of the tap when we need it and goes down the drain when we don’t, but water shortage is fast becoming one of the biggest issues of this century. Businesses are realizing how much water impacts their daily manufacturing processes and their profits. Lack of water can shut down a factory for days, while floods can impact crops and cause materials shortages and price hikes.

The price of water varies by region and abundance, but even here in the U.S., wars over water are becoming more intense. In the future we may see prices rise or simply see availability fall. CDP Water Disclosure Project’s Chris Hedemann believes that people will only start to care about conserving water when a water crisis hits.

10. Consumption

As our economy slowly recovers, many facets have changed. Consumer consumption and excessive waste have fallen out of favor, and frugality has spawned a new, sharing economy, also called the access economy. Companies like Zipcar and Airbnb promote swapping and lending, while anti-waste crusader Annie Leonard is seeing her dream of community and sharing start to come true. We’re replacing shopping bags with reusable cloth totes and borrowing from our neighbors rather than buying an item we may only use once or twice a year. Our economy has been hit before during the Great Depression, inspiring a generation of savers. Perhaps this economic disaster will inspire future generations of savers, lenders and borrowers.

Images: Bethan, Frederic Poirot, Julie Falk, Gisela Giardino, Garry Wilmore, Wally Gobetz, Blake Patterson, Chuck Schneider, Evan Leeson, Wester, aamy.

The post 10 Industries and Trends That Will Shape Our Future appeared first on EcoSalon.

Tips for saving money on gas.

Gas prices are going up, again, and they might not be going down anytime soon. In the short term it’s painful, but in the long term, it may well be a useful reality check. High prices serve as a good motivator for all of us to be mindful of fuel conservation and reduce our own carbon emissions, saving money while we’re at it. Here are 11 ways you can conserve gas on the road, at home, and while you play.

Beware of public transportation. If you have a good public transportation system, by all means, use it. However, the good news is – more people will be using it. The bad news is – more people will be using it. State and federal budgets have been taking a beating, so that means that public transportation systems have had their share of cuts. The American Public Transportation Association has warned Congress that transportation systems could be overloaded if gas prices continue to rise. More funds for public transportation systems are more important now than ever, so start writing your politicians. In the interim, carpooling is another good option, and it goes without saying, drive a car with the best gas mileage that suits your budget and your needs.

Make friends with a mechanic. For those who do not have a public transportation system, no good bike path system, and have to drive – the first step is to make sure your car is in good condition. Correct tire pressure, clean air filters, wheel alignment and good general car maintenance will optimize your gas mileage.

Lose some weight. Get rid of any excess items you are carrying around in your vehicle. Extra weight makes your car work harder and use more gas. Also lose the sports racks, luggage boxes, and any other accessory that creates drag on your car when you aren’t using them.

Learn to (eco)drive. Back to driver’s education class, everyone. Give up your jackrabbit starts, quick braking, variable speeds, and just plain speeding. Embrace the posted speed limit, use cruise control whenever possible, and choose routes that have fewer stops and starts even if they are a little longer distance.

Wear deodorant. Lots of it. Summer is coming, and with it hot temperatures. While late model cars are pretty efficient, running your air conditioning can consume up to 20% more gas, so use the 4-40 rule. When driving under 40 m.p.h, roll down your (four) windows and feel the breeze. Driving over 40 m.p.h. increases the drag on your car (negating any benefit from not using your air conditioning), so roll the windows up and use your air conditioning sparingly. If you really want to avoid any impact on your fuel efficiency, drive with the windows up, the air conditioning off, and use your air vents.

Hone your time management skills. Condense all your errands into one trip on one day, instead of going out multiple days. Also, buy your gas in the early mornings or evenings when it’s cooler. Cooler gas is denser, so you get more for your money (the pump only measures volume).

Cut off ties to activities more than 10 miles away. Find things to do nearby instead. Ones that you can walk or bike to are even better. Learn to love your neighborhood and your town.

Vote for your town to build more bike paths. As much as we need better and extended public transportation, a plan to build more bike paths is a good idea in the long-term, too. Biking or walking is healthier and does more to alleviate carbon emissions than even taking public transportation. Currently, in many places, biking is simply too dangerous to be a good method of transportation. Wider road shoulders and sidewalks, paved bike trails and a refresher course of road rules regarding right-of-way for bicyclists, pedestrians, and drivers are all good ideas.

Let your grass grow. Buck the neighborhood association rules and consider some natural landscaping. If you must have a manicured lawn, take stock of your power tool inventory. Before you get out your power mower, leaf blower, edger, and other gas-driven yard implements, consider replacing them with manual tools. Buy a push mower and use hand clippers, a rake, and a manual edger and you can get a workout, have a beautiful yard, save on gas and lower emissions.

Don’t go into the office. If your work permits it and your boss can be persuaded, work from home when you can.

Rethink your recreation. Gas-powered boats, jet-skis, all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles, dirt bikes, and recreational vehicles are all popular forms of entertainment, but it might be time to change how we spend our free time and look for non-gas-powered alternatives. Some of those weekend activities could become prohibitively expensive this summer.

image: Don Hankins

The post 11 Ways to Save at the Pump appeared first on EcoSalon.

1. Paper Files

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Guilty! It’s tough to break the tactile filing habit when it comes to bills, work, pets, life. Sure, many have adapted to online banking but still feel the need to keep hard copies of tax-related documents, invoices, receipts (you can turn them down, now) and other proof we disorganized, overwhelmed consumers paid up, signed up, renewed and gave.

2. Non-recycled Tissues

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Your ass is not grass and your nose knows. Sand paper won’t go there, happily. It’s too bad they cannot make a softer, gentler toilet paper or Kleenex, and until they do, I pick the less prickly of the varieties – paper products that don’t give me a rash and turn an already bumpy nose into a Rudolph shiner.

3. Leather Goods

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While we have increasing evidence that it isn’t good to eat anything with a face, it is the year of the boots – thigh high, equestrian, chunky heeled, wedged. And leather jackets are cool, way more cool than fleece and hemp but perhaps not as functional and certainly more destructible. It seems easier to say no to fur than to the hide. Sorry. I like belts that are wide.

4. Camera Wizard

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Are you a walking, breathing Kodak ad? I seem to go through my HP ink too fast for comfort – and it costs a bundle. But it is very tempting to print out images that connect us to memories, photographs and scanned artwork. Digital photography and Microsoft technology has made all of us little Annie Liebovitzes. Download off Facebook or your camera, crop, re-size, print and frame. Oh, and don’t forget the holiday cards you customize.

5. Gas in the Tank

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Commuters are on bikes, everywhere, risking life and limb to save on gas and stay in shape, while others hop on public transit. Even so, we can’t stop filling the tank in our own machines for those times when it is simply too complicated to ride: Carpooling to school, late night parties, camping or other sporting trips, and places where we shouldn’t drive but are just too tired or lazy to opt for the alternative.

6. Buying Books

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No pulp is just too cold for many of us. This, despite the fact Kindle ereaders are a mega hit with users who enjoy being able to download dozens of reads for that commute to work or time off on the beach. Authors and publishers make money, either way, but we cannot let go of that romantic attachment to the hard cover or paperback in its classic form.

Yes, the commercial airline industry has taken a hit but we continue to fly business and first class as write-offs when just about any meetings and conferences can be done via telecommuting in the year 2010. No one wants to see jets grounded for good, but there was a time when flying was a privilege, a luxury. But now, with the frequency of boarding a Greyhound bus, we round-trip it on Southwest, figuring the fuel cost outweighs a six hour drive, any day. Meanwhile, we await that cost-effective jet biofuel the Pentagon announced it is developing.

8. Non Organic Meat

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Restaurants, markets and diners cite every excuse in the book for preferring Midwestern prime over free-range, grass fed beef. And surprisingly, America’s top-notch steak houses are still serving up factory cow to their discerning customers, saying it’s a matter of taste and access over health and humane conditions. Sorry, Temple Grandin and Michael Pollan – but humanely raised local organic is not what’s for dinner in a majority of kitchens.

9. Replacing Worn Running Shoes

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The sports shoe industry is designed like the cell phone trade; the product becomes unattractive, unhealthy and useless to us over time, so we do the all-American thing and replace it. I moan each time my tread gets worn down while the canvas and leather and rubber or whatever else makes a running shoe seems to be in great shape. Until we can just replace the treads, we keep getting new ones.

10. Using Conventional Beauty Products

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It’s the other green thumb, the one that has icky smelly trendy polish glossing it. It’s not like we don’t know the dangers of nail polish exposure and other beauty products we use religiously, but we do get lazy about picking stuff up when and where we can, such as buying mascara at the drugstore and undergoing a quick and dirty mani-pedi at the hood’s micro spa. I feel pretty but my health could be worse for the wear from all the chemicals. Guess we all could use a cleaner foundation!

Images: ibjorn; Katie@!, theimpulsivebuy, Thai Chu, 365mayhem, riza, Ben+Sam, Binder.donedat, Don Hankins, Mindsay Mohan

The post 10 Things We Just Can’t Give Up for Green appeared first on EcoSalon.

I’m not married to an SUV and don’t recognize the sound of a garbage disposal any longer. Still, there are some impure, clumsy little things that are hard to totally relinquish in my quest to qualify as a steward of the planet.  You might recognize some of these attachments as ones you are struggling to let go of, as well.

1. Paper Files

Guilty! It’s tough to break the tactile filing habit when it comes to bills, work, pets, life. Sure, many have adapted to online banking but still feel the need to keep hard copies of tax-related documents, invoices, receipts (you can turn them down, now) and other proof we disorganized, overwhelmed consumers paid up, signed up, renewed and gave.

2. Non-recycled Tissues

Your ass is not grass and your nose knows. Sand paper won’t go there, happily. It’s too bad they cannot make a softer, gentler toilet paper or Kleenex, and until they do, I pick the less prickly of the varieties – paper products that don’t give me a rash and turn an already bumpy nose into a Rudolph shiner.

3. Leather Goods

While we have increasing evidence that it isn’t good to eat anything with a face, it is the year of the boots – thigh high, equestrian, chunky heeled, wedged. And leather jackets are cool, way more cool than fleece and hemp but perhaps not as functional and certainly more destructible. It seems easier to say no to fur than to the hide. Sorry. I like belts that are wide.

4. Camera Wizard

Are you a walking, breathing Kodak ad? I seem to go through my HP ink too fast for comfort – and it costs a bundle. But it is very tempting to print out images that connect us to memories, photographs and scanned artwork. Digital photography and Microsoft technology has made all of us little Annie Liebovitzes. Download off Facebook or your camera, crop, re-size, print and frame. Oh, and don’t forget the holiday cards you customize.

5. Gas in the Tank

Commuters are on bikes, everywhere, risking life and limb to save on gas and stay in shape, while others hop on public transit. Even so, we can’t stop filling the tank in our own machines for those times when it is simply too complicated to ride: Carpooling to school, late night parties, camping or other sporting trips, and places where we shouldn’t drive but are just too tired or lazy to opt for the alternative.

6. Buying Books

No pulp is just too cold for many of us. This, despite the fact Kindle ereaders are a mega hit with users who enjoy being able to download dozens of reads for that commute to work or time off on the beach. Authors and publishers make money, either way, but we cannot let go of that romantic attachment to the hard cover or paperback in its classic form.

7.  Flying

Yes, the commercial airline industry has taken a hit but we continue to fly business and first class as write-offs when just about any meetings and conferences can be done via telecommuting in the year 2010. No one wants to see jets grounded for good, but there was a time when flying was a privilege, a luxury. But now, with the frequency of boarding a Greyhound bus, we round-trip it on Southwest, figuring the fuel cost outweighs a six hour drive, any day. Meanwhile, we await that cost-effective jet biofuel the Pentagon announced it is developing.

8. Non Organic Meat

Restaurants, markets and diners cite every excuse in the book for preferring Midwestern prime over free-range, grass fed beef. And surprisingly, America’s top-notch steak houses are still serving up factory cow to their discerning customers, saying it’s a matter of taste and access over health and humane conditions. Sorry, Temple Grandin and Michael Pollan – but humanely raised local organic is not what’s for dinner in a majority of kitchens.

9. Replacing Worn Running Shoes

The sports shoe industry is designed like the cell phone trade; the product becomes unattractive, unhealthy and useless to us over time, so we do the all-American thing and replace it. I moan each time my tread gets worn down while the canvas and leather and rubber or whatever else makes a running shoe seems to be in great shape. Until we can just replace the treads, we keep getting new ones.

10. Using Conventional Beauty Products

It’s the other green thumb, the one that has icky smelly trendy polish glossing it. It’s not like we don’t know the dangers of nail polish exposure and other beauty products we use religiously, but we do get lazy about picking stuff up when and where we can, such as buying mascara at the drugstore and undergoing a quick and dirty mani-pedi at the hood’s micro spa. I feel pretty but my health could be worse for the wear from all the chemicals. Guess we all could use a cleaner foundation!

Images: ibjorn; Katie@!, theimpulsivebuy, Thai Chu, 365mayhem, riza, Ben+Sam, Binder.donedat, Don Hankins, Mindsay Mohan

The post 10 Things We Just Can’t Give Up for Green appeared first on EcoSalon.

I was sitting in traffic recently, when I noticed that the license plate in front of me featured a majestic bald eagle, its wings spread in flight above a caption that instructed me to “Conserve Wildlife.” Clearly this is a worthwhile sentiment, although I was surprised to see it on a license plate from New Jersey (a state better known for grand-scale corporate polluting than for saving the wetland habitats of nesting ospreys). But the real surprise of the conservation license plate was that it was attached to the back of an enormous white stretch limousine – a vehicle one does not immediately associate with conservation, wildlife, or any other earth-friendly concern.

The fact is, limos are really only known for two things: one is for transporting totally hammered young adults to and from bars, clubs, and bachelorette parties –  the other is for crapping on the planet by using an obscene and unnecessary amount of gasoline. Either way, it’s hard to see the limousine as a friend to bog turtles, when it is more commonly associated with inebriated meatheads who insist on popping up through the moon roof, fist-pumping and woo-hooing their way through residential neighborhoods.

I have to admit to a certain prejudice against limos. For one thing, whenever you see a young man in a powder blue tuxedo, he is almost always coming out of a limousine – as far as I’m concerned, this alone should be grounds for outlawing them. Limos used to be the vehicle of choice for prime ministers, brides, and captains of industry – they evoked an image of class and gracious living. Now they are likely to come with a “vomit deposit,” in case the backseat mini bar leads to an unpleasant, yet not entirely unpredictable conclusion.

Of course, limos are not the only fuel-inefficient cars sporting conservation license plates – the state of New Jersey will issue one to anybody willing to fork over $50.00 (most of which does actually go towards protecting endangered wildlife).

Promoted with the tag line of “Drive Conservation Home” these plates are intended to “let everyone know you believe in conservation, and let them know you’re doing something about it.” A noble sentiment, but the message is somewhat diluted when it’s attached to a car that’s bigger than my first apartment”¦a car with disco lights and a plasma T.V. …a car that is charged a “gas guzzler” tax to compensate for the pollution it creates.

Perhaps 33-foot party-bus limos should be charged $100 for conservation plates – or even $1,000. The extra money would go a long way towards helping the smog-choked peregrine falcons of Jersey City.

You have to wonder if encouraging citizens to take public transportation might not be a better way to protect animal habitats. But then we’d have to live without the unintended hilarity of having wildlife conservation promoted on the back of Hummers, SUVs and stretch limousines. Those license plates should really read: New Jersey: The delicious irony state.

Image: Gene Hunt

The post Pimp My Wildlife Vehicle appeared first on EcoSalon.

I’m going to be frank about this. My dog farts – a lot. It’s gross. He stinks. And farting just makes my pup’s already large carbon paw print even worse since flatulence contains the greenhouse gas methane! So I set out on a mission to find natural solutions for his gassy belly. I’ve tried just about everything to help his flatulence issue from altering his diet to feeding him yogurt to special natural remedies. If your dog has digestive issues, too, try some of these natural solutions for dog gas problems.

Diet

Digging into your dog’s diet to find the cause of gas may seem like a no brainer, but the mystery of food and farts can sometimes be hard to solve. Dogs can be allergic to a number of ingredients that may be in his pet food – from soy to sweet potatoes. Or if you pass table scraps on to your pet, you may be contributing to the problem. If you think our pup’s stinky butt may be stemming from digestive issues, talk to your vet about his diet. You may want to try a more limited diet or grain free formula to see if it alleviates the gas. Some owners opt for allergy testing – though pricey, it can help pinpoint the source of your dog’s gas.

Pet Alive Flatulence Preventer

The Flatulence Preventer from natural pet remedy brand Pet Alive promises to reduce gas guild up with an herbal formula. The ingredient list of natural digestive aids and homeopathic remedies may seem foreign, but everything is natural. While this may be a good solution, my picky puppy (who often leaves a bowl of food uneaten for hours) wouldn’t oblige to the recommended dosage. To start you must give your dog a pinch or two of the tiny pellets every 30 minutes for six doses. Then, you must give three doses daily.

Yogurt

Just how yogurt can help balance out human belly troubles with its live and active cultures, it can help your canines digestive issues, too. Add a teaspoon of plain yogurt to your dog’s bowl at each meal.

Weider Pet Health Digestive Wellness

The Digestive Wellness formula combines the probiotics of yogurt with other enzymes and fiber that can help normalize your dog’s digestion including sunflower, flax and ginger. It comes in a powder formula that you add to your dog’s meal once or twice a day.

Alas, my hunt for the perfect doggie Gas-X continues. Does your dog fart? Have you tried any natural remedies that work? Tell us in the comments below.

Image: gadgetbubba

The post Pooch that Toots? Natural Ways to Stink Out Gas appeared first on EcoSalon.

Did you know that regardless of the vehicle you drive, there are ways to drive more efficiently that can yield big savings over the course of a year? This means savings not only in your pocket from the gas spared, but savings on the resources of the planet and less pollution in the place we all live.

As you can see from the graph below, vehicle miles driven have steadily increased over the years. With that growth comes an increasing impact of our driving habits on our planet, which makes now a better time than ever to practice driving more efficiently.

In fact, driving efficiently has even spawned its own sport, called “hypermiling.” With the payout in hypermiling techniques including less consumption and less pollution, it is no wonder that the term was selected in 2008 as the best new word of the year by New Oxford American Dictionary.

While we are not advocating that everyone become a MPG sport competitor, there are things that we all can do to save fuel. We’ve rounded up some of our favorite ways that everyone can test drive to drive greener.

Controlled Accelerations

By accelerating slowly and steadily to our cruising speed, we let the vehicle work more efficiently at becoming an object in motion from an object at rest. If we gun the gas and try to get to speed quickly, then we stand the greater chance of needing to slow down again, losing all of that momentum.

Empty Out The Trunk

An extra 100 pounds in the trunk will reduce your fuel economy by 1 to 2 percent in the typical vehicle. Edmunds

So you’re still carrying around that camping gear from last summer in the trunk, and the golf clubs have taken up permanent residence in the back seat? For each and every extra pound you carry, you pay the price to accelerate it and slow it back down each time you drive. By cutting down on the extra unneeded junk in the trunk, we save all that energy required to drive it around town.

Turn Off The Air Conditioning

It has been suggested that air conditioning in a vehicle can increase fuel consumption by up to 10 percent. This is an easy way to save fuel. And just imagine if you suddenly had 10 percent of all the money you spent in gasoline last year in your hand?

Keep the Vehicle Maintained

It is important that a vehicle gets serviced at regular intervals. Dirty oil is not only bad for your vehicle, but it requires more energy to work an engine through sludge. Also, maintenance can save you from having large repair bills down the road. Not to mention that a non-serviced vehicle may leave you stranded on that road when it suddenly fails. Vehicle maintenance saves money, saves the environment, and could save you from being stuck in the middle of nowheres-ville.

Lose the Clown Shoes

Driving footwear must have a sole thin enough to feel the amount of pedal pressure needed to meet the necessary braking and accelerating. One of the most important tools you have in driving greener is making the connection between your foot and the response of the car. A big shoe with a few inches of padding removes the sensitivity of the foot, making that connection harder to make. Is it any wonder that race car drivers like wearing extremely thin-soled shoes?

Keep the Vehicle Streamlined

A vehicle that moves through the air more efficiently takes less energy to push, and this translates to less fuel consumption. One good way to do this is to keep the windows rolled up. Open windows create drag, and drag cuts fuel economy. The same can be said of sunroofs at highway speeds.

Another way to keep the vehicle streamlined is to remove those roof and bike racks when not in use. Such racks interrupt the flow of air, creating drag. Another thing to consider is that the racks add weight to the vehicle, again costing more in energy to move the vehicle.

Finally, if your vehicle tends to look like it has won the mud bog championships, then give it a bath. An irregular surface from caked mud and dirt can create drag as well. Plus, you will actually know what color the vehicle is instead of just guessing.

Slow down

In a typical family sedan, every 10 miles per hour you drive over 60 is like the price of gasoline going up about 54 cents a gallon. CNN Money

The faster your vehicle moves through the air, the greater drag it creates in the surrounding air. By slowing down, the vehicle encounters less resistance and uses less energy for the same amount of work. A reduction of 20-mph in your regular highway speed can yield measurable savings in a short time.

Coasting To a Stop

When you see a red light or stop sign coming up, then let of the gas and coast to the stop instead of remaining accelerated and hitting the brakes when you get there. By doing so you not only save gas, but your brakes get less of a workout. You save money in both gas and brake replacement, and the planet saves on valuable resources.

Know when to use Cruise Control

Cruise control can be a valuable tool on the highway to maintain a steady speed (and to save from speeding), but it lacks the tools that you have in your head. That is, cruise control does not see the hill looming up ahead. Instead it will coast until you are halfway up the hill and slowing down, then it nails the throttle, demanding that the vehicle speed increases.

By anticipating the hills and valleys you can drive more efficiently by slightly increasing the vehicle speed as required to climb the hill without a major loss of momentum. In areas where the roads tend to be up and down or crowded it makes more sense to turn off the cruise control and drive smarter.

And as you are driving smarter, keep looking ahead to anticipate events that require changes to your vehicle momentum. You might anticipate the need to decelerate in order to coast to a needed stop, and it makes for a safer driving experience.

Choose the Best route

It is interesting to note that the most efficient route to take in your driving may not be the shortest. Basically you want as smooth a trip as possible while being relatively short, and you want to avoid as much stop and go scenarios as you can.

If you are doing multiple chores, then consider driving the longest leg first. This lets a warm vehicle be used for the bulk of the stopping and restarting, which is more efficient at it than a cold one.

Turn It Off

If you are stopped on the road for an extended period of time – such as a train passing, road construction, or an accident – then consider turning the vehicle off after 20 seconds or more. This saves the idle time fuel as well as potentially saves you vehicle from overheating. Plus it stops the emissions from the idling vehicle, which is always nicer for our planet.

Avoid the Drive Thru

A fast food drive thru requires you to waste fuel as you wait in line for the pickup. But parking the vehicle and walking in you save that fuel. Plus, the trip in to eat might be safer than the alternative, even if you were only sneaking a few fries from the bag.

Check Your Air Pressure

Properly inflated tires can reduce fuel consumption by up to 3 percent WikiHow

This a commonly known item to check, but it gets overlooked. A low tire creates more drag on the pavement, and consequently reduces your miles per gallon. By keeping your tires properly inflated your vehicle literally rolls more efficiently. Please do bear in mind that excessive air pressure in tires is dangerous and should be avoided as well.

Make Driving Count

One of the best ways to drive greener is to, simply put, not drive. By combining chores to a single trip it can save greatly on the fuel requirements as well as saving your valuable time. Plus it is less wear and tear on the vehicle itself, and it makes the roads less crowded for everyone. It’s a win-win for everybody.

Make It a Game

Make saving gas a game. Track fuel used or miles driven this week, and see if you can beat it next week. Set goals for yourself along with rewards. You can even involve your friends and have a weekly or monthly Green Driver award. Nobody said that being a smarter driver had to be boring.

By following a few of these tips along with others, you may find you can have both a direct savings for yourself and a healthier planet for everyone. It’s not often where saving money helps in the long run, but that is the great thing about conservation.

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by D. Salmons from TestFreaks – a site where you can find gizmos and gadgets like GPS devices.

Image: anee.baba

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Kaiser Permanente is prescribing big doses of sustainability in the sixth season of its $50 million Thrive ad campaign.

Two new ads – Emerald Cities and Connected – reinforce the health care provider’s commitment to the planet by dramatically reducing paper use – no small task for an industry long married to countless charts and forms. For most of us, being ordered to “Fill this out” is as rote as, “Hop on the scale,” and just as painful.

The Emerald pitch describes how Kaiser is allowing patients access to their own medical data via Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect, the world’s largest civilian electronic health record.

Not just a handy core tool for patients, the online system is apparently saving thousands of trees annually. And, as of September 2009, Kaiser estimates its members completed six million doctor’s visits without using one gallon of gasoline. Guess they got the help they were seeking by going online.

“We will be entirely paperless by 2010 and these ads illustrate how we are doing our part in some way to help the environment,” I’m told by Lisa Ryan, Director of National Advertising at Kaiser. “Having a healthy environment creates a healthy community that helps individuals thrive.”

In these appealing ads, actress Allison Janney, the KP spokeswoman since 2004, drives home the point in her now familiar, smooth-as-a-surgical-glove delivery:

“By putting an end to paper medical records, we have ushered health into the digital age.”

To paraphrase the tagline: I think that I shall never see, a 62-page medical report as lovely as a tree.

“Our ode to trees talks to the fact that when you have online capabilities and a way to connect, it  does eliminate the need to drive to a facility or to an office visit,” says Ryan.

The Connected spot highlights the convenience of securely e-mailing your doctor, checking your medical records, reviewing test results and booking appointments online. This spares not just trees but the stress of being forced to listen to bad “music” after being placed on hold the second your doctor’s receptionist answer the line.

Kaiser clinicians are digitally connected to each other, which ultimately helps them stay connected to  members. The closing line of the ad summarizes, “At Kaiser Permanente, we believe that if knowledge is power, shared knowledge is even more powerful.”

Personally, I have struggled to attain the elusive power of shared knowledge while advocating for loved ones at hospitals where overworked, impatient doctors seemed agitated when pressed for too much info. Getting them to return phone calls was even harder. Then again, my family doesn’t use Kaiser. Maybe their doctors are more generous.

“Our primary care physicians are at center of who we are and we have great accessibility in person, on the phone and email,” says Ryan. “Ive had great experience with my own doc whom I have spoken to on the phone and through email. All of our new alternative ways to reach out and stay connected really help.”

I was glad to see the green connection extends to its Thrive website, which give readers tips on being “thriving communities” by buying locally-grown food, using fewer shopping bags, making their own cleaning supplies and avoiding exposure to chemicals in the home.

Ryan told me all of this effort, including the ad campaign, has been an extension of proven sustainability practices at Kaiser’s newly-built facilities, such as centers in Modesto and Santa Clara, using solar panels, pavement treatments to recycle run off water and friendly denim material in the walls as green insulation.

“The advertising is a great bridge between the sustainability message and the innovation of who we are,” Ryan  says. “It was a huge undertaking to go digital and to retrain the care staff, but it all speaks to our overall concern with the health of individuals and the community. ”

Prior to the green thrust, Kaiser treated us to daily ads on prevention, reminding our unhealthy nation that the more we exercise, eat well and get screened for diseases, the less we will have to spend on health care.

I think the ads resonate with the radio-listening masses facing poor health along with a poor health care system that has yet to be reformed.

With $50 million invested in the message, let’s hope Kaiser proves to be one of the needed cures.

Images: Kaiser Permanente, Wiki

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