Category — Money Saving Tips

I decided it was time to change the carpet in the bedrooms. The previous owner had dogs and after trying to remove the odor of the dogs, I still had no luck. So, I started a quick hunt for environmentally friendly carpet. I wanted a low VOC carpet, one that would emit less chemicals. Wool was the preferred type (wool doesn’t emit as many VOCs into the environment, is biodegradable, and filters though nitrous oxide).

My first stop was Eco Design Resources in San Carlos, a showcase of environmentally friendly home products and green building. I found a big selection of wool carpets. But everything was too pricey. If I had made it big in a dot com, this place would definitely have furnished and decorated my entire home. The cheapest I found was $45-50/yard of wool carpet medium grade, uninstalled. This was too expensive for me.

Then I decided to go into a normal carpet store, called California Carpets in San Carlos. I walked in, and they had a ton of carpets to choose from. The sales agent was friendly and when I asked her for low VOC carpets, she quickly directed me to wool and gave me a lot of information on wool and its benefits, including a takeaway card. On sale, I found remnants of wool carpet for $40-$50/yard installed, a much better deal than Eco Design.

Finally, I walked into Home Depot just to check them out. They also had a ton of carpets, but when I went to their carpet specialist to ask for low VOC carpets, he had no idea of what I was talking about. He said he had stainmaster carpets, but didn’t understand what low VOCs were. That was too bad, because Home Depot had the cheapest selection of around $30/yard installed, but I had no clue to which ones were environmentally friendly. Talk about customer service!

I think I’ll probably go for California Carpets…it’s just too bad that the ecofriendly focused stores are so pricey, otherwise I would definitely support them.

From the Organic Trade Association:

1. Organic products meet stringent standards
   Organic certification is the public’s assurance that products have been grown and handled according to strict procedures without persistent toxic chemical inputs.
2. Organic food tastes great!
   It’s common sense – well-balanced soils produce strong, healthy plants that become nourishing food for people and animals.
3. Organic production reduces health risks
   Many EPA-approved pesticides were registered long before extensive research linked these chemicals to cancer and other diseases. Organic agriculture is one way to prevent any more of these chemicals from getting into the air, earth and water that sustain us.
4. Organic farms respect our water resources
   The elimination of polluting chemicals and nitrogen leaching, done in combination with soil building, protects and conserves water resources.
5. Organic farmers build healthy soil
   Soil is the foundation of the food chain. The primary focus of organic farming is to use practices that build healthy soils.
6. Organic farmers work in harmony with nature
   Organic agricultural respects the balance demanded of a healthy ecosystem: wildlife is encouraged by including forage crops in rotation and by retaining fence rows, wetlands, and other natural areas.
7. Organic producers are leaders in innovative research
   Organic farmers have led the way, largely at their own expense, with innovative on-farm research aimed at reducing pesticide use and minimizing agriculture’s impact on the environment.
8. Organic producers strive to preserve diversity
   The loss of a large variety of species (biodiversity) is one of the most pressing environmental concerns. The good news is that many organic farmers and gardeners have been collecting and preserving seeds, and growing unusual varieties for decades.
9. Organic farming helps keep rural communities healthy
   USDA reported that in 1997, half of U.S. farm production came from only 2% of farms. Organic agriculture can be a lifeline for small farms because it offers an alternative market where sellers can command fair prices for crops.
10. Organic abundance – Foods and non-foods alike!
    Now every food category has an organic alternative. And non-food agricultural products are being grown organically – even cotton, which most experts felt could not be grown this way.

If you don’t want to spend a lot on organics, here’s where to invest, according to the Organics Consumers Association:

1. Baby Food. The environmental Working Group (EWG) commissioned lab tests of 8 baby foods made by Gerber, Heinz and Beech-Nut. 16 pesticides were found, including 3 carcinogens, 8 nerotoxins and 5 toxic chemicals.
2. Strawberries. The most heavily contaminated fruit or vegetable in the US according to another EWG study. Enough said. Organic brands include Swanton’s, Cascadian and Golden River to name a few.
3. Rice. Herbicides and insecticides have contaminated ground water near rice fields in Sacramento River Valley. An herbicide 2.4,5-T was commonly used on rice fields until 1984.
4. Oats and other grains. In 1994, the FDA found illegal residues in Cheerios cereal. Don’t risk the unknown toxins in processed foods and try a wide variety of grains, including millet, quinoa, barley, couscous, amaranth and spelt.
5. Milk. Many dairy companies use recombinant bovine growth hormone, a genetically engineered hormone to boost milk production. 79% of rBGH cows get clinical mastitis, a common infection of the udder. Fueled by this controversy, organic milk sales have reached over $60MM annually.
6. Corn. About 50% of all pesticides by weight are applied to corn in the U.S. Since corn is such a staple in the US diet, switching to organic corn simply makes sense.
7. Bananas. Pesticides such as beomyl (linked to birth defects) and chlorpyifos (a netrotoxin( have been found on bananas. In Costa Rica, even though 5% of land is taken up with bananas, 25% of the country’s pesticide imports are used on banana crops.
8. Green Beans. The EPA has registered more than 60 pesticides on green beans. Green beans from Mexico are the worst offenders-94% of the crop is contaminated with illegal pesticides.
9. Peaches. The FDA has cited over 5% of the crop contaminated of illegal pesticide violations, including a sample contaminated at eight parts per million (80 times the official tolerance level) with the pesticide pronamide.
10. Apples. Domestic apples have more than 65% as much pesticide contamination as strawberries. The FDA has found over 48 pesticides in a testing of 2,400 samples between 1984-1991.

I had lunch with a my friend Lis at work the other day and she recommended checking out West Side Organics. Given that she works 12 hours a day, she told me that she wanted only one place to shop for both produce and groceries that were organic. Westside Organics was voted Best Home Delivery Service of 2005 through San Francisco Magazine.

Pro: You can get both produce and groceries straight to your door, better than a CSA that just does produce. Prices seem reasonable, though not a huge discount like Rainbow Grocery or CSAs.

Con: It doesn’t specify which farmers they source from locally or nationally. However, if your hours are as bad as Lis’ and you don’t mind that the produce isn’t local; this might be for you.