iPhone Apps for GreenPeaches

Now, we totally understand if you don’t own an iPhone so we apologize in advance that this post is not dedicated to you. However, if you do, you will already know that it's not the iPhone that sets you apart, it's the apps you have on the iPhone.  We have been looking high and low for apps that can help you be green in Atlanta. Although there aren’t too many out there that are solely dedicated to green topics, there are a lot that really help even if they don’t know it. Here are four that we found that are either great in their current form or could be great with a little bit of work.

Seafood Watch from the Monterrey Bay Aquarium

This app makes eating seafood for the eco-conscious much easier. The app is the online version of their printable wallet card and is much more in-depth. It divides the country up into regions and has an alphabetized list of seafood in that area. It uses the following three classifications; Best Choice, Good Alternative and Avoid. When you view a specific type of fish, it will give you a brief reason for the rating then it will go into a consumer note followed by a summary. An added plus is that you get a picture of the fish so the app almost doubles as a field guide.

ATL Traffic

Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to avoid it. So, the best thing you can do is know where it is and how long it’s going to keep you from where you want to go. The app taps you into the traffic cameras for all of the local freeways and streets (that have cams). You also can pipe into the road signs and see all of the local traffic alerts. This one is a must when you are on the road a lot. It will definitely help you avoid sitting helplessly in some traffic jams. We know, some of them are just going to be unavoidable.

Green Guide

We’re not too sure about this one yet but it is a great concept. The green guide takes consumer reviews and ranks thousands of consumer products on their environmental merits. Right now, they focus on Toys, Personal Care and Household Cleaners. They have ratings for over 60,000 products. The idea is great but I don’t know that the rankings are accurate. As an example, when comparing the top 5 Deodorants & Antiperspirants on the Green Guide to their respective rankings on the Environmental Working Group’s Cosmetics Database (www.cosmeticsdatabase.org) we found TK that ranked in the Lower TK percent. The idea is great but the jury is still out on this one. It will keep you away from really bad products though.

Maps

The maps app comes standard with the iPhone and is a lifesaver. It is pretty normal as far as map functions go and it interfaces with Google Maps. What makes maps green is the fact that you can save gas and time by finding the best route before ever getting into your car. It has saved us on many occasions. The app also will pipe into Google’s transit and walking directions databases if you prefer to use those modes instead of driving.

Here are some others that might be worth checking out:

Carbon Footprint

GreenMeterp

pConsumpt

MeterRead

Get Green

ShopGreen

Green You

Growing Up Green

Green Lemur

iLocovore

Gas Buddy

iGreen

Recycler

This Week in Atlanta - 2/09/2009

Here are just a few events in town this week. Check on our calendar for more details.

Tue Feb 10		1pm – 2pm	City of Alpharetta - Composting Workshop - 13450 Cogburn Road, Alpharetta, GA
Sat Feb 14		6pm – 10pm	Lusting for Local Food - Georgia Organics - The Gardens at Kennesaw
Sun Feb 15		2pm – 3:30pm	Sweetwater Creek Visitor's Center Tour - Sweetwater Creek State Park

Georgia Organics 2009 - 2010 Local Food Guide

Georgia Organics recently released its 2009 - 2010 Local Food Guide. You can download it for free as a .pdf from their website or you can use their lookup tool.

The guide uses locator maps to effectively divide the state up into five regions; Mountain, Metro, Piedmont, East Coastal Plain and West Coastal Plain. Each regional map shows the locations of all the businesses and organizations that are detailed in the guide. This is great if you either don't know what is around you in the way of local/organic food or if you are traveling and are unfamiliar with the area. Each locator map tags the Farms, Farmers' Markets and Restaurants with different tags so the reader can locate things quickly. The guide then details each region by county and provides a description with contact info for each business.

If you are in the metro area, you'll be happy to know that there are 32 farms, 26 farmers' markets, 54 restaurants and 23 grocers available to you in the 13 county metro area. This is a great source of dining ideas if you're looking to eat out. A few of our favorites that are in the guide are Canoe, 5 Seasons Brewery (both locations) and R. Thomas' Deluxe Grill. A couple others that are on the list that we are looking forward to checking out are The Hil at Serenbe and Watershed.

Jason's Deli - A Quick, Healthy Eating Option

If you are out and about town and are in the need of a quick stop for food, Jason' Deli might be the perfect idea.  Don't fall into the trap of thinking that Jason's is just another sandwich shop.  They are much more than that.  Jason's has an incredible selection of healthful organic food on their menu and at their delicious salad bar. They made news recently by removing high fructose corn syrup from thier menu in every way possile.  This follows their anouncement in 2005 to eliminate trans fats and MSG in every way possible. About the only place you will find HFCS is in their soft drinks and you'll have a difficult time finding trans fats or msg anywhere. Their prices are very reasonable especially given the quality of the food. You won't find a dollar menu but $6 to $7 per person for a healthy, nutritious meal isn't going to break the bank.

Some of our favorite things about Jason's.

• Great organic selection and salad bar.
• Limited HFCS.
• Non-disposable plates, glasses and silverware when eating in the deli.
• Lots of locations. 10 in the Atlanta Area!
• Friendly staff.

Jason's Deli is taking many steps in the right direction to a greener restaurant industry and a healthier world in general.  I only wish more high volume franchises would do the same.  If you are interested in finding out more about Jason's Deli, check out their website. They also update a blog every couple of weeks here. Also, they have info on their HFCS and organic policies on YouTube.

You can find all of the Jason's Deli locations in the Atlanta area on the GreenPeaches map.

Top 10 Quick Fixes

I had a friend come to me yesterday after she watched An Inconvenient Truth and ask me what she could do to make her lifestyle a little bit greener.  She wasn't up for anything radical but wanted some small ideas.  So, I figured this would be a good time to put together a list of 10 Quick Fixes for nouveau-Green folks out there who don't know where to go or what to do.

Whether your goal is to help stop global warming, lower your energy bills, or help save the environment, energy efficiency is one of the first steps you can take to begin contributing.  It is something you can directly impact and helps in multiple ways.  I've broken these down into two categories, Around the House and Outside the House.

Around the House

 - Lower your Thermostat during the winter and raise it during the summer - Space heating and/or air conditioning accounts for about 50% of the average home's energy usage.  You save about 2% per degree that you lower or raise.  68 degrees during the winter months and 78 degrees during the summer months is usually recommended.  Use a programmable thermostat to take the remembering thing out of it.  Lower the heat another 10 degrees when you go to bed.  Also, set it lower/higher when you are away from the house for extended periods like work or vacation.  Don't forget to check your air filters either.  Doing all of these will save you a significant amount on your bills. 

- Keep your hot water heater on a medium or 120degree setting - You don't need it hotter than that.  Your water heater accounts for about 22% of your overall energy usage.  You may also want to consider low flow shower heads and faucets.  There are some very affordable and functional models out there and you don't need a PhD to install them.  Don't forget to use cold or warm water for wash loads and keep your showers short.

- Switch to CFL bulbs and get rid of those incandescent - Lighting and other appliances (non-refrigerator/dishwasher) account for about 13% of your energy usage.  A CFL bulb will use about 2/3rds less energy than a comparable incandescent bulb and it will last about 10 times longer.  Current estimates put the monetary savings at about 12x the cost of the bulb.  i.e. over the lifetime of a $3 CFL, you will save $36 over the use of the same lumen producing incandescent bulbs.  Be careful because there are some lighting situations that an incandescent bulb performs better.  These tend to be short on/off type lights where they are only on for brief periods of time.

- Keep your refrigerator in proper working order - Your refrigerator uses about 15% of the energy in your home.  Keep it on the correct temperature, clean the coils, and keep the freezer clean.  This should save you about $5 - $10 per month on your utility bill.  Also, you may want to keep your freezer and fridge full as an empty refrigerator is just cooling air which quickly escapes every time you open the door.  This will also keep you eating in which will keep your food bills lower, keep you from driving as much, and give less encouragement to the highly inefficient restaurant industry.

Outside the House 

- Minimize the number of trips you take -  When you head out to run some errands, go to the store, get something to eat, head to Starbucks, or whatever, try to pack a few trips into one.  This will save on gas and will lower the wear and tear on your car.  You'll find that a little pre trip planning will also save you some time.

- Fill Your Tires properly - Your tires typically lose about 1psi per month.  So, we would suggest filling them once a month and checking them each time you fill up.  You should check the tire pressure when the tires are cold for the most accurate reading as the friction from contact with the road while driving will excite the air molecules inside the tires and cause them to give a higher than actual reading.  You should also rotate frequently and check for uneven wear.

- Clean Your Car Air Filter - Most air filters will last about 12k miles.  There will be dirt accumulated on the outer edges of the air filter after a couple thousand miles.  Don't let the oil change guy sucker you into paying for something you don't need but you should remain vigilant in checking it yourself to ensure that you aren't wasting unnecessary money on gas.  This item is especially important on older cars.  Newer cars don't see as big of an impact on gas mileage with a dirty filter.  They do however see a noticeable decrease in power.

- Eat Out Less - The restaurant industry is one of the most inefficient industries in the world, wasting both energy and food on a monumental scale.  Stay at home and learn to cook something new and invite some friends over for dinner.  It's more rewarding and unless you are a gourmet chef it is cheaper.

- Buy Less Stuff - Consumer goods are awesome! I love them but I really try to buy only what I need.  Think about the amount of energy spent designing, producing, packaging, and transporting the goods you buy.  A good trick is to make a pact to not buy anything on impulse and instead take at least a week (in some cases a month) to decide whether you really need what you originally wanted.

- Eat Less Meat - Meat is an incredible contributor to global warming.  It's not really in the scope of Efficiency Solutions but you can learn more here.  The methane released from livestock is actually a more significant contributor to global warming than CO2 but you wouldn't know that from the news.  To do your part, try something radical like eating a vegetarian diet for 1 week or even 1 day a week.  We do a one month vegetarian diet each year and love it.  I doubt that I will ever fully give up meat because it tastes really good and is a great source of protein but eating a little less is something most of us can definitely do.

Ok, I have detailed some pretty easy things to change that will help you significantly reduce your carbon footprint and begin living a greener and more efficient lifestyle.  Good luck!

 MDH