The Monthly Newsletter of greenlight magazine

The good news is that one by one our holidays get greener and greener—you know, Christmas, the Super Bowl, and now Valentine's Day. Thanks to concerned and creative folks, we have organic chocolate, recyclable Valentine cards, organically-grown roses. Presidents’ Day later this month offers another opportunity for earth-friendliness. How about green skiing or snowshoeing (just below)?

—Bill Marken, editor in chief, greenlight magazine

In this issue:

• A quiet green winter sport
• Before you buy gold
• Suggestions for tennis ball recycling?
• One Green Step at a Time

Given the amount of snowfall in many parts of the country this year, we’re likely to have snow around well into spring. Those are perfect conditions for shedding those winter pounds with a “low environmental impact” sport: Snowshoeing.

Snowshoeing is even greener with the Magnesium 9 snowshoes from Crescent Moon, in Boulder, Colorado.

Just how eco-friendly are these snowshoes?  They are 100% PCV-free (one of the most toxic plastics on the planet) and are available in a variety in sizes for the entire family. And Crescent Moon uses 100% wind-power energy in its factory and office.

A gift of gold is considered romantic, but many jewelry retailers are awakening to the mining industry's less-than-responsible practices. The outcry from the buying public for jewelers to monitor where their products come from has never been louder. Check out Choropampa, The Price of Gold, a documentary about the effects of gold mining on a remotely beautiful Andean town in Peru.

According to OxFam and Earthworks, chemicals used for inexpensive extraction of gold are causing health problems for humans and creating detrimental effects on watersheds. Moreover, as the price of this precious metal climbs (India and China lead the world in new gold consumption), wilderness areas, agricultural land, and people have been displaced worldwide to make way for mining operations. What's most of the gold used for ? You guessed it—jewelry.

Read more…

Q: I manage an indoor tennis facility and read your suggestions for used tennis balls. They were all good ideas and I have done all those things in the past, a few dozen balls at a time. Now I'm looking for an outlet for a few thousand balls during the course of a year. I have a relatively small club. Do you have any suggestion for me?
— L. Boles

A: What a great question! And what a quandary for someone trying to live the good green life! Where do all the tennis balls go? Surely we all have a can or two sitting around somewhere. It would certainly pain me to consider consigning thousands of tennis balls to the dustbin on a regular basis. So what can we do when the ball loses its bounce? Penn, one of the world's largest tennis ball manufacturers, confirms that the combination of materials makes tennis balls largely un-recyclable. It's been suggested that tennis balls could be ground up to produce the soft forgiving surface so fashionable on playgrounds these days, yet there's no record of this actually being done.

But fear and fret not, dear readers. No problem is ever without a green-ish solution.

Read More…

Sports super-agent Leigh Steinberg hosts a green Super Bowl party.

Green design can be profitable.

Wal-Mart pledges to get greener. 

Twenty ways to reduce energy costs around your home.

The U.S. Green Building Council releases the nation’s first sustainable remodeling guidelines.

Sounds like greenlight, doesn’t it? Full disclosure: The same folks who create greenlight produced the newly launched digital issue of Organic Style Magazine—we’re proud to say. Check it out here.

Green Videos

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Editor's Picks

CFL sales double in 2007 and now account for 20% of the light bulb market.

Jewelry, clocks, and other art made from recycled bike parts in Maine.

Green for Good tells us how to lead proof our homes.

Lapis Lane Guesthouse and Cabin: island eco-vacation paradise on South Whidbey Island, Puget Sound, WA

Is your AAMCO dealer Eco-Green certified? Check here.

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