This week on Earth Beat… there are 6.8 billion people living on the planet, and more and more people are beginning to worry that the Earth is getting overcrowded. Most of us regard the birth of a baby as something special, but some see each newborn as an extra strain on the planet – one man’s bundle of joy is another’s potential polluter. So to mark recent world population day, we’re asking: Is procreation bad for the planet?
http://www.rnw.nl/english/radioshow/procreation-bad-planet
Sure, you recycle your Snapple bottles and turn off the water while you’re brushing your teeth, but when you have a hot one-night stand are you leaving a big carbon footprint behind, along with your favorite padded bra?
In her new book Eco-Sex: Go Green Between the Sheets and Make your Love Life Sustainable, Stefanie Iris Weiss says the things we do in the bedroom could be affecting the entire planet, which really gives new meaning to the phrase “he rocked my world.”
Read more:
http://www.lemondrop.com/2010/07/26/eco-sex-stefanie-iris-weiss-green-sex-life/
I’m very excited to attend tonight’s event at the Anthology Film Archives in NYC. Read all about it here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stefanie-iris-weiss/russell-simmons-hosts-spe_b_655652.html?ir=Impact
Toxics in, Toxics out. This pithy phrase sums up how and why your cosmetics and other personal care products are slowly killing you. The Story of Cosmetics is the newest rom Annie Leonard, the director of the Story of Stuff project in conjunction with the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. Please enjoy this wisdom, and let it lead you through your next trip to the drug store. Coming soon to this space, a post about some of the sexiest alternatives available, including some yummy DIY options. I’ve been testing loads of goodies this summer…
In the meantime, if you want to be able to walk into CVS without freaking out about poisoning the temple that is your body, sign this:
Ask Congress to get behind the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010
More brilliance coming soon from the Story of Stuff peeps. Here’s a teaser for their new cosmetics video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo5SZXiyAV8&feature=player_embedded
Watch and learn, baby…
The news that Flibanserin, marketed as the “female Viagra”, has failed to do what its manufacturers promised isn’t surprising. Even less surprising is that it is purported to cause a laundry list of side effects, including dizziness, anxiety, nausea, and insomnia.
As I say in my recently published book, Eco-Sex: Go Green Between the Sheets and Make Your Love Life Sustainable (Crown Publishing/Ten Speed Press) it’s time to create a new paradigm of sexual health:
If we aspire to redefine sexual health for a new generation of eco-sexuals, we should start by redefining sexual “dysfunctions” or “conditions.” Let’s called them “imbalances,” with the understanding that we can almost always bring our bodies back into balance with a combination of nutrition, detoxification, exercise, and psychological wellness. It’s the pharmaceutical industry that wants you to believe that you’re “dysfunctional” and therefore must rely on their wares. Before you fall for that line, explore other options.
The myths of “sexual dysfunction” are many. If a person learns that the way they feel is “dysfunctional”, the first thing they’ll do is reach for a (little blue) pill, or whatever the doctor is currently dispensing. But what if we looked at our sexuality through an entirely different lens? What if we started with our baseline health instead of instantly running for a pill the moment our bodies fail to perform they way we want them to?
Do you know how much Big Pharma spent on lobbying between 1998 and 2006? A whopping $855 million, more than any other industry in the US.
The aggressive marketing of Viagra, Cialis, and the rest of the drugs in this category are proof positive that making a buck is the point — improving people’s sex lives isn’t. If we were healthier in general — fit, free of diabetes, high cholesterol, and the many toxins that make us exhausted, perhaps we wouldn’t need a chemical boost in the bedroom — we’d rev right up at the right moment, without the pusher that is Big Pharma.
The vast majority of sexual imbalances can be addressed through diet. Heavy meat-eaters and those that consume too many processed foods are often obese and on a sugar see-saw. Experiment with vegetarianism or Meat-free Monday or if you’re more daring, go raw. If that’s all too radical, just cut down on the poisons and toxins and adapt a diet based on whole foods instead of nutrient-free processed foods, especially Frankenfoods. Insist on organic and GMO-free produce whenever possible.
Next: get moving. It’s nice to aspire a little boom-boom in the bedroom, but if the rest of your life is sedentary, how do you expect to find the stamina to make it happen between the sheets? (No less to get it up in the first place!) Daily exercise, even walking for thirty minutes a day, can almost instantly change your perception of “sexual dysfunction”.
We can get back to health, and subsequently back to great sex, by paying a bit more attention to the way we treat our bodies. Let the sexual healing begin.
After a month-and-a-half of Top Hats, Top Kills, robots with saws and other absurdities, today the news is that the damaged riser pipe has been severed close to the well. They say that this is good news, but let’s just wait a few days to be sure. How many times have we been misled by BP so far?
The vast majority of Americans feel helpless watching plumes of oil filling the Gulf of Mexico, and anger is rising like a tide of fetid fossil fuel. The people of Louisiana aren’t just angry, they’re livid, and yet the BP executives keep putting on a show and keeping the media as far away as possible. It seems clear that the earliest resolution for this horrible disaster will be August. But we’ll be living with the devastating consequences on marine life and fishing communities for many years to come.
It’s too late to stem this awful tide, but what if we could prevent future disasters? Obama has finally decided to temporarily halt offshore drilling. But the operative term is temporarily. Oil industry lobbyists are gearing up to make sure the moratorium doesn’t last long.
We’re absolutely, resolutely, and irrefutably addicted to oil, but not in the way that you might think. It’s not all about the way you fill your tank at the gas station. I’m talking about the ubiquitous presence of plastic in our lives everyday, in every way. Look around the room you’re in right now. Plastics rule us. They are in the keyboard you’re typing on, the mouse you’re clicking, the screen you’re reading these words on, they’re in your TV, your refrigerator, your microwave, your DVD player, your remote control, your suitcase, your contact lenses, your toothbrush, and much, much frighteningly much more. Petroleum is also in shampoo, cleansers, moisturizers, lubes, and just about every personal care item you can name. And many plastics aren’t just keeping us on a steady diet of oil — they are literally making us sick. Welcome to the scary world of phthalates. Check any conventional product in your medicine cabinet that has “fragrance” on its ingredients list, and you can be sure that it’s a bottle of endocrine-disrupting poison.
Green chemistry can and eventually will change the game, but until then, it’s up to us. So you take a reusable bag to the grocery store — good for you. That’s a nice start, as the bags themselves do more than just choke sea animals — they keep us tethered to our corporate petroleum overlords. If you’re struggling with how to bag your garbage, check out Biobags, the largest brand of 100 percent biodegradable and compostable bags made from GMO-free starch and other renewable resources. I am addicted to these need little bags (the t-shirt shopping bag fits nicely in my under the sink NYC-sized garbage pail.)
You can also drive less, and walk and bike more. (Not just better for the environment, but better for your body.) But here’s a totally radical idea. Why not buy less stuff? Consumption is the altar at which we all worship, and it’s a big part of the reason that corporations have such a hold on us. Even if you’ve already seen it, a refresher course in The Story of Stuff is a stark reminder of the hamster wheel that is modern life. It doesn’t have to be this way.
Next time you’re at your local Walmart, play the “Need & Want” game. Do you truly need what you’re throwing in your basket, or do you just want it? Experiment by sticking to your needs for one week, and see what happens. Only in America could we have a show like “Hoarders” where our lust for stuff has literally become a disease. If we all took an honest look at ourselves and our habits, perhaps we’d discover a small bit of this pathology. It’s not innocuous — it’s a condition that is polluting one of our most sacred and beautiful seas right now.
If we say yes to reducing, reusing, recycling, and DIY’ing, we can eventually kick BP to the curb and wash that dirty petroleum right out of our hair.
Like I say in my new book, Eco-Sex: Go Green Between the Sheets and Make Your Love Life Sustainable, it’s time for us to break the cycle and find better energy boyfriends.
So how do you lower your love life’s carbon footprint?
Firstly, let’s dispel the most common myth: a green love life equals a boring love life. As you’ll come to understand when reading Weiss’s book, you can become a green bedroom goddess without making big sacrifices. If you want to give your love life a green makeover you simply need to do your homework. When it comes to celebrating a special occasion or spoiling your partner, for instance, instead of visiting your usual dinner spot, Weiss advises you opt for a restaurant that offers an organic menu or sources its food locally, that way you can enjoy a good meal while also doing your bit to save the planet.
Read more: http://www.liveeco.co.za/?m=2&idkey=1363
My Interview on the Green Majority Radio Show (Toronto, Canada)
Producer Daryn Caister speaks with Stephanie Iris Weiss, the author of the book “Eco-Sex: Go Green Between the Sheets and Make Your Love Life Sustainable” to find out how your love life affects the environment and how romance can help save the planet… if you’re doing it right.
http://besustainable.com/greenmajority/1980/07/23/tgm199-f2/