Eco Corner: Choices for Sustainable Lifestyles

Eco Speedy

Electric Bike

Scooters are the fastest way to get around a city, and much more efficient for one person than a big ol’ car. But if you have ever ridden one, you know about the noise and the exhaust fumes.

We are all waiting for the perfect eco bike, and the upcoming Yamaha Divide may be the little Pegasus of our dreams. Hopefully in production by 2007, this shiny work of art’s claim to fame is a one-touch button that folds the bike into a very manageable size for taking it in the elevator and sticking it in your genkan overnight. No oil drips either!

WEBLINK
www.yamaha-motor.co.jp

Eco Fund

Save Rainforest Online

The rainforests are still being cut, and you can do something about it. Next time you are on line, check it out. Every time you “click to give,, sponsors such as Ben & Jerry’s, Lands’ End and the Nature Conservancy donate money to help buy and preserve natural lands. It costs you nothing.

By just clicking on a button, you can help protect Patagonian coastline, Canadian bear habitat, Mexican jaguars, Amazonian rainforest, Atlantic giant otters, river dolphins in Peru and more. If you are on line every day, a few seconds visiting this page makes you an eco web-surfing warrior.

Another example of how modern life and technology can help us make a more sustainable world.

WEBLINK
www.ecologyfund.com

ECO HEALTH

Detox Your Body

No matter how healthy you think you are, your body is toxic. The amount of carcinogenic chemicals found in our blood these days is staggering; flame retardants, dioxins, heavy metals, growth hormones, pesticides… We take them in every day through our food and water and in the air we breathe, and they build up in tissues and organs.

Detoxifying your body is a combination of reducing intake of foods that tax your system (caffeine, alcohol, meat…) and fortifying your internal filters, the liver, lungs and kidneys. Adjusting your diet, exercising more and using various herbs are your first step. Go for a luxury weekend detox retreat, or do it at home on the sofa.

Check these sites for lots more details:

WEBLINKS
www.detox-web.com
www.healthrecipes.com/herbal_detox.htm
www.blessedherbs.com
www.alishan-organic-center.com

ECO ECONOMICS

Rocky Mountain Institute

Here at Eco Corner, we present sustainable options for the average consumer. But you should also be aware of the environmental progress happening at the highest levels of government and industry. The Rocky Mountain Institute, a small think tank in Colorado, is showing clients such as the World Bank, Monsanto, Lucas Films, Dow Chemicals and the White House that maximizing short-term gain and ignoring the environmental costs reduces profits in the long run.

Founder Amory Lovins uses hard economics to prove sustainable policies help big corporations as well as spotted owls and tree-huggers. If you want to influence political leaders, industry captains and other elite decision-makers, you need to read up on the work of Lovins and the RMI team.

WEBLINK
www.rmi.org