Eat Local!

To continue in the spirit of Earth Day last week, this is an idea whose time has come: Eat Local. (Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say come again. I don't think that this concept would seem very revolutionary to our great-grandparents.)

A take-out eatery has just opened in Seattle, Washington, USA. Eat Local is Pro-local agriculture, Pro-local business, Environmentally Friendly, and Sustainable. It's got it all. What a fabulous idea!

I'm pretty sure that I don't have the entrepreneurial food-service expertise to try such an undertaking myself, but that doesn't mean I'm just waiting on the curb for "Eat Local" to open up a shop near me. There is a flood of interest in local produce (safer, less cost/pollution to move to market, supporting local economy, etc.) so finding additional resources and information is easy as locally-baked pie.

The pet food poisoning has focused a lot of attention on the safety issues that imported food can represent: other countries don't necessarily have the same regulations that you might be used to and there is also the opportunity for terrorist interception and tampering. Very little food is being inspected right now, for example, that is entering the USA.

Another aspect of the produce industry that is coming to light: Organic is not the same thing as Local. While this may seem obvious on the surface, consider that:

1. Organic in that other country may be defined differently than in your own


2. If the distributer isn't labeling Country-of-Origin on the canned or processed good; how do you know


3. If you are buying organic to be environmentally sensitive, if it comes from China and you live in the USA, it's consumed a lot of fuel and energy to come here.

Everyone is starting to jump into the Local bandwagon, at least here in the US, and while sometimes this type of behavior is a bad thing, I don't believe this to be the case in this instance. Local governments and states are starting to encourage local businesses and farms, Corporations like Whole Foods are starting to reach out to local businesses and support fledgling farms, Local groups and blogs are writing about the trials and triumphs of eating local, and
Special events are being planned to highlight local produce and grow the market.

All of this attention gives the average Nitpicky Consumer a lot of good options.

I just did a few quick web searches for "local farmers markets northern virginia united states" and within minutes I had links to all sorts of local markets, including the oldest continuing market at the same site in the united states: Alexandria Farmers Market. I plan on checking it out in a few weeks, and I'll report back!

Read the Fine, Green Print

Earth Day was April 22nd. In honor of this, the Nitpicky Consumer is taking the time to ponder environmental issues. Unlike the Media Machine (as I'll call the collective world media), I'd like to take a step back from the hype. There are very few resources available that provide a thoughtful comparison of environmental alternatives from A-Z, i.e. throughout the whole life-cycle of the product or service.

• Is it created using 'green' methods? Using recycled materials? What does it take to produce its core components, in terms of energy and resources?
• How maintainable is the product? i.e. How soon will it need to be replaced?
• Once the product does need to be replaced, can it be recycled or must it be trashed? If it can be recycled, how easy is it for the 'average consumer' to understand and do?

Easy Example of the Machine in action, hyping the good side of a new idea while completely ignoring the potential pitfalls:
Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs), also known as Compact Fluorescent Lamps.

Go to any major media resource online, and it will be easy as pie to find articles about the amazing energy-saving properties of CFLs and how great it would be to stop using halogens and other designer lights. And of course anything as fabulous as this needs to be mandated, so there is a lot of recent attention on governments trying to figure out how to force everyone to switch, either by raising taxes on traditional incandescents or even making incandescent bulbs illegal. The CFL benefits are easy to list.

But I couldn't find much info on the downsides: i.e. the things that you might not think about right away. My neighbors rightfully pointed out to me that you can't use a dimmer/rheostat with compact fluorescent lights. Well, you CAN, but it costs several hundred dollars so most average consumers won't be making this switch. And quite frankly, dimmers save energy, too. We only use our kitchen table light, dimmed quite low, as an addition to candles. I imagine our dimmed light is not using much more energy than a CFL would in that same fixture (though I can't yet test this as I haven't gotten a hold of one of the nifty gizmos that let's you track such things).

By looking past the main-stream media, you can find more general info about how the CFLs are manufactured, how they actually work, and their life-cycle.

Now, better informed, you have a clue into the downside of CFLs: what happens when they break or wear out. Now you've definitely left the Media Machine behind, and you're reading text-heavy government documents. An EPA fact sheet on CFLs and an Energy Star FAQ on proper disposal of Compact Fluorescent Lights shed some light on this facet of CFLs, which probably won't get full Media Machine attention for several years:

• Compact Fluorescent Lights, just like any fluorescent light, contain mercury. There is currently no substitute for this mercury. Each one contains about as much as the tip of a ballpoint pen.
  
• If you break a CFL you should NOT touch any part of it with your bare hands. Unfortunately, as some of them look from the outside like regular incandescents, I am quite certain that not everyone is going to realize this.
• And most important of all, old/used CFLs should NOT be disposed of in the trash.
  

Well then ... what do you do with them when they break or wear out? As the helpful FAQs explain, you can call various numbers and visit various websites or call your local government to find the closest disposal location. I went to earth911.org (the site recommended by energystar.gov), and was thrilled to find out that the closest disposal site to me is -- wait for it -- 46 miles away.

At this point, if you're like most average consumers (especially in America), you'll simply toss it into the garbage bin and hope it doesn't cause too much of an issue. But once we have a million of these, broken and leaking mercury in our landfills, or being incinerated into the air we breath, I suspect we're going to have an issue.

Am I against CFLs? Certainly Not. I am starting to switch to them myself.

Do I think that there should be legislation requiring them? Certainly Not. Let's allow people to make their own decisions, although government may need to become involved in disposal.

It seems to me that a good balance for a home at this point would be to have a 50-50 mix of CFLs and Incandescents (on a rheostat). And it wouldn't hurt to have one neighbor who volunteers to drive the 46 miles to dispose of everyone's old fluourescents, once every 5 years or so.

Secret Mystery Shopping (Shhhhhhh)

After working for six years at The Disney Store, and being thus subjected to 72 monthly reports from the "Guest Shopper," I have always desired to be on the other side of that fence (where I have no doubt the grass is greener).

Called a variety of names -- Guest Shoppers, Secret Shoppers, Mystery Shoppers, etc. -- these are the people who literally shop for a living. They get paid to visit retail locations and write about their customer experience. Seems like a good fit for the Nitpicky Consumer, eh?

The catch is that there are a lot of scam operations claiming to be mystery shopping companies. In these instances, they just want to gather your personal info so that they can spam you with "exciting offers" ... or worse.

I hadn't spent the time to research the topic yet, but had mentioned it in passing, and my friend Janna pointed me to the Get Rich Slowly post on Money-Making Hobbies: Mystery Shopping and Belly Dancing. In addition to letting us know that the average belly-dancing outfit costs $300, the blog more importantly gives some great links to the Mystery Shopping Providers Association and to the Volition Mystery Shopping site.

I plan on checking out these resources in the next few weeks, and I'll report back on what I find. If anyone has any experience with mystery shopping or with these resources, feel free to comment and share!

Green Cleaners go Mainstream

The Washington Post had a great article today on How 'Green' Cleaners Measure Up. Of course, any one of us could go out and buy armfuls of cleaning products in order to compare them, but isn't it more fun to let someone else do it and read about the results? Even better, they included a link to a general editorial on the green movement and its impact on cleaning products (Green is Cleaning Up) that THEN linked to the web page of a local cleaning service in the DC area (The Green Mop) and THAT is where the real treasure is. The owner of the Green Mop, Mia Gallina, has posted all sorts of 'recipes' for simple cleaning solutions that are non-toxic and environmentally friendly. Good stuff. My shower has a permanent mold problem, and I'm going to try her vinegar solution!

Blog Etiquette, eh?

My dear friend Carolina, who has blogged a great deal more than I have, informs me that some exciting new Rules of Blogging Conduct have started to circulate, apparently after some tech blogging that turned nasty ended up with death threats being tossed out onto some comments.

After scanning these bold, new rules, I am reminded of All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. i.e. Play nice, be courteous, etc. In other words, act like civilized human beings. This seems like common sense, and hardly worth jotting down into a code, but the New York Time's Brad Stone hit the nail on the head when he noted: "Since the Web offers the option of anonymity with no accountability, online conversations are often more prone to decay into ugliness than those in other media."

A point upon which I don't really see a need to "debate" is the idea that blog comments should never be deleted, because as soon as they are written, they are part of living history. Whatever. If someone decides to disagree with one of my posts with a simple "You're wrong, you dumb b****" then I will most certainly delete it; and I will not feel that history is being cheated by this edit. If, however, the comment is followed by some well-researched rebuttal, bring it on. I welcome it. That's what being Nitpicky is all about; getting all the facts and then making an informed decision.

Tax Day! Whee!

So today is Tax Day here in the United States: The last day to file your federal income taxes. I did mine about two weeks ago, and nearly had a nervous breakdown as I did so. This happens to me every year, and it is almost always due to some stock disaster. This year, it was finding out that a bunch of my international stock had been sold due to some merger, and I hadn't gotten any notice about it other than pulling up my tax form and LO AND BEHOLD I have taken a lose. But how do you take a lose without ... UGH, MY STOCK HAS BEEN SOLD!

My horrific experiences in the stock market could fill up a whole novel, so I won't go too far into it. Let's just say I've been a very Dumb Consumer in choosing stocks.

But I will say that this is a good time of year to step back and look at your entire financial situation:

• Look at your income and your expenditures ... do you feel on track for the coming year?
• How's your retirement withholding? Are you doing the Max that the current year will allow? If not, try to increase it
• Check your stocks and funds. Any big upturns or horrific downfalls? Take this time to adjust
  
• Check your credit reports; take advantage of the once-a-year free report
  
• Make sure you are doing all you can to prevent Identify Theft
  

Nutrition Facts II: The Potato Chip Story

So, I haven't completely figured out yet what determines whether or not a food product needs the official "Nutrition Facts" label on it. However, I can talk about the importance of paying close attention to said label when it does exist.

Let's use a bag of deli potato chips as an example to illustrate two key points:
1) Always read the Nutrition Facts label; never assume what may or may not be in it
2) Always be sure you understand the serving size

Route 11 Potato Chips will be my example, today. They are a tasty brand of potato chips, typically sold in small bags at deli counters.

So ... my friend and I went over to Perfect Pita to get a sandwich and some chips. I grabbed a bag of Salt & Vinegar chips, but she noted that she was trying to eat less salt, so instead snatched up a bag of Garlic & Herb. On the surface, doesn't it seem like the one with more salt would be the one with salt in the name? Au Contraire.

Lesson #1: Read the Nutrition Facts.
A serving of S&V has 95 mg of sodium; a serving of G&H has 220 mg. Yes, over twice as much sodium. Wow.

Lesson #2: Serving Size sometimes seems sneaky.
Even though these chip bags are sold at delis and lunch counters, each bag is two servings. So if she had eaten the whole bag of Garlic & Herb chips, as most lunchers are apt to do, she'd get 440 mg of salt out of her daily recommended intake of 2000 mg ... just from one bag of chips.

The Moral of the Potato Chip Story:
Sometimes, it is worthwhile to slowdown and take a second look at the Facts, so you can make an informed decision.