Connecticut Green Living

Bravo, Connecticut! We shine in the latest WalletHub rankings. Although, weirdly, Maryland ranks one above us overall, we are numero uno for climate change contributions! Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and fluorinated greenhouse gas emissions are all lowest in our great state. The other two metrics used to judge greenness were environmental quality and eco-friendly behaviors. Senator Bernie Sanders' beloved Vermont ranked first for eco-friendly behaviors and Hawaii, not surprisingly, boasts the highest environmental quality. Connecticut came in 8th for environmental quality and 11th for eco-friendly behaviors. Blue states overall are far greener, the study shows. Democratic-led states rank 14.92 on average for greenness, while Republican states come in at an average of 36.08. The lower the number, the greener the category or state. Other sub-categories examined water, air, LEED-certified buildings, percentage of renewable energy consumption and energy consumption. One of ...

California has long been touted as the most progressive state, but arguably it is also the greenest . It is therefore not surprising that a startup from Santa Cruz has developed a solution to all that coffee-making waste. Steeped Coffee is aptly named. According to the company release, "Brewed similar to tea, Steeped Coffee’s nitro sealed Steeped Bags, along with their guilt-free packaging made using renewable and compostable materials, achieve the unthinkable: freshly ground specialty coffee in a single-serving." When I lived in London , I had a kettle in my room to make my own coffee. It was common there to make single-serve coffee. When I saw these little bags, it reminded me of that. Then when I tore open the first bag, called "DRIFTWOOD", I was hooked. The intoxicating aroma rivals any other including fresh beans in the grinder. I DO think one needs to steep the maximum amount of time if he wants a stronger brew. I am used to two or three cups of piping hot...

As a half Jew, half Christian, I was immediately intrigued when I received the promo from Take My Face Off . Also, it's a pretty cute name (and trust me, this time of year there are plenty of days when I'd love to take my crusty old winter face off.) But I'm rather picky about how I remove my makeup. Traditionally I've favored petroleum jelly or Noxema with a tissue. My mother used to use cotton balls but I have found that those shed and then I have stringy cotton enmeshed in my foundation (ok, I rarely wear foundation). The thrust of Take My Face off's solutions is they are environmentally friendly by virtue of being washable, but also smooth to the face. No messy tears. Nothing in the waste bin. Happy Hanukkah Called The Mitty Mini Menorah Gift Set, the kit comes with (obviously) eight disposable washcloths shaped like flames, along with the cardboard menorah for placement. Pockets in the back mean they slip easily over the cardboard prongs or your fingers. The...

"You Can Save The Earth - An Adult Coloring Book for Environmental Awareness, Conservation, and Sustainability " is a different kind of read. That's because it's also an adult coloring book with messages both poetic and simple enough for children to understand. So share it with them and you'll see their eyes light up - not only when they color the stunning drawings of wildlife and fauna, but when you explain the messages. From our limited resources and need to use less, to the reality that greenhouse gases are burning through the atmosphere so fast that if we don't do something, our grandchildren will not enjoy the same world. What's unique about this book is that it not only instructs, not only offers pages to color, but offers prompts to make one think. For example, under "Choose to Reduce", the author quotes Pope John Paul II: "The earth will not continue to offer its harvest, except with faithful stewardship. We cannot say we love...

WalletHub, a personal finance website, has lauded our state with green praise once again. We've ranked fifth in the union overall for environmental practices, even tops for water quality. Analysts culled data on everything from rate of waste recycling to soil, air, and water quality. While we weren't high on every criterion, our overall rating was superb. Rankings in order were: #1 Vermont, #2 Massachusetts , #3 Oregon, #4 Washington, and #5 the Nutmeg State . The worst rating on the green scale was Wyoming. I got a chance to send some questions to one of their analysts, Jill Gonzalez. Following is a transcript of that discussion: Jill, explain to me, please, what methods you all used to determine these scores and can you quantify them? We compared the states across three quantifiable categories: 1. Environmental Quality, 2. Eco-Friendly Behaviors and 3. Climate-Change Contributions. These categories were evaluated using 20 relevant key metrics. We then calculated the o...