Eco-Chic, Frugal Tips From Upscale Town & Country; Plus Imus Reflections

From organic strawberries to electronic blackberries, I found terrific frugal and green advice from a surprising source:

The April Issue of Town & Country, a glossy magazine dedicated to luxury and fine living. The April edition represents T&C's "Special Green Issue," and it's loaded with excellent tips about saving money, while saving the environment.

Here's a quick summary of one of the "eco-chic" features. Organic Food Strategies Pesticides and poisons in our food can lead to health care problems and costly medical bills. In fact, toxic environmental conditions contribute to cancer in kids and "cancer is the leading cause of death in children," according to T&C.

Eating organic produce limits the amount of toxic chemicals that poison our bodies. Organic food is expensive and I've written about thrifty organic food purchases in this article. But if you can't afford to buy a long list of organic food items, a pick-and-choose strategy of organic shopping can help you eat safer while saving.

Here's another approach to altering a diet: "Take a food that you eat often and make that one food organic. If you make macaroni and cheese, make sure the chess is organic. Otherwise you get high levels of dioxins, hormones and pesticides in the milk. With that one change, you're improving your child's health," according to Deirdre Imus,** author of the new Green This! book series (Simon & Schuster) and founder and president of Deirdre Imus Environmental Center for Pediatric Oncology.

She is one of several eco-mavens featured by Town & Country. The other experts are featured below, but first an aside:

~~~~ **Deirdre Imus -- is the wife of disgraced and dethroned "shock jock" host radio show Don Imus. I was personally sickened by the racist and sexist remarks made by Don Imus about the Rutgers University Scarlet Knight basketball team. His remarks hit me in the gut. As an African-American, Jewish Female, I have met ugly biases on every front.

From childhood through my adulthood, I've heard people put down my skin, my nose, my hair & my gender & my religion. It's real, but some folks like to dance away with: Just Joking, Don't be so sensitive and my least favorite: My aren't you sooo PC!!

I also want to go on record with my passionate protest about the sexist images of Black women in many rap songs and videos. I like hip-hop, but I don't like the degrading language about women that many artists use. Words and images have power. That's my frugal two sense on the subject. I'll let Rutgers women's basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer have the final word on the Don Imus situation.

"We, the Rutgers University Scarlet Knight basketball team,
accept — accept — Mr. Imus' apology, and we are in the process of forgiving,"
Stringer read from a team statement a day after the women met personally with
Imus and his wife. "We still find his statements to be unacceptable, and this is
an experience that we will never forget."

--Rutgers women's basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer

~~~~~~
Cutting Electric Currents to Save:

Frances Beinecke, President of the Natural Resources Defense Council (nrdc.org).

"Unplug your Blackberry and cell phone chargers when you're not using them--they're vampires, sucking electricity out of the wall.

Her other tips:
1. Buy energy efficient cars and appliances
2. Use compact florescent light bulbs
3. Get active in community groups


Mindful Shopping:

Leslie Hoffman, executive director of Earth Pledge (earthpledge.org), says it's "vital" to pay close attention to our consuming and shopping patterns. Here's her advice: "Before buying anything, ask how big it is, what's in it, who made it, where it came from and how much energy it took to make it."

Here's the full T&C article that features the above women.
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