Make Green Happen
4 Tips for Greening Your Home Office
With many of us working more from home, here are four tips to save energy and carbon emissions at home: Green your flush Switch to green power (even if you are a renter) Eat more sustainable food Reduce water use at home Green your Flush: As COVID-19 was just...
Green Impact Featured in Expert Tips for Creating a Green Home from Redfin
This article just ran on Redfin and a tip from Green Impact is included. The story below is written by Emily Huddleston. If you are tired of living a wasteful lifestyle and are resolved to create a more eco-friendly home this new year, you may be feeling a little...
8 Green Gift Ideas
I always feel a bit like Scrooge when I write this annual story on how to green the holidays, which is often full of things to avoid. This year, except for a reminder to avoid glitter, this piece offers fun ideas for gifts that are both eco and COVID-19-friendly....
How to Not be Deadly Boring on Your Next Zoom Presentation: 4 Tips
With face-to-face presentations not viable for the near future, many of us have been thrown into the world of virtual presentations ala Zoom and other virtual platforms. If I have to sit through one more boring Zoom presentation I am going to scream! After a week...
Keep Sustainability Alive: Four Principles for Staying Resilient
COVID-19. Black Lives Matter. These critical issues are taking up most of everyone's attention and bandwidth right now. I have been trying to take my own advice--to step back and see the big picture--by pondering deep questions such as: How do we keep sustainability...
Planting Seeds: Five Reasons to Plant a Pandemic Victory Garden
By: Ana Toepel and Deborah Fleischer The idea of "planting seeds" right now has multiple meanings. On the home front, many of us are planting gardens. Not only is it therapeutic to get our hands dirty and spend time outside, but there is a practical component, as it...
The Fight for #Green Flushes
As COVID-19 was just beginning to impact our lives in the SF Bay Area, I made a rare trip to Costco for a few staples. I have been using Seventh Generation toilet paper or Trader Joe’s Bath Tissue, both 100% recycled content, for years. Yet, as was pushing...
Support the Earth in the Time of COVID-19
This is an old post from 2017 related to the climate crisis, but seems so relevant to today, that I have brushed it off and updated it. It only takes one glance at the news to remind us that we are living in crazy, uncertain times. We are all being barraged with...
Don’t Forget to Honor the Earth. Happy Earth Day!!!
By Deborah Fleischer and Ana Toepel, Green Impact This year, on April 22, Earth Day will celebrate its 50th anniversary. The current pandemic situation has most of us feeling a range of challenging emotions, and it serves as a reminder of how life is both so fragile...
Forest Bathing: Just the Medicine You Need Right Now
By: Deborah Fleischer and Ana Toepel, Green Impact For all of us sheltering in place, how do we connect with nature when we are being encouraged not to visit our local parks and trails? The answer right now is Forest Bathing! The article Ana Toepel and I...
Self-Nurturing Practices for Health During the Pandemic
Photo Credit: UCSF Health By Dr. Rupa Marya (originally published on Medium) When we think of sustainability, we consider three things: people, planet, and profit. As we deal with COVID19, one of these three—people—currently stands out as the predominant...
Do You Have Corona-Virus Anxiety or Pandemic-Stress Syndrome?
by Deborah Fleischer and Ana Toepel. Well, we thought we were experiencing high levels of stress over climate change with symptoms such as anxiety, fear, obsessive or negative thinking, loss of appetite, depression, or insomnia. The eco-anxiety tips we...
Use Nature to Spark Creativity
The more you get away from the stresses of daily life and the more time you spend outdoors, the greater your level of creativity. While you might not have time to hit the trails for a four-day backpacking adventure, try this one-hour nature-based "Sustainability...
7 Great Ways to Green the Holidays
By: Ana Toepel, Green Impact, December 2018 The holiday season is upon us, and for many people this means good cheer and fun times with family. At the same time, the holidays can create harmful impacts on the planet from the increased use of resources....
The Poison Papers?
By Ana Toepel, Green Impact The Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment (PRHE) and Environmental Health Initiative (EHI) at UCSF are leaders in advancing the prevention of disease caused by harmful chemical exposure. On September 13, UCSF launched an...
Loving the Earth? Avoid Tyvek® Wristbands and Other Tips for a Climate-Friendly Event
I attended several events the week of the Global Climate Action Summit September 12-14 and I must vent one of my gripes. I was excited to attend Spirit Rock's event Loving the Earth. Spirit Rock is a meditation center nestled against the hills of West...