Articles by susan

Susan Seliger, SVP and Editor-in-Chief of RiverWired.com, is an award-winning writer and editor who has helped launch and re-launch four web sites before her favorite: RiverWired.com. Working as a top-level executive at a number of national magazines and organizations including Time Inc, Hearst, Dow Jones and Working Mother Magazine, she has honed a blend of editorial expertise and business savvy. She is the author of a health book, STOP KILLING YOURSELF: Make Stress Work for You (Putnam’s) and the ghostwriter of WONDERFUL MARRIAGE: A Guide to Building a Great Realtionship That Will LAst a Lifetime (Ben Bella, pub. Spring 2008).Her work has been published in New York Magazine, The Economist, Travel & Leisure, Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel, Redbook, Self, McCall’s, Ladies Home Journal, The Washington Post, WebMD.com, to name a few.By night, she is an occasional storyteller who has performed original material in Manhattan theater clubs. (Don’t tell her mother.) She is a Clarion Award winner and holds an M.A. and a B.A. from the University of
Chicago. (Her mother knows that.)

Which is Greener – Car Wash or Hauling out the Hose at Home?

August 25, 2009 in Go Green, Save Energy, Saving Money by susan | No comments

By Susan Seliger
Grabbing a sponge and turning on the hose at home is definitely a cheaper way to clean your car than driving to your local car wash – unless you factor in the value of your time, but really, you weren’t doing anything anybody was going to pay you for this weekend, anyway, now were you?

But is it more eco-friendly?

First, the car wash is likely to use less water than you will. Some automatic car washes use only 30 gallons of water in a drive-through wash. You’re likely to use that much in only four minutes – and lots more, if like me, you wind up chatting with your neighbor and get a little distracted (you call it ADD, I call it being sociable). Score one for the car wash on the green scale — as long as you don’t have to guzzle too much gas to get there.

Even more important — the handling of the runoff water is key. Sure, there is dirty water either way – and the water isn’t simply dirty but contaminated with detergent, gasoline, antifreeze, oil and whatever other toxic filth your car has accumulated in your travels. But, when you do the deed at home, your filthy water just runs out into the street, into the nearest storm drain, which empties into nearby waterways – and could end up killing little fishes in rivers and creeks near and far.

The car wash, however, is required by law to dispose of their waste water at local sewage treatment plants – where it is filtered — and the residue deposited at landfills. Depending on how well the car wash complies with the law, that’s Score Two for the carwash.

So don’t feel guilty – put the sponge and hose away – grab your kids (or your neighbor’s kids, if you don’t have any) and go for a drive-through adventure.

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Win an Outdoor Adventure Trip Worth $3,000

August 22, 2009 in Eco-Travel, Free Stuff, Go Green, Healthy Living, Saving Money by susan | No comments

By Susan Seliger

You know you’re tired of staying indoors and staring at that computer screen. It’s time for an outdoor adventure – made even more invigorating when someone else pays for the whole deal. So just sign your name and you may be one of four lucky duos to win a $2,000 certificate for an adventure trip for two – plus a $1,000 airfare voucher.

And if the thought of the outdoors is making you thirsty, you could also win a year’s supply of Honest Tea or Honest Ade, which you can sip while riding the Mountain bike you might win if you are one of eight runners-up prize winners. All courtesy of Honest Tea and the Sierra Club. So start clicking… the deadline is 3/31/10, but they’re awarding some of the prizes even sooner.

Update on the Appalachian Trail and Governor Sanford of S.C.

June 24, 2009 in Go Green, Uncategorized by susan | No comments

Bu Susan Seliger

We don’t really care to comment about South Carolina’s Governor, Mark Sanford’s admission today that he had an affair with an Argentinian woman. We like to steer clear of politics and keep life focused on what really counts — the eco side of the economy.

But what we cannot understand is his misrepresentation to his wife and staff — and really, to all of us — that he was on the Appalachian Trail when he wasn’t.  (See yesterday’s post.) We were so proud of him as we imagined him hiking amidst all those outdoorsy folks, walking stoically past those out there out parading in their birthday suits  on Naked Hiking Day on the Appalachian Trail — eyes straight ahead and thinking only of the beauty of nature.

No, what is really hard to believe is that anyone would chose Argentina over the Appalachian Trail.  We are mystified and a little sad about being misled.

But we are pleased that in his press conference today, Governor Sanford did reaffirm his love of the Appalachian Trail. And after all this brouhaha, maybe a peaceful hike on that trail would be just what he –and all of us, come to think of it — need to think things over.

So once again, turn off the TV, put down the paper, and check out the Appalachian Trail website for the the fastest way to hit the trail and get away from it all.

Photo Credit: purebound.com

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Naked Hiking Day on the Appalachian Trail: Missing Governor Sanford Found — Just Hiking the Trail

June 23, 2009 in Go Green, Healthy Living, Uncategorized by susan | 1 comment

By Susan Seliger

Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina is no longer considered missing. Though he seems to have disappeared for a few days over Father’s Day, his staff now says he was just out hiking  the Appalachian Trail and could not be reached. And it is only a “coincidence” that he was out there on Naked Hiking Day — yes, there is a naked hiking day on the trail — celebrated on the first day of summer. (No, that is not the Governor in any of these photos.)

The Governor has still not returned, according to the Christian Science Monitor but his wife says she is not concerned — he was writing something and needed his space. The staff say Naked Day had nothing to do with his disappearance. And the Park rangers say that they do not condone or encourage Naked Day — and people caught out in nature au naturel could get fined.

Who says hiking can’t be sexy?

For more on hiking the Appalachian Trail — any day — go to their website. Clothes optional.

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Free Diet Tips — Forget Diets — Just Think Small

June 13, 2009 in Go Green, Healthy Living, Saving Money, Uncategorized by susan | No comments

By Susan Seliger

If you want to feel trim and fit so you can get outside in the great green world, forget diet pills, carb-counting and weight-tracking. Just remember one simple trick — think small.

We’re talking utensils here.

No doubt you’ve heard that the key to healthy eating and losing weight is eating smaller portions. But that takes self-control. And who has that?

Well, you can trick yourself into exerting portion control simply by using smaller plates, smaller bowls — and, according to a medical study, smaller serving spoons.

Researchers In a study from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign found that people who used larger serving spoons gave themselves 14.5% more ice cream – and those with larger bowls, gave themselves 31% more ice cream.

When the test subjects used both a large spoon and a large bowl, it was an even bigger disaster — they ate 56.8 % more ice cream than those using smaller tools. And these subjects included nutrition experts who you’d think would know better! Hey, we’re all just human — and, it turns out, slaves to our utensils.  (The American Journal of Preventive Medicine published the study.)

See– smaller is beautiful!

I wonder if sitting on a smaller chair could have a similar effect on your … No? Not the same? Darn.

Photo credit: wwww.veggievampire.net

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Double the Life of Post-It Notes — Save $100 Million and Reduce the Landfills

June 2, 2009 in Biking, Free Stuff, Go Green, Green Products, Health Hazards, Save Resources, Saving Money, Uncategorized by susan | 2 comments

By Susan Seliger

I have come up with a discovery so beautiful in its simplicity that I feel like 3M’s Art Fry and colleague Spencer Silver must have felt upon inventing the Post-It Note decades ago. And like those fine gentlemen, I am giving this discovery away free.

The technique for doubling the life of Post-It notes is so simple and elegant that I don’t know why I have not read about it before. As you’ll see when I reveal the technique below, (which I am affectionately calling, “Be Nice, Use It Twice”) you’ll wish you had started years ago.

Can you imagine the savings??? There are 6,005,000,000 post it notes sold every year – 6 billion – according to Wiki Answers. (If six 100-packs cost about $10, that’s $100 million right there.)

Though 3M’s sales are down 20% from last year, the company is still reporting first-quarter sales of $5.1 billion, — over $20 billion per year – and a good chunk of that is from those cute little sticky notes, according to  Industrial Distribution, a Reed Business publication.

Everybody loves to use those cute notes with the low-tack adhesive on the back. They’re not just stuck all over your office and mine. The FBI uses so many of them that they’ve coined a term for them: FLYNs.

“That stands for ‘funny little yellow notes.’ Except I’m cleaning it up when I say ‘funny,’” according to Fry, one of the inventors of the notes as quoted in an entertaining article by Greg Beato, called Twenty-Five Years of Post-it Notes.

The U.S. Post Office uses a higher-adhesive version of the yellow address labels to forward mail.

Who doesn’t use them?

So get ready to save big: Double your usage, double your fun. Here’s how.

Be Nice, Use It Twice Technique

1. After you have filled out the top of the post-it note – and you have already done the chore: BUY MILK, DEODERANT, DOG FOOD – Fold the note up and over at the point where the adhesive bar at the top ends. Make a sharp crease.

2. You will see before you a whole new post-it note. Write a second message, then lift the note back up a little and it will stand up like a little message-soldier.

The area to write on is slightly smaller. But the second-time around the note is even more helpful at reminding you what to do because it STANDS UP instead of lying flat on your desk. How cute is that!

If everyone took this simple step, we could save hard-working, multi-tasking Americans (with memory deficits that require post-it notes to survive) over $100 million a year. Maybe this simple act won’t exactly empty the landfills, but imagine how much space we could save by keeping over 6 billion of these little sticky suckers out of the dumps every year.

Be nice, Use it twice.

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Get Grilling! Here’s a Clean, Green Alternative to Charcoal and Gas

May 28, 2009 in Go Green, Green Products, Save Resources, Saving Money, Uncategorized by susan | 3 comments

By Susan Seliger
I miss grilling fiercely. When I lived out in the burbs, I loved moving the heat of summer cooking out of the kitchen onto the deck. I’d keep flaming my food through fall – and sometimes I’d even put my boots on, sweep the snow off the grill cover, and fire up the Bar-B through the New year.

Now that I’ve moved back into the city and into an apartment, grilling is frowned upon. Even though we have a common roof deck, gas grills are not allowed and charcoal and toxic lighter fluid are too messy — and hardly eco-friendly.

But my grilling days may not be over. I just found a brand new product on the market this month that is a clean, green alternative to charcoal and gas – that’s faster and cheaper, too.

It’s called the uGO™ FlameDisk™ and it’s a round, well, tin disk (looks a little like the old Jiffy Pop popcorn popper before it’s been popped) that contains ethanol (a renewable biofuel) and a little (4%) methanol. Charcoal, on the other hand — and lighter fluid – contain petroleum-based components from fossil fuels which are non-renewable. Propane gas is made entirely from non-renewable fossil fuels. According to EPA estimates, more than 90% of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. come from the combustion of fossil fuels.

How Does It Work?

Here’s how this flame disk works: Place the disk into an open grill (an ordinary charcoal grill or hibachi will do), peel the cover off, light one of the holes on top with a single match – and boom – ooops, wait, not a boom, just a little whoosh – the disk ignites. Then put the food grate back over the disk – and four minutes later (compared to at least 30 minutes for charcoal) you’re ready to cook.

Yeah, But What About Taste?

The manufacturer claims that the “smoke plate” built in yields a genuine flame-grilled taste because the juices from the foods drip down onto it, causing it to flare and smoke, just as with other methods of grilling. Cooking time and temperature is supposed to be about the same as charcoal.

My Experience on the Grill

I hauled a little grill up to the roof deck of my apartment building where propane is not allowed.  With one match, I was able to get the disc burning. And within a few minutes — not even enough time to get halfway through a beer — the grill was ready to go. Things went fine when I started with the red peppers and onions until I poured a little extra olive oil marinade on — and the resulting flame flared up and charred the veggies a bit more than I might have liked. The same thing happened with the steaks as the juices started to drip. If my grill had been one with an adjustable-height grate, it would have been easier to control the cooking temperature. Instead, i just kept moving the steak to different parts of the grill to find spots where the flame had died down.

As for taste — even with a little more charring than I used to get with my old pre-eco-conscious propane grill — the flavor was delicious and indistinguishable from gas or charcoal.

And the cleanup was far easier than charcoal. The flame disc died out after about 40 minutes of grilling. And the grill cooled fast– no waiting for hours as with charcoal.  That’s a  particularly handy safety feature if you’re camping or having a tailgating party. And there was no messy, greasy charcoal ash to dispose of. The company says the disc is made of recyclable materials as is all the packaging.

And Price?

A pack of three disks sells for about $19.99 (including shipping). For more info, or to buy the product, or to check out a video of how the disk compares to charcoal, go to the Flame Disk web site. Here’s a list of the retailers selling the disc.

Summer may just taste a little better this year, after all.

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How’d You Like a Green Home and a Hybrid Car Worth $750,000?

May 26, 2009 in Free Stuff, Go Green, Green Products, Saving Money by susan | No comments

By Susan Seliger
Remember when your mom told you TV would rot your brain? Odds are, she just may have been right. So before all those neurons start wasting away, do what you can to defy the odds. GHTV is running what has now become an annual contest to give away a green home – and this year they’re throwing a General Motors Sierra Hybrid in with the package, so your new driveway won’t look naked. The whole bundle is valued at $750,000 – and that would be a lot of green, even if the house weren’t. Get those brain cells and those fingers clicking fast — the deadline is  5 PM, June 5, 2009. A new life in Florida awaits….click here.

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8 Great College Biking Programs: Free Bikes, Rentals, even Valet Bike Parking

May 18, 2009 in Biking, Eco-Travel, Go Green, Save Energy, Saving Money, Uncategorized by susan | 2 comments

By Susan Seliger

College campuses are launching a variety of innovative programs to get students to kick the car habit and take up biking. Motivations for these greening efforts vary – some schools are running out of parking spaces. Others want to encourage healthy living to help students ward off that “Freshman 15” – a weight gain that, despite its name, can carry over into senior year. And still others say giving bikes the edge over cars is an easy way to lower the school’s carbon footprint and keep the campus green and beautiful.

1. Nothing beats free: The University of New England and Ripon College in Wisconsin are giving free bikes to every new student who agrees not to bring a car on campus. At Ripon, David Joyce, the president of the college, who is such a bike enthusiast that he builds bikes in his basement, has thrown in a free helmet, lights and a bike lock along with the Trek 820 mountain bike – which students get to keep.

2. Rent a bike: St. Xavier University in Chicago launched a bike-sharing system that allows students to unlock and pay for the bikes with a wave of their ID card (costs about $2.50 an hour).

3. Biking made easy and secure – valet parking?: Stanford University has set up bike racks with space for over 12,000 bikes all over campus – and they offer valet bike parking for special events such as the Cardinals home football games.

4. Free Bikes and more: The University of New England is giving not only free bikes to Freshman who promise not to bring cars on campus, but they also offer free Zipcars and free downtown shuttle service and discounted taxi or limo service.

5. Recycling bikes: Mercer University in Macon, Ga., is refurbishing old bikes for students – and painting them orange and black, the university colors.

6. Discounts and Free Rentals: Emory University in Atlanta launched Bike Emory, in August 2007, and works with local bike shops to provide bikes that students can rent and ride for free — or buy their own at discounts. Students also get a free helmet, lock and taillight. And if you don’t want to go to class all sweaty after the bike ride, no problem. Emory has installed showers in buildings and added bike racks to its free campus shuttle buses.

7. Bike-sharing– check out a book or a bike: Ohio State University lets students check out a Schwinn Heavy Duty Cruiser for 48 hours from the recreational center just as easily as they can walk into their library and check out a book.

8. Commuter Bikes for Free: Michael Zane, founder and former president of Kryptonite Locks, donated 96 commuter bicycles to his alma mater, Franklin & Marshall College, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

MORE, MORE, MORE…
To find out what you can do to keep your bike from getting stolen – or to recover it if it is, register your bike at the The National Bike Registry.

For more info on biking on college campuses, check out Bicycling Magazine’s article
and this New York Times round-up: With Free Bikes, Challenging Car Culture on Campus

Photo credit: www.washington.edu

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7 Eco-Tips to Fight Swine Flu and Diseases – Air Kisses, Sing Happy Birthday and More

May 14, 2009 in Go Green, Health Hazards, Healthy Living by susan | 3 comments

By Susan Seliger

With fears of swine flu spreading, sales of hand sanitizers and anti-bacterial soaps are soaring. But studies have shown that you don’t need all those chemicals and high-priced, individually-packaged cleaning products. The best steps you can take to prevent getting sick from swine flu – in addition to a host of other more serious infections, including salmonella, strep, staph, E. coli on down to the common cold — are far simpler and considerably more eco-friendly.

You can’t avoid exposure to these common disease-causing critters – they are simply present in the world around us. But you can take simple steps to keep yourself and your family safe from dangerous infectious viruses and bacteria.

1. Stop Shaking Hands

Unless you’re a politician, you can keep the hand-pumping to a minimum. Kissing hello and goodbye on the cheek may actually be even safer than a firm handshake – and a lot more fun.  If you can pull it off, consider blowing kisses (though admittedly, this is a far cuter gesture when executed by a baby). Or perhaps you could single-handedly bring back the Eurotrash custom of air kissing — sure it’s been deservedly dissed as  pretentious, but it’s oh-so-sanitary. We all must be brave when facing down epidemics.

2. Clean Your Computer Keyboard

Especially if you share your computer with the family or co-workers, it is vital to disinfect this gadget that your fingers come into contact with for hours every day. Use straight alcohol – no, do not spray it on the keyboard. Spray it on a clean cloth or paper towel and then wipe the keyboard several times. (Did I mention turning off the computer first? Do I have to tell you everything?)

3. Wash Your Hands – but you’re probably doing it wrong.

The Mayo Clinic and the Centers for Disease Control say that the single most important step you can take to stop the spread of infectious diseases is to wash your hands. (See Mayo Clinic article.) Soap and water can be even more effective than some hand rubs with alcohol.

Ok, maybe you’ve heard that already. But what you may not know is that just washing is not enough – you have to do it right.

As Melinda Beck points out in an excellent Wall Street Journal article on fighting disease with soap and water, doctors have known about the importance of hand-washing

“since 1847, when a doctor named Ignaz Semmelweis suspected that maternity patients were dying in his Vienna hospital because med students treated them right after working on cadavers. When he instituted hand-cleaning, the deaths fell sharply…. But many people don’t do it often enough, or long enough.”

4. The best technique – rub, rub, rub and take your time.

You have to scrub both hands, inside, outside, interlacing fingers and then rubbing energetically, like a miser who has just discovered that his stock portfolio did not really drop 40% in the last four months – for as long as it takes to sing Happy Birthday to You twice. Melinda Beck recommends that if you get tired of that tune, you can try Rub a Dub Dub or any other ditty that lasts at least 15 seconds. There is no mention of trying The Black Eyed Peas latest hit “Boom Boom Pow,” but really, I think you can take it from here.

5. Don’t touch the doorknob on your way out.

So you’ve just washed your hands, sung a heart-rending version of “I Did It My Way,” and you figure you’re clean as a whistle and safe from germs. Then you unlock the bathroom door, turn the door knob – and boom – you may as well not have bothered washing your hands.

Here’s how that scene should have gone. After washing, you wipe your hands with a paper towel (yes, it is safer than blow-drying, as you’ll see if you just keep reading), and then use that towel to turn off the water faucet and to grab the door handle on your way out. Even in your very own bathroom at home, door locks, light switches and door handles are the hard-to-clean surfaces that play a large role in transmitting disease.

6. Do not touch your eyes or your nose with your hands.

Yes, this is a hard one. As soon as you even think about not touching your nose, it starts to itch. Especially when you are on the subway or train or plane and someone has just passed by coughing. Remember, the germs on your hands are not dangerous at all until you put them in contact with the vulnerable eyes and nasal passages. Solution: cover your face if someone nearby is coughing or sneezing, but do not actually touch your face. And as for rubbing your eyes or nose – just make sure you carry tissues with you, and cover your fingers with the clean tissue before you (gently) dab your eye or scratch that itch.

7. Hand sanitizers work – but not all of them

It’s fine to buy hand sanitizers and schlep them around with you if you are spending a lot of time beyond the reach of a sink. They work – but only if they are at least 60% alcohol.  Otherwise, soap and water work just as well.


Photo credit: www.Moonbattery.com

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