Estrojam Greening Blog

www.myspace.com/themojdehproject

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Okay, admittedly THE MOJDEH PROJECT is my band but I was just recently having a conversation with some other musicians about being ‘eco-responsible’ musicians! Most of them had no idea where they could begin to change the practices associated with their music to ‘go green’.

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So I’ve compiled a list of things that musicians can do to try and offset thier negative impact. Because team TMP (aka:The Mojdeh Project) has learned from experience!

1. Convert Tour Vehicle to Run On Biodiesel

2. Minimize the amount of fast-food while one tour, if you must eat out go to sit down places so that you minimize the amount of ‘take-out’ containers.

3. Learn how to fix cables so that you’re not throwing away instrument cables all the time! And consider donating the cables to

4. Add the recycling symbol to all of your promotional materials to encourage people to recycle them!

5. Package your CDs with recyclable or post-consumer materials!

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www.themojdehproject.com

www.lethalpoetry.com

Dear President (yeah you know which one)

Please create a federal law that mandates the end of all production of traditional plastics! I understand that this may take time to implement so here are my suggestions, how about you start with the super toxic plastics and then move on to the ones that are less toxic.

Then once you’ve got a program in place to end all nasty plastic from ever being originally produced then I’d like you to move on to mandating that all metropolitan areas and all towns, villages, etc that utilize public transportation via bus or train that runs on petroleum become biodiel.  Furthermore, mandate that all restaurants in said metropolitan areas be required to put thier grease into lage containers (which they already do) and be hauled off by the city to make FREE FUEL! Check this out Prez! It would cost all of these cities nearly nothing to go veggie fuel.  In fact, not only would it be a cheaper fuel & a way to create something useful out of something that would otherwise become waste (i.e. cooking grease). BUT, it would also allow city buses to last longer – WHY? – because veggie oil cleans out diesel engines…AND THAT’S A FACT!

Also, it’d be great if you could outlaw all gas guzzler’s that are beyond stupefying (i.e. Hummer, Jeeps, Ford Trucks, etc) that way those of us who choose to bike around town can actually bike along side of trafic and fit between parked & moving cars, but more importantly to get those Global Warming beasts off the road!

Lastly, if you could just re-install those Solar Panels that were on the White House…that would be great!

Thank you

Mojdeh

Yeah that’s right! You heard me!

These days many companies are making biodegradable plastics out of corn! So the question that I have to ask is…why are we still using normal plastic? Is it because it’s already out there?

Well if that’s the case then I say we keep re-using & recycling what’s already out there (because it won’t biodegrade for a million and a half years), but stop producing it from scratch!

We’d have all the things that we expect to have…but they’d be derived from corn instead of petroleum!

I could be upset and complain about this for days but instead I’ll just encourage you to research it and see what you can start swapping out of your life (i.e. plastic utensils for eating, water bottles, etc)

5 Things you should always buy green!

1. PAINT: look for low or NO-voc paint!

2. PAPER: paper products with high post-consumer recycled content

3. LIGHT BULBS: compact fluorescents

4. APPLIANCES: Find that Energy Star label!

5. FRUITS & VEGGIES: look for organic, local, and in-season produce!…mmmm produce!

10 of the Worst Corporate Criminals to Avoid!

1. Wal-Mart

2. ExxonMobil

3. Coca Cola

4. Neste

5. Monsanto

6. Sears Roebuck

7. Dominion

8. Citigroup

9. Sara Lee

10. McDonalds

Find out why they’re so terrible @ www.coopamerica.org, click on Responsible Shopper.
10 Fair Trade Products to Look for in the Grocery Store!

1. Tea

2. Chocolate

3. Bannanas

4. Sugar

5. Rice

6. Vanilla

7. Spices

8. Wine

9. Olive Oil

10. Coffee

10 Things You Should Never Buy Again!

1. Styrofoam cups

2. Paper Towels (I know it’s hard, so just start by minimizing usage!)

3. Bleached coffee filters

4. Teak & Mahogany Woods

5. Chemical pesticides & herbicides

6. Conventional household cleaners

7. Toys made with PVC plastic

8. Plastic forks & spoons

9. Farm raised salmon

10. Raayon

To find out why visit coopamerica.org, click on unshopping

8 Body Care Toxins to Avoid!

1. Mercury – also avoid the mercury preservative “thimerosal”

2. Lead – listed as “lead acetate”

3. Nanoparticles

4. Placenta

5. Hydroquinone skin lightener

6. Phthalates

7. Petroleum by-products ex. 1,4-dioxane

8. Fragrance

IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT ANY OF THESE LISTS OR WHY THESE THINGS HAVE BEEN LISTED VISIT WWW.COOPAMERICA.ORG

That is…get your butt on a bicycle!

In one of my earliest postings I said that I wanted you to “Get off your ass” and be proactive in this greening endevour, and I still say you should do this. However sometimes you do gotta get on your butt and work those legs in order to be proactive as well!

This man has made his fame via bicycle! Now YOU don’t have to ride in his tire tracks and also hold a world record for riding backwards while playing the violin…but hey…if you’d like to go right ahead! Because you’re not burning fossil fuels to get it done! (However surely you realize it’d be much better to hold a backwards cycling record while playing the keytar right! good!)

(I have a tendency towards hilarious self portraits) Awe look at me…I was so young and cute in my core-Naked helmet and riding gear! It’s true, as much as I profess alternative ways of driving! I’m an avid cyclist too. I do my best to only drive to places that are REDICULOUSLY TOO FAR, too unsafe to bike or if I have to transport things that would be difficult to transport via public transport or on my cycle!

Chicago’s not the only city with bike lanes and critical mass get togethers. City’s accross the nation are becoming more ad more open to cyclists again!! The days of the only cylces on the road being bike messengers is all over! Specially with the cost of gas being REDICULOUS!! All that being said…never forget safety and consideration of other cyclists and drivers near by!

Lucky you, cycling’s not just good for your health and a much more positive and eco-friendly mode of transportation, but it’s also FUN AS HELL! There are bike paths all over the place!! You have a range of choices for which kind of bike you can get! You can even load up your bike with baskets and carriers or ad bells and horns for the sake of being silly! Whatever rolls your cycle! Just get back on your butt!..and be proactive.

So just remember, when you’re wondering how you’re gonna get there…

MOJDEH told you to…LOVE THIS EARTH

This has been a message from your friendly neighborhood MOJDEH

www.myspace.com/mojdeh

ALRIGHT! I’LL SAY IT! GASOLINE = DEATH!

There! I refuse to take it back! So now that I’ve said what I think…I’m going to start offering you options for alternative ways of driving!

For those of you afraid to rid of your gas guzzlers just yet…there is an alternative option, ETHANOL!   Now, this isn’t a BAD choice, it’s definately BETTER than driving on strait “Death”!  In the long term Ethanol won’t care for your car as lovingly as other alternative fuel options, but it’s a small price to pay to save this  lil home of ours…Earth!

For those of your rollin in cash and laziness… you can go out and get yourself a Hybrid Vehicle…most people are familiar with these.  It’s a gas car that has a battery system to extend the millage of the gas due to the power being drawn from both the battery power and the fuel!

 For those of you ready to make big change but you don’t have big bucks…BIODIESEL!!!  ANY DIESEL CAR WILL RUN ON BIODIESL FEUL WITHOUT YOU MAKING A SINGLE CHANGE TO YOUR AUTO! (old cars may need new fuel hoses…that’s it…that’s cheap). BioDiesel is a mixture of Veggie Oil, some diesel fuel, and a couple of chemical compounds which will chemically heat the veggie oil to be thin enough to move through the engine and make it hot enough to combust!  Running almost any grade of biodiesl is better than running gasoline & diesel cars run BETTER on veggie oil based fuels!! This means your car will last longer! Diesel cars on petrolium are more efficient in millage than gas cars, but on VEGGIE POWER!!! Whoa! I’m just sayin’!  There are pumps all over the country that you can go an just get pumpin, OR you are free to find a nearby co-op or make it yourself!

For those of you who have the drive to drive on NO PETROLIUM!!!!!  GO 100% VEGGIE!  And drive for little to no cost! And here’s the basics on how you get yourself going in a GREASE CAR!  Step 1: Buy a diesel car! Step 2: Get a veggie conversion kit! This will include a second tank Step 3: collect used grease from restaurants and dinners! Step 4: filter the used grease!! Step 5: put the used grease into  your second tank! Step 6: fill up your regular tank with biodiesel! Step 7: drive a few miles on bio until your temp gage tells you that the second tank is hot enough and then SWITCH OVER TO 100% EARTH LOVIN FUEL!

For those of you REALLY rollin in the dough!  GO GET YOURSELF A FRICKEN ELECTRIC CAR!!!  Yes I know that there are very few companies these days rockin the EVs HOWEVER, Pheonix Motorcar, and a couple of other companies are doing a great job of creating machines with batteries that will outlast the car & are recyclable! But furthermore the cars can charge in around 10min and will run for 100miles on that charge! Whoa…that’s faster and longer than my cell phone…I’M JUST SAYIN’!

So as you’re thinking about alternative ways to get around, remember….

MOJDEH told you to….LOVE THIS EARTH!

this has been a message from your friendly neighborhood Mojdeh. www.myspace.com/mojdeh

If you’re like me, you’re into this idea of trying very very hard to make the least amount of impact HUMANLY possible…but this industrious world we live in still makes it difficult to leave NO impact!  So each day you’ll strive towards being neutral: you’ll walk or ride your bike whenever possible, you’ll minimize your electricity usage, you may even invest in a hybrid or biodiesel car…etc. BUT STILL you feel the guilt of sending all of those little CO2 molecules into the atmosphere, dispite how few they are compared to the average consumer! And WORSE you know that there are people out there who could care less and are creating a HUGE impact!

Well one way to  offset your carbon output is to input trees! YEAH YOU HEARD ME! It’s tree time!

Hugging trees isn’t always the most reliable way to save the planet…instead…give a tree a new buddy, a “Tree-mate” shall we say!

There’s an AWESOME non-for-profit called American Forests! http://www.americanforests.org/

for $1 per tree, they will plant and maintain trees on your behalf!  There are many options too!  You can go way personal and global if you want!

They let you get picky because there are many more non-for-profits and organizations that they’ve teamed up with to help them in this endevour!  So, Last Christmas I purchased trees for  all of friends and families: Trees for Katrina (replenish the trees in New Orleans), Trees for the Environment (they’ll choose which areas most desparately need trees for you), Trees for Tigers (to replenish the depleting habitats of Siberian Tigers in Russia)…so many options!  I was able to choose the Tigers for the animal activists, Katrina for the humanitarians, and so on!

This Organization packs a PUNCH!!!  They’ve not only considered the impact of reintroducing trees into our environment to offset global warming but also to generally rebalance our Earth’s biospheres! GO AMERICAN FORESTS!

…oh and did I mention that they give you a free subscription to thier eco-loving magazine (printed on recycled papers with soy based inks!)…it’s pretty sweet!

So next time you’re thinking of offsetting your carbon footprint remember…

MOJDEH told you to….LOVE THIS EARTH!

this has been a message from your friendly neighborhood Mojdeh. www.myspace.com/mojdeh

Here’s the thing…those incandecent bulbs just aren’t so hot anymore…I’d go as far as to say…they’re OUT OF STYLE…

And I’m out of money…it’s no using ‘em anymore! In terms of the environment and the economic blow to your wallet!

I’m sure I’m not the first to say it but, ONCE YOU GO COMPACT FLORECENT, you never go back!

Lets just face it, incandecent’s BLOW…out…I mean they blow out all the time.  Who wants to spend even a dollar on one bulb ever few months…shoot…multiply that by how many sockets you have in your household by how many replacements per year PLUS the amount of cost form the electric company due to the SUCKAGE of power!–>you’ll find yourself a poor soul compared to the glorious splendour of switching over to CF bulbs!

Sure you may spend 5 bucks on one bulb, BUT, you’ll never spend that money again! OKAY, I’m over exadurating BUT the bulbs that I bought said that they had an average life of SEVEN YEARS!!! Imagine that!  The average apartment renter like me wouldn’t ever replace their light bulbs in their entire time living in one place!–>and then you can take your light with you to the next place!

EVEN BETTER, consider this…the day before your child is born…replace all of your bulbs…and just around the time that that child will be ready to begin embracing the concepts of being green you’ll FINALLY need to change them!

All that being said…DON’T FORGET! When they do finally blow…or if one breaks before it’s expected expiration, PLEASE RECYCLE YOUR BULB!! CFs are made with mercury!  And if mercury is placed into a landfill—>we’ve got bad news! However if you take them to your nearest hardware store, some WalMarts, some Kmarts, and many local government offices they’ll dispose of them properly!

So next time you need a little light…remember to get a CF…because…

MOJDEH said….LOVE THIS EARTH

This has been a message from your friendly neighborhood MOJDEH, www.myspace.com/mojdeh

CONSIDER THIS!

I’m sure that you’ve all considered the fact that it’s bad enough that as humans we’re offsetting natural biospheres by overtaking all of these open spaces with urban or suburban sprawl! But have you ever stopped to think that EVERYTHING that surrounds us no matter how minimal it may seem has the potential to make a negative impact on both our bodies and this Earth!?

From the car you drive, to the room your sitting in now whilst reading this blog–> your surrounded by shades and hues both vibrant and dull….PAINT! –>Now I know what you’re thinking. What’s so horrible about paint? You’re wondering whats wrong with a little color or a protective coat over the materials you’ve used to build the object or holding or the space your in! But the trouble is that majority of paints used are highly toxic! If it’s not bad enough that there’s paint made out of LEAD & LATEX right?! Well keep running because even if you buy lead free & latex free paint, unless you went the extra mile and looked at the label, you’ve just purchased yourself a solvent-full toxic mess!!! And unless you put that gallon back and run! You’ll be in for a big whiff of harmful VOCs everytime you open your mouth to breathe!

So here’s the DL on the VOC…that is Volatile organic compounds, that like to chill in the paints that surround you in this industriously colorful world we live in!

VOCs can directly contribute to the global warming because even AFTER you’ve finished painting something and it’s rendered shinny and dry…just like vynl and PVC those little VOC bits just chip off into the world over time and continuously pollute! Even worse than the environment (which is certainly bad enough), the effects of breathing this junk is shocking–>ever heard of “Sick Building Syndrome”? Ideally if you really wanted to live in a space with VOCs and have no effect you would have to have nothing but windows…which would render you wall-less and thus no worry for paint on the walls (brilliant)! BUT lucky for all of you aspiring interior decorators and weekend carpenters there’s still hope!

learn more -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volatile_organic_compound

There are companies like ECOS that now make NO VOC interior AND exterior primers and paints!! The best part is that places like Greenmaker (a Chicago hardware & home improvement store, all eco friendly materials!) carries these kinds of products at a COMPETITIVE price! Their VOC free primer will seal in whatever toxic mess was painted onto the surfaces earlier and then you can paint over primer with any color your heart contends…say…GREEN?

http://www.ecospaints.com/voc-free-paint/ , http://www.greenmakersupply.com/

Some of these VOC paints are SO good that they’ve passed the military durability standards for the US Navy!!!

learn more-> http://ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?a=2708&q=324056&depNav_GID=1763

So next time you’re lookin’ for paint just remember….

MOJDEH told you to….LOVE THIS EARTH!

this has been a message from your friendly neighborhood Mojdeh. www.myspace.com/mojdeh

my future NON-husband!!!

If you’re not familiar with William McDonough, you’re livining in an unfortunate reality because this man’s probably the most important and inovative person to contribute to design…ever! He’s a designer and architect by trade, having found most of his sucess through his incredibly beautiful and ecologically responsible designs.
imagine a building that creates oxygen!! He believes that demand won’t change for items that are currently toxic for our health and this planet so instead design must change to be accomidating and responsible!

everything on this earth should be recyclable!
His philosophy is simple, we should NOT consider “waste/trash” an option, instead “waste equals food” he says. There are two cycles of recycling the biocycle [this includes: composting, any products that can go back to the earth, etc] OR the industrial cycle [all products that cannot be accepted by the earth and biodegrade should instead be RE-USED by that company or another to create further products!]

he’s talked numerous comanies into opening up thier “proprietary” chemical cook books and re-evaluating the materials used to make thier products [this includes: Ford, Nike, and more]

TODAY Nike no longer uses PVC (the MOST toxic form of plastic/vynl) in any of thier rubber!! Ford Motor Company has built the LARGEST greenroof ever on top of one of thier factories!! These are just two of many companies whom have been pleasantly cohersed into changing thier design practices!!

McDonough’s also a well versed speaker and writer, he travels the world CONSTANTLY the way our beloved Al Gore does givning speaches about his philosophies on design.

His book, “Cradle to Cradle” has been made from recycled plastic materials (which does happily make it water proof) but also means that it can go back into that cycle, it can be recycled into more books or into other plastic materials. The title for his book comes from his thoughts that products should be designed to go from Cradle to Cradle, instead of Cradle to grave!

IMAGINE FOR A MOMENT! You buy carpet for your living room, and four years down the line you’re sick of it! You think “why did I ever think lime green was the color for this room?” you call the company you bought it from and they come and pick it up for you so that it can be recycled into new carpet and give you a discount on your next purchase!—>This is the future! A way to build a stronger planet, through stronger economy! HOW!? Well consider this, a company that’s taking it’s own product back will be able to use it as “food” for it’s next batch of product, this means that the company is spending less to create it’s products therefore creating more profit on the other end!!—>AND YOU get to revel in the idea that there are no nuero-toxins chillin in landfills, mixing with our drinking water, and rotting this planet!! YAY!!

HERE ARE MORE AWESOME AND HELPFUL LINKS TO LEARN ABOUT McDONOUGH!!
http://www.mcdonough.com/
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/10/treehugger_gets.php
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?o=0&f=/c/a/2007/01/06/BUG4JNDPO31.DTL
http://www.kisssunshine.com/blogs/rr00/archive/2006/11/07/9019.aspx
http://www.greenroofs.org/pages/grhc2004_ford.htm
http://www.climatex.com/en/start_e.html

LOVE THIS EARTH!!!