Dr. Frank N. Furter revealed!

But at what cost, all that glam?

If you’ve been following our tweets (and why wouldn’t you be) you know that last week The GreenFly blogged about animal testing of everything from sutures to aspirin.   Well this week The GreenFly has expanded our probe (we lurv probing) into the cosmetics industry;  here we have two problems – cosmetics tested on animals and cosmetics that use animal products – like fish scales to make nail polish all sparkly – that result in cruel harvesting practices.

Knowing which cosmetics/beauty products  are really green can seem overwhelming we know.  Especially with the laissez faire labeling that goes on.  But here’s a source of really good information that The GreenFly wants every green fashionista and fashionota to know about – after all being green doesn’t mean we all have to look like Devendra Ba nhart fer cripes sake!

Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics’ (CCIC) Leaping Bunny Program. This non-profit runs a cruelty-free assessment of companies producing cosmetic, personal care, and household products.  Companies that are certified as compliant with the CCIC standard receive the “internationally recognized” Leaping Bunny Logo:

The Leaping Bunny Program also certifies that no new animal testing is used in any phase of product development by the company, its laboratories, or suppliers.  On top of all that the CICC provided this super handy shopping guide for compliant companies and just when The GreenFly thought our shopping migraines were over we checked the list and found  that many companies who are certified aren’t using the logo!

WTF!  The CCIC makes a great case why such a easily recognizable logo is needed so why aren’t certified companies using it?  Discerning consumers need a guidepost because there’s shiz like this out in the web-o-sphere:  Tiger Balm claims not to test on animals, but then The GreenFly found this disturbing excerpt of a rabbit test with Tiger Balm in an entry on PubMed; a service sourced from the US National Library of Medicine and the NIH.   This is a handy little tool to look up all the liars and fakers but here’s the balmless rub; the Tiger Balm entry is from 1982 – The GreenFly’s great-great-great-great-great-grandfly was merely an egg at that time…but still.

So we really need the leaping bunny or ball-licking dog or whatever icon to show consumers what’s free of cruel animal practices to be actually USED by the companies that earn the certification. Another imponderable of the universe!

Speaking of imponderables,  here’s a fascinating social experiment:  What guys think of make-up.  If I were in the cosmetics industry I don’t know if I’d be cringing or clapping – they knew the difference between lip gloss and lipstick but all claimed to “hate” make-up on women.

BLOG UPSHOT:  You Can Make a Difference

Despite your drooping eyelids and nodding head this is all not just palaver from The GreenFly.  Oh nay we say, nay!

In this great interview with Berkeley Breathed (of Bloom County fame) The Onion asked if there were “any positions you took back then that you disagree with now, or that you wish you’d addressed differently”?  Breathed responded with this:

“Positions, no. But many of the strips make me physically cringe in the dumb-headed way I went at them… most of which I’ll lay at the feet of inexperience. One rule: The more pissed-off you are about something, the less funny you are. Never good to get involved. I couldn’t, for instance, do justice to animal experimentation. Not funny strips. Effective, though: We got dear Mary Kay to stop squeezing her cold cream into the eyes of rabbits. But not funny. And if you’re not funny, you’re just whining, and you know what I think about whiners.”

Thus The GreenFly ponders another imponderable:  you can’t be funny and kick ass as a Fighter for Green Justice?  Dear gentle reader – whaddya’ think?  We think NAY!

Buzzing off fer now!

The problem with abundance is that it makes us lazy and wasteful. The more The GreenFly flies around, the more we see this.  We have to be at the precipice of disaster for us to use our resources carefully.

And so it is with animals and their use in testing:  from pure research like genetics and behavioral studies to applied (e.g. commercial) research such as biomedical research, drug testing and toxicology testing for the cosmetics industry and pharmaceuticals.  Animals are even used in defense work (the GreenFly has always claimed that even a monkey could shoot a gun!).

Of course in the current climate of pull-your-own-damn-self-up-regardless-of-whether-you-can-read-write-or-even-hold-a-fork the running attitude is that animals are just another resource that we can exploit:  our pals at The Onion show how totally ridiculous this “logic” is if we run it out to its absurd conclusion:

The Onion News: Should Animals Be Responsible For Their Own Rights?

The GreenFly knows that if animals could unionize, possessed opposable thumbs and had any sense of our history with them on the planet, mankind would be in line for the biggest whup ass ever!  We’ve captured this spirit in one of our shirts

See the little man in the needle?  You’ve been warned!

But since that’s not in the cards we need to start thinking about our animal sisters and brothers as not just another resource that’s been made available to us for our exploitation willy nilly.  Once we do that we can start thinking of other ways to conduct scientific experimentation, exploration and testing.   And the time is now to start thinking about alternatives to just exploiting animals for whatever we need.

The Humane Society of the United State’s website states that:  “The term “alternative” in the context of animal testing is used to describe any change from present procedures that will result in the replacement of animals, a reduction in the numbers used, or a refinement of techniques to alleviate or minimize potential pain, distress and/or suffering.”

And even if a complete replacement of animal testing with alternative test methods is not realistic forn the immediate future. Still, the fact that alternative test methods are being discovered, promoted and implemented is pretty freakin’ encouraging.

A recent article in the Tennessean reported that David Cliffel, a Vanderbilt University chemist, recently received a grant to develop an alternative to animal testing from the Alternatives Research and Development Foundation to “assess the potential of an advanced cell monitoring system for reducing the use of animals in toxicity testing. . . . Cliffel’s system focuses on methods that evaluate chemicals’ effects using human cells and cell cultures instead of relying so heavily on animal studies.”

This form of testing is particularly dependent on animal systems so any new method will have to show itself to be at least as effective.  But there may be other bonuses:  less cost, faster cycling in testing. simpler lab methodologies (without the necessity to feed and house living animals before and during testing) as well as possible simpler assessement and analysis of results.  And of course we get to dispense with the horrible practice of breeding hundreds of animals only for them to be euthanized. This could be the future of alternative toxicity testing and hopefully David Cliffel’s new system proves to be the bellcow to lead all those other sheep, uh we mean, scientists to alternative testing systems.

United Graffiti Artists in 1973. From left, first row: COCO 144 and Hugo Martinez; second row: Rican 619, LEE 163, and Nova 1; third row: Rick 2, Ray-B 954, Cano 1, SJK 171, Snake 1, and Stay-High 149; fourth row (standing): Stitch I, Phase 2, Charmin 65, Bug 170. Photo at right, a LEE mural from 1982. (Photo: Courtesy of Martinez Gallery)

And who but some anal-retentive nutter is going to complain about this creative revitalization of decrepit space, derelict buildings, and crumbling subways:  oh somebody for sure.  But The GreenFly delights in  such civil service masquerading as disobedience – the very fact that a drab and totally utilitarian space suddenly assaults your senses with colors and shapes rioting together forces our attention on our surroundings! drawn into those surroundings, give us something visually stimulating and also forces us to think!

Another GreenFly graffiti fave is Edina Tokodi whose work is essentially guerilla-gardening graffiti – an inspired mix!  Her moss installations of animal figures and camouflage outgrowths are totally cool.  Abigal Doan of “Inhabitat” writes: “The work of Tokodi is meant to be touched, felt, and in turn touch you in the playful ways that her animated installations call to mind a more familiar, environmentally friendly state in the barren patches of urban existence.”  Just what the numbed urban soul needs:  a green, fuzzy bunny to tickle on their way to the subterranean subway dankness.

The Fly’s current favorite environmental activist, okay, lawbreaker, though is Peter Gibson, a.k.a “Roadsworth”, who kicks it up a notch!  A frustrated cyclist, Gibson began painting fake extra bicycle lanes onto Montreal roads back in 2001. He enjoyed this combo activism-street art so much that he decided to expand on his talent.  We dig his whimsy and philosophy; to whit, the following quote, taken from Peter’s inspiring artist statement, is the best read we’ve had in a while.  Go read the whole thing. It would take you more time to make a Hot Pocket and this won’t make you want to kill yourself later.

“For a long time I had been grumbling about the ill effects of a society dependant on oil and bent on over-consumption in general and our seeming unwillingness and/or inability to confront these issues despite our better intentions. The more the litany of complaints grew over an overstrained health-care system, obese children, bronchial disease, traffic congestion, pollution, global warming, war etc and the human misery these cause, the bigger and more fuel guzzling cars there were, the longer the lines of traffic grew and the hotter and smoggier the summer seemed to get. At best this apparent disconnect between our behavior and its consequences was symptomatic of a society grown complacent and unable to overcome its own inertia. ..

The ability that street art gave me to respond, to express these perceptions in some way not only gave me a sense of empowerment but also helped relieve a certain amount of frustration that I attribute as much to personal factors as I do to societal ones. But there were other aspects that motivated me. There was the creative, artistic pleasure I derived from it. A desire to inject a sense of playfulness into my own life and surroundings. ..

To express oneself outside of the ‘accepted’ context however is to risk a certain amount of criticism. After all, who am I to impose my opinions on others? I don‘t pretend to have answers for anything and the complexity of the world is beyond the scope of my understanding but I still believe that I have the right to ask  ‘Who are you to push hamburgers on me?’ or ‘Who are you to pollute my air?’ or ‘Who are you to tell me to go to war?’ Despite my cynicism, I feel … that an industrial-age mentality is no longer adequate to the challenges that humanity is faced with. Though maybe not purely altruistic, there is an awareness that the interest of others could also be in ones own interest. Big words for a vandal.”

Note To Roadsworth:  Hey impose your opinion all you want if you do it with art that presents a new perspective all by itself!

Then there’s  Kurt Wenner and Julian Beever, two extremely popular street artists who, like Peter, also manage to surprise mass of amounts of people with their public displays of perspective.

Wenner is famous for inventing three dimensional street art, the transformation of average sidewalks into huge realistic 3-D scenes through the use of pastels. One of his most famous chalk drawings is Gears of War. Here’s Wenner’s “opinion”:

“Street painting festivals seem to fill a great need for the artists and the public. The artists are able to set aside their fears and self-doubt and share the process of creating a work with the public. The public is delighted to see the process and have it accessible.”

Wenner’s amazing work inspired many other street artists, including Julian Beever, a.k.a “The Pavement Picasso.”  This video of how he created his famous Crevasse painting underscores one of The GreenFly’s pet peeves:  that things aren’t always what they look like!

So in this spirit of turning visual assumptions on their ass, The GreenFly presents, last but not least, the greenest of the green graffiti art: Reverse Graffiti. Started by Paul Curtis, a.k.a “Moose”, reverse graffiti is created by cleaning select areas of dirt and general gross-ness off of a surface to form the art piece. Moose teamed up with GreenWorks in 2008 to create a documentary where he scraped and scrubbed his way to a new and improved mural of San Fransisco on the walls of San Fransisco’s Broadway Tunnel.

And what kind of role models would be if we didn’t encourage you to go out and paint your own town green?

Streetart is a collaborative weblog for photos of DIY posters, guerilla stickers, home-made stencils and more. The GreenFly wants you to let your subversive, green flag fly with this great tool and then send it our way at info@greenflyshop.com.

Let’s begin, shall we?

Green!

Not Green.

Green!

Not Green.

Green!

Not Green.

For those states that don’t rely mostly on coal for power, this might be an eco-friendly move. Unfortunately, coal is the source of 63.3% of Tennessee’s electric energy. (30.2% is nuclear power.)

Tenn. governer Phil Bredesen has high hopes for the electric cars. A quote from the Tennessean article:

“For Tennessee, investing in electric vehicle technology is not only about doing the right thing for the environment . . . It’s also about creating jobs and strengthening our economy.”

Creating jobs? Sure. Strengthening the economy? Maybe. Doing the right thing for the environment? Hmmm. What about rolling out a new line of biodiesel cars?

What are your thoughts on electric vehicles?

The good news is that folks in Nashville who are looking to save money AND help the environment can ride the bus – and maybe even get an autograph from the driver while they’re at it! That’s right. Nashville’s own Jack White (The Raconteurs, White Stripes and Dead Weather) is “making rockstars out of MTA” (metro transit authority.) Jack White’s label, Third Man Records, is releasing a single by the group “Transit”, whose members are all Nashville MTA employees. Third Man started taking orders for the single on August 5th. You can buy the single and plenty of other cool stuff on their website: http://www.thirdmanrecords.com/store.html

Also, you might recall my previous post where I urged you guys to send in ideas to TVA for alternative energy sources in Tennessee. The deadline is August 15th, so if you haven’t done so already, get on that!  http://www.tva.gov/environment/reports/irp/

The Fly

Who says the GreenFly doesn’t enjoy a guffaw or two!  Turn off your TV’s and check out our new YouTube channel! http://www.youtube.com/theflyATgreenflyshop

Hilarious videos including: “How We Can Make the War in Iraq More Eco-Friendly”, “Spiders on Drugs” and “F*ck the Earth Day”.  Share them with your Hummer-driving neighbors! Once they start laughing, you can sucker punch ‘em for NOT recycling! Makes me think of our great shirt “I’m Green I Will Kick Your Ass”! Mmmm, good ole’ quality time.

Inspired to make a video of your own? Send it to us at thefly@greenflyshop.com

We love to laugh as much as the next fly. Send us links to your favorite green videos if you got ‘em.

The Fly

P.S. We’ve also got some informative videos on the TVA Coal Ash Environmental Disaster including: “TVA lies about cleanup in Kingston from ash sludge distaste”and “Erin Brokovich on the TVA ash spill”! ]]> http://greenflyshop.com/blog/2009/08/05/175/feed/ 0 http://greenflyshop.com/blog/2009/07/27/153/ http://greenflyshop.com/blog/2009/07/27/153/#comments Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:37:36 +0000 greenflyshop http://greenflyshop.wordpress.com/?p=153

More about TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY’S KINGSTON COAL ASH SPILL- (Hey TVA! How’s the view from your sphincter?)

I would never call the huge TVA  coal ash spill a “blessing in disguise” or any crap like that, but I will say that it’s about time TVA was brought under the microscope. As our fav author Willie Shakes might say: Oh, TVA, why doth you sucketh so much?

A recent AP article by Duncan Mansfield that ran in the Tennessean had some pretty eye-opening observations about TVA’s standard operating procedures . . . or lack thereof. The observations are based on the MCKENNA LONG & ALDRIDGE LLP’s factual report, the conclusions of which TVA’s CEO and President Tom Kilgore called “tough medicine.”

“The TVA did not have any standard procedures regarding operation and maintenance of wet-ash ponds and didn’t put a priority on preventing spills or accidents.  . . . Standard systems and controls for monitoring and evaluating risks that one would expect to see were never installed. TVA also failed to ensure standard training for engineers who inspect such operations.”

Ouch, TVA. I guess that’s why it took you four months to start Phase 1 of cleaning up your disaster?

And now you’re asking the public to send in ideas for alternatives for meeting the future electrical energy needs of the Tennessee Valley? Allow me to play messenger and submit a comment from a dear friend of mine.

Dear TVA,

Here’s an idea. I have lots of power and I’ll let you use it. For free. And you can rent your smoke stacks out as climbing walls. Get back to me when you get your head out of your @$$.

<3 The Sun

source:sciencechicagoblog.wordpress.com

(Feel free to send in your own suggestions. The deadline is August 14, 2009.)

The good news is that with all of the money TVA is saving by not paying for expert advice on alternative energy sources, they might be able to pay for some of those medical costs that residents near the disaster area are racking up.

The Fly

In honor of the 138th Open Championship held this past weekend in Ayshire, Scotland, The Fly enters the Fray About Nuclear Energy – with a Scottish brogue and the perfect sunglasses!

So now in the name of those two hallowed political phrases: “job creation” and “energy independence”, the infamous “they” are trying to make nuclear energy generation all warm and fuzzy like, I dunno, a killer rabbit maybe?

As our favorite Scotsmen might say while staggering back from a celebratory pint or five after kicking some nine-iron ass on the greens at Turnberry, that’s Fookin’ Shite, Brotha’! (trans: f@%$%ing sh*^*t brother!)

Of course, no course of action (or inaction) is risk free – as our dear, green expert Steve Colbert expertly reports here about why the earth is really heating up.

The truth is that just like a free lunch or the Easter Bunny, there is no easy answer. But not all risks are created equal. Here’s a quick history lesson for the uninformed.

First: April 26, 1986 – The Chernobyl nuclear power plant explodes, releasing 100 times more radiation than the atom bombs dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This means millions of people had to relocate because the surrounding area was no longer livable. The soil and water were deemed toxic and, to this day, nothing can be grown in the surrounding area. Local and worldwide effects of the explosion include long-term health issues (think cancer caused by radiation exposure) as well as agricultural and population issues. Another report done by Greenpeace is entitled “An American Chernobyl?” and talks about how we have already come “uncomfortably close” to a Chernobyl here in America, documenting many near-misses that could have been catastrophes. The point? We are not infallible creatures. And big risks, such as building more nuclear power plants and depending on those plants for “clean energy”, only need one mistake to make a huge and terrible impact on millions of people (and flies too!)

Our second history lesson happened this past Dec 22, 2008 – The giant TVA coal ash spill near Kingston, TN where 5.4 MILLION cubic yards of toxic coal ash spilled when the retaining wall of an ash pond gave way. TVA stands for Tennessee Valley Authority, but we like to think of them as Totally Vain Administrators. TVA uses coal-burning plants to generate energy for much of the southeastern US. At some point, someone thought that a coal-burning plant was a good idea. The New York Times called it an “environmental disaster of epic proportions,” described by many as “the worst man made environmental disaster since Chernobyl.”

A near-by resident interviewed in the article says, “It was nice that they came by to talk to us. They’re making an effort. But what upsets me is they didn’t have a plan in place. Why hadn’t anybody thought, ‘What happens if this thing bursts?”

Back to the idea that all risk is not created equal. Let’s say that the stupid TVA put up solar panels on 10% of the homes in Nashville and a tornado took out 10% of them. The resulting effect is minimal – there’s no radiation spilling into your meat ‘n’ three; and, if the grid is redesigned to mimic the Internet, then the system would still be working the same way the wonderful Internet does – because there would be so much redundancy, the knockout of any single node would not result in a blackout.

But if TVA builds a nuclear power plant and a tornado takes that out, well let’s just say we’ll need to redesign bras and jock straps to accommodate the extra lobes and globes. And that ain’t right!

Btw, it’s not like we don’t have better alternatives – check out Katherine Hamnett’s excellent treatise on concentrated solar power.

The Fly holds Katherine in a particular esteem – we wear her sunglasses all the time . . . even outside

Round up the PVC Novelty (aka Sex Toy) Executives and Shoot Them Full o’ Pthalates

In the spirit of The Fly’s Patron Saint, George Carlin (may he RIP), sex toys should be sick, not make you sick.*

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9GynoPVyRY&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00]

The next time you get ready to snuggle up to your favorite purple porpoise for priapic pleasure, pause before you light your scented candles and take a deep breath. Assuming that your climax-cuddle-bunny is clean, we’re gonna wager that what you’re smelling is something like the brand-new vinyl shower curtain stench. We hate to ruin the mood, but there’s dirty, and then there’s downright dangerous. Most of your popular (and more affordable) sex toys are composed of a reeking combo of PVC, phthalates and paraben. These are the same toxic chemicals that were found in the huge number of children’s toys that Congress banned the sale of earlier this year. Check out the excellent investigative reporting on the risks of phthalates and what alternatives are available.

Full Disclosure: The Fly is still pissed that most of the phthalate research was done on animals.

If it were up to us we’d round up all these sex toy importers and give them a prostate exam with a plunger!

The Fly

*You can prick your finger, but you can’t finger your prick!”–G. Carlin

In recent news, a program called RecycleBank has been created to reward members who use their new weight-calculating recycle bins with points that can later be redeemed for more junk.

In related news, I created a program called “Recycle,Bitch!” where members continue recycling in regular green bins just to spite RecycleBank. We will not be coddled with a feeble point system.

Instead, we will act like true Americans and hold out for cold, hard cash; or in this case 20% off all shirts for a limited time.

In more related news, does anyone have $20 I can borrow?

The Fly