Gia Machlin's Page

from www.ecoplum.com/blog



Halloween is such a fun holiday for kids and adults alike - who doesn't like dressing up in a costume and eating candy? Unfortunately, it's one of our more wasteful days: Halloween costumes alone account for at least 6250 tons of landfill waste a year, or the weight of 2500 midsize cars, according to the folks at greenhalloween.org. Whoa! I have to admit, when my kids were little, I couldn't wait to go out… Continue

As I've mentioned frequently, a few years ago I was clueless about environmental issues. I didn't even know about the effect of cow farts on climate change. But then I had my "AHA!" moment and became keenly aware of the effect that my actions (and my eating habits) had on the environment. I changed my behavior and tried to preach as much as I could about it. Problem was, I was preaching to the choir. My mission to convert… Continue

Kids tend to see things in black and white: You don't like me? You must hate me. He's not smart, he must be stupid. For many of us, the tendency to present a False Dilemma carries forward into adulthood. Big kid that I am, I often forget the shades of gray in between choices and tend to think in extremes. So when I embarked on my environmentalist journey, I became passionate about minimizing my… Continue

...or How Big Cities Will Transform the Way We Eat



I'm not talking about the kind of spam you get in your inboxes, I'm actually talking about the canned meat of Monty Python fame. Why? Well, I don't know exactly, but my topic today is sustainable food, so somehow I associate spam with... non-sustainable food? Anyway, I remember when I first conceived of EcoPlum back in 2007,… Continue

Do you remember where you were when MTV debuted on August 1, 1981? (If you're too young to remember, then hurray for you). I was at a sleepover at my friend Allison's apartment on West 95th Street in Manhattan. I lived in the suburbs at the time, so those city sleepovers were super cool. The first music video ever played on MTV was "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Buggles. That song has been stuck in my head for the past two weeks because: "look at me now, Mom, I'm a radio star!" OK,maybe… Continue