07.29.08
Posted in education, organic, weddings, fair trade at 8:08 am by greengirl
While I was doing research for the Flowers chapter of the book I’m writing on eco-weddings, I stumbled across a really cool project. It ran from September of 2007 until year’s end, so I’ve missed it. But, I thought it was cool enough to mention again. For the 100th anniversary of the New York City metered taxi, schoolchildren painted 750,000 square feet of adhesive panels as part of the Garden in Transit project. These flower panels were then affixed to New York City yellow cabs as a moving art exhibit.
The environmental angle came on November 1, when VeriFlora, a certification organization for organically grown flowers, gave 80,000 environmentally and socially responsible flowers to taxicab drivers. They handed these flowers out to passengers and pedestrians with a message attached to ‘move this flower along!’ New York as a walking garden. Too cool.
Permalink
06.01.08
Posted in organic, pollution, weekend census, shopping at 11:03 am by greengirl
In honor of spring cleaning, websites that sell green alternatives to common household cleaners:
Permalink
05.29.08
Posted in health, organic, shopping at 7:35 am by greengirl
A new study in the UK just revealed something that many of us already suspected: organic milk from cows allowed to graze freely on grass is healthier than traditional milk. The study found that organic milk contains 67% more vitamins and antioxidants than traditional milk. It also contains 60% more of the healthy fatty acid CLA9, which has been shown to shrink tumors. Organically farmed cows get more than 80% of their diet from grazing on grass, as compared to 37% for cows raised to produce ‘ordinary’ milk.
Permalink
02.21.08
Posted in home & garden, recycling, organic, shopping at 9:38 am by greengirl
Admit it. When you think of someone who is ecologically friendly, who buys organic whenever they can, you think of someone who owns a lot of futons and beanbag chairs, don’t you? Well, I am pleasantly surprised to find that there are some really fantastic furniture alternatives.
Quite a while back, I was watching a program where the redecorated someone’s house with eco-friendly furniture, and they highlighted Bean Products. Sure, they’ve got bean bag chairs - filled with 100% recycled polystyrene beads inside cotton or hemp washable covers. But, they’ve also got some of the coolest chairs and couches I’ve seen. The frames are made from American-grown hardwoods certified by the Forest Stewardship Council and assembled with non-toxic natural-based glues. They also contain natural latex foam rubber, organic cotton batting and sheeting, and hemp covers. Stylish and eco-friendly…now if someone would just buy a couple chairs for me…
Permalink
01.12.08
Posted in organic, weekend census at 3:31 pm by greengirl
All my friends seem to be having kids these days, so as a follow-up to the post from a few days ago on eco-friendly diapers, here’s a list of places to get organic stuff for babies. There are alot, since even Target is jumping on this bandwagon, so I’m only listing those places where all the infant stuff they carry is organic.
Okay, so there’s really alot of these, and this is only a small portion. Organic stuff for babies is much more widespread than organic clothing and products for teens and adults.
Permalink
12.29.07
Posted in home & garden, organic, shopping at 6:04 pm by greengirl
We’ve recently moved to a new place, city and state. In our previous tiny town, there were no CSAs to support, but I’m hoping there will be some in our new place. What is a CSA? CSA - Community Supported Agriculture - is a program that allows individuals to support their local farms. Usually it involves buying a share (or more) in a local farm. With the purchase of a share, you get some of the farm’s produce. The CSAs I’ve seen usually involve getting a box each week of whatever is ripe, usually lasting for a growing season. I’ve also heard of flower CSAs, dairy and cheese CSAs and meat CSAs.
Usually CSAs request that you pay for the season in advance, so now is a good time to be looking into signing up, since farms can usually only support a certain number of members. The USDA has a list of CSA databases, searchable by zip code. I had the best luck with the Eat Well Guide, since it went beyond CSAs (which are sadly absent in Louisiana) and listed other healthy food sources.
When I belonged to a CSA several years ago, I found it was a painless way of increasing my vegetable consumption. You get these little morsels in a box and have to figure out some way to cook them. I never would have seen or eaten garlic scapes, had it not been for my CSA box.
Permalink
07.21.07
Posted in home & garden, organic, weekend census, shopping at 4:08 pm by greengirl
This weekend, a list of places to get environmentally friendly (organic cotton) bedding. Happy napping.
Permalink
07.10.07
Posted in organic, pollution, habitat at 2:09 pm by greengirl
Reuters reported today that a study at the University of Michigan has shown that organic farming can yield as much as three times as conventional (read: herbicide and pesticide laden) farming in developing countries, and equal the food production of conventional farming in developed countries. According to the 293 examples that they looked at, organic methods can sustain the existing population of the earth (and possibly an expanded population) without increasing the agricultural land base. The full article is online in the Journal of Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. Hooray for organic and for U of Michigan!
Permalink
07.08.07
Posted in organic, weekend census, fair trade, shopping at 4:39 pm by greengirl
Today’s weekend topic is clothing. Specifically, fair trade and organic clothiers available on the web.
Permalink
02.09.07
Posted in home & garden, organic, weddings, shopping at 10:02 pm by greengirl
In further reading of Simply Green Giving, I found two fabulous factoid gems.
One is Bloomin’, a source for lovely handmade paper that is embedded with seeds. You can plant it! They’ve got all kinds of paper goods - holiday cards, invitations, bookmarks and gift tags. Their paper is recycled from 100% post-consumer content with soy-based inks. They also do promotional items like business cards and inserts. Talk about planting your message!
The other is Miette, a really lovely bakery in San Francisco. But, Californians aren’t the only ones who can enjoy these lovely European-influenced treats. They also ship a small amount of their items via mail order. They ship a couple different candies, pound cakes and cookies. They also use local and organic ingredients wherever possible. I think I got a sugar buzz just looking at the gorgeous pictures in the cake gallery.
Permalink
« Previous entries
<
