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Thursday, August 28, 2008

Do Something Green Today


My friend Lindsey informed me of a website http://www.yellowpagesgoesgreen.org/ which allows you too sign up and stop the delivery of unsolicited telephone books. They will notify the publishers to stop sending books. Everyone please sign up to fulfill your green duty of the day! Phone books are completely unnecessary when google can give you any information you need. According to The Green Book phone books make up 10% of the waste in landfills, yikes! Thanks again Lindsey! Keep it Green!



Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Verde Vino

So red wine? White Wine? Oh I go green.....While at Trader Joes I picked up this "green" wine, Kunde. A chardonnay, natch, but caught my eye due to the (wasteful??) sign that informed me it was green. You know I had to pick it up, plus it was a local Sonoma winery. I will let you know my review when I uncork.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Mid-Week Hual

We went through the fruit fast this week so I made a midweek stop for some berries, grapes , romaine, a nectarine I ate before I got home and cherry tomatoes(I need to plant mine own next year!). I would have picked up even more but I forget to grab more cash. They had a stand with avocado and apple trees I was eying, I may have to go back next week!

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Old Habits die Hard.

On my quest to green my life I have been trying to green my fashion, this has proven to be tough as I am quite the shopaholic. I first eliminated items made in China and in other sweat shop like conditions. Noticing where things are made has made feel me aware of what I am buying and if it is really necessary to have, which as a wanna be fashionista is a hard call to make. Especially when you really want that new cute plaid Joie shirt but gosh darn it's made in China, I digress.

Focusing my attention on items made in America or not in sweat shops has made shopping a challenge that I have come to enjoy. Knowing I am wearing clothes that are not only stylish but made by ethical companies makes wearing a simple American Apparel tee that much more appealing.

I am currently lusting over a pair of faux suede biodegradable, oh yes I said BIODEGRADABLE, slouchy boot from Stella McCartney. Hmmm maybe ethical eco friendly shopping isn't that crunchy after all....Shop green and keep it ethical!

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Berry Delicious

Alrightly now that the Olympics are winding down I can get back to my blogging....
My haul for the week. I got some great deals, the 3 peppers for a dollar , the cherry tomatoes were 50 cents, 5o cent garlic, 40 cent cucumber, bag of organic baby spinach for $2 and of course my own home grown tomatoes =)
Unfortunately when I was unloading I dropped my Berries and they got a bit squashed. So I decided to make berry smoothie. Squashed berries, ice, a bit of almond milk half a cup of water and a half cup of spinach .

Mmm it made two glasses full and if I didn't tell you there was spinach in it you would be none the wiser. A great way to get some extra antioxidants and greens in your diet. This sure filled me up and made me feel great after drinking it. I have been doing a lot of reading about Raw diets, so I am trying to incorporate as much raw food as I can into my diet.
Anyone pick up anything good at their farmers markets this week?
Keep it local =)

Monday, August 18, 2008

A repsonse! Update Bossa nova gate! !

Looks like I wasn't the only customer complaining...
According to www.cleanari.org, Americans throw away 2.5 MILLION plastic bottles every hour, yuck. There are many different numbers out about the waste plastic bottles cause, all of them crazy numbers. I am still saddened by Bossa Nova's decision to turn to plastic.
Although I do not agree with their arguments of turning to plastic, it only reminds me that buying FRESH and LOCAL is key. I am eliminating as much un-local items as I can, my Bossa Nova elimination will be the next on my list ;) I still firmly believe that glass, as a completely renewable packing resource, is much better then plastic. I will still seek out companies to stick by this belief. I will always choose Local, then glass and only if I have to, plastic.....
For your pleasure, here is the letter I was sent:

"Hello Amber,

Thank you for writing with your concerns – we really want and encourage our customers opinions, suggestions and feedback.

Please know that our decision to switch from glass to PET plastic was not born of a cost savings potential. We are always looking for ways to reduce our environmental impact and we try and be conscious of not only what we put into our products but also consider where the various constituents come from, how they were attained and what it took energy-wise to get it to us.

Glass vs plastic. At first there wasn’t too much to think about, we have an extensive understanding of not only natural products but also a deep appreciation, meaning we walk the walk - and with that understanding was a knowledge that glass was better than plastic. And many of our customers thanked us for choosing glass packaging.

Then, in the latter part 2007, some of those calls and email started to change in opinion and appreciation of glass bottles. We started getting questioned as to why we were in glass bottles, if we are a company that cares about the environment - and being asked if we knew what the carbon impact was of the heavier, less recycled and more energy intensive glass bottles.

So we started looking into carbon impact, the sustainability of our glass supply, the manufacturing process, transportation drag and recyclabilty and found that a lot of this new information we were hearing was correct – now we had some serious consideration to give in our bottle choice.

It was a difficult decision. Do we stay in glass, a completely recyclable product but one that is not recycled as much (percentage-wise or life cycles), is heavier and therefore has more of a carbon-impact as far as transporting goes and also needs a lot more energy to produce. Or do we go with plastic which is is a petrol product but is lighter and actually uses less overall petrol when you weigh the considerably higher fuel needs of manufacturing and moving around heavier glass.

Our decision was, at least until there are better alternatives to current fuel options, that the best choice would be plastic (PET.)

I should also mention that we also took into consideration some people’s concern about the possibility of plastic leeching – especially when when plastic becomes heated. We decided that if we were not able to bottle our juice in a way that avoided it coming into contact with heated plastic, we would not have moved forward with the new process. Our product is kept cold from the point it goes in the bottle to when it hits your lips. We have chosen PET 1 as it is shown to be a stable plastic in regards to any potential of leaching when used appropriately.

I hope this helps explain our reasoning for the switch – and I hope that it meets your satisfaction.

Best,


Mike Steele"

Keep it glass

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Back to Normal

After 2 weeks of missing my farmers market ( first to visit the San Francisco farmers market and then last week I was in Napa) I finally got back to my local one. This week I picked up a baguette, green peppers, cantaloupes, some rolls for the husband's sandwiches, grapes, red onion, nectarine (the other one gotten eaten on the drive home!) jalapeƱos, romaine, cilantro and some blackberries and raspberries.
Keep it Green!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

My Edible Garden

Just some of my goodies, everyone should have a edible garden, it is SO rewarding! I love it.

My Lovely tomato's. Love them!Strawberries, these girls keep on coming!
Fresh basil, love having this on hand,
My Lemon and Lime trees.
No miracle grow needed!

Garden green!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

All Fired up


Now I have posted my love for Bossa Nova before, I loved their Acai juice and how they saved a rain forest tree for every bottle you buy. Thanks to my friend Sayde I have learned, much to my disappointment, that Bossa Nova has switched their packing from glass to *gasp* PLASTIC. In my opionion this totally cancels out the fact they are saving rain forest trees. Uggh makes me so angry.

Anyways I have also previously posted my habit of emailing places when I feel strongly about something. Much to the urging of Sayde I set out to email to Bossa Nova expressing my disappointment in their descion to conver to plastic. I also let them know them know, as long as they use plastic they will no longer have me as a customer (voting with my dollar as I like to call it).

If anyone else feels passionate about this please contact Bossa Nova please email them at info@bossausa.com or you can send letters to
Bossa Nova Beverage Group
11965 Venice Blvd. Suite 307
Los Angeles, CA 90066

And if anyone has any other companies that you have noticed something that is ungreen or something they should change post. I a always happy to send letters, the bigger the voice the more likely hood for changes. Thanks again Sayde, even if it totally fired me up for a bit =P

Keep it glass!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Barrel O' Fun



I haven't posted much i have been busy celebrating my anniversary and watching the Olympics! Here are a few pictures from our Napa weekend. We started out at the Napa farmers market which was not as great as i was hoping I guess the last weekend in San Francisco really spoiled me. Anyways after the famers market we went to an edible garden at Copia. It was gorgeous and so cool. I got lots of great ideas, for my own garden.
How cool are these artichokes?
More local goodies, mmmmmm chardonnay
;)

And gorgeous Napa Valley.All in all a pretty green weekend considering Napa is about a half hour from us, so not much energy was wasted and we supported some local vineyards.
Relax green =)

Friday, August 8, 2008

08-08-08


Anyone else as excited about the Olympics as me? I have always loved the Olympics. I used to cry when it was over LOL! Four years seemed like forever when I was a kid. Anyways I am giddy and can't wait. My friend in who lives in Beijing told me things have been pretty crazy over there in preparation for the ceremony. They had been enforcing the alternate license plate number rule to cut the popultion right before the festivities. Hopefully China looks for more long term ways to cut pollution and hopefully the US looks to Beijing as a lesson learned of what could happen if change isn't made (I mean China has already gotten rid of plastic bags, what are we waiting for?) . Anyways on the festivities! I cannot wait, GO TEAM USA!

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

What would Jackie do?


I love my Jackie O style sunglasses, and I haste plastic but I don't think I'm quite there yet... Anyways if you haven't ever checked greenloop out yet, you definalty should. It's filled with tons of eco friendly brands to stock up on. Nice for me as, I'm banning products made in China, have you seen the pics of Beijing,? Can you blame me?
Shop Green!

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Let's Do Lunch

Here is a pic of some of things I use to pack my lunch as well as the Husbands lunch. Most of the stuff is mine, the stainless steel carrier is great for leftover and salads, the ice box is CW's. The pretty sack is what I throw all my stuff in, I was told by someone I have a fancy lunch bag, LOL.
My Voss glass water bottle, so many times I have been asked if its vodka LOL! I also have some Pyrex containers I use for nuts, fruits and veggies or whatnot instead of plastic bags, I also have a container I use for CW's sandwiches or I use them for wraps, and pitas.
Oh of course my cloth napkins that I love, I keep lots of these near by. Some bamboo utensils, I keep those in my sack so I never have to use disposable ones when eating out, at bbq's and what not.
Eat green =)

Happy Birthday Erynn and Amanda!

Hope you girls have a great day =)

Monday, August 4, 2008

Purple Pepper Eater

So I tried out the purple pepper. I cut it up and found it to be lighter on the inside then I originally expected almost like an eggplant (I put some of the pieces on the side in the picture). I tasted a piece raw and decided it had to be cooked (although I am trying to eat more raw...more on that later). It was really bitter (also much like aneggplant) compared to green and red peppers. So I lightly cooked up the purple pepper with some garlic and the summer squash I had also picked up from the market. It was much better after being cooked, I then tossed it in a bit of teriyaki and put it in a a pita (another farmers market purchase) along with some hummus. There you go my purple pepper review, I do recommend you Keep it Green though, peppers and otherwise =P

Wanna Bet?

Photobucket
I bought some Lulu hair powder (if I only wash my hair every other day my shower time can be even quicker!) Anyways it got shipped to my Mom's. When I went to go pick it up I was telling my Mom and Sis how the Styrofoam was faux Styrofoam, did they believe me? No! So we had our own impromptu experiment, I put the thing in some water and ohhh it disintegrated. Real Styrofoam? Not going happen. Now the real scientific question is why can't all businesses use this stuff?
Keep it green!

Sunday, August 3, 2008

The Haul


Heres a pic of my SF farmers market haul (as per Shana's request). I picked up some heirloom cherry tomatoes, romaine, some colorful bell pepper (green,purple, red and yellow), cantaloupe, grapes, whole wheat pitas, a baguette, corn and some pickles for the husband. We also got lunch at the market , the strawberry spritzer I previously posted and I picked up some summer squash (not pictured).
While we were there my Mom picked me up a little guide to eating local. It was filled with lists of all Local Bay Area farms, stores that carried those items and tips to eating local. I tried to convince my Mom to let me buy her a chicken (for the eggs) but she wasn't down LOL.I recreated the salad they were sampling at the Farmers market. I added some basil from my garden, and mixed with a bit of EVOO and a pinch of sea salt.
Since we had some people come over I decided to use the baguette I bought at the market and turn the salad into an appetizer. I sliced the baguette rubbed it with a garlic glove, grilled it up and topped with the heirloom tomato salad.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

A San Francisco Treat!

Today my mom and I skipped out on our local Farmers Market and headed to the San Francisco Ferry Building Farmers Market (ohh don't worry we took BART so no gas was wasted). This farmers market is amazing, a definite must see if you are ever in town. The ferry building in general should be a must on your San Francisco list, it is filled with restaurants and food dedicated shops.

The weather was perfect , heavenly aromas filled the air and as you can see gorgeous, gorgeous fruits and veggies were as abundant as the canvas bags. What a fabulous day, thanks again Mom!

Our day began with a trip to San Francisco via BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) an electrical train used for public transportation, I snapped a pic for all of you that have never been to the Bay Area.
On to the market...
A rainbow of peppers, I was obsessed with these. Aren't they gorgeous?

Some heirloom tomatoes, so yummy! They gave us a sample of a heirloom tomato and basil salad that was so delish. I am going to try to recreate.

My strawberry spritzer in a 100% biodegradable cup! =) I bought this mainly because I thought it was so darn cool. Hopefully these types of faux plastics become more mainstream.
Hope your weekend is going as nicely as mine! Keep it Local =)

Friday, August 1, 2008

And the Winner is......



JEN!!! Congrats Jen, she is our resident contest winner around here an has an adorable baby named Lucas, her and Lucas have been on many green outings lately. Jen email me your address so I can ship out your prize. Can you hear the excitement in my voice when I say Jen?? Forgive my voice LOL. Also I was at a conference all day, hence the "Amber" name tag LOL.

Thank you to everyone for taking the time to write your emails about all the wonderful changes you have made. It was really fun to read them all .

I do have a honorable mention prize for Mr. Jamie Blevins! Who I heard has agreed to bring his own bags to the store. Go Jamie =)



Have a great weekend and keep it Green!