10 things...

...you can do right now to help the environment:

(From here.)

1. Drink water instead of soft drinks.
2. Drink filtered tap water instead of drinking from water bottles.
3. Use a BPA-free container or glass container to carry your water.
4. Use your bike instead of your car to run errands.
5. Recycle your plastics, paper, cardboard and aluminum.
6. Print documents on both sides of paper.
7. Use old blank pieces of paper to take notes and write messages.
8. Bring and use your own coffee mug at the coffee shop.
9. Avoid plastic bags: use tote or canvas bags when shopping.
10. Eat some locally-grown organic vegetables instead of the ones from the grocery store.

~Am~

VegWare

In preparation for you 4th of July festivities, I wanted to let you know about about a company that makes compostable and biodegrable tableware and cutlery, known as Vegware. It

-Is made from natural starch and fibers.
-Will not melt in hot liquids like some biodegrable products & can withstand high temperatures.

There are other neat facts about the Vegware line of products that you can find out about by going to their website. And tomorrow, when you're hanging out with your friends and family, celebrating the country and eating and drinking the day and night away, if you're using disposable items, think about using compostable and biodegradable items, like Vegware.

~Am~

Testing my Green Thumb

I am very excited because I have just planted for the very first time, little lavender seedlings, chives, parsley, and sweet basil. I am new at this, and also super impatient & excited to see the first hints of a live plant growing in my apt. (-I will be devastated if they never grow :(
I will be making cute little labels for each pot, and probably be naming them (I know...strange). Our little money tree is Edward, he is strong and healthy despite his recent battle with plant cancer (rotting trunk)... I think we were overfeeding him.

If this works out, I am hoping to start a mini garden on my very wee patio.

The am also very excited about the cute natural fiber pots I stumbled upon. The brand is called Ecomaxx and these cute and colorful little pots are made from natural plant fiber materials (bamboo fiber, rice straw, wheat straw, and corn stalk) meaning they are 100% biodegradable.
They were also 0.99$...and cheap is always a plus.
Lucie= excited

a green potluck

So yesterday was my 24th my bday and, boy, was it ever a blast! We'd tried to make it as green as possible. Our efforts included:

-Organic Chips & Dip from our fav. grocery store Greenlife
-Handmade Pizzas made from organic flour
-No use of plastic plates/cups or flatware (we happen to have a surplus of the glass & silver kind, respectively).
-Carpooling of guests.
-Local beer for the drinking from the awesome microbrewery Highland Brewing Co.

It was a last minute event, so I think we did pretty well doing our best to be environmentally aware in the party plans. What other green activities do you do when planning a party?

(A sampling of my handmade pizzas.)

To read more about the joyous activities from last night, check out the Roller Girl post, here.
~Am~

Blue Sky Beverages

Ok, so I've been on this really intense Root Beer binge lately. All I want to drink is root beer! I keep on trying different kinds and I don't really think I'm a root beer snob at this point, but I'm definitely digging the latest kind I tried! It's called Blue Sky and it's organic. This equals, my friends, yummy organic sweetness.

"Established in 1980, today Blue Sky Beverage Company provides a variety of all natural beverages including Blue Sky Natural Sodas, "Real Sugar" Sodas, Organic Sodas, Blue Energy energy drinks, and Blue Sport sports drinks. Our beverages are all natural with no preservatives, no artificial colors and only natural flavors. "

Give it a try. I have a six-pack of it in the fridge, right now. :)
~Am~

more about packaging

One great thing about living in Asheville is that I'm always finding something new related to sustainability/green-living. Lately, it's been the surge of green-packaging products I've been discovering throughout many Asheville restaurants and coffee shops.

I've always loved that most places in Asheville will give you the option on how you want things packaged. Don't want a plastic bag? Ok, we won't give you one. Work nearby and don't want to use styrofoam to carry your bagel? Ok, you can take the plate, but please bring it back afterwards. But now I've been seeing places use recyclable boxes and biodegradable cups for their carryout containers.

My favorite coffee shop and bookstore by far, Malaprops, uses biodegradeable and recyclable cups for their iced and cold beverages. Two of my new favorite places to eat in downtown are Chorizo and this cute soda fountain in the Woolworth Walk gallery. Having eaten at both of these places recently and taken left-overs/to-go boxes, I discovered that both restos use 100% post-consumer and recyclable boxes. I looked into this, I found out the boxes are made by fold-pak and the biodegradable cups are made by fabri-kal.

So the next time you go to a restaurant see what kind of products they use. You could even suggest to them to carry these products. Or, if you're even more hard-core about saving the environment, d-i-y initiatives and reusing, then you could bring you own tupperware/storage container to restaurants. It's something that I still haven't done, but would definitely like to start doing. :)
~Am~

A little birdy told me...

...a little secret to save some money! I was hanging out with the fab. sensiblekitty last night and her sweet beau and they let me in on a little save-money secret. We were eating some rice and fresh veggies that they had gotten from my fav. Greenlife.

(Source: flickr.)

Mentioning how good the veggies were, they told me they had actually gotten them from the store's salad bar. And that's how they save money...instead of paying ridiculous amounts of moolah on the organic veggies there, they just get them from the salad bar. They got three servings full of red and yellow bell peppers, mushrooms, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and broccoli for just three dollars! And not only were they so much cheaper, but they were also already all cut up - no slicing and dicing here (unless you count that they were slicing and dicing time!).
~Am~

the perfect ice cream maker

Ok, this might be a bit of over-kill, but I knew I just had to post this when I saw it. It's a non-electric ice cream maker! I've been looking for the best ice cream maker around recently because I've been obsessed with trying out new recipes and making food from scratch. And, oh-my-gosh, I just couldn't believe my eyes, when I found this ice cream maker:

It looks like something your cat would play with, but instead the shape of the maker is intended to help you make the ice cream. And where else did I find this nifty object, but at Bed Bath and Beyond! Score one for the big box stores! [I can't believe just said that;).] Actually, I found it through thenest, because for some reason I think I'm married, when I'm far from it at this point. Anyways, this ice cream maker is at the top of my list to get now, and it should be on yours too if you like to make food and save money! :)
~Am~