News
Craving the Green Life – CRAVEGreen Seattle
Last night I had a major craving for all the eco-friendly indulgences of Seattle, and I knew just the way to satisfy my craving.
In the heart of SODO tucked under the first avenue bridge in the awesome location of URBAN enoteca, CRAVESeattle hosted their 2011 green event. Which much to my delight was this eco-friendly girls dream come true.
CRAVE Green in Seattle
| What: | CRAVEGreen day of Eco-Indulgence |
| Where: | URBAN enoteca 4130 1st Ave South, Seattle |
| When: | May 11, 2011 from 6-9 p.m. |
| Cost: | $35 and $50 Tickets |
Taking place on May 11, 2011 from 6-9 p.m. at URBAN enoteca (4130 1st Ave South, Seattle), CRAVEgreen is an eco-event of luxury and eco-indulgence. Featuring Natural and Organic spa services from Elaia Spa, an eco-friendly fashion show with the latest in sustainable style with designers such as Eileen Fisher, and fresh local and organic foods and wines catered by URBAN enoteca.
California Cap-and-Trade Delayed
The carbon emissions cap and trade approach to controlling air pollution has become widely accepted as the preferred approach to reducing pollution in a cost-effective manner. Even though it has been proven effective in reducing carbon emissions, California has recently paused their cap and trade law until their level of unemployment decreases. California is suffering with a struggling economy as well as high carbon emission levels.
In 2006 the Democratic legislature and California governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger enacted the cap and trade law which aimed to decrease the states carbon emissions by 2020, to the levels they were in 1990. This is the Global Warming Solutions Act. Though cap and trade laws are the most effective form of carbons sequestration, the politicians also told California voters that this law will create jobs. The lack of jobs is the problem Californians are dealing with today. In 2006 when the cap and trade law was enacted, the unemployment rate was only 5%. However, the states current unemployment rate is 12.3% with 2.25 million California individuals left unemployed. Because of the cap and trade law, businesses who cannot afford to trade pollution certificates, or who simply cannot decrease their pollution levels according to the law, are moving to other states that do not have a carbon emission law in place. This is taking jobs away from California, and putting them into an economy of another state. › Continue reading
Earth Day 2011 Events and Ideas
Looking for something to do this Earth Day? Why not get out in the community and volunteer! Here are some great Earth Day ideas for those looking to make a difference:
Beach Cleanups
Beach cleanups are an excellent way to not only beautify our beaches, but help save wildlife too. Every year, millions of tons of trash make their way to the ocean and end up in our seas. Every step of the way, this trash leaves death, from streams, rivers and lakes to the ocean inhabitants. Even if you don’t live near a beach, picking up trash at your local park, river or lake will go a long way to keep trash out of our oceans too. There are scheduled events put on by the Ocean Conservancy and Surfrider, but take it upon yourself to grab a few family members and friends to do your own Beach Cleanup.
Picnic for the Planet
Organized by The Nature Conservancy, Picnic for the Planet is a food changing experience for this years Earth Day. Plan or join a picnic in your area and learn about where food comes from, how to eat for yourself and the planet, and why it matters. Local, sustainable and natural is the name of the game, so round up some friends and family and go eat outside!
› Continue reading
Seattle Green Festival 2011
We are all in luck to hear that the Green Festival will be returning to Seattle this May! After just wrapping up in San Francisco, the festival will be in Chicago on May 14th and 15th and then come to Seattle on May 21st and 22nd. I attended green weekend last year and was blown away by the amount of exhibitors, knowledge of the speakers, and the interactive booths that were there. If you are looking for something to do in Seattle for a weekend, don’t miss this opportunity.
Go Green Seattle 2011 Conference
This year the Go Green Conference is coming to Seattle on Wednesday, April 20 2011 and runs from 8:30-5:00pm. With a great number of well known speakers such as Ben Packard (VP of Global Responsibility for Starbucks), Jill Bamburg (Dean of Academic Affairs and Founding Faculty Member of Bainbridge Graduate Institute), as well as representatives from local government, REI and small businesses around Seattle.
Event Details:
Event: Seattle Go Green 2011 Conference Date: Wednesday, April 20 2011 Location: The Conference Center at 8th and Pike Street, 3rd Floor
“GoGreen ’11 Seattle is a one day sustainability conference for business in Seattle on Wednesday, April 20, 2011 built to motivate, inspire, and educate business owners to ‘go green’ and become more sustainable. As an action-oriented, non-typical conference, GoGreen ’11 Seattle teaches tactical steps on how to ‘green’ your business and provides actionable next steps to sustainability for business owners and decision makers.
Attendees will learn from live success stories and participate in panel discussions geared to provide solid takeaways to make any size of business the most sustainable that it can be. The GoGreen Conference will feature over 50 business leader speakers and 15 different sessions on how to build sustainability into your business.”
Genetically Modified Organisms – GMO Month
With the month nearly over, you may not have realized that October is GMO month. A very controversial topic, Genetically Modified or (also known as Genetically Engineered) crops are becoming increasingly abundant in ingredients of common foods without your knowledge. How common you ask?
Based on USDA (US Department of Agriculture) data, it is estimated that GMOs are now present in more than 80% of packaged products in the average U.S. or Canadian grocery store.
According to the USDA’s figures for 2009, 93% of cotton, 93% of soy, and 86% of corn grown in the U.S. were GMO. It is estimated that over 90% of canola grown is GMO. Other commercially produced Genetically Engineered plants include varieties of sugar beets, squash and Hawaiian Papaya.
With corn products (primarily high fructose corn syrup) being present in everything from soda to salad dressing, you may be consuming more GMO foods than you think. But is this a bad thing? According to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), it is perfectly fine, and they are the ones who are protecting our food, aren’t they? Depends on if you believe GMOs should be proven safe for us, or by us.
› Continue reading
Wednesday Green Roundup
Here are some of the stories running around the green web this week.
Recycled wood flooring and recycled glass surfaces on Jetson Green-
Glass2 is produced with 99% recycled glass with no resin and can be worked on by stone and glass fabricators.
Staybull Flooring salvages waste wood from lumber mills around the world in more than 20 wood species. The discarded strips are binded using solvent-free and VOC-free adhesives, then milled and finished with a VOC-free ceramic finish for a strong detailed mosaic looking flooring. Pricing can start at $4.50 sqft and can do double duty by also reducing labor costs and construction waste.
Ecogeek reports on the groundbreaking of the nations largest wind farm in California-
Just outside Los Angeles, a 3-GW wind farm project is on track to be operational by next year. Able to power 600,000 Southern California homes, the Alta Vista Wind Energy Center located in the foothills of the Mojave Desert just north of Los Angeles will have the first phase up and running by next year with full completion in about 10 years.
› Continue reading
