Green Living
Green On The Go
With life becoming increasing more busy, many people simply don’t have time to think about what they can do to help the environment, or the steps they can take to start living green. Here are some easy tips and items for an on-the-go lifestyle that won’t hurt the planet.
Buy in bulk – Buying in bulk and stocking up on sale items saves money and decreases the amount of packaging used. Also, you won’t be scrambling to buy new paper towels or soap when you frequently run out. Of course, make sure you have places to store all of your bulk items!
Totes Eco-brella - This umbrella is made with 70% recycled materials and is great 
for rainy Seattle weather. The canopy is made from 100% recycled PET bottles and the frame is made form 70% recycled aluminum. The Notch/Runner is made from 100% recycled Nylon. The handle is made from bamboo and has a waxed hemp strap for holding. For an added bonus, it comes in environmentally friendly packaging and proudly displays the recycled symbol within a raindrop on both the canopy and tie strap and can be purchased in many different colors! › Continue reading
5 Easy Things You Can Do For The Environment.
- Show your friends. Actions speak louder than words, and that’s certainly true of environmental issues too. You can talk all you want about helping the environment, but if your friends see your gas-guzzling Hummer parked in your driveway, all that talk isn’t going to do any good. You can show your friends by suggesting restaurants that serve local or organic cuisine for your next luncheon, or bring local wine to your next dinner party. Give them green gifts. If your friend is having a baby shower next week, purchase organic cotton onesies, or paraben-free baby cream. There are a million ways to demonstrate your environmental lifestyle to your friends, and to show how it’s benefiting your life. Be careful though, your goal is to make environmental decisions enticing, not ram it down their throats. No matter how frustrated you may be with your friends environmentally damaging decisions, slapping them in the face with a Go Organic sticker won’t achieve the desired results.
- Sign up for renewable energy through your utility provider. Call your utility provider and inquire about renewable energy. Most companies have some program to help you go green with your energy consumption, but unfortunately many of them don’t advertise it. Supporting green energy initiatives locally helps show your utility provider that you are committed to renewable energy, and you want to see those types of positive changes take place in your community.
- Identify your environmental saboteur. All of us have an area where we know we should be more environmentally conscious, but we don’t for whatever reason. For me, it’s clothes. I am horrible at buying clothing that is good for the environment. I see the $1 flip flops, and the 2 for $10 tank tops, and I can’t resist. I justify it since I’m so good about buying local and organic food, and I only buy green body products or cleaning products. But at the end of the day, no matter how good I am at all those things, I’m still supporting sweat shops that produce synthetic clothing that are damaging to myself and my environment. Take stock of your habits and find your environmental saboteur. Be rid of it. Take the initiative to cut back on whatever is keeping you from respecting the planet. You don’t have to do it overnight. Obviously I’m not going to go replace my entire wardrobe, but I can make the commitment to only buy reused or new clothes that are made with the environment in mind.
Green Festival Seattle 2010
My favorite thing about eco-friendly products and green living is that there are so many expos, conferences, and events that provide fun and easy ways to learn more about green companies. I was really excited when I saw a flier for the 2010 Seattle Green Festival and just completed my registration to volunteer for the event. Green Festival also takes place in San Francisco, Chicago, and Washington DC and struck gold when it was here last year.
The festival is a joint project by Global Exchange which aims to create green economies that embrace diversity and Green America which promotes economic power and sustainability around America. The festival is Saturday and Sunday, June 5th and 6th. Saturday from 10am to 7pm and Sunday from 11am to 6pm at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center.
HopenSource by Grist
Now for a little environmental optimism. I’ve stumbled across Grist‘s clever side project, HopenSource a few times and would highly recommend swinging by next time you’ve got the chance. It’s a joint blog and twitter account (including its very own hashtag to allow everyone to join in the conversation) dedicated to the discussion of the good news in the environmental arena.
That’s right, you didn’t read that wrong. I said good news. In a field almost completely dedicated to approaching issues from an “Oh Lord, what have we done?” angle, I find the optimism to be refreshing. I’ve said it many times, one of the most basic obstacles to environmental progress is the ease with which everyday people get bogged down in the despair and general permeation of bad news, particularly in the media. This idea that because we’ve gone so far at this point, in terms of habitat destruction, climate change, toxic distribution, etc., there’s really nothing we can do on an individual level that would make a dent, and therefore no point in trying.
In fact, this perspective couldn’t be farther from the truth. › Continue reading
Fun At The Eco-Chic Expo
I hope many of you had a chance to visit the Eco-Chic Expo yesterday at the Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center that Rachel posted about last week. Featuring many different local sustainable living companies, the expo was definitely a great and interactive way to spend a few hours. The expo featured a lot of companies all excited to share their products and websites with the public at this free event. Here are some businesses and events that really caught my eye!
Full Circle Farm is an organic farm that grows and sources organic fruits and vegetables and deliver right to your door! Located just outside of Carnation, the 400 acre farm grows over 200 varieties of produce and 50 crops in order to provide a large variety for their customers. They also partner with other local farms in order to provide more options for delivery baskets. The baskets of food are fully customizable, with flexible order size and frequency and as an added bonus, you know exactly where your food is coming from. To sign up for a delivery subscription or learn more about Full Circle Farm visit their website or call 866-EAT-WELL.
Rethinking Green Attitude
Photo: Flickr User Beige Alert
I want to reassure you here. I write for a green-living, environmentally conscious website. I’ve committed the past 5 odd years of my life to the study of and immersion into the world of environmental issues, policy, management, social movements, etc. I love the fact that I am likely to see a Prius on my way to work or the grocery store. But still, there was something that was bothering me about the scenario. And it didn’t take long to realize what was at the root of my problem. › Continue reading
UW’s Earth Day Fair
Is the day after this Earth Day called Green Friday as opposed to Black Friday? Either way, I learned a lot on Thursday while at the University of Washington’s Earth Day fair on the HUB lawn. With many booths, people, and brochures, the Earth Day event was definitely an educational success. The event included signing up for contests and giveaways, planting a small plant, trying to guess what a typical garbage bin has accumulated and many friendly people to share ideas with about how to live green. Here are some of the companies and groups I got the pleasure to learn more about on our sunny Earth Day!
The University of Washington Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability.
This group is involved with many different projects around UW including the Climate Action Plan which is an institutional plan toward becoming neutral towards our climate. Some other projects they are involved in are the CFL Exchange Project to exchange all incandescent light bulbs on the Seattle campus with energy savings CFL bulbs, Earth Club at UW, and Project Earth at UW Tacoma. Their website also includes great information on what you can do to reduce your footprint on the Earth. At their booth on Earth Day they handed me a Greenlite light bulb which uses 75% less energy, saves $68 in energy costs, and 1 Greenlite = 12 standard bulbs!
Eco-Chic Expo Seattle
Now for a local, small business and community centric alternative to the Seattle 2010 Go Green Conference. Seattle’s Eco-Chic Expo is being held on Saturday, May 1st, at the Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center located in Northeast Seattle. A self described “interactive green lifestyle event”, the event is put together to provide the general public with an interactive day of tips, tricks and products to help people live greener, yet fashionable, lives. The Expo is free to the public and features a number of local companies dedicated to sustainable lifestyles. › Continue reading
