CSA (aka bringing the Farmers' Market to you)

Community Supported Agriculture = the best way for busy people to get local, fresh, organic produce into their kitchen. If you're anything like me, sometimes motivating to go to the Farmers' Market on a dreary Sunday morning is a little more than you're up for. However, if you join a CSA, the Farmers' Market comes to you. That's right...according to LocalHarvest.org the definition of a CSA is as follows: a farmer offers a certain number of "shares" to the public. Typically the share consists of a box of vegetables, but other farm products may be included. Interested consumers purchase a share (aka a "membership" or a "subscription") and in return receive a box (bag, basket) of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season.

Eric and I have recently joined a CSA called Eating with the Seasons here in the Bay Area. Now, every Thursday (starting in December) we'll get an extra small box (6 types of produce for $17) of super fresh fruits and veggies delivered from the farm to a pick-up location a few blocks from our house. In addition, we can add extras like eggs, granola, and olive oil if we choose. Quite a deal, right?

And CSAs are so hot right now. In fact, my friends Jillian and Christina recently started an awesome blog called Farm and a Frying Pan that was inspired by the huge amounts of unusual vegetables brought to them by their CSA (think kale, celery root, and leeks). They are learning how to cook and eat these fabulous local, sustainable items, and with their blog, they are sharing their adventures with all of us. As they put it, "this blog is our attempt at uncovering what you can really do when you have access to a FARM and a FRYING PAN."

If you need additional recipes for out-of-the-ordinary vegetables, there are plenty of great vegetarian cookbooks out there. The Everything Vegetarian Cookbook is one great example, and The Enchanted Broccoli Forest is another. Happy veggie cooking!

LocalHarvest

Question: What's one way to eat like a king, save money, and be green all at the same time?

Answer: Dust off your pots and pans and cook the amazing food you bought this weekend at your local farmers' market.

Check out LocalHarvest.org to find a farmers' market near you, and spend your Sunday morning tasting the wares of local farmers while mingling with your neighbors. The food is guaranteed to be fresh and local, and because many farmers' markets remove the middle man from the equation, you're getting the best of the nearby farms for much less than you would at the grocery store. The salsa you make from the $5/15 lb bag of tomatillos you bought will taste WAY better than the store-bought brand, and I bet you'll have a lot of free fun making it as well.

Time to rethink your shampoo

This is quite an eye-opening article from Salon about the ingredients in our shampoos. In a nutshell, the article claims that there are only 3 necessary ingredients in any hair cleaning product, and everything else in your shampoo is unnecessary or even toxic. The author even finishes his article by stating that he uses Sunlight Dish Detergent to wash his hair...it has only 4 ingredients, and he uses 1/10th of the volume that regular shampoo requires. He states that one bottle of detergent will last him a year...compared to $8 a bottle for Pantene ProV and the like (that only last a month or two). If you're not down with using dish detergent on your head, consider Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap (and Hair Rinse). They're made for use on your body but lack most of the extraneous ingredients, and since you dilute them, they last forever.

GoodGuide: Your Guide to What's Good

I happened upon a great new website today, GoodGuide.com. The story of how I happened upon it will have to wait, but the effect that GoodGuide can have on your life should not. According to the NYT, Newsweek, and may other sources, GoodGuide provides the world's largest and most reliable source of information on the health, environmental, and social impacts of the products in your home...FREE! Using criteria tied to three overarching performance areas (health, environmental, and social), GoodGuide assigns scores to consumer products, deeming them good, iffy, and/or bad choices based on their criteria. The results can be surprising. For instance, who would have guessed that a Kashi cereal would be at the bottom of the cold cereals list, while plain Cheerios are near the top (the complete list is here). See, you're already learning things... So next time you're thinking about changing shampoos or buying your nephew a present, you can look at GoodGuide to assess the impacts of the products you're about to buy. You might rethink that Nerf Rocket Pass you were eying.

Taste the Wildness

This post is for all the dog and cat owners out there: Try Taste of the Wild pet food! I promise you won't be disappointed. TOTW is a grain-free, all-natural pet food that is so good for your furry buddy, and animals LOVE it. We switched our puppy from Iams to TOTW, and the results were immediate. Wally (our pup) began eating more, his dandruff-y skin issues cleared up (saving us on vet bills), his #2s were smaller (due to better nutrient absorption), and his owners felt better because he was eating more naturally. What isn't to like about this wonder-food? Ok ok, I know the food isn't magic, but we've had such a great experience, my exuberance gets ahead of me :)

Get (Online) Coupon Crazy

Looking for an eco-friendly way to save money on all those things you just can't live without? Quit wasting paper on coupons that can be redeemed online. According to Simmons Market Research Bureau, currently more than 40 million people nationwide are printing online coupons. While coupons are a great way for YBGers to save money, paper coupons equate to a staggering amount of wasted paper. Instead of printing and clipping, go green by visiting free online coupon code and deal site Coupon Craze (www.couponcraze.com) before you shop.

If you need more convincing, check out Coupon Craze’s top 5 reasons why you should stop clipping and start clicking instead:

BE A SAVVY SHOPPER: If each of the 40 million people printing online coupons replaced one paper coupon with an online coupon code, 80,000 reams of paper would be saved!
SAVE TREES: 500,000 trees must be cut down to produce each week's Sunday newspapers, including the massive coupon section. Why? When only 0.5 percent of coupons inserted in Sunday newspapers were redeemed in 2008
BE GREEN: The average household throws away 13,000 pieces of paper each year, most of which is junk mail consisting of printed coupons and promotions. Reducing paper use reduces greenhouse gases and using 40 million pieces of paper translates into 3,000 acres of pine forest absorbing carbon for a year
CONSERVE WATER: Who knew? It takes more than 1½ cups of water to make one sheet of paper – meaning that the 40 million people who have printed coupons have wasted 3.75 million gallons of water.
STOP WASTING: The United States alone, which has less than 5% of the world's population, consumes 30% of the world's paper. As if that were bad: Approximately 1 billion trees worth of paper is thrown away every year in the U.S

So, visit Coupon Craze to find online deals and coupon codes that can easily replace those paper-wasting printed coupons. You can also shop the newly launched Coupon Craze Green category to find deals and codes for eco-friendly products.

PS - Yes, this is a press release from my friend Bailey at SHIFT Communications. How cool is it that I'm getting pitched by PR firms (even if it is by my friends)?

Old Dr. Bronner...and His Magic Soap

Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My dad has used it since I was a kid, and I especially remember its inclusion in our family camping trips (the soap is biodegradable). Even though it's been 10 years since I've lived at home, I continue to make sure that Dr. Bronner is a part of my life.

First off, the soap is magic. It says so on the label. How could you not want magic soap? Second, Dr. Bronner's soaps are all natural, organic, free trade, and live in recycled plastic bottles. Those are 4 reasons to love them right there. They also come in multiple delicious scents. I'm currently using peppermint, and after a shower, I not only smell minty-fresh, but I also feel all tingly and awake. Other scents include rose, citrus, tea tree, and eucalyptus.

Additionally, the soap can be used for just about any cleaning task you could possible imagine, and maybe even some you can't imagine. Seriously, from sudsing up in the shower to laundry to brushing your teeth, the magic soap is purported to have 18 uses. In fact, I have a list of said uses in Dr. Bronner's own overly-excited words:

1. Always dilute for Shave-Shampoo-Massage-Dental Soap-Bath!
2. Peppermint is nature's own unsurpassed fragrant Deodorant!
3. A drop is best Mint Toothpaste; brushes Dentures Clean!
4. A dash in water is the ideal Breath Freshener & Mouth Wash!
5. Peppermint Oil Soap for Dispensers, Uniforms, Baby, Beach!
6. Dilute for ideal After Shave, Body Rub, Foot Bath, Douche.
7. Hot Towel-Massage the entire body, always towards your heart.
8. Pets, silk, wool & body tingles head to toe - keeps cool!
9. 3 dashes in water rinse most Sprays Off fruit & vegetables!
10. 1/4 oz in qt H2O is Pest Spray! Dash, no rash Diaper-Soap!

Another reason to love Dr. Bronner's soap is the fact that he was a complete crazy-train (as the 18-1 list hints), and he decided to share his crazy-train life philosophy (the "Moral ABC," if you will) with the world on the labels of his magic soap. A few choice quotes include: "Each swallow works hard to be perfect pilot-provider-builder-trainer-teacher-lover-mate, no half-true hate! So, each day like a bird, perfect thyself first!" and "100% Vegan! Health is our greatest wealth." The entire label of the soap bottle is plastered with his rantings and prove VERY entertaining reading if you ever get locked in the bathroom.

Finally, the soap is very reasonably priced, especially considering all it's uses. In fact, you can buy it in the gallon size for about $50 dollars, and not only do you save packaging waste, but you may not need to buy soap again for years (remember that you dilute the soap for most uses). Do the math...it's FAR less expensive than the Dove Body Wash you're using now, so what are you waiting for? Bring the crazy doctor into your life!!!

Oh, almost forgot to mention that you can get the magic soap at places like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, as well as Target and some drugstores. It's magic AND easy to find.