On Vacation...

be back on Monday!

SF Environment

Information for the SF Bay Area on environmental topics.

http://www.sfenvironment.org/index.html

Book

Sometimes thriftyness is confused with being green. I think that's probably where all this anti-green becasue hippies are crazy stuff has come from over the last few decades.

here's an example: The High Art and Subtle Science of Scrounging - Book

Jesse James goes Green?

photo tkaen from autoweek website and tkaen by SCOTT BREITHAUPT

excerpt from article:
"
"I see Al Gore--he's a dork," James said, provoking loud laughter. "I see these people on the Internet, and it's like they just want to take away all the Camaros. Is it just hype or is it real and there will be no gas?

"I know I don't want to go to an electric Formula One race," James said. "At the track it would be like, 'I think they're coming, but I can't hear them.' "

James said his stand on the environment is all about balance." - autoweek magazine

http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080117/FREE/729436743/1528/newsletter01

Why should living green mean make you smelly?

Saffron Rouge - Source for organic skin care and aromatherapy

http://www.saffronrouge.com

less-toxic leather tanning

Here's a link to an article from Treehugger on a less-toxic leather tanning meathod:

excerpt:
"Raghava Rao and a group of researchers at the Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) in Adyar have found a simple way to reduce the amount of chemical pollutants involved in tanning by merely reversing the order of tanning and post-tanning steps. By doing so, they were able to cut the amount of chemicals released by 82% and increased energy efficiency by 40%, without observable reduction in quality."

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/01/eco-friendly_leather.php

Sculpture garden at the dump?

only in SF...

http://www.sunsetscavenger.com/AIR/sculpturegarden.php

Green Consulting

This place has the formula for success:

http://www.deepgreenliving.com/

Rubber flooring

This rubber flooring from ecosurfaces claims to use 100% post-consumer waste and 30% post-industrial waste. But it doesn't say what percentage of the product is each of these ingredients.

http://www.ecosurfaces.com/

Mac claims green

Here's an article form the 7x7 (sf magazine) green blog. I don't know why Ms. Stef McDonald seems so happy about this. Why didn't Apple use recycled instead of recyclable materials to make the new MacBook? We all know they charge enough for their products to be able to buy recycled and their designers are talented enough to make it look gorgeous. But they still choose to use new materials.


A Greener Apple
http://www.7x7sf.com/home_design/green_blog/13907912.html

I've got a tech geek inside of me that comes out on occasion—usually when a friend gets a new gadget or I read a news report on that latest and greatest release on the market. Often I exhibit self-control and hold out. (Do I really need a new cell phone when the one I have works just fine—even if the newest model is so slim and cute?) But sometimes I find myself pulling out my credit card before I can reason with myself.

News reports on the annual Consumer Trade Show in Las Vegas are always tantalizing and then Apple revealed plans for the launch of the MacBook Air last week, and I got pulled in to the reports that revealed that it is more eco-friendly than other models. It’s encased in recyclable aluminum, the inside cables aren’t constructed with nasty PVC (that’s the worst of the plastics), its LED display is more power-efficient and also made without mercury and arsenic, and it meets EnergyStar requirements.

The most environmentally friendly thing for me to do is to hold on to my laptop until it goes, but it’s good to know that when the time comes to replace it, I’ll have greener options.

To find out more about the MacBook Air, check out 7x7sf.com's MacWorld 2008 blog.

Natural store for Pet products

http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/default.aspx

Ball seed starters

http://www.ballseed.com/SH_ellepot.aspx

Ordered Seeds

I ordered some seeds from Parkseed, they should arrive next week. I ordered a bunch of organic vegitable seeds, and then some perennial flowers for a butterfly/hummingbird garden I want to plant in the front yard.

My plan is to plant them soon in planting trays that I have left from last year's purchases, and when those run out, I'll make paper oragami cups, or use used paper cups for planting. Then I'll be able to give away extra plants that I won't be using.

Abby Poulette's blog

Who's Abbey Paulette you ask? well she's the web editor for organic gardening, and her blog is great.

http://www.goodnplanty.com/

Green Blog

http://www.groovygreen.com/groove/?p=2405

Fisker Karma

I love it! There are so many new companies springing up to make better cars! not only better for the environment better, but cars that look better as well.

This one is from a company called Fisker (no not the decorative scissor company) but named for Henrik Fisker, designer of some top-shelf autos.

Check out the car and company here: http://www.fiskerautomotive.com/

Organic Flowers

With Valentine's Day just a month away, here is a good option for the mandatory flower-buying. Get organically-grown flowers at Organic Bouquet, which is also the home of the most ginormous bouquet of roses I've ever seen...Which is unfortuanatly sold out through April.

http://www.organicbouquet.com/Index.aspx

Native plant nurserys in the Bay Area

Here are some links from the park conservatory for nurseries around the Bay Area that specialize in Native plants.

http://www.parksconservancy.org/our_work/native_plants/index.asp

Green Rving

Here's a beautifully designed and earth-friendly (though not wallet-friendly) way to explore the great outfoors.

http://www.verdier.ca/

Thanks to Jamie W. for the link

green cleaning in one fell swoop

Starter Kits form Seventh Generation - give them as gifts, get one for yourself.

http://shop.seventhgeneration.com/livinghomestarterkit.aspx

Better electronics are coming out all the time

Especially now at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

Here's an example:


The Philip's 42" 1080p LED-based flat screen TV usese minimal power. Especially impressive is the stand-by mode power usage which is significantly less than your standard LCD or Plasma TV, though it is still good practive to have your entire A/V system hooked up to a single Surge protector/Power strip that you can shut off completely.

read more about the TV here:
http://ces.cnet.com/8301-13855_1-9843645-67.html?tag=more

Pair.com

Working with service providers that make an effort is a good idea. Here's a web space provider that advertises on Treehugger.com and claims it's environmentally responsible. Though I don't think the list it gives one their site of why is not all that impressive. I don't see any wind or solar power going on here, just carbon offset payments and basic office recycling, but maybe that's better than your current web space provider... if so, check them out.

http://www.pair.com/

Cadillac going green?

Here's the latest concept from Cadillac - something called a Provoq.

What's great about it is that is is a hydrogen fuel cell powered automobile. Which means it's powered by a fuel cell system and a lithium-ion battery for an electrically driven vehicle that uses no gas and has no emission other than water.

Here's the article from Jalopnik with all the details:http://jalopnik.com/341986/ces-cadillac-provoq-hydrogen-fuel-cell-concept-revealed

Biodegradable "plastics"

This is an Austrilian supplier of "plastics" like planting pots, dinnerware, etc... that biodegrade once you've disposed of them. I'm not sure how the product knows not to biodegrade until after you've thrown it away, or maybe I'm mis-reading that info.

It looks like they only sells their products wholesale. Which is a bummer, I absolutely love a couple of the colors they make their palnting pot in, that blue is GREAT. I'd like to know where their products might be available in the U.S. or if there is a U.S. manufacturer.

http://www.enviroarc.net/index.php

California Wilderness Coalition

http://www.calwild.org/

CWC is working hard for the passage of legislation designating new wilderness areas and wild and scenic rivers in California.

support them by shopping here: http://www.peacefulvalleygreetings.com/

Plant your calendar

this calendar has seeds embedded in the papaer so when you are done with a month, just plant the page, and wildflowers come up!

http://www.botanicalpaperworks.com/product/Plantable+Eco+Calendar+2008/376/

Environmentally-Friendly Ski Resorts

I'm bummed to learn that Alpine Meadows is the only California resort that made it into Ski Area Citizens Environmental Scorecard top ten in the US. In fact, only two California resorts were even got an A grade. One Cali resort, Kirkwood, even got an F grade.

Resorts are graded on 14 criteria: Maintaining Ski Terrain Within the Existing Footprint, Preserving Undisturbed Lands from Development, Maintaining Parking Lot Construction on Previously Disturbed Lands, Protecting or Maintaining Threatened, Endangered, Sensitive, or Candidate Species and Their Habitat, Preserving Environmentally Sensitive Areas, Protecting/Preserving Roadless Areas, Conserving Water and Energy by Avoiding New Snowmaking, Protecting Water Quality, Environmental Policy Positions and Advocacy, Renewable Energy, Water and Energy Efficiency, Transportation, Waste Stream Management, Purchasing, Environmental Reporting and Accountability, Community Sustainability


http://www.skiareacitizens.com/index.php?nav=browse2&state=California

Guy who give away trees

Back when my oak tree (well, technically my landlords oak tree) dropped hundreds of acorns this fall, and after I had collected most of them and put them in a large pot, and then it rained making some of the acorns closetr to the bottom spout, I thought "I should plant these in little pots and sell them." This article made me think maybe I could just give them away...

http://www.kitchengardeners.org/2007/12/take-away_give_back.html