Green Blog

You can compost fruit, vegetables, and yard trimmings but Earth911.com put together a list of 6 things you never knew you could compost.

1- Office Leftovers
2- House Plants
3- Dry Pet Food and other Pet Supplies

I don’t currently own a rain barrel in the traditional sense, but after my recent experience with watering my plants with rain water, it’s definitely on my shopping list! I recently purchased a small inflatable swimming pool for my patio that my two kids could splash around in to stay cool during a warm spell we had a few weeks ago.

The Chicago Green Festival had vendors selling and sampling everything from lip balm to books to acupuncture sessions, but as a mom, I was happy to see several vendors offering organic baby food products. Not a resident of Chicago myself, I was also pleased that these were companies with distribution in national chains where I shop weekly. Here are a few top picks from the festival.

Happy Baby: Maybe you’ve seen these products while strolling the the aisles at Target and Babies R Us like I have. Happy Baby offers premium organic foods and snacks for babies, toddlers, and kids.

The overcast skies over Lake Michigan didn’t keep green seekers away from Navy Pier for the Green Festival this past weekend. Dedicated Chicagoans even cycled through the rain to the event- earning free admission for doing so. Green America came through with yet another successful event packed with an array of green companies, lectures, even a fashion show. We at GreenDeals want to highlight our “Top 5” exhibitors of the event.

5: Francis Ellis Candles
These biodegradable and organic essential oil candles are handmade in Chicago with non-GMO eco soy wax. We liked these candles for a few reasons. One, the hot oil doubles as a body moisturizer and massage oil. Second, some of the candles came in reused, super fun vintage tins. (Yes, someone finally found a great use those.) Third, the candles were very affordable, ranging in price from $5-$20 and came in more scents than I could count, from Fresh Cut Grass to Blueberry Cobbler. They also had a line of provocative scents like “Butt Naked” and “Edible Panties.” Check them out for yourself at www.franciselliscandles.com. Although they are based in Chicago, they offer carbon neutral green shipping.

BPA-free bottles and containers have been in the news for the past few years and find out about BPA and our top picks for BPA-Free Water Bottles.

BPA stands for bisphenol A, an industrial chemical that has been used to make certain plastics and resins since the 1960s.

Ed Begley Jr. just released his own set of green cleaning products called Begley's Earth Responsible Products. All the green cleaning products products are made from plant-based, sustainable and rapidly biodegradable ingredients. The cleaners give off an aroma-therapeutic smell, thanks to botanical essentials and oils. Lastly, the products are 100 percent cruelty-free and come in recyclable packaging.

Treehugger.com released their list of their top public-transportation friendly citifies in the US.

Top 10 Transit Friendly Cities:
1- New York
2- San Francisco
3- Boston
4- Washington DC
5- Philadelphia

Buying organic foods can be difficult and sometimes expensive and during these economic tough times but Carey Peters, a certified Health Coach explains what foods you should always buy organic and which ones you don't have to.

Here are a list of things you always buy organic: Apples, Strawberries, Celery, Spinach, Grapes and any other fruit or vegetable with a thin skin which can absorb pesticides easily.

Green Festival New York City 2012 Video Montage (April 21-22, 2012)

Sure, we all know there are benefits to recycling, but do we really understand just much of a positive impact we’re making when we recycle cans, bottles, newspapers, and other materials instead of pitching them into the trash can? Green Living from National Geographic shows us the substantial energy savings for aluminum, plastic, paper and glass.

Earth Day is April 22, 2012 and here are a list of featured events around the country to attend:

Featured Event: Earth Day on the National Mall
The centerpiece of Earth Day in the United States will be a rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Tens of thousands of environmentally-conscious people from all walks of life and all parts of the country will be joined by civic leaders and celebrities for this special event to galvanize the environmental movement.
April 22, 2012 - 12:00pm - 7:00pm | Washington DC, United States

Green Festival and Bob Leonard, CEO of Green Automotive Alliance put together a list of 6 driving techniques to help conserve fuel, resources, and make any car a little more greener. These tips will help you start saving money right away on fuel and even on some ongoing maintenance costs. Step up and you'll be doing your part to reduce our dependency on foreign oil and help decrease the CO2 emissions that cause global warming.

1 - Avoid Idling
This is a real pet peeve of ours. When you’re idling, you get zero miles per gallon. That’s right. Nothing. Nada. Zippo. Turn your engine off if you think you’ll be going nowhere for at least 30 seconds. There are some obvious situations where you know you’ll be there for a while - waiting at a train intersection or a drawbridge. This also means waiting to pick someone up or sitting at a red light that you know will be a long one.

We are giving you five things you can do to help save our planet. Seventh Generation posted this list on their blog and its a great list. You don't have to do all five things but the more you do now, the better our world will be tomorrow. 

1- Burn less stuff:  This means driving less, turning lights off, and other standard energy-saving strategies. But it's also about distilling global warming to its simplest fundamental so that we can make a meaningful connection between our lifestyles and what's ultimately required to maintain them. So consider all that's ignited and learn not to burn.

With a few easy steps, you can make the next birthday celebration more environmentally friendly from start to finish. What a great way to share your values with friends and family and encourage them to adopt some green living practices of their own. Here are some simple ways to give your next party a green makeover:

1. Ditch the Paper Invites
Kick off the green makeover by using electronic invites instead of paper invites. A couple options include Evite and Paperless Post.

2. Say “No” to Balloons
Balloons are the second most common type of land debris found on beaches. The balloons themselves and the strings attached can be a hazard to land and sea animals.

If you have been watching any NBA games this week, you would see players wearing the Green NBA T-shirts before and during games. These shirts are Organic Cotton and are part of the NBA Green Week running from April 4-11, 2012. Part of the Green NBA week, players and teams are working on and off the court to promote sustainability in their community, workplace, and partner organizations. Check out the NBA Green Week. 

Get great savings from Seventh Generations online store during the month of April.  Each special will last for only one week – so hurry and claim your savings while they last! Get FREE shipping on orders of $50 or more. Available only in the U.S.

You MUST use the links below to access the special offers; specials available only during the periods listed.

Eating organic is certainly the healthy way to go, but doing so can put a strain on your wallet too. Here are 6 ways to eat organic without breaking the bank, courtesy of Shine by Yahoo!

1. Choose organic dairy
For dairy, we advise always going with organic. A conventional dairy cow is like the total package when it comes to things you're trying to avoid feeding your kid - frequently pumped full of antibiotics and growth hormones, and fed on corn covered in chemical pesticides and fertilizer. This is definitely something you want to avoid feeding your baby if you can help it. Instead, opt for an organic yogurt. Wholesome, rich, and creamy, it's an ideal snack.

GreenDeals Local will be offering deals and discounts from local green businesses in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, Chicago, and Washington DC (DC/VA/MD). Similar to our current GreenDeals, we will be promoting green businesses that share our green values and sustainability efforts. Sign up for our GreenDeals Local newsletter and we will email you when we launch new local deals in your area.

Reuse Bottle Caps

Since bottle caps from plastic bottles can't be recycled in many cities, reuse them instead! Make them into game pieces for Checkers or other games. The same can be done with beer bottle caps. Another way to reuse beer bottle caps is to place a magnet on the back and use them as refrigerator magnets.

Solar Power or Wind Power? The current crop of SouthCoast solar and wind projects raises a question: How many of one does it take to equal the other?

It would take roughly 5,000 3-by-6-foot solar panels to produce energy equivalent to one of Fairhaven's newly erected wind turbines, said Kingston-based No Fossil Fuel LLC Vice President Sean Sullivan.

And how much land would Fairhaven need to pony up to build a solar farm of that size?

At this time of year, there is arguably no more popular product than Cadbury Chocolate Easter Eggs.

And while Cadbury has demonstrated its commitment to ending forced child labor on the West African cocoa industry by selling Fair Trade certified chocolates in the UK, Canada, Ireland, Japan, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, the same cannot be said of Cadbury chocolate products in the United States.

The famous Keurig K-cups which have ended up on our kitchen counters at home and in the office are creating a huge problem, more waste going to into the landfills. Because of how the K-cups are built, with plastic, aluminum, and internal filter, the K-cup cant be recycled and goes directly into the landfill.

Moxy Vote is a platform that allows shareholders, customers, and neighbors to have their voice heard. Companies will listen to their shareholders and  customers. Moxy Vote's platform enables you to find your voice, band with others and influence companies to alter their policies in support of the causes that are important to you.

Healthy and fresh recipes from GreenDeals - Click here to get great recipes for your family!

Take a look at these easy, affordable ways to make your Easter a little greener this year. From filling baskets to decorating eggs, there are lots of fun, creative ways to celebrate the season with less waste and a smaller impact on the environment.

Join GreenAmerica, along with thousands of concerned consumers, in urging Starbucks to develop a committee to help guide the company towards more environmentally conscious business decisions.

Sign the letter to Starbucks urging them to take action.

Starbucks stockholders can support the resolution with your proxy vote.

Below are 3 Tips to live a Greener Lifestyle:

1- Buy Remanufactured Toner and Inkjet Cartridges

2- East Organic Food for Less: Check out local CSA's

3- Start Recycling Batteries in NYC or Face a Fine!

GreenDeals is giving away a Green Gift Bag of Natural and Organic products from exhibitors at the Natural Products Expo event last weekend in Anaheim, CA.

Enter at Facebook or GreenDeals and enter to win great prizes from Green Businesses including:

Sure, maybe you knew you could toss those coffee grounds into the compost, but did you know you could throw in the filter too? Composting is becoming more and more popular all over the country. Not only is it a great way to reduce your landfill contribution, but it’s also an inexpensive way to create nutrient-rich soil perfect for gardening. Most people just toss kitchen scraps into the compost, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. According to this article on Yahoo, you can also include the following:

1. Dryer lint
2. "Dust bunnies"
3. The insides of a vacuum bag (just empty the bag into the compost bin)
4. The contents of your dustpan (just use discretion)
5. Coffee grounds

It might be hard to think of a place like New York City as farmland, but rooftops all across one of the most populated metropolitan areas in the world could soon become fields of green, if an environmental proposal gets a  thumbs up.

The proposed zoning changes would allow more greenhouses to be built on commercial buildings, and permit open air farms on both commercial and residential spaces, all to promote the development of local urban food production and to help grow jobs.

Who knew that just 8 plastic water bottles, when recycled, could make a brand new pair of shoes? DASANI® and New Balance have have teamed uo raise awareness for the importance and benefits of recycling and are showing us how products we recycle can become new, useful products. Once recycled water bottles like the new DASANI® PlantBottle and other plastic bottles are pitched into recycling containers, they begin their journey to becoming a New Balance newSKY shoe.

Gardeners Join Movement to Grow it Forward Starting March 1, 2012

Gardeners across all fifty states and Canada are joining the heirloom revolution on YourGardenShow.com beginning March 1, 2012, in a mission to grow over 1,400 heirloom plant varieties this season. The free social network for gardeners is partnering with the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company to launch Grow it Forward, the social contest designed to preserve the diversity and legacy of heirloom plants for the benefit of future generations.

Simplemom.com published a great list of 40 tips and things you can do in your home to live a Greener lifestyle for you and your family.
You can do one of these things or choose a handful and start doing them today. One green thing today will help create a greener environment tomorrow.

1.  Plant an herb garden.  It’s good to have a reminder around of where our food originates.

2.  Switch all your lightbulbs to CFLs (or at least switch a few).

3.  Create a homemade compost bin for $15.

CottonTree Lodge is a Belize Jungle Lodge, nestled between the river and the rainforest beneath a towering cotton tree. Awaken to the song of exotic birdlife and the roar of monkeys in the distance. Start your day with fresh tropical fruit from our orchard or sample the chocolate we make from the cocoa we grow.

We found a cool new product just launched, its called CUPPOW and its a solution for easier drinking from a canning jar. The canning jar already makes an awesome platform for a travel mug: it’s easy to clean, made of heat-resistant glass, cheap, durable, and when sealed it doesn’t leak. The only problem is that with their large openings, canning jars are not great for spill-free sipping while on the move.

The Green Rush is a race event being hosted in Washington DC from Live Green and Clean Currents. If you are in the Washington DC, check out the Green Rush event and you have the chance to win $1000.

Seventh Generation has launched new earth-friendly additives and a new laundry detergent that people are buzzing about. Seventh Generation now has a complete laundry care system ready to tackle even the toughest wash day challenges.  Click to find out about the new products from Seventh Generation.

If you have a credit card with a mega-bank but wish your credit-card purchases benefited communities instead, now is the perfect time to switch to the Green America card. 

With the Green America VISA® credit card, offered in partnership with One PacificCoast Bank*, your everyday purchases support green jobs and healthy communities. Even the card itself is green, made of 55 percent recycled plastic.

Credo Mobile is the official phone company for GreenDeals. We use the Samsung NEXUS Android phones. The phone is great but you can also get a blackberry, traditional flip phone or other smart phone. 
Credo is offering deals to GreenDeals members and this month you can get 25% off your monthly bill from CREDO Mobile. Click here to signup for Credo mobile.
 

What are some ways to recycle old clothing?

Here are some tips for how to put your old clothes to good use to save money, resources, and make a difference to others.

We all find ourselves with clothes that have gone out of style, no longer fit, or look like they've seen better days. But think twice before gathering up your closet's misfits and heading for the nearest dumpster. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that textiles make up approximately five percent of landfills. However, 99 percent of those textiles are reusable, and options for reusing old clothing abound.

Green America and Equal Exchange have released the Green Festival calendar for 2012! Green Festivals will be at the following cities in 2012 and GreenDeals will be there promoting our wonderful green businesses.

PlanetSave.com put together a list of seven Solar Energy and Solar Panels Myths which are not true. Here's the list of their 7 Solar Energy and Solar Panel Myth busters.

1. Solar panels are unreliable because they don’t work at night.

No, solar energy panels can’t generate power in total darkness. But home solar systems frequently generate more energy during daylight hours than a home even needs, when demand is highest. This excess energy can be sent back to the grid, lessening the demand on the power utility for everyone else’s fossil-fueled electricity. Almost all states allow solar homeowners to either sell or get credit for surplus energy.

A Solar System Can Reduce Your Electric Bill By 70% Or More. Our solar energy installers can help you save money with solar energy!

3 easy steps to a solar power quote
1- Submit your information in the form below
2- Get qualified estimates from local solar power installers in your area (no obligation)
3- Choose the best solar power installer and start saving money with state and federal rebate programs (financing also available)

Starting next year, companies that make and sell chargers in the state of California will have to meet efficiency standards that will cut the waste by about 27 percent. Once fully implemented, the new rules should save 2,200 gigawatt hours of electricity per year, roughly enough to power Bakersfield. California consumers will save about $306 million per year, by the commission's estimate.

Green America exposed in their first report on airline recycling that there's a huge amount of trash generated each and every time we fly, more than 881 million pounds every year. That's 9,000 tons of plastic, enough aluminum cans to build 58 Boeing 747 jets, and enough paper to cover a football field 230 meters deep. What's worse is that our report found only about 20 percent of this waste being recycled.

We asked GreenDeals Members to give us their favorite green tip (or two) for 2012. We had a tremendous response and we have put together our favorite in this top 10 list. Tell us your Green Tip at Facebook.

• Cut your tube of toothpaste in half when it seems like it's empty. You can usually get at least another several days of use by scooping out from the inside.
   
• Try to use smaller quantities of everything. Most of us use too much toothpaste, shampoo, and conditioner -- I've found that using a little less makes them last longer, and I'm still just as clean and fresh!

Happy 2012 from Mother Jones! Mother Jones polled their readers and asked them to submit their 2012 new years resolutions. Here are the top 10 from the editorial team of Mother Jones:

1. Going red meat free. I am not quite ready to take the next step into full-on vegetarianism just yet, but this is a big start. The beef industry, while very important to my state (Kansas) is a lead producer of waste, greenhouse gases, and more. Plus, the stuff they put IN beef these days is really not good for the human body. As a cancer survivor at 32, I'd really like to avoid having to go through it again.
     
2. Ride bicycle or walk to work more often (commute is 4.2 miles).

Simple Organic has put together a list of their 12 recommended Green Living books for 2012 from green living, green family and children, health and beauty, and gardening and homemaking. Make 2012 the best year yet and decide to live a greener and more sustainable life.

Do you have a 2012 green tip? Tell us on our Facebook page and help us put together the 2012 Live GreenDeals List.

1. PARABENS: They’re in adult and baby shampoo and many other products, and they are estrogen mimickers that can lead to cancer.

2. FRAGRANCE: The FDA requires that food, drug, and body care companies list their ingredients on their products—but chemicals used to scent products can be clumped under the vague term “fragrance.” Found in everything from shampoo to deodorant, a single product’s secret fragrance mixture can contain potentially hundreds of toxic volatile organic compounds.

Ecobunga has put together a list of their favorite eco-deals for the holidays.Check out Ecobunga's Facebook page for daily and weekly deals and coupon codes.

Whole Foods Gift Boxes - 20% off & Free Shipping - Code: EMAILGIFT
Numi Organic Tea - 20% Off Gift Items
Branch:  Sustainable Design for Living - Get a free gift coupon with every order

Monsanto Co. is in the business of messing with nature. Monsanto produces roughly 90% of genetically modified seeds around the globe, producing GMO soybean, canola, sugar beets, alfalfa and more, mainly so they can tolerate Monsanto's own toxic herbicide, Roundup.¹

Trouble is, nobody knows yet what GMO foods will do to our health or our environment.

Socially responsible investing , also known as SRI, sustainable, socially conscious, green or ethical investing. Social responsible investing is the process of working with an investment strategy that seeks to consider both financial return and social good instead of pure profits.

MOVE OVER “BLACK FRIDAY” AND “CYBER MONDAY”: MAKE ROOM FOR “GREEN TUESDAY”

Citing Statistics on Growing Ranks of Green-Focused Consumers,
Nonprofit Green America Pushes For New Annual Holiday Shopping Tradition

Shoppers who want to save green – and be greener – during the holiday season are the focus of a major new push by the nonprofit Green America to make the Tuesday after every Thanksgiving "Green Tuesday." 

To kick off this new annual holiday shopping tradition, Green America’s GreenDeals.org website  will be offering special deals for the week starting on the first “Green Tuesday” (November 29, 2011).

Maybe you're thinking, like I was, that it's 11 year old boys who need to be concerned with what's on their shoes, because who knows what they've gotten into, but me? I stay out of the muck and mire, don't I. Or do I?

1. Soot From Candles Isn't Just Ugly

It was sometime in the year 2000 that I became aware of the soot that came from my candles. I was living in England at the time, and my husband and I (and our twin boys) were about to move back to the states. As we were cleaning up our rented home, we noticed that in the bathroom, where we had daily burned a candle on the top of a wicker shelving unit, there was a lot of soot. When I say a lot, I don't mean it had a little on the wall just above the candle. I mean the kind of buildup of soot that was nearly impossible to clean off. In fact we gave up. We confessed our blunder to our landlord and suggested he keep our deposit (knowing he was going to have to repaint that room).

There are two Green Festival events in the next month in Los Angeles (Oct 29-20) and San Francisco (Nov 12-13) and here are 10 reasons to attend the events

If you're a tea lover it's better to buy loose-leaf tea or tea bags without strings. Used tea bags can be recycled as compost.

You can also mix tea bags with charcoal or ashes and use as potting mix soil. If you just have one or two put them on top of the ground surrounding plants.

1. Buy less: Start at the root of the problem by consuming fewer products.
2. Reuse existing items: Often the simplest solution to a problem is to just reuse an item you already own for a new purpose.
3. Buy reusable's: Just like reusing existing items, have reuse in mind when you’re in need of something new.
4. Repair rather than replace: Even when an item breaks, it may still have a lot of life left in it.
5. Make your own: When possible, you can make your own consumable products.

Recycle your old electronics at a variety of places online. Click here for more information about selling and donating your old electronics from batteries, ipods, cameras, cell phones, and more.

This fall, we're celebrating the 10th anniversary of our Green Festivals by adding a brand-new Green Festival city AND by returning to the city where we held our very first Green Festival.
We'll hold our first-ever Los Angeles Green Festival the weekend of October 29 and 30, and we'll be returning to San Francisco November 12 and 13.

Each year Green America chooses 10 green businesses to be declared the 2011 People's Choice Awards for the best Green Business of the year.

Below are the top ten most popular green business nominations. See what other Green Americans are saying about the businesses, check out their Web sites, and vote for your favorite before October 6, 2011.

Yoga relaxes the body and the mind. Even in the midst of stressful environments, Yoga helps control breathing and clears the mind of cluttered thoughts, leaving only deep physical and mental refreshment.

1- Make your own beauty treatments at home
2- Look at the label
3- Look for certified organic products
4- Use aluminum-free deodorant
5- Brush with natural toothpaste

The Green America Green Giveaways are so popular supplies are running out! And we don't want you to miss out on this very special offer. Join Green America today and choose your favorite green thank you gift —supplies are limited!

Want to stop the dozens of credit card, mortgage, catalogs and direct mail pieces being sent to your house every day! If so, register at DMAChoice.org and you can register your name, address, and other members of your household to stop receiving those unsolicited mailings. Visit DMAChoice.org to register

Stay away from these skincare ingredients:
1. PARABENS
2. FRAGRANCE
3. NANOPARTICLES
4. FORMALDEHYDE
5.......click to see entire list

Enter the Wembe sweepstakes to win $250 worth of Wembe Bath & Beauty products from the tropical rainforest of Paraguay!
If you win, you will receive a selection of Wembe's best products ($250 value) including: Full line of Moisturizing and Exfoliating Blends,  Exotic Bath salts, Massage Loofah bars and more.

Enter the Wembe sweepstakes to win $250 worth of Wear Sunglasses that provide 99-100% of UVA and UVB protection greatly reduce sun exposure that can lead to cataracts and other eye damage. Be sure to check the label when buying sunglasses to make sure they have proper UV protection.

Lather on the sunscreen. Use a sunscreen with Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of at least 15. Apply it liberally to all exposed areas of your body, particularly your ears, face, back and neck. Reapply every 2 hours when working, playing, or exercising outdoors; even waterproof sunscreen can come off when you towel off sweat or water.

Desk work is a real pain in the neck, back, shoulders … Why suffer? Release the tension fast without getting up from your chair with these three chair stretches and our photo how-to guide.

Win a Healthy Home Starter Kit For Voting Us the #1 Greenest Brand in the U.S.

Thank you for helping Seventh Generation be named the #1 Green Brand by the ImagePower® Global Green Brands Study, one of the largest global consumer surveys of green brands and corporate environmental responsibility. We're celebrating by giving away Healthy Home Starter kits filled with our products.

When it comes to buying fruits and vegetables that go easy on the earth, it's hard to beat organic. But what does organic really mean?

"Organic" refers to an earth friendly way of farming and processing foods using no synthetic chemicals to control bugs or weeds. Organic farming usually involves farming methods that help conserve soil and protect water supplies.

Ingredients for the Salmon Dish:

2 - 4oz. Salmon filets (not steaks)(4” x 2” x 1”)

½ red onion, sliced thin

½ green bell pepper, julienned (matchstick thin)

1 medium carrot, julienned (matchstick thin)

2 pats of butter

As with traditional investing, personal green investment strategies are diverse and can be difficult to navigate. As an individual, you are faced with innumerable options when looking for new investment opportunities. Fortunately there are a plethora of resources available for you to help search out the best opportunities. Where to begin?

Just like the "Do Not Call List" for tele-marketers, you can opt out of receiving the Yellow Pages and help save a tree.

To opt out of your local Yellow Pages or Yellow Book, click on the link and enter your zip code to get started.

Green Festival events were started 10 years ago in San Francisco and have branched off to include more than a dozen locations including Chicago, Washington DC, Seattle, Denver, New York, and Los Angeles. Visitors are exposed to over 300 green and eco-friendly exhibitors profiling and selling their products including organic and all-natural food and drinks, clothing, home and office products, beauty care products, sustainable building solutions, and sustainable services such as yoga, holistic medicine, and vitamins and herbs.

With World Day Against Child Labor right around the corner, hundreds of students and concerned consumers gathered today in front of the Hershey Store in Times Square to call on Hershey to "raise the bar" by eliminating exploitative child labor from its cocoa production supply chain.

1. Turn Off the Lights - Save 2%*
Be mindful about shutting lights off when you leave a room. If you have a forgetful family member or roommate, paste reminders on the switchplates or consider installing motion-detector switches.
ADVANCED: Replace your bulbs with CFLs or LEDs.

Save 30% off at AmaFruits.com - Acai Berry Energy Drink with Guarana

Take advantage of a limited time 30% online discount for purchases made at Amafruits.com by June 30th.

Take it outside whenever you can. Instead of increasing your energy consumption via home and gym exercise machines, take advantage of hiking and biking trails in your area. One big advantage to the great outdoors - it’s 100% free and always interesting! Check out the Rails-to-Trails TrailLink database to find the perfect outdoor trail in your area.

There is no better time to amp up your fruit intake than during the summer months. June, July and August offer us the best-tasting and widest variety of fruits, so go find a farmer’s market, or a conventional market with good produce, and start shopping. And remember, the wider variety of colors that you can include in your diet, the better. I’ve color-coded the fruits for you to make it easier to eat a rainbow each day!

In 1989, Ella Vickers was crewing as first mate out of Newport, Rhode Island on a 12-meter America's Cup yacht named the Columbia.

When it came time to replace the boat's sails, she couldn't stand to see them just be trashed, so due to her own commitment to "going zero," Ella Vickers claimed the discarded sails for herself, took to her sewing machine, and stitched together a new pair of bags.

Airlines are only recycling a fraction of the waste generated on flights, resulting in hundreds of millions of pounds of waste going to landfills. Join us in encouraging 11 major airlines to reduce their waste and recycle more of it.

What airlines claim their recycling policies are and what actually happens onboard don't always align. In researching the industry, several staff members who asked about recycling on flights they took found out that what the airlines actually recycled did not always match what they claimed to recycle.

Despite the ongoing disaster in Japan, two of the largest utilities in the United States are planning to move ahead with new nuclear reactors, adding to those they already have in service. While nuclear may be a low carbon energy source, it most definitely is not clean, yet Southern Company and Dominion are still moving ahead with plans for new nuclear plants:

Since its founding more than three decades ago, popular Maine granola-maker GrandyOats' most popular product “is and has always been 'Classic Granola',” says president and head-honcho Nat Peirce.

The US Department of Labor defines a sweatshop as any factory that violates two or more labor laws, such as those pertaining to wages and benefits, working hours, and child labor. Anti-sweatshop advocates go further to say that beyond following the letter of the law (which can be very weak in many countries that attract sweatshops), a factory pay a living wage in safe working conditions, enforce reasonable work hours, provide for sick leave and maternity leave, and allow workers to organize to avoid being labeled a sweatshop.

The Green America VISA® credit card is an easy way to turn your everyday purchases into acts of social and environmental change. If you choose to use credit cards, please consider ours, issued in partnership with One PacificCoast Bank*, an FDIC-insured bank committed to sustainable community development (formerly ShoreBank Pacific).

Green Festival events were started 10 years ago in San Francisco and have branched off to include more than a dozen locations including Chicago, Washington DC, Seattle, Denver, New York, and Los Angeles. Visitors are exposed to over 300 green and eco-friendly exhibitors profiling and selling their products including organic and all-natural food and drinks, clothing, home and office products, beauty care products, sustainable building solutions, and sustainable services such as yoga, holistic medicine, and vitamins and herbs.