Green Options

In honor of the impending wedding season, The Nature Conservancy offers tips to make your special day one Mother Nature will celebrate.

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something… green? It’s really not as out of the ordinary as it sounds—last year, Brides.com estimated that approximately 33% of future brides and grooms in the U.S. are planning an eco-friendly wedding.

Today, The Nature Conservancy is issuing tips for planning a greener wedding or commitment ceremony, with ideas from invitations through

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If you thought the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival was cool in years past, wait’ll you get a look at this year’s lineup … not only the talent on stage, but the starring sustainability efforts backstage too.

The four-day camping festival, held annually in Manchester, Tennessee, since 2002 has grabbed accolades galore just for the great variety of performers it attracts (this year’s lineup includes everyone from Pearl Jam, Chris Rock, Kanye West and B.B. King to Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Willie Nelson and Janeane Garofalo). But it’s taken increasingly awesome steps each year to green the event onstage and off, and this year is no exception.

There’s a great new book on the shelves by award-winning author Renée Loux: Easy Green Living. Loux, who penned Living Cuisine and the Gourmand Award-winning The Balanced Plate, is a celebrated raw foods chef and host of the TV show “Easy Being Green.”

In her new book, Loux applies her whole-foods philosophy to our homes, gardens, and beauty routines, including lots of “5 Step” lists which make it easy to implement changes easily. [...]

How many people do you know who would leave the suburbs and settle on an unimproved 160 acres of land, build their home with materials from that land, and then set up their own power grid?

Jennifer Lance has done just that, and it was a pleasure talking with this school teacher-mother, who walks her talk. When she writes about family values in Eco Child’s Play, you can rest assured it comes from her [...]

Led by Nobel laureate Al Gore, The Climate Project (TCP) – a US based non-profit organization — took the lead on March 15th, 2008 in launching its India chapter by training over a hundred enthusiastic representatives of business, politics and civic society. Dr. R.K. Pachauri, chairman of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the other half of the Nobel Peace Prize 2007 was also present at this Climate Change leadership Program.

Declaring the emerging economy of India to be the future of the world, Mr. Gore asked for greater participation by all Indians in the efforts to combat climate change and secure a safer tomorrow. He also called for raising global consciousness to a higher level to address several of the so-called political challenges being faced in different parts of the world today. Developing the capacity for a vision and building a moral authority are essential to taking action together as a civilization. That according to Mr. Gore, is also the need of the hour.

“The plastic polymers commonly used in consumer products, even as single molecules of plastic, are indigestible by any known organism.”
-CHARLES MOORE / Natural History v.112, n.9, Nov03

Dwell on that quote for a minute. Dwell on it because we, as a society, are hopelessly, recklessly addicted to plastics. According to Charles Moore, every year, about 250 billion pounds of plastic pellets are produced for use in the manufacture of plastic products. After taking a tour around my house, [...]

So, I was all ready to pick a new video to feature this week, and went over to the Think Green Live Green Challenge page on YouTube to enjoy the latest offerings. Imagine my surprise when I discovered there were none! Did everyone’s video camera crash at once? Or, were the initial week’s offerings just too intimidating? C’mon, people, this is your chance: online video fame awaits you!

Seriously, though, this is a great opportunity to make your voice heard on green living. If you don’t think you’re doing some eco-unique things in your own life (and I’ll bet you’re wrong), you’ve certainly got questions about the barrage of information out there on green living. Juntoventure’s contest stands out in that it’s asking you not to simply make a video, but to join a conversation… and we can all do that. Get those cameras a’rollin’…

Also keep in mind that Juntoventure has pulled together a pretty impressive list of prize sponsors for the contest: Sierra Designs, Timberland, Pacific Outdoors, Buck Knives, Burt’s Bees, Mountainsmith, Mission Playground, and Lonely Planet. Certainly you’d like a shot at some of the swag they’re offering…

An interesting report ran in The Guardian today - offering tips on how your community could become greener by way of the green living awards.

Environmentally friendly scuba diving, a new kind of courier bicycle service, the “scrapmobile” and more. A thoroughly positive and refreshing report as we head into the weekend.

Stop in at most diners around the country and each breakfast menu reads nearly the same: Two eggs, toast, bacon. Pancakes with sausage. Cereal. Add grits, if you’re in the South. Perhaps a variation on toast in other parts of the country.

Despite the fact that we run Inn Serendipity B&B and “breakfast” is part of our business, we find the average American breakfast is, well, boring. With the same old, same old

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Today let’s talk about the merits of turnips, rutabagas, and kohlrabi. Not to mention bok choy and burdock root. Hello? Anyone out there? Please don’t panic and run away at the mention of vegetables that don’t fall into the standard pre-cut, ready for stir-fry frozen bag you see at the supermarket.

As environmental stewards, we’re used to taking the path less traveled to make a difference: pulling out the

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We may live on an organic farm powered by renewable energy, but our son, Liam, requested standard kiddie supper fare for his recent sixth birthday party: macaroni and cheese. No problem, said his parents, and we made a few casserole dishes of the mac and cheese recipe you see below. Both kids and parents ate heartily and were satisfied — and no cheese sauce came in a powdered form out

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