viva verde

i was forwarded this great thing to do in September: PARK(ing) DAY!

What is Parking Day you ask?  Started a few years back from a collective of artists, designers and activists, Parking Day is a celebration and call-to-action for public space.

How so? By parking yourself with greenery and vegetation with a hint of creativity.

(bringing the park to you!)

(lounging in the sidewalk park in NY)

this is such a great idea!  THIS NEEDS TO HAPPEN IN THE OC PEOPLE!

Just to quell some fears for those who might be doubtful, I have calculated the costs & benefits to both types of “parking”::

conventional parking: lots of oil and trash, road rage, idling and wasting fuel, leaving the scene as soon as you park, not talking to people or enjoying life.

Parking Day: making things clean and beautiful, hanging out and meeting people, relaxing and no rage, making a case for urban beautification/public space, having fun, getting your green on….

PARKING DAY IS SEPTEMBER 19th, 2008

if anyone is interested in participating, please contact our store and we will lead you to people who are working on bringing this event locally!

just when you think that the OC has nothing to offer in terms of natural living up comes one of the best natural living conventions to come along this side of the country: Expo West!

held at the Anaheim Convention Center, this event is a mecca for organic eats, supplements and now: organic living. you can really tell that the “green” movement has taken hold…parking on a Friday (the slowest day), was a no-no 30 minutes after the convention started…we took a cab, only 3 exits away to save on emotional distress!!

this convention is most definitely a power-company game: the big-time players in eco/natural-know-how are present with grand displays of the latest in natural living…definitely not for the tight budget little peeps (like us!), but all-in-all great to see what the marketplace is looking for..here’s a the scoop on what i found to be really interesting and prevalent vs. other times i have been:

-Asian companies really making a mark in the natural market: lots of green tea, and other items know as Asian (certain berries, veggies and garlic!)…you can tell the booth by their very similar and non-creative booth displays…lots of lights too-can’t miss it!

-regular, name-brand companies trying to market “green/natural”: basically take a look at you local grocery store (non-Whole Foods, you know the ones) and those people are starting to market “natural”..albeit with one product and therefore marketing the whole line as such.

-Convention Center greening: have to hand it to them, Anaheim is really embracing the biocompostables! love it! and thank you…lets hope they are composting it now…

bottom line: unless you are doing a grocery store or in the health food industry, this is NOT the place to be…i can actually see a spin-off of this convention catering specifically to the Real Deals:: Theo Chocolate, Sambazon-types who are now competing in the big leagues and i am so proud!!

great bedding n display from Under the Canopy (may see them in the store soon), so inspiring!

Earth Creations- I LOVE THEM!!!

every isle looked like this…complete craziness

a friend of mine just forwarded me this link to a world clock that counts more than just the time.  looking at all of the numbers (especially the military expenses, population and numbers of animal extinction), it really starts to put things in perspective with how much is going on and how fragile our planet is…the earth isn’t that big!

check out the scary clock

i guess this is more saving energy than saving water, but i am a HUGE fan of line-drying my wash. however, i live in Irvine, and that means: “you dry your clothes in a dryer”.

living in the ultimate “planned city” i suppose means that the plan is a yard that supports lawns rather than clothes

Project Laundry

as i may have already mentioned before, i am heading to San Francisco in November for the Green Festival & Green Business Conference, put on by the lovely people at Co-op America. This trip has been my “vacation” for the past 3 years and i am so excited about it!

being an independent business owner however (and green one) has put me in a bit of a situation of how i will be traveling there….do i fly (contributing to big-time air pollution for a trip a car could do pretty quickly & $$), or do i drive (with what car-i don’t have one, and i can’t afford the 6+ hours driving when i should be working…or better sleeping!)

well meet my new friend MEGA-BUS. this great service lines you up with bus tickets to major destinations in the US (& UK), the earlier you book, the cheaper it is…and guess how much mine was?

$ 11.50 that’s right, cheaper than what i would spend on gas for a few days! oh, yeah, this was round-trip too.

i save big-time $$, feel better about my carbon footprint, and get to listen to my iPod and read ReadyMade/ DWELL/trashy magazines to my heart’s content.

i will post about my experience starting November 6th!

i just found a good source for finding out which paper products have recycled/post-consumer content.  I must say that the 365 brand from Whole Foods does pretty well at maintaining high-levels of post-consumer fibers in their products, better than most of the other brands out there.  However, at this point i am a little shocked to see that there are still brands who completely ignore the issue of recycling like: Bounty, Viva, Charmin, Puffs (basically all the names that we grew up with).  The only excuse it that they are living in caves or have their company headquarters on a deserted island that has no communication with the outside world.

let Kimberly-Clark (company that uses virgin wood for paper products) know how  proud you are that they are ruining forests!

1. STYROFOAM: toxic in creation, use and it takes years to go away…this is one of the worst inventions in my opinion!

2.PAPER TOWELS: you can do the same job with cloth napkins…if you have to get them, go recycled/non-bleached

3.BLEACHED COFFEE FILTERS: OK, bleach-soaked filter straining your coffee, need i say more. there are non-bleach ones out now.

4.OVERPACKAGED FOODS & PRODUCTS: don’t support wasteful packaging, what are we going to do with it later!

5.TEAK & MAHOGANY: these are tropical woods. the rainforest creates fresh air for us, medicine and food (and other pluses)…is it really worth it for some furniture?

6.CHEMICAL PESTICIDES & HERBICIDES: these things are another one of the worst things that could have happened to humans. they may kill weeds & insects but they are killing us too.

7.HIGHER OCTANE GAS (than what you need): only 1 car in 10 needs this type of gas that releases more toxins.

8.TOYS MADE WITH PVC PLASTIC: the #3 plastic is known to leach toxins & off-gas, many of the paints & finishes are toxic too. Look for organic cotton, safe paints and natural/untreated wood.

9.PLASTIC UTENSILS: again, most are made with harmful plastics, and we are putting them in our mouths and using them to cook our food!

10.FARM RAISED SALMON: environmental toxins have been found in higher quantities with farmed fish.

11.RAYON: made in developing countries usually, fabric requires heavy amounts of chemicals & dry cleaning.

12.BEAUTY/BODY ITEMS W/ PARABENS & PHTHALATE: not enough research has been done on these chemical (which are in a number of products) and have been linked to birth defects & cancer.
13.CLING WRAP: many are made with PV, a plastic known to leach toxins if heated…one of the worst of the plastics.
14.CONVENTIONAL HOUSEHOLD CLEANERS: many are straight up toxic. look for biodegradable, veggie-based ingredients, no colorings or fragrances & smell them before you buy!
15.HIGH VOC PAINTS & FINISHES: Volatile Organic Compounds that can cause a number of health problems…there are safe options now!

to find out more about this list, Co-op America.