viva verde

Came home last night from a long night catering for Avanti Cafe and was catching up on the Olympics when I saw a commercial for something that made me pretty pissed-off:

SC Johnson’s new “greenlist” certification.

Guess who is in charge of granting this label to SC Johnson products that, “will help consumers identify products that are environmentally responsible and deliver the performance excellence they trust and expect from SC Johnson.”

SC Johnson of course!

Part of this advertisement was also a visual of the SC Johnson products that they were associating with the “greenlist” label.

(basically they showed these products and others like Ple*ge, Ra*d, Glad* air fresheners…yes you name it name-brand products that we have been seeing for years)

This makes me sick. They haven’t even changed the labels of the products! How stupid do they think we are (i would assume pretty stupid to pull this off). From what i have found SCJ have devised this program back in 2001; funny that we never hear of it until the beginning of 2008.

As part of my on-going efforts to help with the marketing of the large corps that try to greenwash the public i have created a a new logo for them:

please BAN all SC Johnson products!

and please support the companies that have been creating non-toxic cleaning products as 100% of their business!

This awesome customer came in yesterday and gave me a coupon for Ecover cleaning products.

I know i sound lame, but i have never dealt with a coupon. does Ecover pay me back for the money I took off the product….how does this work??

anyways, here’s a link for the coupons and go for it. up to $1.75 off!!

Still do not have the AC in, and although we have not entered the peak summer days yet, there have been a couple of distgustingly hot days that have really tested my abilities to remain cool at work.

Over the past couple of weeks i have been looking up and trying ways to remain cool until i find someone to hook-up my new Energy Star AC unit. Here are some of the low-cost and alternative things i have been trying out here.

1. good-old fresh, cold water: everyday i have been putting out a large pitcher of iced water with a variety of citrus from our CSA basket at the front door for customers to sip on while shopping.  Now it is not as good as the AC, but it is a courtesy that customers really appreciate. Honesetly though, oftentimes just the water and a fan can carry you a majority of the time.

(i use a cute vintage pitcher and biodegradable cups)

2.  Clothing:  ever heard of the guayabera??  it is a type of shirt from South America, Asia…basically everywhere it is hot all the time. It is an open-necked, loose-fitting shirt made from linen, many of them in light colors .  Even if the guayabera is not your thing, use the ideas of it and translate that to your clothing.  Also choose fabrics like hemp, bamboo and linen as they allow air to pass and your skin to breath (plus they do not hold in the stink that you build from sweating all the time!)

(basic guayabera)

3. food: back on learning from those who live in the tropics, have you ever noticed one common thing among them? They all have some super spicy eats!  Scientists believe that this might have something to do with spicy food making you sweat (and cooling the skin) without raising your temperature.  I have been trying this at work by eating spicy mango slices from the fruit cart guy that stops by the store every afternoon.

(prepping the mango with lime juice & other tasty fruits to buy)

on the subject of eating, make sure you eat smaller portions and more fruits and veggies.  Proteins and large meals make more for digestion and that means more heat produced.

4. Use your pulse point:   areas where you can feel your pulse are also areas where temperature can be felt quickly.  Apply a bag of ice or run cool  water over these places I always suggest this practice to people especially when they are at outdoor events, but i have also been doing this at the store with my Klean Kanteen filled with a cold drink.

i have an overzealous rosemary plant that has taken over 1/2 of the small front of my yard. i have exhausted the “wrapped rosemary in twine” gift that everyone i know has received at least twice and the cooking it in every meal. love the plant, but i am getting a little over it, but the plant seems to keep getting bigger…..what do i do??

lately, i have been putting the plant’s hardy branches to work in a vase here at the store. i don’t know why i haven’t thought of this earlier, but this is the perfect use of just any plant that has had growth spurts, yet you just don’t want to give it up to compost.

the left is the rosemary, well over a foot high. the right is a handful of basil in a mason jar from our CSA basket a couple weeks ago, YES a couple weeks ago! both arrangements are easy to make and you can dress them up: pebbles in the vase, the occasional flower or a few strands of twine…or keep it simple like above. i must say, people have been complimenting them quite often because of their mouthwatering smell.

in my quest to help save the Delta Spelt, i am going to dedicate the next couple of posts to saving water. the following are some really good (if not obvious) tips, and I CHALLENGE ALL THAT READ THIS TO DO THE SAME!….come on- it takes a total of 30 minutes. (taken from American Water & Energy Savers)

1. Verify that your home is leak-free, because many homes have hidden water leaks. Read your water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used. If the meter does not read exactly the same, there is a leak.

2. Repair dripping faucets by replacing washers. If your faucet is dripping at the rate of one drop per second, you can expect to waste 2,700 gallons per year which will add to the cost of water and sewer utilities, or strain your septic system.

3. Check for toilet tank leaks by adding food coloring to the tank. If the toilet is leaking, color will appear within 30 minutes. Check the toilet for worn out, corroded or bent parts. Most replacement parts are inexpensive, readily available and easily installed. (Flush as soon as test is done, since food coloring may stain tank.)

4. If the toilet flush handle frequently sticks in the flush position, letting water run constantly, replace or adjust it.

5. check your sprinklers to see if they are pointing the right way… (or better, install drip-irrigation…they grow better BELIEVE ME!)
6. don’t use water to thaw food, if you do, use a bucket and use that water for plants

note: i opted to post items that “check” your home from leaks because we had an incident at the “rat-trap” where 2 toilets were leaking..the bills were almost $300 a month in water!

people say i am creative…but i don’t really think that i am. what i really am is cheap. i would rather spend money on products for my customers and tasty food than on things that i can make myself. for example, there are tons of catalogs that sell things for retail stores. they sell anything and everything and it is all very expensive. signs and displays for items are anything from $4-$50 and you never need just one, so it really adds up.

to combat this is started using my old paint sticks and attached paper on them (which is great because if something changes, i just change the paper) and the old scraps of wood from the ceiling i tore down on in my original space.

i love co-op america..

not only do they host the GreenFest (a trip i will be blogging about in November), they send you these great little tidbits on eco-friendly living (PS sign up for their newsletter for awesome tips!). they sent me one last week on the not-so-regular recycling options.

click here to see items that you didn’t know you could recycle…

bookmark this or print it out on some high-content recycled paper, this is a definite “spread the word item”.