Archive for November, 2007
November 29th, 2007
December Green Events
You can overcome the dark days of winter by joining in some green holiday cheer. We found an eco-ice skating event in Texas, a warm winter hike in Florida, a green gift fair in California and a sustainable home and garden show in Oregon, just to name a few. Green events are the perfect foil to the stress and craziness of the season.
North Texas, 8th Annual, A Night of Holiday Magic, December 1st, 2007
The city of North Richland Hills is bringing an environmentally friendly ice skating experience to North Texas at it’s 8th annual A Night of Holiday Magic event. A synthetic ice rink will be set up for the first time at A Night of Holiday Magic and will provide holiday skating enjoyment to children of all ages! The rink ice is actually made of an exclusive, eco-friendly, non-toxic, recyclable, polymer compound. Microscopic beading on the rink surface provides optimum skating performance. Skaters use regular figure skates on the synthetic rink, which holds up better than real ice and is not impacted by temperature changes. It requires no refrigeration and no electricity, unlike real ice rinks. The Houston Skate Park is the company that is providing the synthetic rink.
A Night of Holiday Magic will be on December 1, 2007 from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 at the NRH Municipal Complex off Mid-Cities and Iron Horse Blvd. The cost to skate for 15 minutes on the synthetic ice rink will be $2.
Ft. Pierce, Florida, Eco-Holiday Crafts and Hike, December 8th & 15th, 2007
Spend an Eco-Holiday at the Oxbow Eco-Center in Ft. Pierce. Make some crafty gifts, and then enjoy a hike along our trails. There will be a variety of crafts to choose from. Appropriate for ages 3 and up. $3 per participants ages 6 and up, 12:30 - 2:30 p.m.
For more information visit The Oxbow Eco-Center
San Francisco, Build Your Own Biodiesel Processor, December 12th, 2007
Manufactured biodiesel processors can cost anywhere from $1500 to $7000. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to build your own, small-scale (~40 gallon) biodiesel processor from start to finish using materials that cost less than $700! By the end of this workshop, you’ll be well on your way to making your own affordable, cleaner-burning alternative to petroleum diesel!
For more information please visit the Solar Living Institute.
New York City, Green Drinks Holiday Party, December 13th, 2007
This extra special GreenDrinks event, where every month people who work in the environmental field meet up for casual networking, is hosted by o2NYC, Green Home NYC, AIA COTE, Green Ground Zero, Brooklyn Green Drinks, and Greenlinks. The party is on Tuesday December 13th from 6:00pm - 11:00pm. The location is Sweet and Vicious, 5 Spring Street (between Elizabeth and Bowery). There’s a $10 cover charge.
Washington D.C., Ecobuild and AEC-ST Fall, December 10th - 13th, 2007
Ecobuild Fall and AEC-ST Fall is an annual event that goes beyond green to cover the breadth of green building, sustainable design, renewable energy, environmental planning processes and information collaboration strategies for commercial, industrial, institutional and residential construction.
Organized by the Green Building Initiative and Green Mechanical Council. For more information visit http://www.ecobuildfall.com/fallhome.html
Eco Gift Expo, Santa Monica, CA, Dec. 15th – 16th, 2007
Eco-conscious gift show providing an uplifting experience and a solution to the difficult emotions, inconveniences and terrible waste associated with the holidays. This year, Eco Gift Expo will donate 10% of its gross proceeds to The Whole Planet Foundation and Global Green USA. All Eco Gift Expo vendors have the opportunity to participate in our philanthropy program, known as The Book of Giving and Receiving. By opting in, our vendors agree to donate 10% of their sales at Eco Gift Expo to the expo’s charities, The Whole Planet Foundation and Global Green USA.
Located at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, general admission is $10, children (12 and under) and seniors get in for free, www.ecogift.com.
Chicago, AIA Green Holiday Party, December 18th, 2007
Join AIA Chicago for their annual holiday party and celebration. They will honor all local members who worked towards a more sustainable Chicago in 2007 and peer into 2008’s programming. This event is free. Bring a dish to share. Drinks will be provided.
For information, please visit: http://www.aiachicago.org/events.asp
Eugene, OR, Good Earth Home, Garden & Living show, January 25th, 2007.
As America’s first totally Sustainable Home and Garden Show, this 3-day event is Oregon’s green design, build, and remodel marketplace. Shop and source in 7 stylish pavilions presenting over 250 exhibits: homes, gardens, ReThink, 2 Go, Food, Living, and an Arts & Books Pavilion. Exhibits range from manufacturers, trades people, contractors, to the UO Architecture Ecological Design Center.
For more information, please visit: www.EugeneHomeShow.com
Did we miss an event? Please let us know! Send an email to info@lowimpactliving.com. Thanks!
November 28th, 2007
Eco-Toys & Games
How does one define a toy or game as “eco-friendly?” The basic materials, the paints and dyes, and the manufacturing process all come into play. Ideally, every toy would be handmade by local artisans using recycled, organic, or renewable resources and plant-based dyes. Sound difficult? Compared to how it used to be, it’s a piece of cake to find green toys & games. 10 years ago all you could find were some pretty boring unpainted pieces from Europe. Now there are a bevy of entertaining, attractive, healthy green toys. Here Low Impact Living will help you wade through the greenwashing and gift your little ones (and not so little ones) some really fun stuff this season.
For Babies
Start training them early to eat their vegetables with this Veggie Crate from Under the Nile. Teething children can safely gnaw on a carrot, tomato, green bean and mushroom made of 100% organic Egyptian cotton. Veggies have never looked this cute! $26.00 (To see more great items from Under The Nile please go to our games and toys section.)
You can send your baby off to bed safe and sound with the Organic Sheep Music Box by Lana Organics.The outside of the sheep is 100% organic cotton and the filling is pure wool, which is a renewable resource. When you pull the cord, the sheep plays “Sleep Baby Sleep…” It’s just snuggly and adorable. Could be good for some adults out there as well! $61.50
For Toddlers
Toymaker ImagiPLAY crafts gorgeous toys by hand using eco-friendly woods and non-toxic paints for ages 3+. We love ImagiPLAY’s stylish & sustainable “Toys with Integrity.” They are earth-friendly, socially responsible toys that highlight the natural world around us. Inspiring children’s imaginations with colorful puzzles, playsets and more, these toys are safe for children and their planet.
Children can learn their ABC’s while assembling Puff the Alphabet Dragon and their 123’s with the Number Iguana. (Iguana shown at right.) The Majestic Oak makes a fun puzzle or a beautiful decoration in any child’s room. Their puzzles range from $14.99-36.99
Hairy the Lemur by Xeko is made from Soysilk, an organic fiber made from the excess material from the manufacturing of tofu. Hairy is based on one of the cutest and most endangered lemurs on earth, the Hairy-eared Dwarf Lemur. In the wild, it is the smallest lemur in the world — the size of a walnut! By Xeko, Hairy is 5 inches long with an 8 inch tail. He is only $16.99.
For Kids 4-8 Marble Run is an exciting set of building blocks for children 4+ that encourages logical thinking, rudimentary engineering, and tons of giggles. All the blocks are made from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood. $49.95
Taraluna brings us toys made by a fair trade co-op in India, using sustainably harvested wood and non-toxic vegetable dyes and coatings. Timeless classics can be handed down from generation to generation like this Tic Tac Toe set, Winding Top (shown at right), and Large Prism. These toys range between $5-20.00.
Mission: Costa Rica by Xeko teaches kids 8+ how to build a thriving ecosystem to support rare and exotic animals. Printed on recycled materials with soy-based inks, this brilliant game is the winner of Creative Child Magazine’s Top Toy of the Year 2006. Additionally, Xeko donates 4% of the net game sales to Conservation International. When has giving a board game ever felt this good? $32.50
Venture Arctic is an ecosystem simulation game for download (no wasteful packaging) on PC. Players control the forces of earth, wind, water & sun to change the seasons for polar bears, orca & more. Authentic Inuit sculpture and lore inspire the story and the artwork. $29.95
Bioviva teaches kids about topics ranging from the solar system to plant and animal behaviors to world geography. Bioviva is made of recycled materials and non-toxic vegetal inks; all post-production waste is recycled as well. Bioviva teaches a deeper lesson by really walking their talk. $20.25
You can always increase the green factor of the toys you give to children by:
- + Buying gently used gifts from Craigslist, yard sales, or enjoying hand-me-downs from friends or Freecycle
- + Wrapping gifts in the Sunday comics or reusable gift bags
- + Teaching children to treat their toys with care so they can be passed on in the family as heirlooms or resold to amazing online consignment shops like The Conscious Child
Bringing so much thought and care to a gift makes it more fun and meaningful to give. Happy hunting!
November 27th, 2007
Organic Dining Across America: New York City
It has been said by many that the single thing one misses most when they move away from New York City is the food. Variety and quality of cuisine abound in equal amounts in a city named after one of nature’s greatest culinary staples. In the Big Apple, organic dining is a pleasure and Low Impact Living is about to hand you the keys to the city…
Mas (farmhouse), known to most simply as Mas, is an exquisite little gem nestled on Downing Street deep in the West Village. Chef Galen Zamarra’s daily menus are replete with stunning examples of how the bounty of New York’s local farm country can awaken the jaded palettes of longtime city dwellers. Zamarra knows his farmers, fishermen and cheesemakers personally…and it shows through in food that’s organic, seasonal, well-loved and downright gorgeous. Owner and Mixologist, Thomas Wilson, sources local eau de vie and serves them side-by-side with their better known European counterparts, offering both food critics and neighborhood regulars alike the chance to try something handmade, high-quality and hard to find. He brings a personal touch to the bar that is very rare and extremely charming, like his acclimation that his Lebanese rosewater and house-infused vanilla vodka martini “smells like the air before a snowstorm,” which this Massachusetts native probably knows a thing or two about.
The wine list at Mas is a delight to any connoisseur of French and American wine, though you’d never guess by looking at it that most of the wines are biodynamically or organically grown. Whether you’re savoring the Roasted Monkfish with Sweet Corn and Scallion Fondue or the Black River Blue “cheese cake” with figs, honey granite, and pecan tuile, there is an absolutely exquisite wine by the glass that the knowledgable staff here can pair for you perfectly. The warmth and choreographed grace of the service here is unmatched. Mas (farmhouse) certainly wins my heart as New York City’s Best of the Best…and where else can you get a pristine set of Kumamoto oysters topped with American caviar and a glass of Pierre Gimmonet champagne at 3am? Je ne sais pas!
Mas is located at 39 Downing Street, New York (212) 255-1790
Habana Outpost
If you’re looking for a meal that will not test the boundaries of your bank account, it’s time to head deep into the heart of Brooklyn. Now this borough has character, and it doesn’t stop at Habana Outpost… it’s just getting started. This younger sibling to Manhattan’s Cafe Habana is, in the words of Brooklyn native MC Lyte, “funky, fresh, dressed to impress, ready to party.” Inside, graffiti artist Lee Quinones, most famous for his lead role in Wild Style, has recreated his 1978 Donald Duck piece on the far wall. If you want to admire this ode to the old school for a moment, grab a seat at one of the picnic tables built with Trex, a composite lumber made of recycled plastic grocery bags, reclaimed pallet wrap and waste wood. A bright red food truck parked in the outdoor courtyard is the Outpost’s only kitchen. There you can find head cook Oscar Teco serving up Habana Outpost classics like grilled corn, cactus salad, and catfish burritos. If you want something tasty to wash down this Latin-flavored grub, you can grab a Jarritos soda, a frozen Mojito, or bravely mount the in-house “Bike Blender” and ride your way to a delicious fruit smoothie. If you’re there on the weekend, pour that smoothie into a biodegradable cornstarch cup and wander through the incredible outdoor bizarre full of jewelry, clothing, and art by local designers. Nights bring all kinds of fun to this eco-eatery, from movies under the stars to burlesque performances hosted by the infamous “Run Around Sue.” Whether you check out the sustainable energy and composting workshops, the kid’s corner, or just park yourself in a swing under the solar panel awning sipping a margarita, at Habana Outpost you are definitely in for a good (green) time.
Habana Outpost is located at 757 Fulton Street, Brooklyn (718) 858-9500
Angelica Kitchen
Back in Manhattan’s East Village, Angelica Kitchen has been turning out delicious macrobiotic comfort food for decades. Their commitment to stewarding the environment coincides perfectly with their commitment to turning out an incredibly tasty meal. The Dragon Bowl and Wee Dragon are Angelica Kitchen staples, a build-your-own meal comprised of a grain, bean, vegetable, and dressing of your choice along with Southern-style or Angelica cornbread. (Go Angelica cornbread with the ginger carrot spread and you won’t be sorry!) If you’re in the mood for something raw, there are the highest quality organic salads and juices of every seasonal flavor. For the record, you absolutely can not beat the Hot Open Face Tempeh Sandwich on a cold New York day — slices of sourdough baguette topped with baked tempeh, smothered in savory mushroom gravy, and served on a bed of spinach with a scoop of mashed potatoes. Yum-my. If you’re eating solo and do decide on the tempeh sandwich, make sure to eat it at Angelica Kitchen’s 12-seat community table…at least there you’ll have someone to share your moans of delight with.
Angelica Kitchen is located at 300 East 12th Street, New York (212) 228-2909
November 27th, 2007
How-To Tuesday: Greening Your Home
If you’re reading this blog, we suspect that you’re either thinking about or in the midst of greening your home. Believe it or not, building green into a new home or a major remodeling project is often easier than starting with an existing home - your choices are somewhat defined, and you can find more sources of information each day. But what if you want to start making changes simply for the sake of reducing your environmental impact? Where should you start? In this piece, I’ll share my perspective on where to stick that green toe in the water.
Over the past year, I’ve had the opportunity to visit many different families to help them create more eco-friendly homes. More often than not, their first questions are “How can I install solar panels?” or “What are the best options for green countertops”? Very relevant and laudable questions to be sure, but ones with fairly expensive answers! While we at Low Impact Living help with questions like these, we also try to help people understand that they can make many simpler changes that protect the planet and save money - money that they can use to fund those larger projects.
Typically, we recommend that people make changes in a particular sequence. As an example, everyone wants a tankless or solar hot water heater. But if you install one before you install low-flow showerheads, faucet aerators, and Energy Star clotheswashers and dishwashers, you’ll likely be buying one that is 50-100% bigger and more expensive than what you truly need. So, we recommend a four-step process for greening a home:
1. Make the easy changes that are free or inexpensive and offer major benefits. In almost every home we visit, nearly 10-20% of the possible savings come from simple, free changes in behavior. Examples include reducing the temperature of a hot water heater, shutting off all lights when you leave a room, unplugging electronic devices when not in use, and turning off the tap when you’re brushing your teeth. Another 20% can come from projects that are inexpensive or that pay for themselves in a very short period of time. Tops on this list are installing compact fluorescent lighting, installing efficient showerheads and sink aerators, and insulating your hot water heater.
2. Upgrade key appliances or home systems such as home insulation or energy-efficient windows. If you live in a very cold or very hot part of the country, then upgrading your insulation and windows or installing an efficient furnace might make sense. In more temperate areas, you should probably start by upgrading to Energy Star (or better) appliances. We often focus on the clotheswasher - it is a quadruple-whammy! You save energy, carbon dioxide (via saved energy), fresh water, and sewage production, all in one project. Because these projects are more expensive, it often pays to run some numbers first to find the best ones for your situation - we find the calculators on the Energy Star website, the Home Energy Saver calculator, and yes, our own Environmental Impact Calculator at Low Impact Living to be good places to start. Oh, and many states and utilities offer generous subsidies for these projects - you can find a complete list organized by state at the DSIRE website, www.dsireusa.org.
3. Install “renewable” systems. Solar PV (electric), solar hot water, wind energy, greywater systems - these projects bring a sparkle to any green homeowner’s eye! They do have amazing benefits but are still quite expensive. They do pay for themselves over time (and often in less time than you would think), but they still require an up-front investment of thousands of dollars. We can’t wait for the day when prices come down so that many of us can produce our own power and treat and reuse our own wastewater at home. Until then, though, do yourself a favor and start with the upgrades mentioned above first - as I said earlier, you can really cut the price of these systems by up to 50% if you invest a little bit in some carefully chosen projects before hand.
4. Purchase offsets for whatever is left over. Offsets are a great way to cancel out that last remaining portion of your carbon footprint or to neutralize the emissions from your recent cross-country flight. But offsets aren’t the answer to global warming - why pay someone else to reduce their carbon footprint for you when there are so many great and inexpensive ways to do it in your own home? Also, carbon offsets are just carbon - they don’t clean up your indoor air, make your home more comfortable, or save multiple environmental resources like most green home projects do. And, they don’t save you money. There’s nothing more satisfying than making some changes in your own home and seeing the difference in lower utility bills several months later.
Which brings me to my last point: start everything by getting to know your utility bills. How much does your electricity, natural gas / heating oil, and water actually cost you? How do they vary by season? By tracking them through time, you’ll start to see some interesting changes and opportunities to cut back - that summer AC or winter heating “bump”, the way that your electricity use will increase as the hours of winter darkness increase, or that summer irrigation bulge caused by your thirsty lawn. Mark down when you do major projects, and look for changes in your next bills. As a green homeowner, there’s nothing more satisfying than actually seeing your load on the planet lighten with each passing month!
November 26th, 2007
Top 10 Residential Products from GreenBuild
The search for new green products can be both overwhelming and often frustrating. Swimming through the sea of green claims to find the shining pearls can be overwhelming. Here are our 10 favorite green residential products that exhibited at the recent GreenBuild 2007 National Expo. We feel that each of these products offers real environmental value. You be the judge and pick your favorite!
1. Green Screen– Headquartered in Los Angeles, CA.
Want a green wall or fence? Try the Green Screen panelized system to create a grid for plants to grow in, around, and through. The panels constructed from recycled steel and can be either free standing elements or attached to walls. Customizable sizing allows them to curve, bend, or stack. Then you plant your climbing plants (flowering, evergreen, or deciduous– you choose) and watch the wall become a green wonderland. (See image above.) Explore beyond lumber with your new alternative to a conventional fence at www.greenscreen.com.
2. Agriboard Industries – Headquartered in Wichita, KS.
Agriboard Industries chose to redefine the Structural Insulated Panel (SIP), and has introduced an all natural alternative. The unique Agriboard panel compresses wheat straw as the core between plywood panels. The wheat straw is a rapidly renewable agricultural bi-product and the plywood is oriented strand board, OSB, which is typically made from recycled wood chips. The insulative value is equal to competitive products, but the structural capacity of this product rises above the competitors. You can check it out at www.agriboard.com.
3. Canopy – Headquartered in Portland, OR.
Canopy boards are your answer to eco-friendly cabinetry, furniture, case-goods, and wall panels. The boards are made from rapidly renewable agricultural by-products or sustainably grown and harvested wood. Options include Dakota Burl Fusion, made from sunflower seed hulls, and and Wahkeena board which is made from formaldehyde free, FSC certified wood chips and strands from 25 species of wood. www.canopylifestyle.com.
4. EcoDomo– Headquartered in Rockville, MD.
Who says leather can’t be green? We’re not just talking about the dye! EcoDomo LLC is recycling all the scraps from the leather industry and making some fabulous flooring tiles. The product is made from 65% recycled leather, 20% natural rubber and 15% Acacia Tree Bark compressed together into a variety of textural molds such as Crocodile or Buffalo skin. The tiles will gain a natural patina over time which can be easily maintained with beeswax. Vegans beware. www.ecodomo.com.
5. GreenGrid – Headquartered in Vernon Hills, IL.
Get all the benefits of a green roof in a modular system. Green Grid roof tiles allow anyone to install a green roof without any difficult or costly preparation. The 2ft x 2ft modules come in a recycled plastic casing and install on any roof that has enough of a slope for drainage. The benefits include providing insulation, offsetting the heat island effect, and turning a normal roof into a garden of opportunity for any homeowner. www.greengridroofs.com.
6. Durapalm– Smith & Fong, headquartered in San Fransisco, CA.
Durapalm is the newest introduction from Smith & Fong and they are changing the way we look at coconuts. The palmwood comes from plantation grown non-producing coconut palms removed from the forest after 80 years of production. The mature multiple layers from these trees create stable and durable flooring, plywood, and woven wall panel products with great beauty. Crack open the potential at www.durapalm.com.
7. CoveringsETC – Headquartered in Miami,FL.
You can’t find a better variety of recycled surfaces than at CoveringsETC. Their latest introduction, Eco-Cem (pictured at right), is a cement panel with recycled fibers used for floors and walls. They also have Bio Glass, recycled fused glass countertops, and Eco-Terr terrazzo tiles with recycled content. Put the pieces together at www.coveringsetc.com.
8. DuraGreen by Ankmar – Headquartered in Kansas City, KS.
These garage doors are a great alternative to traditional wood doors. DuraGreen garage doors are SCS certified for recycled content made of composite wood fibers. The Gallantry Series is for those who appreciate the richness of traditional wood doors, but care about economics and the environment. Find your new door at www.ankmar.com.
9. EcoStar by Carlisle –Headquartered in Carlisle, PA
Make an environmental statement in your neighborhood with EcoStar roofing tiles. You can achieve the look of standard slate or asphalt shingles, but be eco-friendly with recycled polymer composites that come in a variety of sizes, shapes and colors to match your personal style. Cover your house at www.premiumroofs.com/products.html.
10. Warmboard –Headquartered in Aptos, CA
Don’t neglect your feet! Make sure they are always warm and toasty with the Warmboard radiant flooring panels. Warmboard combines a structural subfloor and radiant heating panel into one flooring system. You can install virtually any flooring product on top of Warmboard for a fabulous and energy efficient heating system for the whole house. Toast your toes at www.warmboard.com.
Thanks for tuning in for our Top 10 of Greenbuild 2007! Have fun exploring your new green home options and check back for our TOP 10 Low Impact Living consumer products from 2007.
November 25th, 2007
Recycle & Share Books with 2SWAP.com
I want to let you know about a very cool new green service. Our good friends at 2SWAP.com have just unveiled their new environmentally friendly book swapping website. If you haven’t heard of it yet, 2SWAP.com is a web community dedicated to freeing captive books in America. Their motto: “Free your books, the rest will follow.”
Believe it or not, there are literally billions of books sitting captive on American bookshelves right now. Most of them have been read once or twice, are in great condition, and won’t be used ever again. By freeing captive books, 2SWAP.com spreads knowledge and conserves precious natural resources. It’s a lot better for the environment if a bunch of people share one book, rather than manufacturing a bunch of books.
Membership in 2SWAP.com is free. You simply sign up, list a few books you’re willing to share, and they’ll give you some free swap credits to shop for any book you want on the site. You can get up to three free credits if you list 10 books, which will take you less than 10 minutes. When you request a book, it shows up in your mailbox a few days later. If someone requests one of your books, you’ll get an email from 2SWAP telling you to mail it out (with the automatically generated PDF mailer). You’ll have to pay postage out of your own pocket. It’s usually about $2 per book. You shouldn’t mind paying to send out books, because when you receive them, it’s totally free – so really you make out like a bandit.
In another environmentally friendly twist, 2SWAP suggests mailing your books with virtually no packaging. We didn’t believe it would work, but it totally does. Simply print the PDF mailing label from the link they send you, tape the piece of printer paper over the open side of the book, hit it with some postage, and send it on its way. Like they said, “Free Your Books, The Rest Will Follow.” To join 2SWAP.com free of charge, go here. After you sign up, if you send an e-mail to Info@2SWAP.com with your 2SWAP username and Low Impact Living in the subject line, you’ll get one EXTRA swap credit, just because. High five to that!
