So, I have been out and about all day taking in nature and truly celebrating the earth.  There is nothing like starting my morning at home with my goats, Jack & Daisy, and my dogs Bo, Skye & Sophie.  I like to get in my garden, work the earth then go up and make my green drink for a fresh start to my day!  With all that I have been taking in today, I thought it would be fun to share some great green tips!

10 Things to NEVER buy again:

• Styrofoam - ANYTHING!
• Paper Towels- use rags, or towels
• Bleached coffee filters
• Farm raised salmon - always go for wild caught fish, it’s the BEST choice for you and your family!
• Bottled water - reuse glass bottles (like old vinegar bottles, etc) or wine bottles to store water in your refrigerator.
• Chemical pesticides & herbicides
• Conventional household cleaners - there are so many great green products that are earth-friendly that it seems silly to use the abrasive & dangerous chemically filled cleaners.
• Toys made with PVC plastic
• Plastic forks or spoons - Biodegradable dinnerware is the best choice and it doesn’t leave an imprint on our earth!

RECYCLING FUN!  A great initiative for recycling old shoes is to send them to Nike to be turned into playgrounds and athletic flooring for schools!  This is a great alternative for your athletics shoes, or, if you would like to reach out even further you can donate your athletic shoes to One World Running, where they will be donated to athletes in Africa, Latin America, & Haiti.

I hope you are having a beautiful and earth inspiring day today.  Thanks for stopping by and…

until next time, live green!

Love,
Jen

I am at the Farmers market weekly, sometimes a few times a week.  There is nothing I love more than to pick up local, organic fruits & vegetables and make delicious meals for my family!

I recently found a site that is so useful.   No matter what state you live in, they have created an interactive map to find out what is in season in your region by the month.  It is a great thing to be aware of what is locally raised and ready in the area you live in.  If you are buying strawberries in the winter (depending on where you live..), you may want to think about how far those strawberries have traveled to get to your table.  Buying local not only boosts local economies, it helps support your local farmer and it is a healthier approach to what you are putting on your table for your family.  Organic is always the best choice, but if for any reason you cannot get organic, buying locally will always be the better choice.  And if you can buy organic, locally, you are in a definite win-win situation.

I am attaching the link to the interactive map, go take a look and have some fun finding out what is in season in your area, the next fun step is finding great recipes to make with these items and enjoying them with your family!

As always, I am so happy to share the things that inspire me, move me, & enhance my life with you!  Thanks for stopping by and until next time, live green!

Jen

This is just a devastating situation to watch from afar.  I have been working hard getting my whole family to comb their closets and pull out clothing, shoes and blankets to donate to the Red Cross.  All donations will be shipped to Haiti to help.
Also, it’s so easy to forget in these events that not only are clothing, shoes, toiletries, blankets & food important but they are in dire need of type-O negative blood.  Type O-negative blood is like universal blood, it can be given to anyone, that’s the beauty of it.

I just thought I’d write a quick note to share my feelings with you, it’s so easy to feel helpless from afar, but, we are not!  We are so strong and capable in our own capacities to make changes worldwide.  I hope you are having a great day cleaning your closets and donating blood!  Much love!

Until next time live green!

Love, Jen

Getting around in a “foreign city” is as easy as hailing a cab however, that isn’t the greenest choice you have available these days. In fact, it’s one of the most expensive and least eco-friendly. Fortunately, more and more bigger cities are offering shuttle busses from major airports to downtown areas. In fact, you can save upwards of at least 50% if not more in the following major cities; Atlanta, Boston, New York, and San Francisco. Sharing a ride has other advantages too. You can hob-knob with other visitors and even returning locals for good area eateries and entertainment. Of course, rental cars offer more freedom and now you can rent hybrids! Enterprise boasts the largest hybrid inventory in the industry and keeps hybrids on hand in 30 major U.S. cities. Budget, Hertz, and Avis also offer Ford Escape Hybrids and Toyota Prius’ for rent but locations vary and are limited.

Till tomorrow…live green!

~Jennifer

Even on vacation, you can choose to make sound environmentally friendly choices by choosing hotels that have energy saving programs in place. According to the Energy Star website, hotels spend $4 billion on energy each year. Two major hotel chains (Hilton and Marriott) have acknowledged this waste and are taking steps to reduce their energy usage. You can help by booking your rooms with them! Hilton offered property managers an annual bonus for reducing energy costs by 5%. Nearly every manager earned that bonus in 2001. The Marriott family (Marriott, Renaissance, Courtyard, Residence Inn, Fairfield Inn, and the Ritz-Carlton) of hotels have also been a partner with Energy Star since 2001 and continues to improve. Energy audits are conducted at their various properties twice a month to make sure that all associates are actively participating in Marriott’s “energy conservation action plan”. These audits have contributed to a savings of over $4.5 million annually for Marriott Corporation. A major change that Marriott implemented was to consolidate their property’s laundry and have it serviced by an outside company that uses more energy efficient methods than they could at each individual site. Speaking of laundry, are you doing your part by using your towels and linens more than once before requesting a new set?

Till tomorrow…live green!

~Jennifer

Flying is the fastest way to get out of town, unfortunately it is also one of the least eco-friendly ways to travel however; some airlines are trying to make a difference. For instance, Jet Blue and Virgin Atlantic both have carbon-offsetting programs in place. Continental spent over 16 million dollars in 2007 in order to make its fleet more fuel-efficient. They have installed fuel-saving winglets and in addition, employ full-time environmentalists that continually advise them on how to recycle chemical waste and make their terminals “greener”. Then there is Southwest, the most efficient airline. They are the EPA’s Blue Skyways Collaborative Partner. Southwest utilizes paperless tickets, fuel-saving winglets, and have won numerous awards for their eco-efforts in noise reduction, oil recycling, and other environmentally friendly programs. So, if you must fly this summer, in addition to price, consider the environmental impact of your flight and choose one of the above airlines to get you to your destination.

Till tomorrow…live green!

~Jennifer

Independence day is tomorrow, here are 5 ways to celebrate that are not only patriotic, but also earth friendly!

1. Forgo the home fireworks, opting instead for a local show. Even better, attend a laser light show. Better yet, carpool with friends!

2. Beverages: Make your own insulated beverage holder. Keep your drinks cold in these quick and cute insulators made from fabric scraps. Serve up loads of lemonade, the perfect summer drink!

3. Food: Serve locally grown foods and products and challenge potluck guests to do the same!

4. Entertainment: Choose simple backyard games such as cornhole, bocce, Frisbee, and croquet.

5. Clean-up: Make sure to have bins for recyclables such as aluminum and glass as well as a bucket for compostable waste in addition to trash.

Till next week…live green,

~Jennifer

Here are five buildings around the country that are a “must-see”! All of them share LEED certification but all are very different!

1. Las Vegas, NV – The Palazzo – this casino is currently the largest LEED certified structure in the world. It is actually four times bigger than 2nd place!

2. Chicago, IL – PepsiCo Headquarters – The corner of Jefferson and Monroe is hard to miss now with wind turbines and solar panels on this rooftop garden This existing downtown building was one of only five in Chicago to earn LEED certification. Be sure to visit their “sustainability center” and learn how they did it and how you can lesson your carbon footprint too!

3. Miami, FL – Staples (2121 Biscayne Blvd.) – Yes, this office superstore earned a Gold LEED certification partly in thanks to the 1,300 gallon “rain barrel” that sits on the edge of the parking lot and collects rain water for use in toilets and in landscaping.

4. New York, NY – The Verdesian- This platinum level LEED certified residential building in Battery Park features fresh filtered air, low VOC paints, and FSC certified woods.

5. Los Angeles, CA - Sun Valley Branch Library– This is the only library in LA that is currently LEED certified and actually has the second highest certification possible; gold. Come see what “green” feels like and maybe check out a book on sustainability while you are there!

For other LEED certified buildings around the U.S. and the world, check out the LEED directory on the U.S. Green Building Council’s website.

Till next week…live green!

~ Jennifer

With the economy in a tailspin and the unemployment rate skyrocketing, people everywhere are looking to make a little extra money. I heard on the radio the other day that teenagers are having a hard time finding summer jobs because of all of the older unemployed had already scooped them up. The younger generation is finding ways to cope. Some enterprising young people are dumpster diving and coming up with aluminum cans which they in turn recycle. Not only are they saving all that metal from the landfill, they also boast of making about $40 a day for their eco-efforts. Others have found that their niche is an eco-friendly mowing business. Catering to the eco-conscience that don’t have time, those with reel mowers and aren’t afraid of a little hard work can really turn a lawn into some “green”. Plus, they don’t have the overhead that other lawn businesses have with gasoline and engine upkeep! It just goes to show that even in a recession, there still are jobs to be had… even eco-friendly ones!

Till tomorrow… live green!

~Jennifer