Friday, June 13, 2008

Green Product Alert

...Where have these been all my life? Now I'll feel so much better about all those wild parties.

(Note the "EcoEasy" logo at the bottom of the listing. Another one to watch?)

You Green Calendar - Weekend Edition

As promised, the weekend green update. I'm working on a calendar for us, so the blog can focus on commentary.

Sadly, there isn't too much going on this weekend aside from some opportunities to purchase locally grown food and other products. I suggest heading over to the Georgia Organics or Local Harvest websites (thanks, Reg!) to find other farmer's markets in your area.

*Remember to watch out when buying tomatoes, even from farmer's markets. Question the seller about his or her sources. Just because you're buying your food from a stall doesn't mean it doesn't come from a suspect source. (See here for, rather illogically, a list of states NOT associated with the outbreak.)

Saturday, June 14th

Green Market @ Piedmont Park - Farmers and local artisans share their wares near the 12th Street entrance of Piedmont Park. The event goes on every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through December 13th. Piedmont Ave. NE and 12th St. NE. Plan your route using transit.

Downtown Decatur Market - Running every weekend through November, the Downtown Decatur Market is a festival featuring local products, artists, food, and handicrafts. 777 Commerce St., Decatur, GA 30030. Plan your route using transit.

Kids FUNFEST - The Marietta based Children's Wellness Network is kicking off by hosting a family-oriented even dedicated to the four aspects of child wellness: Mind, Body, Spirit, and Soul. But if that sounds too New-Agey for you, (or if like me, you don't have any rugrats to use as an excuse to attend all this fun stuff) , they will also be showing Two Angry Moms, a documentary about mother's fighting for healthier school lunches. There will also be animals, more local products and food to buy, and other good green fun. Tickets are $10 for adults and free the kidlets. 12pm to 6pm at 1815 Ponce de Leon Ave. N.E., Atlanta, GA 30307. Plan your route using transit.

So where are all the eco-events this weekend, anyway? Does it seem to anybody else like everything in this town happens on Thursday nights? What's up with that, anyway?

Also, check back soon to find out how you can win $25,000 to fund a community project.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

The Big Green Calendar

Since this is an Atlanta-based blog, I'm attempting to keep you in the know by collecting all the Green happenings around town. Here are some ways you can get out into the community and get started making a more beautiful city today!

Thursday, June 12th

East Atlanta Village Farmer's Market - Taking place every Thursday through November 27th, from 4 p.m. to Dusk, the EAV Farmer's Market will feature local produce and dairy, arts & crafts, and often special events like Chef Tastings and entertainment. Tonight Ryan Steward from The Glenwood will share cheese and cilantro from local farms. Find the event in the parking lot of the Village Ace Hardware, 1231 Glenwood Avenue SE, Atlanta, GA 30316. Get Transit Directions.

Tap Into Trees - A tornado "ReLeaf" benefit for Trees Atlanta, hosted by Social 360, at the Standard Bar on Memorial Drive. Matt Simpson, the "Beer Sommolier" from ratebeer.com will host. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. 327 Memorial Dr., Atlanta, GA 30312. Get Transit Directions.

"Gas-tronomical -- How Do We Survive the New Gas Crisis?" Salon -- The Bound to Be Read Books monthly salon takes place every second Thursday of the month and consists of topics picked by last month's salon attendees. This week they will discuss a topic that's on everybody's mind. Be here to kvetch, compare notes, find an audience for your conspiracy theory, or even if you just feel like getting your Gertrude Stein on. 481-B Flat Shoals Avenue SE, Atlanta, GA 30316. Get Transit Directions.

Remember, if you have any Green or Eco-Friendly event news, drop me a note so I can post it here.

Check back tomorrow for your weekend update!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Informative Link Time

The enemy of a good blogger is time, so instead of giving you a well researched, thoughtful post, I'm here to pass on a few links that should save you time in your quest to get green. (Maybe they'll save you more time than they've saved me, seeing is that I don't have time for a larger post right now.)

Ideal Bite - Become a "Biter" by signing up for their mailing list to receive daily Green tips. My favorite things about this service are that each succinct tip always includes at least two informative websites, and the service is going city-specific, with the Atlanta edition of Ideal Bite slated to begin in late 2008. I haven't found any downsides yet, but will keep you posted.

Big Green Purse - Run by author and conservationist Diane McEachern, this site is a woman's guide to shifting her spending toward clean, green, and eco-friendly products of all stripes. Big Green Purse cuts through the "greenwashing" and delivers the real green deal on shopping, while reminding us that using our purchasing power for good is the number one way to ensure a green world, stat. Even better, though billed as a site about shopping, BGP encourages reuse when possible. Be warned, if you've been at this for awhile, you may find some of the tips simplistic or even common sense. Just keep in mind that the site is shopping oriented and try not to cringe when reading that one of the ways to beat high gas prices is to "drive less." (It's oriented toward women, fellas, but don't let that discourage you from visiting. If you like, pretend it's Big Green Murse.)

The Daily Green - This is a site I haven't explored so much, mainly because it's so overwhelming. Instead of focusing on, say, shopping or a single daily tip, it's chock full o' articles, ideas, lists, recipes, weather, and just about everything you can imagine an informational web site would offer. (Including advertisements. Yuck.) Like it's content, the site's navigation can be a little all over the place, but for general questions, news, and some green-related things you wouldn't think to Google, this is your place.

And last but not least a not-necessarily-green recommendation, but one that will help you make the world a better place:

Kiva.org - According to their About Us page, Kiva is the world's first person-to-person microlending website. Basically, you log in, and start browsing through pictures and stories of real entrepreneurs in the developing world, and then lend a minimum of $25 to the entrepreneur of your choice. You can sort by industry, area of the world, etc. I made my first loan to a group in Mexico running a grocery store, and my second loan to a tough-looking female taxi driver in Bolivia. (You can see my picture on the bottom of both pages as one of the lenders. Hi!) As for downsides, my counterpart over at Green Pepper worries about corruption among Kiva's partners (the institutions that handle the actual loans) in developing countries, but as a safeguard, Kiva displays each partner program's repayment history using a star system. Kiva also recently got into a kerfluffle with animal rights activists after one of their partners requested a loan to fund a cockfighting venture in Peru. You'll have to let your conscience and sense of cultural relativism be your guide here, but you can read the Kiva CEO's response to the loan here.

Be prepared. Rather than saving you time, Kiva is likely to turn into an addiction. No matter how broke you are, expect to find a minimum of five people you want to throw money at every time you log in. Don't say I didn't warn you.



Now for the question portion of the blog. Is there a green or sustainability related issue you'd like to know more about? Post it here, and in the spirit of the sites I linked you to today, I'll do the research and give you an answer in an upcoming post. You can ask about anything from the viability of alternative energy sources to where to buy a yummy, locally grown onion.