User login

Making your vino green-o!

Posted by krissy on January 31st, 2012

eco-friendly wine Every autumn, we spend the day at our favorite orchard and winery, Russell Orchards in Ipswich, Massachusetts. We take a hayride pulled by a tractor that uses their own donut grease as fuel, pick wonderful apples, and taste wine. We have a fabulous time whenever we go and we stock up on their homemade wine. Most of their wines ciders are made from fruit that they grow right on the farm, making the wine a localvore’s dream.

We love the experience of visiting the orchard, but more importantly, I love the idea of drinking locally made wine made of locally grown fruit. It definitely helps to green the wine-drinking experience.... read more

Food

Let's Rethink Stuff!

Posted by Mary Munroe on January 30th, 2012

I like to think of my self as “green” and care about the environment, but I was really taken aback when my daughter Michelle said that I like stuff and that my generation is really into stuff. I realize that I do like “stuff” but at the same time I am pretty appalled by it.

I am from an island called Lussin (Veli Losinj) in current-day Croatia, I was born in 1955 and it still had the World War II effect and we lived pretty simply. Electricity, but no indoor plumbing. I knew where the food came from… from the ground, the fish from the sea, and the meat from the animals I saw roaming around… such as the lamb that grazed the olive grove. When I had a tummy ache my nonna would make me chamomile tea.

So, moving to the US at age 8 things did not seem natural. We lived in Astoria, NY and the cement on the ground was very disturbing, the subway was pretty amazing but dirty, life in NY was not pretty. It was very disturbing. I would think why so much garbage, dirt. Dirt in Lussin smelled sweet, it actually energized me. In Lussin at that time we did not have garbage pickup, but we didn’t have litter all over like Astoria did. Why?? How confusing to a little child. We were in America!! Before coming to the US we lived in a refugee camp and all the pain was worth it because we were going to America. What a disappointment to land at JFK and see the dirty snow and be taken to a basement apartment my aunt lived in.... read more

Home

Making Your Bedrooms Eco-Friendly

Posted by Green Goes Simple on January 25th, 2012

Green Goes Simple: Conservation at Home

How Healthy Is Your Bedroom?

By Marisa Belger for Green Goes Simple

The kitchen may be the most popular room in the house, but the bedroom is where you clock the most time. Human beings dedicate one third of their lives to sleeping. With good reason: Sleeping refreshes the body and mind, recharging you for the next day. And while you can’t control many of the factors that interfere with slumber -- noisy neighbors, early-bird toddlers, antsy dogs -- a few simple changes can transform your ordinary bedroom into a snoozing sanctuary.

Emily Anderson, eco-style expert and author of Eco-Chic Home, has developed a 10-step plan to improve your bedroom health.... read more

Home

Preparing Your Garden for Spring - even if it's still winter!

Posted by krissy on January 25th, 2012

I saw something very exciting at the grocery store over the weekend: a display of seed packets! On the same day of the first significant snowfall in Massachusetts this winter, the display of seed packets was like seeing a little ray of sunshine - right there in Stop & Shop! Seed packets for sale can only mean one thing...spring is in the foreseeable future!

Even though it's nowhere near spring in many parts of the U.S., thinking about your garden is definitely a reality.

How can you get your garden ready even if it's still winter?... read more

A New Green Home in Newton, Massachusetts

Posted by krissy on January 23rd, 2012

I recently had the opportunity to view the construction of a sustainable house being built in my neighborhood in Newton, Massachusetts. The home was designed by LDa Architecture and Interiors, based out of Cambridge, MA.

... read more

Giveaway! Tinted Stainless Steel Food Container with Divider from New Wave Enviro

Posted by krissy on January 19th, 2012

Remember the awesome stainless steel food container that I reviewed last week? Now it's time to win one, courtesy of New Wave Enviro!

Here are the giveaway rules:... read more

Food,
Home

A Greener Party

Posted by Green Goes Simple on January 18th, 2012

Green Goes Simple: Conservation at Home

Planet-friendly Parties

By Elizabeth Barker for Green Goes Simple

By making a few easy changes to your party-planning strategy, you can cut back on waste, reduce your use of natural resources and even slash your spending budget. Here, Green Chic author Christie Matheson serves up eight tips for eco-fabulous entertaining:

1. Ditch the disposable goods and use your own tableware. Not enough to go around? Consider renting what you need or borrowing from a friend. You can also check your local chapter of Freecycle.org, an online community where members give away used household items.... read more

Home

Greening Household Chores

Posted by Green Goes Simple on January 13th, 2012

Green Goes Simple: Conservation at Home

Everyday Chores Get Greener

By Amy Levin-Epstein for Green Goes Simple

Ready to make some eco-friendly changes, but not sure where to begin? Start with the things you do each day: chores!

Yes, even small shifts in your daily cleaning routines can have positive effects on the planet -- no extra elbow grease required. “People have a sense that with green cleaning there is more scrubbing, or it is more expensive, or it doesn’t work. These are all myths,” says green-cleaning expert Annie B. Bond, author of Clean and Green and Better Basics for the Home.

Add these simple tips to your daily chore toolbox and you’ll be a green, clean, dirt-fighting machine in no time: “Going green takes some time to figure out, but once you get it, you’re set for life,” says Bond.... read more

Greening up My Apartment & City Dwelling: Phase 1

Posted by Jocelyn on January 2nd, 2012

Although I've never been one much for "New Year's Resolutions," this year, I've been doing a lot of thinking about my way of "green living" and am dedicated to step it up a notch in 2012. Since leaving the ranch and the idyllic Montana country girl life I grew up with and transitioning over the last 7 or 8 years to apartment life and city dwelling, there have been many aspects of what I deemed green living that I simply gave up on or didn't think to see if they were feasible. The biggest is gardening. Without endless acres at my fingertips, and in fact, not a blade of grass that I can put my name to, I sadly simply stopped thinking of growing green things, of watering tender plants and plucking stubborn weeds. Composting followed shortly behind it. I grew up with a large "compost pile" just over the fence and down the hill and that seemed natural and easy enough, but how could I compost in an apartment, and even more, why would I compost in an apartment? Turns out, I don't need to give up either one of those, and in 2012, I don't plan to any longer!. Here's what I plan to do in "Phase 1" of my Green Up.... read more