Of course, we all know the environmental benefits of eating locally grown food.    Even though it's been a very mild winter in much of the country, it's still tricky to eat locally year round.   It's tricky, but not impossible.  

Here are some tips to help you:  ... read more

• Become a seasonally savvy shopper and learn what’s in season in your neck of the woods and when.  This makes it easier to shop for local food.  Epicurious has an easy-to-use map, making it quick and simple to learn what’s in season.  You can even click on the list to get recipes in case you're stumped.  
   
• Whole Foods Markets often have locally grown produce, even in the winter.  Many of these items come from local greenhouses and root cellars.  Even if the local produce pickins are slim, Whole Foods Markets often has other local foods, such as meat, baked goods, tomato sauces, ice creams, and more.  Every Whole Foods Market in the North Atlantic region has a Forager and in Newton, Kathleen Connolly, Forager at the Newton, Massachusetts Whole Foods Market explains:  "Every Whole Foods Market in our region has a forager whose duties, in addition to their everyday responsibilities, are finding local companies whose goals and mission are similar to ours and helping them bring their product to sell at Whole Foods."
  
  

Surprise your sweetie with some green treats this Valentine’s Day!  Here are some gift ideas.  

Chocolate:

Order some fantastic chocolate from Endangered Species Chocolate.  They have chocolate bars, gourmet chocolates, and gift sets.  They support a bunch of really important eco-causes, too, so you can feel good about buying your chocolate from them!  If you can't order chocolates online in time for Valentine's Day, you can find eco-friendly chocolate at almost any supermarket.  I love Newman's Own's peanut butter cups and they're available almost anywhere.  (Hint, hint, to my Valentine!)  

One thing that gets me in the mood for the springtime is to start planning our garden while it's still winter.   In an effort to make food from our garden and other locally grown food last through the winter, my husband and I took up canning a few years ago. This year, we will be gardening with canning in mind.  

We started off with jars and jars of marinara sauce that we made to use up tomatoes – tomatoes basically took over our yard due to using our compost.  Then came a variety of salsas where we made good use of some of the delicious peppers in the backyard.  Then came jellies, jams, and preserves, thanks to local farms and our very own raspberries!  

I began reading up on the types of things you can can and what the difference is between jelly, jam, preserves, etc.  Here’s what I learned:

Jelly usually does not contain pieces of fruit, as it is made by cooking fruit juice, sugar, pectin, and lemon juice.... read more

We are thrilled to share a guest blog post with you by Jakob Barry, a home improvement journalist for Networx.com.  Here are some tips on greening the Super Bowl!

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Each year the National Football League (NFL) spends time and energy on Green-oriented projects throughout the city where the Super Bowl is taking place. 

Although most of us won’t be going to the actual game a good segment of the population will watch it from the comfort of their own homes and likely in the company of groups of others.

These gatherings, sometimes large, can be a lot of fun as Super Bowl Sunday takes on a life of its own in many communities. Nevertheless, the event has the potential to produce large amounts of waste and wasted resources across the country.