Supermarkets Shifting to Greener Buildings

Both Shaw’s Supermarkets and Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. are making their stores greener, revealing a green commercial architecture trend that could grown from $3 billion in 2006 to $27 billion by 2010, the Patriot Ledger reports. Shaw’s Supermarket is building a store in Newton, Mass., that will get 90 percent of its electricity from a [...]

Being green, for less

Filed under: Home, Tips, GreenFinance

Derek over at Eco Child's Play has come up with a pretty good list of 30 green ways to stretch your budget. First and foremost, use what you have before you go and buy some new green thing. Check your house for bags you can use to tote groceries home before you buy new ones.

Don't decide you have to use cloth napkins when you have 400 paper napkins still in the pantry. Follow the mantra my Grandmother used to remind me of, "Use it up, wear it out, make do, do without." Couple that with reducing, reusing and recycling and finding the extra cash to buy organic milk shouldn't be such a big deal.

Some of those green budget stretchers?

• Plan your errands. Instead of making multiple trips to the store, the cleaners and the post office each week, make one planned trip to take care of all your errands. This also saves money because you aren't constantly in stores being tempted to buy more stuff.
  
• Shop at thrift stores and garage sales, especially for children's clothing.
  
• Plant a garden.
  
• Go to the library instead of the bookstore.
  
• Put up a clothesline to reduce dryer usage.
  
• Give up television, or at least cable (or maybe at least premium cable).
  

Each thing on its own might not save you bunches but together, those 30 things can make a big difference for your wallet and the environment.

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Elizabeth Hurley plans to expand her organic food line beyond the pigs

Filed under: Celebrities, Food

Lately Elizabeth Hurley's been getting more attention for her bio-dynamic farm than any acting she's doing - quick, name her last film! Can't do it, can you? But you probably do know that you can buy Hurley Old Spot Bacon, if only because Kelly just told you about it last week. Not to mention all of the "Hurley's Got The Best Pork" double entendre headlines.

Well, Liz knows how to milk a good thing. In New York for a Breast Cancer Awareness event, she told People that her next enterprise will be developing a line of healthy, organic and low fat food. She talked about the connection between food and health, and how important it is for women to maintain a low fat diet.

I'm not sure exactly how she's going to reconcile the whole pig-bacon-fat thing with low-fat-healthy, but I do applaud her effort to spread the word about organic foods and women's health. Plus, she looks pretty amazing, so if she practices what she preaches, you can't argue with the results!

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Entertain your family with Sun and Moon Jars

Filed under: Home, Kids and Parenting

If you have a kid who still insists on a nightlight or one intrigued by solar powered things, you might want to invest in a Sun Jar from Perpetual Kid. Mine even entertained my husband for quite awhile.

It's basically a frosted glass mason jar outfitted with a solar charger, battery and some LED lights. Sit it out in the sun for several hours (or a really bright windowsill) and when it gets dark, the light automatically comes on, casting a warm glow.

The Sun Jar puts out a yellow light while the Moon Jar is the same thing but with a blue light. You can turn the jar off entirely with a small switch inside, if you aren't going to use it for an extended period of time.

It does take a bright, direct light to charge up the jars. Today, it is overcast at my house so we probably won't have much light from our jars tonight. We have discovered the jars will charge up under a lamp so I may put the jar on the table while I am reading this evening to get a little bit of light for bedtime. It is definitely not as good as a strong sun charge.

At $39.99 each it might not be something you would buy just for the novelty of it but, if you have little kids that use a nightlight, this could be a really good investment, and a present that would be fascinating. I could see it being a great camping nightlight alternative too.

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments