Monday, November 16th, 2009
As some of my colleagues and I wondered Friday (with less people) then Saturday (bobbed and weaved through the packed crowds) through the San Francisco Green Festival 2009 and we put aside any thoughts of the outside the green world bubble with the economic woes, with so many downtrodden uncreative businesses sticking to the old game plan. Here we viewed, tasted and discussed fresh innovative and mostly sustainable ideas.
We have to give the festival credit, maybe it seemed as though more authentic green businesses showed up at this year’s version. We didn’t see much corporate greenwashing like the not as Green as it used to be Burt’s Bees. Also, Coke owned Honest Tea sold its not so green corporate drink but that would be a minor quibble. Aside from checking out some of the various discussion groups (state of small Green business) and even some cooking demos (how to make organic stew) most of the time we spent wandering the trade floor.
Without spending too much time or words (we’ll post some more ramblings soon) here’s some of the cool stuff we found. Zen Honeycutt’s mother roped us in (or rather grabbed) us to introduce us to her daughter who is busy creating her own lavender empire with her practically lavish lotions, eyeshades and creams. Just down the long aisle, we spotted the reusable sandwich bag the Fresh Snack Pack. Great idea in place of the sandwich bags that get tossed. These packs contain no PVCs but we’d like to find out what these bad boys consist of. We had no doubt about what the Organic Essence lip balm consisted of. But we licked our lips for more than just the organic ingredients. The 100% FSC compostable non-plastic tube really wowed us. Why hadn’t someone thought of this before? Like us? We also ignored the wishes of our dentists and sampled the multitudes of chocolates, and we sampled them all but we liked Alter Eco bar (especially the dark) not only for the best and richest creamy favor but also for the organic ingredients and the fair trade philosophy that the relatively small company abides by.
As for 2010….bring it on!
Tags: 2009, Alter Eco bar, chocolate, fair trade, Fresh Snack Pack, FSC, Green Festival, organic, Organic Essence, PVC, San Francisco, Zen's Garden
Posted in Business, Eco-Entreprenuers, Events, Food, Interesting ideas, San Francisco | No Comments »
Monday, July 6th, 2009
For those of you who don’t read the New Yorker, you might consdier it. For those who can’t be bothered to read long articles, we pasted an amusing Green cartoon form the recent issue.
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Friday, June 26th, 2009
At one point, it seems as though virtually everyone has sat in front of washing machine and watched the soaked clothes tumble through the suds. That tradition may be a thing of the past if a new “virtually waterless” laundry machine finds its way to the mainstream.
Although only in prototype stage, this new machine may be able to save up to 90% of water compared to a conventional machine and will also cut carbon emissions. Created by Xeros, this machine replaces the old school idea of cleaning clothes. The technology goes with full on chemistry advances by replacing the majority of the water with reusable nylon polymer beads, the machine can clean clothes in less time than traditional machines, and we see these waterless wonders then you can thank Professor Stephen Burkinshaw, from the University of Leeds who made the discovery that certain types of polymer beads could be used for cleaning. (more…)
Tags: Life Cycle Assessment, polymer beads, Professor Stephen Burkinshaw, Waterless Laundry Washing Machine, Xeros
Posted in Interesting ideas, Water | No Comments »
Friday, January 30th, 2009
Ah, the smell of coffee wafting through the evening air. Except this time that aroma doesn’t come from our French press but rather our fireplace. No, we haven’t thrown can of perfectly unacceptable canned, non-fair trade supermarket java into the fire, but rather a firelog partially made from coffee grounds. Sounds rather sustainable, huh?
Okay, we probably won’t often claim that burning anything is sustainable as the CO2 wafts into the atmosphere. However, some firelogs present a greener way to warm up a room while creating that sexy atmosphere that only fire can offer.
We checked out some firelogs to see what makes up these bad boys. (more…)
Tags: bio_wax, coffee_grounds, coffee_shops, compost, cordwood, duraflame, evening_air, firelog, fire_log, flavored_beverages, french_press, furan_emissions, java_log, natural_vegetable, petroleum_base, smell_of_coffee, vegetable_wax
Posted in Interesting ideas, Resources | No Comments »
