Lazy Green Living

So maybe you’re one of those people who think that turning a green leaf requires too much effort? Don’t have time to make grand life changes because of your busy schedule? Well guess what, that’s no longer a legitimate excuse (not that it ever was). But good news for all excuse-makers! It just so happens that being lazy can also …

The Environmental Impact of Everyday Things

Well, maybe not every day, but certainly every month. That’s right ladies and gents, we’re talking about the environmental impact of feminine hygiene products: tampons, pads, the whole deal. Now before I get into this topic I want to address the readers who might be cringing here. While acknowledging that public discussion of menstruation is a bit on the taboo …

Food as an Environmental Issue

While thinking about and writing my posts on natural groceries and organic delivery services, it came to my attention that the concept of food is not inherently an environmental issue in the minds of many people. I’ve got to admit that this kind of blew me away. To me, food is so essentially an environmental issue that to not think …

Natural Groceries Part 2: Spud! Organic Delivery Service

I had the chance to try out and review Spud! Local and Organic Delivery this past week. After reviewing Whole Foods in order to have something to compare Spud with, I had high hopes for the delivery service, but mixed results in the end. But more on that later. Spud (short for Small Potatoes Urban Delivery) was dreamed up in …

Natural Groceries Part 1: Whole Foods

This past week I was lucky enough to get the chance to try out Spud’s organic delivery service. But in order to properly review the site and the service, I felt the need to compare it with another organic grocery chain, in order to provide a more valuable sense of perspective. So I decided to swing by my local Whole …

PeopleTowels: No they’re not made out of people…

I still remember what I initially thought when I first heard about PeopleTowels. I’m rather ashamed to admit it was something along the lines of “What, are they made of people?” Thankfully, no. They’re made for people, to empower people to cut back on the over consumption of paper towels. As co-founder Linda Lannon puts it, “It is the opposite …

Seeing the Forest for the Trees (Part II)

Continued from Part I of Seeing the Forest for the Trees. Last week I attended Dr. Peterson’s lecture, “Climate, Forests and Future: A View from Treeline” at the University of Washington as a part of the School of Forest Resources and the College of the Environment lecture series, Sustaining our Northwest World. There were two subjects within the lecture that …

Seeing the Forest for the Trees (Part I)

Last Thursday evening I attended the public lecture “Climate, Forests and Future: A View from Treeline” by Dr. Dave Peterson – forest service scientist, professor and co-nobel prize winner.  He spoke at the University of Washington as a part of the School of Forest Resources and the College of the Environment lecture series, Sustaining our Northwest World. Initially his talk …

Eco-Development and Sustainable Renovation

I’ve noticed an interesting trend lately. The renovation of old buildings. Gorgeous old buildings gutted and rebuilt from the inside-out, as green and sustainable new structures. An exciting (and well-publicized) example of this is the Sanctuary development on Capital Hill in Seattle. The original church was built in the early 1900s and has been a distinctive landmark of the neighborhood …

The Climate Change Argument

Last week I quite literally found myself in the middle of one of my favorite arguments, climate change. Let me set the stage for you. We were at a public talk on astronomy; the lecture was going well, proving to be both informative and engaging, when the speaker threw out a passing comment questioning the legitimacy of climate change. At …