It’s not often that you find a grocery store as dedicated to sustainability as Whole Foods Market. The company actually has a policy on their web page about how they have a vision of how their policy on sustainability can help future generations and how companies, governments, and institutions have a moral imperative to stop doing things to harm individuals and the ecosystem. The policy mentions the following topics: Holistic Thinking in a Conventional World Whole Foods Market mentions how it is dedicated to offering products that are high quality, but have little processing, that are favorable and natural, sold … Continue reading →

One day in my office, we received a new recycling bin. It has one side for aluminum cans and the other side simply said “plastics.” I can’t remember what it was, but my boss wanted to toss something in the plastic side when our business manager said, “No, you can’t do that” and explained whatever he had that was plastic couldn’t be recycled with things like water bottles. His argument was the bin only said “plastics,” which rather makes sense. How do you know what plastics to recycle? You have to go by the numbers. If you look on the … Continue reading →

Flash mobs seemed like a fun thing at first. People would get together at a certain place and perform some dance or all arrive at a convenience store and purchase Slim Jims. The first one was created in Manhattan in 2003, but somewhere along the lines, flash mobs turned a bit ugly. In 2009 and 2010, Philadelphia experienced many ugly flash mobs that were responsible for violence, rioting, injury, and theft of property. In some cases, the police had to pepper spray individuals to disperse the crowds. A new term “flash robs” was invented. So, I was happy to read … Continue reading →

I guess technically, it is not very green to take prescription medication to begin with, but if you are like me, you see your prescription drug list growing. I have vitamins and allergy medicine that only lasts a month. Then, I throw the bottle in the garbage, go to the drugstore, and get more pills – in another bottle. I don’t know if the druggist will let you reuse a bottle, although I cannot imagine why not if your name was on the bottle. Anyhow, what can you do with all these bottles instead of throwing them in the trash? … Continue reading →

Not long ago, I blogged about Tre Arrow, an extreme environmentalist activist. Although he has denied it, many think Arrow is a part of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF). I found it somewhat ironic that the organization the FBI dubbed the #1 domestic terrorist group in America has the acronym of something as whimsical as ELF. When the Oscar nominations were announced, I noticed that one of the documentaries was If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front. I’d like to see this before the Oscars on February 26th, but it’s doubtful I will be able to. … Continue reading →

Several times a week, we haul out trash. We never really think much about it; we put things in the trash can, tie up the bag, haul it to the garbage can, and put it out on the curb every Tuesday like clockwork. But, what if we lived in a world of zero waste? Impossible you say? Well, yes, maybe, but the Johnson family of Mill Valley, California is trying to come close. Did you know that the average American family disposes of over 1,000 pounds of trash each year? One day in 2006, Bea Johnson announced to her husband … Continue reading →

Not too long ago, I blogged about Meatless Monday. That is the campaign to avoid meat on Mondays. This campaign has two benefits – it is green and it is healthy. Sid Lerner, who gave us the “Squeeze the Charmin” campaign, is now trying to get chefs on board for his Meatless Mondays. He hopes to turn something that may seem routine into something special. Who’s trying to help Lerner spread the word? One of my favorite celebrity chefs, Wolfgang Puck, has used the concept in some of his restaurants. He started Meatless Monday at his Las Vegas eatery, Wolfgang … Continue reading →

The other day, a friend in California posted on Facebook that she was looking to start a coupon train and I had no idea what she was talking about! But, being a green blogger, I figured I had better investigate this, especially since I did my blog on extreme couponers. Ever go through the paper and see a good coupon, but you just have no use for it? That is the purpose of a coupon train. The way I’ve found it to be, the person that decides to start the coupon train comes up with about $100 worth of coupons … Continue reading →

It’s a new year and usually I blog about green New Year’s resolutions. But, this year, I read something on Facebook that I wanted to talk about instead. A friend of mine posted a status I am sure she copied from someone else. I won’t post it all because it was rather lengthy, but I will give you the Reader’s Digest version. It talked about how “she” went to a grocery store and the cashier suggested she bring her own bags because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. She then replied, “We didn’t have this green thing back in … Continue reading →

Does it pay to recycle? It could if you are a member of Recyclebank. It sounds like a place where you go to get recycled money or something, but Recyclebank can pay you for being green. Recyclebank was started in 2004 by Patrick K. FitzGerald and Ron Gonen. It started merely as a recycling program for a couple of Philadelphia neighborhoods. The premise behind it was that you get paid points to recycle then those points could be used for discounts and deals from local and national businesses. The company grew and soon expanded to other cities. It also expanded … Continue reading →