Earth Hour!

Last Friday my daughter's school spent the afternoon with no lights and tomorrow her schools Eco Team has sent home a double sided printed letter urging students to bring a waste-free lunch on Trash-free Tuesday they even offer a recipe for a waste-free lunch.

Yes Please: REUSABLE lunch carrier, REUSABLE container, REUSABLE drink bottles

Please Avoid: AVOID paper or plastic bags, AVOID single use cans bottles or cartons AVOID paper napkins. They even go further than that they explain how much waste the average student generates per school year 30kg and the average per school per year 8500kg while waste-free is just that waste free! They also give us some costs to MUNCH on: Waste-free lunch $2.65/and average day$13.25/week $477/school year mean while regular lunch $4.02/day, $20.10/week, $723.60/year.

Earth hour was a smashing success across the board and of course we also contributed! Lights out!

You didn't actually think I was finished!!!

Toward the end of our trip I dragged my daughter to Babycakes a cupcake shop that offers all natural, organic cupcakes free from wheat, gluten, dairy, casein and eggs. Their products are sweetened with agave nectar a natural syrup from a cactus. When I set upon this cupcake journey I thought it was around the corner from my friends place who lived in the 400's on Broome St and the shop is on 248 Broome St. Oh how wrong I was! As my daughter and I marched along Broome St past Little Italy than China Town my daughter fully covering her nose and I walking gingerly to avoid slipping on a fish eye! Deep in the heart of the Lower east side Babycakes wonderful cupcake aroma finally overtook the fishy odor that chased us like the hounds of hell. I have to say it was well worth the trip not sure if my daughter agrees though!

Wait! There's more!!

My daughters best friend in New York parent's own the best shop for dish wear in the city. I absolutely love love love Fishs Eddy and I am not saying this because they are friends if I didn't like I just wouldn't say anything! They go from city to city in the States and find discarded dishes and such from hotels going out of business etc but they also carry their own line of clever dishes that represent Manhattan, Brooklyn, down to your favorite dog. I absolutely adore their Milk glass cake stands in pastel colors they are my favorite and they have these new beautiful rose dishes that they found which I lust for! They are Located at 889 Broadway on the corner of 19th and Broadway. They are a dream come true for a single green gal cause they are affordable!

Visiting Fishs Eddy turned into they usual routine for my daughter and I and a nice trip down memory lane from our days of living in the nyc. We visited Barnes and Noble and the Farmer's Market in Union Square. We love going to Barnes and Noble because I go through all the magazines while my daughter looks for a book....hmmm that sounds ecofriendly. I of course dragged her to ABC Carpet and home, they had a wonderful ecofriendly display window. On the way home we found a fabulous vintage store Stella Dallas at 218 Thompson St. Despite the rain it was a really fun day.

My best friend kindly let us stay at her apartment during our stay and I have to say that Sullivan street is by far my favorite street in New York it's peaceful and filled with heaps of goodies for any green girl. They had this cute knitting shop Purl, a sweet quilting shop that I think is affiliated with the knit shop and a lovely organic coffee shop directly across the street aptly named Local.

Horray! I'm Back!!!!

I have been back since last Sunday but I have been extremely sick for the past week. Yuck! I have tons of exciting things to share with you from my trip to the NYC! My first stop was to help my best friend greenify her home. We went to the Wholefoods on Houston and it was amazing it took up a whole block between Bowery and Chrystie and was filled with tons of green goodies! We completely greenified all her cleaning supplies and changed her toilet paper and paper towels to 100% recycled paper products. We went out with the old light bulbs and in with the new energy saving bulbs. Wholefoods even had biodegradable kitchen sponges. Yippe! Another green girl taking small steps.
Later that day we decided to treat ourselves to an organic mani pedi at Priti organic spa located at 35 1st St right at the corner of 1st ave and 1st St. Unfortunately they were booked with green gals gettin their nails did! The receptionist kindly gave us each three tiny vials of their Priti soy polish remover made from corn and soy and is 100% biodegradable. It has absolutely no strong scent! Very Impressive.

Our next adventure was to Neiman Marcus in New Jersey in my best friend and her boyfriend's Toyota Prius ( this is said with extreme excitement!). Our reasoning for going was purely green of course....we decided to pick something up as opposed to having it shipped by some yucky truck emitting carbon emissions ( FYI they don't have Neiman Marcus in Manhattan). So off we went on our little adventure fraught with it's highs and lows. The high, visiting the new Smart Car dealership on our way from lunch. Not shocking to find there is a wait list.....that's ok because they have a future customer in four years! The low was the wonderful greek food we could not finish would not be thrown into a compost. Note to self must become an advocate for composting in restaurants!

I have to say my next adventure was a bit of a disappointment. My best friend's boyfriend wanted to greenify his pad so we decided to motor onto Target in Brooklyn. There is no delicate way to say this but there was not a green effing item to be found I know I know they have bamboo sheet but he has sheet's already!!! I think I found one bottle of Seventh Generation ONE BOTTLE! What's going on Target you usually on the cutting edge of all that is going on, I mean Walmart is greener! It was a sad day I say a sad day. But do not despair to lift our spirits my friends boyfriend took us to lunch in Williamsburg and we had grass fed burgers yum! Yes I know that it's better not to eat meat if your green (so I've been hearing) but this disappointed green girl had to drown her sorrows!

Happy St Patty's Day!!!

I have not forgotten about the blog.....I'm in the nyc checking out green restaurants, clothing stores and nail salons. I have been greenifying many of my friends lives and will have a full documentation once I return home. I hope everyone is enjoying St Patty's day (especially since it is my favorite color!) They lite the Empire State Building in honor of St Patty's day...love the color!

Featured Charity: Nature Conservancy!

I choose this charity because they help preserve plants, animals and natural communities all over the world, everyday. In 2007 they accomplished a great deal. They brokered the largest debt-for-nature swap under the Tropical Forest Conservation Act-this deal secures long term science based conservation for Costa Rica's tropical forests. This means that the United States will forgive $26million in debt owed to it by Costa Rica. It will provide funds that will be used to finance forest conservation in Costa Rica. It will provide funds that will be used to finance forest conservation in Costa Rica over the next 16 years. I love stories like this it makes the whole green movement worth while, knowing there are charities like this striving to protect our earth. Please visit http://www.nature.org/ it has gorgeous pictures and is very informative.

Baby Step Monday's: They're Magically Delicious!

I had no idea what I was going to feature today ( don't worry the well has not dried up) until I was visiting my favorite website http://www.ecofabulous.com/ and I came across this adorable trio of teething toys for babies.......Cham Pie and Gnon (which every Canadian girl knows means mushroom en francais) are mushroom shaped teething toys made from 100% natural rubber with non toxic paints free from parabens, PVC, phthlalates and BPA. Phew! Can you imagine all these filthy things are found in regular teething toys. The best part is they are made in France and not China Yikkes! They can be purchased at http://www.zoeborganic.com/.

Fashion Friday's: Green Seams!

I have found another single green female who has a Loyale green following....Jenny Hwa of http://www.loyaleclothing.com/ has an inspirational line of clothing for women, men and children. Made using sustainable fabrics-bamboo jersey, organic cotton and surplus fabrics (fabric leftover from textile mills and design houses). Everything is made locally in the USA and 3% of annual profits go to green corps a nonprofit that train the next generation of environmental leaders. The spring collection is beautifully made, not a hint of tie dye to be seen!

The Greenator!

Our G-Boy of the week is the one and only Governator (aka Greenator) Arnold Schwarzenegger. The California Governor is approaching the environmental crisis with tact as opposed to saying the "end is nigh!" he is focusing on the positive aspect of climate change. He has signed a groundbreaking legislation to reduce California's emissions by 25% by 2020 and 80% by 2050. He also implemented initiatives to encourage solar power. This sounds fabulous coming from someone who owns a "Bummer" but it's all good under the hood because it runs on bio diesel and hydrogen.

Stop Playing with your Food!

Is your child a picky eater. Here is something that may change their little minds. Lilly Bean play food on http://www.mahardrygoods.com/ offers adorable felt meals that will spark any child's imagination, even mine. I like to think all the food is organic! I really wish they had this when my daughter was younger, it looks more appealing than a plastic chicken leg! I absolutley love the sushi.

Green and Gorgeous Saturday's: Hello Gorgeous!

I watched Funny Face the other day with my daughter and I love the way Barbara Streisand says's "Hello Gorgeous!". This week's green and gorgeous feature is http://www.theorganicpharmacy.com/. They offer products free from all the toxic ingredients commonly found in mainstream cosmetics and health products. Their ingredients are straight forward-barley grass coconut oil and carrot, while omitting ingredients that start with PH or are not easy to pronounce.....which I am not about! Their makeup line is free from artificial preservatives and fragrances and they use herbal extract and antioxidants.