Dive into the archives.
- Sustainability: Your Business’s Best Defense Against Recession
This is a guest post by Kevin Wilhelm. Kevin is the Chair of the Seattle Chamber’s Sustainability Committee, an Advisory Board Member to the Center for Sustainable Business, and is an adjunct faculty at Antioch University-Seattle where he teaches Sustainable Business Finance. He is a former advisor to both the Corporate Climate Protection Agreement and the Executive Service Corps of Washington. You can learn more at Sustainable Business Consulting. In these uncertain economic times, companies often gravitate towards budget cuts and to scale back sustainability or “green” programs because of the notion that they take away from the bottom-line.
In reality, this thinking is the exact opposite of what business leaders need to do. Sustainability may actually be the best defense against market volatility during uncertain economic times.
Transparency and Trust:
Consumers, lenders, and decision makers have all been thrown for a loop over the past 6 weeks as the nation has undergone a financial crisis that would have been all but unthinkable a year ago. Consumers are unsure about where not only to put their money (banks) but also how and where they should spend their money. As disposable income decreases, consumers will increasingly be more conservative with their spending, and try more than ever to get the most bang for their buck. They will also want to deposit their money with companies they trust, think will be around for a while, and share their values.
Just as the Enron/WorldCom debacle led to Sarbanes-Oxley and a new framework for financial reporting emerged, many companies are preparing to be asked to show greater transparency, regarding issues such as climate change. This new style of reporting will likely follow many of the corporate social responsibility(CSR) reporting principles that have come out of the Global Reporting Initiative – the de facto standard in CSR reporting.
In fact, it’s no coincidence that four of the largest financial institutions that survived the crisis – Bank of America, Citibank, JP Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo were all signatories to the Equator Principles – which considers social and environmental Risks in project financing across all sectors.
The Bottom Line:
The bottom-line is that budgets are being squeezed everywhere, including the public, private, and NGO sector. Governments across the country (City, County, and State) are facing major budget shortfalls due to decreased tax collection with the extreme being New York City which traditionally gets about 30% of its taxes from the financial industry. Companies across the board, but especially in the retail sector, are bracing for below average 4th quarter earnings, forcing companies to hoard their cash and lay off workers. Non-profits are also feeling the pinch as philanthropic giving has dried up with the market in the tank.
That being said, when it comes to how companies can save money, sustainability is the answer. In many ways, “being green” or sustainable business is smart business that focuses on efficiencies in energy, waste, and processes. Here are just a few examples of companies are acting more “sustainable” and are saving money at the same time.
Get started going green:
Paper – By setting printer defaults to double sided and margins to “1” instead of the typical “1.25,” Sustainable Business Consulting cut paper usage, emissions, and costs by over 50% in one year with zero effect on company behavior or performance.
Energy – The Washington State Convention Center installed more than 6,000 energy efficient lights and saved $120,000 annually with a payback of less than 1 year. Simple low cost ideas, such as ensuring that employees turn off their computers at night, can save $21/computer a year and over 920 pounds of CO2e, according to the Department of Energy.
Travel – As air travel costs have sky rocketed over the past year, investments in videoconferencing software makes more sense than ever. A typical round trip flight from the Bay Area to NYC for instance can cost upwards of $750 for a coach ticket, and emits over 1,450 pounds of CO2e.
Waste – Eliminating waste upfront and implementing recycling and composting alternatives helps lower waste costs and emissions. For example, the Hotel Monaco in Seattle composted its food waste and recycled its kitchen oil saving $20,000 annually. Umanoff and Parsons of Brooklyn, NY sold its leftover corrugated cardboard packaging to an outside shipping vendor and saved $2,500 annually in disposal costs.
Water – SC Johnson’s facility in Racine, WI landscaped with native and drought tolerant plants and saved roughly $2,000 annually in reduced water and maintenance costs.
Conclusion:
Numerous companies from large to small, have experienced costs savings from sustainable practices,, and I’ve highlighted some easy ways to provide cost savings and improve environmental performance.
During this economic downturn; Implementing sustainability within your company makes fiscal sense more than ever. It is smart business because not only are consumers increasingly asking for it, but it can improve your bottom line at the same time!
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- A New Take on CSA farming
I’m a big fan of urban farming, and this video just shows a different way you can go about running a CSA for an urban clientele.
You an also check out SPIN farming.
Via: Kitchen Gardeners International
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- MSNBC Feature on Urban Food Production
Via: Kitchen Gardeners International
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- FARM! A Short Documentary
Came across this video today, I thought may interest some of you. This short documentary, produced by Anthony-Masterson, showcases young people involved in agriculture. I am always interested to see different way by which individuals get involved in agriculture. Are any of you new to farming? If so, would you be interested in giving the Groovy Green audience a snapshot in to your experience? Let us know in the comments and we’ll follow up with you.
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- Raising Urban Chickens Part 2a-Building a Coop
While I won’t portend to be quite as well spoken as Wendy from the previous article, I will attempt in this edition to display my chicken coop and enclosure as well as discuss some aspects of it for your information.
The picture above is the original area of my yard that the chicken coop and run was in. This area is consistently moist and a relatively poor area of my yard to grow anything, which is why the chickens went there. It was also infested with Creeping Charlie. The chickens have eaten all the Creeping Charlie, as well as all the other material in their run down to the ground. I keep a layer of bedding down at all times. This might be leaves or grass clippings, for the most part. I also throw most of my kitchen scraps and garden debris for them to work over. About every 6 weeks I rake out the run and the coop and compost the litter. I recently moved the chickens, so this area has been heavily mulched to prepare it for planting next spring.
I recently obtained a dog kennel from someone in the neighborhood, which I was happy to use to hold the chickens, although it wouldn’t fit into my old area. I moved it over one of my raised garden beds. With some careful modifications I should be able to slide this over the top of three of my garden beds, which gives those beds a turn hosting the chickens every three years or so. As I grow my garden to the west of this location there will be more beds to spread the chickens over, as well as the possibility that I can build the beds to fit with the kennel better to use the space better. I like this system much better than my old, pathetic system because it actually keeps the chickens contained! With my old, built by me and my pathetic building skills, I would come out to put them away and they would be sitting on the ground outside the door waiting for me to put them back in.
Like all gardeners/homesteaders most of what I do is constantly evolving, and the chickens are no different. Right now I have two chickens in there, but I’m angling to add a few more next year, perhaps banties. You can probably tell from this enclosure that my building skills are dreadfully sub par, and while I would like to let them free range I don’t think my neighbors would care for that too much.
About the coop, the coop was essentially built with scraps that I bought from the discount bin at the home improvement center, stuff I had lying around and 2 2×4s that I bought. Originally I was going to build a peaked roof, but that proved too difficult so I did a flat roof. This seems to work fine. I had two planters on the top of it that had lettuce in them, but I kept forgetting to water them so we’ll have to try again next year. You can see the roost inside, which is a cut down closet pole and I use shredded paper from my office as the bedding material. The nesting box is an old Clementine box that I saved for this purpose. I have two openings, one is the “main” door that I put in for the chickens to come and go. The other is intended for my use to access the inside to add food, water and maybe someday get some eggs. In reality, the chickens love to roost on the trap door and survey their domain and use this door frequently to enter and exit as it’s a quick hop up or down for them..
One thing I do like about having the run so close to the garden is that this fall I was able to dump the litter straight on the garden from the coop when I put the garden beds to sleep for the year. Chicken manure shouldn’t be added to crops directly, but since my beds were finished growing and I had all winter to let the compost mellow I dumped the litter right on. Besides, with all the bedding already in the run and coop and all the leaves and grass clippings I’ll add on the top between now and snowfall the manure ratio will be very watered down.
So far, my total investment for the eggs I’ve gotten (zero) has been quite high, but even if these chickens don’t produce any eggs in the near future it’s been a great experience and I know that I’ll raise chickens in my backyard for a long, long time. Who knows, maybe this spring we’ll get some broilers in addition to those extra layers.
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- zBoards Give New Meaning To Sustainable Modular Furniture
There’s something to be said for the creative pursuit of modular home furniture. Nobody likes being “boxed” in when it comes to accessorizing — and surfing the web or burning fuel to find something that fits just right is more often than not a giant pain in the ass.
That’s why it was refreshing to come across Way Basic’s zBoards this morning. Not only are they made from 99% recycled materials (and recyclable) but they also require no tools to put together — just stick and build. From the website,
It took us 10 years to perfect the ingenious building-block zBoards at the heart of our business. Our patented, environmentally sound manufacturing process turns post-consumer recycled paper into superbly strong boards that weigh 62% less than particle board. zBoards are just as solid and structurally sound as any engineered wood furniture, yet they’re made from one of the simplest materials ever – paper.
We designed these marvelous building boards to be versatile and easy to assemble, and came up with a new way to put the pieces together. Strategically placed super-strong adhesive tape is the answer – all you do is peel off the protective covering, stick the blocks together, and you’re done.
Have a look at their website for more information — and feel free to get creative.
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- Edible City Movie
Edible City is a documentary film that explores the issues of food justice, security, and sovereignty through a comprehensive view of urban farming in the Bay Area - a grassroots effort that sees people responding to climate change, rising food costs and gas prices, and increasing health concerns by strengthening connections to the food they eat and reaching out to their local communities.
Visit: ediblecitymovie.com Edible City is slated for release in the Fall of 2009.
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- Another Homeowners Association Slams Attempt To Go Solar
Homeowners Associations have got to be one of the more inane aspects of American society. A friend of mine moved into a neighborhood with one, completely unprepared for the mess she was getting into. Now, no toys can be left outside, all cars must be kept in the garage at all times, the grass must be a certain height and color, and every change to the home must first be approved by a “board”. It’s both a hilarious and sad way that some choose to live — all for the sake of homogeneity in aesthetics.
In March of 2007, we reported on an incident where the town of Scarsdale denied a family the opportunity to put up solar panels — on the basis that they were ugly and “not in keeping with the character of the community”. It was BS then — and it’s still BS. Now, another homeowners association in California is denying one man’s quest to reduce his electric bill by installing solar panels on his roof. Their reason? They do not believe the technology fits in with their rules and guidelines of a community with “restrained elegance.”
Sick. Really, sick. From the article,
Weinberg wanted to put solid black panels on the roof at the front of his house, which faces a T-shape intersection and other homes. Jordan reviewed the application last March and recommended it be denied. He suggested that Weinberg install the panels on the roof at the back of his house instead, where they would be hidden from view.
“We always try to find a creative way to solve the problem,” Jordan said. “There’s another way to do it other than putting it on his roof for everyone to see.”
However, the front of the house faces south, the optimal orientation for catching light. Moving the panels to the back would decrease the system’s efficiency by more than 20 percent, Weinberg said, unless the panels were installed in a rack that pointed them in the opposite direction, which Weinberg said would increase the cost of the installation by more than the Solar Rights Act permits.
In essence, “they haven’t given us alternatives,” said Michael McQueen, Weinberg’s attorney. The lawsuit was filed June 24, and damages sought could be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Good luck Weinberg — and we hope other homeowner associations are watching this development. Solar energy is coming and it’s time to suck it up and start allowing it on rooftops. Then you can get back to ticketing people for improper grass and car color.
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- Organic Insect Repellent is Available by EcoSmart
EcoSmart insect repellent has offered a free sample of their insect repellent to a randomly drawn Groovy Green reader. (Until I got this e-mail I didn’t even know that there was stuff like this)If you are interested in being entered just leave a comment on this post and I’ll randomly select a winner.
One caveat: If you are the winner I may ask you to write a quick review for the site so we can have some first hand experience with the product. But I may not, so don’t let that keep you from entering!
Good luck!
UPDATE: We had 13 entrants and Random.org’s dice roll determined that comment #8, Erica, is the winner. Erica: e-mail me your mailing address to tips at groovygreen.com and we’ll get a sample out to you.
True Random Number Service
Die Roller
You rolled 2 dice:
Timestamp: 2008-10-20 00:30:43 UTC
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- La Cense Grass Fed Beef Giveaway
We received 6 correct email responses to our contest challenge. Thanks to all of you for participating.
The lucky number is 4!
Congratulations to Meadowlark ! You’ll be receiving an email from us shortly.
Thanks again to the good people at La Cense !
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- Review: The Beautiful And Functional Cascata Rain Barrel
I’ve always wanted a rain barrel. In fact, back in June, I wrote a post declaring as much and announcing my quest to pick something up that was both eye pleasing and practical. Living in Ithaca, NY, I don’t have many problems with drought — but watching all that water roll off my roof, I figured it was a waste to simply see it hit my lawn and disappear. Besides, why pay that much more for municipal water for my garden when I could capture that which fell from the sky?
I’ll admit that writing about water issues in the southwest U.S. and visiting friends in Arizona also made me curious why water conservation tactics (like rain barrels) weren’t used more. Was it because they’re still relatively unknown? Were they a pain to setup and use? I was curious and therefore wanted one. Thankfully, the folks at Garden Supermart heard my cry and hooked me up with one of their Cascata Rain Barrels. After playing around with it (I use that term loosely) for two weeks, I can sum up my reaction in one sentence: Everyone should have one.
First off, you know things are headed in the right direction when the delivery truck pulls in, unloads the rain barrel, and your wife exclaims, “Oooh, that’s gorgeous.” Now, I must admit that it’s not just her looking for something aesthetically pleasing. I’m also someone who likes objects outside the home to look as natural as possible. The great thing about the Cascata is that even thought it’s made of plastic, it looks almost exactly like a giant terracotta clay urn. Even from a few feet away, it’s fairly hard to discern the difference.
Now obviously, rain barrels don’t have much to offer beyond capturing water. However, the folks behind the Cascata have still managed to equip this product with some useful additions. For instance, not only is there a 6′ hose attachment, but there is also an attractive brass spout. I used this a couple times to fill up a water bucket for my backyard plants. Also — the Cascata has a top that includes rooms for a plant or two — making it easy to add a bit of nature to the design. Rounding out the product is an easy access cover (with screen) and an overflow exit off one end.
In terms of capturing, I couldn’t be more pleased. My timing must have been fortuitous, for the first night I had everything setup, the roof received a nice deluge of rain. The next morning, all 65 gallons of capacity were filled! After only one night of steady rain! Just imagine if those people hard hit by drought took advantage of such a product (Sorry, Colorado — it’s still illegal to capture rain where you live!). Within 24 hours, I was happily watering my garden with rain captured from the previous evening.
In conclusion, I can heartily recommend the Cascata as an aesthetically pleasing and useful rain barrel. You’ll have to take it down during the cold Northeast winters to avoid cracking, but the rest of the year, you’ll enjoy having a clean catchment of rain water for all your gardening needs. Getting excited over rain hitting the roof has truly never been more fun.
Have a look at all their barrel options by clicking here.
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- Transition Handbook Book Review
When I requested a copy of the Transition Handbook I had the idea in my mind that I was going to get a book that would tell me step by step what I needed to do to get my town prepared for a future with short energy supplies. Instead what I got was a book that talked about what one town was doing, which I could use to glean information from, and ideas of what to do to transition to a low energy environment from a 10 thousand foot view, but not a 12 step program for this transition.
Is that a bad thing? Not really, it just messed with my perspective of what I thought the book was about. It’s an interesting read with a lot of information. There is a lot of personal information here and personal examples of what they have done, but what I gathered from reading this book is that each situation is unique. While you can have a general outline of what you want to achieve, you really need to look at your specific situation and adapt your strategy to your area.
Practically every state in this country would have a different strategy because they all have different climates, urban/rural ratios, population differences, natural advantages or other unique circumstances. Upstate NY will have to develop much different strategies than Albuquerque, NM. I think that is what I most got from this book. That the key to start moving and not wait for someone to provide you a general idea of what needs to be done. That you should look at your situation, make a few decisions, start moving and then modify your ideas as you go to develop the best answer to your specific areas needs.
Amazon has the following summation of this book which I think is an apt description:
We live in an oil-dependent world, arriving at this level of dependency in a very short space of time by treating petroleum as if it were in infinite supply. Most of us avoid thinking about what happens when oil runs out (or becomes prohibitively expensive), but The Transition Handbook shows how the inevitable and profound changes ahead can have a positive outcome. These changes can lead to the rebirth of local communities that will grow more of their own food, generate their own power, and build their own houses using local materials. They can also encourage the development of local currencies to keep money in the local area.
There is a lot covered in that description just like there is a lot covered in this book. If you need to adapt your town, city or village to a low energy lifestyle you should check out this book.
I found this review for the book also that I thought was interesting and that you might enjoy it. It’s hosted on the website for the Transition Group.
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- Satire?
From where-else:
WASHINGTON—In a nationally televised address to the American people Wednesday night, President Bush called upon every man, woman, and child to spiral uncontrollably downward into complete and utter panic.
…
Speaking from the Oval Office, Bush assured citizens that in these times of great uncertainty, the best and only course of action is to come under the throes of a sudden, overwhelming fear marked by hysterical or irrational behavior.
“My fellow Americans, the time for running aimlessly through streets while shrieking and waving our arms above our heads is now,” Bush said. “I understand that many of you are worried about your economic future and our situation overseas, and you have every right to be. Yet there is only one thing we as a nation can do in times like these: give up all hope and devolve into a lawless, post-apocalyptic, every-man-for-himself society.”
“For those of you who have remained resolute in your belief that things will turn around eventually, I urge you to close your eyes, take shallow rapid breaths, and begin freaking out immediately,” Bush added. “At this point, anyone who isn’t scared to death needs to wake the f*** up—because we’re screwed here.”
I’m not at the arm-waving stage, but I’m pretty close. It’s amazing to me, as I go about my busy days at school, work, and play, that no one really seems to be talking about the disintegration of the economy. Sure there is some nervous chatter, but no real discussion about how we really might be screwed this time. I’ll chalk it up to the prior “resiliency” of the markets that most people alive (under 60) have experienced during their lives. ”It’ll bounce back, it always does” and so forth.
I don’t know about you, but I stocked the pantry. The wood delivery for the winter is next. Stay alert, and for G-d’s sake start talking about this.
Do you realize that we (through our leaders in Washington) just turned over $750 billion to essentially the whims of two men? 2 men! $750 billion dollars. Yikes.
I could go on, but dammit this is supposed to be an environmental blog. So in conclusion, please recycle and don’t drink bottled water.
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- To Every Season
This is a Guest Post by Rob from One Straw: Be the Change. Rob has many part time jobs, as you will learn if you start reading his blog, but one of them is as a market farmer. This is a story about how the meaning of Autumn has changed for him over the years, and how Autumn is the time to build the soil for the future.
We had our first real frost this weekend which did in the squash and solancea. Much of our lettuce survived and we are still pulling potatoes (1400+ lbs!) out of the ground so the harvest continues for the 3rd month at 100#’s a week. The air is now crisp and fresh and the chores varied and more relaxed -pick a little, clear a bed, mulch one here, plant cover crop there-this is my favorite time of year. Autumn is a fantastic time, cherished by the ancients for its abundance - a season absoutely riddled with holidays and festivals to celebrate the vitality of the earth before the Long Sleep.
The service this morning at our Unitarian Church focused on the Jewish High Holidays. I was deeply moved by the correlations between the passing of the Jewish New Year and my own mindset with the passing of the agricultural one. I too am thinking of things that went well in the past season - the potatoes were a raging success as was the Hoop House -seeds I hope to plant in the Great Book. I also reminisced about things to leave in the past - the onion rows swallowed beneath a Sea of Sedges, the fence rows intertwined with 6′ lambs quarter, and others -things that I hope to leave out of the future. But most of all I was struck by just how my thinking of this season has changed with my growing ecological awareness.
Autumn was often seen as the passing of the year -a winding down, even a death, to the vibrancy of summer. Outdoor activity had often escalated -this is my preferred camping season -the nights are crisp & bug free for glorious sleeping, the understory is open, dry, and full of aroma, and the wildlife is on the move. It is still all of these things, but the more naturally I have learned to view the world, the more I think of the seasons as they are meant to -cyclical.
Now the falling leaves that blanket the soil are also a call to me to mulch my gardens and spread the season’s compost for a final mellowing over winter on the soil. Where before there was death and decay, now there is abundance and the “putting by” of root crops, and even the rekindling of life as vetch and rye shoots forth before the end of the warm sun. It is now a time of new beginnings as the beds and fields are stripped bare with the harvest to the sweet melodies of flitting finches in the cupplants and raucous chippies under the oaks sharing my labors.
Stretching to a longer harvest as my plantings have diversified has greatly increased my enjoyment of the seasons - Summer’s peppers and sauces and now wonderfully augmented by early Spring’s crisp, sweet, frost-kissed Spinach to late Spring’s romaines and now I am awed by the bounty of October’s butternuts, acorns, carrots, and kale. It is a bountiful harvest, with more to be planted as the Hoop House enters full circle with spinach and mache for another winters run. Stretching the harvest spreads the labors and greatly enriches the enjoyment of the tasks. No energy is so full as that which courses through my arms when I first put spade to soil in those early warm days of Spring, no air so warm and moist as walking through the Hoop House’s 75 degrees in January only to rejoice in the frigid cold as I leave with arms full of greens, and no air so crisp and alive as the fields of October as the flocks gather. Spreading the Harvest is to take part in the Glory of Nature varied seasons and what they have always meant. Turn…turn…turn; always and forever.
While Spring and Summer are the seasons of food building, Autumn is now the Season of the Soil. The bounties of the harvest are coming in full, but time is now taken to Give Back. As Nature drops Her leaves and folds Her stems to blanket and feed the soil, so too must we give back to that which we have taken of so freely so that the cycle may begin again, enriched, for seasons to come.
This is our task.
This must be our promise.
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- Book Review of Reinventing Collapse
The title of this book is Reinventing Collapse, and I have to say that’s exactly what this book manages to do. It’s a short book, so you could read it in just a few hours, but it is packed with information and “make you think” moments. Orlov’s unique perspective on American life engages the reader and opens your eyes to what life in America is like to an outsider. It also questions ideas and notions from the perspective of an outsider; things that a native American wouldn’t even think to question.
Without a doubt the most useful aspect of this book are the details of what the situation was like in Russia after their political collapse. This book is a tutorial on how the reader might modify their life in the future if (or when) America collapses.
If you get a chance check it out today. I don’t think you’ll regret it.
You can read more of Dmitry Orlov’s writings at Club Orlov, his blogspace. If you do a little searching you can also find his writings at Life After the Oil Crash and the website Surviving Peak Oil.
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- Small Town Unites Around Local Food to Save The Town
The NY Times has an article up on their site recently discussing how a small town in Vermont is using local foods to save the local economy of their small town.
“Across the country a lot of people are doing it individually but it’s rare when you see the kind of collective they are pursuing,” said Mr. Fried, whose firm considers social and environmental issues when investing. “The bottom line is they are providing jobs and making it possible for others to have their own business.”
This is interesing to me because they are essentially building the entire local food infrastructure. They are moving past the idea of just supplying beef or vegetables to consumers at the farmer’s market. They are actually moving into producing local food products. They are preparing the town for the future where food will need to be more local. And even better, they are recirculating those food dollars in their town to be reused over and over.
Check out the article and let me know what you think.
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- La Cense Grass Fed Beef - Review and Giveaway!
Vote La Cense! That is the motto of the cattle ranchers of La Cense cattle ranchers. They are trying to educate the public in the benefits of grass-fed beef, and Angus La Cense is their (fictional?) candidate in the Grass-Fed Party…
Who is Angus La Cense?
Angus La Cense is a cow from the La Cense Ranch who is representing the Grass-fed Party in the upcoming election. He is an advocate of grass-fed practices that produce happier cows, healthier people, stronger rural communities, and healthy grasslands.
What is the Grass-fed Party?
The Grass-fed Party is an organization of people who support grass-fed foods and sustainable ranching and believe that America can hold higher standards to its cattle industry. The Grass-fed Party empowers citizens with the knowledge necessary to make the best choices, whether their role is the feed a family or help make new policies that work. The Grass-fed Party supports putting traditional ranching practices back in rural America to help the smaller communities thrive, to help preserve and enrich ranchlands, and to help cows eat according to their natural diets and have access to clean air and water.
I like his platform (emphasis mine).
La Cense sent my wife and I a package of steaks and burgers to try out. We are both well acquainted with the grass-fed movement. We purchased a share of a cow with friends almost a year ago, and have just received a replacement order this past week. So we know what good, local, humanely raised meat tastes like. La Cense did not disappoint. We received a strip steak, 2 petite sirloins, and many packages of burgers. All came flash frozen and labelled in a large styrofoam cooler. After considering the limited options available to frozen beef distributors, I decided to let that one slide. (Perhaps they could have a take back program in the future? or at least the cooler could be re-used by the purchaser - maybe a sticker that says “clean me out and reuse me on your next picnic?”) On to the good stuff.
I cooked up the strip steak and petite sirloin for dinner this week. We served it with homemade french onion soup, and a baguette. I kept the seasonings mild on the steaks to get a true taste of the beef. We paired it with a red wine that was, how can I say… the only bottle of wine in the house. Which, worked surprisingly well with the meal. The steaks were juicy and excellent. The strip steak was tender and delicious with a small strip of fat around it. (I personally believe that the taste difference between grass-fed and industrial beef is more pronounced in the fat than the meat itself. Ummm… grizzle…) The petite sirloin was meaty but not tough, a perfect sandwich steak sliced or even standing alone for dinner. The burgers we’ll cook up with friends, I am sure that they’ll be just as good. I think that La Cense is a great option for those who do not have a local connection for humanely raised meat, and is a much better option for those that regularly use companies like Omaha Steaks.
Now the part that you’ve been waiting for… our contest. La Cense is giving away a package of grass-fed meat to one lucky winner. They’ll get 1 petite sirloin and 2 burger patties. To give the company its money worth (or beef worth), the contest will run like this:
- Leave a comment here to let us know you’d like to be considered for the contest.
- Go to www.grassfedparty.com and look around find out what the first “Cowcus” was all about and where it was held. (It’s not hard to find.)
- email steve [at} groovygreen {dot] com with you answer.
The winner will be chosen in one week at random from the correct responses, and receive some free delicious grass-fed beef. Good luck!
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- Making Connections and Applesauce
We live in the suburbs of Seattle and our neighborhood is full of regular hard working folk busy with life and not much time set aside for much else. Aside from our immediate neighbors regular communication with the rest of our neighbors is not a very common activity.
Tonight while on a walk with the kids we stopped at the home of one of our unfamiliar neighbors, previously we have only exchanged waves at a distance and usually through the windshield as he drove by our house. We stopped to see if he would let us pick some apples from the tree in his front yard. Heavy laden with some beautiful yellow apples it was just begging for us to stop!
Alan gladly gave us permission to pick some apples and invited us to come back in the spring to pick cherries from the tree in his backyard. It was apparent that these apples would most likely not all get picked and many would go to waste we were more than happy to make good use of them. In turn, I offered my services to prune this tree for him as well we would also bring him some applesauce. He was happy to share the excess of apples from his yard and the history of the tree. This Yellow Delicious apple was planted in 1987 when his second daughter was born. She has now moved out of the home but this tree remains and stands as a reminder of precious time in his family’s past.
As we left his house with the wagon full of apples and visions of applesauce and pies, I couldn’t help looking into all of our other neighbor’s front and backyards to see if we could find some pears!
Take some time to reach out to your neighbors and get to know them. In this changing world and apparent difficult times ahead it is important that those connections be made and relationships developed.
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- Nutty Steph’s Vermont Granola
October must be product review month, because my mailbox has been bursting with good things to try out. Nutty Steph’s Vermont Granola is one of them. Delicious granola, trail mix and chocolate covered granola “Magic Chunks” arrived at our house and lasted about a week and a half. (Ok, ok, the chocolate covered granola lasted about 24 hours…) My wife likes putting her granola in her yogurt, and found that Nutty Steph’s held up. She isn’t as “nutty” as I am though. I liked the large nuts mixed in to Steph’s products. The were nice and fresh, and well roasted - not soggy like in some other granola. The trail mix gave me a healthy energy boost this afternoon. Steph has a great website that makes ordering easy. How the crew describes themselves: snow warrior, grease car driving, organic oat toting, chocolate making, polite gossiping, community building, rambunctious NUTTY workers.
I think that this would be a great product for gift shops, coffee houses, and co-ops. Give Nutty Steph’s a try, and let them know we sent you!
Nutty, Oaty Goodness Straight to my door.
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- Clorox Green Works Liquid Dishwashing Soap
I was given a sample of Clorox’s new dishwashing soap about 1 month ago. We’ve been using it to clean our pots and pans and as a liquid hand soap in our kitchen (why have two containers on the counter?). The results have been, well how can I say this, the same as our old non-environmentally friendly soap*. But isn’t that the point? Having the same dishwashing ability - without drying out our hands - and eliminating many of the chemicals that pollute our waste water. Good for clorox. Now if we could just get rid of the other 99% of the harmful chemicals that the company produces.Siel from GreenLAGirl did a very thorough review of the benefits of this product. I was glad to see what was eliminated, and what natural ingredients they were able to replace them with.
Two dishpan-hands up for this Clorox Green Works Dishwashing Soap.
*for the record, we bought a huge industrial sized container of dish soap from BJ’s when we moved into our house. That was 4 1/2 years ago! This thing must be refilling itself as we use it. I swear.
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