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Be a savvy organic food shopper

November 20, 2009 in Food & Drink, Holiday, Organics by Jennifer | No comments

Organic foods are a big part of keeping it green. Organics keep pesticides out of our air, water and soil, and more importantly keep harmful chemicals out of your body and your family’s body. However, not all organics are the same, keep check on the following tips to get the most bang for your organic buck.

buy the best organic food

Look for the USDA seal. The USDA organic seal is not foolproof, but right now it’s the best guarantee you’ve got that your food is actually organic. The Certified Organic label is regulated by the USDA and all foods wearing this label must be grown without chemicals, synthetic fertilizers, hormones, and other genetically altered baddies. If a food item says stuff like “natural”, “from nature”, “chemical free” or anything else, it could be sure, but right now those labels technically mean nothing. Why shop for possible fake organics? Learn more about food labels.

Look for the code. Those little stickers affixed to fruits and veggies do actually mean something. At my store the conventional pears do sometimes roll into the organic bin, so if you want real organics look for the sticker. Real organics have a little sticker that carry a five digit code that starts with the number nine.

Look for essentials. You can buy organic cookies, cakes, chips, and other prepackaged foods, but since organic is more costly, why not spend the money on foods closer to the earth. Whole fruits and veggies, bread, milk, and so fourth vs. all the little extras.

Look for the big bads. There are some foods that are safer than others in conventional form. Personally, I think that as much organic as you can afford is a good idea, because organics are about more than personal health. It’s also about chemicals and pesticides in the atmosphere – it’s about keeping growers healthy – and it’s about showing the government that you do want your dollars going toward organics. BUT if you have to make a choice you should know that some organic foods are far more important than others.

If you’re looking for tips about how to save money on organic food for the holidays check out the Celebrate Green podcast on exploring organics for the holidays – I was a guest on the Celebrate Green radio show, and that’s just what we talked about.

Safe Cooking Pots for Your Health and the Planet

November 17, 2009 in Eco Kitchen, Food & Drink by Jennifer | No comments

Perfluorooctanoic acid PFOA is a big bad used in many cooking pots. PFOA is a chemical used during the manufacturing process when making traditional non-stick pans; or their coating I should say. PFOA can cause harm to the environment and also cause harm to the people making these pots.

eco-friendly pots

Scanpan makes safer pots. With a still non-stick surface made with ceramic-titanium technology and these pots and pans require little to no fat for stick-free cooking. Plus pots and pans have a cooking surface that stands up to metal utensils and still allows for browning, searing and deglazing. All Scanpan cookware is oven safe to 500°F (ceramic coatings can take more heat safely than traditional non-stick coatings) and cleans up easily in the dishwasher.

Plus these pots and pans look great and have ergonomic hollow handles which are more lightweight and stay cooler while cooking along with see-through lids.

Available at Sur la table.

Organic Thanksgiving Beverages

November 9, 2009 in Food & Drink, Holiday, Organics by Jennifer | No comments

When planning your green Thanksgiving menu, don’t forget about the drinks! It’s easy to keep it green nowadays because there’s a wide array of yummy organic beverages, perfectly suited to Thanksgiving. Here are some ideas.

Organic wine: Many companies offer great organic wines nowadays, and for less money then you might think. Some choices include…

Organic sparkles: Santa Cruz Organics TeaZer sparking teas – I LOVE these sparkling teas and so does my eight year old. They’re made with organic juice and Fair Trade tea and are a fun switch from the typical sparkling cider.

Organic apple: Organic apple juice or organic apple cider is a must have. Adults can even make their own organic hard cider.

Organic fizz: If you must have soda on Thanksgiving, make it organic soda.

Organic beer: Your best bet for organic brew is local. Read Green America’s guide to greener brew.

Save energy with a pressure cooker

September 13, 2009 in Eco Kitchen, Food & Drink, Furniture & Appliances by Jennifer | 2 comments

There are all sorts of ways to save energy in the kitchen – but cooking with a pressure cooker is one of the best. Using a pressure cooker is a green kitchen move that not only saves energy, but allows you to creatively use leftovers and minimize food waste, and bonus – you’ll save money.


5 Qt Pressure Cooker

Using a pressure cookers can cut up 60-70% of your energy costs, which isn’t bad when you consider that overall, cooking typically makes up about 10% of your home’s energy use. You can’t use a pressure cooker for every single dish you make but they’re totally appropriate for tons of food items such as rice and other grains, soup, potatoes, beans, pasta, meat, and more.

Basic pressure cookers range from 4-6 quart sizes and come in various materials – but stainless steel is your best green bet for safety and recyclable qualities. A pressure cooker works by trapping steam inside the sealed cooker which saves energy from escaping and maintains a faster heating temperature, which allows food to cook much faster than say in a traditional pot.

Pressure cookers also allow you to cook with less fat and oil and dishes retain more nutrients. Plus pressure cooking helps to retains and intensifies flavors and can even tenderize tough cuts of meat. When choosing a pressure cooker look for a heavy bottom stainless steel cooker with heat resistant handles and an easy to manage lid.

To find a pressure cooker visit:

Learn more about using a pressure cooker or find great pressure cooker recipes.

Why that steak on your table is lowering your green home score

September 3, 2009 in Food & Drink by Jennifer | 1 comment

You may be cleaning with all natural cleaners, sleeping on organic sheets, gardening with organic methods and more, but if you’re not limiting the meat you eat, you’re not living as green as you could be.

Meat is an eco-baddie:

  • According to Sustainable Table, and plenty of other sources, meat production causes some major distress to the environment. Such as…
  • Animal waste produced by industrial farms release greenhouse gasses into the air.
  • Trucks that carry that meat and animals to and from stores also cost the world significant amounts of fossil fuels to power the trucks.
  • Animals, such as cows, are often fed low doses of antibiotics which can contribute to antibiotic-resistant bacteria in humans. Learn more about additives in meat such as hormones and antibiotics.
  • Destruction of rural communities throughout the country happen due to animal farming.
  • Animals on farms eat a huge amount of grains; in fact according to Environmental Nutrition it takes 7 tons of grains to produce just one ton of beef, and most of those grains aren’t grown organically so that’s a whole other pesticide issue.

I’m not even going to get into how animals on these farms are treated, because that’s a whole other level of badness.

So if you’re eating lots o’ meat, your footprint isn’t all that small. Cut out a few meat meals a week. Go nuts, cut most of them even. If you must eat meat go organic and read about meats that are somewhat more eco-friendly.

Learn more:

What’s in an eco-friendly pantry?

July 29, 2009 in Eco Kitchen, Food & Drink by Jennifer | No comments

Eco-friendly kitchen pantries have some common themes…

  • Bulk food items in reusable bulk bags and containers. Bulk food cuts down on packaging considerably and most eco grocers and co-ops have fab bulk sections with everything from spices to flour to cereal to dried fruit to pasta. In fact you can usually get natural peanut butter in bulk even at most decent co-ops.
  • Large size of stuff you use all the time. The larger the package the better the eco-deal. I.e. a huge jar of tomatoes for sauce vs. a tiny can.
  • Food items that are free from double and triple packaging. It’s totally unnecessary to buy a box of food that’s sitting in a tray, wrapped in plastic, then placed in a box.
  • No individually wrapped items. Fruit snacks, granola bars, seasoning, crackers for kids, and candy can all be found in bulk or in larger loose packaging.
  • Bottles and jars that come with safety caps that pop – much better than shrink wrapped caps.
  • Glass bottles of condiments and juice vs. plastic.
  • Local and organic food items. At least a decent bulk of your food items should be organic, bulk and in season.
  • Simple food items such as brown rice or plain noodles rice mixes and noodle mixes for instance.The former food items use more package than necessary and often contain lots of chemicals and preservatives.

What’s in your pantry – have you looked lately to see what you might be able to make greener?

Elegant Organic Berries and Zabaglione for Dessert

July 14, 2009 in Food & Drink by Jennifer | 1 comment

We’re always talking about saving electricity, organic soil, indoor air quality, and greener building practices here at Best Green Home Tips. While I’ll admit, it’s fun for me to talk about, it’s not totally cool summerlicious fun, now is it? Thus today I thought we’d divert from home help to home elegance and fun with a cool dessert you can whip up for one of those late evening meals on the patio I hope you’re having during these warm months.

Berries and Zabaglione dessert…

This classic twist on an Italian dessert comes courtesy of Driscoll’s Berries, who offers a wide selection of organic berries in various stores around the country. You can whip this up and serve it in wine glasses as shown above for an elegant display. You can garnish with organic mint or organic edible flowers from your garden too.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Makes 4 servings

  • 2 packages (6 ounces each) Driscoll’s Organic Raspberries, Organic Blackberries or Organic Blueberries or 3 cups sliced hulled Organic Strawberries.
  • 4 large organic egg yolks
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup dry Marsala wine
  1. Divide berries between four 8-ounce dessert dishes or stemmed glasses.
  2. Fill the bottom of a double boiler (or a saucepan with a metal bowl fitted snugly on top) with 1-2 inches of water or just below bowl. Bring water to a simmer.
  3. Beat egg yolks and sugar in top of double boiler or bowl with an electric mixer or wire whisk until fluffy and light in color, about 5 minutes. Maintain water at a low simmer while beating.
  4. Add Marsala 1 tablespoon at a time, continuously beating until mixture forms very soft peaks, about 8 minutes.
  5. Pour Zabaglione over berries and serve immediately.

Nutrition Per Serving: 238 calories, 4.79g total fat, 1.64g saturated fat, 3.39g protein, 37.47g carbohydrate, 209.78mg cholesterol, 2.04g fiber, 192mg sodium

If this looks good you might also want to check out Driscoll’s Berries Homemade Organic Blackberry Chocolate Frozen Yogurt recipe too.

Minimize food waste

April 6, 2009 in Eco Kitchen, Food & Drink by Jennifer | No comments

Minimizing food waste is important if you want to live a greener lifestyle. Why?

  • It creates a general awareness surrounding waste. People waste a lot of items in life and often that means more junk to toss and more resources used when you don’t need to. Minimizing food waste is an easy change to make.
  • It means money saved which means you can afford the organics you should be buying.
  • Minimizing food waste means less packaging bought – a good thing since so much of the current food packaging you see is layered and excessive. Even if you can recycle, it’s still kind of over the top.

HOW TO MINIMIZE YOUR FOOD & FOOD PACKAGING WASTE:

Use it up: for example, most leftovers can be used to make homemade ice pops (use sustainable reusable molds), used in soups, used in baked goods, and more. Think up new ways to use all your food up before it goes bad.

Only buy recyclables: if you can’t recycle the package, just say no. Buy in bulk using reusable bags and containers to minimize your waste further.

Share it or freeze it: if you get a great deal, but the amount of the deal is large, split it with another family or freeze the excess. Don’t forget to use sustainable food storage.

Compost it: you can make food that’s old do double duty with composting. Turn your old food into healthy soil.

Quit cooking for a crowd: if you know that your family (or just you) has a bad habit of cooking too much and then forgetting the leftovers, stop. Cook what you need, not more.

Give it away: if you cook for an event or a large family dinner, and can’t eat it all, donate it to an elderly neighbor, a shelter, or another organization.

Grow some food: growing your own is a great way to cut down on food waste because one, fresh grown food taste way better, thus enticing you to munch them down. Two, you’ve stopped the packaging and transport issues cold when you grow your own. Organic gardens are highly sustainable.

What other tips do you have for cutting down on food waste?

Be an organic home know-it-all!

March 10, 2009 in Food & Drink, Furniture & Appliances, Green Your Home, Healthy Green Home by Jennifer | No comments

When it comes to organic food and organic home products, there are a lot of choices. It can be overwhelming. However, there’s no need to freak. You will totally look like you know what you’re doing (even when you’re not so sure) with these simple rules…

Organic is not always best: There are absolutely some items you should purchase organic, and then there are the organic items that matter less. Clothing, textiles, and other fabrics for your home are good organic, but you can also choose used or other sustainable fabrics that are just as eco-friendly as organic cotton. For example – hemp, bamboo, and thrift store finds all lower your footprint without the organic label. As for organic food, some purchases offer better health and eco-benefits than others. Check out which organics you need to buy and 11 Ways to Save Money on Organic Food in order to make smart choices.

Don’t go nuts all at once: Small organic changes are just as good as a complete life overhaul, but WAY easier. Don’t try to go massive organic all at once. Start making small changes; i.e. buy organic peanut butter and organic cotton pillow cases. Eventually all your simple changes will start to add up.

Got pets?: Let them go organic too. Many people forget their pets but currently there are many organic varieties of pet foods, green pet homes, and toys out there.

Go organic for health: If you’re only going organic for the eco-benefits, that’s fine, but the health benefits of organic over conventional offer you much more motivation. For example, you can make over your bathroom soaps and cosmetics in order to cut chemicals out of your world or buy a better organic mattress for a non-toxic dream time. Think about organic in a way that personally relates to you because this makes shopping decisions easier.

Make it easy for your kids: Kids raised on organics are in a better position to grow up understanding the long-term benefits. Don’t just go organic – talk organic with the kiddos so they know what’s up. Once they’re old enough to make shopping decisions, they’ll have a far easier time than our generation of adults.

How are you going organic at home?

Are Natural Wood Cutting Boards Safe?

March 10, 2009 in Eco Kitchen, Food & Drink by Jennifer | No comments

Many people don’t want to use plastic cutting boards due to the non eco-friendly quality of plastics overall. On the flip side, many people worry about wooden cutting boards because they’re afraid of germs staying on the board. So… which is safer? Wood or plastic? And which is a more eco-friendly choice?

Germs can actually stay on both plastic or wood – the catch is in how you clean your cutting board. Studies show that if you clean your wooden cutting board properly, you can even use it safely for meat.

How to be safe:

  1. Use two cutting boards – one for produce and one for meats.
  2. After use, wash in the hottest water possible and a basic natural soap (say like an eco-friendly dish soap). Dry with a clean towel.
  3. Never leave your board sitting around wet – dry it as well as you can as dampness aids in bacteria growth.

As for the eco-friendly qualities, wood is a better choice. Especially if you get a sustainable wooden cutting board – such as a board made from sustainably harvested bamboo. Plastics are made from non-renewable resources, so plastic cutting boards are never going to be a better choice. That said, another great option is snagging a Paperstone Cutting Board from Preserve. These cutting boards are made with 100% recycled Forest Stewardship Council certified Paperstone and feature a knife-friendly surface with non-porous, petroleum-free coating. Plus these boards look great (see below).

To learn more read; Green Cutting Board Know-How.

How Earth Friendly is Your Backyard Barbecue?

February 20, 2009 in Eco Kitchen, Food & Drink, Outdoor Living by Jennifer | No comments

With spring coming up fast, you may be thinking about grilling and backyard barbecue fun. But, how green is a barbecue? If you have one are you single handily killing the planet?

Eco-issues of barbecues – how to green your cookout:

According to CNN, “The carbon footprint of backyard grilling is not that significant compared to what people do in their everyday lives. Lights, TVs, cars, these are much more significant than grilling.” Which is good news. If you love barbecues, make sure you stay green in other areas to offset the issue.

You can green your grilling experience by grilling with gas or charcoal  – both better than gas or electric. Later we’ll look at some greener grill option.

Buy organic – organic meats for sure (there are tons o’ pesticides in conventional meats), get organic brew to drink, in season seafood, and organic veggies to grill too. Also think local. Locally bought food supports the economy and offsets long transport energy issues.

Use real plates, silverware, cups, and cloth napkins. Disposables are icky for the earth and frankly, don’t hold food as well. IF you must use disposables, use items made from easy to compost and biodegradable materials (corn starch and potato starch or 100% recycled for example.)

Don’t use toxins to fight bugs at your cookouts. DEET, the main component in most bug repellents is bad for your health and the earth. Use natural options.

Next up some other green barbecue tips to get you prepped for spring – from grills to organic recipes and more.

“I’m Not a Paper Towel” Dish Towel

January 27, 2009 in Food & Drink, Green Your Home by Jennifer | No comments

This is too funny. BUT actually clever and makes a good point. I haven’t bought paper towels in years. There’s just no point when you can use dish towels instead, over and over. Cloth towels save paper production energy, trees, and landfill space. Plus you save scads of cash by choosing cloth. The bad news is the design could be WAY more stylish, but I think they may have been aiming for an old school country look.

I think this would make a great gift set when paired with my old favorite, the I am Not a Paper Cup Reusable Mug.

I love this darn cup.

What do you think? Are you still using paper towels when cloth will do the job?

+ I’m Not A Paper Towel Dish Towel via BlueQ

Green Food Storage Options

December 29, 2008 in Eco Kitchen, Food & Drink by Jennifer | No comments

This morning we looked at what kind of food storage is the best green choice. Now, as promised, I’ve rounded up some green food storage options for you.

To-Go Ware Food Tin
Read the rest of this entry »

Green Kitchen: Eco-Friendly Food Storage Containers

December 29, 2008 in Eco Kitchen, Food & Drink by Jennifer | 1 comment

This week we started looking at earth friendly kitchenware options. So far we talked about Eco-Friendly Pots and Pans and Eco-Friendly Basic Dishes. Today we’re going to take a peek at what makes a food container eco-friendly.

Food storage containers are fairly green in of themselves because they massively cut down on things like foil and plastic wrap use. Food storage containers; even super cheap, not so cool containers tend to last a long time. That said, there are some greener options than the traditional old school plastic containers most of us grew up with.

Of course you want to avoid containers made of PVC (3), polycarbonate (7), or polystyrene (6). It’s nice when you have a recyclable food container you know. Not to mention you don’t want chemicals leaching into your food. For example, plastic #7 has been shown to leach Bisphenol A (BPA), which in turn has been shown to disrupt hormones. Plastics made from petroleum and natural gas release their chemicals when overheated or melted; which can accidentally happen in a microwave. There are far better choices than plastic anyhow. If you do decide to go with some plastic containers, choose ones with the recycling symbols 1, 2, 4, or 5 and avoid heating them in the microwave (NEVER in the oven).

Best food storage options:

Glass and stainless steel are good food container choices. If you’re going to microwave an item make sure you use glass or lead-free microwave safe ceramic containers. If your glass container comes with a plastic lid, don’t microwave food with the lid on.

Later I’ll post some good green food container choices.

Green Kitchen: Eco-Friendly Dishes

December 27, 2008 in Eco Kitchen, Food & Drink, Healthy Green Home by Jennifer | 3 comments

This week we’re looking at green kitchen dishes and cookware. Yesterday we learned about Eco-Friendly Pots & Pans. Today we’ll look at basic dishes – plate, bowls, etc.

Avoid lead: Toxic lead in the human body is very dangerous, and especially so to small children and babies. The FDA does regulate things like lead and cadmium levels in dishes here in the U.S. but they don’t catch everything. To avoid lead dangers in your dishes do the following:

  • When you purchase new dishes, see if there’s a registration card offered and use it to sign up for safety notices.
  • Never store food in antique dishes.
  • Avoid imported ceramic dishes.
  • If you like to purchase dishes from thrift stores, or have old dishes around your house, then learn how to test your current dishes for lead.
  • Never store liquids in lead crystal glasses or bottles
  • Pregnant women, children, and babies should not drink from lead crystal bottles or cups.

Best safe and green dishes to choose:

  • Recycled glass dishes, plain old glass dishes, stoneware, and ceramic dishes made in the U.S.
  • Buy local.
  • Buy from handcrafters and companies who have eco-ethics.
  • Bamboo dishes.
  • Sustainable wood dishes with non-toxic finishes.
  • Stainless steel dishes – extra points for recycled.
  • If you MUST use disposable dishes, choose recycled and biodegradable disposable dishes.

Green Kitchen: Eco-Friendly Pots and Pans

December 26, 2008 in Eco Kitchen, Food & Drink, Healthy Green Home by Jennifer | 3 comments

This week we’re going to spend some time looking at better green cookware and dishes for your home. Overall, almost all dishes and cookware take a lot of time and energy to process, and many have toxic services. That said, there are some far better green choices when it comes to outfitting your kitchen and dining room.

Tips for greener pots and pans…

Avoid pots and pans made with perfluorochemical (PFCs): You’ll know PFCs as “nonstick.” PFCs is a collection of substances that among other things, keeps food from sticking to pots and pans. PFCs are used in everything from apparel to furniture to cosmetics, but we’re focusing on dishes today and in fact, PFCs may be worse in dishes than other applications because there are many health hazards of having PFCs in your body, and PFCs last forever both in our bodies and they won’t degrade in the environment. You don’t want to cook on and eat off this stuff.

Visit the Environmental Working Group to find out which cookware contains PFCs. Common brands containing PFCs (in specific pieces), include Farberware, Emerilware, Calphalon, All Clad, and more.

Better green pots and pans: The best choices of cookware include pieces made of recycled (or even not recycled) glass bake ware, cast iron, and stainless steel.

The worst pots and pans: Non-stick pots and pans such as anything with Teflon.

What if you already own non-stick cookware?: The best thing to do is upgrade to non-toxic cookware, however, if you hang on to your non-stick pieces, be sure that you don’t heat them to above 450 F and toss them if the non-stick coating starts to peel or shed off.

Later we’ll look at tips for greener flatware, dining dishes, and food containers plus see some green options you can purchase as well, so stay tuned.

Eco-Holiday Table Setting – Green Dishes for the Holidays

December 8, 2008 in Food & Drink, Holiday by Jennifer | No comments

We’ve been looking lately at setting your holiday table, using green techniques. So far we’ve seen;Set Your Perfect Eco Holiday Table – choosing a table and Linen Choices.

Today, let’s look at some eco-dishes and serving items that go on top of your table…


Clear Glass Wine Decanter and Set of 4 Goblets – lovely recycled glass decanter with 4 recycled goblets.


Oceana Wave Plate – Pearl (set of 4) or Oceana Square Plate – Pewter (set of 4) – great place settings in recycled seaglass. Perfect as a set for formal holiday meals.
Read the rest of this entry »

How To Read Holiday Food Labels – Part Two

November 23, 2008 in Food & Drink by Jennifer | 1 comment

In the post, How To Read Holiday Food Labels we started looking at food labels so that you can make smart food shopping choices this holiday season. Continuing on with our look at labels…

Fair Trade: Fair trade is a little confusing. A good place to start is by reading: What is the difference between Fair Trade and Fairtrade? You may be seeing a Fair Trade label of sorts (see above) more during the holidays, on treats, coffee, cocoa, and more. The Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International, FLO-CERT GMBH, and TransFair are all key players in fairly traded goods (behind the scenes there’s a lot more going on – to get the full scoop, you’ll need to check out F&Qs at the above websites). To be labeled Fair Trade, a company must meet quite a few objectives – issues like fair wages, working conditions, and worker’s rights are taken seriously by Fair Trade labels.

One problem with a food item labeled as Fair Trade can be that some companies use it as a greenwashing technique. For example, a company who is (or was) an eco baddie, may enact fair trade conditions within their company, but that doesn’t make other poor eco choices ok, and it also doesn’t cover up what a company has done in the past that may be questionable. If your goal is a green company, a fair trade mark may mean little.

Hormone Free; rBGH Free, or rBST Free: The war on this label raged again this summer, and it’s still unclear where rights regarding this label stand. Where you’ll see this label is on dairy products, meat, poultry, and eggs.The USDA defined the use of the term Hormone Free, but there’s no real meaning behind the label, and at this time the label standards aren’t even available to consumers – if you’re looking for products that support animal rights, hormone free means absolutely nothing. Animals can be treated horribly, and their milk (or whatever) labeled hormone free.

You can stay current with what’s up with hormone free labels by clicking here, but a better way to make sure you avoid hormones is to buy items labeled with the USDA Organic label.

More food labels to come – stay tuned.

How To Read Holiday Food Labels

November 23, 2008 in Food & Drink by Jennifer | 3 comments

With the holidays here, you’re probally trying to purchase healthy, eco-friendly foods for your holiday table. Looking at healthy food labels can be somewhat confusing though – here’s a breakdown…

Certified Organic: This is about the best label you can find. This label means a food item is at least 95% organic, although they may be more; up to 100% organic. This Certified Organic label is regulated by the USDA and all foods wearing this label must be grown without chemicals, synthetic fertilizers, hormones, and other genetically altered baddies. Also, this label means the food can’t contain artificial colors or flavors, although some added enzymes, waxes, and acids are allowed. NOTE: sometimes the above label is black, it’s still ok. So long as it says USDA Organic, you’re good.

Natural: This is an iffy label and can look like anything. If you see “Natural” on a food item, it just doesn’t mean much. There are no legal standards for the term natural. The good news is that if a company claims natural, and they’re not, there are watchdog policies in place (not extensive) that call them on it, and a federal fine may be issued. Plenty of chemically enhanced foods wear some sort of natural label, so if you see this, a good idea is to read the ingredient list, see what’s actually in the product, and take it from there.

Made With Organic Ingredients: The USDA does certify this label, but it’s not as good as the organic label you see at the top of this post. Regulations state that food labeled “made with organic ingredients” only have to be 70% organic. Often, weird stuff like genetically modified grains and plants are allowed in products labeled like this.

Coming up, we’ll look at other food labels for the holiday, such as Fair Trade, GMO, and more. Stay tuned.

Green Your Coffee Beans

November 10, 2008 in Food & Drink by Jennifer | No comments

In the last post we looked at how to green up your java routeine – from coffee makers to filters to cleaning the pot. Now let’s take a quick look at the actual beans.

This isn’t a long topic by the way.

  1. Buy organic beans or ground coffee.
  2. Buy Fair Trade beans or coffee.

Easy right? But you could do more, such as… Read the rest of this entry »

Green Up Your Kitchen Java

November 10, 2008 in Food & Drink, Furniture & Appliances by Jennifer | 3 comments


Around the holidays it seems like the coffee pot is going non-stop. Or at my house year round (expert coffee addict here). In any case, it’s easy to green your coffee routine, no matter how often you brew a pot.

Your coffee maker:

First of all there’s your actual coffee maker. There aren’t exactly green standards set for coffee makers. That said, you can estimate your coffee maker’s energy consumption at The Department of Energy. Also, Inhabitat has an in-depth, and great post, GREEN YOUR APPLIANCES! Coffee Makers that will put you ahead of the curve regarding coffee makers. You can also try a French Press.

Your best bet for a green coffee maker is going to be in how you use it, not so much the appliance itself. Read the rest of this entry »

10 Amazing Organic Holiday Cookies

November 9, 2008 in Food & Drink, Holiday, Holiday Gift Guide by Jennifer | 2 comments

Hey folks! Being that it’s the weekend, I thought we’d look at something low-key and fun. 10 sets of beautiful organic holiday cookies.

You can serve these at a holiday get-together at your home, or give them as the perfectly easy holiday gift (If you an give them up). Either way – go cookies!

Love the Planet Cookie Tin – a recycled, reusable tin houses 24 USDA Organic sugar cookies in lovely colors and shapes.

organic cookies

+ Organic Boutique

See more yummy treats! Read the rest of this entry »

Green Your Holiday Baking with Silicone Baking Sheets & Cups

November 6, 2008 in Food & Drink, Green Your Home by Jennifer | 2 comments

One way to make the holidays a little greener is to use silicone baking gear. Paper muffin cups waste resources, while going sans any baking cup leaves kind of a mess, and your baked goods will stick to the pan.

Silicone has been prooven safe, and it’s reusable. Plus I personally use them, and nothing sticks to them. You will want to wait a little to remove muffins from silicone baking cups though – if you try when the muffins are freshly hot out of the oven, they’ll sometimes stick. Silicone won’t rust, warp, or retain odor from your baking ingredients. It’s also dishwasher, freezer, and microwave safe

Here are some good silicone products to try:

Wilton has a HUGE selection of fun, colorful silicone baking cups. Best for kids are the Silly Feet! Silicone Baking Cups (as seen at top pf post).

Cookware.com has plenty of silicone available. Three good options include:

And just for the kiddos, these fun HEAD CHEFS Kid’s Posable Silicone Kitchen Utensils will get them cooking…

Earth Friendly Beverages

July 31, 2008 in Food & Drink, Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle, Water by Jennifer | No comments

It’s summer, it’s hot, and I bet your household is going through water like crazy. Here are some tips to make sure that you stay hydrated and green at the same time.

green drinks

The best thing to drink is tap water – so far as greenness goes. Now, this assumes your tap water is safe. Many people have perfectly fine tap water; but the bottled water and water filter folks want you to think otherwise. You can check the quality of your drinking water by checking with your local water authority. Visit this link to start learning more about how to find out if your water is safe.

Don’t forget to use refillable and recyclable water bottles for your water. See reviews on some typical bottle choices:

If your tap water is no good, tastes funny, or you’re paranoid, your next best bet is to get a company to bring you water in reusable jugs. You do need to make sure the company you choose is close by, or all that gas wasted creates another issue. After water delivery, water filters are an ok choice. There are some major problems with water filters. I’ve never found any that are recyclable, and they come with some major packaging flaws. Still almost anything is preferable to bottled water. Studies show that most people don’t recycle their bottles, even if they have the means.

Other tips:

  • Choose beverages bottled by local companies.
  • Buy clear plastic bottles as opposed to colored (not all cities recycle colored).
  • When recycling your bottles, remove the lids. Those hard plastic lids cannot be recycled, and some recycling centers will toss whole bottles rather than remove a lid. Sad but true.
  • Buy the biggest beverages you can and use cups. Smaller jars, bottles, juice boxes, and so on, only create more trash and take more energy to produce.
  • Lose the straws. Do you really need that extra plastic? Most likely not.