The green Bannana

I was at the Tucson Mall this weekend shopping for a formal interview outfit; as I am graduating from the University of Arizona on May 17, and I am going out on a few job interviews. I walked up to Banana Republic and saw a sea of green through the store.

Banana Republic has come out with a green line. The new line is made from eco-friendly resources such as: organic cotton, soy silk and bamboo and spandex. Although they are trying to make the clothes green it is just a small step. For instance, a knit tank top is make from fabric that is only 5% soy silk.
Banana Republic's efforts do not stop there. In honor of Earth Week, April 22 - 27, donated up to $100,000 to the Trust for Public Land. Trust for Public Land is a non-profit organization that is trying to preserve public, urban green spaces.

Bags and boxes that come out of Banana Republic are also made with a percentage of recycled material. In 2006, Banana Republic bought 2,481 tons of recycled material. The price tags are made with 100% recycled material.

I am truely bored with talking about organic food, so for my last few bogs I am going to address eco-friendly topics that intrest me. Don't get me wrong nutrition is very important to me and I do lead an organic lifestyle, but punk rock, tattoos and skate boarding are my passions.
I recently learned that there are eco-friendly skate boards. These decks are manufacture by Super Green Boards. They are made of the world's fastest growing wood replacement, bamboo.
According to Lewis Bamboo Inc. bamboo produces new canes in the Spring. After the first 60 days of the plant's life it reaches its full size, although it produces new foliage each year. Bamboo reaches its full maturity in five years as opposed to the 100 years it takes for a maple tree to mature.

Bamboo is also an excellent converter of carbon dioxide. It converts more than eight time the amount of carbon dioxide that tree do.
But, the density of bamboo is what makes it the perfect candidate to replace wood skate board decks. The Super Green Boards' Web-site said that bamboo is 17 percent stronger than the traditonal maple wood used to make decks.

The Super Green Boards mission statement is: Super Green Boards is dedicated to bringing the cleanest technology to longboarding, as new developments in the green movement develop you'll be sure to find them here.
The decks are laminated with a very low Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) epoxy. VOC's are organic chemical compounds that have such high vapor pressures that add polution to the atmosphere.
The company has five differnt long boards available: GreenGasm, GreenSpeed, Space Pansy, Green Envy and GreenEggs&Surf. Custom made boards can be ready in as little as two weeks.

A green spirit to match your diet

The book Dharma Punx is what we all need to make our souls green to align with our organic diets and eco-friendly attitudes toward the enviornment. I wanted to stray from my usual topic of healthy eating and fous on a healthy psyche.

Noah Levine, author of Dharma Punx, tells his life story and how he went from being a junkie on the streets to a veagan and well-known Budhhist medatation leader.

I recently saw Levine speak at Project Moore high school in Tucson, Ariz.

Covered from head-to-toe in tattoos Levine sat in front of a crowd of kids that are at the last-chance high school and spoke about the harsh realities of life and what drug use did to him.

Levine radiates inner peace and the students picked up on that. His words were encouraging and he seems to lead the ultimate green lifestyle.

All this got me thinking there is so much emphasis on keeping our nutrition green, well what about our dharma?

Check out the book an in the words of Noah Levine, "Serve the truth, defy the lies."

Many Americans are being forced to eat at home after food in flation hit its highest in 20 years.
It isn't easy to buy the brands we are used to and loyalty to our favorite grocery stores is being challenged.
Bread, ground beef, milk, chicken, apples, tomatoes, lettuce, coffee and orange juice are among the items that cost the most, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Making superstores like Walmart, now account for 24 percent of the market.
This need to eat at home can also be solved by growing some foods in your own garden. All of your produce can be grown organically in your back yard.
Helping to find a guide to organic gardening can help you determine what supplies you need and how to care for your plants.

Are you a locavore?

What is a locavore you ask, well it is the 2007 New Oxford American Dictionary of the year.

A locavore is someone who either buys all their food from farmers' markets and other fresh locally owned growers or grow and pick their own food.
Locavores also do not buy food from supermarkets because of the amount of fuel used to transport the food to the stores.
The guidelines for being a locavore are: buy foods that are locally produced, if not locally produced, then buy organic. If not organic, then buy from family farms or local businesses. If the food you want is not available, buy Terrior, "taste of the earth". Terrior foods are foods that are famous for the region they are grown in.
The term "locavore" was brought about two years ago by a group of women in San Fransisco. The women who coined the term, Lia McKinney, Jessica Prentice, Dede Sampson and Sage Van Wing, defined a 100-mile area around where they live, calling it a "foodshed", and began to encourage others to eat within their "foodshed" too.
The movement argues that locally-grown organic food is better tasting and more nutritious. The past year has seen the trend of eating seasonal foods without preservatives rise a lot.

Fair Trade making green tea a little greener

Green tea has been found to help with with all types of ailments, from depression to high cholesterol. Catechin polyphenols, particularly epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is the key ingredient in green tea. EGCG is a very strong anti-oxidant. Can this stuff get any better for our health? Yes.
Many organic green tea merchants sell their product through Fair Trade, like choiceorganicteas.com. Choice Organic Teas tries to raise awareness about the benefits of using organic teas.
In 2000 Choice Organic Teas became the first tea distributor to adopt the Fair Trade practices. Fair Trade certification addresses unfair practices in traditional trade, which has been known to discriminate against low-income workers in third-world countries. Products from economically developed countries, including the United States, do not qualify for Fair Trade certification.
When shopping for your green tea check the lable and make sure that it is organic and part of Fair Trade. Simple thinks like changing the brand of tea you drink can improve the quality of your health and the quality of life for impoverished famers and their families across the world.

Eco-friendly everyday menu

Worrying about not getting the right vitamins in your everyday nutrition regimine? Here are a few tips on making sure that you are eating your best and helping out the enviornment.
Try and buy organic whenever possible. Organic is better for you and more eco-friendly. Just your making sure that you fulfill your fruit and vegetable intake everyday and makeing sure it is organic improve you diet.
Use the to help you establish an eating pattern. It will clearly show you what you need to eat in a day. Tou can personalizw a pyramid at mypyramid.gov. Since everyone is not the same and do not have same dietary needs this is nice to have at the tip of your fingers.
Buying eco-friendly can have other positives, such as: having a prettier presentation, sweeter and more potent tastes, but most importantly it can help stimulate local economy.
Farmer's markets are popping up everywhere and from city to city local vendors can be found selling the organic wares. Helping local economy while eating great is the perfect way to round out all the friengly aspects of your diet.

Green-up your greens

Making your salad a colorful and nutritious masterpiece that you would be proud to serve goes hand in hand; the more color variation in your salad the more nutriants.
Choosing the right types of lettuce for your salad can be confusing. There are so many choices and is lettuce really that important? Yes. Just going to your local grocery store and grabbing iceberg lettuce won't cut it in the nutrition department.
Other types of lettuce, such as: Escarole, Kale, Arugula and Romaine, hold way more nutriants, have thicker textures and more interesting colors. Both Escarole and Kale hold up well under heat and can be used in soups as well as salads.
Using organic lettuce will also add to the nutritional value of your salad. Most grocery chains carry at least one brand of organic Romaine lettuce. Specialty stores like Trader Joe's offer a wide variety of organic lettuce.
Remember as a rule of thumb- the more colors in your salad, the more nutritional value it will hold.

A Shade Of Green Everyone Likes

St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner and that can only mean one thing: green beer and good friends.

This year take a break from the usual St. Patty's running of the snakes and barbecue green. It’s just as easy to execute as your traditional barbecue, but not as harsh on the environment.

The first step is to make sure that your actual barbecue is transformed into a new and improve green barbecue. This change is simple, instead of using charcoal use propane. Even though propane is a petroleum product, it still burns cleaner than charcoal.

For those of you that are unwilling to give up charcoal, there is an eco-friendly option for you too. Try using organic Wicked Good Charcoal. This charcoal is made from 100 percent natural Brazilian timber certified by The National Forest Stewardship Council. It also burns cleaner and longer than other firewood.

As far as that juicy meat that you are going to cook on the barbeque there are several options as where to find those juicy patties. Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s are excellent places to buy all the organic food for your green St. Patty’s Day party.

Really though it’s St. Patrick’s Day and that means green beer. Adding food color to Wolaver’s Pale Ale and Peak Organic Beer not only make the color of the beer green but, they are also organic brews.

One last tip to make you barbecue eco-friendly is to either not use plastic dishes, cups and utensils, or just make sure that they are recyclable.

In the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day I leave you with these words:

May your glass ever be full.

May the roof over your head be always strong.

And may you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows you’re dead!