father's day gift guide

You wouldn't buy Dad another tie, or a t-shirt that says "World's Best Dad" on it for Father's Day, would you? I didn't think so. Well, if you need some help picking out a little something special for Pops for his special day, there's still time. Here are some ideas with every budget in mind:

1. Gift subscription to the Green Guide. Opt for the downloadable version for an even greener gift ($15 paper version, $12 online version).
2. The Kindle -- yeah, it's an electronic device, but it saves tons of paper. Dad can download books, magazines, newspapers, and even blogs ($359).
3. If Dad's not techy, or just likes the old-fashioned printed word, get him a used or rare book from Alibris.
4. Adopt an endangered animal, like the gray wolf (for as little as $20).
5. Outdoor fire pit set made of a repurposed steel drum and utilizing clean-burning logs from VivaTerra ($259).
6. Succulent garden -- an indoor mini garden that doesn't require a lot of water or care. Or you can make a succulent terraria yourself ($89 or cheaper if you DIY).
7. Get him a class, like cooking or wine tasting. Or if he's more adventurous, surfing (prices range).
8. Give him an experience, like a hot air balloon ride (commentary on the environmental impact here).
9. Classic shaving kit with straight razor. Make sure the razor is made with good quality carbon steel, like this one (you can also get a cheaper, vintage one on ebay). Be sure to include shaving soap, brush, and strop (vegan options here). How to use one and a comparison of various shaving methods from Mother Earth News here.

For other holidays, encourage your friends and family to sign up for an alternative registry, where recipients can request gifts ranging from meaningful experiences to specific items that aren't necessarily available in department stores.

a little visitor

Last night as we sat down to watch "The Jerk," my boyfriend saw something out of the corner of his eye. "I think I saw a waterbug or something," he declares. I tense up a bit. I don't mind little creatures, and in fact, when they're in their natural habitat I admire them in fascination. But when one of these creatures finds his way into my home, I freak.

"Oh, there he is," a pause as he points behind the TV stand, "I think it's a mouse." Oh man. I don't like this. A look of disapproval comes my way, maybe because at this point I'm standing on the couch. Okay, I need to buck up and shake this irrational fear.

"He's so tiny... he's kind of cute," he says reassuringly. In the 8 years he's lived in this apartment -- and the 5 or so years that I've been here -- this is a first. We've been pretty lucky to have had so few parasitic visitors. Maybe a cockroach or two. That's it.

So on and off for about an hour or two (between snippets of "The Jerk") it goes like this: my boyfriend tries to scare the little bugger out from behind the TV stand. I, with big cardboard box in hand, eyes like a hawk, peer from my perch (the couch) waiting to pounce. My boyfriend shines a flashlight to expose him dangling from the TV wires, his shadow looming large on the wall. The mouse climbs onto the shelf where the DVD player and stereo live. Then he climbs down the wires and hides under the stand. Again, he runs up the wires. And on and on. Finally, makes a break for it. My weak attempt to toss the box over him is thwarted. He's now safe in the underbellies of the stove.

Weary and bleary eyed, we block him in the kitchen using a big mirror and steel wool and go to bed. To keep him from our bedroom, just in case, we stuff a towel under the door.

In the morning we assess the situation. He's nowhere to be found. I do some research on humane trapping. I'm not about to kill the little guy. I have to admit, the wily bastard is cute. And I don't want to come home to find a dead mouse belly up in a snap trap or worse, stuck in a glue trap.

So I found two methods for trapping, both DIY. We're trying this method from Chris Glass, who says it worked within an hour. There's also another method, using a 2-liter plastic bottle, but it's a bit more time consuming to construct.

(Left: Our version of the humane mouse trap)

Stay tuned...

farmer's market alert!

The strawberry's are here! Hurray. And they look so juicy and delicious.
Other fun food at the farmer's market this week:

• Garlic scapes
• Spring garlic
• Broccoli rabe
• Sugar snap peas

clearing up the fish fog

Trying to figure out which fish are okay to eat can be tricky. So many questions enter my mind when attempting to decide on the fish I'll consume. Does the fish I'm about to eat contain mercury? Is it overfished? Is there trawling involved, which damages the sea floor? Are other sea creatures getting unintentionally trapped in the nets?

One little tool which helps in the decision process is the handy Monterey Bay Aquarium fish card I carry around with me. On their Seafood Watch site, you can order a free pocket fish card of your own (or more for friends, if you'd like) or just print one out for your particular region. They break it down simply: Best Choices, Good Alternatives, and Avoid. If you're curious about a particular fish, you can also search their online database.

And if you're really curious, they're hosting a webcast next Friday, June 13th where they'll talk about how to cook and eat the fish that are sustainable and how you can be an advocate for our oceans.

fair trade organic love

Chocolate is love. Am I wrong? I mean, scientists even say so. And has anyone ever read the book or seen the film Chocolat? (hello, Johnny Depp is in it!)

Chocolate is especially great if it has no baggage. When I get the craving, I try to reach for fair trade and organic chocolate -- like Green & Black's.

I just whipped up a batch of dark chocolate cupcakes, using the 70% dark variety of G&B's. It's my secret weapon for any chocolate fix. The recipe is at America's Test Kitchen (you have to sign up for the free newsletter to get it). And don't forget the dark chocolate butter cream icing. It's easy to make this whole recipe organic. Just swap out conventional ingredients like flour, sugar, and butter for organic.

You can get Green & Black's at your local supermarket, specialty store, or on Amazon.
And here are some more fair trade organic chocolates:
Dagoba
Endangered Species

the solution is simple

Alain Robert (aka The French Spiderman) and Brooklynite Renaldo Clarke scaled the New York Times building today for related causes: Robert, in honor of World Environment Day (and against global warming) and Clarke for Malaria No More. Each of the men donned t-shirts promoting the causes. According to The Solution Is Simple (Robert's cause), global warming kills more people than 9/11 every week. They were both arrested for their actions. Check out the slide show on NYT. (Photo by Lucas Jackson, Reuters)

locavores, log in!

When I can't get to my local farmer's market on Saturdays, I get a little cranky. It means I won't have access to local produce until the following week, so I have to resort to the fruits and veggies at the supermarket which are shipped in from California, Canada, Mexico, or even New Zealand (though I try to find the stuff that's grown closest to home, if possible).

I wanted to join a local CSA (community supported agriculture), but the ones in my area are all booked up for the year.

But wait, what's this? An article from the New York Times telling me I can just get on the ol' interweb to get my local produce fix? I can't help but picture Farmer Bob sitting on his tractor, MacBook in lap, waiting to fulfill orders from urbanites such as myself. But I guess it makes sense, in an age where lots of people get their groceries delivered via Fresh Direct and other such services.

These local-food-via-internet distributors are sproutin' up all over the country. There's Spud on the West Coast. And Natural Direct in Illinois. In Texas, there's Greenling. And right here in NYC, there's Urban Organic. There's also My Personal Farmers, which serves parts of NY state (like Westchester) and CT.

What they provide you with is a weekly delivery of fresh farm products, the season determines what goes in it, you determine the amount delivered, based on the size of your household. Some of the services also provide meat, dairy, and other products like honey. They also offer up recipes tailored to what's in your basket for a given week.

The one thing I'd miss is actually picking out the goods myself, and being able to talk to the farmers directly like I do at the farmer's market. But at least I'd know I'm supporting local agriculture, which means fresher, more nutritious produce; less carbon burnt; keeping family farms in business (as opposed to supporting agribusiness); and sustaining the local economy.

denim sale @ kaight

eco vans

A little over a year ago, I stopped buying apparel made in China. There are numerous reasons, but it was mainly an environmentally driven decision. But I've found that I've needed to make a few exceptions, and in those cases, my decisions were also environmentally driven.

Like the clothing company Nau, who sadly is closing up shop. Their efforts to run a sustainable business using materials that were either recycled or organic or just responsibly sourced were inspiring. Their designs and attention to detail were impeccable. And they gave a portion of sales profits to the charity of your choice. But a lot of their clothes were made in China, Thailand, and other Eastern countries. Sometimes ya gotta bend the rules, even your own.

It's also really hard to find shoes that aren't made overseas. Again, one needs to make exceptions. Luckily, companies like Vans are starting to make their shoes out of sustainable materials. You can get the classic slip-on which has hemp infused gum rubber outsoles and water-based glues and inks to make them a bit more eco-friendly. They also make vegan shoes without any animal products.

Here are some other companies making responsible kicks:
simple
terra plana
keen
patagonia
beyond skin

5 actions you can take right now

1. Slow global warming: Urge your senators to push for clean energy
2. Protect children from airborne lead with stricter EPA standards
3. Stop mountaintop removal coal mining
4. Save Yellowstone and The Greater Rockies from coal mining
5. Stop the clock on species extinction


The endangered Philippine eagle


Mountaintop removal coal mine in WV
(Vivian Stockman)

afternoon web scan

• Urban farming: There Will Be Chicken Blood [Slate]
• Get More From Milk: Pasture-fed, Organic Is More Nutritious [OCA]
• Food Is a Growing Commodity [NYT]
• Arnie Down Under (via satellite) for World Environment Day [NZ Herald]
• More From the Governator: Drought Declared in Cali [NYT]
• Coca-cola India to Conserve Water (but I ask, what about the GMO corn syrup?) [Times of India]
• Jane Goodall: Please Do What You Can To Save Mother Nature [China View]

Happy World Environment Day!

how much good would good wood do?

One of the biggest contributors to climate change is deforestation. And if we don't pay attention to the labeling on things like paper products (tp, napkins, stationery), building materials, or furniture, we won't know if we're contributing, too.

When my boyfriend and I were renovating our kitchen last year, one of my criteria for cabinets was that they be made from FSC-certified wood (The Forest Stewardship Council is an independent organization that certifies if manufacturers of tree-based products are sourcing materials from sustainably managed forests). We did some initial shopping at big box stores like Lowe's and Home Depot. When I'd ask the sales people if they had any cabinets available in FSC-certified wood, they didn't know what the heck I was talking about. So we had to do some research.

Luckily, we found Neil Kelly Cabinets. We really expected that their prices would take us way over budget, since their cabinets are FSC certified and contain low to no volatile organic compounds (VOCs). But we got an estimate. Surprisingly, their prices were on par with those at the big box stores. The un-eco-friendly part is that we had them shipped from the West Coast. (Can you say huge carbon footprint? Well, I guess it's smaller than if we would have ordered cabinets made in China).

They're not only responsibly made, they look really great, too.

When buying any wood or paper products, look for the FSC seal.

Pledge to buy good wood here.

eco to go

Sick of the piles of disposable utensils and napkins that come with your takeout orders? Well thankfully, someone is speaking up against all that waste. A new movement started in NYC by ecoagents* is spreading the word to restaurants, that, well, some people don't need or want those plastic forks wrapped in cellophane. It's called eco to go and I hope it catches on. When you call to place your order, just say "eco to go" and they'll omit all the extra stuff you don't need. Find participating restaurants here: eco to go via ideal bite.

*Ecoagents is a non-profit working to protect the Amazon Rainforest and empower the indigenous communities to sustain their way of life and their native environment.