Daily Loaf

You’d be surprised what turns up in the discount bin at The Sal. My wife, Heidi, found a blue-green Bianchi Italian racing bike sitting in the back of the Family Store on Fourth Street N. in St. Pete. A new Bianchi goes for over a thousand bucks. The manager told Heidi he’d take $50. That wasn’t good enough for the small crowd assembled in line behind Heidi, who protested until the price was lowered to $35. Heidi put about $150 worth of work into the bike (new tires, brakes, etc.) and it’s as good as new — for less than one-fifth the price. The Salvation Army Family Store, 5321 Fourth Street N., St. Petersburg, 727-521-4208, uss.salvationarmy.org.

What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this last week:

Finding an emotional connection with our planet- Doing so allows us to look at what our needs are in life and what is of the highest and greatest importance to us and our environment.

Best of the Bay Readers’ Poll 2009: The race for Greenest Politician has Linda Saul-Sena in the lead- Who do you think should take the title of this year’s Greenest Politician in the Bay?

Clean energy and anti-offshore drilling rally in Ybor this Thursday- Thursday, August 27th, join Sierra Club, 1Sky Florida, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and other environmental groups for a real grassroots rally outside Big Oil’s staged gathering.
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It’s a tight race so far for the title of Best Organic Food Store in the Bay. So far, our leaders are Rollin’ Oats of St. Pete and Tampa, Nature’s Food Patch in Clearwater, Publix Greenwise Market in Hyde Park, and Whole Foods Market in Tampa. It looks like it’s going to be a fight between the local stores versus the big chains.

Who do you think deserves the title? You have less than a week to vote (the poll ends Aug. 31). Vote now!

[About Daily Best of the Bay: Creative Loafing is posting writers' and editors' picks for Best of the Bay 2009 each day until the BOTB issue is released on Sept. 16. Vote now for your own BOTB choices in our Readers' Poll!]

The race for the title of Greenest Politician in the Bay area is neck and neck so far, with Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena of Tampa just two votes ahead of Councilman Karl Nurse of St. Petersburg. Behind them are Councilwoman Mary Mulhern and Rep. Rick Kriseman of St. Petersburg; Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio and Gov. Crist bring up the rear of this race.

(Editor’s Note: Ralph Nader and Al Gore are not residents of the Bay area, thus not qualifying for this race – so please don’t bother voting for them again.)

Who do you think should take the title? You have less than a week to vote (the poll ends Aug. 31). Vote now!

[About Daily Best of the Bay: Creative Loafing is posting writers' and editors' picks for Best of the Bay 2009 each day until the BOTB issue is released on Sept. 16. Vote now for your own BOTB choices in our Readers' Poll!]

What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this last week:

Sustainable beer 101: A guide to growlers- Benefits of refillable beer jugs far exceed the lure of fresh tap beer.

Refresh your mind, body and spirit by reconnecting with nature- Living in such a busy world these days overloaded with technology leaves little time to get back to the basics and connect with the planet we live on. Take some time out of your busy schedule and reconnect with nature, which will balance you physically, mentally and spiritually.

Ronald McDonald gets a pie in the face from PETA protester- Ronald McDonald takes one in the kisser from a PETA protester who is against McDonald’s “controlled-atmosphere killing” of chickens.

St. Petersburg College and Tampa Bay green building chapter announce partnership- St Petersburg College’s Corporate Training Office announced a partnership with the Florida Gulf Coast Chapter (FGCC) of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to provide a comprehensive sustainable building operations training course based on the LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance rating system.
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We’re 2,000-plus votes and counting in this year’s Best of the Bay Readers’ Poll — deadline Aug. 31 — and there are no hotter races underway than the ones for Best Neighborhood/Hillsborough and Best Neighborhood/Pinellas.

After the jump: Find out if your ‘hood is among the front-runners. Read the rest of this entry »

What’s the hottest green trend in Tampa Bay? Rain barrels. With water restrictions still in effect in some areas, Bay area residents are buying or building their own rain barrels to harvest water to use for watering lawns and washing cars.

For every inch of rain that falls on a roof catchment area of 1,000 square feet, you can expect to collect approximately 600 gallons of rain water. Why not make use of all of this rainfall and save some dough on your water bill?
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It’s that time of year again — time to enter Creative Loafing’s virtual ballot box and vote in our annual Best of the Bay Readers’ Poll. Go to cltampa.com/botbballot and you’ll find 150 categories to vote on, from Best New Restaurant to Best Local Tweeter, from Worst Waste of Tax Dollars to Best Local Actress. You’ve got lots of time to vote: The polls close Aug. 31, with results announced in our Best of the Bay Issue on September 16 (and revealed the night before during The Loafies).

And keep your eyes on the Daily Loaf: Starting tomorrow, we’ll be previewing the BOTB choices of our writers and editors with posts labeled Best of the Bay of the Day. Watch for each day’s post and find out whether your favorites have already made this year’s list.

VOTE NOW!