Daily Loaf

So it’s a week out and you haven’t shopped, planned a menu or sent invitations. Good. There’s hope for you, unlike those annoying ’plan ahead’ types.  Here’s your task list for a green, somewhat sustainable Thanksgiving Day.

1. Send email invitations – granted it’s too late for real paper ones sent snail mail, so your fail to plan has paid off.

2. Make your shopping list on the back of one of those useless return address envelopes you get with bills you pay online anyway. Now would be a good time to make sure you change your billing preference to paperless. Do it Today! points for you here. Oh and you Super Geeks who have eliminated paper billing, use the iPhone iHost app for Thanksgiving.

3. Know the people you invite to dinner. That will eliminate 99.9% of your Facebook friends, but this allows you to avoid serving food that won’t get eaten. So what if creamed pearl onions have been on the table since the Buccaneers’ throwback uniforms were worn by Lee Roy Selmon, bag it and go with another tradition like….

4. Serve locally grown veggies. If you’re lucky enough to be a Sweetwater Organic Community Farm member, skip to number 5. If not, the market is open this Sunday from 12 to 4pm. (Or check out one of these other farmers’ markets around Tampa Bay.)

5. Shop with a reusable bag. It doesn’t have to be one of those bought for that purpose, use the old beach bag  (it’ll love you for the change of scenery).
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With the holiday season coming to a start and the year already coming to an end, why wait until the new year to start living a greener lifestyle? Get into the swing of the holidays by putting some eco-friendly practices to use. Bonus: They’ll help you save money as well.

Here’s a list of some sites that offer great tips and advice on how to green your holidays this year:
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I’m sure many of us have all tried in one form or fashion to become more eco-conscious and tread a little lighter on this planet. Most of you have heard about the concept of the carbon footprint (greenhouse gas emissions caused directly and indirectly by an individual, organization, event or product) and probably practice recycling, conserving water and energy in your home, etc., to try to reduce your carbon footprint. But we can always do more.

Take, for instance, No Impact Man, Colin Beavan, and his No Impact Project where he and his family tried to live with no environmental impact for one year in New York City. Think: making no trash, only eating food grown within 250 miles, using no carbon producing transportation (cars, subway) and finally, and using no electricity in their home. Of course, they didn’t go cold turkey and omit all of these things from their lives all at once, they did so through phases – and so can you.

Huffington Post is hosting No Impact Week, starting Sunday, October 18, to “give people the opportunity to examine and reduce their ecological footprint by taking part in a short and intense period of conscious consumption supported by local and online communities”. They’ve even created a day-by-day guide to help you go greener gradually and learn practices that make less of an impact on the environment. Each day will focus on a different theme (i.e.: trash, energy, food, transportation) and give you tips on simple practices you can do to reduce your carbon footprint. This doesn’t mean you have to stop driving your car or turn off your electricity – it gives simple, achievable goals for each day.
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The City of Tampa has a limited supply of affordable housing that is also environmentally friendly. City Council, led by Councilman John Dingfelder, passed an ordinance last year that would promote green building practices for new construction. That ordinance while still a long way from achieving its goal of prompting mainstream builders to incorporate green building practices into their projects. Although several buildings have been LEED certified in the area, they have considerably higher price tags than non-green projects.

One company, Rising Force Construction, has undertaken the task of creating affordable, energy efficient homes that promote sustainable living in Terrace Park, an established neighborhood just south of the University of South Florida. Residents have the opportunity to reduce their carbon footprint on several levels: They can live, shop, work and enjoy recreational activities; and they can live in a home that reduces utility consumption by 30 to 40 percent over an existing home of the same size. For those that are tired of seeing their budgets eaten up by ever rising gas prices, they can walk, bike or take public transportation.
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What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this last week:

The Earth Charter: How ethics can change the world (video) – The Earth charter was created by thousands of people representing hundreds of countries aiming at a universal ethical code of conduct for human beings. How do we treat each other? How do we treat the world? These questions were raised and answered.

City of Tampa Green Business Designation Program- As of this week, the City of Tampa became one of just a handful of cities nationwide to start a green business designation program.  Outside of the West Coast (California and Washington state), Tampa will join major metropolitan areas like Philadelphia and Knoxville in rewarding private businesses that have become or want to become more environmentally-friendly.

Why buying recycled, repurposed products is so important- Preserving the Earth’s natural resources is vital to the future of the planet and all of its inhabitants. Buying recycled and repurposed products is a great way to make a positive impact on the environment by cutting back on waste and the resources needed to make new items.
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Are you an aspiring filmmaker looking to reduce your carbon footprint but you don’t know how to get started? Then the Going Green Film Festival might be right up your alley.

First and foremost, What is ‘green filmmaking’? According to the festival website, “green filmmaking is a way of producing your film that uses alternative materials, as well as environmentally friendly practices in the production office and on set”. That seems logical enough.

As per the guidelines, films must be made between 2008-2010 and be between 20 to 120 minutes. It doesn’t look like any exceptions will be made with these rules.

There are three different green genres that you can enter your film under:
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What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this last week:

Living with the land: Florida’s first Earthship (video) – Eric Stewart gives a firsthand look at Florida’s first Earthship in Manatee County, and gets his hands dirty while helping out.

Not getting a million-dollar bonus this year? Think local stimulus- Scott Milinder shows us a real stimulus package that will work for us: we all commit to “Buying Local First.” According to recent economic studies, shifting your buying habits to locally owned businesses creates more circulation of money, more economic activity and more jobs in the local economy.

Eco-friendly summertime fashion accessories- Are you searching for a unique and beautiful purse to enhance your summer wardrobe? Then why not consider one of these recycled handbags that are made from recycled items that help to promote a cleaner and healthier world, reports Jen Meier.
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Reducing your beef (or all meat, for that matter) consumption could make quite an impact on not only your health, but also on the environment.

Beef contains high levels of cholesterol and saturated fat, as well as chemicals and growth hormones. Many scientific studies have linked the consumption of red meat to heart disease, stroke, and breast and colon cancer.

According to the National Research Council, beef has the highest levels of herbicides of any food food sold in the US. This is obviously due to all of the pesticides used on the corn and soybeans that is then used for cattle feed. The NRC says that beef rates as second highest on the list of foods that pose the greatest risk of cancer due to pesticide contamination (tomatoes being the highest on the list). Their studies also show that over 95% of all cattle in the US are receiving growth hormones and other pharmaceuticals, many of those then showing up in the cuts of beef we buy at the grocery store.
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What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this last week:

TRA’shion Fashion and Art Show 2009 (photos) – The fabulous trashionistas were out in force for ARTpool’s annual TRA’shion Show, and photographer Chip Weiner caught all the recycled green glamour.

Letting go of addictions: Using alternative methods to release addictions of any type- Kelly Rothwell gives us alternative methods such as energetic healing, visualizations and affirmations, that can be used to not only cope with such addictions but to understand the reason behind the addiction and let it go for good.

Living sustainably in Tampa Bay: Dave Starman’s biodiesel fueled car and green lifestyle – The first in a series of profiles, by Jack B., of individuals who are living sustainably in Tampa Bay. This profiles Tampa Bay resident Dave Starman.
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You’ve probably heard of the carbon footprint – the amount of carbon being emitted by an activity or organization – but what about the Ecological Footprint? The Ecological Footprint is the measure of human demand on the Earth’s ecosystems. It compares planet Earth’s ecological capacity to regenerate compared to all of the resources we humans use. With this model, we can see how much of our planet it takes to support us while we live a certain lifestyle (i.e.: staying on our current track of waste, or mending our ways and becoming more resourceful).

For 2005, humanity’s total Ecological Footprint was estimated at 1.3 planet Earths, which means that we’d need another Earth plus almost a third of another one just to be able to provide us with the natural resources we currently use, or that the Earth needs a year and four months to regain the resources we use in one year. This number is recalculated every year, but is 3 years behind because of the amount of time it takes the UN to collect and publish the statistics. UN scenarios show that if our current consumption trends continue, by 2030 we’ll need two Earths to support humanity. That’s more than one too many. (See these charts for the Ecological Footprint of the US.)
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What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this past week:

The Derby Darlins have a successful first green event with T.R.E.E. at Little Bayou Park- Michelle Schenck reports on the roller girls from the Tampa Bay Derby Darlins‘ tree planting event last Saturday in St. Petersburg, an effort to offset all of the carbon emissions from their travels.

Let’s transform this ‘domination culture’ into a ‘partnership culture’ (Videos) – Eric Stewart asks: Is this the America we are handing over to our children? One thats main concern is violence and domination of the world? This government was put in place for the people: do the people want 60% of our taxes going to support defense? Why can’t 60% of our taxes go towards supporting education, renewable energy, as well as redoing the social net so that every human being in our country has their needs taken care of?
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You’ve heard about organic and eco-friendly wines from us recently, but did you ever wonder about the ”green” beers out there? (And I don’t mean the kind some people drink on St. Patty’s Day.) Many breweries around the country are actually becoming quite eco-friendly. Some breweries are taking environmentally friendly initiatives, like using only organic ingredients, having solar- and wind-powered breweries, recycling and composting grains, and some are even using bio-diesel fueled delivery trucks.

Video and more info after the break.
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I love vodka unapologetically. I’ll mix it into sodas as readily as college co-eds do so with rum. I would pretend it was water in my glass during a rough night bartending. If it’s a good enough vodka, I will happily swig it straight from the bottle and cut out that pesky middleman of a glass. If I could somehow justify it to myself, I’d probably pour vodka on my breakfast cereal instead of milk. To me, it’s its own food group.

After years of “refining my palate” (read: “drinking copiously”), I’ve gained an appreciation for a quality vodka. For a long time, my go-to vodka was Boru — Irish (like me!), quintuple distilled, delightfully inexpensive ($19.99 for a handle at ABC), and dang tasty. But now I think I have a new vodka, and to make it even more wondrous, it’s “green.” Read the rest of this entry »

You are an environmentally-minded individual.  You also enjoy consuming meat.  So yes, you have read the studies that show how livestock expel gas, and how said gas contributes to the greenhouse effect.  But at the same time, you just can’t bring yourself to give up eating McRibs. What is a carnivore to do? Read the rest of this entry »

Last week, US News and World Report green blogger Mara Judkis came out with this list of ways to make your food consumption more planet-friendly in the coming year. Think you don’t have the time to transform yourself into a green eater? You’re wrong. Again.

Even if you take out the time consuming options — growing your own food, composting — there are so many simple things to do that you could drastically lower your impact with little effort. Here are five things to try out in the coming months that will make a bigger difference that you think. Read the rest of this entry »