Daily Loaf

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

Cool-N-Save: An eco-friendly energy saver for your air conditioning unit (Video): Jennifer Meier writes about how the Cool-n-SaveTM system affixes to the top of most home air conditioning units, resulting in a substantial drop in ambient temperature of up to 30 degrees Fahrenheit. The Cool-N-Save(TM) system has also been rated by the US Department of Energy and EPA as an Energy Star Partner.

Signs of hope: are our environmental efforts making a difference?: Linda Taylor shows us an example of how environmental efforts can make a difference, even if they take years to come to fruition.
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For the past few years, Pete Slosberg of Pete’s Brewing Company (as in Pete’s Wicked this-and-that) has been teaming up with Alan Shapiro, president of SBS Imports, and Daniel Del Grande from Bison Brewing to craft a limited special release beer that benefits a good cause. The Reunion collaboration was inspired by the late Virginia McLean, a former coworker of Slosberg and Shapiro. The trio worked together when Pete’s Brewing Company was in its early stages, at the forefront of the American craft brewing movement that took place in the mid 1980’s. With 100% of Reunion proceeds benefiting the Institute for Myeloma and Bone Cancer Research, almost $100,000 has been raised as of early 2008.

The Reunion fundraising effort began in 2007 with a 7.5% ABV imperial brown ale brewed with 6 organic malts, hopped and dry hopped with 3 different varieties.

Reunion ‘08 Red Rye Ale is also made from all organic ingredients — barley, flaked rye, hops, caraway seeds, water, and yeast. It is essentially a chemical fertilizer, pesticide, and additive- free version of Pete’s Wicked Red with a rye and caraway seed injection. Read the rest of this entry »

Father’s Day will be here sooner then you realize (June 21st) and picking up the perfect gift can be a little difficult, maybe even more so then for Mother’s Day in some cases.If your father is anything like mine, there doesn’t seem to be much that I haven’t gotten him. I have done the watch route, the tie, the Brooks Brothers gift card, the sports memorabilia and now that I am *cough* a smidge older than my teens and early 20’s, the ideas seem less and less original.

So why not try some fun, new green products for dad? Even though some of them are Father’s Day staples, you can explain (and impress) him about how it is organic and reasons to go eco-friendly. What better time then the beginning of the summer to try out some of these new products.
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This Earth Day, express your support of green farming and healthy living by drinking organic brews. There’s a decent size selection available locally, all of which have been produced without preservatives, and when cultivating the grain and hops, natural techniques are applied to encourage growth, rather than chemical fertilizers or pesticides.

I’ll start with one of my favorite breweries — North Coast, a Fort Bragg, California beer sensation that produces a diverse line of impeccable beer, including two superb organics. Read the rest of this entry »

Everyone knows Whole Foods on Dale Mabry is the place to be for high quality food and beverages. My favorite thing about the beer section, besides the fact that it’s located directly across from the massive cheese cooler, is the presentation. The way the beers are grouped together tells a story, and seeing all those cases of beer sitting out like that does something exciting for me. So cheers to Chris, the specialty department manager, for exercising serious beer wisdom and making this location a beer nerd’s playground.

Since this is a Whole Foods, it’s no wonder I found a slew of organic beer. Read the rest of this entry »

Off State Road 580 near downtown Dunedin, a mountain of beer joy lies in a rather unassuming strip mall. Luekens Liquors is rated by Beer Advocate as one of the best places to buy snobby brew in the Bay Area. A quick survey of the copious beer selection reveals that inventory is scattered everywhere, with no apparent organizational system whatsoever. Wild Blue is shelved between Christmas beer and Boon Gueuze; the same beer is displayed in five different locations. Browsing the shelves of this brew Wonderland is similar to digging for vinyl records. In order to find the good stuff, it is often necessary to look at every single item. In some ways, that aspect adds to the charm, at least for someone like me. Exploring in this manner is way more interactive than simply buying a six pack. Here’s what I found on my treasure hunt through Luekens. Read the rest of this entry »