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Posts Tagged ‘sustainable’

Sustainable Gardening Classes in Clermont

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on April 1, 2010 | 1 Comment »

For those with a green thumb in Clermont!

B.B.Brown’s Gardens in Clermont, FL is a native and organic nursery located in the country outside of Clermont. We also operate the Florida Scrub-Jay Trail, a 501(c)3, not-for profit habitat restoration project dedicated to saving Florida’s only endemic bird, the Florida scrub-jay.

Part of our program is to offer classes, designed to widen people’s knowledge of a variety topics including: organic gardening, saving water through the use of rain barrels and other methods, beekeeping, and creating wildlife habitat in our communities through our National Wildlife Federation Habitat Stewards programs.

We invite you to join us for these upcoming programs…

(more…)

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Can You Pick the Eco-Friendly Packaging?

Posted in Conservation / Environment, Reduce-Reuse-Recycle, Uncategorized, tagged , , , on January 13, 2010 | 3 Comments »

Soap Packaging Varies Widely

Recycling and saving gasoline are currently among the most highly touted ways to save the Earth.  Oh, my bad! Don’t let me forget switching to CFL lightbulbs. This is probably the iconic, Eco-Friendly photo you’ll see anywhere, except for perhaps the recycle icon or symbol itself.

Anyway, the purpose of this post is simply to get you thinking about the packaging your purchases are wrapped in. This is one area that is less talked about, and yet can have a tremendous impact on our landfill space, as well as the toxins we deposit there.

Take a look at the photo above. These are my 3 favorite soaps that I can buy at many local healthy food stores. Can you guess which packaging is the most Earth friendly? Tricky, huh?

Let’s start at the right. The Clearly Natural glycerine soap is wrapped so that you can see the product. This is appealing to many consumers, so it often has the desired effect–a purchase. However, plastic or celophane wrappers, plastered with a large, metallic sticker, don’t even begin to make the sustainable list for packaging.

Moving on to the Tom’s soap in the middle, we see, at first glance, that the box is recycled paperboard. This stuff is compostable or recyclable, thus making it highly sustainable, even though it originally came from one of our coveted trees. Once again, though, there’s a catch. If you open the box, you’ll find that the soap inside is wrapped in clear celophane. Major blunder on Tom’s part. I wish they would drop the plastic wrap, although I understand they’re trying to give the product a longer shelf life. Soap doesn’t exactly have a problem in this area, as compared to other products. They could earn consumer ‘brownie points’ by losing the inner wrap, in my opinion.

Finally, at left, you’ll find the Sappo soap, labeled simply with a sticker. I found this quite surprising the first time I saw it. The bars were just stacked in a shipping box on the shelf. If I remember correctly, the ingredients were printed on the shipping box, as there is nothing much on the sticker–just a name, ‘flavor’ (almond, in this case), and a bar code for price scanning. Awesome! Despite the fact that you can’t recycle or compost the sticker, it still is the clear winner because of its size. And of course, there is NO other packaging.

I hope this little exercise will get you to watch your many other purchases. Every product category has its own variations, and there often is one company who has found a way to beat the system. Look for them. Support them. Drop them an email and let them know you appreciate their efforts. Vote for Earth.

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Farm to Table — an Ourlando Event

Posted in Local "Green" Events, Deals Around Town, Coffee and Tea, Food and Nutrition, tagged , , , , , , , on October 29, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Ourlando is organizing the Farm to Table event at the Enzian!

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Sunday Nov 15, 2009

12:oo PM – 2:30 PM

Enzian Theater, 1300 S. Orlando Ave

The purpose of this event is to connect the community with their food source, network and promote a sustainable community for Orlando and the surrounding areas. Come, be a part of this and support the local food movement.

Featuring the documentary “Food Fight” by Chris Taylor and food by Chef Josh Oakley.

Come meet our local farmer’s and local food vendor’s. The event begins with passed hors d’oeuvre made with locally grown produce by Chef Josh Oakley, the executive chef of Enzian. Followed up with the showing of Food Fight.http://foodfightthedoc.com

After the documentary, there will be plenty of time to meet and mingle with our local farmers and vendors. We will also be featuring the organically, fresh brewed beer of Orlando Brewery, fair trade coffee from Austin’s and assorted blends of tea from Dandelion Communitea just to name a few.

Tickets: $18, includes hors d’oeuvre, beer, coffee and tea.

Tickets available at the Enzian box office and through their web site.

Support local, independent business and help build a sustainable local food economy.

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LIVING LIKE ED: A Book Review

Posted in Book Reviews, Conservation / Environment, Food and Nutrition, Organic Gardening, Organizations/Activism, Reduce-Reuse-Recycle, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on October 13, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

LIVING LIKE ED

LIVING LIKE ED

Perhaps you’ve heard of Ed Begley, Jr. He’s an actor with quite a list of credits to his name. Not a leading man, but nevertheless a successful actor who has been in the business for over 30 years, with many appearances on both TV and screen.

It turns out that Ed has also been doing something very unconventional for that same 30+ year time period. Ed has been consistently living green, investing in sustainable businesses, and living off the grid for most or all of this time.

It has not been an easy journey, more one of small steps. In his book, LIVING LIKE ED, released in 2008, Ed and his more aesthetically focused wife, Rachelle, share their methods of maintaining a balance between his dedication to total Eco-friendliness and her desire to weave in a bit of the glamour and glitz that Hollywood has to offer.

For instance, while Rachelle’s Prius gets 50+ mpg, Ed prefers his electric car or a bicycle for local transportation. By charging his car off of his solar-created electricity, he is using virtually zero electric that has been created by unsustainable sources. His home and his car are all powered by a collection of unconventional, sustainable methods such as a wind turbine, solar, and more.

Of course, as an actor, public speaker, and businessman, Ed occasionally has to travel long distances that his electric car cannot manage. The Prius works for most of his cross-country trips, unless time does not allow the drive. His occasional plane trips are definitely taken begrudgingly, but he compensates by using Terrapass, to help recover the damage done by his kerosene-powered trip on a jet. This company invests your fee, paid to erase your use of petro-chemicals, by investing your money in projects that do just that. It’s a fascinating business concept to read about in Ed’s book, and one that is growing in popularity.

Ed’s book shares his daily tips and techniques for living lean, simple and completely carbon free, in an entertaining format, bouncing back and forth with Rachelle’s segments that share her slightly lighter shade of green. While both committed to the environment, Rachelle struggles to enlighten Ed to see the beautiful side of life, as well as all that is green and Eco.

A great primer for the beginner, this book opens the readers’ eyes to the possibilities and answers the question, “What can I do to live like Ed?”

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Eco-Spirituality and Co-Creating a Sustainable Future with Paula Gonzalez!

Posted in Spirituality, tagged , , , , , , , , , on December 4, 2008 | 2 Comments »

Apart from Thanksgiving cookery, I’ve been getting ready to help bring a fascinating “green” speaker to Orlando. Here’s the scoop:

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Sister Paula Gonzalez, well known for her extensive environmental work is making making three stops in Orlando this month to speak about eco-spirituality and co-creating a sustainable future!

DATES AND TIMES

  • Saturday, December 6
    A day-long interactive workshop, both inspiring and practical. 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Carl Weyand Center at Lakewood Center, 8400 La Amistad Cove, Fern Park 32730. Cost is $25.00. Lunch is available for purchase or bring your own.
    Directions: *From I-4 take exit 90A (Maitland Blvd. East), stay in right lane, follow sign to 17-92 North-East. Curve to the right on 17-92 past stoplight at Spartan Drive. Stay in right lane. Immediately after next stop light (O’Brien Road”) at Napa Car Care there is a sign on the right for Lakewood Center. Turn right onto La Amistad Cove. Turn right into parking lot and enter double French doors of the building to your right.
  • Sunday, December 7
    Speaking engagement. 1:00 p.m. Love offering accepted. Christ Church Unity, 771 Holden Avenue, Orlando.
  • Tuesday, December 9
    Speaking engagement. 7:00 p.m. Donation welcome but not required. First Unitarian Church of Orlando, 1901 E. Robinson Street, Orlando.

ABOUT SISTER PAULA

After earning a PhD in biology and teaching college level biology for 25 years, Sister Paula decided in 1972 to “freelance” as a futurist and environmentalist, working since then to promote sustainable living, and presenting over 1600 workshops and talks all over the country. She describes her presentations as “multi-media, interactive and celebratory.”

Sister Paula founded EarthConnection, an environmental learning center where internships and educational programs are conducted. In 2007 she co-founded the Ohio Interfaith Power and Light, a coalition of religious people responding to the climate change crisis.

JOIN US!

Come enjoy a powerful, entertaining and dynamic speaker this month and join with like-minded citizens to learn more about how to protect our planet and ensure a meaningful future.

For more information, call 407-352-8782 or email greenteam @orlandouu.org

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Central Florida Earth Day

Posted in Fun Stuff for Kids, Local "Green" Events, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 11, 2008 | 3 Comments »

Come and celebrate Central Florida Earth Day on Saturday, April 19, 2008 at the Florida School of Holistic Living from noon until 10:00 pm. They are also planning several area action events throughout Central Florida for Sunday, April 20, 2008. The festival is free and will feature several local musicians, drum circle, organic beer, eco-craft and sustainable vendors, and children activities. Local favorite the Legendary JC’s will headline the entertainment and Mr. Richard will be there for the kids

The action events for Sunday will enable the community to be involved in cleaning up their surroundings. They include plantings, clean ups, habitat restorations, and more.

 

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Seven Sisters Coffeehouse is Coming Soon!

Posted in Coffee and Tea, Vegan/Vegetarian Options, tagged , , , , , , , on March 4, 2008 | 6 Comments »

I recently caught up with Alisha Kearns — owner of the up and coming “Seven Sisters” coffee house. We sampled her delicious “Black Bear” roast while I learned a little bit more about her venue!

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Tell me about the origin of the name for name “Seven Sisters Coffee House.”

“Seven Sisters” is a name for a cluster of stars, the Pleaides. The name just synchronized in many ways, first with the realization that I am one of three sisters and I am mother to four daughters. Together the Kearns girls make
Seven Sisters!

Second, upon reading the literature that surrounds the Seven Sisters, I realized every civilization, ancient and new, has a myth or story that explains why those seven stars are in our skies. This steadfast cluster of stars can be viewed all over the world and that global aspect is an integral part of Seven Sisters Coffee House.

Why are combining human rights and a coffee house?

Coffee is an agricultural product used all around the world. There are several aspects in the coffee industry which lead to human rights and environmental well-being. I believe coffee is a prime place to share the positive effects of those aspects. We so often hear about human rights and environmental violations and then feel helpless as to what we can do to stop it. Sharing with the community some ways to do that can not only lift us to a place of awareness but also give us a place and means of action to do just that.

Our quality tasting house coffee comes from an amazing coffee estate, Selva Negra, out of Nicaragua. The estate is completely environmentally sustainable, organic and Rainforest Alliance certified. The coffee workers have access to concrete homes and living facilities, meals three times a day, a health clinic and an elementary school (which also provides daily meals).

I had the opportunity to visit Selva Negra last November got to see in person how we can participate in human rights and environmental sustainability.

What makes your place Attachment Parenting friendly?

As I mentioned before, I am the mother of four young daughters. I’ve attachment parented each one of them using conscious discipline and the amazing community of support around me. I see the value in community when raising a family and I want Seven Sisters to be a welcoming one for that reason. Seven Sisters Coffee House is a family friendly place where the staff
is also child-friendly. I believe each family uses a parenting technique that works for their family in creating safety, comfort and growth for their children. So many parents want to commune with each other in support of each others’ journeys regardless of our parenting styles. Seven Sisters is a place to do just that!

What about eco-friendly?

Seven Sisters will be using environmentally safe products in all forms–disposable and recyclable. We’ll be working with other like-minded supply companies and vendors

What type of menu will you be offering?

Our menu, of course, covers several different coffee and espresso drinks as well as smoothies, tea’s and mates. Seven Sisters focuses on bakery items that will compliment our coffees as well as some savory items too. One focus is on Cupcakes! We have a Cupcake Day planned in conjunction with our Kids Day on Saturdays – human rights activities for our youngest activists!
Our delicious cupcakes will be baked fresh on premises and are vegan and vegetarian. We’ll also have kids drinks.

My favorite one is a mini version of our Bee Sting Latte (a latte with honey and vanilla). The kids version is a steamed milk or soy/almond mild with honey and vanilla and a little honey bee on top-we call it the Honey Bee.

What will your hours be?

Seven Sisters plans on opening from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesdays-Fridays, 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. Saturday & Sundays, and special evening hours on Saturdays from 7 p.m. – 11 p.m..

How can people help out and support a sustainably-minded business?

The online shop is already open through our website. I am down to the wire and am so close to the “finish” line with opening the actual shop. I am having faith in the universe that details are taken care of.

Here are some things I need to manifest and I’m interested in recycling them for the shop if people have them to offer:

  • electrical wiring
  • plumbing
  • tables & chairs
  • carpentry
  • retail bookshelves
  • capital

I’d also love to hear ideas from the community! Please feel free to contact me at

811 N. Mills Ave.
Orlando, FL 32803
(407) 897-7171
sevensisterscoffee@gmail.com

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