NBC’s ‘Green is Universal’ Green Week Campaign

It’s always refreshing to see that TV networks are becoming more aware of an eco-friendly lifestyle and have started to promote such a life through store merchandise and even in their TV episodes. After watching my DVR’d Lipstick Jungle over the weekend, I was impressed to see how Wendy, one of the co-stars played by Brooke Shields, decided to have a ‘locavore’ Thanksgiving in order to cut down on this year’s Thanksgiving carbon footprint. As described in the show, Wendy’s ‘locavore’ Thanksgiving means that every ingredient from the appetizers to the turkey to the dessert all are locally grown and can be found within a 100 mile radius of New York City. If you haven’t seen the episode yet, I won’t spoil the outcome – whether Wendy pulls off a locally grown Thanksgiving dinner or not – but it’s exciting to see that NBC is kicking their Green Week campaign off to a great start.

As part of their green initiative, NBC Universal has set up an online store where visitors can purchase eco-friendly T-shirts, travel mugs, grocery totes, and more to support their favorite primetime shows and the environment at the same time.

Eco-Friendly Entertaining Around the Holidays

Before I head home home – yes, that means the home I grew up in – I have a few pre-holiday parties to attend this weekend. As much as I love the December holidays, I would have to say that Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite. Perhaps it’s due to my love for Turkey Day food or it may be the fact that the number of Thanksgivings I attend seem to increase every year. Starting back in college, my friends and I would always put on a pre-Thanksgiving meal that was just like the real thing which is exactly what I’ll be doing a couple of times this weekend.

With holiday gatherings on the brain, I thought it would be appropriate to introduce some eco-friendly serving pieces that look unique and are bound to strike up a conversation at some point in the night. Recycled wine bottles have been flattened and transformed into serving platters for your favorite appetizers! For a more modern, artistic approach, see what New York City’s MoMA has to offer…

Sustainable, Low Impact Housing

How eco-friendly is your home? I’m willing to bet that it doesn’t compare to Simon’s sustainable woodland home that he developed himself along with his father-in-law, friends, and people passing by the work site. On his website, Simon has a fantastic section that describes how the woodland home was built along with pictures from the beginning when he picked out the best spot for the eco-friendly home to the very end where mud was placed onto the roof and all of the plastering and whitewashing were complete.

When asked why he undertook this incredible project, the quick answer is: “It’s fun. Living your life, in your own way is rewarding. Following your dreams keeps our souls alive.” You can listen to his long answer in the YouTube video below where he discusses the impact our society has on the environment. With everyone relying heavily on the depleting energy sources we use today, there isn’t much room to sit back, relax, and live life normally. As Simon mentions, our world needs to begin to reduce our energy consumption as we currently don’t have an alternative energy source to turn to in the near future. A low impact development such as Simon’s woodland home is a great example of how to cut down on energy use while living a simple lifestyle that is more connected to Earth.

Eco-Chic Thanksgiving Tabletop

For any style and eco-conscious person, the look of their dining room tableware is just as important as how their Thanksgiving feast tastes. If you’re looking to add an eco-friendly element to your special turkey day, Sprig.com has a wonderful collection of tabletop décor and dinnerware that is made from organic or sustainable materials and makes any dining room table look its best.

Browse through each creative, green spread and you will find festive placemats with built in napkin holders, vintage salad plates that resemble elegant doilies, and colorful bamboo dinner plates perfect for children. The key to many of these Thanksgiving tabletop motifs is that a large portion of them were found at flea markets and thrift stores. When preparing your Thanksgiving table for the big feast, don’t forget to look for some recyclable products – they just might add the perfect eco-chic accent you’re looking for!

Bamboo Kitchenware: The Perfect Blend of Modern and Green Design

With the holiday season quickly approaching, you have probably already started to think of celebrations, gifts, and delicious food. As happy as this eventful season is, there is one scary thought associated with the holidays: waste. Between the food scraps left over from a holiday party or the collection of plastic and paper dinnerware thrown in the trash, the amount of waste can really add up from home to home.

A great way to cut back on the trash piling up after a party is to use sustainable dinnerware made from bamboo. This eco-friendly and stylish material is the perfect solution to incorporating a little extra ‘green’ around the holidays! Each bowl collection is made from organically grown bamboo and finished with a food safe oil to give it a chic, polished look. Enjoy these eco-friendly collections at your next party and spread the word about the benefits of bamboo tableware to your friends!

Getting the Facts on Fair Trade Coffee Beans

More often than not, you’ll find that millions of Americans start, continue, or end their day with a cup of coffee. We are living in a country that consumes an astounding one-fifth of the world’s coffee, making the United States one of the largest coffee consumers in the world. Rather than focusing on the double espresso latte we’ll be enjoying the next morning, we should shift our attention to the question of whether our routine cup of coffee is fair trade or not. After all, going green wouldn’t be complete without taking into consideration the fair or unfair production of the food and beverages that we regularly consume.

Before putting coffee beans into our coffee machine in the morning, be sure to take a look at the packaging and check out if it is fair trade certified. According to the Transfair USA website, “The Fair Trade Certified™ label guarantees consumers that strict economic, social and environmental criteria were met in the production and trade of an agricultural product.” Detailed criteria for Fair Trade products can be found on the website and are featured below:

Fair prices: Democratically organized farmer groups receive a guaranteed minimum floor price and an additional premium for certified organic products. Farmer organizations are also eligible for pre-harvest credit.
Fair labor conditions: Workers on Fair Trade farms enjoy freedom of association, safe working conditions, and living wages. Forced child labor is strictly prohibited.
Direct trade: With Fair Trade, importers purchase from Fair Trade producer groups as directly as possible, eliminating unnecessary middlemen and empowering farmers to develop the business capacity necessary to compete in the global marketplace.
Democratic and transparent organizations: Fair Trade farmers and farm workers decide democratically how to invest Fair Trade revenues.
Community development: Fair Trade farmers and farm workers invest Fair Trade premiums in social and business development projects like scholarship programs, quality improvement trainings, and organic certification.
Environmental sustainability: Harmful agrochemicals and GMOs are strictly prohibited in favor of environmentally sustainable farming methods that protect farmers' health and preserve valuable ecosystems for future generations.

Building a Compost Pile 101

As we’re coming up to mid-November in New England, it’s hard not to notice the abundance of fallen leaves strewn across sidewalks and front lawns. As beautiful as they are on the trees in their vibrant shades of oranges, reds, and yellows, it usually ends up being a pain if you’re left tripping over slippery leaves all day. A great way to motivate yourself to clean up your lawn’s leaves is by preparing your collection for a compost pile.

First, start by collecting all of the fallen leaves in your area, soggy leaves and all, and stockpile them in an outdoor storage bin. Another important element to a nutritious compost pile is grass clippings from the spring before or after. You may have already started collecting your clippings from a few seasons prior to fall or you can always wait for the next time your lawn is in need of a cut. A compost pile can always be added to – even around the upcoming holiday season. Vegetable scraps from Thanksgiving and December holiday meals can add a great element to your autumn leaf compost pile. Keep on recycling your kitchen scraps and build your compost pile so that you can add this nutrient-rich substance to your springtime soil.

Greener Home Designs Giveaway from Kiwi Magazine!

About a month ago, I featured a few eco-friendly kids’ arts & crafts projects that were perfect for keeping your little ones busy around the Halloween season. As mentioned in my blog post, I found these adorably crafted Halloween decorations on Kiwi Magazine, a great resource for learning how to encourage a green lifestyle in your home.

If you would like to learn more about the ways in which you and your family can live a greener life, Kiwi Magazine is for you. Magazine issues are filled with healthy, organic recipes, eco-friendly crafts for kids, and a number of different parenting guides that encourage the idea of raising a green family.

Enter the Greener Home Designs Giveaway to win a free 1-year subscription to Kiwi Magazine by sending me an email with 'Greener Home Designs' in the subject box to express your interest. The winner will be randomly selected and announced on Monday, November 24th. Good luck to everyone!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Your Thanksgiving

Believe it or not, it can be difficult to convince people to go green after they’ve heard a myth or two about an eco-friendly life. Many people believe that going green can be too expensive or too difficult of a lifestyle to uphold. The idea of checking labels, researching ingredients, picking up organic fruits and vegetables, and installing sustainable materials in homes can feel like an overwhelming list of tasks and it’s easy to get frustrated without having a little green living guidance.

The best way to start your green life is to think of the small things you can do and work your way up. You may be surprised to find that there are some eco-friendly components in your life already. For example, look at the upcoming holiday of Thanksgiving. This has to be one of the best times of year to practice our recycling skills as we reuse all of our leftovers in the kitchen from that fantastic feast of turkey, stuffing, potatoes, squash, rolls, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, and much more. Ecologue, one of my favorite green reads, stresses the importance of using all of your Thanksgiving leftovers for future meals with a few amazing recipes. I’ve included one below for 'Next Day Turkey Soup' to get your mind thinking of the delicious, eco-friendly feast that lies ahead.

Ingredients:

2 quarts chicken broth
1 turkey carcass, all meat removed
1 onion, halved, plus 1 onion, minced
1 carrot, halved lengthwise, plus 1 carrot, minced
1 whole stalk celery, plus 1 more stalk, minced
2 bay leaves
3 cups dark turkey meat
2 garlic cloves, smashed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 carrot, minced
1 stalk celery, minced
3 cups leftover cooked Thanksgiving side vegetables (Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, green beans)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage leaves

Directions:

1. Put chicken broth, turkey, onion halves, carrot halves, 1 celery stalk, and 1 bay leaf in a large stock pot. Bring to a boil, then simmer about 1 1/2 hours. Finely dice the remaining onion, carrot and celery and reserve.

2. Dice the turkey meat. Make sure meat pieces are no larger than the size of a soup spoon. (If preparing soup the next day, be sure to store leftover turkey meat in an airtight container before placing it in the refrigerator, top with 1 or 2 ladles full of broth to keep meat moist.)

3. Before straining broth, remove large bones and carcass with tongs. Strain the broth through a sieve, covered with wet cheese cloth. Discard the solids. Transfer broth to a bowl set in a bath of ice water, which will cool the broth quickly and help keep it fresher longer. This can be done the night before and stored in the refrigerator until the next day.

4. In a large soup pot, heat garlic cloves in the olive oil. Allow to brown slightly and add minced carrots, celery, and onion. Sweat over medium-low heat until softened, about 7 or 8 minutes.

5. Dice the leftover vegetables (here Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, and green beans). Add the chopped sage to the soup pot along with the turkey broth and the remaining bay leaf. Bring to a simmer. When simmering, add Brussels sprouts, green beans and diced turkey meat to the soup. Bring it back up to a simmer. Finally, add the sweet potatoes to the center, and gently push them down. Turn the heat off and cover. Allow to sit and steam for 5 to 7 minutes.

6. Let simmer for 5 more minutes and serve.

Featured Green Blog: Re-Nest

For some, green design has a negative connotation. Eco-friendly seems to translate to this awful idea of old, recycled, and reused products that fail to bring anything special to the table when it comes to designing a home. If you’ve heard any of these negative ideas, let’s just clear the air now and declare that this is not true! Green design is actually a popular trend that lies within fashion, furniture design, home building, and even among the oh-so-fabulous lives of celebrities.

In case we need a constant reminder that green design is in fact chic and sophisticated or if we’re just in need of a dose of design, take a look at Re-Nest, Apartment Therapy’s guide to creating a green home. Here you will learn additional tips on how to combine both eco-friendly and modern designs so that you won’t have to sacrifice personal style when it comes to greening up your home. You’ll quickly learn that green design works with you, not against you, and that if you can live in a home that looks great while supporting the environment, it’s a win-win situation all around!

How to Have a Low-Energy Thanksgiving Day Feast

Preparing a Thanksgiving dinner takes a lot of energy out of our bodies and our home. Throughout the day, ovens are blazing for hours, stovetops are filled with simmering vegetables, and microwaves are warming up the rich gravy that will top the feast off. As much as leftover turkey sandwiches with all the fixings are a great treat, no one wants cold turkey on Thanksgiving Day so how can we cut down on the energy we use to heat our food?

While researching ways to turn my lifestyle into a greener one, I often stumble upon Planet Green’s site. Since I’ve been looking forward to going home for Thanksgiving for some time, I thought it would be interesting to come up with a few ways to make the fall holiday more eco-friendly. Planet Green has come up with five ways to make our Thanksgiving as low-energy as possible:

1. Keep Your Oven Door Shut – Resist the temptation to get a sneak peek at how your bird is looking and smelling. Turn on the oven light to see the progress as it cooks throughout the day.
2. Stuff the Oven – Since there are a number of Thanksgiving Day items that need to be baked, such as the turkey, pies, potatoes, and vegetables, try to fit as many dishes in the oven as you can.
3. Use Your Microwave – Side dishes can be cooked or heated up easily and with less energy in the microwave. As long as the meal is hot, your guests won’t know the difference!
4. Choose Your Stove Burners Wisely – Match large stovetop burners with larger pots and pans and smaller burners for saucepans and small veggie steamers. Energy can be wasted when you place small pots on large burners.
5. Load Your Dishwasher Up – Once you have all of your dirty dishes scraped and rinsed, it’s more energy-efficient to have them cleaned in your dishwasher on energy-saving settings rather than running the faucet.

How to Make Your Election Day Green

The commute to work is bad enough but when you add Election Day, forget about making it to work on time! The 2008 Presidential Election is surely the most legendary race our country has experienced and everyone wants a piece of it. Thankfully, I sent in an absentee ballot a few weeks ago to cast my vote and didn’t have to worry about the lines of cars and crowds of people early this morning. For those that plan on voting today, a great way to cut down on the swarms of cars that are polluting the air is to set up a carpool with friends or people in your community.

Planet Green discusses how two companies, Live Earth and Zimride, have created a Facebook application that allows people to organize carpools to local voting booths in an effort to promote a green Election Day. A great way to continue this green commute is to find coworkers that would be interested in riding into work together. Going green can save you a little green – money that is! Be sure to vote today!

Going Green in Your Kitchen

When you are looking to add a little more green to your kitchen, two of the best places to consider are the countertops and cabinets. According to HGTV’s Green Dream Home designer, Linda Woodrum, it’s best to look for natural materials to put into your kitchen countertops. Popular choices include natural stone counters such as granite and marble. Not only are these eco-friendly additions but they will make your kitchen look updated and beautiful. If you are sold on tile, research to see if the material was used or leftover from a previous installation or made from recyclable materials.

Kitchen cabinets can come in a variety of materials, but choosing the green option is always the best way to go. Linda Woodrum suggests picking cabinets made from sustainable woods such as eucalyptus and bamboo. Hardware can always be found at a bargain price at flea markets, thrift stores, and garage sales – not only do you get a great deal but you are reducing the demand for newly manufactured cabinet hardware. Check out Linda’s guide for more great green tips!