It’s getting harder and harder to pick out a good green coffee. There are lots of coffee labels just aching to confuse you – it’s worse than trying to find ec0-friendly wine! However, if you break down the terms used for green coffee, it’ll make your selection easier. Good thing too for us coffee addicts (read me). Roasted - this is a term you can safely ignore. ALL coffee is roasted what differs is the amount of roasting time and the level of heat used to roast. Roasting, unless a company is boasting that they use some sort of renewable energy to roast with, is not a sustainable coffee term. Natural - means nothing. All coffee is natural – well, until coffee companies mess with it, but the actual term natural... [Read more]

During the winter when you’re aching for a garden project to keep you busy, garden stepping stones for a path fit the bill. You can buy a garden stone kit like the one shown below, but you don’t get many thick stones out of these kits. It’s less expensive to make a bunch of garden stones yourself then to go with a store bought DIY kit and it’s pretty easy too – the only major tool needed is a small jigsaw and if you use molds, not even that. Gather: Small jigsaw Measuring tape + pencil Concrete form tube Mortar Some sort of mortar drop cloth or a basic old shower curtain you’re done with. Stone decor – i.e. you could make plain garden stones, but little pieces of glass, smooth rocks, natural rocks... [Read more]

After the holidays you’re bound to have some extra wrapping paper on your hands. No need to toss it though. Gift wrap can be recycled in many ways. First things first: First grab a big box and have it at the ready Christmas morning. You can toss wrap into the box as you open gifts – it’s also smart to have two smaller boxes for filler items like shredded paper or packing popcorn and another for reusable gift tags and bows.If you’re prepared it makes it easier to recycle as you go. How to recycle your wrap: Sort and save – sort out usable pieces that can be used to wrap presents again. Save usable bows and ribbon as well. Protect your gear – the crumpled texture of gift wrap makes it perfect for protecting... [Read more]

Providing winter plant protection is necessary for some perennial plants and some climates, but not others. To figure out if your personal garden plants need winter protection first check in your garden books for a hardiness zone – or look at an online hardiness zone map. Then look up the recommended zones of the plants in your garden. IF the hardiness level of a perennial plant you’re growing falls below your local hardiness zone, you will need to protect that plant for the winter. If you don’t protect your plants they could be pushed out of the soil during winter. You can protect your plants by mulching with a good layer (a few inches) of shredded oak leaves, straw, and even evergreen limbs from pruning or a discarded Christmas... [Read more]

The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) recently tested about 250 toys and children’s accessories from local Bay Area and San Diego retailers, including Target, WalMart, TJ Maxx, Tuesday Morning, Sears, Walgreens and other stores this fall and then had said toys tested for lead (pdf). Although lead has been banned from toys here in the US, seven of the toys were found to contain high levels of lead including a seemingly innocent, Mattel Barbie bicycle accessory set and a Disney “Tinker Bell” necklace set. While the bike accessories and necklace contained the most lead, the CHE also found levels of lead in violation of the new federal law in a Dora the Explorer game set, two children’s shoes, a child’s poncho,... [Read more]