Community Supported Agriculture

Hello Everyone,

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), ever heard of it? I hadn't until just today when my Internship Coordinator pulled out a fresh piece of corn from her lunch bag, and explained how much great produce she was receiving this summer! Let me explain briefly. CSA has become a convenient and popular way for consumers to purchase local, organic produce from a farmer directly over the last 20 years. Basically, a farmer will offer a box of fruits and vegetables that are in season for which a consumer will pay a weekly charge for a nutritious and environmentally-friendly goody bag.

If you check out this site here, you can learn more about the advantages to both consumers and farmers, the shared risk, variations, and more!

My Internship Coordinator explained how she purchases from "River Dog Farms" which is located in Capay Valley; however, they deliver their produce to farmer's markets all over the Bay Area for you to pick up from and enjoy. They pride themselves on growing organic food as their site explains what is organic food, why choose organic, and how to sign up for their veggie box deliveries. Click Here if you're interested to learn more and check out their beautiful photo gallery for a better idea of the concept! :)


In addition to "River Dog Farms," there's the "Full Belly Farms" which is the one I'm signing up for because they have farmer's markets near my apartment and a cheaper, more flexible rate for the veggie box deliveries than "River Dog Farms." However, "River Dog Farms" does have its own qualities that "Full Belly Farms" does not, but my vote still goes to "Full Belly Farms." Anyways, "Full Belly Farms" is also located in Capay Valley, and they sell to both restaurants and farmer's markets. "Full Belly is also home to many outreach activities, including educational tours, school group visits, and the much-acclaimed annual Hoes Down Harvest Festival." Interested in signing up for this veggie box delivery? Click Here.

Hope this blog was educational for many of you because buying from local, organic farms decreases carbon emissions from the trip of delivering produce and prevents the risk of obtaining a disease from pesticides sprayed on your fruit and vegetables. Maybe now I'll see some of you guys at a local farmer's market purchasing veggie boxes! In any case, have a wonderful summer, everyone! :D

Peace&Love,
Dr. Green T

BARTastic!

Hey everyone,

You know what's so great about the Bay Area that many people seem to take for granted? Our Bay Area Rapid Transit also known as BART. It's pretty amazing that we have this piece of public transportation that extends from San Francisco Airport all the way to Pittsburg/Bay Point, Richmond, and even Fremont.

I know some people are afraid to take BART because it can seem confusing, but if you go onto their website here, then you can quickly check train arrival and departure times to best map out your BART adventure! Once you become a regular BART attendee, the whole process of purchasing a ticket, finding which train to take, and knowing where to get off will be easy as pie.

It's interesting how much of a positive difference taking public transportation can do for not only our environment, but our wallets too! A roundtrip ticket from Lafayette to San Francisco is $8.90 which is amazing considering how much it would be to drive with the cost of gas, bridge toll, and pollution to take into acount. TO figure out how much it would cost for you to take BART everyday, Click Here.

We are fortunate enough to have this amazing piece of public transportation at our disposal as it stretches across the Bay Area to cities many of us have never even been to. It's also exciting to notice how all these Bay Area cities are all connected by one thing: Bay Area Rapid Transit, BART.

Peace&Love,
Dr. Green T

The Wonders of Biking

Hello Everyone!!

Hopefully you had an exciting month of July considering that August is right around the corner. Most of us understand what August entails...a new session of school. Now how can one go about starting off their school year in the most eco-friendly way possible? By biking to school!

I plan to start off this year right, and by that I mean living a more environmental lifestyle. By biking to school everyday, you will receive countless benefits for not only our Earth, but for ourselves too. Here are some of the many advantages that come with riding a bike...

1. A bicycle has virtually NO carbon footprint. Unfortunately, we generate massive amounts of carbon dioxide which enter our Earth's atmosphere and meddle with the natural balance. Interested in comparing your carbon footprint from before you begin your biking lifestyle with after? Then Click Here.

2. Regular bicycling helps with personal weight management -- new full-time bicycle commuters can expect to lose an average 13 pounds their first year of bicycle commuting if they maintain the same eating habits.

3. Bicycles are a great means to see the world. Ever truly notice the architecture of a building you pass by everyday when you're driving? When you slow down your life, you get a better chance of experiencing every single moment to the fullest. Riding a bike will open your eyes to the little treasures our world offers.

4. Reduces deforestation for planting of rubber plantations and bio-fuel crops, because bicycles use very little rubber and fuel/lubricants. :)

5. Reduces noise pollution -- even without a muffler bikes are quiet, creating a quieter community.

6. Reduces water pollution -- bikes don't drip brake fluid, anti-freeze, transmission fluid, toxic dust, etc.

There are so many more qualities a bike can offer that a car can not. These are only a few of the countless benefits, and if you're interested on reading more on these advantages, then go to the link in the Works Cited section of this blog to check them out! :D

Peace&Love,
Dr. Green T

Works Cited:
Mozer, David. "60+ Benefits (Advantages) of Bicycling." International Bicycle Fund. ThinkHost, 2010. Web. 30 Jul 2010. http://www.ibike.org/encouragement/benefits.htm.

Make-Over Your Make-Up

It dawned on me the minute I finished my concealer only to find that the case it was manufactured in is not recyclable. What do I do then? Dump the packaging to a popular beautifying tool without a second thought in my mind? That certainly wasn't the case after I had painfully disposed of my concealer in a trash bin, and decided to move onward in hopes of discovering a more Eco-friendly brand of cosmetics.

For those who haven't heard, PlantLove by Cargo Cosmeticsis a company that has become well-known for its environmentally-friendly production of lipsticks. Each lipstick tube is made out of corn, and if you plant the flower paper boxes that the lipsticks are packaged in, then a plethora of wildflowers will begin to grow. Pretty amazing, right? You can find these products at your local Sephora store or online.

Another interesting corporation is LUSH Cosmetics which presents the opportunity to purchase 70% of their products online without the packaging. In addition, they claim that they "use post-consumer recycled, recyclable and biodegradable materials whenever possible" ("Protect the Planet"). Not to mention, they don't test their products on animals and even have videos on their website promoting their environmentally- and animal-friendly mindset. LUSH Cosmetics even goes as far as to dedicate a page to "11 Tips for a Greener Life"! A truly respectable company in the environmental world if ever there was one.

While trash is a major cause of the pollution that is affecting our environment, there is also the issue of the ingredients used in products which lead to toxic chemicals being emitted into the air as well. This is why it is also important to search for more organically-based items during your shopping excursion.

Finally, after much researching, I must say that Verde' Maison is the cosmetic company that deserves a lot of recognition for being the first organic as well as all natural cosmetic, skin, and bath store in the USA. Verde' Maison's decision to sell products without any "parabens, propylene glycols, petrolatum, & sls's" stems from the founder's discovery that parabens contribute to cancer. With this in mind, it is quite obvious that this brand has taken the lives of their consumers into serious account. Unfortunately, they do not present any information on their packaging materials, but it can be assumed that they are just as conscious about their waste as they are the health of the buyers.

It's definitely not easy to constantly be aware of the environment when shopping for everyday products. Fortunately, there are ways to easily discover such Eco-friendly items like surfing the Internet, scanning through environmentally-conscious books and magazines, or even just browsing in your local stores. The Huffington Post, for example, has an online article titled: "Earth-Friendly Makeup: How To Be Nicer To Your Face And Your Planet" (go here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/06/earth-friendly-makeup-how_n_139270.html). Check it out as well as anything else you can in order to better educate yourself on how to live and love an organic lifestyle. :]

& now I leave you with an interesting video I found on youtube of a young girl experimenting and reviewing EcoTools, brushes made from sustainable and recycled materials. Yay Earth!


"Because sometimes the most important ingredient is not what you put in, but what you leave out." -Verde' Maison

Peace&Love, Everyone.
-Dr. Green T


Works Cited:
Cooney, Roxana & Sean. "About Us." 2008. Verde' Maison. 4 Apr 2009. http://www.verdemaison.com/About%20Us.htm.

"PlantLove." 2008. CARGO Cosmetics. 4 Apr 2009. http://www.cargocosmetics.com/plantlove.html.

"Protect the Planet." 2008. LUSH Cosmetics. 4 Apr 2009. http://www.lushusa.com/about/protecting-our-planet/index.html.