sarah's sustainable life

warehouse shopping meets green living? apparently, that’s what the folks at costco are going for now! treehugger.com reports that for somewhere between $3,600 and $18,000, you will soon be able to purchase the means to convert your home to solar energy! this may sound very expensive on the surface, but think of what this means! change is on the way, and the more demand we have for home greening products, the more these companies will produce (and of course, the more affordable they will become). i hear you now saying, “but sarah, i don’t know what to do with a solar conversion kit!” you are not alone, and grape solar has contracted out over 5,000 local installers across the country with people like you and me in mind. you are probably calling me a cock-eyed optimist at this point (you are not alone, mary martin). i realize it is not practical to believe that every person will go solar and vegan, and if they all did on the same day, the world economy would more than collapse and we’d all be in big trouble. but if we can slowly go one at a time, give up our dependence on crude oil and animal products, those things would go the way of the horse and carriage, slowly but surely being replaced by better ideas. and the world would be a better place for it. don’t let others stubbornly clinging to antiquated ways of living keep you from doing what you know is right for yourself and the environment. do your part everyday to make sure you are leaving the legacy you want to leave for your children.

for south texans, a new energy source is on its way in to cut pollution and save the oil! CPS is now offering wind energy to any home or business that is interested, and there are a few options for switching over. you can 1)choose the amount by percent of energy you want to switch, OR 2)choose a dollar amount. for as little as $1.20 more per month, you can help end our country’s dependence on oil, and have your voice heard through your actions! please look in to this as soon as possible!

i just wanted to remind you (and myself) of a fun and functional website every vegetarian/vegan should visit often. happy cow is basically a search engine designed for hungry herbivores. you simply type in your city name or zipcode, choose from vegetarian, vegan, restaurant, or stores (or all four) and click to get instant happiness! the search results will give you the name of all restaurants and stores in your area that are veg friendly and registered at the site. for me, it opened the door to a gourmet pizzeria that offers vegan cheese and meat toppings AND a bakery/cafe with lots of vegan offerings. what will happy cow do for you?

after a brief hiatus for family illness, i was inspired to write today about a new and exciting development in south central texas. greenling is an organic, local, and sustainable grocery supplier that offers free delivery in certain areas, and san antonio just joined the list!!
the following is a clip from greenling.com:

how it works:
1. Shop
Shop just like you would at the grocery store! You can click on any product you want and add it to your basket. Before or after, you can create an account by giving us delivery and billing information.
2. Confirm your delivery
If you’ve ordered before you can check out with just 1 click. Otherwise simply review your order and confirm when you’d like it delivered.
3. Enjoy!
We bring the freshest, local and/or Organic food right to your door. If you like your schedule and baskets, you’re done! Greenling’s Organic goodness will keep coming to your door on the weeks you picked. If you want to mix it up, just come back to www.Greenling.com and make your changes. That’s it. Really. And of course we have our 100% satisfaction guarantee so never worry about anything not being up to your standards.

check out the website!! i definitely plan on using this awesome service!

it’s hard to believe, but i have never ridden public transportation in this country. nearly all of my impressions of it come from movies, some good and some bad. to save on gas money, and to take another step toward being a responsible adult, i have decided to start taking the bus to work at least once a week. for all of those out there like me, who have shied away from using this readily available system for whatever reason, i will be reporting back my concerns, complaints and, of course, compliments. looking forward to reporting back to you in a few weeks!

i have heard of terracycle before – who hasn’t seen those cute little pop art totes and pouches they make out of recycled juice pouches and gum wrappers? but i have only recently become aware of the business as a whole, with their model and goal. the company was started by a college student to win a “business start-up” contest of sorts. the idea was, “why pay for materials for manufacturing when there is so much usable material going to the landfills?” their first product was plant food/fertilizer which was quickly picked up by large outfits such as wal*mart. but as the company grew, so did their capacity to adapt and reuse the most common “land fillers.” terracycle now has almost 60,000 locations around the country (and more available all the time) where people can get paid to drop off juice pouches, zip top kitchen bags, cheese wrappers, yogurt containers, and many more. schools are one of the top producers of garbage, and one of the prime targets of terracycle. children deposit lunchtime recyclables into terracycle bins and at the end of the year they have raised a goodly amount of money to give back to the school – win win! i just want to encourage anybody who is not familiar with this business to go to the website. check out what they are doing and see how you and your business or school can participate.

what makes december so enjoyable? is it that everyone is a little nicer, everything is decorated, and families get together? i would say all of the above, but there are a few events this year in particular that i am looking forward to! here, in order, are my holiday top ten for 2010!

10) hope for the holidays party – the only reason this one is so low on the list is because i know i can’t be there for it. mercy for animals is sponsoring a vegan cocktail party in columbus, ohio on december 11th. the party will be at the dragonfly neo-v. anyone in columbus should get there!

9) tamales! at the pearl brewery – a day of mexican street food (featuring the holiday traditional tamales), crafts, dancing, and entertainment. REALLY looking forward to the fireworks at the end! december 11th from noon-7pm.

8 ) sea world’s christmas celebration – i’ve only been to sea world once, but it was in the dead of summer in south texas and my son was only 5months old. upon receiving a generous gift of free tickets this past week, the whole family is looking forward to seeing the magic that is a sea world christmas!

7) mariachi on the lighted riverwalk – take a walk along the san antonio to see the millions of twinkling lights with your family, but make sure you stop to get some hot coffee and hear the mariachi bellow. ask them to play a traditional mexican christmas tune; it will be the musical highlight of the holiday!

6) tea picnic in the sunken garden – ok, this is a ME event, not for the family. but what a wonderful way to spend a quiet hour at just the time of year the leaves change here! taking a thermos of hot tea (maybe holiday spiced), i’ll do some meditating, giving thanks for all that’s wonderful in life. then i can return to my family with plenty of energy to tackle the rest of the festivities.

5) decorating josiah’s tree – we haven’t had a christmas tree in years, but when asked what he wanted for christmas most of all this year, my son responded, “a christmas tree!” and so, i am looking forward to the next couple weeks of baking and decorating salt dough ornaments together, maybe even knitting something for the occasion. i’ll try to post photos when it’s all done.

4) going out for christmas dinner: this is a new tradition in our family, begun last year when we had our fist holiday isolated in texas, far away from either of our families. we found that dressing up and going out for a very nice dinner was not only extremely enjoyable and relaxing, but actually much cheaper than attempting to prepare a traditional holiday meal for just 2 1/2 people. last year we went to a french bistro. this year, ??

3) christmas shopping (for the food bank!): we try to keep christmas fairly simple, just a few presents for each of us. shopping for the “perfect” gift for everyone you’ve ever met is stressful and expensive, but how we look forward to shopping for complete strangers! most supermarkets have lists in the front of the store of non-perishable foods most needed to support the local food bank. i’m looking forward to making a big day of it with my son, keeping focused on what’s really important now and throughout the year.

2) christmas eve service: last year was the first year of my life that i was not in a church service on christmas eve. i had to work, and it was very sad. this year, my husband will be preaching the christmas eve service and so i must be there with my son. YEAH!!

and the number one holiday event of 2010 for me will be…(drumroll)

1) spending the whole day with my family! cheese, i know, but christmas is the only day of the entire year that none of us has anywhere else to be, and we actually plan to spend the whole day together.

and with that, my holiday season will be complete. i hope everyone has plenty to look forward to at this time of year!!!

i’m not sure if all states have such a program, but i am very happy to be in texas for the GO TEXAN! campaign. at any supermarket or restaurant you can find the stickers boasting that the components of the product being sold are from right here in our own state (even at mcdonalds!). texas picked a great time to spearhead such a campaign, when going local seems all the rage; also, the natural resources here are so abundant, you begin to wonder why we’ve ever imported anything in the first place. great job, texas department of agriculture! to go local all year round with great holiday gift ideas – check out the 2010 gift guide.

does having a salad bar as an option really make a difference? having worked with kids in a school setting, seeing them eat pizza and french fries EVERY DAY, i wonder. my husband tells me that in his high school, the salad bar was a valid option frequented by both weight conscious girls and health conscious athletes. i am training my son to eat salad as a main course without apology or embarrassment, but i’m not sure i believe when middle school pressure arrives he won’t be intimidated to forsake the greens. nonetheless, i would like to believe that a fresh, beautifully stocked salad bar could lure children in more than once a week to get some more veg into their diets. that’s why i was so excited to see at whole foods that chef ann cooper, a.k.a. the renegade lunch lady, is campaigning to put salad bars into schools. you can donate while checking out at your local whole foods, $1-$5. for more information on this campaign, check out wholefoodsmarket.com/backtoschool. as for a salad bar option making a difference, the only sure fact is that kids will not choose a salad if it is not available.

a rather disappointing dinner out turned upward for me at the checkout. as my husband paid for our not-so-great tamales, i noticed on the counter a “green map” of san antonio. i was intrigued! the brochure held a list of restaurants, services, organizations, and properties all aimed at keeping life local, sustainable, and “green.” a visit to the website revealed an open-source social network, links to local “green” discounts, and a list of independent, sustainable businesses that grows every day (no pun intended). echotown has done a great service putting all this information in one place. the next time you are in need of a dry cleaner, organic pest control, haircut, auto glass repair, or are even just looking for a more “green” restaurant for your date night, check out echotown.net – i know i will! as their slogan states, “go local, go green, tell everyone!”