Going Crananas for Going Green books!

I'm a big fan of the Green lifestyle and I go crananas for Green books! I love all the tips, facts and plans that they layout. But some of these type of books can be rather dull or they make suggestions that aren't really easy for the Average Jane to implement. Or they scare the begeebers out of you with their "The Sky is Falling" mentality! Don't worry! I have sifted through the dusty library shelves and I've found two books that are informative, easy to comprehend and (GASP!) enjoyable to read! I haven't found any other books that have tackled the subject in quite this way!

Here they are:

Green Chic: Saving the Earth in Style. Author: Christine Matheson.

This book shows that being Green and being stylish can go hand in hand. Matheson teaches us that you can be Green without drastically changing your lifestyle. You mean I don't have to live in a tent and milk my own cows and buy sheets that feel like I'm laying between two pieces of cardboard? And don't even get me started on recycled toilet paper! I want to be a good little Green girl but I also don't want to miss out on some of the finer things in life!

Thank goodness for Christine Matheson and her creative book idea! She's the answer to our conflicted feelings!

Matheson writes in a very fun conversational way but still has lots of facts and information to back up what she's saying. She knows her Green stuff and chic stuff, and she shares it in an interesting and easy way. She doesn't write her book to scare you, no "The Earth is going to implode if you don't do your part" stuff. Matheson just wants to show you how to combine being chic and caring about yourself and your planet. Just read the intro to this book and if you aren't hooked, then I'll be a monkey's Uncle!


Shift Your Habit. Author: Elizabeth Rogers.

This is another book that wants to help you, not scare you. Shift Your Habit focuses on combining your efforts to be Green and your efforts to save money. I cannot tell you how happy this idea makes me!! Very often, Green books don't take into account that some of us are not rich and until grocery stores and other companies/stores start to give us a break on the price, we can't always live a completely Green lifestyle because we simply can't afford it!

Rogers gives us fantastic tips on how to live Green on the cheap and breaks it all down so it's easy to understand and implement into our lives. The best way to give you a taste of what this book has to offer is to supply an example of how the book is laid out.

In her section dedicated to children, this is one shift suggested for babies:



The Shift: Make your own baby food instead of buying it in jars at the supermarket.

Save $: Up to $1,500 a year.

Save the Planet: Conserve resources bu forgoing the purchase of individually packaged single serving jars of food for your child.

Good for You: Choose the ingredients you know your child loves. Whip up a batch of baby food with local, organic fruits and veggies, or pick them fresh and ripe from your garden.

Shift it Tip: To freeze homemade baby food, pour puree into ice cube trays and freeze. Once they are frozen, place cubes in a sealed and labeled container in the freezer. When it's meal time, just take one or two cubes and thaw and serve.




Some of the suggestions in Shift Your Habit are not "quick fixes", so occasionally you will have devote some time to this Green method. But if money is your concern, this book is for you! If time and level of difficulty is your concern, you might be better with Green Chic. Or if you are like me and your are right in the middle and both are important aspects when considering your Green lifestyle, get both books! If you get these two books, you are covered on all things Green!

Cycle For Your Supper?

Any of you bicycle enthusiasts hankering to take a trip to Copenhagen? Well, guess what! You are in luck! A hotel is doing a special little tip of the hat to you and to being Green.

Apparently, the Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers is installing two exercise bikes hooked up to generators. Guests are encouraged to hop aboard and pedal and if they produce enough electricity for the hotel, you get a free meal!

The idea is that you will "race" against the hotel's solar panel system to see who/what can produce the most electricity. The magic amount of watt hours you need to reach? 10 or more, then you earn your meal! And this meal isn't to be scoffed at my friends! The meal is locally produced with fresh ingredients! Double Green bonus in my book! The meal is any one of the main courses at the hotel restaurant and is about $44 dollars. The hotel says this way, "the meal encourages guests to not only get fit but also reduce their carbon footprint and save electricity and money."

There is a catch though. The free meal offer is only good if you're a paying guest at the hotel. But still, pretty cool, right?! I love hearing about this kind of thing and I send a big thanks to Reuters.com for shedding light on a really excellent concept!

According to Reuters, the hotel's cycle for your supper will be ready to go on April 19 and the plan is to test the idea for a year with the notion that they might expand to more Crowne Plaza hotels, part of the InterContinental Hotels Group.

So what are you waiting for cyclists and Green supporters?! Book your flight today!

I give this story two big green thumbs up!

SunChips bags 100% Compostable!

Have you seen the commercials? Have you come across the new 100% compostable SunChips in your grocery store yet? If you haven't, don't worry, it's coming to you soon!

I am a big big supporter of all things Green and I try to live as Green of a lifestyle as I am able and I'm so excited to hear that big companies, like SunChips, are starting to take action too!

They have introduced a bag made from plants so it's completely compostable! Every 10 ½ oz. SunChips package is designed to fully break down in just 14 weeks when placed in a hot, active compost bin or pile.

They created a video, which I have posted below, to demonstrate how the bag decomposes. They actually created a chamber for composting the bag, then to be able to record it, replaced one of the walls with a glass window to see inside. Once that was in place, they set up a camera to snap pictures every 15 minutes for 14 weeks. Of course, it's more complicated than that, so if you want the full rundown, feel free to check out their website! They explain everything in great detail there.

I also read on their website that they use solar energy instead of fossil fuels to run their SunChip plant in Modesto, CA. And hope to continue with the rest of their plants.

Love. It. All of it! Thank you SunChips for thinking about us and our planet! Not to mention, giving us a tasty snack, that's at least better for you then most potato chips! :0)

Let's hope that other companies and individuals follow suit!