Yo V! I feel like a spaz, but I’m a busy student and drink coffee everyday. I waste TONS of paper cups. Am I hurting myself AND the planet by drinking coffee?
–Jittery Joe
Well Joe, there’s a solution to your caffeine quandary: walk or bike to the nearest co-op or Kowalski’s and buy a 1-pound bag of Peace Coffee. It’s like starting your day with a cup of good karma. The beans are shade-grown, fairly traded and organic. This means the beans are grown under the cover of trees; canopy trees replenish soil nutrients, then there’s more biodiversity because migratory critters in the rainforests have places to live. And, you feel good knowing farmers earn livable wages for their hard work.
Plus, Peace Coffee is an eco-friendly company. It roasts, packs and distributes beans under one roof. In the metro, beans are delivered on bike year-round and businesses in the ’burbs have beans delivered via biodiesel van! For a list of Peace Coffee distributors and coffee shops (like my favorites, Open Book or Lori’s Coffee House) go to peacecoffee.com and don’t forget your own travel mug.
Miss Verdant: Help! I live in nothing but jeans, but I heard cotton growers need tons of pesticides. Nothing comes between me and my Calvins but I might make an exception for this. Advice please? –Distressed Denim Diva
My Dearest Distressed, the thought of eco-friendly designer denim gives me the blues. Unless jeans melt my cellulite and give my face a dewy glow, my b’donk is not shimmying into a $300 pair. That said, Del Forte and Loomstate are fabulous brands offering some “jeanius” organic options. It’s also worth your time to try the secondhand route, but don’t forget to sanitize them! Try Oxy-Boost. It’s a chlorine-free cleaner you can even use around the house. If you’re adventurous and cash-strapped, the how-to book 99 Ways to Cut, Sew & Deck Out Your Denim (Potter Craft, $24.95) has 99 90-minute solutions to any denim quandary.
z Del Forte denim is available at Birch Clothing (
z Loomstate is available at Birch and Len Druskin (3140 Galleria,
z Oxy-Boost is at River Market Community Co-op (
So, Miss V, my best friend’s fiancé is an earth-loving guy who’s turned her on to the joys of a conscientious lifestyle. But somewhere between her post-vegan body makeover, Foley + Corinna burlap country tote,
Bridezillas are bad enough, but let’s pretend a bride flying her control-freak flag for the sake of Mother Nature is slightly redeemable. My top ways to tame the green monster with an eco-friendly bridal shower are:
1.) Ditch paper invites. Use an e-vite instead. 2.) Ask guests to walk, bike-ride or organize a carpool. 3.) For ambience, try Timothy Han candles (made from essential oils, nongenetically modified, pesticide-free soy wax and a bleach-free wick) and flowers from the farmers market. 4.) For good eats, try a potluck. Stipulate ingredients must be organic. Assign people vegan recipes too. Leftovers can go home with guests in reusable Tupperware. 5.) Since wrapping paper undermines this whole operation, have all the bridesmaids pool funds to purchase a set of Spa Organic Bedding by Lauren Ralph Lauren. Everyone can wrap the bridal gifts with a different sheet. 6.) Supplant the shower with a group activity. Since 1995, thousands have volunteered to restore endangered and natural areas along the
Maniezheh Firouzi
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