Happy St. Patrick’s Day, the greenest day of them all! If you’re in a pinch (harhar) to throw a party or are actually planning one, consider buying your beer in a growler. What IS a growler, you ask? A growler is a large glass container that carries a half-gallon of liquid. Many pubs and breweries carry the oversized bottles, charging just a few bucks more for you to buy your own reusable growler. You can usually bring back the container to be refilled over and over again. You’ll save lots of glass from going bulk on beer and be supporting a local brew. Drop a few drops of green coloring in – and your green beer is ready to drink during the greenest day o’ them all!

For March, we’re taking our CFL spotlight to the schools and shining it on one very eco-conscious place, Vermont Academy.

Located in Saxtons River, Vermont, Vermont Academy is a small independent secondary school.  Their Director of Communications, Maryann McArdle, as well as current student Dylan Gilbert were kind enough to share some of the green initiatives they have organized to promote green friendliness on campus.  Check them out!

Vermont Academy students clean up the river during the Connecticut Rivershed Cleanup day. Students also work at compost buckets during lunch time.

Bottled Water Initiative
Based on a growing awareness about the negative social & environmental consequences of disposable plastic water bottles (and disposable plastics in general) Vermont Academy agreed to discontinue the use of bottled water at Vermont Academy. The bottle water initiative:

• Eliminates bottled-water expenditures
• Reduces Vermont Academy students and faculty exposure to harmful Bisphenoln A
• Educates Vermont Academy students, faculty and visitors about water as a universal right that must be consumed sustainably and protected
• Reduces Vermont Academy’s participation in fossil fuel dependence, climate change, environmental pollution, and water privatization among other issues
• Creates a powerful statement that Vermont Academy takes sustainability seriously—improving our image in the community and providing opportunities for promoting ourselves to prospective students and their families.

Composting Project
Vermont Academy along with every major institution in the United States today faces a convergence of crises largely centered over the interface between ecological and economic sustainability.  Beginning on Earth Day last year, we as a school acknowledged an excellent opportunity to eliminate a tremendous amount of our waste production while at the same time producing a much-needed resource for the region.  So began the Vermont Academy Composting Project. This project has many important environmental benefits: it helps us to reduce the amount of waste we are putting in local landfills; it reduces our contribution to the global warming gas methane; it educates faculty, staff and students at VA about “closed-loop ecological systems” as an alternative to wasteful linear systems; and it produces a high quality soil amendment which can be used on campus gardens, donated to community gardens, sold at fundraisers or traded to local farmers in exchange for fresh organic produce (further reducing our ecological footprint and dependence on fossil fuels).

Christine Armiger, environmental science teacher and Certified Master Composter, Bruce Herforth of Garden Alternatives, along with some of our product.

VA Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Program
Vermont Academy as an individual player in a global society bears the responsibility to make efforts to reduce, reuse, and recycle materials and energy as efficiently and effectively as possible. During this time of global climate change, VA must transition away from our participation in the linear materials economy, and toward systems that follow closed-loop ecological cycles. Vermont Academy conducted a survey, specifically addressing our efforts to Reduce, Reuse & Recycle here on campus.  Over 200 surveys were distributed to students, faculty and employees at Community Lunch.  Results of this survey indicate that while the majority of Vermont Academy students have made some efforts to Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle materials and energy on campus, a significant number of individuals are not contributing to sustainability efforts either because they do not find it to be convenient or they are not aware of the importance of modifying their individual actions for the collective benefit of the environment and future generations.

Based on these findings, the Vermont & Environs Committee proposes a series of initiatives targeted towards increasing campus participation in a variety of sustainability projects:

• Place single-sided paper bins – have been placed next to every printer and at the end of the day, an assigned individual places all of the paper that is sitting idol in or beside printer tray into the ‘single-sided paper bins’. This helps Vermont Academy reduce the amount of paper it uses.
• Disposable products – such as chip bags, disposable coffee cups, and disposable yogurt containers have been removed from the Dining Hall. This has reduced VA’s amount of post-consumer trash waste significantly.
• Reusable Klean Kanteens – VA school store numerous metal reusable water bottles as to accommodate students with reusable water bottles that are durable and do not leach harmful chemical into the water.
• Black Out Time Slots – every week there is a scheduled time slot where the Vermont Academy community takes efforts to reduce its energy usage by conserving power. Phantom devices that slowly leach energy are turned off.

Organic and Local Products in the School Store & Student Café
Vermont Academy has recently started to incorporate local products into the School Store and Student Cafe. Local artists are commissioned to provide clothing and various locally produced items, such as maple syrup for sale. Moreover, United Natural Foods Incorporated (UNFI) will now act as the school’s main distributor for organic products.

Earth Day
Every year in order to raise environmental awareness Vermont Academy holds an Earth Day event. Students are required to attend and participate in activities designed to raise environmental awareness. Workshops are taught, green art projects are commissioned, students are taken to work on local farms, and students are invited to visit to local recycling and paper centers.

Localvore Banquet
This year Vermont Academy will host its first Localvore Banquet. The night would feature the produce of local farmers. Selling finalized soil amendment from the Compost Initiative to local farmers in return for fresh produce would offset some of the cost of the night. Farmers will come to speak about the benefits of your local community, sustainable agriculture, and the importance of knowing where your food comes from.

For more information about Vermont Academy, visit their website.

Okay, Chef Boyargreen, we know you like to bake and cook. Next time sugar cookies call to you, do your energy bill a favor and unplug that electric mixer, get a big spoon, and mix by hand. This ancient method was used for centuries before the birth of the Kitchen Aid era – and people cooked food and baked just fine. Plus, you’ll get a bit of a bicep and forearm workout during your session, which means enough calories burned to eat more cookies. Now that’s the circle of life!

While most of us will do anything to avoid paying ten bucks to have our socks washed on vacation, sometimes the need to take advantage of hotel laundry is too great.  But have you ever noticed how many bells and whistles come with this service?  Socks and undies arrive in new cardboard boxes stuffed with crisp tissue paper.  Your best shirts are hung neatly on wire hangers, covered in paper and then smothered in plastic with a few metal staples thrown in for good measure.  What happens to all that plastic and virgin paper when you check out?  Exactly what you think.  Next time you have to fill out the laundry form, put a note in the special instructions section that you don’t need any excess packaging.  A hanger will suffice for the stuff that needs to stay wrinkle free and if you’ve got a minute, inquire if the hotel recycles hangers.  Better yet, save yourself a whack of cash and hand wash as much as you can.  Just a few more ways to travel a little lighter, a lot sexier.

Hey sleepyhead, let’s talk pillows.  We hate to break it to you, but conventional pillows typically contain petroleum chemicals that release VOC’s into the air in your home.  VOC’s are gross enough in wall paint and furniture sealant, but your pillows?!  Fire retardant, no-iron, moisture-resistant pillows aren’t born – they’re made, using lots and lots of nasty stuff.  In addition to VOC’s, synthetic pillows are the perfect habitat for huge numbers of dust mites, their kin and all of their droppings.  Not only is this disturbing, but it’s also a huge irritation for the lungs.  Considering your airways get pretty darn close to these chemicals, you might consider switching to something a little less harmful. 

Choosing the right pillow is mostly about personal preference and comfort, and if chosen correctly will provide a healthy more restful sleep. When shopping for new pillows, be sure to pass on synthetic fabrics and fills and opt for chemical-free, natural-fill models covered in organic cotton. The most popular natural-fill options you’ll find are: 

• Natural Shredded Rubber Fill
  Also known as latex, this is a byproduct of the rubber tree (just make sure it’s not synthetic rubber).
• Wool Fibre Fill
  Wool is flame resistant and offers excellent moisture absorbency, allowing the pillow fill to breathe. Wool is naturally bacteria and dust mite resistant. Try to find wool fill pillows sourced from organically raised sheep, or recycled wool.  
• Feather and Down Fill
  Made from duck or goose feathers, the higher the down content, the softer the pillow will be.
• Buckwheat Hull Fill
  Said to be superior to either of the above options, buckwheat hull material conforms to the contours of your head and neck without “pushing back” as some fibers do. It has excellent insulation properties for both summer and winter and a single fill can last for years.
• Kapok Fill
  Kapok is a soft and silky fiber from the seed pods of a the ceiba tree

Not all natural-fill types will be ideal for you, so be sure to consider your own skin sensitivities and outdoor allergies before shelling out dough for these pillows.  If a wool sweater makes you want to claw your skin off, you should probably avoid a wool fibre fill pillow, for example.  Natural pillows are definitely more expensive than traditional pillows, but they’re worth the investment.  If you’re on a budget (and who isn’t?), consider buying one natural pillow to use as the one closest to your face, then add more pillows to your bed as funds become available to you.  As you add natural pillows to your bed, be sure to cover them in high-quality organic pillowcases to protect your investment. 

Thanks to Dihan Chandra of Organic Lifestyle in Toronto for suggesting this tip!

It’s Friday afternoon, rush hour is creeping in and your job depends on getting that package from one end of town to the other in a timely manner.  Who you gonna call?  Your local bike courier!  While sometimes fed ex or ups may be necessary for long distance runs, if your goods are local, put the petal to the lighter metal and save the earth a load of fuel and fuss.  Bike couriers are generally faster and cheaper (not to mention they probably have nicer calves) than a fuel driven messenger service and they can be found all over the world.  And you don’t necessarily have to limit your green deliveries to boring business goods.  Some florists and restaurants offer bicycle delivery too – just google a participating business near you.  You can get the world on time and keep it green.

You may have heard that consuming Omega-3 fatty acids is good for your health.  It’s true!  Research has shown that Omega-3 fatty acids decrease risk of arrhythmias (abnormal heartbeats), which can lead to sudden death.  Omega-3 fatty acids also decrease triglyceride levels, slow growth rate of atherosclerotic plaque, and lower blood pressure (slightly). Omega 3 fatty acids have also been said to ease the symptoms of depression, bipolar disorder, and ADHD, as well as a host of other beneficial effects.  The American Heart Association recommends consuming 2+ servings of fatty fish per week in order to reach the suggested amount of Omega-3’s.  Since some types of fish may contain high levels of mercury, PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), dioxins and other environmental contaminants, the safest way to reach your Omega-3 goal is to buy a mercury-free, environmentally responsible supplement.  The best supplements for your health and the health of the world’s fish population are made from the oil of low-level fish, such as anchovies and sardines caught off the coastal waters of Chile and Peru. Because there is an abundance of these fish species in this region, over-fishing is not a concern.  The next time you’re at the health food or vitamin store, check out the Omega-3 supplements and compare the labels!  You want a high level of DHA (one of the 3 fatty acids), a mercury-free label and oils from low-level, sustainably caught wild (not farmed) fish.  Here’s to your health!

Thanks to Romeo Catracchia for inspiring this tip!

Photograph by Jesse Hove.

Here at Green Is Sexy, we like to think that little gestures make a big difference. Then what can be done with those little plastic bread tags that pile up in your drawer?  We discovered that they can be recycled and have seen rulers made from them. See? Little things can add up! If your local recycling program doesn’t accept tags (call them to find out), there are a couple of ways they can be re-used: crafters wrap thread around them, kids can learn to count with them, musicians could use them as guitar picks, techies can write on them and attach them to electrical cords, anyone can put them on the end of a tape roll to mark the spot, homemakers can clip a pair of socks together in the wash, and – our favourite – gamblers can use them as poker chips. So grab your friends and a handful of bread tags and have a poker night. Okay, okay. We recognize that some of these suggestions are a bit crazy and maybe a tad obsessive, so if it’s too much for you, we just ask one thing: please cut the tags in half before you discard them Bird beaks and small animal feet can get caught and that’s not a nice gesture.

With St. Patrick’s Day as its primary holiday, March could be called Beer Month. Naturally, we wanted to find you some truly green beer!

We took this assignment very seriously, scouring pubs everywhere, searching for an organic brew and eco-cool atmosphere. After many, many pints (hey, all in the name of research just for you!), we found a perfect place to celebrate St. Paddy’s in environmental style.

Toronto’s Mill Street Brew Pub is the most eco-conscious pub we’ve seen, from the beer to the building.

Let’s get right to the beer. The Original Organic Lager is beloved for its crisp taste. It’s a bonus that the raw materials and brewing process are pesticide-and herbicide-free and different from other beer because all brewing processes ensure against chemical contamination. Though it’s not made from all-local ingredients, Mill Street took care sourcing the best organic ingredients from around the world and does source locally whenever possible. Due to the care required to brew organically, the Original Organic Lager takes six weeks to produce compared to two-to-three weeks for conventional beers. And you can feel good knowing the beer adheres to the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program and meets all Canadian Organic Program standards.

There are 11 other kinds of Mill Street brews, all handcrafted onsite. They are not certified organic, but they definitely are sustainable suds. Made with local ingredients, energy isn’t sucked-up by transportation requirements. Small batches of beer and the brilliant idea of serving sample sizes reduce waste. Yes, all you commitment-phobes: you can sip samples rather than test entire bottles!

Okay, we raved about the beer, but the building got us really excited. It’s a neat re-use of urban space. Located in Toronto’s Distillery District, it’s in a cluster of industrial buildings once famous for its beer. Built in the 1870’s, the building Mill Street now houses was part of Gooderham & Worts Distillery complex until the area’s decline. Then in the 00’s, developers revisited the area, smitten with its Victorian architecture. There are now a bunch of arts-oriented businesses, but Mill street is especially cool in its simple re-use concept.

See, it used to be a brewery, so all requirements were in place. By re-using the building for its original purpose, the developers surely saved money, time, and energy with minimal retrofits. It may not be a completely green building, but it began with the right steps. Mill Street is a place where you can really drink responsibly.

Visit www.millstreetbrewpub.ca for more information and be sure to check it out next time you’re in Toronto. And if you have no plans to visit the Big Smoke anytime soon, look for an organic brewery near you!

Photos: Courtesy Mill Street Brew Pub.

With Easter just around the bend, let’s take a moment to consider the delicious egg.  We’re not talking chocolate but the ones that hens go to so much trouble to lay.  The generous egg offers up loads of protein, vitamins, omegas and healthy fat.  Unfortunately, not all eggs are created equal.

There’s a lot of evidence suggesting that mass-produced, industrial style eggs (the ones you’re most likely to find in the supermarket) are not as high in nutritional value as pastured or organic eggs.  Heavily sprayed feed, antibiotics, hormones and cruelly treated hens add up to a lesser egg.  Most laying hens are stored in cages so cramped they can barely move, their cages are never cleaned and they live in darkness.  It’s a pretty horrible existence.

Organic can be better.  It means the hens are at least cage, antibiotic and hormone free and given organic feed that isn’t sprayed with toxic chemicals.  But even organic and free range doesn’t necessarily mean cruelty free (check out Michael Pollen’s Omnivore’s Dilemma for his insights on this issue). The best eggs around come from local, pastured, organically fed, truly free-roaming hens.  And they do eggxist!  You’ll most likely find them at your farmer’s market or you can inquire at your local grocer.  Ask lots of questions and find the best eggs for you.

Plan on decorating eggs this Easter?  It’s still important to buy fairly raised eggs – even if you don’t plan on eating them.  Where you put your dollars really counts and it sends a clear message to the industry about your eggspectations.  Consider taking the kids on a field trip to your local egg farmer – they’ll love finding out how the Easter egg began.