Category — Product Review

What happens when you mix the founder of Burning Man, the founder of Odwalla, scientists, techies, organic farmers and JP Morgan as a sponsor? You get Digital Be-In: an artsy event with speakers, organic food and a party. Over 10 speakers came, with booths, drinks, and later a big party. It was definitely an eclectic mix; I couldn’t see that well in the dark, but about 200 people came to hear the speakers, and more were entering. Urth.tv did a live broadcast of the event on the internet. Here were some interesting things I saw:

• The first public unveiling of Wiser Earth, a nonprofit social networking site focused on activism and issues, very similar to Care2.com. It already has a community going and active membership.

• Urban Alliance for Sustainability, a nonprofit that focuses on environmental sustainability and building communities, was selling the Green Zebra, SF based coupon book. I took a look inside the book, and it was full of coupons from green businesses like natural food, yoga, spas, and travel. Here’s an example of a coupon inside from one of my favorite places to shop for groceries:

I bought the book for $25, and I know that I’ll already use several coupons inside that payoff the initial fee. If you’re in San Francisco or go often, I recommend buying this. But if you live outside of the city or don’t come often to the city, it won’t be worth it for you.

Other interesting talks included Autodesk’s sustainability design consulting, a group that helps design large scale things like buildings and PAX Scientific, a green research and development tech group.

To be honest, I’m not sure whether I’d go next year, I think the Green Festival and other conferences are a little more organized, but this is definitely a good attempt to get more people in the Bay Area aware of environmental issues by making it fun.

I met up with a friend, Eric, who cofounded a conflict-free and fair trade diamond company. The idea is very simple, and they offer:

• Fair labor and eco-friendly practices
• Certified conflict free diamonds from Canada
• 5% of profits donated to Diamonds for Africa Fund
• Unrivaled quality and customer service

You may have watched the movie “Blood Diamond”, and Brilliant Earth is a great way to buy diamonds that are ethical and sustainable. Check them out at www.brilliantearth.com.

The Organic Trade Association has these suggestions to give as gifts during Valentine’s Day which includes organic chocolates, organic flowers and organic fibers. Here are some local ideas:

Flowers

• Flatland Flower Farm a local flower farm near the Bay Area, with ordering online
• Organic Bouquet one of the largest organic flower delivery companies
• California Organic Flowers another Californian flower grower with online shopping

Chocolates

• Dagoba Chocolates, one of the leading organic chocolate companies
• Chocolate Covered Sweets and Gifts, a local store on 3977 24th Street in Noe Valley highly recommended with organic and vegan selection

I received a very nice gift the other day, a fully 100% organic cotton scarf from Gaiam. It’s made of certified organic cotton and low impact, eco friendly dyes. It arrived in the mail and the scarf was very soft. Available through Gaiam online.

I decided it was time to change the carpet in the bedrooms. The previous owner had dogs and after trying to remove the odor of the dogs, I still had no luck. So, I started a quick hunt for environmentally friendly carpet. I wanted a low VOC carpet, one that would emit less chemicals. Wool was the preferred type (wool doesn’t emit as many VOCs into the environment, is biodegradable, and filters though nitrous oxide).

My first stop was Eco Design Resources in San Carlos, a showcase of environmentally friendly home products and green building. I found a big selection of wool carpets. But everything was too pricey. If I had made it big in a dot com, this place would definitely have furnished and decorated my entire home. The cheapest I found was $45-50/yard of wool carpet medium grade, uninstalled. This was too expensive for me.

Then I decided to go into a normal carpet store, called California Carpets in San Carlos. I walked in, and they had a ton of carpets to choose from. The sales agent was friendly and when I asked her for low VOC carpets, she quickly directed me to wool and gave me a lot of information on wool and its benefits, including a takeaway card. On sale, I found remnants of wool carpet for $40-$50/yard installed, a much better deal than Eco Design.

Finally, I walked into Home Depot just to check them out. They also had a ton of carpets, but when I went to their carpet specialist to ask for low VOC carpets, he had no idea of what I was talking about. He said he had stainmaster carpets, but didn’t understand what low VOCs were. That was too bad, because Home Depot had the cheapest selection of around $30/yard installed, but I had no clue to which ones were environmentally friendly. Talk about customer service!

I think I’ll probably go for California Carpets…it’s just too bad that the ecofriendly focused stores are so pricey, otherwise I would definitely support them.

Buying produce in season gives you the freshest and tastiest treats for you. If you work or have kids and want to offer some yummy but healthy snacks, here are fresh ideas in season this month:

• Oranges
• Pears
• Persimmons
• Grapes
• Figs
• Pomegranate (try sprinkling these seeds in salads)
• Raspberries
• Strawberries
• Blackberries

Straus Family Creamery, a small family run farm in Marin is hosting a tour through Marin Organic on October 5th at 1:30PM. Come see the cows that make milk, yogurt, ice cream and more.

Tucked into the hills overlooking Tomales Bay, this 660-acre family-run dairy is home to 270 happy Holstein and Jersey cows. The Straus family has been nationally recognized time and again for their pioneering efforts in sustainable farming and for the high quality of their products.

One look at the juicy green grasses and delicate wildflowers that eventually become your milk and you’ll know why.

Want to know whether it’s worth purchasing that organic product? Although many companies are trying to make organic goodies cheaper, some are charging a premium. Check out organic.org for product reviews on food, beauty, clothes, books and more.

As you may know, the FDA has suggested to avoid fresh spinach–including organic ones until they determine the cause of the e. coli. Here are some other ideas to try:

• Kale
• Collard Greens
• Bok Choy
• Chard (Rainbow Chard is my favorite variety)
• Lettuce

If possible, try Green Gulch Farm’s greens. I had my best organic rainbow chard ever from this farm. Snap them up if you can find them at Rainbow Grocey or Saturday Farmer’s Market at the Ferry Building in San Francisco.

Yesterday, my family and I went to a secret orchard in Cupertino where we picked fresh apples and heirloom tomatoes. This orchard is not open to the public but you can find their apples sold by Irene at the Palo Alto Farmer’s Market. Their Macintosh apples and heirloom tomatoes were delicious and much cheaper. Plus, it’s a fun and more fulfilling experience to see where the food comes from.

Here are some other locations to pick organic produce in the Bay Area:

• Gabriel Farm, Sebastopol (apples), must make reservations in advance
• Mariquita Farm, Hollister (heirloom tomatoes), Saturday, September 16
• Nicasio Valley Farms Pumpkin Patch, Nicasio Square (pumpkins, strawberries) Sunday, October 8
• Web Ranch Farm, Menlo Park (berries, flowers, apples, corn)
• Swanton Berry Farm, Davenport (strawberries, olallieberries, kiwi, Christmas trees). California certified Organic Farm.

What a great Napa organic tour: a certified organic olive oil farm with solar powered fermentation tanks and other organic goodies for guests.

• Last Sunday’s San Francisco Chronicle article describes the Long Meadow Ranch tour in Rutherford.
• Located in Rutherford Gardens, 1796 S. St. Helena Highway, Rutherford. Daily tours at 10:30 a.m. $35 to $50 per person.

Last Sunday, my sister came into town and we headed up to Sonoma Valley for some winetasting. We went back to one of our favorites, Benziger, just north of Sonoma. They have one of the best tours from growing, production and storage. What I enjoy most is its focus on biodynamic growing, which claims to go beyond just organic growing with a self-sustaining ecosystem. The wines were all great, chardonnay and pinot noirs were some of my favorites. Located at 1883 London Ranch Road in Glen Ellen.