Recycled Fleece Smittens
One mitten for me, one mitten for us. Hold hands in the cold with mittens built for two. In adult/adult and adult/child sizes, for all your strolling needs. Snowball fights not advised, unless you're on the same team. In red or blue. $35.

Elephant Poo Poo Paper Roses

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet." Don't worry, Romeo, these ones are scentless. Give your Juliet a bouquet that will last until the spring flowers bloom. Then tell her the paper is handmade in Thailand from elephant droppings. $15 per set of 3. More...

One of our best-loved herbs is basil.  Perhaps that’s because it’s not only reliable –  blooming abundantly, until autumn, when it dutifully reminds us of its annual status, and fades away within days – but also because it’s so versatile and varietal that we can add it to any number of dishes. More...

Let’s talk about sex…”green” sex. More specifically, let’s talk about the birds of an artificial feather and the bees with a battery-operated buzz. That’s right – sex toys, lubes, goos and whatever else we use to enhance our adventures in the bedroom, with or without a playmate. These toys, however, don’t come with the warning labels and regulations that children’s toys normally come with. So, unless you’ve done you research, we don’t really know what we’re putting in our…well, you know.

In uncovering what’s used to make those toys made for playing with under the covers, we find the usual suspects – PVC, phthalates, and parabens – giving “getting dirty” a new meaning. Not surprisingly and rather unfortunately, the cheapest and most ubiquitous toys and products are the most harmful. The squishy, jelly-like (and frankly frighteningly life-like) kinds, i.e. jelly rubbers and “cyberskin” toys, are made with PVC and phthalates. Aside from the toxins they put into the waste stream, they leach toxins into your blood stream, which scientists suspect are a cause of cancer and reproductive system damage (I smell irony). Additionally, many lubricants contain petroleum derivatives (read: flammable fossil fuel) and parabens – those hormone-mimicking chemicals that have been found in breast cancer tumors and may be a contributor thereof. There’s nothing like a global warming-inducing or carcinogenic sex toy to kill the mood. More...

Cupid’s arrow may be aiming for a pink, loveable heart, but that doesn’t mean it should leave you in the red, particularly if you’re just recovering from your holiday spending of two months ago. And if you’d like to avoid consuming more unnecessary products this Valentine’s Day, I propose another unofficial holiday – along the lines of Buy Nothing Day – to protest the consumerism that seems to overtake the real meaning behind some of our holidays. Sounds heartless? Hardly.

The greeting card industry estimates that over a billion cards are exchanged on Valentine’s Day every year. Cards can be recycled, providing they’re not adorned with sparkle and glitter, but then there are the countless roses, candy, chocolates, singing telegrams, and other assorted heart and cupid shaped knick knacks and trinkets that people use to show their affection for each other. Gift-giving is wonderful, but when we start factoring in the fact that everything we buy is manufactured, then packaged and shipped, you come up with an unnecessary and negative impact on the environment. More...

Visit the Dunsmuir Historic Estate year round for a tour of the gardens or in mid July for The Annual Scottish Highland Games. April through October the whole family can visit the Morcom Rose Garden (700 Jean St, Oakland) for free to see more than 6,000 rose bushes in bloom. More...

Mark your schedule to explore the community during the Third Thursdays Oakland Art Stroll from 5-8pm. More...

The best part of embracing local living is the people around you. Meet other locals at places like the neighborhood farmers market, where you’re ten times more likely to chat than in a store. And consider taking your next vacation locally. Airplanes have significant CO2emissions (find out how much at carboncounter.org). More...