The closest Fred Meyer to me is in Ballard and this is where I’ve chosen to continue my quest I started a couple of posts ago—assessing my food purchase choices by laying it all out on the table as Peter Menzel does with families from around the world by photographing their weekly supply of food in his book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats. I’ve been reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan and have used insights from Pollan's book in this post as well. A detailed grocery list as to the food I bought at Fred Meyer is included at the end of this post. More...

I made it inside with more than 21,000 enthusiastic people in Key Arena this last Friday to hear Barack Obama speak. Three thousand people were left standing out in the cold as the arena was over capacity. Unexpectedly, Barack Obama came out to greet those eager 3,000 with a bullhorn and a 30-minute speech. More...

I recently went to the Trader Joe’s in the University District with my partner and noticed that our bill climbed to around $100. I decided to take a picture showing what we bought and ask readers to compare what $100 will get them at their local grocery store, food co-op, or nationwide supermarket. A detailed grocery list as to what we bought is included at the end of this post. This little project is a twist to Peter Menzel’s Hungry Planet: What the World Eats, which you should definitely click on and check out if you haven’t yet. More...

I used to bank with Wells Fargo—one of the big corporate banks. After reading an article on credit unions in Co-op America’s Real Money newsletter some years ago and discovering that I already knew people who were long-time members of credit unions, I made the switch. Though it took some time for me to actually decide to commit to making the switch, it was easy to do so, and I’ve never considered going back to one of the big banks that rob you of your money and the earth’s resources. More...

Your standard plastic fork is manufactured from a petroleum-based material and is not compostable. Housing and Food Services at University of Washington (UW) here in Seattle switched to corn-based cutlery in their cafeterias at the beginning of the 2007 school year. When I first heard this, I had to get my hands on a piece of this new eating utensil. After testing a corn-based fork, I was surprised and excited to learn firsthand that it truly does look, feel, and work just like a plastic fork. More...

Is marketing of what really is just green clutter and junk on the rise? Are we as green consumers being targeted and, more importantly, is it working? These are the questions that arose after I had the opportunity to review TLM International’s Magic Stapler (around $10 on Amazon.com) and Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies’ H-racer (around $100 on Amazon.com). If you’re considering purchasing either the “eco-friendly” Magic Stapler or H-racer toy car—don’t. The Magic Stapler will not replace your stapler on your desk—even though that’s what you hope it will do. The H-racer—though it looks like and is packaged like a remote control car—is not a remote control car. It doesn’t even come with a remote. More...

Is marketing of what really is just green clutter and junk on the rise? Are we as green consumers being targeted and, more importantly, is it working? These are the questions that arose after I had the opportunity to review TLM International’s Magic Stapler (around $10 on Amazon.com) and Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies’ H-racer (around $100 on Amazon.com). If you’re considering purchasing either the “eco-friendly” Magic Stapler or H-racer toy car—don’t. The Magic Stapler will not replace your stapler on your desk—even though that’s what you hope it will do. The H-racer—though it looks like and is packaged like a remote control car—is not a remote control car. It doesn’t even come with a remote. More...

Here is the first entry of my personal web-travel green ephemera collection series. Click on the article title above or "Read Post" below for your invitation inside family homes around the world to see how a week's worth of your food stacks up in comparison. If you're even the slightest Pilobolus fan (the shadow dancers who entertained you at the 2007 Oscars), you'll love seeing garbage shadow art by two European artists. Did you know San Francisco is a step ahead of Seattle in banning plastic bags in large grocery stores? It's so big, but so under our radar: 3 million tons of plastic, covering an area twice the size of Texas floating in our Pacific Ocean. Too busy (or too cheap) to locate, go to the nearest store that accepts your old flourescent light bulbs, and pay their fee to recycle them? Just take them to IKEA where they will recycle them for you for free. Finally, looking for a hybrid taxicab to get downtown from the Sea-Tac Airport? Seattle now has them for you. (But why pay $33 when you can just hop Metro bus 194 for only $1.25?) More...

A golden pothos and spider plant will always have a seat in my home. I used to only love them because they were easy to grow and propagate—little did I know that they are also both listed among the best indoor plants that are quietly hard at work filtering the air I breathe.

They’re great starter and gift plants—just clip a segment from the end of a golden pothos vine and place it in water. Spider plants produce little baby spider plants that can also be clipped and placed in water to grow roots, which at some point when you decide, can be transferred to a pot with soil. Golden pothos can be hung as a hanging plant with its vines growing downwards. If you'd rather not hang the pot, you can string the vines in any direction you choose, including up walls and above doorway entrances. More...

I spent this last weekend with a friend touring a few wine tasting rooms in the heart of Yakima Valley (only a 2- to 3-hour drive from Seattle, Portland, or Spokane). The sleek tourist pamphlets and maps of the region carefully navigated us to the many small and proud family-owned wineries, and I almost didn’t notice the small, fallen fruit tree farm that crossed our path. Like the drunken trees in Alaska, these tree trunks were diagonal to the ground, but unlike drunken trees, they were no longer growing. More...