EcoFlip Has Recently Been "Flipped" by a Bigger, Greener Outfit...Stay Tuned!!!

30 Going Green Tips: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Image via WebEcoist

We were excited to see EcoFlip plugged in the comprehensive article entitled Going Green: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle on WebEcoist. Of all the top green tip lists I've seen, this one stands alone...

Great work WebEcoist!

Slow Food Rocks SF

You may have already read about whats known to be the largest celebration of food in America. Slow Food Nation is hitting San Francisco this coming Labor Day Weekend...

50,000 people expected, a plethora of organic goodies and surely a great experience. I have a feeling the weather is going to be just perfect this weekend and so I've decided to attend Saturday's outdoor concert Slow Food Rocks 2008, featuring Ozomatli.  See you there!    

Back To School in Green

It's back to school time...There's no more appropriate place to show up in green than your local educational institution. Yeah, this year green fashion and stationaries are going to spread like like wildwire throughout grade schools, high schools and colleges across the nation. 

The following article sub-titled, From Green Schools to Healthy Lunches, School Supplies and More will help you and your loved ones get a head start this fall.

5 Reuses for Baseball Hats

We've all got them hanging around, sitting around and stuffed in closets...Whether you've hung onto your little league tee-ball caps or you've stuffed away the company-branded hat you earned for kissing up all year, you may find the list below to be useful.  

From Planet Green

1. Relocate the logo. Carefully cut out the logo from the front of the hat. Sew it onto any part of a plain t-shirt. In one swift move, you transform your tee from ordinary to extraordinary.
   
2. Build a band. Create an adjustable headband out of the base of the hat. Lose the brim and the top part of the cap to fashion and accessory that’s functional and fun.
   
3. Make a bird feeder. Use your old baseball hat as a feeder for your favorite feathered friends.
   
4. Play catch. If you don't have access to a catcher's mitt for your afternoon game of toss with the kids, never fear. An old baseball hat can make a catch competition come to life.
   
5. Decorate your walls. Root for the home team with happening hat decor. Make your guests go wild with an arrangement that shows your fan flavor and your fabulous style.

Join EcoFlip on Facebook!

We recently created a sustainable EcoFlip fan page on Facebook and we invite you to join us. Facebook has proven to be the leader in bringing people together. We look forward to providing unique and fresh content on the page and will begin developing useful green-oriented applications for the facebook community to enjoy.

You must already be a Facebook user to join EcoFlip's fan group. To join, simply click "become a fan" from EcoFlip's page. See you on the Book!

Find Green Products on EcoFlip.org!

Need Help Locally? BizzFlip provides local classifieds for small businesses

Drinking Water on the J.O.B

Believe it or not, there is a better reason to hang out by the water cooler as often as you can, it's YOU! Our bodies are made up of over 65% water and that means water is the single most important nutrient we just cannot do without. If you drink coffee in the morning, workout during the day and/or drink alcohol in the evening it's all the more imperative that you drink plenty more than the recommended average of 8-10 glasses a day. If you haven't heard of LuLuLemon Atletica (you probably don't hang out with anyone that does yoga) you soon will as they're growing like crazy. Anyhow, they have a really positive mantra mashup advising you to drink as much fresh water as you can in order to flush unwanted toxins from your body, keeping your brain sharp. 

I learned pretty quickly on the J.O.B that taking trips to the water cooler every thirty minutes helped the day go by faster. 10-minute smoke breaks are even better! Now, I don't smoke, but that didn't stop me from synchronizing my 10-minute oxygen breaks with the smokers. OK, back to water. I highly recommend getting  a glass water bottle and/or a Klean Kanteen. I have and use both daily. Around the house and in the car I carry my glass abundance bottle, which local folks can pick up at Cafe Gratitude. I use my canteen at the office and while hiking or working out. Basically, by carrying around a safe and re-fillable water bottle you force yourself to replenish all day long. And, as with everything healthy, it all starts by forming new habits.

While we're on the topic of water, perhaps you've heard of Dr. Masaru Emoto featured in the popular documentary What the Bleep Do We Know? I was fortunate enough to attend a seminar he gave at UCSD, where my respect and love for water was altered forever. Dr Emoto has proven through his experiments that we can change the vibration of external water molecules through our thoughts which control the vibration of our body's water molecules, constantly in communication with the external water molecules. Moral of the story: it's always better to praise and be thankful for the water you're about to drink rather than having negative thoughts, etc. around it.

Trade Green Locally on EcoFlip.org

Young Green Savvy

Many Marin residents at the core of Bay Area's rise in enviro-friendly businesses...

 

Above: Forrest Kolb (left) and Joe Paone, seen in Sausalito, co-founded the classifieds Web site EcoFlip.org in an attempt to become the craigslist for green products and services. (IJ photo/Alan Dep)

From the Marin Independant Journal

ENTREPRENEUR Neal Gottlieb was 28 when he started Three Twins Organic Ice Cream in Terra Linda in 2005 and now bills it as the first "chain" of organic ice cream stores.

The owner of two ice cream stores also sells his ice creams, gelatos and sorbets to restaurants and at farmers markets and grocery stores. He is hoping to expand production at a plant in Petaluma.

Gottlieb is among Marin entrepreneurs whose businesses are young and green. He chose ice cream because it was a business that could be started small and grow.

"Organic sets us apart," Gottlieb said. "When you think of what is done to cows and the chemicals you put into our body - we are so lucky in Northern California to live in close proximity to so many great organic dairies and having an abundance of organic produce."

Gottlieb tried the corporate world for a while after graduating from Cornell University in New York in 1999, but he decided it wasn't for him.

"After Sept. 11, I thought about how I would feel about my accomplishments if I got killed in the World Trade Center," Gottlieb said. "I wanted to do something more meaningful."

He said that if he was going to work 40 to 80 hours a week, he wanted to feel passionate about what he was doing.

"It's such a great opportunity to make people love you and not just think about the bottom line," Gottlieb said. "Customers talk about you and they spread the word - they want to support you."

Green businesses, or environmentally friendly enterprises, are on the rise in the Bay Area, according to the Association of Bay Area Governments, which started a green business program in 1996. Since then 1,375 businesses have been granted green certification.

Marin launched its program in 2002 and now lists 254 certified green businesses.

To qualify for certification, a business must comply with a checklist of requirements, such as buying only recycled paper and copying on both sides, cleaning premises with nontoxic products, installing energy-efficient lighting systems and conserving water with low-flush toilets and faucet aerators.

Sarah Diefendorf, executive director of the Environmental Finance Center at Dominican University of California, said green business momentum is building. "We're not at the crest of that wave yet," Diefendorf said. "Everything is pointing in that direction, but we haven't reached a point where industry is saying 'we need this.'"

She noted the university's green MBA program is beginning to see a demand for hiring sustainability coordinators.

She said the future is bright for Marin's young green entrepreneurs. "We are going to be forced into energy efficiency and conservation, and those who are ahead of the curve are always going to fare better."

Sausalito resident Forrest Kolb, 25, earned a bio-engineering degree at the University of California at San Diego and got a job in research and development at Genentech Inc. in the East Bay. He moved to Marin about three years ago.

He was inspired to start his business, BizzFlip Inc., while he was driving through Silicon Valley, noticing how many technology company names were posted on buildings. He realized businesses needed a way to talk to each other. He and a business partner, Joe Paone, began to research a Web site that would serve as an online classified advertising site for entrepreneurs.

BizzFlip.com was launched in May 2007 and includes postings for businesses for sale, business services and venture capital pitches.

This year, Kolb and Paone launched EcoFlip.org, a platform for environmentally friendly listings for products and services. Users can place free online postings for buying and recycling green products, fuel-efficient vehicles and environmentally friendly services.

"Our vision for EcoFlip is for it to be the first place people go for eco-friendly and green business," Kolb said. "We want to be the craigslist for green products and services."

He loves living in Marin and setting his own schedule so he can enjoy the outdoors while working long hours.

"We are on the computer all day," Kolb said. "When you're really passionate about your business, it's not work.

"We are looking at taking investments from angels to scale it up," Kolb said. "We don't want to take money and lose control, we want people who are passionate."

Another young Marin entrepreneur, Jorge Lee, grew up in Mill Valley and graduated from Cornell University in December 2006. After working as an intern for the Clorox Co. in Oakland and then in payroll at Catholic Healthcare West, the 23-year-old Lee decided he didn't want to sit in a cubicle and do paperwork.

"I wanted something where I would keep learning," Lee said. "I talked to entrepreneurs and they said they wished they had started earlier."

Lee spent time in cafes learning about Web sites. He knew he needed to learn how to sell so he took a door-to-door sales job with AT&T in Oakland. "You learn real quick how to sell," Lee said. "You have to impulse someone."

Lee saw a need for nontoxic house cleaning services and decided that would be his niche. "I wanted a low start-up cost that would grow," Lee said. "Growing up in Marin I was very aware of green."

Lee experimented with nontoxic materials such as baking soda, club soda, vinegar, borax and Castile and developed his own line of cleaners in his parents' garage.

He brought in a family friend and the two began cleaning the houses of friends in March. He developed a checklist to let clients know exactly what had been cleaned.

He was certified as a Marin green business, boosting visibility. His Web site is www.marinhousecleaning.com and he has about 15 clients. Lee plans to hire a manager to head several teams of cleaners and let the business run itself.

"I've learned so much about sustainability doing this," Lee said. "It's going pretty much according to the business plan - the business is scalable.

"I'll knock on every door in Marin before I see this business fail."

Gardening provided a green ticket for Zachary Wahle of Fairfax, who grew up in West Marin and developed a passion for sustainable agriculture. He earned a master's degree in ecological agriculture and did his thesis on banana sustainability while living in the Caribbean.

When he returned to Marin, he started Edible Attractive Terrains, or EAT, a certified green business, and began to work with clients, designing, installing and maintaining sustainable, organic landscapes and gardens to produce food for the household.

Wahle, 29, said his plan was to start a business that would let clients produce food no matter how small the property.

"I wanted to build food security - I saw the threat to our food sovereignty," Wahle said.

Wahle plants fruit trees, artichokes, strawberries, okra, root crops and blueberries, among others, along with edible flowers such as roses and marigolds. He uses natural pest control and water-conscious designs. "I don't have a mower, a blower or a weed wacker," he added.

He thinks of himself as a mobile farmer and works with clients based on the level of service they prefer, from being a guide to maintaining gardens and harvesting crops.

"People can produce more than they think," Wahle said. "It's all going to depend on how much of their property they want to devote to it and on how much time they are willing to spend - or how much they are willing to pay me to do it."

Recycled Tires Aid Cell Phones

From EcoGeek

Whoa. Who needs triple lattes when there is Strapya World? Nothing gives a jolt of adrenaline to the system like a quick perusal of what’s new in Strapya World, the Japanese company that designs cell phone gadgets. The company’s website is a non-stop bombardment of Pokemon, Hello Kitty and Manga stuff for your cell phones.

Recently, the company came out with its phone strap-solar charger. The concept is a metallic holder on the phone strap recharges power from sunlight for your cell phone. That’s neat, but the practicality and utility of solar straps charging cell phones seems a bit too gadgety. If there is any charging going on with straps, it might be best to use dancing instead of the sun, of if you’re set on the sun, then using the Freeloader and Supercharger.

On a more practical level, Strapya has come out with a new accessory. “We made this with ecological ideas,” Strapya proudly proclaims for its cell phone case called “Zero.” “Zero” is made from used tire tubes remade as cell phone straps and holders. Prices range from $8 US for straps to $25 for holders. Like snowflakes, no two Zeros are the same because the company uses hundreds of recycled tires and every tire travels down the road marking its own unique path. Talk about a one-of-a-kind accessory for your beloved cell phone.

EcoFlip's Reuse & Recycle category allows you sell or trade your old stuff rather than throw it away!

Buy or sell a local business on BizzFlip's local business classifieds. Need funding? Post under Venture Capital! 

Chipotle Grilled on Tomatoes

From Grist

Chipotle Grill has received a lot of good press over its efforts to support local food systems in the areas where it operates. Even I've gotten into the act. In a post back in March, I reported on a conversation I had had with a Chipotle PR person:

I told her that as long as Chipotle was committed to paying a fair price to farmers -- and not merely using them them for marketing leverage -- I thought the company could play a constructive role in a nationwide transition to a truly sustainable ag. We'll see.

Well, not so fast. From the excellent group blog The Pump Handle, in a post by Celeste Monforton, I learn that Chipotle has refused to sign on to a deal to pay a an extra penny per pound for tomatoes from Florida, where farmworkers toil under brutal conditions for sub-poverty wages.

By pinching that penny per pound, Chipotle fails to meet the standards of such model corporate citizens as McDonald's and and Burger King -- both of which have agreed to the higher price.

To get the details on Chipotle's inglorious holdout, read Celeste's linked post above and check out the website of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, which has heroically faced down some of the globe's biggest and most retrograde food corporations to get something approaching a living wage for Florida's ruthlessly exploited farmworkers.

If Chipotle is at all serious about its pledge to serve "food with integrity," it will stop dickering around and pay up in Florida.

Find local green products including local produce on EcoFlip.org! 

Buy or sell a franchise for sale on BizzFlip.com!

Bottled Water Boiling Point

From Yahoo News

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A debate over water is boiling over in the United States and elsewhere amid growing environmental concerns about bottled water and questions about safety of tap water.

The US Conference of Mayors in June passed a resolution calling for a phasing out of bottled water by municipalities and promotion of the importance of public water supplies. While largely symbolic, the vote highlighted a growing movement opposing regular use of bottled water because of its plastic waste and energy costs to transport drinking supplies.

Janet Larsen, director of research at the Earth Policy Institute, cites a "backlash against bottled water as more people are realizing what they get out of the bottles is not any better than what they get out of the faucet."

The Pacific Institute, a California think thank on sustainability issues, contends that producing bottles for US water consumption required the equivalent of more than 17 million barrels of oil in 2006, not including the energy for transportation. The group says bottling water for Americans produces more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide and consumes three liters of water for each liter of bottled water produced.

The debate in the US mirrors that taking place worldwide in places such as Paris; Liverpool, England; Florence, Italy; Vancouver, Canada. According to the EPI, the issue making waves among policymakers in locations including Denmark and New South Wales, Australia, among others. The backlash comes even amid surging sales of bottled water in the United States. Some of this is linked to concerns about contamination of public water supplies, although critics of the industry say marketing hype is a greater factor.

Aficionados of Evian from France or Fiji from the South Pacific swear by the taste and health benefits of those waters, but others decry the high cost of energy for a product that may not be any better than local water.

A Natural Resources Defense Council concluded that "most of the tested waters were found to be of high quality (but) some brands were contaminated." The group said bottled waters "are subject to less rigorous testing and purity standards than those which apply to city tap water."

In fact, says the group "about one-fourth of bottled water is actually bottled tap water" while government rules "allow bottlers to call their product 'spring water' even though it may be brought to the surface using a pumped well, and it may be treated with chemicals."

Americans drank about 8.8 billion gallons (33 billion liters) of packaged water in 2007, or 15 percent of their total liquid intake, according to the Beverage Marketing Corp. Per capita bottled US water consumption is up to 29 gallons (109 liters) per year, from 20 gallons in 2002. The US is the largest consumer of bottled water, but on a per capita basis it ranks far behind Italy, the leader which consumes nearly twice as much, and others such as the United Arab Emirates, Mexico and France.

Advocates of bottled water they the industry is being used as a scapegoat. Kevin Keane of the American Beverage Association said the mayors' resolution was "just cynical politics. It's like being against rope until you need a lifeline."

Keane says the bottled water industry is needed for communities hit by floods or other natural disasters and compromised municipal water systems. Bottled water "is convenient and a good tasting beverage, especially in this day when you have fewer water fountains and even when you have them, people are skeptical about using them."

Beyond questions of safety and environment, some activists say the bottled water industry is seizing a public resource. In the northeast state of Maine, a battle is brewing over access to a large aquifer by Poland Spring, a large US bottler owned by Swiss-based Nestle.

"Nestle's water grab is ruining streams, ponds, wells and aquifers," said Judy Grant of the activist group Corporate Accountability.

"Nestle's practices are raising serious questions about who should be allowed to control water, our most essential resource, and to what end."

The mayors, meeting in Miami, approved a resolution proposed by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom along with 17 other large-city mayors to redirect taxpayer dollars from bottled water to other city services. Joe Doss, president and chief executive of the International Bottled Water Association, an industry group based near Washington, said it was "unfortunate this is turning into a tap water versus bottled water debate."

Doss said most people drink both and that in many cases bottled water is a healthy replacement for sweetened or carbonated drinks. The IBWA says the industry uses less than one percent of groundwater supplies and produces only a tiny fraction of greenhouse gases. According to Doss, water bottles represent a tiny fraction of plastic waste that even if not recycled, and that any effort to improve recycling should cover all industries, not just bottled water.

EcoNews, green products and local eco-friendy services on EcoFlip.org. Post your Local Green Classifieds today!

BizzFlip's local business classifieds provides free business classifieds for local business people!