Tall, Low-fat Americano Seeks Eco-Friendly Type

These days, placing an order at a coffeehouse can be a dizzying experience, especially for the indecisive among us. Regular or decaf? Skim or 2%? Tall, grande, or venti? Whip or no whip? (Trust us, you want the whip.)

Simplify your next coffee order with this easy choice: Fair Trade, organic, or both. Opting for organically grown coffee reduces the amount of harmful pesticides in our soil, while going with the Fair Trade variety means you’re supporting a fair wage for the workers who produced the coffee. And, in some cases, certain coffees and teas are now organic and Fair-Trade certified…a win-win if we’ve ever seen one. 

You’ll find organic and/or fair trade coffee and tea, while supporting a locally-owned business, at places like the Abbey Coffeehouse, Earth House Collective, Hubbard and Cravens, Lazy Daze Coffee House, and Monon Coffee.
 
Now go get your caffeine on! Oh, and don’t forget to take your own reusable mug. 
 
Piece out,
Renee & Meghan

Green myth #259: People who care about the environment spend all of their free time sorting recyclables, leading peace chants, and sitting around with the lights off in an effort to conserve electricity. The truth? We, the Green Piece girls, like to get out and about as much as you do. Our cure for late winter cabin fever: museums, especially the ones with green-themed events.

The Indianapolis Art Center is hosting ReUse/ReOrder, a multi-gallery exhibition showcasing creations constructed from recycled materials (proving once again that one man’s discarded plastic bag can be another’s pièce de résistance). Through April 19.

Join the Indy Food Coop at the Harrison Center for the Arts (1505 N. Delaware) this Friday at 6 for a screening of Heart & Soil, a documentary about small-scale farming, farmer’s markets and farm to school programs.

Stop by the Indiana State Museum Saturday, March 14 for the Going Green Festival to learn how to make your home more energy efficient from the pros at Greenway Supply and get a reusable grocery bag just for showing up.

Or, check out the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s eco-documentary series, which includes such thought-provoking titles as “Garbage Warrior” (March 13), “Our Daily Bread” (March 20), and “Manufactured Landscapes” (March 26).

Piece out,
Renee & Meghan

While some things increased significantly in 2008 (the national deficit, property taxes, the number of infomercials touting The Snuggie), you were busy decreasing your carbon emissions.

When we first launched Green Piece Indy in early 2008, we asked you to calculate your carbon footprint so we could chart your progress from one year to the next. At that time, the average annual carbon dioxide output of our readers’ individual households was 49,430 pounds of CO2, just slightly lower than the national average of 54,600. It’s time to see how many lbs. we lost in a year - we encourage you to calculate your carbon footprint with the Low Carbon Diet Calculator and report your current footprint to us at greenpieceindy@yahoo.com.

It’ll take a little research from your electric and gas bills, but it’s worth it to understand your household impact on the planet. As they say in the weight-loss world, what have you got to lose but pounds?

Piece out,
Renee & Meghan

Whether you have the construction acumen of Bob Villa or Bob the Builder, consider attending the Indiana Building Green symposium, taking place March 12-13 at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. If you’ve ever wanted to know more about LEED certification (the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program) or how your office building, store, or college campus can reduce its energy consumption, register to attend this event (doing so before Feb. 28 ensures you will receive the early bird discount). More than 400 designers, owners, operators and developers are expected to convene, and featured speakers include pro-green building government officials, such as Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard and Senator Richard Lugar.

But perhaps you want to learn more about local food sources and eating nutritionally and sustainably. For you, locavore, there is the Food, Farm, and Energy Gathering (Feb. 21) at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, where this year’s theme is “Building Local Sustainability.” Show up for the “Local Food - Fine Dining” talk by Chef Daniel Orr of FARM Bloomington, stay for the organic lunch, and (for the really ambitious among you) stick around for Darby Simpson’s “Becoming a Farmer” talk.   

Piece out,
Renee & Meghan

Do you smell that? Love is in the air…and so is the sweet, sweet aroma of your upcoming Valentine’s Day dinner. Before you head off to share a plate of spaghetti with your sweetie, we urge you to plan responsibly. As in, bring your own food storage containers to the restaurant.

While a purse full of Tupperware may not sound like a recipe for romance, to environmental types, it’s totally thoughtful. Believe us, if your significant other is anything like the Green Piece girls, he or she will be thoroughly impressed. Renee just tucks a few zipper baggies in her purse for leftover carry-out.

If you slip up and forget, do the next best thing and ask your server to wrap up your leftovers in recyclable packaging, such as aluminum foil, a paper bag, or a plastic box coded for recycling. And skip the plastic bag that so many places now provide! Kudos to local restaurants like Cafe Patachou and Broad Ripple Brew Pub, who have converted to 100% compostable/biodegradable takeout containers.

Less food wasted + reusable packaging = true love forever.

Hugs and kisses,
Renee & Meghan

Ah, kids today. With their obsessive texting, music downloading, and Facebook page updating, the youth of America have become quite the experts on all things digital.

So it’s only natural that, as the transition to digital television approaches, teens are the ones reminding us to not trash our old analog sets. In fact, some of them even made catchy little 30-second videos posted on YouTube, of course) on this theme as part of an Indiana Recycling Coalition contest. The videos range from earnest environmental PSAs to comedic clips (in one, an ax-wielding girl opts to recycle her TV instead of chopping it to bits). Cast your vote online for your favorite, but do it soon…voting ends at 5 p.m. today (disregard anything saying voting ends at noon).   

And please, do us all a favor and recycle that bunny-earred set for good. It’s no way to score a Valentine’s Day date.

Piece out,
Renee & Meghan

Ugh, we know. Sorting plastics in the recycling bin can be as confusing as sorting socks in a laundry basket. (Why is there always at least one mateless sock?!) If you already recycle, you probably know that most services only accept plastics with #1 or #2 stamped on the bottom of the container. (These are easier to recycle than #3-#7.) Luckily, Preserve now makes it easy to recycle #5 plastic (fancy scientific name: polypropylene).

Through Preserve’s Gimme 5 program, you can recycle your #5’s (think  yogurt cups, takeout containers, even Brita filters!) at the drop-off bins inside Whole Foods Market locations. If you don’t live near a Whole Foods, you can mail your #5’s in instead, though you’ll have to pay for postage. Either way, the company will recycle your old plastics to make new Preserve products-the razors, toothbrushes, and kitchenwares they sell at places like Trader Joe’s, Target, Crate & Barrel, and, of course, Whole Foods. How’s that for coming full circle?

It just goes to show, when it comes to plastic, today’s hummus tub may become tomorrow’s triple-blade razor.

Piece out,
Renee & Meghan

Seems like wherever you turn-from tray tables on airplanes to our beloved Super Bowl-advertising is there. The really innovative among us are finding ways to recycle promotional materials into purses.

Local business ladies Jeanne Shirley and Cynthia England use billboards you’ve seen around Indianapolis to make Eco Billboard Bags, their line of colorful, affordable (all are less than $50) custom totes. These bags aren’t just stylish, they’re also sturdy enough to hold heavy, bulky items like books and laptop computers. Another Indy-based company, Freakin’ Billboard, crafts a line of messenger bags, clutches, shoulder bags, and other styles from (you guessed it) reused billboards.

We at Green Piece Indy have yet to learn how to fashion bags from billboards, but we’d appreciate if you’d help advertise us by becoming a fan on Facebook, that savvy social networking site taking over the planet faster than a melting glacier. 

Piece out,
Renee & Meghan