Mountain View Bike Shops Comparison I live in Mountain View, California, and riding bicycles is a big part of my life. Over the past several years, I’ve visited most of the shops around town; following is a short guide to bike shops in Mountain View and Palo Alto, California. I’ll discuss brands, service and pricing, …

That sounds kind of funny doesn’t it? Aren’t the internet and local businesses at war for your dollars and attention? On the one hand, internet retailers have the strength of lower prices. On the other, brick and mortar shops are more personable and the service quality is often higher. Did you know that nearly half …

Water is perhaps mankind’s most precious commodity. Not only do we drink it to stay alive, we use it in the washing of dishes, in bathing, and in watering our plants and gardens. We even use it to feed the animals that rely on us. Since water appears to be all around us, it is …

While gathering groceries the other day at Safeway I stumbled upon a new line of Ziploc Sandwich Bags designed to be a little greener. These bags tout several environmental benefits but cost more than traditional Ziplocs. While I like the idea of recreating and improving one of the most wasteful and environmentally harmful products out …

These days nearly everyone’s got a mobile phone and keeping it charged isn’t half as hard as it used to be. Long life Lithium Ion batteries in combination with cigarette lighter adapters, traditional 120V wall chargers and even solar chargers make taking and placing calls easier, and greener, than ever! Still, nobody wants to be …

Two months have passed since the BP oil leak began. With more than 100,000 barrels of oil now released into the Gulf of Mexico, watching and listening to news about the spill can leave one with a sense of helplessness and despair. You may find yourself wondering “will it ever end” or even “hasn’t this …

CitruSolution Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning of the Silicon Valley offers residential and commercial clients a new standard of “clean” utilizing proprietary citrus-based dry cleaning fluid. The primary cleaning ingredient in CitruSolution is D-Limonene. This bio degradable and safe, yet powerful, organic solvent is extracted from orange, lemon, and grapefruit rinds and breaks down dirt and …

Last week, Erin Reilly wrote a piece on graywater reclamation and conservation that touched on a few new technologies making it easier for homeowners to save water and money. Since then, we’ve learned even more about these systems and the Water Legacy residential graywater reclamation system below. We’ve also spotted a nice video on the …

The alternative energy movement has gotten a lot of attention and followers lately, especially with the growing concern about green house gases and global warming. While the alternative energy movement is important, there is another equally important movement afoot that deserves attention: the recycling of water, or more accurately, greywater reuse. Greywater is the waste …

Today at a Walmart in Northern California I noticed that the price of reusable grocery sacks has dropped to just fifteen cents a piece. Many customers were zoned out and understandably tired (fluorescent lights, huge lines, crying babies), thus not choosing the environmentally friendly option (the checkout guys and gals weren’t exactly promoting it) but …

With the growing trend in Eco friendly products, it is not all that surprising that there is a rise in sustainable fashion, or eco fashion. According to Wikipedia, sustainable fashion is part of a trend in sustainable design, “where a product is created and produced with consideration to the environmental and social impact it may …

Coltan (or columbite-tantalite) is a dull, black mineral ore used in the production of thousands of electronic devices. It’s vital in the manufacture of cell phones, jet engines, rockets, DVD players, video game devices and computers, with millions of units sold annually. The coltan used in these products is mined in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, …

Part 3 of A Green Zoo Series by Erin Reilly: In the last 2 articles, I mentioned how the Denver Zoo is the only zoo in the United States with a Sustainable Management System. It is clear that the Denver Zoo has many ways in which they try to maintain a sustainable business. Another of …

Part 3 of the A Green Zoo Series by Erin Reilly: In part 2 of this series, I mentioned how each department of the Denver Zoo has a green team that is responsible for keeping their department as environmentally conscious as possible. Currently, I am an employee of the Denver Zoo’s Kibongi Market Gift Shop. …

Part 2 of A Green Zoo Series by Erin Reilly: As mentioned in the previous article, the Denver Zoo is the first of its kind in the United States to have a Sustainable Management System. What is a Sustainable Management System? According to Wikipedia, this system “takes the concepts from sustainability and synthesizes them with …

Recently I visited some friends and family living near San Antonio Texas to learn about life on a farm, organic gardening and raising animals. In addition to the hands on education I’ve been getting, I’ve also taken on a few new books offering complementary knowledge. Some of the books are more serious and dry with …

Part 1 of A Green Zoo Series by Erin Reilly: The Denver Zoo is a great place to take your children and spend the day. Every little kid loves looking at exotic animals and learning about nature. The babies are especially popular, and draw large crowds year round. The Denver Zoo is famous for such …

Ever since Napster came onto the scene in 1999 and redefined the way music could be accessed using the internet (until 2001 when it was shut down for violating copyright laws), distribution has slowly turned green. That is, music distribution has become digita. No longer is an end user required to take a car or …

Recently I took a part time job working at REI. While there, I learned about backpacks, clothing, shoes and food bars. Some of that experience has paid off in my hiking and packing ability, but the biggest takeaway for me has actually been the ProBar. I live in Northern California, and out here, there are …

Jonathan Safran Foer appeared on the Colbert Repor this week and shared his findings (that most of us already know, at least subconsciously) that 99% of the meat produced in the US on farms is done in inhumane ways and that we’re polluting our bodies by eating tortured flesh. His new book “Eating Animals” discusses …