All Posts Tagged With: "Buying Green"

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S49d-U5r3Hw[/youtube]

We’ve long been huge fans of Annie Leonard’s brilliantly succinct “The Story of Stuff.” Now, she’s turning her focus on bottled water, cosmetics, electronics, and cap and trade.

She tells it like it is in The Story of Bottled Water. (Follow this link for the full version.) Get the inside scoop on that old advertising trick, “manufactured demand.” And, did you know that a third of all bottled water actually in the US comes from municipal taps? She also explains the difference between recycling and downcycling. And check this quote from Pepsi’s chairman: “The biggest enemy is tap water.”

Take back the tap! Make a personal commitment to not buy or drink bottled water. Then, take the next step by joining up with an advocacy organization to improve access to clean, safe water for everyone.

“Carrying bottled water is on its way to being as cool as smoking while pregnant.” Go, Annie!

Rebound Designs are purses handmade from the reuse of old hardcover books, most of which predate 1970. The selection I saw at a recent craft show included textbooks, D-I-Y Manuals, Little Women and Shakespeare, offering a variety of colors and designs for that popular vintage look. Have an old book you’d like turned into a bag? Creator, Caitlin Phillips is happy to take requests. Wonder what she does with the pages of each book? Well, most are beyond repair, but are sitting in her attic waiting for anyone else’s creative reuse idea…hint, hint. On occasion she finds someone to rebind them and they’re donated for further reading. She’s also happy to send you the pages with your purchase. I saw a great use for old book pages when I was at the Hamilton Tavern. The women’s bathroom has a famous female writer theme. Half the wall is covered in pages from old Jane Eyre novels. It’s quite beautiful and you’re still able to read the words. I never liked sitting down with a dusty moisture-wrinkled magazine or old newspaper while on the “john” anyway, te, he.

Cunningham Farms specializes in gourmet sweet potato butter made from organic potatoes and apple cider. It goes great with a variety of foods or their gourmet sweet potato pie. Cunningham Farms is a community oriented company that was founded with the socially responsible vision of providing jobs for families of low-income areas. The farm is also is a member of the Appalachian Spring Cooperative . Read more about their vision of social equity on their site.

Living Legacy Development LLC is a 100% Environmentally Friendly Cleaning and post-construction service catering to businesses, residents and schools in the Baltimore area. Owner, Erica McCoullough is a former Baltimore city schoolteacher who developed Living Legacy after receiving unfortunate news about the death of a former student, which was simultaneous with the fortunate birth of her son. It was then that she realized the incredible need to provide alternatives to city youth that thirst for socially responsible job opportunities that would also be sensitive to community/family pressures and support ambitions of higher education. Continued

Baltimore ReStore is part of Chesapeake Habitat for Humanity developed to generate funds for more projects. "Providing quality products at discount prices to preserve our environment and keeping valuable items out of our landfills." You can find building materials, plumbing, flooring, cabinets, doors, windows, tools, furniture, lighting and more. Located in East Baltimore behind Johns Hopkins Bay View at Eastern Ave and Kane Streets . Find a list of other salvage centers in the surrounding area here .

Earth Party tries to inspire people to be aware of our environment and cognizant of local programs that preserve our local ecology and encourage global responsibility for our planet. The Earth Party offers numerous sustainability initiatives and ways of offsetting carbon principally focusing on community based solutions that lead to social, environmental, and economic stability. They choose the groups they work with based on their commitment to these values and our natural ecology, hoping to bring people together who are motivated to preserve the life systems that preserve us. Also, through The Carbon Store they sell products to offset carbon and lessen your carbon footprint.

Aurora Energy, Inc. is a Columbia, Maryland-based solar-energy company specializing in solar thermal and solar electric installations. Its website includes an extensive photo gallery of previous projects, detailing the construction of solar water-heating systems, solar paneling, and solar signage at various residential and commercial sites, both locally and nationally.