you have no excuse not to do this.

Here we are, just about a month away from the first farmer's markets of the year. We're super antsy, crazy busy and -- we're not too proud to admit -- just a wee bit nervous. In order to give ourselves a break from the jitters-inducing act of produce data entry (don't try to tell us it's the caffeine), we're revisiting our favorite little project: Spring Cleaning, Zero Waste! Huzzah!

So far, we've tackled the wire hangers and the jewelry boxes (thanks to our bitchin' friends at Yankee Crafty Bitch for that one). Two of the most annoying, abundant clutter-culprits: conquered. What are we left with now?

Clothing. EVERYWHERE.

We would be lying if we said we weren't currently writing this blog sandwiched between two bags of laundry begging to be washed. We would also be lying if we said there wasn't another basket waiting patiently in the closet. We like fashion, OK? It's totally a problem, and we're totally working on it (kind of). In the meantime, however, what to do with the outmoded/ill-fitting (clean) stuff? You know, the sweater that's been hanging out, unworn, in the bottom drawer of our dresser for the past four years? The little black dress that was SO CUTE in the store but somehow morphed into a too-big-on-top-too-short-too-itchy-when-did-I-become-so-short-waisted tragic disaster when we got it home? Folks, it's time to take back our closets and rid ourselves of bizarre outerwear from the late 90's (see photo)!

As you may already know, there are several avenues through which you can unload whatever lurks in the nether regions of your closet. Here they are, laid out for you, with directions, explanations, pros and cons, and a slew of additional information you probably don't need.

Ready? Go:

Consignment:


Second Time Around
Locations EVERYWHERE -- just check the website

Poor Little Rich Girl*
121 Hampshire St.
Inman Square, Cambridge

and

166 Newbury St.
Boston, MA

*Poor Little Rich Girl consignors get 20% off inventory when they shop the store. Hooray! The Davis Square location has closed, however. Boo.

PROS: Probably the most obvious choice for vintage shiz, high-end shiz, etc. They're all over the place, they cater to different aesthetics, and they're run by folks who know fashion in, out, upside down and backwards, so you can pretty much rest assured knowing that you're getting the right price for your grandmother's Bakelite accessories/obscure Comme des Garçons jacket/premium denim. Additionally, some stores offer discounts to sellers, so if you buy used anyway (which you SHOULD, because it's GREENER -- it takes 700 gallons of water to grow the cotton to produce just one t-shirt and cotton is one of the most water- and pesticide-dependent crops), you can save some dough in exchange for supplying them with new stuff to sell.

CONS: Consignment means you don't get paid unless it sells, and it can be tough getting an appointment to have your stuff assessed. Most stores have pretty strict policies about what they'll take (designer only, current season only, etc.), how much they'll take, when they'll take it, how they'll take it, etc., and violating any of these rules can land you back home, bags full, wallet empty. Also, all consignment stores take a chunk of the sale; sellers generally yield only around 40%, so you're paying for the convenience of not having to figure out a fair price, photograph it, post it on eBay and ship it yourself (shipping is wasteful anyway). Finally, most stores send checks every few months, so you don't see any money for the goods for a while, even if it sells right away.

Resellers:


Buffalo Exchange*
238 Elm St.
Davis Square, Somerville

*Buffalo Exchange sellers get 50% store credit or %30 in cash for their stuff.

PROS: You bring them your shiz, they take what they want and give you a wad of cash/store credit in exchange. No worrying about whether it'll sell, no waiting months for a check, no appointment necessary.

CONS: These places usually sell at a lower rate than consignment stores, meaning you're likely to get less for your threads, so it's not the ideal spot to bring your fancy whatnot. (In the interest of journalistic research, we just let go of a $225 dress with the tags STILL ON for $27.50. Vomit.) But, if you're looking to unload your everyday H&M/Gap/Urban Outfitters garb, it's pretty much ideal.

The S.W.A.P. Team Presents: Take Off Your Clothes SoWa Clothing Swap:


When: Saturday June 5: 5pm-10pm
            Sunday June 6: 11am-4pm

Where: 500 Harrison Ave, South End Boston

PROS: Trade what you don't want for something you actually need (or just want). It's free ($8 donation suggested at the door), it'll be really fun, and whatever doesn't get taken gets donated to AIDS Action, so you're doing some good for the world while you shed your ill-fitting stuff. Also, they'll come pick your stuff up for you (email them at clothingpickups-BOS@theswapteam.org to schedule a time) so you don't have to haul it to SoWa, which means you can ride your BIKE to get there, which is EVEN GREENER.

CONS: If you're a weird size (like me) you're likely going to have limited swap options. But, there should be plenty of accessories and whatnot to choose from, so depending on what you're looking for, it could still be a great success.

Donations:

Boomerangs*
716 Centre St.
Jamaica Plain

and

1870 Centre St.
West Roxbury

*Proceeds from Boomerangs go to benefit AIDS Action. Check the website for drop-off hours.

Salvation Army
328 Mass Ave.
Central Square, Cambridge

and

483 Broadway
Somerville

Goodwill
520 Mass Ave
Central Square, Cambridge

and

965 Commonwealth Ave.
BU, Brighton

and

230 Elm St.
Davis Square, Somerville


PROS: Get rid of stuff consignment boutiques and resellers are unlikely to take, and contribute to the community while you do it.

CONS: ...? None. Unload a bunch of shiz no one else wants and help those in need.

And what about the stuff that's totally beyond saving? The stuff your kid colored on, your dog chewed in half, your lover ripped in a fit of passion (way to go, Casablanca...). Two suggestions:

1. Cut them up and turn them into cleaning rags. Dust, wipe, scrub, etc. Wash. Repeat. Greener than paper towels, cheaper than paper towels, sturdier than paper towels.

2. Drop them off at one of Planet Aid's big yellow boxes around Cambridge (the most convenient one is at 500 Memorial Drive, near MIT). They'll either ship the clothes to developing regions that need them or recycle the textiles into new ones. Either way, your stuff is staying out of landfills, and that's what this is all about.

Whew. OK, folks. We have given you an absurd number of options for ridding yourself of your rags, zero waste. You have NO EXCUSE now. None. We expect neat, organized closets by the end of the month. Send us photos! We'll post them here.

Then will you please help us do all this laundry?

Green Challenge #2: Water, Water Everywhere...

First of all, let’s just talk about what an awesome time we had at the D2E green living festival this weekend. Oh, wow. It was awesome. We met so many green business owners, so many folks trying to live a little more sustainably, so many adorable, cloth diaper-wearing babies.  We also met a bunch of you, dear readers! And we want to thank you for your words of encouragement, your high-fives, and your interest in what we’re trying to do to help this little city live a little greener! You are the earthworms in our compost, the breezes on our wind farm, the responsible politician voting in favor of our green legislation (basically, you’re helping us make it happen). We love you. A lot.

And on that note, we bring you: Green Challenge #2! Hooray!

Let's review what these Green Challenges are all about. Once a month, we’ll present you with a small, simple change you can make in your life to help you decrease your impact on the world around you. We’ll provide you with the tools and information you need to make the change easy, and we’ll even give you a little extra incentive in the form of a prize to recognize your efforts. The more people we get to participate, the more these small changes will add up to make a big difference. Why wouldn’t you want to join us?

This month, we’re focusing on something super basic: water. We all need it, we all love it, we all want to keep it clean for future generations. Funnily enough, one of the primary ways in which us city dwellers access water is helping to pollute the very thing we love so much. That’s right, folks. We’re talking about bottled water. We know a lot of you are already aware of the ickiness associated with purchasing bottled water, but there are still those of us who find our typically obsessively responsible selves out every so often, parched and desperate, caving to the quenching power of Poland Springs or Evian or Pellegrino or whoever. It happens, and that’s OK! But it’d be better if it didn’t happen at all, right? Enter the Green Challenge du jour (ou mois).

This April, as we move into summer and the season of thirst, we challenge you to rid your life of bottled water. Completely. Forever. Why? Here are some freaky facts from our friends (ah, alliteration) over at TreeHugger.com:

        Around 1.5 million barrels (barrels, folks) of oil are used in the production of disposable plastic water bottles every

        year. That’s enough to run 100,000 cars for a whole year. Not to mention all the oil used up in shipping these suckers 

        all over the country.

        An increase in water extraction near bottling facilities has lead to shortages for nearby residents and farmers.

        For every gallon of water bottled, two more are wasted in the purification process.

        90% of plastic bottles used for bottled water ends up in landfills, where it takes thousands of years to decompose.

        Bottled water can cost 10,000 more per gallon than the free-flowing tap kind.

Here’s the worst part about all of this: Even though bottled water companies go to absurd lengths to convince us their water is cleaner than the stuff we get in our own houses (for free), municipal water is actually held to higher standards than the bottled stuff. So basically, when we purchase bottled water, we’re paying to pollute our community and put questionable junk in our bodies. Gross.

But wait, there’s a solution! And it’s super simple. You’ve already got the stuff readily available in your house. Just… drink that. Nervous about what’s in it? There are a few things you can do: First, check out the water quality in your area at the EPA’s website, here. Got clean municipal water but old, questionably safe pipes? Get yourself a home filtration system (help finding the best one for you here). Need to take your water with you? Get yourself some reusable, BPA-free water bottles. (BPA is an organic compound found in plastics that’s been linked to some pretty unfortunate side effects.) Put them everywhere; keep one at work, one in your car (or messenger bag), one at your partner’s house, a small one in your purse (ladies/metrosexual dudes). This all seems pretty obvious, huh? It is. But we know that even the most ecologically diligent of you has found yourself at 7-11, thirsty and hanging your head in shame, at one point or another. Don’t let it happen again!

Need to hook yourself up with a filtration system? How about a slew of BPA-free bottles to stash around your life? Get them at these independently owned businesses, and support your local economy while you save the planet:

Boston:

Water bottles:

Bob’s Wilderness House

1048 Commonwealth Ave, Boston

(617) 277-5858

Hilton’s Tent City

272 Friend St., Boston

(617) 227-9242

Water purifiers:

Charles Street Supply Company

54 Charles St., Suite A, Boston

(617) 367-9046

Cambridge:

Water bottles:

Greenward Shop

1764 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge

(617) 395-1338

Water purifiers:

Inman Square Hardware

1337 Cambridge St., Cambridge

(617)  491-3405

TAGS Hardware

Porter Square Shopping Center

29 White St., Cambridge

(617) 868-7711

Bam! Easy peasy. Now for the incentive: Enter the Green Challenge by either tweeting about it (@gogreenologist), emailing us about it, commenting here, or otherwise letting us know you're on board. We'll randomly select a winner at the end of the month, and that person will receive either free ad space on our site for their local business (or the local business of their choice) for one month, OR a guest-blogging gig RIGHT HERE! Woo hoo!

Ready to go? Questions? Comments? Concerns? Get in touch!

P.S. Did we miss any independently owned shops where you can buy the aforementioned items? Let us know!

            

first Green Challenge! win stuff! hooray!

Ok. So, sometimes we get busy and we can't cook for ourselves. We're blogging, we're writing content, we're working out our credit card processing (most annoying thing ever?), we're Facebook stalking our college crush (what?), we're Twittering... Throw in all the procrastination that has to happen before any of that gets done, and that's our whole day. Poof! Gone. So yeah. Sometimes we need a little assistance with the whole nourishment thing. Most recently, our appetites took us to a local falafel joint, which will remain nameless so as to discourage people to swarm their wee storefront and say mean things to them about their wastefulness. Why would anyone want to do that? Because we're about to write a blog post about how wasteful their takeout packaging was.

OH MY GOSH. This takeout packaging was so wasteful! It's rare that we actually get takeout, since it does tend to mean lots of bags and the possibility of styrofoam, which might be the only inanimate object we have a sincerely toxic relationship with (ha... ha?), so we didn't even think to ask about packaging. LESSON LEARNED. Check out what our falafel, hummus and tabbouleh got us -->

OH MY GOSH. That's so much trash. So much non-recyclable, non-renewable, landfill-filling trash. Part of us is flabbergasted that anyone would think it necessary to wrap a plastic container of hummus in a paper bag and then put that paper bag in a plastic bag. Part of us is upset that people still use styrofoam and that styrofoam is still being produced at all. But mostly, we're mad at ourselves for not thinking ahead on this one and helping to encourage this kind of waste. We really hate being unexpected accessories to the proliferation of environmental consumerism. Grrr.

As we have learned, however, simply being outraged solves nothing. Instead, it's time to learn from our mistakes and be proactive about keeping this from happening again. So. Here it comes... Our very first Green Challenge!

What's a Green Challenge? So glad you asked! A Green Challenge is Greenologist's way of keeping living green fun. Once a month, we'll be suggesting a Green Challenge to our fellow Greenologists; a task that's simple to do but that, done together, can make a big difference in the way we affect our environment and our community. Sometimes there will be prizes involved (oooo!), sometimes there will be discounts involved (ahh!) to help us do what we're doing on the cheap. No matter what, the challenge will be an easy step toward greening our lives while supporting the local economy. Once our "real" website is up, there'll even be a place for all you Greenologists to share your ideas and strategies for taking on the Challenge.

Sound fun? Here we go!

In light of what will heretofore be known as the Falafel Fiasco, this month's Green Challenge is all about a Takeout Takedown. (That's it for alliteration. Promise.) We propose that you and your families/roommates/cats take a look at the way those on-the-go, I-don't-feel-like-cooking meals affect the landfill. And do something about it. Here's how:

1. Accept that there might be plastic involved. Most of the plastics used in takeout containers can't be recycled by municipal plants, so have a plan for how to reuse them. We take those pint containers and save them to use for freezing summer soups and starting tomato plants on our windowsill. The lids usually lock tighter than Tupperware, too. Our friend uses them to organize her small craft supplies (buttons, pins, ribbon, etc).

2. Let them know you don't need all that extra shiz. Plastic cutlery, plastic bags, 27 ketchup packets, 349 napkins... If you use one of those online ordering systems, put a note in the delivery comments area. If you're speaking with a human when you order, tell them instead.

3. Pick it up yourself. Take a little jaunt, get the blood flowing, work off some of the calories you're about to consume, and cut the car out of the equation. Save a few bucks on tipping the delivery dude, too.

4. If there is Styrofoam on the premises, leave and never look back. Styrofoam is NOT recyclable, it NEVER decomposes and it turns to toxic gas as its molecular structure breaks down over time. Ew. If you're feeling ballsy, tell the folks there (nicely, of course) that there are other, less horrible packaging products out there, and that you won't be back until they start using them.

5. Eat out! No packaging involved! Besides, it's way classier than hovering over your laptop with a slice of pizza, typing one-handed and dripping sauce all over your pants. Not that we would know what that's like...

6. Bring your own containers. There are a bazillion sustainable packages out there just begging to be filled with country style pad thai. If they balk at filling up your Thermos, tell them (nicely, again), that you're sorry, but you and your Thermos have a very close relationship, and you can't go anywhere without it. Including their establishment.

There you have it. You do a few of those six simple things, we all get a greener planet.

Need some incentive to hop on the Green Challenge train? We've got you covered. How does a spankin' new To-Go Ware Three-tier Tiffin Action Pack ($43.95) sound? Pretty awesome? Uh, yeah. This thing is the bees knees. It's 3 interlocking reusable containers in a recycled cotton bag with a utensil pouch and two condiment caddies. And it's from an outrageously ethical company. Pretty. Awesome.

Want to win it? Email us (greenologistboston@gmail.com) a photo of you doing any one of those 6 Green Challenge tasks, and we'll throw your name in the hat! The winner will be selected at random on Wednesday, March 31st and announced here on our blog. Remember to include your name and contact info in the body of the email so we know who you are when you win. And if you're a Twitterererer, follow us and let us know you're up for the Green Challenge at @gogreenologist by retweeting any of our Green Challenge tweets, and you'll be entered to win a little something extra. Ooooo, we love surprises!

Questions, comments, concerns? Let us know! Otherwise...

Let the Green Challenge begin!

we love yourenew.com more than eggs.

Don't look at us like that, eggs. What did you expect? Something better was bound to come along eventually, and just because that something turned out to be YouRenew, a totally awesome website that allows us to trade our old, quasi-functional electronics for cash completely hassle-free, doesn't mean there aren't things we still love about you, too. But, come on. They never asked for anything from us, not once. Not our money, not even our credit card number like those other recycling sites do. And they care about the environment, just like us. They even donate to environmental projects with every transaction. We just feel like we have more in common with them. They're a small business, we're a small business. You understand, right? We know, you've nourished us and made our hair shiny for years, but, well... We like money, ok? There, we said it. Let's still be best friends.

please buy this for us.

Our Valentine's Days have a history of being tragic. These 100% post consumer recycled pillows from Alexandra Ferguson's Etsy shop will help soften the blows we've been conditioned to associate with February 14th.

You could just get one for your own significant other, but then you'd feel guilty for leaving us high and dry on a very emotional day, wouldn't you?

Thanking you in advance,

Lauren

whatever happened to the green bean?

Hi, folks.

Some of you might recall having a conversation with a wee lady in Spring of 2009 about a totally awesome business that she was starting. It was home delivery of farmer's market produce! It was affordable! It was sustainable! It was awesome! It was the Green Bean. "Wait a minute," you might be thinking to yourself at this very moment. "Whatever happened to the Green Bean? They kind of just fell off the face of the earth." Sad, but true.

Well, folks, it turns out that the Green Bean's inherent awesomeness made a certain supermarket conglomerate a little nervous. Said conglomerate, being emotionally blocked and a poor communicator, sent the Green Bean a pretty nasty letter that more or less put the kibosh on all the awesomeness. "But green beans and pea pods aren't even the same thing!" we said. "Scary legal stuff! Really scary financial stuff! More scary legal stuff!" they replied. And so the Green Bean was put back on the bench before it even got the chance to play. Lame.

We were so frustrated, we considered quitting the whole game and moving to France, just to get out from under Corporate America's thumb for a while. But our friends and family said, "Are you crazy?! You can't give up! That's what this whole thing is about!" And then we visited some more farms and talked to some more farmers. And then we got back from France and remembered how much we like it here. And then we saw Food, Inc. And then it was on, baby.

So now we're back, and we're doing it for the locals. But not just the local farms. This time, we're doing it for the whole community. We're bringing you locally-farmed meats and produce. We're helping you shop at local businesses more often and more effectively. We're supplying you with the tools and recipes you need to make living and eating locally easy and awesome. We're constantly bringing you new tips and ideas about ways to green your life and save money, all while supporting the community and economy around you.

So. The Green Bean is gone, but Greenologist is here. We're crazy excited, and we hope you are, too. This blog will keep you updated with information about our services, website (currently being built by the wonderful folks at MBATeam and up at the end of this month), and community members who are helping us turn Greenologist into a reality, so be sure to check back with us regularly. In the meantime, follow us on Twitter at @gogreenologist, or on facebook.

Many thanks, and we'll be seeing you.

Lauren