Ride Your Bike to Work: Save the Planet and Your Health | Green Keen Magazine

Excerpt from: 
How to Ride Your Bike to Work
by Shane Johnson of Green Options

"If I told you that I was going to give you a magic device that would save you money, save the planet, and, oh yeah, firm up that flab you have been carrying around with you for the last couple of years (all for three easy payments of $19.95!), what would you say? Most people would be pretty stoked, but when I tell people that this magic device is a bicycle, the thrill dies down a little.

I have been in love with bike riding for years now, from the flat open roads of Ohio, to the bustling SUV traffic of Austin, the winding roads of Cape Cod, and now the horn-honking traffic of Boston. When I tell people that I ride my bike to work they say "that’s great" as they look at me like I might be a couple cards short of a deck...

But It’s Too Far to Ride
At each point in my life, the concept of "too far" has changed. When I first started riding, too far was 5 miles: the idea of riding my bike that long was just too hard to comprehend....The bicycle is one of the most efficient ways of using human power for travel. Using the gear and chain system of a bike, you can transfer relatively little effort into a lot of motion....The more you ride, the better you feel, so the more you want to ride..." Want to read more?

Green Options states on their About Page:
"Whether you want to go green to fight climate change, save some dollars at the pump, or give your kids (and yourself) a healthier home, Green Options has it all..."

Green Options has eco friendly products, technologies and forums in which to share and learn. Check them out...

Thanks to FreeFoto for the photos.

Stonyfield Organic Farm: The Going Greener Guidebook | Green Keen Magazine

This is one of my all-time favorite brands of yogurt. It is rich, creamy and delicious. Stonyfield currently has a contest on their website to win an all-expense paid trip to their organic farm in Vermont. Stay in a B&B and enjoy learning more about organic farming, all during New England's glorious Autumn...Sounds great to me! Check out wwww.stonyfield.com

Raw Food Tips For Busy Families From Celebrated Raw Food Chef | Green Keen Magazine

Raw Food Tips For Busy Families | Green Keen Magazine

This interview is an excerpt from Kevin Gianni's Renegade Roundtable, which can be found at http://www.RenegadeRoundtable.com. In this excerpt, Joel Odhner shares raw food tips for busy families.

Renegade Water Secrets with Joel Odhner, restaurant owner, chef, and raw food chef with clients from Delaware to New York.

Kevin: So let's get onto today's guest, Joel Odhner, is a raw food prep chef who has quite an interesting story which I'll let you, I'll actually let Joel explain his story. I'm not going to go into it. I think it's great that he's got the story that he does have and he's made a massive transition and he provides raw and vegan meals to a bunch of private clients along the east coast. And when I asked Joel what his range was, I was actually kind of shocked because he drives all from...?

Joel: Delaware to New York.

Kevin: Delaware to New York. He's got a huge range of clients and a lot of them are just really great people and what's even better is he's just now been recently been in Dr. Oz's most recent DVD preparing food which is really cool. So without further ado, I want to welcome Joel Odhner to the call.

Joel: Well, thank you, Kevin, I appreciate it. Hello, folks, and I guess as Kevin said, I'll give you a little quick history of where I came from, probably about eight or nine years ago, I was running a restaurant, a good old standard American diet restaurant. And I also decided that I would be doing more partying than working.

So what I did was I quit doing that because I realize that that was other than the best type of lifestyle. And right after I quit that I got introduced to raw foods. I actually went through a Victoria Boutenko talk and she ever talk about raw foods and it kind of really made a lot of sense to me and I said I'm going to do this. She, her last statement in her talk was to try it for two weeks.

So, as they say, I'm still trying it, eight going on nine years now. Trying raw foods in different ways and after I was just planning out to do it myself, I started a business called Raw Lifeline and we ship raw meals all over the country including Hawaii, too. We have a couple clients in Hawaii that would get food. And then I decided I really wanted it to be more personal and go more creative, so about a year or so ago, I moved into the private chef area and so now I have private clients from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. And what I do is I go to their homes and make them delicious raw vegan and vegetarian meals and lasts about, depending on how much they eat, you know, three to five days with the food and I really enjoying it. So that's a little bit of background and I'm up for some questions.

Kevin: We've got a ton of them and there was a theme, my friend, that I think kind of echoes through every single one. And we're going to start right with the big elephant in the room here. It's how do I fit my busy schedule and how do I prepare raw foods with what I'm doing. That's seems to be the bar-none question that we got the most of. So I think this will answer a lot of peoples' questions. Right here, what are some tips, tricks and techniques that you use to really break through the time barrier?

Joel: Okay, well, one of the things that I want to say is that some of that is kind of a mental thing. People have it that it's going to take long and there's a lot of steps and what I've learned over the last seven or eight years is that there are some shortcuts of which I will talk to you about. But I remember one of the questions was just even about washing, when you're getting your produce, whether it's organic is ideal and if not, about washing it and a couple times people ask me about that. The quickest way is literally to just fill up your sink with water, put in a capsule of hydrogen peroxide. Soak your veggies in there for maybe three to five minutes. Wash them around, get all the dirt off and everything and then pull them out and let them dry off. And that shouldn't take more than a few minutes. And my feeling and my experience is that you're not going to get it much cleaner than that. If you really want to take it and scrub it and go for it that's a choice you can make. I just don't think that you're going to get much more off, either. If you're not using organic and you are only able to get non-organic, you're only going to get the outside pesticides off anyway. Anything that it is in the produce, it isn't going to come off no matter how hard you scrub it.

Kevin: Right.

Joel: So there's that. And then, the other thing, another trick is, what I've learned is there's a handful of items that you can make that will last three and four days. And when I say that, clearly, in raw foods optimally you want to make it and eat it. That's the optimal solution, but we have lives. A lot of people are busy. They either have kids, they have jobs and all these different kinds of things and they don't have two hours, three hours a day to be making an individual meal. And I'll be honest with you. Even me, personally, I hate making food for one person. I mean it takes just as much time to make it for one as it does for eight if you really think about it.

Kevin: Right.

Joel: So some of the tricks are to make things in larger batches. And making food easy, so you can make like a burger base, which is kind of like a carrot and nut base which will last an easy three to five days. You could make a kale salad. That's like one of my number one favorites, kale with basically, just lemon-lime and olive oil, salt and pepper. And you massage that in and if you've got two or three heads, chop it up, put it in your fridge. It will last literally three to five days. In fact, it's actually better the second and third day. So if you make a large batch of that, grab a handful, you're all set rather than having to slice and dice every single day.

Kevin: When you talk about the washing the vegetables, are you talking about when you buy them. Just bring them home and wash them and then dry them and store them?

Joel: Yeah, okay. Yeah, unless you're going to make them right there and then, yeah, just bring them on back, just everything you have right out of the bag, wash them up and then store them in your fridge. And that is one less. It's easier to do en mass than individually every time you're going to make it.

Kevin: Got you. And you mention the burger base. I think a lot of people would be interested in what are the kind of things you put into a burger base and do you sprout, if you're putting lentils or any sort of grain in?

Joel: Sure. No, I don't use grains. The basic one I was thinking of is I take raw almonds put them in the food processor, chop them up as fine a consistency as you want, relatively fine. A couple carrots, do the same thing, grind them on up and then that's what I consider sort of the base and then I will dice some peppers, celery, onion and then mix that in. And if you want to put in, like, maybe, some fresh parsley or something like that, that's great. And that's what I consider sort of a base. It's pretty plain and the advantage to that is you can take that base, that you made the large batch of it and then tomorrow you take a handful and make a burger out of it and maybe you want to sprinkle a little bit of chili powder on it so you have like a chili flavor on it or the next day you could sprinkle a little Italian seasonings and fresh herbs and stuff a pepper with it or you could roll it up in a collard green or romaine leaf. If you're not totally raw, you could roll it up in a in a tortilla, like a sprouted tortilla wrap. So there's lots of different options or just take a handful and throw it on your kale salad or any other type of salad you're having. So the nice part about it is you can literally change the flavors each day with that base. You've only had to make it once. Another great thing is to stuff a Portobello cap. You can put that with a little slice of tomato, a little slice of onion on it and you have a great, great burger. Ideally, if you do that do it in the morning, by the time it's lunchtime, the moisture from your burger has sort of soaked into your portabello cap and it's sort of like an open-faced bun.
Kevin: Oh, wow. Now you are making me hungry.




Author: Kevin Gianni



Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/raw-food-tips-for-busy-families-from-celebrated-raw-food-chef-530472.html

About the Author: To read the rest of this transcript as well as access The Renegade Roundtable experts just like Joel Odhner please click here! Kevin Gianni is an internationally recognized health advocate, author & film consultant. He has helped thousands of people take control of their own health naturally. For more information visit raw food diets and holistic nutrition.

Going Green for Spring Around the House and Yard | Green Keen Magazine

Going Green for Spring Around the House and Yard |     Green Keen Magazine

Spring has sprung in most areas of the country and the ritual of “Spring Cleaning” has begun. Planting flowers, planting plants and prepping our lawns for summer, airing out our houses from the winter, cleaning windows, replacing winter window covers with summer screens are all a part of the spring preparation process. Depending on where you live your ritual may vary but one thing we can all do this spring is go greener. It’s easier than you think.

WEED CONTROL
It happens every spring, weeds begin to grow, EVERYWHERE; in your grass, in your rocks and up through cracks in the sidewalk and driveway. The simplest way to get rid of these pesky plants is to spray them with an herbicide and you’re done. Unfortunately the chemicals in the weed killers are often washed away into our drainage systems and end up in our water supply. Here are three easy ways to go green and control your weed problem

1. Pull by hand. Use a long handle, flat screw driver to dig them out by the root. Not the easiest way but an effective and safe way to get rid of weeds.

2. Pour boiling water on the weeds in the rocks and driveway cracks.

3. Try this interesting weed killer – mix one ounce of white vinegar with one ounce of cheap gin and eight ounces of water, then pour or spray on the weeds.

GREEN UP YOUR LAWN
You can also help control weeds on your lawn by developing strong, healthy root systems. There are a few simple ways to do this that are safe and effective.

1. Mow high – high grass will help shade the weeds and keep them from growing, develop deeper root systems and prevent run off and evaporation of water. If you have a really BIG weed problem mow twice as often for a while. The growing point for weeds in near their tops so continually cutting off the tops will stunt their growth and eventually kill them.

2. Leave the clippings on your lawn. This will add nutrients back into the soil, help maintain moisture and can help strengthen your lawn.

3. Use an organic, slow release fertilizer. Check your local nursery for fertilizer brands that match the needs of your type of soil. You can also log on to Planet Neutral to find information on the Ringer brand of organic fertilizer or Rich Soil for additional ideas on organic lawn care.

4. Get a spring tune up on our mower, especially on the blades. The sharper the blades the easier it is on the grass. A tune up will also help your mower run more efficiently and cut down on emissions in the air. An even better way to go green is to trade in your gas mower for an electric mower. Many states and cities offer exchange programs with discounts for trading in your gas mower for an electric mower. You can check out the options in your area with a simple Google or Yahoo search for “lawn mower exchange program.”

SUMMERIZE YOUR WINDOWS
Nearly half of the heat gain in your home during the summer comes in from your windows, especially those facing east, west and south. The easiest way to cut down on the heat that enters your home is to shade your windows both inside and out.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development studies show the most effective way to keep you home cooler in the summer and cut down on energy bills is to block the sun’s heat before it enters the home. Researchers recommend removable shade screens with a low SHADING COEFFICIENT to cover your exterior windows.

Home Depot, Lowes or your local hardware store have do-it-yourself kits that allow you to create screens that fit your windows with a variety of colors and SHADING COEFFICIENTS.

ADD TREES ADD SHADE
Another more earth-friendly way to shade your windows is with trees, so if you are building a new home or remodeling, look for shade trees that shed their leaves in the winter. This will allow heat to enter in the winter and help heat your home.

Reduce the amount of heat entering your home by using interior window films on the east and west facing windows. You should avoid placing these types of products on the south side because most are permanent and will block heat in the winter. There are a wide variety of products available, although many require professional installation. You can log on to Energy Film for Do-It-Yourself projects that do not require adhesives and can be easily removed.

When it comes to cleaning your home and windows there are several “green” glass cleaner, floor cleaner, and all-purpose cleaner options. Unlike many of the products on the market today, brands like Shaklee and Holy Cow sell products that are not only safer for the environment but safer for your family.

The spring season brings green colors to many parts of the country and you can participate in this green evolution by taking some of the simple steps mentioned above. So please do your part, join with nature, and go green this spring.

Author: Gary Hillery


Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/going-green-for-spring-400532.html

About the AuthorGary Hillery owns The Green Path Company and is dedicated to helping build a greener path to the future by helping people learn that it’s easy being green. You can learn more about the efforts of the Green Path Company by visiting their web site @ www.thegreenpathcompany.com or their blog @ http://thegreenpathcompany.com/blog

Photograph from freefoto.com

Make Your Floor Green | Green Keen Magazine

Make Your Floor Green | Green Keen Magazine

Green flooring technically refers to flooring made with natural renewable materials like bamboo, cork, rubber, linoleum, hardwood and the like.

Can any one deny the need to protect natural resources? Environment is the most precious natural resource. So it’s high time we wake up from our long slumber and take a step forward to ensure a better environment for generations to come. Moved by this green push, green flooring is gaining huge popularity with trendy homemakers.

Bamboo Flooring Eco Friendly Choice
Bamboo is one of the eco-friendly options that are extremely high on the sustainability quotient. Bamboo floorings look great with the appearance of hardwood. It is therefore an excellent pick for homeowners looking to take the greener route.

Cork Flooring Renewable Resource
Another interesting choice for green floorings can be cork. It is a renewable resource material extracted out of the bark of the oak tree. Since only the bark is required, it prevents cutting down the entire tree. Cork floors absorb noise and are very comfortable to walk on. Cork floors are resistant to fungus and bacteria and are even good for people suffering from asthma.

Linoleum Can Be Green And Biodegradable
Linoleum is a durable as well as bio-degradable item which makes a good pick for green floors. It is produced out of recycled natural contents such as linseed oil, cork dust, wood flour, tree resins and ground limestone. Linoleum floors are easy to clean and offer good foot support.

Hardwood Recycled Or Refurbished
Hardwoods are very durable. It is generally obtained from old buildings and thus averts ruthless cutting down of trees and greeneries. Thus hardwood flooring is the right choice for those looking for a pepped up retro look.

Reasons To Go Green With Green Floorings
Green floorings are manufactured out of natural resources. The intrinsic materials are mostly renewable. Green floorings have varied price range so homemakers can make a choice depending on their financial resources. Green floorings are not that hard to maintain. Going green minimizes felling of trees to a large extent. Green floorings are trendy and fashionable and lend a snug natural feel to your home décor.

Opting for green floorings will be your step forward in the pursuit of eco-friendly and sustainable living. So now you can get stunningly textured and great looking floors without cutting down a single tree. Transform your sweet abode into a cozy nest of mirth and tranquility by going green with the flooring.

Author: Kathleen Chester


Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/furniture-articles/make-your-floor-green-956587.html


About the Author Green Wood Flooring - Contempo is a shared gem for those who seek uniquely distinct flooring in Los Angeles. Our mission is to provide flooring products that inspire, amaze, and satisfy your desire for self-expression.

Want Something for Free?? | Green Keen Magazine

Want Something For Free? Green Keen Magazine

A wonderful website Ecofreek.com combines the power of 45+ free and swap websites and functions as a search engine for recycled things for you to get or share for FREE!

Want a new dog? A new couch? Have a table you want to give away? Or extra wood or bamboo from your yard? What a great way to be green! It is easy to sign up and start searching. Ecofreek has a user-friendly set-up where you can see pictures of items you are looking for and where you can choose want area you want to search in.

Recycle your reusable items through Ecofreek.com . Check them out and "give FREE a chance"...