Naturepops!

Trick or treat!

Just in time for your Green Halloween, we've got a sweet option for you to pass out to kids in costume on your porch or at your festival this Friday: Naturepops!

We've got big bags of individually-wrapped lollipops--a safety must-have for Halloween--and they're certified organic.  With only 30 calories per pop and a punch of flavor, they're a great alternative to regular fare.

Plus, they've got NO artificial ingredients (scroll down the page) or synthetic dyes.

That's giving em something good to eat for sure. (Yes, they still have sugar--evaporated cane sugar--but it is a holiday.)

One more thing: if you're concerned about the wrapping, it's made from totally compostable corn starch to boot. Pretty tricky.

Love Food, Hate Waste

In these economic times, everybody's looking to save some green.  And since it's still Sustainable Kitchen month at All Shades, we want to share with you a website that will help you save some dough by making your food last longer.

At UK website Love Food, Hate Waste, you can find all sorts of tips to make your produce, bread and everything else stay fresh.

Some of its daily tips:

*freeze fresh peppers for later use.

*add a sad-looking banana to a curry.

*soak grains before cooking them and save gas while you cook by reducing simmer time.

*line your fridge's crisper with paper to absorb moisture.

You can do your own perusing to find out how to make bread and cakes, dairy and eggs, fruit, veggies, and more all go the extra mile.

And check out other ways to save like making a list and making the most of leftovers.

Radical Recycling and Composting Workshop on Tuesday

For a little pre-Halloween digging in the dirt , 

we hope you'll join us for our next weeknight workshop:

Radical Recycling and Composting

Tuesday, October 28th

7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. 

@ All Shades of Green

It promises to be a zero-waste experience.

Those new to composting can learn the ropes and old-timers can expand their composting education--everyone's welcome.  Our staff Sustainability Coach, Deborah, is a composting whiz---for one, she was once the organic gardener at a monastery.

**All workshops are $25.00 at pre-registration or $30.00 at the door.
Call to reserve your spot today! (323) 665 - 7454. **

**Participants receive a 5% discount on anything in the store and 10% off workshop-related products--WORM BINS included!**

Everything Bambu for Your Kitchen

Bamboo is a fast-growing and, thus, sustainable and natural plant material that can be made into all sorts of things from softer than soft towels to accoutrements for your kitchen.

And bambu is one of the premiere makers of bamboo kitchen essentials.

As holidays approach and things in your kitchen heat up, you may be looking for new versions of old things to accommodate your guests in a non-disposable, reusable sort of way.  

So consider modern, multi-colored bambu bowls to serve in and eat from--they're hand-shaped and finished with a waterproof, food-safe lacquer.

Indeed, bamboo is also used for cutting boards that are made from organically-grown bamboo.  Bamboo cutting boards have several advantages, among them that beyond being sustainable they are super hard, super durable, look beautiful, and are not very porous--keeping water and bacteria out.

For taking care of your new bamboo, we've got bambu's bamboo goo--a veritable spa treatment to keep your bamboo bowls, spoons, serving sporks, and cutting boards in ship shape.

Eco|Consulting LA

We're privileged to tell you about the LEED Consultants at Eco|Consulting LA who are helping to make this fair city a sustainable one as well.

Anna Rosemann started Eco|Consulting LA two years ago as the perfect product of her business and real estate know-how and her passion for shifting that world to green.  

Now, she can consult with you to help you on your path to sustainable living and then pair you up with a member of her team of specialists who will help you pave the way.

So, if it's a lifestyle change big or small you're looking to make, a knowledgeable lifestyle coach or interior designer on staff will help you incorporate that change--be it green cleaning, amped-up recycling, or healthy, sustainable interiors that double as sleek, lovely, livable accoutrements.

If you're ready to green your structure's efficiency you can have a solar specialist or home energy performance expert give you everything you need to create that vision.

And if you're doing renovations or new construction, Eco|Consulting LA can send you an LEED certified or Green Point Rated professional to bring environmental principles into your design and construction from start to finish.

In a nutshell, Rosemann and her team offer:

Residential 

consulting for lifestyle changes big or small. 

Commercial

consulting to green your business from its very framework to its daily flow.

LEED and Green Point Rated

consulting to bring environmental principles to the design, construction and renovation of buildings.

Sometimes when you want to go to the next level of green, calling the eco-experts is the best first step.

Contact Eco|Consulting LA at (310) 684-3106 or Info@EcoConsultingLA.com.

Poketo

When Art and Green combine, good things are born.  Like Poketo's recycled plastic wallets made by real, live artists.

Poketo is a source for all things arty and wearable in downtown L.A. 

We're pleased to carry a handful of wallets in our store now!

Green Your Halloween

Halloween is meant to be ghoulish, ghastly, and loads of fun.  So, how do you have a Green Halloween while still helping kids have a blast?

Here are a few ideas:

*Consider DIY costumes with stuff you already have at home.  Have a pillbox hat from Grandma?  Jackie-O is born. Or a fancy, blue dress? The Good Witch from Wicked.  You get the idea. A baseball uniform, old sheets, or a straw hat are all jumping off points for deliciously creative homemade characters.  

For adults, we really like what MAKE readers came up with a couple of years ago and its now sponsoring another DIY contest with a Green Halloween category!  Eco-crafters, check that out here.

*For face-painting and cosmetics, make sure you're getting non-toxic stuff.  You can check EWG's Skin Deep Database or opt for natural henna like the kits from Los Angeles company, Earth Henna.

*Ditch the plastic bags and get a candy-tote that can be used for years down the road.  We've got Chino company--Chico's--Trick or Treat Bags (designed by a kid we hear) for 7.00 in the store now.

*As soon as the weather's a wee bit cooler, we're going to be carrying some chocolate bugs from Grocer's Daughter, a still holiday-appropriate scary delight, but an organic, local option for the treats you'll be giving out.

*For decorations, opt for real, live pumpkins--gold stars for those grown locally and organically.  Carve em up, put a beeswax tea light inside, and compost em when you're done. 

*Stick close to home.  Skip the car and walk through your neighborhood--it'll save gas and congestion and show off costumes a whole lot better that way.

If you've got other ideas, please share them with us!

May you have a hauntingly green Halloween.

Photo courtesy of greenfeet.

How To Raise Healthy Kids in a Toxic World Workshop

When we have kids, we have a wonderful opportunity to make deliberate changes in our homes to ensure a healthy, toxin-free environment for them as they grow. At this workshop, parents will get all their questions about creating wholesome homes for young ones answered. And, we will explore ways to raise kids with an awareness of and connection to Mother Earth.

Questions the workshop will address:

What kind of diapers should I use?
Which toys, clothes, and linens are healthy and safe?
Which bottles and containers are easy on the earth and good for my child?
What is the environmental impact of my home products and practices?

We hope you'll join us this Sunday, October 19th from 10:00 a.m. to noon at All Shades of Green as we explore what's near and dear to our hearts.

Give us a ring to reserve your space. (323) 665 -7454. (25.00 at pre-registration; 30.00 at the door.)

BioBags

For a truly sustainable kitchen, sometimes you have to dig in the trash.

Biobags are 100% compostable and 100% biodegradable made from renewable resources like cornstarch, heads above traditional plastic varieties that take hundreds of years to break down in the landfill (which makes it difficult for the stuff inside to breathe and break down as well).

We've got Biobags of all kinds in the store now for all your kitcheny bag needs.  There are TALL KITCHEN BAGS for kitchen trash bins and FOOD WASTE BAGS for storing fruits and veggies in the fridge or as a compost container liner.

And for bag-needs outside the kitchen, there are DOG WASTE BAGS that can be composted or thrown away, allowing the contents to biodegrade naturally along with LAWN AND LEAF BAGS that have more give and are more user-friendly than conventional plastic lawn bags.

You can read about what BioBag is trying to do with its sustainable, non-plastic bags and you can come into ASOG to find out more and try some for yourself anytime!

Photos courtesy of BioBag and green is sexy. 

Beyond Shelter Community Garden

We're proud to highlight and help the Beyond Shelter South Central Garden Project this month.  

The organic community garden is indeed growing and thriving, but could always use a little extra nourishment.

Please contact creativegreen(at)hotmail(dot)com if you are able to contribute gardening tools/supplies, seedlings, or a donation to help purchase these items.  Every little bit helps. 

Sunday, October 19th, there's a walk in the park and picnic to help Beyond Shelter.  Find out more about that event here.

Fall Simple Shoes Are In!

We've got loads of new shoes to meet your fall walking and biking and being needs.

Some of our favorite Simple eco-shoes for you?

These women's Toemale boots are made of organic cotton, hemp and water-based glue. Pretty snazzy, too!

And these men's oh so cozy overlay slippers are constructed from crepe (a natural rubber from the hevea tree), wool felt, organic cotton, and, of course, water-based glue.

Here's more info on the natural, biodegradable materials Simple uses, along with its ethical supply chain guidelines.

(Photos courtesy of zappos.)

Introduction to Sustainable Living in L.A.

We're holding our signature workshop, the 101 of green living for Angelenos this Tuesday, October 14th.

We hope you'll join us from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. for an Introduction to Sustainable Living in L.A. workshop.  It'll be a whole lot of sustainable learning from our on staff coach who is a veritable treasure trove of information for living whole, peaceful, environmentally-tuned in lives.

Give us a ring to reserve your space. (323) 665 -7454. (25.00 at pre-registration; 30.00 at the door.)

Dig It: North East Trees

We're excited about North East Trees event this Saturday, October 11th, "Dig It."

From morning to noon, trees will be planted, items will be recycled, and learning about gardening will be done.

That's right, it's a day of environmental action and education.  We can certainly dig that.

Other news you can dig: participants can receive FREE tickets to see Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam and Hank Khoir at the Avalon that night.

Learn more here.

Or here.

Grub: Make Your Kitchen Part of the Food Revolution

As it's Sustainable Kitchen month, and a time when we're all beginning to look ahead to making mouth-watering, community meals, we thought some grub might come in handy.  And not just the kind you eat.

The book, Grub, is a cookbook for the cook with action on his/her mind--action in the form of decadent, organic menus made from sustainably farmed ingredients.  It's a compendium of how to make an efficient, affordable organic kitchen and the recipes that make it happen, not to mention the music to set the mood.  We've got it on our shelf with our other useful (and sometimes tasty) agro references.

To get you in the spirit, here's a list of Eat Grub's favorite food books and films.  We especially like Babette's Feast and Chocolat.  

We'd also like to add the excellent, informative food doc, The Future of Food to the mix as a must-see for eco-foodies everywhere.

Cheers.

Grateful Glass

Some of our Sustainable Kitchen special star products of the month are the lovely, unique coasters and platters made by Grateful Glass.

Locally handmade, they are functional creations fused from reclaimed glass scraps.  In fall and holiday splashes of color, they're perfect for gatherings of all kinds.

October Workshops

We're cooking up some wonderful fall workshops for you.  

Here's a list of what you can expect and we hope to see you there! 

(You can check out our calendar for what's coming up in November.)

Introduction to Sustainable Living in L.A.

Tuesday, October 14

7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. 

@ All Shades of Green

How to Raise Healthy Kids in a Toxic World

Sunday, October 19

10:00 a.m. to noon

@  All Shades of Green 

The Sustainable Kitchen: Cooking for Personal and Planetary Health.

Tuesday, October 21

7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

@ All Shades of Green

Embodying Sustainable Living in L.A.

Sunday, October 26

details TBA

@ Project Butterfly Downtown

Radical Recycling and Composting

Tuesday, October 28

7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

@All Shades of Green

**All workshops are $25.00 at pre-registration or $30.00 at the door.

Call to reserve your spot today! (323) 665 - 7454. **

**Participants receive a 5% discount on anything in the store and 10% off workshop-related products!**

Project Laundry List

This isn't exactly a sustainable kitchen topic, but imagine a pleasant line of laundry outside your kitchen window (or outside your front door or in your shower) that lets the sun do the drying job marvelously, sans any energy-using machines.

Project Laundry List has started a movement to get clotheslines back in our lives.  After all, by drying more of your laundry the natural way, you'll save money, save gas or electricity, get the bleaching, disinfecting effects of sunshine, go without chemicals, and help your wardrobe last more seasons all while having a lovely time and getting freshly sun-baked clothes, sheets and towels.  

And with 186 not a cloud in our sunny sky days in L.A., there are plenty of hours to let our laundry soak up those rays.

If you decide to laundry line it, we've got a couple of clothesline options to help (9.99 to 18.50), along with all the old-fashioned clothespins you'll need to get drying.

Smarter, More Sustainable Sinks

We talk a lot about water conservation in Silver Lake and Los Angeles at large.  And we're always encouraged by the front and backyards around us that boast native, drought-tolerant plants and the people who do water-saving practices like watering plants after sundown as most H2O use occurs outside the home, taking care of lawns and the like.  Find out more about outdoor conservation here.

For inside water use, we've just gotten in a very smart product indeed, made in Los Angeles, go figure.  The smart faucet eliminates the water dribbling from our faucets when we don't need it.  And, it makes that happen much more easily than if we had to reach up and turn off the knob every time we lather our hands or stop to scrub a pan.  Plus, it's got an aerator in there so when it is running, it's not gushing.

See that black lever in the photo?  After you turn the faucet on, if you're not putting pressure on that lever, the water stops.

Since 80% of the water we "use" isn't really used, but flows right down the drain, the smart faucet creates a no-water-wasted situation.  In fact, it can save up to 15,000 gallons a year per unit installed.

We hope you'll come into the store and find out more about how to save this precious resource in your home or apartment.

October: Sustainable Kitchen Month (and have a happy, green Halloween!)

Fall is here, which around these parts does mean pumpkins and squash, but also means puffy clouds, sunshine, and Santa Ana winds.  It also might mean thinking ahead to holidays shared with friends and family and evening of firing up the oven for a warm, nourishing meal at dusk as part of your routine.

At ASOG, we're taking October to focus on creating a Sustainable Kitchen, a topic our very own Sustainability  Coach, Deborah, recently talked to Good Food about.

So, we'll be bringing you products and practices that cultivate sustainability in that most cherished room of the house so that you can be green from farmers' market to storage to table to washing up.

To the fall!

Teaching Green to Middle Schoolers

We've got a book on our shelves that teachers or parents of sixth to eighth graders might find handy.

Teaching Green: The Middle Years contains over 50  lessons and teaching strategies concerning resources, sustainability, green technology, and global connections for junior high-aged kids who are just the right age to get involved and get active about these sorts of things.

Seeing a young person take on a project for him or herself is super satisfying and good for every body, all around. This book can help make that happen.

And if you want to get involved in a sustainable school project, consider signing up with Dave Eggers' Once Upon a School Project (his TED-granted wish last year).  Its goal is to collect 1,000 positive stories from different schools across the country where adults are getting involved in and making a difference in public schools.  Even if you don't participate in it per say, there are still loads of inspiring ideas for you or young people you know to read and ponder.  

Just think of the possibilities--stormwater campaigns, tree plantings, community gardens, recycling, peer tutoring, clean ups, organic, local food choices-- the possibilities are endless.