Green Daily

Obviously drugs -- even the legal ones -- aren't very good for you, and most will get you arrested (or worse), but rumor has it that some people still take them anyway. So, with that in mind, the least you can do is work towards a more sustainable habit. To see all the substances we've covered in this series, see our Guide to Green Green Drug Use.

Picnics in the park are one of the joys of summertime. And a little al fresco wine is just the thing to make a good day great. But what about the empties?

Of course, you can recycle wine bottles, but if you're anything like my friends (not me, just my friends, I swear) you can go through a lot of pinot grigio in an afternoon, resulting in a correspondingly large number of glass bottles to schlep to the nearest recycling center.

Between the hassle factor (must. resist. urge. to. dump. bottles. in. regular. trash!) and the clumsy drunk factor, you have many opportunities for ungreen actions.

Three Thieves and Bandit Wine to the rescue! It's wine in a box, but this is a whole new level of box-ness.

The innovative Tetra Pak can be crushed down to almost nothing so you can easily stash it in your bag, after you finish drinking the wine inside, of course. In the big picture, that means one truck can carry a load of crushed Bandit boxes equivalent to twenty six -- yes, 2-6 -- truckloads of glass wine bottles. That's reason enough for us, right there.

Some folks deride this as "juice box" wine, but I'm an equal opportunity drinker. It tastes fine, especially with some ice and fizzy water in a cool summer spritzer. Apologies to all of the wine snobs to whom I just caused acute, physical pain. Thinking about the 25 trucks I'm taking off the road also helps makes it go down nice and smooth. Plus you get a whole liter for ten bucks!



Back to those wine snobs, let me make it up to you with the EcoVine Wine Club. EcoVine feature award winning wines from organic and biodynamic vineyards. Starting as low as $39 for a two bottle delivery, you can have the wine shipped to you. You can sign up for regular monthly or bi-monthly shipments, and they are willing to customize packages.

Or you can go with The Organic Wine Company, who highlight the very relevant selling point of fewer headaches with organic wine. They even offer a Vegan Sampler for $45!

If all that shipping is too much carbon footprint, you can always walk down to your local grocery store or wine mart and peruse the many reputable organic wines available, like a Luna Merlot, the Grgich Hills Chardonnay or the Rubicon Estates Rubicon 2004.

Lucky for all of us, it's easy to be green and a wine-lover.