Green Daily http://www.greendaily.com Green Daily http://www.greendaily.com/media/feed_logo.gif Green Daily http://www.greendaily.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Reusable mug refused by Starbuckshttp://www.greendaily.com/2008/05/22/reusable-mug-refused-by-starbucks/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/05/22/reusable-mug-refused-by-starbucks/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/05/22/reusable-mug-refused-by-starbucks/#commentsFiled under:

a picture of the rest stop sign where the reusable cup was refused
Last weekend, my boyfriend and I headed out to Lancaster County, to attend the wedding of some friends. It's about an hour and a half drive from Philadelphia, and when we were about halfway there, we stopped to use the bathroom and so that I could get a cup of much-needed coffee (in our hurry to leave that morning, I had neglected to make myself any).

One of the green choices I make on a daily basis is to always tuck a reusable coffee mug into my bag, so that I can indulge my caffeine habit without consuming throwaway cups. So when I walked up to the Starbucks counter at this particular service plaza, I had my reusable mug ready to hand over as I placed my order of a tall coffee.

The woman working the counter held her hands up as I tried to present my mug and said, "We aren't allowed to accept reusable cups. It's against health code." I was flabbergasted, as I had never in my life had my reusable cup refused (and I've been using them since 1993). Before I could turn away and cancel my order, they had a regular paper cup sitting on the counter. I didn't want it to go to waste (and sadly, I really wanted that coffee) so I paid for it and took it, feeling both a little dirty and outraged at the same time.

For those of you out there who are travel mug devotees, have you ever had your cup refused? Are there many other areas of the country that believe them to be a health code violation?

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]]>coffeehealth codeHealthCoderejected mugRejectedMugreusable mugReusableMugstarbuckstravel mugTravelMugMarisa McClellanThu, 22 May 2008 08:14:00 ESTTip of the Day: Save old newspaper for use in the kitchenhttp://www.greendaily.com/2008/05/22/tip-of-the-day-save-old-newspaper-for-use-in-the-kitchen/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/05/22/tip-of-the-day-save-old-newspaper-for-use-in-the-kitchen/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/05/22/tip-of-the-day-save-old-newspaper-for-use-in-the-kitchen/#commentsFiled under: ,

Trying to give up your paper towel habit? Used newspapers can take the place of paper towels in many situations.

Continue reading Tip of the Day: Save old newspaper for use in the kitchen

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]]>paper towelsPaperTowelsreusing newspapersReusingNewspapersTip of the DayTipOfTheDayMarisa McClellanThu, 22 May 2008 06:00:00 ESTTip of the Day: Nearly anything can become a to-go containerhttp://www.greendaily.com/2008/05/15/tip-of-the-day-nearly-anything-can-become-a-to-go-container/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/05/15/tip-of-the-day-nearly-anything-can-become-a-to-go-container/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/05/15/tip-of-the-day-nearly-anything-can-become-a-to-go-container/#commentsFiled under: ,

Just because you can't find your travel mug, doesn't mean that you can't bring your coffee with you.

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]]>morning coffeeMorningCoffeepacking lunchPackingLunchreusing containersReusingContainerstravel mugTravelMugMarisa McClellanThu, 15 May 2008 06:00:00 ESTA BioBag found in the wildhttp://www.greendaily.com/2008/05/09/a-biobag-found-in-the-wild/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/05/09/a-biobag-found-in-the-wild/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/05/09/a-biobag-found-in-the-wild/#commentsFiled under: ,

biobag made from cornLast Sunday was the opening day of my favorite Farmers' Market in Philadelphia, the Headhouse Farmers' Market. Operated by the Food Trust, which works ensure that all people have access to fresh, healthy and affordable food, this market is largest one that Philly has. It started last summer and quickly became a fixture in my weekly food shopping. It closed down in December and ever since, I've been counting down the weeks until it reopened.

One of the reasons I like shopping at Farmers' Markets (in addition to the fact the food is always fresher, lasts longer and just tastes amazing) is that by shopping directly from the growers, I avoid consuming much in the way of packaging. The man who sells the eggs is always delighted when I bring back my carton from the previous week, and the folks who sell apricots, peaches, nectarines and apples are happy to reuse their green fruit boxes. I bring a couple of reusable bags and so when I get home with all my food, I hardly have a thing to throw away.

Last week, I bought a pound of locally produced turkey sausage that was frozen. I was about to refuse the plastic bag that the woman was offering, when I realized that it was going to defrost a bit while I walked around that a bag to insulate the condensation would be a good idea. However, when I got home and was unpacked, I realized that she hadn't given me just any bag. It was a BioBag! Made from corn, it is biodegradable and compostable. It was the first time I had run across one of these bags and I was thrilled to discover how sturdy it seemed. Here's hoping that we all see more of these going forward.

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]]>bag made of cornBagMadeOfCornBioBagbiodegradablecompostableMarisa McClellanFri, 09 May 2008 16:57:00 ESTTip of the Day: Take cloth napkins to workhttp://www.greendaily.com/2008/05/08/tip-of-the-day-take-cloth-napkins-to-work/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/05/08/tip-of-the-day-take-cloth-napkins-to-work/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/05/08/tip-of-the-day-take-cloth-napkins-to-work/#commentsFiled under: ,

Going through lots of paper napkins eating lunch at your desk?

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]]>cloth napkinsClothNapkinsgreen workspaceGreenWorkspacelunchmealtimeMarisa McClellanThu, 08 May 2008 06:00:00 ESTTip of the Day: Bring your own jars to the storehttp://www.greendaily.com/2008/05/01/tip-of-the-day-bring-your-own-jars-to-the-store/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/05/01/tip-of-the-day-bring-your-own-jars-to-the-store/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/05/01/tip-of-the-day-bring-your-own-jars-to-the-store/#commentsFiled under: ,

Looking to cut down on your container consumption? Bring your own!

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]]>bring your ownBringYourOwnjarsplastic tubsPlasticTubsreusable containersReusableContainersTip of the dayTipOfTheDayMarisa McClellanThu, 01 May 2008 06:00:00 ESTStarbucks defeats the intention of my reusable cuphttp://www.greendaily.com/2008/04/30/starbucks-defeats-the-intention-of-my-reusable-cup/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/04/30/starbucks-defeats-the-intention-of-my-reusable-cup/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/04/30/starbucks-defeats-the-intention-of-my-reusable-cup/#commentsFiled under:

Starbucks coffee mugYesterday afternoon, I decided to treat myself to a fancy Starbucks beverage. I had a long afternoon of work ahead of me and needed a little something extra to motivate myself to get through to the end of the workday. I grabbed a reusable coffee cup (back in February, I made a commitment to myself to only buy coffee if I had a reusable mug) and headed over to the closest Starbucks.

Normally when I get coffee, I'm doing just that, only getting coffee. The exchange requires that I pass over my mug, watch as they fill it will coffee and then hand it back to me in trade for $1.66. However, the fancy coffee drinks have more steps and more instructions and the practice at Starbucks is that they write your order on your cup. Yesterday I placed my order and watched in horror as they took my mug and plopped it into a disposable cup, so that they could write down order (2% latte with an extra shot). When they were done making my drink, they pulled the disposable cup off my mug, tossed it into the trash.

Continue reading Starbucks defeats the intention of my reusable cup

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]]>featuredrejection of travel mugRejectionOfTravelMugreusable coffee mugReusableCoffeeMugStarbuckswasteful practiceWastefulPracticeMarisa McClellanWed, 30 Apr 2008 14:01:00 ESTTip of the Day: Pack your lunch to reduce wastehttp://www.greendaily.com/2008/03/20/tip-of-the-day-pack-your-lunch-to-reduce-waste/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/03/20/tip-of-the-day-pack-your-lunch-to-reduce-waste/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/03/20/tip-of-the-day-pack-your-lunch-to-reduce-waste/#commentsFiled under: ,

Bring your lunch to reduce on plastic consumption.

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]]>lunchmore sustainable lunchMoreSustainableLunchpack your ownsaladsave plasticSavePlasticworkMarisa McClellanThu, 20 Mar 2008 06:00:00 ESTTip of the Day: Buying used furniture saves more than moneyhttp://www.greendaily.com/2008/02/28/tip-of-the-day-buying-used-furniture-saves-more-than-money/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/02/28/tip-of-the-day-buying-used-furniture-saves-more-than-money/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/02/28/tip-of-the-day-buying-used-furniture-saves-more-than-money/#commentsFiled under:

Need a new media center? Scour used furniture stores instead of heading to Ikea!

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]]>buying usedfurniturenewtip of the dayTipOfTheDayMarisa McClellanThu, 28 Feb 2008 06:00:00 ESTTurn off for Earth Hour 2008http://www.greendaily.com/2008/02/21/turn-off-for-earth-hour-2008/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/02/21/turn-off-for-earth-hour-2008/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/02/21/turn-off-for-earth-hour-2008/#commentsFiled under: ,

earth hour imageOn March 31st, 2007, people all across the city of Sydney, Australia turned off their lights, unplugged their appliances and did their best to lessen their draw of electricity for a single hour. This movement was called Earth Hour. People lit candles, had cookouts with their friends and managed to reduced Sydney's energy consumption by 10.2% for one hour. That is the equivalent of taking 48,000 cars off the road for one hour.

This year they are turning Earth Hour into a global movement, asking cities all across the world to sign on to participate. Currently there are 17 cities signed up and more are still welcome. If your community isn't currently participating, they have tools and documents to help make your city an Earth Hour participant.

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]]>australiaclimate changeearth hourEarthHourelectricitysydneyunplugMarisa McClellanThu, 21 Feb 2008 10:01:00 ESTTip of the Day: Extending the life of your nuts and grainshttp://www.greendaily.com/2008/02/21/tip-of-the-day-extending-the-life-of-your-nuts-and-grains/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/02/21/tip-of-the-day-extending-the-life-of-your-nuts-and-grains/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/02/21/tip-of-the-day-extending-the-life-of-your-nuts-and-grains/#commentsFiled under: ,

Change the way you store your nuts and grains so that they last longer.

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]]>food storagegrainshealthy eatingjarsnutstip of the dayTipOfTheDayMarisa McClellanThu, 21 Feb 2008 06:00:00 ESTTip of the Day: Join a buying clubhttp://www.greendaily.com/2008/02/07/tip-of-the-day-join-a-buying-club/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/02/07/tip-of-the-day-join-a-buying-club/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/02/07/tip-of-the-day-join-a-buying-club/#commentsFiled under: ,

Want to find local, sustainable, organic meats and dairy products at good prices? Join a buying club!

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]]>buying clubsBuyingClubsdairy productsheritagelocalmeatsorganicMarisa McClellanThu, 07 Feb 2008 06:00:00 ESTHow green is a ticker tape parade?http://www.greendaily.com/2008/02/05/how-green-is-a-ticker-tape-parade/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/02/05/how-green-is-a-ticker-tape-parade/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/02/05/how-green-is-a-ticker-tape-parade/#commentsFiled under:

New York Ticker-Tape ParadeUnless you've been living under a rock for the last few days, you know that the New York Giants won the Super Bowl on Sunday. In order to fully celebrate their unanticipated win against the New England Patriots, the City of New York is throwing a parade in the team's honor today (it started about half an hour ago)! As is the tradition, the parade will be a ticker-tape one (actually it will be mostly shredded newspaper, ticker-tape is hard to come by these days). The city is anticipating that approximately 5 tons of confetti will flutter down over the course of the parade today.

Elizabeth Berger, President of the Alliance for Downtown New York (a group that is distributing 1,000 pounds of shredded paper to buildings along the parade route) says that if those confetti strips were laid end-to-end, they would cover the distance between New York and the Patriot's home stadium.

I understand the need to celebrate the Giant's win, but it seems deeply un-green to spread that much paper around the city. The article in the New York Times doesn't say anything about how the paper will be cleaned up or processed once the parade is over.

[via The Morning News]

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]]>celebrationclean upNew YorkNew York GiantsNewYorkpaperparaderecyclingSuper Bowl XLIITicker TapeMarisa McClellanTue, 05 Feb 2008 11:30:00 ESTTip of the Day: Bring a reusable water bottle when you travelhttp://www.greendaily.com/2008/01/31/tip-of-the-day-bring-a-reusable-water-bottle-when-you-travel/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/01/31/tip-of-the-day-bring-a-reusable-water-bottle-when-you-travel/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/01/31/tip-of-the-day-bring-a-reusable-water-bottle-when-you-travel/#commentsFiled under:

Bring along a metal or reusable plastic water bottle when you travel to cut down on bottled water purchases.

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]]>away from homereusable water bottleTip of the DayTipOfTheDaytravel mugtravelingMarisa McClellanThu, 31 Jan 2008 06:00:00 ESTTip of the Day: Reusing plastic bagshttp://www.greendaily.com/2008/01/24/tip-of-the-day-reusing-plastic-bags/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/01/24/tip-of-the-day-reusing-plastic-bags/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/01/24/tip-of-the-day-reusing-plastic-bags/#commentsFiled under:

Any bag can be a reusable bag!

Continue reading Tip of the Day: Reusing plastic bags

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]]>consumptionplastic bagsPlasticBagsreducereusableTrader Joe'sWhole FoodsMarisa McClellanThu, 24 Jan 2008 06:00:00 ESTHouse of Representatives is going greenhttp://www.greendaily.com/2008/01/16/house-of-representatives-is-going-green/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/01/16/house-of-representatives-is-going-green/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/01/16/house-of-representatives-is-going-green/#commentsFiled under: ,

a cup of coffee being dispensed into a compostable cupIt is not often that one thinks about accessibility to organic, locally grown and healthy foods in conjunction with the United States Congress. But thanks to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Congress is striving to become more environmentally responsible (well, at least the House side of Congress is working on this goal) and changing the foods available in the cafeterias has been a large portion of this goal.

According to an article in today's New York Times Dining and Wine section, the transition to organic and sustainable has not been an easy one in Congress. Lobbyists complain if their products are not available in the cafeteria or if the Restaurant Associates, the company that operates the eateries, makes statements about the environmental and health aspects of the food that aren't strictly agreed upon.

It's sort of sad that an attempt at improving the food and the environmental impact it has is fraught with such political difficulty and strife. I guess that's Washington for you.

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]]>cafeteriaCongressDining and WineHouse of Representativeslocal foodsNancy PelosiNew York TimessustainableMarisa McClellanWed, 16 Jan 2008 12:32:00 ESTTip of the Day: What do to with old sneakers?http://www.greendaily.com/2008/01/10/tip-of-the-day-what-do-to-with-old-sneakers/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/01/10/tip-of-the-day-what-do-to-with-old-sneakers/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/01/10/tip-of-the-day-what-do-to-with-old-sneakers/#commentsFiled under:

Do you have a bunch of old sneakers cluttering up the bottom of your closet? Here's a way to repurpose them instead of just tossing them out.

Continue reading Tip of the Day: What do to with old sneakers?

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]]>NikeOne World Runningrecyclingreuse a shoe programrunning shoessneakerstennis shoestip of the dayMarisa McClellanThu, 10 Jan 2008 06:00:00 ESTA green way to keep ants at bayhttp://www.greendaily.com/2008/01/07/a-green-way-to-keep-ants-at-bay/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/01/07/a-green-way-to-keep-ants-at-bay/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/01/07/a-green-way-to-keep-ants-at-bay/#commentsFiled under: ,

small ants and Argentinian antsNearly every summer during my college years, I would find work as a nanny. One year I worked for a family who had a massive ant problem in their kitchen and it became part of my job responsibility to participate in the ant eradication program. Each morning, Jonah (the younger child) and I would pull out that can of ant spray and puncture a small hole in the ozone with our spraying. It never seemed to do much good.

Looking back on the amount of ant spray we used (and how ineffective it was) I cringe inwardly. However, thanks to Marc and Mental Masala, if I ever encounter an ant problem again, I'm planning on turning to the method he is currently using to combat his Argentinian ant problem out in California. He puts a small amount of peppermint essential oil onto a cotton swab and then dabs it onto the ants' entry points into his home. Apparently the scent of the oil interferes with their senses and obscures the chemical trail that they leave behind, confusing them and hopefully sending them packing. Here's hoping it works for him!

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]]>antsargentinian antsessential oilsMental MasalaMentalMasalapeppermintpestsMarisa McClellanMon, 07 Jan 2008 16:03:00 ESTTip of the Day: Store your leftovers in glass jarshttp://www.greendaily.com/2008/01/03/tip-of-the-day-store-your-leftovers-in-glass-jars/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/01/03/tip-of-the-day-store-your-leftovers-in-glass-jars/http://www.greendaily.com/2008/01/03/tip-of-the-day-store-your-leftovers-in-glass-jars/#commentsFiled under:

Save those empty glass peanut butter and canning jars and house your leftovers in style!

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]]>canning jarsfood storageFoodStorageglass jarsplastic lidsrecyclingreusingTip of the DayMarisa McClellanThu, 03 Jan 2008 06:00:00 ESTGreen construction runs into a funding snag in Philadelphiahttp://www.greendaily.com/2007/11/28/green-construction-runs-into-a-funding-snag-in-philadelphia/http://www.greendaily.com/2007/11/28/green-construction-runs-into-a-funding-snag-in-philadelphia/http://www.greendaily.com/2007/11/28/green-construction-runs-into-a-funding-snag-in-philadelphia/#commentsFiled under: ,

drawing of two 100K housesIn the last few years, the real estate market in Philadelphia has really taken off. Even with the current nationwide slowdown, things seem to be holding their own in the City of Brotherly Love. People have really started moving back downtown and rediscovered some of the old, blue collar neighborhoods just adjacent to Center City. We've had something of a building boom and most of the new houses that have been built are done with an eye on speed, size and maximum profitability. Most homes that contain green features are impossibly expensive and out of the reach of the average home buyer.

However, one company is trying to buck the trend and build affordable, green rowhouses for under $100K (that would sell for something in the neighborhood of $200-250K) in one of those adjacent neighborhoods. Post Green thought they had their funding in place but just recently learned that they were turned down for a loan from the bank because the financial institution didn't believe that they could build a eco-friendly house in Philadelphia for that amount.

They are applying for funding from other sources and hope to go on with the project, but it's a frustrating setback for the affordable green construction movement.

[via Philebrity]

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]]>100K House100kHouseaffordableconstruction fundinggreen constructionPhiladelphiaPost GreenMarisa McClellanWed, 28 Nov 2007 12:31:00 EST