environmentally friendly Tag

Green Spotlight:  Notes From Nancy GrantThe usual advice for wise energy use includes saving gas by planning your driving route carefully to avoid backtracking.  But what if you’d like to leave your car or truck out of your errand-running loop altogether? Here are three good ideas:Shank’s mare – This old-fashioned country term means using your own two legs for travel. Whether you’re starting from home or your workplace, just put on comfy shoes and it’s right foot, left foot all the way to the co-op. If you’re new to walking outdoors, you’ll find it’s quite different from a treadmill--traffic and signals to watch for, people to chat with, birds to watch--but you can estimate that each half mile will take ten to fifteen minutes. The return trip may take a bit longer because you’ll have the added weight of whatever

Green Spotlight:  Notes from Nancy GrantCan a food co-op add sustainable ideas to its daily operations? Sure, the co-op encourages food producers to take the best care possible of their land and natural resources. But what about other opportunities for a “greener” approach?At Valley Natural Foods the hunt is on to find ways to take better care of the environment right here in the store.The first good idea: Replace the paper towel dispensers in the restrooms with electric hand dryers to cut down on paper waste. The second good idea: Encourage office staffers to use e-mail and other computer technology as often as possible, then print documents on paper only when absolutely necessary. Throughout the co-op, the idea is to use a little less paper, please.Simple steps like these are part of a much larger effort to put the sustainability