Gift Something Green

This Saturday is the annual Green Gifts Fair at the Midtown Global Market!  It’s an amazing event, with over 70 vendors selling different types of gifts.  Some items you might find could be creative journals made out of elephant dung (don’t worry, it’s cleansed first), or gorgeous hand-knit scarves.  There are fair trade and organic [...]

Read Full Post »

America Recycles Day was Sunday!

Everyone’s heard of the three R’s, right?  Reduce, reuse, recycle.  When most people think of recycling, they think of only one step in this three-arrowed process, which is where the familiar logo comes from.  Though it’s great to recycle, it will all be for nothing if people do not buy materials made from recycled products [...]

Read Full Post »

Northstar Service Starts Monday!

I’ve been watching the Northstar trains run behind our offices for the past month or so, so I’m really excited that service will begin for this new commuter line on Monday!  The new light rail line will run from downtown Minneapolis through Big Lake, Elk River, Anoka, Coon Rapids and Fridley.
There are ticket machines at [...]

Read Full Post »

A Buck a Bulb is Back!

Looking to save some money?  Love great deals?  Then you’ll be overjoyed to hear that, once again, Xcel Energy is subsidizing the cost of a variety of compact fluorescent light bulbs across the state.  You can now get high quality energy-saving bulbs for as little as ONE DOLLAR A BULB.  A buck a bulb!  That’s [...]

Read Full Post »

Labels for Light Bulbs?

I think I speak for many of us when I say – ABOUT TIME.  The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is finally considering putting labels on light bulbs to help us figure out which bulbs are worth buying!
“It’s a big deal,” said Mitch Katz, an agency spokesman. “It’s like a food label for light bulbs.”
Of all [...]

Read Full Post »

What does 350 mean?

This Saturday, October 24, is International Day of Climate Action.  This has also been dubbed 350 day.  What is the meaning of 350 you might wonder? Well, it is the amount of carbon dioxide, in parts per million, or ppm, that is the highest upper limit that we can have in our atmosphere and still [...]

Read Full Post »

Free Stuff at Farmer’s Market Tomorrow!

This Saturday, October 24th, the Midtown Farmer’s Market will be hosted by the Metro Clean Energy Resource Team, Do It Green! Minnesota and the Minnesota Energy Challenge!  Saturday is Day 350: International Day of Action on Climate Change, so there will be a lot of great activities to help you lower your carbon footprint.

Not only [...]

Read Full Post »

U of M: Lighting the Way at the DOE Decathlon

Last week, on October 15, the University of Minnesota won first place in the lighting design at the Dept. of Energy Solar Decathlon in Washington, D.C.  The Solar Decathlon is composed of ten contests to “design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered house.”  They have been competing against twenty other university [...]

Read Full Post »

October is Energy Awareness Month

President Obama has declared October is National Energy Awareness Month:
I, Barack Obama, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim October 2009 as National Energy Awareness Month. I call upon the people of the United [...]

Read Full Post »

Habitat Homes Rock!

Habitat for Humanity Minnesota has already built 400 homes that exceed ENERGY STAR 5 Star and Green Communities energy efficiency standards.  The lucky owners of these homes who toiled to build them now get to reap the benefits of paying only $30-$40 for heating each month!  What could be better?
Well, now HFHMN is expanding its [...]

Read Full Post »