Green Goodness: a Grounded Look at Being Green

A colleague of mine recently had me meet Pete Pagano of Green Planet Catering here in Raleigh, NC.

NBC 17 covered the company recently.  The catering company has only been catering for about half a year, but the concept has been growing much much longer.

I have to admit, the “greenie” in me is deeply suspicious anytime someone mentions to me a business claiming their “greenness”. I agreed to meet and told myself I would keep an open mind, but truthfully, I expected very little as we met at Tir Na Nog’s “The Cottage” room.

Pete quickly wowed us, however, with sharing that Green Planet Catering uses as much local and/or organic produce as possible. They use spudware and compostable materials. They create their own bio-diesel and work with a farm, headed by Ben and Charles Keefer here in Raleigh. “We work to be as sustainable as possible,” Pete says.

Green Planet Catering, a team comprised of six members with over a 100 cumulative years of restaurant experience (at least a decade under each of their belt’s), also collaborates with other area partners for composting events. Partnerships for composting and events they’ve covered include Burt’s Bees (headquartered in Durham), NCSU, UNC, Matchbox 20, the Cary Wine Experience, Southern Energy, weddings and private parties.

While the company is already taking impressive strides to show their dedication to a healthy environmental philosophy, Pete’s own education and passion is what sold me.

Referencing Native American philosophy, the Weston A. Price Foundation and movement toward traditional food and knowledge of pesticide and chemical use in mainstream American food industries, I found myself enthralled with Pete’s passion and mission. And I liked that he was not one to put down other companies and their efforts, or arrogantly praise all of their own implemented environmentalism. He is about encouraging the movement by spotlighting positive steps of each company.

Pete explained the importance of educating yourself and making your own decisions for your health and beliefs, saying that eating better and taking care of the environment can go together beautifully. “You’re not twisting your arm. It’s not a New Year Resolution. It’s a way of life.”

“Some people say ‘green’ is a fad. It’s not a fad. It’s a necessity,” Pete says. “We have to do something. We have X amount of resources, and we have a growing population.”

Pete furthers his point, explaining “Seventy-thousand new chemicals have been added to our daily lives in the last 50 years.” Put that together with dramatic increases in unexplained diseases such as autism, ADD and Alzheimer’s, and I myself am asking Read the rest of this entry »

Water, sugar, sugar, sugar… and Glaceau claims Vitamin Vater is healthy for you!  I repeat… vita-what?!

OK, Marc and I went to Earthfare up at Brier Creek last week and got hypnotized by the huge selection of beautifully-colored (BPA-leaching irresponsibly plastic bottled) VitaminWater selection.  After all the hype of how this beverage is made fully of natural ingredients to boost your health and dyed only with vegetable and fruit pigments, we caved under our thirst.

We got the XXX flavor (”triple anti-oxidants”!) and drank it.  It reminds me of Propel by Gatorade.  Subtly flavored sugar water.

Then we checked the ingredients (which, by the way, is the reverse order that we usually do things ~ We like to check first, buy second… oops).  The first two ingredients… water and crystalline fructose (aka derived from high fructose corn syrup).

Nice. 

I’m with The Office Meathead on this… the healthy ingredients added into this just don’t make up for the gross facts that calling this vita-anything or healthy is a stretch.

Whatever… next time, we’ll stick to water or tea or just straight juice.

Sustainably yours, Ashley Sue
BTW, This post was pre-produced due to the fact Green Grounded is vacationing a la mountain hiking this week.

Here in the Triangle, the housing market isn’t our biggest financial woe.  Energy costs is.

As the price of energy goes up incrementally every day, we are less concerned with foreclosures (though some do face this nightmare, we are significantly lower in foreclosures than the national average) and far more concerned with the cost of going to work.

My own commute, as hypocritical as it may seem, is often over 60 miles a day. Nope, I’m not willing to bike that. That’s a price I pay to live where is convenient to Marc’s work (Raleigh) and me work in the city that I love and dream of (Durham). The extra kicker is that Marc drives for a living sometimes (UPS).

My sister and I were on the phone last week and joked how we’re tag-teaming to kick the Ozone’s butt, letting it know we will all do our part to destroy it a quickly as possible. Joking is all we can do to rid ourselves of some of our guilt in an action so contrary to the lives we *want* to lead and the values our hearts carry.

Then we lightened up and agreed we do our part in other areas. We try to shop and eat responsibly. We try to keep the lights off, and to use CFL or LED lights where they make sense (don’t use them in closets… that doesn’t make sense). We wash dishes only in a full dishwasher and laundry in cold water most of the time.

We are big proponents of alternative energy ~ smart research and application of alternative energies ~ here at Green Grounded. Wind is one of our faves, so far, along with solar, and even switchgrass. And there are no definitive answers right now, but by God, the current situation is bleak and getting bleaker. At the current rate, some Triangle residents will have to choose between gas to get to work and healthy food for their families, or their rent, or Read the rest of this entry »

I am going “there” to let you know how I feel about all this talk from Hillary Clinton and John McCain about a gas tax holiday.  I think it’s ridiculous.  Yep.  I went there.

We are within 24 hours of voting in the primary elections, and for the first time in ages, NC has an opinion that the entire nation actually cares to hear.  When’s the last time that happened, eh?

What I think much of the US fails to know about NC is that we are an incredibly complex little state.  A state that is much bigger than people give us credit for, with a tremendous population boom that has no end in sight.

On top of our tremendously growing population, we are a diverse people, mixed heavily of all different nationalities, backgrounds, religions and socio-economic standings. 

We have farmers fighting for their due credit, respect and compensation.  We have growing energy concerns and a couple major nuclear plants.  We have the hub of technology and education that is the Triangle and the hub of finance that is the Charlotte Metropolitan area.  We have a dying furniture and textile industry, leaving many babyboomers without job stability or adequate retirement. We have tremendous transportation issues, from whether and how to create efficient mass transit, to making roads safer for bicyclers, to severe droughts and infrastructure issues for such growth, to housing and building and bridge concerns, to reducing emissions and commute times for our residents. 

And those are just tidbits of all that NC is but has yet to be fully recognized for.

After hearing a variety of arguments in many directions, I do not see how having a gas tax holiday (if they could even get congress and the President to back it) is helping working-class Americans, as so many NC residents are.  Don’t bother thinking I am also “out of touch” or “elitist”.  I myself am from two working-class American families that have worked far too hard to have earned as little as they do.

I found this clip on 2sides2ron that really highlights why I think that supply and demand are all the evidence we need to see that a gas tax holiday is a short-term relief for a large-scale problem… and in reality, the bandage will only make the problem worse.

So get out there tomorrow and VOTE, no matter whether you agree with me or not… or don’t complain.  Don’t complain about immigration.  Don’t complain about our factories closing down and getting shipped overseas.  And don’t complain about how much you are paying at the pump.

After having quite a debate in a recent post (see comments) about the importance of third-party testing of products, we can all conclude that companies must be accountable for their products and actions. 

Green Daily (a while back) shared The Six Sins of Greenwashing… and in my opinion, it works two ways.  The comments section is pretty alive with one poster on a more than self-righteous ground, feeling that if you don’t move into use only a bus, stop buying anything at all and make your own food, cleaner and clothing, then you can’t make a difference.  She says some relevant stuff but then follows it by saying that only a select few actually care about the environment. 

That, to me, is greenwashing ~ the type that SCARES off people from making any difference in altering things along the way in their everyday lives; the type that teaches people that no matter what they do, they are irrelevant in the big picture ~ unless they foresake everything they know, as they have known it. 

I, inspired by those that lead in this movement of social and environmental responsibility, believe that positive encouragement leads to great change.  On the flip, gloom and doom motivates very few.

Mark Twain said (and I’m not the only one who LOVES this quote): 

Keep away from those who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you believe that you too can become great.

The sin she (the aforementioned commenter) commits is as bad as driving a 1985 Suburban and throwing your cigarette butts and Mickey D wrappers out of your window ~ she implies ‘You are not good enough and your difference Read the rest of this entry »

This week (and not because it’s Black History Month) I shall celebrate George Washington Carver, whom I now dub the Grandfather of Green.  Without this man’s contributions to science, I would have no tasty vegan substitutes like the Gimme Lean sausage I had with mashed potatoes last night.

Cheers to you, Mr. Carver, whom the History Channel informed me is the true beginning to a revolution in Read the rest of this entry »

Stumbling through the forest of green bloggers, I found my favorite ever, a blog called Environmental Talk.  This guy, Mark Jabo… well, he IS green: grounded.  Kinda (I’m still me.  And thus different.  And good.).  Plus he’s just freakin funny.  I almost hate touting him because he does the green scene and better than me.

Then, I remind myself, that’s what a mentor should be.  :)  Learn from, and make it right for you.

What does animal welfare and the circus have to do with being a green honey? Well, depends on your view, but for me, I see animal welfare* as a vital key in our society toward being sustainable. In the spirit of my greenness, here is a ROCKIN press release for two events going on this weekend~ the Durham event would be AWESOME!!! A really cool circus! (*see below press release for my explanation for animal welfare being tied to sustainability.)

HUMANE CAROLINA
www.HumaneCarolina.org

Contact:
Gina Wilson (919) 460-4599

CIRCUSES WITH ANIMALS SEND WRONG MESSAGE TO CHILDREN

Local advocates protest circus’s lesson for children: That animals may be confined and dominated for human entertainment. 

Raleigh—Circus fans will learn why animals don’t belong in circuses when advocates get their signs out to greet passersby. On the same day, New Shanghai Circus, an animal-free entertainment, performs in Durham.

Date:   Saturday, February 9

Time:   2:00-3:00 pm

Place:  RBC Center, 1400 Edwards Mill Rd. (across from Cardinal Gibbons High School)

Child psychologists say circuses send a dangerous message to children. They believe it’s vital for children to learn empathy, and animals performing demeaning tricks teach the opposite. Children learn to disregard the feelings and needs of other living individuals.

The training for animals in circuses involves withholding water and food, beating, and the use of sharp bull hooks, whips, electric Read the rest of this entry »