Green as a Thistle

People, places and things I’m loving…

• Hysterical, adorable and green all at once! Just the idea of a “walking bus” is genius, if you ask me.

• Can Google possibly get any better to work for? Everyone already knows about how they offer their employees free massages, day care, on-site medical attention, free cafeteria food sourced from local farmers, fun exercise balls to sit on, etc. etc. But now they’re going even further and offering them a free bike to ride to work.

• Sarah Cihat, who makes beauooootiful rehabilitated dishware, which you can order from her website or pick up in stores if you’re in the U.S. (or Montreal, in Canada). She finds used or abandoned ceramic plates from thrift stores, then redesigns, resurfaces, reglazes and refires them.

• Michael Norton, who penned a book remarkably similar to what I’m doing with this blog, called The Everyday Activist. Although helping the environment is just one of many causes Norton advocates, he does offer some solid, innovative suggestions (just ignore the ridiculous ones like guerilla gardening and “unshopping” day).

• I don’t so much love The Barenaked Ladies‘ music, but I do love that they’re hard-core greenies. Front man Steven Page sits on the board of World Wildlife Fund Canada, owns shares in the wind-energy co-op Windshare and was one of the first to get on board with Bullfrog Power. He drives a Prius, sells organic cotton band T-shirts, purchases carbon offsets, ensures that the band’s tour bus runs on biodiesel, sets up recycling facilities backstage at the BNL concerts and, last year, joined the Riverdale Initiative for Solar Energy, a local initiative to make a bulk purchase of solar panels, which are now saving him about 20% in his monthly electricity bills.

• From showers-for-two to bamboo bedsheets (they apparently have great anti-microbial properties), the folks over at TreeHugger tell you how to green your sex life.

• The eco-peeps over at BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag), who make adorable, stylish tote bags so you don’t have to buy those lame ones at the grocery store checkout counter (not that grocery stores shouldn’t offer lame tote bags because there needs to be some option, but there’s something to be said for being both green and pretty).

• Jessie Jane, who’s behind the blog Small Failures, might just be my e-soulmate. As she says: “Small Failures sets out to prove that living sustainably and living well are not mutually exclusive. Within these pages, you’ll find tips for living sustainably without giving up the fun stuff, profiles of sustainable products and businesses, and a soapbox-free (most of the time) place to learn about the green stuff.” Plus, every person I’ve known who has a first name for a last name has always been cool.

• I really wanted to go on this Sustainability Cycling Tour that goes along the Oregon coastline, but couldn’t afford it (not that it’s expensive, I’m just broke). You get to camp at organic fruit orchards, visit local dairy farms, learn about permaculture systems and cob-building (I don’t even know what that is, but it sounds cool) and hike through ancient forest strands. One catch: all the victuals en route are vegan, and there’s no alcohol (though I’m sure if you tucked a little flask of organic merlot in your fanny pack, no one would notice).

• Don’t you just want to say the words “Malagasy Cinnamon Cassia” over and over again? Doesn’t that sound like something you’d want to rub all over your body? Well, now you can! Pangea Organics bar soaps are all-natural, they biodegrade within 48 hours and the packaging is embedded with flower seeds so you can plant it in your garden. The lippy folks at Cargo have packaged their 12 new Plant Love lipsticks in the same seedy fashion, but on top of this, each tube is made entirely out of corn.