clear the air!

We're constantly interacting with and exposed to plastics, paper foods, synthetic fibers and other household items that contact trace amounts of toxins. In large amounts these toxins can be lethal but in small doses might be causing some damage. But you can clear the air bit by bit while decorate your surroundings. Whether it be at home or at the office, all you need is a nice house/office plant. Plants are natural detoxifiers and can help scrub the air of potentially harmful poisons.

Here are some plants that can help mollify different toxins in the air:
- gasoline, adhesives, and lacquers (Marginata plants)
- clothing (spider plants)
- paints and detergents (peace lillies)
- plastics and household cleaners (chrysanthemums)
- dry cleaning and inks (gerber daisies!)
- water repellents (poinsettias)
- tobacco smoke (english ivy)
- foam insulation (azaleas)
- paper goods (corn plant)
- carpetting (golden pathos)
- oils and varnishes (warneckei)

future cyclist in the house

I spent $40 to fill up my gas tank this weekend. $40! I have a Corolla and I shouldn't be paying this much for gas! Damn you high gas prices. This whole debacle makes my whole desire to get a bike to commute to work increase more and more!

Today was the first day driving to my new office. I did two things: scouted out my future bike route and scouted out the transit stops. I also looked our for fellow bikers who I can befriend in the future and cafes along the way. It's only about 5 miles so the biking won't be so bad. I just haven't ridden a bike in so long so it will take some getting used to again. And sadly, like many streets in LA, I did not see designated bike lanes.

The hunt for a used bike has been going on for a few weeks now to no avail. Maybe because I was scoping out new bikes a few weeks ago and the used bikes I've encountered so far have not come close to the new ones I've been lusting over.

First I was hesitant to just buy a new bike right off the bat. I am known for some compulsive purchases so I figured I would hold out and shop around for a bit. But I have found a bike shop in between my new office and home so I can easily get dropped off there and ride my bike home.
At the rate I'm paying for gas right now, the money that goes to my fill-ups can just go into my bike fund.

I'll keep you posted on my mission!

Movin' On Up!

We're moving offices and I love that the coordinators of this move have done their best to make this as green of a move as possible! One aspect that takes up a major part of a move are boxing up our goods. Anyone who has moved to a new apartment/home knows all about getting your hands on cardboard boxes. We're moving an office so I faint at the thought of how many boxes we'd have had to get! Moving companies were researched and we were lucky enough to find one that utilises reusable crates for their packing and moving needs!We just pack 'em, snap 'em and go. We're also using used cardboard boxes that we have lying around.

If you happen to be moving anytime soon or in the future for that matter, do what I did and get yourself used cardboard boxes from your friends, any that aren't being used at your work, or look for free ones on Freecycle or Craigslist. Once you are done with them, pass them along to friends, strangers, put an ad on these sites offering up the boxes to anyone who will pass them on, too, and have them pass them on, until the boxes are worn to bits and the remains have to be recycled! Saving trees and energy from production resources, gotta love it.

My Company is a Closet Green Freak

Of all the days to leave my camera at home! I really wished I had my digi cam on me because I had 2 green-related moments (and maybe more) that brought a smile to my face.

Ok, so my company is moving to a new office and it's been refreshing to hear people pipe up in staff meetings asking how green our new office build-out is, demanding we have legit recycling, and the like. If time permitted I wish I convinced the overseers of the project to contact a green contractor of sorts to make sure everything from paint to carpeting to equipment to lighting was going to be eco-friendly. I have not gotten any official reports on how green things are going to be but during our little field trip over to the new space to check out the progress I noticed little stickers on some newly installed wood panels. Little FSC stickers were everywhere! FSC stands for the Forest Stewardship Council, a non-profit organization dealing with responsible forest management. You can read more about it on their site (linked here). That is one way we are being official about our green-ness. Now to shake them down to give me the details about our paint, for starters...


Next smile-worthy moment? My boss' shoes. As we all filed out into the parking I looked down and noticed that the CEO was not sporting his usual patent-business-casual-esque-shoes but was sporting some Keen Footwear. Keen shoes are amazing sustainable shoes with sustainable packaging and are just overall amazing! If I noticed correctly, my boss was wearing the Ventura shoe which are 100% Vegan. His wife worked with Live Earth and picked him up a pair from the event. He rocked them well!



Very excited for the new office and since we are starting fresh in a new space I've got some plans to wean my office off waste. More on my master plan later...