Local Heroes...

So you’re a committed green warrior. You buy organic, you read Thoreau, you turn your nose up at anything with a hint of plastic. But let’s face it; living green all hours of the day can be difficult. Sometimes you forget your re-usable hemp carrier bag and – horror upon horrors – the grocer offers you recyclable paper or recyclable plastic. Or you’re super hungry and the only options are – can you handle it? – three different kinds of organic produce. What’s a greenophile to do with all these choices?

Luckily, easy answers are available! If you live in Los Angeles or San Francisco (and soon, New York City), you can consult the Greenopia Guide. Called “the definitive resource for eco-minded city dwellers looking for an easy way to access the…green markets in their area,” this book “contains (a directory for) everything from organic restaurants and grocery stores, to dry cleaners and organic pest control services, to sustainable building suppliers, landscapers and interior designers—whatever a consumer needs for every day green living and more.” Or in other words, have green questions, have Greenopia Guide, have answers.

So what to do if you’re outside the Greenopia coverage area? You can always throw a Go-Green Party. Msn.com recently listed a guide to educating the masses on green issues. Gather your friends and invite an energy expert to advise you all on how to unplug vampire devices (like the sinister DVD player that blinks the time at you). Msn.com further offers up a cool gift bag idea: reusable tote bags fill with compact fluorescent bulbs (which last up to ten times longer than regular bulbs). Like some guy in some movie probably once said sometime, “Knowledge is the key to victory.” So the next time your eco-warrior status is threatened, think green guides! (Okay, it sounded a little more heroic in my head.)

Photo by Josh Piha