As I sit here, waiting for my hangover to set in (note to self: don't go out with a group of French people - I promise they can drink you under the table and make it look sophisticated), I am thinking about all the ways that this "green life" is still such a challenge.

Take Dagoba - they are amazing: organic chocolate makers, US-based, commited to doing the right thing.  But they can't get all their chocolate fair-trade certified.  Why?  Not because they don't WANT to, but because  the regional, "varietal" high-end chocolate they need doesn't come with a fair-trade certification. 

Dagoba DOES work hard - within the confines of this problem - to ensure that the practices at the places they buy their chocolate are tip-top.

But it highlights a bigger issue, actually: some times, while we WANT to find a perfectly sustainable version of something, there just aren't fair-trade, or organic versions that are either high-end enough, or affordable enough.  Here at Ideal Bite, we struggle with it daily - if a product or service doesn't meet our standards - we just don't promote it, regardless of how green it may or may not be.

Fortunately, Dagoba completely makes the cut.  Amazing chocolate.  Amazing company.

Got any questions for the folks over there?   If yes, throw 'em here in the blog, and we'll see if we can't get some answers for you.

-Heather... off to test out (gingerly) whether or not food is a good idea... evil Frenchies...

When I first entered business school, I intended to concentrate in eco-tourism. See, I had this business plan for an Eco-Ranch, and I concocted the whole notion while in Ireland running an equestrian center, feeling so good to be using my body again and getting my hands dirty, after 4 years in NYC startups / 70-hour-office-job-weeks.

Therefore, once in grad school in DC, I networked in with all the eco-tourism players that be, and before I knew it, I was off to an eco-lodge in Costa Rica to consult.

Now, did this place offer massage, water with cucumbers, or pedicures? Absolutely not. But did my body-mind-spirit feel amazing after returning? Absolutely.

My butt was massaged with the amazing horse back ride, my arms were massaged with white water rapids, my legs by climbing trees on a pulley, my spirit soured through the trees on a zip line, my soul melted with the squirrel that had breakfast on my shoulder each morning, and my mind was calmed with the crazy hospitality of our host.

If you want to visit Selva Bananito, let me know, and I will ask the owner to get you all set up. (Here are the full set of photos.)

Off to dream of foreign lands and warm weather.. Jen

Not sure about you other veg heads (or pesc-heads, as is my case), but I run of out of fun things to eat pretty frequently.  (I only eat fish when out at a restaurant b/c everytime I try to cook it, no pun intended, it bites.)

Therefore, about once a week I find myself making my favorite dinner in the world (only second to beer and chips):  a cheese plate.  Yes, I cut up a few types, I adorn olives, sliced tomatoes, crackers and half-filled ballon wine glass of red. 

I have to admit though, of the usual 4 types of cheeses on my plate, I am lucky if 2 are organic/locally-produced.  (There is probably gobs of local cheese in the mid west, but here in the Rocky Mountain West, we are all about the beef cattle.)  I do belong to the CSA though, and will ask them if maybe they could start including some local varieties... OMG I can't wait.   

Of course, off to stuff my face with cheese and write the CSA dude - Jen

Do you blogging biters know that we now have 37,000 Ideal Bite tip subscribers? So let me preface this with, “I am not complaining” (and then of course I will go on to do just that). Some of our more vocal subscribers keep us in stitches… my favorite email responses to the various tips are:

1.“Resend me the tip now. I lost it.” (Um, sure, okay… if you want to start paying a subscription fee so we can hire a customer service department there, Larry old pal.)

2. "Die! How dare you recommend anything that used to have a head." (This in response to animal-food related tips. Funny thing is… Eric wants humans to die? Last I checked, we have a head too. Good one, Eric buddy boy.)

3. “You two should have kids so you could talk with more authority about kid issues.” (Okay, Betty, we will get right on it so as to please your free subscriber ass. Just kidding, I love you Betty.)

Anyway, turns out my skin is maybe less thick than I thought, as I am maybe scared of you boisterous Biters and don’t have much to say about cribs, except, totally do it if you can afford it. I don’t need to be a mother to know the importance of off-gassing during formative years (not talking about the baby’s butt off-gassing here, talking about the particle board that makes up most furniture.)

Off to procreate… dinner - with my love of chips and beer. Jen

One of the difficulties I seem to be facing on this road to a greener life is that - ever so often (or maybe just "often," really) - what I want to do is not the right answer when stacked against what I probably should do. The simple truth is, sometimes the state of nature is at odds with the way we want things to be. Social norms (vanity is an example) or personal preferences (the fact that I love to travel, in spite of what such a frivolous act does to the environment) so often trump what I know I SHOULD be doing.

Let's go back to "vanity" as a prime example. Fact is, it's just NOT normal to look like you are 30 when you are 60. It's simply not. But billions of dollars each year are spent not only on plastic surgery and botox, but also on chemically-doused, petroleum-based, high end beauty products. In the spirit of true confession, if I had a million dollars, my beauty purchases would probably be paying the light bill for the cosmetics level at Bergdorf's. I'm a complete sucker for anything spa or beauty-related (well, except for anything that requires a needle - plastic surgery and botox and collagen aren't really my bag of tricks). But for the rest of it - while nature might want to give me wrinkles, it doesn't mean I will go quietly or submissively along with the plan.

But recently, when I bought one of those teeth whitener mouth rinses, the insane idiocy of the purchase started to hit me. I mean, having super-white teeth is kind of ridiculous notion, if you really think about it. Not only does it not have anything to do with a natural cycle of life, it is just silly, since it's not as though I get any pleasure out of the rinsing process itself.

And yet - full of strange chemicals and ridiculous though it may be, I will go rinse with my silly whitener when I finish my coffee this morning. And I was completely aware of that choice when I bought the rinse in the first place.

So, true confession time, people - we often get loads of comments about all the amazing things that you are doing that are good for the world, but... what are your dirty, little non-green secrets? Share, share...

I'll let you in on more of mine, if you share yours.

-Heather... off to drink my teeth-staining coffee...

Many of us spend our days, seeking out the grand things.  The giant moments.  The home runs.

Me?  I've always been kind of a kid who bats triples.  Much to the chagrin of those in charge, I have never been much of one for absolute perfection.  I like to be good or even great at a lot of things, in exchange for being truly perfect at any.

It's a complicated trade-off - in the end, we all could probably hit home runs in a single chosen field.  But ultimately,  the "multiple triples" journey is the one I choose.  Pick a path and take it to an extreme, and the road seldom leads where you thought it would, and your ride seldom refrains from being a rocky one. 

Today's tip applauds the little things - all the ways we hit singles and doubles and triples in a life that calls to us for constant home runs.  (So ridiculous that I - of all people - am using sports analogies...).

So here's to the unplugging of the cell charger, to the CFL lightbulbs, to the curtains and ceiling fans... to all the baby Bites that are bringing us home.

-Heather... off to change out a lightbulb...

Not sure about you all, but dealing with house-hold administrivia is not one of my favorite things (as are rain drops on roses and ex-gay cowboys).  And I don’t have a PA (personal assistant) or BSM (big strong man) in my life to offload these things.

So the thought of having an auditor come out and give me a list of things to do, thereby increasing my hugungous to-do list, gave me some minor anxiety.  HOWEVER, that anxiety was just trumped by the fact that I lost my heat – the propane tank ran dry unexpectedly, so clearly my house isn’t as energy efficient as I had thought!

As I tried to fall asleep under 40 blankets, dressed in 2 pairs of wools socks, artic long underwear, a scarf wrapped around my head and the space heater practically shoved down my pants, I resolved to getting the energy audit done. I am sure there are some low hanging fruit type of fixes – like re-insulating in key places and closing off certain rooms that are not being used. I did put the water heater blanket on, which seems to help, and my windows and appliances are high performance, but alas, going through 400 gallons of propane in 2.5 months isn't that cool.  (It was however negative whatever degrees for much of that time.)

Biters – has anyone had an energy audit done yet?  If so, do tell!

Off to make the donuts - over the woodburning stove (don't you just love old commercials?) - Jen

Here's the problem, however: apparently, when it comes to the sun, I'm not so bright.

So I put the batteries into the little box (which was sort of like wrestling a greased pig, but I prevailed, never fear).

I put the box onto a sunny ledge.

Nada.

I put the box right in the line of solar fire, in the brightest, most window-filled place in my apartment, with a ray of sunlight falling right onto it.

Nope. Nothing.

So in desperation on a sunny Saturday, I put the whole shebang outside right in the blazing rays.

Viola!

Apparently, that did the trick.

Sadly, now, I have to figure out how the hell to get the batteries out of the thing after I wrestled the little suckers in there.

-Heather... off to drink wine from France, since apparently, I didn't get enough while there...

Funny, I was just professing my feminist-tendencies today to a friend.  I was lamenting the fact that in my relationships, even though I have been the one bringing in half (or more than half) of the bacon, I was still expected to take care of "house hold duties" - like cleaning and cooking. (Sorry guys - mowing the lawn once in a blue moon doesn't balance out the daily chores that have been prescribed to women throughout the ages.)

Anyway - I would make an exception and gladly clean high performance windows - hopefully in a fully green house. Preferably somewhere a bit warm... as I just returned from Atlanta where it was 80* to a freezing MT house... the propane tank is out!

So Biters... chime in on what you think is "fair" in today's modern society in terms of household duties, and if you would make an exception for cleaning high-performance windows. ;-)

Off to snuggle with Froggie and Cricket... it is a 1 dog / 1 cat kinda night - Jen

Crazy stat:

Replacing your 10 year-old dishwasher could save you as much as $44 on your energy bill per year. Doing the math, it doesn't take too long for the machine to pay for itself.

Sadly, though - since my landlord doesn't have to worry about my energy bills - this line of reasoning isn't working on him.

Got a favorite green appliance you've tried recently? Let us know. Barring that, landlord-wooing advice is always appreciated...

-Heather... off to the airport to fly home after an amazing trip...

As promised, here's Nishant's great squirrel photo...

-Heather... off to have a last hurrah in Paris...

I remember when I was about 10 maybe listening to Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing" song in my room on Casey Kasem's top 40, and my Dad coming in the room and turning it off.

Too funny. But scary. I am going to age myself and say, "I cannot believe what the kids are listening to these days!" - but alas, let's get back to the heart of rub... natural salves.

Salves are one of those weird things that you think only your grandpa should use. . . until you had a killer ski weekend and need to walk NOT like an Egyptian (or scarecrow or tinman) the next week.  This past weekend I HAD ;-) to take an Ideal Bite partner skiing in Big Sky - and on our second lift I dropped my glove on a double black diamond run.

I insisted on following Lorien down the run to get it, as I have never been a wussy, and I wasn't about to start now. But JEEZ - I got WORKED.  It was so steep on some parts I couldn't figure out how to turn without tipping and tumbling down, envisioning dislocating my knees while I was at.
Long story short - I made it down, slowly, after two wipe outs, and with SOME pride (not a lot, but at least I didn't radio for the EMS folk to come rescue me on a snowmobile).  Needless to say the next day I needed a little help from a friend.

That is where the salve came in huge. Yes, I am no wuss and no grandpa, but I salved.  Now I keep a peppermint version in my travel bag - it is nice to rub on super chaffed elbows and the likes.

Off to do some Yoga to stretch out the muscles.. Jen

As I type this, I've been in Paris for 24 hours, staying at my friends' apt in the Opera Arr.  Their place is unreal - no fewer than 10 skylights and 20 windows (I promise, I am not exaggerating), and it just makes me want to be Picasso; to wake and paint and take advantage of the mad light and 6th story Parisian rooftop views.

Unlike Picasso, sadly, I have no artistic skill.

But like Picasso, I do have a great love of food and drink, so the past day has been a whirlwind of espresso, cheese, pain au chocolate, and (of course) wine.  And throughout - as always when in Europe - I marvel at the perfection of the food... starting with perfect produce.  I had just a regular salad yesterday, at just a regular neighborhood cafe, and even the little tomatoes were ideal.  Hothouse, yes, but heirloom and stunning.

We couold all do with a heady dose of French perfectionism, I think.  Something about an adherence to the old-fashioned, a praise of originality and simplicity, permeates everything from food to fashion.

I, for one, am going to try to find out what little baby tomato varietal was in my salad yesterday, and add it to my garden this year: my own little nod to bringing Paris home with me.

-Heather... off to the Pompidou... sigh...

True Story:  I was at McDonald's with my parents and my little bro, and I bit into some gross fat globule in my cheeseburger.  I pushed my half-eaten burger over to my parent's side of the yellow & red booth saying, "I am not going to eat this."  I remember my Dad's response like it was yesterday: "well then you can't have your fries." (He knew me well, fries are some of my favorite things... like raindrops on roses, wine & cheese, and horses and ex-gay cowboys). 

I said, "FINE" - and forewent the fries... not that it was easy, but I was very determined to make my point.

So when my mom pressed on me to "just please try to finish your burger" - I exclaimed out with fiery passion and excitement from my epiphany, "MY BURGER USED TO HAVE A HEAD!!"  (Many years I was later so impressed with my early reasoning as I saw bumper stickers that said the same type of thing... ie: would you eat your dog? so why eat a pig? etc.)

Anyway, to this date I still haven't had another burger. And actually tonight, at my friend's house, their family had beef burgers and I had a veggie burger (and of course fries).  One of their little girls (Grayson, she is 5) ate her burger - and then said her stomach hurt. I whispered over to her... "maybe that is because your burger used to have a head." 

NOTE:  if you eat meat, good on ya, choose sustainable options or try going without your double-doozie thing in lieu of some better for you, better for the planet meatless options.  Promise your stomach won't hurt.

Off to watch the Meatrix again... that web flick rocks my world - Jen

PS:  word on the street is that the Meatrix Part 2 is coming out soon

At Ideal Bite we are "light green" - you guys know this.  So the whole notion of that reusable cup wasn't going to be tested or tipped.  (If you use it, much more power to ya, sisters).

However, let's talk brass tacks here... what other material would you want to be super clean, pesticide- and bleach-free? Why don't we think about these things more - it is almost like taking a vitamin or something. 

Speaking of vitamins, I can't wait to find all-natural mood balancers / pain relievers for the side effects of Uncle Red's visit... b12 is helpful, but I know there are more out there.  It is funny that every month Uncle Red comes (thank God - yes I know some of you Biters want us to have kids but in good time, promise) and every month I get confused as to why my life is great yet I am bummed for about a day and a half.  DUH.  I swear...

Is it true that women have to put up with more s*!# than men? Are the joys of birth worth the makeup, the periods, the pay inequity, the trips to the gyno?  Dear Momma Biters, please do chime in.

Off to play with my best friend's kids (am in Atlanta)... I love them, I do, but after a week here it might help stave off those baby pangs I have been having....  Jen

In many ways, I think my answer to the question is yes. I am hypercommunicative. I am easily bored. I like to feel connected and far-flung all at the same time. Thus, the internet and cell phones and the convenience of things like online banking all appeal to me.

But every so often, I find myself yearning a bit for an earlier lifestyle. Something about our wired world (which has made so much possible, don't get me wrong) gives us all this rampant permission to be, well, sort of irresponsible. Remember the days when you'd actually have to make a plan to meet someone somewhere, and you HAD to show up or you wouldn't be able to reconnect? Or when you would need to schedule phone conversations for Sunday evenings or wait weeks for letters from your best friend?

Of course, I'm just waxing a little nostalgic. And of course, as co-founder of a daily email and blog, I clearly fall on the side of tech appreciation.

But every so often, I do wish for a cell-free day.

-Heather... off to program my Treo so I can get my email on the go...

When I was younger, I loved Starbucks.  Before the world changed, and there was a coffeeshop on every corner - when Starbucks was the only show in town - there was something so comforting about there being a "fast food joint" for coffee.

As I've gotten older, my tastes have changed.  Sure, I still grab Starbuck's coffees when in airports or a pinch.  All in all, I gotta admit - their coffee is good.  But mainly, I get cappuccino from my little, local, Frenchie deli these days.

All that aside - let us know your thoughts on today's Green Chip Company Showcase.  What do YOU think about Starbucks?  Have any questions you'd like answered?  If so, fire them our way, and we'll get some feedback from the Starbucks gang...

-Heather... off to brew a pot...

Who wants to talk about Pet Grass? Not me?  I am with a friend right now who would rather talk about natural drugs vs. synthetic.  Ie: catnip vs kitty crack.  So we did a comparison.  We smoked both….

Just kidding.  Froggy the cat did the comparison.  And he is 100% in love with all natural grass.  He sniffs, he nibbles.  Cricket thinks that must be up to something good so she just came over and walked on it and ate some.

Plus, it looks very feng shui.

Off to order enough to fill my big window sill – Jen   

It wasn't always this way, so there is really no accounting for it, and I really can't explain to anyone (let alone myself) what happened.

I used to the COOK. Often. And well. I'd throw sometimes legendary dinner parties that took 2 days to prepare and seemingly longer to linger over and eat.

It's a bizarre and slippery slope, this move to a fast-food lifestyle (and no, I'm not talking about McDonalds). For me, the "fast" in my food is the complete disregard with which it's prepared, and the fact that it is seldom prepared by me, let alone anyone who knows and loves me.

I am compelled by the idea that the love we put into the preparation of food changes the actual quality of the food - not only in taste, but in property. Sort of a "Like Water for Chocolate" applied on a grand scale. While it seems like a dance into the world of magical realism, think on it;

Does any food in the world make you FEEL better than:

• The clumsy PB&J sandwich made for you by your child?
• The omelet and pancakes made for you by your lover?
• The soup made for you by the parent or friend caring for you when you are sick?

Slow it down. There is a reason that entire generations of civilization make references to food that is "almost as good as Mom's."

-Heather... guiltily off to (again) buy a morning scone...

Yeah, I am commandeering the title from today's tip for the blog because it is so darn good.

It would be too easy to confess my experiences (not that I have any - MOM!) with the byproduct of hemp.  And it might be too cliche to relate pot-smokers to tree huggers to hemp wearers.  Fact of the matter is this:  hemp is one of those wonder-plants... like bamboo or kenaf... no need to be scared of being cast into the pond of patchouli-wearing hippies for wearing hemp.

Yes, now, hemp is for hotties.  It is such a "productive" plant, and the clothes perform that much better as well. It is like a thick linen, when done right. (And sure, if you are looking to dispose of the byproduct in an earth-friendly way, I think Bob Marley still accepts presents of peanut butter that have a center filling.)

Off to dress in hemp to be a hottie - Jen

After not ever really experiencing anything close to acne before, about 2 years ago, I started to break out. Not little things - huge volcanic eruptions. And while I would never take anything for a headache, and while I tried all the great natural remedies out there, it took me about 4 weeks of dealing with the breakouts before I went to the doctor and got some special medicinal cream to get the teenage-style nightmare to cease and desist.

So today, true confessions: if it's a little pimple, I use the all-natural zit sticks. But if it's one of those creepy, deep things that seems to start in your bones and come in waves... well, I reach for the scary medicine.

Of course, I SHOULD steer clear of all those synthetic chemicals - especially for something as silly and vain as acne worries. But, well, I'm still not perfect.

Someday...

-Heather... off to grind my morning coffee...

Five Reasons Animals Rock

Suddenly, it became all too apparent to me how dependent we all are. I had no cash (ATMs not working), no air conditioning, no food in the house, and (most importantly) no water. I stumbled around with my friend, fumbling for candles and wondering how toilets worked.

Since then, I've had every intention of putting together an emergency kit. Everyone says I should, and that it should contain money and water and food and flashlights and all that good stuff. For a decent list, check out NY's "Go Bag" list.

So to that end, I am getting a solar flashlight and handcrank radio (trust me - you DON'T want to be desperately seeking a land line so that you can call your parents to have them tell you what they are hearing on the news).

-Heather... off to order my flashlight...