San Francisco's an hour away from wine country, so it makes sense that our office is full of wine snob-I mean, connoisseurs. But whether you're a connoisseur, or hate the stuff and just keep a bottle of pinot noir in your pantry in case of unexpected wino guests, it still helps to know what some of the vocab words on the label stand for.

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms is the government department that handles wine labeling, and it's created four categories of green vino:

1.       100% organic wine is made from 100% certified-organic grapes grown on an organic farm, and doesn't contain any added sulfites (a preservative in most wines).

2.       Organic wine contains at least 95% organically grown grapes from an organic farm, without added sulfites.

3.       Made with organic grapes means the wine has at least 70% organic grapes. Added sulfites are allowed.

4.       Contains organic grapes just tells you the wine contains some level of organic grapes (less than 70%), and producers can add sulfites.

-Toshio...off to drink a beer...

I used to be that antimakeup girl - you know the one. And I can't lie, the words "natural beauty" escaped my lips on more than a few occasions. But that was all pre-sunspots. Now that I have what I've come to resentfully refer to as my "cheetah face," I embrace with open arms the stuff that evens my skin tone. Thanks, makeup (and makeup brushes).

Still, I try to steer clear of slathering myself with more of the hormones that got me into this spotty mess to begin with. That means nothing paraben-laden touches this face, thankyouverymuch. Check out SkinDeep.com to make sure your favorites are on the safe side. Oh, and check out some of the cool things the natural-beauty believers at Aveda are doing to raise money for clean water and to keep even more plastic out of the environment (reminder: take off those bottle caps before you recycle).

-Assistant Editor Hanah...off to touch-up...

For some reason, for me there's always been a higher barrier to entry to composting versus, say, recycling, or avoiding plastic bags and water bottles. Part of this is that I don't have a yard; I have public park. For years, a fellow apartment-dwelling friend of mine has collected all of her compost in a large plastic bag that she stores in her freezer until she can drop it off at a city composting facility or throw it into a yard-owning friend's heap. It's smart and doesn't require tons of effort, but it's still not what I'd call easy.

Luckily, some cities are putting a lot more effort into making it even easier - in SF, for example, we not only have communal veggie gardens popping up behind and between apartment buildings, but we also have a major city composting program, where you can chuck your compostables into a green bin just like you'd throw a can into the blue recycling one, and the city will pick it up and put it to use.

I tried to find a common thread here, but came up empty-handed. Hope you enjoy our genre-busting, Biter-iffic springtime mix...

1.       Life of Everything by Larkin Gayl (Co-founder Heather)

2.       Hello Bonjour by Michael Franti (Co-founder Jen)

3.       Where Do You Go To by Peter Sarstedt (Editorial Director Jenifer)

4.       Fly Paper by k-os (SF Editor Mike)

5.       Not Ready to Make Nice by the Dixie Chicks (SF Intern Natalie)

6.       Rich Girls by the Virgins (LA Editor Molly)

7.       Paper Planes by MIA (LA Intern Aaron)

8.       Be Easy by Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings (Chicago Editor Alison)

9.       Fake It by Seether (NYC Editor Beth)

10.     New Soul by Yael Naim (Marketing Manager Hilary)

11.     Shake the Chandelier by the Gourds (Bozeman Intern Jen H.)

12.     If I Had Eyes by Jack Johnson (Graphic Designer Kinsey)

13.     Perfume by Patrick Fletcher (Senior Sales Exec Kay)

14.     Reasons to Love You by Meiko (Production Manager Elisa)

15.     Killalady by Justine Electra (Assistant Editor Hanah)

16.     Collarbone by Fujiya & Miyagi (Assistant Editor Hanah, again, who charmed me into letting her include two songs)

17.     Jeopardy by the Greg Kihn Band (me, Toshio)

-Toshio...off to finish up my playlist for a club night happening this Saturday at SF's dive-y Deco Lounge....

I had the op to see the clandestine gray water system mentioned in today's Personally Speaking firsthand on Easter. The thing was pretty impressive - rigged by [Anonymous]'s dad for under $100 and a lotta elbow grease.

[Anonymous]'s mom took a shower before Easter brunch, so we watched the slightly sudsy water trickle out onto a bunch of healthy California poppies in the yard. Gray water systems: the eco-friendliest way to break the law, ever?

-Toshio...off to suds up...

Ah, the irony of today's tip: dried fruit...on my birthday. (Toshio swears it wasn't me that inspired the wrinkle references...but thanks guys, thanks.)

I guess I have a few more years before I become that cranky, pretending-to-be-deaf old lady who just does whatever the hell she wants and no one will say anything, but when that day comes, I plan to boost my antioxidant intake with dried fruit morning, noon, and night...by way of heavily buttered panettone (with a bottle of Moscato on the side).

I guess for that to be eco, I'll need to actually live in Italy. Oh, shucks...

-Jenifer Morgan...off to see if I look more like a dried prune or a dried apple...

Let us know here in the blog comments or by using the Submit a Tip form what big green issues are on your mind (alternative energy? Antibacterial resistance? Mascara?) as 2008 rolls on, so's we can make some space in our editorial calendar to address those issues.

-Toshio...off to get voted most controversial Bite team member...

So the IB office is pretty darn green, down to the organic tea in our make-shift kitchen and the 20-ton reused desk Toshio and I lugged over from a closing office building across town.

But we're green by accident in one arena: We print almost nothing. That's partly because we're aware that most edocuments are just as easy to ref as a printed page, but also because our inclination to print was nipped in the bud by a temperamental wireless printer. We just didn't want to hassle with it and found ways around needing it.

Easy Way to Go Green at the Office #11: Technical malfunctioning.

-Jenifer Morgan...off to print in draft...from home...

We have a reed diffuser in the WC at home. The scent in the water is a pretty mild "Dogwood" that could use some fresh essential oil, and it doesn't work as well as the scented-soy-candle-and-a-match trick for squelching bad smells, but (assuming you opted against the spinach burrito at last night's dinner) it does the trick.

-Toshio...off to pull a finger...

The problem with buying nice things is that you continually fear losing them or ruining them (one of the reasons Coco Chanel advised wearing costume jewelry over the real thing). My "nice" things include several high-maintenance cashmere cardigans (one of them just had its seventh birthday last week) -they pill, buttons pop off, they consistently endure wine and chocolate stains, but I love them and in the end, it's worth it to me to wash them by hand, comb them, and repair pulled threads.

I've used lots of gentle cleaners, including baby shampoo, but my favorite so far is the cedar-scented Wool and Cashmere Shampoo from the Laundress. It's not cheap, but you don't need to use much, and unlike dry-cleaning, which can disintegrate fibers, a gentle wash-and-lay-flat-to-dry preserves the fabrics' integrity so it lasts longer and stays softer - which, well, is kinda the point with cashmere. It also, of course, saves me the $10 dry-cleaning fee.

If you've got any amazing natural laundry tips that the world needs to know about, please share in the blog!

-Jenifer Morgan...off to chuck my less-nice things in the washer...

Even better than steam cleaning your carpets? Getting rid of them altogether. It's what my parents did last year in their office and family room, replacing the decade-old off-white rugs with bamboo for a more modern look. They weren't thinking about the health benefits of doing so, but Mom has mentioned the new floors are a little easier to clean. Especially when Junior, hobbling since he tore his ACL a couple weeks ago, still spends a good amount of time chasing rabbits through the dirt in the yard, then tracking said dirt into the house.

-Toshio...off to stain a carpet...

Meet my maid: Jenifer Morgan. Alas, I've never used a maid service - that's mostly because my house is shoebox-size. But I recently considered calling someone in for advice on scrubbing out the ever-so-revolting grout mold that persists in SF apartments, even if you squeegee after every shower, scrub regularly, or take excessive pains to ventilate.

There's bleach, but, you know, I take baths in there. So my last resort before getting an eco-pro involved: whitening toothpaste. Here I come, Tom's, let's see what that silica can do!

-Jenifer Morgan...off to brush in the shower...

Here in San Francisco, the daffodils are definitely done, and even my lilacs are nearly past their prime.  In much of the rest of the country, however, Spring is just starting to raise its head in shooting crocuses and melting snows and tiny buds.  Makes me feel awake and alive and fresh and refreshed...

But I'm still not gonna spring clean my house.

-Heather... off to sniff my jasmine flowers...

A few weeks ago, I watched a few of the undersea episodes of the amazing Planet Earth series, including the one where they happen upon a vampire squid. So there's a crappy YouTube video of it, but the proper footage from the DVD is far more impactful.

Anyway, it truly blew my mind, changed my perspective on the world just like the idea of black holes or the idea of gravity affecting time.

How does this relate to farm sanctuaries? Well, the fact is that animals are amazing - even the less exotic ones. They make the world more interesting. And it's worth taking the time to notice, even better if you can help them out in the process.

-Jenifer Morgan...off to take a gander at a goose...

There are more than a few reasons why bamboo is great, but be careful before planting a shoot out back. You could unwittingly have just sold your yard to the bamboo devil, since it spreads like wildfire and just will not die. Consider trenches around the roots to keep them from getting out of control. The stalks we have in the office here came from an Ikea warehouse (which had no natural light, mind you) and even after a few long weeks where we didn't water them, they refused to succumb.

-Toshio...off to water the plants...

I have yet to try the Maple Valley sugar for cooking yet, but my first experiment will be maple walnut fudge. I plan to substitute it for both the maple extract and the sugar, since the maple flavor is palpable.

If you've got a sugar/sweetener experiment of your own going, please share it!

-Jenifer Morgan...off to work off a pound so I can replace it with a batch of fudge...

I'm working intently 9-6 (all for you, Heather and Jen), but I do take time out to send the occasional Someecards.com ecard to an officemate. I'll know the recipient has opened the ecard because they'll break the stifling silence that tends to pervade the office with a massive laugh.

They even have some eco-themed ones:

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Exhibit C

Exhibit D

-Toshio...off to get the memo...

PS. See the Biter team make some moves in JibJab ecards here and here.

Think the bad day-trading you've been doing out of your home office is the only thing that's been losing you money? Think again. That cell phone charger you have plugged in perpetually, that wireless printer that is always on - blue light glowing in the night - and that computer you never shut down...they are all culprits in the neverending drain on your bank account.

Unplug, people. Get a surge protector strip with an on/off switch, and click that puppy off whenever you are not in the office.

The end. By Heather.

-Heather...off to sing some "Think of Me" and "Masquerade"...

As I don't live in a 30s Fred Astaire movie (alas), the sweeping floor-length former-bridesmaid number I've got doesn't tend to get much play. Nor does that cute kimono-pattern dress hanging in my closet with the I'm-cutting-off-your-circulation-now sleeves...nor my previously perfect black dress that has a giant snag on the side (inflicted by an evil cab door...aided and abetted by the three host-bar martinis consumed beforehand, no doubt).

Thank god for tailors. Just when you think you might need something new and consider chucking something you actually really like in principle, in they'll swoop, and the best ones - the ones with skill, imagination, good taste, and fair prices - can make you a whole new dress by shortening the hem, clipping off the sleeves, or creatively camouflaging imperfections.

-Jenifer Morgan...off to dress up...

Living on a ranch as a kid meant lots of space to run and lots of pets...and lots of chores. Among the most tedious for me was painting seeming miles of wooden fences with no doubt VOC-rich, toxic white paint. And while my brother probably didn't breathe in an ounce, always conniving friends to do the work while he "supervised" Tom Sawyer-like or penning "IOU three lengths of fence-painting" to his gullible little sister (that, ahem, were never redeemed), I'm pretty sure some cells or other suffered a bit of damage. It explains a lot actually.

In any case, we recently painted the IB office with low-VOC paints from local SF store Spring. We definitely needed to keep the door open, but after about a day and a half, we were enjoying new color and clean-smelling air. Too bad the conventionally painted office next door emanated fumes into the hallway for more than a month. There went another ounce of smarts and/or agility...

-Jenifer Morgan...off to walk in circles mumbling or maybe run into a wall...

There are a lot of things I really miss about living in New York.

But one that I didn't even remember until I was asked to write this blog?  Kosher pickles.  There was this amazing stand in the middle of a dodgy flea market somewhere around NYU.  And occasionally, I'd stumble upon it, and buy the best pickles I've ever eaten, all wrapped up in soggy wax paper and dripping down my arm.

-Heather... off to another day of meetings in LA...

We've posted Radar magazine's "100 ways we're trying to go green" on one of the doors in our SF office.

I think you'll find #63 especially relevant.

-Toshio...off to respond to a million confused emails...