Airports and receptacles

Finally!! An airport that puts a recycling bin right by the screening area, where most people dump their beverages! Good job, Sea-Tac! They got a pat on the back earlier this year for their recycling efforts. Thumbs-up to this part:

Also during the past year, the airport published an Environmental Strategy Plan which identifies airport sustainability efforts over the next five years, including specific waste reduction and recycling goals that will be used as benchmarks to measure our progress.

And then Sea-Tac stumbles: free-standing trash bins

Why not just make these combo set-ups the norm?

Disposal station at the Hubert Humphrey Airport (which also had free-standing trash bins)

And then closer to home: the Central Library in downtown Minneapolis. Co-worker Carolyn pointed out that having the universally recognized recycling symbol on the Waste container is confusing. Quite right.

Off to TerraCycle they go

While we were on our trip, my mom sorted thousands of granola-bar wrappers, candy wrappers, cookie wrappers, juice pouches and chip bags for TerraCycle. What a mom, huh??

Below: the fruits of her labor

There's about 800 chip bags stuffed into here.

About 400 juice pouches in here.

It's hard to tell in the photo, but these granola bar wrappers are exploding out of their box.

Coffee bags

Six boxes and one envelope ready to be dropped off at the UPS Store. Thanks, Mom!! You saved me hours of work!

Cool Minnesota GreenCorps gear

I got my Minnesota GreenCorps gear today. The T-shirt is AnvilOrganic, which is 100 percent organic cotton, and the hoodie is AnvilSustainable, which is 50 percent organic cotton, 50 percent recycled PET polyester. Read more on their website. They also have an AnvilRecycled line, made from pre-consumer fibers and clippings. A big company doing good things, Anvil was recently ranked the sixth-largest organic program in the world by the Organic Exchange.

Two cool eco-friendly stores in Seattle

Goods for the Planet in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle is chock full of green goodness. Their website says "you'll find familiar basics and things you didn't know existed," and it's true. The store's selection and variety is huge.

Kitchen and bath section
Children's section

They have a whole section of recycled-paper office goods, the first time I've seen such a big selection in a home store.

Compostable serviceware as well as Preserve products

Gardening section

THE best soap dispenser ever. The wide bottom means it doesn't topple over and break in your sink, and the ridged neck makes it easy to pick up with two fingers while pushing down on the pump with one other finger. We bought our dispenser in Wyoming, so I'm glad to know it's in Seattle, too. Made from recycled glass, of course.

Hanging from the ceiling

Ty shower curtain, which I hadn't seen before. It's made of #2 plastic, which won't off-gas like vinyl and is widely recyclable.

Sign above the trash: To the landfill. I'll be copying this idea!




NuBe Green is in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, and carries artsier (and pricier) items than Goods for the Planet. Not only is every item made in the U.S., but the material for every item is either U.S.-grown or U.S.-sourced.




GreenStyled bags, made in San Francisco, are made from produce bags with cool labels.

Alchemy Goods' bags are made from recycled vinyl banners, with handles from recycled seatbelts and grips from recycled bicycle tubes. Made in Seattle.


I like the grips


A fun poof ball made from T-shirts

Alberta Co-op Grocery in Portland boldly goes where others fear to tread

In our germ-phobic, douse-everything-with-antibacterials world, it's nice to see some stores are still willing to allow a container swap. Using antibacterials such as triclosan kills off the harmless germs, leaving the really nasty ones to flourish and open up a can of whoop ass on us, says the New York Times (though not in those exact words).

The Alberta Co-op Grocery is in the Alberta Arts District of Portland. The Ft. Collins Food Co-op in Colorado lets you leave clean containers for others to use, too.


Bulk foods section

An impressive array of bulk spices

EcoTrust Building

Constructed as an industrial warehouse in 1895, the Ecotrust Building (Jean Vollum Natural Capital Center) in the Pearl District is a really awesome renovated LEED gold-certified building, the first restoration of a historic building nationwide to be awarded such a high designation. It's one of those buildings that you could spend hours in, with natural light pouring in from the skylight and big windows. How'd you like this to be your office building!? There's even Laughing Planet Cafe, Hot Lips Pizza and Patagonia off the atrium.

The back of the building. A farmers market is held in the parking lot every Thursday during the summer.

Front entrance. More than 98 percent of the construction waste was recycled or reclaimed. Read all about the materials used in the building here. It's quite extensive.

Atrium
The public has access to this wonderful space.

I love these cubicles.

Imagine spending your lunch breaks out here in the summer.

I loved the ecoroof! It's the first time I've seen one in person.

A sea of succulents.

Stormwater runoff from the roof and parking lot drains into bioswales.

Delicious eats of Seattle and Portland

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you these pictures of yumminess. This post's for you, John J. (Above: Tasty, tasty, tasty ramen from Samurai Noodle.)

Fish sandwich from Paseo Caribbean Restaurant in Seattle

Toulouse Petit in Seattle has a breakfast happy hour, when all breakfast dishes are $6 each. To die for.

Spicy Creole shrimp with eggs and creamy grits

Cured pork cheeks confit hash

El Camion food cart in Seattle

The masa in this pork tamale was so tasty and smooth.

Fish tacos. Delectable.

Bi bim bap from Number 1 Bento Korean food cart in Portland

Khanom jiin kaeng khiaw waan luuk chin plaa from Pok Pok in Portland

Shrimp po boy from Bubba Bernie's food cart in Portland

cappuccino from Stumptown Coffee Roasters

Nong's Khao Man Gai food cart in Portland

Nong's chicken and rice is her sole offering and specialty, and rightly so. All the pleasure centers of my brain lit up while eating this wonderful dish, and the broth you get with the chicken and rice sealed the deal. I was happy for hours afterward.