June 2010

  • How to Reuse Coffee Grounds

    By sarajean on 6/30/10 6:11pm
    2 Comments

    As our family gets deeper and deeper into environmental alternatives and a greener lifestyle, I’m learning so many super cool things. One thing I recently learned about was how to reuse coffee grounds. We don’t make coffee very often in our home—usually when I have to be up for a long time, or if we have company—but when we do, we have plenty of grounds leftover to use in these projects…

    Fertilizing Plants: Apparently the makeup of coffee grounds makes them an excellent fertilizer! As a bonus, they’re not as stinky as many other fertilizers, either (though I will argue with you to the death over the beautiful aroma of our earthy compost!).

    Read more >

  • It's Iced Coffee Season!

    By erika on 6/30/10 3:40pm
    Add Comment

    Hooray for summer!  Here in the Pacific Northwest, summer doesn't really get under way until July 4th, so this weekend is the official start of our season.  Although I realize that in a lot of the country, it's been over 80 degrees since March or so.  We start the iced beverage season late up here.  But since we invented coffee, what we say goes, right?  (Kidding!)

    There are a lot of subtleties to making a good cup of iced coffee.  As you may have noticed if you ever tried to just pour day-old brewed coffee over some ice and call it "iced coffee."  (Surely I'm not the only one who has tried to do that?)  


    Read more >

  • France Football Public Flogging

    By dfunzy on 6/30/10 4:04am
    Add Comment

    "Shame, eternal shame, nothing but shame."

    The French are engaging in public flogging.

    Read more >

  • 5 (Other) Ways to Green Airline Travel

    By ecoscott on 6/25/10 8:58pm
    Add Comment

    I’m traveling today, so I’m thinking a lot about airports. I’ve always wished that airports were more fun- like, there could be a climbing wall, or a slide or something (actually, I saw a slide installed at an airport in Europe as part of a guerrilla marketing campaign, so there’s hope!). But today I’ve been thinking more about how they can be greener. We all know that airplane travel is one of the most impactful things that someone can do on the Earth, that it is a gigantic part of your carbon footprint- like this is the arch, and everything else you do is the toes. But there are countless ways to make the act of flying greener without waiting around for bio- to make it into jet fuel. Here are a few thoughts:

    ON THE PLANE:

    Read more >

  • The New Starbucks Frappuccino

    By erika on 6/23/10 4:07pm
    Add Comment

    I could tell today was going to be a lovely day, so I packed it up and headed to Starbucks for my first Frappuccino of the season.  I was excited about the nice weather (72 and sunny, does it get any better?) and eager to try the newly overhauled Frappuccino.


    Read more >

  • Starbucks Doubleshot Energy Drink

    By erika on 6/20/10 1:20pm
    Add Comment

    I have to admit, I was pretty skeptical about the Doubleshot energy drink.  I imagined it being something like that wretched coffee flavored cola they came out with a few years ago, Coke Black.  OH GOD IT WAS AWFUL.  It was literally Coke with the flavor of coffee added.  VERY BAD.


    Read more >

  • Bargain Coffee Round-Up

    By erika on 6/17/10 2:29pm
    Add Comment

    You know I love a bargain.  (I'm not cheap; I'm THRIFTY.)  Unfortunately I also love good coffee.  And sadly, good coffee is usually pretty expensive!  Here's a run-down on some of my bargain coffee experiences over the last few years.


    Read more >