bGreen Mobile Showroom Photo Spread

We wanted to share with you some pictures of the bGreen Mobile Showroom.  You will see the showroom on the streets of Boston and beyond.  If you happen to see the showroom on the road, Tweet or Facebook our location to your friends!  Read more about the bGreen Mobile Showroom here.



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Green Travel to NYC

We were in New York City last weekend.  Man, that city is expensive, busy, and makes me feel happy we live in Boston.  Getting there is not easy, especially if you're considering traveling green and making smart fiscal decisions.



The cost debate:

• Amtrak: $450 round trip for two people.  Acela on the way to NYC, Northeast Regional back to Boston.



• Flying: Prices vary by day/time/weekend, but generally it's not much cheaper than Amtrak. To fly on a weekend mid-April it's $336 per person on JetBlue.  Plus the cost to get into the city.



• Bus: Amenities are nice (bathroom, wifi, etc), and cost is relatively cheap (approx $80 for two people round trip).  Time is the issue.  Last time we took the bus on a Friday night it took nearly 6 hours!



• Driving:  If you've already got the car, it's simply the cost of a tank of gas and tolls (about $75 total).

Generally speaking, the rail systems are going to be your most eco-friendly transportation.  They're transporting a large number of people at once, and operate on a fairly energy efficient system.



A similar debate can be made for flying - transporting a large number of people, fairly efficient.  Short haul flights (Boston to NYC) are mostly on par with rail for emissions and efficiency.



Driving is probably the next best alternative, especially if you can carpool or drive a hybrid.  Kudos if you can do both!



Finally, the bus.  We really don't like the bus.  Depending on your time of travel, the bus can be either one of the most efficient or least efficient methods of transport.  Couple that with the bus being loud and the longest of the travel methods, and we think you're best to just avoid it.



In conclusion, if you're a big spender, go with Amtrak.  You'll love it.  If you're like the remaining 99.99% of the population, we suggest driving from Boston to NYC.

Introducing the bGreen Mobile Showroom

Fresh from the paint shop, we present to you the bGreen Mobile Showroom.  More pictures coming soon!  Thanks to Signs by J for the slick paint job.







Got a green and eco friendly company?  Are you interested in featuring your company's logo and products in the bGreen Mobile Showroom?  Please contact us to explore these opportunities.  Email, Twitter, or old-school phone at 617-910-0880.

Getting Creative with the 3Rs

This is the first entry by our Interior Designer-In-Residence, Janna.  She'll be blogging occasionally about green concepts, products, and of course, design.  We are really looking forward to her contributions on the blog and to bGreen.



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So many of us equate the idea of living green with a method of disposing our trash - the green bin for recyclables and the blue bin for trash (Newton residents are blessed with single-stream recycling).  Living green goes far beyond the way we trash things...  Remember the 3Rs?  That's Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle for those needing a refresher ;)



Recycling is a given - that's the easy part!  Reducing and reusing aren't as easy, but they're higher in terms of waste hierarchy.  I'm amazed at the innovative ways people go about reusing...







via http://www.foldschool.com

Cardboard furniture hand-crafted by none other than - YOU, the consumer!  Architect Nicola Enrico Staubli is inspired by bringing together product and user at an affordable price.







via http://www.paulvillinski.com/

Artist Paul Villinski breathes new life into found beer cans from the streets of New York.  He hand cuts the aluminum trash and creates these airy gorgeous installations - amazing.







via http://www.gizmodo.com/

This is more theory than anything... but creativity credits galore to the hungry nerd who thought this one up!







via http://www.treehugger.com

Not to be tried at home because this one is definitely not up to building code.  Nonetheless, this image is just a glimpse as to how we can reuse just about anything in architecture and design.  Us designers are in the forefront, and often leaders, of the green movement.







via http://www.casasugar.com

Where do these go once their ink runs dry anyway?  Trash.  Unfortunately it's well known that BIC tests on animals, but if you happen to have some of these empties lying around (and are a master glass blower) then go for it!

Top Sellers as of 3/22/2010

Spring is near!  Now is the time to stock up on eco friendly cleaning supplies, prepare for those awesome spring barbecues, and make sure you've got a stock of reusable bags on hand.  Many of our bGreen Top Sellers are prefect for spring.  Check them out below, and you can save 10% off your order using code BLOG10 at checkout.  Happy shopping, and bGreen!

• Skoy Cloths



• EcoDiscoveries Cleaning Kits



• RePETe Chico Bag



• BioBag 45 Gallon Superliner



• Trellis Earth Biodegradable Plates

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Green Mixer Tonight in Boston

Tonight is the first Green Mixer in Boston, being hosted at Cafeteria on Newbury Street.  The Green Mixer is geared towards bringing together Boston's local sustainably oriented companies (like bGreen) with eco conscious consumers around town.  The event looks like it will be a great success.



Unfortunately, we are unable to attend tonight, as we have a prior engagement.  HOWEVER, we have donated two $25 bGreen Gift Certificates for the raffle.  So we'll be there in spirit, and look forward to hearing all about the event.  Oh, and we look forward to the lucky winners having a nice mini shopping spree at bgreenlifestyle.com!

Confessions of a former SUV Owner, Part Deux

Well, a week has gone by and I have a car. It was a stressful process but I found the perfect car for my life right now. I am now the proud owner of a 2007 Mini Cooper. It had every extra feature I could have ever wanted and was right in my budget range(15k max). The first week in my Mini has been great. I've fit into parking spots I wouldn't have even taken a second look at with my Jeep. Best of all though,  the MPG is unbelievable! It seems  like I'll never have to fill this car up.



I have learned a lot from this car search. In fact, I think it has changed the way I will shop for a car in the future. I did the majority of my shopping online and only went to see a car if met my needs, which made car shopping so much easier. Rather than spending a day going in and out of dealerships,  I could see everything in an hour right from my desk. I was also shocked when I was able to negotiate the price over email. It made my visit to the dealer a much more pleasant one!  (Yes, I still tried to get more off at the dealer, who wouldn't?). The bottom line? Well,  there's a few things:

1. The online world is still changing the way we shop and will continue to do so (we like this and are trying to change the way you shop for home products)



2. Think about your lifestyle BEFORE you get a car. I went from an SUV to a Mini and it hasn't changed my life adversely at all. Why did I need all the space? In retrospect, I have absolutely no idea – possibly helping friends move. Guess what friends? Move it yourself (I still love you and will give you rides in my Mini but I am no longer the guy with a big car).



3. Be smart about the big purchases you make in your life. If you're spending a lot of money on an item, you have every right to be sure you feel comfortable about what you purchase. I walked out on more than one salesperson who was trying to bully me into a car I didn't want. Can't help but think about bGreen in this regard. One of our main goals is to give you the best shopping experience. We want you to be happy with what you buy!

For some perspective, check out this photo/sticker of my old car and new car.

How much for that car in the window?

I have a confession to make. Until 2 months ago, I was a card carrying SUV owner. Yes, a member of the bGreen team had an SUV. This had been weighing on me for some time. How could I be telling people to be green and then hop in my SUV to drive around? I justified it because I got it almost 10 years ago before I knew gas prices would rise or even understood what the repercussions were for driving around that gas guzzling machine. I wanted to get rid of it, but new cars are expensive, so my best option was to stick with what I had for as long as I could.



My SUV was a problem, but thanks to an accident (everyone is fine, thankfully) I have been given a clean slate. So now I am car-less and SUV-free but trying to decide what my next car will be. For a while I thought maybe Zipcar could fill my needs. I have been using Zipcar and it has been great. "Wheels when I want them" is a very accurate description of their services. However, for my needs a full time car is needed. I make many weekend trips and need a car too often to rely on Zipcar solely.



Let's get to the heart of the matter though. I am prematurely shopping for a new car. I hadn't saved for a new car at all and promised myself when I did get a new car I would get a hybrid or very fuel efficient car. Now my car shopping experience is being "driven" by price more than anything else. I had no car payment and now I need to decide: do I get an old cheap car I can pay for outright or do I go up a little and get more options and a newer car (with car payments)?



It's a MAJOR dilemma and everyday I go back and forth on what I should do. I really want a fuel efficient small car with nice options but the sad reality is that I have a budget of 15k, pricing me out of my requirements. For a budget of 15k or less, there is a very limited selection of cars I can go with if I want new. So far I have looked at the following cars: Honda Fit 2009, Mini Cooper 2007, Mazda 3 2008, Toyota Prius 2007, Ford Focus 2009. All these cars come in around 15k and have decent options. I have narrowed the searched down to the Mini for Focus. They seem to give me the most bang for my buck, are small, and fuel efficient.



In researching my car purchase it seems like there are going to be many more cars in the small, fuel efficient category in the next few years. We just have to be patient. Many big car companies are finally bringing cars here that have been successful in Europe. For example, in June Ford will launch the Fiesta which has been a big hit in Europe. It's sad to realize but greed took over innovation in the American car industry. Car quality and variety slipped. However, we seem to be on our way back up.



For now it will be a Mini or a Focus. I'll update this post when I make my final purchase. Hopefully soon.

Top Sellers Through 3/8/2010

Every two weeks we publish our best selling products for the prior two weeks.  It always interesting to see what the trends are.  Obviously Spring is right around the corner, and it seems people have cleaning on the mind.  You can find our top sellers and all our great green and eco friendly products at bgreenlifestyle.com.



Top Sellers Through 3/8/2010

1. Twist Naked Sponges



2. Skoy Cloths



3. RePETe Chico Bag



4. Bite Reusable Bags



5. EcoDiscoveries Cleaning Kits

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LivingHomes

Tonight we went to see Steve Glenn, CEO of LivingHomes, speak on sustainability and prefabricated homes. The event was hosted at the South End Design Within Reach Studio.



In our opinion, there should be a trend towards prefabricated homes. There are cost savings, environmental savings, and scalability savings to be had by choosing a prefab home. Steve Glenn and the team at LivingHomes are adding an incredible element of modern design to their homes. Needless to say, we were envious of LivingHomes's homes.



We asked Steve if his homes could be implemented in an urban environment.  His answer was "of course."  In fact, many of their current projects are in the heart of San Francisco.  While I don't see this particular application being accepted (or logistically possible) in Boston proper, I image Brookline and Cambridge could be amazing places for one of these homes.  Cost-wise, we calculated you could build a 1,500 sq. ft. LivingHomes home for around $450,000 - $600,000.  Not bad!



If you can catch Steve on his Sustainability speaking tour it's worth taking the time to check it out. A list of his next stops is here.



We also really suggest you take a look at the LivingHomes website.  Their home customizer is amazing.  Similar to building your own car, you can customize everything about the house, see how it impacts your budget, and see how it impacts your LEED certification.  All the LivingHomes are built to AT LEAST(!) LEED Sliver standards.  Amazing stuff and a good take tonight.

The Whole Scoop on Whole Foods in Dedham, MA - Part 2

Yesterday we wrote a little post about how awesome the food and products at Whole Foods at Legacy Place in Dedham, MA are.  Well, today we want to tell you why the store itself is so awesome.  This is the real reason behind this two part post.  Whole Foods is a green market.  Like really green.  Whole Foods is taking amazing initiative with regards to being green.  They are clearly an industry leader in their thinking and actions.  You can read all about their green efforts on the "Green Action" section of their website.  It's really impressive.  From seeking alternative energy sources to simply recycling their cardboard to even printing with soy ink, their efforts are not going unnoticed.



At the Whole Foods at Legacy Place, there are signs everywhere telling you what makes the market so green (check out the pictures in the gallery below).  Here's a small snapshot of what they've done in the construction and running of their market:

• Added windows and 16 skylights to allow more natural light, reducing energy consumption



• Checkout stands are made with Marmoleum



• Painted the walls with 0% VOC paint



• All the wood is FSC certified



• The toilet partitions are made from recycled milk jugs (a personal favorite)



• They offer and use green cleaning supplies



• All the food containers are either recyclable, compostable or reusable



• They've used products like Trikeenan tiles and Lumicor resin panels



• The roof of the building houses an 80kW solar installation



• Even the receipt/register tape is made from recycled material



• And the list goes on and on and on

We were really excited to see all this effort put in to the construction of the market.  Not only will you feel good from the food you buy there, but you can feel good about the environment that Whole Foods has created.  Many of the products Whole Foods used in their construction process are available in consumer versions, and will be available via the bGreen showroom this Spring.  If you're interested in greening your own home, give us a shout.  We're here to help you "bGreen."



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The Whole Scoop on Whole Foods in Dedham, MA - Part 1

We live in Boston and rarely do our food shopping outside the city.  We're big fans of never getting in the car and supporting our local neighborhoods (South End and North End).  In the South End, we do most of our shopping at Foodie's Urban Market, Don Otto's Market (formerly Lionette's), and the South End Formaggio.  In the North End, we're not even sure the places we shop have names, but they're great nonetheless.  These places serve us well, but sometimes we just want to check out what's happening at the big box markets, particularly Whole Foods.



Recently we had to head out of the city (cringe) and check out the new Legacy Place in Dedham, MA.  Legacy Place also happens to be the home of the largest Whole Foods Market in the country (so we're told).  Well, we've got major hots for the Bowery Whole Foods in New York City, which is so awesome it'll make your head spin, so we were most excited to see what Dedham, MA had to offer.



Surprisingly, the Dedham market doesn't feel that huge.  Maybe it's the layout, or that it's all on one floor, but it just doesn't feel that overwhelming.  The prepared foods section is awesome, and puts others we've seen to shame.  There's food ranging from Mediterranean to Mexican to Gelato to fresh baked bread.  Really awesome, and if we lived in the area, it would be possible to never cook again.  The rest of the store is equally impressive, with an amazing variety to choose from.  The fresh fish selection looked good, but nothing compared to the Bowery market.  The fish market had maybe ten types of fish, while the Bowery market always seems like it has 25.  This was surprising considering how important seafood is in the Boston area.  The cheese and meats section looked fantastic, and there was a good bit of samples out to try...a major plus to any market. This Whole Foods also has a very nice wine selection, and although the staff was incredibly friendly and helpful, they just weren't that knowledgeable about the wines.  No biggie, though.  The good prices more than made up for it.



All in all, a great market that we're incredibly envious of.  There's been talk of bringing a Whole Foods to Boston's South End, but I'm not sure I see this happening.  Anyway, this post was going to be about how green the Legacy Place Whole Foods is, but I think we'll save that for tomorrow.  Stay tuned.