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Mountain Rose Herbs, a small Organic herb, spice and tea company in Oregon, recently launched a new carpooling and bicycling program that might be the best I’ve read about in my time writing green stories.

From their site:

Mountain Rose Herbs offers one of the nations finest carpool and cycling programs which pays substantial cash incentives to all employees who either carpool or bicycle to work.
Currently we pay staff members who carpool to work 12 cents per mile for each passenger, and for those who bicycle to work, we currently pay 20 cents per mile.
In addition to this we offer a $500.00 bonus at the end of each year to the individual who has logged the most passenger miles. As we are all aware, excess automobile usage is an environmental burden with consequences of great magnitude. Driving cars requires unsustainable and non-renewable resources; while simultaneously contributing to the growing problem of Co2 emissions and global climate change and we feel this carpool and bicycling program works in a small part to alleviate these problems.

Hey bikers!  Can you imagine getting paid 20 cents a mile to ride your bike to work?  If you log 5000 miles (not out of the norm for a lot of commuters) you’d clear $1K on top of all the other benefits of bicycle commuting.

Now there is a company that puts it’s money where it’s mouth is.

Check out their site for a whole list of amazing sustainable actions they’ve taken.  It’s really quite astounding what they’ve been doing.

If you aren’t already, you need to check out the Urban Sustainable Living Magazine published by the Garden Girl.  It’s delivered to your inbox (free!) every month, or two, and it’s chocked full of good useful information each and every time.

Their website is even interactive featuring videos with Mel Bartholomew discussing Sq Foot Gardening, among other topics.

This month they are discussing honey, sheet mulching and composting, among other topics.  (You can see this month’s cover to the left)

Check it out when you get a chance.

(If you have a chance, you can search for the Garden Girl in our video library as well)

I was given the opportunity to try out the latest offerings from Graze Organic – their line of sandwich and lunch bags, as well as their napkins.  After using them for a week, I can recommend trying out a set for yourself.  Of course switching from reusable containers to reusable bags took a little adjusting for me.  However, I quickly got over the fact that instead of emptying my lunch bag into the dishwasher, they went into the clothes washer.  After 3 washes the bags appear to be durable and should hold up well over the long run.

We put the napkins out for a dinner party last Sunday, and the guests (and my wife) liked them a lot.  We especially like the black dog napkins.  (Who is that Diggs?  They should tell the story on the webpage.)  The ant ones?  not as big of a hit, at least in our household…

The price is admittedly a little steep, $24 for a set of 3 bags or for a set of 4 napkins.  However, they would make a great gift, and will give you years of guilt-free lunch time snacking. The artwork is great, and silk-screened by hand.  From the site:

We use only 100% certified organic cotton. All the artwork is done with water based inks, each silkscreened by hand. And everything is made locally to keep the carbon footprint light. Sure, we could have made our bags much cheaper with conventional chemical laced cotton and heavy metal dyes. But then that would defeat the purpose, don’t you think?

Stop by the Graze Organic site today to view their entire collection.  Thanks to Heather and Leslie for the opportunity to try out their fine product!

My wife was recently given the opportunity to try out the new Keds Green Label sneakers.  These Keds feature organic cotton, partially recycled materials, and nickel-free eyelets.  Here’s the full scoop from their website:

Friendly organic cotton uppers for a healthier environment

Recycled rubber to help reduce waste; We use 20% recycled rubber in our outsoles

Eye-catching colors made from non-toxic inks & dyes that help decrease the harmful impact to our atmosphere

Nickel free eyelets, ISO-9001 certified factory and recycled insoles

Shoe laces made from 100% recycled PET (water bottles)

The shoes arrived about two weeks ago, and they came right out of the (post-consumer recycled corrugated cardboard) box and onto her feet.  Since then, they’ve been on walks, working on the lawn, and veggie garden.  They look well worn already.  That is a seal of approval!  She says that the shoes are light and very comfortable.

Keds has been making shoes for over 93 years now.  It is excellent to see them offer a environmentally friendly alternative.

The lace up shoes come in white, black, green, and white.  The Meadow Moc shoes come in light blue or white.  All are available for $55.00 (as of July 23, 2009).  Until July 27th, enter the code “SAVETEN” at checkout for $10 off and free shipping!

They are available online, or look for them in a shoe store near you.

Shop for Green Label Keds here.

If you’ve ever lived in or visited Ithaca, NY your probably familiar with the phrase “Ithaca is gorges”. It’s a funny little saying that gives a good indication of the region’s topography — hills, hills, and steeper hills. In fact, the inclines we have around here would make even Lance Armstrong break a sweat. So, it was with great expectation that I took advantage of an opportunity to review the IZIP Trekking Enlightened hybrid-electric bicycle from Currie Technologies. Could it be possible to bike to work and not immediately have to take another shower?

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Back in June of last year, we dropped the story that harvesting rain water in Colorado was actually an illegal activity. We commented on just how dumb this law was — and over 100 comments later, many of you agreed. Almost a year later, the Colorado legislature has revised the draconian law to give some homeowners rights the water that falls from their roofs. But not everyone will be happy. From the article,

If you live in the city, don’t install a barrel under your gutter spout just yet. The legislation lets residents on wells collect rain and establishes 10 pilot projects for new developments. Residents on municipal water still can’t legally collect rain, and water suppliers are leery of legislation that would let them. “All the water was spoken for here in the Arkansas Basin 100 years ago or more,” said Kevin Lusk, water supply engineer for Colorado Springs Utilities. “If the water falls as rain, that’s water that was going to get to the stream system, and somebody already has dibs on it, and if somebody intercepts that, it’s the same as stealing.”

The same as stealing? Give me a break. If a homeowner owns property, they should have rights to use the water that falls on that parcel. “If you can just use what’s coming out of the sky, it saves energy costs, it saves transportation costs, and ultimately, at the end of the day, it should save us on using forms of water that have to be treated,” said CO State Rep. Marsha Looper, R-Calhan. I agree with her 100%.

Even with the new laws, you’ll still need to fill out a stupid application if you’d like to legally collect rainwater on your property. For more details on how to jump through the hoops, click here.

I have a healthy appreciation for Worm Bins after managing to get through a winter with a DIY version in my basement. Those little red wigglers made fast work of my food scraps and were a nice alternative to trudging to the compost pile in the cold. Plus, the “instant compost” went right into the soil mix for my seedlings and proved a nice boost for spring planting. However, I know my system rather sucks — not enough aeration, poor drainage, and no easy way to access the all-valued “worm tea”. There are plenty of excellent instructions for making your own worm bin online (I took over my current bin from a friend) — but I thought it would worth it highlighting some of the brands out there for those that want to get started right away.

Can-O-Worms | Price: $129.00 (can probably find it cheaper) | Buy it

The Can-O-Worms is a nice multi-level, circular vermicomposter that can easily be used indoors or out. Made from 100% recycled materials and a 20,000 worm capacity! Said one reviewer, “One minor drawback is the little plastic tap on the bottom of the can did wear out, and we had to buy a new bin, but 7 years is a pretty good lifetime for a $99 investment. Also, the little holes between the levels sometimes get clogged, but occasional cleaning (take out the tray and spray it with a hose) minimize this issue.”

Gusanito Worm Farm (3, 4, 5-tray) | Price: Depends on # of trays. Lowest is $69.95 | Buy it

The Gusanito seems to be a nice “boxy” worm bin — with the option for several trays for expansion. You fill the bottom tray with worms (can hold 10K-12K) and kitchen scraps — and they little wigglers slowly make their way up through the other trays; leaving behind their valuable casings. Once again, this bin comes from 100% recycled plastic and carries a bonus 5-year warranty. Said one reviewer, “This bin looks good in the kitchen, is more than easy to use and my worms are very happy in it. It has large trays so you can keep using it for a good while before paying it any attention (like removing completed compost). The bottom collects “worm tea” which your plants will love and the lid keeps uglies out of sight but is well ventilated for the worms. And it’s true: no flies, no stink, nada.”

Beauticious Bamboo Worm Bin | Price: The Mercedes of the worm bin world will set you back $895 | Temporarily Sold Out

This worm bin comes to us from the online store of celebrity Daryl Hannah. Sure, it’s probably the “prettiest” vermicomposter out there, but it costs a laugh-inducing $895. If you’re ready to drop that kind of cash on a worm bin, I’ve got a gold-plated compost tumbler out back that I’d love for you to see. Still, there must be some people out there with deep, green pockets as this item is already sold out. Hit the site for more info.

When you hear the words “rain collector”, the first thing that probably comes to mind are of barrels next to gutters. A company called Second Rain, however, thought that there might be a more aesthetic way to capture water — and as they say on their site “No offense to rain barrels, but they’re not easy to sit on.”

Hence, their multi-use rainwater collection system was born. Each “box of rain” holds about 40 gallons of water and is made from durable, 98% recycled premium grade HDPE plastic (2% is UV & color additive). They are also modular (so you can easily connect another unit) and include liner, fittings, adapters, valve, and tubing needed to connect to a garden hose.

Obviously, the greatest benefit to using a second rain system is that you can easily hide it within a patio. The demonstration design on their homepage shows that such a setup can store 495 gallons of water.

The major downside is that each of these boxes costs $299 — which for a 40 gallon capacity is quite expensive. You’re obviously paying more for the modular and aesthetic options this system gives you. But for those that want a certain look, perhaps Second Rain might be just the product they’re looking for.

Check out more details and pictures over on their website here.

Citizen journalism, open government, status updates, community building, information sharing, crowdsourcing, and the election of a President.

Editor’s note: This is the first guest post from Max Gladwell.

Our children will inherit a world profoundly changed by the combination of technology and humanity that is social media. They’ll take for granted that their voices can be heard and that a social movement can be launched from their laptop. They’ll take for granted that they are connected and interconnected with hundreds of millions of people at any given moment. And they’ll take for granted that a black man is or was President of the United States.

What’s most profound is that these represent parts of a greater whole. They represent a shift in power from centralized institutions and organizations to the People they represent. It is the evolution of democracy by way of technology, and we are all better for it.

For most of us, social media has changed our lives in some meaningful way. Collectively it is changing the world for good. Given the pace of innovation and adoption, change has become a constant. Every so often we find the need to stop and reflect on its most recent and noteworthy developments, hence the following list.

Please note this is not a top-10 list, nor are these listed in any particular order. It’s also incomplete. So we ask that you add to this conversation in the comments. If you’d like to Retweet this post or take the conversation to Twitter or FriendFeed, please use the hashtag #10Ways.

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In what’s surely the most expensive freebie I’ve ever heard of, a development in France is offering a free Tesla Roadster in ever driveway for every person that purchases one of their new luxury green villas. Since my French is terrible, I’m going to rely on the folks over at Autobloggreen to shed some light on the details:

Although its exact location is not yet known, it’s rumored to be not far away from Paris and it will be outfitted with all kinds of amenities, from a heliport to green technologies such as solar panels, geotermal units and biologic waste water management. However, sinte the estate market is not exactly at its peak, the sellers have decided to offer an little additional bait to potential buyers: a Tesla Roadster in the garage for those who choose the “green package.” If nothing else, this confirms to us these houses are not going to be cheap.

No kidding — but a sweet deal for the mega-rich nonetheless.

Autobloggreen via Le Blog Auto