Here are fourteen new additions to the Local Guide – Give ‘em some love!

• Avani Concepts – sustainable building and concrete
• Eco-Deco – eco-friendly paints & flooring
• WOK – World Oriental Kitchen – sustainable dining
• The Dust Bunnies – local green cleaning
• Earth Friendly Landscapes – sustainable landscaping
• MUSC Farmers Market – downtown local food
• Green Street Logistics – eco-friendly delivery services
• Healthy Home Foods – green food delivered to your door
• Stubbs, Muldrow, Herin Architects – LEED certified
• Charleston Waterkeeper Blog – protecting your water
• Little Fish Blog – local green thoughts
• bluesphere: Earth Art Expo – sustainable local art
• The Lap Log – eco-friendly iPad accessories
• Biohabitats – ecological restoration

If your organization or business should be on our guide, just let us know.

Here are six new additions to the Local Guide – Give ‘em some love!

• Artisan Clay Interiors & Painting – all-natural sustainable walls
  
• EcoBilt Energy Systems – residential and commercial alt energy
• GreenBy3 – sustainability consulting for businesses
• Green Roof Outfitters – sustainable roofing
  
• Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Mount Pleasant – LEED!
  
• Sustainable Energy Solutions – clean energy technology
  

If your organization or business should be on our guide, just let us know.

This baby toy from Vulli would be a great gift for that green rug rat in your life, especially if they are teething. Sophie the Giraffe, as she has been known since 1961, is produced manually in France with 100% natural rubber derived from the hevea tree. Our 10-month-old girl definitely found it soothing, and was excited when it would squeak from time to time. You can definitely tell the rubber is natural, as it has a soft, almost moist feel to it. As an added bonus, it came in sustainable packaging. Green-wise, the only problem I see here is that it is imported all the way from France.

If you’re interested, head over to DwellSmart (map) or purchase online.

Note: For the next couple weeks, we will be reviewing products that would make good gifts for the greenie in your life. Our friend Mary Gatch, owner of DwellSmart and local green goddess, provided this product free of charge to our family for review on this website.

• Charleston Moves
• Charleston Parks Conservancy
• Charleston Waterkeeper
• Coastal Conservation League
• Fields to Families
• Lowcountry Earth Force
• Lowcountry Local First
• Sea Island Habitat for Humanity
• South Carolina Aquarium
• SC Green
• SC LEEP
• The Sustainability Institute
• The Sustainable Warehouse

Happy dogooding everyone!

What are you working on eliminating? Oil-based gas, plastic bags, food from far off continents? Bottled water, dirty electricity, resource-intensive meat? Let us know in the new Go Green Poll.

Results from the last Go Green Poll, Summer is here – what sustainable action are you focused on?, can be viewed after the jump >>

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Here are the 14 new additions to the Local Guide – Give ‘em some love!

• Charleston Parks Conservancy – Nonprofit taking care of your parks.
  
• Charleston Park Angels – Charleston Parks Conservancy blog.
  
• Cool Green Fish – Really cool local organic clothes.
• Conservation Voters of SC – Get involved with local green advocacy
  
• Daniel Island Mortgage - Local provider of myEnergyLoan
• Solar Energy Solutions – High quality solar products
  
• Pleasant Details Waterless Division – Eco-friendly vehicle washing
  
• Green Echo – Green consulting and design
  
• The Energy Detective – Local product that can help you save energy.
  
• SC Clean Energy Solutions – Natural energy for clean living
  
• Lowcountry Green Cleaning Services – All natural commercial cleaning
  
• Executive Kitchens – Eco-friendly cabinetry by Executive Kitchens
• Urban Edge Studios – Sustainable community design
  
• Tricycles and Trees – Natural toys, natural living

If your organization or business should be on our guide, just let us know.

Last week, my children and I had a wonderful time riding the Dash around the Charleston Peninsula. I had studied the route map earlier in the morning and figured with three young ones in tow we’d be lucky to catch a ride. It wasn’t luck that helped us, it was the fact that it’s so easy to use!

We trekked through the South Carolina Aquarium and observed the penguins eating their breakfast. Afterwords, as we walked around the fountains, up drove the Dash. The driver was friendly and accommodating (of course, this is Charleston,) he answered my questions and assisted me with the stroller. We were the only passengers. The boys loved the ride to the Visitor’s Center, then we played at the Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry.

The bus stops around the Visitor’s Center are outfitted with benches and shaded by shelters, there are also fountains for entertainment. A posted map might be helpful, but we waited with enthusiasm. This stop was busy with tourism. We then boarded another Dash, another friendly driver greeted us with a cool ride to Waterfront Park, then one more Dash back to the aquarium.

That afternoon, my three year old drew a picture of us riding on the “trolley” through downtown. It truly was easy and fun. The fare was $1.50 for myself, which is definitely worth an air-conditioned ride from site to site while relaxing and chatting with my kids and visiting families (instead of focusing on narrow roads, cyclists with no lanes, sink holes, parking, college kids, let alone tourists!) Thanks CARTA, we will ride the Dash again and again.

When the year is new, you never know what people are going to do. We asked you what your priorities were for 2009, and the results were interesting. At first, supporting the local economy had a strong lead, but in the end, 43% of respondents were going to start the year off rocking reusable bags. Another 28% were focused on consuming less and buying local – one of my personal goals for 2009.

We’re pleased to see that 7%  of you were going to install something solar – hopefully that number will increase in 2010. I was actually surprised that only 1% were looking for an alternative energy vehicle – maybe our readers already own Priuses?

Please take our new Summer action poll on the right. The results for the First Green Project poll are after the jump.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

When I visit places like San Francisco, Portland, Vancouver, and Montreal, I always notice how progressive the airports and hotels seem (I’ve blogged about this here and here). The hotels I stay in always have programs promoting the reuse of towels, recycling bins rooms, and CFLs in all the lights.

That got me thinking about Charleston’s hotels, and what sustainable practices they are using. I decided to call around and ask the major Charleston hotels five simple questions – the results are in the Hotel Scorecard below.

I asked the hotels if they were doing these five simple things…things that cost relatively little money. Sure it would be nice if hotels were using solar energy, collecting rainwater, and composting, but those things are difficult and expensive to implement. I wanted to see if Charleston hotels were doing any of these simple things, because I see other hotels doing them when I travel.

As you can see, the Charleston hotels aren’t doing much at all. I gotta hand it to the Francis Marion Hotel and Embassy Suites for at least using CFLs and encouraging the reuse of towels, but there’s room for improvement across the board. I mean, two of these hotel chains have web pages bragging about their sustainability efforts (see below). I’d like to see the rest of the hotels adopt a couple of these practices, even if it’s just to save money instead of the planet – I’ll take it.

I’d also like to note that the Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn refused to participate in my survey, citing corporate regulations on discussing these things (OK?) If you have connections at any of these hotels, please pass along this information and ask that they green up their hotels. Look for this report to come out again in one year with updated scores.

What do you all think about this?  Should hotels green up their practices, or is it our responsibility when we travel to do it ourselves?

Let the Hotels Know What You Think

Help us tell these hotels that Charleston deserves greener digs, and that they should be doing a better job as hosts to thousands of tourists each year. Two of these hotels have sustainability sections on their websites talking about all the amazing things they are doing – we call that greenwashing, and it’s not enough. Let them know what you think:

Embassy Suites: phone | email | website | sustainability
Charleston Marriott: phone | email | website | sustainability
Charleston Place Hotel: phone | email | website
Francis Marion Hotel: phone | email | website
The Mills House: phone | email | website
The Market Pavilion: phone | email | website