Go Green Charleston • Your Local Guide for Sustainable Living, Environmental News, Community Action » Local Produce

New Additions to the Go Green Local Guide

Chad Norman — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 18:31:42 +0000

It’s been a while since we updated the Go Green Charleston Local Guide, and we’ve got a ton of new additions for you. Thanks for helping us keep the directory curated with top-notch local green options. With over 150 entries and new categories, we’re excited to see the local scene grow by leaps and bounds.

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.

Awesome Local Seasonal Foods Calender

Chad Norman — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 18:48:47 +0000

Like a lot of you, we try to buy local seasonal food as often as possible. Sometimes when cruising the Farmers Market or Whole Foods, it’s hard to tell what is actually seasonal AND local. And then there’s the problem of what to do with certain items, as any participant in the Ambrose CSA will tell you (I’m from Indiana – collards are what again?)

Thank goodness Cameron over at Cottage Industrialist has the same problem AND enough gumption to do something about it. Check out this amazing local seasonal food calender that you can print out and enjoy for free! It features produce that is seasonally available locally for each month, but also gives you recipe ideas and encouragement (Only two more months of Winter!) Be sure to check it out and get cooking!

Go Green Poll :: What Are You Reducing?

Chad Norman — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 21:52:31 +0000

A big part of charting our family’s progress is keeping track of the “since we’ve used” items (3 years since we’ve used paper napkins, 2.5 years since we’ve used plastic bags, 2 years since we’ve used bottled water, etc). There seem to be many things that end of up in the landfill after once use, and most of these we really don’t need. Reducing our use of these things can greatly decrease the impact of our lives.

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.

Meeting Jacki Baer from Fields to Families

Jennifer Norman — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:47:54 +0000

Zoe and I had the absolute pleasure of volunteering a few hours of our time for Fields to Families. I was introduced to this non-profit through two of Chad’s coworkers, who are on the board, and I instantly wanted to help. After looking at my schedule and capabilities, I decided helping at a booth at the Mt Pleasant Farmer’s Market would fit.

Jacki Baer is the founder – I wouldn’t guess her age, but I would guess she has the energy of a woman in her thirties. Jacki is passionate and meticulous. Zoe and I loved getting to know her and her organization. To witness her informing inquiring patrons that Fields for Families delivered over 80,000 pounds of fresh produce to the needy was truly inspiring.

There are many volunteer opportunities available, from gleaning the fields with your kids, to chatting about their cause with friends. This Tuesday, June 30, Whole Foods is donating 5% of their total sales for that day to Fields to Families. Stop by the booths at local farmer’s markets too, check their blog often, and take notice of this non-profit, I hope it grows (I couldn’t resist.)

Hope to see you in the fields!

New Additions to the Go Green Local Guide

Chad Norman — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 19:41:59 +0000

Local businesses, organizations, people, growers, and movements are the heart and soul of every local green scene. The Go Green Local Guide is a great place to look for local eco-friendly options (check the sidebar…down and to the right → ↓ )

Lately we’ve had local food on the brain, so I was able to add Legare Farms, Jeremiah Farm and Blue Dog Farms to the guide. If you’re trying to make some changes to your home or office, we’ve added Carolina’s Eco-Unit and SolarTEK Energy of Charleston. Learn to cook slow and natural at Slow Food Charleston, or hire Green Irene to help make your home as green as it can be. We’ve also added MESSA, the C of C’s environmental graduate program that has been doing amazing work locally.

We also want to give a shout out to TheDigitel, the local news site that is pure Charleston. If you like to consume your daily news online, live or die by your smart phone, and appreciate smart enthusiastic reporting, TheDigitel is the local news source you’ve been looking for. And don’t forget, gobbling your news up digitally saves trees! We’re proud to be a bronze sponsor this week…thanks Ken!

10 Reasons to Eat Local this Year

Chad Norman — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 04:30:54 +0000

Eating locally produced food is a key ingredient to a sustainable future. The authors of Plenty learned that while eating only food from local farmers can be rewarding and delicious, it was also exstremely difficult in our world of Magellean-like meals.

Lowcountry Local First advocates for all local businesses, and knows that true sustainabilty requires all of us to think before we buy – and buy locally when we can. If you’ve been thinking about going local with your grub, Lowcountry Local First has 10 reasons why you should make the change in 2009:

Support your local farmers – shop the farmers markets and look and ASK for local produce at the grocers. Most conventional food travels an average of 1,500 miles before it hits the plate!
Local is FRESHER and TASTIER – there is an abundance of great local produce.
Eating Locally is Better for the Environment – lower your carbon foot print by eating locally. An Iowa State University study found that people who switched to buying 10% of their produce from local sources produced 5-17 times less CO2 overall.

Support the Local Economy – keep money circulating in our community
Supports Sustainable Land Use – supporting local farms keeps our land productive as farms and not houses!
Eating Seasonally is Better for your Health!
Free Range and Pastured Meat tastes better – See our in print and online Directory of Local Business to find some great local meat producers
It’s our heritage and how our parents, grandparents, and great grandparents ate!
Makes for great dinner conversation!
A chance to stop and be Thankful for the EARTH that our food comes from, the RAIN and the SUN that help it grow, and the FARMER who plants the seeds and nurtures the crop.

Buy Local Week Starts Today!

Chad Norman — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:37:16 +0000

Buy Local Week is upon us, and Lowcountry Local First is on the case! They are sponsoring several events this week to raise awareness around local businesses, growers, and manufacturers located here in the Lowcountry. Supporting the local community is a huge part of going green, as it reduces the carbon footprint of our purchased goods when they come from down the street.

There are several events associated with Buy Local Week, so get out and do what you can to support this great initiative.

Tuesday, December 2: Give Local Holiday Bazaar
Wednesday, December 3: Eat Local Night
Thursday, December 4: Screening of “Independent America”
Sunday, December 7: Buy Local, Be Local Bash

That all sounds very exciting! Get out and buy some local stuff this week, particularly locally grown food. Here are a few businesses and growers who are offering locally grown food (see list below).

Here are some places to get locally grown food:

Buy Local Week Starts December 1st

Chad Norman — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 14:41:53 +0000

As most of you know, buying local food is one of the best things you can do to lead a more sustainable life. Fresh food travels an average of 2000 miles to reach our plates, which means eating locally grown food can really make an impact.

To bring awareness to local businesses and growers, Lowcountry Local First is launching a Buy Local Week campaign. The week-long even begins December 1st, and includes many ways to participate:

Locally this holiday campaign will include a Give Local Holiday Bazaar, viewing of the documentary film Independent America at the Terrace Theater, Eat Local Night and a Local Hero contest. The week will end with the BUY LOCAL, BE LOCAL BASH on December 7th at beautiful Lowndes Grove!

That all sounds very exciting! We’ll have more info coming as Buy Local Week approaches, so until then feel free to support some of the business and growers who are offering locally grown food (see list below).

Here are some places to get locally grown food:

5th Annual Sustainable Seafood Festival

Chad Norman — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 19:08:28 +0000

This Sunday, October 26th, the SC Aquarium will be hosting the 5th Annual Sustainable Seafood Festival at the Charleston Maritime Center. The festival celebrates the sustainability of our local seafood, one of the many green advantages we have here in the Charleston-area. This is a great chance to have some fun AND get your green on!

Admittance to the event is free between 12 noon and 6 p.m., and many local restarants and chefs will be on hand with tasty treats for sale. Visit their website, or call 843) 577-FISH (3474) for more information.

Could It Be Local?

Jennifer Norman — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 05:24:09 +0000

Have you noticed the new captions in the produce department of Harris Teeter? Cute handwritten bubble signs announcing, “locally grown.” No kidding. Cabbages, collards, mustard greens, peaches, grape tomatoes, and others display their hometown pride.

It is reassuring that a regional, but large, grocery store is utilizing the farms here in the Carolinas. The shipping required for our daily diets is costing us more fossil fuel and energy use than we dare to realize. Buying local is an huge step towards lessening our environmental impact.

Other than Whole Foods, I’m not certain if this trend is offered at other chain grocery stores. I chose this Harris Teeter because it’s located three miles from home, but mostly I tend to stick with Whole Foods for stocking our pantry and fridge (apples from North Carolina, hooray!)

As I learn how to adjust our menus according to what is in season, I’ll have to admit I’m not perfect. At seven months pregnant, those clementines from Peru look like the best candies known to man. I give in, here and there, but continue to try and shop for foods with little or no packaging and lesser miles traveled.

Here are some local food links:

Local farmers markets: