Yes, you read that correctly: Charleston County Recycling is now accepting all plastics for curbside pickup! This means you can start throwing plastics labeled #3, #4, #5, #6, and #7 into your blue bin along with the #1 and #2 plastics. They will accept all plastics except plastic wrap, plastic bags, and Styrofoam (all things [...]

If you’re struggling to find green ways to keep your property looking nice, or just looking for new ideas to expand your eco-landscaping repertoire, the Tri-County Carolina Yard Experience might be the perfect event for you (March 13, 9-2pm, Charleston Exchange Park) Tri-County Carolina Yard Experience is based on the Carolina Yards & Neighborhoods program, [...]

What: Natural Rubber Teether Where: DwellSmart When: Today! Why: 100% natural How Much: $18.95 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 [...]

Today is National Philanthropy Day, so I thought this would be a great chance to call attention to the amazing green nonprofits that serve our local community. Whether you give your time, energy, or money to these organizations, you’re helping to keep our local community sustainable, clean, green, and efficient. Please take the time today [...]

November is a great time for composting – the sudden influx of pumpkins and leaves will make your backyard pile a happy place. If you’ve been wanting to start a compost pile, now is definitely the time. It’s like you can actually take Fall and stuff it in your pile! Take those pumpkins, break them [...]

On Monday, Brian Sheehan began work as Charleston’s first ever director of sustainability – the only new city position funded this year. Brian has tons of eco-experience, and most recently worked on sustainability initiatives for the city of Portland, Oregon (they are doing awesome things!) SC Biz Magazine says, The sustainability director will create long- [...]

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, [...]

Even though we haven’t used a ton of our black gold bounty, we continue to add more and more organic waste to the family compost pile. We’ve been at it for many moons now, and it’s so much a part of our routine that I can’t imagine throwing our excess food into the garbage. One [...]

It’s that magical time of year again when 3,800 pages worth of unneeded phone books arrive, uninvited, on my front porch. Out with the old, in with the new…but with a twist: The old phone books are 100% recyclable.  You can just throw them right into your blue curbside bins, and Charleston County Recycling will [...]

Recycling only takes a little knowledge, a little time, and a little motivation. If you see a neighbor throwing away materials that can be recycled, don’t be afraid to help them out. They may be missing the recyclable materials list, confused about their recycling pickup day, or unaware how important this basic civic activity really [...]

Thank goodness for the wonderful stores and markets where I am able to conveniently purchase food for myself and my family. I am being sincere. Thank you Whole Foods, thank you Harris Teeter, thank you Mt. Pleasant Farmer’s Market, thank you CSA, the Norman’s really need you. Without you, we would starve, as my bleak [...]

Buying locally is a big part of living sustainably – both for us AND our community. Lowcountry Local First is asking local residents to take the 10% Shift Pledge and start buying more from local businesses. The goal is for local businesses, organizations, and families to shift an additional 10% of their annual spending to [...]

Many years ago, while changing my niece’s diaper, my dad asked which type of diaper I would choose for my own children one day. As I gagged and flinched and gagged some more while wiping her bottom, I was convinced I would be doomed to filling landfills for centuries with my children’s diapers. And yet, [...]

Yikes! After we got our last SCE&G bill, our biggest ever, we realized action was needed. If they were going to keep raising the rates, we needed to crank-up the conservation. In the past we’ve measured our usage with a Kill-a-Watt meter, looked into solar hot water, bought LED lights, installed CFLs, but now it was [...]

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 [...]

Our holiday green poll ending with unsurprising results: A vast majority of Go Green readers were consuming less this holiday season as a way to increase their sustainability. In troubled economic times, it makes as much financial sense as green sense to cut the consumerism cord. But don’t cut all the way – support the [...]

We would like to apologize for not blogging, answering emails, tweeting, or facebooking recently, but we’ve had a very cute distration here at Go Green headquarters. Last week we welcomed Zoe Faye Norman into the world, and have been oooh-ing and aaah-ing instead of writing and posting ever since. We promise, the hiatus is over [...]

After years of guilt and frustration from using old school incandescent Christmas lights, I finally broke down and bought a set of LED lights for our tree. LED lights use 90% less energy than traditional bulbs, burn safer by producing less heat, and last for years instead of months. Having voluntarily made the switch, I [...]

Jen and I were recently able to go green in a whole new way – by burning locally-made soy candles from A Soyful Candle Company. (thanks Melissa!) Soy candles are a natural alternative to paraffin candles, which are made from petroleum. Because they are biodegradable, they also produce less soot when burned. Making small tweaks [...]

I recently saw that Charleston Style & Design Magazine will be coordinating the building of a Green Idea Home at Battery Island Row. This event will bring together sustainability experts from the Charleston-area to show off their game and demonstrate the latest green offerings. Cool! This should be an interesting venue for our local green [...]