More Hip Than Hippie - Have a Green Valentine's Day!
This week we talk about love, or at least Valentine's Day (Or as Dori call's it "Singles Awareness Day"). We have another contest underway! We talk about green ideas on how to celebrate, and also have an interview with Gerald Prolman, the CEO of OrganicBouquet.com.

What is Val Drinking? - Originally the bottle was full of Voss Sparkling water, but Val reused the bottle (which is very cool by the way) for her iced tea. She suggests using these bottles as an alternative to plastic water bottles.

Bamboo Sheets at Target - Val has a correction to make, Target does have bamboo sheets available. They aren't 100% Bamboo, but it's better than nothing.

Finds of the Week
Cell for Cash - A great site where you can sell you old cell phones.

Information from Dori's Sister - Can you return a bird to it's nest if it falls out? Check out this link from the Massachusetts Audubon Society for more information.

Hip News - Ford First to Offer E85 Hybrid From National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition

Love Lib - Find more love games here.

Ready Made Moment - One of Val's favorite magazine's Ready Made Magazine - In their love issue find the Ding Dong Cake.

The Beer of the Week - Mississippi Mud from Mississippi Brewing Co.

The Chocolate: Mon Cherri 72% 2 oz bar - from Dagoba.

Valentine's Gifts from greenfeet.com: Choose from the Love Tub, Eau de Love, Love Oil, or the Chocolate Body Butter. The most beautiful red glass heart (recycled glass, of course) - from the great company Fire & Light. (Jill made the banner, so we let her put it in the shownotes)

Organic Flowers - You can feel good sending flowers

• This week we're taking a look at the flower industry - where in 2005 , 180 million stems of roses were produced for Valentine's Day. And according to the US Department of Commerce, in 2004 the US Market for flowers and plants equalled $19.5 Billion dollars.
  
• The concern lies with conventionally grown flowers and threat posed to the environment and the workers involved with growing them.
• Most of the flowers commercially sold in the US are imported - half come from Columbia. Mostly due to low wages and little or complete absence of pesticide regulation. It's disturbing to think that one woman's present is another woman's poison.
  
• Chemicals such as Methyl Bromide, Dursban, and even DDT are applied to flowers - but they don't just stay on the plants. These chemicals drift out, end up on the clothes of workers, enter the groundwater, contaminate food sources, end up in their children's bloodstream and that of wildlife. These chemicals cause cancer, birth defects, and even neurological problems.
  
• As an agricultural product, flowers entering the US must be pest-free. Conventionally growers turn to pesticides and herbicides for their blooms, while organic growers choose to look at alternative, more sustainable options.
  

   

  We have Gerald Prolman, the CEO of OrganicBouquet.com on the phone. He's here to discuss the success of his company and how organic flowers are here, affordable and the best choice when choosing flowers to express your love and affection. Listen to the interview to learn more, and visit their site to order your flowers for sweety today.

  Listener Emails

  • Jill - I suggested that when Val has a problem pronouncing a word she can type it in at cooldictionary.com to find the correct pronunciation.
  • Chuck - Alternative to Lycra material for exercising. Val found www.foxracing.com Look under jerseys.
  • Sara - She has a lot of great things to say including this about the podcast "Thanks, ladies! I'm taking your "more hip than hippie" attitude to campus in the work that I do, and I think that kind of informative yet also fun approach to living green really works."
  • Eileen - If the Sherwin Williams paint you got was the "Harmony" line, it is not only low-VOC, it is NO-VOC! So, rejoice.
  • Scott - We all hate junk mail and it's a huge waste of resources, money, time etc. There was a link to a site that might help people reduce their junk mail. You might know about it but I just wanted to pass it on. http://www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailinglist
  • Jill - again! I mentioned to Dori and Val about a new podcast magazine (paper) that just came out. ID3 Mag
  • Howard - He suggests that we make a list of international sites with "green" products. We're looking into it.

  Doug Emails - I enjoyed your piece on the birds in this weeks podcast, although I must scold you. They are not Canadian Geese, but Canada Geese. Canadian gives the impression that they are from Canada, or born in Canada, when in fact, most of them are born in the continental US. Sorry to nitpick.

   

  The Contest
  Show us the love! Send us your homemade Valentine. Must be "green" valentine's made from recycled or "green" materials.
  Must arrive by February 10th, 2006
  Top 5 winners, win a treat bag from Dori and Val
  Send Valentines to: More Hip Than Hippie C/O greenfeet.com - 1360 E. First Ave, Chico, CA, 95926
  Submissions must include name, address and email address.
  All submissions receive a 20% coupod from greenfeet.com (that's why we need your email address)
  

  Email us at hip@greenfeet.com and vote for us at podcast alley.