Sick of Starbucks? Well, maybe you should checkout Green Beans Coffee Worldcafe. Green Beans started out as a single coffeehouse in Saudi Arabia founded by American brothers, Jason and Jon Araghi and was soon discovered by our soldiers stationed in the area. The company and its relationship to our men and women stationed around the world grew from there. Green Beans Coffee provides great organic coffees and teas at retail locations worldwide, with coffeehouses predominantly in California and military bases worldwide, where they provide rich, flavorful cup of America to retail customers and troops stationed from Kabul to Baghdad.

You can order Green Beans coffees, teas, espresso, and chai’s online @ greenbeanscoffee.com, where they offer coffees from international growers from Burundi, Brazil, and Peru, many of which are organic.

The company donates a portion of all sales to orgs that include: The Pat Tillman Foundation, the Children of Fallen Soldiers Relief Fund and Soldiers Angels.

Oh, and they’ve just made Inc. Magazine’s top 500 fastest growing companies list at #144.

If you like the young men in your family to have that strong geometric look, this Vista Shirt with contrasting sleeves and stripe is built for you. Comfy and cool, combine it with some khakis for that casual, well dressed look. Fabric is 100% certified organic cotton interlock. Low impact dyes. Light blue w/ navy also available. Made in the USA.

sizes 2T thru 4 are $34; sizes 5 & 6 go for $40 @ my green closet

• Invoking the name of the Republican Zeus, an interesting tactic. Gore: Bush Should Follow Reagan’s Lead on Climate – reuters
• This smell is killing me. Hidden Hazards of Air Fresheners – enn
• Global Warming Fix: Help the Earth Cure Itself – yahoo! news
• Phil the NRA is on the line…Phil Specter Mistrial – tmz
• U.S. Climate Talks Draw Biggest Polluters (and we’re at the top of the list) – reuters
• Legal Battle Over Gore Film in U.K. – bbc
• Office Depot Joins U.S. Green Building Council – ens

Envirosax offers 5 eco-friendly alternative shopping bags in a graphic series of prints in one handy pouch. Lightweight, portable, waterproof and above all, strong, these bags will make both an enviromental and style statement when you step-up to the checkout counter.

Also available are the Monochromatic and Retro Series.

$32.95 @ outdoorbalance.com

our previous post on Envirosax

A tragic white-water rafting accident on the Nanpanjiang River has taken the life of People’s Hemp founder, and eco pioneer, Michael Sutherland. Michael was a tireless innovator and creative promoter of the commercial uses of hemp. His primary passions were: biking, the environment, China, and working toward the deregulation of hemp in the U.S.

I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Michael a few months ago…

previously on altCon

Hemp – building momentum: an interview with Michael Sutherland

If you burn through a ton of AA and AAA batteries in your camera, electronics and toys you should be using recharegeable batteries. You’ll not only save a pile of money but you’ll be doing the environment a world of good by not adding to the tons of carcinogenic batteries we pour into landfills each day.

Pictured above are the Sanyo Eneloop and the UniRoss Hybrio Ni-MH batteries, great options for AA or AAA batteries. These rechargeable batteries are ideal for high drainage devices; due to their low discharge rates, they can be recharged hundreds of times, have a high mAh (number of hours they’ll hold a charge), they charge on most standard and fast chargers designed for Ni-MH batteries, and they’re fully recyclable.

You should be able to get these AA rechargeable batteries for around $10 a four-pack. Get the Hybrio batteries @ thomas distributing and the Sanyo Eneloops @ amazon

Newer tech, 2700 mAH, rechargeables will cost you a little more @ nimhbattery.com or Thomas Distributing (a great battery site) and will last even longer.

• You can’t put a primitive fence through wildlife areas. U.S. Plans Long Border Wall in South Texas – reuters
• Oh…and it’s increasing. Greenland Snowmelt This Year Could Cover U.S. Twice – livescience
• Green building takes a big step forward. Going Beyond LEEDS, Beautifully, In Iowa – enn
• A great way for marginal actors to get ‘exposure’. – or Who the hell is Maggie Q? PETA Continues Sexy Time Ads With Beauty Maggie Q – ecorazzi
• I love pike as much as the next guy but native species must be protected. Calif. Aims to Rid Lake of Northern Pike – yahoo! news
• Civil disobedience is a dying art form. Anti-Bush Protesters Arrested – msnbc

Slap your laptop down atop this designer desk constructed of 2.5″ honeycomb shaped corrugated cardboard from NY based, Cardboardesign. The shelf below the desktop can house your resting laptop or all manner of non-essential clutter. The honeycomb cell shape of the cardboard makes for an extremely durable, high-performance, innovative and lightweight natural material.

Honeycomb cardboard, is made from using natural renewable resources… the unique cardboard is manufactured using high percentages of secondary fiber (including old corrugated containers, kraft paper, old newspapers, and even straw), thereby diverting all these materials from the municipal solid waste stream.

The adhesives used for gluing the materials are derived from natural sources. The end result is fully recyclable and ecologically friendly product.
length 48″ – width 28″ – height 31″

$150 @ cardboardesign.com

Recycling has never been cooler! StartMotions.com is the first animation studio to create both short- and long-form animations from 100% recycled materials. This nonprofit’s design work is “kid friendly, universal and educational”….”We create animations that inform and enthuse audiences around the world about animals, planets, and the environment.”

Order Mapalopes, beautiful envelopes made from recycled maps, starting at $2.70 for a set of 10, and other cool, eco items from their gift shop.

Click here to view a public service announcement they made for StopExtinction.org.

Learn more about them @ startmotions.com