Living on a fault line? Scenario: your town’s been hit by an earthquake powerful enough to cut your power, disrupt communications and inhibit travel. Here are few products to put into your earthquake emergency kit to help you and yours stay up an running whilst others are struggling.

• A solar or hand cranked radio with access to emergency radio bands. Many of these gadgets are designed for camping and going off-grid and thus pack added features like an LED flashlight.
• A portable solar charger for your laptop and other gizmos is a must – though a wi-fi signal may be hard to come by. Keeping your spirits up by maintaining a modicum of normalcy will provide many benefits. Kids can be entertained, you can have phone service if and when it’s available, and you can keep other less-prepared individuals powered-up. (more…)

• Japan Weighs Need to Bury Nuclear Plant – sciencedaily
• Unfortunately it appears to be getting worse…Japanese Nuclear Crisis on Par With 3 Mile Island – cnn
• Supermoon to Make Closest Pass by Earth on Saturday – cs monitor
• Is natural gas an option for fueling power plants? No Move Yet in Congress to Curb Nuclear Subsidies – msnbc
• No evolution, no global warming…GOP’s ‘posse of the stupid’ takes aim at NPR…House Cuts to NPR Funding Likely to Die in Hands of Senate – usa today
• Surprisingly enough, this wasn’t in Florida…Gator Found Guarding Pot Stash – canoe.ca
• (video) Video of Loyal Dog in Japan Highlights Animal Emotions – livescience

’tis a grand day – for a parade or pub crawl. I dedicate this post to the Emerald Isle, my favorite place on Earth. With a healthy dose of longing, I’ve compiled a few picturesque scenes to transport us there.

(more…)

UPDATE: It’s official – Congrats to our 3 winners: Jody, Kim and Charlene. Many thanks to everyone for participating & leaving such thoughtful comments. Stay tuned for our next GGG. (original post follows)…

Jump in ’cause this may be your lucky day – there will be 3 Lucky Winners. This exclusive Great Green Giveaway is sponsored by Gaiam.

First Prize: The Everything Fits Gym Bag – winner gets to pick their favorite color – either green or black. (retail value $60)

Second Prize: Pedometer + Bonus DVD Kit – This handy little gadget helps you track your workout progress – measures distance walked, time elapsed and calories burned and stores up to one week of data. Includes detachable belt clip; timer, digital clock with day of the week and daily alarm. Batteries included. Prize also includes Debbie Rocker’s 60 min. Walking for Weight Loss DVD and bonus 30 min. audio CD. (retail value: $40)

Third Prize: 2-in-1 Yoga Mat – for total flexibility. 2 sides let you transition from hot yoga to traditional practice in a snap with super soft, highly-absorbent microfiber on one side and a standard PVC non-skid surface on the other. Lightweight, durable and quilted extra cushioning provides added support. Absent are the six most harmful phthalates, making it an eco-friendly choice that is gentle on you and the planet. (value: $30, now on sale $24) (more…)

Handcrafted by the Pink Martini on Etsy, these pretty baubles caught my eye:  The Kate earrings feature vintage lucite flowers in moss green with Swarovski crystal in olivine green. $15

Gotta admit, I’m feeling a big St Paddy’s vibe comin’ on … hope you’re ready.

I’ve always liked the idea of transforming an everyday item, like the ubiquitous postal shipping tube – into something unforeseen – in this case a handy, utilitarian stool.

Italian designer Piero Ceratti looked at the common postal tube and envisioned a useful raw material. His stool design features 5 postal tubes and plastic end plugs held together by high performance glue.

The biodegradable, spiral wound cardboard tubes, which usually perform as economical protection for mailing or storing rolled documents such as posters, maps and charts, here become a handy portable stool.

(more…)

A green stimulus package of a different sort – our latest roundup up of upcoming earth-minded news & special events.

• Eco fashion Alert: We have 2 free all-day passes to the AFINGO Fashion Forum at FIT in NYC on April 1. If you’re interested, just leave a comment on this post and we’ll connect. It’s an exciting opportunity to attend a series of panel discussions and meet & mingle with sustainability movers and shakers – Julie Fehrenbacher of Inhabitat, and eco activist & model Summer Rayne Oaks; Fashion Designer Cynthia Rowley to name a few. Event schedule and details @ Fashion Forum. Learn more about Afingo.com.
• Whole Foods presents an environmental film fest called, DO SOMETHING: 6 films, one month, 70 cities, includes NYC. Don’t miss it – from April to mid-May. (more…)

Practically everyone is Irish for one day a year, St. Patrick’s Day. If you’re intending to wash down your yearly trough-load of corned beef & cabbage with a beer or twelve you may want to venture a little further into green and sample one of these organic beers.

• A brewery with a great name to accompany its tasty line of organic brews – Bison Brewery distills a nice assortment of USDA Certified organic Ales – ranging from the traditional India Pale Ale (IPA) to acquired tastes like Gingerbread Ale and Chocolate Stout. To be found primarily in California where it’s brewed.
• For midwesterners, Milwaukee’s Lakefront Brewery has been making tasty and eclectic beer since 1987 and, in 1996, became the first certified organic brewer in the U.S.. In addition to ales, lagers and seasonal brews Lakefront now offers gluten-free beer.
• Another Cali brewery, Eel River Brewing Company makes a mean certified organic line of handcrafted ales and lagers. What’s not to like about an outfit that makes fine tasting libations and sports the tagline and credo, “Be Natural – Drink Naked.”  Eel River can be found nationwide.
• Another west coast brewery – Butte Creek Organic Beer features the humble tagline, “The Official Beer of Planet Earth.” This outfit handcrafts a full line of organic ales, lager, pilsners and porters.
• For New Englanders planning on hitting the streets of Beantown, Portland or Worcester for that yearly pub crawl, you may want to search out the tasty brews of Maine’s Peak Organic Brewery. They make a full assortment of ales – our favorite – their sweet Maple Oat Ale. Peak’s brews are made with ingredients from local organic farmers – including Vermont organic maple syrup.

• If you prefer an organic pilsner or Euro beer,  you can find the sweet and aromatic Bavarian organic beers of Neumarkter Lammsbräu’s (pictured above) at many of your local Whole Foods stores.

Oh, one more reason to drink….St. Patrick wasn’t even Irish, he was actually born in England, the son of a wealthy English family…

• Japan Tsunami: 20 Unforgettable Pictures (above) – natgeo
• Can the gap be filled by green energy? EU Mulls Nuclear-Free Future, Extra Tests on Reactors – reuters
• On a lighter note…Roboroaches: Students Prepare to Control Roaches With Remote-Control Brains – aol news
• All the safety redundancies failed…Japan Prepares to Restart Work at Nuclear Plant – yahoo! news
• Yes my Republican friends, there is actual scientific research going on… Scientists Fly Through the Clouds to Piece Together Climate Puzzle – sciencedaily
• We need a national energy policy. High food and oil costs fuel price increases…U.S. Inflation Surged in February – msnbc