My GREEN Life & Real Estate

I'm pretty sure she wants you to go vegan too!  Last weekend I picked up her New York Times Bestselling book, t he kind diet - A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet .  I don't usually pick up books with the word "diet" in the title - not that I don't need to diet - I just don't read those books.  It was the "Saving the Planet" part that caught my eye. Well, I have to say I do like her book.  Not that I'm ever going to give up cheese though.  EVER.  Never ever.  Not in a million years.  Not this French girl :)  So I guess I'll never go vegan...however, reading the book has helped me recommit to reducing my meat consumption, which, according to Alicia Silverstone, will help save the planet!  (By the way, watching the film Food Inc., twice, had the same effect on me.  I cut back on meat, but what meat I do buy is organic.  If you haven't seen this documentary - you should!  It's pretty eye-opening.) Si

As recently as 2 years ago, I was completely in the dark when it came to Earth Hour.  (You like that, completely in the dark?  You'll get the joke a little later if you don't already know about Earth Hour!) It was my Canadian friends who clued me in to the concept of turning off the lights, turning off the TV, turning off everything for an hour as part of a global campaign on climate change.   Earth Hour  started in Australia in 2007 and by 2010 there were 128 countries participating!  I believe it has evolved to be about more than climate change and has grown to encompass a GREEN/ sustainability movement.  Even if it's just for an hour - it's a pretty powerful thing. Here's the official video for Earth Hour 2011 if you haven't seen it yet.  I liked the one they did last year a lot too - but I thought perhaps 2 videos was a bit much! The website, which is really quite cool, has added a platform for people to pledge what they plan to do beyond that hour (

For several years now my family has hosted a French Exchange teacher during the month of March (with the exception of this year, as a Russian Exchange teacher needed a home.)  Every year the exchange teachers are ridiculously fascinated with the practice of drinking GREEN -tinted beer on St. Patrick's Day.  It strikes me as hilarious seeing as how when we visit them in France we drink champagne or really exquisite wines produced by one of their family's own vineyards, but when they visit they want to have a GREEN beer?  Anyone else see the humor in this? It got me thinking about which brewers really are making GREENER beers through environmentally-friendly practices, use of organic ingredients, anaerobic digesters, or GREEN facilities.  Turns out there are MANY brewers out there that I can cheer for from my wine cellar (while I enjoy a good pint here and there, I'm more of a vino girl - blame the combination of my extreme Frenchiness & studying abroad perhaps!)  Th

It's no secret...I've previously declared my undying love for Trader Joe's .  I drive 30 minutes each way to shop there (but I do combine trips and go every 10 days or so when I have other business in the area.)  I love just about everything about them.  There is only one area (OK, maybe 2 if you count the amazing cheese counter) in which I wish they were more like Whole Foods .  That is that Whole Foods carries local products.  I'm talking Connecticut & New England cheeses, meats, produce, seafood, etc. The first time I noticed local products there was when I spied the fantastic Ashlawn Farms coffee from Lyme, CT.  The yelp you might have heard in the coffee aisle - that was me!  I had only ever had their coffee straight from the farm where they roast their own beans which I've enjoyed on every trip to the gorgeous farmer's market they host on weekends in season. (I've been known to go back for a 2nd cup of coffee - it's that good!)  The 2nd time