Check our review over here and then head to their website to see where you can pick some up in your ‘hood.

No Peasant Pies near you? Make you own Veggie Pot Pie using Robot Vegan’s own recipe!

Got a tasty pie recipe of your own?  Send it our way in the comments or submit it to our test kitchen under the Recipes tab above.

Happy Pi Day everyone!  Now go have yourself a slice, or two, or 3.14!

Simply type in the keyword ‘movers’ on Craigslist and it will return hundreds of moving services, including recycled boxes. However, listed amongst the ‘Broke Dude’s’ moving services and buried deep below the styrofoam peanut ads, I found Rent-A-Green Box. With the prospect of sanitized boxes and a zero waste pack and move, I eagerly followed the link.

Finally a company that understands the needs of a green mover.

“Rent-A-Green Box was founded by Spencer Brown our founder and chief tree hugger in Huntington Beach, California in 2005. Rent-A-Green Box is America’s first, comprehensive, Zero-Waste pack and move solution made from a variety of post consumer, industrial and recycled trash. We created the Zero-Waste Moving Box Rental industry, built and lead it.

We provide relocating consumers, small business and corporations with an authentic and genuine Earth-friendly packing and moving alternative that’s cheaper, faster and easier than using a new or used cardboard box to pack and move their property.

We convert massive amounts of post consumer and industrial trash to make really cool Earth-friendly packing and moving products that replace traditional and expensive supplies like new and used cardboard boxes, bubble  wrap, Styrofoam packing peanuts and messy packing tape. The old ways of packing and moving with limited lifespan and single use disposable packing materials is bad for our ecology, environment and economy.

Our world famous and award winning product is called The Recopack which stands for [Recycled Ecological Packing Solution]. We rent Recopacks in 3 consumer friendly sizes to residents, small business and corporations for 2 week blocks and discount for extra weeks. After each use, Recopacks are inspected, de-labeled, cleaned and then hand sanitized.

Recopacks are crush and tear proof, water and dust resistant, delivered pre-assembled requiring no tape, can be secured with recycled Reco-Zipties preventing tampering and theft, have comfortable handles that allow the end user to stack, pack and move with ease.

Our system is remarkably simple. After determining how many Recopacks you’ll need for your upcoming move with our online Box Guru or by speaking with one of our Eco-agents; we’ll reserve your Recopacks and packing kit, take payment and then e-mail your order confirmation. Please double check the date and your 2 hour delivery time window. We’ll always call you a few days before your delivery date, as well as a few times on the day of your delivery to confirm our exact arrival time.

When we arrive, we’ll check out your place to make sure that you enough Recopacks and the right sizes for your specific move. If you need extra Recopack and packing materials, don’t worry, we always carry extra on our Delivery Trucks. After we deliver you order, our eco-agent will give you a demonstration on how to best pack, stack and move our Recopacks. After you move to your new place, when you’re all unpacked and restacked, just call us and we’ll come and pick them up from your garage. It’s just that simple… it’s moving made simple.”

Now, if we could only convince the moving trucks to use bio-diesel!  Currently servicing every city in Orange and Los Angeles County. They’re quickly expanding, so check their website to see if they’ve got plans to service your area soon.

Read all about Rent-A-Geeen Box, and their green manifesto here.

‘Bot Says: We’re planning on using them at the end of the month for our move. Check our social pages for story updates.

Only 5.5% of plastic bottles sold in the UK are recycled, which leaves 40 thousand tons going into landfill each year. Bottle caps are not generally recycled as they are made from a different plastic to the bottle.

CAPtivate was designed to use this waste, turning it into an ambient light. Bottle caps can be collected to personalise the light to create different colours and patterns. This involvement with the creation keeps you interested and involves you in active reuse.

Each light comes with approximately 50 caps but to cover the light completely more bottle tops must be collected.

 

What a ‘novel’ idea!

More books are printed every year, read and discarded. Even though many are taken to charity shops, they mostly go unsold and the charities have to pay for the books to be sent to landfill. For example 10,000 books a week from one charity will go to waste. There is currently no infrastructure set up to recycle the paper from books because the paper is low grade and the glue on the spine must be removed.

These wasted books are used to create an attractive chandelier. Every page is folded in half, producing a circular arrangement which hangs around a ceiling light.

This amazing piece is a bit out of our price range at the moment; I’m dreaming of the day this proudly hangs above our conference room table. With the creative energy this piece has, I’m sure it will spark a few great ideas.

Check out their complete line up of cool upcycled decor here.

The Green Carpet Challenge has actually been around for a few years, but according to their website 2012 is their biggest year yet.

“The Green Carpet Challenge began in late 2009 when Livia Firth was challenged by her friend, writer Lucy Siegle to take sustainable style to the world’s biggest red carpet events. Livia’s husband, actor Colin Firth had just won the Best Actor award at the Venice Film Festival for his performance in Tom Ford’s debut, A Single Man. It was clear that more awards would follow and Livia braced herself for some serious red carpet walking.”

For this year’s award season, Livia has used her influence in the fashion and celebrity world to pull together some amazing designers to create gowns and tuxedos on par with the Green Carpet Challenge’s strict eco standards. The GCC then pairs the designs with celebrities who will be walking down the hottest red carpets of the year. Designers include Georgio Armani, who it seems has been a huge part of realizing Firth’s sustainable fashion dreams, Chanel, Alberta Ferretti, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Stella McCartney, Paul Smith, Valentino, Roger Vivier, Ermenegildo Zegna, and Tom Ford, another close partner to the GCC.

A couple favorites of this year are Valentino’s beautiful pink gown which Viola Davis at the BAFTA awards (below) and Livia’s Oscars dress made by Gary Harvey out of eleven “pre-loved and forgotten” dresses from the era of The King’s Speech, which I am completely in love with, pictured above.

Livia’s love for ethical and sustainable high fashion is bringing this important issue into the spotlight and her passion is infectious. Keep your eye out for more glamorous gowns that are as easy on the environment as they are on the eyes.

“We believe in fashion as a great communicator. The fashion we communicate promotes social justice, environmental integrity and brilliant design.”

We couldn’t agree more.

To get the whole back story on the GCC and to keep up with the project, head over the Livia’s blog at Vogue UK and her own site, Eco-Age.

Also, check out this great article over at Huffington Post in which Livia and her partner talk about what the project means to them.

Want more eco fashion news?  Check out more Robot articles on Guilt Free Fashion, Vegan Leather, and Shoes.

Find a small glass container with a lid.  I used baby mason jars because I had some laying around and thought they were super cute, but an empty salsa jar or even baby food jar would be perfect.  Fill it about 1/4 full with baking soda, then add about ten drops of your favorite essential oil.  Using a hammer and nail, or a crafty husband and a steak knife, poke some holes in the lid and then replace it on the jar. That’s it!

I had a little set of oils left over from a wine tasting kit someone gave me so this project was actually free.  If you don’t want to spend any money on this, I’d try adding some extracts used for baking like Vanilla or Almond that most of us have on hand.  Not sure if it will work as well, but worth a try if you don’t have anywhere to get essential oils nearby.  I used Tea Tree oil for the litterbox and bathroom, Chamomile oil for our bedroom, and Bergamot oil for the freshener by the trash in the kitchen.  Once a week I walk by and give each jar a little shake to release more of the scent and mix in the baking soda that has absorbed the stinky particles.

Here is a great resource for a ton of different essential oils on line.

Check out some of our other finds for your urban nest here.

The ‘Bot Squad will be bombing San Francisco’s Marina District this weekend for Super Bowl Sunday. Whether you need a cuppy to celebrate your team winning, or a little something to cheer you up after a loss, we’ll be slinging to Giants and Patriots fans towards the end of the game, around 6:00PM, starting at Chestnut and Fillmore Streets and heading West on Chestnut towards Divisadero. If you haven’t made plans on where to watch the big game, there are plenty of sports bars on Chestnut that will be showing it. Hope to see you out there supporting your team!

Location: SF’s Mission District (16th & Valencia)

Date: January 27th & 28th

Time: Starting at 10:00 pm.

An invasion has begun, Robot Vegan has arrived and will soon take over San Francisco’s Mission neighborhood.

For over six months now, the ‘Bot has played an important role in the lives of veggie lovers everywhere. As the ultimate online publication for green living, many of its readers find it impossible to go through their day without coming in contact with the ‘Bot. Combined with recipes, articles, product reviews and more, Robot is quickly becoming a favorite resource for herbivores everywhere.

The’Bot Squad is a guerrilla marketing plan created by Kaitlin Hebard and Jenna Atchison, Editors of Robot Vegan. “We’ve created a team of smart, talented and beautiful girls, dressed as modern-day ‘usherettes’ slinging delightful one bite vegan desserts. The girls will appear at various clubs and neighborhoods throughout San Francisco…readers will be able to follow and track the girls via social media.” “We’re excited to get out there…” said Jenna, “..Kaitlin’s killer style and creative marketing is sure to charm club goers everywhere, we can’t wait to see where this new endeavor takes us.”

With squads forming in Los Angeles and Chicago, Robot may soon be coming to a city near you. Stay tuned!

You’re green, you live green, and so should your pets.

Check out this local pet spot.

Here’s what they had to say.

“Healthy Spot was founded in 2008 in Santa Monica, CA from the idea that shopping for your canine companion does not have to be a dull, tedious, or perplexing experience. We have taken the guesswork out of the age-old question, “What’s the best food to get my dog?”, as every stocked product has to meet our stringent pre-selection criteria for premium quality of ingredients, quality in procurement and quality in manufacturing. Our products are either organic, natural, raw or eco-friendly and made with responsible manufacturing practices.

Healthy Spot’s combination of offering premium, nutritious products together with award-winning, personalized services proved to be a winning idea and rapidly became a hit in Los Angeles. Healthy Spot filled a deep void in the local dog community for a premium, eco-friendly, all-in-one pet retailer. The success of the Healthy Spot experience in Santa Monica paved the way for the eventual opening of Healthy Spot in neighboring West Hollywood, CA in early 2010. To coincide with the launch of our second flagship location, we announced a full-service website at www.healthyspotonline.com where our trusted products and community are now available at your convenience online.

Today, Healthy Spot is synonymous with lifestyle-oriented, premium dog care and nutrition. Our steadfast, uncompromising view that dogs deserve the most nutritious products and premium care is the unifying credo for everything we do, from refusing to carry low-quality, sub-par brands to only using the highest quality, natural and organic shampoos in our grooming salons.

Special thanks to the Healthy Spot community for supporting our vision to keep our dogs’ health and nutrition in our best interest as we strive to continually provide the best life for you and your dog. We understand that dogs are more than just pets; they are family.”

Click here to grab your Green deal.

Visit their website for locations and more information.

Dear Friends,

I have a confession. I’ve never been to Africa, or Asia, or India. When I have an urge to get near wildlife, and that happens often, I go to my second home, the wonderful L.A. Zoo. It is my connection with the wild creatures I love and with their superb keepers and why I have stayed involved and supported the L.A. Zoo for well over four decades.

As Co-Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association (GLAZA), I’m happy to brag about GLAZA’s enormous contributions to the L.A. Zoo and hope this impressive list will persuade you to support us with a generous year-end gift.

Where would our zoo be without GLAZA? Our support has funded:

• a full-time enrichment coordinator
• conservation efforts working in places like Cambodia, Africa, Sri Lanka
• some very important purchases such as the shade awnings at Sea Life Cliffs, the incubator for the marvelous komodo dragon eggs, and the digital radiography machine for the Gottlieb Animal Health and Conservation Center
• The California Condor Recovery Zone which introduces youngsters to the ongoing story of saving the California condors
• the stunning new Tom Mankiewicz Conservation Carousel – 100% funded by GLAZA donors

We have so many good reasons to support our outstanding Zoo. Please click here to donate online, or contact the Development Division at (323) 644-6035 to make a donation by telephone. You may also mail your donation to the following address:

Betty’s Appeal
c/o GLAZA
5333 Zoo Drive
Los Angeles CA 90027-1498

Please join me today in renewing your support for our L.A. Zoo. Your gift helps ensure that the Zoo’s extraordinary, vibrant assemblage of wildlife will continue to flourish, amaze and inspire our millions of visitors each year. This is how we are building the next generation of stewards to care for and protect these incredible creatures.

With warm wishes,

Experience Gifts:

Rather than giving something material, try giving someone an unforgettable experience.  This could be anything from booking a massage or facial at an organic spa, to purchasing a series of yoga classes, to buying tickets to send your friends to the ballet or opera for the night (you could volunteer to babysit too!).

Get Aways:

Why not book a room at a local green bed and breakfast or buy tickets for an organic wine tour nearby?  This will get your friends or family out of town on a mini vacation, a much better present than anything you could physically give them.  Check out these cottages in Venice, or this wine tour in Napa.

Donations:

Donation gifts are not always the right answer to giving without giving stuff, as some people on your list might feel robbed of their present.  But here’s one idea that anyone could love: adopt a sea creature through Oceana.  Give your friend an octopus or sea turtle by donating the amount of money that it takes to save one to Oceana.org.  This lends itself to adorable wrapping ideas too, imagine making a little batch of octopus cookies decorated for the holidays along with the information on the adoption!

Memberships:

It’s funny how many of us like to visit museums and the like while traveling, but often ignore those in our own cities.  Give a membership to a local museum, such as the SFMOMA or LACMA, or even something more fun like the Academy of Sciences.  This is a great way to spend a day off, as the exhibits are always changing, and even makes your friends eligible for special event invitations and discounts. Plus, it lasts all year!

Do them a favor:

Hire an environmentally responsible house cleaning service to give your loved one’s home a little facelift.  Especially after the holidays, who wouldn’t want someone to come in and professionally clean their house!? Check out Green Maids or another service that guarantees to use non toxic and sustainable cleaning methods.

Have any other ideas for giving without giving STUFF? Let us know! Missed any of the othe RV Green Gift Guides? Check out Part I: DIY and Part II: Giving Green.