les violettes
periodic updates on the vegetarian lifestyle

plastics – which ones are safe? which ones to avoid?

August 31st 2009

Plastic is a controversial topic – how many homes are free of this ubiquitous material? While many plastics are recyclable, some are not recommended for daily use. There are also those who decide to completely forgo plastic. Glass, ceramics and metals are the most common replacements. Find out more about the [...]

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the story of stuff

August 23rd 2009

Recently, you had the chance to check out the post on “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” Now let’s talk about stuff and a few ideas about it. Influenced by planned obsolescence and scarcity, industry will have to come up with new ideas that take into account waste reduction and sustainability. Many industry [...]

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national honey bee awareness day

August 22nd 2009

Today is National Honey Bee Awareness Day! Where would the world be (no pun intended) without the Pollinators? In honor of the bees who pollinate many crops here are three presentations on bees.

Bringing Back Urban Bees
QUEST on KQED Public Media.
Attracting Native Bees To Your Garden
QUEST on KQED Public Media.
Better Bees: [...]

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where does all of that garbage go? the great pacific garbage patch

August 19th 2009

Jean-Michel Cousteau, world-renowned oceanographer, shows us where massive amounts of garbage from throughout the world winds up. First in a series of three on trash, today’s post is about Marine Debris. What is Marine Debris? It’s trash left over from sea-faring activities plus land-based trash that wind up here via the [...]

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animal bill of rights

August 14th 2009

It’s been 6 months here at Les Violettes and animal friends are one of the core themes. The Animal Legal Defense Fund is an excellent Northern California based organization that protects animals from exploitation, neglect and abuse. They have had many successes representing legal rights for animals in court. They have a [...]

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stella mccartney fall 2009

August 11th 2009

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Wish I could have several pieces from this collection, don’t you? Well, wouldn’t you like to see Stella’s new resort line for 2010? Okay. Go here. Since I can’t get enough fashion how about two more slide shows both from treehugger – Stewart & Brown Fall 2009 and 20 Under-the-Radar [...]

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national farmer’s market week

August 5th 2009

Here in the U.S.A. we are right in the middle of the National Farmer’s Market Week. This August 2 – 8, 2009 marks the 10th annual celebration of the more than 4,800 farmer’s markets here in the United States. More than 94% of all farms are what the U.S. government refers to as Small [...]

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how much vampire energy does your home have?

August 3rd 2009

According to this article from Science Daily, “vampire energy” costs U.S. consumers approximately $3 billion per year.  Just what is vampire energy?  It’s all of the energy used when appliances are seemingly turned off, but still consume energy via standby mode.

The list of appliances that consume energy in standby mode continues to [...]

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