The first thing that’ll wow you at Better Life Cuisine is the water — the delicious, fruit-infused water.

We’re not talking a simple lemon spritz. Better Life takes its unbottled water seriously, steeping it with yummy, flavorful, organic fruits. Just as soon as you sit down, a reusable glass of this thirst-quencher will be placed before you — and your meal will only get better from there.

A mere block from the famed raw restaurant Juliano’s Raw, Better Life’s a raw, organic, vegan restaurant for the masses — meaning that the place has crowd-pleasing nibbles at affordable prices. I stopped by here on Friday with my friend Jolia, Associate Editor at Vegetarian Times, and enjoyed a sumptuous healthy meal at a quiet restaurant that has yet to be discovered by the regular health-conscious Santa Monica crowd.

Better Life’s so committed to organic, raw, vegan food that it actually labels the items that aren’t organic. Granted, only one item — the coconut juice — gets that label, but this goes to show how eco-friendly the restaurant is.

(more…)

0 Comments

See you at the L.A. Street Summit soon!

>> See what the gas station of the future could look like, thanks to designers who responded to GOOD’s call for ideas. One funny submission from Nathan Heath relies on technologies we already have:

Gasoline will be replaced by a substance to be known as “calories” which through what will be called the “metabolic process” will be converted into a form of energy that will enable the vehicle operator to propel and control the vehicle. The new system will also call for a drastic replacement of current vehicles. The new vehicles will move beyond the primitive four-wheel base and, in the spirit of using less, rely only upon two wheels.

>> Women cyclists: Take a quick survey about women and girls and bicycling for the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals. In addition, Sarah Goodyear at Streetsblog LA reports that “To support people around the country working to encourage women cyclists, the APBP is also hosting a webinar titled “Writing Women Back Into Bicycling” on March 31.” Earlier: What women want: Public transit stops that feel safe.

>> Then take a sobering look at today’s transportation numbers. Find out how cars are killing us via a nifty infographic, and how our transit funding’s getting cut due to budget deficits.

>> The outlook for public transit’s mixed for L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa’s 30/10 plan to fast track big public transit projects is picking up more supporters, including Sen. Feinstein. However, Governor Schwarzenegger’s still fighting to make driving cheaper by cutting gas prices while making public transit suffer by slashing funding.

>> Just for fun, revision your body as a subway map.

Image by Nathan Heath via GOOD

0 Comments

Curry over rice makes for a tasty dinner — so why stop there? Some of my favorite new snacks come with a spicy kick of curry. Here are three to try:

Theo’s Coconut Curry Milk Chocolate Bar. Curry-flavored chocolate might sound odd, but once you’ve tried this delectable 3C combination — coconut, cocoa, and curry — you’ll start craving curry in all your desserts.

Plus, Theo’s chocolates are all fair trade and organic too. A 2-ounce bar costs $3.25 and is available online and at many natural grocers and specialty gift stores.

Mary’s Gone Crackers’ Sticks & Twigs — Curry. Here’s a gluten-free snack that’s actually got serious texture and taste. These organic Sticks & Twigs are super crunchy — in a good way — and aromatically curry-flavored. And the healthy snacks contain no refined flour, opting instead for flax seeds, sesame seeds, amaranth, whole millet, whole quinoa, and chia seeds.

Find them at Whole Foods, Bristol Farms and local natural grocers like Co-opportunity in 8-ounce packs — or invest in a 12-pack case for $48 at Mary’s Gone Crackers’ online store.

Rawk-n-Roll Cuisine’s Notchos. I tend not to like raw food that tries too hard (usually unsuccessfully) to be like some non-raw treat, but I love these Notchos — so much so that I ate most of my bag while walking home from Whole Foods, leaving only the shake for my illustrative photo above.

Unattractive, crunchy looking packaging? Check. Strange-looking product? Check. Expensive sticker price? Check. Yet those downsides can’t keep me away from these raw kale chips that actually make me want to eat raw kale all day. Made with almost all organic ingredients, Notchos have a delightfully cheesy taste with a kick of curry flavor! I’d say these Notchos are guilt-free, except the $5.99 I paid for a 2-ounce bag would make me guilty buying these on a regular basis. Find Notchos at Southern California Whole Foods stores, raw food and health shops, or online for $5 a bag.

Images via Theo and Mary’s Gone Crackers; bottom photo by Siel

1 Comments

Tired and weary from a busy week of enviro-activism? Here are green activities to enjoy at home this weekend:

>> If you didn’t win tickets to the advance screening of Discovery’s LIFE on Tuesday, you missed out on the big screen HD experience — but can still watch LIFE on the small screen this Sunday, March 21, when the 11-part series begins airing. I’m actually not a big nature channel person myself, but really enjoyed seeing the first episode. Frogs are fascinating!

>> Since green LA girl readers already tote reusable bottles, this task will require dumpster diving. Go through your naughty neighbor’s blue bin and fish out a bottled water — then send in the bottled water label to Environmental Working Group. “Our goal is to see how good (or bad) bottled water manufacturers are at sharing important water quality information with consumers,” says the eco-health nonprofit, who’ve published a bottled water scorecard from a similar study last year. For your dumpster diving trouble, you’ll be rewarded with a Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides magnet.

>> You can also watch free funny eco-documentaries online, or play addictive eco-socio-political online games.

>> Or you can get off your ass and get to some great green events happening this weekend, like the Green Lifestyle Film Festival, the LA Street Summit, LEED Platinum homes tour, and more.

Image via Discovery Channel

0 Comments

It’s L.A. fashion week, and eco-fashion designers are sending their cutting edge green styles down the runway — and the red carpet. Last night, model and activist Stefanie LaRue debuted a sleek upcycled dress made of recycled cassette tapes, created by eco-couture designer Deborah Lindquist.

Stefanie LaRue wore the sonic fabric dress to the “Meet the Designer & the Muse” event at The Standard Downtown. Put on by Fashion Group International Los Angeles, the event honored about 50 of L.A.’s fashion designers in a star-studded party including Natalie Cole and Vanessa Williams.

Deborah says she’s made two pieces using sonic fabric so far — both bustier based. I’ve long been a fan of Deborah Lindquist’s bustiers — and love the how the slick and shiny sonic fabric translates into a sexy, music playing, go-with-any-skirt fashion piece.

Expect more music-playing eco-fashions from Deborah Lindquist. In the meantime, you can watch a slideshow of her Fall 2010 line — all made with upcycled, organic, and sustainable materials.

Earlier: Deborah Lindquist brings goth to green fashion

Images courtesy of Deborah Lindquist

0 Comments

A twice-weekly sharing of eco-shwag.

Today’s freebie is a copy of Girls Gone Green, a book by Lynn Hirshfield written for preteen girls eager to shrink their own carbon footprints and become environmental activists.

Published by Participant Media, Girls Gone Green’s uber exuberant tone and brightly busy design is really, really meant for upbeat young girls for whom “Green Is the New Black!” doesn’t yet sound trite. Celebs like Alicia Silverstone, Michelle Branch, Mischa Barton, Ellen Page, and other famous women dish out green tips — as do many less famous women with stronger environmental creds. I like how the book goes out of its way to highlight the great work done by women environmental activists, who often get overshadowed by bigger-name male activists.

Comment by Thursday to get into the drawing, which’ll happen Friday (more info on freebies here). US addresses only.

11 Comments

>> Fear not cloudy tap water. What you’re seeing’s not chemical contamination, but air bubbles. Reports Lindsay William-Ross at LAist: “When the temperature of the water in pipes underground is lower than room temp, the resulting air bubbles make our tap water look cloudy.”

>> The NRDC says we can cut US emissions by 1 billion tons per year (15% current annual emissions) via simple steps — like putting in CFL bulbs. Find out what they are by clicking over — then pat yourself on the back for already doing them, if you’re like the average green LA girl reader.

>> For good news about the environment in California, read Environment Now’s Top Achievements of the Environmental Community in California (PDF) to see what happy things happened in the last year. A ban on dirty trucks at the ports and a a new law to make existing plan more energy efficient are among the achievements. Unfortunately, land use, open space, and smart growth initiatives experienced more setbacks than successes.

Photo by Adam

0 Comments

Earlier this year, Nestle’s Kit Kat made green headlines by announcing its bars in the U.K. will be made with fair trade chocolate. Now, Kit Kats have been making headlines again, this time for combining that ethical chocolate with very environmentally destructive palm oil.

Greenpeace has launched a campaign, with an unsubtly altered Kit Kat logo that declares Nestle a “Killer.” Why? Nestle “uses palm oil from companies that are trashing Indonesian rainforests, threatening the livelihoods of local people and pushing orangutans towards extinction.” Those unethical palm oil companies includes Sinar Mas group, Indonesia’s largest producer of palm oil, whose practices are so destructive that even Kraft and Unilever have cut ties with the giant.

Nestle, however, has stuck with Sinar Mas, thus prompting the Greenpeace campaign. I’m guessing whatever inroads Kit Kat made into the eco-ethical chocolate market with its fair trade sourcing announcement will be derailed by Greenpeace’s efforts, which include a disturbing short video that shows one Kit Kat eater ending up with orangutan blood all over his face.

Have a break? from Greenpeace UK on Vimeo.

Kit Kats aren’t Nestle’s only products named and shamed. Nestlé’s Crunch, CoffeeMate, and PowerBar are among other products orangutan fans should avoid. And this isn’t the first time Nestle’s gotten in trouble for destroying rain forests in Indonesia. Back in 2007, World Wildlife Fund reported that Nestle — along with some other companies — was buying coffee illegally grown in habitat for endangered tigers, rhinos, and elephants.

Nestle’s penchant for using one attention getting green ingredient like fair trade chocolate for a few token products while continuously sourcing its many other ingredients with little regard to environmental or ethical concerns shows me that that ethical consumers make the best shopping decisions by looking at a company’s overall ethical sourcing practices, not just certification for an ingredient or two in a couple products.

Earlier:
>> Sweet Earth Chocolates: Decadent desserts with an eco-ethical center
>> LUSH gets orangutan-friendly with Jungle soap

Image via Greenpeace

7 Comments

I’m sad to learn about an online eco-fashion boutique only as it’s closing, but Camilla Boutique’s last sale will still be an eco-fashion treat. Plus, green LA girl readers can get free shipping on their fashion finds!

For spring parties, get a gorgeous blue Sublet Caitlin Dress — made of organic cotton and rayon from bamboo — for $100 (left, originally $210). Going on a spring safari? Try the organic cotton Loyale Thorpe Jumper, yours for $50 (middle, originally $152). Men can get the organic cotton perfect-for-a-beach-party Peligrosa Amalfi Short Sleeved Shirt for just $60 (right, originally $128).

Browse now, since deals on those items and other green brands like Linda Loudermilk, Olsen Haus, and Kate Quinn are limited. Use the code “FREESHIPPING” (minus the quotes) when you check out for free shipping.

Photos via Camilla Boutique

1 Comments

Your nearby community supported agriculture (CSA) program and farmers’ market let you enjoy fresh local eats while supporting your local economy. But if pickup times or market hours just don’t work with your schedule, an organic produce delivery service can fill the gap — and have you trying out new fruits and veggies too.

The Fruit Guys is one handy organic produce delivery service. I’ve written about the The Fruit Guys’ fruit delivery service — a healthy alternative for office snacks — a while back, but the company has since added a weekly home delivery service that brings California fruits, vegetables, and other yummy treats grown within 100 miles of San Francisco to the doorsteps of California residents!

My slim suitcase-sized box arrived with a burst of fresh produce — plus a bag each of California-grown beans and raisins! A one-sheet guide to the produce (also available online) let me know where all the produce came from. My meyer lemons, for example, came from Redwood City, navel oranges from Springville, and blood oranges from Pauma Valley. Most of the produce — including the rapini, curly parsley, and shallots — came from Coke Farm in San Juan Bautista, while the delicata squash were grown by Blue Moon Organics in Aptos.

The backside of the one-sheeter — made of post-consumer recycled materials, of course — had recipes for penne pasta and steamed artichokes and shallots that sounded delicious — though my lactose intolerant self couldn’t handle the creamy, cheesy dishes. But I made do, deliciously, by making baked delicata squash, parsley-heavy tabouli, and a garlicky rapini dish.

The delivery was delicious, relative locavore-friendly for me, and of course, convenient. The one downside, however, is the packaging waste. While The Fruit Guys will pick up the 75 – 100% post-consumer recycled content boxes for reuse in the San Francisco Bay area, Southern Californians aren’t so lucky, and have to toss them in the recycling bin along with the paper padding used to cushion the produce.

For this reason, I’ll personally stick to the L.A.-based delivery companies that will let me reuse my box — but will miss the yummy extras like the beans and raisins in The Fruit Guys’ deliveries, as well as the strong commitment to California-only produce. If you live in the Bay area — or in other California towns that don’t have local organic produce delivery services — I highly recommend trying The Fruit Guys.

A regular Fruit & Veggie Case delivery (pictured) from The Fruit Guys costs $32; a small case (16 servings) is also available for $24. You can also pick from all fruit and all veggie cases for the same prices. Set up a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly delivery — or just try out the service with a one-time delivery.

Earlier: Organic fruits and veggies, simplified.

2 Comments