At first, it seems extremely eco-friendly, the biannual Compost Giveaway Events every fall and spring in San Francisco hosted by the city’s Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC).

Residents are offered free compost to produce soil for community and school gardens and local backyards. It’s the green and organic thing to do.

The problem is the mulch isn’t made of food scraps and manure but a combination of toxic sewage sludge from waste water treatment, green waste, yard waste and wood chips.

What’s in sewage sludge? Stuff that’s foul and harmful to people and …

Tags: agriculture , biosolids , compost , eco , fertilizer , food , garden , giveaways , green , heavy metals , Mayor Gavin Newsom , mulch , organic , pathogens , PCB , pharmaceuticals , pollutants , Public Utilities Commission , San Francisco , sewage sludge , soil , toxic

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No one growing up during the upbeat, Mattel-directed Sixties figures they’ll be worse off in middle age, forced to scrounge harder for work, buy less, live smaller.

Those Barbie songs my sister and I sang along to in our pink and green room constituted teenage visions of a supercalifragelistic future that we owned, co-starring Dick Van Dyke, four kids, a shiny Lincoln and full-service yacht.

“Here’s a cake, that you and I can make, I’ll share the recipe, if you say yes to me.”

But due to the recession and soaring costs …

Tags: affirmations , aging , birthday , blessings , book clubs , children , conservation , debt , Disney , family , green , jewelry , Life in the Green Lane , luxury , Mary Poppins , menopause , nature , pets , recession , San Francisco

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Hot time, late summer in the city!

Except for those dreaded Friday nights when all that’s on your buff arm is your reusable canvas shopping bag.

Lumbering home from your hood’s green grocer, you pass that trendy Indian bistro and spy handsome couples in the window on double dates. They’re nursing ginormous chalices of red wine and laughing up a storm, eyes tearing from the tandoori and terribly clever banter. You feel resentful. You like red wine, too.

Take heart, neo nester. It’s …

Tags: al fresco dining , Annie Somerville , cooking , drinks , entertaining , farmers market , Green's Restaurant , grilling , menus , organic , San Francisco , summer , sustainability , wine

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From organic cotton garb to reusable serving ware, they have raised the bar in San Francisco this week as more than 1,500 Jewish teen athletes from 40 U.S. cities and four international countries (Mexico, Guatemala, Israel and Canada) compete in the Maccabi Games 2009.

This year, for the first time, organizers introduced a Green Team – a committee chaired by Miriam Gordon, an environmental activist, and games director, Jackie Lewis. Their game plan: a zero-waste event that completely circumvents the dreaded landfill.

Instead of the usual bottled water …

Tags: athletes , carbon , compost , Conserve , garbage , golf , Jewish , Jewish Community Center , Jewish National Fund , Maccabi Games , organic cotton , pins , recycle , reuse , San Francisco , soccer , water bottles , zero-waste

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Welcome to Chloe’s Closet, the ideal source for gently-used maternity and baby gear and garb. Not everyone has older children and cousins to pass on hand-me-downs or the money to buy brand new. Face it, with baby, brand new gets old pretty fast thanks to spit-up stains, dirt patches and faded dyes from wash and wear.

This San Francisco source lets you buy, sell and consign – even register your wish list (a crib, car seat or winter coat) and hear back when it becomes available.

Located on Courtland Avenue in San Francisco’s …

Tags: bernal heights , buying used baby items , carriers , San Francisco , second hand stores , strollers , used baby goods

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Image: Stern Grove

We Shall Overcome sung in Farsi? Whatever works!

Adding a verse of the civil rights anthem in Persian roused the throng of Iranian concert goers joining some 10,000 fans blanketing San Francisco’s Stern Grove to hear folk legend, Joan Baez, speak to them. Her appearance was the highlight of the 2009 summer series of free performances at the popular outdoor venue.

The folk singer’s legendary soprano voice, showing only the slightest hint of rust at age 68, is now reaching Iranian Americans, …

Tags: Berkeley , concerts , folk music , Iran elections , Iran unrest , Joan Baez , Neda Soltan , San Francisco , Sixties , Stern Grove

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Slow down and take time to smell the rosés.

That’s our highly recommended approach to the eco-sensual pairing of artisanal food and terroir-expressive wines at this Sunday’s Golden Glass Wine Event at San Francisco’s Fort Mason Pavilion.

It’s also the prevailing philosophy of sponsor Slow Food USA, an organization dedicated to advocating the importance of sustainable farming practices that respect traditional knowledge and taste.

Complementing more than 100 no-pesticide wines from around the globe …

Tags: artisan , event , Father's Day , Golden Glass , San Francisco , slow food , wine

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The San Francisco Public Library is lending an ear to the landfill crisis by piloting a new library card program that substitutes plastic cards with ones made from corn. You’ve seen the corn utensils. This invention is just as ingenious, but it fits into your wallet much better.

Check out the new ecocard. It’s a true-blue alternative that might catch on

…

Tags: biodegradable corn , compost , corn products , environment , landfills , library , library cards , plastic , San Francisco

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“Why bother decorating something no one pays any attention to?” asked my chronically negative mother upon learning I wanted to customize my wedding runner. Just like in high school, I didn’t listen. She was a contemporary L.A. designer with a very different sense of design from mine. What did she know about sustainable wedding design?

Here I am, an elated newlywed floating down the aisle in the Venetian Room at the San Francisco Fairmont Hotel, arm-in-arm with my Ken Doll – um, I mean new husband – on the runner I …

Tags: Fairmont hotel , hand painted decor , San Francisco , wedding runners

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