August Newsletter

Hi Greenies!

August is here and my it's hot out there! I hope you are all staying cool and having a fantastic summer. As you know, we're moving to a new location at the end of October which you can read more about on our blog.

Here's your August-edition of the newsletter and be sure to give it a good scan because there's a lot going on with school approaching and summer ending!


BACK TO SCHOOL SAVINGS @ GREEN ALTERNATIVES

Why not go green with back-to-school supplies! Green Alternatives is offering 15% off 50+ greenie school items. Check out the CATALOG, send over your selections, and we'll be sure to have your items packaged and ready for pick up later this month. Items like Klean Kanteens, Laptop Lunches, and other products that rarely go on sale are offered in our back-to-school promotion. Pre-order deadline is August 12.


NEW PRODUCTS @ GREEN ALTERNATIVES

Wrap N’ Mat Snack Pouch | Similar to the Wrap N Mat original, the snack pouch is slightly larger and when opened stays in pouch form to hold cookies, crackers, fruit and more. The pouches are a great find to get rid of those plastic baggies for good!

Klean Kanteen Bottle Filter Adapters | Compatible with most standard backcountry water filters, the new Klean Kanteen adapter assures you can use your favorite stainless steel bottle anywhere.

Bi-O-Kleen Soy Lube | A sustainable, effective lubricant that is safe for you and the Earth! Soy Lube has hundreds of uses penetrating, lubricating, cleaning, protecting, and sealing areas.

EcoTools Bamboo Brushes | Earth-friendly bamboo make-up tools by EcoTools are cruelty-free, crafted from natural and sustainable materials, and housed in a reusable storage bag.

SnackTAXI Pouches | SnackTAXIs have finally arrived at the store and are going quick. They are snack/sandwich pouches that offer waste-free lunch and snack time in style. Pouches come in fun, trendy prints making it hard to pick just one!


A RECYCLING PROJECT...

We're working on a new project at Green Alternatives and need your help! We want your plastic bags! Ok, we don't want the plastic grocery bags that you would get from Farm Fresh or the like. Those can be recycled at your local Farm Fresh already. What we want are the plastic food bags and other plastic shopping bags that you would get from a store at the mall. Thanks in advance for helping out with our recycling project. We'll be sure to update you on our project after we get started!


DON'T FORGET

Biokleen Bac-Out Refills | Save 20% on each BacOut Refill! 16 oz Biokleen Bottles are $8.49 and if you bring your bottle back, we’ll refill it for $6.99!

Charlie's Soap Refills | Save per load with a Charlie's Soap Refill! Bring your Charlie's canvas bag to the store and we'll refill it for $11.99. That will make your laundry $0.14 per load; a savings of $0.03 per load.

New Recycling | Save your lids and caps, Kashi packaging, Bear Naked wrappers, candy bar wrappers, and cookie wrappers. We can now take these items for recycling at the store. Pretty soon you'll have nothing left in that trash bag! YAY!


GREENIE EVENTS IN HAMPTON ROADS

Chesapeake Green Drinks | August 6 @ 5:30 pm | aloft Hotel, Chesapeake, VA
First Thursdays are green! Networking and conversation with eco-savvy locals.

Norfolk Green Drinks | August 12 @ 5:30 pm | The Boot, Norfolk, VA
Great conversation with friendly eco-minded people, after-work relaxation and fun! Plus: Wednesday nights are Virginia Beer nights, drafts are $2!

Rain Barrel Workshop | August 19 @ 6 pm | Green Alternatives, Norfolk, VA
Come out to this 1 ½ hour workshop and build your own rain barrel! It’s $60 per rain barrel making person and all materials will be supplied. This is a hands on workshop and when it’s over you will have your very own rain barrel. The deadline to register is August 14. Register on the Green Alternatives website or on facebook.

Va Beach Green Drinks | August 20 @ 6 pm | Croc's Bistro, Virginia Beach, VA
Enjoy locally-produced food and eco-friendly beverages while talking to your green buddies!

Swapping Shindig | August 25 @ 6 pm | Green Alternatives, Norfolk, VA
Clean out your closets and bring your former favorites (clothes, accessories, and shoes) along with your favorite beverage. Here are the rules…bring in a grocery-sized bag or larger along with your beverage of choice. We’ll provide the snacks and you’ll enjoy swapping your oldies but goodies with others for FREE!


GREENIE TIP
Washing machines use a ton of energy, but did you know that 90% of that energy goes into heating the water? Forget the warm and hot wash cycles. Instead, keep the dial on cold and be sure to launder with eco-friendly detergent!


Keeping it green,
Amelia

GREEN ALTERNATIVES
801 Boush Street, Suite C
Norfolk, VA 23510
757.622.1444
www.greenalternativesstore.com
shop@greenalternativesstore.com

Did you hear?
We're moving to the Five Points Community Farm Market
Effective October 26, 2009 our new address will be:
2500 Church Street (Church & 26th)
Norfolk, VA 23504

Let's Swap!

Green Alternatives is hosting a Swapping Shindig tonight at the store. What's a swapping party? It's a cheap-o greenie way to get some new threads and stay true to your green ways.

Clean out your closets and bring your former favorites (clothes, accessories, and shoes). Here are the rules…bring in a grocery-sized bag or larger along with your beverage of choice. We’ll provide the snacks and you’ll enjoy swapping your oldies but goodies with others for FREE!

We're excited that Fox43 let us chat it up about our swapping party...



Want to see what else Fox43 (and others) have featured about Green Alternatives?
Check out our In The News section on the website or click here.

Green Alternatives is MOVING!

*Disclaimer...we aren't actually moving until our lease is up at the Boush Street location. We just wanted to share the news and be sure you are all in the loop! The official move dates are below.

As many of you know when my husband and I purchased the business we were in a frantic rush to find a new location and re-open quickly. We also knew that during our first year we would really delve into finding out what would be best for the business as far as product, location, services, and such.

That being said, we have just finalized plans with the local Five Points Farmer's Market in Norfolk at Church & 26th to be a permanent store inside their facility. Besides the fact that we love, love, love the Farmer's Market and all that they are doing for our fine community, we also thought that you too would love our new location.

I took it upon myself to come up with a list of reasons why our move to the market is completely AWESOME!

1. Many of you are already market shoppers which makes us being there a convenient one-stop-shop!
2. Our rent will be going to the market, a non-profit, to better support their fabulous community projects.
3. We'll be able to offer lower pricing on a selection of our products.
4. Green Alternatives will be able to partner with the market on many community events which is part of being a good greenie and building community.
5. Our structure will be uber-green crafted from reclaimed pallet wood!
6. We're hoping to expand our services after the move.
7. Rest assured that we will still have all of the planet-friendly products you love!

The nitty gritty...
We will officially close the doors at the Boush Street location at 6 pm Saturday, October 24 and will re-open with our shiny new digs at the Farmer's Market Wednesday, October 28.

As always, we encourage questions, comments, and the like.

Keeping it green,
Amelia

From the desk of Eileen Levandoski, Hampton Roads Conservation Coordinator for the Virginia Chapter of Sierra Club...

Please attend!

Dr. Christine Llewellyn from the Williamsburg Climate Action Network is the guest speaker at tomorrow's (Sat. July 25) Virginia Beach Democratic Committee breakfast meeting, 9:00am at Mom's Kitchen, 3501 Holland Rd. She will present on the Old Dominion Electric Coop's $6 billion 1500 megawatt stinker of a coal plant proposed for the small town of Dendron Virginia, in Surry County just 18 miles upwind from Williamsburg.

The event is free and open to the public. Individual tabs apply.


Also, check out this YouTube video on the Surry coal plant… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh2feci2l54&feature=player_embedded

We Heart the 3/50 Project!!

Special thanks to Gina Elliott from Thrive Magazine for sending us The 3/50 Project link. What a cool idea!! The project was designed to save the small, local brick & mortar stores that built this fine nation and the concept is simple. Spend $50 a month between three of your fav local stores to show your support and keep them around!

OK we admit that it would be awesome if you took the whole $50 and spent it at Green Alternatives, but we heart all small-businesses and Hampton Roads is bustling with local businesses that create the wonderful landscape of the many neighborhoods in the seven cities.

So please read on to learn more about this project.

New Thinking

I was just reading the WWF newsletter which featured the video below. I love it! Short and to the point.

Green Alternatives July Newsletter

Good Day Greenies,

I’m sure you’re gearing up for a fun-filled holiday weekend! As always, we have a lot to share so let’s get to it.


NEW PRODUCTS AT GREEN ALTERNATIVES

• We now have Laptop Lunch sleeves for your favorite bento box lunch set. Each sleeve comes with an ice pack to for the perfect compact, chilled waste-free lunch!


• Biokleen Bac-Out Refills are here! Now you can bring in your 16 oz empty Bac-Out bottle and we’ll refill it for only $6.99 – that’s 20% off! If you don’t have an empty Bac-Out bottle, feel free to bring in any bottle, any size and we’ll charge you per ounce … 24 oz for $10.49, 32 oz for $13.99, 64 oz for $27.99.


• Don’t forget that we still refill your Charlie’s Laundry Soap for $11.99 -- $2.00 off regular price.


• Party Packs for the 4th and more are all ready for you! Inside each pack are…25 Large Bagasse Plates, 25 Small Bagasse Plates, 25 Compostable Cups, 50 Recycled Paper Napkins, and 25 Compostable Forks. All of this priced at $10.49 and perfect for summer picnics, parties, and more!

LET’S TALK RECYCLING

We’ve expanded our Terracycle Brigades! You can now bring us the following items to be repurposed into new, fun products:

• Mars & Wrigley Candy Wrappers
• Kashi Packaging
• Bare Naked Bags
• Cookie Wrappers

GREEN ALTERNATIVES ECO-MOWING SERVICE

Just a friendly reminder that Green Alternatives has launched its new green lawn care service! We will come and mow your lawn with an eco-friendly electric mower that uses no gas and has no emissions. We’ll bike to mow your lawn with our fun eco-mowing cart in tow or will offset our carbon If we have to use a car to get to you!

Want an estimate on your lawn?
GreenAlternativesStore.com/EcoMowing.html



LOCAL GREENIE EVENTS

Thrive Magazine Launch Party - Friday, July 3rd, 5pm-8pm @ Origins Town Center – Enjoy chair massages, door prizes, organic and natural chocolate, to introduce Thrive to Hampton Roads.

Norfolk Green Drinks - Wednesday July 8th, 5:30pm-8:30pm @ The Boot - Great conversation with friendly eco-minded people, after-work relaxation and fun! Plus, Wednesday nights are Virginia Beer nights, drafts are $2!

Virginia Beach Green Drinks - Thursday July 16th, 6pm-8pm @ Croc’s 19th Street Bistro - Enjoy locally-produced food and eco-friendly beverages while talking to your green buddies! Find out more at Crocs19thStreetBistro.com

Green Alternatives Swapping Party - Tuesday July 28th, 6pm-8pm - Clean out your closets and bring your former favorites (clothes, accessories, and shoes) along with your favorite beverage. Here are the rules…bring in a grocery-sized bag or larger along with your beverage of choice. We’ll provide the snacks and you’ll enjoy swapping your oldies but goodies with others for FREE! Register at GreenAlternativesStore.com/SocialBuzz.html

Red Cross Blood Drive @ Green Alternatives - July 29th,Noon-5:00pm -Come out and donate blood through the American Red Cross! You can walk-in or register at GiveLife.org



HAMPTON ROADS GREEN GALS

A new, local site has launched as part of Go Green Hampton Roads that offers sincere reviews of greenie products from everyday women. Now you can read honest feedback about green products before you buy & try. Read what these ladies have to say at GoGreenHamptonRoads.com/Hampton_Roads_Green_Gals



UNION MISSION WOMEN’S & FAMILY SHELTER DRIVE

We’re still collecting for the shelter! The next time you’re in, feel free to bring in any of the following items:

Twin sheets & pillow cases (preferably white), pillows, towels, wash cloths, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, towels, blankets, diapers, baby clothes, night gowns & robes (esp. larger sizes), combs, brushes, tissues, deodorant, lotion, socks, underclothing, shower caps, medicine (tylenol, aspirin, cough medicine, cold medicine, etc.), school supplies, phone cards, grocery store cards, and bus/taxi tokens.



SPCA DRIVE

We’re still collecting for the Norfolk SPCA! The next time you stop by the store, feel free to drop off anything animal-friendly (dog food, cat food, toys, treats, etc.)



GREENIE TIP

Tired of throwing away your #5 plastics? Now you can send in all of your #5s to Preserve through their Gimme5 Program to be recycled. Please send them to the following address: Preserve Gimme5, 823 NYS Rte 13, Cortland, NY 13045. Please note that Green Alternatives cannot accept these items. They must be sent directly to Preserve.

NEW ISSUE OF THRIVE MAGAZINE NOW AVAILABLE
The July/August issue of Thrive magazine is now available at Green Alternatives OR you can read it online. (We're partial to page 19 of the new issue.)