Help Support the Sustainable Food Center

On Tuesday, August 25, Edible Austin, Alamo Drafthouse, and the Front Porch Project are hosting a Film Feast at Boggy Creek Farm to support the Sustainable Food Center.

Starting at 7 PM, the event will include cocktails and conversation; a locally-sourced picnic from Alamo chefs John Bullington and Trish Eichelberger; and a screening of the movie FRESH, which “celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system.”

Tickets, which include drinks, dinner, and the movie, are $35. They may be purchased in advance only online at Alamo Drafthouse. Guests are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets to spread out on the lawn as seating is limited.

The Sustainable Food Center is an Austin-based nonprofit which works to “cultivate a healthy community by strengthening the local food system and improving access to nutritious, affordable food. SFC envisions a food secure community where all children and adults grow, share and prepare healthy, local food.”

Through their Grow Local, Farm Direct, and The Happy Kitchen/La Cocina Alegre™ projects, SFC is improving the lives of children and families throughout the Austin area.

Nourish your body, your brain, and your community by attending the Film Feast on August 25.

This article was syndicated on the AustinEcoNetwork. If you live in the Austin area, or want to learn about eco-happenings in Austin, be sure to visit the site.

Turn “I’m Bored” into “I Made it Myself!”

It finally happened. My kids, who typically are full of ideas, uttered the words that can spark dread in the heart of any busy parent. “I’m bored. What can we do?”

We thought we had planned well for this summer. We had a list! And a calendar! But then plans changed, as they tend to do, and the heat blasted day after day, which changed more plans, and we found ourselves with more time to fill than interesting projects with which to fill it. Add to that two parents with heads full of deadlines and work obligations (rather than fun ideas) and it was clear we needed some help.

Thankfully, I found the Future Craft Collective. Read more

Business Review: TerraBurger

My family’s summer just got better. This week TerraBurger opened its second location in northwest Austin at 10611 Research Blvd, right by Costco. Now we have a healthy option for a quick meal at a family-friendly restaurant – what a treat!

When we saw TerraBurger’s sign go up several months ago, we were curious but frankly more than a little skeptical. Lots of businesses have jumped on the green bandwagon for marketing and little else. We wondered how green Terra Burger’s operations would really be. We checked them out online and were impressed with what we saw.

From their website:

At TerraBurger, Rule #1 is “all natural”–we won’t serve anything that contains artificial ingredients, period. No artificial colors or flavors. No flavor enhancers. No trans fats. Nothing highly processed. No artificial additives. In fact, we have an extensive list of banned ingredients that don’t make the cut. For more detailed information on the practical meaning of “all natural”, go here: http://www.naturalingredient.org/naturalingredients.htm. Read more

Save Money, and the Earth, with Homemade Cleaners

Last week we discussed how toxic many household products are (so toxic that they are routinely referred to as hazardous household waste) and how to safely remove them from your home. This week we want to share some inexpensive and simple recipes so you can make earth-friendly replacements for those items.

We’ll start with cleaning supplies.

Conventional cleaning supplies: Homemade cleaning products can get your home just as clean as conventional products for far less money and with far less toxic exposure. They also smell better! Here are recipes for a few multi-tasking items. Read more

Greening Your Home, Frugally

Many people associate going green with expensive purchases scattered throughout their living space, but living a greener lifestyle is more often about what you don’t buy and don’t have in your home.

A quick, and frugal way to improve the health of your home is to remove the toxic items. You may be thinking, “Who lives with toxic items? What, do people have piles of radioactive waste in their living rooms? If so, I’m a better housekeeper than I thought!” With toys and books currently littering way too many surfaces in our home, I’m clearly not qualified to judge anyone’s housekeeping abilities, but I can tell you the odds are high that items you have in your home today are toxic. Read more

Check Out the Austin EcoNetwork!

The Austin EcoNetwork has officially launched its new website and Greening Families is proud to be one of the featured bloggers!

The Austin EcoNetwork or AEN is “a network of people interested in information, events, and resources related to Austin and the environment.” For those of you in the Austin area, AEN has a great calendar that lists local happenings as well as updates on news affecting the Austin area. For those who live in other parts of the world, Austin has a vibrant eco-community so it can be heartening to read about all the people who are thinking and acting to protect the environment. (We live outside of Austin so I browse it myself when feeling blue about going green.)

Please come visit to check out Greening Families’ weekly posts and to see all the other great offerings!