It may not be summer yet, but Chicago is heating up this Valentine’s week! And what better then to quench your thirst in this heat wave then with an eco-friendly Steinlager Pure Beer from New Zealand.

Steinlager Pure is smooth and refreshing with no additives, or preservatives made from New Zealand water, malted barley, hops and yeast.

Steinlager Pure is brewed with the highest integrity and follows rigorous sustainability practices in order to maintain the unaffected nature of its surroundings and allow for environmentally friendly brewing. The Pride Brewery uses 10% less energy in the brewing process, low energy lighting and harvests rainwater for non-brewing purposes. Steinlager also has a record of reduced water use and CO2 emissions, as well as recycling, reusing or value-adding to more than 99% of the solid waste generated.

Steinlager Pure is a great gift for any Valentine who loves beer & the earth. Buy yours today!

Did you know that the average American school-age child throws away 67 pounds of food packaging a year? This includes plastic water bottles, sandwich baggies, and juice boxes. That equates to 18,760 pounds of lunch waste for just one average-size elementary school. That’s a lot of trash!

Next week start reducing those numbers by packing a waste-free lunch for your kids and/or for your day at work. It’s really easy, just follow these simple 5 steps and you’ll cut down your waste in no time.

5 Tips for a Waste-Free Lunch:

1. Pack food in reusable lunch containers, like Kids Konserve
2. Wash & reuse real silverware and cloth napkins when needed
3. Store juice, water or other beverages in a reusable BPA free stainless steel bottles
4. Control food portions to ensure that there are no ‘leftovers’ to dispose of
5. Pack it all in a reusable lunch bag or tote

Did you know…Aluminum is the only material that is endlessly recyclable, without ever breaking down or compromising the quality of the metal.

That’s what makes Eco-Foil the ultimate disposable baking & roasting pan. Eco- Foil pans are made from 100% recycled aluminum, and are 100% recyclable after use, offering consumers a convenient and affordable way to reduce their carbon footprint.

Enter to win an Eco-Foil 100% Recycled Aluminum Pan Prize Pack worth $30!

How To Enter:

• Follow @GreenNetwork on Twitter
• Tweet =  “I just entered to win an Eco-Foil 100% Recycled Aluminum Pan Prize Pack. Follow @GreenNetwork & RT to enter! http://j.mp/fwTZ8t”
  

Entry Deadline:

• The giveaway ends on Sunday, December 26th, 2010 at 11:59 CST.

Giveaway Rules:

• There will be 3 winners chosen randomly and announced via Twitter on Monday, December 27th, 2010.
• Winners will have 48 hours to respond to Twitter DM notification with shipping info and claim prize – if no response, another winner will be chosen.
• Prize pack will be shipped via Eco-Foil.
• Only US residents 18+ are eligible
• No purchase necessary – void where prohibited by law.

Thanksgiving is a time when we all think of the harvest and a table full of food. However, we should remember not to get carried away. We should only cook enough food to feed our family, guests and have a few leftovers. Because nothing is worse than food going to waste.

Instead of using plastic straws and constantly throwing them away, invest in a reusable glass straw! No BPA and no plastic waste!

It’s as easy as B.Y.O.S.!

Halloween is fast approaching!

Be prepared for all those treat-or-treaters this year by buying candy treats that are made from organic ingredients, and are naturally colored & flavored. When buying chocolate treats, look for fair trade goodies.

nicobella are these dreamy little vegan organic dark chocolate truffles designed for the health conscious individual with a big sweet tooth.

nicobella provides all of the flavor without the guilt, taking the traditional decadent truffle concept to a new level. nicobella replaces the cream and sugar that is typically in the ganache center of a truffle, with vegan natural ingredients and infusing each truffle with super rich antioxidant foods.

nicobella’s truffle variety box is an awesome sampler of all their vegan organic dark chocolate flavors…Walnut Flaxseed Crunch, Sunflower Banana Butter, Pumpkin Chai, Blueberry Almond, Ginger Green Tea and Pure Cocoa Bliss.

Buy yours today! It’s the best little chocolate treat after dinner.

Stop eating that unhealthy refined white sugar and start to replace it with all natural substitutes.

Why?
White refined sugar starts out as sugar cane before it goes though it’s refining process. This process removes all measurable traces of vitamins and minerals from the sugar cane, leaving us with a nutritionally vacant product whose only purpose is to be sweet.

Get the sweet plus some nutritional value by using natural sugar replacers such as Sucanat, maple syrup, stevia, honey and agave nectar whenever possible.

Move over Coffee there’s a new sheriff in town and his name is Tea.

Did you know…
Some black teas have just as much caffeine as coffee does. Plus, growing tea is much greener then growing coffee. Producing one cup of coffee requires almost 300 gallons of water, while the same amount of tea requires only about 30 gallons of water.

So green up that morning cup of java with coffee’s leafy counterpart. Don’t forget to always buy organic, fair-trade, & shade-grown. Plus, skip the pre-bagged tea & go straight for the loose-leaf.

It may sound difficult, but making homemade organic baby food at home is super simple and has huge benefits for your baby, the environment and your wallet.

All you need to do is buy fresh organic fruits & veggies at the local farmer’s market, cook them and blend/puree. You can even make extra and freeze in reusable single serving containers or in ice cube trays for later use.

By doing the leg work yourself you know what’s actually going into your baby’s food, giving yourself peace of mind that your baby is getting the freshest organic foods.