AzSustainability’s very own James Towner is featured in an article on the front page of the AZ Republic today in a brief interview about Carbonrally.com.

You can read the article online here.  He was interviewed earlier in the week with a few questions about why he is a part of Carbonrally, where he heads up the Arizona team, and what sort of challenges he has taken on.  The Republic photographer came by yesterday to take photos of James and I with our laundry hanging out to dry.  He was very nice and super fast.  Luckily they went with the picture of him alone as the ones of us together felt like the strangest engagement photos ever (us looking at each other lovingly over hanging laundry! Appropriate for the eco-geeks that we are, I suppose.)

Carbonrally has been a great incentive to us both.  We were already making more environmentally friendly choices - recycling, eating less meat (or in my case none at all), using reusable cups in place of disposable, shorter showers, upping the a/c temp, etc.  The appeal of Carbonrally is that it gives you some structure and actual feedback on what those decisions do.  It is a reminder and helps you stay accountable and on track. How much CO2 can you save by making these changes?  They are small on their own but when you put them together you can make a big difference. If you want to join us on the AZ Team on Carbonrally click here. It is fast and easy to join, totally free of charge and it is a great way to encourage you to keep up your daily environmental efforts.

I don’t know, but thanks to a project in the works by the non-profit Arizona group Everlasting Marks we may be able to find out. They are raising money to build a earthship at Superstition Farm in Mesa. The construction is a training build that will train their future camp counselors the building process that they intend to use at the thier camps. Everlasting Marks eventual goal is to create international youth camps that promote cultural understanding and environmental awareness. When they complete the construction of the earthship it will be donated to the East Maricopa Natural Resource Conservation and be open to visits from the general public. This could be a great place for everyone to visit to see what life might be like living in a eco-friendly earthship without air conditioning. I know I’ll check it out because I really want to see one up close and see if it stays comfortable in the summer.

Everlasting Marks can’t complete this without help from the community, so if you want to help head over to their website and volunteer or donate some much needed funds.

If you don’t know what a earthship is check out our post about them here.

How much electricity can you produce from the roof of your house? Roofray.com is a great site to figure this out and give you a rough estimate of how much solar potential your house has. What you do is put in your address, it brings up a satellite picture of your house, and from there you construct your imaginary solar array. After your array is build it gives you a performance analysis which tells you approximately how much electricity it will produce for you each month. It does this by using your regional characteristics such as average weather and cloud cover and orientation of your array. Lastly it figures how much money you’ll save each month with your array. To do this you put in your monthly electric bill or just an overall average if you like and it tells you how much you’ll save based on your power company’s rate.

I’m sure you’d be much better off with a professional assessment, but this is a fun first step to figuring out how you might benefit from having a solar array installed on your roof to supplement your power. Head over to roofray.com and have a go at it!

Inside The Bungalow
http://insidethebungalow.com
Yoga, Cafe, and Events
48 N. Robson Mesa, AZ  85201
(480) 844-2353
e-mail: Info@insidethebungalow.com

A charming, relaxed, eclectic atmosphere is always a plus in a coffee shop.  Add fair trade delicious coffees and teas, a variety of vegan and vegetarian friendly meals, amazing owners and barista, and to top it all off, a gorgeous yoga studio and area for massage.. sound impossible? You haven’t been to Inside the Bungalow!  I have to admit my bias here, they have just started carrying my Strawberry Hedgehog products there (another bonus!).  Honestly, even if they had hated my products, though, I would have been back again and again.

There is convenient parking right in front of this 1916 house in the heart of downtown Mesa.  Surrounded by trees there are even shady spots, a rare gem in the desert!  The atmosphere is incredibly welcoming with lovely greenery, beautiful colors, and the soothing sound of water from the fountain on their front patio.  With so much beauty it is clear why people choose this spot to have their eco-friendly weddings and receptions!  It feels more like stopping by a friend’s really cool house instead of heading to a coffee shop or yoga studio.

Inside the Bungalow is owned by a delightful mother-daughter duo, Betty Freeman and Carrie Hensley.  They were kind enough to show me around and let me take some pictures.  They have a really great dynamic with one another and are just great to be around.  At the risk of sounding like a crazy hippie, the whole place just has a really great “vibe” about it and I was happy to be there.

The food, tea, and coffee live up to the great atmosphere.  They are doing their best to be more “green” and offer the price of a small drink when you bring in your own cup and recycle if you don’t.  Also, when you request a cup for there they have washable cups to save some plastic and you can take your time enjoying the place.  Many of their teas are organic and fair trade, also great for the environment. Take a look at their tea display, any tea enthusiast would be thrilled to see the yummy possibilities. Among the great selection are some extra decadent ones that even have chocolate bits so vegans read the labels carefully and everyone else enjoy indulging!

James and I went for lunch and had the Vegan Pita Pizza and the Tofu Curry wrap with a side of fruit.  As much as I like the place and the owners, with so many other great things going on - yoga, massage, great tea and coffee, I wasn’t sure they would pull off the food. I was SO wrong.  First of all, usually when you order a side of fruit at many places it is a squishy side of melon - not here! Fresh, ripe raspberries, strawberries, and antioxidant packed blueberries were a really refreshing treat. The simplicity of the Vegan Pita Pizza was amazingly delicious.  It has a hummus base that was to die for topped with fresh spinach and tomato. Doesn’t sound like much but that is why it is so great.  The simple flavors let each ingredient shine, I couldn’t get over how great it was.

The Tofu Curry was equally great. Normally I don’t like raisins but mixed with a fantastic mild curry sauce, just enough crunch from toasted sliced almonds and tofu wrapped in a sun dried tomato tortilla and I was in heaven!  What is even better still is they use organic ingredients when ever possible.  I would highly recommend either of these dishes and the awesome barista, a vegan herself, was very flexible with making things vegan and offering up great suggestions on her favorite dishes.  She made us a fantastic smoothie for the road and we drove off full and happy.

I highly recommend Inside the Bungalow for anyone looking for a cute local place to go for coffee, tea, or great food (vegan, vegetarian, or otherwise). It is good to know that they are doing all they can to serve their customers and find better ways of conducting business in an eco-friendly manner.

While I am no yogi myself just seeing their yoga studio and meeting the owners who are also the instructors I feel motivated to give it a shot.  They have a variety of classes available from partner yoga to herbal healing that look great and I will certainly be giving a try and I hope you will, too.

Click here to view the Inside the Bungalow food menu

Click here to view the Inside the Bungalow drink menu

Click here to see what Inside the Bungalow is doing to be more “Green”

in 1978.