Buy Local | AzSustainability.com - Part 2
Jul 23

Solar Chill from Tucson’s Southwest Solar is a fantastic way to cool your house completely with solar power or for less than fifty cents a day on regular grid power. This really isn’t any newfangled technology or anything, just a really efficient use of evaporative cooling. Evaporative cooling works well out here in Arizona where it is hot and dry but not so much in areas of high humidity like most places out east. Even in Arizona in late July and August it can get a bit too humid for this type of cooling. April thru July  this would be the perfect solution to using little or no power (with solar) to cool your house. According to Bill Cunningham of Southwest Solar, these can be run 24/7 for a month straight and it would only cost around $10 in electricity. The Solar Chill only uses 10-20% the power of a traditional evaporative cooler and just a fraction of what air conditioning uses.

If you live out west in a dry hot region you might consider looking into one of these coolers to save a bundle on cooling costs. To learn more about these coolers check out Southwest Solar’s website and listen to this episode of Freshly Green where they interview Bill Cunningham of Southwest Solar.

These tables show if evaporative cooling might work for you in your neck of the woods…

Jul 3

So now that we’ve covered our favorite local places to eat and drink, here’s a list of our other local favorite businesses in no particular order.

Stinkweeds - Best indie record store in the Valley.

Souvia - Cute tea accessories

ASU Art Museum Shop - The best gifts you will find in the valley.

Desert Botanical Garden - One of the world’s finest collections of desert plants

Judy’s Body Waxing - Judy’s Body Waxing & Harmonic Healing Center

Dr. Warwick - Chiropractor

Elijah Aller - Designs and makes flameworked glass. Beautiful!

The Back Rub Company - The Valley’s Leader in On-Site Corporate Chair Massage.

JessieBell Designs - Artwork inspired by the natural environment around us. Organic t-shirt screening.

Beads Galore - All your beading needs.

aka Green - Green Building supplies. Head here instead of Home Depot or Lowes.

Favorite local non-profits:

Hero’s Quest 2008 - Raising money for the 100 Club. The mission of the 100 Club of Arizona is to provide financial assistance to families of public safety officers and firefighters who are seriously injured or killed in the line-of-duty, and to provide resources to enhance their safety and welfare.

Arizona Animal Welfare League - The largest and oldest no-kill shelter in Arizona

Rescue a Golden of Arizona - Awesome golden retriever rescue group. We’ve had three great dogs from this group.

Local First Arizona - Supporting Arizona’s local business.

Jul 1

Here is a list of our favorite locally owned places to dine at in Arizona. We love trying out new flavors and the unique atmospheres these local restaurants provide. If you’re tired of the same stuff at chains give one of these a try. This list barely scratches the surface of local establishments in Arizona, what are some of your favorites?

Tempe

Phoenix

Scottsdale

Yuma

Flagstaff

Tucson

Jun 30


Photo by: hlkljgk

Considering Starbucks’ ever growing world domination and it being Independents Week and all, now is as good a time as ever to discover some fantastic local flavor in the aromatic and caffeinated wonder that is coffee and tea.  With so many options, conveniently broken down by location, you have no excuse to get your morning boost from anywhere but a locally owned business.

Maricopa

  • Trax Cafe: 19395 N John Wayne Pkwy Maricopa, AZ 85239, (520) 494-7300

Scottsdale

  • Souvia Tea: Locations in Phoenix and Scottsdale
  • Mandala Tea Room: 7027 E 5th Ave Scottsdale, AZ 85251-3205, (480) 423-3411
  • Cupz Coffee: Locations in Tempe (nearly on the ASU campus), Gilbert, and Scottsdale

Tempe

Phoenix

  • Lux Coffeebar: 4404 N Central Ave Phoenix, AZ 85012-1815, (602) 266-6469
  • Willow House: 1722 W van Buren St Phoenix, AZ 85007-2418, (602) 252-0272
  • Fair Trade Cafe: 1020 N 1st Ave Phoenix, AZ 85003-1651, (602) 354-8150

Tucson

Glendale

Chandler/Gilbert

  • Coffee Rush: 1949 W Ray Rd 40 Chandler, AZ 85224-4009, (480) 855-9815 or 1555 N Gilbert Rd Gilbert, AZ 85234-2322, (480) 507-0930
  • Cupz Coffee: Locations in Tempe (nearly on the ASU campus), Gilbert, and Scottsdale

Carefree

Yuma

  • Coffee Bean Espresso Bar and Cafe: 2450 S 4th Ave Yuma, AZ 85364-8573, (928) 317-0284

Flagstaff

Bisbee

What are some of your favorite locally owned coffee and tea places in AZ? Leave us a comment including a location and what you love about your favorite local java stop.  Cheers!

May 5

The Green Living Conference on May 3rd was a huge success! The conference featured many local vendors and five excellent speakers and a fantastic lunch provided by That’s a Wrap. Unfortunately Invest Green couldn’t talk due to their compliance not letting them, but you can find out about them here. I’d highly recommend this conference to anyone that wants to learn more about green living. They are holding another conference in November, so be prepared, I’ll announce more about that one when I get more details.

Topics they covered included retrofitting the suburbs for green living, rainwater and gray water harvesting, GM presented on what alt fuel cars they have coming down the line, green building, and what kinds of harmful chemicals are in everyday cleaners and how they affect people. I’ll post a blog covering each topic in the coming days.

Kudos to Greg Peterson of yourguidetogreen.com, Christy Grace, and all the other people that put on this great conference.

Greg PetersonCoffeeConference

VendorsCasey Brooks of AZ Green Dining

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