More Hip Than Hippie #264 - Happy 5th Anniversary!

Dori and Val celebrate 5 years of podcasting "More Hip Than Hippie".

The Hipsters have hit another milestone! This week marks the end of their 5th year as co-hosts of your favorite eco-funny podcast. After more than 200 beers quaffed and chocolates nibbled, they find time to respond to a few listener requests. They also come up with a name for their imaginary lovechild.

Beer and Chocolate:

Beer: If life leaves you wondering "WTF?", open up a big-ass bottle of Wilco Tango Foxtrot Brown Ale from Lagunitas Brewing Co. You'll discover why they're one of our favorite breweries

Chocolate: Our 5th anniversary is golden! Green & Black's Maya Gold is sensationally smooth with just the right mix of spicy and sweet. A Hipster classic.

Hip News and Finds

Finds:

• High Five! Need a special treat for our 5th anniversary? Haagen-Dazs Five is a new line of scrumptious ice creams containing only 5 ingredients, all of them found in nature. Try the lemon.
• Party on wheels. Chico recently hosted a Bicycle Music Festival, a mobile concert that literally runs on pedal power.

Uplifting Hip News

• Sit. Stay. Sniff. Man's Best Friend is now saving endangered animals by locating their poop in the wild. Good boy!
• Montana gives a dam. In an effort to save the endangered Kootenai River white sturgeon, officials are releasing water from Libby Dam so that the ancient creatures can spawn. Believe us, they're not as cute as a dog

Teenie Weenie Greenie™

From Listener Melanie in Lansdale, PA: Take control of what you eat! If you have little ones in your life, give them homemade food whenever possible. For babies, the Fresh Baby So Easy baby food kit is a great start. Bigger kids love homemade ice pops. Try your hand at making yogurt!

Happy 5th Anniversary!

It was a dark and stormy night...well, not really. It was a warm spring evening in 2005 when we hatched the plot for our little podcast. Now, 264 shows later, it's time to look back at 5 beer-and-chocolate-soaked years of interviews, e-mails and really bad songs. Bottom line: we love you, man!

Top 5 Breweries:

1. Sierra Nevada Brewery in Chico, CA

2. (tie) Deschutes Brewery in Bend, OR and Lagunitas Brewing Co. in Petaluma, CA

3. Butte Creek Brewing Co. in Chico, CA (RIP!)

4. (tie) New Belgium Brewing Co. in Fort Collins, CO and North Coast Brewing Co. in Fort Bragg, CA

5. Samuel Smith Brewery in Tadcaster, England

Top 5 Chocolatiers:

1. Dagoba Organic Chocolate

2. Trader Joe's

3. (tie) Green & Black's and Seeds of Change

4. (tie) Endangered Species and Newman's Own

5. Zazubean

Listener E-mails

Tell No Impact Man you'd love to hear him chat with the Hipsters! Send him a nice email. Don't forget us...we love to hear your questions and compliments at hip@greenfeet.com. Check out our new blog! And remember to post articles, links and More Hip memories at our MHTH forum!

• Catherine in Utah has a great green gift idea for new moms: a gift certificate for a lactation consultant or a postpartum doula.
• Jimmie in Los Angeles is craving a good Chipotle burrito after seeing the chain's founder addressing the Senate on PAMTA.
• Christine in Florida shares a video with some fun facts about disposable coffee cups. Yes, she brings her own mug.
• Kara from Czechoslovakia wonders if decaf tea is full of chemicals. Depends on the method used to remove the caffeine. By the way, your English doesn't suck.
• George in Minnesota invites Hipsters to participate in the Odwalla Plant a Tree program. You betcha!
• Sarah in NYC did something gnarly to her hand, then asked doctors to put in biodegradable corn plastic anchors to hold the stitches. She's green to the bone!
• Patrick in NC points out that beer can make a good hair rinse. Like we need an excuse to take a bottle of beer into the shower.

Show the world you're More Hip Than Hippie! Grab some merch for Summer Solstice or any day!

Twitter goes green on #EcoMonday! Follow Val on Twitter: GrnDiva, at your service! Add us to your friends on Facebook!

Remember to vote for us at Podcast Alley, and leave a glowing review at iTunes!

** FACEBOOK ALERT! ** We'll soon switch from our "Friend" page to a "Fan" page, so get ready to "LIKE" us even more!

More Hip Than Hippie is sponsored by Greenfeet.com.

More Hip Than Hippie #263 - A Zero Waste Home

Blogger Bea Johnson tells how her family has learned to live without generating household waste.

After moving into a smaller house, Bea and her family needed to simplify their lives. They began a quest to eliminate unnecessary packaging and other trash...and ended up with a Zero Waste Home! Bea regales the Hipsters with her tale of reducing, reusing and refusing waste. She also reveals her unusual alternative to chocolate.

Beer and Chocolate:

Beer: Dori's boss ordered her to finish off half a growler of Silver Peak Brewery's Peavine Porter, one of the house brews from that Reno resort. It's a long story with a reasonably happy ending.

Chocolate: Our quest for a guiltless Mounds bar is over! Sunspire has created a Coconut Almond Bar that is rich, gooey and delicious. It's also full of natural ingredients that we could identify and pronounce. Win!

Hip News and Finds

Finds:

• Val's Favorite Thing! It stirs, its scoops, it scrapes. The bambu Spoontula is actually a set of 3 different utensils, each designed to do a variety of kitchen jobs. Old Spoontulas never die--just compost 'em when you've worn them out!
• Let's talk about Rx. Just in time for summer, our friends at MNN present 5 first-aid essentials for the eco-friendly home.
• Want to be like Paul McCartney? Sign Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution petition!

Hip News

• Pulp friction. In a deal with environmentalists, paper companies in Canada agreed to keep their paws off 75 million acres of boreal forest for 3 years.
• Burning question. Is it still OK to use sunscreen? According to the Environmental Working Group, only 8% of current products are recommended, including TerraSport SPF30.

Teenie Weenie Greenie™

Grain of truth! The next time you get food stuck on your cast iron pan, try adding water and a handful of chunky salt. Bring it to a boil, then scrape away the schmutz!

 

A Zero Waste Home

18 months ago, Bea Johnson and her family decided to start cutting down on household waste. By tackling one item at a time, they were able to achieve The Zero Waste Home. Now she offers tips and ideas in her blog about dealing with everyday waste challenges. The fabulously French Bea poured a glass of rosé and shared her story with the Hipsters.

• Look at your trash. Pick one item to eliminate, figure out how to do it. Repeat.
• Find your staples. Take note of items you use regularly (rice, noodles, etc), then find a way to buy them in bulk. Shop with reusable containers.
• Use a pressure cooker to speed up meal preparation, so you won't be tempted to buy packaged food.
• Use furoshiki instead of gift wrap. Include a card with instructions so your recipient can pass it on.
• Pig's ears? Vraiment, Bea?

Listener E-mails

• Melissa in NC wonders if "eco" hair dryers are worth the money. Val's Silent HP is energy efficient AND comes with a lifetime warranty.
• Tommi in Iowa has a Teenie Weenie Greenie on the way (congrats!) and would love some Hipster tips for an eco-friendly baby experience. Cloth diapers and glass bottles are a good start.
• Patrick in NC shares good news: moderate drinking may protect the brain from Alzheimer's. Sorry pal, no new photo of Val's Double Dangs, but thanks for asking!
• Gary in Oregon sent the story of a squabble outside a strip joint, centering on suspicious swine. (We love alliteration!)

Twitter goes green on #EcoMonday! Follow Val on Twitter: GrnDiva, at your service! Add us to your friends on Facebook and MySpace!

Remember to vote for us at Podcast Alley, and leave a glowing review at iTunes!

More Hip Than Hippie is sponsored by Greenfeet.com.