bGreen: Thoughts On Green

F. Rock in Boston Globe’s Innovation Economy

F. Rock, our favorite maker of men’s bags, was featured in today’s Innovation Economy article in the Boston Globe. We’re thrilled for Nicole’ and F. Rock.



Remember, order your bags by May 15 to guarantee delivery by Father’s Day on June 20.

What’s the deal with SKOY Cloth?

We’ve been using this great product called SKOY Cloth for a while now.  We use it instead of paper towels and even as an alternative to our Twist Sponges.  The beauty of SKOY is that they’re reusable.  You can use it, wash it, use it again, wash it again, and so on and so on.  You can use a SKOY cloth for up to 1 year.  Imagine, an entire year without using paper towels.



Once your SKOY has out lived it’s useful like in the kitchen (maybe it’s too dirty, maybe it’s a little worn), just downgrade your SKOY to rag status.  Use it in the bathroom, the garage, or even the car.  Once it’s done there, it’s time to consider sending it to that big SKOY apartment in the sky.  Simply toss it in your compost heap or toss it in the trash.  Either way is perfectly fine.  SKOY Cloths are biodegradable.  So have no fear.



Want to know how to care for your SKOY Cloth?  It’s really easy.  Just rinse it out with a little soap and warm water after each use.  If it’s getting a little grungy, just toss it in the dishwasher.  It’ll come out looking as good as new.  If your SKOY starts to smell a  little, just wet it, and put it in the microwave for 2 minutes.  Really.  But make sure it’s wet!  We don’t want you burning your house down.



So ditch the paper towels and stock up on SKOY Cloths.  You’ll wonder why you didn’t make the switch sooner.

Boston Design Center

We visited the Boston Design Center on Friday.  The Boston Design Center (BDC) is a huge building in South Boston that houses over 75 showrooms for a variety of building and design resources.  There are tile showrooms, furniture showrooms, kitchen showrooms, office furniture showrooms, and even a sports marketing agency.  It’s really an awesome place…if you can get in.



Conceptually, we LOVE the concept.  Get all these awesome products and design showcases under one roof and let the public have at it.  You can browse a variety of products and design styles under one roof.  It’s a great place, except the public is very rarely allowed to visit.  We do not love this.  If you’re a member of the public, the only way to get in is to be accompanied by someone affiliated with the BDC, work with a designer, or sign up for an expensive membership.  This doesn’t work for most folks.  In our experience, the majority of people working on their homes do not work with designers.  If you’re an industry professional, you can get it in, but you need to have already established three accounts at the design center.  Clearly this method has been successful, as there are similar design centers in most major cities and the target audience for the BDC is obviously designers and architects.  We just wish there was a way to expose the public to these amazing showrooms more easily.



What we’re doing with the bGreen Mobile Showroom certainly borrows from the concepts put forth by the design centers.  We’re getting a variety of products under one roof.  Flooring, cabinetry, lighting, etc.  Only in our case, we want the public to see it just as much as we want design professionals to see it.  Read more about the bGreen Mobile Showroom here.

The Whole Scoop on Whole Foods in Dedham, MA - Part 1

We live in Boston and rarely do our food shopping outside the city.  We’re big fans of never getting in the car and supporting our local neighborhoods (South End and North End).  In the South End, we do most of our shopping at Foodie’s Urban Market, Don Otto’s Market (formerly Lionette’s), and the South End Formaggio.  In the North End, we’re not even sure the places we shop have names, but they’re great nonetheless.  These places serve us well, but sometimes we just want to check out what’s happening at the big box markets, particularly Whole Foods.



Recently we had to head out of the city (cringe) and check out the new Legacy Place in Dedham, MA.  Legacy Place also happens to be the home of the largest Whole Foods Market in the country (so we’re told).  Well, we’ve got major hots for the Bowery Whole Foods in New York City, which is so awesome it’ll make your head spin, so we were most excited to see what Dedham, MA had to offer.



Surprisingly, the Dedham market doesn’t feel that huge.  Maybe it’s the layout, or that it’s all on one floor, but it just doesn’t feel that overwhelming.  The prepared foods section is awesome, and puts others we’ve seen to shame.  There’s food ranging from Mediterranean to Mexican to Gelato to fresh baked bread.  Really awesome, and if we lived in the area, it would be possible to never cook again.  The rest of the store is equally impressive, with an amazing variety to choose from.  The fresh fish selection looked good, but nothing compared to the Bowery market.  The fish market had maybe ten types of fish, while the Bowery market always seems like it has 25.  This was surprising considering how important seafood is in the Boston area.  The cheese and meats section looked fantastic, and there was a good bit of samples out to try…a major plus to any market. This Whole Foods also has a very nice wine selection, and although the staff was incredibly friendly and helpful, they just weren’t that knowledgeable about the wines.  No biggie, though.  The good prices more than made up for it.



All in all, a great market that we’re incredibly envious of.  There’s been talk of bringing a Whole Foods to Boston’s South End, but I’m not sure I see this happening.  Anyway, this post was going to be about how green the Legacy Place Whole Foods is, but I think we’ll save that for tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

bGreen & F. Rock on Gear Patrol

This past Monday one of our favorite products, F. Rock Custom Bags, was featured on Gear Patrol. If you’re not familiar with Gear Patrol, it’s a great site, claiming to be “the definitive resource for the ever-evolving man.” We read Gear Patrol every day, and were delighted that a product we often feature on the bGreen site was written up. It’s a testament to the quality product that Nicole’ Keane produces.



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You can learn more about F. Rock Custom Men’s Carryalls on the bGreen site. You can also completely customize your bag and place an order in less than 5 minutes! Oh, and since we’re so psyched about the Gear Patrol write up, use code GEARPATROL10 to get 10% off your F. Rock order at bGreen.

The Best Gift Ever - Green Toys

Looking for that perfect gift for that perfect little guy or girl in your life?  Try Green Toys.  These great kids toys are made from recycled materials, in most cases recycled milk jugs.  The toys are green, safe, made in the USA, and totally awesome.  The two year old versions of ourselves are entirely jealous.  For more information on Green Toys, visit the Green Toys section of our site.  Don’t forget to take 10% off your order with code BLOG10 at checkout.







If the video above does not load (like in Internet Explorer), click this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgC2uViv9-s

Square

We got a Square.  It’s awesome.  Really really awesome.  Please watch the video below for a quick demo, starring Square and the bGreen team.



If you’re in Boston, and would like to catch a glimpse Square in action, get in touch via email or follow us on Twitter.







If the video above does not load (like in Internet Explorer), click this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_UYu5GysiQ



Square is based in San Francisco and was founded in February 2009 by a very talented team, including Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter.  Square is backed by Khosla Ventures, and a team of angels including Marissa Mayer, Shawn Fanning, and Kevin Rose.  You can view the entire Square Team here.  We think they’re all great, and thank the Square team for allowing bGreen to participate in their beta program.

Klean Kanteen Wine Karafe

Admittedly, this is one of our favorite products we sell over at the bGreen online shop.  While it’s not every day that we are hiking through the woods and want to get after a nice bottle of Cabernet, it’s really nice having the option.  The Klean Kanteen Wine Karafe is deceptively large, and easily fits a full bottle of wine.  Check out the video below.







Turns out that the Klean Kanteen Wine Karafe is also the bGreen Weekly Deal product for this week.  You can find our brand spanking new Weekly Deal site at http://bit.ly/bgreendeal.  Enjoy!



P.S. Not our finest video shoot, but with bad lighting, no script, and an iPhone, this ought to win an Oscar for Best Short Film.

The Latest Klean Kanteen Products

We received a sample package today that had a few of the latest Klean Kanteen products.  We really love what Klean Kanteen is producing of late, and it’s the only water bottle we take with us these days.



The first product is the new Klean Kanteen Insulated bottle.  We opted for the 20 ounce size.  It’s certainly not like an old school thermos.  It’s sleek and light-weight, although it’s somewhat larger than we expected.  It’s more along the size of a standard 27 ounce Klean Kanteen.  We opted to add the Café cap, as I think it’ll be mostly used for hot drinks., especially up here in Boston in the middle of winter.



The second product is the new Klean Kanteen Sport Cap 2.0.  Our two biggest complaints about the original sport cap were 1) no loop to hold it, and 2) the god awful noise that it makes when you’re sucking down your drink.  We’re happy to report the Sport Cap 2.0 has a loop, and the noise appears to be diminished slightly, although it’s still there.



Both of these products are in stock over at the bGreen online shop.  The Klean Kanteen Insulated Bottles start at $21 and the Sport Cap 2.0 is $4.  You can use the code BLOG10 at checkout to receive a nice 10% discount, now through 12/31/09.



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bGreen Interview with American Clay

American Clay is one of those really cool products that you just have to see in order to appreciate. American Clay comes in a variety of colors and textures, can be applied by the DIYer or professional, and has a number of uses in your home construction or renovation. We’re excited about the prospect of showing people American Clay in all it’s glory. Check out the video to see just how cool this product is. Hint: It involves a wall with American Clay, a red Sharpie, and a bit of magic.







bGreen Interview with American Clay