Tag Archives: buy

We Green DC
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How to Buy Green

Photo courtesy of
‘U Street Organic Cleaners’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

All I wanted was a soft, fluffy bath rug that would keep my shower-fresh tootsies off the cold tile and that wasn’t made in a way that beat up the planet. It seemed a simple enough request.

And so when on my trip to the store I found one with a sign saying “biodegradeable / environmentally friendly,” I snapped it up. True, it had no plastic backing, so it would biodegrade. But it was made of non-organic cotton (each year, 25% of the world’s pesticides go to grow cotton) and viscose, which I hadn’t heard of and hoped was some new environmental fiber. It isn’t; Wikipedia, which I’m using as a source here, says viscose is rayon and its manufacture causes so much pollution they’re closing its factories. So this wasn’t an environmentally friendly choice after all.

Sigh. What’s a greenie to do?

Even when you have the best intentions, it’s often difficult to know what to buy that’s truly eco-friendly. Luckily for us, three fine ladies gave a talk on this topic last Wednesday, at a meeting of the DC EcoWomen’s Green Economy Eco-mmunity. What are their pearls of wisdom?

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Business and Money
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Thrifty District: Getcha Groupon!

groupon
For this, my first contribution to We Love DC, I want to talk about a company new to the DC area that is leveraging collective buying power to offer fantastic discounts at local retailers and service providers. “Groupon”, which launched its DC operation on May 26th, is a catchy play on the word “Coupon” (I know this seems plainly obvious, but I’m just playing it safe) and a division of Chicago-based parent company The Point, which harnesses the power of individual contribution to generate large scale impact in a social capacity. The Point’s company slogan is “Make Something Happen,” which is pretty kickass because after all, who doesn’t want to make shit happen?

Anyways, the idea behind Groupon came about from a basic problem that many of us busy urbanites suffer from: so much cool stuff to do, but almost too many choices, which means I keep returning to my “usual” spots, only to leave thinking, “man, I really gotta try some new places/things.” But I never did. That is, until I signed up to receive Groupon’s daily deal here in the District. Actually, the first thing I did was buy the hardworking lady friend in my life an hour long massage at Lunar Massage worth $75 for a mere $30 (brownie points on the cheap!). That’s a deal that can’t be beat! Oh wait, sure it can – perhaps by the 60% off Groupon for pilates classes at Mind-BodyFitness, the 71% off at Miracle’s in the City men’s salon, or the 57% off at Posh restaurant. Are you gettin’ what I’m puttin’ down here? Groupon = bigtime savings for patrons + bigtime exposure for businesses, which in turn = win/win for all! Continue reading →