Hooray, everything is taken care of and running great.  Today we’ve upgraded to a new blogging software that will allow us to categorize things better, improve the speed of posting articles, and give us a whole set of new capabilities like the shadowbox photo feature.

Best of all, our new tool will make it much simpler to leave comments.  You don’t need a login account or password to leave a comment, just a name and email address (that will not be published, is only so that we can contact you directly to respond if needed).  You may also need to wait a few hours before your comment is posted on the website because we’re monitoring comments left to control the spam.  You wouldn’t believe the kind of useless and unrelated things people post to spam the site, although if you can visualize the junk mail and telephone solicitations you’re receiving at home…you probably can imagine it.

If you have any problems or suggestions for the new blog articles tool, please leave us a comment and we’ll take care of it.

Thanks for reading!

Yesterday, I saw a very funny commercial that I would like to share.

It said “Stop Global Warming”. Then had a dramatic pause and said “or all the Reese’s will melt”.

It was a commercial for Reese Cups. I’ve never heard a better motivation to save the Earth than melting chocolate.

See the ad here.

Live Green Cincinnati team members recently helped with the Great American Cleanup down by the Cincinnati riverfront. Brianne took a few moments to speak to Chris Wiedeman, a member of the Downtown Resident’s Council about the project.

This is our first try at a video pod in our article feeds, so please inform us if you have trouble viewing the video below. Thanks in advance.

This environmental take on wedding planning was originally run in the the Live Green Cincinnati column in the Pulse on May 13, 2008.

Weddings may be based on age-old traditions, but that doesn’t mean you can’t innovate and transform your ceremony into an environmentally friendly affair. Choose to have your personalized, time-honored commitment while keeping a small environmental footprint!

Consider these options to green your wedding:

Rethink your registry. Consider registering with a local store or an environmentally minded store like Park + Vine. Recommend that your guests wrap gifts in recyclable newsprint or a reusable canvas bag so there’s no wrapping to throw in the trash. You can also forgo the obligatory toaster and waffle-maker purchases by asking your guests to make a donation in your honor to the local park system or even to a Web site that allows you to choose which charity or socially conscious project you want to receive your gifted funds, for example GlobalGiving.com.

Give eco-friendly favors. Consider using small potted plants, recyclable paper origami doves, or a bowl of fruit stamped with your name and wedding date as ideas for guest favors. Giving something living or edible will allow your guests to enjoy their favors without adding any waste to the landfill.

Light up your life. Choose to have your wedding and reception during the day so that you and your guests can enjoy the great outdoors and save energy by taking advantage of natural daylight.

Use vintage class. Finding your wedding formalwear in a vintage shop is a thrifty way to find an amazing and unique look. Using a gown or tux that has been passed down in the family is an even better way to reuse, and it can create a very intimate family bond on your big day.

Give your decorations a longer life. If you can reuse flowers from a wedding earlier that day or decorations you inherited from a parent or grandparent, you can conserve natural resources. If you buy or make your own flowers and decorations, consider donating them to an assisted living facility or your community center so that they can be enjoyed by someone else as well.

Send green invitations. Consider paper with post-consumer recycled content when printing your invitations. You can also find seeded paper, which can be planted after it’s used. If your guests are connected, try sending a digital invitation to use no paper at all. There are even online RSVP services so that your guests can confirm attendance with a call or Web site visit instead of using self-addressed, stamped reply cards.

Serve local fare with flare. Select a caterer or chef who will prepare your party food using locally grown and raised food. Nothing beats the taste of fresh, in-season tomatoes and corn grown right here in Ohio. You can also ask that the tableware be reusable and not disposable to minimize waste. If you want to go all out, add the food scraps to your compost pile and use it to help grow a backyard garden with foods you can eat while you celebrate each month you’ve been married.

Consider this: Location, location, location. Choose a location that is near the majority of your guests. Destination weddings may be dreamy, but whisk her away alone on the honeymoon instead of transporting the guests the extra miles. Getting hitched in your local church or community center can make carpooling or even walking more convenient for your guests. Having the wedding and reception at the same venue in the center of your community or at a hotel saves gas and travel time, all the while reducing the chances of any of your guests driving after the champagne.

If you’re up for the challenge, put together your something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue in an environmental theme. You’ll open up a new level of creativity in the event planning, and you may even save a few bucks in the process!

The Cincinnati blogging and web community is lighting up the green this week. Check out posts on a number of Cincinnati blogs and sites to give green tips and Earth Day salutations.

• Design Cincinnati: It’s cool to be green lately.
• Park+Vine: Hitting the Earth Day turnpike.
• Cincy Chic: Eco fashion show.
• Pulse DT: Green giraffes and energetic poo.
• Queen City Bike: Being at Earth Day.
• Queen City Survey: Things to do this weekend.
• CityBeat Renewal: Go green while saving green.
• BuyCincy: Earth Day the BuyCincy Way.
• VisuaLingua: Nonsense to Greensense this Friday.
• Cincinnati Living Online: Find your green power capacity.

It’s incredible to see so many sources covering green topics. The movement is rolling in Cincinnati and you are a part of it.

This Saturday at the Cincinnati Earth Day celebration, I was presented with an award from the Greater Cincinnati Earth Coalition. There were a few other recipients: one in government, one for schools (student and teacher), and one in business. When I can find the names and the details, I will post them so the others can be celebrated too. I was honored to be nominated by my neighbors downtown in the category of citizen. When attempting to explain this to my nieces and nephews, we just told them that Brianne was a good girl and got to shake hands with the Mayor, so don’t cheat at Go Fish or Old Maid and maybe you can shake hands with the Mayor someday too.

CityBeat released their green issue this week, and it’s packed with great environmental information.

The lead article, “Unplug, Rethink, and Simplify Your Life“, gives 10 solid ways to make the world a better place, starting here in Cincinnati. Live Green Cincinnati was mentioned in the article as a way to get educated.

Educate yourself
You’re bound to learn something new about the Green Movement when you visit Live Green Cincinnati (www.livegreencincinnati.com), a web site started just over a year ago by downtowners Brianne Fahey and Suzanne Hanners. Fahey manages the content, and Hanners codes the site. Both share a passion for environmentalism and for helping to foster growth in Cincinnati’s urban neighborhoods.

“There are so many grassroots groups already doing things here,” Fahey says. “I was hoping to translate these things already happening into something that anyone could look up.”

The result is a daily blog on Green news, advice on sustainable living, a calendar of local events and links to like-minded environmentalist groups in the area.

Fahey says she focuses on new urbanism, which meets a sweet spot that she calls a “triple bottom line” of social, environmental and economic needs.

“The idea is tying these things together,” she says. “It’s not just the right thing to do, it’s a way to make money.”

Yep, that’s pretty much what we said. We’re not all about the cash, but we believe that business, progress, life, community, fun, and environmentalism can all work together with each other for the greater good. It’s all about being clever and thoughtful about working with the resources we have; be they people, materials, finances, land, or the CityBeat.

A special shout-out to Suzanne, who silently takes care of business with the website while I get to have all the fun writing, posting, and reaching out. It wouldn’t happen without her web expertise, green research, and strong support.

You can also find out about eating local, recycling, composting, networking, and lots more in this CityBeat issue. Our green friends at Park+Vine and Cincinnati Locavore are also interviewed. Read it online to see the full stories and check out the print version to see the green specials advertised by local businesses.

Is a nagging question holding you back from making that environmental home improvement or commuting change? Many reader questions submitted via email or comments on posted articles result in some Live Green Cincinnati staff research and a follow-up posting.

If you have a local green question, contact us. Odds are, someone else will have the same question and sharing the information found will do a round of good. We’re here for you and what you’re thinking and looking for matters.

In order to make it simpler for you to find what you came here for, we’ve added a search feature to the Live Green Cincinnati home page.

Want to know about local composting, green roofs, or low VOC paint? Give it a whirl. Search Live Green Cincinnati for the topic you’re interested in knowing more about.