Green Day
Earth Day—what better date to acquaint yourself with SF’s most eco-conscious shopping, sipping and snacking?
posted March 21, 2008 12:08PM
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While our level of greenliness might not quite rival, say, Portland’s, we’re still way ahead of the eco-friendly curve: SF abounds with fresh-and-local food, mass transit, fair-trade coffee and organic clothing and home accessories. This year, why not play hooky on Earth Day (Tuesday, April 22) and, Muni pass in hand, follow this itinerary, which will get you to several of the city’s most sustainable hot spots before bedtime.
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| Operated by CUESA—the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture—at the Ferry Building, the (1) Ferry Plaza Farmers Market is ground zero for certified-organic produce and flowers grown by regional farmers. Local roaster Blue Bottle Coffee Co. sets up shop at 7:30 a.m. on the west side of the market on Tuesdays, so grab a hot cup of micro-roasted goodness to fuel your search for strawberries and artichokes. (Take your time—the market itself doesn’t open till 10 a.m.) |
Catch the 12 Folsom/Pacific to Polk, and head to (2) Spring. If you’re tired of finding only bits and pieces of your favorite eco-friendly housecleaning supplies at unmentioned superstores, you’ll love it here. The store boasts entire lines of nontoxic brands—Caldrea, Mrs. Meyers, Method and more—plus such green necessities as bisphenol-A-free baby bottles, organic-cotton pillow-top mattresses, Blueair water purifiers and fume-free Safecoat paints. | |||||
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| On Vallejo, right off of Polk, is the tiny boutique that could: Eco Citizen (ecocitizenonline.com). Every piece of clothing—including organic-cotton denim and Mongolian-cashmere sweaters—is thoroughly screened for fair-trade practice and labor. For those looking for a little more than a canvas tote, this month (3) Eco-Citizen will begin carrying Noon Solar Bags, which are made from biodegradable materials and have a flexible solar panel built in to charge your iPod or cell phone. |
Want to green your home but don’t know where to start? The sensibly named Green Home Center, on Polk, is stocked with answers. The year-old center is a co-op of 10 different companies that each offer goods and services for every aspect of green home design. Pick up useful literature, or consult with sustainable-design experts and certified green-building professionals to decide whether you’d prefer an Eco-Smart fireplace or solar panels—or both. |
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| At lunchtime, the Powell-Hyde cable car will deliver you to (4) Mixt Greens in the Financial District for “eco-gourmet” sandwiches and design-your-own salads. If you’re not feeling creative, try the Porky salad (with fennel-crusted pork tenderloin) or the meatloaf sandwich, which is made with Wagyu beef. Rather take your food to go? They’ll package it up in a compostable corn-based container. |
Catch the J Church down to the Castro to Jeffrey’s Natural Pet Foods Co. to pick up organic pet food made from raw ground meat and veggies. Treats are to the right at the biscuit bar, and the fridge of daily-made meals is to the left. Jeffrey’s also has a good selection of pet beds, accessories, grooming products and, from Green Dog Co., handmade dog clothes. |
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| Hop back on the J to Noe Valley; at the teeny (5) Church Street Apothecary, you can stock up on natural, organic and holistic products for hair, skin and body. The shop itself is quiet and soothing, with bins of fresh-cut flowers at the door and shelves stocked with Duchess Marden skin-care products, Pharmacopia ginger bath salts and more. |
Next stop, the Mission (via the J to 16th), to (6) Elixir —one of SF’s first certified-green bars. Green and smart: Here, happy hour commences at 3 p.m. daily. Take your pick from the “Green Drinks” portion of the menu, where the liquor is 100 percent organic or biodynamic, while you tackle the Tuesday-night Elixir quiz with fellow barflies. At the Green Drinks gathering on the second Thursday of each month, you can network with locals involved in sustainable businesses. |
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| Catch the 47 Van Ness to Van Ness and Union, then transfer to the 41 Union to Greenwich and Lyon. Head into the Presidio, where the Thoreau Center is hosting the opening of “ReVisions: San Francisco,” 24 works painted on vinyl. Conceived by Peter Schulberg of LA’s Eco-LogicalART Gallery, “ReVisions” also consists of 10 vinyl billboards throughout the city that have been painted over by artists instead of tossed in a landfill. (Check eco-logicalart.org for their locations.) Also at the Presidio show, works by SF middle- and high-school students will be chosen for display on local bus shelters. | Retrace your bus route back to the corner of Van Ness and Geary, and end it with a five-block walk east that will nicely prepare you for some gourmet vegan food at Millennium, where chef Eric Tucker rotates the all-organic menu depending on the produce that’s delivered daily. Feast on the likes of maitake-mushroom flatbread or a roulade of smoked cherries, chard and French lentils with a chanterelle-Merlot reduction. Be sure to leave room for Millennium’s house-made sorbets and cookies. | |||||
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