OUR LOCAL FARMER’S MARKET IS OPEN YEAR ROUND, and I generally go almost every Sunday. Jammed with tourists in the summer months, it is quieter, but soggier in the winter months. For years I have contemplated getting a weekly or biweekly CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) delivery instead of going to the market. But I never seemed to get around to pulling the trigger.

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Last winter I was at an auction and there it was, on one of the silent-auction tables. I bid. No one else did. It must have been destiny. Two deliveries of a CSA box. The certificate sat around for months. Finally I pulled the trigger.

For an admitted control freak, the CSA box is an interesting exercise, and while initially intimidating, turned out to be lots of fun. Rather than head to the market with a list or an idea of a weekly menu plan, your box shows up with the best of that week’s harvest. It may or may not be fruits and vegetables that you usually buy, or in combinations that you are used to cooking with. It forced me to get creative, digging through cookbooks and Google-ing to find new recipes. I still have that one head of cauliflower left, but everything else has been used up.

CSA boxes may be more economically sustainable. Our boxes would have cost $35 each, and lasted more than two weeks, compared with the $40 to $50 I often spend weekly at the market. And farmers prefer it too, as it makes their income and growing plans more predictable and, therefore, sustainable.

I still enjoy going to the farmer’s market, for the experience and the community. But I just might start ordering a CSA box once a month, just for the fun of it.

GRILLING SEASON IS HERE. We love to grill: meat, fish, veggies, you name it. Through September we grill. A lot. With charcoal.

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I, of course, worry about the carbon footprint of it all. On the surface, it seems pretty straightforward: Charcoal grills emit two to three times as much carbon as gas grills. OK. Go buy a gas grill. Case closed.

Or not.

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory reports that charcoal is a renewable resource, while natural gas is not. Charcoal, which is made from wood, is part of a natural carbon cycle, thus having a net-zero carbon footprint.

Most charcoal is made of waste wood or, if new wood is used, it comes from FSC-certified sources. In fact, Kingsford — the gold standard of charcoal — had its humble beginnings as a way for Henry Ford to use his sawdust and waste wood almost 100 years ago.

But wait.

There are two basic types of charcoal, briquettes and lump. Lump charcoal is just that — wood that is charred until it becomes coal-like lumps. Briquettes, on the other hand, contain ground up lump charcoal combined with other ingredients. Those additives put particulate matter into the air and leave behind a residue; lump charcoal burns clean and leaves almost no perceptible ash.

This residue and particulate matter is the heart of the controversy over the environmental impact of charcoal grilling.

In response, small producers, Original Charcoal (sold under private label by Trader Joe’s) and, yes, even Kingsford now sell a range of “100% natural” briquette products.

Bottom line?

Stay away from lighter fluid and instant-light briquettes, which do put VOCs into the atmosphere. Beyond that? Since barbecue emissions represent 0.0003 of the total U.S. annual carbon footprint, go ahead and grill however you like. Just maybe think about taking the bus to your next picnic.

THE ECO-WEDDING IS BOTH OLD AND NEW. After all, the Boomers who wed in the 1960s and ’70s loved the notion of unconventional settings (such as a meadow or forest) and nontraditional vows: Barefoot brides and grooms eschewed phrases like “to obey” and instead read poetry or sang to one another.

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Fast-forward to the 21st century, where the green wedding is big business. A New York Times environmental reporter last year published “Green Weddings: Planning your eco-friendly celebration”, advising sustainably-minded brides on topics such as the venue, gifts, the gown, invitations, decor, reception, honeymoon and how to calculate the carbon footprint of one’s guests.

Thinking that sustainable weddings were oh-so-contemporary, I was delighted recently to find a 1996 paperback book on the shelf of my local library entitled “Green Weddings That Don’t Cost the Earth”, by Carol Reed-Jones. Reed-Jones wrote this tiny volume out of frustration with not being able to find ideas and information for her own eco-themed nuptials. She shares detailed instructions for making many items by hand, such as bouquets, favors and natural wedding cakes, and offers suggestions for recycling and reusing leftovers.

Reed-Jones wrote, for example: “Use organically grown, local flowers in season or grow your own. Locally-grown flowers don’t need much transportation to get to you. Out of season flowers will have to be transported long distances, contributing to pollution (and costing a small fortune).”

To every locavore bride and groom who take public transportation to their reception (like my friends Britt and Bryon did when they rode Portland’s MAX light rail from church to banquet hall) and celebrates the regional harvest of food, wine and flowers, I say:

Congratulations. You’re making a green statement that brings friends and family members along for the experience, while not being pushy or preachy.

WHEN I WAS A KID, THE BIG THING was going to McDonald’s on vacation. It was a big treat from home cooking. And you could eat in the car!

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Today, the last thing any of us want to do on vacation is keep moving faster. But as soon as you jump into that rental car, the kids are hungry and there you are pulling into the nearest fast-food outlet just to get the kids fed.

OK. Just a minute. Stop. Breathe. Slow down. Breathe again. Want to get out of that fast-food-on-vacation rut?

Plan ahead. Do a little up-front research. Pack enough snacks to get you and the kids far enough down the road to find a local restaurant. Or stock up on sandwiches from the local deli or natural-foods store.

Pack snacks for travel days. For those long days of connecting flights and rental-car lines, pack up individual packets of crackers, cheese, fruit, nuts and, yes, good-quality chocolate. Water bottles are essential, even if you have to buy them at the airport. Pack enough snacks to get you past the airport fast-food gauntlet.

Eat local. Once at your destination, steer clear of the chains and check out the local restaurant scene. It’s a great way to plug into the local culture, meet people and get beyond feeling like a tourist.

Eat in. While hotels have, at best, a mini-fridge, vacation rentals include houses, apartments, cottages and cabins with full kitchens. You can eat out or, better yet, cook and eat in. Hunt down local farmers’ markets and fish markets. Try new things you don’t have at home. Take a local cooking class.

Most important: Make eating well a fun, memorable and relaxing part of your trip.

Bon appetit!

WHAT’S THE MOST ENERGY-EFFICIENT WAY to take the family on vacation this summer?

It depends.

A jet plane generates more carbon emissions per passenger than an average-fuel-efficiency car generates across the same distance. Add passengers, and car travel keeps your carbon footprint lean. Drive a hybrid or bio-diesel? It shrinks even more.

Of course it’s impractical to drive over very long distances — or overseas. Arriving at your destination, however, you have options.

Two summers ago we packed up the family for a trek across northern Europe. Flying into Frankfurt, we boarded a train in the airport and arrived rested and relaxed in Amsterdam four hours later.

For the next three weeks we trained between cities and used subways, trams, taxis and bicycles to get around town. It was liberating to not have to worry about directions or where to park the car each time we arrived in a new town. With or without kids, for planning a European rail trip, Rick Steves is hard to beat.

North America isn’t quite up to Europe on rail speed — yet. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get creative. Amtrak runs all over the U.S. and Rail Canada crosses the entire continent north of the border. Although many Amtrak trains are older and slower, routes like the Acela Express from Boston to Washington, D.C. and Amtrak Cascades from Vancouver B.C. to Portland, Ore., can get you closer to European comfort, speed and style.

When visiting places with great transit, ditch the rental car and spend the savings on an in-town hotel close to public transportation. Take transit, a taxi or shuttle in to town from the airport.

Whichever way you choose to go, have a great trip!

THE WORLD OF FITNESS OFTEN SEEMS TO RUN COUNTER to the green movement: plastic infomercial equipment destined for storage lockers, garage sales and landfills; millions of discarded water bottles; memberships to clubs filled with elaborate machines instead of local walks, runs and exercises using one’s own body weight.

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But some green fitness efforts are breaking through, giving the opportunity to feel doubly good about your workout:

• BPA-free water bottles address both reduce the mound of used bottles and concerns over Bisphenol A.
• Used workout gear is hardly enticing, but you can find new clothes and shoes made with recycled ingredients.
• A movement started in Great Britain helps folks get their exercise while working on environmental conservation.
• You can even use your workout to power your gym or (part of) your home.

And, perhaps one day, your daily walk will also charge your cell phone. Or much more.

SPRING CLEANING SEASON IS UPON US! Unlike several of my close friends (you know who you are), I wasn’t born with the housecleaning gene. On the other hand, I have all sorts of environmental sensitivities. So I always approach housecleaning chores — and particularly cleaning products — with a certain amount of trepidation.

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Add in a concern for sustainable living, and where do you start?

The simplest thing is, well, the simplest thing. Back in the day — before television advertising à la Mad Men — people used water, soap, borax, baking soda and vinegar. You can still clean your house with just those five things. They work. They just require some lessons in household mixology.

They may not, however, be the most convenient, so off we go to Whole Foods or Target in search of the perfect product: one that will clean perfectly and make our lives easier, without harming the planet. With so many products claiming to be “natural,” “bio-degradable,” “non-toxic” and “eco-friendly,” how do we keep up?

The most reliable strategy is to shop for eco-labels. Eco-labels are third-party seals of approval that let you know the product has been tested for environmental safety. The Global Ecolabelling Network (GEN) is an international association of third-party, environmental-performance labeling organizations that promotes the application of credible eco-labeling around the world.

Two examples of eco-labels are the EPA and Green Seal. Clorox’s Green Works product line, for example, has earned both the EPA Design for the Environment and the Good Housekeeping Green seals of approval.

THERE ARE LOTS OF THINGS you can do for Earth Day 2010. Personally, I think one of the best — and easiest — is to give up bottled water and drink filtered tap water out of a safe metal bottle.

Why?

Well, for starters, most bottled water you buy in the store is nothing more than tap water and may, in fact, be less safe or lower quality than your local tap water. At the same time, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is growing, thought to be bigger than Texas. Made up primarily of non-biodegradable plastic from mostly land-based sources, it is making its way into our food and water supply.

What can you do?

• Tap the tap. Investigate your local water utility to learn just how good your tap water is. Local water utilities are required to make this information public and generally mail out a water-quality report once a year.
• Filter. If you are unsure about the safety or quality of your tap water, install a faucet filter or use a filter pitcher.
• Go metal. After all the brouhaha over BPA in plastics, choose non-BPA plastic water bottles or, even better, aluminum or stainless steel.
• Recycle. When you do buy a water bottle — and we all have those moments — make sure you get the empties into the recycling stream. Although PET plastic is recyclable, only 5 percent of plastic bottles make it into the recycling stream, with 50 percent going into landfills, and the rest “unaccounted for.”

So fill up your own metal bottle with high-quality local tap water. Save money, save the oceans, support your local water utility — and have a great Earth Day.

IT’S THE TIME OF YEAR TO START PLANTING VEGGIES, and why not grow them above the ground? Few backyards have the type of well-draining, organic soil that carrots, kale, beans or tomatoes prefer. By creating a perfect planting environment in a raised “box” at least 10 inches tall, you’ll give backyard crops a jump-start to success.

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Non-carpenter types like me can actually build raised beds using special brackets and pre-cut boards from a home center. Having previously built wobbly beds with L-shaped hardware, I can assure you, these nifty systems are far superior:

• Gardener’s Supply’s made-in-Vermont extruded metal corner brackets allow you to assemble a raised bed rather simply: Just add lumber. I spent about $150, plus the cost of soil, to construct a 4-by-8 foot box. To build, slip the boards into fitted sections of each corner bracket and secure them with Philips screws. The task goes quickly if you pre-drill corresponding holes in the boards.
• The Patio Garden Kit is a made-in-Los Angeles DIY system that creates an 18-by-30 inch raised bed with corner and middle brackets made of powder-coated, heavy-gauge steel. Designed by Scout Regalia, the system can accommodate larger or smaller planting boxes as well. You can purchase the bracket kit for $95 and use your own lumber.

My planting boxes are “bottomless” to encourage the plant roots to extend into my native backyard soil. To build them over an existing section of lawn, the turf needs to be completely smothered, otherwise grass will compete with edibles. One trick is to stack several thick layers of flattened cardboard boxes in the bottom of each planting box and pile organic planting soil on top. Eventually, the cardboard will choke out the grass, degrade and disappear.

THE CONVENTIONAL KID’S BIRTHDAY PARTY can produce mountains of waste. From the piles of disposable cups and plates to the excess of toys kids receive (but don’t really need) to the themed paper decorations that are thrown away, it’s enough to make any eco-conscious parent cringe.

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But with a bit of ingenuity, throwing a Green Birthday Party is fairly easy to do. Enlist your Kiddo’s help and it can be a fun, rewarding experience.

Start by breaking down your party into categories. Then focus on how to make each aspect as eco-friendly as possible. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Invitations: Electronic is the way to go — it’s faster, and easier for people to reply. Plus, today’s wired moms appreciate an email or text reminder of the event. Use free sites such as Evite, MyPunchbowl or Purple Trail, and let your child help with creating the design.

Themes and gifts: Instead of going with Disney’s flavor-of-the-month, think outside the box. Does your kid love puppies? Make dog-bone shaped cookies for snacks and asks guests to bring, in lieu of gifts, donations such as dog food, water bowls and leashes, which you can donate to a local animal shelter. You could ask for a monetary donation, something minimal such as $5 or $10. On the invitation, explain that half of the proceeds will go to a specific cause, the other half used by the birthday child to buy one large gift of his or her choice. Echoage can help you organize a charity-themed party.

Decorations: Consider Green Party Goods, which has a beautiful selection of eco-friendly party hats, banners and garlands, as well as tableware. Oh, and what’s a party without balloons? Forget Mylar; choose latex balloons, which are 100-percent biodegradable!