Growing Green and Living It! » general

Plant Nanny Supply Dwindling at Olivebarn.com

Jacqueline D'Elia — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 21:43:51 +0000

Our supply of plant nannies is dwindling and our the manufacturer does not know when or if they will be available in the future. Oh NO!!!!!

The Outlet Closing Soon

Jacqueline D'Elia — Sat, 22 May 2010 10:37:34 +0000

Our Houston Outlet is closing at the end of June and with that comes mixed feelings. When the Outlet closes, Olivebarn.com will begin shipping from a new location in July. In a way we’re branching out and getting back to our roots… Literally. We’ve always had our feet planted in the garden, and in 2010 we’ll be focusing on it even more, with sustainable gifts and accessories for the garden indoors and out. 2010 will be a year of change for Olive Barn. We are clearing out the warehouse of all home decor, bath and body, and home fragrances. Many of our local customers have stopped by to say hello and picked up some great bargains along the way.

We continue to add more merchandise on the shelves, so check back often to see what’s changed. We’ve recently added our Aroma Herb Essential candles, Cucina Hand Lotions, RuMe Bags, and Walligraphy Wall Lettering to the Outlet. Hours and details can be found here.

Hurry – the Outlet closes on Wednesday June 30th.

Olive Barn Outlet Store Closing / Warehouse Relocation

Jacqueline D'Elia — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 13:33:03 +0000

Our West Houston Location at 12674 Goar Rd is permanently closing on June 30, 2010. Everything remaining at this location must be sold. Our warehouse and outlet clearance officially begins on Friday April 30, 2010. This does not effect Olivebarn.com which will continue to operate as we have for the past 10 years. We will no longer have an outlet location in Houston where customers can shop or pickup orders. A new fulfillment center will be shipping Olivebarn.com web orders.

For more information please click here.

Watch The Story of Bottled Water

Jacqueline D'Elia — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 20:23:36 +0000

“In the United States alone, we consume approximately 500,000,000 bottles of water each week. Imagine that: while 1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water worldwide, other people spend billions of dollars on a bottled product that’s no cleaner, harms people and the environment and costs up to 2,000 times the price of tap water.

But there’s good news: Last year, for the first time in a long time, bottled water sales fell-not that much, but they went down. Consumers who want economy, portability and convenience are switching to refillable metal bottles. Restaurants are proudly serving tap water. And cities, states, companies and schools around the world are ditching the bottle to save money and do their part for the environment.”

A Chemical Reaction: Is Your Lawn Making You Sick?

Jacqueline D'Elia — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 14:27:22 +0000

A Chemical Reaction, is a documentary movie that tells the story of one of the most powerful and effective community initiatives in the history of North America. It started with one lone voice in 1984. Dr. June Irwin, a dermatologist, noticed a connection between her patients’ health conditions and their exposure to chemical pesticides and herbicides. With relentless persistence she brought her concerns to town meetings to warn her fellow citizens that the chemicals they were putting on their lawns posed severe health risks and had unknown side effects on the environment.

To Learn More visit A Chemical Reaction.

Dirt The Movie!

Jacqueline D'Elia — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 13:04:19 +0000

DIRT! The Movie–directed and produced by Bill Benenson and Gene Rosow–takes you inside the wonders of the soil. It tells the story of Earth’s most valuable and underappreciated source of fertility–from its miraculous beginning to its crippling degradation.

The opening scenes of the film dive into the wonderment of the soil. Made from the same elements as the stars, plants and animals, and us, “dirt is very much alive.” Though, in modern industrial pursuits and clamor for both profit and natural resources, our human connection to and respect for soil has been disrupted. “Drought, climate change, even war are all directly related to the way we are treating dirt.”

DIRT! the Movie–narrated by Jaime Lee Curtis–brings to life the environmental, economic, social and political impact that the soil has. It shares the stories of experts from all over the world who study and are able to harness the beauty and power of a respectful and mutually beneficial relationship with soil.

DIRT! the Movie is simply a movie about dirt. The real change lies in our notion of what dirt is. The movie teaches us: “When humans arrived 2 million years ago, everything changed for dirt. And from that moment on, the fate of dirt and humans has been intimately linked.” But more than the film and the lessons that it teaches, DIRT the Movie is a call to action.

“The only remedy for disconnecting people from the natural world is connecting them to it again.”

What we’ve destroyed, we can heal.

To learn more visit DirtTheMovie.org

Patti Moreno Talks About Soil

Jacqueline D'Elia — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:40:40 +0000

Patti Moreno, the Garden Girl, talks about building good soil in this video. If you’ve got worms, that is a sure sign that your soil is healthy.

STORY OF STUFF: UPDATE

Jacqueline D'Elia — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:01:22 +0000

Get the whole story…
Annie Leonard managed to fit a whole lot of information in 20 minutes but there’s still so much more! You can read the whole story by picking up a copy of her new book at your local bookstore or by ordering The Story of Stuff: How Our Obsession with Stuff Is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities, and Our Health-and a Vision for Change at Amazon. We also encourage you to donate a copy of the book to your local library so that those who can’t purchase the book themselves can still access all the great information in it!

Cheap Kids Jewelry: Another Reason to Be Careful

Jacqueline D'Elia — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 21:06:49 +0000

It seems China can’t go more than a few months without another incident of using toxic materials in the goods they are shipping to the USA. KIDS JEWELRY now!!!!

Read this Store on Yahoo News about Cadmium Jewelry

You get what you pay for and in this case, you may even get more….

Bloembox Mini Seed Ribbons

Jacqueline D'Elia — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 12:31:31 +0000

With Bloembox Seed Ribbons one of our best sellers, we were thrilled when Bloembox introduced a mini version of their bio-degradable seed ribbons.

A set of six, one of each: Cornflower, Delphinium, French Marigold, Lilliput Zinnia, Miniature Rose and Tithonia. A smaller version of the best selling Bloembox Original Seed Ribbons with a fresh new mix of flower varieties. Each little box contains a 7′6″ biodegradable, plantable tissue paper seed ribbon with growing instructions. Gift tag reads, “Happiness held is a seed. Happiness shared is the flower” and includes a poetic reference to a flower.