You have probably heard about the awesome Wintertime Farmers Market, held every Saturday in Pawtucket, just over the Prov line. Before you know it, it will be spring, and we'll have dozens of farms stands and markets all around the state to buy from.

Meanwhile, here are some local food blogs you can peruse, this list came to us via the folks at Narragansett Creamery, our local cheesemakers:

    * RI 100 Mile: Follow crafty cooks (and food system thinkers) Josh and Ingrid as they source ingredients  from within 100 miles of Providence
    * Last Night's Dinner: Relish delicious food photos and take in inspiring meal ideas from farmers' market regulars Jennifer and Mike
    * Little Compton Mornings: Be tantalized and inspired by Jane as she cooks her way through local farms and pantries
    * Dairy of a Localvore: Enjoy stories, recipes and fantastic photos from Elspeth in the Cape.
    * The Providential Gardener: Stay in the loop with calendar listings of all local, sustainable + foodie events.

And of course, always check in with Natural News, local food news is always part of our mix!

by NNN Contributor Susan Genett

If you're looking for unique, locally made, and environmentally-friendly gifts for the holidays, here's a great suggestion -- Middletown's Katie Egan breeds new life from old skateboards, creating necklaces, earrings and bangles. "My goal is to recycle every piece of the board, even down to the sawdust," says Egan, whose idea grew from her love of the sport. "I've been passionate about surfing and skateboarding since I was 7 years old," she said.  

As a girl will look for jewelry to pop with an outfit, a skateboarder will choose a board based on the feel of pop, the reactive flex of the wooden board. Skateboards break often, usually a swift demise when a trick lands awry. That's when Egan steps in. She fashions about a dozen pieces of jewelry from each skateboard. That's no pinch on the environment and a lot of pop for many wardrobes.

Egan cuts into the skateboard tops, exposing seven plies of multi-colored sugar-maple veneer, then sands them by hand, molding smooth and colorful curves.  Note to the conservative, some boards have purely natural shades of maple that are simply beautiful when sanded, as well.  With distinctly different designs on each side of Egan's jewelry, it's two pieces for the price of one. Egan takes custom requests at her business, Center Cut Jewelry, and also sells her work at local craft shows. For more info, visit her Web site or send This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Click on "More..." for more photos, by Jacki Schriber-Lane.

The time between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day sees the highest volume of trash in local landfills. Last year, waste dumped at the Central Landfill in Johnston increased by 29 percent during this time period. So instead of giving the Central Landfill your wrapping paper, Styrofoam peanuts and poinsettias, Sarah Kite, director of recycling services at Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation, has 12 suggestions for you.

For all of Sarah's recycling tips for how to cope with the Twelve Wastes of Christmas, from trees to peanuts to ribbons and food and more, click on "More..."

via our friends at Narragansett Creamery:

Sustainable Gift Fair @ Brown University, Dec 3rd, Wed, 11-4, Petteruti Lounge. One of Louella's favorite places to shop for the season, this gift fair is focused on supporting small and sustainable producers. Find crafts from cooperatives around the world as well as from local artists and food producers.

Newport Vineyards Holiday Harvest Celebration, December 6th, Saturday, 11-5, Middletown, RI. Enjoy a warm winter winetasting while viewing one-of-a-kind holiday gift options. $10 ticket to participate in wine tasting.

Providence Winter Farmers' Market also kicks off December 6th @ Hope Artist's Village, Main Street, Pawtucket. 11-2. This winter market, which runs until the end of April, will offer everything from mussels to music, from chocolate to cheddar (that would be our Harbor Jack of course!).

You can also order gift boxes of delicious Rhode Island-made cheeses from Narragansett Creamery. Click here to get all the details and place your order online.

If you're looking for eco-friendly holiday shopping ideas, check out NNN's freshly updated Holiday Eco-Market. We'll keep adding new ideas as the season progresses.

And here's an incentive to check it out -- since one of the best things we all can do for the natural world is simply to consume less stuff, a lot of our ideas will save you money!

This article can also be found in the Winter issue of Edible Rhody, on newsstands today. Look for it at your local market, gourmet shop, or restaurant, copies are free! and each issue includes Green Scene, a special page of eco-news content from Natural News.

Every year about this time, the question arises -- is it environmentally responsible to buy a Christmas tree? There is no simple answer, but one thing is certain -- if you want a tree, the best one to buy is one that grew on a local farm. Consider the other options: An artificial tree will last for many years but was probably shipped here from overseas, can't be recycled, and likely contains toxic materials. You can buy a real tree from a roadside stand, but many of those trees come from big wholesale farms far away, requiring lots of fuel and greenhouse-gas emissions to transport them here.

Or, you can buy from a local farm, where your purchase will help to keep local agriculture economically viable and preserve open space right here in our state. (Another option is to buy a live tree, but many buyers find it a challenge to keep the tree alive until the planting season.) 

There are no official organic standards for Christmas trees, but smaller growers who can give more personal attention to their trees tend to use fewer chemicals. "We try not to spray if we can help it," says Jane Durning, owner of Riverside Farm, in Charlestown, and president of the Rhode Island Christmas Tree Growers Association. "We're right next to the Pawcatuck River, so any chemicals we use would end up there. And in our own well water, too." Durning uses Integrated Pest Management methods, which minimize the use of chemicals. She said practices vary, and the best way to find out how your local tree was grown is just to ask the farmer.

For a listing of Rhode Island Christmas tree growers, click here.

Another excellent way to get your tree is from the annual Christmas Tree Sale held by the Audubon Society of Rhode Island. This way your purchase also goes to support the great work done year-round by ASRI as a steward for our wildlife and wild places. All the ASRI trees are fresh, fragrant and premium or #1 grade Balsam or Canaan firs (similar to Fraser) grown in Rhode Island. The sale will be held at the Audubon centers in Bristol and Smithfield, Saturday, Dec 6 from 10 to 4. Sales will continue until trees are gone.

At the end of the season, most municipalities will collect your all-natural, fully biodegradeable tree and recycle it for mulch or compost. Check with your local trash hauler after the holiday, or check with RI Resource Recovery or Earth911.

For more ideas for enjoying a natural, green, local holiday, check out NNN's Holiday Eco-Market.

As we enter the busiest shopping season -- though maybe not too busy, if you're cutting back like many people -- it's a good time for a reminder that not all products that are labeled "green" or "eco-friendly" are necessarily good choices.

Senator Whitehouse issued a warning to consumers this week that oversight and reform are overdue: "I fear that too many consumers are attracted to products that purport to be ‘green,' but in fact are little different from standard products," the senator wrote. Federal agencies must ensure that the claims made by manufacturers and sellers wil lead to real progress on the environment, he added. For the full text of the senator's news release, click here.

So where can you find good advice on having a truly green holiday season? Check out NNN's Holiday Eco-Market. Download this excellent Greenwash Guide, from a British ad agency, featuring the handy "10 signs of greenwash." Look for the The Healthy Holidays Handbook, a small pamphlet produced by our local Toxics Information Project, at your local library. You also can pick up a copy and get lots of ideas at TIP's Gift Ideas Party, next Saturday, Nov 29, at the Rochambeau Library in Prov, 12 to 3. Click here for more details. Or you can read the Handbook online, click here for html and click here to find a link for a downloadable pdf version.

Is it possible to prepare a 100 percent local meal for the holiday? According to Rhode Island Monthly, you can source about 95 percent of your holiday meal locally. Jessica Knapp, of Farm Fresh Rhode Island, told RIM it’s difficult to find flour and butter produced in Rhode Island, but just about everything else you need can be found from local vendors. Squash, apples, cheese, greens, eggs, and more, can be found at our local farmstands and markets. Fresh, locally raised turkeys can be found at Belwing Turkey Farm (508-336-9142, 773 Taunton Ave., Seekonk), they are still accepting orders for Thanksgiving turkeys, as is Helger’s Turkey Ranch (624-4087, 2554 Main Road, Tiverton).

Everyone is trying to cut back a little on spending this holiday season -- our economy is too volatile, our unemployment rate is too high, our savings are too fragile. Eco-folk have been advocating for generations that "Less is more," that we can live richer, better lives, by spending less time and money on "stuff." If you are hoping to cut back on buying this season, we have lots of ideas! And soon we will post an updated NNN Holiday Eco-Market.

For starters, you can donate your extra coats to the Buy Nothing Day Winter Coat Exchange. For gifts, consider supporting our local arts organizations and nonprofit groups -- take a friend to a play, or a concert, or for a hike or a seal-watching trip. Buy locally made products, and shop at locally owned stores -- your dollars will go a lot farther in our local economy to support jobs for your neighbors. 

Here are a few ideas from our NNN inbox... The Chorus of Westerly is an awesome arts group with lots of holiday events coming up, starting with a Fall Concert this Sunday. Myopic Books, one of our awesomest local bookshops, is holding a Fall Sale at both the Providence and Wakefield locations, Friday through Sunday. And the Providence Public Library is holding a sale Thursday through Sunday, with used books, CDs, DVDs, maps, magazines, encyclopedia sets, English language learning manuals, foreign language titles and more. Click here for all the details.