How to GREEN Your Office!

So, we've told you about how we're stockless (...huh? See here.), and we've told you about Suzanne the Recycling Czar. But what's another way to green your office? Cut the paper!


We have all of our faxes come into our efax and then to our email. What's efax? Climb up to Haile's Idea Treehouse and find out!


We don't print out order forms onto paper - we have computer screens that are big enough to have the order from and the order entry screen open at the same time. We stopped printing out each order in 2007, which saved reams + reams of paper. 


We also do most of our billing via email, so we don't print any invoices.  We stopped printing every invoice in 2006.


Yes, the trees + forests love us, the woodland creatures, too. And they can love YOU! Look around and see where you can trim up the paper usage. It can save a tree, a dollar, + some sanity!

Fun Fun in the Summer Sun!

I know, I know - it's barely spring! But we did a photo shoot with some new products, and we wanted to share.

Beware, uber-cuteness awaits you!

These Cooler Totes are so cool they're HOT! Perfect for school, the beach or sailing, and made of 50% recycled materials. $25, available by the end of May. 

And I know you've seen the cookies, but we threw them in the shoot, and the pics were sweet. (teehee!)

These cookies are soooo good! Big + thick with a hint of almond... drop by our booth at NYSS to see if they make an appearance!

Recycled Etsy Find!

Today you're getting a double! Here are 2 Etsy finds - both recycled.


The earrings are made from tin cans! In their previous life, they were an Arizona green tea can, and now they're sweet + mod earrings. The cutting boards are hand crafted by sculptor John Corcoran and made from carpenter's scraps.

Check out more aluminum can up-cycles here, and more cutting boards here.

Green Kitchen

Our little kitchen in the warehouse on Stevens St. is painted white, but it's really green! We use real mugs + cups, real flatware + plates, and, of course, melamine plates! We even use real kitchen towels instead of paper. And Suzanne's recycling bins are right next to the fridge, so it's super-easy to remember. 

Here's a pic from the kitchen - the memo board should really read: Be sure to wash your own dishes! :)

Green Cocktail!

St. Patty's day has come and gone, but we're going green all month! It's almost the weekend, so it's probably ok to indulge a little early. Or save this chipper cocktail for a weekend get-together. 

Green Agave Cocktail

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 oz. Herradura Silver tequila
• 3/4 oz. melon liqueur
• lime

Directions:

1. Add tequila, melon liqueur and a squeeze of lime into a shaker with ice.
2. Shake for 15 seconds.
3. Pour into a chilled cocktail glass.
4. Garnish with shamrock carved lime and serve.

Want more green drinks? Look no farther than She Knows.

Make Your Own Recycling Center!

We heart recycling - just ask Suzanne, our customer relations czar! She's also our Office Recycling czar and makes sure that we have every opportunity to recycle, from paper to bottles and cans. 

Wanna make your own recycling center for home or office? Here's a super-easy way to start, and it could be adapted to just the right solution for your space. 

Or, if you've got a little more to spend, and you like the high-tech look, check out this baby, the BMW of recycling centers! It crushed cans without using electricity.

We've Been Lumped in With the Likes of Leontine!

Oh, how we love it when the Blogosphere smiles upon us! The Gimlet Eye is a hip slice of web real estate, giving readers bite-sized chunks of design + decor. And they featured our trays and party tubs in the same post with Leontine Linens!

And, since we're on the subject of party tubs - we've been thinking of ways to style-ify the impending backyard barbecues - and here's what we've come up with!

1 Party Tub

+ 1 Tray

+ 1 Set of Personalized Melamine Plates

= A good start to a more stylish spring + summer!

Up-cycled Etsy Find!

We all need grocery totes so we don't keep clogging up the landfill with plastic bags - and here's an up-cycled option!

This tote is made from re-used rice sacks and the handles look pretty sturdy - there's even a pouch inside for your "mobile"!
(if you need a little chuckle, take a look at the item's description here)

Let's Hop Into Spring - Grasshopper Cake!

What is the most wonderful, most springy thing to make for dessert? (Unwrapping Peeps doesn't count.)

Grasshopper cake! It's a cinch and looks like a million bucks. But best of all - it tastes like a fresh slice of minty, chocolatey spring heaven.

Here's a recipe from Good Housekeeping. If shaving tiny mints is not your thing, just chop them instead!

(find the recipe here)

FM Greens (which are nothing like collard greens)

 We love green so much at Fontaine Maury that we have 3 shades - 

-green, which is really yellowey

-bright green which is on the yellow side of greens, and very cheery

-clover which is a little lusher and darker, but still happy go lucky

(The green we use for the FM Logo is the one with the X!)

My Green Canteen... Is Pink!

What could be greener that clean water and no plastic bottles?? 

Get yourself and your kiddies some metal, BPA free canteens, and saddle up for spring, Pardner!

14 oz., $25, find a retailer here.

Up-cycled Ebay Find!

What a lovely little table! It's made from an antique English heat register - bound to be durable!

Find this goodie (and maybe win it!) here.

A Greener Office

The fantastic-ness that is Fontaine Maury is housed in an old Coca-Cola bottling building just off Mainstreet in downtown Thomasville, GA. We didn’t build new. We didn’t do Bigger and Better. We started small and grew, and re-habbed some buildings in the community along the way. And got a little green!

Instead of installing new floors in the Co-Cola (how southern is that spelling??) building, we stained the existing floors. The result? Floors that wear their age so gracefully that new builders try to emulate it. So we kept some trees out of the landfill and a few more in the forest, too.

We also reused some old Coke signs we found in the building to close off some unused windows. Most of our windows actually open so that when the weather is nice we can get fresh air. We’re a happy company with happy products – all that fresh air is good for the soul! 

Green Food - Asparagus Sandwich

I know - it sounds the tiniest bit ick. But it's not, I promise! In fact, I didn't even like asparagus until I made this sandwich at home. Now I can't get enough! The spears are so crispy and flavorful, and really, once you swaddle something in cheese and homemade Thousand Island, it's gonna be good. 


I always use lemon pepper to season, and I generally make it on focaccia or a baguette sliced in half long-ways. The Hubbs likes it, too!


Paula Deen made this on her show, and here's her recipe. And here's a little more asparagus info, for the curious.

Make Your Own "Scrap Heap"

Spring is the perfect time of year to start a compost heap! It's so easy to do, and so good for your garden.

Eco Salon has a great post on how to start composting. It sounds a bit involved, but even if you just have a designated spot in the backyard where you dump scraps, you can still call it a compost heap - and still reap the benefits.

Find out How to Compost at Eco Salon.

"Green" Your Paper Plates

Wanna get a little greener in the dining room? A quick fix is to quit hacking down trees and turning them into paper plates! The trees really hate that, and your tablecloth isn't so fond of it either, especially when the plates leak, which they always seem to do!

Take one of our little melamine babies for a spin - no leaks, they're not flimsy, and - best of all - they're personalized! Each kid can have their own, or make 'em monogrammed for some chic, green style.

Up-cycled Ebay Find!

Now isn't this fab? It's a little Scotty dog pillow made from vintage chenille bedspreads.
Less for the landfill and pretty high on the cute-meter. Find it here.

No Green Eggs + Ham!

We all need a little green in our diet but for Pete's sake, stay away from green eggs, and for sure stay away from green ham! 

How about a nice little green artichoke? This one's got a sun dried tomato + feta stuffing, a combo that could make boot leather edible. AND it's from Eating Well magazine. Can't go wrong!

Find the How To for this tasty dish here.

Get Growing!

Starting seeds is super easy, super cheap and super green! It doesn’t take much, and soon you’ll be eating food you grew yourself.

We had a garden last year, and everything that came out of it – tomatoes, broccoli, peppers, herbs – was so tasty and had more flavor than anything from the store. That’s because it can ripen on the plant, and then you can eat it as soon as it’s picked. It was so easy that we decided to expand our garden this year.

We just use seed trays, seeds and potting soil, and away they go! We started the ones in the picture about a week ago. Here’s a little tutorial from Martha to get you growing!

{FM}

Gettin' Green

Did you know that we’re stock-less? No, not sock-less. Stockless. No stock. Whatsoever.

Not paper, not products. We don’t print up hoards of stationery for you to personalize – we make it fresh daily. Every single order. So we waste a whole lot less, and we can keep our product offerings as fresh as they get.

We believe you can make a living – and make a difference.

{FM}

A Little Stash for Your Cash!

Um, are these cute or what?? 

This month we’re going green – think recycled, not leprechauns – and this is a great way to start off. These coin purses are made of 95% recycled materials, and they’re witty to boot.

Gotta have one? Find ‘em on Ebay here.

And, if you’re a retailer, be sure to take the NYSS poll here!

{FM}