On April 20 we attended a special Earth Day at the Riverside Arts Market (RAM) in Jacksonville, FL. The Girls Gone Green had a kid's craft where children could make an upcycled craft: a wallet from a juice carton, a bird feeder from the bottom of the carton or a bookmark from recycled paperboard products (think cereal and tissue boxes).

The market gave away some squash and zucchini plants grown by RAM Market Manager John Silveira. He grew the plants from heirloom seeds from one of the RAM vendors. 

There were some other special Earth Day vendors including our friends at Apple Rabbit Compost and EPIC Outreach. Apple Rabbit is a food scrap diversion service giving residents and businesses a way to send less to the landfill. Apple Rabbit currently services the Riverside, Avondale, Ortega, Murray Hill, Springfield, Downtown, and San Marco Neighborhoods of Jacksonville, FL. EPIC Animals Outreach (EPIC) is a nonprofit 501c3 that provides humane education outreach to children and adults in Northeast Florida and seeks to create a more kind and compassionate world for people, animals, and the environment through outreach, service, and rescue.

 Our 2019 No Meat March is in the books and it was a success!

​The first No Meat March took place in March of 2011. It was created to invite those curious about exploring a plant-based diet to sign a pledge for 31-days and forgo meat during the month of March. In its first year, No Meat March touted about 500 participates who were sent daily emails with recipes, information and guidance. In 2013, just two years later, No Meat March went international with little to no advertising budget. Now people from all over the world sign up for the challenge reaching thousands of homes.

This year, we had participants from all over the U.S. and the world, including No Meat Marchers from Europe, Ontario, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia!

We had some great events here in Jacksonville, FL, the birthplace of No Meat March including a veggie sushi making class and brunch with House of Leaf & Bean, a small bites tasting with Plantology, a grocery shopping on a plant-based diet workshop with Kailo Nutrition and a National Reuben Sandwich Day meet up Native Sun Natural Foods Market to eat their deli's Tofu Reuben sandwiches. 

Native Sun was a huge supporter of No Meat March this year. In addition to the National Reuben Sandwich Day event on March 14, they ran a promotion for the entire month of March. For every Tofu Reuben, Tofu Club, Teriyaki Sandwich or Beyond Meat Burger purchased from their deli during March, Native Sun donated 10 percent of the proceeds to Yoga 4 Change, a nonprofit organization that achieves meaningful change for veterans, incarcerated individuals, at-hope youth, and those recovering from substance abuse. With resounding community support, Native Sun was able to donate more than $900 to Yoga 4 Change. 

No Meat March was also heavily featured in the news this year. Even a local newscaster jumped on the bandwagon and signed the pledge for the month, detailing her journey in a series of segments as she progressed. Alex Livingston had The Girls Gone Green Founder and Executive Director Julie Watkins on First Coast Living March 21 to discuss common myths about vegan and vegetarianism. You can check out that segment here. 

Watkins was also featured on News 4 Jax March 5 where she demonstrated how to make barbecue tempeh. Watkins, who is also the owner of the all-vegan Present Moment Cafe in St. Augustine, FL, also shared how to make Alfredo Zoodles with Cherry Tomato Tapenade in the March/April issue of Edible Northeast Florida. The special "Eating Plants" edition of the magazine also featured an article on faux meats, how to stock the kitchen on a plant-based diet and vegan recipes from other local establishments. 

The Girls Gone Green Volunteer Coordinator Alicia Smith was featured on I Want a Buzz talking about the campaign. 

We thank everyone who participated and supported this year's No Meat March and look forward to next year! In the meantime, feel free to challenge yourself any month of the year. The 2019 recipes are still posted on the No Meat March website. And check out this article from The Guardian on why eating less meat is the best thing you can do for the planet in 2019 and this climate change food calculator from BBC News that determines your diet's carbon footprint. 

We brought vegan food to the masses at Welcome to Rockville, an annual rock festival that features modern and classic rock bands. Held annually in the spring at Metropolitan Park in Jacksonville, FL, the massive festival draws concert-goers from around the country and the world (hence where the term world-famous #NachoBar came from!) This year's festival took place May 3-5. 

WTR is produced by Danny Wimmer (a Jacksonville native) through his festival production company, Danny Wimmer Presents. The Girls Gone Green has attended every year since its inception in 2011. We've watched the festival grow from a modest one-day affair to the now three-day blowout it's become. 

Every year, The Girls Gone Green offers up our 100 percent vegan #NachoBar nachos with fresh, healthy toppings to keep attendees fueled so they can rock out to their favorite bands. We also run a beer and liquor tent each year with proceeds from both the tips we receive from the beer tent and funds we bring in through #NachoBar going back into our nonprofit organization to help fund our initiatives.  

We've always had a great time and are thrilled when on-the-fence customers try vegan nachos for the first time – namely the tempeh, a fermented soy meat alternative, and the vegan queso! 

On April 13 The Girls Gone Green was invited to help celebrate Eco Relics' five-year anniversary. Eco Relics is an architectural and salvage business located in Jacksonville, FL. You never know what kind of unique treasures you're going to find in the 50,000 square-foot historic railroad building located in the heart of downtown Jacksonville. 

The goal of Eco Relics is to keep as much reusable materials out of the landfills as possible. From reclaimed building materials to hardware and an array of antiques and eclectic items, you never know what you're going to find in store. Their driven-based mission is to reuse and repurpose. Material strip out is one of the services offered by the business. On the smaller scale, if a homeowner is getting new kitchen cabinetry, the Eco Relics team can remove the cabinets to resell them in the store. On the larger scale, they can work with demolition crews to strip buildings of  items such as sinks and flooring. 

In 2017, Eco Relics teamed up with the U.S. Green Building Council, Northeast Florida Chapter and Norsk Tiny Homes to create the nation's first LEED Certified tiny home. LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the most widely used green building rating system in the world. LEED certification is a globally recognized symbol of sustainability achievement.

The tiny home was built using upwards of 75 percent salvaged and reclaimed building materials from Eco Relics. A1A Solar installed a solar energy unit to make the home more energy efficient. The home was on display at Eco Relics' anniversary party and the 8th Annual Northeast Florida Veg Fest. 

Last year, a new tiny home project was announced. The Clara White Mission – a nonprofit with a mission to provide education, vocational training, food, housing and job placement for the homeless – aims to make a tiny home village for homeless veterans in the LaVilla area of Jacksonville.  Eco Relics' owner Annie Murphy will be involved with the project. 

When is a bag just a bag and when does a bag get a second life? And a third, and a fourth...

The Girls Gone Green hosted a grain bag sewing night May 22 at Tabula Rasa Brewing. We've been collecting grain bags from local breweries and other sources for some time now in anticipation of making reusable bags from them. Trash to treasure! 

The bags we made were donated to the Riverside Arts Market bag share program to encourage consumers to use reusable bags over plastic. 

If you would like your own grain bag bag, it's time to get crafty! Ask your local brewery if they have any grain bags they'd be willing to donate to you for your project. (another tip: we also like to use discarded grain bags for cleanups in place of trash bags) You could even use a pet food bag. There are tons of instructions online! Here's the one we ended up using: www.communitychickens.com/diy-chicken-feed-sack-tote

Make a bag for yourself or a friend, or if you'd like to donate your handmade bags to the Riverside Arts Market, we'd be thrilled to have them! Just drop them (or any unwanted reusable bag) in one of the bag share bins any Saturday during market hours (10 a.m.-3 p.m.) or consider donating them to your local farmers market.

​Together we can and will make a difference! 💚

The Girls Gone Green had a blast at Tabula Rasa Brewing's Summer Market May 25! We joined local makers and had our eco-friendly goods on hand to help people build simple, greener habits. 

Tabula Rasa is a new brewery located in Jacksonville, FL. The name is defined by Merriam-Webster as something existing in its original pristine state. The family-owned brewery has a large greenspace that bumps up against McCoys Creek. It's a relaxing place to hang out, have a brew and get back to nature! 

Taylor Tacos food truck served up some delicious grub. Did you know they have a vegan option? We surely do appreciate that!