Sonoma Clean Power (SCP) is a planned Community Choice program for providing green electricity at competitive prices to the residents and businesses of Sonoma County.  SCP will be a public agency and not-for-profit electricity provider offering you the choice of having more electricity supplied from clean, renewable resources at stable and affordable rates.

Based on 11 wholesale bids received by energy providers to supply electricity to SCP, residential rates will fall between 1.8 percent below and 1 percent above PG&E's rates, and commercial rates will be between 3 percent below and 0.5 percent above. The exact rates will be set in October, following further negotiations with the most competitive supply companies.

SCP is beneficial because it can use more renewable energy without paying more. SCP will start service with 33 percent renewable energy, a significant increase over PG&E's 20 percent, and at a rate that will be competitive with PG&E. SCP will provide a competitive alternative for electricity service and be operated in the public's interest.
We also have an opportunity to get the full value of our energy costs by investing the net proceeds into local programs and projects right here in Sonoma County.  As a public agency and not-for-profit electricity provider, SCP will reinvest a portion of your ratepayer dollars locally. That means more jobs and a boost to our local industry.

If you choose to stay with Sonoma Clean Power, the source of your energy will change so that 33 percent of your electricity will come from renewable energy. You will be voting for greener and more local power. Everything else will stay the same. PG&E will continue to read your meter, send your bill and provide the same power line maintenance and repair services they always have. If you choose to opt out of the program, you will stay with PG&E and nothing will change.

For further information on Sonoma Clean Power visit: http://www.scwa.ca.gov/cca/ 

Marin has implemented a CCA - The Marin Energy Authority (MEA) is the not-for-profit public agency formed by the County of Marin and all of Marin's cities and towns. MEA administers California's first Community Choice Aggregation program, MCE.
MEA was created in December 2008 following six years of careful study and review in more than 200 public meetings and hearings.

The purpose of the Marin Energy Authority is to address climate change by reducing energy related greenhouse gas emissions and securing energy supply, price stability, energy efficiencies and local economic and workforce benefits. It is the intent of MEA to promote the development and use of a wide range of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency programs, including but not limited to solar and wind energy production at competitive rates for customers.

For further information on Marin Energy Authority visit: http://www.marinenergyauthority.com/

Inspired by Climate Protection efforts, CCA has spread to cities throughout the Bay Area, and throughout the state. In 2007, forty California local governments were in the process of implementing CCA, virtually all of them seeking to double, triple or quadruple the green power levels (Renewable Portfolio Standard, or "RPS) of the state's three Investor-Owned Utilities. Marin, Oakland and Berkeley are also seeking to employ San Francisco-style revenue bonds and implement a 51% RPS by 2017.

General concerns of implementing a community choice aggregation include higher rates for customers. This is completely dependant on the contracts that are obtained by each CCA. Additional factors of cost are associated with the type of power purchased. If your county starts a CCA costing more then the current provider you can “opt-out” of your CCA and remain with your current provider.

The only opposition towards CCA’s comes from current energy providers who are concerned of decreased profits, if citizens have an option for their power providers. As a free market economy, the competition will benefit all citizens, regardless of what provider you choose. As Sonoma Clean Power increases its revenue they will be able to re-invest into other clean energy projects.

Sources:
http://www.scwa.ca.gov/cca
http://www.marinenergyauthority.com/
http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/NR/rdonlyres/3F8C54CF-C051-45FA-A7B1-EAAF9CD13775/0/CCAFourthQuarterLegislativeReportFINAL11311_v3.pdf
http://www.pge.com/cca/

To increase your awareness, try keeping a journal of your 

resource uses for one day. Use these as a guideline, but expand your notation as you deem appropriate.

• Track how many miles you drive
• How many times you throw something away?
• What types of materials are you throwing away?
• How many single use items are you receiving?
• Where is your food coming from?
• Is it organic?
• What type of packaging is it contained in?
• How are you using energy?
• How are you consuming water?
• Where are the products you purchase coming from,?
• Are the businesses you frequent local, sustainable, or both?

Once you have completed a daily journal, sit down and tally up your uses. See if there are ways to decrease your consumption of natural resources and support others who are doing the same. As you notice how you are consuming your ability to change these behaviors will drastically increase. And remember, no one is perfect, everyone on this planet consumes resources, the key is to be aware of what you are consuming and reduce or eliminate where possible.

These websites offer a comprehensive, simple approach to calculating your Carbon Footprint:

Nature.org

EPA.gov

Thank you!

For further information contact Jude Frates – jude@fratesconsulting.biz, visit our Facebook page or check out our website.

Guayaki has gone to great length to ensure that their products are as environmentally friendly as possible. Guayaki’s packaging material is a minimum of 100% recycled corrugated cardboard with 30% post consumer, although most are 100% post-consumer waste. Their packaging peanuts are made of plant based materials (dissolve in water) or salvaged and cleaned from other companies that they collect from inbound materials. Their bottle shipper cases are completely recyclable, non-petroleum based, and made of 100% post consumer recycled corrugated board. This is a first in the industry and Guayaki is proud to say they pioneered these new boxes!  The paper used for inserts, invoices, brochures, etc is always made from 100% post-consumer recycled paper.

All invoices, flyers, brochures and other paper materials printed for their customers and vendors are 100% recycled post consumer waste material or the highest post consumer content available.  Guayaki never uses virgin paper materials in anything they print for business.  Their office recycles, reuses, and reduces as a daily practice.  Guayaki uses real dishes and cups (and gourds) and wash them instead of using paper or plastic.

Guayaki has turned their facilities into power producers, converting its entire operation to 100% renewable energy by transferring all of its conventional electrical power usage to renewable solar energy.  Guayaki offsets over 55 tons of corporate CO2 footprints…locally. In tandem with this commitment, Guayaki has purchased enough solar power to offset the carbon 1 energy market in a similar way the purchase of a Guayakí product helps drive more reforestations.

Guayaki has done a tremendous job of treating the communities and people with the utmost respect. They become intimately involved with partnering farmers and encourage the cultivation under native rainforest trees. This promotes the preservation of forests, and in addition, they work with the farmers to reforest native hardwood species. Once a farmer agrees to partner with Guayaki, they provide technical advice on how to create nurseries, help them manage the organic growing process from cultivation through harvest and then buy what they produce. The farmers, in turn, must repopulate their rain forest with the native hardwood trees -- which restores the land to its original shaded, biodiverse state -- and provides a living wage and fair working conditions.

Because of the above mentioned reasons and many more Oliver’s is proud to highlight Guayaki as May’s Green Item of the Month. We would like to thank Guayaki for having the foresight and consciousness to be a leader in sustainable business. With shinning examples like Guayaki perhaps we can drive all businesses to do what is right for the environment, and those who live in it. For more information on all the amazing ways Guayaki is improving our planet visit their website at: guayaki.com

Doug Jayne & Friends LIVE at Gaia's Garden April 27, 2013 at 8PM

TEN performers from our Oliver's Real Music CD's including:

• Jon Gonzales
• Michael Barclay
• Adam Traum
• Detroit Disciples
• North of Malibu
• Jeff Falconer
• Robert & Amy Ethington
• Dave Hamilton
• Salty Devito
• & Jen Tucker

hosted by Doug Jayne
Cover: $5 and a can of food (for the Redwood Empire Food Bank.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back in early 2012, Oliver's general manager Tom Scott assembled a group of local, musical big shots for a meeting. In attendance were folks from Zone Music & Recording, the KRSH 95.9 FM, The Last Record Store and KRCB 90.9 FM, to name a few. Tom noticed that certain Supermarkets had CD's for sale by the register. The CD's were by mostly world famous acts like Madonna, Dave Matthews, Adele (you get the picture). "Wouldn't it be cool if there were CD's by Sonoma County recording artists for sale at Oliver's Markets?" That simple statement was pretty much how the Oliver's Real Music Program began.

In just over a year, we have sold hundreds of our two Real Music compilations (Volume 3 is on the way) and the proceeds have been donated to the Redwood Empire Food Bank.

Dozens of local recording artists have their music sold at Oliver's, with exposure on shelves near the register, and racks around the stores.

Last Summer, Oliver's in Cotati hosted a series of Saturday LIVE music performances inside the store, as well as the awesome Taste of Sonoma County outside the store.

Frank Hayhurst, Blair Hardman and their posse have presented 2 wildly successful CD Release Party's that raised even more money for the Food Bank.

By the time that Real Music Volume 3 is released, we will have over 100 local recording artists on board. They are the real heroes of this highly successful, fundraising venture. When the call went out looking for original songs to be donated to help feed the hungry, they did not balk. We have all joked about being "starving musicians", but nothing is more serious than people who don't know where the next meal is coming from. These Sonoma County musicians are a talented, diverse, and most important, compassionate group.

You can see some of them up close, and under one roof on Saturday April 27th at Gaia's Garden. If you don't know Gaia's (pronounced Guy-Yuz) they are conveniently located next to The Last Record Store at 1899 Mendocino Ave.in Santa Rosa (just north of SRJC). Gaia's Garden has won the Best Vegetarian Restaurant in Sonoma County award as voted by the readers of
The Bohemian for three straight years. It's a great place to eat, and they have a very cool music scene going on. Ari Camarota, one of the owners, was a saxophone instructor at Stanroy Music for years, and played in many local bands, including Stupid White People and Sax Fifth Avenue.

Recently the controversy over the use of BPA has increased. In 2010 the FDA banned BPA for usage in baby formula bottles, but stated that small ingestion of BPA presented no health problems for those over the age of 6.  Oliver is has for years used BPA free printer paper for the benefit of our customers, employees, and waste stream.

Oliver’s re-usable bag solves many problems created by single-use plastic and paper bags. Plastic and paper use tremendous resources during their lifecycle; including petroleum, trees, water, energy, and creation of Greenhouse Gases. Every time you use your Oliver’s re-usable bag, you eliminate a single-use bag from the system. This means it doesn’t go to the landfill or recycling center (10% of plastic bags are recycled in Sonoma County), reducing space and causing problems by getting caught in equipment. Oliver’s re-usable bags are washable and contain no heavy metals.

Sonoma County Waste Management Agency is still working on a County wide ban. As always there are issues that still need to be resolved, but progress is being made. The purpose of this ban is not to switch from plastic to paper. Both carry detrimental environmental factors throughout their lifecycle. The purpose of this ban is to change people’s habits from single-use to infinite-use (or the maximum uses one can get out of their re-usable bag).

Oliver’s fully supports this ban. It is imperative that there be an ordinance to ensure that no competitive edge is gained through different practices amongst the grocery industry in Sonoma County. This ordinance allows all retailers to exhibit environmentally and socially responsible behavior, while not disrupting or creating competitive advantage.

Additionally, I would like to ask our patrons to examine their produce and bulk plastic bag usage. All items in the produce section can be rung up without the use of a plastic bag. If you prefer using plastic bags in produce for sanitation or capture of moisture from produce, please entertain two viable alternatives. One, purchase re-usable cloth bags (which can also be used for bulk products). Two, re-use the plastic produce bags. Throw your produce plastic bags in your re-usable grocery bag and use them as many times as you can, before grabbing a new bag.

If you would like to have your opinion heard, comments can be sent to: Patrick Carter, Waste Management Specialist, Patrick.carter@sonomacounty.org  More information can be attained at www.recylenow.org

Join us April 20th from 12-4pm at the Cotati Store for the Taste of Sonoma County, a showcase of our local vendors in Sonoma County. We will have over 30 local vendors sampling their products as well as 18 wineries pouring their Sonoma County wines. All proceeds from the wine tastings will benefit the Leadership Institute for Ecology and Economy. Tasting tickets are $3 for 5 tastings.

Local musicians from Oliver's Real Music Volumes 1 & 2 and the upcoming volume 3 will be performing live. See great acts like John Courage, Gatorbeat, Alison Harris, Prisma Trova, Levi Lloyd, and Onye Onyemeache. 

We will also have special activities for the kids, including face painting and livestock to pet.

The Redwood Empire Food Bank will be collecting non-perishable foods for donation.

Since parking is limited we encourage you to walk, bike, or carpool.

Facebook Event Page

Hope to see you there!

 Although popular in the Far East, Mid East, and the Caribbean, Ginger is very popular in Western culture as well. It was, in fact, a popular spice in ancient Rome, but after the fall of the Roman Empire, it in effect, disappeared from Europe. It took good old Marco Polo and his trek to the Far East to bring it back into popularity in Europe, but as with many other exotic spices, it was pricey.

Whereas many cultures use Ginger as an essential ingredient in meals, in the West, it still tends to be more commonly used in powdered form as a flavoring for cookies, cakes, gingerbread, and fresh in Ginger wines, ales, and beers. Of course, with modern culinary life, you can and will encounter Ginger everywhere you look, from sushi bars, to Chinese and Thai restaurants.

Ginger Root is actually a Rhizome; a plant stem that runs horizontally under the ground which itself has roots, and sends up plant shoots. It is traditionally harvested when the stalk withers. It is then scalded, or washed and scraped to prevent sprouting. Young ginger rhizomes are juicy, and milder to the taste, whereas mature ones are very fibrous, and dry. The ginger juice from these is very pungent and will make an impact however it is used.

Ginger has many medicinal qualities which have been studied the world over, and of course, many a folk remedy relies on Ginger. It is used to treat nausea, motion sickness, fatigue, headaches, stomach aches, and as a cold remedy. Ironically, if too much ginger is consumed, (more than 2 grams per kilogram of body mass), an overdose could result, but that would be darned near impossible to do that!

Ginger Beer has been around since its creation in England in the 1700’s. The basic recipe for brewed Ginger Beer is basically ginger, sugar, water, lemon juice and a fungal bacteria known as a ginger beer plant. Each recipe has its own additions. Although there are far more non alcoholic varieties on the market, there are also alcoholic versions. Both can be used to create various alcoholic drinks, but somehow, using a bottle of alcoholic ginger beer and then adding Vodka or Rum seems a bit like overdoing it! Better to just stick with some ice and a squeeze of lime…

By far, the most popular mixed drinks made with Ginger Beer are Dark “N” Stormys, (Goslings Black Seal Rum, Ginger Beer, a lime slice, and ice), and Moscow Mules. There are few more refreshing drinks for the warmer months than a tangy, refreshing Moscow Mule! The best Ginger Beer we have found for making Moscow Mules, (and Dark “N” Stormys, for that matter), is Cock and Bull. It’s a pungent, slightly cloudy, ginger Beer which holds up beautifully to the other ingredients; and it has the recipe right on the bottle! 1 jigger, (1 ½ oz.) Vodka, juice of ½ lime, ice cubes, ice cold Ginger Beer. Drop in ½ squeezed lime, stir gently. The drink is traditionally served in a copper Moscow Mule cup, which lends even more appeal to this tasty libation.

We are featuring Cock and Bull Ginger Beer on sale for the rest of the year for $4.99 a 4 pack, and Crabbie’s Alcoholic Ginger Beer in 16.9 oz. bottles for $2.99 through June.

Enjoy!

Oliver’s Own Organic Apple Juice is made just how we like it, all natural. Oliver’s Apple Juice is 100% juice, not from concentrate (When manufacturers make juice from concentrate, it means producers have extracted most of the water from the juice for shipping purposes, and manufacturers add the water back into the product before packaging it for sale). This process is not needed when you’re shipping from Sebastopol to Cotati. Oliver’s Apple Juice is organically grown and processed in accordance with the USDA. The juice is squeezed from fresh, whole ripe organic apples; and contains no artificial sweeteners, flavors, or preservatives.

What local means to Oliver’s

Many businesses claim to work with local partners. But what does that mean, how do they define local? Some define local as California, others Northern California, some businesses consider any county touching borders with Sonoma County local. Oliver’s considers local as Sonoma County. So you know anytime a product is touted as local from Oliver’s, it means it is sourced and produced by a Sonoma County business. There are many benefits to the community produced by working with local businesses. Economic, environmental, and social advantages are all realized through keeping it local.

Sonoma County has a long history with the apple. It has been a staple crop since the 1800’s. Although vineyards have replaced a lot of the orchards, apples still are grown in the County. Sebastopol still has an apple blossom parade every year celebrating what the apples have meant to the City and County.  Support for this industry is key to ensuring that it will be a staple for many generations to come. Please visit any of Oliver’s three stores to support this industry and support a healthy body for yourself. As the old saying goes “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”. I’m sure that doctor would agree that a glass of apple juice is just as healthy for you.

Oliver’s Market March 23rd is the day to do it! The Water-Use Efficiency department from the City of Santa Rosa will be hosting a showerhead exchange party for utility customers at our two Santa Rosa stores from 9am-12pm to celebrate National Fix-a-Leak Week.

Minor water leaks account for more than 1 trillion gallons of water wasted each year in U.S. homes. Fix a Leak Week is an annual reminder to Americans to check household plumbing fixtures and irrigation systems for leaks. These low flow shower heads are a result of upgraded plumbing standards, so they are more efficient because they use less water. These new shower heads are even more efficient than the ones given away last year. People who want a new low flow shower head need to bring in their old one. They will also be giving away toilet tabs so people can check their toilets for leaks.