Bee Heaven Farm & Redland Organics will also be there with their first batch of certified organic heirloom tomato & veggie starts, plus some farmer’s market style items with the first of the local harvests – all certified organic as well.

So bring the kids, grandma and grandpa, aunts and uncles, friends and neighbors. Maybe this would be the time to start a neighborhood garden. All the information needed at your fingertips and what a fun way to show our children a better way to eat and be healthy.

The good news is, the Yelp community is doing it for us! This week, they featured vintage & thrift shops around Miami. Buying used items is the ultimate in eco-friendly shopping. No new resources, keeping items away from landfills. It’s a win all around! This list includes businesses we’ve never even heard of…and what’s best, you can read about other people’s experiences before you even get there.

Do you have a favorite used spot? If you know me at all, you already know mine!

“Help save planet earth starting with uranus.” That pretty much sums up this product! Uranus eco-friendly boy shorts (ladies underwear) are made from soy material. They are super soft, and what’s best perhaps, is that the entire concept came from a couple of local Miami girls (and fellow Gators).

In an interview with the New Times, the founder tells the story of Uranus:

We came up with the idea a little over a year ago. We were painting my sister’s room in our underwear and were talking about our favorite planets. Somehow we got to talking about how it would be funny if there was an underwear company called Uranus. I think we were slightly delirious because of the paint fumes, but my dad heard us talking and thought it was a great idea, so Uranus Apparel was born. We decided we wanted to make the underwear out of eco-friendly fabric and came up with our slogan: “Help save planet earth starting with uranus”. We did a lot of research about different types of sustainable fabric and chose soy because it is the most eco-friendly and the softest.

The soy fabric is made from by-products of the soy food production process (tofu, etc). A set of 3 pairs is priced at $19.

The Good

• A green product created by Miamians…love it!
• I think this is my first soy garment. Very nice material. The fabric really is super soft.
• I love the story in the New Times article. They have really thought about the fabric, where it comes from, the entire process. Though it’s currently coming from China, they are being open and honest about the entire process with the consumer. That is invaluable.
• The name. Come on. It’s awesome.

The Not So Good

• Currently the only option is to buy a 3 pack of the underwear and it arrives in a burlap sack. Though burlap is pretty eco-friendly, I’d reserve this kind of packaging for “gifts”, and allow people the option to order without. They do request that you compost or reuse the bag, however!
• I’m not a boy shorts person. I think it’s just not the right cut for me. I’ve never had luck with them and these didn’t prove to be any different. However, if you like boy shorts, I bet you would like these!

The Verdict

• We would recommend this product to others. It is truly an eco-friendly product, created by some creative local ladies that seem to be taking the big picture into account.

Have you tried Uranus? Tell us your experience in the comments section below!

Want greenerMiami.com to review your product in our ProdLab? Contact us!

Bike Miami Oct 4, 2009. Click to zoom.

Bike Miami, Miami’s Largest FREE Street Party is Back! No bicycle required.

Sunday, October 4, 2009. 9am-2pm

Downtown Miami streets CLOSED to motor traffic:

Flagler Street will be closed from the Courthouse to Bayfront and connect to
Mary Brickell Village via SE 1st Avenue and South Miami Avenue.
NOTE: Motorist Traffic allowed to cross at SE 7th, SE 8th and SE 3rd Streets, as well as Biscayne Boulevard

FREE Children’s Activities all day long
FREE Bicycle Rentals ~ Bike and Roll Cruisers and BuddyBikes
FREE Air, Brake Checks from local Bicycle Shop Mechanics
Park (your car) at Mary Brickell Village all day for just $3, FREE Bike Valet
Performances by Suénalo, Afrobeta, Jazzilla and other live music

Bike Miami on Facebook

Capablanca signing the UN agreement

This is a guest post by Fernando Capablanca, president and chief executive officer of Union Credit Bank (UCB).

Now, more than ever, businesses are embracing an eco-friendly attitude. We encounter the infusion of environmentally friendly living in our everyday activities from supermarket chains with organic-only aisles to clothing stores selling apparel made of organic cotton. It’s becoming increasingly clear to many that the earth is in dire need for us to change and adopt a more sustainable lifestyle.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that several banks are also embracing eco-friendly ways of doing business. Leading the pack in this movement is Union Credit Bank (UCB), a Miami-based community bank. UCB is the first community bank in the nation to sign the U.N. Environment Program Finance Initiative, which aligns the bank with environmentally friendly principles.

This pairing allows UCB to offer its customers “green” services such as hybrid car loans and green home equity lines of credit. Customers are offered loans at a reduced interest rate to help them purchase a new hybrid vehicle, an environmentally friendly home or a business as well as make improvements on their current home or business. Green incentives have also been implemented to encourage green builders. UCB provides funding with higher loan to value rations to help green builders borrow enough money to cover higher costs of construction, which later translates to an increase in asset value.

Beyond all of these initiatives, the bank truly understands that reducing carbon imprint begins from the inside. UCB’s Miami headquarters, located at 1150 South Miami Ave, is completely environmentally equipped; the building is registered as a “green building” and is considered to be a historical site. This alone has allowed the bank to acquire benefits such as tax incentives and zoning incentives.

The bank’s second branch located in the city of Doral (map), is entirely eco-friendly.

All the furniture, carpeting and flooring are made out of recyclable material. Not to mention the fact that UCB effectively reduces power and paper usage by encouraging paperless statements, offering electronic marketing brochures and installing a recycling program.

More recently UCB is in talks to sign an agreement with the Certified Green Partners as well as considering the possibility of adopting the Equator Principles.

About the author: Fernando Capablanca is president and chief executive officer of Union Credit Bank (UCB), a full-service Miami-based bank. With more than 40 years of banking experience, Capablanca founded UCB in 2006 and has overseen the bank’s expansion in South Florida.

BMW’s 2009 line included two diesel models, the 335d and the X5 xDrive35d. Both of models are improving fuel efficiency while minimizing emissions and are the first clean diesels from BMW in the US in 25 years. I’ve been given the X5 to test out, and I’m a gonna test it, alright.

We’re taking the family on a mini-road trip to see what this car is all about, test out the mileage (supposedly 19 mpg city, 26 mpg highway, 22 mpg combined), and frankly to enjoy a little luxury for once!

BMW has an Eco Credit offer that is about to expire on August 31, 2009. It’s similar to the Cash for Clunkers program, but doesn’t require a clunker. You’ll get $4500 towards the purchase of one of these diesel cars. Details here.

So follow us along for the ride this weekend. We’ll be tweeting as often as we can from @greenermiami on Twitter.

Admission is $10 (there is a coupon for buy one get one free), but we have several free passes available. Please comment below with how many you would like and why. We’ll contact those we can for mailing addresses to send out the passes in time.

From the press release:

In particular the Expo will highlight all major governmental green programs and incentives in place or to be launched soon for the residents in Miami-Dade County plus presentations and exhibitions by major experts and suppliers on hot green topics and products. The Opening Session on Saturday, August 15 at 10:30 am will be: “Green Programs & Financial Incentives to Benefit Your Family Now”. Major politicians and celebrities involved with the green movement and initiatives in our community have been invited to the ribbon cutting ceremony and opening session.

At the Miami Living Green Expo family attendees…
o Find hundreds of green products and services on the floor.
o Bring & exchange old showerheads for a brand new high-efficiency model and home conservation kit absolutely FREE!
o Sign up to receive FREE recycling pick-up day alerts in their homes.
o Find out how they can get two FREE trees from Miami-Dade County’s Adopt-a-Tree program.
o See and explore new hybrid vehicles & busses.
o Win a Miami-Dade County “GREEN” shopping bag with hurricane preparedness supplies.
o Learn ways to save energy, water…and money!
o Learn how to get FREE outdoor air quality forecasts!
o Get FREE evaluations of their landscape to improve water efficiency.
o Win prizes every hour by the stage courtesy of Miami-Dade County
o Meet Vanessa Hauc, Journalist of Telemundo Network and major green advocate.
o Attend special presentation and book-signing session of major expert Dr Rob Streisfeld (Doc Rob), author of bestselling book “A Healthier Ever After”.
o Bring their kids to learn from Michelle Piwko, Miss Earth Florida 2009 & Aubrey Carr, Miss Teen Earth SW Florida “The Beauty of Going Green: Fun Activities for Learning to Take Care of Our Planet”.

o Attend major featured presentations:
o Andrea Rodriguez on her book “The 1 Word Revolution”, a simple guide to going green from the inside out”.
o Gabriele Marewski on “Edible Landscaping”.
o Lisa Harr on ““How to Save on Your Utility Bills AND Build Value in Your Home”.
o Attend sessions on: “Green Fashion”, “Go Green at Home and Save Money!” , “Job Opportunities in the Green Economy!…”, “Losing Weight Eating Organic (Spanish Speaking Session)”, “How to Prepare a Delicious Organic Dish in Minutes (Spanish Speaking Session)”, “A GREEN home may reduce your mortgage payments by 7 years (Spanish Speaking Session)” and more to be announced…

o Win an autographed “Mr. Marlin” Jeff Conine bat and 2009 season tickets. Meet “Stanley” the Florida Panthers mascot…
o Free Bounce House for Kids and entertainment for the entire Family!