This week we had a particularly awesome show with an all Green Diva studio. Unfortunately Green Dude Eco-Ed Schwartz, who was supposed to be IN the studio with us for the first time, couldn’t make it to the studio today because he was too busy driving the porcelain bus (icky flu and we thanked him for not trying to be stoic to make it to the studio, but staying home!). Sorry Ed! Feel better soon! But we got to talk to Green Diva Correspondent Maggie Miller from Georgia about the amazing eco-community of Serenbe near Atlanta.

Just before the show, we all got a treat and got to go cruising in the Ford C-Max Energi GD Meg’s been sporting around in this week.

Our only hit of testosterone came in the form of our wonderful friend and green dude, Rodman Schley, host of the TV series, The Urban Conversion. Rodman called in to talk about their fantastic adventure to the White House!

Listen to the full podcast of this week’s Green Divas Radio Show 2.7.13

Want to avoid V-Day candy with GMOs?

With Valentines Day just a week away its pretty hard to escape all those heart-shaped, pink and red candies. While they may seem temping, many of them contain GMOs. GMO Inside is leading the push to get Hersey and Mars to stop making candy with GMOs in 2013, or at least to start labeling their products as containing GMOs.

GMO Inside is a coalition of businesses and organizations that support a healthy, GMO-free food system. Their most recent campaign is aimed at Hersey and Mars, that combined comprise nearly 70 percent of the U.S. chocolate market. Both companies have also spent more than a million dollars to oppose GMO labeling in California in the November 2012 election.

Because GMO corn, sugar and soy, which are commonly used for many of Hershey’s and Mars candy products, it may be wise to avoid them if you are trying to minimize or eliminate your consumption of GMOs.

Here are a couple of popular Valentine’s Day candies that contain GMOs:

• Reese’s Peanut Butter Filled Hearts – BUMMER*
• Hershey Hugs
• Valentine’s colored M&M’s
• Valentine’s Snickers

GMO Inside released a Valentine’s Day Villians shopping guide for consumers who want to avoid giving GMO treats to their honeys.

*GD Meg makes her own – here’s her favorite recipe for homemade GF peanut butter cups

Green Diva Correspondent: Maggie Miller

Our Green Diva Correspondent this week Maggie Miller, who called in from Georgia. GD Maggie is a fabulous artist who’s philosophy is to keep her art eco-friendly and sustainable. Some of her designs are in the form of reclaimed and beautifully painted old furniture. See her work on her Etsy site.

GD Maggie told us about the wonderful and interesting town of Serenbe in the heart of Chattahoochee Hill Country, which is about 40,000 acres of rural Georgia and pretty much the last undeveloped stretches of land in the Atlanta area. The founders of Serenbe realized that they had 1,000 acres, which would allowed them the opportunity to create a conscious community — an eco-village that harkens back to the simpler days and is designed for small community living.

This community bases itself on being completely sustainable. According to their website they hold the notion that a community is a living part of its natural surroundings, not something to be at nature’s expense.

One of the coolest parts to this eco-haven is Serenbe Farms — a 25-acre working, organic farm which provides organic produce throughout Atlanta and also to the local restaurants of Serenbe.

The Green Divas Go Cruisin’

GD Meg’s had a special ride this week from the smart folks at Ford, who thought she would look adorable and probably fall in love with their new C-Max Energi. This C-Max is a plug-in hybrid and indeed Ford will have a hard time taking this car back!

Check out GD Meg’s posts her experience with this Ford C-Max Energi:

Green Diva Road Trip- Ford C-Max Review 1: First Date

Green Diva Road Trip- Ford C-Max Review 2: Getting to Know You

Today the rest of us Green Divas got to join in on the fun.  Green Diva Mizar took the wheel and went joy riding around Boonton Township. Green Diva Meg, Mizar, and Jamie all agreed that this was one cool car.

Video of GD Mizar Driving the Ford C-Max

The car also drove well — it had great pick up and was super quiet. The coolest feature was its backing up camera which shows you through lines exactly where to go and to not go. So, for all you people who can’t back up to save their lives this is the car you need to get.

Fun GD video of Ford C-Max Reverse AssistanceReverse

GD Mizar’s DIY: Coat Rack from Fallen Tree Limbs

This week Green Diva and repurposing queen Mizar gave us a great way to use all those fallen tree limbs — thank you new stormy climate! This has been the year of the storms and trees suffer many casualties. GD Mizar’s DIY this week offers one solution by giving instructions on how to make coat racks out of fallen branches. To learn more see GD Mizar’s latest DIY post on making a coat rack from fallen tree branches.

Listen to the fun 5-min podcast about this GD Mizar DIY coat rack project!

Feature Interview: Rodman Schley

The host of Urban Conversion (and one of our favorite semi-regular guests), Rodman Schley called-in this week to update us on his recent trip to the White House. Rodman along with his wife and kids were given a tour by the White House Assistant Chef, Sam Kass who is also the Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives at the White House. Rodman informed us that only a small portion of the vegetables and fruits grown in the White House Garden are served to the President and his family. Most of it is donated to Miriams Kitchen, a local D.C. soup kitchen. The idea is that everyone should have the same access to the same kinds of food no matter what their socio-economic background is.

Rodman and The Urban Conversion will be screening the one hour White House episode at the Environmental Film Festival in Colorado on February 22. Episodes of The Urban Conservationist will be airing this Spring on PBS.

Listen to the full podcast of this week’s Green Divas Radio Show 2.7.13