Earth Day

We celebrated Earth Day on April 21st with Experience Green and Hilton Head Monthly at Shelter Cove Community Park. We are very passionate about being green and take steps at making a difference, we call it “greenifying.”

Carolina and the zumba girls enjoying some Pino Gelato

We participate in a program with our local power supplier that allows us to buy power from renewable energy sources like wind turbines and solar panels. They estimate the environmental benefits of choosing renewable energy sources each year are the same as not driving a car for three months!

In our store, we use biodegradable cups, to-go containers, napkins and trash can liners. We clean with environmentally friendly products, and have replaced our floor mats, and our ceiling and floor tiles with ones made from recycled materials. We always recycle plastic, there are so many plastic bottles and bags that the average American uses each year, and recycling these items is so much better for the environment. We even spotted the Bag Monster at the Earth Day event!

Don't Feed the Bag Monster!

We can go green in all parts of our daily routines, because it isn’t just recycling. We can also use environmentally friendly products, or be aware of our energy consumption. Our employees at Pino Gelato take pride in our green efforts, and apply our “greenification” to our personal lives as well.

The energy saved from recycling a single aluminum can is enough to power your TV for three hours! Recycling paper is important too. For every ton of paper that is recycled, 20 trees and an amazing 7,000 gallons of water are saved.

Lets talk about the computer you are reading this blog on, if you left it on for the entire time you owned it, it wouldn’t use as much energy as it took to make it. In fact, you wouldn’t even use 1/4 of the energy required to make it.

Did you know that “quadrillion” was a word? Me neither. Well it turns out the United States consumes over 99 quadrillion BTUs of energy per years…that’s 15 zeros. One BTU is equal to the energy from lighting a single match. It feels good to take steps at reducing our energy consumption and using renewable sources whenever we can.

Nick Wheeler is a thirteen-year-old local resident who cares very much about our environment, and we got a chance to chat over some gelato at the event. Nick started a non-profit organization called “Kids Helping Kids Help the Environment", which has cleanup events at local beaches and parks. You can check out their Facebook page.

                            

We all can make a difference

We are always looking for new ways to “greenify.” What do you do at home to help our environment? Do you reuse something that most people would throw away, or use green products that you want to tell people about? Let us know as we strive to be greener and greener.

It’s all about green, isn’t it?

From Wikipedia, the color associated with Saint Patrick is Blue. Over the years the color green and its association with Saint Patrick's day grew. Green ribbons and Shamrocks were worn in celebration of St Patrick's Day as early as the 17th century. Saint Patrick is said to have used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagans and the wearing and display of shamrocks and shamrock-inspired designs have become a ubiquitous feature of the day.  In the 1798 rebellion to make a political statement, Irish soldiers wore full green uniforms on March 17th in hopes of catching public attention.

In the world of Pino Gelato, use the word in the Old English style; growan, "to grow".  Green symbolizes nature, ecology, and environment.

As you know, we at Pino Gelato have incorporated green practices in our day to day lives and business operations.  We know many of our fans subscribe to the same practices and we applaud you! We recently discovered something that will interest you. The EcoCradle™ line of products from Ecovative Design, made from mushrooms!

Yes, we said MUSHROOMS!

Ecovative Design uses fungal mycelium, which is, basically, the roots of mushrooms. The mycelium acts like a glue to bond agricultural byproducts like rice hulls or cotton gin trash together into an all-natural rigid material. The finished material has similar material properties and cost as Styrofoam. BUT, unlike everyone’s favorite packing material, EcoCradle™ are 100% biodegradable and compostable! They will do well in your garden and home compost pile but the implications for our environment are larger when you think of a landfill. OooH. 

The Ecovative Design team is now working on prototypes for insulated coolers.

We think this is awesome. Speaking of Gardens, what are you planting this year? Flowers? Veggies? What grows well in your climate? Soil? 

A Distinctive Spoon

Take a moment to look around and see the variety of dishes we for different foods and meals.

When you take a step back, it’s amazing how many different types of dishes we use to serve food. All of these specific materials were created for their own purpose, and over time, the use of them has become a tradition that can demonstrate the evolution and history of food.

Plastic-ware for picnics
Fine china for special occasions
Salad forks
Soup spoons
Espresso shot glasses

Did you ever notice that the spoons in those bowls used at gelaterias, like Pino Gelato, are atypical?

These fascinating little spoons are called palettinas and are a part of the tradition of eating gelato. They are smaller than our normal dinner spoons which allows you to enjoy every moment of your gelato rather than rushing through the pleasurable taste. Allow this little spoon to help you cleanse your palette with full bursts of gelato. In addition, their square shape makes them stand out from other desserts and adds the international flair to parties.

Here is a supplier of the little palettinas.
https://www.gelatosupply.com/products.html?id=g

 Acknowledge the difference between gelato and other desserts. 

Eat your gelato with a palettina.

Change YOUR world, one scoop at a time!

Hello Gelatorians!

First of all, have you celebrated your new year's resolution success with a little gelato or espresso at Pino Gelato yet? You could even have some as a little pick-me-up to get you going again. :)
Remember at the beginning of January when we shared the Corners of 4 with you and explained that we are looking to help you with your resolutions… and we weren’t joking!

Here we are making a statement!

As the world is changing, both in our communities and on a larger scale, we recognize that people around the globe are making a difference by being aware of their actions and how they affect the environment. At Pino Gelato, we know we can either harm ecosystems or make a choice to positively support the environment. We are consciously making the decision everyday to be friends of the environment, and we invite YOU to change with us! 

When you support Pino Gelato, you can rest assured that your delicious gelato is part of the “going green” process. We are:

Switching to biodegradable cups

Utilizing biodegradable trash can liners

Switching to biodegradable napkins and paper towels

Switching to-go pints and quarts containers to biodegradable ones
Here are some more easy but significant changes we have made that you can also do!

　
Replacing the fluorescent bulbs with LED (Low Emitting Diode) lights
Recycling all plastic packaging

Recycling all corrugated cardboard boxes

Participating in Palmetto Electric's Green Power initiative to purchase electricity generated by renewable resources                 - For those outside of HHI, call or message your electric company and encourage them to purchase “green power”

We invite you to implement a few of these ideas in your home, and we’ll check on you in a couple of weeks to see how you are doing.

Consider this:

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” - Gandhi