James Towner | 
07 3rd, 2008| 
So now that we’ve covered our favorite local places to eat and drink, here’s a list of our other local favorite businesses in no particular order.
Stinkweeds - Best indie record store in the Valley.
Souvia - Cute tea accessories
ASU Art Museum Shop - The best gifts you will find in the valley.
Desert Botanical Garden - One of the world’s finest collections of desert plants
Judy’s Body Waxing - Judy’s Body Waxing & Harmonic Healing Center
Dr. Warwick - Chiropractor
Elijah Aller - Designs and makes flameworked glass. Beautiful!
The Back Rub Company - The Valley’s Leader in On-Site Corporate Chair Massage.
JessieBell Designs - Artwork inspired by the natural environment around us. Organic t-shirt screening.
Beads Galore - All your beading needs.
aka Green - Green Building supplies. Head here instead of Home Depot or Lowes.
Favorite local non-profits:
Hero’s Quest 2008 - Raising money for the 100 Club. The mission of the 100 Club of Arizona is to provide financial assistance to families of public safety officers and firefighters who are seriously injured or killed in the line-of-duty, and to provide resources to enhance their safety and welfare.
Arizona Animal Welfare League - The largest and oldest no-kill shelter in Arizona
Rescue a Golden of Arizona - Awesome golden retriever rescue group. We’ve had three great dogs from this group.
Local First Arizona - Supporting Arizona’s local business.
We decided to go there on a whim, wanting to try something new and environmentally friendly. Not knowing what to expect and seeing their prices were moderately steep we got gussied up and headed to Tempe. Their menu is vegan/vegetarian friendly allowing for substitutions of tofu for any of the meat dishes. They specialize in beautiful salads and sandwiches, vegan desserts and some darn good smoothies! As we were seated we were each greeted with a shot of their strawberry-peach-mango smoothie, or ‘Karmic Colada.’ It was so great we ordered a full sized version along with the banana-blueberry-spirulina. The banana one was far sweeter and I liked knowing I was getting all of the nutrition from the spirulina but while it was really yummy I preferred the strawberry. I was so impressed with their smoothies I will make a point of returning just for them.
Our meal started with the baked organic coconut tofu and blackened organic tempeh tower. Not only was this sculpturesque creation beautiful, it was delicious, nutritious and environmentally sound! Reminiscent of Jamaican jerk-spices with a twist of grapefruit-yuzu, this kicked off our special occasion with style and taste. Next up was the main meal… after smoothies and protein packed appetizer we were pretty full but the incredible presentation and scent was more than enough to lure us into gluttony.
What makes The Center a green place to go? They are mostly organic, so what? When we eat organic foods not only are we avoiding ingesting the potentially harmful pesticides and herbicides that go into conventional crops, we are supporting sustainable agricultural practices. Organic farming promotes better treatment of the soils which means they will be healthy and supportive of tomorrow’s crops for our kids and theirs. It is also important that they have a focus on vegan options. The meat and dairy industries, particularly from the factory farming practices due to their highly concentrated population of critters, contribute a huge amount of methane (a green house gas) not to mention the requirement for huge amounts of water, land, and crops to feed them (and the water and land required for those crops!) and the fuel to truck them, living and dead, across the country. 
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