They’re about as irresistible as [insert personal weakness here], and they’re coming to a sweetgreen near you! According to the flip & tumble website, these compact, reusable bags are so durable that they can hold a bowling ball or two no problem. Since we don’t stock bowling balls at sweetgreen, we obviously can’t vouch for this statement. Don’t hold it against us, though – you know just as well as we do that you’re more likely to sport the bag at the grocery store or the gym than at Lucky Strike.

In any case, if you want to be one of the first to get your hands on this eco-friendly item, you’re gonna have to work for it (but not too hard, don’t worry). Tomorrow (Tuesday, 2/9), sweetgreen will be holding its second twitter mini-contest. For the most part, expect the same deal as with our first mini-contest: follow us on twitter, keep your eyes peeled for our tweet with the question to be answered, and reply to @sweetgreen with your wittiest response in 140 characters or less! You know you want to look this cool:

Okay, let’s be honest. We probably all use our salad blasters in a similar – if not exactly the same – way:  load veggies, compartmentalize dressing, press to release dressing when the time is right, and shake it all up. If you have a different strategy, feel free to share… just don’t feel like you have to compromise your reputation or anything.

Now, if you have yet to experience the genius of the salad blaster, we’re here to help. Next time you swing by any sweetgreen location, you can pick one up for only $6. Bring it back each time you visit and get a free veggie topping. It’s simple. And it’s one of those “win-win-win” situations that we raved about here, with the most important win being cutting waste. Plus, you could look just as hip as our very own Bona Park, whom you’ve probably seen dishing out your favorite Sweetflow and salad combos from the Sweetflow Mobile:

Gary Hirshberg, president and CE-YO of Stonyfield Farm, gives business owners and managers as well as the environmentally-conscious individual a lot to think about in his new book Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World. If you’re like us and fall into one (or more) of these categories, we recommend checking out the book’s official website for a complete synopsis, a quick video of Hirshberg discussing why nature makes for a good business model and, of course, just about any other information that you could want. Now, two things we wanted to share with you:

Sweetgreen Take-Aways

The book talks about the “Win-Win-Win” situations that companies can create. Essentially, when a company acts in a socially and/or environmentally responsible way, the company saves money in the long run, and the consumer benefits. In short, everyone wins. We love how Gary Hirshberg spells out this lesson and then illustrates it with examples of companies that have done just this. Overall, a great read with a great message and real-life examples to back it all up.

Favorite Quote from the Book

What began as a philosophical fondness for dishes like brown rice and seaweed eventually matured into a tasty cuisine that attracted talented chefs, notably my friend Alice Waters, who called organics the ‘delicious revolution.’

If you attended the Sweetgreen Barcode Block Party back in October, you probably remember the epic performance put on by our friends US Royalty. This evening at Solly’s Tavern, John and Paul Thornley of US Royalty, Matthew Hemerlein and Ryan Mitchell will debut a new collaboration: The Four Horsemen. While the demo track “Karenina” and event flyer that follow have already made their way to a few DC blogs, we are pumped to announce something that hasn’t: members of The Four Horsemen/US Royalty will be rocking a show for sweetgreen sometime in the not-so-distant future.  (How’s that for a cryptic broadcast?) In the meantime, turn up your speakers, hit play and let the sounds of the ukulele and violin inspire you.

sweetgreen recently headed north to the Culinary Loft in SoHo for “Destination DC,” an awesome event that aimed at introducing some of DC’s hottest new culinary movements to the national media. We were honored to prepare the opening salad course (ingredients below!). To carry on our locavore mission, we decided to challenge ourselves and locally source the ingredients for the dinner. We hit up Satur Farms in Long Island for all of the produce and the renowned Catapano Farms, also in Long Island, for the cheese.

The salad that we tossed?  Baby Wild Arugula with thyme-roasted Sunchokes and Shallots, baby carrots, toasted hazelnuts, and goat cheese with a blood orange vinaigrette.

A quick shout out to everyone who prepared the meal…

Kyle Bailey, Executive Chef & Tiffany MacIsaac, Pastry Chef; Birch & Barley

Nicolas Jammet, Owner; sweetgreen

Jamie Leeds, Chef/Owner; Hank’s Oyster Bar & CommonWealth

Travis Timberlake, Executive Chef; Art & Soul

Wine Pairings from Loudoun, Virginia: DC’s Wine Country

…and a huge thanks to the Loft for having us!

With the release date of Hot Chip’s fourth album set for February 1^st, sweetgreen has really been feeling the British band’s newest single, “One Life Stand.”  If the song title alone doesn’t entice you to give it a listen, perhaps the band’s promise to “warm the cockles of your soul right in the middle of the bleak mid-winter” will do the trick.  We’re also excited for their already sold out 9:30 Club gig in April! Check out the official “One Life Stand” promo video below.

Please join us on Friday January 22nd for a fundraiser organized by Jefferson Prep to benefit Doctors Without Borders in Haiti. The event is going to be held on the second floor of lululemon in Georgetown (3265 M St NW).

$10 donation at door. Higher amounts optional and requested. All payments will be handled and processed on site by Joseph M Reamer, Vice President of HSBC Bank. 100% of proceeds will go to Doctors Without Borders. sweetgreen is very excited to cater this event and we hope to see you there. More information can be found on the facebook event page.

So what is exactly a watermelon radish you may be asking yourself? Well, it is a large round root vegetable related to the turnip and horseradish family, with a crisp texture and a mild to sweet peppery flavor. Unlike many other radishes, the intensity of this radish decreases as the radish matures.

The watermelon radishes were bought from The Farm at Sunnyside (Rappahannock County, VA) at the FreshFarm Dupont Farmers Market.

Sunnyside is a certified organic farm located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Their products are available year-round thanks to their 4-seasons production system.

These veggies are sliced raw and added as a salad topping. Stop by sweetgreen and try this veggie of the week!

This past Wednesday, we hosted a Fashion, Food, and Lifestyle Bloggers Reception at the sweetgreen in Dupont. A big thanks goes to Honest Tea and La Caravelle Champagne for helping to make this awesome event happen. Here is what went down:

Additional coverage of the event:

Metromix DC

Apt3 Photography