When sitting down with co-founder of recently announced in.gredients, a concept quickly coming to fruition as the first package-free, waste-not grocery store in Austin and ostensibly the U.S., it’s apparent Christian Lane has done his homework. All researching and late night assignments aside, Christian and his partners (also his brothers), Patrick and Joseph, and “brother in spirit,” Christopher Pepe, possess years of actual project implementation vis-à-vis their work as Praecipio Consulting (http://praecipio.com), an IT, business process, and custom development consulting firm based in Austin. more ›

Grocery stores are the great equalizer—pretty much every one in America frequents one, be they monolithic or modest. And after you have purchased your snacks and sundries, there is generally one question that remains: do you want to carry your wares home in paper or plastic? Granted, in Austin the swing is towards "neither" with our cloth bag revolution, but across the country you will find dutiful baggers, sackers, or whatever you choose to call them, packing up jars, cans and bread, hopefully with the later after the former. Sounds like the stuff of legend, right? You wouldn't think so, but in the Austin Film Festival documentary feature Paper or Plastic?, those disregarded courtesy clerks finally get their moment in the sun. more ›

With gas at $4 per gallon and experts fighting over whether the country is suffering from an economic downturn, a recession, or an extremely good opportunity for economic growth, Austin's Whole Foods Market, like many retailers, is now getting out in front of the game by offering "value tours" to shoppers who might suffer from the pricing concerns that helped the natural foods store gain its unofficial moniker: Whole Paycheck. more ›