TSP Spices

Why It's Good:

These spices are in nifty, mess-free foil packets that are housed in a tin; both of these storage methods help vanquish the mortal enemies of basil and friends—light and air.

Why It's Green:

These spices are organic so they don't contain the stuff that's often in conventional spices like colors, fillers and chemicals to prevent caking and clumping. The spices also come in one-teaspoon, flavor-sealed "doses," so you'll no longer have to toss out jars of cinnamon and such that have turned into lightly scented sawdust.

Where To Get It:

http://www.tspspices.com
Prices range from around $8 for a tin with 12 1-teaspoon packets of a single space to $45 for a set of six tins holding 12-teaspoon servings of six different spices. Spices are also available at Sur La Table stores and assorted gourmet-food stores. To receive a 15% discount on online purchases, enter the code word "redheads."

Spices for Life—15% Discount!

Anyone who's made anything more ambitious than tuna noodle casserole has had this problem. Namely, you look at a recipe, see that it calls for a spice you don't have, and you trot out and buy the dried marjoram, fennel seed, allspice or whatever. You use it, put it away, and forget about it. Then, when you need it a year later, you open the jar, smell it or taste it, and realize that all the flavor has left. You throw it out, go back to the store, and continue the wasteful, landfill-clogging, guilt-inducing cycle. But that’s so 2006. When Baltimore friends Katie Luber and Sara Engram were brainstorming food-related business ideas, they stumbled on the so-simple-it's-brilliant concept of taking organic spices and sealing them in single-teaspoon pouches. That way, you only use as much as you need and your spices stay fresh and zesty. Selling spices since January, Katie's and Sara's company currently offers 24 different kinds (from anise seed to zest of orange) and the founders hope to add more varieties soon. Final stroke of genius: The tins that hold the spice bundles are reusable and Sara's son has told her that they're the perfect size for an iPod nano.—Daryl Chen