Treat yourself to something healthy

Living lighter on the planet is a worthy endeavor. For most of us, the best opportunities for green living are right in our own homes but there are many other ways to make a difference, respect the planet and help heal the world. The creative application of green living also can be fun, inventive and good for business.

There's no better example of this than a new locally owned startup near the Galleria at Sunset mall called Atomic #7 (605 Mall Ring Circle #110 in Henderson or on the web at atomic#7.com). This curiously -- but as it turns out very appropriately -- named small business is all about green living . In a nutshell, the owners of Atomic #7 specialize in custom-made desserts of the ice-cold, healthy and very refreshing sort, using a wide array of healthy ingredients combined as you wish. They've developed a very unique process to fast freeze them before your very eyes.

Creating your dessert is an interactive process that starts when you grab a plastic-coated menu and a dry erase marker. You select the ingredients from a check list as if you're preparing to fly a 747: super nova size -- check, vegan almond milk -- check, organic agave sweetener -- check, vegan mint chocolate chips -- check. There is a wide array of ingredients to choose from and my favorite part is that most of them are clearly labeled as Department of Agriculture organic, certified vegan or both. This is green dessert heaven! Once you've completed the checklist, everything is mixed and frozen on the spot. You'll love the results.

To better understand the process and the product, a little background is helpful. The owners, Rachelle Corbett and Ginger Fournier, are the geniuses behind Atomic #7. Both have a history in the entertainment business, Corbett as a performer and Fournier as a lighting designer. It was Fournier's experience with dry fog effects on stage that led to their unique idea. Creating unique frozen desserts on the spot requires one very important ingredient -- lots of serious cold. At 321 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, liquid nitrogen delivers exactly that.

LN2 is not only seriously cold but also nontoxic. In fact, nitrogen makes up about 78 percent of the air we breathe. Nitrogen is in good company, sitting right between two other human-friendly elements on the periodic table: carbon and oxygen. In fact, it holds the seventh position, thus the name: Atomic #7.

The day I was there both owners were dressed in white lab coats, joyfully serving up their delicious concoctions to a steady stream of customers. As they worked, they explained their commitment to the environment, pointing out the compostable, corn-based cups and utensils that eliminate plastic waste. With Fournier's background, it was perhaps inevitable that the entire store uses energy-efficient LED lighting. Their commitment to green was evident everywhere, even in the men's room where a colorful poster educates visitors about the "Dirty Dozen and Clean 15," two lists of fruits and vegetables showing which are most-laden with pesticides and which are not, and why we should care about it.

Atomic #7 is a business worthy of our patronage. This is a local business doing the right thing, acting responsibly and helping to build our economy. That is something to be grateful for. After a hard day of green living, reward yourself and your family with a delicious, healthy and environmentally responsible treat from some local folks who care about you and our world. Nothing could be sweeter!

Steve Rypka is a green living consultant and president of GreenDream Enterprises, a company committed to helping people live lighter on the planet. For more information and links to additional resources relating to this column, or to reach Steve, please visit www.greendream.biz.