Earth Friendly Shopping

I was going through our local weekly newspaper, when I noticed an articled about Wendy Lao,  a young woman from our town (Fremont, CA) who had participated in a project called Change it, sponsored by Green Peace and Seventh Generation.

  Wendy wrote of her goals

I want to be a living role model of how to live a sustainable life. If I can inspire another individual to purchase eco-friendly products or convince a politician to adopt healthy laws, then we have done something good for our planet.

We applaud Wendy and the other two hundred students who were selected to participate in the program.  We also want to give appropriate kudos to both Greenpeace and Seventh Generation.    This looks like a terrific program, and we hope they continue it.

The Change It program is an all-expenses-paid week of grassroots educational training in Washington, D.C., July 20 to 26, led by the experts from Greenpeace and other progressive organizations. Building on last year’s success, the program will teach 200 dedicated full- and part-time students, ages 18 to 24, how to take on the toughest global challenges of our time. 

The challenges we are facing are indeed hard and they are long term.  We need to prepare our next generation of leaders

These my be the world’s best beer glasses, but they are also great for fair trade organic iced tea, lemonade, chocolate milk, or fresh ice water. These distinctive earth friendly tumblers are hand poured from 95% Post consumer recycled glass by the artists at Fire and Light studios at Arcata, CA.

Elegant and sustainable. We think these glasses make great housewarming gifts.

From DevilsTower via Daily Kos

Mountaintop removal is a horribly destructive way to mine for coal.  This mining method destroys the landscape, turning mountains into rubble, much of which winds up polluting streams, rivers, and lakes.

There are better ways to get the energy from these mountains 

The only way to stop this potential travesty is to pass the clean water protection act.

Find out more at

I love mountains

Coal River Mountain Watch

Energize America

The contact your representative and urge them to support the Clean Water Protection Act

This one blew us away. Since we were teenagers. we always heard that chocolate was bad for our skin. Now we want clear skin as much as anyone else, and even now that we are, shall we say, well past our teenage years, zits drive us nuts.So, at first, we were skeptical, Chocolate that’s Good for our skin? Well, the folks at Giovanni Organic Skin Care are absolute miracle workers. They created an organic exfoliating sugar scrub that smells delicious, feels heavenly, and is definitely good for your skin.

Not crazy about Chocolate? We find that hard to understand, but they also make organic cool mint salt scrub. The salt scrub is a little rougher, and you might not want to use it on your face, but it is a wonderful way to polish the skin and remove cellular debris. And it smells great too!

See all the natural and organic body care at Kate’s Caring Gifts
chocolate sugar scrub
chocolate scrub

From the United Farm Workers:

We need you to contact the Environmental Protection Agency today and tell them to protect the public by immediately revoking the registration for the highly toxic pesticide Methyl Iodide. The EPA approved the one-year use of this dangerous chemical on Friday.

We cannot risk people’s lives. Fighting this poison is no easy task–so far, the manufacturer Arysta has spent eight years and $11 million dollars fighting to get this poison registered. It also doesn’t help us that Elin Miller, the current EPA North West Region Director was Arysta’s president and CEO, until she became a top official at the EPA.

According to the Los Angeles Times, approval happened despite the protests of 54 scientists–including five Nobel laureates in chemistry. The scientists had asked for an independent review by the National Research Council, but the EPA rejected that because its own scientific advisory panel already had reviewed it.

These 54 scientists warned that “pregnant women and the fetus, children, the elderly, farm workers and other people living near application sites would be at serious risk” in a letter they sent last month to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson. The article also pointed out that many chemists said they are shocked that the EPA is allowing its use as a pesticide because it can drift into neighborhoods and pollute groundwater.

Action Alert  

Imagiplay does it again. We have always loved Imagiplay’s Earth friendly Puzzle me Up toys. These kid powered puzzles are made from sustainably grown rubber wood, and brightly colored using water based paints.

These ecological wood puzzles are 1″ thick. They can stand up, and they look great at rest.

Their latest, Puff the Alphapbet Dragon, is sure to be a hit with preschool kids AND their parents. It’s a great, fun way to learn the alphabet!

If you are as tired of noisy electronic toys as we are, Puff the Alphabet Dragon is the toy for you!

ImagiPLAY is committed to the development and distribution of open-ended educational toys for preschool-age children to help inspire imaginations, stimulate young minds, and nurture a sense of discovery. We love their toys, and we love that they are equally committed to producing high-quality toys using only materials and processes that show respect for our planet and all the people and creatures upon it.

puff the alphabet dragon

Let’s take a look at coffee, as a common everyday consumer product, which is enjoyed in virtually every city, town and village throughout our planet. As the second most traded commodity after oil, it has indeed reached just about every home in the world! Could it be that we are slowly killing ourselves unless we are buying organically grown coffee?

Now, maybe you are one of the few people who do not drink coffee, but please read on, because even though this article pertains to coffee, the same principles are true for all foods. It is certainly helpful to be aware, and maybe you will want to spread the word.

Far from being an alarmist, one can easily realize that we are ingesting small doses of harmful herbicides and pesticides with the food we eat and drink. How sure can you be that a quick rinse under the tap water can certify that your food is clean of harmful deposits and safe to eat? Wouldn’t it make sense to eat and drink healthier? Millions of people are now paying careful attention to the food they are buying and consuming. That is why the organic industry is now growing at 22% each year.

Drinking organic coffee is an easy way to make positive changes toward a healthy lifestyle, especially since most people are drinking several cups a day! Organic coffee is grown without the use of harmful herbicides and pesticides, and it actually costs the same or slightly more than ordinary coffee. When you think about how often you drink coffee, and the fact that those beans were sprayed with chemicals meant to kill bugs, doesn’t it scare you, just a little?

Organic coffee is within the reach of each of us. It doesn’t require a major shift in purchasing patterns. And, it can easily be found and purchased at online stores, as well as some of the larger super supermarkets.

An excellent source offering over 100 varieties of organic coffee is the Organic Fair Trade Coffee Company found at http://www.ofairtradecoffee.com. Stop in and read through some of the many informative articles.