December 14th, 2010

[caption id="attachment_16523" align="alignright" width="176" caption="Go for eco-friendly and sustainable flowers, like this Poinsettia from Organic Bouquet."][/caption] Nothing warms a holiday table like a poinsettia bursting with color, or a bouquet of white and red roses. This season, avoid flowers grown with chemicals in less than fair-wage conditions by seeking out certified Organic, Fair Trade and sustainably grown products for the celebratory arrays. One source for seasonal, organically grown or eco-friendly flowers is Organic Bouquet online. This green florist sells bouquets that are USDA certified Organic. Many also bear the Fair Trade label, which assures they were produced by equitably treated workers, and the Rainforest Alliance certification, which verifies that the flowers were grown using ecologically sensitive methods.

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November 20th, 2009

By Shermakaye Bass
Green Right Now

It’s The Year of Living Dangerously all over again.

On Tuesday, two journalists were arrested in Sumatra while covering a politically sensitive topic – palm oil harvesting and the ensuing decimation of Southeast Asia’s old-growth, carbon-capturing rainforests, and the subsequent release of giant CO2 pockets that lie beneath the forests and their peat swamps.

More disturbing than the reporters’ deportation, though, is how little we consumers seem to realize that, not only are we what we eat, but when it comes to palm oil, we are eating our own lifeblood. We’re ‘eating’ our oxygen, we’re ‘eating’ our fellow species. We’re consuming our own future by driving up carbon emissions much faster than we can offset them. We are the snake eating its own tail.

Popularity: 4% [?]

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August 12th, 2009

By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

Snacking on news tidbits this week we discovered that Kraft Foods has been able to significantly cut its use of water. The food giant reports that its global conservation efforts have put it a couple years ahead in its goals.

We can all stanch the flow of wasted water in our own homes, by not letting the faucets run, washing dishes on the economy cycle, washing only full loads of laundry and planting native plants that survive on natural rainfall. By now you know the drill.

Here’s what’s great about Kraft pitching in. When a global manufacturer makes these changes, small seas of water are saved — billions of gallons from Bahrain to Illinois. (See our story.)

Popularity: 1% [?]

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