Green Options

I have a bit of an obsession with lip balms. Lip glosses are too sticky {unless going out at night; then it’s appropriate}, lipsticks reminds me of my mother, but lip balms are not only moisturizing but has the added perk of giving you just a bit of a sheen for that elusive perfect pout. It’s an effortless beauty product that doesn’t look like you are trying too hard. With the perfect moisturizer and a lip balm, you are ready to start the day.

One of my absolute favorites is the Weleda Everon Lip Balm. As the lip balm queen who has tried every jar, tube, and stick imaginable, this is the creme de la creme of lip moisturizers without the hefty price tag. Weleda Everon is ultra nourishing with ingredients like Jojoba oil, Shea Butter, and precious Rose wax. Should I mention that it’s also 100% natural and all Organic?

• It’s also Petroleum-free. Did you know most lip creams still use a petroleum base.
• Contain no artificial preservatives, colors or fragrances
• Cruelty-free

With a name like Darn Good Yarn, it’s hard not to like this yarn and their principals. This U.S. based company offers a small variety of yarn but specializes in recycled silk sari.

The yarn is spun from the remnants of the production of silk saris in Nepal. Darn Good Yarn only works with co-ops in Nepal that offer fair trade pricing for the spinning of the yarn.

I’m simply smitten with the current issue of Coco Eco Magazine which features:

• the first yearly International Eco Couture issue.
• ways to stay safe in the sun, from eco-sunscreens to special skin treats!
• a sexy Leila Hafzi outdoor eco-fashion shoot by the shore.
• the hottest green fashion stars in London.
• awesome highlights from fashion designers in the Philippines that design clothing with their traditional pineapple fiber.
• the head of the Humane Society up close.
• a worldwide fair-trade section.
• a complementary guide to San Francisco.
• unique eco-retreat highlights.

“Empower people in the US to realize that they have power to influence the global economy through their purchasing choices.” That isn’t some pie-in-the-sky wistful, unrealistic dream. That inspiring vision forms the Earth Mission, that driving force behind World of Good as they aim to transform how we shop by connecting us directly that individual who made our product, even if they are half-way around the globe.

Fostering an economy based on social and economic justice, World of Good, launched by co-founders Priya Haji and Siddharth Sanghvi — just after they graduated from University of California Berkeley Business School — features unique gifts and handcrafts from artisan communities around the world. By selling through an ever-expanding distribution network of retailers nationwide, they are building a whole new economy based on Fair Trade.

Ten percent of their profits get funneled to their sister non-profit organization, The World of Good Development Organization, which helps support artisan communities and works to strengthen international fair wage standards.

“Our aim is to make it easy to help customers make a good choice — not to buy more, but to buy differently,” explains Priya. “They can expect quality, convenience and style — yet the products can be made in a way that actually helps the people who make them. Right now, our products are women’s accessories and housewares. As World of Good grows, our aim is to make the choice for people-positive products easy to find in every category of daily life. We want every human-made product to be a tool of relationship and empowerment for the person who crafted it. Imagine every product not as a material thing but as a bridge of connection and transformation.”

My favorite vegan, GMO free margarine is Earth Balance.  It works well with the many allergies and celiac in our family.  Because soy is among the eight most common allergens, Earth Balance now has a soy free spread and to get the word out we get to give some free coupons away.

Earth Balance Soy Free Spread is vegan, all natural, free of gluten, lactose and soy, has zero grams of transfat and is a great source of omega 3’s.

Here’s our favorite recipe for a gluten free, dairy free, vegan treat which everyone loves. We always bake with Earth Balance.  The best part is no one knows these goodies are healthy (sweet, yes… but also chock full of good stuff) unless you tell them!

Our life is a series of contradictions.

We strive to be eco-conscious in all things, to live in harmony with nature and each other. We endeavour to nourish our bodies with whole foods, locally grown, rich in the nutrients nature gave them, clear of artificial processing and toxic additives. We aim to nourish our children with strong family bonds, freedom, integrity and perceptive discretion, away from the influence of rampant consumerism, peer-orientation and pressure, the wastefulness and shallowness of contemporary western society.

We don’t always quite live up to these ideals.

Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu founded the soleRebels brand in 2004 with her husband and brother to help create jobs in Zenabwork, Ethiopia. At the time there were hardly any jobs in the community. But when the family decided to redesign traditional Ethiopian shoes made from recycled tires, expansion mode kicked in and employees were hired.

If someone stopped you on the street and asked you to name the national drink of Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay would you:

A) Look at them funny and ask, “What is a Paraguay?”
B) Answer, “Coffee,” because how else do people function?
C) Proudly grab a gourd and silver bombilla from your bag?

If you answered C, then you already know about the popularity of Yerba Mate (pronounced mah-taay) tea throughout South America. And you probably also know about the health benefits of mate and that it boasts 24 vitamins and minerals, 15 amino acids and has more antioxidants than green tea. But what you may not know is that Guayakí, the Sebastopol, California-based yerba mate purveyor has just become the first company in the world to offer fair trade certified yerba mate through the Fair for Life certification program.

I’ve long been a fan of Maggie’s Organics, and I lived in their tights when I was pregnant.  Now Maggie’s is venturing into stuffed animals.  Like their sock monkey, Maggie’s Organics Penguin is made from excess fabric and slight irregulars, including the hat made from tie dyed socks!  Unlike Mattel, that claimed Barbie was going green by making accessories from fabric scraps, I trust Maggie’s because they have always been a Fair Trade and organic company.

CONTENTS: Outside: made with 100% Organic Cotton. Filling: Post-industrial Polyester fiber (from mill scraps)

DESCRIPTION: The second stuffed animal in the Maggie’s Menagerie collection has come to life! Typically Penguins don classic black and white attire… but our Penguin has taken a walk on the wild side, sporting a colorful stocking cap made from our incredibly popular tie dye socks and legwarmers.
The animals are made from excess fabric and irregulars and stuffed with reclaimed polyester mill scrap. The Penguin’s embroidered eyes and securely sewn on hat make it safe for all ages.

These vegan Do-Ni Nobilia ballerinas are enchanted magic slippers that are :

designed by two seasoned vegetarian shoe designers.

fair-trade, handmade in Portugal by artisans

constructed of water-based glues, French ribbons and low-solvent Italian pleather, recycled insole boards.

created for comfort with an elasticized band at the edges, padded insole for a perfect form-fit.

Do-Ni saves on brick ad mortar retail costs and virtually sells direct, then donates to charities you choose like Best Friends Animal Society, Medicines Global, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and 100% of proceeds are donated to participating non-profit organizations.

Cadbury’s, the firm which makes Diary Milk, Britain’s highest-selling chocolate has said that it wants the bar to be Fairtrade certified by the autumn of this year.