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Archive for the ‘Fair Trade’ Category

Sponsor Spotlight: Wholesome Sweeteners

Monday, October 7th, 2013

Confession: I have a major sweet tooth. Salty snacks such as chips or pretzels don’t cut it for me. Baked treats like cookies, cake, and brownies are my weakness. Which is one of the reasons I love Halloween. But of course, many of those store bought sweet treat come with a lot of JUNK. That is why I love Wholesome Sweeteners; their products make indulging that much sweeter!

Wholesome Sweeteners is a provider of sustainable and ethically sweeteners: sugars (raw, cane, brown, palm sugar), agave, honey, and other products. Formed in 2001, the company strongly believes that the farmers who grow these crops deserve a fair price for their hard work. Wholesome Sweeteners works with many co-ops and small farms. In addition to a fair price, farmers receive a premium, a monetary bonus to help develop and better their community. This could be used to clean the water supply, grow a vegetable garden, or start a radio station. Check out the effects that Wholesome Sweeteners in Paraguay, Malawi, Brazil, and Mexico. You can also learn about the impact of fair trade in this video.

Wholesome Sweeteners is also committed to producing its products in a sustainable manner. For example, in Paraguay, the used cane sugar is transformed into bagasse, a fuel for the boilers that power the surrounding sugar mills. Not fossil fuels are ever used to produce their sugars! In addition, Wholesome Sweeteners is non-GMO verified. The company is currently testing packaging made of plant resin for future use. In the meantime, the sugar products are packed in #4 LDPE recyclable pouches and produced in a Silver LEED certified facility that is powered by wind. The cartons are made from 100% recycled fiber with 35% post-consumer content. 35% of that fiber is from paper that is put in their daily recycling bins. Also, Wholesome Sweeteners syrups are packed in BPA-Free #1 PETE plastic bottles. PETE plastic is the most common plastic to recycle and is readily taken by most United States recycling facilities.

So try using Wholesome Sweeteners when you bake (or grill, or mold, or broil) for your next Halloween party. Check out a few of their Halloween and fall recipes here.

Wholesome Sweeteners is making the world a sweeter place, one spoonful at a time!

For more info on Wholesome Sweeteners and their full line of products, go to wholesomesweeteners.com. Check them out at facebook.com/Wholesomesweeteners and Twitter @WholesomeSweet!

Encounters with Cocoa

Wednesday, November 21st, 2012

After nearly three years of campaigning on cocoa issues, it was very exciting to see real cocoa pods in person. Because cocoa can only grow in tropical climates, roughly 15 degrees north and south of the equator, it’s not a crop that will flourish in the United States. The cocoa pod is denser than I expected, and very much shaped like a football. (though smaller). The beans don’t seem too remarkable for being the basis of a multibillion dollar industry, and one of the most important exports of many West African nations. The butter is quite malleable, and can be used as a moisturizer, especially If you want to smell just like chocolate.

Here is cocoa in its various phases of production:

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Cocoa Pods. The cocoa bean is in the center, surrounded by pulp.

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Fermented and dried cocoa beans.

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Cocoa mass or cocoa paste, made from drying, roasting and grinding the cocoa beans.

 

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Cocoa butter, derived from the cocoa mass.

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Cocoa powder, also derived from cocoa mass.

I can’t wait to go to actual farms next week!

 

**

This post is a part of a series of posts from Elizabeth O’Connell, the Fair Trade Campaigns Director for Green America. Elizabeth is currently in West Africa, representing Green America, the Raise the Bar Campaign, and thousands of conscientious American consumers at the World Cocoa Conference 2012. 

To keep up with what is happening with this important opportunity, please check out the Green America Blog, which has additional posts, and will be updated more frequently by our Fair Trade Campaigns Director.

8 Ways to Trick-or-Treat for GOOD

Tuesday, October 30th, 2012
by Corey

Halloween. It’s all about the candy, right? Well not long ago, kids in costume had just as much fun procuring pennies for a worthy cause as they did grabbing fistfuls of treats. Why? Because doing good deeds is fun and meaningful, even for the youngest of the bunch. So this year, consider trick-or-treating-for-good in lieu of (or in addition to) trick-or-treating-for-goodies and see what all the excitement is about.

How does your family put the “meaning in the greening” on Halloween? Do share the good!

****

Looking for more ways to green your holidays, celebrations and every-day? Lynn Colwell and Corey Colwell-Lipson are mother and daughter and authors of  Celebrate Green! Creating Eco-Savvy Holidays, Celebrations and Traditions for the Whole Family, and founders of Green Halloween®. Connect with Lynn and Corey on Facebook and Twitter.

2012 Green Halloween Blogfest!

Thursday, October 18th, 2012

2012 Green Halloween® Blogfest

Halloween is fast approaching, and we here at Green America are doing our best to support a Green Halloween® – one that is healthy for you, your families, and our planet. Since we know that you care about kids, families and the planet, we’d like to invite you to participate in our Green Halloween® Blogfest that will be taking place from Wednesday October 24th to October 31st. We hope that our invitation inspires you to share your own ideas about having a Halloween that is both fun and healthy.

For this BlogFest we would like to put a spotlight on the health concerns that have grown around traditional treats that are handed out on Halloween. Halloween is big on fun, but unfortunately, it is also big on unhealthy traditions. Many moms and dads worry about the impact of this holiday on the health of their kids and the planet. There is growing awareness and concern for the connections between children with diabetes, food allergies, and obesity and the presence of processed ingredients, hidden sugars, synthetic chemicals, and artificial colors in our food system.

On the flipside of this, it is easier than ever to find helpful information and make healthy choices. Green Halloween proudly advocates for this and supports a Halloween that is easy, affordable, fun and oh yes, healthy. Green Halloween encourages families to give out healthier treats and non-food “treasures” to trick-or-treaters, and luckily, there are now many awesome options available this Halloween. Green Halloween itself has partnered with these great organizations, whose missions support the Green Halloween goals of showing families that it is possible to keep the fun, while losing the unhealthy, un-Earth-friendly traditions.

We hope that you will join us and share your ideas on what a healthy Halloween means to you. Share with us your thoughts and tips on:

  • How do you make Halloween healthier?
  • Why is it important to think about health when celebrating Halloween?
  • What the challenges are to making Halloween healthier and more Earth-friendly?
  • What are your favorite ways to “Think outside the {conventional} candy box” and provide alternatives to traditional candy? Do you do treasures, have traditions like the “Switch-Witch”, or provide healthy alternatives?
  • Your tips for managing the amount of the junk candy your children consume at Halloween?
  • How has your environmental ethic or interest in health framed your celebration of Halloween?

It’s not about telling parents how they should celebrate – it’s about inspiring them to make choices that make sense to their families, their budgets and their schedules. And when many families make healthier and more sustainable choices for Halloween – taking even the smallest of steps – big impacts can be made for the short and long term.

Please join us in celebrating a Green Halloween.

To participate you can:

  • Write your own post based on our questions. You are more than welcome to use GreenHalloween.org as a resource, clicking on the tags at the bottom of this post are a great place
    to start. We also recommend clicking on the links to our sponsors below as well. They perfectly exemplify what we are all about at Green Halloween and are a great inspiration.
  • Update a past blog post that you have written that fits with this topic. (Now is a great time to remind people about your work and bring a new audience in on your tips and ideas)
  • We can provide you with an original Green Halloween post for you to repost as is, or personalize yourself. (Just contact GreenHalloween@GreenAmerica.org for this)

Other Instructions

  • Post a link to your blog post in the comments below, so we can read it and promote it.
  • Green Halloween(R) is a registered trademark, so the first time it is mentioned in your post, please be sure to include the registration mark
  • If you are on Twitter, share your post on there. Please include the Hashtag, #GreenHalloween
  • Your Blogfest entry should mention that is a part of the 2012 Green Halloween® Blogfest, and link back to this original signup post so that people reading your post can find our other entries.
  • We encourage you to check out each other’s blogs, comment, and provide feedback.
  • Don’t be shy, any entry, no matter how big or small, is welcome to be a part of this.
  • Have fun, write about what you believe, and read the work of others with similar interests.
  • Connect to Green Halloween on Facebook and Twitter
  • And please feel free to pass this on to other bloggers you think might be interested.

What’s in it for you?

  • We will have a page on GreenHalloween.Org with links to all participating blogs
  • We’ll do our best  to support your post with Tweets and via Facebook, and of course you’re welcome to post on our Green Halloween Facebook page
  • If we receive media calls from anyone interested in hearing from bloggers, your name and blog will be added to the list (if you choose)
  • Grow your profile, increase your network, and share your work with a new audience
  • You’ll feel great having supported this effort to make a difference for parents and planet!

Any questions, requests for posts/photos/resources, or support are more than welcome. We are here to help! The best way to ask questions is: GreenHalloween@GreenAmerica.org

Lastly, We’d like to extend an invitation for you to join us for a #GreenHalloween Twitter Party on October 22 from 9-10pm EST. There will be plenty of inspirational ideas for those of you having trouble getting started on your post!

***
Green Halloween is a non-profit, grassroots community initiative to create healthier and more Earth-friendly holidays, starting with Halloween. It began in the Seattle area in 2007 with backers such as Whole Foods Market and was such a huge success that in 2008, the initiative expanded nation-wide. In cities across the country, volunteer coordinators are turning their city’s Halloween holiday
healthy and eco-friendly, but many are also raising money for their own, local nonprofit beneficiaries via the initiative. Green Halloween, as of 2012, is a program of Green America. Green Halloween is possible because of their partnerships with Honest Tea®, Lara Bar®, Stretch Island Fruit Co.TM, Endangered Species Chocolate, Plum Kids, UnrealTM, Applegate® , Cascadian Farm®, Surf Sweets®, Bitsy’s Brain FoodTMBrainard’s Natural Remedies®, and Glee GumTM.

Green America is a not-for-profit membership organization founded in 1982. Our mission is to harness economic power—the strength of consumers, investors, businesses, and the marketplace— to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society. We work for a world where all people have enough, where all communities are healthy and safe, and where the bounty of the Earth is preserved for all the generations to come.

Green Halloween Twitter Party

Monday, October 15th, 2012

Green Halloween® Twitter Party!

Hashtag: #GreenHalloween

October 22, from 9 to 10 pm EST

Where: Twitter!

Who: Follow the featured Twitter handles @GreenHalloween and @GreenAmerica

Register: Win prizes from @HonestTea @ESC_Chocolate, @CascadianFarm, @BrainardsNatRem, @PlumOrganics and @GreenAmerica. RSVP below to be eligible.*

What to Expect:

  • Treats & “treasures” that are healthy for kids & the planet
  • DIY costumes, make your own face paints, recycled decor & more
  • Seasonal, Earth-inspired activities
  • Ideas for a waste-less, spend-less holiday that keeps all the fun
  • Finding Green Halloween® events near you
  • Interact with others
  • Win great, green gifts & goodies*

Please, help support Green Halloween and Green America and spread the Green this Halloween! Share this event with your social media network! The more individuals and groups we have involved, the better our great ideas will spread!

What you can to do to participate:

  1. RSVP with us by adding your Twitter handle in the comments below to be eligible for prizes*
  2. Check out the  Green America and Green Halloween websites for guides and tips for living your life in more green, healthy, and socially just ways
  3. Follow our featured hosts: @GreenHalloween and @GreenAmerica
  4. Log into Twitter through Tweetchat.com on October 22nd a little before 9pm EST and put #GreenHalloween as the hashtag to follow
  5. During the party, make sure every comment you submit has the hashtag #GreenHalloween (if you use Tweetchat, this will be done automatically) in it
  6. Share your ideas, support each other, and participate. Also, come win some prizes from our great sponsors:

*(One entry per handle. Most prizes will ship only to the continental U.S.; some may ship to Canada. If you cannot accept a prize, prize will be offered to another event participant.)

Green Halloween is a non-profit, grassroots community initiative to create healthier and more Earth-friendly holidays, starting with Halloween. It began in the Seattle area in 2007 with backers such as Whole Foods Market and was such a huge success that in 2008, the initiative expanded nation-wide. In cities across the country, volunteer coordinators are turning their city’s Halloween holiday healthy and eco-friendly, but many are also raising money for their own, local nonprofit beneficiaries via the initiative. Green Halloween, as of 2012, is a program of Green America.

Green America is a not-for-profit membership organization founded in 1982. Our mission is to harness economic power—the strength of consumers, investors, businesses, and the marketplace—to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society. We work for a world where all people have enough, where all communities are healthy and safe, and where the bounty of the Earth is preserved for all the generations to come.

For Questions about the party or about another event. Send a tweet to @GreenHalloweenpost in the comments below, or send an email to GreenHalloween@GreenAmerica.Org