I had to do a little research on the company Burt’s Bees for the company I worked for and I came upon some information I didn’t know.  They have set .some pretty ambitious goals they are committed to for the year 2020.  Just a look into some of these numbers, they are “including a 51.5% decrease in waste to landfill, a 15.3% decrease in energy use, and a 5.5% decrease in non-product manufacturing water use versus the previous year.”  So far this article says they are on target during the year 2009.  Something they developed Live the Greater Good to help their employees become educated and take action to keep Burt’s Bees on track to their 2020 goals.  They want to be known as the “greenest personal care company on earth.”

I have been quite pleased with their selection of products.  I have purchased several Burt’s Bees products at Swanson Health Products.  I will soon be trying an exfoliate scrub.  I like how they pioneered the development of stricter guidelines to what natural really means when it’s on a label.  They helped create The Natural Standard for Personal Care Products.  These guidelines: natural ingredients, no health risks, no animal testing and should use biodegradable ingredients apply to Burt’s Bees products so you know you are getting a good product.  This standard also requires full disclosure of their ingredients and also use of recyclable materials.  With Burt’s Bees lofty goals for the future gives me hope that other companies may follow suit too.  If you know any companies that have great environmental goals or have new innovative technology to help the environment, please leave us a comment below.

I recently posted a list about green gift ideas. This post is similar, but not requiring any work besides entering your credit card number. I wanted a list of green websites a person can shop for knowing they are getting earth friendly products.

1. LetsGoGreen.biz: I happened across this website when typing in “green products.” This website has everything from pet products to home products. It will definitely be cool to keep an eye on any trendy green products that come to market.

2. greenhome.com:  I liked how this website lists different resolutions and green deals at the bottom.  Another feature I like is the house graphic that you can click on to give you ways you can green the different locations of your house.

3.  modernartisans.com:  I liked the idea of a website of American made products/gifts.  There are some great artsy gift ideas for almost everyone on your list.

4.  EarthLover:  I really liked the look of this website.  It makes me want to stay a while and click around.  They are also labeled Fair Trade gift sellers.

5.  uncommongoods.com:  this website offers gifts made from reused or reclaimed materials.  I liked the wide variety of gifts to choose from.  These are gifts you would want to showcase in your home.

If you know of any other websites that offer reused, recycled, fair trade or American made products, please leave us a comment below.

This week’s green challenge is to take a look at environmental companies and make at least one purchasing change based on that research.  I have looked into purchasing green shaving gear and also changing the poultry we buy, but both of those options just were not in the cards for this week.  We have decided to change the kind of coffee we buy.  Our normal brand, Folgers, is out the window as soon as we finish this bucket (lol) and we are on to bigger and better things.  After looking into the subject, I think we are either going to purchase Arbor Day Coffee or coffee from Caribou Coffee.

When choosing an environmentally friendly coffee, there really is quite a bit to think about.  First, and most obviously, one should consider whether a coffee is organic/certified organic.  This helps better determine the amount of chemicals that are involved in making the coffee beans.  Another factor that one should consider when purchasing coffee is the Fair Trade movement.   Purchasing Fair Trade Coffee helps to promote fair working conditions and fair pay in developing company.  My understanding is that this helps reduce the amount of slave labor or poor working conditions for the companies that are Fair Trade.   Finally, Shade Grown Coffee is also a factor to consider when purchasing coffee.  Shade Grown Coffee promotes biodiversity and the reduction of clear cutting practices.

Ideally, I was looking to find an organic, Fair Trade, Shade Grown coffee that is tasty and reasonably priced.   After some looking, I found exactly this at www.arborday.org.  I figure that any coffee I am going to buy will be more expensive than Folgers, and I know that the Arbor Day organization has good intentions.  It really seems like the perfect situation and I can buy this coffee in bulk. 

One thing that weighs on my mind, however, is that Arbor Day would need to ship that individual package to me.   I would think that if I can find a store that already sells organic, Fair Trade, Shade Grown coffee at a similar price, I should go that route. Even though Arbor Day is an awesome non-profit organization, shipping this coffee directly to me is sort of a waste. If I can find a store that carries a similar product and receives it in bulk, that may be a good alternative.  That is why I chose Caribou Coffee.  They have locations here in Fargo, they are headquartered near us (in Minneapolis) and whenever I go to a coffee shop (not often), and Caribou Coffee is where I go.  According to this site, the coffee is sustainable, organic and shade grown, but I could not find evidence on the site.  I am going to go there and ask.

Ultimately, the decision I make will be based on the information Caribou Coffee has for me.  If Caribou does sell the coffee described above at a reasonable price that will be my new coffee.  If not, I will be happy to purchase my coffee from Arbor Day.  Thank you for following my journey to find an environmental product and please let me know if you have any stories or additional information about green coffee.  Also, stay tuned for the next weekly task.

This week’s environmental challenge is to research green companies and make at least one long term purchasing change.  One of the green purchasing decisions I had mentioned in a previous post was purchasing chicken and turkey from local small farms rather than the big box grocery store.  Ashley and I had talked about this previously, but it only went as far as that.  I don’t think we will end up following through on this for this week, but I did want to take a look into local poultry.  This is a brief look into the poultry industry and how I might we might be able to reduce our impact by choosing what kind of chicken/turkey we buy.

I know that some of you will suggest that we forego this altogether and just go vegan or vegetarian.  It could be something in our future, but I am not prepared to give up meat altogether at this time.  Our consumption has gone down dramatically over the past year, but it has not stopped.  A good chunk of the fish and birds we have eaten also are brought to the table through our own hands rather than a corporation.  I think this is a more responsible way to preserve our environment than corporate farming.

We do look at the packaging when we go to the store to find chickens that are free range and have fewer chemicals, but I think that it would be a better overall solution to find someone locally who can show us where our food comes from.  After watching Food, Inc., I became a little disgusted at the whole process, particularly the parts of the film that demonstrate breeding/chemicals that create chickens that cannot walk.  In addition, some of these chickens never see the light of day and are treated in a horrible manner.  I understand that they are just going to end up on a dinner table, but I don’t think there is a reason to treat animals in a horrific manner if it can be helped.  It is hard to fault the farmers for making a living, but I would like to see the corporate control loosened from the whole process and some ethics brought into it.  We need to make sure to take the final steps to change our purchasing habits and do our part to ‘vote’ on the kind of chicken/poultry we want to eat.

Not only will this be good for the environment, possibly I will help to keep money in this community and supporting local farming.  Although the grocery store we frequent does some really good things for the community, I think that spreading the wealth might be a good decision.   I personally would not purchase any sort of meat from WalMart, but I do like our local grocery store.

Ultimately, we decided that this was not going to be the purchasing change we make this week.  I suspect that this will be something that is a future task, but not this week.  I certainly recognize the health, environmental and economic benefits of purchasing local poultry, but it just is not in our cards this week.  If you have any experience with this or know of a place to find local poultry farmers, please let me know in the comment area below.

This week’s environmental challenge is to research green companies and make at least one long term purchasing change.  One of the purchase changes I am considering this week is to green up my shaving habits. I have been a longtime customer Mach 3 razors as well as Barbasol (or similar) shaving cream, but I know that these are not the most environmentally friendly companies.  The following is some information I found on shaving green.

Before I get too far, I think I must acknowledge the waste I am generating from my current shaving habits.  First, the razor blades end up in the landfills.  The particular razor I use has a reusable handle, but the razor tips must be replaced about once a week.  Second, the shaving cream can ends up in the garbage.  I wondered if possibly this was recyclable, but I do not see a recycle symbol on the canister and the different types of material (plastic and metal) would not qualify it for recycling in my area.  Finally, all of the resources needed to make, distribute and handle the razors and shaving cream also may have an impact on the environment.

What can be done to shave green?  Changing razors sounds like a good place to start.  I have read that electric razors can be better than disposable razors, but I have never had good luck with electric razors.  Not to mention, electric razors use electricity.  So, what is the right razor to use?  A straight edge!  Little waste and it should be reusable for a long time.  No impact man made the change and I should be able to also.  I could find a good straight edge razor that is environmentally friendly and helps me reduce my impact.

Another area that I could improve on is the shaving cream.  I found a recipe that I am actually excited to try at Planet Green.  Changing over to this type of shaving cream will not only be good for the environment, but will also help us put one of our unused coffee mugs to use.  I suppose I would need to find one of the shave brushes and any other doodad that a guy (or gal) should use when shaving with a straight edge.

The more I look into this, the more I think that this could be a week of its very own.   Although I am going to make a change in my purchase decisions this week, I think I will hold off on the shaving piece.  This is something I certainly see myself doing, but not this week.  Not to mention, my

My and my new beard thanking the fish for feeding us

 wonderful wife has allowed me to grow a beard, so I have not been doing much shaving at all lately!  Let me know if you have any straight edge shaving stories for me.

This week my green challenge is to research green companies and to make a purchasing change based on that research.  I was trying to think of the various products we buy on a regular basis, but I am starting to realize that we buy quite a few green items. Ideally, I will switch over from a product or products that are NOT green to those that are.  These are some of the items that came to mind and that I should look into further.

1. Coffee – One thing that we drink on a weekly basis is coffee and I know that I have seen coffee that is labeled Fair Trade and organic.  I am very far from being a coffee snob so this is going to be a change for me.   My normal ‘at home’ brew is Folgers (don’t laugh) and found a little environmental information on the company.  Even though I could not find much on the company website, I was able to find a review at Greenopia and they gave me some good information.  In summary, Greenopia indicated that Folgers does have a few green qualities, but “has a long way to go before it is considered a green company brand.”
2. Razor blades and shaving cream– Currently, I use the Mach 3 Razor blades and I have absolutely loved this product for a long time.  They work well, provide a great shave and no other razor I have used even comes close to comparing.  I do know, however, that I throw away the razor cartridges and that ends up in the land fill. I would imagine that there are straight edges or some greener razors I could use to replace my Mach 3s.  I also imagine that the shaving cream I use is not the most environmentally friendly.  Although I am not sure that I am ready to get rid of my Mach 3 razors, this is something that I think I will need to eventually look into anyways.
3. Chicken and Turkey meat – Ashley and I have actually talked about our food consumption quite a bit and have thought about trying to get our chicken/turkey meat from more natural sources.  Honestly, I am not really even sure where to start with this, but I do know that our store bought meat is packed full of wonderful chemicals.  Not only do I think a natural product bought locally will be better for my body, I like the idea of purchasing meat from smaller farms or establishment rather than industrialized farms that seem to be controlled by the corporations.

Each of these ideas are great, and I am not how feasible each of these are, but certainly deserve some looking. Stay tuned for updates and please let me know about any products that fit the descriptions above.

This week’s green challenge is to research green companies and make at least one purchasing change based on that research.  In order to find these companies, I would be appropriate to define what a green company is.

I started my research by looking for lists of the greenest companies at place like here, here and here, but I just don’t think that these lists alone can fully provide the information I am looking for.  They may provide a good starting point, but that is all.  I am not sure I trust these kinds of lists and feel it important to take second looks at the individual companies for products I purchase.  I need to become a better consumer.

Even though the lists only gave me a starting point, I did find a definition I like at Green America Day .  They define a green company as a business that “operate(s) in ways that solve, rather than cause, both environmental and social problems.  These businesses adopt principles, policies, and practices that improve the quality of life for their customers, their employees, communities, and the environment. “    This definition seems to fit the bill of what I would like to see a green company be.

I think it is obvious that the company needs to be friendly to the environment, but there plenty of companies that promote their green policies, but may not be completely on the up and up on the overall picture.   Possibly a company has one green initiative that is advertised, but then they do some very nasty things to either the environment or their workers. This sort of activity is called Greenwashing. I would hate to switch to a company that uses solar power, but then goes and uses slave labor to build their products or unnecessary pollution.

It is important to find companies that are good to the environment, but I believe that it is also important to find companies that treat people in a decent manner. One way that I plan on going about my search for green organizations is to look for Fair Trade companies.  These are companies that promote economic activity in a sustainable manner from areas of the world that are developing.

In summary, I need to do my due diligence on the companies I purchase from based on the definition listed above, while making sure to be aware of Greenwashing activities and Fair Trade organizations.  My journey begins!  If you have any advice on guides for green companies or great companies, please let me know in the comment area below.

It is a new week and Ashley has assigned me a new task.  My job for the week is to research some green companies and make at least one long term purchasing decisions that supports a green company.  I am sure I will be able to find something for this.  There are plenty of companies that are green out there and oodles more that SAY they are green.  I hope I can find some really good green companies and am going to look to you for guidance.

Having done my fair share of internet research on ‘going green’, I know that there are a number of companies who market the whole concept of going green, but do not fulfill the promises in the long run. I think I will want to learn about some of these companies and also to find some really good, decent companies that care about the environment, animals and people.

So, consumers of the world, please join me this week in trying to find some great companies that are good for the environment!  Let me know if you know of any in the comments area below.