Ethical Consumerism's topics - tribe.net

Gavin Newsom GREEN

marvindublin — Sat, 17 May 2008 19:05:58 GMT

http://www.newyorker.com/online/video/conference/2008/newsom

San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom talks with Dana Goodyear on what it means to be green in politics and in the world. From “Stories from the Near Future,” the 2008 New Yorker Conference.

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 2 replies

Despite the Success of "Sex and the City", Many Americans Turning Away From the "Bling"

darkchoqlit477 — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 04:13:20 GMT

Americans are starting to tone down the bling-bling. Not even the success of "Sex and the City" is affecting an upshot in the sales of luxury clothing like it did ten years ago. The article below from "slate.com" by Lesley Blum is quite interesting. I think our economic woes are forcing us to really rethink "stuff" and the necessity there of.

http://www.slate.com/id/2192378/

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 1 reply

This Land is Their Land...

Brittany — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 00:32:55 GMT

This Land Is Their Land By Barbara Ehrenreich
This article appeared in the June 30, 2008 edition of The Nation.

June 11, 2008

This essay is adapted from Barbara Ehrenreich's latest book, This Land Is Their Land: Notes from a Divided Nation (Metropolitan).

I took a little vacation recently--nine hours in Sun Valley, Idaho, before an evening speaking engagement. The sky was deep blue, the air crystalline, the hills green and not yet on fire. Strolling out of the Sun Valley Lodge, I found a tiny tourist village, complete with Swiss-style bakery, multistar restaurant and "opera house." What luck--the boutiques were displaying outdoor racks of summer clothing on sale! Nature and commerce were conspiring to make this the perfect micro-vacation.

But as I approached the stores things started to get a little sinister--maybe I had wandered into a movie set or Paris Hilton's closet?--because even at a 60 percent discount, I couldn't find a sleeveless cotton shirt for less than $100. These items shouldn't have been outdoors; they should have been in locked glass cases.

Then I remembered the general rule, which has been in effect since sometime in the 1990s: if a place is truly beautiful, you can't afford to be there. All right, I'm sure there are still exceptions--a few scenic spots not yet eaten up by mansions. But they're going fast.

About ten years ago, for example, a friend and I rented a snug, inexpensive one-bedroom house in Driggs, Idaho, just over the Teton Range from wealthy Jackson Hole, Wyoming. At that time, Driggs was where the workers lived, driving over the Teton Pass every day to wait tables and make beds on the stylish side of the mountains. The point is, we low-rent folks got to wake up to the same scenery the rich people enjoyed and hike along the same pine-shadowed trails.

But the money was already starting to pour into Driggs--Paul Allen of Microsoft, August Busch III of Anheuser-Busch, Harrison Ford--transforming family potato farms into vast dynastic estates. I haven't been back, but I understand Driggs has become another unaffordable Jackson Hole. Where the wait staff and bed-makers live today I do not know.

I witnessed this kind of deterioration up close in Key West, Florida, where I first went in 1986, attracted not only by the turquoise waters and frangipani-scented nights but by the fluid, egalitarian social scene. At a typical party you might find literary stars like Alison Lurie, Annie Dillard and Robert Stone, along with commercial fishermen, waitresses and men who risked their lives diving for treasure (once a major blue-collar occupation). Then, at some point in the '90s, the rich started pouring in. You'd see them on the small planes coming down from Miami--taut-skinned, linen-clad and impatient. They drove house prices into the seven-figure range. They encouraged restaurants to charge upward of $30 for an entree. They tore down working-class tiki bars to make room for their waterfront "condotels."

Of all the crimes of the rich, the aesthetic deprivation of the rest of us may seem to be the merest misdemeanor. Many of them owe their wealth to the usual tricks: squeezing their employees, overcharging their customers and polluting any land they're not going to need for their third or fourth homes. Once they've made (or inherited) their fortunes, the rich can bid up the price of goods that ordinary people also need--housing, for example. Gentrification is dispersing the urban poor into overcrowded suburban ranch houses, while billionaires' horse farms displace rural Americans into trailer homes. Similarly, the rich can easily fork over annual tuitions of $50,000 and up, which has helped make college education a privilege of the upper classes.

There are other ways, too, that the rich are robbing the rest of us of beauty and pleasure. As the bleachers in stadiums and arenas are cleared to make way for skybox "suites" costing more than $100,000 for a season, going out to a ballgame has become prohibitively expensive for the average family. At the other end of the cultural spectrum, superrich collectors have driven up the price of artworks, leading museums to charge ever rising prices for admission.

It shouldn't be a surprise that the Pew Research Center finds happiness to be unequally distributed, with 50 percent of people earning more than $150,000 a year describing themselves as "very happy," compared with only 23 percent of those earning less than $20,000. When nations are compared, inequality itself seems to reduce well-being, with some of the most equal nations--Iceland and Norway--ranking highest, according to the UN's Human Development Index. We are used to thinking that poverty is a "social problem" and wealth is only something to celebrate, but extreme wealth is also a social problem, and the superrich have become a burden on everyone else.

If Edward O. Wilson is right about "biophilia"--an innate human need to interact with nature--there may even be serious mental health consequences to letting the rich hog all the good scenery. I know that if I don't get to see vast expanses of water, 360-degree horizons and mountains piercing the sky for at least a week or two of the year, chronic, cumulative claustrophobia sets in. According to evolutionary psychologist Nancy Etcoff, the need for scenery is hard-wired into us. "People like to be on a hill, where they can see a landscape. And they like somewhere to go where they can not be seen themselves," she told Harvard Magazine last year. "That's a place desirable to a predator who wants to avoid becoming prey." We also like to be able to see water (for drinking), low-canopy trees (for shade) and animals (whose presence signals that a place is habitable).

Ultimately, the plutocratic takeover of rural America has a downside for the wealthy too. The more expensive a resort town gets, the farther its workers have to commute to keep it functioning. And if your heart doesn't bleed for the dishwasher or landscaper who commutes two to four hours a day, at least shed a tear for the wealthy vacationer who gets stuck in the ensuing traffic. It's bumper to bumper westbound out of Telluride, Colorado, every day at 5, or eastbound on Route 1 out of Key West, for the Lexuses as well as the beat-up old pickup trucks.

Or a place may simply run out of workers. Monroe County, which includes Key West, has seen more than 2,000 workers leave since the 2000 Census, a loss the Los Angeles Times calls "a body blow to the service-oriented economy of a county with only 75,000 residents and 2.25 million overnight visitors a year." Among those driven out by rents of more than $1,600 for a one-bedroom apartment are many of Key West's wait staff, hotel housekeepers, gardeners, plumbers and handymen. No matter how much money you have, everything takes longer--from getting a toilet fixed to getting a fish sandwich at Pepe's.

Then there's the elusive element of charm, which quickly drains away in a uniform population of multimillionaires. The Hamptons had their fishermen. Key West still advertises its "characters"--sun-bleached, weather-beaten misfits who drifted down for the weather or to escape some difficult situation on the mainland. But the fishermen are long gone from the Hamptons and disappearing from Cape Cod. As for Key West's characters--with the traditional little conch houses once favored by shrimpers flipped into million-dollar second homes, these human sources of local color have to be prepared to sleep with the scorpions under the highway overpass.

In Telluride even a local developer is complaining about the lack of affordable housing. "To have a real town," he told the Financial Times, "Telluride needs some locals hanging out"--in old-fashioned diners, for example, where you don't have to speak Italian to order a cup of coffee.

When I was a child, I sang "America the Beautiful" and meant it. I was born in the Rocky Mountains and raised, at various times, on the coasts. The Big Sky, the rolling surf, the jagged, snowcapped mountains--all this seemed to be my birthright. But now I flinch when I hear Woody Guthrie's line "This land was made for you and me." Somehow, I don't think it was meant to be sung by a chorus of hedge-fund operators.

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 3 replies

Brita - Take Back Your Filters

amy — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 06:32:21 GMT

A campaign to get Clorox, the owner of Brita, to take back and recyce/reuse filters.

http://www.takebackthefilter.org/

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 8 replies

Car runs on water?

MickD — Fri, 30 May 2008 03:45:00 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdVevvgM3ho

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 0 replies

a spotlight on food waste in america:

ladyleblanc — Mon, 19 May 2008 19:59:18 GMT

food shortage? not so much.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/weekinreview/18martin.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

this graphic is horrifying!
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/05/18/weekinreview/0518MARTIN-1260x909.jpg

check out this blog focused on food waste in america:
http://www.wastedfood.com/

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 1 reply

Thoughts on Zeitgeist the Movie

darkchoqlit477 — Sat, 24 May 2008 19:59:26 GMT

Just wanted to hear feedback from all of you regarding the documentary, "Zeitgeist, The Movie".

For those of you who have seen it, you'll know that it highlights alot of the issues that we cover in this tribe, but a few of my colleagues who viewed it felt deeply saddened by its premise, and they confessed a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness, but it had a different effect on me, in that -- after viewing it -- I felt deeply encouraged to spread the word and become a better human being, by showing love and compassion to my fellow citizens, and working hard to preserve and improve our natural and social environment.

www.zeitgeistthemovie.com

What do you guys think?

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 4 replies

Garbage Warrior

Sprout — Wed, 07 May 2008 02:58:34 GMT

This is a great movie.
And I started a new thread in response to the "Executive Order" thread.
This guy has already built these houses using basically garbage for a couple of weather ravaged places.

I'm not including a link b/c I'm a)lazy and b)you all seem fairly adept at the google :)

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 0 replies

PLEASE WATCH = "IN LIES WE TRUST" = IT MAY SAVE YOUR LIFE

Daniel J — Mon, 05 May 2008 10:01:31 GMT

PLEASE WATCH = "IN LIES WE TRUST" = IT MAY SAVE YOUR LIFE
Join the "TRUTH REVOLUTION"..

http://www.restoretherepublic.com/component/option,com_seyret/task,video\
directlink/Itemid,40/id,559/

TORRENT WITH extras
http://www.mininova.org/tor/1375455

PLEASE READ "A Truth Soldier"
http://danieltowsey.blogspot.com/2008/02/truth-soldier.html

Make copies and share them with people you care about, make some and write
"PORN" and leave copies in malls and other places...

Only the truely informed will have any chance..

Please join "conspiraciesclub' It's loaded with thousands of Articles,links,Videos, Documents and more.. http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/conspiraciesclub/

and for Canadians please go to "canadianconspiraciesclub" to learn about Bill C-51 before it's to late http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/canadianconspiraciesclub/

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 0 replies

Executive Order to re-build Sustainably

Chopper22 — Sat, 03 May 2008 15:09:23 GMT

Executive Order to re-build Sustainably

I was just thinking with the recent bouts with tornadoes. Plus, the Hurricanes of Katrina and Rita a few years back plus other natural disasters. Why don't we organize a petition or mandate of some kind to re-build using only environmentally friendly products and install more sustainable energy systems? Rather than re-building exactly the same way, here's an opportunity to implement the positive environmental changes we'd all like to see come about.

What are some of the most effective ways to bring this about? Nows the time what with the Presidential election coming up in a few months.

Would you suggest a Petition, demand an Executive Order or what?

What are your thoughts?

--------------------

Check this out...

"After the tornado, the city council passed a resolution stating that all city building would be built to LEED - platinum standards, making it the first city in the nation to do so. Greensburg is rebuilding as a "green" town, with the help of the non-profit organization created to help the residents learn about and implement the green living initiative, Greensburg GreenTown[6].

Here is an account of the green projects on the towns official website:

Information and Resources available for residents and businesses to consider during the rebuilding process.

http://www.greensburgks.org/recovery-planning/green-or-sustainable-resources

http://www.greensburggreentown.org/links/

Wouldn't be great to see this done on a national and a global level!?!?

;

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 0 replies

the story of stuff

aquabear — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:42:46 GMT

a friend showed me this last night.
has anyone else seen it here?
http://storyofstuff.com/

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 2 replies

How to spend that tax refund?

flaneuse — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 22:11:17 GMT

This question came up on the blog of a Tribe friend, and I thought it might make for good discussion here.

My intention is to give mine away. I mean the "extra" money that GWB is supposedly going to "refund" to us. Of course there are lots of consumer goods I want, but I am also doing okay (not great, but okay) financially, and I'm mad at Bush for this because I think it's a cheap publicity stunt. Despite my modest means, I do have a budget for philanthropy - if that word can be applied to such small gift amounts. And because I've always worked for nonprofits (hence the modest means!) I'm sensitive to the needs of organizations trying to do right. There are so many areas that could use our support: environment, health, arts, etc.

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 5 replies

oxymoron

geode_9 — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 08:43:30 GMT

anyone else think the name of this tribe is an oxymoron?

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 19 replies

Zero Waste Companies

Brittany — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 23:53:00 GMT

Businesses

by Gary Liss
back

Gary Liss & Associates, 4395 Gold Trail Way, Loomis, CA 95650-8929
Tel: 916-652-7850 Fax: 916-652-0485 gary@garyliss.com

The North American companies from A-Z highlighted below have provided tremendous leadership in Zero Waste. These companies have already diverted more than 90% of their wastes. GRRN considers them to be Zero Waste Businesses, or 'darn close.' These companies have made a conscious commitment to waste reduction and recycling, and found that they could come remarkably close to operating without wasting but careful attention to their manufacturing processes.

Amdahl Corporation, Santa Clara, California USA - Winner of 1998 NRC Outstanding Corporate Leadership Award, 90% Waste Diversion since 1990, Reuse & Recycle: Loose Fill, Polystyrene, Polyurethane Foam, Polyethylene Foam, Polypropylene, Instapak Packaging Foam, #1 & 2 Plastic Containers, Manufacturing Plastic Scrap, Office Paper, Cardboard, Wood, Cans, Bottles, Metals, Wire, Circuit Boards, Building & Demolition Materials, Furniture, CRTs, Fluorescent Tubes, Tooling, Copier & Laser Printer Tone Cartridges, Reusable Product Packaging, Used Products, Donate Perishable Food to Second Harvest, Bulk Pump Dispensers for Condiments, Double Side Copies, Email to Reduce Paper, Electronics Bulletin Board & Web pages for Online Access to Jobs, Forms, Benefits & Other Company Info
Battery Council International (USA) reported in the June 19, 2000 edition of Waste News that the average annual recycling rate for the lead in lead-acid batteries is now 94.6 percent. The lead-acid battery industry has been recycling its products for more than 70 years, and today operates an infrastructure of retailers and service providers that collect spent batteries from customers. The same trucks that deliver new batteries pick up the spent batteries for delivery to secondary lead smelters. Consumer, commercial and industrial users turn in spent batteries for recycling when they buy new batteries. The lead and plastic from spent batteries is used to produce new batteries. The recovered sulfuric acid electrolyte also can be used as new product, or neutralized. BCI is a nonprofit association that conducts education campaigns. BCI has drafted model recycling laws that have been adopted by 37 states, which prohibit disposal and require retail collection of spent batteries. contact: Ronald Pogue, BCI, 401 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60611, 312-644-6610, Fax: 312/321-6869, info@batterycouncil.org or http://www.batterycouncil.org .
Brewers of Ontario, Ontario, Canada - Brewers of Ontario serves 12 million people and has 6,000 employees. In 1997, it had US$1.4 billion in sales, 32 breweries in the system, 429 retail stores and 16,000 licensed locations. The system has a 99% Bottle Takeback Rate (15-20 times), 97.6% of all packaging is diverted and 80% are refillable bottles (with a $.10 deposit). In 1998, they reported that their system provided a reduced cost/bottle ($.01 vs. $.10 for Al and $.12 for 1 way Glass) and reduced disposal costs by 89% (from $1.5 Million to $170,000, 1992-1997). The Brewers invested $75 Million in 1992 in industry-standard bottles. They recover: Aluminum Cans, PET Containers, Plastic Bags, Stretch Wrap, Photodegradable Tear-Away Hi-Cone Plastic Rings, Office Paper, Computer Paper, Corrugated, and Steel (caps). In a survey they had done in April 1997, they found that 89% of the public want tougher environmental laws; 74% believe manufacturers and consumers should be financially responsible for containers (i.e., curbside programs should not subsidized by taxpayers). In March 1998 exit interviews they found that their deposit & recycling system was viewed as more valuable than well-organized stores, polite, friendly staff or convenient days and times of operation.
Collins & Aikman, Dalton, Georgia USA - Sent zero manufacturing waste to landfill in 1998. Implemented waste minimization programs and energy efficiency programs that over the past four years (1998) have allowed them to increase production 300%, lower all corporate waste 80% and use no more energy than what they did four years ago. (ref. Phil Bailey, 9/11/98, personal communication). contact: Dobbin Callahan, 800-241-4902x2309, mresearch@aol.com
Epson, Inc., Hillsboro, Oregon USA - Epson recycles 90% of their materials, then disposes of rest of their waste in a waste-to-energy(WTE) facility. As the WTE facility has a 10% residue that goes to landfill, they consider their overall diversion of waste from landfill to be 99%. They recycle the following materials at their facility: ABS plastic; Alcohol/Flux waste from manufacturing; Aluminum Cans; Batteries; Blood borne Pathogen waste; Cardboard OCC; CDs; Circuit board scrap; Computer scrap; Dry Garbage; GPPS (black trays from printer assembly); HIPS (black, random and mixed polystyrene; Ink cartridges and toner; Ink sludge from ink treatment; Ink treatment resin filters; Laminated copper; Lamps & Ballast; Magazines (manuals); Manufacturing equipment; Metal - (steel, tin); Metal Special (copper, brass, etc.); Mixed paper (desk side recycling); Office furniture; Packing material (peanuts); PBT regrind (plastic's black regrind); Pins on tape; Plastic bags, film, and wraps; Polycarbonate (heat proof trays); Polycarbonate (multi color parts); Polypropylene (battery trays, 118 white trays); Polypropylene (ink cartridges); Polystyrene foam #6; Polystyrene trays; Printer cords and cables; Pure water resin filters; PVC plastic trays, Mpa tape, IC tubes; Solder dross ; Solder scrap; Sorted white ledger (print test paper); Used oil and grease from kitchen; Used oil from compressors and mold machines; Used printers / computer / electrical equipment; Wet Garbage; Wood (pallets, scrap) Yard debris Plastic film. contact: George Lundberg, Environmental & Safety Engineer, 503-617-5607, george.lundberg@epi.epson.com
Fetzer Vineyards, Hopland, California USA -- America's seventh largest premium wine producer, located in Hopland, California. Fetzer has reduced its garbage by 93 percent since establishing a baseline figure in 1990. Its goal is to achieve zero waste by 2009. Last year Fetzer recycled over 326 tons of materials. The winery recycles paper and cardboard, cans, glassware, metals, antifreeze, pallets - even its wine barrels. They compost 4000 tons of grape pomace each year. Landscaping is based on zeriscape practices. Even defective corks are give to a company who makes corkboards and barstops with them. All of the vineyards Fetzer owns are certified organically grown. contact: Patrick Healy, Environmental Coordinator: patrick_healy@b-f.com or www.fetzer.com
Hewlett-Packard, Roseville, California USA (9,000 employees) is diverting 92-95% of its solid waste; saving almost a million dollars a year in avoided waste disposal costs ($870,564 in 1998). HP recycles cardboard, metal, foam, plastic peanuts, low density polyethylene plastics (LDPE), Instapak, polystyrene plastics, and reuses and recycles pallets. contact: Bill Coffee, Somers Building Maintenance (HP contractor), 916-785-7595.
Interface, Inc., Dalton, Georgia USA - commercial carpet maker. In 1999, 4 of 16 Interface manufacturing facilities diverted more than 90% of their waste from landfills. Several others are in the 80% range. Since 1994, Interface has eliminated more than $90 million in waste. Interface has pioneered, among other things, the 'Evergreen Lease,' giving the company and its customers economic incentives to take back old carpets and recycle them, while assuring customers of clean, attractive carpets. Interface is reexamining its sources of waste and creating ways to reduce and finally eliminate them. It's redesigning and rethinking products so that it can deliver more with less. It's reengineering production processes to reduce resource consumption. If part of a process or product doesn't add value, it eliminates it. And that philosophy goes beyond manufacturing. Its aim is zero waste in every discipline, from accounting to sales to human resources. Interface also recently introduced its biodegradable carpet tile, the first of it's kind that replaces petroleum-based nylon with fiber from corn. Interface has a ReEntry program, that will reclaim existing carpet tile or broadloom and either recycle, downcycle, or repurpose it. Interface guarantees that old carpet they collect (theirs or competitors) won't end up in a landfill. contact: Buddy Hay, Buddy.Hay@interfaceinc.com or Reva Revis, 312-961-9067, Reva.Revis@interfaceinc.com
Mad River Brewery, Blue Lake, California USA. Currently diverts 98% of its garbage from landfills from its 15,000 square foot facility. They produce less than two 90-gallon cans of trash per week and saved over $35,654 in 1998. They recycle scrap, metals, glass, and office paper. They compost spent grain & hops. Hops are also broadcast on pastures. Grain is also made into livestock & poultry feed. They rebuild and recycle pallets. Construction materials are reused & salvaged. They store reusables on-site. They take-back 6 pack containers. They reuse plastic mesh backs from grain shipped in by donating them to a composter to package compost and to Bolla to make into reusable shopping bags. Cellulose filter pads and staff food scraps are composted on site. PET & metal strapping is recycled. Shrink wrap is donated to Mt. People's Warehouse to recycle. Cardboard boxes are recycled. Bottles, 6 pack containers & cardboard are made of recycled material. Even part of everyone's job description is to reuse & recycle. contact: Bob Ornelas, Box 767, Blue Lake, CA 95525, 707-269-0398, arcatacy@tidepool.com.
Namibian Breweries, Namibia, Africa. The sorghum brewery in Tsumeb in Southern Africa opened in January 1997 with the message "good beer, no chemicals, no pollution, more sales and more jobs." The brewery is a fully integrated biosystem with 40 different biochemical processes to reuse everything (heat, water, wastes, and CO2). The brewery produces 7 times more food, fuel & fertilizer, 4 times as many jobs & 12 more products, compared to conventional beer producers. Spent grain is used to grow mushrooms. Chickens eat earthworms set loose in grain. Digester for mushroom, chicken feed & chicken wastes generates methane gas for steam for fermentation. Alkaline water (normally needs chemicals to treat) goes into fish ponds (8 different types of fish sold) & spiruline algae (70% protein helps on child malnutrition). contact: Mrs. Brigitte Sass or Mr. G. Roux, 264-61-262-915x2122 or Gunter Pauli at the Zero Emissions Research Initiative (ZERI) of the United Nations University (gunter_pauli@rocketmail.com or dellasenta@ias.unu.edu)
Pillsbury, Minnesota USA. Pillsbury, MN. The Eden Prairie facility diverts over 96% of waste generated and the Chanhassen plant diverts over 94%. Pillsbury has adopted a Zero Waste goal. All the original Pillsbury plants (before recent acquisitions) are reducing and recycling at or above 90% annually. Overall, Pillsbury's manufacturing facilities recycled or reused 83% of all manufacturing waste in fiscal 1999. The 83% takes into consideration new acquisitions, which have decreased the diversion rates for the total, but Pillsbury says that’s going to be turned around soon. This included enough paper and cardboard to save 200,000 trees, almost 82 million gallons of water, and more than 48 million kWh of electricity. Pillsbury increased recycled content of its folding cartons for dry mixes to approximately 50%. Pillsbury's distribution centers now use rented or recycled shipping pallets for the majority of its products.
Pillsbury has adopted a principle in their Environmental Affairs program to eliminate potentially harmful discharges and emissions into the air, onto land, and into water. Pillsbury strives to improve their waste efficiency by 10% each year. They estimate that they save over $500,000 per year through these efforts at the Eden Prairie and Chanhassen plants alone. contact: Dottie Shay, Environmental Health & Safety Manager, 612-474-7444x7576, Dshay@Pillsbury.Com, www.pillsbury.com/about/successstories.asp#waste
Xerox Corp., Rochester, New York USA - Since the early 1990s, Xerox adopted Waste-Free Factory environmental performance goals. The Waste-Free Factory criteria include significant reductions in waste, emissions, and energy consumption, and increased recycling. In 1998, worldwide non-hazardous solid waste recycling rates reached 88% and savings amounted to $45 million. In 1998, Xerox set environmental requirements for its suppliers worldwide, to design products that are durable and reusable, in factories that make dramatic reductions in air, water, and solid waste. Xerox is asking all of their facilities and suppliers to achieve a 90% reduction in all emissions from a 1990 baseline. In 1999, a revision of the Waste-Free Factory criteria will increase focus on reducing waste generation. contact: Anne Slocum, Anne.Slocum@usa.xerox.com or Jack Azar, Jack_Azar@wb.xerox.com, 716-422-9266.
Zanker Road Landfill, San Jose, California USA - Zanker has had an overall diversion rate of more than 90% for the past five years. Zanker owns and operates three major recycling and composting facilities in the San Jose area. Currently up to 2,000 tons per day is received at the Zanker Road Landfill facilities, of all types of materials. Zanker currently processes and markets yard waste and compost, wood waste, cardboard, gypsum, concrete, clean and mixed demolition debris, metal and bulky items. The material produced from the C&D processing is sold mostly to construction and paving contractors as Class II aggregate and engineered fill. Wood is sold as biomass fuel and soil amendments. Metals are separated and sold by categories of tin, #2 unprepared steel, copper, brass and aluminum. Zanker markets its finished organics products to over 170 customers and has more demand for its products than it produces.
Copyright 2000 by Gary Liss & Associates, 4395 Gold Trail Way, Loomis, CA 95650, 916-652-7850, gary@garyliss.com. All rights reserved. Permission to reprint for nonprofit purposes with attribution and notification to GLA is hereby given.

http://www.grrn.org/zerowaste/articles/companies_zw.html

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 1 reply

carbon offsets

yabadabadoo — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 15:35:54 GMT

what do people think about carbon offsets? I feel a little dubious about them. It seems to me a way to charge more to people (like a guilt tax). I think businesses that cause the pollution should be responsible for donating a portion of their profits to offsets and that consumers shouldn't be expected to buy them.

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 5 replies

Green Company Certification ideas needed

david — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:13:13 GMT

We need your ideas!

Currently, we are working on settin-up the Green Businsess Certified program, so consumers can more easily identify green companies on packaging. Our guidelines are at http://greensx.com/info/listing_social_guidelines.php

The Green Businsess Certified program, will be part of the Green Stock Exchange (GREENSX) at http://greensx.com, North America's first social stock exchange connected to a green social network, which will be launched in the Summer of 2008 to begin trading. It will trade shares in social businesses. A social business is a business that makes a profit, but benefits society as well. We have a triple bottom line (economic + social + environmental).

Since all the listed companies on the exchange are pre-screened, evaluated, and audited according to social and sustainable guidelines set by the exchange, it will make it much easier for green investors to find and support social businesses. The GREENSX provides opportunities for small green Issuers to access public equity capital efficiently, while providing early stage investors, angel investors, and venture capitalists with greater liquidity. This includes a eBAY.com trading system for carbon credits.

It is still in the beta stage testing. Check it out at: http://greensx.com.

We need yur ideas.

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 1 reply

Can you be big and green?

amy — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 19:06:14 GMT

Radio show asks if green companies such as Burt's Bees (bought by Clorox) can remain green.

http://yourcallradio.blogspot.com/2008/01/your-call-011408-big-and-green.html

Can you be big and green? On the next Your Call we’ll discuss the future of organic companies that have been bought by bigger, conventional ones. Burt’s Bees was bought by Clorox, Colgate-Palmolive owns 84 percent of Tom’s of Maine and Wal-Mart is now the largest retailer of organic vegetables in the country. Can green grow and still mean anything? If you buy an organic juice made by Coke are you being responsible, or buying a lie? It’s Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Professor Dara O’Rourke
Associate Professor of Environmental and Labor Policy at UC Berkeley

Gary Hirschberg
President and CEO of Stonyfield Farms

Rinku Sen
Publisher of Colorlines, a national, multi-racial magazine devoted to the creativity and complexity of communities of color and winner of Utne Magazine’s Independent Press Award for General Excellence.

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 9 replies

Buy One Ticket, Get One Free Ticket Amtrak Deal

amy — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:41:02 GMT

In honor of National Train Day, Amtrak is offering a buy one ticket, get one free ticket deal. Tickets are available for sale only on April 4th for travel on May 10th only. Visit the website for full list of restrictions http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Copy/Hot_Deals_Page&c=am2Copy&cid=1178294134016&ssid=224

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 0 replies

Pharmaceutical Particulate Traces Found in Our Drinking Water Supply

darkchoqlit477 — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 07:11:29 GMT

As if the United States environmental problems couldn't exacerbate any further, here comes another shocker (though I can't say I'm all that surprised): the news report transcript below reveals that Jeff Donn, an AP reporter, found out that many water-management plants in about 24, major metropolitan areas do not have proper protocols to test for and/or remove pharmaceutical particulates, including pain killers, anti-biotics and anti-seizure medications from our drinking water supplies!

Please, take a moment to click on the link and read the transcript below, taken from Jim Lehrer's News Hour on PBS.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/environment/jan-june08/water_03-10.html

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 4 replies

Looking for an Earth Woman Friendly community?

Temeluch — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 23:01:30 GMT

There is a Meeting of the Kindred Spirits coming up March 29th! And
we do need to see some more Positive well integrated Female Energy in
this group who can work closely with others.

http://edenvillage.net/18.htm

We are still looking to organize a group of volunteers to
help out some good folks one day out of the week, with some
organic gardening and we still do need someone to take Minutes
at the next meeting.

It would be possible, I would think, if there is a single female or
two out there who is cool about living closer to the Earth then
I may be able to provide a place for you to live, for
maybe 6 months out of the year up where I live in Northern
California.

If you can simply come to our next meeting on March 29th. - T

http://edenvillage.net/18.htm

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 0 replies

sanity in a mad world

LEA — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 18:36:44 GMT

http://www.boomboxradio.com/soundstrue/Modules/ShoppingCart/sample_Video.aspx

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 1 reply

Conspiracy History compilation DVDs torrents

History — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 12:47:39 GMT

**************************************************

Greetings to all my relations.

This is the last step of our project History Watch. If History is
defined and known by the texts, we can now add to this definition the
recorded events of the filmed archives. Animated images are harder to
deny than printed words. Our objective is to spread out freely some of
the little broadcast, even hidden informations about our collective
History.

We put online a collection of 391 documentaries and other selected and
recut videos, to offer to a wide public the best of the infos
available on the net in english and in french. If you are interested,
you have the time, the right equipment and connection, all you have to
do is open the joint document and decompress it if needed (but normaly
your system should do it automaticaly). You'll find therein nine links
that will open the torrents for the nine DVDs we compiled (around 4.6
Gig each, for a total of a little over 41 G, being over 100 hours of
videos).

Otherwise, you can go directly to btjunkie.com and search for these titles.

11 Septembre 2001 - 9-11
Bush family & friends
Capitalist & Communist regimes
Capitalist conspiracy
Mind Kontrol - Secret Programs
New World Order - Secret Societies
Secret services - cover up - covert ops
Secret weapons - UFO
Terrorism Theories propaganda

Torrents are a system of peer to peer data transfer. The more people
download a torrent, the faster it spreads and the longer it stays on
the net. If you don't have a bittorrent software, we suggest that you
download uTorrent on utorrent.com. If you want to participate in
facilitating the diffusion of these infos about our collective
History, download these torrents on as many computers as possible,
whether it is in cybercafes. It takes one or two minutes to open up
the links and the downloading will keep proceeding on its own.

Please spread this out, take part in this action for social education
on a planetary scale. Thanks.

For more info: watch.history@gmail.com History Watch

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 0 replies

check out Ethicle(dot)com

manuel — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 19:52:40 GMT

this is a new site that give 1 cent per search.
this is basically same as google search....but in better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

paix

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 1 reply

Want Affordable Goji's, Cacao, Vegan Ice Cream, and more . . ? We Deliver !

change — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:49:35 GMT

Want Affordable Goji's, Cacao, Vegan Ice Cream, and more . . ? We Deliver ! So much more than that is available, come visit my page and get in touch!

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 0 replies

The Story of Stuff

yellow — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 23:57:43 GMT

A friend passed this to me and I have been showing it to everyone,
especially those who need it.
I showed it to one of my classes at school.

www.storyofstuff.com/
The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard

just wanted to share,
love n' peace
yellow

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 3 replies

Fraud Alert regarding North Coast Earth First! Aka NCEF! Media. Completely independent from any activist group!

White Rabbit — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 21:09:44 GMT

16 views since posting on Sunday, December 2, 2007
Location California

enlarge photo
NCEF! Media in Humboldt County Ca.(AKA NORTH COAST EARTH FIRST!), is accused of fraud and donation embezzlement. Caution! Do not support this lone wingnut's scam! Active and legitamate groups exist in the area. Caution! Do not be fooled by NCEF! Media and his fraudulent outreach. Shunka Wakan exists completely seperate from any active affinity group.

Read about how he perpetuated a lawsuit under the guise of EF! against a legitimate environmental nonprofit:

From: northcoastjournal.com/100407/...004.html

October 4, 2007

"Money On Trees"

Big cash nearly fell into Shunka Wakan's lap. Other Earth First!ers are kinda happy it didn't.

by Heidi Walters

As the jury trial for the civil suit Kathryn Miller v. the Trees Foundation puttered to a start last week inside Courtroom 3 at the Humboldt County Courthouse, Shunka Wakan — a key witness for the plaintiff — spent mornings sitting on the hard wooden benches in the long hallway outside the courtroom. During breaks, Miller's attorney Linda Mitlyng, would come out of the courtroom to join him. But otherwise, as other people and their legal affairs swirled around him in a warm, odiferous bath of humanity, Shunka sat alone. Or, sometimes, he stood alone, straight-spined, his small, stocky body swallowed by the huge, stiff blue suit out of which his newly shorn, razor-scraped bald head poked vulnerably — as if, at any moment, the suit could gulp once more and he'd disappear completely. Always, he clutched a paper folder with a wolf's face on its cover.

The North Coast Earth First! Media guru had shaved off his woolly rust-tinged brown hair and beard the night before jury selection started, after discussing it with attorney Mitlyng. Now, it took an uncertain moment to recognize him. Then, of course: Shunka's light blue eyes in the pink-pale face, Shunka's closed-lip smile, Shunka's trademark husky murmur, "Mm-hmm, for sure," in response to a comment.

In Courtroom 3, the amiable but no-nonsense Judge Christopher Wilson's domain, the fate of a $185,000 donation dangled. Would the plaintiff, donor Kathryn Miller, prevail in her claim that the defendant, the Trees Foundation, was not in fact the intended recipient of her generous gift? That Shunka Wakan's NCEF! Media Center and the treesitters were? Or would the Trees Foundation convince the jury that, in fact, the money was intended all along for Trees, with no instructions attached for funneling it elsewhere?

Richard Idell, left, who is defending the Trees Foundation against a lawsuit filed by Kathryn Miller, confers with Doug Wallace, community support coordinator for Trees. Photo by David Lawlor.

In her opening arguments, Miller's attorney, Mitlyng, said the case came down to "fraud and broken promises." "She believed [Trees] would hold [the money] in trust, for the benefit of North Coast Earth First!" said Mitlyng. The defense's attorney, Richard Idell, countered in his opening argument that the donation was an unconditional gift and Miller never wrote letters of instruction — as Miller claims she did. "Ms. Miller ... didn't do anything. She took the check [from her mother's estate] and flipped it over and wrote on the back, 'Payable to the Trees Foundation,'" said Idell.

Miller's claim sought the return of her $185,000, plus interest.

Out in the hallway, Shunka waited to tell his side of the story. Maybe he thought about the magical donation that never materialized, and now probably never would. Maybe he thought about the other times he'd been in this courthouse — dozens of times, along with other activists, often before Judge Wilson, answering to charges of trespassing and other forms of civil disobedience in the woods. Likely, he wondered when they were finally going to call him in to testify — it was taking forever in there. He'd even sent out an e-mail prematurely to the several hundred subscribers to his NCEF! online group erroneously announcing he would be first up to testify.

By the end of Friday's court session, Miller was still on the stand. Perhaps Monday it would be Shunka's turn. Whenever it was, he would be testifying on Miller's behalf; but he wasn't a party to the lawsuit. And in the end, after hearing all of the evidence, the jury would be determining who was telling the truth about intentions and letters of instructions. Shunka was just there to provide context and evidence in a contract dispute.

But to a number of forest activists, including a half dozen or so who appeared in the audience last Friday to watch the trial unfold, that context matters more to them than the legal questions. They say this lawsuit has placed a strain on the environmental community that could do as much damage as an ill-felled redwood that takes down other giants in its descent. They disapprove of the lawsuit, and they blame Shunka for it. And, they say, it's just another example of how Shunka has commandeered the North Coast Earth First! identity and used it for purposes that nobody else in the amorphous but consensus-driven local Earth First! movement has agreed to.

"For a lot of us, when we read about the lawsuit, this is kind of like Shunka on trial," said long-time forest activist Deane Rimerman last Friday, calling from Olympia, Wash. "And, to what extent is he worthy of that money?"

Kathryn Miller wanted her money to go toward saving trees, she said on the witness stand last Thursday. The slender 59-year-old was dressed in a pink print skirt and white sweater, with her gray-streaked dark hair pulled back into a neat, thin braid tinted slightly green. (Little did the jury know that Miller had spent the night in jail, in blue jail duds, and then had been "dressed out," in court lingo, in her street clothes before being escorted into the court by the bailiff. Miller had been arrested the week before, on Sept. 17, when she arrived in civil court for the pre-trial readiness hearing; according to the misdemeanor criminal charges filed against her, Miller allegedly had made annoying phonecalls to Barbara Ristow of the Trees Foundation all hours of the day and night.)

On the stand, Miller described how she became an activist. She remembered how, when she was a child in Orinda, her mother decided to stop spraying the beautiful oak trees on their property after reading Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. "And then, when my son was 9, we were watching the news on TV about the Chernobyl nuclear power plant meltdown. And my son said to me, 'I wish I'd never been born. I don't think I'll get to live a full life.'"

She protested the building of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. She started a peace action group in the late 1980s in San Jose. She did nonviolent protests at the Nevada Test Site. And in 1990, she came up with some of her fellow protestors to help set up the camp for Redwood Summer, and to take part in demonstrations. She's been on and off involved in Earth First! actions in Humboldt ever since, she said, including huffing in supplies for treesitters and huffing out their garbage. She'd also, at one point, bought a condo in Arcata.

In 2004, Miller sold her condo and bought an acre of farmland, already planted with coffee, in Guatemala. She put in fruit trees to shade the coffee. That same year, her mother, who lived in Sonoma, died. "The last time I saw her was in 2003," said Miller. "She told me when she died, she was going to leave me some money. I told her I'd use it to further my work for the forest. And she was pleased, because she loved the treesitters and the forest."

Shortly after learning of her mother's death, Kathryn Miller sought out Shunka Wakan in front of the food co-op in Arcata, where he "tabled" to raise funds for the North Coast Earth First! Media office — selling T-shirts, and stickers, offering pamphlets, accepting donations. She'd known Shunka for about five years, she said.

"I said to him, I was going to inherit some money: What was the best way to get that to the North Coast Earth First!?"

In the spring of 2005, Shunka Wakan was floating above the treetops. "I was so excited," the 32-year-old said in an interview a few weeks ago, sitting inside his tiny but colorful North Coast Earth First! Media office in Arcata, walls covered in art and topo maps — including one of Buckeye Mountain, where in 2000-2001, during the "Mattole Free State" action, Shunka and others hiked 14 miles through waist-high snowdrifts to save trees.

Kathryn Miller, he recalled, had come up to him excitedly as he walked along the sidewalk outside the Arcata Co-op and said, "I just donated $185,000 to North Coast Earth First!'"

She'd talked to him the year before about making the donation — she'd said she was anticipating an inheritance from her mother's estate, and she wanted to make a big donation to his group. He'd told her to make it through the Trees Foundation, which handled the NCEF! Media office's finances through an arrangement that had been established years ago. (The Trees Foundation is an umbrella organization formed in 1991 to assist smaller environmental groups. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, it can accept large, tax-deductible donations on behalf of affiliates, and provide professional resources. And it can lead large campaigns, like the one to save the Headwaters Forest back in the '90s.)

Well, now she'd finally done it.

Miller and Shunka agreed to meet at Fiesta Café in Sunny Brae, so she could tell him how she wanted the money spent: She wanted, straight away, for someone to organize a mediated workshop for the local Earth First! activists on ageism and sexism, issues she thought were fracturing the movement. And, she wanted the bulk of the donation to help support the forest activists who blockade logging roads and hunker up in ancient redwoods to fend off loggers' saws.

Not long after, Shunka was on his way to have lunch with some folks from the Trees Foundation, where they'd talk about Miller's wishes.

"Our media outreach was going to get a big boost," Shunka said. "The donation would keep the EF! office going for many years. So I walked into the Wildflower Café feeling elated, thinking we got all this money."

Barbara Ristow and Doug Wallace of the Trees Foundation were there. "I was super excited," Shunka said, "and I said, 'This is great, this big donation. Isn't it wonderful?' We ordered food, and still I'm all excited, talking about the money, but I notice they're looking nervously at each other. [Finally], they said, 'Well, we're just shocked that you think this money was for you.' And I was like, 'I just met with the donor, and that's what she said.' And they're like, 'Well, let's go ahead and plan the workshop and deal with that later.' I remember that, because it put me at ease."

After that, Shunka said he gave Trees a list of people he thought might benefit from the mediator-run workshop. "Some were people I knew had beefs with me, but I was willing to bring 'em into the circle and talk about it."

According to some vague accounts, the workshop was a disaster. One person who was there claims that Shunka, at one point, pounded his fists on the floor, blustered, then got up and stormed out, yelling as he walked away. Shunka says that's overblown.

"The letter from Kathryn Miller to Barbara Bristow said she wanted the mediation to be a safe place, safe to be emotional," he said. "And I think people are saying 'I freaked out.' The freak-out reports are exaggerated. It's just part of this ongoing character assassination. People say I was 'red-faced.' But my face is naturally red."

In late 2005, while Shunka was in Seattle, a friend called him from Arcata to say a woman had come by asking for the office key. She had a list of equipment she wanted to take away. The friend didn't give her the key.

When Shunka got back from Seattle, he discovered his reimbursement funds from Trees had been "frozen." He also learned about a letter someone in the NCEF! movement had circulated for signatures and then sent to Mark Knipper, who handled the Trees Foundation transactions for the NCEF! Media office. It said, in essence, "We don't want Shunka running EF!"

"I called the Trees Foundation," Shunka recalled. "I was sick, it was the middle of the winter, I'm trying to table, it's raining, it's cold. And Barbara Ristow told me, 'You just need to have a meeting [with the other Earth First!ers] and come to a group consensus on what the Trees Foundation funding should be used for."

The meeting never happened — nobody could agree to meet, said Mark Knipper, also in an interview last week. Knipper is a social worker and a long-time activist who had been the contact person between Trees and NCEF! Media. "So it ate itself," Knipper said. "And although I'm former Navy, a mariner, I said I'm not going down with this ship. So I divorced myself from it ... and signed it all back to Trees."

The NCEF! Media office was dropped from the Trees Foundation altogether.

Shunka and the NCEF! Media office never did see any of the big donation. Miller didn't even know that, he said, until she phoned him up in the summer of 2006, more than a year after she made the donation, to ask about a guy named "Jungle," who had been reported as missing on the NCEF! hotline. Miller was spending much of her time in Guatemala now, where she was raising fruit trees; after she'd made her big donation, Hurricane Stan had struck — she spent the ensuing year mopping up the mess.

First, Shunka told her Jungle was still missing. Then he told her about the money.

"I said, 'Yeah, they told me it wasn't for us,'" said Shunka. "And she said, 'I meant for all of it to go to you guys.' She sounded real upset. And I was like, 'I knew it! I knew it!'"

Shunka tried to sue Trees in small claims court, but it went nowhere.

Miller filed a claim against the Trees Foundation on Oct. 5, 2006, in Humboldt County Superior Court, seeking the return of the $185,000 plus interest so she could distribute the money herself.

And if she wins? "She may just spread it out more," said Shunka. "She's got tree planting ideas. Maybe she could buy a grove. She'd maybe not give it all to Earth First! this time. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that Trees blew for us."

On an uncomfortably hot afternoon last week, four forest activists who'd agreed to an interview for this story — Jeff, Shaggy, Sparrow and Farmer — sat on the ground at the Arcata Marsh next to a log bench on which a teeming crew of red ants worked a splintered notch. Someone had come along here in 1999 and carved a grouping of faces — bearded, grimacing, possibly mourning faces — onto the log and signed it Daniel. The carving had been drenched in red paint, and burnished by years of sitters.

"It kind of reminds me of the memorial for Gypsy," said one of them. "With the red paint."

Gypsy was the forest name of David Nathan Chain, who in September 1998, during an Earth First! action at Grizzly Creek, was crushed to death by a tree felled by an enraged logger. Farmer, actually, was there — he was just 16, but had a year of activism already under his belt. And Shunka was there — it was Shunka's first forest action.

Farmer, Shag, Sparrow and Jeff first made it clear that they spoke for themselves alone, although they participate in various forest defense affinity groups: Farmer works for the Mattole Wildlands Defense Group now, watchdogging the California Department of Forestry for new timber harvest plans, and keeping an eye on a Pacific Lumber Co. watershed analysis. Shag, who saw his first redwood about five years ago, helps keep the Fern Gully treesit village in Freshwater functioning. Jeff, who grew up in the high desert, and fell in love with the woods, works with the Nanning Creek treesit just outside of Scotia, as well as other groups. Sparrow, who was drawn to forest action because the cultural landscape was "like a folktale" he couldn't resist, is with the Fern Gully affinity group. These groups are all part of the Humboldt Forest Defense Association, a collective with a website but no formal structure.

The HFDA sprang into being six years ago — about the time the entity called North Coast Earth First! had essentially dissolved. It would take a book to describe that drawn-out dissolution — a book of lost causes, won causes, waning media interest, Judi Bari's death, Gypsy's death, ego-spurred squabbles, interpersonal catastrophes, a war overseas, hurricanes. And while the HFDA activists might still cherish the Earth First! name — the movement — in their hearts, it's now been further complicated by what you might call the Shunka effect.

"I still feel in many ways solidarity with the greater Earth First! movement abroad," said Farmer. "But in this county, in this climate, if you say you're with the North Coast Earth First!, many people associate you with North Coast Earth First! Media."

Shunka revived the North Coast Earth First! office around 2002. And he did what previous office managers had done — tabled, put out news releases, wrote articles for other publications. But it wasn't like the old days, in the '90s, when hundreds of people were getting arrested in forest actions and the jail support phone and legal resources were in constant use.

Shunka first worked in an office in Eureka, then later moved to Arcata. He called his outfit the NCEF! Media Center. For a time, he and other "affinity groups" tried to work together. But he alienated some people. He took over the North Coast Earth First! website. He controlled the North Coast Earth First! email list of 300 or more subscribers to the news alerts. He sent out press releases on his own.

"I felt the North Coast Earth First! Media Center was a unilateral effort on Shunka's part," said Farmer. Whereas, in the old days, "spokespeople were decided on by the group. And if you wrote an article it was passed by everyone. I feel Shunka appointed himself spokesperson at some point."

Many also claim they've been subject to a lashing anger from Shunka.

"I won't work with him because I pledge nonviolence in my actions," said Shag. "I don't believe he pledges the same thing. He has exhibited violent behavior towards me and towards other activists in my presence."

"He's a bear," said Jeff, making claw-fists with his hands.

But the sad thing is, all of this infighting probably has done nothing to help the actual trees. And the mediation workshop Kathryn Miller wanted didn't fix matters. Now, there was her lawsuit.

"When I heard about this lawsuit, I thought, the Trees Foundation does not deserve to be attacked in that way," said Farmer. "There's much bigger issues that need to be dealt with — with Maxxam and old-growth logging. ...If you look at Fern Gully and Nanning Creek (the Bonanza timber harvest plan), there's hundreds of old growth acres still standing whose fate is unclear."

Shag put it more bluntly: "If [Miller] knew Shunka and wanted to get the money to North Coast Earth First! Media, she should've given it to Shunka. But if she was trying to get it to treesits and forest defense, then the money went to the right place.

"My problem is this whole representation thing. There's people in the trees — how do you know who to get the money to, to help them?"

Shunka knows that a lot of fellow activists aren't happy with his role in the donation dispute. He also knows how some people talk about him and say he's hard to get along with. "I'm just standing up for the truth," he said. "And people don't like it. To me, it feels like a small clique of people who don't like me. I feel a lot of love and support in this community."

He certainly doesn't come off right away as someone who's angry, or who lashes out, or who locks the office and doesn't let people in. Why, recently, he helped a young woman hook up with the treesitters so she could learn the ropes. (Shaggy said that's proof Shunka doesn't have direct connections with the people doing direct action; but you can't deny it's a connection.)

It's probably a bad idea to ask Darryl Cherney, one of the founders of the local Earth First! movement, what he thinks of Shunka Wakan, whose real name is Jason Wilson. (Shunka tells a story of how he was named by a Lakota medicine man on the banks of the Cheyenne River in South Dakota in 1995. "Shunka Wakan," meaning "great dog," is only part of it. There's a secret part after that — altogether, his name means "the humble man called horse.")

"Shunka's a wingnut," Cherney said over the phone last Friday, sounding cheerfully vitriolic. "I have a 10-verse song about Shunka."

Here are the last few verses:

Who's at the co-op spanging a donation
Shunka, Shunka
Who's got a lawsuit 'gainst the Trees Foundation
Shunka, Shunka
Shunka, Shunka
Who's gonna keep on fighting the fight
Shunka, Shunka
With four of his friends at swimmers delight
Shunka, Shunka
Shunka, Shunka (Shunka voice: It's the last of the revolution)

There's no other word for it but "mean." But Cherney and Shunka have history — not all of it sour. Cherney said Shunka laughed when he heard the song, at least the first time.

"I met Shunka in 1998," Cherney said. "And I know he knew Julia ["Butterfly" Hill, whom Shunka had come west to find]. That was a good thing, helping Julia. That was good Shunka."

Cherney had even pushed for Shunka to go to Houston to talk with Charles Hurwitz, whose Maxxam Corp. bought out the old Pacific Lumber company back in 1985 and quickly became the forest activists' number one villain. Shunka went.

But now? "The current status of Shunka and me," Cherney said, "is that Shunka has sent me five or eight or nine e-mails threatening to sue me. Shunka is a joke."

Cherney can talk for hours about the problems he's had with Shunka over the years. His main point, though, is what has Shunka done for the trees lately?

"My question is, where's your topo maps?" he asked. "Where's your wilderness preservation proposal? Where's your lobbyist team in Sacramento?"

It has to be that, on some level, even the people in the movement who don't like Shunka understand somewhat where he's coming from. So he's emotional. Passionate. Perhaps he's caught up so completely in the cause he can't let go. Or, who knows — maybe he's a phony, like he accused Knipper of being back in 2005.

But being a forest activist comes with perils beyond the obvious physical ones.

"I'm really trying to have compassion for Shunka, even though he's kind of attacked us," said Susy Barsotti by phone from Laytonville a couple of weeks ago. Barsotti is president of the Trees Foundation board, and she says the lawsuit has held Trees hostage, unable to function fully. "I've been mystified and dismayed that he's participated like this in the suit. But Shunka witnessed Gypsy's death. And I think he may have post-traumatic stress syndrome. I don't think he's recovered from it. And that can affect your behavior."

A number of people mentioned this, actually, about Shunka. And he often refers to Gypsy's death himself. In an article titled "What Luna has taught me," posted on the website of Julia "Butterfly" Hill's organization, Circle of Life, Shunka writes: "I decided to commit to doing ground support after witnessing the death of David Nathan "Gypsy" Chain on September 17, 1998 ... I remember looking across the valley as we hiked up that day, seeing the rolling hills of forests and clear-cuts, and thinking out loud, "That's why we're here!" Seeing Gypsy's life taken from him, and then seeing the corruption and lies of the Humboldt County Sheriffs ... really opened my eyes to the situation our old-growth forests face."

Later, he did ground support for Hill in her second year in Luna. And in the same article on her website, something else Shunka writes indicates how ready he was to devote himself to a cause: "Being on the support team was the top priority in my life, and I was happy knowing that everything else revolved around when I'd be needed for the next supply run. I never felt lost because I knew what I was doing. That was a feeling I had not felt in years, between feeling dissatisfaction with life in college, and then more dissatisfaction with life as a minimum-wage worker after college. Before joining Julia's ground support team I was unhappy, even to the point of tears, wondering if my entire life was going to be a minimum-wage nightmare ...."

Pure devotion, without benefit of a little hypocrisy, could drive anyone batty. Deane Rimerman, the activist from Olympia who said it is Shunka who is on trial, said it's not uncommon for intense, stressful movements like Earth First! to produce an army of walking wounded. And he's been around, in forest actions up and down the coast, for long enough to know; he was the one, in fact, who "got the maps and led the first hikers up to the hill" to the Gypsy Mountain campaign and Luna treesit.

"In the forest activist movement, there's very little that's rewarding," Rimerman said. "There's a lot of post traumatic stress syndrome. All of us get it. Once you've been through the court process, and the jail process, and seen 1,000-year-old trees get cut down that you really cared about and thought you could save — it's devastating."

That alone, setting aside the troubles with Shunka, could explain the many rifts that have occurred within the local EF! ranks over the years. Josh Brown, who moved to Humboldt in 1995 right before the peak of the Headwaters campaign, said one of the unique qualities of Earth First! is that it "is primarily a youth movement."

"A lot of people that come through are young, are passionate — and it's a wonderful thing," he said. They get thrown into leadership positions quickly — and then they get burned out. Many move quickly on to other things. Brown stayed in longer than most. "When I left [in 2001], I was 30 years old. And I'd been a full-time activist since I was 18."

Paradoxically, said Brown, the youthful draw and the departure of seasoned activists leaves the movement with "no elders to kind of sit around and coach the [new kids]."

The movement also draws strong personalities, he said. Tenacious ones, too, like Shunka's.

"Shunka, I think he really does have a big heart," said Brown. "And I think he does care for the forest."

Last Friday, following the morning session of Miller v. Trees, a group of the Humboldt Forest Defense Association activists stood on the courthouse steps talking. The door opened, and Shunka walked out and down the steps toward the group. They didn't greet him. After a time, he tried to talk to one of them, Jeff. Jeff walked away. Shunka followed him, then stopped and talked to another guy. Then he stood alone again.

From: northcoastjournal.com/101107/...011.html

"Trees Foundation Wins"

October 11th, 2007

The jury in the civil case Kathryn Miller v. the Trees Foundation decided in favor of Trees, after deliberating all day Tuesday. (See "Money on Trees," Oct. 4).

Miller is the long-time forest activist who inherited a bundle from her mother and then signed $185,000 over to the Trees Foundation. In her lawsuit, she claimed she had intended the money to be passed through Trees to one of its affiliates, North Coast Earth First! Media, run by Shunka Wakan. She claimed she had made her intentions clear, verbally and in writing, and that Trees had agreed to the conditions, then broken its promise and kept the money. Trees denied making such promises, and said it had never seen any letters or heard of instructions to give the money to NCEF! Media. (Also, somewhat relatedly, in criminal court on Tuesday Miller pleaded no contest to charges that she had made annoying phonecalls to Barbara Ristow of the Trees Foundation.)

So, that's that. Now, there are only the pieces to pick up.

For Shunka Wakan — featured in last week's Journal as a central figure in a messy nest of infighting that has fractured the current ranks of local Earth First!ians — it could be a long, lonely patching together of lost friends and broken alliances. Not only did he and Miller lose their attempt to retrieve her donation, but now he's been banned from the North Coast Co-op.

Yes, that happened last week. It was Thursday, around 4:15 in the evening, and two activists with the Humboldt Forest Defense Association were tabling — hawking brochures and such — outside the Co-op. It's an activity Shunka himself has spent many a day doing in that very same spot, raising cash to pay for his NCEF!Media outreach work and other causes. And, well, these two fellows, Jeff and Farmer, were on Shunka's shit list, now. They'd spoken gently, but unfavorably, about Shunka's doings in the North Coast Earth First! arena — said he lashed out at people, said he commandeered NCEF! resources, and so forth. Here's a snippet of Jeff's account of what happened, which he sent to the NCJ in an e-mail on Friday:

"Shunka was removed from the Arcata Co-op yesterday after a scuffle with myself and another activist around 5 p.m. Well, he wasn't exactly removed, but APD was called. He was asked to leave after threatening to flip over the HFD donation table while stating he was 'like Jesus in the marketplace ...'"

Sue Coulter, manager of the Arcata Co-op, recounted on Friday how an employee walking by heard the argument and went inside to get her. "So I went out to talk to [Shunka], because it's not the first time we've had problems," she said. "Most of the time, he's fine. Most of the time, I stick up for him." One time, she said, she even called the police to protect Shunka after someone had threatened him. "But he gets into arguments. I tried to talk to him. I told him to leave. ... He was causing a scene, right by the door, and I can't have it. He refused to leave. ... I said, fine. I went into the store. He followed me into the store, and he was still yelling at me, 'Oh, now you're going to call the police on me.'" Coulter called the police, but Shunka left before they arrived.

Shunka, waiting in the courthouse for the jury verdict Tuesday, said Coulter did indeed ask him to leave and he did, indeed, refuse to. As for the HFD tablers, he said he merely asked them why they had Trees Foundation literature on their table. "I said, 'Why do you want to represent these people?'" And then, he said, "Jeff accused me of embezzling — he said this in public. He said, 'You've embezzled thousands of dollars from the Earth First! movement through the years.' And I complained to one of the employees who was walking by. Because that's serious, accusing someone of embezzling."

But Shunka said the whole thing's yet another attack on him. "I don't consider I was yelling. We were talking. I'm an emotional person, I concede to that. I speak from my heart. I don't scream at people. I would love to — but I don't."

In his email, Jeff with HFD predicted Shunka would leave town within weeks, if not sooner. But at the courthouse, even before the verdict, Shunka said he wasn't going anywhere.

"I'm just going to continue to run the Earth First! office and continue to call Humboldt County home," he said. He's also going to write a letter to the Co-op, complaining about how he gets scapegoated and booted out of there even when other people, he says, are the culprits. And, as for the Miller v. Trees case, he said, he and Miller may now take their complaint to another venue.

-- Heidi Walters

Posted by Anonymous
respond to this listing title message
Send Response
more listings like this kinderfrau
MANHATTAN BEACH - 10 views since 11/22 by Iris (no connection)
kinderfrau
MANHATTAN BEACH - 5 views since 11/22 by Anonymous (no connection)
Fashion Consultant
- 7 views since 11/20 by Alwyn (no connection)
EN-670 Software Sr. Product Developer – Staff – Anaheim, CA
- 12 views since 11/06 by Tim (no connection)
EN-678 Sr. Software Dev / Lead Staff - San Francisco or...
- 12 views since 11/06 by Tim (no connection)
Posted by Anonymous

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 1 reply

2008 Communities Conference at Twin Oaks Community

Suede — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 18:13:35 GMT

My name is Suede and I live at Twin Oaks Community in Louisa, VA. This year I'm co-organizing the Communities Conference at Twin Oaks for my 2nd year, though the conference has been happening for many years now. Thought I'd post some basic info on the conference for those interested in learning about community, expanding knowledge or just meeting new people. Feel free to contact me with any questions about Twin Oaks or our conferences.

In Community,
Suede Machete

Here's the info:

The Communities Conference is a networking and learning opportunity for anyone interested or involved in co-operative or communal lifestyles. Join us for a weekend of sharing and celebration!

Friday August 15 through
Sunday August 17, 2008
$85 (sliding scale) includes
meals and camping

With workshops and events focused on
~ Intentional relationships
~ Group process
~Collective child raising
~ Creating culture
~ Forming communities
~ Sustainability
~ Appropriate technology
~ Community economics

Music
Dancing
Slide shows
Campfires
Swimming
Magic
More!

Respond to:
Twin Oaks Communities Conference
138 Twin Oaks Road, Louisa, Virginia 23093
540-894-5126

conference@twinoaks.org

For More Information, check out our website:

www.communitiesconference.org

Twin Oaks also hosts a Women's Gathering! Check that out at :

www.twinoaks.org/community...index.html

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 0 replies

Good Collection of Important Websites

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 14:21:07 GMT

Dear Friends,

I found this important website which has links to all daily use Important Websites.

http://ihome.rapidmile.com

I recommend you to put it as your HOME PAGE and take use of it daily.

Also feel free to forward to your friends

Regards,
Namrata

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 4 replies

Good Collection of Important Websites

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 14:19:13 GMT

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 0 replies

FAIR TRADE One MONTH CHALLENGE MONTH!!!

Menaka — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 15:07:04 GMT

Hey all,
I am currently a volunteer at the Trans Fair Canada office in Ottawa, and have come into some wicked connections. One of them is the Fair Trade Manitoba organization, who are spearheading a world wide OMC one month challenge to support Fair Trade awareness, consumption and sustainibility.
The challenge starts on Febrary 14th and there are some surveys you 'can' but dont have to take (there are prizes to be given away if you do the survey's that only take a couple of minutes)
The challenge is to commit to consuming and purchasing only Fairly Traded (certified) Coffee, Teas, and chocolates, and considering most of us probably do that already it aint too tough. This is the largest movement to have happened in North America, and is sure to spread a lot of good vibrations along the way
The link is :
http://fairtrademanitoba.ca and you can find more information about Fair Trade and organizations nearest you via http://tranfair.ca

I'm also blogging about the OMC on tribe, so check this one out, it's going to be awesome, And nothing says i love you and other people like fairly traded cocao.
Peace and wellness!!!

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 1 reply

Congestion Pricing Poll

amy — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 16:37:50 GMT

The SF Business Times asks: Is it fair to ask users of a resource -- Doyle Drive, in this case -- to pay for it through a toll? Give them your opinion by visiting http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/poll/

If you are not familiar with the SF Bay Area, Doyle Drive connects Golden Gate Bridge traffic to San Francisco.

From http://www.sfcta.org/content/view/275/94/

Doyle Drive is the primary highway and transit linkage through San Francisco, between counties to the south (San Mateo and Santa Clara) and to the north (Marin and Sonoma). As a multimodal corridor, Doyle Drive currently carries:

91,000 weekday vehicles
17,000 weekday transit riders
127,000 weekday persons in cars
144,000 weekday persons in all modes
To put this in perspective, the entire 74-mile Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system carries about 250,000 passengers per day.

Doyle Drive serves many non-work related trip purposes, particularly on weekends (tourism and recreation). But on weekdays, it is most heavily used for work trips, which account for 88% of total use during peak hours and 48% during off-peak hours.

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 0 replies

Green web hosting company

dancepanther — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 11:19:11 GMT

Recently came across this:

Affordable Internet Services Online, Inc.
Web Hosting As Nature Intended ™
www.aiso.net

AISO.Net is a reliable and responsible green web hosting company. We have made a strong commitment to help fight pollution and preserving our natural resources. Solar panels run our data center and office, not energy credits.

Solar tubes bring in natural light from the outside providing light during the day. AMD Opteron powered servers use sixty percent less energy and generate fifty percent less heat. These are just some of the ways AISO.Net is becoming the world's most responsible green web hosting company.

Hosting A Cleaner Future

AISO is an environmentally conscious company who cares about our future and our environment. By generating electricity thru the use of solar panels we are able to produce the energy needed without polluting our environment. Our solar panels power both our data center and offices, not like other companies that use energy credits for their servers and/or office. We have invested in the fight to stop pollution and preserving our natural resources. We are 100% solar powered and we don't pass the extra costs associated with going greener to our clients! Plus AISO was featured in Inc. Magazines' Top 50 Green Companies and is the first and currently the only public data center member of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 0 replies

catch-22

yabadabadoo — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 17:15:17 GMT

I have been pondering a complex contradiction set up in our economy. On the one hand we have the possibility of a recession, which is sure to cause suffering for many people not just in the US but around the world, on the other hand reduced US consumer spending means less negative environmental impact from the creation of new products. Of course the reasons for the recession are complex and include the sub-prime mortgage crisis which may or may not have caused reduced consumer spending over the holiday season. America's excessive consumption is reeking environmental havoc around the world, so it actually seems like a good thing if consumer spending decreases, but then it triggers recession, which causes suffering because of job loss and income loss. It doesn't seem like there is any way of avoiding this negative feedback loop. It seems the system itself needs to change and where and how we place value needs to change. Lately, I've been meditating on a statement made by M. King Hubbert (the geologist who predicted Peak Oil). It seems very applicable to this problem.

"Our principal constraints are cultural. During the last two centuries we have known nothing but exponential growth and in parallel we have evolved what amounts to an exponential-growth culture, a culture so heavily dependent upon the continuance of exponential growth for its stability that it is incapable of reckoning with problems of nongrowth."
- M. King Hubbert

What are your thoughts on this conundrum and how it applies to ethical consumerism? In many ways non-consumerism is the most ethical of all......or is it?

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 14 replies

Licensing the Right to a Healthy Environment in New York City

dancepanther — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 00:42:14 GMT

From Erin Brockovich; http://www.myspace.com/erin_brockovich
Jan 22, 2008 4:13 PM
Licensing the Right to a Healthy Environment

Licensing the Right to a Healthy Environment in New York City:
What Will Happen Next?

Raise your hand if you've seen the 1984 movie Ghostbusters. It's a cult hit that has Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson ghost hunting with the use of imaginary technology that attracts the attention of overbearing EPA agent Walter Peck (William Atherton.) Outraged at being ignored, there's a moment in the movie when this reckless EPA agent shuts down the unlicensed "protection grid," subsequently releasing a horde of wonky ghosts to ravage New York City. They should have gotten that license....

I've been pondering the concept of licenses. For the most part, they're a good thing. People should be licensed to do things which require expertise and which could cause harm. It makes sense to license drivers, because driving a car is not a right, it is a privilege earned by proving the ability to control a car and obey traffic laws. Construction permits make sense, because this protects the consumer from shoddy work. Service providers-like REALTORS-get licensed, because licensing confers respectability, high standards and accountability.

Should individuals be required to get a license to test the quality of their personal environment?

I think not.

New York's City Council is considering Proposed Int. No. 650-A. There's one of those two-step double-speak terms in this bill, which concedes the need for "certain instruments designed to detect the presence of certain chemicals, biological agents, and radiation in the environment."

I agree. We need reliable instruments that detect those environmental nasties.

But then the bill moves on to an assertion that isn't so straightforward.

"Such instruments should be deployed and operated only with the knowledge of the Police Department and other appropriate City agencies. "

Isn't this like having to report to the health department every time you take a birth control test? Is it really necessary that individuals pay to get a license to test the quality of their own air and water?

However, I'm not entirely throwing out the baby with the bathwater. There's another section that says "the City has an interest in the reliability and effectiveness of these instruments so that their deployment will not cause excessive false alarms and unwarranted anxiety that a large-scale public emergency is occurring. "

I partially agree with this statement, but not for the reason they state. The city DOES have an interest in the reliability and effectiveness of instruments and devices available to the public. The city should set, affirm and maintain standards for the testing devices; we all want to be able to rely on the quality of environmental testing devices the same way we can rely on the quality of that pregnancy test.

But it veers into a whole other realm of duplicity when the city claims the purpose of licensing is to control anxiety.

If there is no problem with the environment, then testing should not cause anxiety; testing will relieve anxiety by proving there is no cause for concern. If the tests indicate something bad, then concern is warranted, and the government needs to do something to control the problem, not the reaction of the victims.

Unlike the Ghostbusters, we don't have a protection grid.

But we do have reliable environmental testing.

So I say this to the New York City Council.

Develop standards for the testing devices. Make them available to all. If you license those who test, then don't use the license to prohibit testing; use it to promote testing, and acquisition of test results; then make the test results part of the public record so that environmental quality can be mapped. Problem areas can be found, and fixed. Rather than swooning in fear at the mere possibility of "mass hysteria" let's have the government make heroic efforts to be proactive and prevent the problem.

Control the problem and you won't have to deal with the reaction of the victims. Because if you do the right thing and keep it clean, there won't be any victims.

If the technology is available and dependable, everyone should have the right to test their immediate environment for safety.

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 0 replies

acne treatments

geode_9 — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 08:08:31 GMT

Here is a tribe with the intention of addressing the issue of acne in a sustainable, organic way:
http://tribes.tribe.net/organicacnetreatments

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 0 replies

BYD Auto Introduces Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle in Detroit; On Sale This Year in China

btd — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:14:18 GMT

This was interesting to read about: http://www.greencarcongress.com/2008/01/byd-auto-introd.html

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 0 replies

H2O car ??? / Honda

marvindublin — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 00:53:10 GMT

I saw an ad in Rolling Stone magazine this morning for a new Honda that runs on water? I've been on vacation and don't return till tommorrow night but when I get home I'm gonna look into it more. I forget what it's called and wonder how much it will cost.

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 8 replies

It runs on compressed air...

MickD — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 21:09:29 GMT

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Air_car_runs_on_compressed_air_0104.html

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 0 replies

Healing Through Storytelling

DeeJay — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 18:39:11 GMT

Everyone,

One of our greatest means of healing from emotional trauma and getting through turmoil is by telling our stories. Particularly when dealing with losses and grief - storytelling is a spiritual salve. I am working to enliven and preserve the African Griot storytelling tradition below and hoping folks will support our community effort.

Griot Soul Films, an Oakland-based non-profit film company dedicated to producing complex film images of Black and Black Connected communities, and providing community members tools and training to do the same.

Our current project community funded and we've gotten a lot of positive press both nationally and internationally. We need more community involvement and the Winter Holidays are a great time to connect! We need your support...

Please check out our website at www.griotsoulfilms.org and our trailer at www.afterellen.com/blwe/12-14-07

....and consider making a holiday donation of any size. Our long term vision is to create a bank of holistic stories, both narrative and documetary, told with integrity which spark healing, critical dialogue, and positive community action.

Thanks for taking the time!!!!

DJ

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 0 replies

Corporate gifts go eco-friendly

dancepanther — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 05:34:38 GMT

Corporate gifts go eco-friendly
Forget the paper weight or desk clock, this year companies are saying happy holidays with an acre of rainforest.
http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/21/news/companies/green_gifts/index.htm

By Steve Hargreaves, CNNMoney.com staff writer
December 21 2007: 11:35 AM EST

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- We've all gotten them - useless company gifts that no one really wants.

There's the paper weight, useful when those giant gusts of wind whip through the office. The desk clock, just in case the clock on your computer, phone, wall and wrist simultaneously short circuit. Or the ultimate gift grab bag - beer cozy, pencil sharpener, visor, foam stress ball and vinyl Frisbee all inside a 60-oz mega slushie plastic cup.

It seems like a lot of companies are finally starting to wise up, eschewing the usual disposables and consumables in favor of something a bit more useful - the eco-gift.

"There's been so much attention in the media the past year, people figured it out," said Pam Davis, owner of Our Green House, a Sandy Hook, Conn.-based retailer of environmentally friendly products.

Davis said she's seen a roughly 50 percent rise in companies looking to buy green products in bulk this year over last year - things like reusable water bottles for the office, reusable shopping bags, or bottle openers made from old bike chains.
See gallery of green gifts

Rob Glickman, vice president of marketing at TheGreenOffice.com, said his company had so much interest in holiday gifts that they added a special section on their Web site highlighting the company's offerings, including a pen made from recycled wood and fair trade coffee beans.

"We aren't really a gift company, but we kept getting requests," said Glickmann, whose firm mostly sells office items like recycled paper and non-toxic ink and cleaning supplies.

The gift doesn't even have to be a take-home item.

Green Mountain Energy, an Austin, Texas-based company that sells renewable power to consumers and provides carbon offsets, began selling trees as gifts last year.

For $9.95, the buyer gets one tree planted in Texas in their name, plus a card explaining how the tree sucks up as much carbon dioxide as driving a car for 740 miles would emit, and an organic piece of paper embedded with chile pepper seeds that, when planted, will sprout into chile pepper plants.

Green Mountain has received hundreds of bulk orders for the trees and chilies, up from hardly any last year, said Gillan Taddune, the company's chief environmental officer.

"It's really got a lot of momentum," said Taddune, adding that the company plans on expanding its line of green gift offerings next year.

Firms that buy the eco-friendly gifts seem pleased.

"The response has been extremely positive," said Ellen Mann, a spokesperson for General Electric's (GE, Fortune 500) commercial finance division, which scrapped its usual gift baskets and instead gave an acre of rainforest to 1,000 customers. "Everybody gets a bottle of wine. They were excited to receive something different."

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 0 replies

What Would Jesus Buy?

brooke118 — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 01:10:32 GMT

check out this new movie:

http://movies.aol.com//movie/what-would-jesus-buy/31783/video/trailer-no-1/2012984

gotta love rev billy!!!

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 19 replies

Kindle

marvindublin — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 18:25:19 GMT

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FI73MA/ref=amb_link_5892702_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=10M2QFMVSZDY3D0Z11YJ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=331269701&pf_rd_i=283155

This is totally incredible!!!! This will save so much paper. I have been thinking something like this should exist for a long time. Some FINALLY created it. This is so amazing. I'm pretty sure I will be buying one of these for myself at some point in the future. : )

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 12 replies

Where to buy canvas shopping bags?

bryanbuzz — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 04:36:54 GMT

I've got an idea for holiday presents for my family and a couple of friends: instead of wrapping presents in boxes and wrapping paper, and having all that waste in the landfill, I'd like to give them their presents inside *canvas shopping bags*, tied closed with a ribbon.

Does anyone know what brick-and-mortar stores sell these? I could get them online, sure, but at this last minute I don't know if they'll arrive on time. See, I'm not just a wanna-be ethical consumer, I'm also a procrastinator.

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 26 replies

Get around for free on.......

marvindublin — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 04:31:29 GMT

http://www.skates.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=121569 ........quadline rollers skates. I want to buy myself some for Christmas. : )

Or the Skorpion. http://www.skates.com/Skorpion-skates-s/154034.htm

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 0 replies

World Changing - book

marvindublin — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 20:36:47 GMT

http://www.worldchanging.com/book/

Foward by Al Gore.

http://www.amazon.com/Worldchanging-Users-Guide-21st-Century/dp/0810930951/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197751124&sr=1-1 <-------------AMAZON LINK

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 0 replies

"ethical consumerism essay" Googled

marvindublin — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 20:27:03 GMT

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=ethical+consumerism+essay

http://www.newint.org/features/2006/11/01/keynote/

New Internationalist article.

With the planet dying of consumption, can a shift in our shopping habits save the day? If only it were that simple, sighs Jess Worth.

http://www.feedback.nildram.co.uk/richardebbs/essays/veggie.htm - vegetarian

http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/006373.html - Strategic Consumption - How to change the world with what you buy.

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 0 replies

Do I need it?

marvindublin — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 19:06:32 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuJn7pRvuj8&feature=related

Or just want it?

XLR8 posted this on the "Freegans" tribe. I think it's pretty cool and wanted to share it here with you guys. : )

http://tribes.tribe.net/ef0f2448-2f81-4704-a66a-fda79c08384f/thread/5b45f8ce-9365-4d38-981b-9d4df3d62c19

Here's a link to the Freegans thread. I dont see a link to the Freegans tribe on the Freegans tribe and will have to ask the moderator of that tribe why there's no link to the tribe on there. Doesnt it usually show up on the main page of a tribe? I think some people from this tribe if they arent already a member of that tribe would maybe like to check it out. It's perty cool yo.

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 3 replies

A must see!

Sat, 15 Dec 2007 12:13:59 GMT

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 0 replies

How are you consuming ethically for the holidays?

flaneuse — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 16:45:33 GMT

(I thought there was already a thread on this topic, but I don't see it...)

Are you buying less stuff? Different stuff? Giving to fewer people (like a family gift exchange)? Making gifts by hand?

I'm surprised to realize how few presents I need to buy this year. I'll get my BF something small and nice, but most of my friends and far-flung family will get cards. I put most of my holiday gift energy into buying and writing nice cards. I'm also hosting a few gatherings at my apartment (latkes and borscht tomorrow night!). That's pretty much it.

The things I've been most tempted to spend money on are beautiful wreaths, plants, and boughs from the Farmer's Market! I've also added some new seasonal music to my CD collection, to accompany the gatherings.

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 11 replies

Tom Tomorrow's Guide to Holiday Shopping!

steveargue2 — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 22:36:27 GMT

Tom Tomorrow's Guide to Holiday Shopping!
http://www.salon.com/comics/tomo/2006/12/04/tomo/index1.html

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 0 replies

Simplify the Holidays: resources

flaneuse — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 13:55:42 GMT

The Center for a New American Dream has a whole website on simplifying the holidays, with a free PDF publication and lots of other info:

http://www.newdream.org/holiday/index.php

I don't have kids (happily so), but I was enjoying reading the Holiday Parenting Tips blog, just to see how families handle the pressure. The stories there are nice.

(I did an internship at the Center a few years back).

posted in Ethical Consumerism - 0 replies