Green Toys featured on Smart Planet
December 13, 2009 by Tania Reuben
Filed under Companies - Caught being Green, Diva Musings, Greener Living
PND recently posted a review and giveaway for Green Toys.
Take a few minutes to watch this clip and learn more about how Green Toys are made. So cool to see great things from an American company!
Plan Toys: A Different Kind of Toy Company
November 9, 2009 by Tania Reuben
Filed under Companies - Caught being Green, Diva Holidays
By Tania Reuben
Plan Toys is one of a handful of green companies in the toy business. They make high quality toys that will inspire creativity in your child from birth through to about six years of age. As a parent, when your child plays with Plan Toys
Last year we wanted to buy a Parking Garage for Lil’ Dude, after great deliberation we settled on the Plan Toys Parking Garage
Plan Toys Parking Garage
The Plan Toys Garage is classic. It has a working elevator and in the past year it’s survived the wear and tear of my two children and it still looks as good as new. It’s nice to know this toy will have a life in the future with another family.
One of the pegs that holds the ramp in place on fell off, a quick email to customer service and they were on it – no questions asked – just where can we send the part.
Plan toys are made from recycled wood. Rubber wood is planted to produce latex, typically when it’s finished producing latex the wood is burned. Not if it’s going to become a Plan Toy!
The Rubber Wood destined to become a Plan Toy isn’t fertilized for the last 3 years of growth to ensure that it’s toxin free. Then the wood is kiln dried without the use of chemicals.
The toys are assembled using E-Zero glue this replaces traditionally toxic wood glue. Then Plan Toys are decorated using Non Toxic Water based dyes.
You probably still won’t want your children chewing on their toys, but at least when they do gnaw a little, you’ll have peace of mind.
As you make toy purchasing decisions for your family, consider the merits of spending a little more, buying a little less, and taking care of what you have so it can be passed along to friends and family for years to come. Plan Toys makes that kind of toy.
CLICK HERE
Diva Fair Trade Review ~ Grounds for Change Coffee
October 21, 2009 by Tania Reuben
Filed under Companies - Caught being Green, Diva Giveaways, Diva Reviews
By Tania Reuben
The day hasn’t really started until you’ve had a cup of coffee? Sound familiar? It does for me! It doesn’t even matter if it’s “leaded,” I just love the flavor and aroma as it wafts through the house.
Have you ever wondered about where your coffee is grown and the conditions of the workers that are growing them. In the early 2000 coffee prices dramatically dropped causing extreme hardship for growers. During the recovery a surprising industry shift began, fueled by a demand for organic and fair trade coffee.
Image Courtesy of Amy Hensen
Some coffee growers began to focus their efforts on growing higher quality beans for almost double the price regular beans garner, and better still farmers converting to organic can expect to earn 3-4 times what the low quality beans garner. Slowly these changes are beginning to have a real impact on the industry.
As the Fair Trade market grows, growers can offer more jobs, pay better wages and consider offering benefits like health insurance. Things previously not an option in the past. We can continue to support these changes by making Fair Trade choices.
Grounds for Change is one place you can support changes like these. They are a family run company based in the Pacific Northwest, doing their part to bring a great coffee to the marketplace.
They roast organically grown fair trade beans in small batches, creating top of the line coffee in the coffee meca of the US. They don’t stop there, they make every effort to run their business sustainably, through the purchase of carbon offsets, composting efforts and recycling – to name a few of their efforts.
They are Certified Organic, Carbon Free and Fair Trade.
They recently sent PND some of their coffees to sample, we tried:
Peru “Cafe Femenino”, a dark roast with chocolate aroma that was rich enough to keep dude happy. It’s also grown by women – ergo the name.
Nordic Blend, a dark roast with notes of black cherry and chocolate. Another rich roast to make dude smile.
Decaf Midnight Blend, this blend is the darkest of their decaf offerings with chocolaty notes.
Grounds for Change decaffeinates using a water process to preserve the coffee’s organic certification.
With the holidays coming up consider a fair trade gift for the coffee lover on your list, with the coffee of the month available in 3, 6 & 12 month options.
Try the 3 pack sampler, on sale for $18.95.
Congratulations to our Winner Carol D!
Better yet, Grounds for a Change will be giving one lucky reader a 3 Pack Sampler!
HOW TO ENTER:
There are a few ways you can enter, leave separate comments for each entry.
Mandatory:
Become an Email Subscriber to PND using the form in the sidebar.
– The subscription must be confirmed. You will receive and email that you must reply to for your entry to be valid.
– Already a confirmed Subscriber. Complete any one of the additional entries options – Leave a comment letting Diva know you’re subscriber name and the entry option you selected.
Additional Entries
1. Go to www.groundsforachange.com – Share your favorite blend or something new about GFC.
2. Stumble, Digg, or Technorati favorite this post. Leave a comment with your name and the link.
3. Follow @purenaturaldiva & @grounds4change on twitter (use link on the sidebar). Leave your twittername in a separate comment.
4. Become a Fan of Pure Natural Diva & Grounds For Change on Facebook. Post this giveaway as an update, leave your FB Name or Name with a copy of your update in a separate comment. One entry for each.
5. Tweet this giveaway. Copy and paste “Diva Fair Trade Giveaway, 3 Pack Coffee Sampler – Grounds For a Change http://bit.ly/3DSpX7 @purenaturaldiva”. Then come back and leave the direct link to your tweet (go to your twitter account, click on the words when your tweet was sent (ie. 5 seconds ago) and copy and paste that link in comments.
6. Write a post on your blog linking to my blog and to the Grounds For A Change Website – Good for two entries. Leave this comment twice so you get both entries!
This giveaway will run through midnight on November 11, 2009 PDT, with winner being announced by the morning of November 13, 2009. Winner will be chosen using Random.org from all valid entries and notified via email. Winner will have 24 hours to contact me before another winner is chosen.
Giveaway is open to residents of the U.S.
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Top 10 Buyers of Organic Cotton Globally
June 16, 2009 by Tania Reuben
Filed under Companies - Caught being Green, Diva Fashion
The global organic cotton market increased 63 percent last year!
Here are the companies leading the way:
1. Walmart
- In 2008 Walmart purchased 12 million pounds of organic cotton. Whatever your feelings regarding the retailer, as the largest buyer of organic cotton – they have become a significant global supporter of organic farming and manufacturing.
2. C&A (Belgium)
-Introduced organic cotton clothing at the same price points as it’s conventional clothing in 2007.
3. Nike
- In addition to a 100% organic offering, Nike aims to blend at least 5% organic cotton in all it’s cotton containing apparel by 2010.
4. H&M (Sweden)
- H&M started using organic cotton in their children’s line in 2007 and have been expanding their offerings across the board. They plan to use around 3000 tonnes of organic cotton this year.
5. Zara (Spain)
- They started out offering organic denim and tees in 2008, they have expanded their line to include some dresses, tops and scarves.
6. Anvil Knitwear
- Anvil manufactures a carbon-neutral t-shirt.
7. Coop Switzerland
- 2nd largest supermarket in Switzerland.
8. Pottery Barn USA
- Currently over half of their bedding contains at least 5% organic cotton.
9. Greensource USA
- Manufacturer of Organic Cotton Apparel – despite the recession, earnings are up 21% this quarter for this company.
10. Hessnatur (Germany)
- This German company works with organizations to ensure their offerings aren’t only organic, but are made in good working conditions with fair wages.
Retailers and manufacturers are responding to consumer demand for more organics.
A little good news.
Top 10 Buyers of Organic Cotton GloballyNordstrom – Recycling
June 2, 2009 by Tania Reuben
Filed under Companies - Caught being Green
If your local shopping mall has a Nordstrom you can recycle your soda can, water bottle or sandwich bag.
They have recycling receptacles near the elevators.
It’s not going to change the world – but it’s better than a trash bin.
I wish my home recycling container looked this great!
Nordstrom – Recycling
