Fair Trade, eco, and handmade wedding dresses helping women around the world. Exquisite designs, gorgeous silks, vintage-inspired lace, and a donation with every purchase set our dresses apart.

Passion Lilie is a fair trade & eco-friendly apparel brand that features beautiful hand made textiles in eco dyes.

Using organic cotton and other sustainable fibers, we create colorful, unique clothing for yoga and the yoga lifestyle for men and women. Made in the USA.

Eco-friendly fashion that is designed to inspire your inner sunshine. Glamorous, island-inspired clothing made from 100% recycled textiles. Join the eco-aloha fun!

An ethical, sustainable fashion source for women who love all things elegant, whimsical, and beautiful. Collections by local designers and fair-trade importers, in eco-friendly materials. Shop online at AshAndRose.com

Offers socially conscious athletic apparel and accessories, featuring bamboo and organic cotton fabrics: T-shirts, V-necks, tank tops, yoga wear, hoodies, sweatpants, caps, and bags.

Comfortable, stylish, 100% hemp clothing and soft hemp knits and accessories, made in the USA.

Manufacturing in Los Angeles, we design, produce, and distribute good-fitting, comfortable, well-made hemp clothing. We also collaborate with green businesses to create high-quality hemp logowear.

Amren Tulano is a joint venture founded by Amy Tung and Karen Elano. Our vision is born from community, and ethical responsibility while striving for sustainability, fair trade, and handmade in the USA products.

Art transforms and uplifts the human spirit. At Vision Lab, this truth drives our single-pointed focus: inspire the world with art. Representing an international collective of artists who share our vision, we offer high-performance conscious lifestyle apparel adorned with vibrant works of original art. Additionally, we offer a range of fine art prints and canvas reproductions. To maintain the integrity of the original works and the quality of our goods, we design and manufacture everything at our facility in Athens, GA, USA. Vision Lab offers men's and women's conscious lifestyle apparel as well as fine art reproductions.

Yala creates timeless essentials because we believe there is an art to simplicity. Wear your passions and leave only a gentle footprint behind.

A collection of infant and toddler clothing, crib sheets, blankets, toys, and floor mats made from 100% Organic Egyptian cotton.

Parents love our healthy fabrics and hand-made quality. Kids love our soft, comfy designs. Made-to-last of high-quality organic cotton—and kid-approved! Made in California.

Dhana Inc. is an ethical circular fashion brand connecting our youth to people and planet through the medium of fashion. Dhana Inc.'s signature brand is the Dhana Wearin' the World Collection for babies, kids, and teens. Created by artists, inspired by nature, Dhana apparel reflects the lifestyle of the trendy, socially conscious, and environmentally savvy. Dhana celebrates ten years of commitment to social and environmental impact, is a Best For The World Honoree 2018, and original signatory of Global Fashion Agenda's 2020 Circular Fashion System Commitment. 

Handmade totes, bags and scarves in bamboo, cotton & wool. Fair trade, repurposed. Original beaded jewelry and keychain/ornaments. Mayan co-ops.

Beautiful handwoven textiles, art, accessories, gifts, jewelry, 18 doll clothes, from Guatemala and Latin America. Strives to support Fair Trade, Mayan artisans, their communities and environment.

Custom t-shirt, hoodie, and tote bag printer. Custom embroidered hats, fleece, sport shirts and more. Eco-Friendly apparel printed with phthalate free or water base inks. Oeko-Tex certified threads used for all embroidery. Contract services available (customer supplied goods). California's first certified green screen printer. ʺCaring about what you wear for over 20 yearsʺ.

Ink Forest screen prints apparel using only water based inks. Also offers promotional items/

Ink Forest is a Certified Women Owned Business.

Fun and functional hats, mittens, scarves, and other necessary accessories from recycled sweaters and other discarded clothing.

ʺTS Designs is a custom t-shirt manufacturer and printer focused on creating domestic and sustainably made shirts for environmentally and socially conscious businesses and organizations.ʺ

TS Designs, founded in 1977, is a custom t-shirt manufacturer and printer focused on creating domestic and sustainably made shirts for environmentally and socially conscious businesses and organizations.

Always innovating they developed WhereYourClothing.com, which allows you to see every step along your t-shirt’s journey, beginning with the farmer who grows the cotton, including an image of the contact person, their phone number, email, and a physical address.

The supply chain of their flagship t-shirt brand, Cotton of the Carolinas is around 750 miles and completely made within North Carolina, USA.

TS Designs has innovated garment dyeing techniques encompassing reactive and natural dyes; promotes natural fibers such as cotton and hemp; has developed the eco-friendly screen print process REHANCE, which has a super-soft no print feel, and provides Direct to Garment printing with water-based inks.

It’s retail brand, Solid State Clothing offers small batches of premium-quality t-shirts and is a platform for experimenting with new materials like natural dyes and creative collaborations with regional artists and makers.

Under the leadership of CEO and President Eric Henry, TS Designs sets the bar for corporate responsibility by cultivating responsible clothing. Eric says, “We have set out to make the highest quality and most sustainable t-shirts in the marketplace.”

Our ReUse T-shirts are the voice of a progressive, positive world.

ReUse Apparel. ʺBecause you can't recycle the planet. We rescue T-shirts and give them a second life with a new design.ʺ

A one-stop-shop for eco-friendly, cruelty-free, sweatshop-free fashion for conscientious women.

Outdoor and lifestyle gear that is ecologically and socially responsible and produced in Colorado from recycled vinyl, bike tubes, and sustainable fabrics.

Celtic design products made in the US or imported under strict supervision (no child labor). Ancient designs in jewelry, tapestries, clothing, scarves, and costumes.

ʺVersatile, comfortable, organic cotton clothing from active and casual wear to lingerie. Our reputation is quality, stylish cuts, and harmonious colors.ʺ

100% cotton bras, underwear, and clothing for the comfort you deserve! Over 200 sizes and 20 colors, including organic cotton and latex-free elastic.

About Us

Hate your bra? Wish you didn’t have to wear one? In 1986, Decent Exposures® began manufacturing the Original Un-Bra, designed by women, for women, with your comfort in mind. Since then, we have successfully fit thousands of customers of all sizes, from 30AA to 60J, and every size in between. Over the years, we have expanded our product line to include front closure bras, nursing bras, swimwear, everyday and activewear clothing, as well as baby items and accessories, all made from the same high quality fabrics we use to make our bras and underwear.

Social responsibility is important to us. We use recycled materials for packaging whenever possible, limit our use of plastic, and pass on large fabric scraps to be re-purposed or recycled. We buy organic fabric whenever possible, all of which is made in the USA. In 2016 we were one of 10 finalists for Green America’s People and Planet Award for ethical apparel supply chains. All our products are made in our Seattle office, where most of our employees have been with us for over 10 years. They are paid well above minimum wage, with excellent benefits, and are truly valued for the excellent work they do. We have never bought or sold our mailing lists, as we know quality products and customer satisfaction are the best ways to generate business.

We proudly offer personalized services and customize our products so they fit you. With over 30 years of experience fitting women, both in person and long-distance, we’re confident we can help you find what you need for your unique shape. Need your straps longer or shorter? Armholes cut higher or lower? Latex-free elastic? We can adjust and modify our products to ensure a perfect fit, and we keep your information on file for future orders. Because we offer so many products in such a wide range of sizes, colors and fabrics, we make most items to order, so you get exactly what you want. We do have a small inventory of products available that can ship right away. Regular First Class shipping is included in our prices, so there are no surprises at checkout, with most orders shipping in about 3 weeks. For faster delivery, see our Shipping Options.

Whether you have been a customer for years or are just hearing about us for the first time, we look forward to helping you find the comfort you deserve!

After years in the apparel industry, a small group of us left our jobs determined to make a difference and to change the industry we grew up in. To build clothing that's timeless, of impeccable quality, and sustainably made. Sustainable not only for the planet, but for the human beings involved in your clothing's journey from the cotton farms to your closet.

Instead of racing to the bottom, we're aspiring to the top. With premium-quality organic T-shirts and loungewear that looks good, feels good, and does good.

Yes, it's time to say good bye to cheap, disposable, fast fashion. For good.

Eco-Fashion and organic lingerie boutique offering a huge selection of sustainable clothing including hard-to-find organic items from evening gowns to organic cotton bras and underwear.  FaeriesDance.com also has recycled and sustainable jewelry as well as fashions for men and children.  More than 1200 eco-friendly, ethically produced items available.

Exceptional garments and goodies made from all the post-consumer, RECYCLED fabric we can get our eager little mitts on. Colorado-made since 1996.

ʺINDIGENOUS is the premier brand in affordable eco-luxury fashion. Our Fair Trade and organic apparel is designed using only the most supple organic cotton, silk, wool, alpaca, and Tencel™. INDIGENOUS makes stylish, comfortable clothing that is healthy for you and good for the environment.ʺ

Vintage-inspired and artisan-made. Clothing and jewelry designed in Chicago and handcrafted by Fair Trade women's cooperatives and artisan groups.

Eco-Friendly Hemp and Tencel Women's Clothing

Sympatico Clothing is crafted for women seeking simple elegance and comfort in their apparel. Made of eco-friendly hemp and Tencel (lyocell), our styles incorporate classic lines while celebrating the female form in all its diversity.

Women's Natural-Fiber Clothes Made in the USA

Designed and hand-crafted in the USA, each piece of Sympatico clothing is preshrunk and is easily machine washed and tumble or air dried. Our hemp and tencel are sustainably produced and combine for lovely drape and a soft hand.

Sustainably made women's clothing, using hemp & organic cotton. Made in the USA. Clothing with a Conscience.

Fashion forward clothing and yoga apparel for women to be worn with effortless style.

Sustainable, ethically-made clothing, accessories, kitchen goods and gifts.


Hand-Selected Clothing, Accessories and Gifts for Women, Men and Kids. Supporting People and the Planet, Everything At UplandRoad.com Is Eco-Friendly And Ethically-Made. Visit Us Now!

Fair Trade and environmentally friendly accessories from India and Bangladesh. Made by women refugees or those escaping poverty or sex trade. Offers popular sari throws, quilts, pillows, handbags, and other recycled plastic or jute bags.

Climate change is caused by emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that are released when fossil fuels are burned or forests are cleared. These gases rise into the atmosphere and can remain for decades or even centuries. As they build up, the gases create a "glass window" over the Earth, trapping in heat that would otherwise escape. As the Earth’s temperature rises, our climate begins to change, resulting in:

1. Decreasing snow cover and sea ice

2. Rising sea levels and increases in water temperature

3. Increasing precipitation over middle and high latitudes

4. Severe drought in lower latitudes, leading to food shortages and starvation

5. Faster spread of disease

6. Increasing frequency of extreme precipitation

Compromised living conditions, financial burdens, and social and cultural disruptions will be felt, particularly impacting people of color, low-income, and indigenous communities

The science is clear — climate change is occurring and human activity is the primary cause. The debate is not about whether or not climate change is real. The questions facing us now are: How devastating will its impact be on humans and the environment and what are we going to do about it?

Grounds for Change, a Certified member of the Green Business Network since 2007, is making waves as an industry leader for its impressive environmental sustainability and social commitments. This article originally appeared as the Impact department titled “Organic Coffee Changing the Lives of Peruvian Women” in the Fall 2016 issue of B Magazine.

Grounds for Change co-founder Kelsey Marshall remembers the precise moment when he and his wife, Stacy, got the idea for their family company. It was 2003, when the fair-trade movement was still in its infancy, and the couple was harvesting coffee beans — an educational interlude during a work trip to Costa Rica. Stacy ran an environmental nonprofit focused on protecting leatherback sea turtles in the Central American nation, and Kelsey, an e-commerce executive, was accompanying her.

“The pickers were Nicaraguan. They had crossed the border with their entire families, and I can remember clearly how the parents worked in the fields while the kids rested in the shade, beneath some trees,” Marshall says.

The Marshalls talked with the pickers and farmers, and learned of their challenges, including the difficulties farmers faced when they wanted to switch to organic production. Organic coffee farmers typically have lower yields than conventional farmers do, and the certification process requires a three-year conversion period before farmers are qualified to earn the premium price organic coffee brings in the marketplace.

“We were looking for a business that we could start small and grow, that we could bootstrap,” Marshall says. “Getting that sense of the conditions that the pickers were experiencing was vital. It inspired us to create a business that would champion both fair-trade and organic certification in order to get more money back into the hands of farmers.”

Using their savings, the Marshalls quit their jobs and launched Grounds for Change in Poulsbo, a laid-back town on Puget Sound in Washington state. Grounds for Change has grown steadily into a company that stands out, even in the highly competitive field of fair-trade and organic coffee roasters. Grounds for Change is the first U.S. roaster to gain carbon-neutral certification from Carbonfund.org, a leading third-party, carbon-reduction certifying organization in the United States.

Grounds for Change earned the seal by shrinking its coffee’s environmental footprint to a minimum Grounds for Change supply chain . The fair-trade coffee company works with growers who hand-pick shade-grown beans and avoid using charcoal-based fertilizers. And Grounds for Change buys offsets to make up for the energy used by its end-consumer coffee drinkers when they heat their water.

But the most interesting aspect of Grounds for Change’s push to make the coffee industry more equitable and sustainable may not be its environmental innovations. The company’s social commitments go above and beyond the formal requirements of its fair-trade certification and include its partnership with the groundbreaking program Café Femenino.

Founded in Peru in 2004, Café Femenino aims to support women within the often impoverished communities that grow coffee across the developing world, disrupting local power structures in ways that improve human rights and economic justice. Café Femenino is now one of the best-selling coffee brands of the Organic Products Trading Company (OPTCO), which is based in Vancouver, Washington, and wholesales the beans in North America to roasters such as Grounds for Change.

Amplifying Women’s Voices With Café Femenino Label

“It [Café Femenino] has revolutionized our lives,” says farmer Lili Leyva Alvites, 37. She adds that by choosing women-led organizations to grow its coffee, Café Femenino has empowered her and her female neighbors in La Florida, a small coffee-growing village in the lush eastern Andean foothills of northern Peru. By seeking out female farmers, the partnership has given those women freedom and power they have never experienced before. “The timidity has gone,” Alvites says of the role the women play in the local coffee-growers collective, and the community more generally. “Thanks to Café Femenino, we now have a say. We are on the council [of the collective]. Before, we were embarrassed to speak up.”

Grounds for Change and Cafe Femenino coffee growers pause to display their harvests on an organic coffee farm in the Andean foothills of Peru. Photo courtesy of Grounds for Change.

The idea behind Café Femenino is that the women, who tend to be responsible for children and the elderly in their communities, are more focused on using income in a responsible and sustainable way and in improving local resources. So far, the women who supply Café Femenino are proving its hypothesis.

“Now, we have more money for basic necessities, like food, education and medicine. Without Café Femenino, none of that would be possible; we were just scraping by,” says Alvites.

For Alvites, the necessities include earning enough cash — and with it the status to win her father’s approval — to finally finish high school, a rare achievement for a woman in this part of rural Peru. That accomplishment has allowed Alvites to take on a leadership role in her local coffee-growers collective, comprising 76 women and 96 men. The collective has been a supplier to Café Femenino since 2004.
Alvites has also been able to buy her own 5-acre plot of land and now harvests about 1 ton of her own coffee beans a year. Meanwhile, the villagers earn 50 percent more for their beans than previously, and women also take an active role, for the first time, in managing the collective.

“The biggest change happens when the women get involved in the decision-making process in a cooperative where traditionally only men have been in control,” says Connie Kolosvary, Café Femenino’s program director, who spends much of her time shuttling to various growers collectives. “Even if there is distrust initially from men, within a short time they see that by having the women take on this role, they are receiving more revenue, and they are not, in fact, running the business into the ground.”

In rural northern Peru, where roughly a quarter of the program’s women are based, this power shift addresses entrenched sexual inequality: A 2005 World Health Organization study found that 69 percent of women in rural areas near Cusco had experienced physical or sexual violence by a partner, and only half the women in the region had received at least one year of secondary education.

Café Femenino now supports 4,500 female producers from all over the world, including Bolivia, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Rwanda.

How Grounds for Change Creates Values-Based Value

Café Femenino’s success is founded, in part, on its partnerships with U.S. roasters. These partners include Grounds for Change, which sells to retailers and customers directly, getting higher prices for its quality coffees thanks to its positive environmental and social impacts. Grounds for Change’s customers will pay more for fair-trade, organic coffee bthecwhen they know their dollars are improving farmers’ lives. Marshall takes a long-term approach to value creation by building loyal, sustainable relationships with both his customers and the growers.

Grounds for Change employee Michael Williams roasts coffee beans in Poulsbo, Washington.
Photo courtesy Grounds for Change.

In addition to the Café Femenino label, Grounds for Change sells other Partnership Blends, including The Wildlife Land Trust blend and Save Our Wild Salmon blend.

Marshall won’t provide total revenue numbers, but says, “Our coffee is a good value, and comparable in price with other high-end specialty providers. We have just chosen to take a lower profit margin. There is lots of competition, but our long-term customers keep coming back to us because of the consistently high quality.”

Roasters of Café Femenino coffee must donate at least 2.5 cents per pound to the program’s nonprofit arm, the Café Femenino Foundation. Coffee growers in the program can apply for the Foundation’s grants, now averaging $4,500 each, to use for a range of community improvements — everything from workshops on the sustainable breeding of food animals (including guinea pigs, a traditional food staple in the Andes), to the installation of running potable water. “Grant requests are for a range of programs that improve the social status, nutrition, sanitation, education, and health of the women and their families,” says Café Femenino Foundation President Marilyn Dryke. The Foundation has given out an average of about $100,000 in grants per year, she says.

“The women will decide if their community will benefit from a library or even a better school,” Kolosvary says. Because it believes in the program, Grounds for Change donates an additional 10 cents per pound back to Café Femenino to support the grants.

The benefits of Café Femenino, and its commercial association with Grounds for Change, are even visible in the women’s physical demeanor, says Kolosvary. Over time, she notes, the timidity of some of the women vanishes. “When a program is first started, the women are often not even aware that they have rights. The change in awareness and self-esteem is something special to watch.”

This article originally appeared as the Impact department titled “Organic Coffee Changing the Lives of Peruvian Women” in the Fall 2016 issue of B Magazine.

1. Items in "Stupid Plastic" Packaging

Tired of single-use “stupid plastic” packaging, sharp wire ties, and open-proof plastic containers that many products come swathed in? The Earth is too. Most plastic is made from polluting, resource-intensive petroleum, and tons of single use plastics are clogging oceans and harming wildlife.

Avoid gift items wrapped in excessive plastic and online retailers that package items in even more plastic.

Solution: If you’re buying anything new this holiday season, look for items in independent, local stores that aren’t over-packaged. When ordering via mail, ask sellers to avoid sending plastic when they ship your items.

2. Unnatural Candles

Candles are always a popular stocking stuffer but they could be making you sick. Conventional candles are made with paraffin wax—a petroleum by-product that releases carcinogenic soot when burned and can damage your electronics and ductwork. They’re often scented with synthetic oils that can cause lung irritation and other health problems and some candles may even have lead, a neurotoxicant, in their wicks.

Solution: Choose GMO-free soy or beeswax candles scented with 100 percent natural essential oils. Find green candlemakers at GreenPages.org.

3. Plastic Toys

Everything we said about plastic packaging holds true for plastic toys. Even worse, many of today’s “It” toys (like Barbie dolls) are made from PVC plastic—known as the “poison plastic” because it leaches toxic chemicals throughout its life cycle.

Solution: Avoid soft plastic toys like rubber ducks, which are often made with PVC. Consider non-plastic secondhand toys and new toys made from wood, cloth, and other natural materials from green retailers at GreenPages.org.
 

4. Problem Electronics 

Every year, Greenpeace scores electronics manufacturers on their efforts to reduce company-wide greenhouse gas emissions, implement recycling take-back programs, eliminate toxic innards in their products, and minimize excessive packaging. Amazon, Acer, LG, Samsung and Sony were bottom dwellers in the 2017 Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics which evaluates energy use, resource consumption, and chemical elimination. A 2012 study by the Ecology Center deemed the iPhone 4S and 5, the Motorola Citrus, the LG Remarq, and the Samsung Captivate and Evergreen as the least toxic cell phones.

When it comes to worker rights, China Labor Watch released a 2011 report that detailed child and sweatshop labor in factories making products for Dell, IBM, Ericsson, Philips, Microsoft, Apple, HP, and Nokia. Two 2012 reports from the nonprofit revealed child workers and sweatshop labor abuses in factories making Apple and Samsung products.

Solution: Buy used electronics or refurbish current electronics whenever possible. Consider giving a gift certificate from your local electronics repair shop for a tune-up in lieu of a new electronic item. Be sure to recycle your old electronics with a responsible recycler. Find one at e-stewards.org, or take your old electronics to your local Best Buy (bestbuy.com/recycle/), which will recycle them for free via responsible recyclers like Electronic Recyclers International.
 

5. Conventional Chocolate 

If you’ve been reading the Green American for awhile, you’re likely familiar with the fact that much of the cocoa that goes into the products of major US chocolate companies comes from West Africa, a region where child and slave labor is a huge problem.

Solution: Buy Fair Trade Certified™ chocolate. The Fair Trade system uses independent monitoring to ensure that your chocolate comes from cooperatives that pay their workers a living wage, ensure they work in healthy and safe conditions, use sustainable farming methods, and set aside a premium for community development. Look for the Fair Trade Certified logo on chocolate at your local stores, or order chocolate from the companies listed at GreenPages.org.
 

6. "International" Home Décor

The home décor items you see at stores like Pier 1 Imports may look tempting, but chances are the artisans who made them received very little for their beautiful work.

In fact, our allies at the International Labor Rights Forum named Pier 1 to its 2010 Sweatshop Hall of Shame for the poor treatment of workers in the Paul Yu factory in the Philippines, which makes Pier 1 items. The factory fired 200 workers in 2010 for attempting to form a workers’ association. In addition, five of six Paul Yu workers labor under a temporary contract, meaning they make less money and have fewer benefits and no collective bargaining rights compared to full-time workers. While temporary contracts are only supposed to last six months by law, many Paul Yu workers have been working as temps for several years.

Solution: Get beautiful, high-quality baskets, shawls, jewelry, furniture, and other home decor and personal items with an international flair from Fair Trade businesses. Find them in the “Fair Trade” and “Home Decor,” “Jewelry,” and “Clothing” categories at GreenPages.org.

Fabrics and Labels to Look For

When you shop for new clothes, a number of factors can affect the social and environmental impacts of your purchases. For example, about 14.2 million workers worldwide are trapped in forced and exploitative working conditions, including those in clothing manufacture, according to a June 2012 report from the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Also, toxic pesticides can harm farm workers and the Earth; clothing dyes may contain heavy metals (look for low-impact dyes); and many companies apply toxic finishes to promote fire-, wrinkle-, and stain resistance. Clothing made from petroleum-based polyester has a high carbon footprint, and clothing made from rayon requires a toxic chemcial soup to turn wood pulp into fabric.

To find the greenest clothing when you shop, look for these fabrics and labels:

Look for These Eco-Friendly Fabrics

BAMBOO
This hardy plant grows quickly, generally with few chemical inputs. However, toxic chemicals may be used to turn the plant into fabric. The Federal Trade Commission mandates that companies using this process label their products “bamboo-based rayon” rather than just “bamboo.”

ORGANIC COTTON
More than 25 percent of the world’s pesticides are used in conventional cotton production. Organic cotton is grown without toxic, synthetic chemical inputs.

INDUSTRIAL HEMP
Hemp is rapidly renewable and requires little or no pesticides.

RECYCLED POLYESTER
This fiber is made from cast-off polyester fabric and soda bottles, resulting in a carbon footprint that is 75-percent lower than virgin polyester. Recycled polyester contains toxic antimony, but some companies are working on removing it from their fabrics.

SOY CASHMERE /SILK
This fabric is made from soy protein fiber left over after processing soybeans into food. The soy may be genetically engineered unless noted on the label.

TENCEL
Like rayon, Tencel is made from wood pulp. The difference is that it uses Forest Stewardship Council certified wood pulp and less-toxic chemicals in a closed-loop process.

WOOL
Wool is renewable, fire-resistant, and doesn’t need chemical inputs. Look for chlorine-free wool from humanely-treated animals.

Look for These Labels

BLUESIGN
Ensures that a piece of clothing is not exposed to harmful chemicals throughout the supply chain, from raw materials to finished product.CERTIFIED ORGANIC
Ensures that thec clothing's raw materialswere grown without chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Does not prevent toxic finishes.GOTS ORGANIC
The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) requires clothing be 95 percent organic, with no toxic dyes or finishes. Supply chains must comply with GOTS' waste and labor standards as well.OEKO -TEX
This independent certification system limits the use of toxins in everything from raw materials to finished clothes.

SA8000
A designation from the non-governmental organization SAI, which is applied to factories and farms to show they meet standards for social responsibility and labor rights.UNION-MADE PRIVATE LABELS
These labels indicate that your clothes were made by workers who were allowed to organize and advocate for better wages and working conditions.FAIR TRADE 
(Fair Trade Certified, FLO International, Fair Trade Federation, IMO Fair for Life)
These independent certification and membership systems ensure that workers who grow raw materials or who make clothing earn a living wage, labor under healthy conditions, and earn a premium for community development.

Because of the prevalence of soy and corn in processed foods, about 30,000 genetically modified food products sit on US grocery store shelves.

Here are the top 9 GM ingredients to watch for:

1. SOY
GM since: 1996
How widespread: 94 percent of the US soybean crop was genetically modified in 2011, according to the USDA.
What to watch for: Soybeans show up in many traditional (i.e. not organic) soy products, such as tofu, soy milk, soy sauce, miso, and tempeh, as well as any product containing the emulsifier lecithin (often derived from soybean oil), such as ice cream and candy.

2. COTTONSEED
GM since: 1996
How widespread: 90 percent of the US cotton crop was genetically modified in 2011, according to the USDA.
What to watch for: The cotton plant, genetically modified to be pest-resistant, produces not only fibers for fabric, but also cottonseed oil, available on US shelves as a standalone product, and also commonly used as an ingredient in margarine, in salad dressings, and as a frying oil for potato chips and other snacks.

3. CORN
GM since: 1996
How widespread: 88 percent of the US corn crop was genetically modified in 2011, according to the USDA.
What to watch for: GM corn can make its way into hundreds of products: breakfast cereals, corn-flour products (tortillas, chips, etc.), corn oil products (mayonnaise, shortening, etc.), and literally anything sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup, which covers sweetened fruit drinks, processed cookies and other snacks, yogurts, soups, condiments, and many other products.

4. CANOLA OIL
GM since: 1996
How widespread: 90 percent of the US canola crop was genetically modified in 2010, according to the New York Times
What to watch for: Any canola oil made in the USA. This popular cooking oil, originally derived from rapeseed oil by breeders in Canada (the name is a contraction for “Canadian oil, low acid”) comes from a genetically modified plant that is no longer simply cultivated, but grows wild across the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Canada.

5. U.S. PAPAYA
GM since: 1998
How widespread: 80 percent of the US papaya crop was genetically modified in 2010, according to the New York Times.
What to watch for: All papaya grown in the US. Hawaiian papaya was genetically engineered to withstand the ringspot virus in the late 1990s, with the GM version rapidly taking over the industry. In 2009, the USDA rescinded regulations prohibiting GM papaya on the US mainland; they have since been introduced to Florida plantations.

6. ALFALFA
GM since: In 2005, the USDA deregulated GM alfalfa, though cultivation was later halted in 2007, following lawsuits from the Center for Food Safety and others who demanded a full evaluation of the threats to conventional alfalfa plants, and the emergence of herbicide-resistant weeds. Following a new environmental impact study, the USDA in 2011 again deregulated GM alfalfa, which is grown primarily as feed for dairy and sometimes beef cattle.
How widespread: Data on the re-introduction of GM alfalfa in 2011 will be available from the USDA in July. At present, GM alfalfa is used primarily as hay for cattle. The Monsanto Technology Use Agreement for “Roundup Ready” GM alfalfa forbids its use for sprouts.
What to watch for: It’s difficult to tell from a meat or dairy product whether it is from cows fed GM alfalfa. Look for organic dairy products and organic or 100 percent grassfed meat. An even better option is to go vegetarian or vegan.

7. SUGAR BEETS
GM since: 2005
How widespread: 95 percent of the US sugar-beet crop was genetically modified in 2009, according to the USDA. Around half of the sugar produced in the US comes from sugar beets.
What to watch for: If a non-organic bag of sugar or a product containing conventional sugar as an ingredient does not specify “pure cane sugar,” the sugar is likely a combination of cane sugar and GM sugar beets.

8. MILK
GM since: 1994
How widespread: Recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) is a GM synthetic hormone injected into dairy cows to boost milk production. 17 percent of US cows were injected with rBGH in 2007 (most recent figure). Milk from rBGH-treated cows contains elevated levels of Insulin Growth Factor-1, a hormone linked to increased risks for certain cancers.
What to watch for: No label is required for milk from rBGH-treated cows, though many brands of non-treated milk label their containers as such.

9. ASPARTAME
Genetically modified since: 1965
How widespread: Aspartame, an artificial sweetener, is derived from GM microorganisms. It is found in over 6,000 products, including diet sodas.
What to watch for: Avoid anything labeled as containing Nutrasweet, Equal, or aspartame.

So, you’ve been wanting to end your relationship with your mega-bank, but you can’t break up just yet. While you work toward making a clean break, we’ve got some suggestions for how you can “cheat” on your mega-bank: ways you can move money into banking products from community development financial institutions (CDFIs), even if you’re maintaining a primary bank account elsewhere.

1. Savings accounts -- No matter where you keep your primary checking account, you can open up a savings account with a community development bank or credit union anywhere in the country. Many CDFIs offer online banking services, so consider shopping around for a bank or credit union that matches your values best.

2. IRAs, Roth IRAs, Education Savings Accounts, and money-market accounts-- For your education, retirement, and other specialized long-term savings needs, these common types of savings accounts can be found at many, but not all, community development banks and credit unions. Be sure to roll over IRAs from your mega-bank to your new community development bank or credit union without taking money out to avoid any tax liabilities. Be aware that money market savings accounts often require a relatively high minimum balance, and offer relatively high rates of return, based on current interest rates.

3. Credit cards -- One of the easiest ways to cheat on your bank is to cut up your corporate mega-bank credit cards, and start using a card affiliated with a CDFI. Green America offers a Visa card through Beneficial State Bank.

4. Certificates of deposit -- Purchasing CDs through CDFIs can be a good way to save and invest your money, if the terms (minimum amount and duration until maturity) meet your needs. Some CDFIs offer CDs that are targeted to specific issue areas, such as helping businesses and individuals go solar and financing women-owned businesses and organizations.

5. Refinance your mortgage -- Depending on interest rates, this may or may not make sense for your financial situation. Your local CDFI can go over this possibility with you and work out a plan to make the switch, if it would be advantageous for you.

6. Assist others who want to move their money -- It’s not just individuals who can move their money into community development. If you have influence over how your workplace, faith community, or other organization does its banking, you can encourage these groups to break up with their mega-banks with these resources:

• Divestment from fossil fuels
• 10 steps to break up with your mega-bank
• Better credit cards

7. Find a new financial planner -- Socially responsible financial planners can help you find even more ways to move your money, from mutual funds to venture capital and beyond. If your current financial planner isn’t up to speed on how your banking and investing can do good in the world, find a new one in Green America’s National Green Pages™. The more steps you take toward “the big break-up” ahead of time, the easier it will be to finally pull the plug on your mega-bank relationship.

Throughout history, people have searched for ways to relieve stress. Some methods are healthy, such as gathering with friends and family, meditation, or ritual. Other de-stressors can have negative consequences when used in excess—think cocktails, drugs, or midnight ice cream binges

While they don’t take the place of great social support, herbs are a wonderful, natural way to help the body and mind cope with stress. Whether your stress shows up as muscle tension, circling thoughts, digestive upset, or a racing heartbeat, there is a traditional herbal remedy to soothe the reaction.

Understanding Stress Reactions

The body has certain built-in mechanisms for recognizing and reacting to stressors. The sympathetic and parasympathetic
nervous systems are two sides of a coin: they work together, ideally, to keep you in balance.

The sympathetic nervous system ramps things up: gets your heart racing, narrows your vision, shuts down digestion releases sugar and adrenaline into the bloodstream—it’s a rush! And it empowers you to deal with danger, such as a sabre-tooth tiger. Our ancestors, when under attack, had to either fight the tiger or run away. The body is magnificently prepared to do one or the other: it’s known as the “fight or flight response.” A third option is to play dead. What’s your reaction of choice or habit?

The parasympathetic nervous system does the opposite, allowing your body to “rest and digest” or “feed and breed.” It calms things down, brings blood flow to the gut to fully digest our food, and allows us to revel in safety and joy.

Without any sympathetic nervous system action, we’d never get out of bed. A healthy stress reaction is a good thing! And, the body’s extreme stress reactions are meant to be short-term, or acute: Deal with the saber-tooth tiger, get over it, and get on with the good stuff. In modern life, many of us experience unhealthy stress reactions: long-term or chronic situations. For example, if you’re in an intensely pressured job situation for months or perhaps years, your stress reactions are no longer helpful. You cannot fight, or run away, or play dead. When the sympathetic stress reaction is chronic, it can lead to inflammation, weight gain, and depletion of the adrenal glands. That’s where herbs can help.

Matching Plants and People
People have been using plants for health for as long as there have been people and plants. Plants contain multiple complex chemicals, called constituents, that affect our bodies by connecting with specific receptors on cell membranes. Caffeine, for example, is a constituent found in coffee beans and tea leaves.

Our bodies’ interactions with plants are more complex than with synthesized drugs, due to the wide range of constituents in each plant. For example, chamomile calms the mind and supports digestion. When it comes to managing stress, not every herb is perfect for every person. Here are some starting guidelines:

Are you a hot, fiery, “fighter” type? In that case, warming herbs may not be the best choice for you (i.e., cayenne pepper); choose something cooling and soothing instead.
Is flight your reaction?

Are you always on the lookout for danger? You may do best with grounding, nourishing herbs.

How about playing dead—do you tend toward inertia? In that case, you may react best to pick-me-up plants to get you moving.

Ten Herbs to Consider
To work with stress reactions, turn to herbs that can affect the nervous system, taking things down a notch to counteract acute (stage fright) or chronic (job stress) sympathetic activity. Herbs that do this are called nervines. Herbs that go a step further, helping the nervous system to really rewire the way it behaves over time, are called neurotrophorestoratives.

Here are ten herbal de-stressors to consider. Choose the ones that match your “type” (above) and need.

Chamomile (Matricaria recutita): This humble, apple-scented flower is traditionally taken as a tea after dinner because it’s a nervine, and because it supports digestion. Chamomile has been shown to be a powerful anti-inflammatory—reducing “inflamed” thoughts as well as inflammation in the body. Safety concerns: If you’ve got a ragweed allergy, you may have a negative reaction to chamomile or anything else in the Asteraceae family.

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) is called “the gladdening herb” for itsability to uplift and calm at the same time, both as a tea and through its lovely scent. Traditionally, it’s been used to decrease anxiety and ease sadness. Lately, it’s been researched for its ability to support cognition, especially in Alzheimers patients. Safety concerns: Avoid large doses if you have low thyroid function.

Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia; other species are interchangeable) is a well-known and -loved scent; in fact, it’s been clinically proven to relax, especially when sniffed off and on (rather than as a constant background scent). Lavender flowers are warming, and are used to reduce anxiety, especially the sort that keeps you from eating. Lavender is also used to combat sadness, whether centered in your thoughts or in your heart. A little bit goes a long way: use a wee dash in a mug of tea, or 2-5 droppers per day of tincture; or, simply smell the essential oil or the flowers. Safety concerns: Avoid if you have Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Damiana (Turnera diffusa/ T. aphrodisiaca) is traditionally considered a men’s herb, and an aphrodisiac—the libidoenhancing effect is not physiological, but rather enhances mood. This makes it a fun addition to winter cordials—but don’t worry, it’s a gentle herb, not a crazy love potion. Damiana is a warming, uplifting neurotrophorestorative when used over time. Also, clinical trials have shown that it can lower blood sugar. Safety concerns: Use caution in pregnancy; and it may have a mild laxative effect.

Tilia (Tilia Americana/ T.cordata/ T. playtphollos/ T. tomentosa) is also called linden flower, lime flower, and basswood. The flowers can be made into a tasty tea or tincture. Tilia has been used to reduce anxiety and soothe restless sleep and insomnia. It also supports the circulatory system; a tilia tea can help if your anxiety results in heart palpitations. Safety concerns: Separate from iron supplements by 2-3 hours.

Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) is named because of its amazing tropical-seeming flowers. It seems impossible that this plant is a North American East-Coast native, and even considered an invasive weed in some places. The flowers, leaves, and vine can be used for tea or tincture, and the species is important—other Passifloras produce better fruit, but Passiflora incarnata is the species used by herbalists. Used over time, passionflower can support sleep, help to reduce anxiety, and, as herbalist Michael Moore said, soothe “chatterbrains.” Safety concerns: None.

St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) makes the sun shine a little brighter, and it has been extensively studied as a tool for lifting depression. It’s been found useful in mild to moderate depression, and traditionally was used to relieve anxiety and lift sadness. The flowering tops are, ideally, harvested at midsummer. It makes a nice tea, or you can purchase tablets containing concentrated extracts. Safety concerns: St. John’s wort will cause photosensitivity, meaning you’ll sunburn much more easily when taking it. Do not take St. John’s
wort if you are taking medications: it works with the liver to remove toxins— and drugs—more efficiently from the body; this includes birth control pills.

Bacopa (Bacopa monieri/ B. monniera; Herpestis monnieri) is an herb from India also called brahmi—but there are a few other herbs also known as brami, so using the name bacopa helps avoid mixups. Bacopa reduces anxiety and has an antioxidant effect in the body. It is cooling, and is especially suited to people whose memory is affected by stress. Bacopa is bitter, so it doesn’t make a great tea; it’s best taken as a powder. Safety concerns: Bacopa can cause gut irritation. Use caution if you’re taking anti-cholinergic medications or have a thyroid condition.

Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora) got its name because its flowers look like little hats. It’s a nervine and a neurotrophorestorative, and also helps the skeletal muscles to relax. Skullcap is moistening and great for anyone feeling something akin to stage fright. It’s bitter, so if you’re making tea, try mixing it with something more tasty. The tincture has a more gentle, nourishing effect. Safety concerns: Historically, skullcap was diluted with germander, which is toxic to the liver; this is no longer an issue.

Kava kava (Piper methysticum) hails from Polynesia, where it is traditionally used in social gatherings and rituals. Kava has been shown to reduce anxiety, relax skeletal muscles, and relieve some types of pain. Kava has a very distinctive taste, and it can numb your tongue. Many prefer tincture to the concentrated powder, which can be too strong. Safety concerns: Avoid with liver disease and heavy drinking.

Herbal Safety
Depending on how sensitive you are, and how well-matched you are with a particular plant, it may have immediate, noticeable effects. Some herbs are drop-dose, meaning you should take only a few drops at a time; others need to be taken in larger amounts. (None listed here are drop-dose.) Many herbs are tonic, meaning they take weeks to months to slowly help the body shift its patterns. This is a deeper level of healing, and it requires patience, persistence, and observation. Keeping a journal can help determine if your stress reactions are shifting.

For the most part, our bodies know how to utilize the benefits of herbs. That said, negative reactions can occur. The most common are nausea and/or dizziness. There is also the chance, as with anything you ingest, that you may have an allergic reaction to an herb. If you experience a negative reaction, stop taking the herb immediately and consult a doctor if you have problems breathing or break out in hives.

It’s also important to work with good-quality products. Figuring out which companies are reputable and which products worthwhile can be overwhelming. Use common sense, don’t believe any hype for magic pills, and read labels. And, consider consulting a trained herbalist, who has gone to school for years to figure this stuff out.

Lifestyle Shifts to Reduce Stress
Without self-observation and lifestyle shifts, herbs are only a band-aid. You need to meet the herbs halfway. Here are some action steps to do that:

• Self-observation is a great way to keep tabs on whether your stress levels have risen to an unhealthy place. Where does stress manifest in your body? For some, it’s headaches; for others, it’s tight shoulders, an upset stomach, or even sleeplessness or mood swings. When you catch the stress reactions early, you are in a brilliant position to make adjustments for a healthier lifestyle.

• Breathe: deeply, into the belly, focusing on the place(s) in your body where your stress manifests. This triggers the parasympathetic nervous system, and lets your body know it’s safe to relax.

• Exercise: joyfully, in a way that you love; it helps the body release built-up stress hormones.

• Touch: being touched releases oxytocin, a hormone that makes us feel happy. For real. Go get a massage.

• Sleep: the body has things to do that it can’t get done while you are awake. Get more sleep—even an extra ½ hour— for a greater sense of well-being.

• Meditate: meditation leads to calmer brain waves, and a greater ability to deal with stress. Start with two minutes a day—no pressure.

• Cultivate a spiritual practice or philosophy: Having a larger perspective or big picture, of any tradition or of your own making, eases the sense of chaos that can be triggered by the random events of life—thus reducing stress reactions.

—Tricia McCauley, MS
NutriciaConsulting.com

Organic Herbs

Choosing organic (or close-to-organic, “consciously wildcrafted” herbs) from responsible green companies helps you avoid toxic pesticide residues and support organic farming. Truly green companies also refuse to sell endangered herbs, such as true unicorn root. And they will offer Fair Trade versions of herbs sourced from overseas to protect workers. The following companies bear Green America’s Seal of Approval for their top-level green practices:

• Frontier Natural Products Co-op, 800/786-1388
• Herbalist & Alchemist, Inc., 800/611-8235
• Mountain Rose Herbs, 800/879-3337 
• San Francisco Herb and Natural Food Company, 510/770-1215
• The Scarlet Sage Herb Co., 415/821-0997
• Taos Herb Co. Inc., 800/353-1991

Tea, Tincture, or Powder?

Choosing the form of your herbs is important. Some herbs are only effective when processed in a certain way, though most are more flexible. Choose a preparation that fits your lifestyle and budget.

Tea (technically an herbal infusion) is often easy to get hold of; common herbal teas can be found in the grocery store. Loose-leaf teas are easy to make in a French press. If you’re a gardener, it’s fun to grow your own herbs for tea. Many people enjoy the soothing ritual of a morning or evening cup of tea.

A tincture is an herb that’s been soaked in a mixture of alcohol and water. If you avoid alcohol, this is not the form for you. Tinctures are more expensive than teas, often prohibitively so. However, they are more portable, and if brewing tea every day stresses you out, a tincture may be much more convenient.

Powders are created by drying and grinding up an herb. They can be nice to mix into applesauce, yogurt, or nut butters. Capsules, of course, are available in most grocery stores and organic markets, and are convenient if you don’t mind swallowing pills. Always read labels so you know what you’re getting.

Wondering how to responsibly dispose of cereal and chip bags, candy wrappers, make-up containers, and other single-use packaging items? Send them to TerraCycle!

Founded in 2001, TerraCycle offers national mail-in recycling programs for all kinds of hard-to-recycle plastic waste. The company helps "upcycle" some items like candy wrappers and juice pouches into stronger and longer-lasting incarnations, such as backpacks and kites. It also facilitates recycling of other hard-to-recycle plastics, such as chip bags and butter tubs, into bins, fencing, an more.

Individuals, schools, nonproffits, and community groups can visit Terracycle.com to sign up for one or more trash collection "brigades." Each brigade focuses on a different kind of waste. Send your collected items to TerraCycle when you reach the minimum amount (5 - 100 items), using the company's postage-paid mailers.

In most cases, Terracycle will donate two cents or two Terracycle points to the charity or school of your choice. Terracycle points can be exchanged for select charity-based gifts. 

"Terracycle has always been about making recycling and resource conservation not a chore, but something we do because it's fun and interactive and community-based," says Albe Zakes, TerraCycle's marketing director.

This article is an expanded Web version of a piece that first appeared in the print edition of the Green American.

High school science teacher and Green America member Joshua Barclay’s super energy-efficient home started off as a simple science experiment, trying to answer the question: Can solar panels power a home, even in cloudy Michigan?

But as he and his wife Mary Ledvina installed a solar array to power their home in Whitmore Lake, just outside of Detroit, they made that home as energy-efficient as possible. Barclay agrees with Green America’s longtime advice that before going solar, it’s vital to improve your home’s efficiency in every possible way so you’ll need fewer panels, saving money and resources.

“The energy efficiency piece, although renewables are flashy and exciting, is where you gotta start,” he says.

Barclay and his wife had already tried to cut down on electricity costs, for instance by setting the thermostat lower during the winter, when they received the original “Efficiency First!” issue of the Green American (then the Co-op America Quarterly) in 2008.

As recommended in that issue, Barclay scheduled a Home Performance with Energy Star energy audit. He and Ledvina also implemented all of the efficiency steps Green America had detailed, such trying not to heat or cool empty rooms, air-drying their dishes instead of applying the dishwasher’s “dry” setting, using power strips to turn off electronics and eliminate phantom load, keeping the refrigerator full, washing clothes with cold water, putting a blanket on their hot-water-heater, and plugging air leaks. They also implemented all the retrofits recommended by their energy auditor.

Barclay and Ledvina’s house is similar to the average American home in its size and the sorts of appliances it contains. Yet, while the average American home uses 30 kilowatt-hours of energy per day, theirs uses about ten.

Even so, their behavior and lifestyles have not changed radically, says the couple.

“I feel that a lot of things that we’ve done, I haven’t even noticed,” says Ledvina.

The solar array they installed produces 15 kilowatt-hours per day, on average (more in the summer and less in the winter). With the efficiency improvements, this figure is more than the house needs on average, showing that solar energy can power a home, even in Michigan.

Interestingly, the energy conservation steps Barclay and Ledvina took cut down on the amount of electricity their home gets from the grid more than the house’s solar array does.

“We saved more from energy efficiency than we ever saved from our solar array,” he says. “So really, the most ‘efficient’ thing is to target energy efficiency.”

TAKING EFFICIENCY TO SCHOOL

Crediting Green America with helping him make his home as efficient as possible, Barclay has also been teaching his students at West Bloomfield High School about the benefits of energy efficiency for over ten years. He started by collaborating with School District Facilities Operations Supervisor Bill Wold to have his students audit the school’s energy use.

“We didn’t do it just so we could save money,” Wold says. “The primary focus was teaching the kids about energy efficiency.”

When these audits began, appliances that measure power usage were not on the market yet, so Barclay made some of his own using ammeters and extension cords from his classroom. He and his students made a database looking at what parts of the school used the least and most amount of energy; they found that replacing light-bulbs, installing motion-sensor light switches, and turning off computers at night and over breaks could bring significant savings.

At the same time, Wold employed professional energy auditors who also found significant savings. With Barclay’s help, students presented these findings to the school board, noting how much money could be saved each month through efficiency improvements. They illustrated these savings by showing what the money could get the school district: astroturf for the field, coaches for all-female varsity teams — the list went on and on.

The school board took the energy auditors’ recommendations, and Barclay believes his students’ presentations tipped them over the edge. And so the West Bloomfield School District schools began retrofitting. They picked the “low-hanging fruit” first, Wold says, putting in new windows, roofing, and light bulbs, and they have continued scheduling retrofits to this day. The results are already having positive financial effects, with Wold and Barclay reporting savings of around $100,000 on last year’s heating and electricity bills at the high school.

As Joshua Barclay and Mary Ledvina installed a solar array to power their home, they also increased their home's efficiency.

GETTING THE COMMUNITY’S ATTENTION

Soon after the first retrofits, Barclay found grants through Michigan’s public service commission for a renewable energy project. To apply for the grant, schools had to show that they had already undertaken energy efficiency measures — just as West Bloomfield had.

West Bloomfield won one of the grants, but they charted their own course on how to use the grant money. For one, the grant specified erecting solar panels on an existing building.

“That didn’t fit our dream, because we wanted to attract people’s attention,” Barclay says. “We wanted to put it out there by itself. And we wanted it to move, because according to educational theory, the more action and motion you have in something, the more you attract people’s attention.”

Mel Barclay, Josh’s father — whom Josh credits for fueling his fervor for renewable energy — was thrilled by the idea of placing a solar array on one of the area’s busiest streets, where students, parents, and regular community members would be able to see renewable energy up close instead of through a television screen.

He offered to cover the matching funds required by the grant-making commission — enough to secure the grant, but not to fulfill Barclay and his students’ dream of a free-standing solar array whose panels followed the sun as it traveled across the sky.

“The grant was what got us interested in the project and that was really the jumping off point,” says Natalie Davenport, who was a student in the school’s environmental club EARTH (Environmentally Aware and Ready to Help) during the lead-up to the installation of the solar array . “Even with the grant, we had to raise a lot of money and jump through a lot of hoops.”

So Josh Barclay and EARTH sponsored initiated a series of fundraisers, selling collapsible, reusable shopping bags from Green America Green Business Network ™ member ChicoBags (Chicobags.com), holding organic bake sales, and getting local businesses to chip in.

“To be honest, when we first were talking about ‘Let’s get a solar tracking array,’ we knew it was going to be a long road,” says Kacie Mills, who was EARTH’s co-president during the lead-up to the installation of the solar array. She notes that Barclay’s confidence rubbed off on the group.

“He always had faith in the project, even from the beginning,” she says. “With him, you knew it was going to get done.”

The biggest fundraiser was the sale of inscriptions on the paving stones planned to rest in front of the solar array. Mills says that the club had a grid showing where each inscription would go, and she remembers her excitement each day as the grid filled up.

Before the grid was completely filled, the members of the student environmental club each chipped in some money to buy a paver, together. On it, they inscribed: “Proof that all big things start small.”

CONTINUING THE SCIENCE EXPERIMENT

The science experiments and educational exercises continue. Last year, Barclay and his students made two YouTube videos about energy efficiency: one showing how Barclay and Ledvina took the steps recommended by Green America’s “Efficiency First!” issue, and the other detailing their energy audit and the efficiency steps they made after it took place.

“We based much of the footage [from the first film] on the 2008 ‘Efficiency First!’ issue. We took all of Green America’s advice and captured each improvement item on film as we did them at my home,” says Barclay.

During the 2011-12 school year, Barclay’s students will measure whether the entire science classroom’s energy needs are covered by the school’s solar array, first by calculating classroom electricity consumption and then by tracking the array’s production. Meanwhile, the biggest sun-tracking solar array in the greater Detroit area remains a point of interest for passers-by, as does the big digital sign next to the array showing how much energy is being produced.

“While it's true that we are not powering the whole school with this array, it is a symbol of hope and change,” Davenport says. “Every day, there are thousands of people the drive by the array, and the subtle hint that a high school is doing this might plant the seed for them to do the same. The Environmental Revolution, just like every revolution in the past, is by the people and for the people.”

Despite the interest generated by the solar arrays at Barclay’s house and at West Bloomfield High, Barclay emphasizes the need to reduce energy consumption first.

“Lots of people are like, I’m going to go green, I want to go solar — but these non-flashy things like taking plugs out when you don’t need the appliances, that’s really the way to go green,” he says. “Once you’ve done those efficiency measures, then you can go solar.”

• Read more about Barclay and Ledvina’s efforts at DreamFarm.org.
• Take Green America’s recommended steps for energy efficiency from our 2008 “Efficiency First!” issue and our 2011 “Efficiency First!” update.
• View the “YouTube videos Barclay and his students made on “How to Green Your Home and Save Green for Your Wallet” 

Community-owned solar gardens make renewable energy accessible to all.

Glenn Sliva works as a consultant for some of the biggest oil and gas companies in the world, like Chevron, Exxon, and BP. As a reservoir engineer, he calculates the amount of oil and gas in the ground at a given site, so he’s intimately aware that fossil fuels are, as he calls them, “depleting assets.”

“I’m in the energy business, so I know what’s coming. Energy prices are going to skyrocket,” Sliva told Green America. That’s why he’s chosen to get in early on an innovative new program established last year near his home in western Colorado.

Sliva is one of 19 co-owners of the nation’s first community-owned “solar garden,” a 338-panel solar array installed in El Jebel, CO, in August of 2010 as the first project of the Clean Energy Collective (CEC), a for-profit company that helps facilitate these projects. Conceived as a way to reduce costs and make solar energy more accessible, the collective ownership structure allows participants to access some of the local- and statefunded clean-energy incentives single homeowners enjoy, and bulk-purchasing drives the cost down even more.

As ratepayers to Holy Cross Energy (the local electric utility), the solar coowners see credits on their utility bill for all of the solar power their individual panels have produced. The panels also assist Holy Cross in meeting its renewableenergy goals. Required by Colorado law to produce ten percent of its power from renewable sources by 2020 (and pursuing an even more ambitious internal goal of 20 percent by 2015), Holy Cross moves closer to these goals each time citizens working with the Clean Energy Collective establish a new solar garden.

“Collective purchasing also means optimal siting and angling of the solar array, rather than working around individual rooftop conditions, so each panel achieves maximum efficiency,” says Paul Spencer, CEC president.

Spencer explains that when electricity customers cooperate on a large common project, each step of the process—from purchase of the panels to installation to maintenance—becomes more efficient and much cheaper, thanks to economies of scale. That’s how the CEC can step in as the organizer, negotiating with local electric utilities, coordinating site selection and construction, and providing maintenance—all while still offering co-owners a pricing structure that’s more competitive than the average home-based system.

For example, says Spencer, a participant with very little up-front investment capital available can purchase into the collective with a single panel (at around a $500 cost), which would be an unthinkable option at the single-rooftop scale due to installations costs. At the higher end of the investment continuum, a participant who purchases enough panels to cover a home’s full energy needs also benefits from the collective structure, spending a good deal less money up-front than someone installing an individual system—and then seeing that smaller investment break even in about 10 to 13 years, versus up to 20 or 30 on many home-based systems.

So far, most participants have bought into the Collective somewhere between those extremes; many have purchased half of their power-usage as solar energy. Still, some, like Glenn Sliva, have bought in all the way. Sliva started by bringing his at-home energy use down as much as possible, and then invested about $10,000 of his savings in 15 panels to power his 3,000-square-foot home. Compared to what he could have spent on an at-home system, he considers it a bargain, especially when he thinks forward to how he’ll avoid future fossil-fuel costs.

The idea is catching on. In June, the Clean Energy Collective activated its second solar garden, a much larger array with 3,575 panels co-owned by about 250 people. Two more Colorado projects are under discussion at present, and Spencer says his group is working with potential partners in 26 states and five other countries to share the collective solar purchasing model elsewhere.

“Colorado is our proving ground,” says Spencer. “We wanted to create a vehicle to make clean energy accessible and affordable to the masses. I think we’re showing we can do it.”

Buying into a Solar Garden

While the solar garden model is fairly new, it’s starting to catch on, including in urban areas like Edmonds, WA. This fall, the Frances Anderson Center in downtown Edmonds will be the site of a 75 kw solar installation, with 750 solar panels adorning the roof of this city-owned community center. Carlo Voli, a native of Italy who has lived in Edmonds for ten years, is the proud owner of one of those panels. And the other 749? They belong to different community members who have come together as the Edmonds Community Solar Cooperative.

Voli, who has since become the president of the cooperative’s board of directors, bought the very first share in the cooperative. Each share, called a Sun Slice™, represents one panel that will be installed on the Frances Anderson Center; each SunSlice costs $1,000. Members of the cooperative will receive revenue generated from the project in proportion to the number of SunSlices they own.

“Joining a community solar cooperative is a more affordable way to participate in clean energy projects that reduce greenhouse gases and generate clean energy,” says Chris Herman of Sustainable Edmonds, a local group that started organizing the project in 2008. “You can purchase a solar panel or two, and then receive a share of the energy and incentives generated indirectly through a rebate to cooperative members.”

The project, which sold 100 percent of its initial offering of SunSlices this summer, lets people who may be renters, or have unsuitable roofs for solar, support and invest in clean energy in their community.

“In the Seattle area, 50 percent of residents are renters,” says Stanley Florek, CEO of Tangerine Power, a local company working with the Edmonds Community Solar Cooperative and others looking to do similar projects. “And 20-25 percent of homeowners have trees blocking the south-facing part of their roof, so we’re left with only a quarter of the population who could do solar in the first place. That’s where SunSlices come in—anyone in the community can purchase a piece of a solar installation, and they’ll be able to walk by and see their panel generating energy for the community.”

Florek notes that buying a SunSlice doesn’t give someone the right to run off with the solar panel on a whim—members of the cooperative agree to keep their panels on the installation spot for ten years. During that time, each cooperative member gets a yearly check of his/her portion of the revenues of the project—Florek estimates that members of the Edmonds cooperative will receive $100 a year per panel, meaning that they will earn back their investments in ten years. At the end of that period, the members of the cooperative will vote on whether to keep the solar array or sell it.

For Voli, the cooperative embodies the type of activity he wants to see in his city. “This is a project that brings together people in the community, helps us work together and share revenues as a cooperative, and generates clean energy!” he says. “And what’s just as exciting is that this is the first fully citizen-owned power generation project in the state, and one of the first in the entire country, creating a reference point for a lot more of these to happen in the future. I believe that what we’re doing here will be a model for solar energy generation and community action for people all over the country.”

Would you like to get a solar power system on your roof without having to pay a single cent up front? Leases are making it possible for people in several states to go solar with no money down.

The single biggest barrier to going solar has always been the high upfront costs of purchasing solar panels, says Solar City founder Lyndon Rive.

“So we created a service that allowed the homeowner to go solar and save money from day one with no investment on their side. We started the solar lease in 2008, and it has done fantastically,” Rive says.

What is a Solar Power Lease?

A solar lease allows you to have a solar power system installed on your home with no upfront investment. Instead, you basically rent the system, making monthly payments over a period of 10-20 years that tend to be about 15 percent lower than the average conventional utility bill, says Rive. Historically, utility rates have increased over five percent every year, but with a solar lease, you can lock in lower electricity rates for the term of your lease.

“If financed, solar is less expensive than the conventional forms of electricity generation,” says Danny Kennedy, founder of Sungevity, which also offers solar leases. (Note: Sungevity, a member of Green America's Green Business Network™, will make a donation to Green America when you sign up to go solar.)

Companies that offer solar leases often don’t charge interest, but recoup costs by accepting the applicable federal, state, and local tax incentives. Most offer free maintenance and cleaning for the entire term of their customers’ leases. The panels themselves are under warranty for about 25 years for customers who lease or buy.

Companies offering solar leases

Whether you're going solar with a group or alone, a solar lease will help you avoid the high up-front costs of buying solar panels.

• CentroSolar (877/348-2555) 
• Citizenré, (877/660-0131) 
• Solar City, (888/765-2489) 
• Solar Universe (925/455-4700) 
• Sun Edison (888/786-3347)
• Sun Power 800/786-7693) 
• Sun Run (855/478-6786)
• Sungevity, (866/786-4255)

Socially conscious investors have been making investments in companies that make equal rights for women a priority. A growing body of research confirms that doing so is
a smart financial decision.

Experts have found there is a relationship between women’s participation and the economic success of both companies and overall economies, which means that shareholders may enjoy better financial and social returns from companies that have more women in management.

But women are still underrepresented in the economic arena. A March article in The Atlantic, for example, points out that 23 of the world’s top companies have no women at all on their boards.

Also, the World Bank notes that “in low-income countries, women consistently trail men in formal labor force participation, access to credit, entrepreneurship rates, income levels, and inheritance and ownership rights.”

There are now a wide range of actions investors can take to boost women’s involvement in the global economy—while gaining from it financially.

Empower Women, Strengthen the Economy

“Eliminating gender inequality and empowering women are finally being recognized, on a global basis, for what they are—urgent moral and economic imperatives,” says Joe Keefe, president and CEO of Pax World Management. In Pax’s recent report, “Gender Equality as an Investment Concept,” Keefe is helping bring these findings to light.

“Numerous studies … have shown that companies that empower and advance women are likely to reap the benefits in terms of improved performance and profitability,” writes Keefe, citing several reports, including a 2008 paper entitled “A Business Case for Women” from the management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. The paper cites research suggesting that companies with several senior-level women tend to perform better financially.

The United Nations also notes that “among Fortune 500 companies, those in the top quartile when it comes to women’s representation on their boards outperform those in the lowest quartile by at least 53 percent on return on equity.”

Investments That Support Women

“Even though we know women improve business, the world does not behave that way. The financial sector is still dominated by men,” notes Leslie Christian, president and CEO of Portfolio 21 Investments. But investors don’t have to sit around waiting for this to shift—they can actually effect change.

The most obvious way to increase gender diversity in business is to invest in companies that are committed to diversity and to empowering women.

Donna Clifford, investment consultant at Rainbow Solutions Inc. in Medford, MA, notes investors can first look at a company’s board of directors and management team to see how many are women. Investors can also examine a company’s policies and procedures, such as on equal opportunity, maternity leave, advancement, and educational opportunities, says Clifford. Hiring a socially responsible financial advisor can be a big help here.

By investing in socially responsible mutual funds, investors can take a shortcut, as these funds screen for social criteria, often including diversity and equal opportunity. They may eliminate companies with poor diversity records, and seek out businesses with forward-thinking policies that promote opportunity for women. At least one specialty fund makes women’s empowerment its primary focus: Pax World’s Global Women’s Equality Fund.

Criteria behind the fund screens vary, as do definitions of how much diversity, and what kind, is enough. You can find out details about a mutual fund’s screens or other efforts to promote diversity in its prospectus or by discussing this with a financial advisor. (Click here for Green America’s picks of mutual funds that are active on women’s empowerment.)

Shareholder Action for Women

One powerful way stock-market investors can promote diversity is to vote their proxy ballots, which every publicly traded company sends out annually to each shareholder. The boards of directors are elected through these ballots.

In addition, many investors are taking a stand on diversity by filing shareholder resolutions. These non-binding requests to management also end up on a company’s annual proxy ballot—which is voted upon by shareholders, thus alerting them and the public to hot-button issues.

Large-scale shareholders—such as mutual funds, pension funds, foundations, faith-based groups, or other investor coalitions—can use their considerable economic power to wield a great deal of influence by entering into dialogue with corporate management or by filing resolutions.

Byrd Bonner, executive director of the United Methodist Church Foundation in Nashville, TN, has been involved in several shareholder campaigns on diversity. For example, he says, at Hertz Global Holdings, “we negotiated to include some language in their proxy statement disclosures that puts them on record as having a commitment to seeking women and people of color for board membership.”

An ongoing case of a resolution being repeatedly filed to keep pressure on a company involves Home Depot. Eight different parties, including Trillium Asset Management, filed a resolution with Home Depot in hopes of persuading the company to make public its data on diversity, which it is required to collect under federal law. Having to disclose diversity data, thus making the company accountable and marking its progress, is an incentive to break the glass ceiling. Susan Baker, portfolio manager at Trillium, adds that “diversity strengthens a company’s brand image, employee satisfaction, and customer loyalty, and can sustain shareholder value over the long term.”

A failure to ensure diversity in the workplace has financial consequences relevant to investors: Home Depot has paid out more than $100 million to settle discrimination lawsuits in the last 14 years, she notes. “That’s investor capital getting diverted to settle lawsuits.”

If you own stock, vote to support diversity-related shareholder resolutions that appear on your annual proxy ballot. Online services such as MoxyVote.com and ProxyDemocracy.com can help you keep track of and vote your proxies.

You’ll only get your proxy ballots for individual company stock you own—not for mutual funds. Fund managers cast proxy ballot votes for all mutual funds. Each fund is required by the SEC to disclose its proxy-voting guidelines and records, so call investor relations or visit its Web site to view this information.

Microlending for Women

Microcredit serves as another avenue toward women’s empowerment. The term generally refers to very small business loans, perhaps as small as $25, for lowincome people across the US and around the world otherwise unable to access capital. These programs frequently focus on women, who research shows register higher repayment rates. Studies also show that increasing women’s participation in the economy, as many microcredit programs aim to do, benefits society overall.

“Gender equality has a whole slew of positive ramifications on development, including increased poverty reduction,” says Malcolm Ehrenpreis, senior gender specialist at the World Bank.

Numerous studies show that when a mother is educated, her children gain better health and education prospects, which are the foundations for sound human development that in the longer run tend to lead to higher rates of economic growth, he notes. Research also shows that giving women access to credit or a salary leads to greater increases in the welfare of all household members, Ehrenpreis says.

Expect these topics to be fleshed out further in the World Bank’s much-anticipated “World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development,” due out late this year.

Also, women tend to invest their business proceeds “in ways that would have a longer-lasting, more profound impact on the lives of their families and communities,” notes Women’s World Banking, a nonprofit microfinance organization. “The key economic priorities for poor women—to a far greater extent than for men—continue to be health care, the education of their children, and housing.”

Consult our free guide to community investing to find screened and approved community development organizations offering microfinance investments. You can invest as little as $10 through Web-based services such as Kiva.org.

Looking Ahead

Laura Berry, executive director of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, says she sees these strategies beginning to bear fruit. “Even though the numbers haven’t changed as much as we’d like, I think we’re directionally correct,” she says. “Women have moved from tokenism to authentic leadership. Even when you look beyond the social investing audience, you can start to see women making a real difference.”

The strongest argument to keep moving in this direction is simply that involving women makes better business, Christian says: “Investing in women is a very smart business decision.”

Back to the Vote With Your Dollar Toolkit

All across the country, people are creating healthy, vibrant, local, and sustainable food systems. Help change the system in your area in the following ways:

1. Start your own garden (and raise your own chickens for eggs). For urban gardening advice, see our interview with "Garden Girl" Patti Moreno.

2. Make your own organic soil. See our how-to article on composting for more.

3. Eat local and organic. Join a CSA, buy from farmers' markets, and visit locally owned restaurants. Find them at LocalHarvest.org.

4. Close the loop. If you want to get organic waste for your farm or used vegetable oil to power your car, contact growingSOUL to see if you can form a relationship with a loal Chipotle Mexican Grill: 301/537-7422, growingsoul.org.

5. Join a local food club. Google "organic food delivery" or "local food club" to fin a service near you. Foothills Connect sells its software to any groups interested in replicating their Farmers Fresh Market Initiaitive to bolster local farmers, FarmersFreshMarket.org.

6. Eat less meat, more veggies. Reduce your personal climate emissions and care for animals. Consider becoming a vegetarian or vegan, if you aren't already.

7. Involve children. EarthWorks staff are happy to share the curricula they've developed for their Growing Healthy Kids program. Contact earthworks at cksdetroit dot org. (Use the subject line "Education Coordinator -- Curriculum.")

8. Volunteer with a sustainable farm or food justice organization. Find one at LocalHarvest.org.

9. Invest in good food. Community investing organizations offer vehicles that support the creation of small, local businesses -- including organic farms, grocers, and restaurants -- as well as healthy food systems. Find out more from our Community Investing Guide.

Back to the Vote With Your Dollar Toolkit

Highlighting the work of "Growing Power" in Chicago and Milwaukee

“Right now, there are 23.5 million Americans, including 6.5 million children, who live in what we call ‘food deserts,’” First Lady Michelle Obama stated in February,in support of her “Let’s Move” campaign against childhood obesity.

A food desert is a community where residents have difficulty getting access to fresh produce, much less organic produce. These areas lack the grocery stores many Americans take for granted and are instead dotted with fast food restaurants and convenience stores that offer mainly high-calorie processed foods. According to research by the Food Trust, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit, people who live in food deserts have a higher risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.

Fortunately, many communities are finding ways to bring good food to these underserved areas. Growing Power, an urban farm and education center in Milwaukee, was one of the earliest. Run by former professional basketball player Will Allen, Growing Power sits next to a low-income housing development in a neighborhood that didn’t have a grocery store for miles. Today the farm churns out a dizzying amount of produce on two acres, showing all of Milwaukee that it’s possible to grow your own healthy, sustainable food in the city. There’s another Growing Power in Chicago, run by Allen’s daughter Erika.

At the Milwaukee Growing Power, 15,000 pots with over 150 varieties of vegetables—including organic herbs, salad greens, sunflowers, radishes, and mushrooms—grow intensively in 13 solar powered greenhouses and hoop houses. Goats, chickens, and turkeys thrive in clean pens. Fourteen beehives sit on the northern side of the farm. And two aquaponic hoop houses boast an ingenious system designed by Allen, where salad greens grow in and filter wastewater from farmed tilapia and perch runs.

Allen shows off a Growing Power greenhouse.

The organization sells its produce through its own farm stands, at localgrocery stores, and through its Farm-to-City Market Basket program, where people in neighborhoods without easy access to fresh food can order weekly organic produce deliveries. It also brings in young people from the community to learn where their food comes from and how to run an organic urban farm.

“We feed over 10,000 people from the main facility,” says Allen.

Smack in the center is the heart of the operation: the huge piles of compost, created by red wriggler worms from food waste from the farm and nearby businesses, and tended by volunteers.

“Today, if you drop me off anywhere in the world with a handful of worms, I can build you as big a food production system as you want,” Allen told Milwaukee Magazine earlier this year.

Many people have called on Growing Power to do just that. The organization trains over 1,000 farmers per year around the world in its intensive growing and composting methods.

And this past March, the city of Milwaukee launched a partnership with Growing Power to create 150 new green jobs for low-income African-American men. In 2009, black men made up 53 percent of Milwaukee’s jobless.

The organization recently hired the first 20 men, who began learning how to build hoop houses. They will soon start learning how to intensively grow food using Growing Power techniques.

“We have a powerful opportunity to provide dignified work, and to grow what I like to call ‘the good food revolution,’” says Allen. “Employment lowers crime and allows people to stabilize their own lives. Our new hires will feel part of a larger effort to improve the public health of our city.”

Allen’s work has garnered him many accolades, including a MacArthur Genius Grant and a spot on Time magazine’s “100 World’s Most Influential People” list in 2010. Michelle Obama asked him to stand next to her as she launched her Let’s Move campaign. And in May, he won one of four US Green Awards, judged by 19 leading green organizations, including Green America.

But he’ll readily admit that none of that matters as much to him as the opportunity to get his hands dirty on his family farm and at Growing Power.

As Allen wrote in his “Good Food Manifesto” that appears on GrowingPower.org: “I am a farmer. While I find that this has come to mean many other things to other people—that I have become also a trainer and teacher, and to some a sort of food philosopher—I do like nothing better than to get my hands into good rich soil and sow the seeds of hope.”

— Tracy Fernandez Rysavy