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Our Better Paper Project has assisted over 200 publications to switch to recycled paper, saving trees and water and reducing waste and greenhouse gas emissions.

WASHINGTON, DC – April 5, 2016 – In its latest campaign to move the magazine industry to recycled paper, the nonprofit Green America today launched “Practice What You Print, Smithsonian” to encourage Smithsonian Magazine to move to recycled-content paper in order to save trees and reduce landfill waste.

This builds on the organization’s 2014 success in a previous campaign, which persuaded National Geographic to begin printing on recycled-content paper. Consumers interested in encouraging Smithsonian to follow National Geographic’s lead and switch to recycled paper can sign the “Practice What You Print” petition:http://greenam.org/1XcptSZ

Green America is urging a transition to better paper, starting with 30 percent recycled-content paper by 2017. For the remainder of its fiber needs, Smithsonian is being asked to use only virgin paper fiber from sustainably-managed Forest Stewardship Council certified forests. More on the goals of the campaign can be found here: http://www.greenamerica.org/Smithsonian-Practice-What-You-Print/about.cfm.

“Americans expect Smithsonian to be an environmental leader, and they are surprised to learn that a major educational institution is a laggard when it comes to using recycled paper,” said Beth Porter, director of Green America's Better Paper Project. “With a switch to readily available 30 percent recycled-content paper, Smithsonian could prevent two million pounds of greenhouse gas pollution every year by driving less virgin-fiber paper production and keeping recyclable paper out of landfills.”

Smithsonian requires almost 65,000 trees for its 19 million magazine copies every year. By incorporating just 30% of recycled paper into its production, Smithsonian would:

• Lower its annual wood use by the equivalent of more than 19,000 trees.
• Reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by two million pounds of carbon dioxide each year.
• Lower its annual water consumption by about 14 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
• Keep 354 tons of solid waste from going to the landfill each year, reducing methane emissions. (When paper ends up in a landfill the decomposition of that paper produces methane, which has over 20 times the heat trapping power of carbon dioxide, according to the EPA.)

Additionally, a transition at Smithsonian Magazine to recycled paper would initiate the conversation within Time, Inc, to move more of its publications to recycled paper. Smithsonian Magazine acquires its paper through a partnership with Time, Inc. Time publishes 90 magazines, producing hundreds of millions of copies every month, all using virgin fiber paper.

“The Smithsonian Institution has made symbolic commitments to sustainability, but when it comes to producing its magazines, the organization is falling short.” said Elizabeth Jardim, director of consumer advocacy at Green America. "Hundreds of magazines already print on recycled paper, and readers are increasingly concerned about sustainability. Publishers who claim to be concerned about sustainability can and should be printing on recycled paper."

Environmental impact estimates were made using the Environmental Paper Network Paper Calculator Version 3.2.1. For more information visit www.papercalculator.org.

ABOUT GREEN AMERICA
Green America is the nation's leading green economy organization. Founded in 1982, Green America (formerly Co-op America) provides economic strategies and practical tools for businesses and individuals to solve today's social and environmental problems. www.GreenAmerica.org

Green America’s Better Paper Project has 15 years of experience guiding publishers to more sustainable paper choices for magazines. This goal of increasing the demand for recycled paper offers huge relief to endangered forest areas, curbs the publishing industry's climate change impacts, and lessens pollution of nearby communities through new paper production. www.BetterPaper.org

MEDIA CONTACT: Max Karlin, (703) 276-3255, or mkarlin@hastingsgroup.com.

A recent expose by Fortune followed cocoa farmers in West Africa to unveil how dependent the cocoa industry remains on child labor and impoverished communities. 

Green consumers and the Fair Trade movement have advocated to end child labor and uplift cocoa farmers with fair trade infrastructure. But after 15 years of the $100 billion chocolate industry reporting to work on the issues and making commitments, children are still slaves to chocolate.

Forget about school for these children; they’re used as free labor and put in danger through intense physical labor tasks and harvesting jobs with machetes. Of the 5.5 million children estimated to be in forced labor around the world, numbers of how many are cocoa laborers range from the tens to the hundreds of thousands.

The chocolate industry has used child labor for over a century. Over 70% of cocoa comes from West Africa, and most of it is harvested in Ghana and the Ivory Coast. While Nestle made 100 billion in sales last year, the two countries that the entire chocolate industry relies on have a combined GDP of $73 billion.

Despite the efforts of the Fair Trade movement to drive major corporations to share their massive profits with the farmers they depend on, the average farmer in each country lives well below the international poverty line. Enter the world of cocoa farmers and discover the grueling conditions and financial inequities for the people who produce the world’s supply.

Green America has played a major role in pushing big chocolate companies to change their ethics. Our coalitional campaign against Hershey brought together tens of thousands of voices against child labor, and Hershey made a major commitment to ethically certify 100% of their cocoa by 2020, using third-party certifiers Rainforest Alliance, Utz, and Fair Trade USA.

Our campaigns director Liz Jardim went to Ghana last year for a summit on the ongoing challenges in the cocoa industry, and we will continue to be vigilant about corporate commitments translating into reality.

Find out how chocolate companies stack up with Green America’s 2016 Chocolate Scorecard and look out for fair trade chocolate options the next time you shop.

Photo credit: ICCFO © CC BY SA-4.0

The SVN Spring Conference‘s goal is to create highly interactive, inspiring experiences that lead to valuable new insights, relationships and action. Now in its 29th year, the SVN Conference is a unique space where social entrepreneurs can address real challenges of leading mission-driven organizations, and where long-time SVN members and first-time attendees can connect.

Speakers include Tom Chi (Founder and CEO, Factory X), Matthew Griffin (Co-Founder and CEO, Combat Flip Flops), Kara Goldin (CEO, Hint Inc.), and Kat Taylor (Co-CEO, Beneficial State Bank). See the full list of presenters.

Registration rates are $980 for SVN Members, $1,180 for SVN Affiliates, $1,380 for Non-Members, and $580 for family of SVN members. All SVN members are invited, so make sure to renew your membership or apply for a new membership soon to attend the Spring conference.

Register here for the SVN Spring Conference.

More and more companies are listening to consumers and labeling foods made with genetically modified and genetically engineered ingredients (GMOs). In 2016, ConAgra, Kellogg’s, Mars, and General Mills joined Campbell’s in pledging to label their products that contain GMOs. These victories are a huge win for consumers who have demanded transparency in our food system. Since 2012, Green America, with the support of hundreds of thousands of consumers, has been pushing companies to label genetically modified ingredients so consumers can more easily identify non-GMO foods that are best for people and planet.

The Long Fight for GMO Labeling

The labeling of GMOs has been one of the most contentious issues within food policy. The debate over GMO labeling has been raging in Congress, at the state level, in board rooms, and in grocery stores across America.

In 2014, Vermont passed a law which would require foods made with genetically engineered ingredients to be labeled. The law requires that foods for human consumption that are available for retail sale that contain genetically modified ingredients shall be labeled as “partially produced with genetic engineering” or “may be partially produced with genetic engineering” or “produced with genetic engineering.” Foods that carry one of these labels will not be able to mislead consumers by claiming to be “natural” foods.

However, the Vermont law does have some labeling exceptions. Foods that are comprised of ingredients derived from animals that are fed GMOs do not need to be labeled. That means that things like eggs and milk will not be labeled as “produced with genetic engineering”, even if the animals that produced the products were fed GMOs such as corn and soy, as is the case in many factory farm operations. Consistent with non-GMO project standards, anything with less than 0.9% GMO also does not have to be labeled. Additionally, food offered for immediate consumption and food served in restaurants does not need to be labeled. Neither will alcoholic beverages or foods that use genetically engineered processing aids or enzymes.

The Vermont labeling law is set to go into effect July 1, 2016, and failure to comply could result in significant fines. For months big food and biotechnology companies have attempted to block the implementation of mandatory GMO labeling and preempt states from passing labeling laws through legislation and legal action.

In July 2015, the House of Representatives passed the Safe and Affordable Food Act, commonly referred to as the DARK Act. The DARK Act (Denying Americans the Right to Know) will prevent Americans from knowing if our food contains GMOs. Additionally, the DARK Act would overturn democratically-passed laws to label GMO foods in Vermont, prevent labeling in other states, and block the government from ever implementing mandatory, nationwide GMO food labeling.

Recently, a version of the DARK Act was introduced by Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS). It would have preempted all state GMO labeling laws, and left consumers with nothing but “voluntary” labeling, so that each food company using GMOs could choose whether or not to disclose that to the public.

Thanks to the hard work of Green Americans, as well as allies across the country, on March 16^th, 2016 this bill faced bi-partisan rejection and was defeated on the floor of the Senate by a vote of 49-48.

What Can Consumers Expect to See on Food Packaging?

Without a uniform, national approach to common sense GMO labeling, many major food companies have taken it upon themselves to clearly and conspicuously label products that contain GMOs.

Campbell’s has lead the way, calling for mandatory clear on-package GMO label, while at the same time breaking with the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which has been fighting GMO labeling.

Following suit, General Mills, Kellogg’s, Mars, and ConAgra announced they will label their products nationwide in order to be in compliance with Vermont’s law.  These companies claim that the costs associated with nationwide labeling won’t be passed on to consumers.

This means that consumers around the country could soon be seeing the words “partially produced with genetic engineering”; “may be produced with genetic engineering”; or “produced with genetic engineering” somewhere on food packaging or near ingredient labels. These labels will comply with the requirements of the Vermont law, and make it easier for consumers to know if the foods they are purchasing have GMO ingredients.  Nestle is pursuing voluntary disclosure of non-GMO ingredients. It has announced it plans to work with the verification firm SGS to label foods that contain no GMOs.

While these companies have made commitments to label GMOs, many major manufacturers such as PepsiCo, Coke, Mondelez, J.M. Smucker’s, and Kraft are still keeping American’s in the DARK about what is in our food.  Beyond looking for companies to voluntarily labeled products, consumers have two main options for avoiding GMOs at the grocery store including Non-GMO Project Verified and USDA Certified Organic.

Next Steps

Even as the industry prepares to meet the requirements of the Vermont law, companies like General Mills, ConAgra, and Kellogg are holding out hope that Congress will find a compromise and establish a federal standard for labeling foods produced with genetic engineering.

Many are calling for a national GMO labeling scheme that relies primarily on electronic QR codes, websites, and call-in numbers to inform consumers about products that contain GMOs.  However, these programs could potentially discriminate against low income and rural Americans, minorities, and the elderly.  If the national standard does not include clear on-package labels, Campbell’s and Mars are the only major companies that have pledged to continue to provide Americans with the right to know what is in their food.

Overwhelmingly, Americans want to know what they are eating.  In fact, 90% of Americans want foods made with GMOs to be labeled. Thanks to the actions of hundreds of thousands of individuals across the country over the past few years, big food companies are now listening to what consumers want and starting to label their products.

However, until Vermont and other state labeling laws come into effect, or the federal government institutes clear and conspicuous GMO labeling we must keep up the fight.

Green America and our GMO Inside campaign will continue to follow this issue, and posts updates on our Facebook page as these labels start to show up on the shelves.

Help us keep up the pressure and ensure that American’s aren’t kept in the dark about what is in our food. Transparency is key planetary and bodily health, starting with non-GMO foods.

More and more companies are listening to consumers, and labeling foods made with genetically modified and genetically engineered ingredients (GMOs). In just the last few days ConAgra, Kellogg’s, Mars, and General Mills joined Campbell's in pledging to label their products that contain GMOs.

More and more companies are listening to consumers, and labeling foods made with genetically modified and genetically engineered ingredients (GMOs). In just the last few days ConAgra, Kellogg’s, Mars, and General Mills joined Campbell's in pledging to label their products that contain GMOs.

Green America's GMO Inside campaign continues to encourage Mars to drop GMOs from its candies and pet foods.  Tens of thousands of consumers have joined our call to action.

More and more companies are listening to consumers, and labeling foods made with genetically modified and genetically engineered ingredients (GMOs). In just the last few days ConAgra, Kellogg’s, Mars, and General Mills joined Campbell's in pledging to label their products that contain GMOs.

Green America's GMO Inside campaign successfully mobilized tens of thousands of people to urge General Mills to drop GMOs from Cheerios and label GMOs.  We continue to encourage General Mills to drop GMOs from all its products, starting with Honey Nut Cheerios.

WASHINGTON, D.C.— March 24, 2016 —A coalition of environmental, social justice, and animal welfare groups announced a campaign today calling on Olive Garden and its parent company, Darden Restaurant Inc. (DRI), the nation’s largest full-service restaurant employer, to do more to protect animals, the environ-ment and workers by substantially improving their food sourcing and labor practices.

"As the leading casual-dining operator with $6.7 billion in sales and more than 1,500 restaurants worldwide, including Olive Garden, Darden has a unique opportunity and responsibility to use its considerable purchasing power to support a healthier, fairer and more sustainable food system,” said the coalition in a collective statement. “It is clear there is a major gulf between the company’s rhetoric on strong animal and social welfare, workers’ rights and environmental protection, and the actual impacts of its food sourcing and labor management practices. We ask Darden to adopt better labor practices and greener menus that support the well-being of its customers, its workers, farmers, animals and our environment.”

The “Good Food Now!” campaign is a partnership of Friends of the Earth, Restaurant Opportunities Center- United, the Food Chain Workers Alliance, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, Green America and the Animal Welfare Institute. More than 50 organizations have signed onto a letter calling for Darden to improve its labor practices and make a commitment to source 20 percent of its purchases under environmental, health, labor and animal welfare criteria aligned with the Good Food Purchasing Policy, including reducing meat and dairy purchases by 20 percent; sourcing meat from producers that adhere to verifiable, higher-than-industry animal welfare standards; and increas-ing local and organic options. More details of the campaign’s goals are outlined here.

The organizations are focusing on Olive Garden because the chain accounts for a majority of the sales generated by Darden Restaurants, which also owns Bahama Breeze, Longhorn Steakhouse, Seasons 52 and other popular restaurants.

“This historic campaign is the first of its kind to bring environmental, worker justice, animal welfare and public health concerns under one umbrella.” said Kari Hamerschlag, senior program manager with Friends of the Earth. “We urge Olive Garden and Darden to meet the growing demand for better meat raised without routine antibiotics and to reduce its carbon and water footprint by putting more plant-based foods on the menu.”

"Consumers are increasingly concerned about where their food comes from and how it was made, and restaurants are no exception," said Elizabeth Jardim, director of consumer advocacy at Green America. "Olive Garden needs to meet consumer demand by sourcing more ingredients from local, organic farmers and paying all workers, including those in its supply chain, fairly."

“Olive Garden and Darden have the power to raise millions of workers and their families out of poverty,” said Jose Oliva, co-director of the Food Chain Workers Alliance. “As the largest restaurant employer with a workforce of more than 150,000, we are urging Darden to raises wages and provide sick leave for its many frontline employees.”

The groups are asking their supporters to take action today by calling Olive Garden’s parent company Darden to demand “Good Food Now!” by calling 1-800-331-2729 and spread the campaign on social media using #GoodFoodNow.

The organizations previously contacted Darden in October and November 2015, asking for a meeting to discuss the campaign’s requests. However, in a written response issued in December, Darden failed to grant the meeting or acknowledge many of the key issues raised by the organizations. Core members of the campaign issued a detailed response outlining the specifics on how the restaurant company could fulfill its rhetoric on social and environmental responsibility contained in the company’s 2014 social responsibility report.

For more information on the campaign, visit Good-food-now.com

Additional coalition member statements:

"As the world's largest full service restaurant and the world's largest employer of tipped workers, Darden could be a leader in advocating for a fair wage for all workers, but instead spends millions lobbying to keep the minimum wage for tipped workers at $2.13", said Saru Jayaraman, co-founder and co-director of ROC United. "As a result we subsidize many Olive Garden and Darden workers wages with our tips, and spend billions on taxpayer-funded public assistance to support their workers' survival."

“Darden claims to be committed to ‘people, planet and plate’ but the reality of its impact on workers, the environment and the food system have fallen short,” said Stephanie Feldstein, population and sustainability director with the Center for Biological Diversity. “We’re asking Olive Garden and all Darden restaurants to take concrete steps to reduce the environmental impact of its menu like serving smaller meat portions, adding plant-based options and increasing organic foods.”

“As a major player in the restaurant industry, Oliver Garden and its parent company Darden can spearhead reforms that not only improve the working conditions for their employees, but make waves across the entire industry through leading by example,” said Phillip Hamilton, associate for UUSC’s Economic Justice program.

“Darden claims it values and respects animals, but has shown little public commitment to improving animal welfare throughout its supply chain.” said Michelle Pawliger, farm animal policy associate at the Animal Welfare Institute. “We are asking Darden to become a leader in the restaurant arena and source its meat and dairy from producers that adhere to verifiable higher welfare standards.”

ABOUT GREEN AMERICA

Green America is the nation’s leading green economy organization. Founded in 1982, Green America (formerly Co-op America) provides the economic strategies, organizing power and practical tools for businesses and individuals to solve today's social and environmental problems. http://www.GreenAmerica.org.

MEDIA INQUIRIES

Please contact Todd Larsen by email 
or by phone at 202-872-5307.

 Green America and our allies are ramping up our Good Food Now campaign targeting Olive Garden. Help us make Olive Garden’s phones ring off the hook, and tell the restaurant to pay fair wages and serve Good Food Now!

Here's how you can help:

1. Call Olive Garden Call Olive Garden's customer service line between 10:00am ET and 4:00pm PT (7:00am PT - 1:00pm PT), Monday through Friday. Call 800-331-2729. 

2. Comment Choose one of the scripts below to voice your concerns to Olive Garden about its unfair and unsustainable practices. Or create your own!

3. Share Share information about this campaign on social media. We've created several images and tweets you can share with your Facebook and Twitter followers here (scroll to the bottom of the page). You can also leave a comment for  Olive Garden on its Facebook wall.

Sample Scripts for Calling Olive Garden:

1. If you are concerned about Environmental Sustainability and Health: Hi, my name is _______, and I’m calling from __city, state__. I am concerned about the health of my family and the environment, therefore I am calling to request that Olive Garden offer more vegetables and more plant-based protein options on your menu. For example, I’d love spaghetti with veggie meatballs or ______. (Insert your favorite plant-based meal here). This would help save water, reduce your carbon footprint and provide more options for people who want to eat out and still get a tasty, healthy and nutritious meal. Sustainability is important to me, and more restaurants need to pay attention to the impact of their menus on people and the planet.

2. If you are concerned about Workers and your Local Economy: Hi, my name is_______, and I’m calling from__city, state__. I’m calling because I recently read reports that link your restaurants to poverty wages and horrible conditions for workers, including forced and child labor. It’s important to me that the restaurants I eat at value their workforce and protect the people who produce their food. I hope Olive Garden will commit to paying fair wages to your servers and to ending exploitation in your supply chain. Additionally, Olive Garden should purchase more ingredients from local farmers. By paying workers fairly and sourcing locally, you can help families, provide fresher food to your customers, and in some cases lower your carbon footprint by reducing the distance you transport ingredients. Thank you.

3. If you are concerned about Animal Welfare and Sustainability: Hi, my name is_______, and I’m calling from__city, state__. I’m calling because I am really concerned about the treatment of animals and would like to see Olive Garden take a stand against factory farms. To do this, Olive Garden must source meat from suppliers who do not routinely use antibiotics on animals. At the same time, Olive Garden should choose suppliers who treat animals and farmers well, which is why I’d like to see organic meat and dairy on your menu, that come from smaller, local, independently-verified higher welfare farms, as well as more entree options without meat and dairy.

Why is this campaign targeting Olive Garden?

Olive Garden’s parent company, Darden, is the nation's largest casual restaurant company, with $6.7 billion in sales. That translates to a lot of food, roughly 320 million meals per year—but unfortunately, most of it is not healthy for people, the planet, or animals.

An AP investigation found that Darden is sourcing from suppliers who use slave labor in Thailand, and many of the 150,000 workers who cook and serve in Darden’s restaurants, including Olive Garden, are paid poverty wages, as low as $2.13/hour. Olive Garden also serves unhealthy, unsustainable meals. Many of its dishes include factory-farmed meat and dairy products that pollute the environment and are produced with routine antibiotics, hormones, and other harmful chemicals.

This past fall, Green America and 50 of our allies sent a letter to Olive Garden raising our concerns about the company’s unsustainable sourcing and unfair treatment of workers, but the company has failed to make progress. Instead, it consistently puts shareholder profits over fair wages for employees and food that is good for people, animals, and the planet. Sign our petition>>

Learn more about the Good Food Now! Campaign>>

Green America joined with allies nationwide to oppose the Jordan Cove Liquified Natural Gas Export Terminal that was proposed for coastal Oregon. Green America opposed Jordan Cove because the facility would likely become the largest greenhouse gas emitting project in Oregon within the next decade. The project would have released an estimated 2.1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and equivalents. Oregon has set aggressive goals for limiting greenhouse gas emissions, and Jordan Cove would have undermined them.

Jordan Cove would have increased fracking, causing an increase in the release of methane emissions and endangering local communities.

Jordan Cove would have endangered the local community.  The facility's proposed use of propane and ethylene, two highly flammable gases, would have created a risk for explosion and that the 40 foot impermeable barriers around the proposed plant could have actually retained vapor leaks contributing to an increased hazard in the event of an explosion. A similar LNG plant caused an explosion in Washington State shortly before Jordan Cove's application was made to FERC.

In 2016, FERC denied a permit to Jordan Cove: a victory for the surrounding community, and for the planet.

WASHINGTON, D.C.— March 10, 2016 —Small businesses in Colorado, Indiana and Tennessee that promote green do-it-yourself (DIY) products and services were announced today as the winners of Green America’s quarterly “People & Planet Award.” The three winners of $5,000 prizes are: Colorado Yurt Company of Montrose, CO; Garden Tower Project of Bloomington, IN; and The Real Milk Paint Company of Hohenwald, TN. The three winners were selected by the public during a month-long online voting period.

The Award recognizes innovative U.S. small businesses that integrate environmental and social considerations into their strategies and operations.

Fran Teplitz, Green America’s executive co-director, said: “The ‘do-it-yourself’ concept is already important to consumers who wish to live “greener,” and these businesses take the concept to a new level. When we choose DIY products, particularly ones that promote sustainability and minimize environmental impact, we benefit both people and the planet.”

The winning companies are:

• Colorado Yurt Company, Montrose, CO. Colorado Yurt Company’s dwellings are crafted by hand and customized for each use. The dwellings come in kits and use far fewer natural resources than a traditional stick-built structure, and leave a very light footprint on the earth.

• Garden Tower Project, Bloomington, IN. Garden Tower Project’s mission is to transform gardening, urban agriculture and food sustainability around the globe. The Garden Tower 2™ is a self-contained vertical garden/eco-system which grows food, easily and naturally. 

• The Real Milk Paint Company, Hohenwald, TN. The Real Milk Paint Co. is committed to making the safest paints and finishes in the industry. Disposing of unused Real Milk Paint in the garden or yard is recommended. It will actually fertilize and nourish the soil.

Dan Kiger, president of the Colorado Yurt Company said, "Our company will use the People & Planet Award to bring affordable, energy code-compliant yurts to our customers and encourage sustainability throughout our supply chain – such as through our partnership with the manufacturer of recycled denim insulation we provide with our yurts. The People and Planet Award generously supports Colorado Yurt’s mission to bring low-impact, leave-no-trace, do-it-yourself structures to our customers."

Kristi Armes, Business Manager at the Garden Tower Project said, "We are currently experimenting with sugar cane based bio-plastics for the future production of the GT2 (Garden Tower 2). If we are successful, we will be able to take the already revolutionary GT2 and reinvent the way gardening products are manufactured. Growing 50 plants in just four square feet in a truly sustainably manufactured system would be incredible. We will be using part of the award to help further our R&D efforts towards making fresh food available to anyone, anywhere utilizing a system which is actually net positive to the environment. The remainder of the award will be used to fund local food initiatives in our community.”

Dwayne Siever, owner of The Real Milk Paint Company said, "We will use the award to make more how-to videos and expand Real Milk Paint into the general marketplace. Milk paint is one of the most versatile paints out there, and because it is water-based, you can freeze it for future use. Also you can dispose of it on your garden or grass when you are finished, because it is non-toxic and its lime content will actually benefit your plants.”

The next round of Green America’s quarterly award will be given to three green small businesses that focus on organic products and services.

The businesses that the public vote on are determined by public nominations and an expert panel of judges: Gigi Abbadie, Aveda; Justin Conway, Calvert Foundation; Tess O’Brien, Clean Power Perks, Jennifer Snyder, Clif Bar; Erlene Howard, Collective Resource, Inc., Jenny Burns, Honest Tea; Jonathan Reinbold, Organic Valley; Martin Wolf, Seventh Generation; and Andrew Korfhage and Fran Teplitz, both of Green America.

ABOUT GREEN AMERICA

Green America is the nation’s leading green economy organization. Founded in 1982, Green America (formerly Co-op America) provides the economic strategies, organizing power and practical tools for businesses and individuals to solve today's social and environmental problems. http://www.GreenAmerica.org.

MEDIA INQUIRIES

Please contact Todd Larsen by email 
or by phone at 202-872-5307.

More and more companies are listening to consumers, and labeling foods made with genetically modified and genetically engineered ingredients (GMOs). In just the last few days ConAgra, Kellogg’s, Mars, and General Mills joined Campbell's in pledging to label their products that contain GMOs.

In another big win against GMOs, Hellmann's, a Unilever company, announced two new non-GMO product lines, following pressure from Green America's GMO Inside campaign.

Hellmann’s announced a new organic mayonnaise and Hellmann’s “Carefully Crafted” egg-free dressing and sandwich spread. Both products are made with non-GMO ingredients. The announcement of Hellmann's non-GMO mayo and spread follows the introduction of Hellman’s non-GMO olive oil mayonnaise last year. Parent company Unilever is the world's third largest food and consumer products company.

Hellmann’s USDA certified organic mayonnaise is made with all organic ingredients including organic/non-GMO and cage-free eggs. Hellmann’s “Carefully Crafted” sandwich spread is an egg-free, and cholesterol-free spread made with non-GMO ingredients.

“As the third largest food and consumer goods company in the world, Unilever has a responsibility to operate in a way that is environmentally sustainable and healthy for consumers,” said Michael Stein, Food Campaigns Manager for Green America. “By offering organic and non-GMO Hellmann’s products, Unilever has made an important step towards this end and is listening to the demands of the 21st century consumer.”

Green America's Non-GMO Campaign

GMO Inside, a campaign led by Green America, began educating consumers in 2014 about GMOs in mayonnaise. Because Hellmann’s is such an iconic mayonnaise brand, thousands of consumers reached out to Hellmann’s to ask the company to go non-GMO. In response, Hellmann’s began offering a non-GMO mayonnaise made with olive oil in May 2015. Unilever’s latest announcement follows Campbell's announcement of more non-GMO and organic products last year and call for mandatory labeling in January 2016.

Momentum in the food industry's response to consumer demand for healthier food is growing rapidly. In addition to Hellmann's and Campbell's, GMO Inside has also been successful in moving General Mills to offer non-GMO original Cheerios, Similac to offer non-GMO infant formula, and Hershey to switch to non-GMO sugar for some of its candy products.

“Consumer demand for organic and non-GMO products has been skyrocketing,” said John Roulac, CEO of Nutiva and co-chair of the GMO Inside Campaign. “As more people are becoming concerned with the ingredients in the food they eat and how it is made, it will be important for other companies to follow Unilever’s lead and offer organic and non-GMO options.”

Guest post by Cheryl Hahn, Owner, CozyPure(R), certified member of Green America’s Green Business Network

NATURE’S ABSOLUTE BEST MATTRESS MATERIAL

In 1931, the world’s first latex mattress was introduced as an alternative to horsehair, kapok and cotton batting. The features were appealing. It didn’t have to be flipped, it stayed fresh, it stayed responsive, supportive, and it kept its shape. The many benefits of a latex mattress made it a huge success with consumers up through the 1960’s.

Most manufacturers that make mattresses with real natural latex rubber also use organic cotton and wool in the cover, another natural resource that’s better for you and better for the environment.

PROVEN TO PROVIDE HEALTHIER SLEEP

In 1954, Dr. Theo Lammers from the Institute of Hygiene at Gutenburg University proved latex foam contains exceptionally high anti-bacterial properties, making it the hygienic ideal for mattresses, superior to all other materials. The study showed that latex mattresses are unsurpassed in comfort and support, it showed exceptional durability, it stays cool, and is the healthiest choice due to its high anti-bacterial and allergy-free properties.

IDEAL FOR ASTHMA AND RESPIRATORY DISORDERS

Further work in 1956 by Doctors Fuchs and Gronemeyer at the Asthma Clinic concluded, “the advantages of latex foam mattresses have been outlined by health and surgical authorities and the bacteriostatic (capable of killing bacteria), as well as fungus, and mite resistant properties of latex material found by Dr. Lammers is confirmed.”

Throughout the decades, the cost of this premium material made it more expensive for manufacturers to produce and consumers often didn’t want to buy this higher priced option. In order to offer lower-cost mattresses, latex was soon overshadowed by beds made with lower-quality materials such as synthetic batting and petroleum-based flexible-plastic foams placed over innerspring coils.

BOUNCING BACK

I’m Cheryl Hahn, the founder of CozyPure, an organic bedding company based in Norfolk, Virginia. In 1991, our flagship mail order catalog, Tomorrow’s World, was one of the first companies to offer a selection of natural latex mattresses made with organic cotton and wool. Back then, over 20 years ago, we reintroduced this “tried-and-true” mattress from the 1950’s to consumers across America. I admit it was difficult because it entailed a LOT of education on our part. Our passion to offer only the best healthy, green products provided the dedication to push forward and inform folks about the amazing benefits.

Fast forward two decades and consumers are beginning to understand the value equation of their purchase and realize that investing in a quality latex mattress will pay for itself many times over the lifetime of use it provides. Unfortunately, this spur of interest also made manufacturers take notice, with clever and often deceptive marketing which can fool consumers who don’t have all the facts.

GET THE FACTS

Buyer beware. The popularity of latex mattresses comes with a price to the consumer. Most “natural” latex really only contain a percentage of natural material. Many “so-called” latex mattresses often contain only a small layer of latex surrounded by foam. Large amounts of unregulated chemicals can be found in almost all synthetic foams (including soy-foam and memory foam).

Polyurethane foams are derived from oil (not very earth-friendly) and the basic ingredients include polyols, isocyanates, blowing agents, and other additives including flame retardants. According to a recent EPA report released in August of 2015, most of these newer chemicals still have limited data with cause of concern about carcinogenic effects.

Although PBDEs have finally been phased out due to documented health hazards, new alternative chemicals are now being used in their place during the manufacture of flexible polyurethane foam. In addition, many fabrics are coated with both stain-resistant chemicals and flame retardant chemicals.

Even materials such as “organic cotton” are being advertised on certain mattresses when in fact the fabric is blended with synthetic polyester. In this era of popularity for latex mattresses and “green”, it’s imperative for the consumer to do thorough research so they can be 100% sure they are getting the product they think they are purchasing.

HOW IS NATURAL LATEX RUBBER MADE?

Rubber tapping is the process by which rubber is harvested. An incision is made in the bark of a rubber tree, which cuts through the bark so the latex drips into a collecting cup. The work is done at night or in the early morning before the day’s temperature rises, so the latex will drip longer before coagulating and sealing the cut. Rubber tapping does not hurt the trees and it’s a great way for the indigenous people to make a living using their natural resources.

Each rubber tree weeps about one tablespoon of latex daily and a Queen size six-inch core needs the daily output of 2500 trees, spread over 12 acres of rubber plantation, providing a living to eight rubber tappers. Interestingly, these rubber trees account for the removal of 143 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the environment every year.

Don’t let the “creaminess” fool you. Our natural latex rubber is made from the milk of the Hevea Brasiliensis (rubber tree), so some folks think it will be too soft (like milk). Actually, natural latex rubber is the firmest, heaviest and most durable component you can use inside a mattress. Once the rubber tree milk sap is harvested and baked, this solid, thick core can last for decades offering you support and comfort -WITHOUT the chemicals.

Latex allergies? No worries. The allergic proteins in latex are completely removed when made into a soft natural rubber foam. Plus, it’s encased and covered inside organic cotton so there’s never direct contact.

Natural latex rubber is proven to be the very best component used in mattresses and offers a healthier sleeping environment. It’s naturally dust mite resistant; it’s breathable so you don’t sleep hot; it’s resiliency is known to last for decades; it’s responsive support offers comfort and proper alignment.

Not only is natural rubber an excellent choice for better sleep, it’s also made from a renewable, sustainable resource so it’s wonderful for our dear Mother Earth. Conventional mattresses that use polyurethane foam, including memory foam, is derived from petroleum. Here at CozyPure(R), we get our 100% natural latex rubber direct from the beautiful island of Sri Lanka, known for the finest rubber plantations in the world. No synthetic latex. No poly foams. No fillers. No lies.

Most manufacturers that make mattresses with real natural latex rubber also use organic cotton and wool in the cover, another natural resource that’s better for you and better for the environment.

TEMPERATURE REGULATING WOOL HELPS KEEPS YOU DRY

Wool provides a temperature-controlled sleep environment that’s perfect for your body. No matter the season, wool is able to maintain the perfect body temperature. In the winter, wool produces warmth without overheating and has the ability to keep you comfortable, and in the summer you don’t overheat because of its moisture-wicking process.

The average sleeper loses a pint of moisture every night and wool is able to absorb this moisture without feeling damp. The cells of wool fibers are able to quickly and efficiently absorb and evaporate moisture. Due to the natural crinkled structure, wool has an enormous capacity to store air. This property allows your skin to breathe as you sleep surrounded by natural, dry warmth – without the clammy feeling associated with synthetic materials. You’ll wake up well-rested and refreshed. It’s the perfect ingredient for your mattress and comforter.

CALMS THE HEART FOR DEEPER SLEEP

Studies show that the heart rate is significantly lower when sleeping with wool. Feathers, down, polyester and other synthetic fibers had no effect on (and sometimes increased) the sleeper’s heart rate. A lowered heart rate induces a deep, relaxed sleep.

NO DUST-MITES, MOLD OR MILDEW

People with allergies are able to use wool products because it is resistant to bacteria, mold and mildew which can trigger allergic reactions. Wool is also dust-mite resistant because it evaporates moisture rapidly and dust mites can’t thrive in a dry environment. Our wool is not chemically acid-washed, and it’s also completely covered in organic cotton, so even people with wool allergies can enjoy sleeping with a CozyPure(R) mattress and comforter.

NATURALLY FLAME RESISTANT

Using only wool, we passed Federal Regulation PART 1633 – Standard for the Flammability (Open Flame) of Mattresses – so we don’t need to add any FR barrier or chemicals.

Because healthy bedding materials are becoming more popular, many manufacturers are now adding wool as a marketing tool – but that doesn’t mean the wool is the actual fire barrier. In most cases you’ll find they add wool under the fire barrier just so they can “claim wool” simply to sell their mattress.

CERTIFIED ORGANIC COTTON

Most consumers are unaware of the abundant textiles available to manufacture “green goods” and the opportunity to market products deceptively, otherwise known as “greenwashing.” A perfect example is mattress ticking, the fabric used on the outside of a mattress.

Many mattresses offered today are marketed with “organic cotton” or “bamboo” fabric, however they neglect to tell you the content breakdown. For example, mattress knits are comprised of three components: the face (top side), the fill (inside), the back (bottom). The majority of “organic cotton” knits feature organic cotton only on the top side. That is, the inside and bottom of the knit is made from polyester. These fabrics are advertised misleadingly to the consumer as “organic cotton” even though only 33% of the fabric is really organic.

Adding synthetics defeats the purpose of creating a natural sleep system that breathes. Man-made synthetic materials can trap heat and moisture which won’t allow breathability of the fabric. Also be sure there are no chemical finishes such as formaldehyde, which is often used on wrinkle-resistant sheets.

THE PERFECT COMBINATION

By using only three of nature’s finest ingredients – natural rubber milk, pure wool and organic cotton – we as manufacturers can offer people comfortable, healthy sleep without harmful chemicals. The materials are wonderful for folks who have allergies or suffer from comfort issues. The fact that everything is renewable and sustainable makes a natural latex mattress the perfect combination for both people and planet.

Eat well. Sleep well. Be well.
Cheryl Hahn, Owner
CozyPure ® organic mattresses and bedding

Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) authored an amendment to the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 that would finally close this slave-labor loophole. The loophole allowed US companies to import products/materials made with slave labor if those products/materials could not be made in the US. The US Senate voted 75-20 to pass the bill, including the Wyden-Brown amendment.

Green America and its members joined with allies in the labor rights and human rights communities to encourage the Senate to close this egregious loophole. 

Valentine’s Day often involves getting treats for a sweetie, but sometimes those sweets come with hidden ingredients—genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Most of America’s favorite Valentine’s Day sweets are chockfull of ingredients that are highly likely to be genetically engineered-- such as sugar, soy lecithin, corn starch, and corn syrup and partially hydrogenated soybean oil. GMOs have never been proven safe for consumption. GMOs are designed to work hand-in-hand with pesticides, and a growing body of studies expose the health effects of exposure to and consumption of these toxic chemicals. In fact, about 55 percent of U.S. sugar is produced from GM (genetically modified) sugar beets, and almost 100% of U.S. sugar beets have been modified to tolerate the herbicide glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup. This means that liberal amounts of Roundup can be applied to GM sugar beets without killing the crop, which leads to greater amounts of these chemicals in our environment—and our food. Luckily, things are starting to change. Hershey Co. decided earlier this year to stop buying beet sugar because it comes from GM sugar beets. In response to tens of thousands of Facebook posts, emails, and telephone calls from consumers who took part in GMO Inside’s campaign calling on Hershey’s to move to non-GMO ingredients, the U.S. chocolate giant confirmed that as part of its commitment to simpler ingredients, its milk chocolate bar and Hershey’s kisses transitioned to non-GMO ingredients at the end of 2015. As a large company with massive purchasing power, Hershey’s has the ability to move the non-GMO supply chain forward, breaking down barriers for other companies to gain access to non-GMO ingredients. Until candy companies break up with GMOs there are dozens of producers that offer organic and non-GMO sweets you and your valentine will love. Here’s How to Break Up with GMOs on Valentine’s Day: Unless your Valentine’s Day sweets are certified organic or non-GMO verified it is highly likely that they contain GMO ingredients. Non-GMO verification ensures a product does not contain GMOs and organic certification means a product was produced without synthetic additives like pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and dyes, and must not be processed using industrial solvents, irradiation, or genetic engineering (GMOs). Choose organic chocolate or non-GMO verified treats to show your loved ones you really care. For an even sweeter treat, look for fair trade products that ensure workers are treated fairly. Green America’s Chocolate Scorecard can help you find whatever your heart fancies, when it comes to non-GMO and fair trade sweets. To learn even more, check out Mamavation’s article about what’s really inside popular Valentine’s chocolates. This Valentine’s Day say no to GMOs, and show someone that you care for them by giving them quality chocolate and candy without GMOs or artificial ingredients. From all of us at GMO Inside and Green America, Happy Valentine’s Day! We need your support to continue our work against GMOs Sign Up to get more informed about GMOs in our food supply ABOUT GMO INSIDE AND GREEN AMERICA GMO Inside is a campaign dedicated to helping all Americans know which foods have GMOs inside, and the non-GMO verified and organic certified alternatives to genetically engineered foods. We believe that everyone has a right to know what’s in their food and to choose foods that are proven safe for themselves, their families, and the environment. Green America is the nation’s leading green economy organization. Founded in 1982, Green America (formerly Co-op America) provides the economic strategies, organizing power and practical tools for businesses, investors, and individuals to solve today’s social and environmental problems (http://www.greenamerica.org/).  

image: Imperial War Museum

During WWII, the British Ministry of Information released a pamphlet titled “Make Do and Mend.” It provided tips on how to be both frugal and stylish in times of harsh rationing. Readers were advised to create pretty “decorative patches” to cover holes in warn garments, unpick old sweaters to reknit into new styles, turn men’s clothes into women’s, as well as darn, alter, and protect against the “moth menace.”

Times have changed. We’ve lost those skills—seven out of ten young adults don’t know how to sew on a button. Often, clothes end up in the discard pile because they need a simple mend.

If you are one of the seven, Martha Stewart has an extended list of how-to tutorials on marthastewart.com under “Homekeeping Solutions.” The site has tips on sewing on a button, patching a hole, fixing a hem, even darning a sock.

iFixIt.com has repair manuals for almost every item in your closet.

Alternatively, your neighborhood dry cleaner is also usually a tailor who can do repairs at affordable prices.

Here are some online salvage and repair services that can help preserve the life of your favorite pieces of clothing:

• Cashmere: Stella Neptune—Sells iron-on cashmere patches in unique shapes and styles for self-mending.
• Denim: Denim Therapy— Ship them your favorite jeans, and they will repair and reconstruct.
• Knits and Sweaters: Alterknit New York—Mail them your treasured knits or sweater to have moth holes, burn holes, and tears repaired by reknitting. Other types of damage like snags, runs, and breaks in seams are also repaired.
• Leather Coats and Jackets: Leather CARE Specialists—will repair, re-dye, and restore all jackets.
• Shoes: NuShoe—are masters at handcrafted shoe or boot renewal; they also rebuild shoes.

Think your garment is beyond repair but you are loath to part with it? What about a refit? These designers and brands that will help you reshape existing pieces into new treasures:

• Deborah Lindquist (also in Special Occasions) will take your cashmere sweater and design a unique, reincarnated, bespoke sweater for you, your child or a beloved pet.
• Shannon South (also in Handbags) runs Remade USA, a custom service that repurposes individual vintage leather jackets into handbags.
• Project Repat will help you wrap yourself in your T-shirt memories. Send them your collection of T-shirts, and they’ll send back a quilt or blanket.

image: Magnifeco book cover

Kate Black has lived and worked in the major fashion centers of the world and written over 1,000 articles about designers and ethical fashion from her global perspective. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of Magnifeco.com, the digital source for eco-fashion and sustainable living. Kate is also the founder of EcoSessions, a global platform bringing together designers, industry, and consumers to discuss sustainable change.

Adapted with permission from Magnifeco,Your Head-to-Toe Guide to Ethical
Fashion and Non-toxic Beauty, by Kate Black (New Society Publishers, Gabriola
Island 2015).

Fall 2015.

(m) Designates a certified member of Green America’s Green Business Network®

Campbell's will offer organic/non-GMO Goldfish crackers and soups for kids and will voluntarily label products with GMOs. Additionally, Campbell's supports mandatory federal labeling on products containing GMOs.

Green America worked collaboratively with Campbell's to help facilitate the company's removal of GMOs and addition of organic ingredients to key products.

Approximately $6 trillion in assets, 60,000 individuals, and 800 institutions have pledged to divest from fossil fuels.

This divestment movement, which started in 2011, is strong and growing substantially.

Statistics from GoFossilFree.org. Graph by Green America.

WASHINGTON— December 10, 2015—Small businesses in New York, Oregon and Chicago that promote vegan products and services were announced today as the winners of Green America’s quarterly “People & Planet Award.” The Award recognizes innovative U.S. small businesses that integrate environmental and social considerations into their strategies and operations. The winners of the $5,000 prizes are: Neuaura of New York City; Coconut Bliss of Eugene, OR; and Vegan Street of Chicago, IL. The three winners were selected by the public during a month-long online voting period.

Fran Teplitz, Green America’s executive co-director for Business, Investing & Policy, said: “Fortunately, the benefits of veganism are beginning to be understood more broadly. When we choose to avoid animal products there are positive impacts for health, the environment, climate change, and for spreading compassion. Veganism is a lifestyle, not just a diet, and there are now more resources and options, from food to clothing, for people to choose from for themselves and their families.”

The winning companies are:

• Neuaura, New York City. http://www.greenamerica.org/green-business-people-and-planet-award/Fall2015/neuaura.cfm. Neuaura is a vegan footwear company that provides animal-free shoes in the latest styles. The company searches for suppliers and manufacturers who provide high quality non-animal materials, and also practice sustainable manufacturing.

• Coconut Bliss, Eugene, OR. http://www.greenamerica.org/green-business-people-and-planet-award/Fall2015/Luna-Larry-Coconut-Bliss.cfm. Coconut Bliss is dedicated to the vision of creating the highest quality, organic, non‐dairy ice cream on the planet, while cultivating positive and lasting relationships with business partners and customers worldwide. A commitment to vegan, organic, fair trade and GMO-free ingredients is key to Coconut Bliss’ success.  

• Vegan Street, Chicago, IL. http://www.greenamerica.org/green-business-people-and-planet-award/Fall2015/Vegan-Street.cfm. Vegan Street is a website designed to build vegan culture and community, posting original essays, recipes, vegan living tips, book and product reviews, interviews with change-makers and much more, including its popular Vegan Street Memes.

Arti Upadhyay, owner of Neuaura said: “We are so excited about winning.  We will put this money towards weather-proof, vegan-friendly winter boots that are made of sustainable materials. We want to continue providing a viable alternative to the popular Ugg boots where sheep have to go through a great deal of pain and suffering and in the end give up their lives to make these boots. This style is by far our most popular style and we would like to add more style options and improve it by making it weather-proof and more sustainable.”

Elizabeth Reilly, communications manager for Coconut Bliss said: “We are humbled by the support of our customers and fans. We set out to make the best non-dairy ice cream on the planet, and to do so without compromising our core values of transparency, integrity and respect for our customers, employees, business partners and the Earth. Winning the Green America People & Planet Award reinforces our mission, and lets us know we’re doing business the right way. Thank you to Green America for this incredible opportunity!”

John Beske, owner of Vegan Street said: “We are very excited to receive the Green America People and Planet Award. For the last 2 1/2 years, Vegan Street has been creating a large variety of web content all designed to make it easier to transition to and maintain a vegan diet and lifestyle, as well as the larger purpose of building and promoting vegan culture and community. This award will support that work. It also warms our hearts to know that every three months there are three new businesses that are similarly aided by the Green America People and Planet award.”

The next round of Green America’s quarterly award will be given to three green small businesses that focus on DIY products and services.

The businesses that the public vote on are determined by public nominations and an expert panel of judges: Gigi Abbadie, Aveda; Justin Conway, Calvert Foundation; Tess O’Brien, Clean Power Perks, Jennifer Snyder, Clif Bar; Erlene Howard, Collective Resource, Inc., Jenny Burns, Honest Tea; Jonathan Reinbold, Organic Valley; Martin Wolf, Seventh Generation; and Andrew Korfhage and Fran Teplitz, both of Green America.

ABOUT GREEN AMERICA

Green America is the nation’s leading green economy organization. Founded in 1982, Green America (formerly Co-op America) provides the economic strategies, organizing power and practical tools for businesses and individuals to solve today's social and environmental problems. http://www.GreenAmerica.org.

MEDIA CONTACT: Max Karlin, (703) 276-3255 or mkarlin@hastingsgroup.com.

WASHINGTON— November 20, 2015—One week before the “Black Friday,” Green America, the DC-based consumer advocacy organization, is launching a campaign calling on Disney and Hasbro to improve conditions for the overseas workers that make their products. In particular, the Green America campaign calls for these companies to create a safe work environment for workers and pay higher wages that would allow workers to cover their needs without relying on excessive overtime.

The campaign petition can be found at greenamerica.org/go/toys/ and calls on Hasbro and Disney to:

• Create a safe work environment, including free and easy access to safety equipment, health screenings/exams, and clear and unlocked fire escapes;
• Train workers adequately and inform them of short- and long-term health risks, as well as how to reduce these risks
• Pay livable wages and cease illegal, excessive overtime;
• Pay workers for all mandatory job-related activities; and
• Allow workers to elect enterprise level union representatives.

Major toy manufacturers, including Hasbro and Disney, make their toys in factories in China where workers regularly work 11 hours per day for as little as $1 to $2 an hour and often do not have adequate safety protections. This is a key finding of a new in-depth investigative report, “The Other Side of Fairy Tales,” available online as of 8 p.m. ET today at http://chinalaborwatch.org,  from the human rights group, China Labor Watch (CLW).

“Toy companies demand the lowest possible production prices to increase profit margins, and in the end it’s the workers who suffer, literally risking their lives to make Disney and Hasbro toys,” said Elizabeth O’Connell, director of consumer advocacy at Green America. “With the heaviest toy-buying season upon us, its imperative consumers choose toys that we were made without exploiting workers while also putting pressure on toy brands—telling companies they can no longer get away with abusive practices.”

CLW investigators worked undercover at five major toy factories in China and found sweatshop abuses in factories making products for Hasbro, Disney, Mattel, Mattel-owned Fisher-Price, McDonald’s, Jakks Pacific, NSI Toys, Battat, and MGA Entertainment. This investigation follows in-depth investigations conducted regularly since 2000, which also exposed Hasbro and Disney. The 2015 findings indicate that despite the industry knowing about widespread labor abuse, conditions for toy workers are not improving, and in some cases they are getting worse. As two of the most profitable toy manufacturers, Hasbro and Disney can no longer shirk their responsibilities to the people who make their products.

Consumers looking for toys made by workers who were treated well, and made without deadly toxins, can go to Green America’s www.SafeGreenToys.org to find options.

Investigators found a large number of violations at both Hasbro and Disney Facilities, including:

• 11 hour work days, 6 days per week in hot factories with few breaks;
• Workers rarely received protective equipment, despite handling harsh chemicals. Workers complained of nausea, headaches and dizziness;
• Safety training was perfunctory and often lasted for just an hour, far short of the Chinese legal requirement of 24 hours;
• Workers lived in crowded dorms, sleeping 8 to 16 a room, with few bathrooms, often no hot water, and poor fire safety;
• Despite working upwards of 66 hours/week, most workers still earned just $350-$480 USD a month, far short of a living wage; and
• Factories cheat workers out of earnings. The Hasbro supplier required workers to start work before the official shift time and counted Saturday shifts as regular hours, to avoid overtime pay. If workers at the Disney supplier were even 1 minute late, their pay would be docked by half a day.

The labor abuses listed above are a result of brand companies like Hasbro and Disney demanding the lowest possible production price, in order to maximize profits. Hasbro, maker of My Little Pony, Play-Doh and Candyland, reported profits of $415 million in 2014. Disney, known for its Star Wars and Frozen toys, reported over $7.5 billion in profits in 2014.  CLW estimated it would take a Hasbro worker more than 2,400 years to earn Hasbro’s CEO’s annual salary, and a Disney worker would need to work for more than 7,000 years to earn what Disney’s CEO Bob Iger earns in one year. 

ABOUT GREEN AMERICA
Green America is the nation’s leading green economy organization. Founded in 1982, Green America (formerly Co-op America) provides the economic strategies and practical tools for businesses and individuals to solve today's social and environmental problems. http://www.GreenAmerica.org.

MEDIA CONTACT:  Max Karlin, (202) 997-3035, or mkarlin@hastingsgroup.com.

The Gingerbread Latte gets all the attention this time of year, but it really shouldn’t. There are so many other warm, soothing, and energizing drinks to be had this time of year that are not full of GMOs. We highly recommend this Yerba Mate Latte. It is best to be enjoyed by a fire, surrounded by good friends, and along with some tasty biscotti, but it also a delicious early morning get up and go option. Yerba Mate contains some of the same stimulants found in coffee, tea, and cocoa.

Use organic, non-GMO ingredients whenever possible.

Yerba Mate Latte Recipe

Ingredients:

• 8 ounce Guayaki Yerba Mate
• 4 ounce of steamed organic milk of choice
• Sweetener (organic sugar, organic raw honey, or maple syrup)
• A dash of cinnamon

Preparation:

Brew an 8 ounce cup of Guayaki Yerba Mate. Add a touch of sweetener to taste. Add 4 ounces of your milk of choice or favorite dairy alternative. Top off with a bit of milk foam and a dash of cinnamon.

This post is sponsored by Guayaki Yerba Matte. Thank you for supporting the brands that support us. GMO Inside is a non-profit campaign and we are thankful for the brands that support our work to change the food system.

American Apparel, one of the most widely known Made in the USA companies, filed for bankruptcy this month.

Known for commitments to sweatshop-free clothing since the company’s founding, American Apparel’s troubles may seem to signify challenges with keeping those commitments. Other companies embrace cost savings when they source from overseas factories with poor labor practices, while American Apparel has maintained factories based in the Los Angeles area and employed local workers.

But retailers in similar spaces have struggled with ever-changing trends in fashion, which seem to be more of the central cause to American Apparel’s downfall. The trend of “fast fashion,” where the latest looks are more important than logos and brands, has challenged The Gap, J. Crew, and Abercrombie & Fitch. American Apparel now joins their ranks as another struggling clothing retailer.

However, there are signs of further evolution in the marketplace as growing numbers of consumers embrace owning fewer items of higher quality, rather than the disposability of brands like H&M. Many U.S. clothing brands produce exceedingly cheap clothing via sourcing from factories in Bangladesh where workers earn low wages and work in dangerous conditions.

Green businesses like Eileen Fisher and Maggie’s Organics continue to lead the way in the building eco-clothing revolution, but there are many challenges to bringing eco-fashion to scale.

Founder and President Bena Burda of Maggie’s Organics states that “between 2008 and 2012, for example, the U.S. Department of Labor investigated over 1,500 employers in the garment industry in the US and found labor law violations in 93 percent of cases. Most of the workers involved were immigrants from Asia and Latin America. Ask not only ‘where’ but ‘who’ makes a brand’s U.S. clothing. Look for a brand that has direct relationships with their makers, and is not afraid to tell you about them.”

Maggie’s Organics offers shoppers a comprehensive guide to their green practices at Behind the Label, breaking down the details on their certified organic and Fair Trade apparel supply chain. Visitors can click on any product to learn about the farmers and cooperatives behind it. Maggie’s has supported U.S. textile workers for over 20 years.

American Apparel has mapped out a survival plan to emerge from bankruptcy. So far there’s no indication that the company will alter its Made in USA brand, leaving hope that the future of American Apparel will stay tied to ethical fashion.

However, court papers on the bankruptcy filing showed that an immigration raid in 2009 caused the company to lose 1,500 manufacturing workers and endure significant setbacks. When “Made in USA” means made by undocumented workers who are in danger of losing their livelihoods, the U.S. still has a long way to go to achieve truly ethical and locally produced clothing brands on a large scale.

The company also suffered in its public image due to the unethical behavior of disgraced former CEO Dov Charney, who was sued by a former employee over allegations of sexual assault.

Image credit: Ecouterre

Conventional clothing manufacturing unleashes toxins on workers that linger on in consumer closets. Find out what makes the typical closet toxic, and meet eco-fashion entrepreneurs leading the way in making clothing safer for workers and consumers. Road to Toxic Clothing From field to factory, manufacturing clothes is a toxic business. This infographic lists the 11 worst chemicals used. 

 Road to Toxic Clothing - Infographic by Green America  Explore how to detox your closet in the latest issue of Green American Magazine.

Wheat is one of the world’s most important staples and is grown on more land worldwide than any other crop. It is a major food and protein source for much of the world’s population.

Unlike other major crops like corn and soy, genetically engineered (GE) or modified wheat is not on our grocery shelves. But now, Monsanto wants to change that--unleashing GE wheat and selling even more glyphosate.

If we allow Monsanto to commercialize herbicide-resistant GE wheat, we will relinquish the last stronghold of our food system and hand it over to Big Ag and biotech corporations.

Tell the USDA to stop the introduction of GE wheat and protect our food for generations to come!

Unapproved GE wheat has already caused serious economic and environmental problems. In 2013 and 2014, experimental GE wheat varieties were found in the fields of Oregon and Montana. Fearing GE contamination, Japan and Europe reacted by rejecting all wheat imports from the US, gravely impacting farmers of the Great Plains region.

The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is requesting public comments to proposed changes in the regulation of field trials for GE wheat. We need to tell the USDA that these trials should not happen at all, and if the USDA insists on moving forward with field tests, it must to do so in the most cautionary manner so that it protects the environment and surrounding communities, and prevents contamination of the world’s most precious crop.

Tell the USDA to weigh the full impact of testing GMO wheat and end field testing of this dangerous crop!

In order to build a more sustainable food system, we must reduce the use of GE crops and their associated pesticides and support farmers who use sustainable practices. It’s time for the USDA to start moving us in that direction and assessing the real, on-the-ground impacts of GE crop production systems.

Take action: add your voice to stop GE wheat and prevent further contamination of our food.

Guest post from Alexandra Beane, Wheels For Wishes

The United States is the world’s largest consumer of bottled water. In 2011, the United States set a record for purchasing 9.1 billion gallons of bottled water nationwide, which is equal to 29.2 gallons per person. Unfortunately, only 27 percent of plastic water bottles are recycled in the United States, and they are 100 percent recyclable. Each year, 35 billion plastic water bottles are thrown in the trash in the United States alone. The total carbon footprint of one 500 ml (16.9 oz) bottle of water is 828g of carbon dioxide. Water transported from overseas can have an even higher footprint!  Fiji water travels up to 5,000 miles to reach San Francisco, and French brands travel up to 6,200 miles to get there.

Choosing to drink from reusable water bottles instead of plastic water bottles is a small change that can make a huge difference for the environment, and it also saves you money in the long run. Bottled water can be up to 500 times more expensive as tap water, so you’d save plenty of money if you switched to a BPA-free reusable water bottle.

Even if you can’t do everything possible to reduce your carbon footprint, drinking local is a good place to start. Other ways to make a difference are to cut back on showers or reduce the amount of time you spend in the shower, and don’t let the water run while you’re brushing your teeth.

Instead of driving everywhere, walk, carpool, bike, or use public transportation whenever possible. Each and every little change you make will help to reduce your carbon footprint.

Reduce your Bottled Water Footprint

Wheels For Wishes

Green America technology director Hans Bauman (left) with two of his three children.

by Hans Bauman

Don’t get me wrong: I used to love a juicy steak as much as the next guy. But when my wife and I realized the impact our diets were having on the environment, we decided to stay away from Costco meat counter with its bulk-size offerings of cheap beef and commit to a more vegetarian diet and lifestyle.

Climate impact was a big initial motivator. The fact that it takes so much water and feed to produce beef, compounded with the high carbon impact of the cow’s waste, means that I couldn’t call myself an environmentalist unless we stopped buying beef.

So over the past decade, my wife and I shifted our family from being weekly omnivores to a diet that contains lots of local vegetables, sustainable fish, and regional poultry and eggs. As a special treat a couple times a year, we’ll splurge big and buy local, grass-fed beef or lamb at the farmer’s market. Our three kids are on board, and I’m amazed we don’t have to argue about it as a family.

The industrial nature of food production means that the lovely slabs of meat at the grocery store were shrink wrapped in an industrial warehouse that completely disconnects us from the animal.   I  think it’s important that you understand what you’re eating. Beef comes from a once-living animal called a cow! Once you really consider what goes into a hamburger—and share it with your kids!—that used-to-be-my-favorite McDonald’s Quarter Pounder becomes a LOT less appealing.

We talk about these food concerns with the kids, including why we try to eat local produce as well. They realize now that a steak is an extra-special treat and that at certain times of the year there are going to be lots of greens or no tomatoes. Sure, my wife and I get complaints from the kids sometimes, but we also find that, as the Rolling Stones say, “you can’t always get what you want” isn’t a bad message in life.

When making pasta sauce, ground turkey works as a great beef substitute. We often make burritos, and if you’ve got some good stuff to put in there (avocado, fried spinach, or maybe fried zucchini), you really don’t need to add meat. Veggie pizza is a crowd pleaser and, of course, pasta with cheese and a side or two of vegetables is a meal any kid will scarf down.

As a culture, we Americans eat too much high-impact meat. I know that entirely cutting out meat would be even better for the planet, but I feel good knowing that even our less-radical approach is lessening our impact on the world. And by instilling these values into my kids, we’re building these values into the next generation of eaters.

There are lots of resources to help either scare you into eating less meat (the film “Food, Inc.” really opened my eyes) or to help you make more sustainable choices:

• Check out the upcoming issue of the Green American on why it’s important to eat less (or no) beef in particular, as well as less meat overall. Select articles are available here.

• Find out more about Food, Inc., and watch it free if you have a Netflix account.

• Forks Over Knives is another eye-opening film that’s also available on Netflix.

• The Moosewood restaurants offer plenty of delicious, family-friendly vegetarian recipes on their site, and they’ve published several excellent cookbooks as well.

• The Vegan Mom is a great blog for families who want to eat vegan sometimes or transition to a plant-based diet all of the time—in a way that won’t make your kids clamor for Burger King.

• Don’t forget the Anything Vegan sisters, who love to help families transition to a plant-based lifestyle and vegetarian diet. Even if you don’t opt for vegan nutritional consulting packages from this member of Green America’s Green Business Network, you can find plenty of terrific recipes on their site and social media. See their blog entry from last week, and look for an article featuring them in the upcoming Green American.

—Hans Bauman is technology director at Green America. 

What are your favorite resources for eating less (or no) meat with kids?

WASHINGTON— September 8, 2015—Small businesses in Pennsylvania, California and New Jersey that promote recycled products and services were announced today as the winners of Green America’s quarterly “People & Planet Award.” The Award recognizes innovative U.S. small businesses that integrate environmental and social considerations into their strategies and operations.

The winners of the $5,000 prizes are: Mr. Ellie Pooh of Millersburg, PA; RocknSocks of San Rafael, CA; and TerraCycle of Trenton, NJ. The three winners were selected by the public during a month-long online voting period.

Alisa Gravitz, president of Green America, said: “Recycling is central to the notion of more sustainable living and the three companies we are recognizing today are innovators in this important field. All of the companies are finding new ways to expand the definition of recycling to include materials that are often ignored in conventional recycling programs. Our goal with the People & Planet Award is to recognize and highlight the people who are out there pushing the boundaries to make this a greener planet.”

The winning companies are:

• Mr. Ellie Pooh, Millersburg, PA. http://mrelliepooh.com/. Mr. Ellie Pooh is an Earth-friendly company that sells and produces 100-percent recycled paper products made of 50-percent fiber from elephant dung and 50-percent post-consumer paper. In Sri Lanka, elephants are being killed as they compete with farmers for land. Mr. Ellie Pooh believes that putting sustainable fair trade jobs in areas of human/elephant conflict can create an environment where elephants are thought of as assets and not as a threat.

• RocknSocks, San Rafael, CA. https://www.rocknsocks.com/. RocknSocks is the first and only U.S. made sock company to use pre-consumer regenerated cotton blend yarns exclusively in the manufacture of our dynamic eco-friendly sock line. Cotton scraps are taken from other textile manufacturing waste, sorted by color, ground up and spun into yarns allowing us to avoid using dyes in our cotton blend yarns. Winning the award will help RocknSocks recycle damaged, returned and sample socks to create a line of sock “creatures”. Our sock creature line will be a non-profit both giving away creatures and/or profits to children and families in need.

• TerraCycle, Trenton, NJ. http://www.terracycle.com/en-US/. TerraCycle’s mission is to “eliminate the idea of waste.” We run free consumer recycling programs, called Brigades, for waste streams that are typically considered non-recyclable. From drink pouches, toothbrushes and makeup containers to coffee capsules and even cigarette butts, our recycling programs give new life to waste that would otherwise be destined for the landfill.

Karl Wald, owner of Mr. Ellie Pooh said: “We are thrilled to win this prestigious award. Every penny of this award will go back to supporting our Fair Trade initiatives and promoting education about human/elephant conflict in Sri Lanka. Elephants have been in the news a lot lately. They are noble creatures and deserve this attention.”

Misty Reilly, founder of RocknSocks said: "RocknSocks is deeply honored to be chosen as a recipient of the $5000 prize. We plan on initiating an up-cycling project, by taking singles, returns, and damaged RocknSocks and turning them into sock creatures, like monkeys, bunnies, bears, and dragons. We then plan on donating the profits from the sales of these creatures to local non-profits that service low-income communities. In addition we will donate some of the creatures themselves to children in these communities." 

Tom Szaky, CEO of TerraCycle said:  “TerraCycle is thrilled to win the Green America People & Planet Green Business Award. Green America is a widely respected organization and we are proud to accept such a respected third-party validation of our work. The prize money will be utilized to help expand our free recycling fundraisers for schools and communities around the country.”

The next round of Green America’s quarterly award will be given to three green small businesses that focus on vegan products.

The businesses that the public vote on are determined by public nominations and an expert panel of judges: Katie Galloway and Gigi Abbadie, Aveda; Justin Conway, Calvert Foundation; Tess O’Brien, Clean Power Perks; Deven Clemens, Clif Bar; Jenny Burns, Honest Tea;  Jonathan Reinbold, Organic Valley; Martin Wolf, Seventh Generation; and Andrew Korfhage and Fran Teplitz, both of Green America.

ABOUT GREEN AMERICA

Green America is the nation’s leading green economy organization. Founded in 1982, Green America (formerly Co-op America) provides the economic strategies, organizing power and practical tools for businesses and individuals to solve today's social and environmental problems. http://www.GreenAmerica.org.

MEDIA CONTACT: Max Karlin, (703) 276-3255 or mkarlin@hastingsgroup.com.

Low-income communities in America are disproportionately affected by climate change, yet seldom have the resources to help finance solutions such as solar power.

Often located near power plants, low income communities in the US and worldwide have higher rates of asthma and other debilitating health problems associated with air pollution.

Cities, home to the urban poor, will face greater temperatures as a result of the heat island effect, a result of human activities and infrastructure. This warming then threatens at-risk elderly and children who lack adequate resources to prepare and adapt to these rapid changes.

Renewable energy sources like solar power provide one of the most efficient ways to combat air-quality issues and climate change, but are usually out of reach for those with the most at stake.

Solar energy companies have began to take notice of the opportunity to help improve environmental quality, social equality, while also generating profit. Community solar is one of the tools being leveraged by these companies to make this happen, and the White House has taken notice.

What is community solar? Sometimes called shared renewables, community solar is essentially an arrangement that allows several energy customers to source their energy from a local solar installation.

These installments may be owned by a local utility, nonprofit, or other organization that may provide the community with the opportunity to invest in, or purchase this renewable energy at a fixed rate.

Similar to those who turn to community gardens when individual plots are unavailable, many people live in condos, apartment buildings, or other setups incompatible with installing a solar array on their own roofs. These households have found community solar to be a great way to source reliable, clean energy at affordable rates.

Unfortunately, government regulations and utility companies haven’t kept pace with developments like these, and often get in the way of these investment opportunities. However, the White House recently announced a host of new programs and services to help break down these barriers and provide access to community solar throughout the U.S.

One of the key measures in the plan is the launch of a National Community Solar Partnership, aiming to increase access to solar for the half of businesses with setups incompatible for solar systems.

The administration has also set a goal to install 300 megawatts (MW) of renewables in federally subsidized housing, helping to make direct access to clean energy a reality for nearly 50,000 American households.

Yet, the government isn’t the only one in a position of power.

As a Green American, there are a few ways that you can help make community solar power a reality.

Volunteering for an organization like GRID Alternatives is a great way to lend on-the ground support for the movement, as they often require little to no previous knowledge or experience — just a desire and motivation to help others.

Additionally, you can write a letter to your local representative and utility company, encouraging them to support the development of community solar projects in your area.

To find out more about community solar, check out the White House’s fact sheet on their new initiative here.

Campbell’s Soup is one of America’s most iconic brands. The company famous for soups also produces thousands of other food items. Famous brands under the Campbell’s umbrella include Pepperidge Farm, Bolthouse Farms, and Prego.

Like most major food companies, Campbell’s had not kept up with the changing tide of consumer preferences for healthy and sustainable foods.  While the company bought farm fresh and organic companies like Plum Organics and Bolthouse Farms, many of their main products are still made with artificial ingredients, high fructose corn syrup, and GMOs.

Over the past year Green America staff has been meeting with Campbell’s about a transition to non-GMO and organics across their main product lines.  We highlighted the growing concerns around GMOs and pesticides, and the need to include healthy ingredients in all Campbell’s products.  We talked with Campbell’s at a time when they were looking to innovate and the company was very open to hearing from stakeholders.

This week, Campbell’s made several major announcements about improving the sustainability of their foods, including significant steps forward on going non-GMO and organic:

• Campbell’s will be launching several lines of organic kid’s soups, and removing MSG from all their kid’s soups.  In August 2015, the company will introduce Campbell’s Organic soup for kids in three chicken noodle varieties.  The soups will be non-GMO and certified Organic.
• Pepperidge Farm will be launching several organic wheat versions of their popular Goldfish Crackers.  Look for organic wheat versions of regular, cheddar, and parmesan in the coming year.  They still need to remove GMOs and go completely organic with the rest of their ingredients.
• Increasing organics across other food lines, and increasing the number of organic products offered by Plum.

Campbell’s announcements on organics were accompanied by statements that the company will be:

• Removing artificial colors and flavors from nearly all of its North American products in the next three years.
• Removing high fructose corn syrup from Pepperidge Farm fresh breads over the next two years.
• Increasing the transparency of its ingredients, including a new website, What’s in My Food (http://www.whatsinmyfood.com) that tells consumers the ingredients in their foods, starting with several major products.

Like all major food companies in the US, Campbell’s has a long way to go to be truly sustainable.  This week’s announcements are an important step forward.

Green America will continue to engage with Campbell’s with a goal of more products that are non-GMO and organic in the months to come.

When Bob Hamler decided to install a rain barrel in his backyard, he didn’t expect to start a neighborhood trend. Bob’s wife Maxine, who loves tending to their backyard garden, recommended that they get a rain barrel to collect water to use in the garden.

“It made so much sense!” says Maxine, “I knew it was a great way to cut our water bills and water our garden.”

A rain barrel is a water catchment system than you can easily set up in your yard. All you need to do is find a large plastic barrel, and install a screen over the top and a faucet at the bottom. Rain will run off your roof and into the barrel (placed strategically under a rain gutter downspout). The screen will catch debris, and you can attach a hose to the faucet and use the water as needed.

Bob was amazed by how easy the rain barrel was to put together. He found all the parts he needed at his local hardware store, and it took him less than an hour to assemble them into a functioning rain barrel. Soon the Hamlers’ do-it-yourself project was the talk of the neighborhood; people were impressed by the simple yet efficient design. Many of Bob’s neighbors soon got rain barrels of their own.

“Around here, you hear about water shortages all the time,” says Hamler, who lives in Florida. “I feel great that I can do this small bit to conserve water.”

As water shortages become more of a reality worldwide, communities everywhere are touting the benefits of rain barrels. By making the small investment in a rain barrel, you can help save water and lower your water bill.

Better for the Environment

For people interested in saving water and helping the environment, a rain barrel is a win-win.

“When it’s raining, your garden is getting the water it needs. Rain barrels come into use during periods of drought, when you would have to resort to using water from your house to water your garden,” says Daniel Winterbottom, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Washington in Seattle.

In many areas, these periods of drought bring area-wide water shortages, where citizens are asked to conserve water as much as possible. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that lawn and garden watering make up about 40 percent of household water use in summer months, and that a rain barrel will save most homeowners 1,300 gallons of water during that time.

In addition to conserving water, collecting runoff from your roof stops that water from polluting your local watershed. Typically, rainwater will run off of your roof and end up either in a local sewage system or stream. On the journey, the water will pick up pollutants like yard fertilizers, oil and gasoline from street surfaces, animal waste, and more. This polluted storm water runoff will either tax a municipal sewage system or pollute your local watershed. Also, some areas have combined sewer systems, where runoff and household waste water are combined and sent to treatment facilities. In times of heavy rainfall, the treatment facilities can be overwhelmed, causing overflow of household waste into local rivers. According to The National Resources Defense Council, urban storm water runoff rivals factories and sewage plants as a source of dangerous pollutants in local waterways.

“By diverting this storm runoff from your roof into your rain barrel, you’re stopping it from picking up all those pollutants and taking them to your local stream,” says Katie Register of Clean Virginia Waterways, a group that educates people about water stewardship. “You’re significantly contributing to the health of your local watershed.”

Many Ways to Use Rain

Whether you need to water your plants or wash your windows, you’ll find rainwater ideal for the task. Unlike treated water from your tap, rainwater is free of chlorine and chloramines, chemicals added to water to make it safe for human consumption. Rainwater is also free of salt, which can build up in the roots of your plants when they’re watered with tap water. By supplementing your watering needs with rainwater, you’ll flush salts further down into the soil, making the soil healthier for your plants.

Also, because rainwater is relatively free of minerals, it’s ideal for car and window-washing, as minerals from hard water often cause spotting on the glass. And Katie Register’s extra rainwater came in handy when her well pump failed.

“I brought some rainwater in with buckets and used it to flush the toilets,” she recalls. “I was really glad to have it!”

Become a Rain Harvester

When Register decided to construct a rain barrel for her house, she thought she was in for a daylong task. “But once we got back from the store with the parts, it only took 30 minutes,” she says.

Register eventually built six barrels to place around her house, all of which are still in good condition after six years.

The most challenging part of installing your own water barrel will likely be finding the barrel itself. You’ll need a 50-gallon plastic barrel that is strong enough to handle the water pressure (a plastic trash can is typically too thin for the task, and will collapse or break once it’s full). You can buy a barrel at most hardware stores, but you may want to save resources and find a used barrel. Barry Chenkin, owner of Aquabarrel, gets used barrels for his rain barrel business from local bottling companies, because they receive large shipments of liquids in plastic barrels and have no use for them afterward. These barrels are engineered so the plastic does not break down when it comes into contact with liquid.

Check with local restaurants, bottling companies, or food manufacturers to find used food-grade barrels (most will cost you between five and ten dollars and are solid colors). You can also find barrels on eBay.com. To avoid extra shipping, look for local eBay sellers, or put a request for a barrel on your local Craigslist.org or Freecycle.org list.

Then, you just need to get your supplies and put them together. To construct your own rain barrel, follow our easy instructions in the box below. If you don’t want to put together your own rain barrel, there are plenty of vendors who sell them ready to install. Contact the businesses in our resource box, or visit a local garden supply store.

Just Don’t Drink It

Keep in mind that the water collected in rain barrels is not safe for human consumption. Do not use it for drinking or cooking, and make sure it is clearly marked so that visitors, especially those with children, know that it’s not like a normal garden hose you might find in your yard. (Barry Chenkin has a big yellow sticker on his barrel so his grandson is always reminded that the water is not safe to drink.)

If there is moss-killer on your roof, avoid using the water from the first few rainfalls, which will flush the moss killer off your roof, and avoid applying chemicals on your roof that will be harmful to your plants or your local watershed.

If you think your rainwater may be exposed to heavy air pollution with heavy metals, consider having it tested (call the EPA at 800/426-4791) before using it to water fruits and vegetables. But don’t worry too much—all of the rainwater tested by Winterbottom and his colleagues was safe for use in vegetable gardens.

If you have cold winters, store your rain barrel in the winter. Turn it on its side so it doesn’t collect water that will freeze. Taking good care of your rain barrel will keep it in good condition for years to come.

Make your own rain barrel:

First, you’ll need a strong plastic barrel in which to store the water. Check with local restaurants or food manufacturers to find re-usable, food-grade barrels, or look for barrels at your local garden supply store or a retailer from GreenPages.org, a directory of our certified Green Business Network members. 

Once you have a barrel, these are the tools you’ll need:

• Power drill with hole bit (1/16 inch smaller than faucet insert) and pilot drill bit. (A 3⁄4” faucet measures 1” on outside, so you need a 15/16” hole bit)
• Pliers to tighten washers
• Paper towels (for excess caulk)
• Utility knife or small saber saw to cut lid
• Scissors to cut screening
• Hacksaw to shorten downspout
• Screwdriver for hose clamp

Once you’ve gathered your tools, you’ll need to make a trip to your local hardware store to gather your supplies. You’ll need:

• A 3⁄4” faucet (measures 1” on outside
• Washers and lock nut for the faucet
• Caulk (clear plumber’s)
• Screening (Buy a roll that is used to repair screen windows. Nylon fabric-like netting is better than the metal type.)
• Hose adapter for your overflow (Many options here, depending on where you want your overflow to go.)
• Washer and lock nut needed for the adapter
• Hosing (short piece) to connect one barrel to another, if you want to have multiple barrels. Hose clamps as needed.
• Bricks or cinder blocks to raise your barrel above the ground (this will improve water pressure).

Now it’s time to put together your barrel! Follow these steps, provided by Clean Virginia Waterways. If you need some extra help, they have photos to accompany each step on their website:

1. Drill a hole near bottom of barrel where your faucet will be.
2. Caulk around outside of hole.
3. Screw faucet in, using a washer.
4. Caulk inside, then put on lock nut with washer and tighten with pliers.
5. Drill a hole near top for overflow, where water will fl ow out when your barrel is full.
6. Put in a hose adapter for overflow with washers and tighten with pliers.
7. Cut out center of lid.
8. Cut screen larger than lid (the screen will be placed on top of the lid, and will help keep out debris and mosquitoes).
9. Level the dirt under the rain barrel, then add some sand.
10. Rain barrels need to be higher than ground level—use bricks or cinder blocks to give your barrel some height.
11. Measure and cut off part of the downspout.
12. Put the barrel in place, securing the screen over it with the lid, and placing it under the downspout.
13. Connect the overflow from one barrel to the next, or have overflow hose divert excess rain to a garden or distant area of your choice, away from your home’s foundation.

By Kegan Gerard

1. Emails: Tiny Climate Bombs

Email may have done a great job improving productivity and reducing the amount of paper we waste, but those little messages can pack a carbon punch. An average email accounts for 4 grams CO₂e (carbon dioxide equivalent)—the result of the many servers, computers, and routers that enable you to hit send. For comparison’s sake, a plastic shopping bag is responsible for about 10 gCO₂e. Considering an average worker sends between 121 and 140 emails per day, your daily footprint from these emails can quickly add up to over 484 g CO₂e—the equivalent of nearly five and a half hours of TV watching. Next time you want to send your coworker that “thanks!” email, consider walking there and saying it in person. Unsubscribing from all of those listservs you never read anyway is another great way to declutter your inbox and cut the carbon.

2. Netflix Streaming: Equal to Powering Your Fridge

Everyone loves watching movies online. It’s cheap, it’s easy, and you don’t have to put on real clothes to leave the house. Even though you may not put much energy into your movie selections, there’s a great deal of it required to power that 13-hour Orange Is The New Black binge. Streaming just one hour of video per week for a year requires more energy than two new refrigerators, according to a 2013 report by the Digital Power Group. Considering that Netflix at times accounts for nearly half of Internet traffic in North America, all that streaming can equate to the energy usage—and resulting climate emissions—of hundreds of thousands of “extra refrigerators” worldwide. Oddly enough, the 2013 report was funded by members of the coal industry and argued for the need for more dirty coal to power the cloud. Because Netflix is hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS), much of the energy used to power the site comes from dirty sources of power like coal. Until AWS starts obtaining more of its energy from renewables, streaming from Netflix has the potential to impact more than just your social life. Even for those who like their movies a tad on the dirty side, the power that goes into streaming those films should come from clean sources. Visit buildacleanercloud.com to find out how to make this happen.

3. Turn Off the Lights

While we’re on the topic of Netflix, your viewing habits may lead to other energy usage that you’ve never thought of. Leaving the lights on while you watch movies at night may be leading to higher energy bills for you, and more CO₂ for our atmosphere. Nielsen reported that the average American watches television (on a TV) for 34 hours a week. For those who prefer to watch online, Business Wire estimates that the average Netflix user alone spends about 8 hours per week watching that service alone. Either way, that’s a lot of time for the lights to be left on. Flicking that light switch not only helps you to reduce your energy usage, it’s also a better viewing experience—images appear brighter and sharper when viewed in a darker room. Next time you’re watching House Hunters to see if they go with house number one, two, or three, try turning out the lights in yours.

4. Online Shopping: What’s in Your Cart?

Those four hours you spent online shopping at work, while not so great for your productivity, may have been pretty good for the environment. Scientists from MIT looked at a number of shopping scenarios—whether you bought online or in store, how many visits to the store you made, whether or not you returned the product, etc.—and found that online shopping is often a more environmentally friendly way to buy. For those who completed every step of buying an item online, their carbon footprint was almost two times smaller than traditional shoppers, who often make several trips to a store before buying. Green America has also compiled a list of some environmentally and socially responsible alternatives to purchasing from Internet shopping giants like Amazon, so you can feel even better about that pair of shoes you need to order online.

5. Let the Music Play

Just as those Netflix movies have to be streamed from somewhere, so too does your music. Spotify, one of the most widely used streaming services, is hosted by AWS, which uses non-renewable sources like coal to power a majority of its operations. Streaming the music online does cut down on the physical waste associated with CD production, but it’s often hard to conceptualize the energy mix behind your playlists. Streaming music is also much easier than obtaining physical copies of music, leading to increased consumption levels. Fortunately for music lovers out there, there are some great services that give you all the freedom of streaming and less of the ecological footprint. Apple’s new streaming service, Apple Music, is run out of the company’s own data centers, which are entirely powered by renewable energy sources. Subscribers to the service have the ability to save songs for offline listening (a function also offered by Spotify), which further reduces the amount of streaming data required. Bonus: Tweet Flatulation Tweetfarts.com claims that each tweet produces the same amount of CO₂ as a human wind. Click through to their website to have them explain that one...

Investing in renewables makes sense. From an economic standpoint, Bloomberg is now forecasting that wind energy will become the cheapest new energy globally by 2026, before passing that title to solar production in 2030. This is great news, considering that poor air quality associated with traditional energy sources like coal will lead to an estimated increase of 57,000 premature deaths annually by 2100, according to a new report from the Obama administration. Not to mention all the greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere as a result of burning fossil fuels.

Businesses, then, have any number of incentives to fuel their operations with renewable energy, with companies like Tesla leading the way to net-zero energy consumption.

Not everyone, however, has the resources to complete a solar installation comparable to Tesla’s “Gigafactory.” Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) can offer these organizations a way to commit to a renewable energy future.

What’s a REC and what can it do?

A Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) is a tradable tool used by organizations to represent the environmental, non-power qualities of a unit of energy. Think of it as a permit to claim the “green-ness” of a given energy source, with each REC certifying the generation of one megawatt-hour (MWh) of renewable energy.

This “greenness” claim can then be useful for a company, either to meet its own sustainability goals, or to meet the terms of federal Renewable Electricity Standards (RES).

Not All RECs are Created Equal

With a REC essentially representing the green aspect of renewable power, it can either be sold in a “bundle” with the power itself, or “unbundled” and sold independently. This, for many, is a hard distinction to understand, so I’ll break it down.

When 1 MWh of energy is created from a renewable source, like a solar array or wind turbine, there are two components to this: the actual electricity itself, and the claim of being produced in a “green” way. As the electricity generated from renewable sources is physically indistinguishable to electricity generated from dirtier coal and natural gas, the electrons themselves aren’t inherently green.

With “bundled” electricity, energy is sold to the customer along with the claim, the REC, that the energy was produced in a renewable fashion. In this setup, the power provider and buyer are located in the same power grid, so that produced green electricity can be delivered to the REC buyer.

Conversely, the REC and electricity generated can be sold separate from one another, with one business buying the use of that electricity and another buying the REC. To avoid “double-counting,” only the owner of the REC can claim the greenness of their energy.

Why does this matter?

Outside of reducing carbon emissions to curb climate change, one of the biggest advantages of renewable energy is its potential to grow local industries and improve regional air quality. This is key, because new investment in solar, wind, and other clean-energy technologies can both stimulate new jobs as well as decrease a region’s healthcare costs. Unbundled RECs, however, take away much of this opportunity. Here’s how:

As bundled green energy requires the power to be sourced within the same power grid, demand for the green alternatives increases. More businesses buying bundled green energy sends a message to local power providers that the community is invested in renewable energy. To meet this demand, local utilities increase the share of their energy sourced from renewables in order to supply more bundled RECs.

Conversely, unbundled RECs can often be purchased from states on the other side of the country. While this may still sound okay—”A REC is better than no REC, right?”—it fails to incentivize local power providers to provide green energy at a level comparable to bundled RECs. Think of it this way: if power providers can continue to generate high profits from coal or natural-gas sources, they may believe they have little economic incentive to spend additional funds to incorporate renewable technologies in their regions. High local demand for green, bundled RECs shifts this slope in favor of renewables.

Understanding Renewable Energy Claims

Many companies may claim to be “carbon-neutral,” or committed to investing in renewables. However, this may mean that they are simply buying unbundled RECs to meet arbitrary standards.

As consumers, it’s important that we stay informed and know how to read a company’s marketing claims about its renewable-energy commitments. Take Amazon for instance. It claims that its GovCloud web hosting service is carbon neutral, all the while sourcing much of the power for its data centers from dirtier coal-based utilities and buying unbundled RECs to make up its green “cred.” In doing so, it deprives the region’s communities many of the jobs and environmental benefits that new renewable investments have the potential to bring.

It’s important for consumers to continue to call for renewable-energy creation to replace dirty energies like coal, natural gas, and nuclear. At the same time, we need companies to demand renewable energy as well so that utilities will transition to cleaner sources of power like wind and solar. Bundled RECs, in the short term, can help quantify demand for renewable energy. In the long term, as more and more companies shift to sourcing 100% renewable energy directly, the RECs will no longer be needed.

Amazon Web Services announces construction of a solar farm in Virginia and a wind farm in North Carolina.

This is the latest victory in Green America's campaign, launched in 2014, to urge Amazon to adopt 100% clean energy for its servers by 2020.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 30, 2015 – Unsustainably low cocoa prices – made possible by extreme poverty among West African cocoa producers, with farmers in Ghana earning as little as 84 cents per day, and Ivorian farmers earning only 50 cents per day – could jeopardize the future of chocolate since young farmers are not replacing the current aging generation, according to the updated U.S. edition of the 2015 “Cocoa Barometer.” Together, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire produce more than 50% of the world’s cocoa supply.

Available online at cocoabarometer.org the new report is being released today as cocoa industry representatives gather in Washington at the World Cocoa Foundation conference to discuss ongoing sustainability projects. Produced by a network of European nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), the “Cocoa Barometer” is a semi-annual report that reviews the state of sustainability in the cocoa sector. This latest edition was co-written with U.S. NGOs and includes updates on programs of the U.S. government and U.S. cocoa companies.

“Despite all the efforts in cocoa at the moment, the core of the problem is still not being addressed: the extreme poverty of cocoa farmers, and their lack of a voice in the debate,” said Antonie Fountain, co-author of the Barometer. “Unless the cocoa sector fundamentally changes, there will be no future cocoa farmers.”

“Around the world, child labor is a symptom of extreme poverty and limited opportunity,” said Elizabeth O’Connell, campaigns director at Green America. “In order to prevent children from working in dangerous settings, we must ensure that farmers, including women, sharecroppers and tenant farmers, are earning enough to harvest cocoa sustainably.”

Key findings in the 2015 U.S. edition of the report include the following:

• Low incomes. West African cocoa farmers live well below globally defined poverty level of $2 per day. The lack of a decent livelihood for cocoa farmers leads to bad labor circumstances, human rights violations, and many other problems in the cocoa supply chain, including child labor.
• Cocoa no longer offers an attractive future. Increasingly, younger generations of cocoa farmers are leaving cocoa, and older farmers are nearing the age of life expectancy.
• High market concentration leads to greater farmer exploitation. Mergers and takeovers have resulted in just a few companies dominating up to 80 percent of the whole value chain, while farmers lack a sufficiently organized voice to be strong actors.
• Certified chocolate production continues to increase globally, from just 2 percent reported in the first Barometer in 2009, to almost 16 percent of global chocolate sales in the 2015 “Cocoa Barometer.” The Barometer also indicates that there is far more certified cocoa available at the moment, than is being purchased on certified term. However, with the mainstreaming of certification, the challenges of certification are also increasing. Improvements in certification are needed, especially concerning impact on the ground, the quality of auditing, and unrest among farmers about low payments of premiums.
• Current approaches won’t solve the problem. Most corporate sustainability efforts focus on increasing a farmer’s productivity. However, increasing yields must be coupled with an increased cocoa price for farmers. This means that chocolate needs to become more expensive. Crop diversification, tenure security, better infrastructure and access to information for farmers are also needed.

Recommendations for action in the report include the following:

1. Develop a living income model for smallholder cocoa farming.
2. Address the price-setting mechanisms in order to increase prices at farm-gate level.
3. Move from voluntary to mandatory sector-wide solutions.

Report co-author Fountain said: “All players in the cocoa value chain need to step up to the plate. Companies, governments, retailers, as well as consumers should take their shared responsibility, and truly start looking for new approaches to some of these longstanding problems.”

The full version of the 2015 Cocoa Barometer is available online.

ABOUT THE GROUPS
The Cocoa Barometer is published by a European consortium of civil society actors; FNV Mondiaal (NL), Hivos (NL), Solidaridad (NL) and the VOICE Network – ABVV/Horval (BE), Berne Declaration (CH), FNV (NL), Oxfam Novib (NL), Oxfam Wereldwinkels (BE), Stop the Traffik (UK), and the Südwind Institut (GE). The 2015 USA edition of the Cocoa Barometer was also written with Green America, the International Labor Rights Forum, and Oxfam America.

Media Contacts:
Will Harwood 
wharwood@hastingsgroup.com 
(703) 276-3255

Antonie Fountain 
antonie@voicenetwork.eu 
Mob: (+31) 06 242 765 17

BOSTON, Mass. and WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 29, 2015 – EnergySage and Green America, a national nonprofit organization working to create a green economy, today announced that they have partnered to help U.S. homeowners “get all the facts” about solar adoption as well as secure the lowest possible price when purchasing quality systems. The EnergySage Green America online solar marketplace is a comprehensive, unbiased destination where consumers can quickly research and compare turnkey solar energy systems, explore all of their financing options and obtain multiple, instant price quotes from more than 250 high-quality, pre-screened solar installers. As a result, marketplace users can expect to pay prices up to 20 percent less than market averages.

Founded in 1982, Green America empowers individuals to make purchasing and investing choices that promote social justice and environmental sustainability. The organization focuses on promoting green and fair trade business principles while building the market for businesses adhering to these principles. As part of this mission, Green America provides resources for helping people and businesses to reduce their carbon footprints, and advances clean energy solutions that create jobs and tackle climate change.

“We are deeply committed to advancing the green economy, and as part of that effort, take pride in offering people proven resources that will help them to make the best environmental and financial decisions,” said Todd Larsen, executive co-director at Green America. “We see the EnergySage Green America marketplace playing a key role in empowering consumers to make the move toward clean energy by providing – in one place – all of the information and tools they need to evaluate their solar options.”

There are a lot of decisions for consumers to make when seeking to go solar – they must determine the equipment that best suits their homes, select the right installer, and decide whether buying, borrowing or leasing is the right fit for their budget. This has traditionally been a complicated and very time-consuming process for homeowners, and lack of price disclosure within the solar market has left many of them paying thousands of dollars more for systems that weren’t even tailored to their particular needs.

“By aligning with Green America, we’ve extended our ability to serve as an advocate for consumers, providing them with much needed simplicity, transparency and choice when seeking to ‘go solar,'” said EnergySage CEO Vikram Aggarwal. “The EnergySage Green America marketplace puts the power in the hands of the U.S. homeowner, instead of the installers, enabling them to easily compare their options and make well-informed decisions about solar in the same way that they shop for everything else.”

ABOUT GREEN AMERICA
Green America is the nation’s leading green economy organization. Founded in 1982, Green America (formerly Co-op America) provides the economic strategies, organizing power and practical tools for businesses, investors, and individuals to solve today’s social and environmental problems (http://www.greenamerica.org).

About EnergySage, Inc. 
EnergySage provides the first comprehensive online marketplace for consumers and businesses interested in converting to solar energy. By enabling people to comparison shop for “apples-to-apples” competitive quotes from pre-screened installers and financiers, the EnergySage Marketplace typically delivers cost-savings of up to 20 percent when compared to going directly to installers. EnergySage also simplifies today’s complex solar industry by providing tools and unbiased information that enable people to fully understand their product and financing options as well as their return-on-investment scenarios. Many leading organizations have forged partnerships with EnergySage to promote the adoption of solar energy, including Connecticut Green Bank, Staples, Walgreens and the World Wildlife Fund. For more information, please visit: www.energysage.com.

Media Contacts:
Tracey Frederickson
Davies Murphy Group
781.418.2414
media@energysage.com

Bernard Lietaer is the author of the forthcoming Of Human Wealth and The Future of Money (London: Random House, 2001), and has been studying monetary systems for over 25 years. While at the Central Bank in Belgium, he co-designed and implemented the convergence mechanism to the Euro, the European single currency system. He is the co-founder and chair of the ACCESS Foundation, (www.accessfoundation.org), an educational nonprofit that educates the public about best practices in the domain of complementary currencies. He is currently a Fellow at the Center for Sustainable Resource Development at UC-Berkeley.

This interview, conducted by Green America Editor Tracy Fernandez Rysavy, complements "Re-examining the Structure of Money," a piece that appears in the Spring 2009 issue of the Green American, From Greed to Green.

TRACY FERNANDEZ RYSAVY: Green America’s executive director Alisa Gravitz told me that you long ago predicted our current economic downturn and have been saying it’s going to last at least ten years.

BERNARD LIETAER: I’m not the only one saying that now. There have been a handful of people in the States who were predicting this. Paul Volcker was one. Nouriel Rubini at New York University. I was one of the early ones—I first wrote this in 1999, predicting that before 2010, we’d actually hit the wall.

Rubini said this recession is going to be long, deep, and brutal. Nobel Prizewinner Joseph Stiglitz, the ex-head economist at World Bank who’s currently at Columbia University, said that in the beginning of a recession, the debate between economists is whether it’s going to be a "V"—deep and short—or a "U"—not as deep but longer, as in three to four years. He says this one could possibly be in the form of an "L"—hitting the ground and staying there.

TRACY: Why did you see this coming, when very few people didn’t?

BERNARD: This problem is structural, and it is being treated as if it were a cyclical problem, or a managerial problem, in that things were badly managed. The kinds of solutions the federal government is doing, like dropping interest rates, saving the banks, saving some key businesses and doing big projects—all these things have been tried for 18 years in Japan. 18 years. And Japan is now where they were then, 18 years ago [when the country entered its own banking and economic crisis].

When I say the problem is structural … let me give you a metaphor. Let’s assume I give you a car. And I say "By the way, that car doesn’t have any brakes, and the steering wheel doesn’t work one time out of two." Then I tell you to drive it across the Rockies.

Guess what? You’re going to have an accident! That’s pretty certain.

Now I come back to you and say, "What a bad driver you are!" And, "Oh, gee, they really didn’t do a good job on those maps. They didn’t warn you about that curve where you crashed."

What we’re doing with the regulations to "fix" the economic crisis is akin to saying that the way to prevent an accident in the car I gave you is to make better maps. Nobody is saying the car is the problem, i.e. the system you’re driving is the problem.

Our money system is structurally brittle. It doesn’t matter if you put a very clever guy or a stupid guy at the wheel. The clever guy will take a half hour to have an accident, and the stupid guy will take ten minutes.

I know the structure of money systems. If you have a professional look at the car, they can tell you, "Don’t drive that thing." That’s what I’m saying about the current money system: Don’t drive that thing. It will get into an accident.

TRACY: What is wrong with our monetary system today? Why shouldn’t people "drive that thing?"

BERNARD: Basically, for any complex to be sustainable needs to have a balance between two factors: resilience and efficiency. These two factors can be calculated from the structure of the network that is involved in a complex system. A resilient, efficient system needs to be diverse and interconnected. On the other hand, diversity and interconnectivity decrease efficiency. Therefore, the key is an appropriate balance between efficiency and resilience.

This is more understandable in ecosystems. One animal that can eat only one plant is going to get more easily on trouble than a more omnivorous one. If that plant gets in trouble, the animal will become extinct. If he eats 50 types of plants, when one plant gets in trouble, he can just eat some of the others.

The same thing is true for whatever eats that animal. It’s a chain of the appropriate levels of diversity and interconnections—which are the key to sustainability. We have know been able to measure quantitatively the conditions under which any complex flow network will be sustainable as a function of these two structural variables of diversity and interconnections. 

Our economy is precisely a complex flow network where money circulates, similar to biomass circulating in a natural ecosystem. When you apply what we learn from ecosystems to money systems, it’s clear that our current money system is a monoculture, and that creates problems. Just imagine that you plant one type of plant on the whole planet and eradicate everything else. It’s very predictable that one day, that crop will get in trouble. We don’t know have to know from what—whether a new microbe or climate change or whatever. It is structurally brittle..

Look at any financial institution, at any bank. They’re all photocopies of each other. There’s no diversity of institutions and even less diversity of currency. Therefore, just as you say its very logical that an ecosystem like this will collapse, it’s very predictable a monetary system like this will collapse, too. And it hasn’t finished collapsing, by the way.

TRACY: What’s next?

BERNARD: A dollar crash. Paul Volcker has said that there’s a 75 percent chance for "a dollar hard landing." He probably wouldn’t say that today, because now he’s in a different role again [as Chair  of President Obama’s Economic Advisory Board].

TRACY: You’ve also said our current money system, automatically builds in a scarcity factor. Can you explain that?

BERNARD: To understand the reason how scarcity is created, one has to understand the way money is created. Money is created through bank debt. When you go for a mortgage through a bank, they give you $100,000 to buy a house and basically send you out into the world to bring back $200,000 in the next twenty years. The first $100,000 is principal, and the second is interest.

When the banks create the money, they don’t create the interest. They send you into the world to compete with everybody else to get the second $100,000 that never was created and bring it back to them. So if we’re in a world with zero-growth population, goods, services, and money, the problem would be obvious. You would feel it. The way we do not feel it is that there is growth in population, there is growth in production, and growth in money. So basically what you’re doing when paying interest is pay someone else’s principal . Fundamentally, everybody has to compete against everybody else. If you don’t succeed, you lose your house or whatever other collateral was used to obtain your loan.

I have a story that I call the "11th Round Parable." I learned the story in Australia, so I’m setting it in the Australian Outback, in a little village where people don’t know about money. Every week they gather, and people bring hams, chickens, and eggs and barter and bargain with each other.

Then one day, a gentleman comes with a very fancy hat and very shiny shoes, and he observes the market. At one point, he sees a farmer trying to carry 12 chickens around the market to exchange them for a ham—and the farmer is obviously having trouble doing that. So the man starts laughing.

The wife of the farmer says, "Hey, stranger, do you know a better way of getting around with the chickens?"

And the man says, "I don’t know about chickens, but I know a better way of doing all this."

"Oh, really," she says. "What would that be?"

"See that tree in the corner?" he asks. "I’m going to sit under that tree. One of you bring me a big cow skin, and I will prepare something. Bring every family together, and I will explain it to you."

He goes to the tree, and they bring him the skin. He cuts nine little rounds in that skin and puts a fancy little seal in each of those rounds. He gives ten rounds for every family. One round is equal in value to a chicken. So now the villagers can carry those rounds instead of the chickens.

Then he says, "I’ll come back next year and sit under the same tree. I want everyone to bring 11 rounds. The 11th round is the token of appreciation for the improvement that I’ve made possible in your community."

The farmer’s lady asks, "Where will the 11th round come from?"

He says, "You’ll see, you’ll see, you’ll see. Don’t worry."

Do you know what’s going to happen?

TRACY: Some people will have enough, and others will be left with fewer than 11.

BERNARD: What has to happen is on average, one of ten families has to go bankrupt to provide the 11th round to someone else. We’ve created a negative-sum game. And the next time the harvest is ready, not everyone will participate to help a neighbor in trouble to get his harvest in before a storm.

That’s how scarcity is created and how competition is generated.

TRACY: How can complementary currencies help solve these problems?

BERNARD: Complementary currencies work in addition to existing money, rather than replacing existing, official money. There are whole different families of complementary currencies. One of them is local currencies. One is regional currencies. Another is functional currencies. Another is social-purpose currencies.

Today, conventional money is supposed to be doing everything. By adding in complementary currencies, you actually get different types of things and different outcomes from different complementary currencies.

If you want to create or bolster a local economy, you can use local currencies to stimulate that kind of outcome. A local currency has been proven effective only for up to 300-500 families, within a particular part of town.

If you want to help mitigate unemployment, I would recommend regional currencies. Regional currencies could work for a million people. The purpose there is to create a sense of regional pride and to encourage economic development on a regional level. We have a number of regional currencies operational in Europe. There are 64 projects in Germany, of which 28 are operational and the rest are in process of launch. There are six projects in France that are now in pilot stage..

There are also social-purpose currencies. There is one in Japan that people use to trade elderly care. The Time Dollar system in America is another.

Global currencies can be complementary as well. The Terra is one such example (see www.terratrc.org).

TRACY: On a bigger level, you’ve been saying that the Terra and Business-to-Business or B2B currencies could help us navigate this economic crisis we’re in. How do you get people to start accepting them?

BERNARD: The Terra is a subset of Business-to-Business (B2B), and I would recommend implementing first a B2B when it comes to addressing this crisis. Being optimistic, it would take at least three to five years for the Terra to make a difference. The B2B could be operational in three to six months.

The prototype of a successful B2B is the WIR system in Switzerland, which  has been proven to help keep the country’s economy and employment more stable than all its neighbors since it was started in 1934.

The B2B keeps the businesses interconnected and trading with each other without borrowing money from the banks, which is the real bottleneck. Because the money is not anymore available from the banks as it used to be, period.

TRACY: How could we start a B2B currency this quickly? And how could we get it to be a national movement in the US?

BERNARD: We’re starting a B2B currency here in Europe. I was just at a meeting today at one of the pilot programs in Germany. They are considering calling it the "Com" for complementary and commercial—one Com equals one Euro, and it doesn’t have interest. There are now four pilot projects in gestation in Europe.The idea is to launch the pilot projects independently of each other and then interconnect them in 2010.

One of the main reasons we can do it so quickly is that thereare open-source softwares available for free, to make it all work. That solves much of technical problem.

Therefore, the only thing to be done is the social part, i.e. convincing businesses to be involved. Let me give you an example of how that might be done.

If one of your biggest customers tells you "We are going to buy from you at the condition that we can pay 10 percent with this new Com complementary currency." As a supplier, when your biggest customers tell you that, you basically have a choice. You don’t have this big customer, or you accept the 10 percent payment in Coms.

The pilot projects are the beginning of the process. As we start to interconnec them on the European level, throughout the Euro-zone, there will be 16 countries that are using the same currency, all connected by the same software.

One of the key elements is transparency. With the Com system, I have the right to see your account before I make a trade with you. In other words, so it’s self-policing. That will make it very unattractive for the mafia and anyone else interested in criminal activity.

You can implement a B2B currency with same pricing structure and the same marketing mechanism and everything else. It simply offers an additional source of funding. The hope and idea is that at some point, at least during the period of the crisis, governments—particularly local and city governments—will accept partial payment of their taxes in the B2B currency, making it acceptable to everybody.

TRACY: Is there any talk about doing a B2B project in the US?

BERNARD: That will depend on the American businesses themselves. In order to do something like the B2B, you need to be willing to think out of the box.  

TRACY: Our economic system is based on growth, and a lot of economists that are thinking about the coming environmental and even population crises are coming to an agreement that we are reaching a point where the growth has to stop. Can complementary currencies help stop consumption and waste, as well?

BERNARD: I actually disagree that growth as a whole needs to stop. I think what we need is to stop stupid material growth. What I believe is that we only need more smart growth. For instance, we need an infinity of growth in learning. An infinity of growth in beauty. Large amounts of growth in care, help and restoration. So the question is not whether we need growth or not. The real question is to define what kind of growth.

TRACY: Well said! Do the B2B currencies stop stupid growth?

BERNARD: For example, we can have currencies that motivate you to put less carbon in the atmosphere. There are now six cities in Europe that are planning to launch a carbon currency to do just that—Bristol, Dublin, Munich, Rotterdam, Brussels, and Amsterdam.

TRACY: How does that one work? Is this different from the cap-and-trade system we read so much about?

BERNARD: Oh, yes. Cap and trade involves basically only corporations and governments. The consumer is not involved. Here we’re talking about actually motivating the citizen/consumer to get involved.

Let’s assume that you take the bus or the subway instead of your car. Well, we give you credit for the carbon units that you’re saving with your ticket. It’s all done electronically, using a "smart" card [that works much like a standard credit card with a rewards program]. You want to go buy a bicycle? You can pay for the bicycle with the carbon credits. Or if I install solar panels in my house, I get carbon credits, which I can then use to take the subway.

 The way that the US some state governments try to motivate people to buy a hybrid car is that they give you two- or three-thousand dollars in a tax rebate when you buy a hybrid. You can then use those two- or three-thousand dollars to go to Hawaii and emit more carbon than [you would save in the life of driving that hybrid]. So the government has no way of influencing behavior patterns after the first transaction.

The carbon currency works only in carbon-producing activities. So you create and economy that favors that activity. That’s an example of a complementary currency that actually encourages smart growth.

TRACY: What do you think individuals can do, here in the US, as we’re headed toward an unprecedented crisis?

BERNARD: If you’re a business manager, start a B2B currency. There are models available. We’re not talking theory: It’s been done before, and in Europe, we’re in the process of doing it again.

If you are a mayor, or a state governor, obtain the permission to accept such B2B currencies in payment of local taxes. You can choose the criteria that makes that currency acceptable for partial payment in taxes. This will provide the most powerful incentive for other businesses to accept that currency, and it will provide you with city and state income that you otherwise wouldn’t have.

If you’re an individual, gather your community, and create your community, to help build social capital.

In Brazil, the central bank is now helping to launch 150 dual currency banks to solve local problems, at the rhythm of 10 per month. In communities that have little money, survival is about the social capital. You can solve problems together that you can’t do alone. There are complementary currencies to achieve that as well, like Time Dollars. It doesn’t have any meaning to accumulate lots of Time Dollars, but the relationships you establish within a Time Dollars network are important. And local complementary currencies are very easy to start!

TRACY: Joanna Macy and others have talked about this moment where we’re going to have to act, to fundamentally change our economic system, or we’re going to enter a period of destruction. Is this it? Is this sink-or-swim time?

BERNARD: Yes, we’ve started, and yes, it’s sink-or-swim time. It’s time to do things differently—structurally differently. The faster we shift, the less suffering we will engender. Time is of the essence.

If I want to be cynical about it, I would guess the federal government will start making structural changes in about five years. What they’ll do is try the classic solutions, which we’ve already talked about, and then they’ll find out that those solutions will not work. I think that process will take three to five years.

The same thing happened to Japan, when it hit an economic crisis like this one. They tried the classical solutions, and after five years, they stopped believing the economic downturn was a cyclical thing, that it was like all the other ones. That’s when they started implementing these structural kind of solutions, which is why Japan is a full-scale laboratory of complementary currencies. However, Japan still haven’t gone to scale yet. They’re still experimenting. My suspicion is in the next two to three years, Japan will announce 10,000 local currencies, or a national B2B currency, and they’ll tell the world they’ve changed their development model.

In Europe, we’re trying to experiment with taking complementary currencies immediately to scale. By the end of 2010-11, we hope to have a B2B system that is available at the  Euro-zone level.

We could do the same thing in America. Basically, we need leadership. It doesn’t need to be political leadership. It could be business leadership. American business has proven it’s capable of turning on a dime. They don’t need to go to Washington to try to beg for a little more money. That won’t work, because there won’t be enough money for everybody. But American business needs save themselves. Nobody can do it for them.

The Children’s Place pays more than $2 million to the victims of Rana Plaza building collapse—the deadliest disaster in the history of the global garment industry.

Green America joined with labor allies worldwide to put pressure on Children's Place and other major brands to compensate workers and families impacted by the Rana Plaza disaster.

Business Cloud News, June 10, 2015

Notforprofit environmental advocacy group Green America is launched a campaign to try and convince Amazon to reduce its carbon footprint and catch up with other large cloud incumbents’ green credentials.

Green America said Amazon is behind other datacentre operators – including some of its large competitors like Google, Apple and Facebook – in terms of its renewable energy use and reporting practices.

“Every day, tens of millions of consumers are watching movies, reading news articles, and posting to social media sites that all use Amazon Web Services.  What they don’t realize is that by using Amazon Web Services they are contributing to climate change,” said Green america’s campaigns director Elizabeth O’Connell.

“Amazon needs to take action now to increase its use of renewables to 100 percent by 2020, so that consumers won’t have to choose between using the internet and protecting the planet,” O’Connell said.

Executive co-director Todd Larsen also commented on Amazon’s green cred: “Amazon lags behind its competitors, such as Google and Microsoft, in using renewable energy for its cloud-based computer servers.  Unlike most of its competitors, it also fails to publish a corporate responsibility or sustainability reporting, and it fails to disclose its emissions and impacts to the Carbon Disclosure Project.”

Amazon has recently taken strides towards making its datacentres greener. In November last year the company committed to using 100 per cent renewable energy for its global infrastructure, bowing to pressure from organisations like Greenpeace which have previously criticised the company’s reporting practices around its carbon footprint. But organisations like Green America still believe the company is way off the mark on its commitment.

Green America’s campaign is calling on Amazon to commit to full use of renewables for its datacentres by 2020; submit accurate and complete data to the Carbon Disclosure Project; and issue and annual sustainability report.

An Amazon spokesperson told BCN that the company and its customers are already showing environmental leadership by adopting cloud services in the first place.

“AWS customers have already shown environmental leadership by moving to cloud computing, which is inherently more environmentally friendly than traditional computing. Any analysis on the climate impact of a datacentre should take into consideration resource utilization and energy efficiency, in addition to power mix,” the spokesperson said.

“On average, AWS customers use 77 per cent fewer servers, 84 per cent less power, and utilize a 28 per cent cleaner power mix, for a total reduction in carbon emissions of 88 per cent from using the AWS Cloud instead of operating their own datacentres. We believe that our focus on resource utilization and energy efficiency, combined with our increasing use of renewable energy, will help our customers achieve their carbon reduction and sustainability goals. We will continue to provide updates of our progress on our AWS & Sustainable Energy page,” she added.

Yesterday, we shared the wonderful news that Hellmann’s now offers a non-GMO food option: mayonnaise made with olive oil. Hellmann’s is not only one of the top mayonnaise brands, but it is also part of a much larger company, Unilever. As a company with huge purchasing power, it has the opportunity to increase sustainability along the supply chain for its ingredients. We are so glad to see the company making initial strides towards a more sustainable food system.

While its non-GMO announcement is huge and we celebrate it, Hellmann’s can build on it by addressing the following concerns GMO Insiders  raised last year:

1. Non-GMO Chicken Feed: Hellmann’s non-GMO sourcing statement on its website does not include animal feed as part of its definition for non-GMO. Animal feed is the largest market for GE corn and soy, with nearly 50% of GE corn going to livestock consumption. GE crops are extremely resource intensive and demand high inputs of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and water. It is important that when a company addresses the issue of GMOs, it also considers what the animals eat. Therefore, in order to truly impact the GMO supply chain, animal feed must be addressed; otherwise, any non-GMO transition is more beneficial for marketing purposes than improving the sustainability of our food system. It is essential that large companies lead in this transition as they have the power to make contractual commitments that help farmers transition away from GMOs.

2. Third-Party Verification: As of now, Hellmann’s is not getting its non-GMO claim verified by an independent third party, such as the Non-GMO Project. Customers look for third-party verification which tests for the presence of GMOs, and will continue to call for the company to take this important step. By getting verified, Hellmann’s will also address the issue of eggs from chickens fed GMO grain. The Non-GMO Project’s standards do not allow a product to be certified if ingredients are sourced from animals fed GMOs. Always be on the lookout for GMO labeling when grocery shopping—transparency from our food sources is always a good sign.

3. Pasture-Raised Organic Eggs: Hellmann’s committed to using cage-free eggs in its products, with a portion of their eggs currently cage-free and a mission to use 100 percent cage-free eggs by 2020. To qualify as “cage-free”, the birds must be kept uncaged inside barns–but may still be kept indoors at all times. This means there can still be thousands of chickens in an enclosed structure—a factory farm—with little room to move around. GMO Inside encourages Hellmann’s to commit to pasture-raised organic eggs, a much stronger standard for animal welfare, one that allows the chickens to roam outdoors and forage. And, a standard that produces a healthier and better product for consumers as well.

4. Other Products: Hellmann’s has a number of products, many of which likely contain GMOs. While adding a non-GMO mayo option is a great step in the right direction, instead of simply transitioning a current product to non-GMO, it created a new line (or brand) of mayonnaise. This means that the majority of people who purchase Hellmann’s will still be eating GMOs. It also limits the positive impact on the supply chain that this change will have. GMO Inside hopes to see a long-term commitment to fully transition the Hellmann’s product line to non-GMO and third party verification.

5. GMO Labeling: While Unilever no longer gives money directly to fight state GMO labeling initiatives, it is still a dues-paying member of the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA). Since those dues may be used to fight consumers’ right to know, we urge Unilever to make a public statement asking the GMA to stop funding these campaigns.

Unilever’s Hellmann’s certainly raised the bar for its big mayo competitors by offering a new non-GMO product. We ask the company to keep moving forward and address the concerns listed above. Eaters are asking for products that are non-GMO, organic, and have real animal welfare standards in place. They will choose other products that meet their standards (or make their own) if their childhood favorite—Hellmann’s—does not quite cut it. Hellmann’s, please bring out the best mayo.

In a huge first step for the company, Hellmann’s just announced it is releasing non-GMO mayonnaise dressing made with olive oil.

Green America's GMO Inside Campaign mobilized tens of thousands of consumers to urge Hellman's to go non-GMO.

National Geographic builds on its commitment to use recycled paper (May 2015)

https://www.greenamerica.org/about/newsroom/releases/2014-07-17-Tipping…

In a major step forward for the use of recycled paper in the magazine industry, the National Geographic Society (NGS) has begun incorporating recycled fiber in all the pages of National Geographic Magazine, National Geographic Kids, and National Geographic Little Kids. The shift clearly demonstrates the viability of using recycled paper for high quality photographic reproduction. This expanded use of recycled paper comes as a result of close collaboration with Green America and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

If you haven’t yet heard, here is some exciting news—and just in time for lunch. Chipotle announced that it is removing all of the genetically engineered ingredients from its menu, now serving only non GMO foods. In the New York Times, Steve Ells, founder and co-chief executive of Chipotle, put it quite nicely, “just because food is served fast doesn't mean it has to be made with cheap raw ingredients, highly processed with preservatives, and filler and stabilizers and artificial colors and flavors.” Since the company uses mainly whole ingredients that do not have a GE variety, the two main ingredients it has to remove are corn and soy. Mainly, corn and soy were both found in Chipotle tortillas, corn (obviously) and hidden soy ingredients in the shortening inside the flour tortillas. Chipotle also had to deal with the challenge of using a new type of oil, which can affect the flavor cooked ingredients like rice and fajita veggies.

Why did they go through all the trouble of making this transition?

Three simple reasons:

1)      Scientists are still studying the long-term implications of GMOs

2)      The cultivation of GMOs can damage the environment

3)      Chipotle should be a place where people can eat food made without GMO ingredients

Short, sweet, and straight to the point. GMOs simply don’t fit within Chipotle’s corporate vision. And we think that is great. Chipotle is a company that has developed a set of ideals and is doing what it can to make sure its practices are in line with those ideals.

GMO Inside could not agree more with Chipotle’s reasoning for making this transition. It is clear that there is no consensus within the scientific community of the safety of GMOs, and we are only now starting to even scratch the surface of what the long-term health implications are. The World Health Organizations classification of Glyphosate as a probable carcinogen, which opens up a whole new can of worms and is broadening the discussion on whether or not Monsanto’s products are really as safe as the company lead on.

GMOs have been in cultivation for the last 20 years and it is clear that they are not all that they are cracked up to be, and the environment is paying the cost. Herbicide resistant super weeds are becoming a major issue as biotech companies try to tackle these with much stronger and more dangerous herbicides. The overuse of these herbicides and the monocrop farming methods associate with GMOs has led to deterioration of our soil. Loss of soil health has major implications for crop nutrition (and therefore human nutrition), food security, as well as the soils ability to act as a carbon sinkk, and relieve some of the pressures of climate change. All in all, GMOs are causing harm to our environment.

People want food that is free of GE ingredients. And they should have opportunities to eat out and have the option not to eat GMOs. Chipotle is a business and it already has a strong customer base who for years have been demanding a better food system and support Chipotle’s efforts to be a part of creating one. Chipotle is simply meeting the demand of its customer base. It is leading the way and giving consumers what they have been demanding since CA Prop 37 failed, a more transparent and sustainable food system

Chipotle’s announcement that it is removing genetically engineered ingredients is an important step in building a better food system. Consumers are increasingly concerned about the impacts of GMOs on the environment and human health. Chipotle has shown that it is possible for a large “fast food” chain adopt a more sustainable food supply. It is time that all food companies follow suit and move beyond genetically engineered ingredients and towards a more sustainable food system that benefits people and the planet.

To learn more about Chipotle’s transition away from GE ingredients and how this effects its ingredients check out the company’s FAQ page here.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – February 23, 2015 – In response to tens of thousands of Facebook posts, emails, and telephone calls from consumers who took part in GMO Inside’s campaign calling on Hershey’s to move to non-GMO ingredients, the U.S. chocolate giant released a statement last week (http://www.thehersheycompany.com/newsroom/news-release.aspx?id=2017846 and http://www.thehersheycompany.com/nutrition-and-wellbeing/q-and-a.aspx) that it “will feature a lineup of simple ingredients, and transition some of its most popular chocolate brands, including Hershey’s Kisses Milk Chocolates and Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bars to simpler ingredients.”

Today, Hershey’s confirmed that as part of its commitment to simpler ingredients, its two iconic products will be non-GMO by the end of the year.

Green America Food Campaigns Director Nicole McCann stated: “We congratulate Hershey’s on this important move and great first step. As one of the leading chocolate companies in the U.S., this commitment will help move the rest of the companies in this sector. Hershey’s joins General Mills, Unilever, Post Foods, and other leading companies in responding to consumer demand to make at least some of its products non-GMO.”

Two years ago, in February 2013, GMO Inside began calling on consumers to put pressure on Hershey’s (as well Mars) to make its products without GMOs due to concerns over the environmental and health impacts of GMOs (http://gmoinside.org/hershey-mars/). In response, thousands of consumers emailed the company urging it to remove GMOs.

In December 2014, when Hershey’s announced it was exploring transitioning away from high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), GMO Inside mobilized consumers to call the company to urge it not to use any other form of GMO sugar, such as from GMO sugar beets (http://greenam.org/1Bfmbre); and then again in February 2015 called on consumers to post on the company’s Facebook page on Valentine’s Day (http://gmoinside.org/hersheys-show-us-love-organic-sugar/).

“Hershey’s needs to take the next step and go non-GMO with all of its chocolates, and get third-party verification for non-GMO ingredients. This includes sourcing milk from cows not fed GMOs and agreeing to prohibit any synthetic biology ingredients, starting with vanilla,” stated John Roulac, co-chair of GMO Inside. “Consumers are increasingly looking for non-GMO products and verification, and Hershey’s and its competitors would be wise to offer third-party verified non-GMO products to consumers.”

ABOUT GMO INSIDE

GMO Inside is a campaign dedicated to helping all Americans know which foods have GMOs inside; and removing GMOs and toxins from our food supply. We believe that everyone has a right to know what’s in their food and to choose foods that are proven safe for people, their families, and the environment. GMO Inside provides the information for a growing community of people from all walks of life, to make informed decisions around genetically engineered foods. Join the campaign at www.gmoinside.org, and take part in the GMO Inside community on Facebook and Twitter.

ABOUT GREEN AMERICA

Green America is the nation’s leading green economy organization. Founded in 1982, Green America (formerly Co-op America) provides the economic strategies, organizing power and practical tools for businesses, investors, and individuals to solve today’s social and environmental problems (http://www.greenamerica.org).

MEDIA CONTACT:  Will Harwood, (703) 276-3255 or wharwood@hastingsgroup.com.