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TAKE THE ECO CHALLENGE GREEN Thirty days…Thirty eco challenges… Can you go from green to greenest in just one month? Youth-led non-profit Teens Turning Green (TTG) thinks anyone can, especially if it’s made simple, informative, and most importantly fun. That’s why, on October 1, TTG will launch its first ever Project Green Challenge, an online initiative that seeks to engage high school and college students across the country and inspire them to transition “from conventional to conscious,” via a 30-day green lifestyle Challenge. Throughout the month of October, students will be given 30 simple steps to experience just how fun, accessible, and effective the transition to green can be! “The Challenge aims to raise awareness about conscious living, informed consumption, and the collective impact of individual actions, as well as empower students with actionable steps for their own lives,” declared Erin Schrode, 20, Project Green Challenge program director and co-founder of TTG. “In one short month, you can not only change your life, but help sustain the planet too.” Each day participants will take on one challenge with three levels of participation; green, greener or greenest, each built around a theme such as food, fashion, energy and tech. The challenges will be outlined in detail at www.projectgreenchallenge.com and in an email delivered directly to those who have signed up to participate. Resources will accompany the challenge including eco tips, websites, articles as well as videos recorded by the eco experts that will inform and inspire the contestants to complete their actions. And each day, fabulous green prizes will be offered for diving deep into green, innovation and creativity. As a culmination to the Challenge, ten finalists will participate in Green University—a 2-day eco-summit in San Francisco this December 3 and 4. Eco-friendly prizes will be awarded to finalists and the Challenge winner including; a college scholarship, a trip to California for an eco event, a gift certificate for groceries, a bicycle, a head-to-toe eco makeover including clothing, hair, skin and body care products, eco dorm or bedroom makeover and more to be posted throughout the Challenge. At the summit, finalists will be mentored by esteemed eco leaders, present experiences from their 30-day Challenge, and work together to create unique platforms for social action. These platforms will then be implemented by TTG and youth nationwide in 2012. “Our goal is to have thousands of high school and college student sign up for Project Green Challenge during the month of September,” said Schrode. “One of the simplest ways to take action is by making a commitment to small adjustments in your daily activities and consumption. And if just a billion of us girls follow suit, we’ll have a pretty amazing impact on our world.” And remember, you’re never too young or too old to get involved. Although only high school and college students in the USA and Canada are eligible for prizes and a place in the Challenge finals, the Challenge is open to everyone who wants to make a positive change or just learn a little bit more about greening their lives. Learn more at: www.projectgreenchallenge.com ___________________________________________ For Free or For Trade? Online Many people have a limited understanding of recycling, knowing only what to do with bottles, cans and paper. However, it's not just trash that can be recycled, perfectly good items like clothing, furniture and electronics can be recycled as well. Craig J. Stadler, co-founder of eco-freek "encourages people to ask the question: why buy a new piano, moving boxes or a desk when you can pick up a free one nearby, save money and feel good about helping the environment all at once?" ecofreek's mission is to encourage users to reuse pre-owned items, as well as give away items they no longer want, in order to reduce landfill waste. The philosophy behind ecofreek is that newer is not necessarily better—but that free is better, especially considering the current issue of over-consumption and wastefulness. Also, with the uncertain economic climate ecofreek, founded in January 2010, is a search engine that locates free and swap items from over 45 websites; such as, Craigslist, Pennysaver, and public Freecycle sites, making ecofreek the most extensive way to find free items on the web. With ecofreek, users can easily find a free sofa, kitchen table, books or kitten in their area or trade material or services, trading yard Users can search by a keyword, city, or region (state/country), allowing results to easily be narrowed down. In addition, results can be sorted by how old the listing is, listings with images first, and more. Once the user has found an item they like, they only need to click the listing to be taken to the original posting to contact the owner. ecofreek's service is easy to use and full of extra features, such as driving directions so you can see how far away an item is from you. Plus, if you can't find what you're looking for at first, you can easily sign up for free email alerts and cell phone text alerts to be notified when a new item is listed that fits your keyword. Unlike many classifieds, ecofreek uses a filter for spam and false listings, and also has an easy way to mark listings to be taken down. For more info, visit: www.ecofreek.com ___________________________________________ Top 10 Ways To Green Your Halloween
Gardens are inspiring in the way they show continual growth, renewal, and vitality. Love, tenderness, and care help to nurture a garden. It is in Jane's memory, a lifelong friend of Harney & Sons and an avid gardener, that Jane's Garden Tea was blended intending to show love, care and tenderness during her battle against breast cancer. Jane’s Garden Tea is an artfully crafted blend of green tea and roses. This year we are happy to offer Jane's Garden Blend in a beautiful new pink and green tin with 20 sachets inside. One dollar of the proceeds from the sale of these tins will be shared by the Jane Lloyd Fund, and the National Breast Cancer Foundation. The Jane Lloyd Fund helps cancer patients with their day to day expenses while battling cancer. The National Breast Cancer Foundation provides mammograms, education and research about breast cancer across the country. 20 sachets; $9.00. Click here to order or to find out more. Also available: TEA LEAVES FOR LIFE Green Tea Sampler Pack from The Boston Tea Company Help support the Breast Cancer Network of Strength with the purchase of this Bentley's "Tea Leaves For Life" Assorted 48 Count Tea Collection. Uniquely packaged in signature pink, the special breast cancer selection of premium estate Chinese green tea boast flavorful fruity blends such as Papaya, Mango, and Raspberry. Green tea is rich in antioxidants! Bentley's will donate $.75 donation for each box sold. $6.99. Click here to order. The demand for natural personal care and household items have been on a steady rise over the past several years—of a $68 billion dollar industry, natural products make up $10 billion of this increasing boom of product.[1] Responding to this increase in demand, Alabu® Skin Care offers an all-natural approach to achieving healthy skin. The main ingredient in Alabu’s signature soaps that differentiates it from all others is goat milk. Goat milk is ideal for skin due to the fact that it contains numerous nutrients that are beneficial and support the skin’s overall health. The lactic acid in goat's milk has natural beta hydroxy acids that serve as an exfoliator, which strips the skin of dead skin cells, leaving the skin silky, smooth and soft. Alabu is a particularly excellent choice for skin care due to the pH in goat's milk which matches the pH in human skin better than any other kind of milk. Better yet, Alabu products are filled with essential probiotics, as well as vitamin A, B6, C, and E. Due to environmental and harsh weather conditions the skin can be subjected to drastic unwanted measures, such as acne breakouts, dry itchy skin, and even skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, and rosacea. Luckily, Alabu’s products are not only known for extreme replenishing and long lasting moisture but are also known to help with extreme climates and combating unwanted skin villains. The founders of Alabu began their skin research after using day-to-day soaps and cleansers and realizing how badly conventional products can dry out the skin. With Alabu’s natural and fortifying ingredients such as goat milk, olive oil, cocoa butter, and other natural oils, the skin’s thirst is replenished. Alabu uses absolutely zero synthetic fragrances of any kind and produce their soft luxury smells from only natural ingredients. Alabu soap is also part of the USDA BioPreferred Program, a program that designates categories of biobased products for a Federal Procurement preference. With so many beneficial attributes Founded in 2000, Alabu® manufactures an entire line of all-natural, handmade soap and skin care products that are gentle and help moisturize the skin. The key ingredient to Alabu’s soap is goat milk, which has many beneficial conditioning properties and is safe yet effective for many skin types. With a product line that includes facial moisturizer, lotion, body butter, and lip balm, the company formulates its products with only the finest ingredients for natural skin care without the use of colors, preservatives, fillers, or water. Alabu soap is part of the USDA BioPreferred Program. For more information about Alabu, please visit www.alabu.com. [1] http://community.naturalproductexpo.com/2009/07/02/68-billion-strong-natural-products-industry-still-on-the-grow-natural-foods-merchandiser-2008-market-overview-and-natural-products-expo-east-showcase-healthy-news/ S&D Coffee, the largest U.S. food service coffee roaster, is launching a line of shade-grown, organic, Fair Trade-certified coffee that is also certified to the Bird Friendly coffee (BFC) is certified organic coffee produced on farms with a shade cover that provides vital habitat for migratory and resident birds in tropical landscapes which are increasingly threatened by deforestation globally. The Bird Friendly criteria are the world’s most stringent stan The coffee will be sold under the Saavian (Save the Avian) label. High’s of Baltimore has been selling S+D’s Buffalo & Spring brand Fair Trade and organic-certified coffee since 2007. The company found that by switching to organic and specialty grade coffees, its coffee sales have increased 40 percent. BFC sales are on the rise in general. According to an SMBC report released earlier this month, The Global Market for Bird Friendly® Coffee 2010, estimated sales of BFC rose 166% from about $1.5 million in 2005 to more than $4 million in 2010 with US and Japanese markets equal with respect to global market shares. The years 2008-20 “S&D is proud of its role in helping to protect migrating birds vital not only for their beauty, but also for their assistance in creating sustainable agricultural production, including in the coffee fields,” according to S&D’s Senior Vice President Lee Wicker. “High’s of Baltimore has aligned with us to provide this ‘white table cloth’ level coffee in the mid-Atlantic region. Every time consumers purchase a cup of Saavion Blend Coffee from our Buffalo & Spring brand, they are supporting this worthy cause.” |
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, many people are looking for more ways to save money. 
labor for a pool table, for example.
Caribou Coffee continues their partnership with Susan G. Komen for the Cure in the breast cancer movement. From September 15, 2011 through December 31, 2011, Caribou Coffee will feature The Amy’s Blend Collection in their retail locations nationwide. Caribou Coffee created the Amy’s Blend line to honor the life of Amy Erickson, a member of the Caribou Coffee roasting family who lost a valiant battle with breast cancer. The Amy’s Blend products include mugs, brewed coffee and tea beverages, tumblers, tea tins, scarfs and other special items designed in Amy’s memory. Caribou Coffee will donate 10% of the retail sales price of all Amy’s Blend merchandise to Komen, with a minimum guaranteed donation of $100,000. For more information, please visit 
of their natural ingredients, Alabu is able to provide essential nutrients that the skin craves. Just like the healthy nutrients the body digests and needs to survive, the skin requires needs natural nourishment as well. 
Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center’s “
dards for shade-grown coffee production. Migratory birds are not only beautiful with vibrant songs, but are integral to tropical and United States ecosystems alike, helping with flower pollination, and seed dispersal, along with insect and pest management. “North American farms benefit in many ways from migratory birds’ return each spring, helping to guarantee our food supply” said Dr. Robert Rice, coordinator of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center (SMBC) Bird Friendly program.
10 saw a 25% average annual increase in volume roasted and sold in the North American market. There are 46 roasters in the U.S., Canada, The Netherlands, and Japan that carry BFC provided by 16 importers. Guatemala ranked first in terms of production (28%), and, with Peru (25%), Mexico (20%), Nicaragua (15%), and Columbia (8%), the five countries account for 96% of all the BFC certified globally.