Unless you grow it yourself in your backyard, the answer is probably a resounding no. I always thought I had a fairly good idea. But last weekend, I watched “Food Inc.” and I realized I only knew a small part of the story. The movie had a profound effect on me and has totally changed how I look at food.

“Food Inc.” is packed with information and made me ask questions like: Why can we get ripened tomatoes year round? Why is it that a bag of chips costs less than a bundle of carrots? What is the reason that many chickens are never exposed to sunlight? And who on earth ever thought it was a good idea to feed corn to fish?

It was tough to watch at times but ultimately, I found it pretty inspiring. Knowledge is power and with more knowledge, I can make better decisions.

There is a great summary at the end of the movie that describes what we can do as consumes to make better food choices. Here are the suggestions that appear one by one on the screen:
Buy from companies that treat workers, animal and the environment with respect.

When you go to the supermarket, choose foods that are in season.

• Buy foods that are organic.
• Know what’s in your food. Read labels.
• The average meal travels 1500 miles from the farm to the supermarket. Buy foods that are grown locally.
• Shop at farmer’s markets.
• Plant a garden (even a small one).
• Cook a meal with your family and eat together.
• Everyone has a right to healthy food. Make sure your farmer’s market takes food stamps.
• Ask your school board to provide healthy school lunches.
• The FDA and USDA are supposed to protect you and your family. Tell Congress to enforce food safety standards and re-introduce Kevin’s Law.
• If you say grace, ask for food that will keep us, and the planet healthy.
  

It’s a great reminder that as consumers, we can vote to change this broken system. We get the chance to exercise our vote three times a day. For more information and suggestions for what you can do, visit Take Part.

I hope that everyone will make the time to see “Food Inc.” Please see it for you, see it for the people you love and see it for the planet. Remember “you can change the world with every bite.”

About the Author: Allison is Co-founder of BuyGreen.com, a website for green, eco-friendly products. You can follow her on Twitter @buygreen and @ocgreenmama.

Have you heard the news: it’s snowing back east? Oh my gosh, it’s snowing…in the Northwest…in February. Can you believe it?

In the middle of this week's storm, climate change naysayers are declaring that this storm in one region of one county totally disproves climate change. It’s people like Senator James Inhofe who constructed an igloo in Washington, DC and posted a sign reading "Honk if you heart global warming." It’s Senator Jim DeMint who tweeted "It's going to keep snowing in DC until Al Gore cries uncle." And you better believe that Fox News has jumped all over it, with story after story that totally distorts the facts to fit their agenda.

It’s hard for me to believe that some of this is even real. I mean, really, it’s ridiculous. It’s like me looking up at the night sky and saying “Well the sun must have gone away because it’s dark outside.” It’s two-year old logic, but there are people lapping it up and it scares me.

Now I realize that this is a particularly harsh storm impacting millions of people so I'm not trying to make light of it. But the climate change deniers are totally missing the point. As Giselle Barry from Repower America points out “Extreme weather is climate change! Not only does "Snowpocalypse" not disprove global warming, it actually matches scientific predictions that climate change will increase extreme weather events of many kinds, including heavy snowfalls in regions like the Northeast.”

The fact is that climate change is a very complex issue. It will lead to more temperature extremes, both cold and warm. And I don’t remember Al Gore ever saying that it would never snow again ever. I’m quite sure that’s not was the hundreds of years of scientific evidence and study predict.

This clip from Jon Stewart’s "The Daily Show" is genius, and sums it up best. As usual, a little dose of humor makes me feel so much better:

Click on image below to watch video.

Learn more about Allison at  

 

As usual, we are scrambling at the last minute to get our Valentine cards together for school. I always think I’m going to be that mom who has everything planned and organized well in advance, but somehow, I never seem to get there. This year, I totally forgot that Friday is a school holiday, so our Valentines cards have to be ready for Thursday’s class party.

If you are a last-minute like me and you’ve run out to the store to find out that everything is sold out, why not try making Valentine’s cards? And you can spend nothing and use only things that you may already have at home.

We did just that tonight. The kids and I rummaged through the house and found all our extra colored paper, stickers, markers and stamps and gathered them together. Then, we printed a few labels on the computer (the “to, from” part of the card), and cut them into rectangles. Using scrap paper, we made larger colored rectangles cut slightly larger. The kids glued the labels on the colored paper scraps. Then, they addressed and signed each one and decorated with stickers, sequins, stamps and markers. It’s a little messy, but a great exercise in creativity for the kids.
Finally, we hole-punched the cards on one side and tied each one with curling ribbon to a Trader Joe’s organic lollipop.

It took about an hour to make our Valentines using only materials we already had at home – no waste, no cost! Okay, I did have to run out and buy one extra box of Organic Lollipops from Trader Joe’s – we only had one box in the pantry. So I spent $3 on 58 Valentine’s for both classrooms. Here are the results:

They turned out cute I think.  And best of all to me, not a plastic goody bag or cheap plastic trinket to be found.

Learn more about Allison at  

 

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. I didn’t always enjoy this “Hallmark holiday”, even once I actually had a Valentine. But my attitude about the holiday changed about ten years ago when hubby and I decided to ditch the traditional Valentines’ day route and started our own tradition. Every year since, we avoid the hassle and expense of going out (reservations, overpriced wine, finding a sitter) and instead stay home. He cooks while I get the kiddos in bed early. Then, we pop open a great bottle of champagne (the kind that would be unaffordable at a restaurant but is reasonable at the store) and enjoy a gourmet home cooked meal with candles and the good china. No gifts either – our dinner, champagne, and time alone is our gift.

But if you are in the market for something for your sweetie, here are a few suggestions to make your gift a little greener:

Organic Flowers –when you touch or inhale the scent of non-organic flowers, it is likely that you are exposing yourself and your family to harmful chemicals. Pesticides and other toxic chemicals used on flowers also affect the health of farm workers and florists. Keep everyone pesticide-free by purchasing organic and in-season flowers. Some sources include California Organic Flowers, Organic Bouquet and Local Harvest.

Fair Trade Chocolate - Traditional cocoa farming forces hundreds of thousands of children in West Africa to work under forced labor conditions on cocoa farms. Young boys are sold into slave labor and forced to work in cocoa farms, under inhumane conditions and extreme abuse. Kind of make’s that Hershey’s bar not taste so good doesn’t it? But when you buy Fair Trade chocolate, you ensure that farmers and workers receive a fair price for their product, helping them support their families and send their children to school rather than the field. Most Fair Trade Certified™ chocolate is also certified organic and shade-grown, which helps maintain the biodiversity of ecosystems, provides shelter for migratory birds, and uses far less energy than conventional farming. Yes, it’s a bit more expensive, but do we really need that much chocolate anyway? For eco-friendly chocolate, try one of these sites: Global Exchange, Equal Exchange, Dagoba Chocolate, Coco-Zen (fair trade, organic and local – a triple winner!).

Eco-friendly Jewelry – Go for jewelry that is fair trade, responsibly manufactured, and made from sustainable materials. The good news is it’s also generally super affordable too. You can find jewelry made from recycled glass, like this line we sell at buygreen.com; handmade, eco-friendly bling at etsy.com; or, if you have a bigger budget, there is brilliantearth.com for ethical, conflict-free diamonds.

More Sustainable Love – After the champagne, flowers, chocolate and jewelry, there’s the umm…love…the best part of Valentine’s Day. And yes, there is in fact, even an organic line of personal lubricants – think of it as the “green” KY. The majority of personal lubricants on the market are made with petrochemicals and preserved with methyl and propyl parabens. But Good Clean Love personal lubricants are natural and organic so they not only feel good, but are good for you. I especially like this Cupid’s Travel Kit – would be a perfect Valentine’s gift.

So spoil your sweetie this Valentine’s Day with eco-friendly gifts that are not only good for them, but also the planet. Happy Valentine’s Day!

(Note: It's important to me to point out that none of the companies or products on this list paid me anything or gave me anything for free. Even my own company, BuyGreen.com - I don't get paid by them either (hee, hee), but maybe someday. These are just companies and products that I run across in my work and I enjoying sharing to help others find better, green alternatives to traditional products.)

The other day, one of my daughter’s friends dropped off a bag of my daughter’s clothes at our house. For some reason, my daughter just can’t seem to come home with all of her clothes when she has a sleepover, or often lets her friends borrow clothes when they are at our house.

Like most times, I opened the bag, immediately caught a whiff, and stuck them right in the laundry. Were they still dirty? Did they have some awful smell on them? Am I a freak about germs?

Nope, it’s none of the above. I ended up washing the clothes even though some nice family already washed them for us – the reason is that I can no longer handle the smell of traditional chemical laundry detergents and fabric softeners. Once you get away from them, you will find that the smell is quite overpowering and you can’t go back.

Traditional laundry detergent, bleach, and fabric softeners are no good – for your family and the environment. As we strive to have clean, ultra-white, fresh-smelling clothes, we have inadvertently invited a whole host of toxic chemicals into our homes. We absorb these chemicals through our skin. In addition, those harsh chemicals are washed down the sink, entering the waste stream and contaminating our ground water.  
 

Fortunately today, there are hundreds of eco-friendly products for getting your laundry fresh and clean. You can find them online and even in grocery stores and Target. Be sure to read the ingredient list and steer clear from the chemicals listed below and remember that “natural” does not necessarily mean eco-friendly.

Here are some things to keep in mind when buying detergents & other laundry products:

• Do not use detergents or stain removers with phosphates (which are linked to lung cancer and damage our water systems
• Also steer clear of alkylphenol exthoxylates (APE's), linear alkylate sulforate (LAS) - both are known toxicants.
• Do not use bleach with chlorine or sodium perborates.  Chlorine gets into the waste stream and contaminates ground water.  Use non-chlorine alternatives made from hydrogen peroxide or oxygen.
• Do not use detergents with petroleum-based, chemical fragrances. Fragrances and harsh solvents like ammonia contained in some typical detergents and fabric softeners can trigger your allergies and asthma, and cause skin irritation.
• Stay away from conventional fabric softeners.  These are a skin irritant and also build up on clothing, making it look dull. They also lower the absorption of your towels and can leave a residue on your skin when you dry off. Yuck!

If you make the switch to eco-friendly laundry products, you will be surprised that your clothes can get clean without chemicals, don’t develop instant static cling without dryer sheets and are still soft without fabric softener. Really, we can have clean, fresh-smelling clothes without chemicals. And once you see how easy it is, you won’t want to go back either.

Learn more about Allison at