It's Only Natural

In the advertising world, it's not easy to be green, but it sure is easy to say you are.

With more customers wanting to buy healthy and environmentally friendly products, companies have predictably tried to cash in on this movement. They have attempted to market just about everything as green, and one of their favorite words to use is natural. The reason for this choice is that natural is not regulated like the word organic. Organic products have to meet standards to receive official certification, but natural can be used on anything. Check out this video spoofing advertising for "natural" products:



The video is a great example of using communication to challenge rhetoric that obscures the truth. A product's claim to be "natural" doesn't mean anything. If you want healthy products that are free of added chemicals, and you're in the United States, look for a label that says the products are USDA-certified organic.

"Natural" and organic aren't the only environment-related labels out there, so additional efforts have been made to inform consumers about the real meaning of the environmental claims and labels they see. The Natural Resource Defense Council's Smarter Living initiative rates various labels, including "Bird Friendly" and "Fair Trade Certified," for their environmental virtue. To view it, click here.

Remember, all that's natural is not green.

Winter Garden

As part of Thanksgiving dinner, we had homegrown tomatoes. My mom had picked green tomatoes earlier in the fall and brought them inside to ripen.

Everyone was glad to have homegrown rather than store-bought tomatoes. However, at some point, the harvest, including cucumbers and potatoes, will run out and the store will become the sole source of vegetables.

Usually, during winter, we resign ourselves to the fact that the nearest produce is at the store. However, the Natural Resources Defense Council is providing tips to keep your vegetable production going during the colder months.

As part of its Smarter Living program, the NRDC gives these recommendations for growing vegetables inside. The tips include what to grow and where and how to grow it.

This is a great idea that helps keep fresh produce around throughout the year and gives us a little more power over where we get our food.

Local Eating in the Palm of Your Hand

Eating foods that are grown and sold locally is an important part of sustainability, and the Natural Resources Defense Council is trying to make local eating easier with a new app called Eat Local, which is available for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.

The app allows you to determine what foods are in season in your area, find where local farmers' markets are, and discover seasonal recipes. For more information, click here. Eat Local is another tool from the NRDC's collection of resources for Smarter Living.