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.

Time for Organics

Organic food may not be as trendy as it was a couple of years ago, luckily.

More than a trend, organic farming appears to have enough demand to sustain the industry even if individual organic farmers are subject to the same fluctuation in fortune as regular farmers. This news story provides insight into the world of organic farming in Washington state.

What stood out most to me in the article is that organics are no longer a novelty--the story is less about introducing the reader to them and more about checking in on their current state. That's encouraging. Another positive sign is that prices for organic produce are dropping. This suggests that more people are buying organics and that more people will have the chance to do so.

If you haven't made the switch to organic yet, now might be a good time to get your feet wet. You can start slowly by identifying the fruits and vegetables that are exposed to the most pesticides through regular farming. The Environmental Working Group ranks produce by pesticide content, a list topped by apples.

With the EWG list to acquaint you, organic produce might just become an old friend in no time.

Clothes, Women, and Nature

My sister wanted me to say a word about a clothing company that is emphasizing the empowerment of women and the protection of the environment.

kikaPaprika sells women's clothing made from organic cotton and recycled and repurposed materials. Additionally, the clothes are made in the United States, so they didn't have to consume more energy by traveling around the world to get here. kikaPaprika also represents an opportunity for women who want to own a business.

For more information about the clothes or the business opportunity, click here.

Wild About Organics

A new book is generating wild praise for its focus on how to eat organically. Wildly Affordable Organic: Eat Fabulous Food, Get Healthy, and Save the Planet--All on $5 a Day or Less takes on the assumption that eating organic foods brings extra expenses.

Written by Linda Watson, the book has been met with many positive reviews, which laud its ability to serve as both a cookbook and a shopping guide for those who would like to eat organically but don't want to spend too much doing it. It's great that the book combines concerns about the environment, human health, and frugality. Just one of these things would make it worth a look, but combining them all with a practical, how-to approach adds a little more to its value.

The book is available on Amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble. Watson also has a Web site called Cook for Good.

Whad'Ya Know?

For this entry, I'm linking you to a great story.

I saw it (and maybe you did too) on the Natural Resource Defense Council's Switchboard blog link on the right side of this page, but I wanted to make sure that it got a little more attention before the blog link updated to a new story.

This one has some interesting lessons about what people think they know about nature and their place in the environment. Even better, it has a happy ending. I hope you like it.

Green at Heart

With Valentine's Day less than a month away, it's time to start thinking about special gifts, but this year, don't forget the environment.

Buying things may have become a major part of February 14, but we can still make statements with what we buy. Hopefully, one of those statements is, "I love you." Another can be, "I love the planet."

Flowers are a traditional Valentine's gift, but their growth, harvest, and shipment can leave quite an impact on the environment. Therefore, if your gift plans include flowers, consider Organic Bouquet. As the name implies, the company sells organically grown flowers. It also operates under fair-trade policies and offsets the carbon footprint of its operations and shipments.

What is more, by going to the company's Flowers for Good page, you can choose flower arrangements that benefit nonprofit groups. Organic Bouquet donates a portion of the proceeds from the arrangements to various charities, including animal and environmental groups. Just look through the different arrangements and see what charity each one supports. Personally, I like the Defenders of Wildlife and the Audubon Society arrangements.

This is a great way to make sure Nature gets a Valentine too.
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