Last minute eco-Mother's Day gifts:
>> Get your fair trade flowers from Ten Thousand Villages Pasadena, or from the Fair Trade LA booth at the Santa Monica Festival today.
>> Go shopping with your mom at eco-boutique Regeneration in Eagle Rock. Mothers get a 15% discount until May 15.
>> Give your mom a night of eco-pampering by getting mom-and-daughter tickets to "Beauty and Sustainability: An Eco-Evening of Networking, Pampering and Discovery," happening Tuesday, May 13, 7:30 to 10 pm in Beverly Hills.
>> If you're reading this Monday and your gift's gonna be late anyway, check out my list of eco Mother's Day gifts for any budget.
In other news:
>> The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area could get bigger. In what comes as a surprise, at least to me, President Bush signed legislation ordering the Interior Department to consider making additions to the protected area. Many obstacles -- including the high cost of land -- still remain.
>> How science-for-hire helps keep toxic chemicals legal. Read Newsweek's review of David Michaels' new book, "Doubt Is Their Product: How Industry's Assault on Science Threatens Your Health": "'Product-defense firms' have sprung up to spin the science and manufacture doubt—proudly. One boasted on its Web site of persuading the Food and Drug Administration to let an unnamed drug stay on the market for '10 additional years of sales' before the FDA banned it for harming people." (via enviroblog)
>> Dell says it'll reduce packaging waste, after bloggers call the company on it. A similar incident happened with the iPhone way back when: A girl put up a YouTube video about her 300+ page paper iPhone bill, prompting iPhone to make some quick changes.
>> New(ish) misleading excuse from anti-environmentalists: "It'll hurt the poor." That's what one guy getting money from Exxon claims will happen if polar bears are declared an endangered species.
Photo of fair trade rose courtesy of TransFair USA
Yes, you can de-gift, re-gift, DIY-gift, or make a simple gift donation in your mother's name to a good enviro-charity. But for those who want to send something a little more tangible, here are some cute new green gifts to consider:
 A FREE eco-friendly Mother's Day e-card -- that benefits women's heart health to boot. While I still think a thoughtful paper card -- with post-consumer recycled content, of course -- trumps most e-cards, the Toast To Mom e-cards, created by Clos du Bois, have a cause behind them. For each card sent, Clos du Bois will donate $1 to WomenHeart, a nonprofit that educates and advocates for American women living with heart disease. Cost: FREE -- plus a $1 donation.
 Solar-powered glowing flower pot decorations. The Rainforest Site has these cool Glow-in-the-Dark Flower Pot Stickers, made with hand-blown glass and seeded with phosphorescent crystals that store solar energy then glow gently in the dark. Plus, the Rainforest Site will plant a tree with every order. Cost: 3 for $19.95, plus a tree planted on your behalf.
A traditional flower arrangement -- eco-style. Don't buy the pesticide-ridden conventional flowers, many of which have lost most of their scent. Opt for Veriflora or organic certified flowers instead. Organic Style's bouquets begin at a reasonable $39.95
An eco-friendly pampering kit (right). The Lil' Lula bag from Lula Organics includes paraben-free body shampoo and soap, along with a natural wooden brush, pumice foot scrubber and both a lavender mist and lavender bag. Everything comes in a stylish striped reusable tote bag. Cost: $55
 An organic wine-pear-pistachio basket. Here's the gift I'd really want to get if I were a mama. Actually, here's a gift I'd like to get, period: The Ceago Sauvignon Blanc Presentation from Organic Style. Organic pistachios, organic pears, and a yummy bottle of 2006 Ceago Sauvignon Blanc, a biodynamic AND organic certified wine by Stellar. Cost: $69.95.
A ticket to the "Celebrate the Farmers' Market" reception and dinner, happening Sunday, May 18 from 6 p.m. - 10 p.m. at The Fairmont Miramar Hotel Santa Monica, 101 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica. Support the Santa Monica Farmers' Market while enjoying a gourmet meal created with farmers' market ingredients by famous local chefs like Josiah Citrin of Melisse and Neal Fraser of Grace and BLD. Proceeds of the event, which also includes a silent auction and raffle, will benefit the Southland Farmers' Market Assn., a nonprofit organization representing the interests of growers in California certified farmers' markets. Reserve your tickets -- which are available only in advance -- by calling (310) 455-0181 or emailing howell@sfma.net. Cost: $125 per person.
 Gorgeous organic, locally-grown lilies in an eco-friendly reusable bag of Ugly Betty fame. Local floral company Wisteria Lane Flower Shop's offering an arrangement of Oriental lilies, delivered in a tote bag made of repurposed juice boxes. Betty of Ugly Betty is constantly carrying around this tote, so this gift may prove especially popular with moms who're fans of the show. Plus, 10% of the sales price will be donated to Good Shepherd Shelter and Beyond Shelter, two Los Angeles-based shelters for battered and needy women. Cost: $130 with coupon code WL0408.
Images courtesy of Toast To Mom, Lula Organics, Organic Style, and Wisteria Lane
>> Lead found in Easter eggs and toys. "Thirteen of 45 items purchased off store shelves and tested by Ashland University chemistry students had paint made with lead, according to Jeffrey D. Weidenhamer," a chemistry professor. (via grist)
>> Dye your Easter eggs naturally, using everything from cranberries to coffee.
>> Knit yourself a green easter. Reusable knit Easter eggs (top photo), baby bunny beanies, and even Easter peeps are all creative knitting possibilities. Opt for recycled or eco-friendly yarns to make your DIY project greener.
>> For Easter-celebrating pet owners: Here's a cuddly Bunny and Bone set (right), made with organic cotton plush colored with a nontoxic dye.
>> How to green your pet. First step: Spay it forward.
And in other news:
>> Up to 85 California sea lions may be killed to save our dwindling salmon population. The National Marine Fisheries Service gave permission to kill these sea lions, provided that they've been seen eating salmon and are held for at least 48 hours before they are euthanized.
>> The ports of L.A. and Long Beach have proposed an incentive program to encourage ships to burn cleaner fuel when close to our coast. The $19-million proposal, which could go into effect July 1, is expected to lower local air pollution by 11%.
Top photo courtesy of Little Cotton Rabbits; bottom photo courtesy of Organic Style
>> Long Beach Airport's gotten a little greener with “Solar Lane" (above), a six-unit- pole-mounted 6.7 kW DC / 5.4 kW AC solar system that, according to the city, will generate about 15,000 kWh annually, saving $5,000 each year initially -- more as utility rates increase over the next 25 years.
>> In celebration of St. Patrick's Day, National Geographic put together a collection of gorgeous photos of Ireland.
>> Missed the green beer greenlist? Here it is.
Some eco-clean up tips for the stuff that wasn't covered during Green Clean week:
>> How to clean and remove deposits on your showerhead, using just vinegar and water!
>> How to clean your furnace filter. "A clean filter maximizes your furnace's efficiency and longevity -- and minimizes your energy bills." (via ATLA)
>> How to speed up your Windows XP, so you don't waste electricity -- and time -- unnecessarily. I took these steps over the weekend and am happy to say I'm spending less time waiting for the computer to catch up to me.
Photo courtesy of Dig Communications
>> Avoid the glass bottle
vs. aluminum debate -- The best choice is to drink local keg beer, says Slate's Green Lantern -- in your reusable glasses, of course.
>> Waste not, want not. Reduce waste and keep your St. Patty's Day party green with the help of Kegulator, which will help you figure out how much beer (even accounting for 11% spillage), ice, and cups you’ll need.
>> National Geographic's Green Guide also says drink local, organic beer, and lists some west coast organic breweries.
>> The Green Life notes some green beer companies in the U.S., including California's Sierra Nevada.
>> Check out beer activist Chris O'Brien's Fermenting Revolution: How to Drink Beer and Save the World to find out how to do good one pint at a time. Here's my review.
>> Don't stress yourself out too much with finding organic, L.A.-brewed-and-bottled beer in a keg at this late juncture. Try to hit one or two green criteria and call it a happy St. Patty's Day.
Now for stuff unrelated to beer:
>> An interview with green investor and fund manager Jackson Robinson, who says "nukes should be avoided. We don't have 10 years to solve the problem. There are other green technologies that are competitive."
>> The Government Accountability Office says the Environmental Protection Agency may have hampered research and public access to government information by closing its libraries without proper procedure. In December, a spending bill approved $1 million to reopen the libraries -- but the EPA has yet to do so. (via grist)
>> In happier EPA news, the EPA announced tough new diesel emissions laws for ships and trains that will require "locomotives and U.S.-flag ships and passenger ferries to cut soot by 90 percent and smog-causing chemical releases by 80 percent." (via grist)
Photo by dcmahon77 via Flickr
Roses are red, but soak up a whole lot of water while growing to form pretty blooms -- which perhaps made it appropriate to launch a campaign on Valentine's Day to protect a lake from international flower vendors that are both polluting and siphoning off lake water.
However, this campaign launch happened at the Wilshire restaurant in Santa Monica. The lake under question is Lake Naivasha in Kenya, East Africa. Which, for me, brought up this obvious question: Why is a campaign to protect a lake in Kenya happening at a ritzy restaurant in Santa Monica? What will motivate L.A. westsiders to get into this particular water issue, when we have water shortages and drought concerns happening right here?
Well, part of what The Food and Water Watch and The Council of Canadians -- the organizations behind this campaign -- are trying to point out is the fact that water issues far away are related to the consumer choices made right here. After all, most of the flowers grown using Lake Naivasha's resources are exported to Europe and the U.S. If we buy up these flowers without thinking, we're contributing to the continued environmental degradation in Kenya. Isn't global trade great?
At the launch lunch earlier today, Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food and Water Watch, talked passionately about the plight of Lake Naivasha, the third largest lake in Africa. The flower industry that's sprung up around Lake Naivasha pushes indigenous people off their tribal lands, pollutes the lake with pesticides, siphons off lake water needed by wildlife, and blatantly ignores workers' rights issues. That industry currently produces 25% of the roses sold in Europe.
Hauter said Lake Naivasha's waters are receding; the lake's likely to turn into a "sticky pond" in five years if changes aren't instituted. This means that whatever economic benefits Kenya is seeing from this flower trade is only temporary -- while the environmental degradation of Lake Naivasha will be long-lasting.
Maude Barlow, board president of Food and Water Watch, talked about the "virtual water trade" -- using local water resources to produce goods that gets exported. For example, Europe protects its own waters via tough environmental laws, thereby discouraging water-intensive industries such as that for flowers. However, European countries have no problem importing flowers from other countries that are basically draining their own natural resources for some short term cash.
In fact, even the U.S. exports a third of its water, said Barlow, mainly in the form of cheap corn and ethanol -- both products that are heavily subsidized by the federal government! Meanwhile, much of the U.S. is stressed about having enough water to support its population's needs!
What's a flower lover to do? While most of the U.S. flower imports come from Peru, Colombia, Equador, the same socio-environmental issues seen around Lake Naivasha apply to the farms in the countries we import from.
So I talked to Barlow after the talk, specifically asking her if fair trade flowers might be a viable option. After all, a couple farms in Kenya provide fair trade certified flowers for the U.S. And these farms not only address many labor issues, but also incorporate stricter environmental laws -- many aimed at conserving water.
Barlow said that she felt a sustainable flower industry around Lake Naivasha would only be possible AFTER a successful effort to restore the lake to its previous condition. We then talked about local flowers as an option -- but even with those, Barlow was concerned about the water use in California. After all, we have a desert-like climate. Is growing flowers a wise use of our limited freshwater resources?
Barlow said, somewhat ruefully, that she didn't sent flowers to her mom this year. She's now learned so much about water that she's basically unable to buy flowers. I mean, how can one buy water-intensive flowers for aesthetic purposes with the knowledge that people around the world are dying because they don't have access to clean water?
Of course, we can then ask: How dare we eat when others are starving? How dare we engage in any sort of frivolous activity -- listening to music, or blogging, say -- when people are dying in Darfur? Figuring out what's permissible or allowable in the land of plenty's very difficult with the knowledge that others don't even have their basic needs met. Should flowers be considered an environmentally destructive frivolity that all environmentalists should give up? Or should environmentalists go for more socio-eco ethical flower options, supporting more sustainable methods while boycotting the destructive practices?
As a girl who rarely buys flowers, I guess the conundrum isn't one that's so personal for me. Still, I'm not sure a complete boycott of all flowers is the right answer -- though it may be right for you. What I am sure of is that "conventional" flowers should be avoided. After all, you don't know where they came from, and you don't know what went into producing them.
If you buy flowers, make sure they fit into one of these four socio-enviro conscious options. And if you forgot to buy your loved one flowers this Valentine's Day -- Well, you have what I wrote above to use as your excuse.
Image courtesy of Food and Water Watch
 Think socio-eco friendly flowers are expensive? Not if you take advantage of the Valentine's Day special happening at Pasadena's Ten Thousand Villages tomorrow. The deal: A dozen fair trade certified roses for just $25 on Valentine's Day!
In fact, you can even get the roses free -- because 10KV's offering a free rose for every $10 you spend in the store. Go nuts and spend $120 in fairly-traded, eco-friendly gifts at the store, and you won't have to shell out a penny for your dozen roses.
 Best of all, if you buy the roses, ALL of that money will go to Fair Trade LA, a local group "committed to proactive, ideal/realistic solutions in a global movement for social and environmental justice." For each rose you get free, FTLA will get a buck from 10KV.
This special deal ONLY happens tomorrow, Feb. 14. Like Organic Rush, 10KV's one of those stores I'd be in all the time if it were closer to me. I got my gorgeous red bamboo fruit bowl (below) there. The store also has a great selection of affordable jewelry, purses, household items, and of course, fair trade chocolates and coffee.
 If you can't make it over there, here's another eco-flower special: A dozen certified organic roses from a local company for $89 -- tax and delivery included! Call Wisteria Lane Organic Floral Design at 888.345.6101 with promotional code WP0208 to receive the discount.
Ten Thousand Villages Pasadena. 496 S. Lake Ave. Pasadena. (626) 229-9892.
Green isn't always expensive -- though it sure can be! Here's how to celebrate Valentine's Day in green style both by and without breaking the bank:
 Big spender's card: A card that sprouts wildflowers. A Valentine's Day card printed with soy ink on 100% post-consumer recycled paper -- and embedded with seeds to boot! Plant it post-read, and you'll get to enjoy wildflowers. ($6.95 each; via Alternative Consumer)
 Cheapskate's card: A six-pack for bulk shoppers. Six cards made with 100% post-consumer recycled paper and decorated with recycled soda cans and discontinued paint swatches. ($10 for six; via ggg)
 Big spender's chocolate: Aphrodisiac Confection Collection from Theo Chocolate -- an 18-piece set of fair trade, organic chocolates featuring herbs and spices recognized for their aphrodisiac qualities. ($40)
 Cheapskate's chocolate: A Greater Gift’s Valentines Gift Box. 4 bars of organic, fair trade Divine Chocolate (two dark mint, one hazelnut milk and one white) — all in a handmade paper heart box from Nepal. ($18) Or go even cheaper with SLO Chai Chocolate. (15 pieces for $5.99) Even cheaper? Buy a single bar of fair trade, organic chocolate at your nearest Whole Foods.
 Big spender's gift basket: Valentine's Day Gift Basket of fair trade goodies. You get fair trade chocolate-covered espresso beans and chocolate bars, a 100% beeswax cinnamon-flavored heart candle in reusable tin, a large soapstone heart box from Kenya, an embroidered appliqué heart from Thailand, all in a handwoven kaisa grass basket from Bangladesh. ($54)
 Cheapskate's gift basket Night of Romance Bag. Recycled-glass wine-bottle holder from Ghana, bath tea, organic body oil, all in an eco-friendly jute bag under fair trade conditions. You will, however, have to spring for your own bottle of cheap organic wine. ($29.95)
Big spender's outfit: Love is in the Air dress. Gorgeous red tank dress, with a drop waist, full skirt, and corset-style tie back. Handmade in Los Angeles with 100% organic cotton to boot. ($330)
Cheapskate's outfit: Blue Canoe V-Tee in wine. 90% organic cotton, 10% Lycra, and on sale at Pangaya. ($15)
 Big spender's dog treat: Canine Valentine. Dog lovers can buy their best friend organic treats filled with vegetarian ingredients, which come with a refillable strawberry toy, made in the USA from non-toxic, recyclable materials. ($29.99)
 Cheapskate's dog treat: Canine mini cupcake. Get it at the eco pet store, My Pet Naturally, in Santa Monica. ($1.50)
If you're buying online, plan ahead -- Expedited shipping's generally less eco-friendly than ground shipping.
 The bad news: Conventional flowers often aren't very lovingly grown. Heavily sprayed with toxic and chemical pesticides, these flowers are sometimes produced via exploitative labor. The good news: Socio-eco-friendly flowers are getting easier to find every year! Get sweet-smelling ones, untainted with pesticides or exploitative labor. Your options:
Local: Hit your nearest farmers market! Make friends with your neighbors while supporting local agriculture and economy. Plus, your fresh flowers won't have accrued tons of carbon emissions from traveling halfway around the world. Bonus: You can find out directly from the seller where your flowers are from, and how they were grown.
Can't make it to the market? Get local, organic flowers at the click of a mouse from California Organic Flowers. The selection isn't wide, but the flowers are grown in Chico, Calif. and certified organic!
Organic: Why organic? Because you don't want your Valentine to be part of the problem: Roses dumped in fungicide to pass border inspections, all sorts of health hazards for people working in big flower companies, the runoff from pesticide and fertilizers used on flowers … Read Amy Stewart's Flower Confidential for more details -- or simply look for organic certified flowers when you shop. Many local flower shops have started to carry them.
Fair trade: Finally, fair-trade flowers have hit the U.S. market! Here's a way to make sure your flowers were produced by workers paid a fair wage, who also receive a fair-trade premium for community development (more details here). And while no fair-trade AND organic-certified flowers are available yet, these flowers do have to meet higher environmental guidelines regarding pesticide use. Unfortunately, you can't find them locally -- But 1-800 Flowers and samsclub.com are open 24-7 to serve your fair-trade flower needs.
 VeriFlora: While not as stringent as fair-trade certification, VeriFlora-certified flowers also meet some minimum environmental and social criteria. And many VeriFlora-certified farms in the U.S. and Canada (fair-trade certification only applies to products produced in Third World countries) have gone beyond the minimum requirements to get organic-certified too. These flowers are getting easier to find at local retail locations; Trader Joe's has VeriFlora and organic-certified tulips sometimes.
If in a pinch, you can order from Organic Style; The top photo's a bunch of VeriFlora roses offered. Some bouquets even support a charity cause. (Note: While all of Organic Bouquet flowers are VeriFlora-certified, only a few, like these White Calla lilies, are organic-certified. Be sure to read the product description if you're looking specifically for organic flowers).
 Reusable: These recycled paper flowers, made of eco-friendly materials in Thailand under fair-trade conditions -- could be the Valentine's gift that lasts year 'round.
Which option's best? That depends on so many different factors -- the water usage at farms, the mode of transport for flowers, the fair labor standards of various countries, etc. Plus, some of these criteria just can't be compared. How do you weigh the exploitation of farm workers against, say, the degradation of our environment -- and say one's more important than the other?
Trying to find the "best" option at a certain point gets to be unproductive, especially at this moment, when all of these options combined still make up only a teensy percentage of the flower market. I generally go with local, partly because I like buying from close to the source, partly because I'm at the farmers market regularly and I find it convenient. I'd go with the one that appeals to you for whatever reason, and/or is the most readily available for your situation.
Don't forget the eco-vase for the flowers. A couple pretty ones: A red recycled glass vase (right, $28) and a hand-crafted recycled copper vase ($47.99).
Photos and images courtesy of Organic Style, TransFair USA, VeriFlora and 3R Living
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Last minute eco-Mother's Day gifts:
Emerald City calendar