You can put old tires to good use. Well, for those of us who aren’t extra crafty like that, you can buy tires that have been turned into a purse or iPod or mobile phone case. And the prices are reasonable. Plus, you’re supporting Fair Trade when you pick up these recycled tire products from Taraluna, one of my fave online shops for Fair Trade items.
I don’t have any kind of affiliation with Taraluna, and they don’t advertise on this site. But when I saw these new Fair Trade and recycled items at a very reasonable price, I had to pass it along. Plus, this is an easy and fun back-from-vacation type post!
One of Taraluna’s producers in Nepal was situated directly across from a place that was burning tires (eek), so they came up with this solution and stopped the burning. The waterproof tire purses and other accessories (like coin purses or wallets) help provide work at fair wages. And the tire bags have a lot of pockets and details. Some may even have the Goodyear logo!
Wouldn’t it be nice if you knew for sure that the Hershey bar you’re using to make s’mores with wasn’t created with child labor?
Today, June 12, is World Day Against Child Labor, created by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2002 to bring attention to the problem of child labor, which can deprive children of an education and other basic freedoms like good health and leisure time.
Unfortunately, Hershey hasn’t yet agreed to any third-party certification programs to ensure their cocoa supply isn’t part of the child labor problem.
Major chocolate companies like Kraft, Mars and Cadbury agreed to certification programs with labor standards, so why can’t Hershey do the same?
Green America wants you to use World Day Against Child Labor as an opportunity to reach Hershey. Ask them to go Fair Trade with their cocoa to ensure it’s free of child labor.
For details on how to contact Hershey and what to say when you do, visit the Green America Ask Hershey to Go Fair Trade page.
Gulf Aid Art, with 100% of proceeds going to Gulf Aid, will take place in the New Orleans Arts District, June 17-19 at the Jonathan Ferrara Gallery.
Many talented artists will be featured, so please drop by if you can. If not, check out Gulf Aid anyway. It’s a nonprofit established to help with the Gulf oil spill crisis.
Art by Krista Jurisich, 2 x’s the Charm
Mixed Media, 16 x 20 in. , $250
(Image viaJonathan Ferrara Gallery)
While the giant Gulf oil spill will continue to affect wildlife for years to come, have you thought about what could have been done with the oil that’s on a killing spree?
First, I have to say that I’m against drilling for oil deep in the ocean for obvious reasons (just ask the brown pelicans), but James J. Corbett, a professor of marine policy at the University of Delaware, has been doing some serious research into what could have been.
According to Corbett, on May 31 (day 41 day of the oil spill), the lost fuel could have powered a freight truck during 17 trips across all 4 million miles of U.S. highway.
But we don’t need to rely on offshore drilling.
Corbett says that if automobile fuel economy is improved to 35.5 miles per gallon, which is proposed by the Obama administration, then we’d offset demand equal to the energy lost by 199 years of Deepwater Horizon daily releases.
With summer coming up, chances are that many of you (lucky people) are planning a vacation.
If you’re flying, think about which airlines make an honest attempt at recycling passenger trash. That’s important since airline passengers create around 881 million pounds of waste per year when flying! All those individually wrapped items are a topic for another post….
A few months ago, Green America gave marks to popular airlines. And, sadly, it wasn’t very pretty. However, something tells me you’re not surprised.
Green America’s report, “What Goes Up Must Go Down: The Sorry State of Recycling in the Airline Industry,” was published by their consumer watchdog website, Responsible Shopper.
Not even one airline recycles all the common recyclables — glass, aluminum cans, plastic and paper.
When you’re asked to fill out a survey about your experience with an airline, do the earth a favor and mention how important you think recycling and waste reduction is.
According to the report, Delta, Virgin America, Virgin Atlantic and Southwest are doing better than the rest when it comes to recycling passenger trash. Airlines doing the worst job of recycling passenger trash include United and US Airways.
Frombest to worst, here are all of Green America’s airline recycling ratings:
Dear BP CEO Tony Hayward,
We demand that BP make public all data that would help scientists, the government and the public understand how much oil is flowing into the Gulf and how best to respond to it. We have the right to know what’s happening to our oceans, air and coastlines.
To sign, you’ll need to include your name, email and ZIP, but it’s quick and easy. You may also include a custom message that Repower America will send along as well.
Why would BP keep information secret?
Repower America, launched by Al Gore in 2008, believes that they’re doing this to lower their liability in court. If spill estimates are smaller, liability may be lower.
There’s a simple thing you can do to help with oil spill cleanup. Donate your hair for the Gulf Spill Hair Boom Project! Well, not all of it, of course, but save those extra locks the next time you get a trim. If you work at a salon or pet grooming business, you can set aside a box for this.
Your hair or pet’s fur, collected from grooming, can be used to make hair booms and hair mats. Matter of Trust is organizing a massive effort to collect these items which are amazingly good at soaking up oil. Just watch the video below to see how well hair and fur soak up oil.
Here’s exactly what Matter of Trust uses for their hair booms and hair mats: head hair, fur, wool, fleece, feathers and nylons. And they’re also in need of funding.
What’s a hair boom? Fibers like hair, feathers or fur are stuffed into recycled nylons and covered in mesh to make a hair boom. Hair mats are woven from the donated materials when possible. Both of these items may be used to soak up oil from spills.
While Matter of Trust has a bunch of hair on hand at the moment, they’re asking that new sign-ups keep a box in reserve for future use as their warehouses are cleared. However, they do need nylons and funding right now to help with putting all the hair they have to use. Get all the details on how to sort out your donations and sign up for this innovative program.
I’m wondering if makers of disposable diapers are starting to feel threatened by all the cute reusable cloth diapers on the market today.
Huggies has come out with diapers that look like jeans. They’re called Little Movers Jeans Diapers, and the marketing is brave. They come right out and use the word “poop” in their commercials to air on some networks starting May 31, as The New York Times reports.
I wanted to hurl a little when I read the quote that closes the article. A marketing chic said, “The first who has these in the play group, wins.”
Really? Cause last I heard kids who wear cloth diapers are potty trained earlier. And their parents save precious cash. Plus, all that poop plastic won’t be sitting in landfills. Hmm, not to mention baby bottoms wearing cloth diapers get to miss out on all those nasty chemicals and dyes, which in some cases may cause diaper rash or worse.
If you think Huggies and Pampers should start offering cloth diapers, tell them, please. We don’t need more decorator disposables in the world.
are made of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) 
