Yep. Coke has found an “unapproved fungicide” in its orange juice, and the orange juice of its competitors. So, there’s an approved fungicide for orange juice? I guess so.

The problem came from Brazilian growers who sprayed their trees with the “unapproved fungicide.”

I don’t drink OJ often, but I was craving some recently. I don’t like buying large containers of OJ since it ends up being wasted. Just yesterday, I saw a small container of Simply Orange, and decided to put in it my cart. But guess what? Simply Orange has juice from Brazil. I don’t know if this is the juice that’s contaminated, but I’ve learned my lesson anyway.

I’m annoyed that the FDA and Coke aren’t yet naming the affected or suspect orange juice brands. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that shipments of orange juice will be stopped at ports for testing. Coke makes Simply Orange and Minute Maid.

Simply Orange is going back to the store, and I’m never buying conventional orange juice again. I don’t need any fungicides, approved or not. The EPA says that we shouldn’t worry over fungicides at such low levels, but I think that’s ridiculous.

Oranges aren’t even on the dirty dozen list, so these fungicide findings are making me wonder whether any conventionally grown fruits are safe.

Please call Coke to demand better quality control: 1-800-GET-COKE (438-2653). I doubt that the problem is isolated to Coke, but they’re one of the largest makers of orange juice, so it’s a good place to start. Again, I don’t buy OJ often, but now I’m looking for a safe option for the few times I do purchase it.

Do you have a favorite organic orange juice brand?

UPDATE 1/12/12: I just called Minute Maid/Coke. I wouldn’t tell you to do something I wouldn’t do myself!

The person I talked with, Tommy, was very friendly and had plenty of information about this issue. He explained that Coke quickly notified regulators about the problem when they discovered it. They were the whistle blowers.

I pointed out that it took a few weeks between them blowing that whistle and the news story coming out. He pointed out that with Simply Orange sometimes all the oranges used do come from the U.S., but it’s not always possible. He also said that the low levels of fungicides detected were deemed safe, so there’s no recall. There was no offer of refund.

I pointed out that I’d like to see an organic option from the company. He said that was great feedback to give to their executives and he got my ZIP code.

If it’s one thing I can assume about Kroger it’s that they can definitely afford to give customers bag credits. They’ve almost totally taken over my local grocery store scene. In fact, they’re the only  large grocery chain in my area. I’m guessing here, but something tells me that stopping the bag credit has nothing to do with money.

I think that Kroger stores would have appreciated saving a few bags, so I’m puzzled by their actions. I hope the reusable bag credit at Kroger hasn’t died because the employees didn’t like dealing with consumers taking their own bags. No one ever complained to me though. And even if they didn’t like it, they’re stuck with me and my reusable bags.

Maybe Kroger’s excuse is lack of participation from customers. If that’s the problem, why not advertise the bag credit? I never saw a sign, or anything encouraging customers to use their own bags. Perhaps Kroger folks should have a chat with the Whole Foods people.

Luckily, Target stores in my area still offer a reusable bag credit, and they’re very consistent about giving it to me when I shop there. Some Target stores also offer groceries, including organic options.

While receiving a credit for taking your own bags is nice, there are many other reasons to develop and continue the reusable bag habit.

• Most plastic bags are made with oil! We’re addicted enough to petro already. Let’s take plastic bags out of the equation.

• Plastic bags are dangerous to wildlife.

• Plastic bags are junking up our oceans.

• These lightweight bags have a nasty habit of becoming litter. You’ve seen them in treetops, right? How are they getting there? They float out of landfills.

• Plastic bags are puny. It takes more of them to do the job of one good reusable bag. Plus, I’ve still never had a reusable bag break on me.

• A plastic bag can take up to 1,000 years to decompose.

No, paper bags aren’t a good alternative. They require even more energy to produce. Next time you fill out a survey for Kroger or talk to a manger, let them know you’d like to see their reusable bag credit reinstated.

The goal is to donate $100,000 worth of new toys to Toys for Tots. As of Wednesday night, $25,250 worth of toys were donated. You have until Friday, December 23 to donate.

After you fill the virtual Prius v with a new toy, help spread the word using #moreprius on Twitter or Facebook.

The offenders may be your mortgage company or your airline. For some reason, people I do business with think I want to open a special credit card with them. No thanks, United Airlines. I can’t remember flying with you anyhow.

I’ve been lazy about calling up these people recently. I’ve been shredding the personal info on these offers then recycling those messy shreds. I throw the non-personal stuff, like those pages-long terms and conditions, in the recycling container. Like you may imagine, I’m growing more annoyed with wasting my time and with the waste of paper.

I’ve opted out of receiving direct mail in the past, but that was a few addresses and years ago. They catch up with you when they can.

You can opt out from receiving all prescreened credit card or insurance offers. Visit the FTC consumer alert on how to stop receiving unsolicited mail.

Just today, I called the credit card offer numbers on both my mortgage company mailings and an airline. Both of these companies have been sending me, I kid you not, at least four offers a month. They mail the same offers to my husband.

I’m ashamed that it’s taken me months to opt out of these two companies. I suppose I get complacent with recycling them. However, it was extremely easy to talk with these people. One of them even apologized for the inconvenience.

You don’t have to stain your eyes looking for an opt-out phone number. Just call the main number on the offer. They’ll take special care of you! After you tell the person who answers very quickly that you want to opt-out, they may be able to take care of you.

One person immediately took me off the list. The other person had to transfer me, but altogether it only took about five minutes to get off both lists.

Here are some tips for opting out of credit card offers:

Get off all mailings for five years or permanently. Read more at the FTC. If you don’t want to opt out of everything, keep reading for tips on contacting individual companies.

Keep the mailing handy. If you call an individual company, they’ll want to know exactly how your name appears on the mailing, even if your name isn’t spelled correctly. In some cases, you may need to provide different versions of how your name appears on the mailings (with middle initial, etc.). While this may seem annoying, you’ll get it all knocked out in one phone call versus having to call back.

Call companies together if possible. Most companies won’t let you opt out your spouse, but they will let you hand the phone over to talk with the spouse to get his or her name off the list as well.

Expect a wait. It may take up to 90 days to stop receiving mailings from some of these companies. Write down the date you called, and by all means call as soon as possible!

How many credit card offers do you receive each month?

What could be better? Maybe it’s time to start a new tradition.

In case you haven’t heard, Saturday, Novemeber 26 is the second annual Small Business Saturday.

No one gets all their shopping done in a single day, but everyone can find a way to support a small business this weekend.

Not sure where to start?

Are you lucky enough to live near a locally owned bookstore? Or how about a small pet store, farmer’s market, gift shop, antique store, cafe, baking supplies store, or crafts shop?

You can also shop small online at places like Taraluna, home to Fair Trade and organic gifts.

Are you going to shop small Saturday?

Yeah, I wanted to sit in it, but that guard wouldn’t have liked it. Remembering my days of getting in trouble with art museum guards for various offensives like carrying a backpack purse on both shoulders in DC or chewing gum at my local museum, I opted to just photograph this beauty. That is allowed.

Not many of us have the skills or even imagination to turn cable ties into art, but observing art that’s been created from mundane objects has a certain magic. Lots of objects that we throw out in our everyday lives can actually be reused, and companies like TerraCycle continue to turn our trash into something useful.

Please check back again for more interesting art from my recent visit to San Francisco, including a totem pole made of hat blocks and a house made of gun parts and bullets.

How do you feel about art that’s been created from everyday objects?

Something tells me you won’t hear Fox News talking about findings from Berkeley Earth Project, which reveal that Earth really is warming. I wonder if Rick Perry got the memo?

I guess the manufactured Climategate was so popular because everyone loves a scandal, but this new research shows us that scientists have closely replicated the findings of those accused of manipulating data and exaggerating global warming during all the Climategate nonsense. And what’s so great about this is that the Berkeley scientists were partially funded by people who lobby against the acceptance of global warming as manmade!

BBC reports that part of the funding for the Berkeley group’s research came from the Koch brothers, billionaire industrialists who give money to lobbyists who want us all to think that global warming isn’t real.

After all the accusations of Climategate, there was a decline in the number of people who believe that global warming is real. The media should be giving the new research more coverage. How else will the harm done by e-mail hackers be overcome? I don’t dare dream that anyone will apologize for accusing scientists of manipulating data, but more people can now talk about how new findings support previous research completed by scientists who were demonized by groups who want to brainwash us all.

Do you believe Earth is warming?

Abe’s is a blend of online stores like Etsy and your local retail markets like Whole Foods. Plus, they offer reasonable, or free, shipping.

Light Green Stairs readers can save on these natural products with a unique coupon code: ENB-qjxyj8. Just enter the special one-time only discount code when you check out at Abe’s to receive $10 off an order of $30 or more.

Happy shopping! (What’s pictured? Why, it’s the pretty Sunflower Banana Butter Truffle by Nicobella!)

The book is Leave No Trace: The Vanishing North American Wilderness.

Even though I really dislike flying, I have to admit I do envy  Wark’s decades of flying above the wilderness. At least he’s sharing his beautiful landscapes! (Disclosure: I received a complimentary review copy of this book.)

Before Leave No Trace, I’d never given much thought to visiting Southern Utah, but the images of Canyonlands National Park convinced me to put the many parks in that area on my vacation list. Just a few of the other places photographed include Michigan, Oregon, Hawaii, Alaska, California, Colorado, Washington, Canada, Newfoundland and Costa Rica.

The more than 300 images in the book were photographed at low altitudes, sometimes dangerously close to mountains. Leave No Trace is divided into several sections according to geographical characteristics, but pretty much anything amazing you can imagine is represented: deserts, hoodoos, coasts, woodlands, tundras, prairies, wetlands, volcanoes, glaciers, dunes and the list goes on. It seems like the only thing that was forgotten was to print the book on recycled paper.

The essays by wilderness historian Robert Nash help us to see how we’ve gotten to this present day of limited wild places, and they shed light on the continuing struggle to keep our North American wilderness from vanishing for good. 

I hate to call Leave No Trace a coffee table book. It seems like so much more than that, but… if you’re searching for a coffee-table-type book as a gift to someone you love, or as a treat to yourself, you’re likely to be really amazed with this choice. Happy viewing and reading.

I love the simple look of the spice jar labels from Penzeys Spices. It’s almost enough to make me forgive them for not carrying organic spices.

The Penzeys labels have an innocent, almost country feel to them. They fit well with the vintage fruit labels I have on the wall in my breakfast area and the wooden side table.

PS – Amazingly, my cats haven’t bothered the petunias I’ve brought inside. They must know that they’re non-toxic for cats, hence they’re boring!