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Five Reasons to Shop Local for the Holidays

Posted by ep-admin on Tuesday, 06 December 2011 in Buy Local

You don't have to travel far.By shopping local you don't have to travel far and if you're lucky enough to have a town center like we do you can park once and hit all the stores. This is particularly nice if you have small children.You don't have to battle the lines at the mall.Shopping local means t...

Food Miles

Posted by ep-admin on Tuesday, 06 December 2011 in Buy Local

Surprise -- your potatoes are better traveled than you are. American food travels an average of 1,500 to 2,500 miles from farm to table, reports the Worldwatch Institute.A "food mile" is the distance food travels from the farm to the store where you buy it, and these miles are costly to the environm...

The Inefficiency of Local Food

Posted by ep-admin on Tuesday, 06 December 2011 in Buy Local

Two members of Congress earlier this month introduced legislation advancing a food reform movement promising to help resolve the great environmental and nutritional problems of the early 21st century. The intent is to remake the agricultural landscape to look more like it did decades ago. But unless...

How To Buy Local

Posted by ep-admin on Tuesday, 06 December 2011 in Buy Local

What types of local food outlets are available?Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is an arrangment or partnership made between community members and a particular local farm. In a CSA farm, consumers can purchase seasonal "shares" which entitle them to weekly f...

How Buying Locally Will Help You and Your Local Community

Posted by ep-admin on Tuesday, 06 December 2011 in Buy Local

Support your local economyRelying on imported goods doesn't sustain your local economy and may drive out small businesses. Imagine if your home town or village only had one or two large chains of shops rather than a number of independently run small businesses. For me personally, that would not be a...

Why Buy Local? 10 Reasons to Buy Local Food

Posted by ep-admin on Tuesday, 06 December 2011 in Buy Local

Local food tastes better. The crops are picked at their peak, and farmstead products like cheese are hand crafted for the best flavor. Food imported from far away is older, has traveled on trucks or planes, and has sat in warehouses before it finally gets to you. ...

No Greenwashing: Advertising Green Products

Posted by ep-admin on Wednesday, 30 November 2011 in Green Products/Services

From grocery stores specializing in organic foods to green builders, Western North Carolina is home to a growing number of businesses that provide “green” products and services intended to provide benefits to the consumer and the environment. Because of the strong market for these products and servi...

What is an Environmental Exhange?

Posted by ep-admin on Wednesday, 30 November 2011 in Sustainable Development

Putting Back What Is Used Through Offsets and ExchangesSustainable business requires making changes to the way your business thinks; it means changing business practices through purchasing and providing products and services that have a positive impact on the environment AND the economy.Why an Envir...

Sustainable Industries Announces Top 10 Green Building Products

Posted by ep-admin on Wednesday, 30 November 2011 in Green Design

Sixth-annual awards competition nets the biggest field of nominees to date. Sustainable Industries today announced the winners of its sixth annual Top 10 Green Building Products awards and the launch of its Top 10 website. This year’s winners were selected by a panel of expert judge...

Carbon Is Taxing

Posted by ep-admin on Wednesday, 30 November 2011 in Fossil Fuels

A carbon tax bill is introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. Nine House Democrats introduced a bill on October 24 which would create a "simple tax on carbon," in the words of its lead sponsor, Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA). The bill, the Save Our Climate Act (HR 3242), probably doesn’t have a ...

Another Letter to Obama about Climate Change

Posted by ep-admin on Sunday, 27 November 2011 in Climate Change

Dear President Obama, Two years ago, I wrote you a letter. I talked about climate change, and hope, and about a generation pulling together. I did not tell you that I myself was falling apart. The gory details are not important– life can break your heart, and sometimes it conspires to break i...

Sustainable Buildings Grow in Popularity Across U.S.

Posted by ep-admin on Sunday, 27 November 2011 in Green Products/Services

This article talks a lot about the LEED certification system so I am first posting a description of what LEED is and how/who is certified. LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is an internationally-recognized green building certification system. Developed by the U.S. Green Buildi...

Cleaning Up Your Cleaners

Posted by ep-admin on Saturday, 26 November 2011 in Green Products/Services

Using household cleaners can be more dangerous than you thought. What is in the cleaners you are using and how do you know if they are safe?! Before you even begin cleaning up your home, you might want to consider starting with the cleaning products you already have. You may be wondering, wha...

Going Bottleless at the Office: Water Cooler Alternatives to Save Costs and the Environment

Posted by ep-admin on Saturday, 26 November 2011 in Green Products/Services

5 gallon water coolers are often thought of as the alternative to having a water bottle at the office or your home. Rarely do we think about the fact that those water bottles end up in the landfill eventually as well. This article represent a geat alternative to all water bottles! Gathering around ...

The Eco Fashion Revolution: Getting Consumers to Care About What They Wear

Posted by ep-admin on Tuesday, 08 November 2011 in Beauty and Fashion

Today's eco designers don't talk about being inspired by leaves falling or icecaps melting; they're starry-eyed for futuristic-looking chairs, towering skyscrapers and folding bicycles. They're thinking like architects, leading with design and textile as opposed to an activist agenda. "The ...

Why is Eco-Fashion So Hot?

Posted by ep-admin on Tuesday, 08 November 2011 in Beauty and Fashion

Top Fashion Designers Turn Eco-Friendly Fabrics Into Haute CoutureBy Larry West, About.com http://environment.about.com/od/earthtalkcolumns/a/ecofashion.htm Dear EarthTalk: What’s up with these “eco-fashions” I keep hearing about? – Glenn Hammond, San Francisco, CASimply put, the term “eco-fashion...

Waste Couture: Environmental Impact of the Clothing Industry

Posted by ep-admin on Monday, 07 November 2011 in Beauty and Fashion

On a Saturday afternoon, a group of teenage girls leaf through glossy fashion magazines at a New Jersey outlet mall. Shopping bags brimming with new purchases lay at their feet as they talk excitedly about what’s in style to wear this summer. Far away in Tanzania, a young man proudly wears...

The Truth About Vivisection - laws and regulations concerning animal testing

Posted by ep-admin on Monday, 07 November 2011 in Beauty and Fashion

What is wrong with experimenting on animals? No lab rat (or dog or monkey) ever signed a consent form. In and of itself, this constitutes an ethical problem with the experimenting on animals practice of experimenting on non-human animals for the hypothetical benefit of humans. What animals are use...

Cosmetic Animal Testing Facts and Alternatives

Posted by ep-admin on Monday, 07 November 2011 in Beauty and Fashion

I came across this article and was impressed at the wide scope of information it offered in such a short, easy to read article. I found respect in the fact that it offered alternative solutions to animal testing and also mentioned the fact that tests done on animals is not transferable to humans. T...

Why should we buy organic clothing as opposed to conventional clothing?

Posted by ep-admin on Sunday, 06 November 2011 in Beauty and Fashion

Conventional or non-organic cotton and polyester make up approximately 80% of all fiber production globally. This production is about equal between cotton and polyester (Acordis in Sheffer, 2005). First, let’s talk about conventional cotton.Cotton requires lots of water. For example, approximately 1...