Posts Tagged coffee

Green America's January GreenBox: The Way to Save Over 61% on Green Goods

Jan 3

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“Buy the GreenBox and save over 61% on product samples and green coupons from green businesses. Each month we will feature a new GreenBox with selected products and coupons. We only have 100 GreenBox’s for January so buy one today and start off 2012 on the right foot.

January GreenBox Includes:
- 50% off Coupon to PureBlanz - Organic Tshirts and Fashion
- Full Circle Home Veggie Ring Brush
- Green Irene Kitchen Cleaning Kit
- Lotus Moon Essentials Sunscreen (1 bottle)
- Foods Alive Flax Crackers (3 oz)
- Mountain Green Laundry Detergent and Fabric Softener
- One World Flowers 15% off Coupon
- 30 minute nutrition & lifestyle consultation from Wild Success
- Grounds for Change Fair Trade Organic Coffee (6 oz)
- Glee Gum (Sugar-Free 15 pc Pack)
- 50% off Organic Soap from Wembe Soap Company
- Esutras Organics Cooking Oil (1 oz)

About the GreenBox Sponsors & Companies
Pure Blankz offers fashion organic basics, wholesale and retail sales of tshirts, tees, tank tops onsies and hoodies for women, baby & men.

Full Circle offers a full line of stylish, functional products made from sustainable and renewable resources. Like scrub brushes with sleek, bamboo handles and sponges made from cellulose, a plant-based fiber. We’ve even made pot scrubbers that fully biodegrade.

Green Irene offers Effective, Safe, Sustainable Enzyme Cleaners. You are on your way to effective, safe and sustainable cleaning.

Lotus Moon Essentials (SMB Essentials) develops skin care products that are healthy for the body – inside and out…”

Via Green Deals by Green America.  Read more.

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Activist wants ban on paper coffee cups

Jun 2

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“Gulp the coffee, skip the cup

Karin de Weille has launched a campaign in the heart of caffeine country to get people to kick the paper habit. “I think Seattle can push the frontier,” she said at Seattle Green Festival, a two-day celebration of ecofriendliness where the effort got its official start on May 21. The thin plastic coating that keeps most cups from turning to mush complicates recycling. Only a handful of cities try, including Seattle. But even if cups are recycled, it still requires enormous amounts of energy and resources to manufacture and ship them, de Weille told theSeattle Times. Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin endorsed the initiative, which urges participants to whip out their own reusable cups for mochas on the go or “for here.” Americans go through 56 billion paper cups every year, according to statistics compiled by International Paper. Starbucks alone gulps up 3 billion.”

Activist wants ban on paper coffee cups via St. Petersburg Times

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Should Seattle kick its paper cup habit?

May 26

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“Double-cupping on your morning cup of Joe will be a thing of the past if some activists have anything to say about it.

And so will paper cups in general.

Seattleite Karin de Weille recently launched an ambitious campaign to banish disposable cups from the everyday routines of people all over the city. She believes quitting to-go cups is a lot like detoxing from any addiction: The first few weeks are the hardest.”

Should Seattle kick its paper cup habit? via Amy Rolph – SeattlePi – Seattle’s Big Blog

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Chicago Declared Nation's Largest Fair Trade Town

May 6

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Chicago has officially met all of the criteria to be declared a Fair Trade Town and joins the ranks of nearly 1,000 Fair Trade Towns throughout the world, including London, Rome, Barcelona and Boston. The city is now the largest Fair Trade Town in the United States and the second largest in the world.

Oakland, CA  - May 6, 2011 Fair Trade USA™, the leading third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States, today announced that Chicago is the largest Fair Trade Town in the United States and the second largest in the world. Chicago has officially met all of the criteria to be declared a Fair Trade Town and joins the ranks of nearly 1,000 Fair Trade Towns throughout the world, including London, Rome, Barcelona and Boston. A celebration and global marketplace takes place today from 9am-6pm in Daley Plaza to commemorate Chicago’s newest claim to fame.

“We applaud the work that Chicago Fair Trade has done to build a network of citizens and businesses committed to social justice, environmental sustainability and the empowerment of farmers in the developing world,” said William Linstead Goldsmith, National Coordinator of Fair Trade Towns USA.“Meeting the criteria to become a Fair Trade Town was not an easy feat for such a big city, but Chicago has proven that it’s possible, and the city has set an example for other large metropolitan areas to follow.”

The campaign to make Chicago a Fair Trade town has been underway for more than two years, an effort let by Nancy Jones, director of Chicago Fair Trade. Jones added, “As strategies for global stability are being re-assessed, we think the city’s commitment to Fair Trade sends a significant message to our global trade partners that we are concerned about their development as well as our own.” Chicago Fair Trade is a nonprofit organization made up of individuals, businesses, students and NGO’s that are committed to raising awareness and support for Fair Trade within their community in order to make a larger impact on farming communities abroad.

The celebration in Chicago’s Daley Plaza will feature a global marketplacewith 20 fair trade vendors selling products that protect the environment and pay producers a living wage, as well as interactive activities and West African drum music. Department of Environment Commissioner Suzanne Malec-McKenna and Roxanna Salvador, leader of a fair trade cocoa cooperative in Ecuador will provide brief remarks. Jerome McDonnell, host of WBEZ’s World View program will emcee.

Fair Trade is a multi-stakeholder effort to alleviate poverty in the developing world. It empowers consumers to vote with their dollars for fair prices, better working conditions, environmental stewardship, and brighter futures for the people who make the high-quality products that we buy every day.

The specific criteria to be officially recognized as a Fair Trade Town include showcasing Fair Trade products available in local stores, developing an active citizen support network, collaborating with community institutions, engaging media, and formalizing support from the local government. These criteria are designed to empower citizens to develop a permanent platform in their communities for continued outreach and advocacy.

Fair Trade Towns USA unites a diverse group of inspired Fair Trade activists including project collaborators the Fair Trade Federation, a North American trade association of organizations fully committed to Fair Trade, and the Fair Trade Resource Network, which gathers, develops, and disseminates educational resources to people and organizations interested in the movement. The goal of the campaign is to raise consumer awareness, increase the availability of Fair Trade products, and drive sales in order to help lift millions of farming families out of poverty. Fair Trade Towns USA is funded in part by a generous grant of $50,000 from Green Mountain Coffee®, and a three-year commitment of $925,000 from the Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Foundation.

There are now 21 Fair Trade Towns in the United States, including Boston, San Francisco, Madison, Burlington and Milwaukee. On June 4, 2011 the global Fair Trade community will celebrate the naming of the 1,000th Fair Trade Town. There are currently 40 active campaigns to create additional Fair Trade Towns in the United States, including campaigns in Austin, Oakland, Los Angeles and Seattle.

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About Fair Trade USA
Fair Trade USA (previously TransFair USA), a nonprofit organization, is the leading third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States. Fair Trade USA audits and certifies transactions between U.S. companies and their international suppliers to guarantee that the farmers and workers producing Fair Trade Certified goods were paid fair prices and wages, work in safe conditions, protect the environment, and receive community development funds to empower and uplift their communities. Fair Trade USA educates consumers, brings new manufacturers and retailers into the Fair Trade system, and provides farming communities with tools, training and resources to thrive as international businesspeople. Visit www.FairTradeUSA.org for more information.

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DISPOSABLE CUPS HAVE GOT TO GO

May 6

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New 3-week community-wide campaign to kick the disposable cup habit

SEATTLE, WA – May 5, 2011 A unique three-week effort to prompt a simultaneous shift in one of our country’s biggest waste problems begins May 21.

Led by New World Habits and supported by coffee shops, non-profits and others, the idea for sudden change is prompted by the theory that any habit can be changed with a concerted three week effort.  This theory will be put to the test in Seattle.

The good news is that you don’t have to give up your coffee.  You simply need to bring your own cup, just as most of us have learned to bring our own bag to the grocery store.

The habit change is relatively painless yet important as Americans throw away almost half a million cups every 15 seconds.  Last year, paper cup usage created close to 400 million pounds of solid waste, and that represents almost a third more than just 4 years earlier!  Our thoughtless disposal of single-use items is getting out of control.  This trend must be reversed.

Via the website, New World Habits will provide the two essential ingredients to facilitate change:  support and a  deadline, not to mention the added incentive of a magnified collective impact that is practically instantaneous.  The website will track the growing numbers.

Participants will join the effort online and then they can watch a change in personal habits become part of a much larger wave of change.  The actual 3-week shift will launch at Green Fest, who is partnering in the initiative along with Sustainable Seattle, Zero Waste Seattle and other organizations.   Equally important is the collaboration of coffeehouses, including Caffe Ladro, who will promote the effort by offering discounts.  Individuals are encouraged to approach their neighborhood coffeehouses (or office, cafeteria, or community organization) to get them involved:  the website offers a flier, including a list of incentives for businesses.  Everything is designed to make it easy for the movement to spread at the grassroots level.

“It’s not as difficult as we make it out to be,” says founder and executive director Karin de Weille.  “We need to show ourselves that we have the power, that we are the adaptable organisms that today’s fast-changing world requires.”  And she believes Seattle is the perfect place to test this point.  Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin concurs, “This initiative is another example of Seattle’s environmental leadership.  Let’s show that we can do this, and our success will be duplicated in other cities.”

The campaign addresses the powerlessness we often feel as individuals.  According to de Weille, “We often feel overwhelmed and so we retreat into denial and a sense of powerlessness.  We find reasons to maintain habits whose value we’ve come to doubt.  Deciding to carry a reusable cup can become a powerful way to align ourselves with what we know to be true and necessary.  And when we make this single move together, we feel that much more empowered as a community to steer our way into the future.  Really, the goals of the campaign are quite broad.  A campaign targeting disposable cups is one way in.  And an especially good way here in Seattle, where we drink a lot of coffee!”

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ABOUT NEW WORLD HABITS

Founded in Seattle in 2010 and aimed at empowering individuals and groups to shift personal behavior and through collaboration move towards a future they believe in.

CONTACT:

Karin de Weille

New World Habits

tel. 808-443-8373

Karin@NewWorldHabits.org

www.NewWorldHabits.org

facebook page:  Reusable Cup Campaign

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100,000 Expected to Participate in World Fair Trade Day Events Across North America

May 5

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Hundreds of sessions to educate the public on the benefits of fair trade and provide samples of products from around the globe

WASHINGTON, D.C. – May 5, 2011 A record 100,000 people across the US and Canada are expected to participate in hundreds of events over the next two weeks to mark World Fair Trade Day, which is May 14, 2011. Cities, towns, churches, groups and individuals are planning events to highlight social, economic and environmental benefits to buying Fair Trade. The events include Fair Trade festivals, Fair Trade coffee breaks, webinars and Fair Trade artisan tours among others.

For information about World Fair Trade Day events in your area or to find out more information about the benefits of buying Fair Trade, go to http://www.fairtraderesource.org/wftd/.

Many Americans are unaware how many day-to-day items are produced in abusive labor conditions which include sweatshops and child labor. These items include clothing, furniture, and foods such as coffee, chocolate and sugar. The Fair Trade system helps producers and suppliers earn a living wage and take steps to protect the environment. It also serves to empower individuals and communities, support women’s and children’s rights, promote dignity and respect, and connect developing nations with developed nations and markets.

World Fair Trade Day national campaign coordinator, and Executive Director, Fair Trade Resource Network Jeff Goldman, said: “the meaningful activities comprising this largest Fair Trade event in North America allow adults and kids to learn about empowering marginalized people while celebrating justice and sustainability with hundreds of thousands worldwide.”

Examples of World Fair Trade Day events around the U.S. include:

  • Texas. Austin Fair Trade Film Festival, May 12-14 at various locations. Events include a short film competition, a Fair Trade wine and chocolate pairing event, and the Fair Trade film festival and global market.
  • Illinois. Chicago World Fair Trade Day celebration, May 6, 2011 at Daley Plaza. Companies will be selling Fair Trade gifts, coffee, chocolate and more and there will be programs and world music played throughout the day. Additionally there will be a Fair Trade pavilion at the Chicago Green Festival on May 14-15 at McCormick Place in Lakeside, IL where non-profits and Fair Trade vendors will be on hand.
  • New York State. Several upstate events are planned, including a World Fair Trade Day celebration in Albany on May 13th at the Ten Thousand Villages store, and a Fair Trade/Coffee Break Celebration in Rochester on May 14th at One World Goods.
  • Oregon. A variety of events in Portland to include an informational Fair Trade 101 Panel Discussion at Kells Irish Pub on May 9th, and the St. Andrew/Catholic Relief Services World Fair Trade Day celebration on May 15th featuring music, food, crafts, and informational talks.
  • Florida. A Fair Trade wine tasting in Orlando on May 15, at the Lake Eola Farmers Market. This event will also feature food, live music, and local craft vendors.

Major sponsors of World Fair Trade Day include nonprofit and faith-based organizations, such as Green America, Catholic Relief Services, Fair Trade Towns and Fair Trade USA, as well as retail companies, such as Ben and Jerry’s, Fair Trade Apparel, Green Mountain Coffee, Lucuma Designs, Wholesome Sweeteners and Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps. Regular sponsors include Fair for Life Social & Fairtrade Certified, Fair World Project, Global Exchange, Indigenous Designs, Maggie’s Organics, Theo Chocolate and WorldofGood.com by eBay.

ABOUT FAIR TRADE RESOURCE NETWORK

Founded in 1999, the Fair Trade Resource Network (FTRN) seeks to build a more just and sustainable world by gathering, developing, and disseminating educational resources about Fair Trade. FTRN is the only non-profit organization in the world focused exclusively on Fair Trade education, helping people to better understand the impact of their buying decisions.

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Sweets & Tweets! Ben & Jerry’s Utilizes Unused Twitter Characters to Carry Fair Trade Message

May 5

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FairTweets.com Social Media Campaign Communicates Fair Trade Value to the Masses

BURLINGTON, VT.- May 4, 2011 How can an ice cream maker use social media to help provide farmers a fair income across the globe? Ben & Jerry’s, the first ice cream company to use Fair Trade certified ingredients, is taking on the challenge in an innovative manner. The Fair Tweets program is a simple and easy interface for Twitter followers to donate their unused social media space to support Fair Trade messaging.

“We’ve heard how easy it has been for our fans to participate and that they better understand how their purchases help make it possible to support these farmers throughout the world”

It’s no surprise as Ben & Jerry’s was the first composite, major consumer goods product to commit to going through every single item in their ingredient deck to change all they could to Fair Trade. So the natural next step was how to share the values of Fair Trade with a larger audience. The progressive ice cream company has created a program that allows any user of Twitter to easily plug into. Unused characters in each Tweet are utilized to share a message about how Fair Trade benefits farmers across the globe. Cofounder Jerry Greenfield has posed: “Who wants to make a profit by exploiting somebody else?” It is in that spirit that the company is acting to lead the way in showing how the purchase of Fair Trade certified goods makes a difference. The model sets a fair wage for farmers, supports farms with access to credit, encourages community development, and promotes a holistic way of farming for farm laborers, the environment and the land necessary to their trade.

On May 3rd, Ben & Jerry’s launched a “Fair Tweets” campaign to rally awareness of Fair Trade. Simply by logging on to Fair Tweets (fairtweets.com), Twitter users have been able to plug in automatic messages about Fair Trade to the tweets they’re already sending. These added messages promote the upcoming World Fair Trade Day (May 14) and Fair Trade issues in general.

HOW IT WORKS

Even though Tweets can be up to 140 characters long, most tweets are actually much shorter, using only 40 characters on average. Fair Tweets recycles the “unused” characters in those tweets, and puts them to good use, committing them to Fair Trade awareness.

“Just like putting together good combinations for our flavors, our goal was to combine a popular social media tool with our effort to educate about Fair Trade,” said Senior Global Marketing Manager, Noelle Pirnie. “We’ve heard how easy it has been for our fans to participate and that they better understand how their purchases help make it possible to support these farmers throughout the world,” Pirnie added.

So make every Tweet count – just like Fair Trade products purchases – by sharing this message with your Twitter followers. Through the effort, Ben & Jerry’s will increase consumer understanding of the value of their own purchase decisions and help farmers across the globe lick some of their daily struggles.

To participate in Fair Tweets, log on to FairTweets.com. To learn more about Ben & Jerry’s support of Fair Trade, go towww.benjerry.com.

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About Ben & Jerry’s

Ben & Jerry’s produces a wide variety of super-premium ice cream and ice cream novelties, using high-quality ingredients including milk and cream from family farmers who do not treat their cows with the synthetic hormone rBGH. The company states its position on rBGH* on its labels. Ben and Jerry’s products are distributed nationwide and in selected foreign countries in supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores, franchise Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shops, restaurants and other venues. Ben & Jerry’s, a Vermont corporation and wholly-owned subsidiary of Unilever, operates its business on a three-part Mission Statement emphasizing product quality, economic reward and a commitment to the community. Contributions made via the employee-led Ben & Jerry’s Foundation in 2010 totaled over $1.8 million. Additionally, the company makes significant product donations to community groups and nonprofits both in Vermont and across the nation. The purpose of Ben & Jerry’s philanthropy is to support the founding values of the company: economic and social justice, environmental restoration and peace through understanding, and to support our Vermont communities. For the full scoop on all Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shop locations and fabulous flavors, visit www.benjerry.com.

* The FDA has said no significant difference has been shown and no test can now distinguish between milk from rBGH treated cows and untreated cows. Not all the suppliers of our other ingredients can promise that the milk they use comes from untreated cows.

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Research Reveals Increased Consumer Demand for Fair Trade Certified-Labeled Products

Apr 25

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Researchers from Harvard, the London School of Economics and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Release Study on the Value of Ethical Labeling

OAKLAND, Calif., Apr. 25 Fair Trade USA, the leading third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States, reports new findings which confirm that the prominent appearance of the Fair Trade Certified™ label increases sales among coffee-buying consumers.

To investigate the topic of consumer demand for Fair Trade products, researchers Jens Hainmueller of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Michael J. Hiscox of Harvard University, and Sandra Sequeira of the London School of Economics, conducted a six-month research study in partnership with a prominent national grocery retailer. As reported this weekend in the Wall Street Journal, the team examined purchasing behavior among actual consumers at 26 stores and key findings show that:

  • The Fair Trade Certified label alone has a large positive impact on sales.
  • Sales of the two most popular bulk coffees sold in each of the 26 test stores increased by up to 13 percent when labeled as Fair Trade Certified.
  • The study also revealed that a substantial segment of consumers are willing to pay up to eight percent more for a product bearing the Fair Trade Certified label.

The findings are consistent with a Globescan study conducted in 2010, which revealed that 75 percent of consumers said Fair Trade certification makes them feel “very positive or positive” about products; 30 percent said Fair Trade is “likely to increase their purchase interest;” and over half said “independent third-party certification is the best way to verify” a product’s social and environmental claims.

“Overall the findings suggest that there is substantial consumer support for Fair Trade,” said Michael J. Hiscox of Harvard University. “The Fair Trade label by itself had a large positive effect on sales, indicating that a substantial number of coffee buyers place a positive value on Fair Trade certification. In addition, a sizeable segment of coffee buyers were willing to pay a premium for coffee if the premium was directly associated with support for Fair Trade. The tests suggest that there are plenty of consumers ready to vote with their shopping dollars to support Fair Trade when it is offered as an option by retailers.”

The study can be referenced online at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1801942.

Fair Trade USA (previously TransFair USA), a nonprofit organization, is the leading third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States. Fair Trade USA audits and certifies transactions between U.S. companies and their international suppliers to guarantee that the farmers and workers producing Fair Trade Certified goods were paid fair prices and wages, work in safe conditions, protect the environment, and receive community development funds to empower and uplift their communities. Fair Trade USA educates consumers, brings new manufacturers and retailers into the Fair Trade system, and provides farming communities with tools, training and resources to thrive as international businesspeople. Visitwww.FairTradeUSA.org for more information.

The Research team consists of Michael J. Hiscox, the Clarence Dillon Professor of International Affairs at Harvard University; Sandra Sequeira, Lecturer in Development Economics at the London School of Economics; and Jens Hainmueller, an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Research Reveals Increased Consumer Demand for Fair Trade Certified-Labeled Products via PRNewswire – CSRWire

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