Eco-Chick · The modern girl's guide to living green & fabulous.

Rainforest Action Network gets jiggy at Plumm

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by Summer Rayne Oakes · 09/11/06

Sorry I didn’t tell you guys in time, but I headed over to Plumm last night to see what Whoopi, Chris, and Norah had to say during the Rainforest Action Network benefit. I just wanted to hog Noth all to myself (okay, not really, but…) I had an O.K. time. Norah Jones had a stellar performance. (What a resounding voice from such a tiny little woman.)

Best speech by far was given by RAN Executive Director, Michael Brune. (As a side note for you US Weekly or ecorazzi readers, you’ll be happy to know that the dapper Sex in the City star has been a supporter of RAN for 18 years (RAN’s been in existence for 20 years).

If you are looking for an organization to give too, I fully endorse RAN. They are a highly efficient and effective network of 36 individuals that work directly with shareholder action to pressure corporations to make sweeping environmental shifts in business. AND the most important part, they DO NOT get funded by governmental grants or corporations (unlike our democracy). Can anyone say: Democratic reform?

business, corporations, media, rainforest

Rosita Arvigo: Rainforest Home Remedies

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by Kimberly Jordan Allen · 07/07/06

I picked up this book some time ago when it was recommended by a good friend, and I love it. To get an international perspective on herbalism and holistic health adds a new dimension to living well. Rosita Arvigo is the co-author of this, one of several books she has written on herbal and natural healing. She is a naparapathic physician (they focus on the evaluation and treatment of neuro-musculoskeletal/connective tissue disorders,) an herbalist/ethnobotanist, and an international lecturer. Arvigo lived in Belize for thirty years where she apprenticed with her mentor, Don Elijio Panti, who was recognized throughout the Americas for his skills in the ancient system of Mayan healing, which uses plants, prayers, massage, acupuncture, and herbal baths. Elijio died in 1996 at the age of 103.

Centered in the notion of ch’ulel, which is akin to qi, chi, or Indian’s phrana, the notions in the book are based on balance and inner harmony. Everything from anemia to vaginal infection is addressed and there are various recommendations that can prove very useful for day to day health.

Arvigo is famous for bringing Mayan Massage to North America. This massage is meant to re-align the inner tissue in various conditions such as women who experience reproductive disorders or men who have prostate problems or erectile disfunction. Many have claimed to have great success after undergoing sessions of this massage and there are now practitioners, who have been trained by Arvigo and her school, all across the U.S. and Canada.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes to avoid allopathic medicine and instead practice less invasive forms of healing.

bath, book, books, dress, health, Home, India, Plants, rainforest, Tea, women

Attention Caffeine Junkies!

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by Starre Vartan · 12/28/05

If you drink coffee (about 50% of Americans drink it every day, and 80% quaff it sometimes) you should know where it comes from. (and hey, now it’s good for you, so go ahead!)

The exhaustively researched cover story for the Nov/Dec Issue of E/The Environmental Magazine, “Grounds For Change” covers the coffee industry, from small fair trade outfits to Starbucks.

There’s three labels to be concerned with if you care about people, birds and the health of the earth: organic, fair trade and song-bird friendly. To make your life easier, if your coffee is organic, chances are it’s fair-trade and good bird habitat, so you don’t need to go nuts looking for triple-certified brew. Besides the labelling, organic coffee just tastes better. For the last few weeks I’ve been sipping on Equal Exchange’s decaf and it is the best decaf I’ve ever had! (I know, I know, decaf, I ‘m a weenie).

This is why: “Coffee grows best in tropical highlands,” explains Chris Wille, the Costa Rica-based chief of the Rainforest Alliance’s Sustainable Agriculture Program. The bushy plants are maintained at a height of six to eight feet. After the seeds are dried and hulled, they become green coffee beans. A mature coffee plant generally yields about a pound of roasted beans per year. According to Connecticut-based roaster Coffee-Tea-Etc., “Every step in the process from climate and growing conditions, genetics of the tree, to the final brewing methods affect these natural chemicals. Each of these factors affects the distinct taste of the final brew.”

‘This is what shade-grown coffee looks like. Integrated with the forest, it makes a better tasting coffee.’

‘This is what coffee that\'s grown in the sun looks like. Monoculture alert!’

There are also some excellent sidebars to the article, including one on where to find this good-for-us-all brew.

agriculture, birds, Bush, car, coffee, Fair Trade, habitat, health, junk, magazine, Organic, Plants, rainforest, Starbucks, sustainable, Tea