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

The Meatrix II: Revolting

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by Kimberly Jordan Allen · 04/12/06

Continuing the fight against factory farming and unsustainable practices is something Sustainable Table has been doing through their entertaining and informative Meatrix short film and website. Now, their sequel, The Meatrix II: Revolting is circulating on the net continuing the revolution against big agri-business. GRACE, which stands for Global Resource Action Center for the Environment, founded the Sustainable Table as a consumer campaign to inform and incite action against the horrendous conditions of factory farms, and the importance of supporting humane and ecologically sound practices. In this current online clip, the dairy industry is largely under fire for its use of rBGH. On the ‘get involved’ page readers are encouraged to solicit Starbucks to stop their use of non-organic dairy products that contain the artificial hormone. While there are many vegans who have eluded the Meatrix in their complete avoidance of animal-based products, there are still many who search for more responsible ways to satisfy their carnivorous hankerings. For those who eat dairy or meat there is the eatwell guide which is a useful resource for finding healthy food.

business, car, Dairy Products, Eco-Chick, farm, farming, farms, Food, health, Home, meat, Organic, Starbucks, sustainable, vegan

"Sustainability: the new self-satisfaction"

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by Summer Rayne Oakes · 03/15/06

 On March 7th, 2005, Financial Times writer Richard Tomkins reports that “Sex will sell but sustainability is the new self-satisfaction.” Though he opens up the editorial on Coco De Mer, he remarks that “it is not just sex that is getting sustainable.” He mentions Ethos Water (owned by Starbucks), which donate 5 cents per every bottle sold towards water projects in underdeveloped countries; the fair trade brand launch of People Tree, Hug, and Gossypium at UK’s Topshop; and Bono’s new AMEX Red Card deal (which could have been much more integrated with SR, in my opinion).

The conclusion: “Ethical products are an obvious [purchase]. Each time you make a purchase, you get something back as well as feeling you are doing some good.” So in one sense, I am not religiously promoting consumer culture, but just letting all of you out there know that if you are going to buy something, you might as well go ethical. Good for you, good for the earth. Makes perfect sense.

“Surely you don’t want us to become an endangered species Edna?”

car, Eco-Chick, ethical, Fair Trade, opinion, Outdoors, Starbucks, sustainability, sustainable, water

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