Originally written on Sept. 2, 2005, this post is constantly updated and occasionally reposted at Siel’s whim.

Put down The Secret. Here’s the green Angeleno’s guide to the good life:

Eat & Drink

1. Get caffeinated. Drink coffee that tastes better and does good. Find your local organic fair trade coffee shop — or if you must go to Starbucks, take the Starbucks Challenge.

2. Dare to eat a peach — a fresh juicy one from a local farm. Enjoy the tastiest, most eco-friendly fruits and veggies possible — without going out of your way.

3. Get your protein. Opt for grass-fed, free range, organic, and local meat, milk, and eggs, stick to sustainable seafood, and go easy on the highly processed veg meats.

4. Do happy hour. Find out how to green your drink — from beer to wine to shots to cocktails and beyond.

5. Indulge in dessert. Eat ice cream, sorbet, and chocolate. Fair trade and organic options are easy to find now –

6. Learn to cook. Take a local, organic cooking class. There’s bound to be one suited to your diet and lifestyle.

7. Treat yourself. Dine out at an eco-friendly restaurant — or get organic meals delivered to your doorstep.

8. Lose the junk. Try an eco-friendly diet — or just get motivated to get the scary crap out of your body.

Get Around

1. Take a walk — It’s sunny out! Easiest way to get walking more often: Live in a walkable spot. But wherever you are, discover one-mile-radius living.

2. Bike it. My pink townie saves me lots of money and parking hassles — and the Los Angeles biking community’s helpful and friendly.

3. Ride easy — whether on bus or rail. Some bus routes will actually get you to your destination faster and cheaper than in a car, especially if you account for the driving time spent looking for parking — and the money spent paying for it.

(more…)

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Here’s some sweet news for ice cream lovers: Ben & Jerry’s yummy ice creams will soon all be fair trade sweetened and flavored!

The popular ice cream company first dipped into the fair trade movement back in 2005, when it started using fair trade coffee, chocolate, and vanilla for some of its flavors — ensuring that the producers of those ingredients got a fairer share of the profits from the ice cream. At that time, Ben & Jerry’s foray into fair trade was met with both joy from eco-ethical ice cream lovers — and skepticism from fair trade activists. Why the negativity? Ben & Jerry’s kept on using conventional sugar instead of fair trade certified sugar in the ice creams awarded the fair trade logo — even though a lot more sugar went into the ice creams than the fair trade certified cocoa, coffee, or vanilla.

Apparently, Ben & Jerry listened to those concerns — and is now ready to make a complete switch. Not only is Ben & Jerry’s going to use fair trade sugar in all its ice creams — making pretty much every single flavor eligible for fair trade certification — the company’s going to switch away from conventional products for all ingredients available with fair trade certification.

That means 11 ingredients in Ben & Jerry’s products — from sugar to coffee to banana to some nuts — will all be fair trade certified. The switch to fair trade will be complete by the end of 2013.

As for the other major ingredients: Ben & Jerry’s shuns milk from cows shot up with rBGH, and plans to make a complete switch to certified humane cage-free farms eggs by the end of 2010 — both great eco-strides.

I am saddened though that Ben & Jerry’s discontinued the four organic flavors that debuted in 2008. According to a customer service representative, the flavors didn’t sell — but I’m holding out hope that Ben and Jerry’s will decide to give organic flavors again, as the green market keeps growing.

Earlier:
>> Coconut Bliss: A Creamy vegan ice cream sweetened with agave nectar
>> Acai sorbet makes a good lunch

Photo by itselea

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1. Find your love for wheels. Two wheels, that is. Singular, a magazine for happily single people, is organizing a Valentine’s Day Beginner’s Mountain Bike Ride in the L.A. area. Bike 5-6 miles through the Sullivan Canyon in Brentwood on Valentine’s Day from 10 am to 1 pm. Plus, Singular magazine can be a great Valentine’s Day gift for all your happily single friends.

2. Make art for the environment’s sake. Clear your Saturday night for Lucent L’Amour, an annual “visionary lovefest” with art exhibits, bands, and other live performances happening this year at the Shrine in Los Angeles. In the midst of all the entertainment will be Lighting in a Paintcan, when 20 live painters will create art pieces with used and recycled paint. A silent auction during the event lets attendees bid on the pieces — with the proceeds going to buy art and music supplies for local underfunded schools. Support eco-art and a future generation of local musicians and artists too, while enjoying the lovely spectacle.

3. Lust after free fair trade yummies. WorldofGood.com’s giving away 15 fair trade gift baskets — worth $98 each — filled with a handmade bear, chocolates, cocoa, and candles. To win, all you have to do is reveal who you’re going to give the gift basket to and why in 75 words or less.

Winners will be judged on a “variety of factors including, but not limited to, originality, humor, sincerity and/or desperation” — so a humorous note about why you sincerely deserve to eat the entire gift basket yourself could work. Enter by Feb. 7 — and even if you don’t win, you’ll get a coupon for $10 off a $25 purchase of fair trade goodies from WorldofGood.com.

4. Embrace public transit and celebrate Valentine’s Day a few days early by taking the bus or train to the Move LA Valentine Celebration. The local pro public transit nonprofit is raising funds while celebrating car-free travel in L.A. with music from KCRW’s Tom Schnabel, live music from Latin salsa band Opa Opa, and more. The party begins Thurs., Feb. 11 from 6 pm – 10 pm at The Center at Cathedral Plaza, 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles. $50 gets you in.

5. Spread the handmade love. Why buy a single Valentine for one person when you can get bargain package deals on Etsy for all your lovers? At the L.A.-based Marmoset shop, get a pair ($4) — or quartet ($8) — of handmade Valentines crafted with upcycled and reclaimed paper to send to everyone you love — in post-consumer recycled brown kraft envelopes, of course.

6. Have a crayon heart. Want little gifts to go with those cards? An instructables member who goes by Some Art Mama’s put up photo-illustrated, step-by-step instructions for turning old crayons into pretty little hearts. Collect old crayons and a few simple supplies — and a little messy work later, and your homemade, eco-friendly, pretty-as-well-as-useful gifts will be ready.

7. Find love for your glove. Lost a glove? Find your widowed glove a mate by sending it in to Glove Love, a cute little initiative by a green website called Do The Green Thing that pairs up single gloves with sorta-matching partners. Jasmin Chua at Ecouterre calls it a “matchmaking service for lovelorn mitts.” You can also buy a pair of pre-loved, mix-and-matched Glove Love gloves for £5.

The bad news: As you may have guessed from the “£,” Glove Love’s in the U.K. A closer-to-home green glove idea’s to plan a Valentine’s Day clothing swap — that includes lonely accessories like single earrings and gloves, or if you’re bold, shoes — to mix-and-match or upcycle.

8. Get green bling. Have too much room in your jewelry box after upcycling the earrings sans partners? Keep your shopping eco-friendly by opting for recycled and ethically-sourced jewelry. I love my Peace Love Earth recycled sterling silver necklace from Annatarian (right, $60), and have my eye on a recycled Silver Butterfly Pendant from Brilliant Earth ($50). Of course, buying pre-loved jewelry is an even greener option — so don’t forget about my guide to pre-loved fashion shopping in Santa Monica!

9. Give with chocolate. Yes, that “with” is supposed to be there, because why would you give chocolate to others when you can eat the perfectly delicious stuff yourself? Okay — Nicobella’s organic fair trade vegan dark chocolate truffles (my review here) come in a pack of six, so sharing does actually come easy — but purchase a $27 duet pack of these and $2 will be donated to help the victims of Haiti through the Happy Hearts Fund, thus letting give with your chocolate while eating it too.

Get the pack by emailing nichole@nicobellaorganics.com or calling 609.792.5231. Fair trade chocolate, by the way, also gives chocolate producers a fairer share of the profits from the money you spent on the delectable desserts.

10. Write a love poem. The Valentine Peace Project collects poems about peace and love, written by individuals who want to share peace and love. Anyone can write a poem to contribute to the project, whether online or in their neighborhoods.

Photos via marmoset/Etsy, Do the Green Thing, Nicobella, Singular, WorldofGood.com

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There’s a RiteAid next door I visit on occasion, and about the only green products I’ve found there are Green & Blacks organic chocolate bars — a somewhat bittersweet benefit of the fact that Green & Blacks was bought up by choco-giant Cadbury, which has recently been bought up by Kraft. Only one Green & Blacks’ flavor, however is currently fair trade certified, which means that as a general supporter of fair trade and its certification system, I’ve tasted a lot more of the orange-flavored, fair trade-certified Maya Gold bar than any of the other flavors I’ve wanted to try.

That’s about to change. Late last month, Green & Blacks announced that it would switch to fair trade ingredients for all its products worldwide. In the U.S., Green & Blacks chocolate bars will start being made with fair trade certified ingredients mid-year. Expect to see fair trade certification logos on 100% of Green & Blacks chocolate bars in the U.S. by the end of this year!

Green & Blacks’ move to fair trade may seem like a brand new initiative, especially to those who’ve thought the company’s single fair trade certified product showed only a token commitment to ethical sourcing. In fact, the story’s a lot more complicated. Green & Blacks’ Maya Gold bar was actually the first fair trade certified product in the U.K., but apparently the choco company had a fallout of sorts with Fairtrade Federation, the certifying organization for fair trade products in the U.K.

Craig Sams, one of the founders of Green & Blacks, goes into more detail about Green & Black’s history with fair trade certification in a 2006 interview on City Hippy. There, Craig says Green & Blacks’ commitment to fair trade practices has never wavered:

We have never changed the way we do business. We always pay fair prices, deal with democratic cooperatives, support our growers with long term contracts, give them cash up front if they need it to pay the cooperative members, help them on maintaining organic standards.

In the same interview, Craig goes on to say that the conflicts Green & Blacks had with Fairtrade Federation happened “several years ago and I think that things have changed and are changing.” Apparently, things have changed enough to reunite the choco company with the fair trade nonprofit now.

This is good news for last minute Valentine’s Day shoppers who’ll be able to grab soon-to-be-fair-trade-certified Green & Blacks bars at pretty much every store near them, though I’m guessing some hardcore eco-ethical foodies will still be loath to buy anything owned by Kraft. Will you be buying more Green & Blacks chocolates?

Earlier:
>> Consumerism and its discontents: The Eco-shopper’s Dilemma
>> When non-eco companies have more-eco products than eco companies

And earlier chocolatey posts:
>> Equal Exchange’s new bars: Dark pleasures for eco-ethical chocoholics
>> nicobella vegan organic chocolate truffles: Decadence with antioxidants
>> Where to get fair trade chocolate in Los Angeles
>> Give me a break of that fair trade Kit Kat bar?

Photo by Quasimime

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The greenest green tea I’ve tasted is also the tastiest! Zhena’s Gypsy Tea’s line of biodynamic green teas will meet every environmentalist’s green criteria — and satisfy every tea drinker’s taste buds too, if my friends’ reactions are any indication.

I invited some friends over for chocolates and tea earlier this week — and the Zhena’s Caramelized Pear biodynamic green tea drew oohs and aahs. The tea’s mix of fruity flavor with rich caramel goodness — derived from organic pears and sugar cane — makes it a deliciously fragrant green tea, no sugar required!

Zhena’s tea also beats out all other green teas I’ve seen yet on environmental criteria. The yummy brew’s not only organic certified but also Demeter certified as biodynamic — and fair trade certified for its ethical labor practices too!

And the tea looks beautiful too, delicately couched in pretty corn silk sachets — that are, of course, GMO-free and biodegradable — though loose-leaf tea fans may rue that even eco-friendlier unsacheted versions aren’t available — at least not yet.

The biodynamic teas are available in xxx flavors: Black Forest Berry, Blueberry Vanilla, Kiwi Peach, Mango Ginger, and my pick, Caramelized Pear. Discerning tea drinkers can buy Zhena’s biodynamic green teas in many stores and online at Zhena’s webstore. A recyclable tin of 15 tea sachets costs $9.99.

Top photo via Zhena’s Gypsy Tea; bottom photo by Siel

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The much boycotted megacorp Nestle’s come out with a green announcement: Its Kit Kat bars will be made with fair trade chocolate — in the UK — come mid-January.

The announcement comes after Cadbury decided last year to make its milk chocolate bars with fair trade chocolate — also just in the UK, though the ethical commitment will expand to Canada, New Zealand and Australia this year. No news of when similar conversions will happen with the bars in the U.S.

The fair trade Kit Kat actually isn’t Nestle’s first foray into the fair trade chocolate market. Back in 2006, L’Oreal — which was more than a quarter owned by Nestle — bought up The Body Shop. The Body Shop at that time owned 14% of Day Chocolate Company, which makes Divine chocolate, Dubble bars, and Co-operative Group’s brand of fair trade chocolate. But soon afterwards, The Body Shop handed back its stake in Day Chocolate to Kuapa Kokoo, the cocoa co-op that helped found the brand, making Nestle fair trade chocolate-less again until now.

More long-term, Nestle’s been in the fair trade coffee marketwith its Partner’s Blend instant coffee, which debuted in the UK in 2005 to much confusion and gnashing of teeth among fair trade activists.

Why such controversy when Nestle seemed to be moving in a fairer direction? Nestle started greenwashing itself as an eco-ethical company, never mind that the megacorp’s one of the major culprits that created the coffee crisis to begin with — and that its Partner’s Blend made up less than .1% of Nestle’s coffee imports.

Similar controversy’s brewing around the new fair trade Kit Kats, since Nestle’s also known as one of the major culprits that allow for unfair labor practices in the cocoa industry. While many activists remain rightly skeptical about Nestle’s choice to create a single fair trade chocolate product, the Kit Kat case is pretty different from the Partners’ Blend case, since Nestle’s making fair trade a very popular product already on the market with a huge distribution, versus launching a new niche token product.

Earlier:
>> Where to find fair trade chocolate in Los Angeles
>> nicobella vegan organic chocolate truffles: Decadence with antioxidants
>> Equal Exchange’s new bars: Dark pleasures for eco-ethical chocoholics

In other fair trade news:

>> Educators: Social justice nonprofit Global Exchange’s planning a National Valentine’s Day of Action to teach kids about fair trade. After all, kids shouldn’t let other kids do slave labor to make candy.

>> Green business students: Interested in starting a fair trade business? Apply for a scholarship to go to the 2010 Fair Trade Futures Conference, happening in Sept. 10-12 in in Boston, Mass.

Photo via Nestle UK

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Chocolate lovers: Look forward to indulging in 2010 with two new organic and fair trade bars from Equal Exchange. Well known for helping to pioneer the fair trade movement in the U.S., Equal Exchange is ever-expanding — this time with an Orange Dark Chocolate bar and Panama Extra Dark Chocolate bar.

Read through the all-organic ingredient list, and you’ll notice these yummies are made with simple, recognizable ingredients with no weird additives or synthetic stuff. The Orange Dark Chocolate’s got a powerful fruity kick in its 65% cacao content bar while the Panama Extra Dark Chocolate, with a very high 80% cacao content, is a dark chocolate lover’s dream.

As with all Equal Exchange products, these chocolate bars are made via fairer partnerships with small farmer-owned co-operatives. The fair trade chocolate comes from the Dominican Republic, Panama, and Peru, the fair trade sugar from Paraguay and Costa Rica, and fair trade vanilla from Madagascar.

Honestly, I’m more of a milk chocolate girl — so while I enjoyed the Orange Dark Chocolate, I found the Panama Extra Dark Chocolate a bit too intense. If you’re a dark chocolate person though, I strongly encourage you to give this bar a try! And of course, Equal Exchange has other yummy chocolate bars — some of which friends and I tried out at a choco tasting party. More expert, less alcohol-tainted reviews of those bars can be found on Cybele’s Candyblog.

You can find Equal Exchange chocolate bars — and coffee, tea, and other snacks — at Whole Foods stores, many neighborhood co-op stores, and online at Equal Exchange’s web store. Each bar costs $4.25.

Photos via Equal Exchange

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Eating local’s great — except when you need a caffeine kick or chocolate fix. That’s where fair trade treats come in! Here’s a short holiday gift list of newish decadent fair trade and organic edibles that’ll make you drool:

For the vegan chocoholic: nicobella vegan organic chocolate truffles. Looking for chocolates with health benefits and antioxidant powers? nicobella truffles are packed with good-for-you ingredients like blueberries, green tea, and flax seeds — all covered in delicious 70% dark chocolate and slightly sweetened with agave nectar and brown rice syrup.

The decadent truffles come in a set of six — Walnut Flaxseed Crunch, Blueberry Almond, Ginger Green Tea, Pure Cocoa Bliss, Sunflower Banana, and Pumpkin Chai — in a recyclable paper box made from FSC-certified paper. Get a box at fair trade, organic chocolatier Theo for $13.20.

For the cookie monster from New England: Taste of New England Gift Basket. Miss home? Comfort yourself with a cookie fix from Dancing Deer, a women-led natural baking company that’s teamed up with fair trade company Equal Exchange to create yummy gift baskets featuring fair trade goodies alongside local treats.

I haven’t tried Dancing Deer’s cookies myself, but the molasses clove cookies, shortbread cookies, and brownies look delicious. The basket also comes with fair trade Equal Exchange Rooibos Tea, which I have tried, plus raw local honey from Boston Honey Co. and trail mix from local nut shop Fastachi — all delivered in a seagrass basket for $59.95. A large basket — which adds on more baked goods plus fair trade coffee and chocolate — costs $99.95.

For the treehugging caffeine addict: Arbor Day Specialty Coffee. You won’t be sacrificing taste for eco-altruism with the Arbor Day Blend;  Coffee Review gave this brew a 92 rating! Enjoy a cuppa with the happy knowledge that the proceeds from this triple certified coffee — organic , fair trade, and Smithsonian Bird-Friendly — goes directly to the Arbor Day Foundation’s Rain Forest Rescue Program to preserve rain forests.

Addicted? Join the Coffee Club, which will send you a 10-ounce bag plus an Arbor Day mug for $6.95 — with two more bags sent every four weeks  at $8.95 per bag. Earlier: 3 Tasty, triple-certified coffees — all with an extra 4th cause with a kick.

Photos via Thoe, Dancing Deer, Arbor Day

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A twice-weekly sharing of eco-shwag.

Today’s freebie’s an eco caffeine addict’s dream: A $40 gift certificate to the fair trade company Equal Exchange’s online store!

Whether you need Organic Tamari Roasted Almonds grown in small U.S. farms, or organic fair trade tea pyramid tea, or organic fair trade hot chocolate with a spicy kick to keep you warm in this unbearably cold L.A. weather, you can find it at the Equal Exchange store.

My favorite Equal Exchange item’s of course the organic, fair trade Ethiopian coffee — but the chocolate bars come in a close second. If you want to use the $40 to send a gift, check out the Dark Chocolate & Green Tea gift basket (photo above) — four organic fair trade chocolate bars, 2 25-tea-bag boxes of green tea, and a tin of Organic Ceylon Green Loose Leaf Tea! The basket costs $35 plus $7.50 shipping — which means the whole thing will cost you only $2.50 after the gift certificate.

Equal Exchange is an uber-ethical, co-op owned company that’s also one of the pioneers of the fair trade movement in the U.S. The environmentally conscious company even has a Green Planet Fund that seeks to promote sustainable farming practices of small-scale producers as a means of environmental conservation.

Buy an Equal Exchange gift certificate as a holiday gift here — or comment by Tuesday to get into the drawing, which’ll happen Wednesday (more info on freebies here). US addresses only.

Photo via Equal Exchange

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Eco-fashionistas and natural beauty seekers in Los Angeles have a lot to look forward to this week! Get green makeovers and sustainable fashion deals while sipping organic drinks, nibbling on green eats, and mingling with fellow environmentalists in Southern California:

Wednesday: Eco-fashion lines Popomomo and Curatorial plus LA Vintage Exchange will host their first Open Studios, when everyone’s invited to stop by to sip champagne, eat sweets, and shop for steeply discounted eco-fashions on Wed., Nov. 4 from 1 pm – 7 pm at 4006 N. Figueroa, Los Angeles. Cost: Free except for the fashions you buy.

Thursday: Online eco-fashion boutique Green With Glamour’s having a pop up party with vegan treats, drinks, and music — plus a raffle and shopping discounts — on Thurs. Nov. 5 from 6 pm – 10 pm at 2912 Rowena Ave., Los Angeles. Cost: Free except for the fashions you buy.

Friday: An eco-fashionable Green Blogger Convention’s bringing green thinking bloggers together for coffee, churros, a Q&A panel (featuring me!), and a vegan eco-fashion show featuring Deborah Lindquist, ecoSkin, Stewart & Brown, Wasteland, and others. Be there Fri., Nov. 6 from 9 am – noon at Environment Furniture, 8126 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles. Cost: RSVP online for $20; $30 cash at the door.

Saturday: Visionary Boutique will host a Green Beauty Day, where you can get a free half-hour organic facial or green makeup application while enjoying organic refreshments. RSVP to info@visionaryboutique to book the free appointment anytime on the half hour from 11 am – 5 pm on Sat., Nov. 7 at Visionary Boutique, 5285 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles.

Enjoy a fabulous week — and remember: A closet full of organic fashions you never wear still isn’t really green — so shop (or just window shop) with an eco-plan!

Image via Popomomo

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