Earlier this year, Nestle’s Kit Kat made green headlines by announcing its bars in the U.K. will be made with fair trade chocolate. Now, Kit Kats have been making headlines again, this time for combining that ethical chocolate with very environmentally destructive palm oil.

Greenpeace has launched a campaign, with an unsubtly altered Kit Kat logo that declares Nestle a “Killer.” Why? Nestle “uses palm oil from companies that are trashing Indonesian rainforests, threatening the livelihoods of local people and pushing orangutans towards extinction.” Those unethical palm oil companies includes Sinar Mas group, Indonesia’s largest producer of palm oil, whose practices are so destructive that even Kraft and Unilever have cut ties with the giant.

Nestle, however, has stuck with Sinar Mas, thus prompting the Greenpeace campaign. I’m guessing whatever inroads Kit Kat made into the eco-ethical chocolate market with its fair trade sourcing announcement will be derailed by Greenpeace’s efforts, which include a disturbing short video that shows one Kit Kat eater ending up with orangutan blood all over his face.

Have a break? from Greenpeace UK on Vimeo.

Kit Kats aren’t Nestle’s only products named and shamed. Nestlé’s Crunch, CoffeeMate, and PowerBar are among other products orangutan fans should avoid. And this isn’t the first time Nestle’s gotten in trouble for destroying rain forests in Indonesia. Back in 2007, World Wildlife Fund reported that Nestle — along with some other companies — was buying coffee illegally grown in habitat for endangered tigers, rhinos, and elephants.

Nestle’s penchant for using one attention getting green ingredient like fair trade chocolate for a few token products while continuously sourcing its many other ingredients with little regard to environmental or ethical concerns shows me that that ethical consumers make the best shopping decisions by looking at a company’s overall ethical sourcing practices, not just certification for an ingredient or two in a couple products.

Earlier:
>> Sweet Earth Chocolates: Decadent desserts with an eco-ethical center
>> LUSH gets orangutan-friendly with Jungle soap

Image via Greenpeace

I’m really a coffee girl, but lately, I’ve started drinking a cup of tea at noon as a pick me up — and have come to realize I’ve been missing out! For the eco-ethical tea drinkers in search of a new brew, here are my favorites:

For the gourmet tea snob

Zhena’s Gypsy Tea’s line of biodynamic green teas are about the tastiest teas out there — and are organic, fair trade, and biodynamic certified to boot! I recommend the rich and fruity Caramelized Pear blend.

More locally, Beverly Hills’ Art of Tea offers delicious and beautiful loose leaf, bagged, and blooming teas. I enjoyed a tasting a few years back. Most are organic and many are fair trade certified (some blends just don’t make use of ingredients available through fair trade) — and come in scrumptious flavors like Banana Dulce and Blueberry Cheesecake. Find them at SoCal Whole Foods — or pick from a bigger selection online.

For bargain seekers

Choice, Equal Exchange, Numi, Zhena, and Traditional Medicinals all make affordable fair trade, organic teas. Co-opportunity has good selection from these brands, but many can also be found at Whole Foods and other stores.

Taste-wise, my favorites are Numi’s Puerh teas and Zhena’s herbal teas — but keep in mind that these teas, while yummy, don’t compare to the more expensive luxe teas mentioned above.

For mate drinkers:

Guayaki Yerba Mate makes rainforest-expanding tea — since the company’s business model allows for sustainable agriculture that maintains and restores rain forests.

Guayaki’s a member of the Fair Trade Federation, and its yerba mate products are all organic certified. Get it by the bag at the Co-op or Whole Foods — or invest in a whole pound of loose leaf yerba mate for just $12.

For cool thirst quenchers:

Fair trade and organic bottled tea’s now easy to find, since Honest Tea got bought by Coca-Cola and started popping up even at gas stations. I like Honest Tea, but love the taste of Numi organic bottled Puerh teas even better — and also recommend Steaz Teaz (to get caffeinated), Guayaki Lemon Elation (to get mate’d), and Adina Holistics (to not get wired) — all reviewed here.
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Last but not least for eco-friendly tea drinkers on the go: Libretea’s a handy reusable tea infuser-mug that lets you enjoy loose leaf tea wherever you go.

Photo by mat.teo

For delicious eco-ethical chocolates that will delight vegans and milk chocolate fans alike, visit Sweet Earth Chocolates’s online shop. Here, you’ll find all kinds of organic, fair trade chocolates — from simple dark chocolate bars to nutty caramel turtles to peanut butter cups — almost all available in both milky and vegan versions!

My favorite Sweet Earth delicacy is the ultimate vegan peanut butter cups, which balance out a deliciously creamy, salty peanut butter middle with a 65% bittersweet chocolate coat. You get a mouthful of intense natural flavors — free of the mostly-sugary synthetic taste of, say, Reese’s. A 3-ounce bag with five cups costs $7.95.

For the minimalist, the Bittersweet bar with 72% cocoa content delivers a powerful caffeinated punch with a citrus note. That bar’s made with just three ingredients — organic chocolate, sugar, and vanilla — which shows the deliciously complex flavor’s all in the high quality of the organic, fair trade cacao itself.

In fact, Sweet Earth Chocolates does best with simple products than with more complex ones like the Ultimate Turtles — at least when it comes to vegan versions. The vegan turtles I tried — made with dark chocolate, vegan caramel, cashews, and rice crispies — tasted rather bland, with the vegan caramel almost devoid of flavor.

The box of Turtles also had some strange nutrition label issues. The 7-ounce box contained 6 truffles — but gave nutrition facts based on a 1-ounce serving size! I had to whip out a calculator to figure out that each truffle had 176 calories — not worth it for a bland turtle. I’ll have to try the classic milk chocolate with non-vegan caramel to see if the flavors work better. A beribboned gift box of 6 truffles costs $10.95.

Beyond the yummy goodness of the chocolates themselves, Sweet Earth Chocolates was founded on a delicious goal — to promote organic and fair trade practices in West African cocoa farms, where some of the worst forms of child labor are known to be rampant. Tom Neuhaus, who teaches Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and founded Sweet Earth with his sister Joanne Currie in 2004, organizes annual trips to West Africa to help educate people about the plight of cocoa farmers there, to spread awareness, and to promote fair trade. Those trips are part of Project Hope & Fairness — a nonprofit started by Tom that carries out the goals of Sweet Earth Chocolates.

Sweet Earth Chocolates doesn’t actually get its chocolate from West Africa, but from the Dominican Republic, Peru or Costa Rica, “the only countries in the world where there are farmers’ cooperatives that are certified organic and Fair Trade,” according to the company’s website. “In the meantime, a portion of our profits from our chocolate bars will go to support West African cooperatives in their efforts to become organic.” Find out more about these efforts by reading my interview with Tom here.

Shop Sweet Earth Chocolates on its web store, stop by its retail shop if you visit San Luis Obispo, or find them at some select stores, mostly in Northern California.

Earlier:
>> Equal Exchange’s new bars: Dark pleasures for eco-ethical chocoholics
>> nicobella vegan organic chocolate truffles: Decadence with antioxidants
>> Kraft-owned Green & Blacks to go 100% fair trade

Shopping for spring sandals? Strap on a classic, stylish pair from soleRebels, a shoe company that’s merging eco-friendly fashion with fair trade business.

Would-be ethical consumers in the U.S. like to support green-minded companies with a mission to help less privileged countries — whether it’s through fair trade, community projects, or charitable donations. Many of those do-gooder companies are led by American entrepreneurs; less common are similar companies led by entrepreneurs in those so-called third world countries. SoleRebels is one of the latter, founded by an Ethiopian entrepreneur called Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu — along with her husband and brother — to create jobs in their village Zenabwork in in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

And soleRebel’s cute shoes are making big strides into the American and European markets! These eco-friendly kicks are made by local artisans in Ethiopia who upcycle used car tires and vintage camouflage fabrics, handloom organic cotton fabrics, and prepare greener shoe leathers through an artisan process and vegetable tanning — all to create fashion-friendly styles designed after traditional Ethiopian footwear.

soleRebels is a brand of Bostex, which stands for “By Our-selves Textiles,” emphasizing the company’s commitment to preserving traditional heritage and creating its own economic successes. Bostex is the first registered Ethiopian member of the World Fair Trade Organization, and is committed to fair trade practices like sustainable production, healthy working conditions, and better wages for workers.

Though purchasing directly through soleRebel’s website’s cumbersome, American shoppers can browse and buy with soleRebel shoes with ease at Endless and Amazon. Some Urban Outfitters and Whole Foods also carry soleRebel designs. Prices range from about $15 for some slip-ons and flipflops to $60 for sturdy lace-up sneakers.

Photos via SoleRebels

Calm your caffeinated panic attack — We’re not talking about quitting coffee. This is a 7-step program for drinking better coffee — for the environment, society, and you and your java addiction.

If all the coffee chatter about triple certification labels or the Make Trade Fair campaign gives you nervous heart palpitations and jitters, just follow these half-dozen steps to get on a sustainable, alert-but-not-wigged-out caffeine high.

1. Say bye-bye to yucky coffee. This means a big adieu to Kraft, Nestle, Sara Lee, and Procter & Gamble — AKA the “big four.” These coffee biggies helped engineer a huge overproduction of coffee that made coffee farmers dirt poor — a situation dubbed the coffee crisis. The four also got the American public used to drinking swill. If you’re drinking canned Folgers coffee, you’re probably downing twigs, dust and floor sweepings.

2. Get a local roast. Brew coffee at home? Then get to know your local coffee roaster — You can get a quick list of fair trade coffee roasters in your state here to start. Not only will you support local business, you’ll also get tastier, freshly roasted coffee. Plus, you won’t incur more food travel miles by having your coffee shipped to you from, say, Seattle. Unless you live in Seattle, in which case you might try Pura Vida or Cafe Humana.

3. Opt for organic and fair trade. Why organic? So people don’t have to pick coffee amid pesticides, and so you don’t have to drink pesticides. Why fair trade? Fair trade coffee ensures that farmer co-ops receive fairer compensation for their work. Finding double-certified (both organic and fair trade) coffee isn’t hard — And in fact, it’s a fast-growing niche! Chances are, if your coffee roaster offers fair trade, it also offers double-certified coffee; about 80% of the fair trade certified coffee coming into the US is also organic. And if you’re up for a challenge, you might look for triple-certification (organic, fair trade, and shade grown).

4. Step away from that Starbucks. Why support a huge corporate chain when we’ve got local coffee shops all over L.A.? After a lot of activist pressure, Starbucks has made some fair trade strides — but has yet to offer a single blend that’s both fair trade AND organic. If you must go to a Starbucks, take the Starbucks Challenge.

5. Check out your local indie coffee shop, especially if they offer organic or fair trade options. If you had a big Starbucks habit, you’ll be in for a shock, because each indie coffee shop will be — gasp — different! It’ll be a thrilling coffee adventure that will keep your money in the local economy. Plus, indie coffee shops usually come with a lot of little privileges, like free wifi, locally baked goods, and friendly owners who listen to what you want — and might change things up for you (again, amenities will depend on location). Which brings us to –

6. Convert your coffeehouse. Dilemma: Your coffee shop’s cute and local, but it doesn’t brew anything organic or fair trade. What’s a coffee addict to do? If you’re feeling up to it, have a little chat with the owner or other people working there, starting with, “Hey, I love your coffee shop, and I was wondering….” Not that brave? Then send your coffee shop an email: “Hi! My name is [insert name] and I love your coffee shop, and I would bike over with all my friends every morning if you offered organic, fair trade coffee….”

7. Relax with your coffee. Resist the temptation to freak out because you can’t find a triple-certified, solar-power-roasted coffee from a local cafe that composts and uses only CFL bulbs. That kind of all-or nothing thinking will only lead to a sad, Nescafe overdose! There is no “perfect” cup of coffee. Plus, each of our situations has its weird quirks. Maybe you’re in a town where the only indie coffee shop’s owned by a Hummer-loving oil magnate — in which case your best option might be to get the closest Cooperative Coffees company to ship some java over to you, ASAP….

Drink happy, stay caffeinated –

Photo by javaturtle; Fair trade certification logo via TransFair USA

[Crossposted at Treehugger]

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.

4. Cab it — or rent it — green. Find out about local green taxis, car sharing programs, rental cars, and even green limos.

5. Fly free. Avoid parking hassles — or begging friends for rides — by taking advantage of green and easy airport travel options.

6. Go with friends. Carpooling will give you driving company — and also make you a safer driver!

7. Find a Better World. Still car-dependent? Dump AAA for Better World Club, which gives money to environmental causes and doesn’t lobby against public transportation.

Look good

1. Find fashion bargains. Shop pre-loved and get great deals on everything from couture to casual wear.

2. Shop green boutiques. Majestical Roof, All Shades of Green, Natural High Lifestyle, Patagonia, and Whole Foods Lifestyle are just 5 of the many stores where you can try on eco-friendly fashions before opening your wallet.

3. Indulge a shoe fetish. From flip flops to casual everyday shoes to sky high stilettos, dress your feet in eco-style.

4. Start from the bottom. Comfy green panties and sexy organic bras come in many cute styles. Got a bra that doesn’t fit? Recycle it!

5. Trade up. Trade designer brands with other eco-fashionistas, locally or nationally.

6. Get pretty. Opt for healthier, eco-friendly skin care, hair care, nail care — and oral hygiene while you’re at it. Then pretty up with paraben-free makeup, lead-free lipstick, and phthalate-free perfume.

7. Pamper yourself. Get organic facials, greener hair color, and safer manicures from green-minded salons.

Cut clutter

1. Junk the junk mail. Stop unwanted letters, catalogs, and coupons once and for all.

2. Bring your own. Soon, BYOing will be the status quo — so get a stylish reusable bag, eco-friendly lunchbox and utensils, and to-go mug and bottle — and maybe other new reusables hitting the green market. Wish your neighbors would do likewise? Help ban disposable eco-blights in L.A. and beyond.

3. Recycle everything from your old running shoes to your broken DVD player — because you might even be able to make money at it.

4. Feed the compost. City-subsidized composters will let you turn veggie scraps into garden fertilizer — and reduce your landfill waste.

5. Clean up. Make your own green cleaning products on the cheap or buy better-for-you cleaners — and spiff up your place using eco-friendly tools. Read a book on green cleaning and clean the carpet too if you’ve got the energy — or if not, hire a green cleaning service or eco-friendly organizer.

6. Get radical. Unfetter yourself from all your possessions and seek out an eco-adventure — or just get inspired to shop less and figure out how to get rid of crap you don’t want without sending it to the landfill.

Have fun

1. Make friends. Stay motivated through your green social network. Green Drinks, Green Business Networking, Women of the Green Generation, and EcoTuesday all want you at their events — and lots of other eco-themed events happen in L.A. every week!

2. Watch movies. Find out about the latest green films to buy, rent, or watch at a screening near you.

3. Read books. Pick up all my green reading tips — then page through one of the eco-themed books I’ve reviewed.

4. Play games. See if you can score better than I did at eco-socio-political games that are actually fun to play.

5. Do good. Lend a hand with a local green nonprofit like Treepeople, Heal the Bay, and Sustainable Works — or organize your own local green group or unique volunteer event!

6. Get crafty. Make what you want, how you want it while checking out of mass produced consumer culture by sewing, knitting, upcycling, and trying other handy hobbies.

Save green

1. Win freebies. Twice a week, I give away an eco-friendly freebie. Enter for your chance to win it!

2. Use your city. Get a free rain barrel, a green landscaping grant, and rebates for energy and water-efficient appliances — all from the government.

3. Swap and share. Neighborgoods and other green-minded websites let you borrow and share stuff you don’t want to buy.

4. Find your Eden. Grow your own food — on a balcony, yard, or even someone else’s yard. Then share the bounty with your hungry neighbors.

5. Slay vampires. Stop the slow energy drain in your home and learn how to make electronics last — and opt for greener gadgets and phones while you’re at it.

6. Shop green. Buy green goods that will last and save you money over the long term at eco-friendly local stores like Co-opportunity, The Green Life, and Locali.

Photos by Siel

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

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

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

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