Depending on your perspective, the choices you make as a consumer simply impact yourself, or they impact the lives of hundreds or even thousands of other, mostly impoverished people. The fair trade industry believes the latter is true. It has been harnessing the positive purchasing power of consumers for decades. Fair trade reduces global poverty by improving the social and economic status of marginalized global artisans and agricultural producers by facilitating direct trading relationships that pay a fair price. The growth of fair trade over the last 20 years shows that Americans and the world believe in the fair trade model. In 2011, fair trade sales topped $1.4 billion in…
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The Mysteries of Recycling Part II:
What is 35 miles wide, 35 miles long, and 300 feet deep? Well, according to an article posted on the Popular Mechanics website on November 13, 2008, that is how big the landfill would be if America put all of its garbage for the next 1000 years in one place.
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Clean Energy Victory Bonds
Green America has, for several years, been promoting the idea of Clean Energy Victory Bonds which would make it possible for Americans to invest in clean energy . The problem has been that it takes an act of Congress before the U.S . Treasury can issue these bonds. According to the Green America blog, such a bill was introduced to the House of Representatives in August of 2012. From the Green America blog here’s a brief overview of this program: “Clean Energy Victory Bonds (CEVBs) are proposed U.S. Treasury bonds modeled after Victory Bonds sold during the First and Second World Wars. During World War II, 85 million Americans purchased…
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Spanning the Seasons of the Gorge with Saur Farming
Winter at Saur Farm It’s January, and I have a terrible hankering for some fresh winter greens. The only problem is that I didn’t grow any winter crops in my puny garden this year, and the farmers’ market closed in November. In the back of my mind I remember Ben Saur, one of the owners of 10-Speed Coffee in the Hood River Heights and a local farmer, mentioning he still had carrots back in December. Maybe he still has greens? I stop by the shop to buy a cup of coffee, and ask him what he still has in the field. “Carrots, rutabaga, leeks, collards, and turnips,” Ben says while…
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The Triple Bottom Line that Keeps the Green Living Journal PDX Free
One of the best things about the Green Living Journal is the fact that it’s free to readers. And that’s because advertisers sponsor the content.
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EcoApprentice Brings College Students and Businesses Together for the Environment
A soon to be launched, interactive website will unite businesses and college students in an ongoing effort to better the environment. EcoApprentice.com is the brainchild of Richard Halpern, a public high school counselor who drew on 15 years of experience in education to combine two of his passions‚ sustainability and career based education. EcoApprentice will foster collaboration between college students and businesses in the implementation of sustainable goals. Participating businesses and nonprofits will post EcoChallenges, while students enrolled in participating colleges and universities will post EcoSolutions. This practical collaboration could lead to earning college credits, career based learning experiences and future employment contacts for the students. Moreover, businesses could gain…
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The RINSE Project Helps Wineries Reuse Wine Bottles
Cowhorn Winery in Applegate Valley, Oregon has teamed up with Wine Bottle Renew to establish a powerful new bioregional program called ‘The RINSE Project.’ The project cuts per-bottle costs and reduces wineries’ carbon footprints by recycling used wine bottles and preparing them for industry reuse. Some 300 million cases of wine are sold in the United States each year and the wine bottles from about 210 million end up in landfills. As the first Southern Oregon winery to ship used bottles through the RINSE Project, Cowhorn Winery aims to help change that and cut its carbon footprint in the bargain. In addition to cleaning, packing, and shipping wine bottles for…
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SoupCycle Delivers Organic Soup-Based Meals Made from Locally Sourced Foods
A several years ago, a couple of college students made a business plan to make and sell locavore soup and deliver it by bicycle. The students came to Portland and set up their business, SoupCycle. Jed Lazar and Shauna Lambert are the creative cooks and bicycle peddlers behind the food service business. They source local produce whenever possible and actively pursue environmentally sustainable, socially responsible business practices. They do have help with deliveries from fellow SoupCyclers Jen and Matt and they’re avid bicycle advocates twittering support for bike events and get-togethers. Soups and soup meals are available by subscription. Ordering online is easy and both the soup…
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Portland’s Coal Problem
According to Mayor Sam Adams,Portland receives 68 percent of its power from non-renewable fossil fuels and over 44 percent is produced by coal. A great deal of that coal-fired power generation originates in the Rocky Mountains. Oregon’s only coal-fired electric power plants is located in Boardman, Oregon. It is the state’s largest stationary source of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and other pollutants including mercury. PGE owns 65 percent of the Boardman coal-fired power plant and is seeking to submit an alternative operating plant that would phase out the facility or switch to non-coal fuel by 2020. In January, Adams announced his support of PGE’s work to rethink the…
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Earthen Hand – Building Sustainably by Teaching Construction Techniques
Artist Scott Howard is a community resource whose sculptural architecture is often finished with earthen paints and plasters.
