March was a pretty exciting month for me. The "Making Green from Green: Corporate Environmental Sustainability Programs" event on March 18th, sponsored by the Columbia Business School Alumni Club of NY, was a huge success. The speakers were engaging, articulate, extremely knowledgeable and well received by the 200 plus attendees. At the end of the month, I had the opportunity to attend the Stonyfield Farms Entrepreneurial Institute for the second year in a row. I was blown away by the talent, creativity, ambition and energy displayed the attendees. Both events allowed me to meet a couple of my sustainability heroes again (see pictures below) and gave me renewed hope for a sustainable planet and the role of social enterprise in securing it.
Now, on to April and the 40th anniversary of Earth Day!! What a great time to offer our subscribers a HUGE EARTH DAY PROMOTION! EcoPlum Pie subscribers each get a $10 COUPON to use towards ANY item we sell directly through our store. It's our way of saying THANK YOU for all your support, every day (see coupon code below). So, besides cashing in your EcoPlum coupon to get some eco-friendly products, what will you be doing for Earth Day? We are celebrating Earth Day by sponsoring a Communal Shredding Eventon April 16th, right here on the Upper West Side of Manhattan,
together with our friends at PS 166and Code Shred.
Then, on April 18th, we continue the celebration at Joe's Pub with the At Hand Theatre Company's BROADWAY RECYCLED, an Earth Day
concert benefiting the Broadway Green Alliance and At Hand Theatre Company.On Earth Day itself (April 22nd) we will be helping to educate about sustainability at a town hall meeting for industry professionals with the Broadway Green Alliance. Find an Earth Day Event in your neck of the woods.
Don't Turn Up Your Nose At Organic Wine These
days, it seems most of us have gotten the message--organic is good.
Pesticides are not healthy. We should search out and consume local, in
season, and organic foods as often as possible. But according to a recent study, wine doesn't make it onto the list of
"better when organic" choices. Consumers aren't willing to pay higher
prices for organic bottles, even though those wines received higher
ratings for taste from
Wine Spectator. Some wine companies go so far as to hide their
organic certification, hoping they can buck the trend.
Clearly,
organic wine has gotten a bad rap. As consumers, we have the power to
change that, and we should. Supporting organic growers is one of the
best ways to make organic farming techniques more mainstream. Growing
grapes without pesticides and chemicals is difficult, and requires a
great deal of work and worry. It's also more expensive for the farmer,
and that expense is reflected in the price. Read More!
EcoTip: Green Carwash
Everyone
loves a clean car, but washing a car is actually dirty business for the
environment! Did you know that it's actually greener to take your car
to a commercial carwash than to wash it at home? According to International
Carwash Association washing your car at home
actually wastes 80-140 gallons of water and the toxins from washing your
car end up in your storm drain, polluting rivers and streams. Washing
your car at a carwash only consumes 45 gallons or less and commercial
carwashes are required by law to treat the water so it doesn't pollute
the earth. Read More!
Chryso Beauty Buys
Spring has
sprung and, as with the weather, makeup palettes have lightened up and
brightened up. First step, ditch your heavy matte lipstick for a
weightless lip gloss. Second, let go of the winter reds and say hello to
the hottest hue of the season-coral, according to Chanel celebrity
makeup artist Kara Yoshimoto Bua, who offers up her tips on how to apply the shade.
Whether
you're down with this uber-cool color or you'd rather stick to the
still-popular pinks, be sure to choose a brand that's safe. Lip gloss,
like all cosmetics, is under close scrutiny. In fact, on February 2,
2010, Dr. Mehmet Oz aired the segment Dangerous Beauty: Dr. Oz Reveals Dangerous Ingredients
in Your Make-Up-and he took lip gloss on!The doc
pointed to health risks associated with one compound that's used in
many lip glosses-Petroleum-which packs that shimmer we're all after.
"Petroleum
jelly is a byproduct of oil drilling, and when you spread it on your
lips, you end up eating it, which is essentially the same as drinking
gasoline," according to Dr. Oz.
"The European Union has banned
many petroleum jelly products, and experts are concerned they could be
linked to cancer. Women with breast cancer have twice the levels of
hydrocarbons (substances found in petroleum jelly) in their breasts than
women who haven't had breast cancer."
Hmmm..okay, so no
petroleum (or mineral oil, liquidum paraffinum, or paraffin oil, as
these are just other fancy names for petroleum). Moving down the
ingredients list, if you're allergic to the dye Carmine(many people are) or you oppose its use from a Vegan stand-point (it's
extracted from insects), make sure your gloss does not include it (it's
popular in red/pink hues). Finally, avoid harmful Parabens,
which have been linked to breast cancer in several peer-related
studies.
Now, get ready to pucker up and try on some of the most
sensational lip stains we could get our hands on...Read More!
Dede's Green Scene
Alicia
Silverstone may have starred in the movie "Clueless", but she is definitely not
clueless about veganism. In the past, veganism has often been associated
with hippies and the kid who tried to free the frogs that were going to be
dissected in biology class. Over the last few years that stereotype has changed
and man, veganism has never looked so good. Just take a look at
Alicia. She is a gorgeous woman who just radiates health and beauty. That's
probably why her book, "The Kind Diet," is a New York Times bestseller.
Honestly, who wouldn't want to look like Alicia Silverstone?!
The truth is, it has taken Silverstone some time
to become a vegan and it hasn't always been easy. That is what is so inspiring
about her book, how the reader can connect to her journey. Alicia first tried
to become a vegetarian at 8 years old (after her older brother started making
animal noises of the food she was eating), but she had some setbacks.
Silverstone exclaims numerous times in her book that veganism doesn't just
happen overnight. Read More!
From The Blog:
Message in a Bottle (posted 3/22/10)
It's World Water
Day- a day sanctioned by the United Nations to bring awareness to
the fact that by 2030 two-thirds of the world will lack access to clean
drinking water. While this sounds alarming, it may not appear to
have any immediate effect on those of us who do enjoy clean drinking
water in developed countries.The first step to changing this statistic
is for us to kick the bottled water habit. But since many of us only
really pay attention and change our behavior when maintaining the status
quo starts to have immediate, dangerous and life altering consequences,
then let me put it in plain dollars and cents: Spending $2 on a bottle
of water is equivalent to spending $10,000 on your sandwich today at
lunchtime.That's right - so why are we doing it?
Think bottled water is safer, cleaner, more convenient? I thought so
maybe as recently as 6 or 7 years ago. I was actually pleased with
myself when I bought water instead of soda. I used to love it when I
walked into a salon, store or went to an event that offered FREE bottled
water - what a treat! How incredibly healthy - fresh pure spring water
- yum. Over time, I slowly learned about the devastating environmental
and societal effect of these water bottles. I learned that not only is
bottled water not safer, but it is less regulated and often contains
more contaminants than tap water. Now that I know the facts I find it
upsetting and downright offensive when I see people all around me buying
and consuming bottled water. But lecturing them is not going to change
their behavior. What I can do is lay out the information so that people
can make their own responsible choices. Here are a few "must see"
tidbits for World Water Day.Read More!
Get our monthly newsletter. We will keep you informed on new products, new retailers, new industry sources (for certification and labeling) and of course new articles and content.
Be able to rate and comment on articles, tips and videos, and products.
Receive EcoChipz rewards on purchases for qualified products.
Bookmark the EcoInfo page to see what's new every day in EcoTipz, EcoClipz, EcoContentz and The Orchard.
We will be sure to keep you posted on all the latest information and especially any kind of new regulation or policy that may require action on your part.
Ecoplum Pie Archives
Now the old Ecoplum Pie newsletters are archived and available to view. Check it out.
IN CELEBRATION OF EARTH DAY, WE ARE OFFERING YOU EACH A $10 COUPON TO SPEND IN OUR ECOSHOP! Please use Coupon Code ERTHDY at checkout.
This coupon is good towards any purchase made through our Direct Shop. Direct Shop products are ones that you can add to the Shopping Cart directly. You can see all Direct Shop products by clicking on the "Featured Products" link below the shopping categories on the left.
Products sold through our Retail Partners are not eligible. These products are easily identified with this ribbon: For products sold through our retailers you will be taken to the retailers' site to check out. Coupon expires 7/31/2010.
Green Scene 
