Will's Notebook
Disposable or cloth? Which is best for your child, for you and for the environment? If you like the convenience of disposables, you can reduce the impact by choosing plastic free diapers or Seventh Generation chlorine free disposables. Whole Foods recently started selling their own private label diapers too.
Some argue that cloth diapering is no better for the environment because of the energy and water used washing soiled diapers and growing the cotton. However, today we have more energy efficient washers and many organic cotton choices.
My favorite, Rumpsters are made from organic cotton and hemp. Organic Fuzbaby diapers come in fun and exciting colors and Little Beetle diapers have a unique 'customized absorbency' system.
For a cloth/disposable hybrid there's the new g Diapers which contain no plastic, chlorine or latex and are flushable.
Perhaps the most economical and environmentally friendly choice is Elimination Communication making it possible for your baby to be diaper free.
In an article about the rapid growth of German Organic supermarkets [a new one every week!] a leading academic notes serious organic shortages in the largest markets which he attributes to lower food subsidies.
"Oats are sold out all across Europe, you can't buy eggs anywhere in Germany and France, and no one knows how consumers are going to get potatoes from the middle of January on," Hamm told German news agency dpa. Organic vegetables, as well as poultry and pork were also difficult to purchase, he said.
Perhaps the British government are trying to cool off organic demand...
Zhena's Gypsy Tea has been recognized by the WBENC as a successful enterprise with more that 51% ownership by women. All their tea is sourced from fair trade, organic gardens in Sri Lanka, India and China and blended with organic essential oils. You can find just the right one by studying the impressive aromatherapy wheel. Zhena originally marketed her teas by belly dancing in supermarkets.
But if organic, women owned, fair trade, belly dancing-powered tea isn't enough for you, perhaps you'll consider growing your own.
As reported by the BBC and The Times the British Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said that organic produce may be no better for you than conventional produce. Are his statements aimed at decreasing the demand for organic products? Last year organic food sales rose 30% in the UK while only 4% of total farm production is organic. Meanwhile, it's hard to find evidence for or against the claim that organic food does have more nutritional value. A study from 2001 states that:
Organic crops contained significantly more vitamin C, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus and significantly less nitrates than conventional crops. There were non significant trends
showing less protein but of a better quality and a higher content of nutritionally significant minerals with lower amounts of some heavy metals in organic crops compared to conventional ones.
Another study says that the nutritional content is basically equal. Perhaps the secretary should be making the opposite statement, that organic produce is at least as good as conventional produce but without herbicides, pesticides and much less fertilizer.
The Associated Press is running a story about organic food colorings and quotes Whole Foods as saying they don't 'jibe' with what organic consumers want, but conversely White Wave would love to be able to make nice pink smoothies that can say 100% Organic on the bottle.
The article also notes that some organic food colorings, such as Hibiscus have medicinal properties
If you're going to invite it into your living room for a few weeks, you might want to make sure it isn't covered in pesticides. However, finding an organic Chirstmas tree is a challenge. This Texas farm is selling organic Chirstmas trees and this short list might help you out if you're lucky enough to find a farm close to you. 'Grist' covered many of the Christmas tree dilemmas. Perhaps this year I'll settle for a real yule log.
Whole Foods offers compostable plastic utensils for their takeout food section and they have a "compostable" bin along side the recycling and trash bins. I visited the farmer's market in Santa Monica, CA this summer where all the food vendors use 100% compostable disposable plates and cutlery. On January 2, 2007, Oakland , CA will require all food vendors to use biodegradable or compostable products. However, my local co-op won't provides these products because they are made from GMO corn starch. Is replacing petroleum plastics with compostable GMO corn plastics worth the acceptance of GMO crops?
Find a farm near you! The Eat Well Guide and The New Farm - Farm Locator help you find food producers is your neighborhood. Very useful if you are thinking of trying the 100 Mile Diet.
Applied Organics was making a great organic personal lubricant, "Nude". But they recently renamed it and dropped the organic certification. Was the market drying up? This seems like the type of product that cries out for organic ingedients. A few other companies ( Yes and Sensua ) have organic products, but if you're looking for something simpler, Natural Zing recommends their raw organic virgin coconut oil for intimate lubrication.
In an article on the decline of the US cotton industry, the Sustainable Cotton Project declares "If you were a farmer, you'd be a fool to grow organic cotton if you weren't sure you'd get a living wage for your work. We're seeing a big increase in people interested in organic cotton, but we're not seeing people step up to the plate with their pocketbooks."
Is this just rhetoric? When WalMart is selling organic cotton goods at a premium, there has to be some market potential, right? The same article points out that the number of organic cotton growers in California doubled last year. Ok... so it went from 1 to 2, but still... that's growth.