Ditching Plastics

I often find myself in conversation with like-minded parents in the shop about eco-healthy choices for kids. Many of us are concerned about chemicals that leach from plastic, like Bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates, that have been linked to developmental disorders and cancer. Currently the Oregon Environmental Council is taking up the cause to reduce plastics in child cares, in homes -- and on the shelves of second-hand stores.

They are collecting them and will deliver them to lawmakers in Salem who have the power to pass laws that keep toxic chemicals out of children’s products altogether.

And they are asking for our help to get the word out to parents in Oregon about these collection events, and their campaign to pass a children's safe products law. Help us spread the word! Here's what you can do:

1) Below are listed events where they’ll be collecting plastics.

2) We’ll have a petition, as well as a fact sheet about children's safe products legislation. Please come by the shop to read the information and sign the petition.

3) Share this campaign with friends and family and childcare providers who can in turn share with other parents. Go to the Oregon Environmental Council web site for more information!

http://www.oeconline.org/our-work/kidshealth/HealthyKids/dropyourtoxics

Collection events/locations:
Portland: Through March 1, you can drop off plastic toys & bottles at the Urban Grind coffee shop 2214 NE Oregon, Portland

Salem: Thursday, March 12, noon, at noon on the Capitol front steps. There will be other toys collected there, other parents, and speakers talking about the healthy kids bills before congress.

Our hope is for truly effective legislation to be created that tackles the root problems in the manufacturing of plastics without creating obstacles for small businesses and producers already doing it the right way! ~Karen

Trunk Show from Bambootique

Women helping women to end poverty is a big part of why we come to work each day. One of our many fabulous partners is the Fair Trade company Bambootique. Located in Portland, but featuring amazing artists from around the globe, the gals at Bambootique have a mission closely aligned with our own.

Come to our Trunk Show for Girl's Night Out on Wednesday the 18th from 5-8 and experience a little of what makes Bambootique so special.

We'll have

• Unique bags from Afghanistan
• Gorgeous Silk bags and accessories from Cambodia
• Jewelry from Thailand and Honduras

Plus a slideshow of the artists who bring you these amazing items. Goodies to munch on while you shop. Win a pair of silver and black pearl earrings.

Find out more about Bambootique

See you Wednesday!

A Slave for Chocolate?

Are you a slave to your chocolate craving? Even if you aren't, your favorite chocolate treat may be brought to you through child slavery. Yes, still, in 2009. In West Africa young boys are sold or lured in to slavery to work in the cocoa fields. Cocoa is a labor intensive crop to grow and harvest. When not managed in an organic and sustainable manner, it is also very chemical-intensive. But that is a different story for a different day.

Several years ago the major players in the international cocoa scene promised to get slavery out of the cocoa fields. The latest follow-up reports show that the efforts have not been effective in actual practice.

The only easy way to make sure that your chocolate was not harvested by a 13-year old slave is to choose Fair Trade chocolate. Fair Trade standards mean that small farmers using organic and sustainable farming methods grew your cocoa. Luckily there are more and more great Fair Trade chocolate choices to meet any chocolate craving.

In the store today we have Equal Exchange chocolates in 5 different flavors and cocoa levels, Divine dark and milk bars in a "snack" size and in the shapes of hearts for those Valentine's. Oh, and don't forget the latest Divine milk chocolate with crispy rice.

Each year our wonderful Fair Trade partners come out with new and yummier options for all tastes. And no worries about slave labor, not to mention lead, melamine..... need I say more?

Oh, but if you'd like more information, here are a few of my favorite resources.
http://www.laborrights.org/stop-child-labor/cocoa-campaign/1669

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2006/02/06/PM200602068.html

http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/cocoa/chocolatereport05.pdf

Happy Valentine's Day, as if you needed an excuse to enjoy chocolate, DeLona


For a further list of slave-free chocolates, check out Everyday Just Living's recent blog post

Do you get to travel?

I answer that question almost daily when I'm in the shop. People are amazed at the unique handmade products from all over the world, and know that traveling to pick them out would be the best part of the job. It would be amazing, and I'd love to do some of it as we grow, but the truth is, importing items fairly is a big commitment that a small shop can't completely meet.

The heart of Fair Trade is relationship. People who have traveled and bought items in marketplaces around the world tell me, "Oh, I just don't barter, I pay what the artist asks. That's Fair Trade."

Hmmmm, not really. Fair Trade means that the artist and the buyer work together to come to a mutual agreement about price, yes, but it's much more than that. While buying one time from an artist at a higher price (in local currency terms) makes everyone feel good, it doesn't actually support the artist long term. That's where the relationship of Fair Trade steps in.

In relationship, buyers may pay some of the agreed upon price up front so that artists can buy the goods needed to make it, and also can survive while doing the work. Then the remainder is paid upon completion of the work. That relationship means that Fair Trade importers endeavor not to place just one order, but to develop a long term commitment to an artist, or group, so that they are able to plan and have more stability. Fair Trade importers may also help with technical assistance on issues like product design and safety testing.

So how do we know something is truly fairly traded, if we are not the ones meeting the artists. Again, it comes down to relationship. We work primarily with Fair Trade importers who are members of the Fair Trade Federation. This way, we know they already agree to the same standards we support. When we work with an importer who is not a member of the Fair Trade Federation, we get to know them and chose partners who value people and the planet like we do.

One day I may get to travel to meet more of our artists, until then, I enjoy the stories and live a little vicariously through our amazing partners. DeLona

Make Love Sustainable

There's no better time to green up your love life than during these cold winter spells.

DeLona and I attended the Green Business Conference put on annually by Co-Op America (now Green America) a few years ago and met Wendy Strgar, founder of Good Clean Love, based in Eugene. She wowed us with her spiel and passion to promote sustainable love relationships with her all natural intimacy products and we placed our first order within the month.

Okay, so we were a bit curious to take a few things home ourselves - in the interests of market research of course. Since then Good Clean Love items have had a home at Small Planet in one corner or another of the shop - and more than a few loyal local fans.

However, today in honor of Girl's Night Out, Good Clean Love is moving out of the cozy corners and into the limelight! From 5-8pm tonight we'll be throwing a Make Love Sustainable party and sharing our favorite GCL products such as all natural lubricants and massage oils, body butters and hot oil passion candles. And for a short time only we'll be offering a few other surprises - books, games, and accessories - all best sellers from Good Clean Love.

Here are a few things we've learned from Wendy about enhancing your intimate relationships. Studies show that the benefits of an active sex life include (just in case you need some extra encouragement).

• Stronger immune response


• Better heart health


• Reduction of chronic pain


• Lower incidence of depression
  
• Decreased fear and anxiety and a greater sense of well-being
  

Though the majority of commonly found intimacy products contain petrochemicals and preserved with methyl and propyl parabens, Good Clean Love products are organic and use only natural ingredients that not only feel good, but are good for you.
Come join the party tonight, Wednesday, 1/21st, from 5-8pm! You might even win a Romance Basket full of Good Clean Love products.

Karen

Doubletake

Human beings suffer, they torture one another, they get hurt and get hard. No poem or play or song can fully right a wrong inflicted and endured.


The innocent in gaols beat on their bars together. A hunger-striker's father stands in the graveyard dumb. The police widow in veils faints at the funeral home


History says, Don't hope on this side of the grave. But then, once in a lifetime the longed for tidal wave of justice can rise up, and hope and history rhyme.


So hope for a great sea-change on the far side of revenge. Believe that a further shore is reachable from here. Believe in miracles and cures and healing wells.


Call the miracle self-healing: The utter self-revealing double-take of feeling. If there's fire on the mountain or lightning and storm and a god speaks from the sky,


That means someone is hearing the outcry and the birth-cry of new life at its term.

Seamus Heaney