Monthly Archives: February 2010
Why Is Fair Trade Important?
| February 26, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
So what is Fair Trade? This is what TransFair USA says are the principles of Fair Trade.
- Fair price: Democratically organized farmer groups receive a guaranteed minimum floor price and an additional premium for certified organic products. Farmer organizations are also eligible for pre-harvest credit.
- Fair labor conditions: Workers on Fair Trade farms enjoy freedom of association, safe working conditions, and living wages. Forced child labor is strictly prohibited.
- Direct trade: With Fair Trade, importers purchase from Fair Trade producer groups as directly as possible, eliminating unnecessary middlemen and empowering farmers to develop the business capacity necessary to compete in the global marketplace.
- Democratic and transparent organizations: Fair Trade farmers and farm workers decide democratically how to invest Fair Trade revenues.
- Community development: Fair Trade farmers and farm workers invest Fair Trade premiums in social and business development projects like scholarship programs, quality improvement trainings, and organic certification.
- Environmental sustainability: Harmful agrochemicals and GMOs are strictly prohibited in favor of environmentally sustainable farming methods that protect farmers’ health and preserve valuable ecosystems for future generations.
Since we don’t have to see the terrible things that are going on with the growing of our food and making of our products we don’t think about it. Sadly the way many of the things we buy (without a second thought) are made is killing people.
Working conditions for many of the workers making our products are dangerous, pay is terrible and sometimes even slave and child labor is used! All just so we can have a cheap products that we rarely even value.
Most of us know about blood diamonds thanks to the Leonardo Dicaprio movie, but there are many other products people are being treated horribly to make. As we sit in our homes, roofs over our heads, beds to sleep in, food to eat, clean water to drink, we should think about the people in 3rd world countries and decide if we can switch to buying Fair Trade to save lives. Sometimes the price is higher but often it’s not.
And it’s not just chocolate either. It’s coffee, tea, fruits, vegetables, juice, flowers and plants, honey, spices and herbs, nuts, olive oil, quinoa, cotton, soy, wine, sugar and even sports balls.
How do you know if it’s Fair Trade? Look for this label-
So I ask you to please switch one product this month to Fair Trade, just one. Keep switching just one product at a time and in no time you will be helping to save lives!
For more information visit-
TransFair USA
Global Exchange
Make Trade Fair
Giveaway: Everyday Minerals *Closed*
| February 25, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
Everyday Minerals is a safe, vegan, and cruelty free makeup. And if those things weren’t enough it’s also affordable and great makeup! I have been using it for a few years now and wouldn’t dream of using anything else.
Now is your chance to try some of Everyday Minerals awesome eye shadow for free! One lucky reader will win the Shady Stroll eye shadow collection.
“A day and night collection with hints of shimmer, notes of grey, navy blue, purple and cream. The Shady Stroll collection includes shadows of Wood Sorrel, Queen Anne’s Lace, Weeping Willow and Sweet Woodruff.”
This collection is currently in my purse, I love it! Even if you don’t win be sure to check out Everyday Minerals. They have many free trial kits to help you make sure you love the makeup and find what color works best for you.
1. Post your e-mail!!!!! Every time people forget, you can’t win if you don’t leave an e-mail address. (if you have a blogger account that has your e-mail that works as well, or if you fill it out in the info, just somewhere please!)
2. Go to Everyday Minerals and tell me what product, other than this eye shadow collection, you would like to try.
3. Enter by March 5th at 11:59 p.m.
It’s open to anyone in the continental US.
Extra Entries (post separate comment for each):
1. Blog about the giveaway, post link.
2. Post on Twitter, post link.
3. Add me on Twitter @retrohousewife5, leave username in comment.
4. Follow me, let me know which way you are following. (Google, NetworkedBlog, E-mail, other)
5. Add my button to your site. (the button and code are on the right side of the page) Be sure to leave a link for where you put the button.
6. Become a fan of Retro Housewife Goes Green on Facebook.
7. Become a fan of Everyday Minerals on Facebook.
Remember post a separate comment for each of the above ways to enter! They will only count if they are separate.
*This giveaway is sponsored by Everyday Minerals. The prize comes from them. I was not paid for this post. These are my honest views on the product.
Mission Sustainable
| February 24, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
You may all ready know Deanna Duke aka Crunchy Chicken is a star of the show Mission Sustainable, a show in Seattle. The show helps one family green their life by seeing what their current impact is and then helping them lower it.
Deanna does the personal care makeover and gives lots of great tips as do the other people on the show. I hope someday it will get picked up by a national network so everyone can learn from this awesome show!
You can watch the pilot here- Mission Sustainable.
Product Review: Everyday Minerals
| February 22, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
I was so very excited when I learned I would get to review some Everyday Minerals products. My love for this makeup is a bit crazy, but what can I say it’s wonderful.
I love it so much I have both of my best friends using it (one of which was VERY upset at running out and having to use something else while waiting for her shipment), my mom, another good friend and not even sure at this point who else. I also know all of these people got even more people using it because they all loved it as well. Oh and I must point out while some I have converted are hippie types, some are not.
I tried Everyday Minerals due to the fact that they scored very low on Skin Deep (they rate 0-3), were very affordable, made in Texas by a mom, and everyone seemed to like it more than Bare Minerals. OH and they had a shade light enough for my very pale Dutch/Irish skin.
Okay enough raving, on to the actual review. Everyday Minerals sent me two eye shadow “collections”, an eye shadow brush, and a blush to try.
I LOVE the new eye shadow collections. The ones they sent were seasonal for winter and are no longer available but the spring colors are out and include Shady Strolls which is currently in my purse and Lavender which I’m eying! The eye shadow collections include four coordinating colors, a small brush and a mirror. They are perfect for your purse.
The brush I tested was the eye blending brush. Just like all of Everyday Minerals brushes they are the softest brushes I have used. The brushes are cruelty-free and the handles are bamboo. I have several and love them all.
The blush I tried was Pink Ribbon. It a soft pink with some lavender tones. It looks a bit dark but when blended it is a beautiful color with a nice shimmer.
With the challenge to green your personal care products going on right now over at The Conscious Shopper this is the perfect time to try out Everyday Minerals.
Here ya go FTC: I was not paid for this review. I was given sample products or the review but these are my honest views.
Book Review: Practically Green
| February 21, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
Practically Green: Your Guide to Ecofriendly Decision-Making by Micaela Preston is a colorful, easy to read, green guide you will use over and over. It has great pictures and DIY projects anyone can do.
Go to The Blogging Bookworm to read the rest of this review.
Here ya go FTC: I was not paid for this review. I was given sample products or the review but these are my honest views.
Fast Food in America
| February 18, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
Think for a minute, when was the last time you had fast food? For me it was over a year ago (other than one small shake from Sonic several months ago). Now the closes to fast food that I eat is Chipotle. To be honest my food allergies have helped me keep from eating fast food, as many of the chains have mushrooms (what I’m allergic to) and I don’t trust them to keep mushrooms out of my food.
Fast food has always made me feel bad, I have IBS and needless to say fast food always caused some discomfort (to say the least) in my digestive system. Even if you don’t have any health problems fast food can leave you not feeling so great due to all the sugar and carbs.
Then there is also the waste factor of fast food. The wrapper around your burger, the box with the fries, the bag, the napkins, the cup, the lid, the straw, the wrapper from the straw, the ketchup packet, the list goes on and on. All for one meal!
In America 2/3 of adults are overweight or obese. With fast food everywhere it would be hard not to put some blame on fast food. And it’s not just the food, it’s the size of the food. Even in my short lifetime (22 years) the size of hamburgers, drinks, and so on has gone way up. When I did still eat fast food I had to get kids sizes because it was to much food for me.
I know fast food is well fast and easy but is it worth it? Couldn’t we make a healthy sandwich at home to take with us fast and cheap? Does it really take that long to cook a hamburger at home? I make them at least once a month and they don’t take long at all and taste so much better.
For more on this issue, Katie Couric did a wonderful show titled Food in America with former FDA Commissioner Dr. David Kessler and Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser. Please take the time to watch it and of course I highly recommend everyone watches Food Inc, Eric Schlosser played a big role in that movie as well.
If you can’t view the video above, you can view it here on CBS.
I Won Three Awards!
| February 15, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
I’m honored to have been awarded three awards (one of them twice) this month. Thanks to Christi, Lisa, and Abbie!
I’m supposed to pass on the sunshine to 12 bloggers, link to them and let them know about it! So I’m passing it on to 12 bloggers who brighten my day when I stop by to visit them.
- Erin of The Conscious Shopper
- Amber of Strocel
- Lindsay of Passionate Homemaking
- La Mama Naturale of Recycle Your Day
- Cherie of Renaissance Garden
- Tricia of Little Eco Footprints
- Stephanie of Make It From Scratch
- Doreen of Mom Goes Green
- Mrs. Green of My Zero Waste
- Summer of Wired For Noise
- Candie of Frugal Green Girl
- Eco Yogini of Eco Yogini
Thanks again for the awards and thanks to all my readers for visiting!
The History of Environmental Laws
| February 11, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
Big business and many in the Republican party want you to believe that environmental laws are a new idea that will take away freedoms and destroy the American way of life. But I think it’s time for a history lesson.
Environmental laws have been around since constitutions. In the US the right to public trusts comes from ancient laws of the Roman Emperor Justinian. He held that the seashore were for public use. The Magna Carta in England would strength this idea.
King John wanted to sell off the country’s fisheries but the public fought back and forced him to sign the Magna Carta in 1215. It guarantees the right of free access to fisheries and waters.
These laws became common law in the US as established in Illinois Central Railroad v. Illinois, 146 U.S. 387 (1892). A case that states-
“The ownership of and dominion and sovereignty over lands covered by tidewaters, within the limits of the several states, belong to the respective states within which they are found, with the consequent right to use or dispose of any portion thereof when that can be done without substantial impairment of the interest of the public in the waters, and subject always to the paramount right of Congress to control their navigation so far as may he necessary for the regulation of commerce with foreign nations and among the states.”
In 1842 the Supreme Court ruled that the question of who owns the fish and wildlife was settled by the Magna Carta and that King Charless II didn’t have the power to give away the “dominion and property” of the colonial America. They further ruled that since the American Revolution the people held public trust responsibilities for fish and wildlife except for rights specified in the U.S. Constitution.
The first major environmental act was the Refuse Act which was a section of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899. The act makes it a misdemeanor to dump refuse matter of any kind into any kind of navigable waters without a permit. It also makes it also makes it a misdemeanor to excavate, fill, or alter the course, condition, or capacity of any port, harbor, channel, or other areas within the reach of the Act without a permit.
Go here for a list of more major environmental laws in the US.
As industry has grown our environmental policies have slipped. No long are public trusts held at a high standard. One of our first big wake up calls of this was in the late 1960′s when lake Erie was declared dead. We had failed at keeping our public trusts safe and usable.
I highly recommend you read the article Environment: The Cities:The Price of Optimism in TIME Magazine. It’s an article from 1969 about Cuyahoga river. It was written shortly after a large fire broke out on the river. One of the more telling parts of the article is
“No Visible Life. Some river! Chocolate-brown, oily, bubbling with subsurface gases, it oozes rather than flows. “Anyone who falls into the Cuyahoga does not drown,” Cleveland’s citizens joke grimly. “He decays.” The Federal Water Pollution Control Administration dryly notes: “The lower Cuyahoga has no visible life, not even low forms such as leeches and sludge worms that usually thrive on wastes.” It is also—literally —a fire hazard. A few weeks ago, the oil-slicked river burst into flames and burned with such intensity that two railroad bridges spanning it were nearly destroyed. “What a terrible reflection on our city,” said Cleveland Mayor Carl Stokes sadly.”
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,901182,00.html#ixzz0fFWzcKq
It’s quite evident that environmental laws are not new or a fringe idea. Once you learn the history of the US and the environment you learn that it’s the idea that big companies can destroy our right to clean air, water and food that is new. The pollution going on right now is an invasion of our rights and freedom as Americans. We let big business and those in government that they are in bed with trick us in to believing the rights of the big companies are more important than our health and the health of our plant.
This is another time that learning our history is very important. I encourage all environmentalist to read up on the history of public trusts and environmental laws. We are not the anti-Americans in this fight, we are anything but that! We know we love this country, that is why we want to protect it’s most valuable resources so future Americans can know the beauty and wonder of this country.
Sources:
For The Good of The People- Ed Owens
Crimes Against Nature- Robert F Kennedy Jr.
Public Trust Doctrine
Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899
Environment: The Cities: The Price of Optimism
Photo Sources:
Railroad (first photo)
Lake Erie (second photo)
Audi Green Police Ad- Like It or Hate It?
| February 11, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
When I saw this ad during the Super Bowl I thought it was really funny. I can make fun of myself and the environmental movement. I saw many on Twitter that weren’t so amused. OnEarth seemed to be amused by it, like me.
“If eco types didn’t find themselves laughing at the Audi Green Police commercial that debuted during the Super Bowl last night, my feeling is that–tsk, tsk–we’re probably taking ourselves way too seriously.”
Since the ad aired though I’m seeing the harm. I have seen a number of people on the far right comment on how it’s an environmentalist dream to live like the ad. I can’t speak for all environmentalist but I do know a lot and none that I know want that.
Timothy Latz of Best Green Blogs had this to say about the ad when I asked what people thought of it on my Facebook page.
“While I know it was meant to be funny, I can’t help but think that it reinforces peoples ideas that “green” folk are wackos and are out to force people to do things they may not want to do. The scene showing the police arresting the guy for having an incandescent lightbulb is a good example..”
Here is what the the far right is saying about the ad via WorldNetDaily-
“The environmentalist frenzy overtaking the Democratic Party and its left allies is just one symptom of a burgeoning anti-democratic wave among liberals. Even as the deep green crowd pushes forward with its anti-technology, anti-liberty agenda, first lady Michelle Obama insists that we now police what inner-city kids eat for dinner. Her “anti-obesity” initiative, spearheaded at LetsMove.gov, suggests that it is our responsibility to “ensure that all families have access to healthy, affordable food in their communities.” What if not all families want healthy food? What if they prefer McDonald’s? Surely the Food Police follows hot on the heels of the Green Police – already, liberal politicians are floating “fat taxes” as punishments for businesses that market unhealthy products.”
WorldNetDaily isn’t the only place saying this. Texas GOP Vote said what I have heard from many on the far right.
“While the commercial was humorous, it’s scary to think that these “green police” could be in our future.”
Oddly just a little bit farther in the article after talking about a Grist article, they had this to say.
“The grist article is a convoluted analysis trying to turn the commercial into a political position statement, which it definitely is not.”
I still think the ad is funny but I wish it wasn’t being used to fuel the hate coming from some on the far right. I think if everyone would stop fighting and listen to each other we could agree on somethings and could work together to fix a lot of the problems facing this country. Also I think if they would listen to us they would see we aren’t “anti-liberty” or “stupid.” We are good people trying to do what we believe is right.
So what do you think about the ad and what others are saying?
My mom posted about this subject as well on her blog The Well-Groomed Hippie.
The Green Moms Carnival On Coal
| February 9, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
This months Green Moms Carnival is about coal. This is an issue I have written about before, it’s one that is very important to me. There is coal mining about 130 miles from me in the McAlester area. Hearing the stories from the people who live around the mining is just heart breaking. And the mining here in Oklahoma is nothing like the mining in the Appalachian mountains. We so often forget the people that are being harmed by our use of coal.
Here is a video of one of the people living in the town of Bokoshe, Oklahoma where coal ash is dumped.
The coal ash she is talking about can contain arsenic, barium, beryllium, boron, cadmium, chromium, thallium, selenium, molybdenum, mercury, and many other toxins. That is what she is cleaning off her windows and breathing in everyday.
Coal ash can also spill and create a major disaster like the Tennessee spill back in December of 2008. About 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash spilled over Tennessee. It’s not an easy spill to clean up either. Treehugger.com reported this past December that the clean up is far from over.
Lynn at Organic Mania talks about not really knowing much about coal before this carnival. I think this is where most Americans find themselves, it was long ago I was the same.
Karen at Best of Mother Earth says “A bit like my wish for fast food restaurants to be shut down. Ain’t happening. I wish I could feel optimistic about this one. I don’t.” I sadly agree. She also shares some of coals history and why clean coal isn’t really clean.
Diane at The Big Green Purse talks about Obama’s State of the Union address and why clean coal and nukes shouldn’t be on the table for helping our energy problems.
Green Bean over at The Green Phone Booth talks about reading Lost Mountain and about mountaintop removal coal mining and what it’s doing to Appalachia.
Deanna at Crunchy Chicken talks about one of the many ways the coal industry is working to make sure everyone thinks coal is wonderful, this time their target is kids.
Hope you have learned a bit about coal from the Green Moms. Making people aware of the problem is the first and biggest step.
