yup, it’s that time of the year again- time to send out invitations, christmas cards and thank you’s! you might remember how much i love this company, as paperless post makes sending cards easier, cheaper and greener. whether you’re hosting a traditional dinner with family or a friendsgiving get-together, their custom, personalized invitations and announcements have the same thought and care as previous generations. best of all, you can start the holidays being environmentally-conscious!

wrap up: {cards} {conscious} {eco} {environment} {green} {greetings} {holidays} {paperless post}

i haven’t bought a roll of paper towels in 5 years. many years ago when i started learning about our environment and what effect we have on it, i quickly felt a personal responsibility to reduce my impact. first on the list was to cut out any unnecessary items. what was first? paper towels! they are a convenience we simply can’t afford. we just don’t need ‘em. here are some quick statistics:

- americans send 3,000 tons of paper towels to landfills each day.

- 51,000 trees per day are required to replace the number of paper towels that are discarded every day.

- the paper industry is the third largest contributor to global warming.

ready for the solution? switch to cute cloth napkins and dish towels!

 
if your household uses one roll of paper towels per week, you could save more than $100 per year by switching to dishcloths, tea towels and napkins. plus, how darling is it to hand out cute vintage napkins to your guests rather than paper towels?!

think you can make the switch?

vintage napkins:

{row 1: 60′s neon splash napkins, gray and burgundy napkins, vintage napkins}
{row 2: rust rose circa 1950, lime green linen dinner napkins, mod rust and brown linen napkins}
{row 3: turquoise and fruit napkins, vintage earthtoned colored napkins, linen harvest dinner napkins}

 
resources: 1800recycling, a lighter footprint

wrap up: {dish clothes} {eco} {environment} {napkins} {paper towels} {simple living} {tea towels} {vintage} {waste}

why would one choose to be vegan? one of my dear friends posed this exact question on facebook over the weekend, and it really got me thinking. most of you know that my husband and i have been a vegetarian for a long time, and often end up eating a vegan diet as well. their are many reasons why someone would go vegetarian, vegan or choose to eat only local & organic products, but today i want to specifically discuss the reasons why someone would choose to ‘go vegan’.

{the cooks}

1. you’ll live longer. studies show that on average vegans live 6 years longer than meat eaters.

2. avoid toxins. (non-organic) meat contains antibiotics, hormones & toxins produced by stress & pesticide residues that become concentrated from all the crops they have eaten.
3. less land consumption. an astounding 20 vegans can live off the same amount of land required by one meat eater.
4. less water consumption. it only takes 25 gallons of water to produce 1lb of wheat whereas it takes 2500 gallons to produce 1lb of meat.

5. reduce potential for food poison. 80% of food poisoning is due to infected meat.
6. reduced risk of heart disease. vegans have a 57% reduced risk of getting heart disease (the #1 killer in america today!).
7. proper protein. the average american eats twice as much protein as necessary for a healthy diet and much of that is from red meat. getting protein from beans and grains is much healthier and reduces the risk for osteoporosis.
8. healthy hormones. eating animals that have been given hormones to speed growth (a widely accepted practice in the meat industry) means those hormones go into your body. not only can this disrupt the natural balance of your hormones, but some of the hormones given to animals have shown to cause tumor growth in humans.
9. avoid antibiotics. antibiotics are almost always given to (non-organic) feed animals, which can lead to bacterial resistance in humans. many of the antibiotics used to treat human infections are also used in feed animals. this means by consuming this, we are causing ourselves to be less resistant to antibiotics.
10. increased weight loss. a healthy weight loss is a typical result of a smart vegan diet. eating vegan eliminates most of the unhealthy foods that tend to cause weight issues. 33% percent of americans are obese, while only 2% of vegans are.
11. prevent osteoporosis. bone health depends on a balance of neither too much or too little protein, adequate calcium intake, high potassium, and low sodium. with a healthy vegan diet, all four of these points set a perfect scenario for preventing osteoporosis.
12. appropriate puberty. since 1950, girls are hitting puberty on average 4-7 years earlier and boy’s sperm counts have decreased by 25-50% due to the hormones present in non-organic meat and dairy products.
13. reduced risk of alzheimers. meat eaters have double the rate of alzheimers disease as vegans.
14. support heathy ecosystems. nitrates & pesticides used on crops grown to feed livestock end up in our rivers and vastly effect the health of micro environments and ecosystems.
15. reduce global warming. the 1,300,000,000 cattle in the world emit 60,000,000 tons of methane per year (methane is a greenhouse gas which leads to global warming).
16. reduce animal cruelty. the animals involved in mass industry farming are exposed to the most cruel, unsanitary and horrific conditions. if you can handle watching it, the ‘meet your meat‘ movie will give you a glance into the common practices of present day industry farming.
17. reduce your risk for cancer. vegans have a 40% reduced level of cancer than the general population thought to be because they have a higher intake of vitamins A,C & E.
18. eliminate bad cholesterol. eliminating any food that comes from an animal and you will eliminate all of the ‘bad’ dietary cholesterol from your diet (heart disease is the leading cause of death in america today).
19. save rain forests. if they continue to clear american forests to raise cattle at the present rate, in 50 years there will be none left.
20. increase your energy. when following a healthy vegan diet, you will find your energy is much higher.

so many people get hung up on the idea that eating vegan or vegetarian is just too difficult. or they may find themselves emotionally attached to just how tasty meat can be. what they often don’t know, is that it is ever increasingly easy to eat a vegan/vegetarian diet, and enjoy much of the same things you do now. with meat substitutes, you can enjoy healthy vegan bacon, burgers and even barbecue! it’s a great way to ease into the lifestyle. today, even eating out is no problem. with most american restaurants offering vegan friendly dishes, you can also head to a mexican, thai, chinese, or indian restaurant for a sure bet of vegan/vegetarian options.

what do you think? is it worth the health of your body and your planet to skip the meat? i think i could have stopped after reason #1 and been convinced, but i would love to know what you think. i’ll meet you in the comments section!

resources & further recommended reading: veggie revolution, 101 reasons to go vegetarian, 57 health benefits of going vegan, dr. oz

wrap up: {diet} {earth} {eco} {food} {green} {health} {meat industry} {organic gardening} {vegan} {vegetarian}

hello lovelies!  have you all seen this movie? i just shared it in the comment section of the next post, but i love it so much that i wanted to share it here!  it’s just a quick snippet of a new movie coming out called fresh and discusses our food system and the health of humans on the planet.  the beauty of it has made me tear up more than once (not kidding) and it’s a must see!

“I am a caretaker of creation, and what I’m supposed to do is leave it in better shape for the next generation than I found it. period.” -Joel Salatin

wrap up: {agriculture} {eco} {food} {fresh} {movie} {sustainable} {trailer}

hello dearies!  it feels funny to not have written a shop help post yesterday, but just in case you missed the news- biz articles will only be posted occasionally, as this fall i’m offering a brand new e-course for online sellers called selling the handmade way- i hope to see you there!

ethiopian coffee travel bag

lately, i’ve been thinking a lot about shopping ethically.  every time i’m in the store and reach for an organic goody, the annoyingly cheaper alternative always seems to scream at me.  it’s for this reason why i constantly  have to remind myself why it’s important to shop with a conscience.

go green grocery market bag

you may say, why is it important to shop ethically? with every purchase you make, you vote for what you believe in, what you support, and what you want to see more of.  if we increase the demand for more organic, local, fair trade, sustainable products, then companies will respond and the prices will come down.  with every purchase, we send a message directly to the manufacturers about what we want and what we like to buy.  the products we purchase have a direct effect on our economy, our personal health, and the health of our planet.

ergonomic coffee sleeve pattern

how to do you begin? i like to start off by asking myself a few questions:

• - do i really need this?
• - will i be able to use this for long time, then recycle it?
• - how far did this have to travel to reach me?
• - who made it and how were they treated?
• - is it labeled honestly or with clever marketing?

organic lunch tote

so how do you shop ethically? there are a few guidelines that i try to adhere to anytime i can.  first, if there’s an organic option, i always try to support it!  if you can’t afford to buy everything organic, do some research on what is most important to buy organically.  for instance, (for health reasons) it’s more important to buy organic strawberries than it is to buy organic bananas, because the thicker skinned fruits aren’t as susceptible to absorbing pesticides.

next, always buy your fruits and veggies seasonally and try to buy them local if you can.  preserving seasonal foods while you can will save you from contributing to the thousands of miles these foods must travel out of season.  read more about our initiative to eat more seasonal and local foods here.

always read the labels. with statements like fresh, all natural, cage free, no added hormones and no added gmo- it’s hard to know what’s what!  often times there aren’t any regulations behind such statements, so it’s important to find out where it’s coming from- an agency, the government or the company itself?  be conscious of marketing efforts and don’t fall victim to thinking items are good for you just because they’re covered with green labels and leaves.  to find out more about what these statements mean and who’s behind them, read this article on making sense of food labels.

fair trade coffee

choose fair trade. fairly traded goods mean that the people who grew the food or produced the item are getting paid and treated fairly, meaning they’ll be able to stay in business!

purchase with a conscious. go beyond personal health and look for the most recycled, low packaging options available.  support recycled paper goods for your kitchen, bathrooms and office and always look for the products that have the lease amount of packaging.  instead of buying single use items, invest in melamine plates for picnics, cloth towels for napkins/paper towels and reusable grocery bags to shop with.

buy  handmade! that’s an easy one, right?! if you think there might be a handmade alternative, skip the big box store and support small businesses.  visit places like etsy, artfire or your favorite handmade blog to find alternatives.

check ME grocery list

it’s not always easy (or most affordable) to shop with a conscious, but don’t think that your efforts are wasted or go unnoticed. whether it’s one ethical purchase or a hundred-  you really do make a difference and your health as well as the health of the planet will benefit from every sustainable decision you make!

do you have any tips, advice or suggestions?

wrap up: {conscience} {eco} {local} {shop ethically} {simple living} {sustainable}

the craftress

top :: jill mckeever :: clockwise :: mini viles of natural perfume :: gift set :: poison ivy lib balm :: moss & ivy oil

i think all of us could take a moment to embrace the strange in us, don’t you?  and, jill mckeever’s kind of strange is just my type.  for strange women is a collection of natural, handmade adornments, perfumes, and other eccentricities all made from natural substances in effort to avoid the dangers of commercial cosmetics.  this is the kind of ‘strange’ we good all use a little more of.  my hope is that one day this won’t be seen as strange at all.  in fact, i think all the chemically produced substances we allow to absorb into our bodies is what is so strange!  (ok, slowly stepping off the soap box now)..

well, just one more thing- in case this topic is new to you- check out this website!  go grab your shampoo bottle and visit skin deep where you can enter the ingredients and see what’s harmful and what’s not.  that way- we can start making healthier decisions!  (ok, now i’m off)..

jill is also an amazing photographer.  i got a bit lost browsing her blog and photo albums earlier- her images are breathtaking!  my favorite album is from when she went to colorado.  enjoy my dearies!

elsewhere :: {shop} {blog} {site} {flickr} {facebook}

wrap up: {cosmetics} {eco} {natural} {oddly amazing} {perfume}

victoria klein is a writer, eco-consultant, photographer, and cherished regular-commenter here at home to roost.  she has lived and traveled all over the world and her writings have been published in numerous magazines and websites, such as yoga journal, craft, readymade, boho and greenopia.com- just to name a few.  she also happens to be a like minded ‘rooster’ since she loves to knit, sew, read, practice yoga, garden and cook!

{clockwise} the spot :: tuxedo twins :: arbor shadow :: butter blooms

make sure to stop by her etsy shop, and also her fab blog!

wrap up: {consulting} {eco} {etsy} {photography} {writer}