November Updates

 We are so thankful to all of our donors and volunteers this holiday season. Together we were able to donate 329 meals and $3123 in dry goods and produce in the month of November. Thank you for your continued support and we wish you all a safe and healthy holiday season and new year. 

In the spirit of giving, please remember to donate to your local food banks. Needs are always the highest in the winter and while nutritious staples are always welcome, remember that a lot of families may need help getting into the festive spirit. Boxed cake mix, eggs, and icing are not in everyone’s budget and can help make a child’s Christmas special. Teas, coffee, and hot chocolate can help one feel cozy on cold nights. And boxed milk that doesn’t require refrigeration just makes cookies for Santa that much better. These are all little luxuries that can make the holidays brighter for everyone. 

What is the environmental impact of hitting ‘Buy Now?’

NPR explores the impact of American consumerism on the environment, and how pulling back could positively affect the planet. Read more about Amazon’s carbon footprint here in The Prime Effect.

Did you know birds love seeds, nuts, and…cheese? It’s important for birds to have a high fat diet in the winter to help keep them warm and active. Here’s some tips for feeding our feathered friends this season. 

Shiny, fancy wrapping paper, tinsel on the tree, gifts shipped from faraway places, and lights glittering away all night long as far as the eye can see. The holidays sure can be a tough time for Mother Nature. But we are here to tell you that small, incremental change is still change. There is no reason to doom & gloom over holiday excess, and there’s no reason that your Holly Jolly Christmas can’t be merry and bright……and sustainable!

The perfect gift this holiday season tells your loved ones “I care about your health, I care about your future, and I care about you.” Here are a few small tips for your holiday season that will keep your family green all year long. 
Wrapping Paper. Wrapping paper may have “paper” in its name, but that doesn’t automatically mean it can be recycled. Most wrapping paper cannot be recycled due to additives such as glitter and metallic finishes. Try decorating brown Kraft paper, or reusing old maps or magazines as alternatives. Have you heard of the Japanese art of Furoshiki cloth wrapping? It’s one of the symbols of traditional Japanese culture which puts an accent on taking care of things and avoiding waste.

Kitchen Items. To love someone is to cook for them! Gifts for the kitchen are great for everyone, but let’s make sure that those items are not releasing toxic chemicals to the ones we love. Silicone baking supplies and cooking utensils are a fairly recent revelation. Silicone is more ocean-friendly than plastic, it is comprised mainly of inert silicone (sand) and oxygen, it’s more durable than plastic, it’s dishwasher safe, temperature safe, and doesn’t degrade into micro fragments. It is sometimes recyclable, but more importantly when it is incinerated as trash, it reverts back to its harmless ingredients without off-gassing toxic chemicals. When plastic cooking utensils are exposed to high temperatures over and over again, they degrade quickly and leach chemicals into our food. Yuck! Consider replacing them with 100% silicone and watch them last for decades. 

Pots & Pans. Ok. I have to say it. Non-stick surfaces, what we typically refer to as Teflon, is just downright dangerous. Yes it is convenient and yes it was touted as the new miracle product, but what we were not told was that it is causing long term damage to our bodies’ natural processes by seeping into our bloodstream through our food. It is known to leach chemicals at high temperatures (duh, we’re cooking with it!), it can be easily scratched by metal utensils, flaking off into our meals, and it is not dishwasher safe (this actually causes it to leach more toxins by creating micro cuts in the non-stick surface). Additionally, Teflon only has a lifespan of about three years of repeated use. Who wants to buy new pots every three years? That ain’t green! Consider investing in ceramic and copper coated cookware. It heats better and lasts longer. 

Beauty Products. The cosmetics industry is rife with a single use problem. Packaged in plastic, single use applicators, ocean clogging microbeads, just to use a product made of toxins that we apply directly to our skin. Yikes. But the tide is changing, you just have to know where to look. Biossance formulates clean, non-toxic, vegan skincare using the highest standards in the industry through their commitment to transparency and has blacklisted 2,000+ toxic ingredients. Their key ingredient, squalene, is derived from 100% sustainable sugarcane and their shipping and packaging are carbon neutral. Juice Beauty is another almost-vegan (their lip gloss contains beeswax) skin care line that is making its beauty mark on the industry. Juice Beauty’s award winning clean skincare products are formulated with certified organic and sustainably-sourced ingredients that contribute to less pesticide and synthetic fertilizer residue to protect humans, animals, and the planet.

Honorable Mentions: The Last Object. What if you never had to buy tissues or q-tips again? This company is creating items like The Last Swab and The Last Tissue to do just that and are end-to-end sustainable across their entire value chain.

The Final Straw. This one is a personal recommendation. I absolutely love my Final Straw and its collapsible design allows me to take it everywhere. Dishwasher safe silicone inside, collapsible aluminum outside. The Cadillac of reusable straws, they also make reusable utensils. 

Clean Cult. Bar soap, laundry soap, hand soap, dish soap, you name a soap, they got it. This brand was created by PhD scientists based in PR who dug deep to find biodegradable ingredients that are tough on grit and grime, but easy on the environment. They are passionate about sustainability and supporting the economy and infrastructure of their native island. 
We hope you all have a safe and healthy holiday season!