Eco-friendly packaging
Yellow+Blue organic wines are shipped responsibly and packaged smarter, we’re talking 93% wine and 7% packaging, this results in a low impact on the environment and high impact on the palate. Wine has been around in Europe for years in a box, but Yellow+Blue don’t package in a box, it’s a Tetra Pak, this is the same packages in which milk or juices are packaged and shipped. The Tetra Pak wine cartons are not a new concept. All across Europe, Canada, and South America, even in wine-passionate places like Italy and Argentina, Tetra Paks have been embraced for their environmental friendliness, their portability, and their practicality.Tetra Paks are eco friendly for many reasons, one is their shipping capacity, they are rectangular so no space is wasted (unlike bottles). Shipping is considerably less as the weight is product and not the glass bottles. Consider: A case of wine in glass weighs 40 pounds and holds 9 liters of wine, close to 50% wine and 50% packaging. A case of Yellow+Blue weighs 26 pounds and holds 12 liters of certified organic wine. It’s a win-win for lowering the carbon footprint of the company and the consumer. The downside is the Tetra Paks are not made from recycled content, and I hope that is something they look into in the future, however 75% is made from responsibly sourced well-managed forests. The wood is first used to make houses and furniture and the leftover wood chips go on to become paper products used in Tetra Paks. I hope to see some recycled paper content in the future though!

Low Carbon Footprint
As the Yellow+Blue website states, the carbon footprint of the wine industry is huge. Items like glass bottles, cork, labels, fuel, pesticides, chemicals… it all adds up. Transportation is a giant contributor to wine’s overall carbon footprint, and it is here that Yellow+Blue takes a step in the right direction. They purchase wine from the wine makers before it’s bottled, ship it in bulk via insulated steel tanks to North America, where the cartons are filled and then distributed. Dr. Tyler Colman who has helped to create a carbon footprint calculator specifically for the wine industry, crunched some numbers to compare the carbon footprint of Yellow+Blue against those of a more traditional wine business model. Yellow+ Blue’s carbon footprint turned out to be almost half the size (54%) of the traditional model.

Recycle
As we all know glass bottles can be recycled, and it appears that now so can Tetra Paks. Once it’s been re-pulped, a carton can come back as tissue products. Tetra Pak has come a long way since they started carton recycling programs in the US in 1999. Today, 20% of the total US residents across 26 states (and growing) have access to carton recycling. Globally, 25 billion packages were recycled last year. For a list of communities with carton recycling, click here. I checked the Tetra Pak recycling site and it looks like my city is behind the times on this one, so I’ll still be buying my wine in glass bottles, for now at least!

Another great resource is available for those looking to recycle those trickier items.  A group called ReCORK promotes the recycling of wine corks, and uses them to create trees and forests in efforts to limit climate change.

“Natural cork, the kind used in wine closures, is a perfect choice for recycling. It’s 100% natural, biodegradable and renewable. There is no reason natural wine corks should end up as garbage when recycled cork can become flooring tiles, building insulation, automotive gaskets, craft materials, soil conditioner and sports equipment. Because of a worldwide interest in sustainable agriculture and natural products like cork, an alliance of concerned businesses, individuals, and ecological organizations has been formed to address the opportunities to recycle natural cork closures.”

ReCORK is sponsored by a producer of all natural win cork closures out of Portugal, Amorim, as well as SOLE, a manufacturer of footwear products. This coming spring, SOLE will be releasing their line of products that use recycled cork.  Their unique blend is sustainable, and replaces some of the petroleum-based materials.

ReCORK and SOLE also take efforts to plant cork oaks. Cork forests are large in Portugal, supplying more than half of the world’s corks. Corks are biodegradable, recyclable, and renewable.  Moreover, the cork forests are habitats for many animals. Cork forests are better suited to hot and arid conditions, and help protect the soil from desertification.

Their website continues:

“ReCORK has already collected millions of used corks. Check out the ticker at the top of this window to see a running tally of how many have been collected so far. The program is focused on obtaining used and surplus corks from individual consumers, retail and hospitality organizations, winery tasting rooms, bottling lines and quality assurance laboratories. Collection locations are being established with key retailers and restaurants all over North America. A list of current collection locations can be found here. Please note: only natural cork is being accepted. No plastic or metal closures will be accepted.”

Don’t throw away your corks, but instead send them to ReCORK or drop it off at one of their locations. 

Check out their website at ReCORK.

March is National Craft Month, and as someone who indulges in many different crafts I for one will be celebrating with some serious crafting time this month. Whilst crafting can be time intensive it can also be eco-unfriendly so I though today we’d look at some ways to green up our crafting so we can reduce our global crafty footprint. It all basically comes down to the old eco-friendly adage of “reduce, reuse and recycle” but lets look into it further.

Crafts such as knitting and crocheting can be pretty expensive with the cost of tools, and wool but how about instead reusing and upcycling? Instead of buying new look for sweaters in thrift stores that could be unraveled into balls of yarn and knitted into new garments. If you must buy new then choose organic wools or yarns made from recycled materials. Some yarns are available that are made from recycled soda bottles etc. Give them a new lease of life as a new sweater or blanket!

Getting busy with a sewing machine can be a great skill, whether you are making home furnishings, clothing or quilts and it needed cost an arm and a leg - or the Earth! Quilting is a huge pastime all over the world and a GREAT use for scraps of material. Whether it’s offcuts from another sewing project or bits and pieces of outgrown clothing quilts really can tell a story along with keeping us nice and warm. Sewing your own clothes is also another great craft and you don’t even have to buy new fabric check out freecycle and craigslist for sheets and curtains or oversize clothing that can be altered to fit.

Paper crafting is a hobby enjoyed worldwide and whether you make handmade greeting cards or scrapbook you don’t have to set aside your eco-friendly ways when indulging in these crafts. There are more and more paper manufacturers offering scrapbook paper printed on recycled paper. Stamping is another paper craft that can be equipment intensive, but again with the introduction of acrylic stamps and blocks we no longer rely on wood mounted blocks for stamping.

Crafting doesn’t have to cost a fortune and the Earth, we can reduce, reuse and recycle whilst creating our pieces of art.

It seems whatever products we purchase these days we have to think twice about due to rampant overuse of dangerous chemicals, animal testing, sustainability of the product and potential recycling of used products. Some products are available to help though like “Tom’s of Maine” toothpaste. Tom’s of Maine was founded in 1970 and based on the idea that nature has answers to everyday needs, and that nature not chemicals were the answer. Over the years their teams of herbal experts, dental health professionals and scientists have proven that nature really does work. 

Certifications
In 1995 Toms of Maine toothpaste was the first natural toothpaste to be given approval from the American Dental Association, earning their seal of acceptance that the toothpaste is safe and effective. Toms of Maine also holds certifications that their product is Halal and Kosher, and is approved by Peta as being cruelty-free.

Ingredients
All the ingredients in their products are fully disclosed on their packaging, not only that but also the reasons WHY they are included and the source of the ingredient. This might not seem a big deal but for items that can be animal or vegetable based this is a huge resource, especially for vegans/vegetarians and those of religious cultures that don’t allow specific animal consumption. After all you wouldn’t imagine that toothpaste may contain animal products would you? However Glycerin used in many personal hygiene products can be animal or vegetable based so knowledge is power! Remember than animal farming uses so much more natural resources than vegetable farming so the more eco-friendly option would be vegetable based. Along the same lines Toms of Maine products contain no artificial colorants, perfumes, flavors or preservatives.

Choice
Toms of Maine seems to be all about offering their customers choice. Some eco-friendly people may be avoiding SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate) while others may not care about this ingredient so Toms offers both SLS and SLS-free varieties. The same applies to Aluminum in deodorants and fluoride, offering both products with and without the ingredients so consumers can decide for themselves. This is not only beneficial to the consumer but good business practice for the company. Most consumers aren’t ready to switch to an all natural product so offering these hybrids is a great idea!

Product recycling
One great thing about Toms is on their website is that along with providing manufacturing information, ingredients and ways in which the company helps he earth they have a list of all the packaging and give information as to whether the packaging is recyclable. This is for the consumer awareness so we can continue their vision and recycle where possible.

Whether or not you grow vegetables or just flowers in your garden saving seeds year and year not only helps the environment but also your pocket book, perhaps allowing money to be better spent on other areas of your life to improve your carbon footprint. Not only that but it’s so easy to do!

Collecting seed
All the information you need on seed saving is right at your fingertips! The internet is such a great resource that all the information you need is right in any search engine. Simply inputting “saving tomato seeds” into google will bring up a plethora of webpages dedicated to saving seeds. Each type of plant generally has it’s own rules of seed saving depending on how it pollinates. Some vegetables like peas and beans, you simply leave the pods on the plant till they get brown then save the dried seeds inside. Other plants like tomatoes or pumpkin require a little more work, requiring that you cut into the plant, scoop out the seeds, wash/rinse the seeds then leave to dry thoroughly. In any case you can guarantee to find some results for seed saving specific varieties online. All it takes is a few minutes.

Saving seeds
This one is down to the individual, some save seeds in paper envelopes, some in small plastic baggies, and others then place their seeds in the fridge to prolong the seeds life and germination viability. Either way, I say just do it. You could use recycled paper envelopes, make your own envelopes reuse plastic baggies, just make sure the seeds are completely dry before storing and in an airtight container.

Saving seeds from hybrids
If the variety you are saving seed from is a hybrid (made from two different varieties) then the seed saved from the hybrid fruit/vegetable will not come “true to seed”. That means that they won’t be the same once replanted. Purists will say that these seeds shouldn’t be saved, but honestly for me gardening is all about the experiments. Why not save it, and see what grows? The seed isn’t costing you anything after all and all you lose is a little time.

Pollination
It’s also worth noting that some varieties of plant don’t pollinate every year. Onions for example never flower their first year, so you may have to wait for a while to get your seed collection from these plants. However when then DO flower, it’s beautiful and the seeds are aplenty!

More reasons to save seeds
Saving seeds can have a great neighborhood impact regardless of whether it’s vegetables, fruits, or  flowers. In my neighborhood a few of us swap vegetable/herb seeds. A good neighborhood system is so important for an eco-friendly community. For neighbors who want to grow their own food and make steps to becoming more eco-friendly offer a small variety of seeds from your own collection, the seeds were free for you, you get to help a neighbor in need, and help the neighbor become more sustainable, plus if you subscribe to Eastern philosophies then it’s also good Karma.

I’ve only been gardening a short few years but I already saved a lot of my own seeds, from vegetables like eggplant, peas and radish to tomatoes, herbs and marigolds. I never met a seed pod I didn’t like Honestly it’s just something I really enjoy doing and more than anything I enjoy passing seeds on to friends and neighbors so we can all have beautiful gardens and provide a great habitat for wildlife.