Happy World Fair Trade Day!

Doing a bit of a happy dance today, myself. The sun came out and so did some people. Some from as far away as Ashburn -- specifically for the Fair Trade Coffee Break. Officially we are counting 30 folks for the coffee break -- though we did serve others before 3:00 and are continuing to do so all evening. We have Peace Coffee, an assortment of Fair Trade teas, and chocolate chip cookies, brownies and chocolate muffins - all baked from scratch with fair trade sugar and chocolate. The brownie recipe was from the NY Times and is definitely a keeper.

Business is *finally* picking up again. May is looking good. Was able to write some checks today and that felt wonderful! Might actually have some money to spend on advertising again soon. Three [of five] local papers printed today's event in the calendar section and quite a few folks today showed up because of those notices. One woman lives just a couple of miles down the road and didn't even know the store was here. I hear that a lot. I've been meaning to do a postcard campaign for months and months. It's just a matter of me deciding to spend the money that way. [As opposed to buying more inventory.] And given that I am constantly finding such wonderful things to stock in the store -- well, it's hard to make that call. I have this strange fear that I'll spend a bunch of money on advertising and then when crowds of people come in, I won't have enough merchandise for them to buy! That's what comes from kind of bootstrapping yourself and not starting out with an abundant budget, I suppose. I need to constantly remind myself to shift my state of mind and plan for the store out of a vision of plenty instead of scarcity.

Ok, off to do some more work. But before I go, I wanted to share: I finally got around to watching this bit about Fair Trade from John Oliver's stand-up routine. I thought it was amusing and today seemed like the right day to share the link.

later luvies...

Things I've been meaning to tell you ...

Note to self: If I wait until I have the "perfect" slice of time to write a blog entry [quiet, kid-free, uninterrupted, at least 30 mins.], then I never get around to posting.

Hence, despite the fact that I am smack dab in the middle of multi-tasking, I am determined to share a few things:

(1) A blog I was delighted to find and happy to share with you: Greener Loudoun, written by a Bluemont local who used to work as an Environmental Manager for Loudoun County. He updates regularly on a wide variety on environmental topics -- both local and those relevant everywhere.

(2) More on Bisphenol A [BPA]: I have been blogging about the multiple evils of conventional plastics and I wanted to keep folks updated on info as I found it. These links from Enviroblog, a project of the Environmental Working Group give a helpful overview of the topic:

BPA Cheatsheet

BPA Q&A

I was at a major home goods retailer today to buy some thermal carafes for serving hot coffee. Featured prominently in bright summer colors were all kinds of pitchers and glassware for poolside and backyard entertaining. The vast majority of these were made out of Polycarbonate. Below, is the EWG on this kind of plastic. Please note the last line [emphasis theirs] which brings a whole other problem to light.

Polycarbonate bottles: As the original post mentioned, studies show low levels of BPA leach out of polycarbonate bottles (like Nalgene and other hard, colored water bottles) at room temperature. More BPA leaches when the bottles are filled with hot liquid. Generally these bottles will be marked with recycling number seven. Polycarbonate is hard, translucent or clear plastic.These bottles may be marked with the number 7. If you're going to use a polycarbonate bottle, be aware that it's likely that higher amounts of BPA leach out of older and damaged bottles. Although we recommend that you avoid drinking from polycarbonate bottles, it's important to note that your potential exposure to BPA through canned food is considerably higher.

Our neighbors to the North are a bit ahead of us. In April, Canada became the first country to ban the use of BPA in baby bottles. Immediately after this announcement:

Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he will file a bill to ban BPA from all baby products as well as dental sealants and any bottle or container that holds food and drink. "It's better to be safe than sorry," Schumer said.

A news analyst on NPR this morning noted that it's unlikely that any such legislation will gain much immediate traction in the US because of the economic ramifications of banning BPA. It's in many consumer products and manufacturers do not have a good [for them] alternative readily at hand.

So, for the foreseeable future, we are stuck with it in our bottled water. Does that mean I'll never buy another bottle of Dasani at the 7-11 when I'm running late to little league practice with the kids? No. I did it yesterday, actually. It does mean that I am doing my best to limit my family's exposure. I would add that if you are buying and using conventional water bottles this summer -- try to avoid letting the bottles get overheated. There is evidence that more BPA leaches out at higher temps. So if you have a 36 ct pack of bottled water sitting in your garage or the trunk of your car, well, at this point, I probably wouldn't let my kids drink it. [Nor my 80+ year old grandma.]

Well, I have more to share, but the baby is soaked from splashing in backyard puddles, and my pygmy goats are trying to get in the house by climbing in my open dining room windows. Yes. Really.

until later...

ETA: This NYT article is another good overview of the BPA issue.

13 days and counting ...

Well, Earth Day is April 22. And it is also the one year anniversary of the opening of Greater Goods. If I had more time and more money, I would have loved to really "do it up" -- host some special events, invest in advertising, hire some musicians. Alas resources are still thin. So, we will do the best we can in our own impromptu, bootstrapping way...

What I hope to do here on the blog is a series of posts to help everyone commemorate Earth Day in their own way. The best they can.

I will launch it by pointing folks to a fairly comprehensive site courtesy of the Sierra Club [of which I am a member.] In honor of Earth Day they have launched a clever website "We Can Do It" filled with practical ways to conserve resources. I say it's clever, because they've crafted it to appeal to a wider range of folks than the stereotypical "treehugger." The emphasis is on strengthening the US economy -- and you can't argue with the relevance of that right now.

From the site:

We Can Create a Clean Energy Economy with Good Jobs Now — and Save Money!

Investing in renewables and efficiency will transform our economy and free America from our dependence on foreign oil and big oil companies. It will also creates job here at home, save families and businesses money, and combat
global warming.

We can do it. We have the necessary technical skills and ingenuity. Now we need to commit -- to fix our economy and our planet.

Give it a look-see. And if in your quest to tread more lightly and use fewer resources you'd like to pick up some green cleaning products, recycled paper products, or convenient and colorful reusable shopping bags -- drop by Greater Goods. We can hook you up.