I love holiday gifts that have a greater purpose, and the Ryan’s Well Foundation Bottle is a gift that does good on so many levels.

A stainless steel water bottle is a fantastic, healthy gift to give to someone you love.  It will help them stay hydrated, cut down on plastic waste, and cut down on costs.

But the Ryan’s Well Foundation Bottle goes even further.

Cathy Aniceto sent me some information to share with you about the Ryan’s Well Foundation project:

Michelle and Cathy started their company Aniceto & Bigg a short time ago and their focus is to help children and families around the world.  Recently, they have partnered with the Ryan’s Well Foundation in Kemptville, Ontario to fundraise for this registered Charity through the sale of high quality, grade 18/8 stainless steel water bottles.

The Ryan’s Well Foundation was started ten years ago by a six year old boy Ryan Hreljac. Throughout the last ten years the Foundation has built over 461 wells and have provided clean drinking water and improved sanitation to 600 000 people.  Both organizations have worked very hard to source the perfect bottle, design, fund, and implement the Bottles for Wells project. “The goal is to donate $80, 000 by the end of 2009, to the Ryan’s Well Foundation.”

These bottles have been manufactured in a confirmed socially responsible facility, that is ISO 9001 certified for quality, something that is very important to them.  Each bottle sold equates to one more child in a developing country having access to clean drinking water and improved sanitation!  Globally, consumers spend $100 billion dollars every year on bottled water, and for a fraction of that sum everyone on the planet could have access to clean water and sanitation.  So switch to a Ryan’s Well Foundation bottle and Make a Difference!

You can also use the Ryan’s Well Foundation bottle as a fund raising opportunity for your organization.

Aniceto & Bigg Co. is inviting schools, organizations, teams and other community groups to participate in this unique fundraiser.  “For groups, everyone receives a bottle, a custom name label a Ryan’s Well Foundation Certificate of Participation, and we will donate 50 cents per bottle sold back to each group.”

You can purchase the bottle on their website.  For more information you can contact Michelle and Cathy Toll Free at 1-888-739-1119 or by email at sales@abcorp.ca

Years ago, I had a job at an office where we weren’t allowed to use the coffee pot to make coffee.  You see, using the coffee pot for it’s intended purpose gets it dirty.  Instead, we were supposed to use the coffee pot to make hot water, then use the hot water to make instant coffee.  And since the damn (not)coffee pot didn’t get the water quite hot enough, we were then supposed to put the instant coffee in the microwave to get it to the ideal temperature.  I really really really wish I were making this up.

And I really really really wish I’d known about Mount Hagen Instant Organic-Café back then. 

Regular instant coffee has a bad rap for a reason.  It sucks.  It’s either like drinking brown hot water, or it’s like drinking bitter brown hot water with a nasty aftertaste.

Mount Hagen Instant Organic-Café, on the other hand, makes an excellent cup of coffee.  It’s rich, dark, and isn’t thin and watery like conventional instant coffee.  I bought some fresh ground fancy organic coffee from the natural food store a few weeks ago that didn’t even compare to Mount Hagen.  Crazy, huh?

InterNatural Foods sent me some to try over the summer, and I’ve actually bought it several times over since I used up that first round.  We made it in our JetBoil when we were camping in Washington State, saved money, cut down on waste, and drank fantastic coffee every morning.

It also makes quick and easy iced coffee in the summer, and is a great addition to recipes.

I’m not sure the environmental benefits of instant coffee are clear.  Sure, you don’t need a filter, but when you make ground coffee, you can use a reusable filter to cut down on waste.  Mount Hagen coffee is packed in Germany, but it’s not like anyone is growing coffee in upstate New York.  There aren’t local options for beans here (although there are local roasters, and I do like to support them whenever possible).  But since it’s freeze dried, the shipping weight is probably far less than that of a bag of beans.  But there’s also energy that goes into processing the coffee to turn it into instant granules.  I’m guessing it’s something of a toss up.

But in addition to being excellent, Mount Hagen Instant Organic-Café does have one added advantage over ground coffee:  Your coffee pot stays clean.

I just found out that they make an organic instant cappuccino, and I have to see if my local natural foods store carries it.  I’m dying to try it.

Here are the rules for ’social-networking’ tag:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share seven things about yourself - some random, some weird.
4. Tag seven people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog and/or Twitter.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is posted.

I was tagged by Ashley Sue at Green Grounded and Jessica at All Natural Single Mothering 101.

7 things about me:

1. Once, I gave up coffee for a year.  It was a dark, dark, time, and I don’t think I’ll ever do it again.
2. I can hang five spoons on my face at the same time (or at least I used to be able to, I haven’t tried in awhile).
3. I love everything about pine trees - the way they look, the smell of the needles, the feel of pine needles under foot -  to the point where it’s probably a little dotty.
4. I was a horrible student in high school, and it’s only in my adult life that I’ve realized I’m a learning junky.  I love love love to research things and learn as much as I can about a topic that interests me.
5. I’m pretty clumsy.
6. I sing at the top of my lungs when I’m in the car alone and I don’t care if people in other cars can see me.
7. I love every day life, and I love being at the stage in my life that I’m in right now.  I can honestly say that I’m happy.

I’m tagging:

1. The Modern Gal
2. The Prettiest Dennys Waitress
3. Howling Hill
4. Neuteronomy
5. My So Called Wedded Life
6. Equa Yona
7. Petite Planet

EarthFirst discusses the decline in visitors to national forests.

Two Frog Home reports on the Selfless Activism Challenge.

Tiny Choices talks about a temple made from glass bottles.

The Green Beauty Guide has some great tips for treating acne, and Crunchy Chicken makes a homemade clay mask.

Organic Needle says naked statues are more important than reindeer antlers.

No Impact Man discusses the true cost of our cars, and Green Grounded says fuel efficient cars often fail to be cost efficient.

Ecollo tells you everything you ever wanted to know about wool, but were afraid to ask.

We were supposed to travel for Thanksgiving, but my husband ended up having to work, so we stayed put and had our own little Thanksgiving right here.  Right when we realized we wouldn’t be able to go, I got an e-mail from a local farming listserv that there were still turkeys available.  So I e-mailed that I was interested, and arranged to meet the farmer in a parking lot to pick up my turkey. 

It sounds so shady, doesn’t it?  It wasn’t.  The lot is the site of a farm market in the summer, and they’d set up shop with coolers.  And the farmers were totally not what I expected.  They were younger, about my age (I’m 31), and had a baby toddling around in a snow suit.

I paid for the turkey I’d reserved, got some cooking tips, and went on my way with a 12 pounder.  It was really a pleasant experience.  Honestly, a year ago, I would have felt funny about buying a turkey from a farmer in a parking lot.  I can be kind of shy and the whole process is a little more work and a little more personal than walking through the grocery store and putting something in your cart.  It’s funny how hard it can be to work outside of your comfort range.  We’re so used to being detached from our food sources.  But after two years of CSA bags, and shopping at the farmer’s market, it wasn’t such a stretch to buy a turkey directly from the farmer.

Cooking the turkey was interesting too.  The turkeys I’ve cooked in the past had a different stature.  Conventional turkeys are bred to have bigger breasts.  This turkey was well proportioned.  The organs were very healthy looking and bright in color.  And even though I overcooked the turkey slightly, it was the best turkey I’ve ever eaten.  It reminds me of the first time I ate CSA lettuce.  I couldn’t believe that lettuce could taste so good.  I couldn’t believe that turkey could have such a delicate, nuanced flavor.  We didn’t even put gravy on it.  We used every usable part of the turkey, and didn’t let anything go to waste. There wasn’t much fat, and the fat that was there was clearer and more oily than fatty.

Over the weekend, the grocery store was having a sale on the turkeys that weren’t frozen. They were so inexpensive that I realized it would cost far less to cook fresh turkey for the dogs (yes, plural, that’s a whole other story) than it would to buy canned turkey and rice dog food.  So I bought a turkey and put it in the oven yesterday.  (We won’t get into the part where I got a bad steam burn on my hand when I lifted up the roasting pan lid and had to go to the ER.  And we won’t talk about the fact that my co-pay at the hospital totally negated any savings, or the fact that my hand is bandaged up like a mummy and my arm is sore from the required tetanus shot, and I’m crabby.)  What I would like to talk about is the difference in the second turkey. The organs were small and brownish.  The breast was huge, but the meat was very pale, and the fat was yellow and thick.

Had I never seen the pasture raised turkey that was grass fed and given organic feed, I would have thought that turkey number two was a great turkey, but in comparison, it looked kind of gross.

With my dietary restrictions, I can’t see myself giving up poultry and fish (I don’t eat red meat) completely, but this whole process has gotten me thinking.  I do try to buy organic/pasture raised poultry when I can.  And I do try to incorporate vegitarian meals into our diet regularly, but I think I’m going to do this even more.  I think I’m going to work harder to eat vegetarian and save money buy using beans and tofu as protein sources more often so we can afford to buy higher quality poultry when we do eat it.  Not only does buying pasture-raised organic-fed poultry support farmers who are doing thing the right way, but it seems to be a much healthier option for us.

According to Sustainable Table:

“Free-range chickens have 21% less total fat, 30% less saturated fat and 28% fewer calories than their factory-farmed counterparts.  Eggs from poultry raised on pasture have 10% less fat, 40% more vitamin A and 400% more omega-3’s.”

The full article is fastinating, you can read it here.

This whole process has reinforced that fact that for me, it’s worth a little more time and a little more effort to make sure that our food is healthy and nourishing.  I really do believe the whole garbage in garbage out theory of food.  I’m not saying turkey number two was garbage, but I think that maybe there’s a higher level of nourishment I’d like to work toward.

Make soup!  It’s easy, economical, and a great way to get many more meals out of your Thanksgiving dinner.  Homemade turkey soup freezes well, and is so much better than anything you can buy in a can. 

Here’s a great recipe for making soup from leftover turkey.  Get creative with your additions.  Add cabbage, carrots, celery, turnips, noodles, or rice.

When ever I make chicken or turkey stock, I freeze some of it in ice cube trays before I add the veggies, etc.  The cubes make it easy to add a little extra flavor to a recipe without a lot of work.

Looking for something to do today while you sit around buying nothing?

Today is the National Day of Listening:

“This Thanksgiving, StoryCorps asks you to start a new holiday tradition—set aside one hour on Friday, November 28th, to record a conversation with someone important to you. You can interview anyone you choose: an older relative, a friend, a teacher, or a familiar face from the neighborhood.”

How is it eco-friendly?  Well, you probably already have a device at home you can use to record and preserve the interview — check your computer, phone, camera, iPod, etc. for recording capabilities.  Interview several family members and give the recording as your gift this holiday season.  The opportunity to learn more about loved ones is a priceless gift with a very small carbon footprint.

To learn more, visit the National Day of Listening website.  The Associated Press has a great list of pointers for recording.

Source

I wish you and yours a day of happiness, warmth, and love.

I am so thankful for all of you. Thanks for reading. Thanks for making greener choices. And thanks for sharing your eco-friendly ideas.

Have a good one!

Best,

Allie

Looking for the perfect gift is hard.  Looking for the perfect green gift can be a little more challenging.  From now until the end of the year, I’ll post green gift ideas to make things easier.

If you saw my review of Act2GreenSmart bags, and my interview with Tom Larsen from Act2GreenSmart, and were interested in getting a bag, briefcase or computer sleeve made from recycled soda bottles, now is the time to do it.  Use the code gh08 at checkout and get 25% off your order until December 17th.

In addition to Act2GreenSmart bags, AGreenPlace4U.com has an umbrella made from recycled soda bottles and recycled metal, a flash drive that’s recyclable and waterproof, and some neat eco-writing sets.  With a few clicks, I’m sure you can cross a few people off your list.

According to an Associate Press article, the FDA has found traces of Melamine, the substance that left 50,000 children sick and three dead in China, in popular brands of infant formula in the United States.  The FDA urges parents not to switch their child’s formula, but also admits that there is no level of melamine found to be safe for infants.

Here are some of the results from the tests:

“According to FDA data for tests of 77 infant formula samples, a trace concentration of melamine was detected in one product — Mead Johnson’s Infant Formula Powder, Enfamil LIPIL with Iron. An FDA spreadsheet shows two tests were conducted on the Enfamil, with readings of 0.137 and 0.14 parts per million.

Three tests of Nestle’s Good Start Supreme Infant Formula with Iron detected an average of 0.247 parts per million of cyanuric acid, a melamine byproduct.

The FDA said last month that the toxicity of cyanuric acid is under study, but that meanwhile it is “prudent” to assume that its potency is equal to that of melamine.

And while the FDA said tests of 18 samples of formula made by Abbott Laboratories, including its Similac brand, did not detect melamine, spokesman Colin McBean said some company tests did find the chemical. He did not identify the specific product or the number of positive tests.

McBean did say the detections were at levels far below the health limits set by all countries in the world, including Taiwan, where the limit is 0.05 parts per million.”

If you’re feeding your infant formula and are concerned, you should do some research and talk with your pediatrician about any diet changes you decide to make.

Here are a few articles to help you start your research:

The Daily Green - Breast is Best, But What’s Next?

Barf Blog - Sugar content in one organic brand may be a jump start to obesity

Organic Consumer’s Association - Infant formula marketing gimmick linked to illness

EWG - Guide to Safe Baby Bottles and Formula