I have been a bad blogger! Life seems to have gotten the better of me, and time has flown, and no blog has happened in the meantime! SO, here are some updates!
Vinegar:
I am still lovin' vinegar! Vinegar is still my fabric softner, and dishwasher additive. Works beautifully and is soooo economical! Love it!
Fair Trade:
I am still trying to incorporate fair trade for Christmas this year as much as possible. It's a win-win thing!
Homeschooling:
I have stretched out in homeschooling and delved into a direction I never imagined for myself--Classical Education. So far, so good. I will blog more in depth about this one soon! My daughter is in second grade now and we are in our 4th year of homeschooling (started at 4yr old preschool). I really do love homeschooling!
This year's birthday party:
Those who know me well know that I LOVE planning parties! I think in themes, so it's just such fun for me! We have finally settled on a theme for this year and I am soooo psyched about it!!!! I'll give a full report with pics in the next month!
Books
I've read a lot of really cool stuff this year, and can't wait to share some of that with you! Look for blogs in the coming weeks about some great books I've read!
Stuff I Like
I will be adding a link to the blog "Stuff I Like"-- favorite products I've used, etc. I look forward to hearing about stuff you like too!
See you at the next blog!
Showing posts with label Fair trade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fair trade. Show all posts
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
Update on Fair Trade Christmas
So, how did the fair trade Christmas go? I would say about 30% of the gifts we gave were fair trade. I would like to have done better, but then I don't think it's a bad start either. I tried to keep in mind who I was giving the gift to, and sometimes it didn't work out. When possible, I went with made in the USA or by a local craftsman too. Clothing and toys are the hardest areas I found to meet the criteria.
What DID I find? The easiest areas by far were chocolate, coffee, jewelry and soap. Green & Black Organic Chocolate, Newman's Own chocolates & coffee, Green Mountain coffee, Fair Trade Exchange Coffee and Dr. Bronner's soap were all easily found in major chain stores and grocery stores (I found them at Target, Hyvee, Schnucks, Fresh Market & Kroger in Peoria.) Even more brands were at natural food stores and specialty grocery stores. In Peoria, I easily found fair trade items at: Forest Park Nature Center (some beautiful Christmas ornaments, jewelry, fiber arts, decorative objects, chocolate, cleaners--really neat selection there!); Global Village (a small store dedicated exclusively to fair trade and run by volunteers to keep prices down); RE- (a new store at the Metro Centre where everything is made from recycled or environmentally sustainable goods); Naturally Yours (lots of coffees, chocolate, soaps). I am sure that this is not an exhaustive list, but it is what I've found. If you know of others, please let me know!
Another really cool thing I should mention is that I actually received some fair trade gifts too, which was really neat. I got a bread basket with cloth in it (both fair trade) and a loaf of homemade bread in it--very clever, I thought! Please share any great gift ideas you have too!
What DID I find? The easiest areas by far were chocolate, coffee, jewelry and soap. Green & Black Organic Chocolate, Newman's Own chocolates & coffee, Green Mountain coffee, Fair Trade Exchange Coffee and Dr. Bronner's soap were all easily found in major chain stores and grocery stores (I found them at Target, Hyvee, Schnucks, Fresh Market & Kroger in Peoria.) Even more brands were at natural food stores and specialty grocery stores. In Peoria, I easily found fair trade items at: Forest Park Nature Center (some beautiful Christmas ornaments, jewelry, fiber arts, decorative objects, chocolate, cleaners--really neat selection there!); Global Village (a small store dedicated exclusively to fair trade and run by volunteers to keep prices down); RE- (a new store at the Metro Centre where everything is made from recycled or environmentally sustainable goods); Naturally Yours (lots of coffees, chocolate, soaps). I am sure that this is not an exhaustive list, but it is what I've found. If you know of others, please let me know!
Another really cool thing I should mention is that I actually received some fair trade gifts too, which was really neat. I got a bread basket with cloth in it (both fair trade) and a loaf of homemade bread in it--very clever, I thought! Please share any great gift ideas you have too!
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Update on Fair Trade Christmas
Well, I must confess that Black Friday deals did get me off track a bit for my Fair Trade Christmas plan. I can just about guarantee that a few purchases were far from fair trade. I got caught up in the sales, the ads, the frenzy of it all. At some point during the day, it hit me just how far off the mark I had gone. Fair trade hadn't even crossed my mind until that point.
So, today I went to check out Global Village in Peoria Heights. It is a fair trade treasure trove! I did not realize until I went there that the focus of the store is fair trade! In case you are thinking that fair trade is more expensive--think twice! I found a lot of reasonable prices. What can you get there? Chocolate, coffee, soaps, purses, scarves, decorative objects, linens, musical instruments, dog collars, cards, mittens, clothes... LOTS of things. The cool thing is (in addition to them being fair trade) many of them are one of a kind. You can get a truly unique gift there! If you are looking for anything that has a plug-in or screen, you will not find it there. Though, they do have some baskets woven from telephone wires in Africa... It is neat that you can see what country most items were made in. My daughter picked out a gift for a friend's birthday while there--a really cute kid's purse made in Guatemala. Global Village is a small shop chock full of really neat items! A great stop for holiday shopping that can make a big difference!
One of the biggest challenges in shopping fair trade is for toys. The best I know of are some European toy companies with good reputations for making safe toys. Does anyone know of some good resources for fair trade toy shopping (that are also made from safe materials)? If so, please clue me in!
I'll keep you posted!
So, today I went to check out Global Village in Peoria Heights. It is a fair trade treasure trove! I did not realize until I went there that the focus of the store is fair trade! In case you are thinking that fair trade is more expensive--think twice! I found a lot of reasonable prices. What can you get there? Chocolate, coffee, soaps, purses, scarves, decorative objects, linens, musical instruments, dog collars, cards, mittens, clothes... LOTS of things. The cool thing is (in addition to them being fair trade) many of them are one of a kind. You can get a truly unique gift there! If you are looking for anything that has a plug-in or screen, you will not find it there. Though, they do have some baskets woven from telephone wires in Africa... It is neat that you can see what country most items were made in. My daughter picked out a gift for a friend's birthday while there--a really cute kid's purse made in Guatemala. Global Village is a small shop chock full of really neat items! A great stop for holiday shopping that can make a big difference!
One of the biggest challenges in shopping fair trade is for toys. The best I know of are some European toy companies with good reputations for making safe toys. Does anyone know of some good resources for fair trade toy shopping (that are also made from safe materials)? If so, please clue me in!
I'll keep you posted!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
A Fair Trade Christmas
Do you ever feel like every time you turn around, you are seeing the same thing. Something you may have given little thought to before is suddenly there everytime you turn around. For me, that is fair trade. In case you are not familiar with the term, fair trade means that the people who made and produced the item were properly compensated for their work. I see at Forest Park Nature Center that October was Fair Trade month and they are featuring some really neat fair trade products at their trail store (chocolate, jewelry, gifts, coffee, etc). Then I see an article in a magazine about child laborers worldwide and how many children worldwide work in sometimes dangerous occupations for little compensation. Then I find out about a market in Peoria Heights that features fair trade products. OK God--I get it.
I have always cared about the environment and try to make earth friendly choices in shopping and lifestyle. I have not given fair trade as much thought until this. I think God is challenging me to do so. It makes total sense to me-- I should buy products where those who produce them are fairly paid for their work. I don't feel it's ethical for me to get something for cheap because someone worked for wages that don't even provide them enough food to eat, much less to live on. However, our consumer driven society has created a global system which often does just that. It takes some searching to shop fair trade.
Thus, I have issued a challenge to myself. I am going to do my best to make it a fair trade Christmas. I am going to try to find environmentally friendly, fair trade gifts to give this Christmas. I will keep you posted on how it goes!
I have always cared about the environment and try to make earth friendly choices in shopping and lifestyle. I have not given fair trade as much thought until this. I think God is challenging me to do so. It makes total sense to me-- I should buy products where those who produce them are fairly paid for their work. I don't feel it's ethical for me to get something for cheap because someone worked for wages that don't even provide them enough food to eat, much less to live on. However, our consumer driven society has created a global system which often does just that. It takes some searching to shop fair trade.
Thus, I have issued a challenge to myself. I am going to do my best to make it a fair trade Christmas. I am going to try to find environmentally friendly, fair trade gifts to give this Christmas. I will keep you posted on how it goes!
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