Issues > March/April 2005 (#107) > 10 Easy Things You Can Do Today for Your Family's Health and the Earth

10 Easy Things You Can Do Today for Your Family's Health and the Earth

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9. Buy shade-grown coffee and chocolate

Almost half of all coffee and an increasing amount of cocoa are grown in full sunlight, using pesticides and fertilizers, on plantations which have up to 97 percent fewer bird species than shade-grown crops. Help preserve rainforests and wildlife including the migratory song birds that return to the U.S.each spring.

Choose Rainforest Alliance-certified Plantations Arriba chocolate (cooksshophere.com) or certified-organic Green and Black's (www.greenandblacks.com) or Cocoa Camino (www.lasiembra.com), all of which are shade-grown products. For your cup of coffee, pick shade-grown, organic, and fair-trade certified blends from Cafe Canopy (www.cafecanopy.com), Cafe Mam (www.cafemam.com), Pura Vida (www.puravidacoffee.com). For more choices, see the Chocolate and Coffee Product Reports at thegreenguide.com/reports.

10. Use safest plastics

Take a look at the shelves of your local grocery store and you'll notice that most of the food and water we buy comes in contact with plastic. However, not all plastics are created equal and some are safer to use than others, especially when it comes to food packaging and storage. Look for containers made from #2 plastic, which is both recyclable and won't leach toxic chemical when properly used; #4 and #5 are also safe alternative, though not recyclable. Avoid containers and wraps made from #3 (PVC), which can leach adipates and phthalates, that have been shown to cause birth defects and damage to the liver, kidneys, lungs and reproductive systems in mice; #6 (polystyrene), which can leach styrene, considered a possible human carcinogen by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer, and until more research has been done, avoid #7 (polycarbonate) known to leach the hormone disruptor bisphenol-A. See the Green Guide's product report on safe reusable plastics.

Better choices include:

Nalgene wide mouth round 32 oz. water bottle (#2; not to be confused with Nalgene's Lexan polycarbonate #7 water bottle), $5.33, www.nalgene_outdoor.com.

Rubbermaid's Chuggables bottles (#5) 1 qt., $3.49, www.amazon.com.

Glad Cling Wrap (#4) 200 sq. ft. $1.69, www.amazon.com.

Rubbermaid (#5) 2 qt. Pour N Saver Canister, ($8.49, www.acehardware.com) and 22-piece food storage set ($9.99, www.target.com).

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