Image by Robert Brook

Some people may wonder what they can do to help the environment.  Maybe they recycle, maybe they have a hybrid car or use a fuel additive to lower their harmful emissions, maybe they grow their own vegetables…but they know they can do something more.  Did you know that with just one simple change in your daily routine, you can help the environment and save the rainforests?!  It’s true.

What can you do?  Drink Rainforest Alliance Certified™ tea or coffee!  It’s that simple.  What is Rainforest Alliance certification?  It’s a process that helps promote and guarantee certain improvements in agriculture/forestry.  Having the Rainforest Alliance seal of approval on a company’s product shows that company’s goods were produced in compliance with strict guidelines designed to protect the environment, rainforests, wildlife, workers and of course the local community.

Now, how do you know your tea or coffee are Rainforest Alliance Certified?  Look on the label or go to the Rainforest Alliance website.  I also figured I’d make it easy for you and list just a few tea/coffee brands that are taking that extra measure to be Rainforest Alliance Certified:

• Peet’s Coffee features Guatemala Santa Isabel coffee, which comes from a sustainable farm in Guatemala – the second ever to become Rainforest Alliance Certified.
• Lipton features their PureLeaf Iced Tea, which comes from the Rainforest Alliance Certified Lipton Tea Estate in Kericho, Kenya.  Lipton states their goal is “for all our tea suppliers to be Rainforest Alliance Certified by 2015″.
• Nestle’s Nespresso signed a pact with the Rainforest Alliance to “reduce the environmental impacts and increase the social benefits of coffee cultivation in enough tropical regions so that 80 percent of Nespresso’s coffee comes from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms by the year 2013.”

Now apparently Starbucks has received an award from Rainforest Alliance and have taken a number of “green” steps in their coffee production, but I couldn’t find any Rainforest Alliance Certified coffees listed on the Starbucks website. 

Maybe I just missed them.  Anyway…before you grab your morning tea or coffee, check and see if what you are drinking is Rainforest Alliance Certified.  It tastes good and is better for the environment.  I’d love to hear what your favorite Rainforest Alliance Certified products are.

Image by biofriendly

Have you ever wondered what Mother Nature thinks about Global Warming?  There’s always talk about how humans have caused global warming or the various different factors that contribute to global warming, but what does Mother Nature think?

If people cut down the rainforests, is she kind and forgiving or does she strike back with flooding in that same area…flooding that would have been lessened if the rainforests were still intact?  If we waste water, does she redirect rivers and streams thus creating droughts or dry wastelands?  If we demolish fields, trees and streams to build factories, businesses, etc. all in the name of “progress”, does Mother Nature sit back and watch or does she shake with anger and let loose an earthquake?

Every day there is talk about how to deal with global warming/climate change, but I think MNN.com (Mother Nature Network) had a good blog where they talked about how the U.N. Environment Program pointed out, in a recent report, that Nature’s way is best when it comes to controlling the gases responsible for climate change.  True, isn’t it?

If we invested in planting more trees, conserving water, developing eco-systems, etc. rather than just spending money on carbon offsets, “cleaning” coal (how do you clean coal anyway?) or burying carbon emissions back into the Earth (that would tick me off if I was Mother Nature), wouldn’t we all be better off?

Maybe if we did more global activities that gave back to Mother Nature, maybe she would give back more to us.  Maybe if we each took a closer look at what we could do, that would help too.  It’s something to think about the next time you throw trash on the ground, decide not to recycle, leave the water running for 20 minutes, drive rather than walk to the store across the street, etc.  What do you think Mother Nature thinks about Global Warming?