Saving Ourselves

Delphine Polar Bear / Penguin journal, Roost water bottle, Ige Design metallic pink pig canvas bag and Smock Paper bamboo cards
























We are pleased to say that we sent our first check to the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) in January. We plan to send many more. Why do we like the NRDC? Well, they are the "nation's most effective environmental action group, combining the grassroots power of 1.2 million members and online activists with the courtroom clout and expertise of more than 350 lawyers, scientists and other professionals." They are a powerhouse for the fight to "green" (I think it's considered a verb now) this country and this world. Their priorities are:

• Curbing Global Warming
• Moving America Beyond Oil
• Saving Wildlands Across the Americas
• Reviving Our Oceans
• Stemming the Tide of Toxic Chemicals
• Accelerating the Greening of China

Check out: http://www.nrdc.org/about/. There is plenty to read and learn and a good quick video narrated by Robert Redford.

We do our best at Orange and Pear to be "green" but we still have a lot of work to do. Our electricity comes from a wind farm (and is therefore free of carbon output). This is actually very easy to do. Check out:
http://www.coolthinking.org/little_money.html- my husband Tom started this site in 2007 (it has since been out on hold to focus on Orange and Pear but it has a lot of great information). This will help you understand how you to can ensure that your electricity comes from a wind farm. Our boxes, wrapping paper and packaging filler are all recycled. We select vendors with current "green" practices and many of our products are made in the USA (which saves on fuel used to ship).

There are so many terrific books and movies now about the environmental challenges that we are facing and some are listed here: http://www.coolthinking.org/reading.html.
The movie that made the largest impression on me is Leonardo DiCaprio's 11th Hour. I highly recommend you see it. The most powerful quotation to me was that of Kenny Ausubel, founder of Bioneers, who says "at the end of the day, when we all talk about saving the environment, in a way it's misstated because the environment is going to survive, we're the ones who may not survive or we may survive in a world that we don't particularly want to live in." Here's a clip (but definitely see the whole movie):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhjJ7DvwNcA

Without our basic resources- clean air, water and uncontaminated food- we won't survive. David Orr of the Environmental Studies Center at Oberlin College, says "as we destroy nature, we destroy ourselves."

Just a few things to think about.

On a lighter note, we offer some fun gifts for those who want to help "save ourselves" and still look good. See the photos above. The journal from Delphine is gorgeous reminder of some of the animals whose habitats are threatened by climate change. The water bottle and glass is a great way to curb that addiction to using plastic water bottles in your office and it looks better. The canvas bag is just one way you can leave CVS without a plastic bag and look chic (with a sense of humor). See also one of our favorite websites about plastic bag facts:

http://www.reusablebags.com/vision.php?id=8

The "cheers" card is a wonderful line of stationery that is letterpress and made out of bamboo which is sustainable and renewable resource.

Enjoy! Thanks for reading.