Curious about Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax? Here’s how Universal Pictures describes the movie:

From the creators of Despicable Me and the imagination of Dr. Seuss comes the 3D-CG feature Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, an adaptation of the classic tale of a forest creature who shares the enduring power of hope.  The animated adventure follows the journey of a 12-year-old as he searches for the one thing that will enable him to win the affection of the girl of his dreams.  To find it he must discover the story of the Lorax, the grumpy yet charming creature who fights to protect his world.

In hopes of spreading the eco-message of the film, we’ve partnered with Universal Pictures on our Kids for Our Planet contest as well as on pre-screening events and ticket giveaways in some of our stores. (Check here to see if your store’s included.)

Whether it’s saving Truffula Trees and Brown Bar-ba-loots or protecting the planet locally, the Kids for Our Planet essay contest celebrates kids who are doing more than their fair share to protect the planet. Help us celebrate their commitment to the environment by nominating them in the Kids for Our Planet essay contest. Parents and teachers are invited to share how a kid or group of kids they know are using their energy and creativity to make our planet a better place.

To enter a hero, visit our Kids for Our Planet contest on Facebook. (You’ll need to have your own Facebook account and “follow us” to enter.) You’ll be asked to write a short essay, no more than 350 words, describing the efforts of a child or group of children who are making a positive impact on the environment. Feel free to include links to web pages, Facebook pages or other online locations that help tell the story.

The essay contest will be judged based on:

• expression of the contest theme “Kids Making a Difference for the Planet” — 50%
• creativity of the submission and clarity of the description of the efforts — 20%
• impact the efforts had or are having on the environment — 30%

You can only nominate a specific kid or group of kids one time, so make sure you tell their story the best way you know how. You can nominate more than one kid in separate entries, though. (Oh, and by “kid” we mean ages 5 to 14.) For a full list of contest rules and criteria, visit the Kids for Our Planet Facebook contest page.

Submissions will be accepted online from January 25 through February 8; and winners will be announced on February 15. One Grand Prize Winner will receive a private screening of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax for up to 200 friends and family in your local movie theater the night before the movie’s official release to the public! (That means the pre-screening will be on March 1^st .) Three 2^nd Prize Winners will receive The Lorax eco-friendly gardening tote set with stainless steel tools and a copy of The Lorax book tucked inside.

One of the great things about the Lorax is that his powerful message still resonates and inspires kids today, years after Dr. Seuss created him. Whole Foods Market has a long history of supporting our environment and we are really excited to partner with Universal Pictures to celebrate real kids who are doing more than their part to protect the planet. We hope you’ll take the time to share their story!

Life got away from me for about six weeks during the most food-focused time of year. The CSA produce bags kept coming while I ate at home less due to holiday parties, travel and deadlines. When I finally took the time to assess the damage, only half of the food in the fridge was still edible. My compost bin brimmed, while a back-of-the-napkin tally showed that I tossed nearly 25% of December’s food budget. Ouch.

In the United States, food waste is estimated at 40% and more. While a lot of that food loss occurs pre-consumer, a significant amount occurs once food arrives in households. A 2002 study of American households indicates that families discarded 14% of their food, to the tune of 470 pounds and an annual cost of $600 per year.

Beyond the impact to family budgets, this food waste has startling implications for our national energy policy. An energy study from 2010 claims that the energy embodied in wasted food exceeds that available from most popular “efficiency” programs, such as the annual production of ethanol from (mostly) corn and the annual output from drilling in the outer continental shelf. An estimated 300 million barrels of oil per year, or four percent of the oil consumed in the US was used to produce and transport food that was ultimately thrown away. Yikes!

With help from some smart, passionate folks here at Whole Foods Market, I came up with the following list. Here’s how I plan to respect food, money and the resources that go into growing the crops and getting them to me in 2012.

I will:

• Plan meals for the week. I can check my calendar on Sunday to determine when I’ll eat at home, spend five minutes assessing what’s already in the fridge and pantry, check online for recipe ideas and make use of the shopping list functionality on this website.
• Shop at home first. I receive veggies from my CSA farmer for about 40 weeks out of the year. I also grow fruit, veggies and herbs at home. My healthy pantry is well-stocked. I will use these things first.
• Shop like a European. Many people in Europe visit the market every few days and purchase small quantities of very fresh food — just enough for the next few days.
• Be less picky about produce. If fruits are going into smoothies, if veggies are going into soups and casseroles, why do they need to be cosmetically perfect?
• Belly up to the bulk bins. Choosing only the amount I need makes more sense than storing half-filled boxes of pasta or rice — or throwing out two extra cups of cooked quinoa past its prime.
• Store stuff better. I’m slowly investing in better storage containers — glass where possible — for pantry, pet food and refrigerated items. I’ve also been researching how to store produce properly.
• Smarten up when eating out. I might spend more per serving on a half-size portion but it costs me even more to toss out what I bring home in a container.
• Eat and enjoy my leftovers. ‘nuff said.
• Save the gnarly bits for stock. If you cook with a lot of fresh produce like me, the carrot tops, chard spines and celery stubs can be saved in a designated container for the Sunday soup stock pot.
• Make a pig, chicken or backyard bird happy. The neighborhood pot-bellied pig or chickens at a nearby farm will love leafy greens and squashes past their prime. The birds will love soft apples and past-prime berries.
• Drop off garden extras at the food bank. When my prolific peach tree starts bearing this spring I’ll share the bounty instead of stuffing the freezer.
• Keep a food diary. In addition to the health-focused notes, I’ll include preparation/cooking and food waste disposition entries. I’ll need to track my progress to see if I succeed!

What tips do you have to ensure that the good stuff ends up in your belly and not in the compost bin?

Holiday items:

• Compost, chip, or donate your real tree for wildlife habitat. Many cities and counties have programs for helping you dispose of your tree. Check soon: most programs start the week after Christmas.
• Carefully box or cover your artificial tree for storage and reuse. Dust and mildew from an improperly stored tree can wreak havoc on immune systems next year.
• Recycle holiday cards and gift-wrap and/or store for reuse. Used cards and heavier wrapping paper can be repurposed for next year’s holiday tags and craft projects.
• What about those battery-powered decorations, toys and gadgets? Hopefully you chose rechargeable batteries instead of regular ones. Recycle regular batteries instead of sending them to the landfill. You can find info on how and where at earth911.com.

Closet and cabinet clutter:

• While you are clearing away the holiday items (and changing the battery on your smoke alarm) what about a quick sweep of the pantry? Do you have canned goods close to expiration dates? Rice, beans or flours that have been languishing on the shelf for more than a year or two? Compost non-meat edibles that have expired, or plan to use those on the cusp as soon as possible. Do a sweep of the fridge, too. Has that apple butter been lurking in the back of the fridge since 1999? Time to move on.
• Plan on making healthier choices in the new year? Prepare some space for all that good stuff. If you have foods in your pantry that your family won’t eat or that don’t fit with your current (or planned) dietary regime, food banks need donations after the holidays, too.
• If you had new linens and towels gifted to you this season, many pet rescue organizations would appreciate your old ones.

Electronics:

• Were you lucky enough to receive a new computer or other electronic equipment during the holidays? Donate your old stuff instead of running a history of technology museum in your garage or filling a landfill with toxic electronics. Here in Central Texas, Goodwill takes all electronic equipment for reuse. If they can’t fix or repurpose the equipment, they recycle it appropriately. Who does this in your city? Computers With Causes looks like a really good resource.
• Many Whole Foods Market stores have electronics collection drives every winter. Check with the closest one to see if their Team Members have one planned.
• Did you splurge on a new phone or mobile device this winter? If you’re ready to recycle your old ones along with batteries, chargers and other accessories, the Environmental Protection Agency website has a special section focused on recycling these items. Remember to clear your personal data from the phone before you recycling and save that special picture of Fido or Fluffy.

Other stuff:

• Are you an avid reader? This is a good time to do a sweep of print material around the house. Review your book and magazine collection to see what can go to another home. Does a friend like mysteries? Would the neighbor’s children like the books your family has outgrown? Would the nursing home on your way to work appreciate 2011 editions of National Geographic, the New Yorker, or Dog Fancy magazine?
• Did you get what you REALLY wanted — a gift card? Once you use it, don’t toss it in the trash. Bring it to any Whole Foods Market and we will recycle it for you. (Learn about our own recycled gift cards). If you received one you won’t use, remember that many charitable organizations would love to have it — you can re-gift with a clear conscience!

As New Year’s Eve (or, ahem, St. Patrick’s Day) approaches, won’t it be gratifying to ponder on the space you created for the New Year to fill with your dreams and its blessings? What tips do you have for the rest of us while we’re sending our things to the next steps in their cycles of use?

• Instead of resorting to disposable cups, use wine glass charms, ribbon, twine, rubber bands or other items to create a unique marking system for glasses, cups and mugs. Everyone knows which cup is theirs and nothing goes in the trash!
• If your party isn’t formal, acquire a mix of plates and beverage glasses at local thrift stores and yard sales. It can be fun to drink wine out of juice glasses and jelly jars and they aren’t as tippy as stemware. After your party, box everything up and return it to the thrift store. The organization receives a nice “donation” from you, and you aren’t left with the clutter — or a trash can full of paper plates.
• While beer bottles and cans are recyclable they’re also heavy and take up a lot of space in the recycling bin. Consider springing for a torpedo keg, a pony keg or a whole keg. Beer glasses are washable, as are plastic cups. And, of course, you return the keg and its tackle.

• Self-serve buffet tables with a choice of small bites, carefully labeled for guests with dietary restrictions, make a lot of sense for limiting food waste and or leftovers. Check out our great small bites recipes and spend a few minutes with our servings calculator while making your shopping list and you can purchase more accurately for the number of guests you expect.
• Keep an eye on the buffet table and make sure nothing cooked sits out longer than two hours – this will help prevent having to throw out the food that’s no longer safe to eat.
• For a formal event, consider borrowing or renting tableware and serve ware. You can return them the next day and not have to worry about storing them year-round.
• Cloth napkins, of course. Hopefully you have dozens by now. If not, see thrift store tip above. For informal parties, you can find cotton bandanas for about a dollar each. Or a length of cotton fabric can be cut into serviette-sized squares and washed once to give a fringed effect.
• Our vendor-partner Preserve offers serve ware made from 100% recycled plastic. It is sturdy enough to be used multiple times and can be recycled once it has been to its last party or picnic.
• If single-use serve ware is best for your needs, you can now find a gratifying selection of recyclable and compostable options in our stores. Handy for a drinks and small bites party, some stores carry elegant appetizer plates designed to hold a wine glass that are made from a sugarcane fiber-based paperboard called bagasse. Other serve ware and some utensils are made from bamboo, an eminently renewable resource that also composts well. Finally some stores carry plates made from dried tropical leaves that are lovely to hold and use.
• Enlist guests to help with recycling and cleanup. Clearly label bins for recyclables and compost and put out trays for washables.

Finally, enjoy and celebrate the season, your friends and family — and the food. What tips do you have for entertaining with flair while avoiding a landfill hangover in the morning?

Gifts

Do your friends and relatives really need another “thing” in their closet? Mine don’t. Try some of these ideas:

• Give a consumable gift, like food or body care treats.
• Give an experience, like theater tickets, a cooking class or a dinner out.
• Make a donation to an organization he or she supports.
• Agree to exchange well wishes and time together NOT gifts.
• If you do give a “thing” gift, make it thoughtful. Would that graduate student better appreciate a case of her favorite healthy snack bars over a CD or sweater?

Gift wrap

This certainly one that has the potential to generate a lot of fodder for the landfill! Planning ahead is key but even if you are getting a late start, some of these tips are bound to work.

• Save tissue paper all year long, along with fancy shopping bags.
• Keep an eye out at thrift stores and yard sales for colorful scarves and baskets.
• Go with reusable bags, like our smaller sized Better Bags, which are just the right size for most gifts, plus they are sturdy enough for heavier items. Around 79 cents!
• Decorate bags and baskets with dried rose buds or herb sprays and maybe a bit of cloth ribbon or twine.
• Wrap in a tie-dyed scarf or new bandana.
• For gifts that need paper wrapping, go with a roll of recycled content paper printed with water-based inks.

Parties and big meals

While washable plates are great if you have enough, that’s not always the case for holiday entertaining. Use recycled, compostable paper plates or elegant one-time use plates and bowls made from plant fibers like bamboo or pressed palm leaves instead. Don’t forget to set our compost, recycle and trash receptacles.

Lights

Each year I’ve been replacing one strand of old lights with LED ones, and I have noticed the positive difference in my electric bill in December. I’ll box up and send the last of my old lights to be recycled to an organization that I support. You can search for other options on the internet; some national retailers like Home Depot offer a lights recycling service, as well.

These are my top-of-mind ideas for this season. I know a lot of our readers have great ideas too. What are your helpful tips for making the holidays green?

While our group typically meets outdoors, this time it was my house and I didn’t want to let Ella down. Nor, frankly, was I interested in spraying questionable chemicals in my living quarters. Thanks to Ella’s influence, I stopped using air fresheners (and even conventional perfumes) years ago. I have bamboo floors and the last time any walls were painted was 11 years ago, so I felt like those elements were under control. But I’d let a few things slip over our long, hot summer and I now had 24 hours to tidy my house in a mindful way, removing dust and grime, while using products that wouldn’t cause Ella distress.

Last year I deliberately removed all conventional cleaning products from the house. Everything that remains in my housekeeping caddy comes from Whole Foods Market, where our Quality Standards extend even to things like cleaning supplies. As I’ve used up products, I’ve upgraded to those that are categorized as Yellow or Green on our Eco-Scale. But I have to admit, I hadn’t read the labels very carefully.

Before I spritzed the first spray, though, I wanted to double check on the fragrance component. I remembered that manufacturers of conventional cleaning products sometimes use phthalates to enhance the longevity of a product’s scent. Phthalates have been linked to cancer and endocrine system disruption and are currently covered under the umbrella term “fragrance” in conventional products, where ingredient transparency is not currently required. I consulted our Eco-Scale Unacceptable Ingredients list which told me that any products in our Eco-Scale Orange level can contain artificial fragrance, but no phthalates.

Ella reacts to almost any kind of artificial fragrance, though. I checked to see what my counter spray cleaner listed. Citrus blend essential oils. Good, I could use that one safely — no artificial fragrance OR phthalates. Whew!

While tossing the guest and kitchen towels into the washing machine, I read labels again. I wanted to make sure that none of my cleaners or laundry products contained any bleach, which has an odor (and chemical composition) my friend would likely react to. Although popular as a conventional disinfectant and fabric whitener, even diluted sodium hypochlorite can be extremely harsh on skin and can actually contribute to the formation of organochlorines, such as the chlorofluorocarbons that damage the ozone layer. Talk about a potentially volatile substance! Sodium hypochlorite is another compound Whole Foods Market doesn’t allow in the cleaning supplies listed on our Eco-Scale, so I was covered on that one, too.

But what about phosphates? Laundry detergents are often full of these chemicals, which soften water and increase cleaning power but also encourage algae growth in waterways and decrease the oxygen content in standing water. While the phosphates wouldn’t bother Ella, they bother me. A check of the Eco-Scale reveals — no phosphates.

Floor mopping was simple. My all-in-one mop consists of a microfiber pad for the head (reusable and no one-use pads going to the landfill) and a refillable tank into which I poured all-purpose citrus-based cleaner with some water. No worries about the cat sauntering across the wet floor and getting questionable chemicals on her paws. Besides, like most cats, she detests the odor of citrus — she stayed out of the kitchen.

Finally, the sinks. They’re big, they’re porcelain and they needed some elbow grease. Thankfully, I had a scent-free gentle scrubber on hand that used calcium carbonate as a mild abrasive. Unlike the bleach-boosted powder cleansers I used in the past, this cleaner also shined fixtures that tend to show every hard water spot and was pleasant to use.

How did I do with my mindful cleaning efforts? The Goals Gals stayed for three hours, with Ella experiencing nary a brain sizzle. We accomplished much toward our goals and the house smelled and felt much cleaner — in a healthy way. As a result of my Saturday scrubbing efforts I have a better understanding of just how useful our Eco-Scale and the ingredient transparency that backs it can be. I’m even more impressed with what we don’t allow in our cleaners.

Could anyone who visits — or lives in — your house (perhaps someone with asthma) benefit from “less” in your cleaners?

 Have you ever felt as if you wanted to “do something,” but didn’t know where to start? Project Green Challenge is that chance, your entry point into action and sustainability. Our upcoming 30-day eco lifestyle challenge is mobilizing high school and college students nationwide through fun, simple and high impact daily steps. We challenge you to complete themed actions each day in October. Can you do it? Can you take your life from conventional to conscious?

I am proud to say that Project Green Challenge (PGC) is an initiative of youth, by youth, for youth! Our team of more than fifteen interns, staff, partners and a number of newly-appointed PGC campus reps has spent the last four months working tirelessly to develop the program structure, corporate and non-profit partnerships, and our multimedia platform. We have spoken with hundreds of high schools, colleges and universities about grounding this initiative, incorporating the Challenge into campus culture, extracurriculars, even curriculum.

Involve your campus – because this is a nationwide competition for schools too. Win an on-campus Sustainability 101 event, eco resource fair, organic lunch for leadership council, ice cream party, green cleaning supplies, and consultation with Teens Turning Green to set your school on a greener path. This is the beginning of a dynamic, collective, student-led movement to shift the paradigm!

We are using social and traditional media, a robust digital platform, and strong on-campus presence to bring the Challenge to you, into the hands of our generation. As a twenty-year-old, I fully understand the need for relevant themes and straight-forward actions to ensure the Challenge is accessible to young people and has maximum impact. Here’s a short video we created that you can post and share with your friends:

Bottom line: I want to empower YOU. I want to inform and inspire, showing my peers that small changes in our daily actions really can have a positive effect on our health and the environment.

Sign up to take the 30-day eco lifestyle Challenge and we will deliver the daily challenges directly to your inbox, complete with resources, tips, a glossary, experts, videos and more. When it is this simple and high impact, there’s no excuse for you not to join the movement to change the world – and spread the word far and wide!

Delve deeper, become more engaged, complete the green, greener and greenest levels of daily challenges, share your experiences with our audience – and you might just earn yourself a spot in the Challenge Finals! Ten finalists will be flown to San Francisco for an educational and inspiring two-day eco summit, which we have titled Green University.

You could win some really phenomenal prizes too! A $5000 college scholarship, $1000 gift card for Whole Foods Market, weekend trip for two to southern California, bicycle courtesy of Natracare, full eco dorm or room makeover, year’s supply of Nature’s Path breakfast and snack foods, organic and ethical clothing, natural body products, and much more.

We aim to raise awareness about conscious living, informed consumption, and the collective impact of individual actions, as well as empower students with actionable steps for their own lives. Help us get the word out! If we all take the Challenge and commit to being the change we wish to see in the world, then yes, we can build a powerful, diverse and far-reaching movement that inspires this generation to lead the transition from conventional to conscious and sustain our world. Sign up for Project Green Challenge today!

When it comes to cleaning products, there are no government regulations for listing ingredients on packaging. This doesn’t sit well with us. As a result, we developed our Whole Foods Market Eco-Scale™ rating system to help you make the best choices about the cleaning products you use to do laundry, wash dishes, mop floors and more! By Earth Day 2012 – April 22^nd – all of the household cleaning products in our stores will list full ingredients on their packaging and be rated and third-party verified based on safety and environmental impact.

With the launch of our new standards, Whole Foods Market is the first to require full disclosure ingredient listing on household cleaning products. No one else — retailer, government body or trade association — is requiring full disclosure ingredient listing to the extent that we are.

Here’s a little bit of background:

Many people are surprised to hear that full disclosure labeling is not currently required for cleaning products by the government. Almost three out of four adults (73%) falsely believe that the government requires household cleaning products to provide a list of ingredients on the label, according to a Whole Foods Market survey conducted online in April among 2,483 US adults aged 18 and over. Another two-thirds (64%) believe that many household cleaning brands opt to disclose the full list of ingredients on packaging, when, in fact, few provide this information on product labels.

Why is this important? One word: Transparency. You deserve to know what’s in your cleaning supply products. How can you make good choices if you don’t know what you’re using to clean your homes on a daily basis? We feel it’s important to include this information on actual labels (not just on company websites) so that this information is available to you while you’re shopping.

Here’s the nitty-gritty on what you can expect from products sold in our stores:

• Ingredients must be listed on all products on our shelf by next Earth Day (April 22, 2012). This gives our suppliers time to make the required changes to their labels.

• Ingredients will be listed in INCI (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients), which is already commonly used for personal care products.

• Listing ingredients or ingredient blends as “proprietary” or using a trademarked name without an INCI name is not allowed, except for fragrances and enzymes only. (Note that as part of the audit process, all fragrance and enzyme blends will still be reviewed for acceptability to our standards).

What does all that mean to you? Well, you may start to see some unfamiliar ingredients listed on your cleaning products. The fact is that cleaning supply products are made from ingredients that most people may not be entirely familiar with. I always say that learning about cleaning supply ingredients is like learning a new language.  If you have questions about any of these ingredients, some of which are multi-syllabic or may seem very “chemically,” let us know. For each ingredient, we have an explanation of why we allowed the ingredient in the appropriate tier, or why it was a better alternative than other available ingredients.

It’s important to keep in mind that many conventional products do not contain full disclosure ingredient listings, so it will be difficult to compare conventional and natural products head to head.

Full disclosure ingredient listing is the norm for food, supplements and personal care products. We are hoping that some day the same will be true for household cleaning products.

If you’ve got questions about the potentially new ingredients you might be seeing in your favorite household cleaning products, contact us for further information.

What do you think? Should ingredient listings on household cleaning products be regulated like the rest? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.

Last September, we unveiled our color-coded, science-based sustainability ratings for wild-caught seafood created by our partners, Blue Ocean Institute and Monterey Bay Aquarium. At the time, we said that we would seek out ways to source swordfish and tuna more sustainably as part of a larger initiative to move toward fully sustainable seafood departments — and we have!

Whole Foods Market’s skilled seafood buyers source tuna and swordfish from green- and yellow-rated fisheries such as those using handlines (a fishing method that uses a single baited line to catch one fish at a time), which have low to no bycatch.

One of the new sources of green- and yellow-rated tuna comes from the Maldives in the Indian Ocean where fishermen catch tuna traditionally using a low-impact pole and line. Elsewhere, most tuna is caught with nets or longlines, which can capture not only the targeted catch, but also juvenile tuna and large amounts of bycatch, including threatened or endangered species such as sea turtles, sharks and seabirds, earning some of these fisheries a red-rating.

Whole Foods Market buyers have also formed partnerships with a variety of small green-rated swordfish fisheries in the United States — in Florida, for example — and are looking for more. These U.S. day boats also use low-impact handline fishing gear. Scott Taylor, co-owner of Florida-based Day Boat Seafood, one of our suppliers, puts it like this:

“We are not only committed to amazingly fresh seafood but to making sure that fish stocks can be replenished so that we can keep fishing responsibly for many years to come. We truly value our partnership with Whole Foods Market because the company has demonstrated a loyalty and genuine commitment to our fishermen, this process and the environment.”

The color-coded ratings in our seafood department make it easy for our customers informed choices. Green or “best choice” ratings indicate a species is relatively abundant and is caught in environmentally-friendly ways; yellow or “good alternative” ratings mean some concerns exist with the species’ status or catch methods; and red or “avoid” ratings mean that for now the species is suffering from overfishing, or that current fishing methods harm other marine life or habitats. The ratings supplement the sustainable seafood partnership that Whole Foods Market has had with the Marine Stewardship Council since 1999.

We love how our customers flex their buying power to prompt change and help reverse trends of overfishing, exploitation and depletion in so many fisheries. Whole Foods Market is proud of our partnerships with Blue Ocean Institute, Monterey Bay Aquarium, MSC and with our buyers, fishermen and fishery managers. We are thrilled to have found fisheries that can provide better environmental choices to support the ecological health of our oceans and the abundance of marine life for generations to come.

And, we will continue to seek out more sustainable sources of all red-rated wild-caught seafood, which will be phased out of our stores by Earth Day 2012 (with the exception of Atlantic cod and sole that are slated for phase out by Earth Day 2013). This timing gives us the opportunity to evaluate the red-rated fisheries to see if changes can be made to improve fishing practices. Some fishermen have worked with us for many years so it’s a partnership and a process that takes a little time to change.

Whole Foods Market’s wild-caught seafood rating program and partnerships complement its existing farmed seafood standards, which remain the highest in the industry. The company requires third-party audits and traceability from farm to market and prohibits use of antibiotics, added growth hormones, added preservatives like sulfites and phosphates, genetically-modified seafood and land animal by-products in feed. Farmed seafood at Whole Foods Market carries the “Responsibly Farmed” logo to indicate it meets these high standards.

Curious about handline fishing? Watch this video.

Tell us what you think! Is sustainability important to you when it comes to your seafood purchases?

Debrah M. from Manchester, MO
Alicia W. from Clarksville, TN
Gioya F. from Bronx, NY
Jackie D. from Greenwood, SC
Maria S. from Overland Park, KS

Could you use a “green” makeover of your household cleaning products? In celebration of Earth Day, we are giving away a collection of household cleaning products to five lucky winners! This will include everything from paper towels and bath tissue to sponges, trash bags, laundry detergent and spray cleaner. Just tell us why you’re inspired to give your home a greener clean by May 10th. We’ll pick five winners at random from the comments below.

Here’s the rundown on some of the products that will be featured in each gift package:

365 EVERYDAY VALUE®

Our 365 Everyday Value products will clean your clothes, your dishes and your home – all without emptying your pocketbook. Plus, we’ve made some recent improvements in our line of paper products, like using 100% recycled paper and whitening without chlorine. Our household cleaning products have your home, and the environment, in mind.

GREENSHIELD ORGANIC

Greenshield is currently the only USDA Organic line of household cleaning and laundry products. Their product line is made with palm oil sourced from environmentally responsible farms in South America, and their primary materials supplier is a small, woman-owned and -operated business.

BETTER LIFE

Better Life makes a unique line of 100% plant-derived formulas that clean surfaces with more power in less time. Plus, their hypoallergenic ingredients are a safer alternative for people, pets and the planet. Better Life makes household cleaning products without solvents, silicones, VOCs, ethoxylates, petroleum-based ingredients or harsh surfactants.

TWIST

Twist makes a complete collection of naturally spongy, plant-based, scrubby cleaning marvels. From handmade sponges made from dye-free cellulose sourced from certified-sustainable tree farms to loofahs grown on vines and a commitment to environmentally conscious production.  Twist products clean well, respect the planet and look good doing it.

ECOVER

Ecover products, made with powerful plant-based and mineral ingredients, are for anyone wanting to make a shift in their cleaning habits. It takes a lot to lure you away from your tried and true conventional brand, we know, and you don’t have time for cleaners that don’t clean. Think of Ecover as a fantastic line of cleaning products that also happens to be a safer alternative to bring into your home!

So tell us, what would it take for you to make the switch from conventional household cleaning products to greener choices? Add your comment by May 10^th for a chance to win!

THANK YOU FOR ALL THE COMMENTS! THE CONTEST IS NOW OVER AND WE WILL BE ANNOUNCING THE WINNER SHORTLY!