Beginning on Earth Day, we’ll be launching our new Eco-Scale™ Rating System for household cleaning products. What does this mean for you? It means that figuring out how to scrub, wash and polish in an earth-friendly way just got easier! This new rating system gives you the information you need to make more informed choices about the way you clean your home, your clothes and your dishes.

The Eco-Scale™ Rating System is a 3^rd-party verified, tiered rating system that we are now using to evaluate cleaning products for environmental impact, safety, efficacy, source, labeling and animal testing. Based on the product evaluation, we will rate it red, orange, yellow or green on the Eco-Scale™.

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Happy Earth Day! (A little early – it’s officially this Friday, April 22^nd). Throughout April, we’ve shared fun kid-oriented and earth-friendly activities. Check out our posts on DIY fossils made from coffee grounds, a compact herb garden and easy bird biscuits.

This week’s project will have the neighborhood birds flocking to your house for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Plus, the kids will have fun making the birdfeeder and watching the action after they hang it up. The toughest part may be deciding which carton to empty for the project!

Let’s get started! To ensure you’ve got everything you need to begin, gather your materials and then spread them out on your work area. This project can be done just about anywhere — at the kitchen table, on a deck or patio, or in the yard.

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We’re so excited! Earth Day is coming up on April 22^nd. Around here, we simply aren’t capable of limiting our Earth celebration to just one day. So we’ve taken it upon ourselves to call April “Earth Month” and we’ll be sharing eco-tips and activities all month long on the blog. Once a week, we’ll feature a fun kid-oriented and earth-friendly project.

This week’s project helps your kids feed the local birds by using nut or seed butter from your pantry. Nut and seed butters are great for birds, and even better for you! Nut and seed butters are a great whole food source of healthy fats. They’re delicious spread on other foods (think apples, bananas, whole grain crackers or bread) and can help make sauces and salad dressings more interesting.

Now let’s get started! To ensure you’ve got everything you need to begin, gather your materials and then spread them out on your work area. This project can be done just about anywhere — at the kitchen table, on a deck or patio, or in the yard.

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Eat your way to a greener planet! Here are some simple ways to make food choices that positively impact our environment and celebrate Earth Month.

Challenge: Zero Waste Meals

Try preparing a zero waste breakfast (or lunch or dinner) by purchasing items with little or no packaging. Ensure that any packaging you do end up with is reusable or recyclable, and then compost any food waste. Banana peels, coffee grounds, eggshells and carrot tops are just the beginning of what you can compost. Do your part to keep landfill-bound waste to a minimum.

Choose Whole Trade® Products

Our Whole Trade program sources over 1,000 items from producers who share a commitment to quality, the environment and healthy working conditions. Small choices you make every day really make a difference in the world. When you choose Whole Trade products, you are actively using your buying power to create new economic opportunities for workers in the developing world.

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Our Do Something Reel™ Film Festival has been screening films in 70+ cities around the country in celebration of Earth Month.  Have you caught a show yet?

The film festival is a collection of six provocative, character-driven films focused on passionate people making a world of difference. From the Coal River Valley of West Virginia to the inner city of Detroit, from vanishing bee populations to the evolution of the National School Lunch Program, from farmers and active everyday citizens to doctors and scientists, the Do Something Reel line-up provides a moving, eye-opening look at how the choices we make can have a huge impact on our bodies, our economy and our environment. We hope these films will inspire you to reflect on what you’re passionate about and how you can make a difference!

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It wouldn’t be Earth Month without some green-living tips. Each week, we’ll feature some of our favorites from our Green Mission Team.

Start Small. Millions of people reuse their shopping bags every day. It’s a simple way to do your part to keep plastic bags out of landfills and oceans. Just remember to give yours a good washing once in a while!

Pay Attention to Packaging. Look for products from companies that use minimal packaging or recycled packaging materials. Also, try to buy products with as little packaging as possible. When you pay attention to packaging, you help prevent about 13,000,000 feet of 10-inch wide plastic from entering the waste stream.

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We’ve made a few packaging changes in our Whole Body™ department, and in the spirit of Earth Month, thought we’d give you the details on how we are using post-consumer recycled materials. According to the EPA, nearly one-third of all municipal solid waste in the U.S. is packaging. Fortunately, people are shifting to demand more environmentally friendly forms of packaging…and we’re here to support that!

When you see the PCR (post-consumer recycled) seal, that means the bottle is made with 100% PCR plastic. Some experts say that selecting products that utilize PCR plastics not only decreases production of plastic worldwide, but also reduces the release of greenhouse gases.

Our 365 Everyday Value® brand offers lotion, hair care, hand sanitizers and foaming soap that are currently in 50% PCR plastic. All of the body care and supplements are transitioning to 100% PCR plastic bottles. And, the shipping cases are 30% PCR cardboard boxes.

Our Whole Foods™ brand currently offers supplements in amber colored bottles that are 100% PCR plastic. Supplements in boxes are transitioning to 100% recycled (50% PCR) paperboard. The organic castile soaps are in 50% PCR bottles, and the organic bar soap packaging uses 30% PCR paper.

We know that sometimes all of the choices available in our Whole Body™ department can be a bit overwhelming, so please don’t hesitate to ask a question! Our Whole Body™ Team Members are thoroughly trained and well educated about the products we offer.

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We’re so excited! Earth Day is coming up on April 22nd. Around here, we simply aren’t capable of limiting our Earth celebration to just one day. So we’ve taken it upon ourselves to call April “Earth Month” and we’ll be sharing eco-tips and activities all month long on the blog. Once a week, we’ll feature a fun kid-oriented and earth-friendly project.

This week’s project helps your kids immortalize their favorite small objects (or hands or feet) using your leftover coffee and coffee grounds. Our favorite coffee grounds come from Allegro Coffee because they believe that strong, healthy communities start with a healthy planet. In 2004, Allegro became 100% Replanted by committing to replant five trees in their coffee growing regions for every tree’s worth of paper they use. Allegro also pays its farming partners a fair price for their crops. Paying growers a fair price provides them the means to reinvest in their farms, hire and keep the best workers and stay in business for a long time.

Now let’s get started! To ensure you’ve got everything you need to begin, gather your materials and then spread them out on your work area. This project can be done just about anywhere — at the kitchen table, on a deck or patio, or in the yard. The best part for grown-ups is that you can begin this project by sipping a rich cup (or two) of coffee.

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It’s show time! Whole Foods Market presents the Do Something Reel™ Film Festival, a collection of six provocative, character-driven films focused on passionate people making a world of difference.

From the Coal River Valley of West Virginia to the inner city of Detroit, from vanishing bee populations to the evolution of the National School Lunch Program, from farmers and active everyday citizens to doctors and scientists, the Do Something Reel line-up provides a moving, eye-opening look at how the choices we make can have a huge impact on our bodies, our economy and our environment. We hope these films will inspire you to reflect on what you’re passionate about and how you can make a difference!

This nationwide traveling festival will be presented in 70+ cities throughout April, in celebration of Earth Month.  Plus, 20% of the proceeds from ticket sales will go to the Whole Foods Market Film Fund. This fund will be administered by a non-profit organization dedicated to films and filmmaking and will support the work of documentarians who are producing films about food and environmental issues in keeping with Whole Foods Market’s mission and values.

Featured films include:

Bag It! from filmmaker Suzan Beraza

Lunchline from filmmakers Mike Graziano and Ernie Park

On Coal River from filmmakers Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Wood

PLANEAT from filmmakers Shelley Lee Davis and Or Shlomi

Urban Roots from filmmaker Mark MacInnis

Vanishing of the Bees from filmmakers George Langworthy and Maryam Heinen

Are you passionate about important food and environmental issues?  Find a Do Something Reel Film Festival screening near you!

We know, Earth Day isn’t here until April 22nd, but we love to celebrate all month long! We’re passionate about honoring our planet and one day simply isn’t enough time. We know our customers care just as much as we do – and sometimes even more! So let’s take the whole month of April to share what we’re doing and what you’re doing and what else we could all be doing to help the Earth.

Now, let’s get the Earth Month party started! In the spirit of making a difference, and in a moment of tooting our own horn, here’s a look at some of the fun things we’ve got planned.

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