Natural Latex Rubber - Needs to be Fair Trade

An unseasonably warm, sunny morning; brown haze horizon.


While at the September "Natural" Products Expo, I had a quick conversation with a natural rubber yoga mat maker. The eco qualities of the 100% natural latex rubber yoga mat seemed perfect - PVC free (imagine making a yoga mat with PVC, now there's an oxymoron), 100% rubber, eco dyes, and biodegradable. "Was it Fair Trade?" The shocked (weird?) look I got followed by "No" changed the tone of the conversation. He knew it was from Vietnam but didn't know much more than that; after all, he bought his rubber in bulk which might have included many sources. Given the defensive posturing, we knew it was time to go.

So here was a leading rubber yoga mat maker, well poised in the green world, surrounded by the Fair Trade mantra, and he wasn't sure of his sourcing. I find that fascinating.

Not only are yoga mats a potential source of natural latex and rubber, but pillows, mattresses and toppers are an enormous industry, offering safe, green bedroom alternatives.

Rubber trees originally came from Brazil but were quickly seeded in the colonial Asia territories and Liberia where labor was guaranteed, well, cheap, at least. This is from where most of the world's rubber still comes. In fact, there are campaigns to stop Firestone's destructive practices in Liberia. Goodyear also ranks right up there in abuses. In Asia, forests are being cut down for rubber tree plantations, but some of this is a front in order to continue logging. Horrible labor conditions and wages seem to be the norm but have yet to get the world's attention.

Searching for Fair Trade natural rubber doesn't get you far. There are just a handful of eco sites, but darn few. Most are based in England.

There was one company at Expo East that hopefully will make folks stop and think about sourcing of "natural" products. Flip flops made by Feelgoodz uses 100% rubber but their mission is what makes them so special. (okay, so they are the most comfortable flops ever) They hope to become the first Fair Trade certified rubber product in America, in addition to their triple bottom line commitment.

So many other "natural" products such as food, fabrics, fibers and woods are Fair Trade or at least have SA 8000 certifications. How did rubber slip under the radar?

So, who harvests the rubber trees for your yoga mat? What about your flip flops? Or your latex pillow or mattress? If you have any of these products, I urge you to make a phone call. Ask the company if their rubber is Fair Trade. Ask if they have visited the plantations. Ask what country their rubber comes from. Ask if they know any thing about the sourcing of their rubber. The answers may shock you.

The Greening of Southie - Boston at Its Best

Clear crisp morning with low clouds moving quickly. Classic fall morning.


Last night I watched The Greening of Southie (South Boston) at our local, very hip Red River Theatre. It wasn't another downer environmental film (which I love by the way), it was a very enjoyable, interesting movie which I highly recommend. The movie was followed by a panel discussion by our local geek from the Jordan Institute, an architect and NH's most experienced green builder. The sell out crowd asked great green questions too.

The movie was about Boston building its first Gold LEED certified building at a time when the city didn't know how to spell LEED. You might think a movie about building a building sounds pretty boring, but the director did an excellent job mixing in the colorful workers (who couldn't spell green) with the dynamics of this state of the art green building invading the traditional neighborhood of South Boston. That was a take home message in and of itself - The new high income green wannabees displacing families who could no longer afford the upscale coming digs. This part actually left me unsettled. Is that progress?

Back to The Greening of Southie - I did enjoy the workers who were chosen for their hesitant embracing of "this green stuff". That was quite heart warming and the entertaining part of the movie. (otherwise it would be boring) The movie walked you through the LEED certification process and the different points you got for the green options you used. They were shooting for the Gold standard which meant getting 39 points.

The LEED certificatioin is not a perfect system, but it's a start. I was impressed at the steel being able to be 95% recycled content coming down from Maine. Why can't that be done everywhere? (that's why recycling your food cans and junk cars is so important) I was a little disappointed that more emphasis is not placed on insulation. After all , that is the most important part of energy saving. - which is at the core of carbon neutral buildings. They used recycled cotton batting instead of fiber glass but it looked like it was going into traditional 4 inch walls which seems like no big deal when you're sitting on a windy cold harbor. Apparently their operating energy costs were down by 50% compared to traditional buildings. So something worked. Could it have been even better? Probably.

Like all good movies they stumbled and there were moments of doubt and catastrophes (ripping up almost all the bamboo flooring because the adhesive didn't do its job would be catastrophe to me). But they prevailed in the end like most movies do.

I highly recommend this movie for all to see. Why traditional building continues is beyond me when green options can be the same price and the cost of operation is lower. Sounds like a no brainer to me. This would be a great movie for every town to have in their library.

So, if you're looking for some good to do today, purchase the DVD (if you can find it used, great). Then pass The Greening of Southie around to friends and after that, donate it to your town's or City's library.

Trailer - The Greening of Southie from Wicked Delicate Films on Vimeo.

Treehugger's Responsibility to Get It Right

Finally a cool morning; mist deep in the valleys.


Treehugger's Lloyd Alter is not only "for real" but also the latest "come back kid". After a licking from readers, myself included, Lloyd kicked out a descent article about alternative choices for safe water bottles. And it didn't include SIGG, Laken or any BPA lined aluminum knock-off. In case you missed the biggest BPA scandal drama over the weekend, it began with Treehugger responding to the news about SIGG admitting to the world that their old bottles did indeed have BPA in their "water based epoxy". (SIGG says their new bottles are BPA-Free but still won't say what exactly the ingredients are; it's that damn secret again)

Lloyd's first (of 4) article began with an over view of SIGG's confession but did end with a note of disgust at SIGG's lack of transparency about what the heck is in this liner anyway followed by many comments, including mine and SNEWS'. The next day followed with Lloyd noting the angry responses and an article headlined "Did We Get it Right?". Some comments, mine included, continued the outrage at the entire sham and Lloyd "hailing" SIGG and Laken and their educating the public about their BPA linings. I'm not sure "educating" is the right word because since then SIGG is sticking to their 0% leaching mantra and continuing business as usual without a hint of conciliation. Later that day, Lloyd followed with an article "Should I Dump My Old SIGG... " which concluded that SIGGs were safe, but the company was not transparent.

Well I guess I cracked and wrote a scathing comment, and then ended up blogging about it which apparently got Lloyd's attention. Lloyd kindly commented on this blog and we had a friendly back and forth "discussion". Lloyd Alter's fourth article reviewed safe drinking alternatives to SIGG as a culmination to the drama. Oh, I almost forgot the most important part - Lloyd mentioned moi in his opening paragraph (thanks Lloyd!). I guess that damn old squeaky wheel can still get some attention.

So besides this being the biggest eco scam scandal everrrrr, with the Twitterers and Bookers going round the clock, what happens now? Where do we go from here? I do have several thoughts and points to make as a follow up. (ya, okay, I never say die, but I gots passion)

First, I think what Treehugger has accomplished in 5 years is absolutely amazing. Treehugger is the first go-to source for all things green, with nearly 40 posts per day, over 50 writers and millions of monthly visitors from around the world. They have expanded by leaps and bounds to different medias, partners and...advertisers. I hope Treehugger can continue to bring us fresh, informative and honest information. Honest to the point that there will never be a conflict of interest so that their first obligation remains to the readers and not their advertisers. I'm not the only one concerned about this. Several comments on their posts felt that Treehugger wasn't being hard enough on SIGG's big business deception and referred to ties with advertisers. That is the problem with "getting" paid, either through advertising or accepting products or money for writing. The twitter comments are pretty darn angry but Lloyd really never slammed SIGG like so many of us were hoping. Could be Lloyd is just a mellow guy. Or could be Treehugger gets (did?) mucho advertising dollars from SIGG and other big "green" companies who produce the knock-offs (from China with BPA, either knowingly or didn't bother to ask). I hope Treehugger doesn't go "lite" on us and can be true to good green "tell it like it is" writing, and doesn't succumb to that subtle conflict of interest.

So why is this important? I think it is important because this isn't the end of the BPA scandal. I think it is actually just the beginning. It's important to watch how SIGG has handled all of this. It's important to read the article by the sleuthing Milwaukee duo BPA Industry Fights Back. One scary quote, "The industry has launched an unprecedented public relations blitz that uses many of the same tactics - and people - the tobacco industry used in its decades-long fight against regulation. This time, the industry's arsenal includes state-of-the-art technology. Their modern-day Trojan horses: blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia and YouTube.... the Society of the Plastics Industry - has launched a $10 million campaign to sell the benefits of plastic to people ages 18 to 28 who are the likeliest to be buying baby products in the next decade. The association has committed $400,000 to the effort and hopes to raise the rest in the next few years." Taking a look at SIGG's Facebook sites, you'll quickly see the same deceptive "speak" over and over. "A lie told often enough becomes the truth". (Thanks Lenin) SIGG's deception wreaks of really big business - big like the plastics and tobacco industry. "...chemical makers launched their own Web site, www.factsonplastic.com. It features nine videos, all posted on YouTube and intended to debunk worries about BPA." SIGG's mantra continues... 0% leaching, 100% Safe.

My daughter reminded me last night that 2 1/2 years ago I wouldn't let her get a SIGG (it was cool and pretty) because I said their was something "sketchy" about it. Call it mother's intuition - If it looks and smells like a rat, it must be a rat.

And so this brings me back to Treehugger. If this is just the beginning of the BPA Industry's fight for plastic, we environmentalists need to watch out and be prepared. And that includes Treehugger taking a hard, first to the punch, a knock out punch, approach. The BPA/Plastic propaganda will be everywhere; it is every where and will cast doubt to many. This is why we all have to keep our passion and do what's right. As Lloyd said, BPA is in everything. Plastic surrounds us, with little hope of improvement, if we don't stand up to this big incoming wave of deception, tactics and really big money. We readers, bloggers, moms and ordinary people look to Treehugger for guidance, to show us the way, to give us the umph to fight the environmental fight. Sometimes when you're big you lose site of just how important you are, like the third grader who hangs on her teacher's every word.

Treehugger and its writers have created big shoes that must stay filled. They need to continue to "do their homework" and keep up the good work they've started. So when a company has spent millions creating a slick eco image, dumped big bucks into their website and seductive marketing tactics, used celebrities for pop appeal, paid for lab results hoping to show their stainless steel competitors would seriously leach metals (which they didn't) and then flaunt the weak results on their SIGG websites, all the while deceiving their devoted customers, then they, SIGG, deserve to be publicly slammed, run out of the eco -world and told to take their "0%", their certifications and their new eco-secret liner and shove it. (are you listening Mr. Laken?) Shame on SIGG for doing this. Shame on us if we let it happen again. This is why Treehugger has a responsibility to "get it right".