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Member Group Spotlight: Georgia Organics
Local foods,
sustainable farms and healthy people - those are the primary goals
of Georgia Organics in redefining a food production system that
benefits farmers, consumers and the environment. Georgia Organics,
Earth Share of Georgia's newest member group, is a nonprofit
membership organization whose mission is to educate consumers on the
benefits of locally-grown organics, and to educate farmers and
gardeners on sustainable growing practices and organic agriculture.
Suzanne Welander from Georgia Organics spoke at Federal Home
Loan Bank on Halloween for their monthly Lunch and Learn program.
She emphasized the importance of organic products and discussed
where to find local organic produce, while we enjoyed organic
chocolate from Whole Foods.
The following weekend on
November 5, 2006, Georgia Organics partnered with the Atlanta
Chapter of Les Dames d'Escoffier, a worldwide society dedicated to
supporting and promoting the achievements of women in the culinary
professions, to create the event "An Afternoon in the Country." This
event featured 35 of the Atlanta area's best chefs and 15 fine wine
and premium micro-brews under festive big-top tents. Guests enjoyed
meeting some of Georgia's dedicated organic growers and purchasing
from their bountiful harvest. Other highlights included: live music,
a one-of-a-kind cake raffle featuring sweets from Atlanta's best
pastry chefs, hayrides, and a silent auction featuring exclusive
dining and travel packages, wine lots and packages offering organic
vegetables and cheeses by-the-month, chef-for-a-day packages and
original art by some of the Southeast's most prominent artists.
The sixth annual fundraiser benefited Atlanta's Les Dames
d'Escoffier scholarship fund and Georgia's organic farming community
and was held at Serenbe Bed & Breakfast and the new Serenbe
community, located 30 miles south of Atlanta in Palmetto, Ga.
Check out Georgia Organics website for other exciting
upcoming events and educational programs:
www.georgiaorganics.org.
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What would you buy for $12 a ton?
How about an
offset to your"Carbon Footprint?"
By Kris Lefever
"Carbon Footprint" is a recent addition to the environmental
lingo. It refers to the impact each of us have on the environment -
in terms of the amount of green house gases produced, measured in
units of carbon dioxide - as we go about our daily lives.
Some of
us in Georgia are fortunate to have access to "green" energy
sources, such as wind or solar power. But for those of us still
consuming energy derived from petroleum-based products, there is now
a way to offset our daily commute, our home energy consumption, and
especially that flight for last summer's vacation.
Another
new phrase to add to the vocabulary is RECs, or renewable energy
certificates (also known as green tags, green energy certificates,
or tradable renewable certificates). These RECs represent the
environmental attributes of the power produced from renewable energy
projects, and provide a way for individuals and businesses to offset
the carbon dioxide produced from using petroleum-based energy
sources, i.e., gasoline, oil, natural gas, and diesel. Buying RECs
has a positive impact on carbon dioxide, a primary green house gas,
by reducing and/or mitigating carbon dioxide elsewhere, because the
green power displaces electricity from fossil fuel-powered
generators.
A number of companies market RECs. The U.S.
Department of Energy has a detailed explanation about Green Power on
their website at www.eere.energy, and also
maintains a list of companies that sell energy offsets.
One site you may want to visit
is:
www.nativeenergy.com
-
the site has an easy-to-use Carbon Footprint calculator, and then
offers different types and dollar amounts of offsets, based on the
types of energy you consume. The site also provides a list of
businesses, such as Natural Resources Defense Council, Aveda, Ben
and Jerry's, and even the Dave Matthews Band, that are working with
NativeEnergy in the fight to reduce global warming.
By the
way, your $12 will offset the use of four computers for an entire
year!
The Conservation Fund, one of Earth Share of Georgia's
national member groups, has launched a program called "Go Zero"
designed to measure the carbon dioxide emissions of "virtually any
slice of life." For more information, go to
www.gocarbonzero.org.
Companies like Home Depot, one of
Earth Share of Georgia's newest
campaign partners, are offsetting their carbon footprint by funding
the planting of trees in metro Atlanta.
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Give the Gift of Share Blend Coffee!
Give the coffee
lovers in your life Earth Share of Georgia's new Share Blend Coffee
this holiday season.
Share Blend is shade grown, organic and
fair trade certified, and is available in 12 ounce packages, Regular
and Decaf, $9.95 Proceeds benefit Earth Share of Georgia, a 501(c)3
non-profit, and Georgia's only environmental fund.
Order
securely online today at www.earthsharega.org!
This excellent quality coffee has been Fair Trade Certified
by Transfair USA, an independent non-profit organization which
monitors and certifies Fair Trade products in the United States.
Fair Trade raises incomes and living standards for small coffee
farmers overseas while helping to protect the environment.
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Give Twice This Holiday Season
Earth Share of Georgia
has joined Benevolink, a free service designed to help families
support the causes they care about year-round. Now, at no additional
cost, you'll earn money for Earth Share of Georgia when you shop
online through Benevolink this holiday season and all year for the
things you need.
Here's how to get started:
Join
Benevolink for free ― visit
www.benevolink.com!
Shop the Marketplace@Benevolink® online for all your
holiday shopping needs, including home entertaining & decor,
personal and business gifts and travel - 300 popular retailers to
choose from. On average, you automatically earn 7% for charity on
every dollar you spend.
Give to your favorite charities 4x a
year. You'll receive an email reminder 4x a year when it's time to
give. Please select Earth Share of Georgia each quarter and 100% of
your earned cash goes to Earth Share of Georgia.
Online
retailers include Barnes & Noble, REI, BestBuy, FTD (flowers
& gifts), Bass Pro Shops, Eddie Bauer Outlet, Orvis, Staples,
CompUSA, Harry & David, CandleMart & The Travel Center
(national airlines, hotel chains, rental cars and more). Check out
the fun Holiday Shopping Guide for more great ideas! Thank you for
making your shopping count for Earth Share of Georgia this holiday
season and all year long!
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Southface Energy Institute and EarthCraft
House
EarthCraft House™ is a residential green building
program of the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association in
partnership with Southface Energy Institute. Created in 1999,
EarthCraft House is now one of the most comprehensive green building
programs in the Country,
The program guidelines were created
as a blueprint for energy efficient homes that are healthy,
comfortable, reduce utility bills and protect the Southeast region's
environmental resources.
The aim of the program is to help
home builders become leaders in smart growth management and
environmental stewardship. The EarthCraft House program trains
builders in the latest and smartest construction techniques and
material alternatives. Each home in the EarthCraft House program is
inspected twice and subjected to rigorous testing by qualified,
independent personnel. The EarthCraft House benefits everyone. Over
3,500 EarthCraft House single family homes have been certified, and
more than 1,000 multifamily units are in the pipeline, providing a
long term pollution prevention impact. The energy savings from the
single family homes certified to date is the equivalent of removing
2,907 cars from the roads annually!
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