CustomEarthPromos - Eco Blog US

There are some large, and quite shocking, imbalances between having fun on Halloween and staying green. These include childhood obesity, poverty and working conditions in developing nations, and the ever growing problem of litter and waste. Thankfully, in our second Halloween related post this year, Custom Earth Promos is here to once again teach you how to turn Halloween into "Ecoween." In our last post, How to Have a Happy "Ecoween" and Go Green This October, we gave you five tips on staying green this October. One of those tips was keeping your candy eco-friendly. Sadly, unless you are holding a bunch of green jelly beans, it's hard to know how to do that yourself. This article helps you stay away from being the house that got egged for giving out apples, or TP'ed for being the person who gave out mini boxes of raisins. One Major Problem Complex corporate structures make it hard to know what candy companies are really up to. According to CSRHub, Mars, the largest confectioner in the world, is in the sixty-second percentile among food companies for corporate social responsibility, environmental, social, and governmental measurements. CSRHub is a website dedicated to transparent ratings and ranking of 18,530 different companies from 132 different countries, driven by 548 different industry-leading corporate social responsibility, and environmental, social, and governance data sources. Nestlé earns an average of the eight-seventh and-a-half percentile, being in the ninety-fifth across all business areas and Nestlé Malaysia being in the eightieth (at the time of writing). Unfortunately there isn't enough data about Nestlé Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast in French) to provide rankings, but the US Department of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs notes this West African country in their 2017 report on the Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor. This includes the harvesting of coffee and cocoa, sometimes even as a result of human trafficking. The scariest part of Halloween may just be the treats offered at your front door! Eco-Treats Not all commercially produced candy is so horrifying. There are some slightly healthier snacks that still feel like treats to kids. They come individually wrapped for easy distribution. Annie's makes Fruit Tape that has the texture of fruit leather and comes in multiple fun flavors to offer a gluten free solution to Twizzlers. They're nut free, made with fruit puree, and don't feature a lot of the ingredients and additives that parents try to stay away from (such as high fructose corn syrup.) Dagoba is another brand you can feel good about giving to a trick-or-treater. Their chocolate is made with organic, Non-GMO Project verified, and Rainforest Alliance Certified cacao. They also have very strict measures in place to prevent cross contamination when it comes to allergens. They also support female cocoa farmers in South America through their One for All Cacoa Project. Buy a pack of dark chocolate ...

We only have 22 years to get our act together! That's the message understood by many after reading the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's alarming report. Released earlier this month, this shocking article predicted the human population may very well witness a major environmental catastrophe as soon as 2040. Think along the lines of famines, droughts, wildfires, dying coral reefs, and other sorts of things you would see in a realistic apocalypse movie. This harsh reality brings the worst fears to the very near future. This leaves many feeling rattled, hopeless...even depressed. The co-author of a 2017 report, "Mental Health and Our Changing Climate: Impacts, Implications, and Guidance," Susan Clayton, says there is much evidence that mental health issues tied to the delicate future of our planet are on the rise. She is a professor of psychology and environmental studies at the College of Wooster, in Wooster, Ohio. "We can say that a significant proportion of people are experiencing stress and worry about the potential impacts of climate change, and that the level of worry is almost certainly increasing." While there is not a specific name for this condition, several studies have began to call it "eco-anxiety," "climate change distress," and "ecological greif." Clayton adds, "How it will affect people's mental health in the long run will depend on how society responds to it." For many, this preoccupation is already part of everyday life. Last week, the country watched as Hurricane Michael ripped through the Florida Panhandle. This category four storm was the strongest to land in the area since storm history first began being recorded. Research on the psychological effects of extreme weather events estimate "between 25 and 50 percent of all people exposed to an extreme weather disaster may have some adverse mental health effects." This is according the the Union of Concerned Scientists. They are a group from Cambridge, Massachusetts, working towards a healthier planet and safer world. Acute symptoms of these effects can include depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder; and the severity of these symptoms depend upon several factors, including "a person's age, coping capacity, and proximity to the devastation." For those of us living in areas where natural disasters are prevalent--Californians being on the watch for wildfires and earthquakes, while coastal Southerners always worry about the start of hurricane season--the first line of defense for eco-anxiety is to have a plan. "For people who can anticipate a high possibility of facing a climate disaster, they are likely to feel better if they inform themselves about what the future might hold," says Clayton. "Think about the likely threats in the area and actively make plans for how to cope." For example, keeping a first-aid kit, non-perishable food, and water handy is always a great idea. Write down and practice emergency plans with your family. Find out if ...

A landmark report from the United Nations' scientific panel on climate change paints a far more dire picture than previously thought. To avoid damages from the immediate consequences of climate change, the world economy must be transformed at a speed and scale that has "no documented historic precedence." The report was issued on October first by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This is a group of scientists convened by the United Nations to guide world leaders. They describe worsening food shortages, wildfires, and mass die-offs of coral reefs as soon as 2040. That's just 22 years! This is a period well within the lifetime of much of the global population! According to Bill Hare, an author of previous reports, and a physicist with the non-profit organization Climate Analytics, this report "is quite a shock, and quite concerning." "We were not aware of this just a few years ago." The report was the first to be commissioned by world leaders under the Paris Agreement. The authors of this year's I.P.C.C report found that if greenhouse gas emissions continue at the current rate, the atmosphere will warm up by as much as 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius) above pre-industrial levels by 2040. This will inundate coastlines, intensifying droughts and poverty. Previous work focused on estimating the damage caused by a 3.6 degree Fahrenheit rise (2 degrees Celsius.) This was the previous threshold considered to cause the most severe effects of climate change. The new report shows that many of these effects, however, will be seen much sooner. The 2.7 mark is only 0.9 degrees difference Fahrenheit (0.5 degrees difference Celsius). Avoiding the most serious damage involves just a few years of world economy transformation. Authors estimate this to cost $54 trillion! While they conclude this is technically possible, they recognize that it may be politically unlikely. Some of the examples given in the report include heavy taxes or prices on carbon dioxide emissions. This could be as high as $27,000 per ton by the year 2100. Such a move would be nearly politically impossible in the United States. The USA happens to be the world's largest economy and second-largest greenhouse emitter, behind China. World Lawmakers, including China, the European Union, and the state of California, have already enacted carbon pricing programs. Unfortunately, on October seventh, voters in Brazil, the world's seventh-largest greenhouse gas emitter, voters appeared to be voting in a president who, along with the USA, plans to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. The I.P.C.C report was edited by 91 scientists from 40 different countries. They examined 6,000 scientific studies. The Paris Agreement was where the number 3.6 came from, long considered a threshold for the most severe social and economic damage, but leaders from small island nations who are fearful of rising sea levels asked scientists to look at 2.7. Many effects once expected only decades ...

Turtle Theft The Galapagos Islands. This volcanic archipelago west of Ecuador are known for the vast number of unique species and Charles Darwin's evolutionary investigation. On October ninth, the islands were also home to turtle theft. An estimated 123 Giant Tortoises, one of the island's most popular species, were stolen from a breeding facility on Isla Isabela on Tuesday according to the environmental ministry. These unique animals bring thousands of tourists to the area. The incident is currently under investigation. If caught, the perpetrator(s) could face up to 10 years in jail. "They were all taken at once, 123 in all," local politician Washington Paredes told AFP. "It was a robbery." The politician added that the facility has little security. This includes no light sensors or cameras. "The turtles are just there. If somebody wants to go in at night and steal, they can," he said. Sadly, these beautiful creatures are often targeted by wildlife poachers and traffickers. On June 26, stolen tortoises taken to Peru were recovered and returned to their home. These islands are 563 mi. west of the Republic of Ecuador. The numerous species were also subject to an exhaustive study by naturalist, geologist, and biologist Charles Darwin. This is where the evidence for his theory of evolution by natural selection was collected. In 1979, the archipelago was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Due to their isolated location, many of the species are endemic to this location. This means that they are not found anywhere else, being extinct from anywhere else they used to be found. Thirty percent of plants, eighty percent of land birds, and ninety-seven percent of reptiles only exist here. The Galapagos are only one of two places, the other being Aldabra, about 435 mi. east of the African country of Tanzania, where Giant Tortoises breed. As sad as this robbery is, it is also impressive. Giant Tortoises can weigh up to 919 lbs. and have a lifespan of over 100 years in the wild. The oldest living captive specimen was reported to be 170 at the oldest. These animals have adapted and evolved to best survive on each individual island, shell size and shape varying between populations. Islands with humid highlands see the larger tortoises with domed shells and shorter necks. Islands with dry lowlands see smaller tortoises with saddleback shells and longer necks. Numbers had dropped from over 25,000 in the sixteenth century, only two centuries before Charles Darwin was born, to roughly only 3,000 in the 1970s, when The Galapagos were given World Heritage status. This decline is due to overexploitation of these creatures for oil and meat. It also includes habitat clearing for agriculture; and the introduction of non-native species, such as rats, goats, and pigs. Populations have become extinct on at least three islands due to human involvement. This includes the famous Lonesome George from Pinta ...

It's October tenth. This means that spooky season has begun and everyone is thinking about what to do for Halloween. Whether you celebrate spooky Halloween, scary Halloween, fun Halloween, or a combination of the three, Halloween traditions were invented before the environment was a major concern. Thankfully, there are ways to change that. Here are five tips on having a happy "ecoween" this year and not losing out on the fun while trying to keep things green. 1. Costumes Unfortunately, the standard for Halloween costumes has become cheesy knock offs and obvious rip offs that come in plastic packages and are shipped from halfway around the world. This creates waste of multiple kinds. The package encourages the use of single-use plastic, the shipping creates pollution, and the costume itself may include non recyclable items that fall out of fashion as the character loses popularity. When planning out your costume, try to think of characters that don't require many parts. Maybe your favorite movie's heroine is known for her quirky fashion sense, or maybe you watch a TV show that includes someone with relatively normal style but really funny hair. Costumes like these can be made using what's already in your closet. Don't already own the pieces? Your local thrift store is a great place for upcycling. Even more involved costumes such as Hermione Granger from Harry Potter can be done with a low carbon footprint. You can pick up a robe at your local thrift store and from there all it takes is some crafting. Parents can even get kids involved in the design process. You should save these costumes. By creating what's known as a "closet cosplay," when you can't think of something next year, all you have to do is make sure the right items are clean and still fit. 2. Candy Isn't the best part of Halloween the candy? I mean, what's Halloween without some trick-or-treating?! Alas, unless you have a bunch of lime skittles in your hand, candy isn't very green. There are probably candy wrappers from childhood Halloweens long since past still sitting in landfills waiting to break down. When they do, the byproducts in the dyes and wrappers leach into the soil we grow food in and the water we drink. To reduce both the environmental and nutritional impact Halloween has on children everywhere, here are some tips: Make treats yourself. Not only is making treats yourself good for the environment because it cuts down on the waste created by fun-size candy bars, but if you know someone with food allergies, you can guarantee that there's a safe, sweet treat for them. Opt for small gifts instead of candy. You could purchase low cost craft kits at your local art supply store or Michael's. Or you can go to the dollar store and purchase a bunch of silly items, such as mood rings and tiny plastic dinosaurs, to hand out. You could even give away small crafts made in advance. If you just can't stay away from store bought candy, opt for fair-trade chocolate. ...

Red Lobster has joined the likes of Starbucks, Hilton Hotels, and American Airlines in saying "no way" to plastic straws. On Tuesday, October second, the restaurant chain announced that if you would like a straw, you now have to ask for one. Plastic straws will no longer be automatically handed out; they plan on phasing out the use of them altogether by the year 2020. They will be replaced with an eco alternative. Red Lobster estimates that this will eliminate more than 150 million plastic straws per year from its more than 700 locations. According to CEO Kim Lopdrup, "We hope our work helps raise awareness around the issue of plastic straws and encourages other businesses to make similar changes." She said that the new policy is a step in Red Lobster's commitment to preserving the world's oceans and marine life. It is unclear what the new straws will be made out of, but the company said they are testing a variety of alternative materials. (Might we suggest reading: Suck up These Five Alternatives to Single-Use Plastic Straws) The chain joins a long list of companies pledging to get rid of items such as straws and cut back on environmental waste. Recently, Starbucks announced that they are going to replace straws with a recyclable plastic lid and an alternative-material option in their more than 28,000 locations worldwide. In some stores, they even sell flavored, paper straws. Other companies making similar promises include Royal Caribbean and Cunard cruise lines, Hilton and AccorHotels, and food-service company Bon Appetit Management. McDonald's also announced a plan to start replacing some of its location's offerings with paper straws earlier this year. What Else Can I Do? If this isn't enough for you, you can visit Custom Earth Promos. Here you can purchase reusable bags and reusable water bottles, along with other Earth friendly eco-promotional items.

A Different Kind of Upcycling A project in Nigeria is tackling plastic pollution and youth unemployment by building houses out of plastic bottles and sand. In a neighborhood about 20 km (about 12 miles) from the Nigerian capital Abuja, the largest plastic house is in the middle of construction. More than 46,000 polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles have been used. These are the everyday single-use bottles used to house various waters, sodas, and juices. They were bought from waste collectors and given to the builder as donations. Plastic waste is a huge problem for this country of 186 million people. They often block drainage systems--and torrential downpours only make things even worse! Unfortunately, there is currently no efficient waste management system in place for the 3.2 tonnes of garbage generated each year. This makes recycling programs more important than ever. Yahaya Ahmad lived and worked in Germany for 27-years. During a visit home, the construction engineer was disturbed by the large-scale environmental pollution. "I simply had to do something," he said. Inspired by a friend telling him of a similar project happening in South America, "A friend in Germany told me about this method. I thought, 'We need that in Nigeria too.'" Ahmed spent six months training experienced builders in this new technique. Financial support was provided by the German development ministry. Some of his students from as many as seven years ago have become instructors themselves. Ideally, their students will become instructors, creating a growing network of plastic house construction workers. A quarter of 15 to 24-year-olds in Nigeria have no regular income. This leaves many of them on the streets and they beg or steal to survive. "These young people are extremely vulnerable to exploitation by politicians as agitators, or to becoming members of radical groups. That's why we want to give them an alternative." said Ahmad. He and his siblings traveled 500 km (about 310 miles), from Katsina to the Nigerian capital of Abuja to find work. The then 15-year-old had previously worked as a cement factory worker making tiles. "The work on the building site is not as debilitating as it was in the factory. We also get regular pay or something to eat." Ahmad boasts. The building process for these houses is relatively simple. Empty PET bottles are first filled with sand and rubble. Once full, they are stacked and bound with nylon cord. The last step is walling them up with clay and mortar. The method is not only eco-friendly, but cuts construction costs by about two-thirds! Originally trained in traditional bricklaying, construction worker Siiba has been building plastic houses for the last seven years. "At first it's somewhat unusual to work with bottles," he stated. "But when one has already learned the technique, it is not that different." Another benefit of this building method is stability. The sand-filled bottles are practically indestructible! Houses in ...

Amazon has, once again, re-entered the diaper market. Last November, Amazon entered the market for the first time since pulling the Amazon Elements line back in 2015. They launched a private label under the name Mama Bear. Now, they've added another line of diapers. This time, the label is called Earth + Eden (Earth AND Eden). Unlike the Mama Bear brand, which can be assumed to be a competitor to brands such as Huggies and Pampers, Earth + Eden diapers are taking on The Honest Company. The Honest Company claims its diapers are super-soft, safe, gentile, hypoallergenic, and (most importantly) made from sustainably-sourced material(s). So does Earth + Eden. (You can carry all of these diapers in a reusable bag from Custom Earth Promos.) Amazon describes it's diapers: Cruelty free--not tested on animals; Made with SFI Certified sustainably sourced fluff; Printed with non-toxic water-based inks; Produced in a Zero Waste to Landfill Facility The Q&A page is also full of other "green" facts about the diapers. These include being "free from harsh chemicals," and having "no lotions, parabens, fragrance, latex, or chlorine bleaching." The product images themselves also have an eco-friendly vibe. They involve babies sitting in green grass, mom's cuddling their babies while surrounded by trees and flowers--these all invoke a plant friendly vibe and Earth friendly attitude. Also like Honest's, Earth + Eden diapers come with prints, instead of just plain white. It's just a band at the top, and Honest's all over prints are much more interesting, but the diapers aren't trying to compete on looks. Price is where they take the cake. They range in price from $0.21 per diaper for size 1, all the way to $0.51 each for a size 7. This puts them in the range of Huggies or regular Pampers, as opposed to Honest's or Pampers Pure. Amazon has stated that this is not an "Amazon brand" but a brand exclusive to Amazon. This could be misleading, as Amazon explains that despite being listed as "our brand," Amazon exclusives are referred to with the text "our brand" despite being manufactured by outside companies. The new diapers arrived in July according to TechCrunch, and Amazon Vine members received free diapers. Amazon Vine is a service that connects manufacturers to trusted reviews from hand-picked Amazon members. (Write down all of your thoughts about this product on recycled paper or seed paper with an eco-friendly pen.) For The Honest Company, Honest.com already had problems competing. Now Amazon is adding direct competition. "ROUND 1...FIGHT!"

On September 14th, under the wrought-iron and glass ceiling of the Victorian train station, at St. Pancras, eco design duo Vin and Omi staged the brand's largest collection. With 70 looks, the Body 2 Bin line was launched in collaboration with the London College of Fashion. Passengers exiting the Eurostar train looked on with curiosity as models of all types strutted around the terrace of St. Pancras International wearing a mix of subcultures. These underground movements included punk, 90s club kids, Mexican, and Harlem. "We wanted really bright clothes, really bold silhouettes, and it's really in your face to provoke thought," Vin told fashion publication Women's Wear Daily after the show. Poodle and pentagram motifs, and the slogan "Fake News" decorated rubber pinafores, elongated tank tops, one-piece bathing suits, oversized tack bottoms, and deconstructed dresses. Vin and Omi have made a stance for a new approach to fashion since the brand started. This season, the pair has possibly made their strongest statement yet. Claiming a new religion, anplastic eco one, intelligence, respect for the earth, and responding to environmental and political issues with urgency were key aspects of the beliefs. Poodles are among the smartest dogs; the pentagram is a pagan symbol for the five elements. According to Vin, We really wanted to talk about a new religion because I think people just stopped thinking and we wanted to encourage it again. We wanted people to start thinking about their own actions and we're using this collection to provoke thought. A younger energy and "clubbier vibe" was brought to their brand. This was done without loosing their sustainability message. The rubber used was eco latex made from a Malaysian rubber plantation, the bustiers were made from vegan leather, quilted bomber jackets had pleather detailing. Shoes meant for landfills were turned into hybrids, and old trainers were mounted on the base of other shoes or tops of bags. This gave the collection a sense of playfulness and wit. The Bin 2 Body collection began back in June during the men's fashion shows. Students collected plastic bottles from the BFC Showspace and turned them into durable textiles. This season saw the fruits of that labor in the form of accessories--a series of made-to-order bags, some resembling actual bin liners, and necklaces spelling out "think."

Old fishing nets, plastic bottles, and threadbare tires. These aren't things you would even begin to think of as textiles, but one eco-minded fashion firm is turning that waste into jackets, sneakers, and flip-flops in a rainbow of colors. Spanish company Ecoalf has recently opened a store in Berlin, Germany, and according to spokeswoman Carolina Alvarez-Ossorio, "Plastic pollution is a huge topic right now--also within the industry." That industry would be the fashion industry. Participants in a green tour of Berlin sit on a massive sofa made out of repurposed plastic bottles. They are treated to a history of Ecoalf's firm and their environmental philosophy. All around them hang minimalist t-shirts and padded coats, also made out of plastic bottles. This plastic comes from 3,000 fishermen. They work along Spain's Mediterranean coast and catch liters in their nets along with the fish! Instead of throwing it back into the ocean, they now send it off to Ecoalf where it is processed into "sea thread." Ossorio stated, "The challenge is not finding garbage--that is everywhere--but having the technology to transform it." She added that the fishermen voluntarily take part in the process because they are concerned and worried about the worsening pollution they see. While Ecoalf is offering one solution, the company's founder, Javier Goyeneche, founded the company back in 2009 due to a surprising lack of available recycled clothing. Goyeneche found that less than one percent of clothing is currently turned into new garments. What he did find for sale contained as little as five percent reused materials. With news that our oceans will be more plastic than fish by the year 2050, companies like Ecoalf are doing their part to incorporate waste into their collections. Elusive designer duo Vin and Omi turn it into quirky, futuristic creations. More established designers, such as outdoor company The North Face, recently transformed the plastic bottles retrieved from three different American national parks into a line of t-shirts and bags. Sister company Patagonia has been using plastic to make their fleece jackets since 1993. Even if recycling plastic bottles into clothing has been an obvious helping hand in delittering our planet, it still leaves an ecological footprint--even if that footprint is smaller than the one made by conventional fashion industries. According to Vin and Omi, producing fabric made from recycled plastics uses 50 percent less energy and produces one-third less CO2 compared to using non-recycled plastics. Other big fashion houses, such as Target, Zara, and Primark, as well as footwear companies like Nike and Adidas. are also jumping on the green fashion trend. The companies are hiring sustainability experts and and flaunting their recycling credentials. Swedish fashion giant H&M plans to make its entire business "circular," which involves recycling their garments. Anna Gedda, head of sustainability, said that the success of ...