What’s the deal with BPA-free? We all see the stickers plastered on loads of new products from baby bottles to sippy cups to canned goods. These are obviously an attempt to allay the fears of consumers who’ve caught wind of the BPA nightmare and are looking for a safe alternative. But is that alternative really safe?
Last day to enjoy our week-long extension of Cyber Monday! Buy some sustainable scrubs for the green nurse in your life! These make great Christmas presents!
CYBER MONDAY IS ALL WEEK LONG on MantraMeds Market!
Last year when we wrote about United By Blue, a clothing and jewelry retail company that puts the ocean first, the company was just a tiny start-up getting its sea legs. But now it has proven itself as a sustainably-minded company that makes a serious difference. It has already removed 82,527 pounds of trash from the ocean as of this writing.
The company accomplishes this fantastic task by removing one pound of trash from oceans and waterways worldwide for every product sold, through company-organized cleanups.
Animals love our environmentally friendly MantraMeds scrubs! Thank you veterinarian Christy B. for sending in this picture! Christy is a MantraMeds Insider. Read more about the Insider Program below!
So, what is the Mantrameds Insider Program?
If you love our product the way we think you will, you’ll pass on the word! It’s pretty simple. The program is our way of saying thanks and asking for your help at the same time. As a Mantrameds Insider you will enjoy the following benefits:
30% Personal Use Discount
Personalized Welcome Packet
Free Scrub Top or Bottom Annually
“Scrub Love” Cards To Introduce Your Friends To Mantrameds At A 30% Discount – (Recipients must be a new customer to be eligible)
Participation in the Product Design And Review Process
Ability To Host Your Own Income Generating Scrub Sale
If you want to know the Guidelines Read moreInsider Program Guidelines
As a Mantrameds Insider you will have the privilege of all the Insider benefits listed above. Currently to establish a group of Insiders we are inviting individuals to join until the program is full. Insider status can be kept indefinitely but it must be earned yearly. We don’t ask for much, keeping Insider status only requires your participation and brand support. Privilege does come with some responsibly but we do make responsibility fun. We only ask you to use the tools we give you and interact with your community and ours. That’s it give things away and help us spread the word about our brand and products, how cool is that for responsibility!
The Insider Program is currently limited annually. The number of eligible Insiders per state is based on state population.
The Insider Program Coordinator will review ever Insiders participation yearly. Keeping active status as and insider will be up to you and based on what you give away and how you interact with the brand and community via the program coordinator, social media, surveys, etc….
Abuse of discount privileges will not be tolerated and can jeopardize your Insider status.
Personal discounts are limited to the Insider themselves.
Scrub Love Cards extending a 30% discount to friends and family will be provided on a limited basis to spread the love.
Periodically Manrtameds may choose to allow your discount to be extended to others on a limited basis.
Patrick Yarns, a premier specialty yarn spinner in Kings Mountain, NC, is proud to announce the commissioning of the largest privately owned solar installation in the Charlotte, NC Region. It is another example of Patrick Yarns continuing commitment to environmental stewardship and to our community. With the addition of these photovoltaic panels, Patrick Yarns environmentally friendly yarns are truly: SPUN BY THE SUN®
Located on the roof of our Clevemont Facility, the system features:
140,000 kWh/year clean photovoltaic power
Enough to power 14 average homes
Equivalent to 11,310 gallons of gasoline, 234 barrels of oil and 2578 trees planted
Patrick Yarns Green Facts:
Manufacturer of Earthspun® recycled & renewable yarns and products
Utilizes modern efficient lighting and motors
None of the facilities produce any green house gases in our manufacturing processes
Zero landfill goal
Patrick Yarns is the premier spinner of reclaimed, renewable and performance fibers in the United States. With over 50 years experience, continual investment in cutting-edge technology, and our “can-do” attitude, we provide our customers profitable, environmentally friendly solutions to their yarn and textile requirements.
Monitor how much electricity Patrick Yarns is generating via solar energy, log on to: www.patrickyarns.com/monitor
Mantrameds‘ tshirts are made by Earthspun® Apparel, a sister company that creates shirts from a blend of recycled cotton and recycled polyester. Earthspun shirts are free of dyes. The shirts’ color comes from the post-consumer plastics that are broken down into fibers for the recycled polyester. Earthspun® Apparel currently offers shirts in the following colors: Beer Bottle Brown, Soda Pop Green, Water Bottle Blue, X-ray Gray. Coming soon is Food Tray Black – made from microwave dinner trays.
For more information on Earthspun® Apparel t-shirts, visit www.earthspunapparel.com or email info@earthspunapparel.com
“The December holidays bring plenty of trash opportunities with them—what with more shopping and cooking, and there is the present-opening at the gift-giving portion of the holidays. Add in all the energy use from extra travel and hospitality, and these last weeks of the year end up having quite an impact on our natural resources.
The new Ford Focus electric car uses Repreve recycled polyester by Unifi – this is the same polyester Mantrameds uses in our 65/35 poly/cotton blend sustainable fabric for our scrubs.
By Cameron Chai
It takes plastic bottles and other industrial wastes to make the recycled polyester fibre Repreve, which in turn is used as the fabric for car seats in the all new Ford Focus Electric car. Repreve is manufactured by Unifi, one of the world’s leading environmentally sustainable fabric manufacturers.
ford uses recycled plastic bottles for the seats in the new ford Focus Electric
The Ford Focus Electric is made of sustainable materials intended to cut down on waste. Thus using the Repreve was a natural choice of recycled material. According to Unifi, a single Ford Focus Electric car uses 22 plastic water bottles of 16 Oz capacity for its car seats. The car is electrically powered and has zero carbon emissions, which is very much in line with the environmentally green concept.
As part of its 2009 mandate to its fabric suppliers to use 25% recycled content in their products, 37 fabrics, which have met Ford’s requirements have been incorporated. This is part of Ford’s “Reduce, reuse and recycle” environmentally sustainable global strategy. Repreve reduces the energy consumed in refining virgin material from crude oil. The company recently announced that it uses plastic bottles weighing 20-25 Oz for the carpeting in its new Ford Escape utility vehicle. This is the first time the company has used such carpeting for an SUV. Ford has previously used various non-metal materials that have been recycled for specific applications. Some examples of such usage are seat covers made of recycled yarn, wheat straw-filled plastics, head restraints and seat cushions made of soy foam, instrument panels consisting of castor oil foam and underbody systems made of recycled resins.
Mantrameds’ South Carolina office moved early Fall to W. Antrum Drive in Greenville. We have a great display room that has remained sparse until today. Pictured below are some of the materials that go into Mantrameds scrubs.
To the right are miniature hay bales. The two brown ones are Texas Organic Cotton, which accounts for 50% of our poly/cotton blend. The orange hay bale with tiger paws is one of Jack Miller’s favorite souvenirs. He bought it at a fundraiser for the agriculture department at his alma matter – Clemson University. To learn more about Texas organic cotton, go to http://www.texasorganic.com/
The plastic pyramid in the center of the table is made of display canisters from Repreve Recycled Polyester, which makes up 50% of Mantrameds fabric. These canisters show the 3 stages of the recycled polyester process. The plastic is melted down and chopped into small beads. These are melted down into flakes, which are then extracted into polyester yarn. To read more about Repreve Recycled Polyester, go to http://www.repreve.com/
The left side of the table displays Mantrameds’ newest literature. As of last week, we have an updated catalog, story-teller hangtags, discount cards, and star-shaped badge pulls. To request a new catalog or inquire about Mantrameds scrubs, email us at info@mantrameds.com
Remember, Mantrameds scrubs are made in the USA using sustainable practices. Buy a pair for the green nurse in your family this Christmas!
A new line of party dresses at H&M puts sustainability and recycled fabrics first!
By Harriet Walker
Fast fashion might have been good for our wallets and our wardrobes, but it didn’t do anything else much good. Cheap high-street chains democratised the way we wore clothes.
They realigned the trend cycle. But we reached the zenith of the use-once-and-destroy mindset shortly before the economic collapse rewired our brains and stopped us shelling out.
These days, as well as keeping an eye on wearability and investment potential, shoppers have developed something of a guilt complex – it isn’t so much a consumer culture any more as a consumer conscience.
Enter Swedish high-street giant H&M and its new sustainable collection, which aims to allay some of those fears by creating affordable clothing in a more ethical way. Since the launch of H&M’s first Conscious collection at Selfridges last April, the store has seen significant interest in the clothes and the story behind their production; many of the pieces sold out on the first day that they were available. This week sees the release of the Conscious Party capsule, a line of festive looks and statement pieces with the underlying message that “a dress is for life, not just for Christmas”.
“For us, it’s important that when they come to a store, whatever a customer chooses – if it’s a Conscious item or not – they should feel that it’s produced in a responsible way,” says Helena Helmersson, H&M’s head of corporate and social responsibility. “We work hard and we’re at the forefront of sustainability. But with these collections, we want to highlight it even more – these materials are extra sustainable!” She laughs and waves her arms around.
“Organic cotton, recycled polyester, tencel – which is more silk-like material made from old wooden fibres,” she clarifies. “Sometimes weuse recycled linen, recycled wool, and organic hemp.”
At H&M’s headquarters in Stockholm, there is an entire department devoted to coming up with new materials and creative solutions to address the ethical dichotomy surrounding what is at the brand’s heart: to provide customers with affordable but responsible clothing. There have been eco-offerings in the past, such as last year’s sell-out “Garden” collection, and a “Waste” collection that re-used remaindered materials from the highly acclaimed collaboration with French fashion house Lanvin. Pilot schemes have started too in branches of H&M in the Netherlands, where customers can bring in their old clothes and leave them to be recycled. It’s a pragmatic way of addressing a problem that won’t go away.
“The most common fibre is cotton,” Helmersson continues, “and we have the goal that by 2020, all of our cotton should come from sustainable sources: recycled, organic and ‘better’ cotton.”
The “better” option is a programme backed by governments and NGOs to educate farmers (so far, H&M has supported 68,000 of them) in using fewer pesticides and less water while growing their cotton. “The criteria for organic cotton are that no chemicals and no pesticides are used,” she explains. “It takes a few years for the farmer to convert and they lose a lot of money. We’re now the biggest buyer of organic cotton in the world and that’s something we are very proud of, but what’s so great with this initiative is that the incentives are there now, compared to organic cotton, where the incentives are four years away.”
On a previous visit to Stockholm, the company’s trend co-ordinator, Catarina Midby, told me about H&M’s first ethical collection. “In 1993, we did an ethical organic cotton collection called ‘Nature Calling’. But the fashion level was not right – it was more about sustainability than fashion… and nobody bought it.” As if pre-empting shoppers’ reactions to eco-fashion (which is often seen as inferior taste-wise, with an emphasis on substance over style – heaven forbid!), H&M does not now flag up the fact that it blends organic cotton into most of the pieces it sells.
The Conscious Party collection, however, strikes the perfect balance between style and sustainability, offering up some of the season’s most popular pieces in a range of materials. There are kimono blouses, high-waisted trousers, folksy dresses and dinner jackets, all accented in red, and Gothic bustier dresses provide a pretty body-con aspect. Supermodel Karen Elson fronts the campaign alongside her sister, Kate, both sporting recycled polyester numbers – a fibre which is made from melting down plastic PET bottles – which come in at under £40.
“We don’t want customers to have to pay extra,” Helena Helmersson says. “We invest in the customer first and we’re proud to make clothes of more sustainable materials available to a lot of people. We want to reach people with this message and we’ll stick to the same prices.”
The Conscious Party collection is available in stores now; hm.com
Ever wonder what makes Mantrameds scrubs stand out from the rest? The difference is in the quality ingredients we use. Check out this youtube video to learn the recipe!
It’s almost impossible to think about the words “back to school” without adding the word “shopping” to the other three. Back-to-school shopping is a tradition for moms and kids each August — not always a fun tradition, but still, a tradition. Kids need new school supplies, shoes for their feet that grew two sizes over the summer, and, of course, the latest fashions.
If you’re planning on adding some of the latest back-to-school fashions to your kid’s closet, you don’t always have to choose between what’s in and what’s gentler on the earth. Try some of these eco-friendly trendy fashions for the fall.
For the girls
Graphic Tees – Have you noticed older kids wearing Sesame Street characters on their tees? Parents thought they bought their last Elmo tee when their kid was a 4-year-old, but suddenly junior highers are sporting the fuzzy red monster again. American Apparel has a 100 percent organic cotton T-shirt that pays tribute to the 40th anniversary of “Sesame Street.” The company also offers organic solid color tees to mix and match with the latest fashions.
Gray Skinny Jeans – Denim is big this year, both traditional and colored, and gray is the most popular color of denim this fall. You Deserve has gray skinny jeans in 100 percent organic cotton for high school girls at a great price for organic denim – $49.99. They have a striped v-neck sweater that teens will love, too.
Blazers – Blazers have made a comeback, particularly boyfriend blazers. The best place to find eco-friendly blazers is definitely the thrift store in the boy’s or men’s departments. Let your daughter rummage through the racks of pre-owned blazers to find the one that fits her style. Chances are no one else will have the exact boyfriend blazer she has, and you’ll be able to get it for a great price.
For the boys
Graphic Tees – Graphic tees are even more popular with the guys than with the girls. Threadless has T-shirts for boys and teens. Search for “organic” in Theadless’ search feature, and you’ll come up with a variety of graphic tees that big and little guys will love.
Under Armour’s Catalyst Green Products – Under Armour is the hippest performance wear out there, and the new line of T-shirts, hoodies, caps and more are made from recycled plastic bottles. Even though they’re made for the sports’ field, boys wear Under Armour as regular fashions. Guys who have moved up to men’s sizes will love the styles that don’t look almost identical to UA’s regular line.
Hoodies – Hoodies seem to be the never-ending “it” piece of clothing for guys. For the littler guys, a blue striped organic cotton hoodie from Greenedge Kids will make them feel like they fit in the big guys. For the older boys, a hoodie made of earth-friendly hemp from The Hempest is one of the coolest things going.
Don’t forget the feet
Even if your child doesn’t need new clothes, the chances that he’ll need new shoes when school rolls around are pretty good. All that extra sun and water that feet get over the summer seem to help kids’ feet grow extra quickly. Check out Play Outdoors for a one-stop place to find eco-friendly kids’ shoes from Keen, Simple Shoes, SmartWood and more.
Older kids will love to choose from Planet Shoes large selection of sneakers, sandals, boots and even vegan shoes.
Know more about back-to-school shopping? Leave us a note in the comments below.
At earthspun® apparel our fabrics are made with superior quality, American ring spun yarns and a unique blend of recycled polyester (RPET) and recycled cotton.
The result? Unbelievably soft, durable, earth friendly tee-shirts.
Our four signature colors come from the actual recycled materials we use–green, blue and brown plastic bottles, as well as X-Ray film for grey, which make our tees even more unique.
By eliminating chemical dyes and the dyeing process, we save the water and energy normally used to make tee-shirts.
At earthspun® apparel, this is just another way we are doing our part to create a better planet.
Discover the earthspun® apparel difference (more…)
After six years of planning, designing that included feedback and testing by doctors and nurses and $89 million worth of construction, the new eight-story patient tower at Boone Hospital Center will open next month.
The expansion on the southwest side of the medical complex began with the building of a parking garage and a facelift for Williams Street. The county hospital built 90 years ago has gradually become a major regional medical center.
The new patient tower has 128 beds — 40 for intensive care patients and 88 for medical and surgical patients — and it’s totally changed the way employees, doctors, visitors and patients get around to different departments, units and testing areas.
Even the 1921 time capsule has a new home.
If you’ve been to the hospital before and come to the open house on June 26, you’ll notice the transformation as soon as you step through the main entrance.
Gone is the small lobby with a cramped area for patient registration. The hospital’s old lobby will be renovated into a bistro area. (more…)
The Green Living Expo was a “big success with an estimated 125 attendees,” according to Supervisor Jim Dougherty. That number does not include presenters nor the dozen students washing cars in an eco-friendly way outside the fair, raising more than $700 for the senior fund. There was no cost to the vendors who provided information on green living to support clean water and a greener environment. Most of those who staffed the presenting tables were volunteers from non-profit groups, as well as town committee members or employees.
The event, first held last year, was town-sponsored and suggested by Jim Dougherty and Town Attorney Laurie Dowd through the Green Options Committee, which was established in 2008 at the request of Supervisor Jim Dougherty. The committee was created to support a range of environmentally sustainable practices and policy, leading by example, education, legislation and other appropriate measures. (more…)
Living on a farm, for many a greedy pet, can be a rather vile form of a ‘Golden Corral.’ Despite our best efforts to keep our terriers healthy and thriving by creating meals for them consisting of organic chicken, brown rice and peas, Bonnie and Rosie, with willful intensity, have been known to sample droppings from the manure pile as well raid the litter box as soon as our backs are turned.
This backfired on Bonnie (and I do mean backfired) a few days ago when both her breakfast and dinner reappeared within a couple of hours. In spite of this Bonnie looked bright, her energy level, particularly for a 10 year old dog with an enlarged heart, was through the roof, however, taking no chances we took her to the vet the following morning where she was first palpated, then X-rayed, and finally given a full blood count.
Antibiotics were prescribed along with a three-day fast with no more than a tablespoon of prescribed dog food for the first meal, followed by two tablespoons for the next and, if everything stayed put, increased to three for the third. This would be repeated over the weekend until Sunday when she could go back to her regular intake. (more…)
STAMFORD, Conn., June 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — The streets of New York City may be just as urban as ever, an unending view of steel and concrete, but for the 700 students of PS 333 on New York City’sUpper Westside, a trip to the farm is only a few stair flights away.
Located on the third floor roof of the Manhattan School for Children is an environmental farming Mecca. Rows and rows of organic kale, arugula, basil, broccoli, beets, cabbage and lettuce are growing and thriving in a state of the art environmentally sustainable greenhouse tended to each week by the hundreds of PS 333 students who are learning urban farming and environmental science in a one of a kind hands on classroom.
The greenhouse garden designed by Kiss+Cathcart Architects and New York Sun Works is the brainchild of The Greenhouse Project, a consortium of New York City public school parents concerned about elevating their children’s science education.
Unveiled in February 2011 with a “Lettuce-Cutting” ceremony for educators, parents and students, the unique classroom concept caught the attention of MXenergyTV producers who decided to feature the project on their “green-living” program, “Attainable Sustainables.” (more…)
Annette Rubin was pregnant with her first son when a scary thought entered her mind. If it wasn’t safe to color her hair during pregnancy, what about all the other products she put on her skin each day? She posed the question to her husband, Dr. Jason Rubin, a family practitioner, who admits he didn’t have a good answer.
“I said, the FDA [Food and Drug Administration] has jurisdiction over cosmetics, I’m sure they require something,” Rubin said. But they didn’t. The U.S. government does not regulate cosmetics or personal-care products at all. “The FDA standards on medication are amazing, but with cosmetics they take a different approach,” Rubin said.
So Rubin and his wife, a cosmetics industry veteran, launched Belli, a line of personal-care products for pregnant and nursing women (and babies) that avoids ingredients linked to birth defects. “It makes sense if an ingredient has a link to a birth defect, why not find another that doesn’t have a problem?” Rubin said.
The Washington-based brand, manufactured by Advanced Bio-Technologies in Suwanee, is just one example of a company seeking to help consumers make sense of the complicated issue of safety in personal-care products. (more…)
Once upon a time, organic food was special; it wasn’t easy to come by and those who followed an organic diet were often either super health conscious or had the means to pretend to be.
Nowadays, organic goods are finding their way into shopping carts more than ever before. The Organic Trade Association, an organization that represents more than 6,500 organic businesses across North America, estimates the U.S. organic industry grew 7.7% to $29 billion in 2010 from 2009 while overall U.S. food sales rose only 1%. Sales of organic fruits and vegetables jumped 11.8% and represented 12% of all fruit and vegetable sales, while sales of organic dairy products increased 9%, representing 6% of all dairy sales.
Consumers may be embracing organic food, but concerns about cost and regulation still abound. In fact, given that there are probably only a few people – if any – who prefer their peppers with a side of pesticides, cost is probably the biggest gripe consumers have when it comes to choosing organic foods, followed closely by concerns about the way organic food is regulated.
We spoke to Marion Nestle, a food studies professor at New York University and well-known voice in issues related to nutrition, to get her take on the price and safety of organic foods. (more…)
I look for organic food because, for example, my children like chicken, so I give them free-range chicken. I buy organic gulay, berries, nuts, organic chicken, pork and eggs, even for breakfast.
Sometimes I succumb to my children’s preferences and buy them hot dogs and burgers, but only very rarely. (more…)
Female Rhode Island Red chicks for sale at Rick’s Saddle Shop in Cream Ridge. / BRADLEY J. PENNER/staff photographer
The Cost of Keeping Chickens
Chicks: Range in price from $2 from catalogs to $10 per chick from feed stores like Rick’s Saddle Shop, varying based on breed and age.
Food: $15 per 50 pound bag, which feeds 10 chicks for 2 weeks, according to Rick’s Saddle Shop manager Kurry Walsh.
Coop: $300 for wood and chicken wire to build your own, or $500-$1,200 for pre-fabricated wood coops.
Eggs: Free, compared to conventionally grown eggs, $2.59 a dozen, and organic eggs, $4.79 a dozen, at Foodtown, Freehold. Hens lay one egg per day for the first two years of their lives.
MIDDLETOWN — When Mary Hussey moved into her new home off Bamm Hollow Road, she had a vision for the screened-in hot tub room off her basement: a chicken coop.
Hussey, who began raising chickens in her backyard in 2004, now shows her chickens in poultry shows and counsels others around the state on how to start their own egg-laying flock on their property. She said she has seen a big boom in interest among state residents looking to raise their own birds and eat fresh eggs.
“Initially, it’s a food thing. When you don’t have chickens, you don’t know what you’re getting into, but you know you’re afraid of the food,” Hussey said. “People don’t know getting into it how great they are — now I want more chickens and another coop!” (more…)
Merino wool production is on the decline, cotton growing is on the rise, and prices for both are at a high.
With cotton bringing in greater revenues, farmers are switching from planting corn and other food crops to planting more cotton. And there is a shift in farm location. Today, Texas is the largest cotton-producing state in the nation. California and New Mexico rank with North Carolina, Mississippi and Tennessee. Vegans are the losers — more sheep are ending up on the table as meat is bringing in greater revenues than wool.
The controversy over the practice of surgically mulesing merino lambs to eliminate the incidence of breech flystrike has led to genetic breeding efforts to eliminate the need for mulesing the animals.
Merino Wool
Wool and cotton share certain attributes: They are natural, biodegradable, sustainable and renewable. Although at the moment Australian sheep farmers are deriving greater income from meat than from wool, there is a demand for merino wool, so prices are high. Australian Wool Innovation Ltd. (AWI) and NewMerino® have developed new technologies that counter some of the negatives about wool.
From sheep to processing and finishing, today’s merino wool is lightweight and soft, available in ultrafine yarn counts, easy-care, and comfortable. There are merino wool fabrics that are wind- and waterproof, antistatic, antibacterial and/or moisture-wicking; offer ultraviolet protection; and/or are insect-repellent. In February, the first Woolmark Apparel Care — Gold Certification was awarded to the Electrolux® tumble dryer that enables wool garments to be safely machine-dried without shrinkage, distortion or disruption of fabric surface.
The Woolmark label, owned by The Woolmark Company, Australia, a subsidiary of AWI, can be seen on apparel ranging from high fashion to high performance. Blended with man-made fibers, wool is going into activewear, bodywear and socks. AWI is working with Italian fashion leaders Missoni and Benetton to position merino as the premium luxury fiber. Merino wool fabrics are being touted for all seasons, retaining warmth in winter and breathing softly in summer. They are comfortable next to the skin, natural, classic and renewable. (more…)
The city of Baltimore has grown through its interaction with the Chesapeake Bay and surrounding marshlands, and raw materials that can be found in the region range from oyster shells, to invasive bamboo and vine species, and even driftwood and other industrial rubble. From this material palette, 100 Mile designs from the MICA contingent focus on creating products that capture the innovative spirit of this historically entrepreneurial trading port. The final product from these prodigious Environmental Design majors hint at the cultural and material variety of this Mid-Atlantic creative center. (more…)
What’s the deal with BPA-free? We all see the stickers plastered on loads of new products from baby bottles to sippy cups to canned goods. These are obviously an attempt to allay the fears of consumers who’ve caught wind of the BPA nightmare and are looking for a safe alternative. But is that alternative really safe?
SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES
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