This event is targeted at businesses; your day pass gets you into the exhibit hall to check out all of the vendors, as well as the opening sessions. Or, if you’d like to attend the conference, upgrade your ticket and get educated! Buy your tix in advance for a discount (thru Feb 22). Full details available at MiaGreen.com.

greenerMiami.com is a media sponsor for this event.

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“WHOLE FOODS” TAKING YOUR “WHOLE PAYCHECK” FOR NON-ORGANIC FOOD?

Not everything in Whole Foods is organic. In fact, the Organic Consumers Association has found that this natural food store carries only about 1/3 organic products. The remaining 2/3 is “regular” food disguised as natural. Whole Foods claims that selling the other 2/3 of the food allows them to offer the organics at a reasonable price.  The OCA would like us all to participate to test this claim. It will require effort and time, but this writer believes it is the worth it in the end.

Download the Whole Paycheck” Organic Price Survey Worksheet which you can use to list Whole Food’s organic prices in your local community. The results will be tallied and all personal information will be protected; maybe this way consumers can get the truth on what they are paying at Whole Foods Markets.

SEAFOOD WATCH iPHONE APP

If you eat fish on a daily basis either at home or in a restaurant and want to know if it is fresh, toxic, endangered or shipped from countries violating the fishing laws, this is the guide for you. The Monterey Bay Aquarium offers a Seafood Watch app so that you can have the information at your fingertips. This seafood watch ranks seafood as Avoid (red), Good Alternative (yellow), and Best Choice (green). Plus,

• Free, up-to-date recommendations at your fingertips
• Regional guides highlight the seafood that’s best in each area of the country.
• Loads the right guide for your location using your phone’s GPS
• Lets you search for seafood quickly and easily within regions
• Lets you sort seafood by rank

Download the iPhone application or Visit mobile.seafoodwatch.org for our online pocket guides, just in time for your next seafood meal!

TARGET STOPS CARRYING FARMED SALMON

Greenpeace jumped for joy this week when Target stores announced that they would no longer carry farmed salmon. “Greenpeace applauds Target’s decision to replace farmed salmon with wild Alaskan salmon, a relatively sustainable and healthy product, throughout its operations,” said Casson Trenor, Greenpeace’s Senior Markets Campaigner. “The company’s decision to address this issue represents an incredible willingness to challenge old paradigms in favor of sound science and environmental preservation, as well as provide real market value to its customers. We have no doubt that the leadership will set a new standard for the seafood industry; one we hope is echoed by other retailers.”

So what’s the issue with farmed salmon? Seafood Watch (mentioned above) gives us the details. They include a health advisory for increased PCBs in the farmed fish, as well as major environmental issues (like the fact that it takes 3 lbs of wild fish to “make” 1 lb of farmed salmon).

SLOW FISH DINNER: MIAMI JAN 31, 2010

Reserve Your Seat for a Slow Fish Dinner at The River Oyster Bar
Sunday, January 31 7 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

$80 per person including tax and gratuity.
$15 of the ticket’s purchase price benefits a school garden program in Downtown Miami.

Chef David Bracha has created a menu showcasing regional seafood and local produce. Menu items will be paired with Domaine Chandon wines. Reserve now!

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Educational Field Trip in Haiti 2007, Operation Green Leaves

Miami-based non-profit Operation Green Leaves has been focusing on reforesting Haiti since 1991. When the earthquake struck, Operation Green Leaves sprung into action. OGL Haiti was recently featured on Treehugger.com as a green organization that will need continuing support to help the communities in Haiti, and we were glad to see such global exposure for the organization.

In listening to the special EcoAlert on the Earthquake, Operation Green Leaves radio show on Blog Talk Radio (see player below), she mentions that though it’s great to give donations to large organizations such as Red Cross, however we can’t forget the small organizations who all have their roles to play, and are also in great need of funding.

The following is a message from OGL Haiti’s Executive Director, Nadine Patrice:

Working Around the Clock on Relief Efforts for the People of Haiti

The situation is expected to get worse before we can hope to turn the tide and see major improvement.

We are implementing a model creative plan to get help to where it is desperately needed, and to overcome the obstacles that exist.

We are arranging to get emergency teams into isolated communities such as Jacmel, Archaie and Carrefour in order to establish field centers for communication, operations and delivery of supplies, as soon as that is possible.

Operation Green Leaves is proud to be part of an alliance of people and organizations with a truly outstanding record of service, and very importantly, success in helping Haiti.

• Honorable Paul Novack, former mayor of Surfside, attorney at law and leader of past disaster relief and democracy support projects in Haiti;
• Yves Lafontant, president of the Haitian American Law Enforcement Officers Association
• Max Massac of the Haitian American Engineers and Scientists
• more than 30 partner organizations

OGL appreciates all of the contacts and inquiries coming in about people in the community wanting to help support our efforts, and encourage you to visit our web site at www.oglhaiti.com where you can donate to help support the urgent efforts.

Our toll free phone number is 1-877-85TREES (1-877-858-7337).

Operation Green Leaves is a non-profit 501 (c ) 3 organization since 1991, all donations are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law. Mail your tax-deductible donation to: Operation Green Leaves Inc., P.O. Box 5254, Coral Gables, Florida 33114

Sincerely,

Nadine C. Patrice
Executive Director
Operation Green Leaves Inc.

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MiaGreen is currently accepting booth reservations & sponsors. Please see their current special, or check out details on their website.

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A “green” program of the Riverwalk Trust in partnership with the City of Fort Lauderdale, Riverwalk Trust Tree Harmony is dedicated to saving trees on privately-owned properties that would otherwise be lost, by transplanting them in the Riverwalk Park and other public spaces. Where once there were unhealthy trees, causing danger for those who played or walked among them or lived within their shelter, are now healthy trees, providing all of the elements they were meant to give us.

Recently 14 trees were taken from the beachfront property where the Yankee Clipper is under construction to become the Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel. Within 36 hours they were replanted in Riverwalk Park behind Broward County Courthouse. No easy task!

Related: Sun Sentinel - Riverwalk replants Yankee Clipper trees

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Bee Heaven Farm & Redland Organics will also be there with their first batch of certified organic heirloom tomato & veggie starts, plus some farmer’s market style items with the first of the local harvests - all certified organic as well.

So bring the kids, grandma and grandpa, aunts and uncles, friends and neighbors. Maybe this would be the time to start a neighborhood garden. All the information needed at your fingertips and what a fun way to show our children a better way to eat and be healthy.

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Please check out our promo spot and definitely browse around EcoEcho.tv. And hey, if you Facebook and Twitter…so do we!

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The good news is, the Yelp community is doing it for us! This week, they featured vintage & thrift shops around Miami. Buying used items is the ultimate in eco-friendly shopping. No new resources, keeping items away from landfills. It’s a win all around! This list includes businesses we’ve never even heard of…and what’s best, you can read about other people’s experiences before you even get there.

Do you have a favorite used spot? If you know me at all, you already know mine!

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“Help save planet earth starting with uranus.” That pretty much sums up this product! Uranus eco-friendly boy shorts (ladies underwear) are made from soy material. They are super soft, and what’s best perhaps, is that the entire concept came from a couple of local Miami girls (and fellow Gators).

In an interview with the New Times, the founder tells the story of Uranus:

We came up with the idea a little over a year ago. We were painting my sister’s room in our underwear and were talking about our favorite planets. Somehow we got to talking about how it would be funny if there was an underwear company called Uranus. I think we were slightly delirious because of the paint fumes, but my dad heard us talking and thought it was a great idea, so Uranus Apparel was born. We decided we wanted to make the underwear out of eco-friendly fabric and came up with our slogan: “Help save planet earth starting with uranus”. We did a lot of research about different types of sustainable fabric and chose soy because it is the most eco-friendly and the softest.

The soy fabric is made from by-products of the soy food production process (tofu, etc). A set of 3 pairs is priced at $19.

The Good

• A green product created by Miamians…love it!
• I think this is my first soy garment. Very nice material. The fabric really is super soft.
• I love the story in the New Times article. They have really thought about the fabric, where it comes from, the entire process. Though it’s currently coming from China, they are being open and honest about the entire process with the consumer. That is invaluable.
• The name. Come on. It’s awesome.

The Not So Good

• Currently the only option is to buy a 3 pack of the underwear and it arrives in a burlap sack. Though burlap is pretty eco-friendly, I’d reserve this kind of packaging for “gifts”, and allow people the option to order without. They do request that you compost or reuse the bag, however!
• I’m not a boy shorts person. I think it’s just not the right cut for me. I’ve never had luck with them and these didn’t prove to be any different. However, if you like boy shorts, I bet you would like these!

The Verdict

• We would recommend this product to others. It is truly an eco-friendly product, created by some creative local ladies that seem to be taking the big picture into account.

Have you tried Uranus? Tell us your experience in the comments section below!

Want greenerMiami.com to review your product in our ProdLab? Contact us!

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