Stuff We Found Today - 9.3.08

Family & Kids Stuff

• Happyheads bye-bye lice - Although we haven't had the pleasure of experiencing head lice (yet), we came across this blog post by Eco Child's Play and realized that there are parents out there who might be interested in this head lice treatment and prevention kit, especially with the new school season approaching.
• Bamboobino: Bamboo Nursing Pads - As a mom who breastfed, Joyce wishes she had known about these when she was nursing. Read what makes bamboo fabric and clothing so great.
  

Food Stuff

• Eat Well Guide - An online resource for finding sustainable, local, and organic produce in your area.
  

Tech Stuff

• Eco-Friendly Computers - Read EcoGeek's blog posts about some cool green computers: Asus laptops, Dell desktops, and SimpleTech hard drives. Hey Apple, when are you going to make a green Mac?
  

Arts, Entertainment, Living & Other Cool Stuff

• Ecoflip.org: 'The Green Craigslist' - "Ecoflip is a local classifieds network for eco-friendly people, offering a variety of products..." Read TheDailyGreen's review of Ecoflip.
• Early Adopter Octogenarians Join National Solar Tour - OK...so, this really isn't "useful stuff", but we found it extremely entertaining as we imagined ourselves 40 years later driving around in solar powered golf carts with all our aging cohorts.

Stuff We Found Today - 8.31.08

Family & Kids Stuff

• Earth Friendly Alternative to Sandwich Bags
  

Food Stuff

• Grilling Corn on the Cob this Weekend?
  

Beauty & Fashion Stuff

• 50% Off Luxurious & Ethical Mongolian Cashmere
• Labor Day Sale on Eco-Fashion & Organic Beauty
• This Works for Perfect Cleavage
• Zoya Nail Polish: More Glam, Less Toxins
  

Tech Stuff

• 10 Green Gadgets to Reduce Your High-Tech Carbon Footprint
• A New Search Engine Gives Back to Environmental Causes
  

Business & Work Stuff

• GreenerPrinter: Eco-Friendly Online Printer in the SF Bay Area

Coco-Zen Supports the Surfrider Foundation

We hope our kids and future generations will be able to enjoy the natural beauty of this planet as we have. So, although we are still a fledgling company, we're putting our money where our mouth is.

Coco-Zen is honored and proud to be a Retail Member of the Surfrider Foundation USA. We also look forward to participating in future events with our local San Mateo chapter.

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The Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit grassroots organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of our world's oceans, waves and beaches. Founded in 1984 by a handful of visionary surfers in Malibu, California, the Surfrider Foundation now maintains over 50,000 members and 80 chapters worldwide.

Coco-Zen Joins Pristine Planet

We came across PristinePlanet.com when Joyce went searching on the internet for fun organic tees and eco-friendly lunch supplies for her toddler. After spending "too much time" browsing through all the categories and interesting products, Joyce realized this would be a great venue for Coco-Zen.

Pristine Planet's Mission
"Pristine Planet is a shopping resource that brings socially responsible merchants together so visitors can shop, browse, compare & review sustainable companies and products in the convenience of one website.

Rewarding environmentally and socially responsible companies should be as easy as possible, for that is truly the only way that consumers can send a positive message to industry that cannot be ignored. Organizations that make our world a better place should be recognized for their efforts -- and our mission is to help."

Learn more about Pristine Planet

Visit Coco-Zen on Pristine Planet

Plastic Bags - Slide show from the Pocono Record

Here's a link to a short slide show on the dangers of plastic bags, posted on www.PoconoRecord.com (an online news & information publication from Northeast Pennsylvania).

http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080506/MULTIMEDIA02/80505016

We all know that plastic bags are a menace to the environment, but this slide show really makes you think about bringing your own bag to the grocery store.

Video: Chocolate and Child Labor (Slavery)

A couple of couple of videos on chocolate and child labor.

Help spread the word on Fair Trade Certified™ chocolate!

New Planet Friendlier Packaging Debuts

In our ongoing efforts to operate a "green" business, we're constantly looking for new ways to make our packaging as planet friendly as possible. Well, we are excited to announce that our new "greener" labels and bags have finally debuted.

New Label Sleeves
While our tins have always been recyclable, we realized that our sticker labels may not be very planet friendly. Since the stickers are not easily removable, they can't be recycled with other paper recyclable. So, we've redesigned the labels for our Truffles-To-Go, Everyday Truffles and Party Favors into removable paper "sleeves" that are printed on 100% recycled paper, using soy based inks. Now both tin and label can be completely recycled separately.

New Cellulose Bags
We have replaced the plastic bag in our Everyday Truffles tin with a new cellulose bag. Cellulose is the primary component of plant cell walls - completely natural and nontoxic, can be composted, is 100% biodegradable -- and can also be recycled with other PAPER products (provided they are cleaned of all food particles).

Website Update: New "Planet & People" pages

Hey all you Planet & People supporters!

We've recently updated our "Planet & People" page to become several new pages - almost it's own mini website. In building Coco-Zen, we've stumbled across quite a bit of information on being planet & people friendly and thought we'd share it with everyone. On our new "Planet & People" pages, you'll find information on cocoa farming, Fair Trade, why we use tins, and recycling. There's also a resources & links page where you can find more in depth information on these subjects, as well as green businesses we support.

Hope you'll come check it out!

P.S.
If any of you have any planet & people friendly information that you would like to share, please email us at info@Coco-Zen.com, or simply respond to this post.