[taken directly from The Cornucopia Institute's website]

The Cornucopia Institute’s Organic Soy Report and accompanying Scorecard rates companies that market organic soy foods, such as soymilk, tofu and “veggie burgers,” based on ten criteria that are important to organic consumers—showcasing companies that are truly committed to the spirit and letter of the organic law while exposing those that do not rate highly or were unwilling to share their sourcing and production practices in our survey.

The scorecard sheds light on questions such as:

- Do the soybeans come from American organic farmers, or are they imported from China, India or South America?

- Is the company devoted to supporting organic agriculture by sourcing only organic soybeans and marketing only organic products?

- Does the company use loopholes in the organic standards to source cheaper non-organic ingredients even when organic ones are available?

Part I of the comprehensive report explores the reasons for asking these questions, including why organic consumers should be wary of Chinese imports, given the lax oversight by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) over organic certifiers working in China.

Part II of the report exposes the “dirty little secret” of the “natural” soy foods industry: the widespread use of hexane in processing. Hexane is strictly prohibited in organic food processing, but is used to make “natural” soy foods and even some that are “made with organic ingredients,” such as Clif Bars®. Hexane is a neurotoxic petrochemical solvent that is listed as a hazardous air pollutant with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Both the report and scorecard highlight the good news in the organic soyfood industry: in every market and product category, there are true heroes, both national and local manufacturers, supplying ethically-produced organic food that are worthy of consumer support.

Check out the scorecard

Read the entire report or the executive summary

One for One
TOMS Shoes was founded on a simple premise: For every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of shoes to a child in need. One for One. Using the purchasing power of individuals to benefit the greater good is what we’re all about.

I think this is one of the coolest companies and I’ve been wanting a pair of their shoes for quite some time now. Today I finally ordered a pair for myself and a pair for Eric and thus 2 children somewhere in the world who are without shoes will soon have new shoes!

Check out the video below to learn more, or click over to their website for information or to purchase a pair for yourself!

Steven Vidler / Eurasia Press / Corbis

Ghent, Belgium is taking a stand to combat climate change by declaring every Thursday VeggieDag or Veggie Day!  It is not compulsory but the entire town will be encouraging each other to cut out meat on Thursdays if not every day.  On VeggieDag vegetarian meals will be served in schools and public buildings and restaurants will be highly encouraged to offer plenty of vegetarian options.  What a great idea!  Apparently other cities across the world are inspired by this idea and are working to create the same program for themselves.

Vegan Cup Cakes - Memorial Day Weekend & Oh So Festive in Patriotic Colors!

So I dove into my Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The Worldcookbook and whipped up some very delicious cup cakes.  I began with the first two recipes – basic chocolate and basic golden vanilla – they’re both outstanding with buttercream frosting.  YUM!!!

prior to frosting them

They’re vegan but don’t require any crazy ingredients which is great.   To give you an idea of the simplistic difference – the recipes call for Earth Balance vegan margarine, apple cider vinegar and soy milk – everything else will be stuff that ANYONE would already have on hand for baking.  I will DEFINITELY be trying more of the recipes ASAP.

Click the cover to go to the book's blog

I wanted to follow-up on my earlier post and let you all know that I’m loving my new GreenWashBall!  Check out how it works.  I’m saving money on detergent and my clothes are clean and fresh.  They say you don’t necessarily need to use fabric softener as it also softens clothing but I like things extra soft so I’m still using it.  It is a great feeling to know that I’m not wasting all of that plastic on detergent containers nor contributing to carbon emissions from the shipping of heavy detergent from factories to warehouses and then to stores.  By reusing this little ball I’m even saving water since a great deal of detergent is actually water!

Also, one of my favorite sites EcoStiletto has a connection with them to get you 20% off if you enter “ecostiletto” at checkout.

Cici Nails - Lakeview, Chicago

My new found love for Zoya, toxin free, vegan nail polish, has led me to Cici Nails in Lakeview where they use Zoya!  I now have plenty of bottles of my own Zoya polish but I love the idea of supporting a business that uses such great products so next time I need a mani – pedi I’ll be heading to Cici’s and I’ll be sure to review them after I’ve been!

alba Mango Vanilla foam shave

I am HUGE fan of the very yummy scented Mango Vanilla foam for shaving.  It comes in a recyclable plastic, non-aerosol bottle.  It is paraben free and contains no animal products.  Many stores carry this along with the entire alba line of products – I purchase mine at Whole Foods.

alba Shave Products

Yapta is a fabulous online tool to help you save money on your travel.  Once you’ve booked your air and hotel plug in the info into Yapta and they’ll monitor your reservation for price cuts!  If the prices drop below what you’ve paid, Yapta will alert you and guide you through the process of a refund or a credit.  Average Yapta members save $306 a year!