Organic, fair trade & green gift shopping, jewelry, baby products, hand bags, tea, toys, organic

• This Valentine's, Dianovo.com invites you to show the Earth how much you love her, by sending an Eco-Valentine and planting a tree for FREE! From now until midnight on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2007, Dianovo.com will plant a tree for every Eco-Valentine sent through the site that results in a new member.
• More than 1 billion Valentine's greeting cards are sent each year. Most made from virgin trees rather than recycled fibers. By sending Eco-Valentines, you not only save trees, you also plant new ones! And, it doesn't cost you a cent.
• The tab for all of this is being picked up by Dianovo, Inc. and the Dianovo Foundation. Their way of showing their love for Mother Earth this Valentine's.
• The member who sends the most Eco-Valentines and plants the most trees, will receive a special Valentine's gift of one bottle of perfume of his/her choice worth $185 from the luxury botanical perfume house, Strange Invisible Perfumes.
• The member who sends the second most, will receive a special Valentine's gift of a $100 gift certificate from TARALUNA, a beautiful source for fair trade and organic goods.
• Each tree planted will sequester around 1.33 tons of CO2 over the next 70 to 100 years.
• These trees will be planted in areas in Northern California that have been deforested by wildfires in recent years.
• According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, almost 1 million acres of trees have been lost in the last 5 years alone to forest fires in California.
  

Better Nutrition
December 2006
Gifts that give back
Lisa Turner

Tired of buying the same gifts year after year - you know, those scented candles or fuzzy slippers? This year, go shopping for presents that help people all over the world. You've decked the halls, hung the mistletoe, lit the menorah and trimmed the tree. But what have you done to create a deeper connection to the true spirit of the holidays? If you're looking for an easy way to remember the reason for the season, start with your holiday purchases.

This year, make your dollars count, and support someone besides the chain clothing and toy stores at your local shopping mall. These nine buys may change the world - or at least someone's life.

Taraluna - Veggie and Hat Set
What to get the baby who has everything? Try a carrot or tomato shaped hat with a matching toy from Taraluna. Made from organic cotton grown on a Fair Trade farm in Egypt, the hats and veggies are toxin and pesticide free. Also featured: organic cotton sleeping dolls ($10.00), bamboo fiber baby washcloths (set of four for $10.00) and organic cotton veggies and create kids' toy ($26.00). Hat set $13.50; taraluna.com.

Each year, millions of Americans face holiday shopping with fear and anxiety. For many, today's holiday culture encourages everyone to focus on getting lots of stuff. But many religious traditions instruct us that true joy and purpose come from focusing on the needs of others. So why not combine the two by picking the perfect present AND helping a worthy cause?

Taraluna, taraluna.com, (877) 325-9129, carries environmentally friendly, socially responsible gifts from around the world - jewelry, handcrafts, women's accessories and items for baby, bath, home and garden. More…

(Eureka, CA.) Lighting up is good for you, your pocketbook and the planet. How you ask? Simple, all you have to do is make the switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs which are better for the environment, save money and last longer than incandescent bulbs. If every American changed just one incandescent bulb to a CFL bulb, enough energy would be saved to light 2.5 million homes according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Taraluna - Fair Trade, Organic & Green Gifts kicks off its "Holiday Lights Campaign" by giving away an 18 watt CFL bulb (equivalent to a 75 watt incandescent bulb) with every $50.00 purchase from their online store and selling the bulbs for $3.00 each. Its goal is to encourage giving the gift of light by adding Energy Star certified CFL bulbs to holiday gift lists for friends, family and employees. Read More

Taraluna in Blogland

Please check our our recent blog blurbs

Sustainablog
City Hippy
Jen's Green Journal
Tree Hugger
HUGG We love being Hugged!
Stylehive
Ideal Bite Wind Chimes
Ideal Bite Baby Toys
Musings of an Eco-Entrepreneur Shea Gunther
LA Green Living
babygadget
This Next spa bucket
This Next totes
This Next more...
Madame Sosostris
PSD Blog
The Green Adventure
Mommies with Style
The Worsted Witch
The Ashram

Tyson Ritter/The Eureka Reporter
Taraluna owner Penny Schafer stands in front of her booth during the Old Town Fourth of July fair last week. Schafer sees events like this as an opportunity to attract local customers to her business, which operates via a Web site.

The Eureka Reporter - Business

Summer festivals provide exposure for small businesses
by Courtney Hunt-Munther, 7/10/2006 link to article

Although most fairgoers may see the summer events as a time to relax and enjoy nice weather, many small business owners see them as opportunities to get acquainted with the public, and better yet, for the public to become acquainted with them.

Among the many booths at Old Town’s Independence Day celebration last week was one in particular that greatly benefits from summer fairs. Local fair-trade gift store Taraluna operates via a Web site (www.taraluna.com) and occupies no physical space locally.

Owner Penny Schafer jumps on opportunities like the Fourth of July fair and Fortuna’s AutoXpo to get her business’ name out in the community. Through her Web site, she sells merchandise to customers in Japan, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Canada and many places throughout the United States, but she doesn’t sell to many customers locally.

“With the Internet, I can sell to people all over the world but I would like to get local people, too,” she said. “My smallest (retail) component is Humboldt County, that’s why I’m trying to get out there.”

Schafer opened Taraluna last May in hope of creating a business she could “feel good about.” Everything Taraluna carries is fair trade, organic or green.

While she is looking to open a small shop on the North Coast in the near future, Schafer said she utilizes the local fairs to expose her business to the community.

“For me to get out and share my wares, it’s a really good opportunity,” Schafer added.

Right now, Schafer is working to get her merchandise into local retail shops and will have products at Cloud Nine Salon in Eureka soon. Taraluna will also have a booth at the Fortuna AutoXpo and Annie and Mary Days in Blue Lake later this month, as well as at the Organic Planet festival in Halvorsen Park.

Taraluna as seen on All Organic Links.

Site of the Week - March 6-13, 2006

KTEH TV - San Francisco PBS Holiday Auction

Taraluna donated this beautiful All Organic Baby Basket to KTEH TV Holiday Auction.
November 1st, 2005

This beautiful gift basket is filled with safe, organic, natural and sustainable products for your little bundle of joy or to give as a gift. Included are Bamboo Baby socks and blanket - soft and comfy, bamboo is naturally anti-microbial and thermal regulating. We've added a number of Fair Trade organic Egyptian cotton products from Under the Nile, a long sleeved "Veggin' Out" lap shoulder tee with matching hat, bib and two organic vegetable toys - only natural dyes used so they are safe for baby. We've also included Angel Baby Lotion, all natural and organic for tender skin, and an "Organic Baby" lap shoulder tee made from organic cotton - all bundled together in a reusable fair trade bamboo basket with a bright red bow!
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Hello. I won the high bid at the KTEH auction in November 2005 for your gift basket of baby items. We are SO happy with everything you sent! I've never considered bamboo clothing before and it is wonderfully soft. Our little guy just loves the toy veggies (especially the green bean) too.

Thank you so much for the generous donation to KTEH. I always find great new things at their auction and couldn't be happier winning the bid for your donated gift. I'm happy to have discovered your products through them & will definitely visit your website for future purchases. It's been a pleasure dealing with your business.

Thank you,
- Lynn M.
San Francisco, CA

BUST
Editors Pick
The Girl Wide Web

Sizzling New Links:
Taraluna: Fair Trade, Organic and Green Gifts - Environmentally friendly and socially responsible fair trade, organic or otherwise green gifts, jewelry, bath & spa, home & garden, handcrafts, women's accessories and baby products from the U.S. and around the world. We offer an alternative to mass produced, chemically infused, and sweatshop labor products. We have brought together some of the best there is to offer in fair trade gifts and natural products. If you are a conscious consumer looking for more, welcome to our store. (Added: 2005-10-13)

Fair Trade Alliance Member Profiles
Members of Co-op America's Fair Trade Alliance represent a diversity of workplaces, schools, faith congregations,
businesses, and community groups all united by a passion for Fair Trade. Each month, we'll run one or more profiles of Fair Trade Alliance members and tell you about what they are doing in their communities to promote Fair Trade.

Taraluna
Penny Schafer, the owner and founder of Taraluna, believes strongly in the word "fair." After spending many years in job environments that were not conducive to fair principles, she has gone with her instinct and opened her own company committed to principles of fairness for all. Penny believes that there is no place for intolerance and bigotry in our world. Participating in the Fair Trade system is a way for her to promote her values.

Taraluna is an online company with the mission "to offer alternative choices in products based on values of fair compensation to artisans, promotion of healthy and safe working environments and social and environmental responsibility." The website acts as an ordering form for Fair Trade, organic, and green gifts. You can find anything from accessories, cosmetics, and functional art to organic baby products, natural spa products, and candles. Each product is either from a member of the Fair Trade Federation or from Co-op America's National Green Pages. Taraluna is designed to help the consumer know that the purchases they are making are sustainable and ensuring that they truly are changing the world "one small purchase at a time."

The business was launched May 10, 2005 and has already begun to thrive. Check out the website to learn more about Taraluna and to make your next Fair Trade purchase! To visit Taraluna online go to www.taraluna.com

Sep 2003, In Style, p.415
How Beautiful People Get That Way

"Coffee Shop Sparkling Julia Roberts has a personality that certainly isn't in need of perking up. But when her skin requires a jolt, she smoothes on Stephka BODYCOFFEE™ Hydrating Balm ($10; at bodycoffee.com or 415-648-6833). The potent brew is infused with hemp-seed oil, to help skin retain moisture, and coffee extract, believed to be an effective antioxidant (who knew?). Of course, it's totally habit-forming.

The hotel's spa recently launched three skin-nourishing treatments, featuring wholesome, edible ingredients. The BODYCOFFEE Scrub is a stimulating concoction of Arabica coffee, peppermint, orange, rosemary and Dead Sea salts, which awaken tired muscles... Guaranteed to leave you feeling delicious. (561-582-2800, www.fourseasons.com)

In some Russian spas, women use wet coffee grounds as a body scrub. They massage the grounds onto moist skin to slough off flaky, dry layers and leave the skin softer.

Why It Works: "Coffee grounds are a gentle exfoliant," Downie says. "Since they aren't overly abrasive, it's a nice way of removing dry skin on the body." The caffeine in the coffee can temporarily give the skin a toned appearance and quell minor skin irritations.

To Try It At Home: If reusing coffee grounds is not your idea of smart recycling, rub BODYCOFFEE Invigorating Body Polish ($35, www.bodycoffee.com) on your skin. It contains arabica coffee and Dead Sea salt.

Its fragrant aroma gets many of us out of bed each morning, but thanks to the healing properties of this flowering plant, we can now enjoy coffee's benefits beyond the cup. With a pH equal to that of our skin, coffee acts as a balancing astringent. Coarse ground beans, which serve as a natural exfoliant, are showing up in scrubs with milk and sugar as 'body lattes'. Additionally, coffee is a free radical scanvenger, helping to neutralize oxidation reactions in the skin, which are responsible for conditions like acne and eczema. Urban Nirvana's Body Buzz is a milk and coffee-based body scrub, followed by a detoxifying coffee-mud wrap, and finished with an application of vanilla bean body lotion. At home, try BODYCOFFEE's extensive line of coffee-based products, including a hydrating body balm and an invigorating body polish....

Mar 2003, Spa Magazine, p.44
The Magic Bean

Try coffee on your body for beautiful skin.

You would think that coffee is a bad word in spas, where cucumber-infused water and steaming cups of herbal tea reign. But that notion is changing as the beauty business wakes up to the healthy side of java.

"It's an astringent, antioxidant, and a deodorant," says Stephanie Profitt, a founder of BODYCOFFEE™, a recent entry in the spa skincare and treatment arena. "It cleanses, moisturizes, and protects the skin from the dulling and damaging effects of environmental toxins, and it stimulates micro-cellular circulation, which can diminish the appearance of cellulite." And, according to a recent study at Rutgers University, topically applied caffeine may even help protect against skin cancer.

Profitt discovered the benefits of coffee while working in Moscow in 1996, where she made regular visits to the banya - traditional Russian spa. There, spa-goers rubbed coffee grounds on their bodies as part of a stimulating exfoliation. "It was so amazing, I wondered why we didn't use it topically here in the U.S."

Now we do. Spas like Ten Thousand Waves in Santa Fe, New Mexico, The Day Spa at Ojai, California, and Burke Williams Day Spas in Los Angeles all use BODYCOFFEE™ products in their treatments.

Complementary natural ingredients boost the bean's beautifying power. Invigorating Body Polish enlists Dead Sea salts with magnesium and potassium to further detoxify the skin, while the coffee grounds work on decreasing the appearance of cellulite. Hydrating Body Balm uses soybean and hemp seed oils to delivery moisture plus vitamin E and coffee extract to act as antioxidants. But the Moisturizing Body Lotion is our favorite: Shea butter and aloe vera refresh and hydrate, while extract of coffee flower subtly scents the skin with a delicate jasminelike fragrance.

Delicious living
March 2006
Beauty Kit Overhaul
By Kelli Rosen

Most of us appreciate soft skin, polished nails, and a pleasant body odor. But how many of us actually think about what's in the beauty products we use? And if we knew the effects of these chemicals, would we continue slathering them on our bodies? Here, natural health experts weigh in on which ingredients to avoid-and offer natural alternatives.

Nail polish
Why ditch it?
Although colored nails may look pretty, conventional nail polishes contain dibutyl phthalates, strong chemicals that help polishes stay blended and dry evenly. Phthalates may enter your body either through inhalation or the porous surface of the nail. "As endocrine disruptors, they have the ability to upset hormonal balance," says Keri Marshall, MS, ND, a naturopath in Dover, New Hampshire, and author of User's Guide to Protein and Amino Acids (Basic Health, 2005). In particular, pregnant women should avoid products that contain phthalates, according to Marshall, because they can adversely affect the reproductive system of a developing male embryo (Environmental Health Perspectives, 2005, vol. 113, no. 8).

Also, nail polishes may contain other harmful solvents, such as toluene and formaldehyde. Even if you don't look at the ingredient list, you may recognize these notorious two by their smell. "They give polishes that overwhelming scent that can make you feel fuzzy headed," Marshall says. Toluene is possibly toxic to the reproductive system, and formaldehyde is a known carcinogen.

Natural alternatives
Peacekeeper Cause-metics Paint Me Luminous. A sparkly silver nail polish made without toluene, formaldehyde, or phthalates. Unlike alternative polishes of the past, this brand, which includes eight delicate shades but no deep reds or browns, applies evenly and is surprisingly durable. Even better: All after-tax profits help support women's health and human rights advocacy causes.

Remember when makeup was vain and frivolous? When, to establish a character in a movie as nasty and self-involved, you showed her painting her nails? I realized how much had changed when I saw the movie ''Kandahar,'' filmed in Taliban-dominated Afghanistan. There is a scene in which peasant women wrapped in burkas furtively scramble to put polish on their nails and snatch up lipstick to apply beneath their veils. Shazam! Makeup transformed into a symbol of freedom of expression and the liberation of women -- values held dear by the Western world.

Not long afterward, I was invited to the debut of a new cosmetics company called Peacekeepers held at a hotel hard by the United Nations. The location was chosen to underline the message that all of Peacekeeper's profits will be donated to causes that benefit women. While we were eating our salads, the founder, Jody Weiss, an energetic woman in her mid-40's, explained that her motives for throwing her own time and money into this business were unabashedly idealistic. ''I'd love to give away a billion dollars,'' she said. Furthermore, her lipsticks and nail polishes are meant to be teaching tools dedicated to ending emotional abuse and resolving conflicts without violence. Shades are named Paint Me Wise and Paint Me Compassionate. Customers are encouraged to use makeup not for approval from others but to celebrate their own beauty.

Weiss, whose mother was a fashion designer and an anti-Vietnam War advocate, initially explored the possibilities of going into the fashion or food industry but settled on makeup because ''it's a product that women love.'' The power of makeup was brought home to her a few years ago when she landed in New Delhi in a tense political climate. She was going through customs when the female agent pushed her into a little room, closed the door, dumped the contents of Weiss's handbag on the desk, grabbed a bottle of polish, hurriedly painted her own nails, then let Weiss go without a word. (...)