A Green Remembrance

The holidays, for all the memories they create, also have the potential to create a decidedly un-green blight on the environment, what with all those formerly glorious wrapping, gift cards and envelopes to dispose of. A new business, Ecosaurus LLC, aspires to change that. Offering cute and earth-friendly gift wrap, bags, note cards, greetings and even calendars, the company is making a difference one present at a time. As it states on its Web site, “Ecosaurus is defined by the following principles: sustainability, stylish creativity, positive messaging and creative giving.” The company’s greeting and note cards, envelopes and calendars are printed on 100-percent post-consumer fiber papers that are processed without chlorine and certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Its wrapping papers are printed on 100-percent-recycled, 50-percent-post-consumer-waste, Green-e-certified papers using a chlorine-free process. Vegetable-based inks are used across the product line allowing you to give the gift of green.

For everyday well-wishing, express yourself with organic flowers. In 2001, Organic Bouquet had the foresight to enter the organic flowers market; since then, the company has blossomed into an industry leader. But wait. Organic flowers? We were confused too. In this case, the term organic refers to pesticide-free farming techniques that are friendly to farm workers, the environment and others in the food chain who might digest the flowers.

Parent company Organic Bouquet actually pioneered new standards for organic floral farming that include certifications in biodynamic (a sustainable system guided and enriched by contributions from soil, animals, the atmosphere and the cosmos), veriflora (a rigorous eight-step certification process that guarantees flowers and potted plants have been produced in an environmentally and socially responsible manner) and wildcrafted (flowers that are naturally harvested—meaning collected after naturally detaching from their origin).