College students are addicted to a LOT of things, from playing video console games and chatting online into the wee hours of the night to downloading music and ordering from the Wendy’s Super Value Menu at 2 a.m. Every student has his or her own unique addiction, but one thing that I realized was that probably 4 out of 5 people I knew did share one common dependency: caffeine.

I would say that soda was pretty high at the top of the caffeine list, but it could not compete with the wide-awake goodness that coffee offers. Whether you drank it on your way to an early class or brewed a whole pot to keep you awake for an all-night study session, coffee became the buddy that was always by your side.

Go for Organic
Since coffee is such an important staple for college students, the brand that you purchase should also be a top priority. I know that many students are on a tight budget, and it doesn’t leave much room for extra spending money. But if you have your own coffeepot and brew coffee every morning or night like I did, and you know that you’re going to be spending money on a pound every other week anyways, then why not go organic?

Organic means that the product you are buying was grown with no pesticides, fertilizers or other harmful additives. So, organic coffee comes from coffee beans that were grown using renewable and environmentally-friendly practices. You can read more about organic coffee at the Organic Trade Association website.

Eco-Friendly Brands
Now I have nothing against huge coffee corporations like Starbucks or Caribou Coffee, but I think that smaller family-owned organic coffee companies can offer good, or even better, coffee products than the more popular brands. Plus, many of these smaller companies grow the coffee right on their home land and sell it locally to keep their family business alive.

Almost all of these companies promote sustainable growing practices, and some even donate a portion of their funds to eco-friendly organizations.

Here are a few organic coffee companies that I discovered, as well as some things that they do to help protect the environment:

• Bean Trees – Works with the NRDC (National Resources Defense Council), whose mission is to stop corporate companies from destroying clean air and water.
• Café Bom Dia- Uses recycled shipping pallets to reduce carbon footprint.
• Café Mam – Member of the Northwest Shade Coffee Campaign of the Seattle Audubon Society, which promotes the preservation of healthy forest habitats.
• Elan Organic Coffees – Supports programs like Coffee Kids and Cup for Education, which help to improve the lives of coffee farmers’ children.
• Jim’s Organic Coffee – Joined with Sterling Planet and the EPA to become 100% powered by renewable energy.

Coffee may not be great for your health, but it’s evident that college students, and half of the world, drinks it every day anyways. So why not support society’s caffeine addiction by buying a brand that tastes great and helps the environment?

About the Author:
Trish Smith is a copywriter for Green Student U, a blog-style site that introduces today’s students to a wide variety of global environmental issues by recognizing college campus green initiatives and personal success stories, as well as how the world is being shaped by environmental reform.

I’m a yo-yo organic skincare products user, fluctuating between just not being able to afford it and then feeling after all that its well worth the extra cost. Every time I go back to organic moisturisers and face creams I remember the difference they make to your skin and how it feels – lighter, fresher and cleaner.

This week I’ve been trying out a few of Beyond Organic Skincare’s products and not been disappointed at all.

Beyond Organic Skincare is a family-run business based Cornwall and seeing the beautiful view they have from their workshop you can see why they’re so committed to caring for what’s natural. Impressively 90% of the ingredients of their skincare products are sourced from the West Country in the UK which must be no mean feat plus all of their ingredients are certified organic by the Biodynamic Agricultural Association (BDAA). They take care to ensure they provide a healthy working environment for staff and inform us that they’re committed to various environmental and fair trade issues.

A good start isn’t it? And that’s before we’ve tried their creams.

The Beyond Organic Skincare products I’ve been using are the:

• Moisturising Day Cream
• Rescue Salve
• Rejuvenating Serum
• Regenerating Night Cream

First of all I need to point out that when the pretty little bottle & pots of lotions arrived they were contained in simple packaging of tissue paper and a card box with an information leaflet, all of which could be recycled or composted.

These products have a very similar smell which is subtle, fresh and non-perfumey and the information sheet goes into detail about the qualities of the natural ingredients in each of them.

I’ve used the Moisturising Day Cream more than any of the others which worked well either with our without make-up. It has a lovely consistency a little bit like a mousse and at this time of year where our faces are being battered by cold wind and dry central heating it moisturised my skin well without being heavy.

The Rescue Salve is the serious cream of the bunch designed to help with skin irritations and inflammation and although I don’t have any of those problems I found it acted as a great lip balm and eye cream for that bit of extra protection.

Similarly the Rejuvenating Serum seems to provide that deeper hydration and again feels good to use around your eyes (especially if you have a few laughter – ahem – lines like me!) because it’s like an oil which according to Beyond Organic Skincare’s information is very similar to human sebum in the skin.

At night time the Regenerating Night Cream is soothing and I think that’s the marshmallow ingredient. Again this one especially good for these winter months that are so harsh and drying but I imagine would work just as well after a day in the sun.

I wouldn’t say that the price of Beyond Organic Skincare’s products are that different to their organic counterparts and you only seem to need to use a little at a time so it should go a long way.

You can buy online too so those of us who aren’t lucky enough to live in beautiful Cornwall can still enjoy them. There are several more products available aside from the 4 I’ve tried, including the intriguingly named ‘Boob & Butt Pick Me Up’.

Check out their website at www.beyondskincare.co.uk.

Calling all foodie shopaholics!

The time is nigh for the Soil Association’s annual Organic Food Festival.

It’s on September 1st and 2nd in Bristol and there are absolutely loads of exhibitors again this year.

But it’s not just food. There are going to be all sorts of companies there, from green energy to toiletries and gifts – and even a couple of organic wool farmers!

Last year’s event was great fun, with cookery demos from Sophie Grigson and others, free samples of all sorts of organic goodies (cheese, beer, what more could you ask for…) and the chance to meet the people behind the brands.

To find out all about the festival, go to the Organic Food Festival website.

We’ll be there, wandering around in our Veg Box Recipes t-shirts. And I’ll be the one with the brightly-coloured baby sling. So if you spot us, please do stop and say hello. It would be lovely to meet you!

Enjoy!
Clare
Veg Box Recipes