Happy Earth Day everyone! Now that eco-friendly fashion is becoming more mainstream, more people are realizing that even their undergarments should be green. Organic cotton underwear to the rescue!

PACT offers design-driven, responsibly manufactured, premium organic cotton underwear connected to powerful social and environmental causes like ForestEthics and Oceana. 

This Earth Week, PACT is partnering with The Green Belt Movement to plant a forest. They've launched a special Green Belt print and from April 16th - 25th each purchase will give 100% of the proceeds to plant 10,000 trees. Who knew your choice of underwear could do so much?

-Dorothee

Full Disclosure: PACT is one of the fabulous eco-fashion brands that have partnered with us for the  upcoming Southwest Tour.

It's finally spring! And that means t-shirt weather, so this week I'm excited to show you my favorite new shirt by Excentree. This eco-friendly company uses certified organic cotton to make their limited-edition shirts and gives you the chance to plant one tree for every garment sold.

How does it work? Excentree is working with seventeen agro-reforestation projects worldwide in countries like Belize, Ethiopia, India, Haiti and Uganda. Many areas have been ravaged by logging for profit, leaving the land vulnerable and infertile, reducing soil and community protection. By planting trees in these areas, communities can begin to reclaim the land, make it work for them and become sustainable once again.

Once you get your shirt, all you have to do is visit the website they provide on the garment and enter your access code to plant a tree. And as if that wasn't cool enough, Excentree garment hang tags are made from seeded paper. So after you've planted your tree online you can plant the tag and it will grow either flowers, vegetables or herbs! 

-Dorothee

I always look at food products that make some sort of health claim -- especially food products that are composed almost entirely of saturated fat -- with extreme skepticism. I've read about good vs. bad cholesterol and medium-chain vs. long-chain triglycerides, and I've concluded that if someone is trying to convince you that fat or cholesterol is good for your health they're probably trying to sell you something.

That said, I've come across a product that makes all of those claims, and I love it. Nutiva Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil is one of the more popular coconut oils on the market, and the stuff is truly delicious. I had a tough time justifying the $12 price tag for a 15oz jar, but after eating the stuff for a couple of weeks, I think I'm hooked enough to do it again.

The nice thing about coconut oil is that you can use it on virtually anything that calls for butter or olive oil, and it gives your food a subtle coconut flavor (which is nice for some foods, but certainly not all). It heats up to a very high temperature, so it's good for frying veggies, and it's great to spread on toast or drizzle over popcorn. The Nutiva website says it's a good substitute for shortening for baking, which makes me wonder what a coconut oil pie crust would taste like.

According to the Nutiva website, their product often gets a bum rap in the news media because extra virgin coconut oil is frequently lumped together with hydrogenated coconut oil, which contains trans fat. Speaking of the news media, here's what a recent US News and World Report article has to say about the health benefits of coconut oil:

"Research on Pacific Island and Asian populations whose diets are naturally very high in coconut oil has shown unexpectedly low rates of heart disease, but those people also eat a mostly plant-based diet and are far more active than the average American, making direct comparisons pretty tough."

Regardless of the health claims, coconut oil is tasty stuff, and it's an extremely versatile tool to have in your cupboard.

-Mark