Choice Organic Teas graciously provided us with a few boxes of tea for the purposes of this Tried and True Green Product Review.

Choice Organic Teas is one of our household brands, a staple in our kitchen, but it’s by no means, your typical tea.  I was surprised to learn that this Seattle-based company has been around since 1989 — Choice was the first exclusively organic tea line in America.

Today, they offer over 70 sustainably grown, Fair Trade Certified, USDA Organic teas — Black, Green, Oolong, White, and Herbal Infusions — in tea bags or loose leaf. Choice is green in many ways – their eco friendly packaging is 100 percent biodegradable and created without the use of polyvinyl chloride (PVC).  Their tea bags are crafted with care from unbleached natural fibers; and ties, rather than staples, are used to enclose the bags.  Choice offsets 100 percent of their electricity by purchasing wind energy credits.  And some of their growers even follow the biodynamic agricultural practices of philosopher, Rudolf Steiner.

Their unique blends are deliciously mellow and go down real easy.  My recent Choices were delightful:  Ginger Herb, Himalaya Green, White Jasmine, Mango Ceylon with vanilla, and Green Tea with Toasted Brown Rice – yummy and soothing.

My favorite time to sip a cup of brew is at about four in the afternoon.  It’s become my moment of zen….

What can I say?  Choice Teas is an impressive company with serious eco cred.

A few years ago I read an article about Choice Organic Teas founder, Blake Rankin, in Plenty magazine, and I remember thinking, this maverick really walks the walk.  He not only maintains a highly principled approach to tea cultivation, but also has applied similar values in building his family’s off-grid home — from sustainable straw-bale construction, solar power, plank cork flooring, PVC-free underground water lines running from well to home — to creating a blue-jean-insulated mud-room, and kitchen tiles from recycled airplane windshields.

Discover more about Choice Organic delightfully flavored teas, here.  I’m off, the kettle calls…

The next best thing to FREE shipping is ninety-nine cent shipping.  That’s what Gaiam Facebook fans get on eco home and outdoor products.

Pick up a nice composter, rain barrel or combo, made of 100% recycled material and receive 15% off as well -  sweet!

Garrison Architects creates their green modular home designs from their DUMBO studio in Brooklyn, NY.  Their ‘Red Hook Zero Modular’ design (pictured above) features wind and solar installations, energy-efficient HVAC and appliances.  The 4,000 square foot home/office which is designed to be a net zero energy building (ZEB), is expected to be completed in late summer 2010.

The small footprint ‘Tread Lightly’ prototype (above) was created for an environmentally sensitive location next to wetlands.  The structure is envisioned as a prefabricated, factory-built modular home to reduce cost and facilitate rapid production.  Sheep are extra.

The ‘Koby Cottage’ (above) was designed and created for use by visiting families and children at the Starr Foundation located in Albion, Michigan.  The prefab modular plan features two intersecting diagonal axis centered around the dining room table – a traditional family meeting place.  The home’s weld factory-built frame features large windows and a roof deck to provide extensive exposure to nature and the environment.

Serendipity is a beautiful thing – you never know what will jump out at you when meandering through a vintage shop or surfing the net.  (above) – Carolina Engman extends the wardrobe in eco-fashion, by finding and reusing already existing, quality threads like this quirky piece.
via: fashionsquad.

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