Make Your Holidays Sustainable
When you gather with friends and family to celebrate the holidays, the Rainforest Alliance invites you to demonstrate your support for sustainability and help to make this season truly green!
As you shop for gifts or food to share, we urge you to "vote with your dollars" in support of sustainability. Check out our online marketplace for help finding Rainforest Alliance Certified products, grown and harvested using methods that protect biodiversity and the rights and welfare of workers and their communities.
If you're planning a vacation this winter, our online Eco-Index of Sustainable Tourism can help you select sustainable hotels, lodges, and tour operators in Latin America and the Caribbean.
When shopping for wine, look for bottles with cork stoppers. Cork is an inherently sustainable resource, both renewable and biodegradable. The cork oak tree (Quercus suber), produces a thick bark that can be stripped off every decade without damaging the trees, which can live up to 250 years. The trends toward synthetic bottle stoppers is endangering one of western Europe's last natural forest ecosystems, and along with an economy and culture that has centered on cork harvesting for thousands of years.
This season, do your part to help protect the planet by ensuring that your holiday gifts have been verified by an independent organization with meaningful environmental and/or social standards. Learn more about eco-labels at The Consumers Union Guide to Environmental Labels.
Conserving World Heritage Sites
The Rainforest Alliance is a new partner in the World Heritage Alliance (WHA), a collaboration initiated by Expedia and the United Nations Foundation, which seeks to support sustainable tourism in and around the 830 World Heritage sites designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The World Heritage Alliance brings together tourism businesses, governments, and non-governmental organizations that have committed to promoting sustainable tourism, which conserves local biodiversity and cultures and creates opportunities for community enrichment.
"We are thrilled to join this innovative partnership," praised Tensie Whelan, executive director of the Rainforest Alliance. "Members of our sustainable tourism program staff look forward to training and providing technical assistance to World Heritage Alliance members. We hope to help them lead the way in conserving some of the world's most valuable places for years to come."
The Rainforest Alliance will sponsor workshops focusing on consumer education, community development and technical training.
From the Blog: Executive Director Tensie Whelan Travels to Colombia
Colombia, where some 560,000 farmers depend on coffee for their livelihoods, is one of the world's largest coffee-producing countries. In mid-October, Rainforest Alliance executive director Tensie Whelan spent a week in Colombia as a guest of the Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia and Fundación Natura (our local NGO counterpart). She visited three states -- Santander, Caldas and Santa Marta -- and spent a day in Bogotá, introducing a new line of Juan Valdez, Rainforest Alliance Certified coffee (coming to a Wal-Mart near you in January). Check out our Frog Blog to read about the farms she visited, the history of coffee in Colombia and how Rainforest Alliance certification is improving the lives and livelihoods of farmers, their families and communities.
At a Glance
Rainforest Alliance in the News
Other News
- In 2007, the Rainforest Alliance will celebrate its 20th anniversary. Be sure to check out our Web site and this newsletter for coverage of our two decades of accomplishments and a look ahead to the next twenty years!
- Williams-Sonoma, Inc. is now procuring 95 percent of the paper used in its seven catalogues from Forest Stewardship Council-certified sources.
- Looking to green your office? The Domtar EarthChoice family of Forest Stewardship Council/Rainforest Alliance Certified papers now includes copy papers as well as a range of options for corporate communications and publishing.
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© 2006 Rainforest Alliance
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