The Freecycle Network is a grassroots Internet movement that connects people who want to give away unwanted items to other people who need those items.

Committed to the notion that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, freecycle has built a worldwide gifting community that reduces waste and conserves precious resources.

Members of the free web site, www.freecycle.org give and receive items for free. Freecycle members post offers for stuff they don’t want anymore to a listserv in their local group. If a member replies, the poster arranges for the pickup. …read more of Freecycle: The Gifting Economy here

EXPO West, the largest tradeshow in the industry is the place to find the latest and greatest in natural, organic and healthy living.

The 29th annual Natural Products Expo West at the Anaheim Convention center covered 300,000 square feet and more than 53,000 people attended. 1,900 companies with 3,000 booths from 28 countries showcased thousands of organic, fair trade and sustainable products.

Soymilk gained acceptance in the health conscious mainstream when White Wave Silk Soymilk captured those coveted supermarket cold case slots right alongside dairy products. …read more of EXPO West: Incredible Edibles, Organic and Green here

India is a land of contrasts. Exotic, exhilarating and enigmatic.

I was traveling with VegVoyages Vegetarian Adventures through Rajasthan on the way to the ancient Jain temple at Ranakpur, one of the five holiest sites of this Hindu sect, when we stopped for a few days at an incredible retreat.

Aranyawas (Ar-an’ ya-vas) is a lush eco-retreat in the Aravali Mountains, nestled in a wild mountain valley surrounded by rugged terrain, enormous rock outcrops and waterfalls.

Aranyawas means “Forest house” and this secluded sanctuary seems to have grown naturally into the surrounding countryside near Udaipur (Oo’-die-poor) in the north of India. …read more of Eco-Tourism here

Samsung unveiled Blue Earth, an eco-consciously created handset with a rear-mounted solar panel last month in Barcelona at Mobile World Congress 2009.

According to the company, by charging with the solar panel Blue Earth users can generate enough power to call anytime anywhere. Rounder and a bit thicker than the average mobile phone, the touch screen handset is made from recycled materials and designed to look like a flat shiny pebble.

The Blue Earth case is made entirely from recycled plastic water bottles and castor beans; the packaging is 100 percent recyclable and uses soy-based inks. Samsung has a take-back program for recycling old phones and is not new to eco-phone technology. …read more of Race to Produce Green Mobile Phones here

The Corn Refiners Association (CRA), a trade group representing the corn refining (wet milling) industry, claims that high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has the “same natural sweetness as table sugar and honey.”

Many brand name foods and beverages, from soft drinks to tomato soup labeled “all-natural” contain a high level of HFCS.  An interesting take since HFCS is highly processed and refined with enzymatic processes that make use of synthetic fixing agents.

High Fructose Corn Syrup is thought to play a role in the onset of obesity and recent reports indicate that much of it has been tainted with mercury. While HFCS has never enjoyed much popularity among health-conscious consumers, CRA has launched a $30 million ad campaign to counter the current publicity surrounding HFCS.

A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that the increased use of HFCS in the US mirrors the rapid increase in obesity. Scientists found that the digestion, absorption and metabolism of fructose differ from glucose. …read more of Sweet Deception here