Place Your Organic Bug Holiday Orders Soon!

TOMORROW, Wednesday, December 15 is the LAST day to place your Organic Bug orders to be certain you receive your merchandise on or before December 24 if you are using UPS Ground shipping or USPS Priority Mail to anywhere in the Continental US.

PLEASE PLACE ORDERS BEFORE NOON EST TOMORROW! Orders placed after NOON EST Wednesday, December 15 for ground shipping MAY NOT arrive in time for Christmas. Remember the parcel services are overwhelmed with packages this time of year so we don’t want you to be disappointed. We strongly recommend you choose expedited delivery methods after Noon EST Wednesday, December 15 to facilitate delivery before Christmas.

Please View our Holiday Ordering Guidelines on our Website for more information and expedited shipping options.

In case you are pressed for time, here are a few of our Best Sellers so far this season!

Green Your Wardrobe with Organic Fabrics

Few people question the benefits of buying organic foods. Organic foods are better for the environment because pesticides are not used on the crops. They are also better for your health because you are not ingesting a host of chemicals, pesticides and genetically-modified foods. However, there seems to be a disconnect between purchasing organic foods and applying those same ethical principles to buying organic clothing.

Cotton is the most widely sprayed crop in the world. Some estimates state traditional cotton farming accounts for 25% of the world’s insecticide consumption. While the pesticides and insecticides are harmful to other plant and animal life in the area, they can also leak into groundwater reserves and contaminate tap water. Aerial spraying is commonly used to spray cotton crops. With this spraying method, the insecticides often blow through the air into residential areas or on neighboring crops.

These chemicals can also end up on the cotton and in the clothes that touch your skin every day. Some natural health experts believe your skin can absorb the chemicals from clothing. The chemicals in cotton can also cause skin allergies. By purchasing organic cotton, you can have peace of mind knowing your clothes are not causing any harm to the environment or human health.

Organic bamboo is another natural fabric that is gaining popularity, and there are many benefits to wearing bamboo clothing. Bamboo fabric is softer than cotton and it is naturally a hypoallergenic product. Bamboo plants are also grown without pesticides, insecticides or fertilizers. They grow fast and are a renewable and sustainable crop because new bamboo shoots are always growing to replace the old ones. Another surprising benefit is that a bamboo plant releases more oxygen into the environment than a tree. It also requires less water to grow and less water is used in the color dye process.

Browse through our collection of organic apparel to see how fashionable choosing organic fabrics can be!

5 Top Fuel Efficient Cars

You’ve installed solar panels on your house, gone vegan and purchased a Brita filter so you can avoid ever having to use plastic bottles again. Yet, as you drive around in your mid-sized SUV, something doesn’t seem to mesh with your green lifestyle. So, you begin looking at fuel efficient cars, and if you’re like most people, your first test drive is probably in a Toyota Prius. While the Prius continues to hold its position as the king of green cars, there are other cars on the market that have been working towards the standard set by the Prius. Here are some of the vehicles that FuelEconomy.gov lists as the most fuel efficient vehicles of 2010.

1. Toyota Prius

No surprise here. The Toyota Prius still hovers above all other gas-powered cars with a mile-per-gallon rate of 51 in the city and 48 on highways. The Prius has an energy impact score of 6.9 barrels of petroleum used in one year, and it scores an 8 on the air pollution scale with 10 being the best possible rating.

2. Honda Civic Hybrid

The Honda Civic Hybrid is not far behind the Prius in mile-per-gallon ratings. The Civic Hybrid gets 45 mpg with highway driving and 40 mpg with city driving. Its energy impact score is 8.2 barrels of petroleum used in one year, and it scores a high air pollution ranking with 9 out of 10.

3. Smart Fortwo Coupe and Smart Fortwo Convertible

Smart cars are popular in Europe, and they are slowly catching on in the United States. The cars comfortably seat two people. Smart cars are not hybrids, however, they still get good mileage. In the city, smart cars get 33 mpg while on highways, they get 41 mpg. Smart cars have an annual petroleum consumption of 9.5 barrels. Their air pollution score is 6 out of 10.

4. & 5. Audi A3 and Volkswagen Jetta

The Audi A3 and the Volkswagen Jetta tie in all energy-efficiency categories. For being small station wagons, the Audi A3 and the Volkswagen Jetta have impressive mpg ratings. Both cars get 30 mpg in the city and 42 mpg on highways. Their annual petroleum consumption is 11.6 barrels, and they both score 6 out of 10 for their air pollution ratings.

Choosing to purchase a green car is the first step in reducing your environmental impact from driving. How you drive your vehicle and how well it is maintained will also make a difference in how many miles per gallon you are able to get. Greenercars.org recommends avoiding aggressive driving, opening windows instead of using air conditioning and coasting when possible as opposed to sudden braking. Tune-ups and regular emissions tests are also recommended.

Benefits of Wheatgrass Juice

At juice bars across the country health enthusiasts line up to order little shots of a vibrant, green liquid known as wheatgrass. Wheatgrass juice was introduced as a health and healing juice in the 1950s by Dr Ann Wigmore. When Dr Wigmore discovered she had colon cancer at the age of 50, she began a diet of raw greens and blended, sprouted seeds. After one year she was cancer free and began studying the nutritional properties of grasses, eventually focusing primarily on wheatgrass. Dr Wigmore believed that most of the degeneration and illness humans suffer from is caused by a lack of vitality and life force in the food we eat. Dr Wigmore advocated for a diet of raw fruits, vegetables, sprouts and green juices.

Many health experts – including Dr Young, author of The pH Miracle – emphasize the fact that wheatgrass juice is composed of approximately 70% chlorophyll. The chemical structure of chlorophyll is almost identical to the structure of hemoglobin. The only difference is that chlorophyll contains magnesium whereas hemoglobin contains iron. Because of the similar chemical structures, the human body is able to transform chlorophyll into hemoglobin. This increases red blood cell count, and the blood’s capacity to deliver oxygen to cells throughout the body.

Individuals interested in holistic health agree with Dr Wigmore’s research into the benefits of wheatgrass, and many claim wheatgrass juice also contains the following benefits:

- Improves digestion
- Helps cleanse the liver
- Enriches the blood
- Fights tumors
- Lowers blood pressure
- Improves skin problems
- Prevents hair from graying
- Protects from carcinogens
- Boosts the immune system
- Neutralizes toxins in the body
- Removes heavy metals from the body
- Helps all types of blood disorders.

Wheatgrass juice is also a good source of chlorophyll, enzymes, amino acids, B vitamins, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, phosphorous, sodium sulfur, zinc, cobalt and protein. Vitamins B, C, E and carotene are strong antioxidants that eliminate free radicals. The juice contains 90 minerals, many of which have a strong alkaline effect on the body.

While health clubs can charge anywhere from $1 to $5 for a shot of wheatgrass juice, you may also choose to grow and juice it yourself at home from as little as $1 a week. To cultivate your own, you will need a wheatgrass juicer, seeds, soil and a tray to grow the grass in. The seeds will need to be soaked and sprouted in a jar before being placed in the soil. Your fresh wheatgrass will be ready for juicing in just seven to 12 days. From there, cut the grass with clean kitchen scissors or a knife, run through the juicer and throw back a shot!

4 Steps to Avoiding Green Scams

Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone was just honest and genuine all of the time?  Unfortunately for us all, we live in a society often driven by the wrong kind of green – money.  It can be difficult for the untrained person to NOT get caught up in scams claiming to be greener, safer, and organic.  Here are some hints and tips to keep you ahead of the curve.

Do Your Homework:

Did you know that consumer products in the United States need to register with the EPA?  This is a great stop for consumers to get the REAL facts about what is actually in the things that they keep around their life (food, cleaning products, etc.) – you should also steer clear of things that withhold that information.

Avoid Things:

There are some many things to avoid that listing them would take all day.  But, a good starting point would be to consider staying away from Petroleum Distillates like ethyl and methyl.  Petroleum Distillates are often used as “natural” products for kitchen cleaning – often as degreasing materials.

Don’t Believe Everything You Read:

Remember, companies are out there to make money and SELL you things.  There is no regulating process to determine what CAN and CAN’T be labeled green, and many of the mainstream options out there might only be a little more eco-friendly than their “regular” counterparts.  Ultimately, you need to take responsibility for finding the right options for you and actually reading what is in the things that you buy.

If It Sounds Too Smart Or Too Dumb It Might Not Be Green:

Just because something says that it is NEW & IMPROVED doesn’t always mean either is true.  Green Works® from Clorox claims to be 99% green – and honestly, the physical characteristics of its cleaning materials actually are derived from renewable resources, are biodegradable and the product is free of petrochemicals.  Companies that use complex “scientific” names for their products are designed to confuse the average consumer with products nearly identical to regular non-green options.

The key to being green in the marketplace is to be aware and be intelligent.  Don’t just be a consumer, be smart and succeed in being green.  Organic Bug offers leading products that ARE what they say they are.  Let us help you with some of your green purchases.

What is going Green, Anyway?

As the world turns, life is in fact getting greener. Homes are getting powered more and more by solar, people are buying more organic and local food and of course people are starting to buy non-toxic, sustainable and responsible products. Although this is a fantastic leap in the right direction, we all must slow down for a moment and make sure that we understand….why?

If all people understand why “living green” is so important for our species and for the world at large, it may just be the difference between the continuity of “living green” and letting it fizzle out as just another fad.

Going green is essentially the promotion of life. It promotes things like paying people the fair wages that they deserve and giving them a shot at building their own communities world wide. It promotes the protection of our ecosystem at large, this includes everything from animals, to plants, to outer space, to our air that we breathe everyday. It promotes the fair and equal treatment of all beings on earth whether we be a duck or a human. It promotes the growth and protection of our forests and wildlife areas and everything that lives in them.

Ok so now you may ask, how is me buying “green” contributing to all of this. Well, that is an excellent question. By buying, living, thinking and acting green in every move that you make you are basically creating a domino effect. You buying a head of organic locally grown broccoli is not going to save mother earth. But it is a statement amidst a large speech that they world is listening to. Not only that, but when you live and buy green, you are basically asking for the demand to raise for responsible, green products. You are asking other people to innovate and create more green companies and ideas that will further the protection and sustainability of our planet.

Companies more and more are doing things like printing on recycled, post consumer paper. Or only selling non-toxic, sustainable and fair trade products. Or even nearly halting the amount of green house gasses that are currently put out everyday with a machine. Or offsetting the carbon that they do put out into the world, kind of a “payback” system.

No matter which way you look at it, going green makes sense, but understanding why and setting the intention can make the largest difference in the history of the world. So, push the domino over and get started.

Be Aware: VOCs and Your Home

Don’t believe the old adage “if you can’t see it, you can’t believe it”. When it comes to VOCs, this is absolutely not the case. In fact, they are very real and very dangerous. VOCs or volatile organic compounds, and are a wide range of carbon-based molecules (organic compounds) used in a wide range of products that find their way into our homes (but often undetected by ingredients). Under normal conditions they vaporize, effectively leaving their host and entering the air where they combine with other airborne compounds to form ozone, which isn’t good to breathe, hence ‘volatile’.

Although VOCs exist everywhere in the environment, the most common of them is methane, which we all know comes from everything from wetlands to cow pies and other types of gases. They are important in our lives because of the damage they can cause to us indoors. Where can you find these invisible agents of toxicity? They can be introduced via paint, carpets, furnishings, and cleaning agents.

VOCs contribute to poor indoor air quality, (which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says is often two to five times worse than the air outside), and contribute to concentrations of VOCs of up to 1,000 times more indoors than outdoors. Used in many glues and adhesives, one of the common VOCs includes formaldehyde. That means your wood veneers, plywood and particle board, and polyurethane; which is used in many types of foam, paints, varnishes, and construction sealant and is all contributing to your home’s indoor toxicity.

At high concentrations, some VOCs can cause chronic and acute health effects; others are known carcinogens. But even low to moderate levels of multiple VOCs can produce acute reactions. Bottom line: Avoid volatile organic compounds as much as possible.

There is hope to avoiding VOC-ridden products. Products such as water-based glues, adhesives, finishes, and soy-based foams will help keep VOC levels to a minimum in furnishings and decor. Buying green cleaners helps ensure that you aren’t adding toxins to the air when you clean them.