Guest guest Posted March 31, 2006 Report Share Posted March 31, 2006 > Ideal Bite <dailytip > > Friday, March 31, 2006 > > IDEAL BITE ~ a sassier shade of green > > =============================================== > Today's Daily Tip: Organic, but is it Fair?: Dagoba > Chocolate > =============================================== > > Does guilt-free chocolate exist? > > (Note: this is the 3rd in a series of a new type of > tip called the > Ideal Bite “Green Chip Company Showcase.” Each > month, Ideal Bite will > interview and tell you about 2 companies that are > making strides to > help green the world. Some companies will be > smaller, green-focused > businesses, while others will be more traditional, > blue chip companies > that may surprise you with their sustainability > initiatives). > > The Bite: > Dagoba thinks so. (http://www.dagobachocolate.com/) > The company was > the first US chocolate manufacturer to produce an > exclusively organic > chocolate line. Chocolate aficionados know the > company for its high > quality, artisanal chocolate. Those on the green > scene are giving > props to Dagoba for its leadership in > sustainability; once more > showing how even small companies can have an > important eco-impact. > > > Company Background: > Founded in 2001 by a man who disliked chocolate as a > child, Dagoba > today remains a family-owned company. Sure, Dagoba > is small – only > 35 employees – but that hasn’t curbed its commitment > to environmental > sustainability and social equity. “You can have the > best of both > words,” founder Frederick Schilling told Ideal Bite. > “Dagoba shows > that social responsibility can be the foundation of > a strong > business.” What’s Dagoba’s sweet reward? Success > that has other > chocolate companies green with envy. > > > Why Care? > - First US chocolate company to go all organic. > Products are > certified organic to at least the 95% level, and all > ingredients are > non-GMO and non-irradiated. > - Has purchased renewable energy (wind, solar, > biomass) or credits to > offset 100% of energy usage since its inception. > Annually, this > averts or offsets 126 tons of CO2 - the equivalent > of 52.2 trees > planted and 25.2 cars taken off the road. > - Switched to 100% recycled fiber/50% post-consumer > waste, > chlorine-free New Leaf Paper for wrappers and > brochures. Saves 241 > fully-grown trees, 19,751 lbs. of greenhouse gases, > and 57,513 gallons > of water each year. > - Greens its office using 100% post consumer > recycled office paper, > and recycles more than 5,000 gallons of paper, > plastic, and cans each > year. > > Find it in your local natural foods store, or check > out their > chocolate for yourself in your local natural foods > shop or online at > http://www.dagobachocolate.com. > > > Keeping it Real > Dagoba sells a wide array of Fair Trade Certified > chocolate, > (http://www.transfairusa.org/) but why isn’t it all > FTC? One major > obstacle for Dagoba is that only farmers belonging > to cooperatives can > be part of the FTC process. Since Dagoba can’t get > all the cocoa > varietals needed for its chocolate line through the > co-ops, it often > sources from small-scale and large-scale farmers > directly; thus, not > all its products can be FTC…yet. > > Cocktail Factoid > With roots in the East, the word “dagoba” refers to > a dome-shaped > structure (akin to a temple) that is built over > relics of Buddha or > Buddhist saints. > > ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ > ~ ~ ~ ~ > Visit Ideal Bite on the web at > http://www.idealbite.com/ > ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ > ~ ~ ~ ~ > Blog about it at the Ideal Bite blog! > http://idealbite.blogs.com/ > ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ > ~ ~ ~ ~ > Yo Biters! We recently met the lovely Laurie David, > founder of > StopGlobalWarming.org, and she threw down the > gauntlet. If we get more > of YOU to sign up to her virtual march to stop > global warming (no > cost, just fun) through our Biter page than Laurie > has on her page, > she will personally hand Leonardo DiCaprio a Biter > tee shirt (who, > clearly, should be a Biter anyway). Think of the eco > impact we could > all have! Click here to join the virtual march. > (http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/partners/?466640) > ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ > ~ ~ ~ ~ > > > > > © 2005 Ideal Bite, Inc. > > All editorial suggestions in this tip are the result > of testing and a > preference for the tip topic. No advertiser has paid > to have its > company referenced in the tip. Advertising on the > Ideal Bite can be > found as separate and distinct units, namely the > skyscraper banner > along the side and/or a small image with text along > the bottom of the > email. From time to time, if we know that a certain > company is going > to be mentioned or featured, we inform them in > advance and allow them > to purchase paid advertising space if they would > like to do so. But we > promise -- we won't recommend anything we didn't try > and didn't like > -- and no one can pay to be featured in the tip > > > > This email was sent to info, by > dailytip > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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