Organic and Fair Trade: What it Means and Why it Matters

Taiga Company blog by Julie Urlaub, Founder and Managing Partner at Taiga Company
Oct 16, 2012 8:00 AM ET
Julie Urlaub, Founder and Managing Partner of Taiga Company

Blog by Julie Urlaub, Founder and Managing Partner at Taiga Company

Perhaps the green movement has caught your attention and you'd like to get on board but don't know where to begin. Two commonly used terms are organic and fair trade.  As an entry point to green living, exploring what organic and fair trade mean can be an entry point to developing a personal sustainability plan that grows from beyond passive curiosity to one of demonstrated eco action.    

What's organic?  Products labeled “100% Organic” and carrying the “USDA Organic” seal are just that – they contain all organically produced ingredients. Oganic refers to the way agricultural products are grown and processed.  It includes a system of production, processing, distribution and sales that assures consumers that the products maintain the organic integrity that begins on the farm.  For instance, were you aware, conventional farming uses more petroleum than any other single industry, consuming 12 percent of the country’s total energy supply?  Also, most commercial fertilizers come from petroleum? More energy is used to produce synthetic fertilizers than to till, cultivate, and harvest all the crops in the US. Click here to continue reading, Organic and Fair Trade: What it Means and Why it Matters

Home to one third of the earth's trees, the Taiga is the largest land-based biosphere and encircles the globe. Its immense oxygen production literally changes the atmosphere and refreshes the planet. It is this continuous renewal that has shaped Taiga Company's vision to drive similar change in the business world. Taiga Company seeks to be the "oxygen for your business".