Despite the thunderstorm and tornado warning, we attended the Downtown Raleigh Planet Earth Day Celebration today.  It was a great event with a good turnout (given the weather).  In addition to several not for profit organizations highlighting various conservation efforts, there were art displays (refer to the photo of plastic bottles here), educational trivia games for children and eco-friendly clothing vendors.  There was an impressive cardboard castle made from recycled Burt Bees' storage boxes.  Overall, it was a successful event in raising awareness of great eco-friendly efforts.  I thought I already knew a lot regarding eco-friendly initiatives but it was a very educational experience for me.  

For example, I learned that there are now oyster shell recycling efforts that promotes collection of oyster shells and having them returned to the ocean to serve as shelters for budding oceanic creatures.  There are also local initiatives that for a small service fee provide a compost bin for you to set aside your food leftover and will pick up your bin weekly and drop off a compose bag filled with fresh compose so you don't have to compose your own food.  There was also a live band as well as craft activities for kids.  If you would like to learn more about this event, please visit www.planetearthcelebration.com.  This annual event started in 2008.  Hope your future participation will keep this annual event a continued success.

When one considers purchasing jewelry, there are a few general criteria one may use in order to determine if the jewelry is eco-friendly:
1) How much effort or "mining" did it take to retrieve or process the material?  If it takes a substantial amount of effort to harvast or "mine" the material, then, the material is not eco-friendly.
2) Is the item an antique?  If so, it can be considered eco-friendly because you are in essense reusing the item.
3) Are the materials naturally occuring in nature (not extensively processed) or is it made from recycled synthetic materials?  If the materials are naturally occuring and sourced in an environmentally sustainable way, then, it may be considered eco-friendly.
Besides the above criteria, one may also consider how the profits are used from the purchase, some individuals make purchases from companies that contribute a percent of their profits to charitable and/or eco-friendly causes.