Seven Planet

No, it’s not a real battle and no they aren’t real super heroes, but Green Friday could become a super power in the future and we are working to make that the case.  See, Black Friday, or the 1st major holiday season shopping day of the year lands on the Friday just after Thanksgiving Day and is the day that many Americans begin making a large number of purchases for Hanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, etc.  It is when consumption and consumerism are at annual highs and mindful commerce can often go out the window.

This is due primarily to a few key factors including: 1) it is the holidays and many of us will make more non-food purchases in the next 5 weeks than most of the previous year combined, 2) stores and sites run promotions with amazing price breaks driving the purchase of more non-necessity-based products, 3) stocking stuffers, or holiday impulse buys, become a very standard part of the purchasing process and 4) seasonal, or currently “hot” products, become in high demand and drive the purchase of more quantity vs. quality products.

For most of us it becomes very difficult to make a mindful and eco-conscious buying decision for each and every product we pick up in November and December each year.  So, at seven planet we are working to make that process a little easier.  With our seven criteria product review process, with our direct working relationships with our mindful suppliers, and with our educational information in our stores and site we hope to make this Friday a Green Friday for you and yours.  The future is green if we collective choose to make it that color.

There are so many great reasons to choose bamboo. First, it’s beautiful. The delicate grain of bamboo, whether natural or amber-toned, makes it distinctive, refined, and enjoyable to eat with. Bamboo is extremely durable and can withstand a great deal of use without damage. It’s stronger even than oak, and when laminated, bamboo is nearly as strong as soft steel. Bamboo doesn’t swell or shrink as hardwoods do, and won’t impart food flavors or staining.

Bamboo is not a tree-it’s a grass, and it grows like one. Many species of bamboo can grow two feet or more a day. When it’s harvested, it need not be replanted, because it will grow a new shoot from its extensive root system. So bamboo renews itself readily, unlike hardwood trees, which, once cut, are gone forever. Bamboo is an endlessly renewable resource.

This holiday season seven planet and Portland Pedal Power are partnering to create a mindful way of shopping, promoting sustainable, recycled, and local goods.  Green Friday will take place at seven planet in the Pearl on Friday November 26th from 10am-6pm.

seven planet and Portland Pedal Power will be offering prizes and free giveaways all day for those who take part in the Green Friday Geocache.  Geocaching is a treasure hunting game using a GPS and social media to find prizes.
Portland Pedal Power will be at various locations throughout the downtown area with free prizes and giveaways.  Clues will be posted on Facebook and Twitter and whoever finds the PPP bikes will be awarded prizes.  Become a follower and fan of seven planet and Portland Pedal Power to take part in the fun.

seven planet will have sales set at 20% off all products in the store plus an additional 10% off with a donation of five non-perishable food items to support the Oregon Food Bank.  Food samples and hot apple cider will be provided by Nirvahnah Café.

More information and details will be posted on seven planet and Portland Pedal Power’s Facebook pages.  Join us in promoting an environmentally friendly way of consuming and enjoy some great discounts and free prizes throughout the day!

To-Go Ware’s founder, Stephanie Bernstein, was then a college student at the University of Michigan, watching as “to-go” culture began to emerge and find its way into the practices of local businesses. After enjoying some ice-cream “for-here” with her sister, she found it disturbing that even though she had not left the establishment, she had still been served in “to-go” plastic, and was expected to throw away her dish and spoon. Inspired by the college students who diligently carried their reusable coffee mugs around with them, she believed you could encourage people to expand this practice and use more durable, reusable methods for food as well as beverage, allowing for on-the-go convenience while remaining responsible citizens of planet Earth.

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As you know we love our seven planet mindful suppliers and the amazing product lines and services that they have brought to market for you and I to make mindful commerce more viable in our lives. This fall seven planet began on an ongoing educational project called mindful media where we are utilizing, reviewing and educating on the best products and services we provide in our stores and on our site to you.

These mindful media videos are then provided to you and to our suppliers as they are a candid 3rd party review of how their products are a better, more eco-friendly solution for the necessity-based products we all purchase and use. In these videos you will learn about their company, their brand message, their product or service purpose and of course the unique applications of those products.

The initial mindful media video is on one of our favorite suppliers, the amazing Alchemy Goods, out of Washington state. Eli Reich and his team have built a company on upcycling used bike and car parts waste and have created an amazing line that looks like gold from lead. To see the mindful media review click here.

At Lifefactory we call ourselves safe.simple.smart. Our environmentally friendly and health conscious products were created to provide consumers a choice in safe and well designed essentials for babies and adults. Lifefactory was started in 2007 by a pediatric feeding specialist, Pam Marcus, and an integrative designer, Daren Joy and is now a leading innovator in safe and developmentally appropriate juvenile products. Lifefactory launched with BPA-free glass baby bottles with patent pending silicone sleeves and is now the first company to introduce a collection of BPA-free reusable glass beverage bottles with patent pending silicone sleeves for adults.

Lifefactory fuses modern sensibility, eco-friendly composition, and exceptional utility to produce glass baby bottles, glass beverage bottles, and teethers that are free of known harmful chemicals including BPA, phthalates, and PVC.

The SKOY cloth is a fabulous, absorbent, biodegradable and natural multi-use cloth.  Our re-usable earth friendly cloth is perfect in your kitchen, bathroom, and on most surface areas in your home or office.  SKOY cloth can be used in place of your sponge, wash cloth or paper towels.

It is a European made product and 100% biodegradable because it is made from a natural cotton and wood-based cellulose pulp.  SKOY cloth is a chlorine-free product using water-based colors and inks.  After an independent composting test, SKOY cloth broke down completely within 5 weeks.

The SKOY cloth is a durable product due to the reusability factor and can last months.  Using a SKOY cloth is equivalent to using 15 rolls of paper towels in an average home.  With the high cost of paper towels, as much as $2 per roll, SKOY cloth is the obvious choice for your wallet and the environment.

The SKOY cloth has an absorption factor of 15x its own weight.  As a result, producing the most superior cloth product available.  Imagine using 15 sheets of good-quality paper towels at once… This is how a wet SKOY cloth will feel in your hand.