Happy Earth Month to our friends and neighbors!

To celebrate our beautiful planet and the people who inhabit it, this edition of Think Wisely is focused on brands that are deeply committed to sustainable and regenerative values. Enjoy!

Spring is here, and we’ve finally been released from winter’s long, cold grasp. But while we may feel energized by the warm sun, our bodies may be in a vitamin D funk. After months of little-to-no sun exposure, our vitamin D levels are often at their lowest this time of year.

“Two roads diverged…” Robert Frost wrote in his famous poem “The Road Not Taken.” But side-stepping from Frost’s grand metaphor for life, let’s imagine two streets in a neighborhood: One is familiar, lined with look-alike lawns and shrubs; the other, a dazzling array of colors, shapes, and textures.

It’s Earth Month, neighbors!

We're excited to honor and bring awareness to the importance of our planet's health! It's a natural fit for us, because caring about the environmental impact of the products we sell is in our DNA—and we don't limit our care to just one month.

The coffee machine whirrs gently, roasted aromas waft through the kitchen, the mug warms your hands as you watch whisps of steam float upward—and then there’s the decadent flavor of this drink that enlivens the senses. It’s no wonder coffee is one of the most beloved beverages in the world.

The most widely used class of insecticides in the U.S., neonicotinoids (“neonics” for short), will “jeopardize the continued existence” of more than one in 10 endangered species in the country, according to a recent analysis.^{1 2} If that doesn’t surprise you, perhaps this will—although the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducted the analysis, the agency believes the most commo

“Why should we tolerate a diet of weak poisons…?”
— Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

Dear Earth Watch Readers,

We’d like to close out another year with a review of positive happenings involving people and the planet. May we all be inspired to do the best we can with what we know, and nurture hope rooted in action and evidence!

On a quiet street lined with tidy homes and manicured lawns lives a friend of mine. But Maria's front yard is unlike any other on the block. Hers is a riot of color and texture, a wild garden buzzing with life. And when I follow her out back on a warm Texas afternoon to sit beneath a vine-covered arbor, we're surrounded by an even greater variety of plants, birds, and insects.

Ode to October—

Once upon a time in October, the air smelled of apples and cinnamon and the garden's long goodbye to summer. And, although the world had seemingly gone mad, we sat on the porch and watched the sun fade into hazy, fall dusk. We drank herbal tea and had conversations, both frivolous and profound. The topics didn't really matter—the non-digital connectedness did.

Is maintaining the status quo of "cheap food" the entry fee to the next pandemic?

“As engineers, we were going to be in a position to change the world – not just study it.”
 — Henry Petroski