Welcome to BetterLivingTips.com where you’ll find tips and photos from my South Florida garden, recipes from my (usually) healthy kitchen and information about sustainable living and ecological commerce.
About my Kitchen
Fresh and Natural are the words that best describe how I like to eat whether I’m cooking for my family or eating out. I’m a fan of real butter, whole milk, fresh vegetables and meals cooked from scratch. I don’t use products that contain sodium benzoate or monosodium glutamate because I don’t believe either one of those ingredients contributes to our good health.
About my Garden
My South Florida Garden is in Zone 10b according to the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. I’ll try to grow just about anything I can eat! I secretly envy the well-manicured lawns I see up north but I’m a lazy gardener who prefers to use her water for growing food instead of flowers.
About Sustainable Living and Sustainable Production
As an ocean-lover, Mom and former biologist, I am concerned about preserving the natural beauty and resources of our planet. Many times, short-term economic interests have prevailed over the longer term, less tangible interests of eco-systems of which we are part.
The practices of sustainable living and sustainable production seek to bring together economic interests with ecological interests for the long term benefit of humans and other species.
The Ecological Commerce Business Model
One goal of the ecological commerce business model is to provide a competitive economic incentive to producers. This gives governments, land owners and resource managers a practical choice when deciding how to profit from their resources. If the only survival choice is clear-cutting old growth forests, the profits will be taken and the forest will be gone. The ecological commerce business model seeks to develop products from these resources that can be produced sustainably and profitably without destroying the resources. In short, this business model benefits all of us.
The Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon Rainforest produces more than 30% of the world’s oxygen. It is threatened with clear-cutting and Big Oil exploration right now. Where will we (we being every person and future person on the planet) be without the myriad benefits of the Amazon Rainforest?
The Amazon Herb Company
As an eco-commerce business, The Amazon Herb Company has created several products based on sustainable rainforest botanicals that offer economic alternatives to the indigenous people of the rainforest.
These sustainably produced Rainforest botanicals offer health-conscious, eco-aware consumers a real choice in preservative-free, sustainably-produced wellness products.
“Sustainable” production from “sustainable” resources can provide longer-term economic benefit to the people at the source of the resource – one resource, for example is the Camu Camu tree and other rainforest botanicals. With clear economic benefit all along the supply chain from a sustainable resource, we stand a better chance of maintaining a bigger resource (the Amazon Rainforest).
A Little More Personal
My name is Val. My Husband and I live in South Florida with our brainiac teenager and hunting cat named Roscoe. I work in the promotional advertising industry and enjoy helping my Clients with their promotions and business gifts. When not working, I like to fly, fish and dig in the dirt!
Your email comments and tips are welcome: betterlivingtips (AT) gmail [DOT] com.
Thank you!
- Val
