cut and paste from seventh generation . . .

THE NON-TOXIC TIMES, The Seventh Generation Newsletter
Vol. 7, No. 7 May 2006
If have trouble reading this email please go directly to our website:http://www.seventhgeneration.com/making_difference/newsletter.php

Lee & Me: My Meeting With Wal-Mart’s CEO, the World’s Most Powerful BusinessmanA Few Thoughts from Jeffrey Hollender, President
If you spend your days immersed in the corporate world, there’s really only one way to describe a business trip I took last December: I was invited to an audience with the King. I was called to the commercial realm that is ostensibly the world’s 20th largest economy and the home of more indentured servants than any other. And so it was that I went to the very palace of the corporate kingdom some people love and others love to hate—to Bentonville, Arkansas, and the headquarters of Wal-Mart, for my meeting with CEO Lee Scott.
[How does a CEO of an itsy bitsy responsible business end up talking to the CEO of the world’s biggest, and what does he say when gets there? Click here to read all about my trip to the top of what many say is the bottom…]

Is That Benzene on Little Bobby’s Breath? Chemicals in Kids’ Drinks Can Combine in the Can to Create a Carcinogen
Okay. We know that children’s beverages generally aren’t the most natural things on the planet. There aren’t hidden springs in alpine forests that bubble out Sunny D. There’s no fruit you can pick for a fresh-squeezed glass of Hawaiian Punch. But still, these drinks are for kids, so whatever artificial ingredients are inside them have got to be among the safest around. Right? Kinda. Sorta. The ingredients themselves might be okay, but the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has revealed that certain among them can react with each other inside the can or bottle to form the carcinogen benzene.
[Not to open up a can of worms, but some soft drinks may be dangerous to your health. Pop on over here and we’ll quench your need to know…]

Resolutionary War: Activists Battle the System by Exploiting the System
For years, countless companies responding to public demands for change have essentially said, “Sorry, we can’t do anything that would negatively affect our shareholders’ financial interests. In fact, since you’re not shareholders, we’re obligated to disregard you in the name of quarterly profits!” What are all those poor activists to do in the face of such legal imperatives? Simple: buy a few shares themselves, and use their newfound ownership stake to force companies to behave via shareholder resolutions that corporate management teams aren’t allowed to ignore.
[It’s business as unusual at increasing numbers of annual meetings. Click here for our full prospectus on the plan…]

Flower Power: When a Bouquet is in Order, Go Organic and Help the Whole World Smell Like a Rose
Roses are red. Violets are Blue. And most flower bouquets are full of P.U. It’s a fact: the majority of fresh-cut flowers sold in the U.S. are grown in Latin America where our country’s own pesticide laws don’t apply and up to 20% of the chemicals that growers use are so hazardous they’ve been banned here at home. That’s why all too many conventional bouquets expose those who receive them to a lot more than love.
This Mother’s Day, we’ve got a better arrangement. Send Mom a very special bouquet of one dozen Veriflora™-certified sustainable Sweet Moment Roses from Organic Bouquet instead and give her a healthier home and a safer world with every blossom. Sustainably grown, these wonderfully fragrant pinkish-purple roses are a gift she’ll remember. And you’ll be giving her more than a stunning display of all-natural beauty because 10% of your purchase will be donated to the Children’s Health Environment Coalition (CHEC), the same organization we’re partnering with to put the proceeds from our new book, Naturally Clean, to work. Every contribution made to CHEC helps protect kids and mothers everywhere from the toxic hazards hidden in flowers and other places.
This Mother’s Day, give the gift that grows a better world. Just visit www.organicbouquet.com/chec and start shopping. As long as you use this start page, Organic Bouquet will donate 10% of the purchase of any arrangement you choose to CHEC. For more information about the Children’s Health Environment Coalition, visit http://www.checnet.org .
A Cereious Honor: Seventh Generation’s CR Report Declared Tops at Ceres Conference
Okay, we knew it was good, but we didn’t think it was that good! But who are we to second-guess the judges at the Ceres-ACCA North American Awards for Sustainability Reporting? They seem like bright people. And we don’t see any reason to argue with their decision to declare our 2004 Corporate Responsibility (CR) report the Best Small or Medium Enterprise Report of the Year.
[Sure, we won big. But the really big winner is the planet. Click here to share the joy…]

Use the Information Superhighway to Reduce Your Impacts on the Road
Summer travel season is upon us. And regardless of the financial finagling it may take to tank up, Americans show no signs of lessening their love affair with the open road. In fact, we’re expected to hit the highways and skyways in record numbers this year. And while we each may find our own private paradises, all that getting there may leave those destinations worse for the wear. That’s because to travel is to pollute, and more than you might think. The good news is that we’ve found three web sites that can help you enjoy your getaway without the guilt.
[Is your car’s pollution driving you crazy? Park it right here, and we’ll steer you to some websites that can ameliorate your travel impacts…]