So many of you wanted this coffee. We enjoyed reading about your love for coffee, the rain forest and animals of the rain forest. Thank you everyone who entered.

Now, who gets the free coffee? The lucky (randomly selected) Earth Day winners are:

Navi

Johannah

Heather S

Cindi

Cyndi L

The winners have been contacted via e-mail. 

The fun isn’t over yet. Please enter our other giveaways this week.

Image via flickr.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

I’ve noticed that organic olive oil in many stores can get pricey, but I was happy to see Whole Foods offering a 33.8 fl oz bottle of organic olive oil for only $9.99. It’s part of their 365 Organic Everyday Value. It was on sale, but the regular price isn’t much more than $9.99 anyway.

Whole Foods also offers coffee, tea, flour and several more products in their 365 Organic line. Too bad I don’t live closer to them, but I go when I can.

What organic foods are most important to you?

Coffee lovers, please enter our contest for a chance to win one pound of free Rainforest Alliance coffee from Zabar’s. To enter, go to the contest post and leave a comment before midnight on April 21.

Photo via Peggy Rowland.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

Five winners will be randomly chosen on Earth Day, April 22. Each lucky winner will receive one pound of RainForest Colombian coffee, roasted fresh at Zabar’s.

This is a very delicious coffee. I’ve been drinking it lately. And if you prefer light roasts, this is a perfect choice for you. Besides the wonderful taste (and I’m not just saying that), this coffee is great because it’s certified by the Rainforest Alliance.

The Rainforest Alliance works worldwide to protect the rain forest while also ensuring sustainable livelihoods of people who depend on rain forest land. They do this by helping to transform land-use practices. The Rainforest Alliance helps people change the way they grow food, host travelers and harvest wood. Read more about their approach. Also, look at their Marketplace to see where you can find Rainforest Alliance-certified products.

The Rainforest Alliance and the people getting certified are working really hard to conserve the rain forest, home to endangered animals and plants found nowhere else on Earth. The rain forest also helps regulate the Earth’s temperature and weather patterns. All you have to do to help is vote with your dollar by choosing products (like coffee, tea, chocolate and more) that are certified by the Rainforest Alliance. And thanks to Zabar’s, five lucky winners will try their RainForest Colombian coffee for free.

Here’s How to Enter:

First, please note: The coffee will be shipped from Zabar’s to winners in the Continental United States. Please don’t enter if you live outside of the Continental United States.

To enter, leave a comment on this post before midnight CST on Monday, April 21. If you have a favorite rain forest animal, let us know. It’s not required though. You can just tell us how much you love coffee if you want. I’m making it easy. Any nice comment that’s not spam is accepted, but please only enter once.

Five winners will be randomly selected on Earth Day, April 22. Each winner will receive one pound of Zabar’s RainForest Colombian coffee. If you’re a lucky winner, look for your delicious beans to be shipped from Zabar’s!

Photo via Zabar’s.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

The subspecies of gorilla you’ve most likely encountered in a zoo is the western lowland gorilla. It belongs to the western gorilla species, which has several subspecies. The other main species of gorilla is the eastern gorilla, and the mountain gorilla is a subspecies of this group.

Since Dian Fossey studied mountain gorillas for many years, they are probably the best understood of all gorillas. The gorillas she studied live in the misty and cold Virunga Volcano mountains in Rwanda, the Congo and Uganda.

The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund carries on the important work that Dian Fossey started. They do far more than I can explain in this post. They are committed to the conservation of all gorillas and their habitat through research, anti-poaching efforts and education.

Mountain gorillas are listed as critically endangered by the IUCN. Scientists believe that around 380 mountain gorillas are alive today. Female mountain gorillas don’t produce offspring until they are 10 years old. A baby gorilla is taken care of by the mother for four years, and during that time the mother will not produce another offspring. They only produce one offspring at a time.

Considering the low number of existing mountain gorillas and the reproduction rates, the loss of just one mountain gorilla can have major impact. Rangers risk their lives to protect all remaining gorillas from poachers and the threats of political instability. You can read more at GORILLA.CD, the official website for the Virunga National Park.

Ways to Help:

•Adopt a gorilla from the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.

•Protect rain forests by choosing Rainforest Alliance coffee, tea, chocolate, cocoa and more.

Gorilla photo via MorgueFile.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

No, it’s not a chimpanzee. It’s a bonobo!

Although bonobos have been called pygmy chimpanzees, their behavior is very different from chimps. They are more peaceful and are led by the females, instead of males. Bonobos really like, uh, making love for the sake of making love. That’s really unique in the animal kingdom. They also use this peaceful activity for conflict resolution. They’ve even been called the hippies of the rain forest (Make Love, Not War!). And those bonobos are only kissing in the photo. No animal love photos here.

The last of the great apes to be discovered, the bonobo shares more of our DNA than any other animal on earth. (Some scientists argue that the chimpanzee is just as closely related since the two are so similar.) Sadly, the bonobo has been considered endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species since 1996.

We don’t really know how many bonobos exist today. They are scattered around in one of the largest rain forests in the world: the Congo basin. Estimates range from 5,000 to 50,000 with bonobos existing only in pockets of their original range. Surveys have shown that their numbers are declining. Learn more about the animals of the Congo basin at this World Wildlife Federation page.

Hunting is a major threat to bonobos. It’s difficult to imagine these creatures being smoked and sold in bushmeat markets, but that is happening very often. Habitat destruction is another big concern for the bonobo. Increasing human population and political instability of the Congo also make the future survival of the bonobo uncertain.

The Bonobo Conservation Initiative (BCI) is the only international organization dedicating itself solely to helping the bonobo. Among many other projects, BCI rescues bonobo orphans who’ve lost their moms to hunting. One of their major projects is the Bonobo Peace Forest, a place of conservation and research. You can read about all of BCI’s many projects here.

Help the bonobo.

While bonobos live only in the rain forest of the Congo (the second-largest in the world), anything that you do to help protect any rain forest helps endangered wildlife.

•Choose organic, fair trade and shade-grown coffee and chocolate. Shade grown means that the coffee beans or cacao are grown under a canopy of existing trees instead of clearing them. This practice also greatly helps tropical birds. Find places to buy at the Fair Trade Federation.

•Buy products certified through the Rainforest Alliance. Such products are guaranteed to be grown in the shade, using no (or low amounts of) pesticides. Farmers working with the Rainforest Alliance maintain the animal and tree diversity on their land.

•Volunteer to help BCI or give a donation. Also, spread the word about them.

•Help with a click. Visit the The Rainforest Site daily and a donation will be made to help preserve rain forests. You can also send free e-cards.

Image credits: Bonobo eating photo and bonobos kissing from flickr.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family