Our Committment To Being Green

From time to time we have people asking us what our business is doing to be as Green as possible and we hope that this page will help explain what we are doing both at Morningstar and as part of our daily lives. Living Green has always been very important to both myself and my family. This has been extended to how we run Morningstar on a daily basis. When we first moved to Los Angeles over 7 years ago we were given the option of signing up for Green Power which we gladly did. It does cost us a little more each month and yet we feel it is well worth it. We still do our absolute best to conserve energy as much as we possibly can, for example our business and household computers are powered down when not in use as the printer. We also use energy saving bulbs and have overhead fans that we use only on extremely warm days instead of AC. We try and re-use boxes for shipping orders abroad whenever possible and when that is not possible, we purchase boxes that include as much recycled paper materials as possible. Recently USPS has even gone to using greener boxes for priority mail which we were very pleased to see happen. So this is why we are continuing to use those for most domestic orders though we will re-use boxes for larger domestic orders as well. The fewer boxes we need to purchase to ship orders the better for the environment as well for us as this does save us money so we can keep the prices on the essences at the same level as they have been for so long. This is certainly an added bonus we feel! We do use packing peanuts that we receive from our bottle supplier as part of our packing materials base. We never purchase packing peanuts, so when you see these in your parcel, please know that we are recycling them. To recycle them futher, please contact your local recycling center or a UPS store as often they will accept clean packing peanuts for recycling. You may also wish to check with a local small business that may be in need of packing peanuts as well, another wonderful way of keeping the recycling energy going! You may also ship them back to use for recycling and we will be more than happy to pop them in a bag with your name on it so we can resend them with your next order. We also use heavy brown paper that we also receive from our bottle supplier as well as shredded catalogs that we sometimes receive via the post. The weekly paper grocery ads are also re-used as packing materials as well. If for any reason you would prefer for us to use only paper type packing materials, please let us know at the time of your order and will shall be happy to do this for you! We no longer send paper copies of invoices with orders as people do receive a copy of their order through Paypal automatically. This not only saves paper but also ink. The paper we do need to use is virgin tree free, being a combination of hemp and recycled paper materials. Staples does stock this paper and while it does cost slightly more, we love it and think it a wonderful investment for the future of our planet and all of life. On a more personal front, we extend this committment to being Green as fully into our lives as we can. We do try to eat organic, locally grown food as much as possible. The products we use to clean our home consists primarily of Baking soda, Dr. Bronner's Soaps and Vinegar. We try to be very conscious and aware of the type of clothing we purchase, striving to go with organically grown cotton or hemp as much as we can. And always we try to favour the small business's to make our purchases from and of those, we also tend to lean the most towards those that are also committed to making a difference in the world. We walk or take public transportation instead of driving, we do our best to conserve water, and we recycle, recycle and recycle some more as well as reusing everything that we possibly can. We certainly don't do everything perfectly yet we do make an honest effort to be as socially and environmentally aware as can be. I have two children that I love more than life itself and I want to try and leave this world a little better, a little healthier and a little happier for them and others if I can. I hope that we have been able to answer some of your questions here and also I hope that people understand that we are not trying to foist our own personal choices and beliefs on anyone else. Its not like we go running about trying to convince everyone else that they should do as we are! We do these things because it is a choice that WE have made because to us it feels right and good. If you are interested in learning how to be more Green in your own life as well, we are planning to include Green tips in our newsletters so do watch for those. We also hope to have a page on our site dedicated to Greener living as well and how being Greener can also save you another form of Green, Money! Thank you for taking the time to read this and Thank you for your ongoing support of Morningstar! We truly appreciate each and everyone of you and each day we send you all a special Blessing of Gratitude and Light. Truly, you have been a Blessing to us here!