Looking for clothing with conviction?  Sustainable style with sense?  Apparel with altruism?  Join SLO Green Drinks and HumanKind Fair Trade for the Eco Fashion Show on Thursday, May 31 at the Steynberg Gallery (1531 Monterey St) from 6-9pm.  The event will feature attire from local retailers, including HumaKind Fair Trade, Hemp Shak, Curio, Nekkidd and yours truly, Bambu Batu! Mingle with your fellow fashionistas as you watch the night’s lineup of dance and music performances, take part in the silent auction, and grab a drink or a bite to eat from the cafe.  All proceeds will benefit HumanKind Fair Trade, a non-profit store that provides vital income for artisans and farmers in the developing world.

Tickets are $10 presale (available at Steynberg and HumanKind) or $15 at the door.  See you by the runway!

Help us spread the word about responsible holiday shopping, the importance of supporting local businesses, and (most importantly!) the Green Saturday After-Thanksgiving Sale at Bambu Batu. Whoever does the best job of sharing, re-posting and generally helping to promote our biggest sale event of the year will win two Bambu Batu Gift Certificates ($25 each!) – one for you and one for a loved one. Thank you for spreading the Love! (Of course, if you’d rather keep both Gift Certificates for yourself, or give both of them to loved one, you can distribute them however you like.)

In addition to saving 20% off any one item in the store, all Bambu Batu customers will also revel the festivities as we kick off the holiday season in style. Swan Sisters Tea will be on hand pouring samples of their delicious organic teas, the intuitive and amiable Jude Alexander will be present for personal demonstrations of the Tarot Game to uncover your inner wisdom, and Carol Overstreet will offer Henna painting to celebrate your outer beauty.

Only at Bambu Batu: soft on the skin, easy on the earth, and good for the soul!

Okay, so with the recent Japanese disaster, we’re all a bit sketched out over here on the Central Coast about things such as milk, meat, and of course, our drinking water. But should we have felt safe about our tap water to begin with? Maybe not. While it’s a given that if you live in Morro Bay or Los Osos, you probably shouldn’t drink the tap water, you don’t think twice about it in the rest of the county.

However, the merits of fluoridation of our water has recently come back in to debate. While proponents of fluoridation argue that the benefits outweigh the potential risks, such as a 40% reduction in cavities, it is known that overexposure can cause dental flourosis (a decaying and mottling of tooth enamel) and skeletal flourosis (joint pain and stiffness).

This is perhaps why the U.S Department of Health recently lowered the maximum amount of fluoride allowed in drinking water. 60% of Americans get fluoridated water, whether they are aware of it or not.

All things considered, do you think we should allow fluoridation in our drinking water? How much is too much? Do you drink tap water? We want to hear your thoughts.

Facts provided by The Daily Green.