Buying for the Birds
by Sue Leaf

Audubon Magazine’s October issue had a “State of the Birds” report that made the shocking assessment that 23% of North America’s 654 native birds were declining in number, some precipitously. Chief among the reasons was habitat loss, as people use more and more land for houses and food production.

The article listed specific actions bird lovers could take to keep common birds common, and reverse the decline of those species which are losing ground.

This month, The Current begins a series of articles focusing on these actions. We start with: “Make sure your purchases help birds, not hurt them.” Our suggestions are not exhaustive. Readers, be alert to bird-friendly products!

Shade grown coffee
In the mid-elevations of Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and Colombia, most of the forests still standing are in traditional coffee plantations. These mimic the native tropical forest and provide good habitat for birds. Migratory birds— birds that nest in Minnesota in the summer—over winter in these plantations.

Coffee is a shade-loving plant, but 30 years ago, new varieties of coffee were developed to be planted in big-scale plantations, without a canopy layer protecting it. 60% of the coffee lands have been deforested since 1972. These “sun coffees” require more pesticides, cause increased soil erosion and harbor far less wildlife. Sun coffees are produced by the big names in coffee: Folger’s, Hill Bros., Maxwell House.

Coffee is hung with all sorts of labels, “Fair Trade”, “organic”, “bird friendly” among them. Fair Trade coffee comes from small-scale, farmer-owned plantations and is usually organic and shade grown, but not always. Likewise, organic coffee is grown without pesticides, and may be shade grown. Bird friendly coffee is shade coffee.

Where can I get shade grown coffee?
The Stillwater and Cambridge co-ops and all Twin Cities co-ops have shade grown coffee. Cameron’s Coffee (Brink’s in Lindstrom) has some shade grown varieties, as does Alterra (Lindstrom Foods). Regency (Nelson’s, North Branch) owns Cameron’s. According to a buyer at Cameron’s, some coffees labeled “shade grown” are not, but if it is both organic and shade grown, it is probably from a traditional shade plantation.

Most coffee houses—Caribou, Starbucks—have some shade coffee varieties. You have to ask for it! Coffee Depot and Break on Eight (Lindstrom) have Fair Trade coffee. Coffee Talk (Taylor’s Falls) has two types that are Fair Trade, organic and shade grown. Kaffee with Nancy (Cambridge) has some Fair Trade organic coffee. Nesting Grounds (Wyoming) has only shade grown, certified organic coffee. Only Daily Grind (Rush City) did not carry any variety of Fair Trade, organic or shade grown coffee.

You can also buy shade grown coffee from the internet. Check out: www.auduboncoffee.com  (Editor's note: as of 3/18/2005, no web pages were available at this site.)

Truth in advertising: shade grown coffee costs more than Folger’s! It runs between $8.00 and $9.00 a pound. But after reading the coffee websites, this caffeine-addicted bird watcher is switching exclusively to shade grown coffee.

Organic Produce
Remember the concern over alar, the pesticide used on apples a few years ago? Produce in conventional groceries is grown with pesticides that remain on the fruits and vegetables. Central and South American countries still use DDT, as well.

If you haven’t shopped at a co-op lately, check them out. Their produce sections resemble those of Byerley’s or Lund’s. Also, several local grocers carry some organic produce, including Lindstrom Foods and Nelson’s (North Branch.) I recommend starting with bananas. I think they are more flavorful.

Pesticides can kill birds outright, and also kill off insects that are the basis of their food.

Non-toxic Cleaning Products
Almost all conventional household cleaners are made from petrochemicals numbering in the 1000s. These are manufactured from oil, they are not evaluated for human safety over long-time exposure, and they enter the environment through sewers and septic systems, posing risk to birds and other wildlife.

I tested a wide variety of plant-based alternatives (how houses were keep clean before the petrochemical revolution). Here are my picks:

Laundry
Seventh Generation natural laundry detergent (citrus scent) worked as well as my former detergent, Wisk. It cost $7.49 for 100 oz, about the same as Wisk. I will continue to buy this product.

Restore concentrated laundry detergent also worked well, but it was pricey: $6.99 for 32 oz, which I used up in no time. I want to like Restore products. It is a Minneapolis-based company, started by an entrepreneur, and their containers are re-usable. You bring in the empty to a Restore refill station (at co-ops around the Cities) and the station refills the bottle and prints out a $1.00 coupon. Unfortunately, this Restore product didn’t compete well in price.

Restore Enzaway spot remover ($4.95) works like a charm, however. It is as effective in removing stains as Shout and I will buy it again.

Dishes
We wash most of our dishes by hand. I tried Restore dish detergent ($5.99 for 32 oz) and Citradish ($4.29). Neither one stood up to grease as well as Ivory and my husband, the chief dishwasher, was yelling for his petrochemical product by week’s end.

Did you know that all conventional dishwasher detergents contain phosphates—yes, the same phosphates that were banned in laundry detergents in the 1970s? Seventh Generation’s automatic dishwashing gel ($5.39 for 50oz) and Restore’s automatic dishwasher gel ($9.95 for 64 oz) do not. Nelson’s carries Seventh Generation, as does Cub Foods. Both do a good job.

Bathroom
I have always been aghast at caustic, off-gassing toilet bowl cleansers. I now have an alternative: Restore’s toilet bowl cleanser is citrus-based, smells like lemons and is non-toxic. I measure it out in 1/4 cup amounts. It’s terrific! ($6.59 for 32 oz and worth it.)

Restore’s bathroom lime and scale remover is also citrus-based and as effective as Tilex.($4.99 for a 22oz spray bottle.)

Bon Ami, the old-fashioned scouring cleanser with the corny symbol and slogan (a baby chick that “hasn’t scratched yet”) has been around for a century and cleans without Comet’s chlorine. Increased chlorine loads in our waters is a growing concern.

All purpose
 I can’t say enough about Citrosolv, the orange-scented plant-based substitute for Pinesol. It is pricey (about$12.00 for 32 oz), so I measure it out by the tablespoon, using one tablespoon per gallon and a quart lasts for months. I use it on floors, walls—everything. Twin Cities co-ops occasionally run great 50% off sales, so if you frequent a co-op, you might be able to stock up.

In sum:
With one exception, all plant-based cleaning products performed as well as their petrochemical counterparts. All were more expensive, but when used in measured amounts, probably wouldn’t cost more than $20 a year, all combined. I’m switching our household over to them, for health and environmental reasons. I figure that with the present administration, there has been a weakening of air and water quality standards, but we have gotten tax cuts. I’m going to use my tax cut to pay for the added cost of plant-based cleaners.