Loving Mother Earth

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Happy Earth Day!

What is a holiday, anniversary, or rememberance day? Mother's Day isn't the only day that we should dedicate honor and respect for mothers, our Birthday isn't the only day we should celebrate being alive, and certainly, Earth Day isn't the only day we should bring our attention to environmental sustainability!

Earth Day is an opportuity to help us spread the word and bring awareness to those who haven't experienced the integrity of living in harmony with our home.

Gnosis Chocolate is more Earth-friendly than you can fathom - infact once we got boxes that were TOO eco-friendly - the glue was so non-toxic that it didn't stick and we had to manually reglue every single box by hand!!! We believe that it's SO important to first reuse as much as possible before you recycle - since recycling takes a lot of energy. Look for POST CONSUMER RECYCLED material. This can be used for food packaging as long as you have an additional barrier - don't be fooled! When you see "Made with Recyclable Material" - know that this company could have used Recycled or Post Consumer Recycled material and that it's up to us to ask them to raise their integrity :)

1. Our boxes are 100% recycled, 77% post-consumer recycled, and FSC certified.
2. Our chocolate bags are biodegradable - our trailmix bags are 100% home compostable!
3. The bottom of our boxes is printed with Vegetable - not Soy! - inks
4. Our labels are certified as compostable in key biodegradation environments and are FSC certified (more on this below). They are made by NatureFlex
5. All packaging materials are reused or come from USPS. Whenever we receive shipments, we reuse the boxes and padding they came with. We never buy boxes. (reusing is better than recycling!)
6. Team Gnosis walks all orders to the Post Office instead of having an extra truck come to us.
7. Gnosis Team mates walk, bike, or take public transportation to the kitchen.
8. During the summer, we never use styrofoam! We us reusable ice packs :)
9. All paper used in printing orders, or any other important chocolate-y documents is 100% recycled.
10. We use label-backing paper as shipping padding rather than trashing it and buying packing peanuts

So what is this FSC certification from point #3? FSC stands for Forest Stewardship Council. Because our chocolate boxes are FSC certified, you can rest assure that the materials used to make them were from a well-managed forest. From their website: "FSC has developed a set of Principles and Criteria for forest management that are applicable to all FSC-certified forests throughout the world. There are 10 Principles and 57 Criteria that address legal issues, indigenous rights, labor rights, multiple benefits, and environmental impacts surrounding forest management."

We believe that our practices not only affect the planet directly, but we strive to raise the bar (yes, pun intended) for other small companies like us. Sure, it's more expensive in the short run to purchase the more environmentally sustainable option. But by voting with our dollars, we are literally shifting the marketplace to make these items become not only more affordable but  available in greater variety. Possibilities are endless when we decide to stand up and vote.

How is Gnosis even better to the planet, your body, and the bees…

Gnosis is Now All-Vegan!

With our official Vegan Certification coming very soon, we’re excited to announce that every chocolate on offer at Gnosis is vegan: no dairy (well, we never had dairy!), no bee pollen, and no honey! There are issues of bee safety/cruelty where honey harvest is involved so many vegans choose to only eat foods without bee

products. Vegans, you can now shut your eyes and pick out flavors to try!! ;)

For you, dear Gnosis-Enthusiast, wondering about veganism, here are three fantastic reasons...

1. The BEST for your health. In Dr. T. Colin Campbell’s bestselling book, The China Study, Campbell describes his research project which took place over a period of 20 years on millions of Chinese residents. The project was conducted by Cornell University, Oxford University, and the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine. The research revealed thousands of associations between diet and disease. People who ate the most animal foods were the most likely to develop chronic diseases. The inverse was also true - those who ate the most plant foods were the least likely to develop chronic disease. The authors also say that the "optimum percentage of animal-based products is zero, at least for anyone with a predisposition for a degenerative disease." Check out the highly reviewed book for more information, it may change your life!

Studies show that people eating a diet free of animal products enjoy:

· 50 percent less likelihood of developing heart disease

· 40 percent of the cancer rate of meat-eaters

· Stronger immune systems

· 6-10 more years of LIFE!!!

2. The BEST for the environment. The now-famous December 2006 study released by the United Nations concluded ""The livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global." And the official handbook for the Live Earth concerts says that "refusing meat" is the "single most effective thing you can do to reduce your carbon footprint."

It might surprise you, but the livestock sector may be the leading player in the reduction of biodiversity, since it is the major driver of deforestation, as well as one of the leading drivers of land degradation, pollution, climate change, overfishing, and sedimentation of coastal areas.

Raising animals for their flesh, eggs, and milk is one of the world’s leading emitters of carbon dioxide (CO₂). But global warming is caused by more than just CO₂. Animal agriculture is the leading source of methane and nitrous oxide emissions, which—combined with carbon dioxide—causes the vast majority of global warming. For more, see here.

3. Kinder to all living beings.
Animals on today's factory farms have no legal protection from cruelty that would be illegal if it were inflicted on dogs or cats: neglect, mutilation, genetic manipulation, and drug regimens that cause chronic pain and crippling, transport through all weather extremes, and gruesome and violent slaughter. Yet farmed animals are no less intelligent or capable of feeling pain than are the dogs and cats we cherish as companions.

If you want to give some vegan-eating a try, we at Gnosis are in LOVE with these delicious recipe websites. Since, even we have to admit; sometimes we eat more than delicious raw and fresh chocolate!!!!!

FatFree Vegan Kitchen Updated often, this delicious blog will cause instant salivation!

VegWeb This site has recipes for every food category, and a nice raw section!  

Vegetarian Times Over 10,000 easy-search recipes here...you can’t go wrong :)

Vegan Recipes Around the World A personal favorite, this website lets you search cuisines by country and meal type...Guyanese any one?

Also see the website of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine for the latest health research and an online community.