Mother Earth Living – September-October 2019

Sept/Oct 2019 5

FIRE CIDER TRIAL

Every herbalist has a warming,

immune-boosting “fire cider”

recipe in her arsenal. It’s typically a

combination of apple cider vinegar,

horseradish, garlic, hot peppers,

citrus, and onions. Rosemary Gladstar

first coined the name for the folk

remedy in the 1970s. But in 2012, a

company called Shire City Herbal

trademarked the term. Despite outcry

that the generic name shouldn’t

belong to any one person, a petition

to cancel the trademark, boycotts on

the brand, and claims that “fire cider”

is the intellectual property of Gladstar,

Shire City Herbals hasn’t changed

its stance. In fact, in 2015, it sued

herbalists Nicole Telkes, Mary Blue,

and Katheryn Langelier for trademark

infringement, among other claims,

and on March 25, 2019, they finally

went to trial. This ongoing case will

set a precedent for whether generic

folk-medicine terms can be “owned.”

A ZERO-WASTE

SHOPPING SUBSCRIPTION

At first glance, Loop looks like

many other online shopping services:

You add to your shipment all the

brand-name personal care and grocery

items you need, and wait for the box

to arrive at your doorstep. But when

it rolls out in 2019, Loop will stand

out, because each and every product

will arrive in a beautiful, functional,

100-percent reusable container. When

you’ve eaten your Häagen-Dazs ice

cream, used up your Dove deodorant,

or run out of Seventh Generation

detergent, rather than disposing of the

leftover packaging, you’ll simply put

the container back in the insulated tote

in which it arrived and schedule a UPS

pickup. The unwashed containers will

be transported from your doorstep to a

Loop facility, where they’ll be sanitized

and refilled for free, and then be sent

right back to customers for another

use. Learn more, and see which brands

have already partnered with Loop, at

http://www.LoopStore.com.

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BEST FOR HEALTHY EATING

| FEATURED CHARITY |

CHARITY: WATER

My.CharityWater.org

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: Worldwide, 1

in 10 people don’t have access to clean

water. Most of these people live in iso-

lated, rural, or underdeveloped commu-

nities, where women and children spend

hours walking every day to collect water

for their families. Not only does this keep

kids out of school, but the water often

carries disease; former United Nations

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that

more people die from unsafe water than

from all forms of violence in the world.

Clean water could change everything.

WHAT IT DOES:

✽ Works locally to find the best

sustainable water solution, whether

that be a well, a piped system, or a

system for harvesting rainwater.

✽ Trains community members to make

minor repairs to water projects

as needed, or connects them to

professional mechanics, to ensure the

lasting impact of each water source.

✽ Uses 100 percent of public donations

to fund 38,000 water projects (and

counting) in 27 countries across

the globe.

Industry News

Learn about the lawsuit over a folk remedy label, and how food

and personal care brands are joining the reusable revolution.

Charity: water tracks each complete

water project for donors to see,

including GPS coordinates and

water flow data.