{"id":6328,"date":"2012-04-05T11:01:25","date_gmt":"2012-04-05T15:01:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.energyrefuge.com\/blog\/?p=6328"},"modified":"2017-09-05T17:44:50","modified_gmt":"2017-09-05T21:44:50","slug":"how-to-have-a-green-easter-holiday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.energyrefuge.com\/blog\/how-to-have-a-green-easter-holiday\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Have a Green Easter Holiday"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that time of the year again, so I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll take a quick break from alternative energy<\/a> to blog about how to have a sustainable Easter break.
\n<\/p>\n

Easter is associated with chocolate and chocolate is associated with lots of delicious things in life. Sadly, these days it is also linked to the exploitation of farmers in developing countries.<\/p>\n

According to the Food Empowerment Projec<\/a>t, two West African countries, Ghana and the Ivory Coast, supply 75 percent of the world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cocoa material (cocoa is chocolate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s raw material). The cocoa they grow and harvest is sold to chocolate companies all over the world.<\/p>\n

However, all is not sweet in the chocolate business. Some organizations and journalists have exposed the widespread of child labor and even slavery on West African cocoa farms. Journalists exposing the problem have been kidnapped and the industry has become increasingly secretive about its business. <\/p>\n

Work is hard and dangerous on cocoa farms. Children as young as seven years old have been filmed on such farms, but most of them are between 12 and 16 years of age. They work from dawn to sunset and climb trees wielding a machete to strike the cocoa pods.<\/p>\n

The situation is complicated due to the industry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s refusal to act and the compliance of local governments with such practices. The Food Empowerment Project adds that slave labor on cocoa plantations has not been recorded in Latin America, which is another major supplier to chocolate companies. It provides a list of vegan chocolate brands<\/a> that you may want to check out if you are a chocolate fan.<\/p>\n

Bunnies: <\/strong>Another ethical conundrum during Easter is the giving of rabbits as pets. In two words: please don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. Pet shops start to stock them up before Easter and everyone finds them \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcvery cute\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. What people don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see is the arrival of abandoned bunnies at shelters after Easter. This is why the House Rabbit Society started the Make Mine Chocolate campaign<\/a> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c if you are going to buy a bunny, buy a chocolate one, and make sure it comes from an ethical source that does not exploit children and slave labor in the process. It takes a bit of research and good will, but considering the symbolism attached to Easter, it would be incoherent not do that.<\/p>\n

Have a Happy Green Easter!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

You should follow us here<\/a>.<\/strong>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

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    It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that time of the year again, so I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll take a quick break from alternative energy to blog about how to have a sustainable Easter break. Related Posts:No Related Posts Found! Go find some…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1174,1,865],"tags":[1448,1447,1446,1449],"class_list":["post-6328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eco-friendly","category-fair-trade","category-miscellaneous","category-vegan","tag-child-labor","tag-chocolate","tag-green-easter","tag-slave-labor"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t