The Monthly Newsletter of greenlight magazine

Midwinter brings the usual complaints about the weather and energy bills along with a tasty holiday and gleaming winter fruit. Endure and enjoy!

—Bill Marken, editor in chief, greenlight magazine

• Chocolate choices
• Smartest shopping bag
• Climate change and you
• Celebrating citrus

Few fresh fruits come into our lives more cheerfully than bright citrus in the middle of cold, dark winter. This year's crop, however, comes with a big caveat. Big frosts in California have reduced the supplies of many kinds of citrus, and their cost will be higher. Why choose organic citrus?

Citrus are not on the list of "must-be-organic" crops from the standpoint of health and safety — their outer layer protects the edible part from pesticides. (If you use lemon rind for zesting, you'll want to make sure to buy organic.) But there are other reasons to choose organic citrus: They're grown without chemical (petroleum-based) fertilizers, and some people say that growing organically yields more concentrated flavor.

• Need shopping help figuring out which citrus is which and what each is good for? See organic.org.
• Here are a few midwinter citrus recipes, from entrees to sweets.
• There are a number of online suppliers of online citrus. Here are just a couple:
  • Diamond Organics
  • South Tex Organics

Want to start a debate among green-thinking folks? Ask them about their grocery bags. In response to a few words about earth-friendly shopping bags in January's newsletter, readers flooded us with additional suggestions. No joke, using the right bag may be a little thing, but it symbolizes how our small everyday actions can add up to world changing. Here are just a few helpful ideas that readers shared with us.

• Damien says: Chico bags are great! They fold down really small, so it is easy to keep them in a variety of places. They also come in great colors.
• Mike says: Our family uses compact shopping bags from reusablebags.com. We like this bag because it folds into its own little pouch and you can carry two or three in your purse or briefcase and pull one out if you happen to be in a store. The same company has larger shopping bags designed for groceries, but the small ones work well.
• Garth says: I've been using the Acme Workhorse 1500 bag found at reusablebags.com. It is a really great, strong bag that stuffs really well into a little pouch that is on the inside of the bag — small enough that I can keep four of them in the center console of my car. I like the bags so much that they were xmas presents to all my non-green friends to get them thinking about not having to keep using all those plastic bags.
• Meryl says: I would definitely like to see 100% recycled, reusable cloth bags included. Here is just one example. Also check out Eco Spun, a manufacturer of 100% recycled, reusable cloth bags.

Discouraged about all that you hear about climate change and the enormity of how much needs to be done? Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is one key to curbing climate change and a daunting worldwide problem. It may be reassuring to see all the things individuals can do – large and small, around the house and beyond.

• For 50 ways to slow down global warming, check greenlight's Spring Issue.
• And look at WikiHow, which offers thousands of how-to tips for all sorts of everyday solutions — contributed and edited by readers. If you go to "Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions", you’ll find dozens of good steps you can take to slow climate change – like, paint with latex paint or use an Energy Star dishwasher.

Some people think about chocolate every day of the year — not just at splurge-elicious Valentine's Day. Whatever your chocolate vice or virtue, there's really no reason not to make your chocolate of choice one of the many earth-friendly types now available. Most are made in smaller batches – artisan style – and their quality compares favorably to any of the big-time, well-known brands.

As a rule, look for a few words on the label:

• "Organic" means that the cocoa beans were grown sustainably — pesticide free, responsibly harvested. Cacao plantations are all in tropical parts of the world, so unsustainable plantations with their clear cutting practices can threaten rain forests.
• "Fair Trade" ensures that farmers were paid a minimum price.
• Some chocolate brands also use natural sweeteners and other sustainable ingredients, such as sugar, eggs, and dairy.
• The Natural Resource Defense Council has a good examination of chocolate's environmental and geopolitical ramifications.

Does organic chocolate taste better? No respect intended, but don't ask me. You need a more discriminating taster than I. All of the following tasted wonderful to me:

• Dagoba
• Endangered Species
• Green & Black's
• Theo
• Vere

Do any of our readers have more discriminating comments on chocolate quality to add? Click here.

In the Winter issue of greenlight magazine: Great Green Gifts · Save Money on Energy Upgrades · Reality Check on Electric Cars · A Movable Fireplace · Smart Gift Wraps · Ski Where It's Green · Best Gift Books (for Kids Too) · Click to Read!

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