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Conventional chocolate is often produced by clear-cutting rainforest land, applying chemical pesticides and through the use of child labor in hazardous conditions. However, a number of companies now offer organic, sustainably-grown and "fair trade" varieties that adhere to environmentally and socially responsible production and processing standards. Pictured here: some offerings from Endangered Species Chocolate, Dagoba and others. Photo: Jason Kremkau.

ear EarthTalk: I heard a reference to “Earth-friendly chocolate” and was wondering about what goes into chocolate that would raise environmental concerns.
--Ben Moran, Providence, RI

Like coffee beans, the cacao seeds from which we derive chocolate can only be grown successfully in equatorial regions--right where the world's few remaining tropical rainforests thrive. As worldwide demand for chocolate grows, so does the temptation among growers to clear more and more rainforest to accommodate high-yield monocultural (single-crop) cacao tree plantations. What are left are open, sunny fields with dramatically lower levels of plant and animal diversity. Adding environmental insult to injury, most cacao plantations use copious amounts of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and fungicides that further degrade the land that once teemed with a wide variety of rare birds, mammals and plants.

• Go room-by-room at night to make sure you have enough illumination, because it gets dark in the winter earlier. You should have a variety of lights for mood as well as reading and working.
• Set aside a place in your home to write letters - not e-mails but the old-fashioned hand-written, send via postal mail type.
• No matter how much you love your home, traveling is always fun, educational and broadening. Keep your favorite travel magazines for future trips, along with pamphlets about places, in a convenient spot for research and planning.
• Place a phone pad and pen or pencil by each phone in the house so all messages are recorded. Consider putting a phone in your living room in a discreet place.

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t's like a black hole that occasionally swallows me up, from out of nowhere. I can't work, I can't sleep--and yet I can't stay awake--I can't take care of myself, and all the color and hope drains from the world.

"It" is depression, and for me it's a chronic condition that cost me jobs and relationships before I finally found effective help. For me that help was pharmaceutical, but I use several natural methods as well to keep the black hole at bay.

I'm not alone. Depression affects millions of people worldwide and can range from being fairly mild to completely devastating. It's estimated that a quarter of all American women will suffer from clinical depression at some point in their lives, and that women are twice as likely to suffer from it as men. Only 30 percent of depressed people get any form of treatment at all, which is a big mistake. Without treatment, the frequency and severity of symptoms tend to increase over the years--just like other diseases. Take depression seriously. It can be just as deadly as cancer, especially in the elderly.

f you live in regions where it becomes extremely cool in the winter, you can feel the changes in the air and sense what is about to come. Winter weather is just around the corner and it is time to prepare your home for the cold weather. For a frugal person, the important thing is figuring out how to prepare your home for the cold season and keep the most money in your pocket.

Anyone can turn the thermostat up, but it is the frugally zealous who figure out a way to keep their home as warm as possible without putting a huge dent in the bank. Use these conventional (and unconventional) tips to prepare your home for winter.

y observing the changing of the seasons, Mother Earth shows us how to prepare for winter in much the same manner as all her other residents. From Spring's first signs of life our hopes and dreams grow. As Fall approaches we put away the joyful songs of Summer and begin to regress inward along with our other Earth bound companions.

Lifestyles and diet have a direct impact on our health and that of our future generations. We need to be involved and more aware of the world around us. Take away the sciences and assembly lines and our best teachers are truly the cycles of nature. Big business has you skeptical of natural products because they need you. You on the other hand merely need more education to make better choices. I hope here to give you one more view of the partnership we share with this place we call Earth.

How do you identify the flu? Is there really anything we can do to make us feel better and lessen the time we spend being miserable? Read on.