What about Southwest’s serving trans fats? Where does that stack up for a company’s CSR?

I flew on Monday from Chicago to Oakland on Southwest with a stop in Albuquerque — no plane change. That took about six hours. I missed lunch.

On the first leg — Chicago to Albuquerque — one flight attendant joked that the “offerings for lunch” were “Plane Crackers” and dry roasted peanuts. I gladly accepted both bags. I checked the nutrition facts of the Plane Crackers – not too much sodium and no cholesterol. Not too bad. I’m serious about what I eat – no meat; no cheese; no cholesterol. And I’m strict about it.

The Plane Crackers seemed like lightly sweetened soda crackers shaped like little airplanes. Hence the name. But they are also bland. Plain Plane Crackers. You know — Southwest humor. LOL.

On the second leg to Oakland –still hungry — the Southwest staff offered the same joke about lunch offerings. I took the Plane Crackers again but this time I happened to glance at the ingredients list before I opened the bag, something I had neglected the first time.

Trans fats! Right there on the label was “Partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil.” When the flight attendant came by again, I gave the bag back. “This has trans fats in it,” I said, “you should report it.” He smiled in that everything-is-sunshine way Southwest flight attendants have, and said, “Some people love those trans fats.” LOL.

I didn’t respond. I didn’t say a word as the people around me did what I had done on the first leg – ignorantly popped those little poisonous planes into their mouths.

Trans fats both lower your HDL (good cholesterol) and raise your LDL (bad cholesterol). The double whammy. The National Academy of Science “has concluded there is no safe level of trans fat consumption… any incremental increase in trans fat intake increases the risk of coronary heart disease.” (Wikipedia). This ain’t news.

Okay, Southwest, burnish your good-corporate-citizen status. STOP SERVING TRANS FATS!

And to those traveling on Southwest over the holidays: BEWARE. READ THE LABELS. Don’t assume, even in these days of ample information about trans fats, that any company, Southwest or Kraft, will refrain from poisoning you with “food-like substances” (to borrow a term from Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food) in order to save a few pennies.

Happy trails. Happy holidays from ElegRoo.

We all know, (or we should), of the extraordinary man named Nelson Mandela and his remarkable historic journey from decades-long political-imprisonment to having received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, having become President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and to having led South Africa’s transition towards multi-racial democracy.

You probably didn’t know that “Four, Double Six, Six Four” was Mr. Mandela’s prison number; number 466, imprisoned in ‘64. Mr. Mandela’s legacy is redirected for a new struggle; originally launched to raise awareness about HIV AIDS, 46664 has now expanded its focus to champion Mr. Mandela’s broader humanitarian work.

The 46664 campaign focuses on global social issues such as poverty, hunger, unemployment, education, gender inequality, discrimination, and HIV AIDS prevention. The 46664 Bangle initiative aims to create jobs for the less fortunate and also spreads awareness of the 46664 campaign.

Each 46664 Bangle is fair trade handmade in South Africa of the highest quality pure copper, or silver, gold or platinum with a copper inlay. Each bangle bears a digital imprint of Mr. Mandela’s hand and his symbolic prison number. The Bangle program makes a positive impact through job creation and skills training while promoting a message of social responsibility.

In 2007, Rob Favole and the Elegant Roots team began turning a concept, an idea, into a social business, ElegantRoots.com designed specifically to serve people, planet, profits. In October 2008 — exactly the time that The Great Depression became a topic for current events discussion — ElegantRoots was launched as an online boutique offering design-forward jewelry and accessories For Her, For Him and furnishings For Home – and all of it is green, either eco-conscious, socially responsible, or both.

One Elegant notion is that design-forward products, lovely in form and function, take on unsurpassed beauty with the luster of fair trade, social responsibility and eco-consciousness. And knowing the story of these more meaningful products enables consumers to align their purchases with their values.

Transparency brings some benefits of globalization to those who had previously been on the margins, or worse, had been victims of globalization’s press for cheap labor. And transparency allows consumers to “vote” with their dollars for greater meaning and the greater good.

The ElegantRoots.com team strives to help provide access to the wide US markets for such products while providing their creators with some measure of recognition through a commitment to transparency. Thus, for each product, Elegant Roots tells the story — the Roots — through “our 4 Ws” (who made it, where, from what, and, why, beyond its beauty and function, it is a worthy purchase), and our designer profiles. Everyone wins — from artisan, to customer, to recipient of an ElegantRoots.com gift — upon delivery of an item of greater meaning than even its beauty or soulful qualities.

ElegantRoots.com supports the 46664 campaign of the Nelson Mandela Foundation by offering the 46664 Bangle on a non-profit basis – that is, ElegantRoots.com makes no profit on its sale of the 46664 Bangle.

Your purchase of a 46664 Bangle signifies you have risen to the challenge; making a real difference in the lives of those at risk from HIV/AIDS. More than a one-time act of charity, your purchase changes lives, unleashes opportunities for entire communities, and cares for, educates and uplifts those affected by this pandemic.

It’s not JUST a fashion statement. Tell the world that ordinary people can make extraordinary contributions. Be part of the new legacy.

Each 46664 Bangle bears a digital imprint of Mr. Mandela’s palm, a reminder of his slogan, “It’s in our hands”, and an embrace from one of the world’s most inspiring men.

Now it’s in your hands.

Join Brad Pitt, Will Smith, ElegantRoots.com and many others around the world in support of the 46664 campaign of the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

As Executive Director, Stewart, (author of The Places In Between and now a Member of Parliament), shaped a 3-pronged mandate for the non-profit TM: regenerating Murad Khane, Kabul’s ancient art center; establishing artisan collectives to renew traditional Afghan arts and architecture, and spur sustainable development; and to establish schools.

In 2007, Rob Favole and his team began turning a concept, an idea, into a social business, ElegantRoots.com designed specifically to serve people, planet, profits.

In October 2008 — exactly the time that The Great Depression became a topic for current events, ElegantRoots was launched as an online boutique offering design-forward jewelry and accessories For Her, For Him and furnishings For Home – and all of it is green, either eco-conscious, socially responsible, or both.

One Elegant notion is that traditional arts and artisan techniques when applied to updated designs can support traditional lifestyles around the globe, bringing some benefits of globalization to those who had previously been on the margins, or worse, had been victims of globalization’s press for cheap labor.

The ElegantRoots.com team sees its place as helping to provide access to the wide US markets for artisans from outside as well as within the US. And to provide them some measure of recognition through a commitment to transparency. Thus, for each product, the Roots, or story, is presented through “our 4 Ws” (who made it, where, from what, and, why, beyond its beauty and function, it is a worthy purchase) and our designer profiles. This transparency also serves ElegantRoots.com customers, enabling an informed selection that allows them to align their purchases with their values. Everyone wins — from artisan, to customer, to recipient of an ElegantRoots.com gift — upon delivery of an item of greater meaning than even its beauty or soulful qualities.

Meanwhile … to achieve the revival of Afghan arts and the creation of a thriving art and design community, Rory Stewart brought in to Turquoise Mountain many talented volunteers – architects, urban planners, engineers, and artists. Among them was Pippa Small, renowned designer and anthropologist, whose design brilliance resulted in “Pippa Small for Turquoise Mountain”, a line designed around Afghanistan’s native raw gems. All TM’s products are hand-crafted in TM’s Kabul studios by master artisans using materials indigenous to Afghanistan.

Turquoise Mountain has restored many of Murad Khane’s historic buildings, employing many talented wood carvers and bringing life back to the arts center; has created the Institute for Traditional Afghan Arts to pass along the skills, create employment and preserve these arts; has created primary schools for children many of whom had never been to school before; and has created a girls’ school.

There could be no better match than that of Turquoise Mountain and ElegantRoots.com. TM’s vision is to revive and restore Afghanistan’s traditional arts and thereby revive Kabul’s art center. ElegRoo’s is to open the US market to artisan products made by applying traditional techniques to new designs to help preserve traditional lifestyles.

This year, Turquoise Mountain and ElegRoo have teamed up to bring the compelling jewelry designs of Pippa Small for Turquoise Mountain to the wide American market.

Wearing this hot designer jewelry with cool raw emeralds, rubies, amethysts or lapis promotes fair trade. Join Prince Charles, Pippa Small, Rory Stewart and the international community in remaking Afghanistan. And support our troops’ efforts to bring stability and security through economic development and opportunity.

TM has moved mountains in pursuit of these ends. Now you can help and wear the hottest pieces. Visit ElegantRoots.com and open the American market to Turquoise Mountain’s jewelry and silk.

Ganzorig is 47 years old and lives with his wife and three children. His oldest two children currently attend university, and his youngest daughter studies at a local secondary school. His wife works as a construction decorator during the summer.

Ganzorig operates a small wood production business in his town. He started his wood products business in 2002. By managing and conducting his business successfully he has been able to achieve stable operations. His earnings have enabled him to support his entire family, including supporting his children’s education. He has operated his business sustainably.

Kiva describes him as “a helpful, honest and hardworking person” who “dreams of opening his own wood production workplace” after providing for his children’s education.

He is requesting a 740,000 MNT ($575) loan to buy more wooden timber for his business. Already people have loaned $325 — so Ganzorig’s request has only $250 to go.

Consider loaning Ganzorig $25 — yours might be the amount that puts his loan request over the top, completing it.

The concept of microloans is that people who cannot otherwise access any credit systems because of having no collateral will raise themselves out of poverty through these loans. The borrowers repay these loans at an enormously high rate — 99%!!

Make a difference in someone’s life. Fund a loan with as little as $25. We think Ganzorig is a great choice and there are many others to help. You can even create a gift certificate so that a friend or family member can choose which loan request to help fund.

Do it now. You’ll be glad you did!

Here are some gorgeous, thoughtfully designed and meticulously crafted silver baubles that we found for him and her: all friendly to the Earth and to its people and animals — and all frankly fabulous.

Smart Glass’ recycled Coke bottle-and-sterling silver jewelry is handcrafted, and no two pieces are exactly alike. Featured in fashion magazines and spotted on celebrities, these recrafted pieces are at once bold and delicate.

Elegant Roots is proud to be the first to offer C5’s Avenue Green collection of stunning recycled silver pieces. The “Circles” line, shown here, draws its inspiration from the Bronx Botanical Gardens, a haven of nature within a bustling urban environment. The result: sleek, modern lines with unpredictable design, all handcrafted in Bali.

Sturdy brushed-silver dog tags by Pineapple Seed contain the Thai symbols for “peace” and “wisdom” hand-etched in clean, simple lines. Crafted in fair-labor conditions by artisans in Chiang Mai, this is a beautiful unisex gift with special meaning.

This gorgeous “Paia” bracelet by Stephen Estelle resembles luminescent drops of molten silver. Inspired by leaves, this striking design was handcrafted by a family of artisans whose lineage has been making jewelry for the maharajahs of Nepal for more than 400 years.

RedStart has done it again with these Infinity Loop cuff links, a new take on the mathematical symbol for infinity. A contemporary design inspired by ancient symbolism, these distinctive sterling cuff links are part of RedStart’s “Stream” series, which follows the curves of flowing water.

Perfect to keep you in mind of the beach when you’re in the city on Wednesday.

Milyoni, Inc., (said like “million eye”), the leader in Social Commerce, announces a new social merchandising tool within its popular Conversational Commerce™ solution. Its new Instant Showcase allows users to conveniently purchase select products right on the Facebook wall.

Elegant Roots is about connections. Connections between an artisan and a customer. Connections between cultures. Connections between a customer’s green values and a customer’s purchases.

And Facebook is maybe the biggest way to connect, person-to-person, that has come along since the telephone. Facebook enables communities. Though they exist only on line, they are communities with interactions no less personal than the telephone. And remember the Six Degrees of Separation?

Well, a study by Microsoft based on 30 billion instant messages among 180 million people worldwide in one month concluded that “it takes just under seven steps to link every one in the world…on average, any two people are linked by fewer than seven acquaintances” (actually 6.6). Redorbit.com.

Facebook is a vehicle for unlimited connections and community creation.

Why is this so big for ElegantRoots.com? Because that’s where we connect.

Elegant Roots exists only online — in a dotcom store and in a facebook iFan shop. And ElegRoo exists only because of the “long tail” of the internet — that enough people browse to make it practical to offer products that only a slim percentage of people might want.

A little background is in order.

Elegant Roots, as an online boutique, exists to:

ElegRoo currently has somewhere over 4000 Facebook fans (or “likes”) from all around the world, (though we can presently ship only within the US). That’s 4000 people who connect with us nearly every day. And the growth is astonishing.

Now, through Milyoni’s Instant Showcase, we can highlight to our facebook community a few of our wonderful, meaningful, artisan-made products. Our fans need not leave the Wall to buy. Connection remains intact.

First up on ElegRoo’s Showcase are a few pieces of jewelry from [wired] designer Melissa Kolbusz – Hot earrings from repurposed Effen Vodka labels, Cool cuffs of repurposed rubber washers, and Design-Forward earrings of repurposed neoprene.

Check out our Facebook community. “Like” us. You’re invited. Bring a friend.

CREATIVE WOMEN — Founded by one-woman dynamo Ellen Dorsch, Creative Women brings us the exquisite textile craftsmanship of Ethiopia and Swaziland. A company that provides work training and excellent pay to talented women, Creative Women is known for its luxurious mohair and vibrant silk items through its luxury Sabahar line. By pairing fashion-forward Western designs with traditional African craftsmanship, Creative Women merges cultures beautifully.

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DWELLING — Connecticut product development consultant Gloria Delaney was traveling in Kenya where she discovered artisans creating remarkable handcrafted items, such as gorgeous bowls carved from a single piece of sustainably harvested olivewood. She also tapped into a women’s knitting collective to bring huggable handmade plush toys to children in the U.S. Gloria has gone far beyond just providing economic opportunities to artists — she and Dwelling strongly support literacy, health and other programs for the well-being of the workers and their families.

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TRIBAL HOME — This U.S.-based company brings us the work of amazing Zulu Master Weavers from South Africa. Tribal Home’s three founding partners discovered these women in the remote KwaZulu-Natal Province, skilled in the traditional art of weaving watertight Zulu baskets but unable to make a living from it. Tribal Home introduced the baskets to the Western market — where they’ve been selling so successfully that the weavers can now support their families and keep these traditional Zulu crafts alive.

Dr. Yunus is a visionary AND he’s a hands-on practitioner committed to transforming his homeland through outside-the-box thinking, flexibility and effective implementation. Brings to mind a modification of the old Sinatra refrain from New York, New York: “If he can do it there, we can do it everywhere.”

Do what? you might ask. Use business to tackle social problems. Micro-credit is an inspired notion and an effective reality. ElegRoo supports micro-credit through the totally great KIVA.org.

But we at ElegRoo are taking a lead from Dr. Yunus beyond micro-credit. In Creating A World Without Poverty, Dr. Yunus proposes the idea of “social businesses”, that is, businesses organized as for-profit enterprises, but whose sole goals are to achieve some social benefit. All profits are plowed back into the company. Investors receive no dividends, no profits whatever. They can expect to receive back their initial investment and will still own the company and direct its efforts.

A “social business” must compete head-to-head with ordinary for-profits by dint of the value of its products and/or services.

LuAnne Speeter reports that “[65%] of consumers believe businesses are responsible for having a greater social purpose beyond profit … that businesses have a shared responsibility to address and solve today’s social and environmental issues through a blending of social initiatives and business operations.”

But other attempts at formalizing business commitments to social issues, like B Corporations, are hybrids that attempt to serve two masters — social benefit and investor profit. Dr. Yunus predicts that, at some point, each of these hybrids will face a choice, and that investor profits will prevail. No such Hobson’s Choice can afflict a “social business” — investor profit motive is simply not present to diverge from the social benefit motive.

100% of the ownership of Elegant Roots agrees with these notions and believes also that the vision and mission for Elegant Roots [to promote social justice and eco-consciousness by providing a market for goods that further these goals] fits squarely within the notion of “social business” propounded by the good Dr. Yunus.

100% percent of the ownership has directed that ElegRoo management begin the process of formally converting Elegant Roots into a “social business.” Watch this blog for the ANNOUNCEMENT when the conversion is complete.

For 2010, the host is Rwanda and the theme is “Many Species. One Planet. One Future”, celebrating the thrilling diversity of life on Earth as part of the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity.

Around the globe people will hold all sorts of activities to recognize the day — while people of the US Gulf Coast regions fight the massive petroleum spew from BP’s mile-deep sea-bed well; while animals are tarred with the inescapable goo-tide; and wetlands are turned to sludge.

On this day, we can celebrate a traditional human interaction with the natural world that creates a thing of beauty and function — without any petroleum, no plastic, no chemical processing.

The Zulu are one of only two peoples on the earth who create water-tight baskets. (The other are natives of Central America.) Zulu weavers use only grasses native to their KwaZulu-Natal homeland and local ilala palm, dyed using only natural, locally-derived vegetable dyes.

This weaving is traditional with the Zulu people, though was once a male-oriented skill. Different shaped baskets are designed for local beer, others for seeds, grains, greens, all purposes imaginable. But then the men were taken to work the mines and imported tin vessels replaced the baskets — the art nearly died out. In the early 70s, a missionary organized weaving classes after Sunday services and enlisted four female master weavers to teach at what became known as the Vukani workshops (named for the missionary).

Traditional skills were passed along; new designs and colors were created; an art form was saved that sustainably uses a few of the great diversity of earth’s species. Over the decades since, many weavers have reached Master-level status, had their work displayed in museums around the world and create astounding works of beauty.

Of the original four teachers at the Vukani workshops, one remains — and she still weaves. That living treasure of Zulu basketry is Laurentia Dlamini.

On World Environment Day, let’s celebrate the diversity of species on our earth — and the diversity of people and their creations without petroleum.

Facebook does not have access to any information provided during an Elegant Roots’ customer’s session in Elegant Roots’ Facebook Shop.

The Elegant Roots Facebook Shop was created by and is powered by Milyon*i. During checkout, our customer’s connection is encrypted, so Facebook cannot possibly see any part of the Checkout process or the information provided during Checkout. Even if Facebook was being more devious than claimed, we can say without reservation: Facebook does not have access to the financial or identity information provided during Elegant Roots Checkout. For technical detail, check out the Milyon*i blog.

Their quick answer is “rest assured you are secure.” When you have finished selecting products and start to check out, the pages are secured. Each step in the Elegant Roots Facebook Shop (#1 – Billing and Shipping Information, #2 – Shipping Method, #3 – Transaction, #4 Completion and Registration) is protected with up to 256-bit Secure Socket Layer encryption. FACEBOOK CAN’T ACCESS IT!

Bottom line — whatever the validity of privacy concerns re Facebook — they don’t apply to a transaction on the Elegant Roots Facebook Shop.

More on Elegant Roots’ Privacy commitments and procedures.