Category Archives: Sustainability

Be a GEM! Go Strawless This Earth Week!

Posted on April 21, 2019 by diamondsonyourinside and currently has Comments Off on Be a GEM! Go Strawless This Earth Week!

It’s one of our favorite days — the world-wide celebration of Earth Day on April 22! With that, it is time to renew our commitment to being a GEM in every way.

Order your Earth-friendly green drinks today for pick up or delivery, straight from our app!

Since our opening 7 years ago, The GEM’s love of the earth and the environment has formed the basis of our creed.

THE GEM’S CREED: REDUCE. REUSE. RECYCLE.

You can’t believe in the value of organic produce and not respect the health of the soil and water supply it comes from. Everything in our world is connected! We know that the BEST organic produce is only made possible through supporting environmentally-friendly farming and soil practices and by helping reduce water waste and pollution.

Living clean and being green is a way of life.

Serving super-green plant-based soups, salads, juices and smoothies is what The GEM is best known for, but did you also know the ideals The GEM follows?

SERVE ONLY ORGANIC PRODUCE. The amazing farms that supply us share our commitment to keeping chemicals out of our soil and fresh food.
COMPOST. We’ve sent all our food waste out to compost since the day we opened. And in the last 7 years we’ve diverted 150 tons to the Texas Worm Ranch to help create a healthy planet through healthy soil!
REUSE. Our kitchen and staff use repurposed glass bottles. Anything we can repurpose, we DO! And we encourage regular GEM customers to return brown bags, glass shot bottles, and juice/smoothie holders for reuse.
RECYCLE. Any paper and plastic we can recycle goes to the recycler. Remember to rinse out yours at home before recycling!
PURIFY. We use carbon water filtration systems for food and juice production to keep impurities out!

Being green and living clean means more than honestly organic goodies.

GO STRAWLESS WITH US! Go GREEN with The GEM! We’ve written a lot about how to help us help the Earth. This week, we’re asking that you Shine Brighter with us by going strawless with your daily juices, iced tea and smoothies April 22 to 27.

An estimated 500 million straws are used every single day in the United States — producing enough waste to encircle the Earth 2.5 times. As many as 8.3 billion plastic straws pollute the world’s beaches.

We’re working hard on developing straw alternatives, but until that day, be brave and go strawless with us!

Simple, GEMMY Ways to Practice Earth Day, Every Day

Posted on April 19, 2017 by diamondsonyourinside and currently has 1 Comment on Simple, GEMMY Ways to Practice Earth Day, Every Day

Earth Day is a worldwide event celebrated every April 22nd. Its sole purpose is to demonstrate support for the protection of our magnificent, incredibly complex planet. For almost 40 years, Earth Day continues to raise the awareness and consciousness of every individual, household, business and organization about our vibrant planet.

Inside The GEM, our commitment to our environment has been a part of our creed. Since. Day. One.

In fact, after five years of serving up a plethora of organic juice, smoothies and green bites, we have composted more than 81 TONS of organic matter—diverting it out of the landfills and back into enriching our Earth. We donate this organic treasure to the Texas Worm Ranch in Garland, Texas, whose worms build healthier soil, which in turn is a vital resource for growing all of the organic veggies that our customers rely on at The GEM.

Just like we’ve watched our customers fall in love with Superfoods and healthy food, we’ve seen them adopt a newfound love of healthy habits such as reusing and recycling.

This same kind of energy can happen at your home or business as well.

Mission critical is that everyone knows the 3 R’s: REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE! Every act implementing the 3 R’s for our mother earth is worthy.

GEMMY things our customers are doing this Earth Day and every day:

REUSE paper products such as brown paper bags, six pack containers and drink holders. It’s infectious: when other customers see someone bring in a stack of bags or containers, they are quick to get on that reuse and reduce soul train!! Also, shots are a great way to get a quick dose of those much loved Superfoods, and they are super popular at The GEM. Most of our customers hand back our those glass shot bottles with pride because they know they are making a positive impact on their environment by reusing.
REDUCE the need to accept a brown bag for GEM goodies. Hand carry, bring your own bag, drop it in your purse. Now that is GEMMY!!
RECYCLE glass, plastic and paper. At the front door of The GEM, there are recycling receptacles. We see many GEMs using it daily for recycling on the go!

We wish you continued vitality and healthy habits this Earth Day, Earth Week, Earth Month and every day. Keep up the good work Earth warriors!

5 GEM~my Ideas to Love the Earth a Little More this Earth Day

Posted on April 19, 2016 by diamondsonyourinside and currently has 1 Comment on 5 GEM~my Ideas to Love the Earth a Little More this Earth Day

April is EARTH MONTH and Friday’s Earth Day 2016 is about loving our planet. We believe an organic, healthy lifestyle go hand in hand with loving our MOTHER EARTH. After all, the Earth provides all the goodness that goes into your favorite juice, smoothies and green bites you love at The GEM!

We work so hard to be conscientious about recycling and “being green.” It’s our duty as humans! That is part of our GEM Creed and digs deep into who we are. This has been my objective for many years—it’s something we are very passionate about.

Did you know these GEM green facts?

The GEM:

COMPOSTS all food waste since opening our doors more than four years ago … and in 2015 alone, diverted more than 30 tons from the landfills into the Texas Worm Ranch in Garland.
REUSES glass bottles. Glass is one of the hardest things to recycle!
RECYCLES paper and plastics. AND WE NEVER EVER USE STYROFOAM (it never breaks down in our landfills).
USES carbon water filtration systems for food and juice preparation and production. Removing harmful toxins out of our most precious resource.
ENCOURAGE regular GEM customers to return brown bags, glass shot bottles and juice/smoothie holders for reuse. Every little bit matters!

The seemingly small contributions can make a difference. Over time, these things add up. I mean, over one year our compost totaled 30 TONS out of a landfill. Holy cow!!! So, what can you do?

5 SIMPLE GEMMY IDEAS TO LOVE THE EARTH A LITTLE MORE

These green habits are things your entire family can do. Not only are they easy to implement and good for the earth this Earth Day 2016 … they save you money.

Give up bulky plastic water bottles. In most cases this water is no better than what comes from the faucet. This change has a double benefit. The truth is, it is dangerous to your environment AND to our bodies. The water leaches chemicals from the plastics—these chemicals are endocrine disruptors and carcinogens. NO THANKS. It drives me crazy to see half used and un-recycled water bottles piling up in our homes, stadiums and workplaces. Instead, REDUCE your carbon footprint and install a water filtration system that will filter Volatile Organic Chemicals (VOC’s), heavy metals and pharmaceuticals. You can fill your own glass or metal bottles and take them wherever you go. I love my Swell bottle! Our favorite home filtration system is Everpure.

Forget about Ziploc baggies! Just don’t buy them! Instead REUSE ones you get from stores or other products OR buy clever containers and lunch boxes that can be used again. Think of all of the landfills and oceans filled with your plastic bag waste. NOT gem~my.

Bring your own shopping bags or NO bag at all. Keep bags in your car for the trips to the grocery store and other shopping. At Whole Foods, you get a .10 cent rebate for each bag you bring. Next time you are checking out at your favorite store with just a couple of items, just say, “I don’t need a bag, thanks!”

Use less water at home. Challenge the whole family to turn off the water when brushing their teeth. This is easy, and the water saved adds up quickly! Try taking shorter showers and baths. Consider installing low-flow aerators faucets and shower heads. These can make a big difference in your water usage and therefore, your water bill!

JOIN THE GEM IN LOVING THE EARTH ALL YEAR LONG. Do you have a earth-friendly habit you’d like to share? We are all in this together! Let’s make a difference. Happy Earth Month! Happy Earth Day!

Be A GEM. Visit Earth Day Dallas.

Posted on April 15, 2012 by diamondsonyourinside and currently has 2 Comments on Be A GEM. Visit Earth Day Dallas.

A healthy, happy life. A grounded perspective. The protection of our planet, and our children.

Paramount to our existence. Parts of this we know, parts of this are elusive. How do we get to where we need to be?

Enter Earth Day Dallas, an outdoor festival in Fair Park designed to influence the way we think and live around our health and environment. It’s fun, it’s free, and it shows us how green lifestyle choices can lower costs of living, improve our health and preserve the planet. Films, fun runs, food, yoga, gardening. Quite frankly, this expo houses so many topics and forums it will make your head spin til you turn green.

This is super cool. And super important. Important to you, to your family, to your planet. And I am THRILLED to be a part of it! I will participate in a discussion called Farm to School Panel: Reinventing School Food Programs. I LOVE this topic and will serve on the panel.

We owe it to our children, our little GEMs, to guide them into a lifestyle that is healthy, shiny and bright.

I know you will be front and center next weekend to hear this fascinating discussion. In the meantime, here are three things you need to know and practice with your kids.

Feed their minds, body and spirits. It is a whole body existence. Health is a full circle.
Set the stage – Eat right and with your family. Family dinner time is the key to a successful, functioning family.
Offer non-food rewards – Cookie rewards are for the birds, and support an unhealthy relationships with food and success/failure.

Details. Be there or be square (Or Princess Cut if you are in the GEM world).

What: Farm to School: Reinventing School Food Programs

When: Saturday, April 21, (though the event itself is April 21-22 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.)

5 – 5:45 p.m.

Where: Hall of State, Fair Park

Who and everything else: Click here.

Peace & Happy & Juice

The Official Blog of The GEM.