Root Simple shared some great information on White Sage. Mrs. Homegrown has been taking some classes with Cecilia Garcia and James Adams, Jr. – authors, healers, and, in Mr. Adams case, a professor or pharmacology and botany. They have an interesting take on the wastefulness of smudge sticks – something many New Agers and Pagans use for just about everything.
I’m a huge fan of sage and find that it is helpful in purifying an area. The authors offer an alternative to over-harvesting this Nature Spirit. The suggestion? Burn one leaf. They also offer a very simple recipe (again, only using one leaf) to alleviate tension at the end of the day. Great stuff! Do check it out.
Root Simple: Saliva Means Salvation: White Sage.
Can’t knock the sage smudge stick habit? Try growing your own sage, thus ensuring it was raised and harvested respectfully to both its spirit and the overall environment. Another alternative, if you simply must have a stick, is to go through a company like Mountain Rose Herbs. They offer a variety of smudge sticks (as well as other incense, loose herbs, oils, etc) that are organic and/or ethically wildcrafted.
Author M. A. Phillips 
I grow my own sage, but find it temperamental and stubborn, which I actually love. The more care put into something, the better the rewards.
I LOVE Mountain Rose Herbs. I’ve spent a small fortune there buying crafting materials.
They are indeed temperamental! I think my white sage and I have found a happy balance, though.
Mountain Rose Herbs is great. I’ve only ever had positive experiences with them and recommend them to everyone!
I have the most depressed and pathetic looking pot of clary sage that I’m attempting to revive right now. No matter the conditions I set for the seeds it always just seems to bolt and then sit there sulking for the rest of the season. I always used to associate wisdom and endurance with sage.. until I started growing it myself. I’ll have to try it again in the spring, outdoors, away from the smoke of smudge sticks 😛