About Being Extraordinary in the Age of Vulnerability. As more and more of us splinter away from the corporate grind and put ourselves out there in the freelance world, and as we aim to be known and hired for the value we bring to business and to the world, we face the challenge of overcoming the concept of commodity pricing in the marketplace, or rather, being the lowest common denominator. If your competitor charges X for her services, how can you possibly charge Y? Let me tell you how: It’s not about price point. It’s about value.
Continue reading... →This month we’re all about sharing stories of girls and women around the world who are beating inequality and empowering their communities along the way. Well, here’s one about a different sort of female empowerment—the kind that lights up the night, makes light bulbs shine bright, and literally powers communities. It also features donkeys lugging solar panels around the Kenyan savanna, which is not a sentence I get to write everyday.
Continue reading... →As a new mother, I am always researching various topics regarding child rearing and environmentally friendly practices. Here are a few sites that I frequent or find inspirational.
Continue reading... →According to a Cox Business study, 61 percent of women entrepreneurs started a business to be their own boss, and more than 50 percent became entrepreneurs to have greater control over their future. So, what holds more women back from taking the plunge?
Continue reading... →Earth Day this year was officially Wednesday, April 22nd. Did you get your green on? Well, it’s not too late. I’ve seen in recent years Earth Day transform into Earth Week with green activities and events spread out over many days. Now if we can only get that kind of effort happening the remainder 51 weeks of the year, that would be progress!
Continue reading... →
In her keynote speech at last year’s annual Netroots Nation gathering, Darcy Burner pitched a seemingly simple idea to the thousands of bloggers and web developers in the audience. The formerMicrosoft MSFT +0.6% programmer and congressional candidate proposed a smartphone app allowing shoppers to swipe barcodes to check whether conservative billionaire industrialists Charles andDavid Koch were behind a product on the shelves.
May this be a reminder that you are so needed in this world, at this time, to be the good, the change, the one (and you know what that is for you). If you are waiting for something to shift to do that, to be that, then don’t. The time is now.
Happiness holiday to you and your family. May you have the courage this year to just say YES.
From all of us at Women Of Green
Continue reading... →Here is a list of 20 sustainability trends that are changing the landscape. We’re keeping our eyes on these…
1. From economic collapse to a green economic recovery. Interest in all things “green” continues to grow as the economy sinks. About 34 percent of people are now more likely to buy environmentally responsible products, and 44 percent say that their environmental shopping habits have not changed during this downturn. Businesses are realizing the ability to minimize costs through environmentally conscious operations.
2. From carbon footprint confusion to footprint awareness. More than half of the global population is aware of the term “carbon footprint,” up from 38 percent in 2007. As this awareness grows, consumers will likely drive the sustainability market by demanding low carbon products.
3. From carbon offset doubt to market development. More companies will continue to offset carbon emissions, with an expected growth in the global carbon offset market of 20 percent in 2009. Despite this prediction, Clownfish hope that there will be a stronger trend for direct reductions rather than offsetting; as the old saying goes, “prevention is better than cure.”
4. From carbon-centric to water-centric. The UK has become obsessed with carbon footprints, but now the term water footprint has entered the corporate vocabulary. About 2.6 billion people have no access to clean water, a problem not isolated to developing countries. Businesses will no longer be able to ignore their water use and efficiency.
Continue reading... →A few sobering statistics about holiday waste are helpful when it comes to getting motivated to go green for the holidays. More than 30 million living Fir trees are cut in U.S. for Christmas each year. There’s no eco relief, however, in choosing a fake trees instead, because these plastic trees often contain non-biodegradable PVC and possible metal toxins, such as lead.
Continue reading... →