Ever visit a landfill? It ain’t pretty. Most of the debris of humanity ends up there. Bottles. Tires. Plastic. Old newspapers that you were suppose to recycle. Well, this month you have a chance to redeem yourself. July is “Waste Less” month and Women Of Green is participating in the GOOD Challenge. A month-long effort to lighten your load (and Mother Earth’s) in any way you can. Here are some ideas to get you started.
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For me, hands down, the biggest “going green” motivator was having a baby. From the moment I found out that I was pregnant, I watched what I put in my mouth like a hawk. Not to say that I didn’t cheat now and then – sneaking a really greasy French fry when no one was looking, but basically I knew whatever I put in my body, I put in my baby.
At that time, “going green” wasn’t the rage it is today, so I didn’t have all the resources parents have at their fingertips now. That’s good news for parents. I think the challenge today is how NOT to get overwhelmed by it all. Here to help parents with that is Manda Aufochs Gillespie otherwise known as The Green Mama. She is the creator of TheGreenMama.com in Vancouver, Canada. A resource to inspire greener living for mamas and papas. She has put together the ten most effective green parenting habits for 2011. Listen up and see where you stand.
Continue reading... →It’s like magic: having a baby. I don’t just mean the obvious: bump one day and baby the next. I mean what happens to the parents, the mom especially. One day she is a woman and the next day she is a mother. That act of becoming a mother represents the largest life change, and the most sudden, that most people will ever experience. One day you are free to stay up late drinking wine, forget your sunhat, and pass judgment at the woman with screaming toddlers, impertinent teenagers, or breast milk stains on their silk blouses. Then, seemingly overnight, you are part of a secret tribe of women giving each other the thumbs up when passing with sleeping babies in strollers or sharing tips on favorite slings and you oh-so-sympathetically-and-without-ANY-judgment smile at the frazzled mother trying to pry her child’s booger-filled hands out of the bulkfood bins in the aisle of the grocery store.
Continue reading... →“Solar is the most distributed energy source we have. The same sun shines down on everyone. And with advances in technology, it is available and affordable. Especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where only 5% of the rural population has access to electricity, solar is the perfect energy source as it takes advantage of their most abundant resource, the hot African sun,” says Katherine Lucey, Founder & CEO, Solar Sister.
Continue reading... →I live in an idyllic valley just 45 minutes drive north of Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand. These six acres I call home has been my turangawaewae or standing place for 25 years. The first time I walked the land, I knew I belonged here. It was mostly pasture with a scraggly bit of remnant native forest that sheltered the sheep and cattle that grazed here. North facing, it is surrounded by huge hills covered with native trees. My then husband and I had no doubts. We rang the agent and put in a bid. From a piece of bare land it has grown to be a tree covered oasis, a place of healing and a haven for people, birds and insects.
Continue reading... →A poignant story by Linda Lowen about her teenage daughter working at a local grocery store. What she saw even in this wealthy neighborhood store was single mothers struggling to feed their kids. “More than a third of single mothers struggle to feed their children, and over 1 in 7 find that between insufficient income and lack of resources to obtain enough food, one or more family members go hungry.” In these economic times, it’s women and children that suffer most. Do something today for a woman you know that needs help. You know who she is.
Continue reading... →We’re starting a new column called “Be the Change”. We’re looking for super short videos of how YOU ARE being the change in your family, your community, your world. No act is too small. No video is too amateur. This is your chance to inspire all of us to be the change we need right now in the world. Interested? Contact Carolyn (at) mindovermarkets (dot) com.
Continue reading... →Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is the first man to receive the Women’s Leadership Award in recognition of his efforts to promote gender equality at the Global Summit of Women in Istanbul, Turkey. In this address, Mr. Ban said, “Women who have fought for gender equality know that the battle does not end there. The battle does not end until there is no discrimination, against any human being, on any grounds. The battle does not end until all people can enjoy a life of dignity.”
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Amy Norquist is one of the queens of the green movement. She has worked over twenty years in environmental research and education for many non-profits. With all her deep green experience, one day she had a thought, “I want to install a green roof on my home.” And that’s exactly what she did. Little did she know what she was getting into. That great idea turned into a “hellish experience” as she puts it. So she was determined to make sure other people do not go through what she went through. Thanks to Amy, they don’t. Her company, Greensulate, is a leading edge provider of design, engineering, installation and maintenance services in green roof systems. But what exactly a green roof anyway? Find out in this podcast with Carolyn. You may be ripping up the tar before you know it.
Continue reading... →This Saturday there will be a great opportunity to listen in to two inspiring leaders talk about how women can most effectively transform themselves and the world. You can listen in from anywhere.. and call-ins are welcome!
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