TheGreenGirls

How To Make Connections with Green Businesswomen

MonicaF — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:15:00 -0700

When you're starting your green business, it's so important to have a core group of people to help you grow and thrive. Creating a mastermind group means developing this core group of individuals who help you achieve your objectives. For women in green businesses, this means reaching out to one another to create real connections. This isn't a competition -- this is world-changing work that we're doing, together.

Developing and growing your green business requires some level of thought about what you personally bring to the table, and what skills that the company or organization needs that you don't have.

For example: maybe you're a numbers person but don't have a creative on board.

Maybe you're more of a social butterfly or marketing guru, but you need help with product development, engineering, or packaging.

Maybe you are the graphic designer and are looking to parter with the printer and web developer.

It's all about connections -- making connections, fostering collaboration, and doing more as a group than we can do as single individuals.

Many teachers and coaches suggest you create a organizational "roles and responsibilities" chart in the very beginning of your planning process, so you identify who is needed to make your green business a success.

Who will hold you to keeping green as a part of your business practices?
Do you have an accountant or tax advisor on hand?
How about an attorney if intellectual property is involved?
Who's your in-house mediator or ombudsman?
Who will project manage?

In the very beginning, you may be fulfilling all these roles yourself, or a few partners are getting organized -- as time passes you'll lock down roles and create a "staff flowchart" of how a project gets managed, from customer's experience to fulfillment.

As you get more and more specialized, you will either hire staff to fulfill these roles or find associates to take on this part of the work. Then it's time for you to develop the entrepreneurial mindset and work "on the business" as much as you work "in the business."

Many startups are so focused on this month's cash flow issue or impending deadlines that they do not take the time to do long-term planning. If you're a green business, your planning process is even more important because many external factors are in play such as government policies, legislation specific to green business, trends in consumer habits, and what your competitors are doing.

If you're in a position of leadership in your company, now is the time to consider how you will expand your abilities by creating a mastermind group with others who help you.

Find some other green business women in your area -- the Green Girl Gurus are a great start -- and do some networking to identify who will help you grow your green business.

We all deserve "a little help from our friends" and as you become more and more successful, you'll appreciate having a group of people who celebrate, support, and challenge you to reach your goals. Ask around for referrals, or do a search.

List your green business for free in the national directory at http://www.greenbizwomen.com.

Send a quick tweet to @monicadear or connect on LinkedIn.

FREE Bonus Giveaway: We're making available ~~1500~~ ~~1275~~ ~~1120~~ 1009 copies of the 240-page e-book "51 Ways to Build your Community of Clients Online". The book is a great way to maximize your website effectiveness. Learn more here and use the discount code: greengirls to download for free.

Check The Green Girls on Business for Green Business Tips from Monica S. Flores of .

Video: Celebrity Kids Get Personal About The Environment

GreenGirls — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:56:00 -0700

These celebrity kids are so busy that it's hard to imagine how they juggle home life, school & work let alone think about the environment. Needless to say, we were pleasantly surprised to learn that "Young Hollywood" does have green on their mind. While on a the red carpet of the Lollipops & Rainbows launch event, we asked the simple question "What do YOU do to help the environment?"

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Interviews With:

Daniel Samonas
The Clique Girlz
Maiara Walsh
Keana
Jansen Panettiere
Milly Rosso
Becky Rosso
Andrew Lane

Apple Levy Interviews Maiara Walsh

Daniel Samonas of "Wizard of Waverly Place"

10 Ways to Support Charity Through Social Media

GreenGirls — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:00:00 -0700

This post is a collaboration between Mashable's Summer of Social Good charitable fundraiser and Max Gladwell's "10 Ways" series. The post is being simultaneously published across more than 100 blogs.

Social media is about connecting people and providing the tools necessary to have a conversation. That global conversation is an extremely powerful platform for spreading information and awareness about social causes and issues. That's one of the reasons charities can benefit so greatly from being active on social media channels. But you can also do a lot to help your favorite charity or causes you are passionate about through social media.

Below is a list of 10 ways you can use social media to show your support for issues that are important to you. If you can think of any other ways to help charities via social web tools, please add them in the comments. If you'd like to retweet this post or take the conversation to Twitter or FriendFeed, please use the hashtag #10Ways.

1. Write a Blog Post & Promote the Cause You Support

This is how TheGreenGirls.com was created. A strong passion for a cause pushed us to create a platform where we can share & interact with other environmentalists.

Blogging is one of the easiest ways you can help a charity or cause you feel passionate about. Almost everyone has an outlet for blogging these days -- whether that means a site running WordPress, an account at LiveJournal, or a blog on MySpace or Facebook. By writing about issues you're passionate about, you're helping to spread awareness among your social circle. Because your friends or readers already trust you, what you say is influential.\ \ Recently, a group of green bloggers banded together to raise individual $1 donations from their readers. The beneficiaries included Sustainable Harvest, Kiva, Healthy Child, Healthy World, Environmental Working Group, and Water for People. The blog-driven campaign included voting to determine how the funds would be distributed between the charities. You can read about the results here.

You should also consider taking part in Blog Action Day, a once a year event in which thousands of blogs pledge to write at least one post about a specific social cause (last year it was fighting poverty). Blog Action Day will be on October 15 this year.

2. Share Stories with Friends

Another way to spread awareness among your social graph is to share links to blog posts and news articles via sites like Twitter, Facebook, Delicious, Digg, and even through email. Your network of friends is likely interested in what you have to say, so you have influence wherever you've gathered a social network.

You'll be doing charities you support a great service when you share links to their campaigns, or to articles about causes you care about.

3. Follow Charities on Social Networks

In addition to sharing links to articles about issues you come across, you should also follow charities you support on the social networks where they are active. By increasing the size of their social graph, you're increasing the size of their reach. When your charities tweet or post information about a campaign or a cause, statistics or a link to a good article, consider retweeting that post on Twitter, liking it on Facebook, or blogging about it.

Following charities on social media sites is a great way to keep in the loop and get updates, and it's a great way to help the charity increase its reach by spreading information to your friends and followers.

You can follow the Summer of Social Good Charities:

Oxfam America (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, YouTube)\ The Humane Society (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, Flickr)\ LIVESTRONG (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr)\ WWF (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr)

4. Support Causes on Awareness Hubs

Another way you can show your support for the charities you care about is to rally around them on awareness hubs like Change.org, Care2, or the Facebook Causes application. These are social networks or applications specifically built with non-profits in mind. They offer special tools and opportunities for charities to spread awareness of issues, take action, and raise money.\ \ It's important to follow and support organizations on these sites because they're another point of access for you to gather information about a charity or cause, and because by supporting your charity you'll be increasing their overall reach. The more people they have following them and receiving their updates, the greater the chance that information they put out will spread virally.

5. Find Volunteer Opportunities

Using social media online can help connect you with volunteer opportunities offline, and according to web analytics firm Compete, traffic to volunteering sites is actually up sharply in 2009. Two of the biggest sites for locating volunteer opportunities are VolunteerMatch, which has almost 60,000 opportunities listed, and Idealist.org, which also lists paying jobs in the non-profit sector, in addition to maintaining databases of both volunteer jobs and willing volunteers.\ \ For those who are interested in helping out when volunteers are urgently needed in crisis situations, check out HelpInDisaster.org, a site which helps register and educate those who want to help during disasters so that local resources are not tied up directing the calls of eager volunteers. Teenagers, meanwhile, should check out DoSomething.org, a site targeted at young adults seeking volunteer opportunities in their communities.

6. Embed a Widget on Your Site

Many charities offer embeddable widgets or badges that you can use on your social networking profiles or blogs to show your support. These badges generally serve one of two purposes (or both). They raise awareness of an issue and offer up a link or links to additional information. And very often they are used to raise money.

Mashable's Summer of Social Good campaign, for example, has a widget that does both. The embeddable widget, which was custom built using Sprout (the creators of ChipIn), can both collect funds and offer information about the four charities the campaign supports.

7. Organize a Tweetup

You can use online social media tools to organize offline events, which are a great way to gather together like-minded people to raise awareness, raise money, or just discuss an issue that's important to you. Getting people together offline to learn about an important issue can really kick start the conversation and make supporting the cause seem more real.\ \ Be sure to check out Mashable's guide to organizing a tweetup to make sure yours goes off without a hitch, or check to see if there are any tweetups in your area to attend that are already organized.

8. Express Yourself Using Video

As mentioned, blog posts are great, but a picture really says a thousand words. The web has become a lot more visual in recent years and there are now a large number of social tools to help you express yourself using video. When you record a video plea or call to action about your issue or charity, you can make your message sound more authentic and real. You can use sites like 12seconds.tv, Vimeo, and YouTube to easily record and spread your video message.\ \ Last week, the Summer of Social Good campaign encouraged people to use video to show support for charity. The #12forGood campaign challenged people to submit a 12 second video of themselves doing something for the Summer of Social Good. That could be anything, from singing a song to reciting a poem to just dancing around like a maniac -- the idea was to use the power of video to spread awareness about the campaign and the charities it supports.\ \ If you're more into watching videos than recording them, Givzy.com enables you to raise funds for charities like Unicef and St. Jude's Children's Hospital by sharing viral videos by e-mail.

9. Sign or Start a Petition

There aren't many more powerful ways to support a cause than to sign your name to a petition. Petitions spread awareness and, when successfully carried out, can demonstrate massive support for an issue. By making petitions viral, the social web has arguably made them even more powerful tools for social change. There are a large number of petition creation and hosting web sites out there. One of the biggest is The Petition Site, which is operated by the social awareness network Care2, or PetitionOnline.com, which has collected more than 79 million signatures over the years.

Petitions are extremely powerful, because they can strike a chord, spread virally, and serve as a visual demonstration of the support that an issue has gathered. Social media fans will want to check out a fairly new option for creating and spreading petitions: Twitition, an application that allows people to create, spread, and sign petitions via Twitter.

10. Organize an Online Event

Social media is a great way to organize offline, but you can also use online tools to organize effective online events. That can mean free form fund raising drives, like the Twitter-and-blog-powered campaign to raise money for a crisis center in Illinois last month that took in over $130,000 in just two weeks. Or it could mean an organized "tweet-a-thon" like the ones run by the 12for12k group, which aims to raise $12,000 each month for a different charity.\ \ In March, 12for12k ran a 12-hour tweet-a-thon, in which any donation of at least $12 over a 12 hour period gained the person donating an entry into a drawing for prizes like an iPod Touch or a Nintendo Wii Fit. Last month, 12for12k took a different approach to an online event by holding a more ambitious 24-hour live video-a-thon, which included video interviews, music and sketch comedy performances, call-ins, and drawings for a large number of prizes given out to anyone who donated $12 or more.

Bonus: Think Outside the Box

Social media provides almost limitless opportunity for being creative. You can think outside the box to come up with all sorts of innovative ways to raise money or awareness for a charity or cause. When Drew Olanoff was diagnosed with cancer, for example, he created Blame Drew's Cancer, a campaign that encourages people to blow off steam by blaming his cancer for bad things in their lives using the Twitter hashtag #BlameDrewsCancer. Over 16,000 things have been blamed on Drew's cancer, and he intends to find sponsors to turn those tweets into donations to LIVESTRONG once he beats the disease.

Or check out Nathan Winters, who is biking across the United States and documenting the entire trip using social media tools, in order to raise money and awareness for The Nature Conservancy.

The number of innovative things you can do using social media to support a charity or spread information about an issue is nearly endless. Can you think of any others? Please share them in the comments.

Special thanks to VPS.net

A special thanks to VPS.net, who are donating $100 to the Summer of Social Good for every signup they receive this week.\ \ Sign up at VPS.net and use the coupon code "SOSG"to receive 3 Months of FREE hosting on top of your purchased term. VPS.net honors a 30 day no questions asked money back guarantee so there's no risk.

About the "10 Ways" Series

The "10 Ways" Series was originated by Max Gladwell. This is the second simultaneous blog post in the series. The first ran on more than 80 blogs, including Mashable. Among other things, it is a social media experiment and the exploration of a new content distribution model. You can follow Max Gladwell on Twitter.
This content was originally written by Mashable's Josh Catone.}

#MeatlessMonday: BBQ Tofu w/ Portabella Mushroom Bun

GreenGirls — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:19:00 -0700

Today is Meatless Monday and I was in a mood for a burger! So I put together my two favorite things; tofu & mushrooms. The portabella mushroom gives a meaty & juicy flavor to the meal, while keeping it vegan. Simple ingredients, yet oh so delish!

Photo via Apple's phone

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 portabella mushroom
extra firm tofu
butter spray
1 tablespoon mrs dash herbs seasoning
1 tomato
asparagus for sides

Method:

Preheat grill. Medium heat
Cut tofu in 1/2 thick slices.
Spray with butter spray.
Sprinkle with Mrs. Dash & place on grill
Spray each side of tofu w/ butter spray before flipping. Brown each side.
Spray mushroom with butter spray & place on grill 5 min each side or until mushroom becomes juicy
Spray asparagus with butter spray & place on grill for 8 minutes. Toss around to make sure all sides are cooked.
Cut mushroom in half, place tofu & tomato in between
Serve on a platter with asparagus & dig in.

More creative recipes HERE

Video Interview @ The Bash: GreenSeedProject.com

GreenGirls — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:30:00 -0700

Green Seed Project's goal is to get as many people interested and involved in sustainability as possible.

"To do this, we are going to take a cross-country road trip from the West Coast to the East to find out ways renewable energy can help all of us." ~ greenseedproject.com

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The Green Girls Anniversary Bash was sponsored by: ECCO Lounge Filip Vodka Reeds Inc & POM Wonderful

Special thanks to our supporters: BuyGreen.com, National Kidney Foundation, EcoMinders, ONU, GoToGreenLA, YVES Rocher, Your Daily Thread, The Ultimate Green Store, Little Feet Coffee, Rain Tees, Anidra, Sugar Lab, AMMO, CHOCO VIVO, IRTH Communications

Sarah Backhouse interviews Curtis Dinsmore & Edurne Ganem at The Green Girls Anniversary Bash

In collaboration with:

Argam DerHartunian, Scott Badenoch, Sarah Backhouse, Ivy Joeva, & GreenSeedProject.com

Check out more party photos on our Facebook Page!

Eco-friendly Jewelry Accessories

Meghan — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:24:00 -0700

As the sustainable jewelry movement is takes off, consumers have even more reason to purchase jewelry. These days, you don't have to sacrifice beauty for jewelry you can feel good about. TheGreenGirls has introduced many designers such as Yilin Choo, Alberto Parada and Jennifer Dawes who share our passion for the environment and social responsibility.

The jewelry sector has had along history of contributing to devastating social and environmental problems in developing countries. When you buy sustainable jewelry, you are helping to transform the industry, which has huge potential to lift communities and whole nations out of poverty. As an example, when cutting and polishing of gems takes place in the community from which the rough is extracted from the earth, there is a decrease in illegal trade and there is a positive impact on the local economy.

But, why stop with jewelry? Next time you make a purchase of jewelry, consider pairing it with one of the new eco-friendly accessories. They both make great gift items.

Australian Lemon Gum Tree Jewelry Stand

This jewelry stand was beautifully designed to show off your jewelry and environmental values. Made from sustainable bamboo plywood, it is sturdy and eco-friendly. Retail - $44.

Jewelry Restore

Non-toxic, biodegradable and practically odorless, this enzymatic jewelry cleaner is great for bringing the sparkle back to your fine jewelry. Retail - $16.

Author: Meghan Connolly Haupt is the founder of Sulusso, an online marketplace dedicated to sustainable luxury and has her own sustainable jewelry brand, C5 company.

A mooo-ving visit to a sustainable farm

LynnandCorey — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:23:00 -0700

If you've read Michael Pollan's seminal work, In Defense of Food, or Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, you, like us, may have developed a real interest in where your food comes from. As often as possible, not only do we buy locally grown food from a co-op or farmer's market, but we find it helpful and interesting to visit farms, befriend the famer and learn more about his or her labors on our behalf.

Last weekend, my husband and I (this is Lynn talking), went on an outing to Sequim (pronounced SKWIM), WA, where we found ourselves staying at a cottage fortuitously situated next to Fairaview Farm. Enfolded on a hillside in the Olympic mountains, the five acre farm is the true love of its effervescent, passionate owner, Penny. With the help of her skilled-at-anything husband Fred, Penny has poured herself into creating not only a Grade A dairy and certified organic farm, but one that is aiming toward becoming 100% self-sufficient. It was fascinating to tour the land that had originally be homesteaded in the 1940's, but fallen into disrepair prior to Penny and her husband purchasing it.

Penny was born into a farming family and has done it all her life despite suffering from an infection in childhood that left her in constant pain and often on crutches or in a wheel chair. Her spirit infuses the farm and the products produced there. Meeting Penny, hearing her story and getting to know her a bit, inspired me to continue my support of small farmers and their often thankless work.

What fun to celebrate green by "meeting" the cow that produces the mild, silken camembert Fairaview is becoming known for, to see the room where it is made and another where it is aged. I'm convinced that I enjoyed the taste that much more because I'd connected with the producers (human and animal), and the process as well as the product.

While you may not have a farm in your backyard, take it from me, seeking one out at home or away, is worth the trouble. Penny's enthusiasm for her work will stay with me. As will the heavenly taste of that camembert.

Lynn Colwell and Corey Colwell-Lipson are a mother-daughter team and co-authors of Celebrate Green! Creating Eco-Savvy Holidays, Celebrations and Traditions for the Whole Family, available at www.CelebrateGreen.net.

2nd Annual PacSun Pipeline To A Cure

GreenGirls — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 07:50:00 -0700

The 2nd Annual PacSun Pipeline To A Cure event hosted by Laird Hamilton and Dave Kalama including a special performance from the Shiny Toy Guns happening in Huntington Beach this Saturday, July 18th.

WHO: Laird Hamilton and Dave Kalama along with surfers Mickey Munoz, Brett Simpson, Travis Mellem, Jeff Clark, Jericho Poplar, Sally Fitzgibbons, Gavin Beschen, Sunny Garcia, Kala Alexander, celebrities Gabrielle Reece, Eva LaRue, Michael Papajohn and many more to be announced.

WHAT: Honorary co-chairs and surf legends Laird Hamilton and Dave Kalama welcome guests to the 2nd Annual PacSun Pipeline To A Cure event benefiting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The evening will bring together the surf world to support the direct positive effect surfing has on those afflicted with cystic fibrosis. The event will feature a special headline performance from Shiny Toy Guns along with former American Idol Season 8 contestant Kai Kalama. Chris Cote, Editor-in-Chief of TransWorldSURF, will emcee the evening which includes a live auction with radio personality Shawn Parr. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation has chosen Mike Sullivan “The LA Car Guy” as their 2009 PacSun Pipeline to a Cure honoree.

During the silent auction PacSun Pipeline To A Cure will auction off items including celebrity autographed Havaiana flip flops from Zac Efron, Dakota Fanning, Chris Pine, Ashley Tisdale, Kate Bosworth, Selena Gomez, Hayden Panettiere and more. Shaun White has donated an autographed snowboard in addition to other celebrity items from Kelly Slater, Shia LeBeouf, Ryan Sheckler and more. For the second year in a row, Mike Sullivan has generously donated a new Toyota Prius to the opportunity drawing.

The PacSun Pipeline to a Cure campaign is raising funds and increasing global awareness of the unique bond between the sport of surfing and those with cystic fibrosis. The campaign was initiated after research showed that young cystic fibrosis (CF) patients who surf had healthier lungs. This year’s sponsors include PacSun, BJ’s Restaurants, Wahoo’s Fish Taco, American Airlines and LA Car Guy.

WHEN: Saturday, July 18th 2009
5:00 PM –Media Check-in
6:00 PM – Red Carpet Arrivals/Cocktail Reception
8:00 PM – Dinner/Program

WHERE: Hyatt Regency Resort & Spa
21500 Pacific Coast Highway
Huntington Beach, CA 92648

MORE: The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is the leading organization devoted to curing and controlling cystic fibrosis. Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., the Foundation funds CF research, has 73 chapter and branch offices throughout the country, and accredits a nationwide network of 115 CF care centers, which provide vital treatments and other CF resources to patients and families. To advance the search for a cure, CFF has invested nearly $300 million in promising scientific research in the biotechnology industry since 1998. As a result, the Foundation has more than 30 potential therapies in its drug discovery and development pipeline. Virtually every approved CF drug available today was made possible because of Cystic Fibrosis Foundation support. For more information, visit www.cff.org.

DIY hand-painted blinds... Sublime!

Deana — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:19:00 -0700

I can't take a bit of credit for this idea - it all came from Jennae at Green your Decor, but I think it's a fantastic way to have inexpensive, eco-chic window treatments & room dividers. I already love the look of bamboo and matchstick blinds. They're crisp, yet natural, work with just about any aesthetic, are readily available (you can find them at ANY major discount or home improvement store) and once you customize them... they become that much more fabulous! This project can be done by anyone - regardless of artistic prowess (see supply list below).

Photo from Green Your Decor!

Pick a simple pattern. Jennae went with a sweet, modern flower. You're going to be painting it freehand... so make sure not to overstep your abilities. Try out your pattern on a piece of scrap paper before you do the real deal as a test run.

Keep the blinds flat & straight as they have a tendency to shift. In order for the design to look the way you imagined once you hang the blinds, you have to ensure that they lay perfectly straight on your painting surface. If you don’t, the design can end up seriously distorted once hanging.

Using a very thin artist's brush, paint the outlines of your pattern onto the blinds, then fill in the outlines with a wider tipped brush. Because the blinds have gaps between each twig, using only a fine tipped brush would take for-ev-er! Also, Jennae points out that creating the outlines first means you can stand back and check the progress of your design as you go.

Let the paint dry for several hours. Install and Enjoy!

What you'll need:

Matchstick Rollup or Bamboo Shade (anywhere from $15 to $50, depending on size)
Artist’s paintbrushes, Approx. $4 (any craft or home improvement store)
Behr outdoor paint sample if you're installing outdoors, any non-toxic craft paint for indoors. Both approx. $4 (Home Depot, Michael's, etc.)
Biodegradable plastic dropcloth, Approx. $3 (Available at Walmart, Lowes, you name it!)

Learn more about Deana at

Take it off!

Janine — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:29:00 -0700

It's summer time so take it off ladies! It's easier I suppose when you come to a place like Costa Rica to have the feeling like you want and actually could simplify your life as a woman. Makeup doesn't last long here even if you wanted to wear it and really, when you walk around these beachy towns, you are reminded of the natural beauty all of us women possess. Many of the women us city dwellers would liken ourselves to (namely the ex-pats) either seem to surf or do yoga --these girls look great. Regardless, every woman down here is tan and wears no to minimal make-up or clothes for that matter. These girls are au natural and I love it.

Photo: Eco-Panda Fashion Show Launch

So here's my advice this summer -Take it off!

Strip your mind clean with some philosophy by Krishnamurti or woman empowering words by Sheila Kelly.

Wear less. It's summer. Who needs clothes? Bathing suits are fine :) Check out Eco-Panda's new line.

Drop the products! Look into organic virgin coconut oil. This is my saving grace out here in Costa Rica. I use it on food or to cook with (look into the health benefits of coconut oil). I use it as a hair treatment, a moisturizer for my skin both face and body (and I'm not worried if I'm dry, combination, or oily), and I use it additionally as a supplement to my skin protection from the sun.

Wear less make-up. Check out www.safecosmetics.org for reasons to drop your old brands if you need new ones (because you think you can't give it up) just choose safe ones. What is good for the planet is usually good for you as well. For recommendations on products, go to your local green store or check out Vert in Venice (either in person or online). Really though, make-up, you don't need it (or definitely not as much).

Learn to feel at peace with yourself. If you feel you can't do this naturally, I would recommend going to some yoga classes to learn to love yourself from the inside out. Going natural will somehow start to happen naturally. Maybe you've done yoga though and you need more ... take some strip/ pole dancing classes, seriously. If you go with S Factor, I would take S Expresses so you aren't obligated to be enrolled in something for weeks on end. I have heard good things about BeSpun as well and there is a Hollywood class once a week on through Meetup.com. I cannot tell you how liberating it will be for you as a woman to dance like this even if just for yourself. LIB-ER-ATING! Do it! You will not regret it.

So again, be confident this summer and take it off; you will realize all you really need, is you ;)

Learn more about Janine at Green Wave Enterprises

Composting part one – why should I compost?

Allison — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:17:00 -0700

This is the first in a series on composting. Please do not be afraid and stop reading at this point - it’s not so bad, I promise.

I understand how most people feel about composting. In my own journey to going green, composting was one of the last activities that I embraced. I was worried that it was complicated, time consuming, and that it would be messy and smelly. I also thought that I wouldn’t have room for a compost bin in my yard or have enough garden space to use the top soil it would create.

Photo via giamarie

I’m here to tell you that compositing is not hard, it’s not messy, and you don’t need a large yard to do it. This is the first in a series of posts covering all you need to know but were afraid to ask about composting.

Compost refers to decomposed organic material. It’s a simple and totally natural process. All you really need to compost are three things we all have readily available - food waste, air and water. If you have a large property or garden, you can literally just bury the food waste in your yard and let nature run its course. For those of us with Southern California sized yards, you probably want some type of composting bin – more on all the many types of compost bins and systems in a future post.

The first question to answer, is why even bother composting in the first place. The main benefits of composting are that it significantly reduces food waste in the landfill and it provides an almost constant source of free fertilizer and soil conditioner.

According to a recent study by the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans generate roughly 30 million tons of food waste each year, about 12 percent of the total waste stream. All but about 2 percent of that food waste ends up in landfills. In addition, the rotting food that ends up in landfills causes odors; attracts flies and vermin; and produces methane, a major source of greenhouse gases (and according to the EPA, 20 times more damaging to the environment than carbon dioxide).

Not only does composting divert a considerable portion of your family's food waste from the landfill and water treatment facilities, it is a natural method of taking organic materials that would otherwise be thrown away, and turning them into valuable humus, or compost. Flowers, vegetables, trees, shrubs, grass and even house plants all grow better in soil mixed with compost. Compost also helps retains water in the soil, adds nutrients to the soil, cools the soil's surface, and helps mitigate erosion. And it’s totally free - why go out and buy topsoil when you can create your own endless supply in your backyard?

Home composting is also a great activity for kids. It teaches kids about conservation and it’s a home science experiment every day. And hey, if it gets the kids to voluntarily do yard work, even better. Seriously, my kids argue over who gets to bring the food waste out to the compost bin and who gets to turn the handle to aerate the material in the composter. Of course my kids just had a serious argument over who got the little plastic thing that comes in the middle of the pizza box so maybe that’s not the best example, but I do see that they enjoy being part of the process and seeing the material biodegrade in the compost bin.

So, hopefully I gave you enough to think about that you might consider the idea of composting. If you are ready for more information now, check out these links for more information about composting:

Environmental Protection Agency's Guide to composting
Howtocompost.org
Composters.com

Stay tuned, next up, the types of food and yard waste that can be composted and how to find the perfect composting bins and systems – for any price range and property size.

Learn more about Allison at

Video: Create A Lace Trimmed Print Bikini Top & Micro Mini Swim Skirt

GiannyL — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:37:00 -0700

The lace trim top gives a soft, sexy look & the micro mini swim skirt minimizes your hips and tummy; a fiercely chic bikini that works with your body!

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For more sexy instructional videos by Gianny, visit http://www.giannyl.com/

Green Business Building for Green Girls

MonicaF — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:26:00 -0700

Are you self-employed? just starting out? Are you with a startup? Thinking about freelancing? Doing your green thing "on the side"? Recently laid-off and need your green product or service up and running in the next thirty days?

You're in business, ladies. Let's figure out your next steps to running, growing, and thriving with your green business.

Typical questions I hear are "There is this Business Services Center I can go to for questions but I at least want to be a bit educated on the matter" or "I don't really know what to ask? Where do I start?" Google is my quick answer for you.

We are all very fortunate because of the wealth of information available to us through the web and in-person with many mentorship programs and success-oriented courses and seminars.

If you are exchanging a green product or service for money (or even for barter) you are running your own green business!

In this upcoming series, we'll focus on:

1) Your business infrastructure
2) Developing your customer base
3) Recordkeeping
4) Goalsetting
5) Expanding your reach

Read on for more details and bookmark this page to get ongoing tips, support, and advice.

Part 1A: Your Business Infrastructure

If you're currently in business (meaning, you have a job, a consulting gig, a set of products you're selling online, or you're doing affiliate marketing), one of the first things to consider is how you will incorporate.

Many people start out as a sole proprietor -- while this is fine for small consulting jobs, you will want to definitely consider incorporating soon as a S-corp, C-corp or LLC to protect your personal assets and to shield yourself from potential litigation.

When you're serious and focused, you can open up a business account at your bank in the name of your business, where you and/or your partners can co-sign on the account. In the meantime, consider opening another bank account or share account and using it to keep business-related income and expenses.

When income comes to you from your business, for example a check written out to you for services rendered, put it into your business banking account. This could be for PayPal payments, for Google Adsense checks, for any kind of cash from products you sell, for events you put on where you collect a fee, and the like. This is INCOME.

You'll also make any payments related to your business from that account. These are EXPENSES.

By keeping business-related income separate from your "personal" money -which is where you receive money like from a regular job/paycheck/salaried job, you maintain a good picture of your business cash flow, and when it's tax time you'll deduct your business-related expenses from your overall personal income.

Your sample register for your very first endeavor may look like:

		Bank account opens
	+425	INCOME- CONSULTING INCOME: first payment from client A
-54.00		EXPENSE: TRANSPORTATION train ticket
-35.50		EXPENSE: CELL PHONE SERVICE
-32.72		EXPENSE: Business lunch -- discuss details with potential client B
	+275	INCOME- CONSULTING INCOME: first payment from client B
-35.00		EXPENSE: Dues to X organization
-10.00		EXPENSE: POSTAGE

etc. etc.

Continue to keep track of all the expenses that you are incurring through your business. We use QuickBooks, and there are other fine solutions like Quicken and Microsoft Money to track your expenses.

At the end of your fiscal year you'll have a record of your income, any of your expenses, as well as any draws you took (money you took from the business to pay for your personal needs such as groceries).

The main thing to remember is to keep your personal income and expenses separate from your self-employment/business income and expenses.

Did you know you that many items that you can deduct as business expenses are:

+ mileage (keep track of your beginning odometer and end odometer, the destination, and the reason)
+ travel (for plane, bus, auto rental, and train tickets to your business meeting)
+ dues and subscriptions (for industry groups or magazines in your core focus area)
+ meals/entertainment (for meetings with potential clients - keep track of who, what was discussed, and amounts)
+ cell phone/Internet (for business use)
+ even a portion of your rent or mortgage that is set-aside for your home office!

Because the United States runs on small business, there are many available opportunities if you're willing to learn a little more and become savvy about what will work for you.

My best recommendation for learning more is Jan Zobel's "Minding Her Own Business".

link to Google Books excerpt

Are you a green woman in business? List your business in the directory at http://www.greenbizwomen.com. Tweet Monica about your green business on Twitter: @monicadear.

Free Giveaway: We're making available ~~1500~~ ~~1275~~ 1120 copies of the 240-page e-book on 51 Ways to Build your Community of Clients Online for Green Girls readers. The book is a great way to maximize your website effectiveness. Use this link: http://bit.ly/51waysbook and use discount code: greengirls.

Find a weekly tip or how-to on Green Businesses here at The Green Girls on Wednesday afternoons from Monica S. Flores of .

Video: Chicago Eco-Fashion Cafe with Lara Miller & Abigail Glaum Lathbury

Bianca — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:23:00 -0700

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Video: One-on-One With Scott Badenoch of CreativeCitizen.com

GreenGirls — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:59:00 -0700

Co-founder & CEO of CreativeCitizen.com, Scott Badenoch is knee deep in the Green movement. Ivy Joeva had some one-on-one time with Scott at The Green Girls Anniversary party.

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The Green Girls Anniversary Bash was sponsored by: ECCO Lounge Filip Vodka Reeds Inc & POM Wonderful

Special thanks to our supporters: BuyGreen.com, National Kidney Foundation, EcoMinders, ONU, GoToGreenLA, YVES Rocher, Your Daily Thread, The Ultimate Green Store, Little Feet Coffee, Rain Tees, Anidra, Sugar Lab, AMMO, CHOCO VIVO, IRTH Communications

Ivy Joeva & Scott Badenoch at The Green Girls Anniversary Bash

In collaboration with:

Argam DerHartunian, Scott Badenoch, Sarah Backhouse, Ivy Joeva, & GreenSeedProject.com

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