The Story of Stuff - You HAVE to watch this!

One of my super great friends just sent me the link to the Story of Stuff - so cool!

The site http://www.storyofstuff.com/ explains the video well:

"From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever."

You owe it to yourself and family to watch this and be a conscious consumer!!!

Patagonia Walks the Talk with Freedom to Roam Initiative

Patagonia is one of our favorite companies.
1. They have AMAZING outdoor products that we use when we are shooting photos for our online greeting cards
2. They are a socially responsible company (Three Leaf Cards is a member of 1% for the Planet)
3. They are an environmentally active company.

They have an initivate called Freedom to Roam that is dedicated to establishing migration wildways for animals between protected areas. Patagonia’s partners in Freedom to Roam include other companies, conservation organizations and recreation groups.

I got this email from Patagonia that explains the purpose and passion:
"Climate change threatens to drive more than a million land species to extinction, according to the Extinction Risk from Climate Change study. Habitats for mammals, birds, reptiles, frogs, and butterflies will become warmer. If these species remain trapped in warming habitats due to human development, one-quarter of them could disappear by the end of this century.

Providing species (like this grizzly) with greater freedom to roam between shifting habitats can do much to support their survival. In North America, this means protecting and restoring wildlife corridors along the Pacific Crest, the Continental Divide, the Appalachians, and several other smaller, but equally important, locales.

Freedom to Roam is a partnership of conservation organizations, recreation groups and corporations dedicated to establishing migration corridors between protected areas."

Learn more about the Freedom to Roam partnership and SUPPORT COMPANIES that CARE!

You can vote with your wallets conscious spenders!!

Great Conscious Spending Oprah Segment

I was surfing the web for conscious spending resources to keep the motivation for conscious holiday spending in the air and I came across a great clip from Oprah.

See Oprah's Conscious Spending Segment

It's an older TV segment, but the tips are still valid. It's about spending money with thought and reason.

There is a conscious spending quiz and video clips.

Invest in yourself for the new year, revamp your conscious spending savvy!

Green Gifts - Don't let your gift giving kill you

It's the time of year where we max out our credit cards in the name of "holiday cheer" and go crazy buying "thneeds"
four our friends, family, coworkers, contact and loved ones.

I am going to be on my green gifts soapbox until the holiday, so I thought I'd kick off my rant by suggesting how you avoid buying holiday gifts period.

I worked in retail (Saks Fifth Avenue) for years and spent my holidays selling, wrapping, selecting and taking returns for all the thneeds that people bought over the holidays. The stress kicked in, conscious spending went out the door. It never failed, I watched people get Christmas coo-coo every year and as much as it made my commissions soar as a shopgirl, it started my loathing for stupid holiday shopping and my start of scaling the madness.

Here's how I started saving my green for the holidays:

1. I stopped the gift exchange stupidness - who needs to buy a gift to get a useless one in return? It ends up in the trash (bad for landfills) or takes up space OR you give a nice gift and get one that is so-so in return. Stupid, done, off the purchase list.

2. I asked my family to stop gift exchanging and give to charity instead. This took my parents years to break the habit (but you know, two years after getting a card that says "I donated to charity" that was not attached to a gift and they come around). I live in a teeny condo, this change has saved my wallet, my space and my stress. It's tough to get this in place, but it is SO worth it.

3. Give gifts to kids under 15 ONLY. The holidays are for kids anyways! Some on, put your moolah into giving to the lives that love this time of year - the smiles you get in exchange are so worth it.

4. Give the gift of connection. I try to take my holiday cash and put it into visits and dinners with family. We don't need a damn thing for the holidays, treat the ones you love to conversation and a great meal. So worth it!

5. When you do give, GIVE GIFTS FROM CONSCIOUS COMPANIES. I give client gifts as I am so grateful for my great work partners and I give gifts from companies like Aveda (Aveda candles are a PERFECT gift)!

Make the holidays meaningful - start by being a conscious spender! Be green and save green!

5 Easy First Steps You Can Do Today

MSN now has a Green Section Hooray for that! I love seeing large entities take initiative and make a difference!

Check out the new green tips section on MSN AND their link to 5 easy steps you can take to simplify life and make a healthier life and planet

Part of being a conscious spender is being CONSCIOUS, yep, it's that easy. Think about your actions and your can re-train your brain to make savvier choices for a happier, healthier life.

Here's a recap of the 5 easy steps:
1. Bring a canvas or reuseable bag when you shop. I find it's easiest to have a few in my car at all times for grocery, farmers market, nordstrom (yep, I even bag my new clothes in canvas!)

2. Conserve electricity. I have a two light rule at home and I often find I only need one if I am home alone. Candles make a better light and mood at night anyhoo!

3. Save gas. Can you walk to the post office vs. driving there on your lunch hour? If so, DO IT! The planet and your tush will thank you for it!

4. Buy local. The waste involved in transporting produce is insane, support local farmers for healthier produce and to minimize impact. You are what you eat so eat quality!

5. Reduce your plastic water consumption. I say this as I just bought a six pack of Fiji water at the grocery store thinking I rocked for supporting a green water company however, it would have been better to buy larger quantities of Fiji water vs all the little ones.

I have some conscious choices to make too!

Pure Prevention - Help Reduce your Chances of Breast Cancer

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so the team at Breast Cancer Fund, Luna Bar and Pure Prevention have joined forces to help fight the fight by preventing breast cancer in the first place!

There are easy steps that can be taken to help prevent Breast Cancer, many are simply conscious choices:

1. Create a Healthy Home - Be conscious and make wise choices about your household cleaners, furnishings and pest killers. We breathe all that crud you know!!!
2. Eat Smart - We are what we eat, including the chemicals in our food. Before you fill that grocery cart up, think before you buy. Buy quality food, your body will love you for it!
3. Choose Safe Cosmetics - The makeup we buy matters. Some of the industry's worst offenders include nail polish, hair dye, hair relaxer and skin lighteners. For a list of save cosmetics, visit Skin Deep
4. Get Outside - The air indoors can be really toxic, mix it up, breathe fresh air and move that body!
5. Join the Pure Prevention Campaign

Stop Junk Mail - Help the Planet

I was at the post office today picking up my mail and I was abhorred by the poundage of junk mail discarded by the mail picker-uppers. As much as I wanted to have warm fuzzies that lots of the crap solicitation garbagio was going to recycled, I could not stop my level of growing infuriation (in public) that the stinking junk mail was delivered to all our mailboxes the first place.

I managed to not loose it in front of the other mail-gatherers and got into my car and remembered that change starts with me...so, what's a conscious consumer to do? The obvious answer was to take steps to stop the junk mail in the first place.

Being the conscious consuming nerd that I am, I started my research of companies that help stop junk mail. Some sites show you how to stop junk mail on your own but being a busy person, I realized quickly that I wanted to engage the help of a third party to do the heavy-lifting for me.

After comparing several stop junk mail sites, I found www.41pounds.org. Not only do they contact tons of direct marketing folks to stop your junk mail, they are an official carbon-free organization. 41pounds serves to stop junk mail and the service fee covers five years AND they donate more than a third of the fee to non profit organizations. Way coolio.

I had a wave of conscious consumer giddiness after I signed up. Here's to stopping junk mail and making a difference!

Almost 500 Different Cosmetic Products Deemed Toxic!

No longer should we be asking, “Rosy Rouge or Plumpy Pink?” Now we should be asking about what kind of toxic materials are we putting on our faces when we… well… put on our faces!

Yesterday, Environmental Graffiti published an article stating that the Environmental Working Group released some revealing research exposing 478 cosmetic products sold in the US contain doses of toxic chemicals which are unsafe! Holy cow!

Those are some staggering facts. Formaldehyde, selenium, hydrogen peroxide and lead acetate were found in large quantities of test samples. Not only is this toxic for our faces, but also just think about what it does to our environment!

You can check out more disturbing facts on the Environmental Working Group’s website.

Wal-Mart and Safeway Look To Greener Pastures

There is a lot of news coming out from grocer and retail merchandisers
talking about the green steps they are trying to take when is comes to
corporate sustainability and corporate responsibility.

Safeway, for instance, is already using wind energy to power its on-site
fuel station; and now, they have installed a solar panel atop one of their
locations, which will provide 20% of the energy needed to run the facility.
More information about these initiatives is available at
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/09/safeway.php

Making more steps towards a greener future, Wal-Mart announced that they are
kicking off an initiative to measure how much energy their suppliers use to
produce and provide the products sold at Wal-Mart. The hope is that the
study will reveal ways they can work together more efficiently and reduce
their environmental impact.

Wal-Mart expects the project to reduce overall packaging by five percent and
save 667,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.

Consumer Consequences: Our Impact Measured… by a Computer Game?

We are all here because we care about the earth and are like-minded in
making steps to reduce our impact and help preservation efforts around the
world.

An article that recently came out on Greenbiz Wire News, introducing this
new game from American Public Media, which tells us what the “environmental
consequences” of our lifestyles are.

The idea for the game is to enlighten its users into redesigning their
current lifestyles to adopt one that is more eco-friendly and can be
classified as “Green.”

As you play the game, you get scored with “Earths” based on your answers.
You don’t want to see that Earth though; even one is one too many, and
however many you get represents just how unsustainable your lifestyle really
is.

This game works as a two-way street. Consumers get to see how big their
impact is, and they can play again and make better choices and get a better
outcome on the game. Hopefully they’ll translate those changes to real
life.

On the flip side, the information that the gamers create is used to
determine how sustainable our consumerism really is.

The end study will be one to watch for, surely; and in the meantime, you can
check out more on the game, and maybe even play it if you are brave enough
to see your results, by visiting www.consumerconsequences.org.

Check out the full article at
http://greenbizwire.csrwire.com/news/9669.html.

Truth Be Known ­ Real Statistics About Earth

Did you know...

Each Minute

• At least 51 acres of tropical forests are destroyed.
• We consume almost 35,000 barrels of oil.
• 50 tons of fertile soil are washed or blown off cropland.
• We add 12,000 tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

Each Hour

• 1,692 acres of productive dry land become desert.
• 1,800 children die of malnutrition and hunger (that makes a total of 15million each year).
• 120 million dollars are spent for military expenditures (making a total of one trillion each year).
• 55 people are poisoned by the pesticides they use; 5 die.
• 60 new cases of cancer are diagnosed in the United States alone (that makes a total of 500,000 each year with 20,000 leading to death).

Each Day

• Over 230,000 babies are born.
• 25,000 people die of water shortage or contamination.10 tons of nuclear waste are being generated by the 350 existing nuclear plants.
• 250,000 tons of sulfuric acid fall as acid rain in the Northern Hemisphere.
• 60 tons of plastic packaging and 372 tons of fishing net are dumped into the sea by commercial fishermen.
• Almost 5 species of life become extinct.

But that does not mean that we can't make a change and preserve our future earth. This free climate change card says it all.

Read more stats at http://www.truthbeknown.com/earthstatistics.htm.

Would our environmental problems disappear if all of humankind suddenly vanished?

An interesting article recently came out from the Scientific American, who
interviewed Alan Weisman who published a book called ³The World Without Us.²
The article is conveniently called ³An Earth Without People,² and it takes
us through Weisman¹s scientific studies on the effects of humans on the
earth, what it was like before our time, and hypothesizes about what it
might be like if we left it like it is right now, and essentially vanished
without a trace. Would we still leave a trace?

One of the most obvious human impacts that may stick around until the end of
the earth itself is the radioactive and chemical pollutants we have
contributed to the environment throughout the decades and centuries. That
is something Weisman says may never actually go away.

It is interesting to note, however, that nature is a truly brooding force,
and a big city like Manhattan would fall apart in a matter of days without
humans here to constantly ward off the forces of nature.

His book was written to help provide a new perspective on our impacts on the
environment and to give us hope to make a change in the future that we want
so badly for our children, our grandchildren, their children and so on.

Read the full article

What is Conscious Spending?

It seemed like a good idea to start at the top to speak and explain what Conscious Spending means to us—especially as were are striving to be a sustainable business by providing online greeting cards as an environmentally friendly alternative for “conscious spenders". Like many things in life this post has turned into an unexpected adventure.

I started by defining the parts to clarify the whole. The most appropriate definitions of “conscious” from Webster’s dictionary are: 1: perceiving, apprehending, or noticing with a degree of controlled thought or observation, and 7: done or acting with critical awareness and 8b: being concerned or interested.

So far so good: a conscious spender would make purchase decisions by combining their concerns and awareness of the environment and social justice with a focused and critical decision making process. Or: they would think and reflect before acting.

And then the adventure began: The most appropriate definitions for “Spend” are: 1: to use up or pay out, or 2 a: Exhaust, wear out, b: to consume wastefully. Oops. It seems to me that a conscious person wouldn’t want to purchase something under any of these definitions—consuming wastefully is precisely what got us to where we are today.

Here is where a bit of self disclosure is in order—you may have noticed that the name of our blog is “conscious spending”. In hindsight, this is not a great name. We picked it because we were focused on action (setting up the blog) rather than thinking and reflecting before acting. So we’ve created a fantastic real world example of how not to make a decision and/or make a purchase. If we would’ve done more research we would have come up with another name. Let’s continue the research together:

Some have started using the phrase “conscious consumerism” (as have we at times). Consumerism is defined as “the theory that an increasing consumption of goods is economically desirable; also: a preoccupation with and an inclination toward the buying of goods”. Again this is exactly the theory and behavior that we’re trying to challenge.

How about consumer? I’m sure you already know where this is heading: 1: one that consumes : as a: one that utilizes economic goods b: an organism requiring complex organic compounds for food which it obtains by preying on other organisms or by eating particles of organic matter. Actually not all that bad, we all have to consume (eating and drinking come to mind) but still not quite the message we’re trying to promote. (I had to leave the last part in for some dark humor-the phrase “preying on other organisms” just hits too close to home.)

How about conscious customer? 1: one that purchases a commodity or service. Viola! Finally, a simple and clear definition of the action required to complete a purchase without the added burden of having to do more and more of it.

We’re ALL customers in one form or another and that in itself is not unhealthy to society or the environment. Of course it what and how often we buy that would define us as a consumer, spender or a Conscious customer.