New Guide to Ending Sweatshops

Co-Op America recently launched their 2008 Guide to Ending Sweatshops. They want to make it easier for you to avoid the worst companies, reward the best, and take action to keep sweatshop labor out of the supply chain.

Be a conscious spender, be aware, make good choice, support Co-Op America so they can help us!

Our way of life is killing the planet

I rarely use the blog to rant - it is my job to give you ideas about how to spend consciously, but I had a crude awakening over the weekend that I wanted to share as I think it applies to some of our planetary pitfalls and if we don't become more aware of the connection of our lifestyle and the impacts of it on the planet, we will hose ourselves.

Okay, here I go....

I travel a lot for work and as a conscious spender, I work to offest my impact with things like Terrapass to offest my carbon emissions for driving, 41pounds.org to stop junk mail, I use eco-friendly cleaning products and I support conscious businesses....BUT...I was strapped for cash last weekend and selected a more budget hotel (vs. a sustainable hotel) this weekend (I was teaching in the Bay area) and because I had time alone to think and observe, I really got a nasty taste of our time-crunched culture and how our way of life may be a direct link to the negative dent on the planet....

Let me explain....

I stopped to get gas as I drove up the coast and the places I stopped at for gas only sell junk...plastic water bottle everything, packaged foods, ick. I watched as my fellow travelers purchased dozens of plastic bottled goods and body-toxifying items (that really aren't food when you think about it) All the junk being sold at "convenience stores" have packaging that can end up in landfills OR hopefully some plastic will get recycled, but it's really disturbing when you look hard at it...

I will not name the hotel I stayed it, but I can tell you that I am NEVER staying there again! I got up for my continental breakfast and I was abhorred by:
1. All the crap that was out for breakfast
2. That ALL the serving utensils were plastic or foam!
3. All the trashable crap that was in my room from coffee making items, toiletries and more.

To help diminish my eco-impact at breakfast, I went up to my room and got my personal cup for coffee but I was really freaking out as I watched my fellow travelers eat fast, eat stupid and worst of all - waste, waste, waste.

Shame on the hotel for not being mindful of the products they put out, but

SHAME ON US for our time-crunched culture where we all move so fast and multi task and eat on the run so we make so much waste. I really believe that our culture is the culprit and until we change our lifestyles, we cannot make the best choices for our planet and future generations.

It's hard being a single girl on a budget...it's not always easy to support eco-friendly hotels when you have bills to pay, but frankly, I'd rather be poor in paradise then go cheap and stay somewhere like I did last weekend.

We CAN make a difference if we care and are aware. I want everyone to think about ways they can ease the time crunch so you have time to fill your own reusable cups before you hit the road, actually eat while sitting down so your body gets the nourishment it needs and you can take a moment to breathe and remember to recycle, make conscious choices and give a damn...

I welcome all opinions - I need ideas, thoughts, challenging opinions!

Kenneth Cole Launches New Fashion aWEARness Blog

Kenneth Cole has always been a trendsetter, not only with his stellar style, but also in his social, political and environmental activism.

Now Cole has an aWEARness (how cool is he?) blog to communicate and generate awareness about social issues and more.

It's about time fashion REALLY met function. Support companies like Kenneth Cole who are gusty enough to flex the art of fashion and the power of media to influence greater good.

Check out the new aWEARness blog by Kenneth Cole.

This YouTube Video put on by the Kenneth Cole team made me cry at my desk. This is what it's about conscious spenders - being aware and learning to care...

Last Day of Patagonia's 50% Savings on Warm Gear!

Hey Conscious Spenders!
If you need (note - NEED) any winter or warm gear that will last through the ages (Patagonia stuff lasts forever!) Then you can still find super steals and deals on fall/winter Patagonia clothing.

The Winterfest Sale ends today!

Shop Patagonia Sale

WorldofGood.com eBay community is LIVE!

I am so excited to share with you all that we have a great new conscious spending resource! WorldofGood, powered by eBay, is an awesome online community where individuals can create positive change through commerce, as part of a global community.

The founders saw the need for education and collaboration so people could be more empowered with the choices they make to better impact people and the planet. World of Good partnered with eBay to marry passion with web power and voila! Super conscious community!

What I love about the site is the people-powered component. It's all about collaboration, trusted information and transparency into how and where products are made.

Three Leaf Cards blogs periodically on World of Good, and I encourage you to bookmark their site and create an account and make a difference!

There was a great interview on Treehugger.co, about the founder - check it out! Treehugger Interview: Robert Chatwani, eBay’s Greenest Rising Star

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!!

Send Meaningful Valentine's Cards Online!

Hey Conscious Spenders,
I rarely plug Three Leaf Cards but since it's almost Valentine's Day (and it is my blog and I can do what I want to!), I have to suggest conscious spending by getting an annual membership to send great online greeting cards that serve a greater good!


Three Leaf Cards has GREAT Valentine's Day Cards that have amazing imagery and beautiful quotes...have fun making cards and you can schedule them in advance so you can hit up all your loved ones!!!

I love the Hotel Triton so much that I want to marry it

Well, after a post like that I don't really know how to follow, but I'll give it a go! I was up in San francisco this week and stayed at my favorite hotel EVER! Hotel Triton is owned by the Kimpton Hotel Group. They are a socially responsible company. Their mission says it all:

"Be a leader in the hospitality industry in supporting a sustainable world, by continuing to deliver a premium guest experience through non-intrusive, high quality, eco-friendly products and services."

I love supporting Kimpton Hotels 1. Because their hotels ROCK and 2. Because of their Earth Care committment:

"Kimpton Hotels has made a life-long commitment to environmental responsibility. Being environmentally responsible is not a one day job. It is a commitment and one that Kimpton is dedicated to for life. Every three months, new products and practices are introduced to Kimpton EarthCare, furthering our vision to reduce our impact on the environment. Of course, all the while we protect the high quality hotel experience our guests expect."

The service is stellar, the eco-friendly emphasis makes me feel good about where I put my moolah and I am surronded with conscious care.

Sustainable Furniture - New Conscious Choice

When I attended last year's Co-Op America Conference in San Francisco, I walked away inspired and committed to making choices about where my money goes to help make a difference.

My conscious choice of the week was investing in new office furniture, but not just any office furniture, sustainable office furniture!

I am buying National Office Furniture not because it's a cheap deal (oh noooo!), but because they are a company that cares and I am buying (or should I say investing) in a QUALITY product that I will have forever. Plus, my home office will look really sexy and that's a plus too!!!

If you want to make conscious choices, support companies that WALK THE TALK. Need advice on how to find these companies? Check out members of 1% for the Planet. Three Leaf Cards is a member of 1% for the Planet, a very conscious choice that counts to consumers who want to support companies that put their money where their mouth is!

Ernesto Soy Lube for Bikes

Ernesto is trying to build name recognition with a soy-based bike lube. It’s biodegradable, and you can even send the empty bottle back when it’s gone to get it refilled.

If you’re looking to lower the environmental footprint of your bike, this might be the only way to increase your righteousness while winding a cargo bike through streets crowded with SUVs.

A 4oz bottle of Ernesto Lube is only $6.

Great Site - www.uptownliz.com

Hey Readers,
I wanted to share a new site from my new blog pal, Ramona Russell.

www.uptownliz.com was created in memory of Ramona's 28 year old sister, Liz who sadly lost her life from breast cancer last year. The site that supports giving back through shopping.

Uptown Liz (www.uptownliz.com) promotes products from companies whose proceeds directly give back to charitable organizations.

Check it out and support fellow conscious business people....our dollars can make a difference!

Confessions of a Conscious Shopper

Sometimes it's tough being a wild web woman. You live behind a computer screen, your only interactions with the outside world are via email or web conferencing and you feel all alone in your little wild web world. Now, don't get me wrong...my lack of commute and work flexibility is great, but sometimes you just have "one of those days"...

...And sometimes when the going gets tough, the tough just has to go shopping....

So I was at a meeting (yes, an actual get in the car and meet people in person meeting) and the shopping mall was on the way home...going back to my home office and sitting behind the laptop was not desirable and since I was already in the shopping area, I realize that it would be less impactful to shop now versus make a second driving trip (you are hearing all the shopping excuses already!) back to the mall, so I make a conscious shopping choice to STOP, SHOP and ROLL....keep rolling with me as I confess my not-so guilty shopping sins....

Let me first pat my conscious spending self on the back for taking my canvas bag with me before I started my shopping extravaganza. Go me...ok, rolling on...

First shopping stab - AVEDA. I love Aveda so much I want to marry them. Their products are amazing, the company is cool and most importantly, they are dedicated to making a difference. I try to consciously support companies that do good and Aveda is top on my shop therapy list. Did you know that they are the first beauty company manufacturing with 100% certified wind power?

So, I walk into Aveda feeling pitiful and tired and I am overwhelmed with a stellar customer service "Welcome to Aveda!" greeting. As I sip calming Aveda tea, I get pampered with makeup help (and honestly, I needed some help in the beautification department) a hand massage and overall stellar service. After I look like a naturally glowing goddess thanks to my Aveda superstar, I use my Aveda points (BTW, I am going to Jamaica on Aveda points, mark my conscious spending words!) and as the women are ringing me up, they thank me profusely for bringing my own canvas bag. Getting shopping support when I try to be green really rocks. Then we proceed to talk about their new wind energy movement, my goal to go to Jamaica (a la supporting Aveda) and I'm off....

My seond shop therapy stop was lululemon athletica. I had a gift certificate to the store burning a hole in my pocket and there was no better time than now. Conscious spender note - lululemon has great shopping bags I use as a gym bag or lunch bag and they give you $.50 off when you bring in any shopping bag. I love stuff like that!

I find some great workout wear that is in line with my gift certificate amount and I bought basic black so I can wear this stuff forever. Suggestion for conscious fashionistas - buy classic and the shelf life of clothing will be super long...saves shop time because you have the basics you need and you don't have the trend factors that kill clothing shelf life. lululemon has a great manifesto
that is very pro balance, health and what really matters. Another cool company that I am happy to support.

Once my canvas bag had new workout clothes and Aveda goodies, I was consciously shopped out and wanted to call it quits. I supported two great companies, felt good about my choices and now feel some redemption from my conscious shopping confessional......

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.......

OrganicStyle.com Offering 10% Discount!

Don't Panic - Organic Style is offering a 10% Discount! I got an email from them today - follow this link to get 10% off (they build the discount in and you see it in the shopping cart.

Organic Egg Whites From Eggology

As a conscious spender, I always want to buy products that are healthy, safe and make me feel like my money is well spent. I found a good one this week!

I went to Lazy Acres, a local store in Santa Barbara, Ca where I discovered Eggology.com's organic egg whites.

Eggology's egg whites are 100% fresh egg whites - NOTHING else added (unlike some of the not-so yummy egg beaters-type egg whites that give egg whites a bad name).

I have been making egg white omlettes, adding low fat protein to my smoothies and baking with Eggology. I never thought I'd like the taste of egg whites, but I do!!

Go to www.eggology.com - you can order online and get GREAT healthy low fat recipes

Super Cool Holiday Gift from Brad Pitt

Yep, I got a Christmas gift from Brad Pitt. Okay, it came from my parents though Pitt's foundation Make it Right, but what woman is not going to pass up the opp to make a statement like that? (sigh)

I did a post on conscious holiday shopping where I talked about trying to get my parents off the "thneed" holiday gifting and I was so impressed and excited when my mom and stepdad make a donation to the Make it Right Foundation in my name this year!

The mission of Make it Right is to be a catalyst for redevelopment of the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans, building sustainable homes and preserving the spirit of the comunity's culture. They want to move fast and I love that Brad Pitt is exercising his celebrity visibility to help a great cause.

And my mom and stepdad rock for 1. giving a conscious gift and 2. supporting a good cause, embracing the real meaning of the giving season

Green Holiday Recap

Greetings Conscious Spenders,
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. I am in Santa Barbara trying to not inhale all the ash that is STILL blowing around from the October fires and working to get settled back in from the holiday madness.

The holidays were great and my green gifting was a success. The people who received Organic Bouquet flowers from me couldn't rave enough. I will definitely use them for green gifts again. Quality company, amazing service.

I splurged and bought a pretty foofy foofy (but green!) gift from Organic Kitchen via Neiman Marcus that totally rocked my world. As a cleaning nut and green girl, this was the perfect healthy cleaning gift - too coolio. The Patchouli Grapefruit lotion is divine!

It was really positive to see all the green gifts and my mother-in-law even asked for all her gift bags back after her grand kids opened presents to recycle them for next year - I was a proud kid :)

Here's to a happy, healthy new year!

I shopped, I saved, I gave back (to Co-Op America!) I'm stoked!

It's that fab time of year where all conscious spending goes out the window and we are not in the holiday "oh s-%$" gift-giving-madly mayhem. For those of you who had a list and stuck to it, I sincerely commend you.

I for one, thought I was on track, bragged in a previous post that I had omitted so many unnecessary gifts, yet here I am ready to leave for Utah for the holiday (I live in California) and as I blog, I am also frantically online buying last minute gifts for people I just realized I need to gift.

BUT HERE'S THE GOOD NEWS ! You can still give gifts that give back that are meaningful. Co-Op America has a deal with Organic Bouquet where you get a 25% discount AND $10 is donated to Co-Op America!

So I supported a green company, gave beautiful gifts and supported a great cause.

Whew!!! Still consciously spending!

We will talk about ways to pay off credit cards in 2008! ha!

Happy Holidays!

Skip the Mall - Shop online and support the Breast Cancer Fund!!!

Do yourself a favor and spare some stress this holiday season. Make a cup of tea, get on your computer and skip the mall and do your shopping online - who wants to go to fight the parking wars and shop for silly thneeds anyhoo?

You can shop online AND support the breast cancer fund! If you buy through their online shopping mall, they get a percentage of donation with every purchase.

The Breast Cancer Fund supports science and research to help stop breast cancer in the first place. One of my best friends is a breast cancer survivor, I have seen the impact this disease has and I LOVELOVELOVE causes like BCF that work for prevention!

Support a great cause, find great gifts and if you still have not sent cards this year, it's not too late. You can send nature-inspired, video holiday greetings online through Three Leaf Cards. 10% of every annual membership purchase goes to the non-profit organization of your choice, you can choose The Breast Cancer Fund.

Happy Holidays and Here's to Conscious Shopping!

Give the Gift of Feeding a Child for a Year

Blake Mycoskie (the absolutely handsome) owner of TOMS Shoes, sent out an email today announcing the FEED BAG PROJECT.

For every bag purchased, one child is fed for 1 full school year through the World FOOD Program. The FEED bag is designed to raise awareness and funds for hungry children and to help them get into school and out of hunger. Each FEED bag sold will provide a school year of meals for one child in need and give them the hope of an education and a regular meal. Whether you tote your FEED bag to school, work, play, or shop, remember that your bag helped to FEED and educate one child for one school year.

Need a cool gift? Buy these! Everybody needs a new grocery tote (saves paper and plastic) and it's for a good cause!

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!