Kudos to a Santa Barbara Day Spa Owner for Recycling!

I stumbled upon a Busy Working Moms Blog run by a day spa owner in Santa Barbara. Check out her cool tips about recycling.

I LOVE business people that care!!!

Read the Recycling Made Easy Article from the BusyWorkingMom blog and support conscious business people where you live!!!

Conscious Hotelling

Greetings from the Georgia Tech Conference Hotel in Atlanta (it snowed here today!) I had a conscious moment when I checked into my room...

So much of the toiletries go to waste..do we REALLY need to open soaps in the shower and bathtub?

Help minimize your hotel consumption:

1. Only use one soap during your stay (it won't kill you to pick the soap up from the sink and take it to the shower!)

2. If the hotel has a linens program where you can request that they don't clean your linens daily, opt for that!

3. Turn off all lights when you are not in the room!

Free Envirosax Shopping Bag with a $50 Greenloop Purchase

Need clothes? Buy green! Greenloop has sustainable clothes that look as good as they make you feel AND they are giving away sweet bags with a $50 purchase! Just enter code ENVIROSAX into the Order Comments box under your Payment Method at checkout, and Greenloop will include 1 FREE Envirosax Shopping Bag for each $50.00 of your purchase.

Shop on conscious spender!

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!

Conscious Spending Tip - Online Bank Statements!

Quick tip of the day - Save time and trees and make a positive eco-decision today.

Set all your financial statements to be online only!

I received several tax statements in my email inbox today and went and changed all my banks statements to be web only...no more papers to file, no extra mail, one step towards saving trees.

What are you waiting for? Go make the change! :)

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.......

Win a free trip to the Seattle Green Festival!

One of Three Leaf Card's nonprofit partners, Co-Op America, wants you to join them at their newest Green Festival this spring in Seattle.

They are giving you a chance to win a trip for two during the weekend of April 12 and 13, to enjoy visionary speakers, hands-on workshops, green shopping, live music, fun family activities, and more at our famous two-day party-with-a-purpose, co-produced with Global Exchange.

The Green Festival shows you what a truly green economy would look like – Fair Trade, renewable energy, organic food, sweatshop-free clothing, recycling and composting, and much more.

For your chance to win, simply answer their short survey about your green living steps and you'll be entered for the getaway. Tell three friends about the getaway and you'll get three more chances to win. (See rules and restrictions.) The survey questions help COA plan the articles for their e-newsletter, print newsletter, and magazine for you all year long, so don't hold back.

The Seattle Green Festival Getaway prize includes airfare for two to Seattle, two weekend passes to the Green Festival, a weekend stay at a green hotel, dinner at a green restaurant, public transportation passes to help you get around Seattle car-free, and carbon offsets to make the whole trip totally carbon neutral!

Visit http://lists.coopamerica.org:8383/t/1534122/315554/42248/0/ for more information about the contest or click here to answer their survey -- and to enter for your chance to win the Seattle Green Festival Getaway.

Conscious Gifts for Valentine's Day

Heyheyhey Conscious Spenders!
I hope you are well. I'm loving this shiny new year...we can all start the year out right by making wise spending choices and STICKING TO THEM!

Although I am normally not one to be a big "Hallmark holiday" supporter, I do have to share some conscious gifting ideas for those of you who honor Valentine's Day so you spend consciously!

Need great Valentine's Day gift ideas? Shop Co-op America's Green Businesses for conscious companies so your gifts give back and make a difference.

You all know how giddy I was over my gifts from the holiday from Organic Bouquet - I'd support them again ANYTIME. Other great Valentine's Day gifts can be found too!

And for those of you who actually want to be really conscious with spending on the day of love, take your loved one for a walk and have a picnic and save resources and moolah!!!!!!!!

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

eco-friendly acne treatment - tea tree oil

It's a shiny new year (YAY!) but my shiny new blemish is not rocking my new year world. I am a HUGE advocate for tea tree oil, an extraction from the Melaleuca tree.

It is a natural antiseptic and antifungal and it kills my blemishes! You can get
tea tree oil at any health food store and it lasts forever.

Tea tree oil is one of those great must-have items to use on cuts, when you make all natural cleaning products for the household, to kill zits and more!

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

A great message to start the new year on

I normally get royally miffed when I get forwarded messages from friends with "inspirational" messages but this message (written by George Carlin of all people) was so powerful that I had to share. It's a great kick start and ah-ha for the new year. Here's to a GREAT 2008! I hope you send this post around!

"The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

If you don't send this to at least 8 people....Who cares? "

--Dr Bob Morehead

Help People and Planet - Give to Co-Op America

Greetings Conscious Spenders,
For any of you looking for that last taz write off before the end of the year, here's your donation location:

Help Co-op America advance their programs into 2008 and beyond!

Each and every donation goes toward:

Tackling the climate crisis
Building sustainable communities
Creating a fair trading system
Advancing green from coast to coast

Your contribution will be matched dollar for dollar. Give today!

Nature Rocks

Nature rocks...literally. See some photos from my recent trip to Utah where I took to the open road and enjoyed time in canyons.
When you spend time in nature, it really makes you appreciate the environment...PROTECT IT! :)

Here's to a GREAT 2008!

Help Share Knowledge - Give to the Breast Cancer Fund by December 31

The Breast Cancer Fund is all about research to aid in Breast Cancer prevention and they need funding to continue their efforts. This is a conscous request to help put any "I want to donate before the end of the year dollars" to a great cause. BCF released a great report called The Falling Age of Puberty in U.S. Girls: What We Know, What We Need to Know by Dr. Sandra Steingraber, and State of the Evidence: The Connection Between Breast Cancer and the Environment.

Any gift through December 31 in support of the Breast Cancer Fund's scientific work will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $50,000.

Women and Men of all ages are at risk for Breast Cancer and you can help!



Click here to help Breast Cancer Fund Reach the $50,000 Betsy Gordon Science Challenge Grant

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!

Give the gift of Green Clean this holiday!

One of my best friends on the planet is expecting her second baby and the first friend words out of my mouth at lunch last week were questions about the products she uses to clean her house for her 3year old and baby-on the way.

Homes are the MOST TOXIC environments, mainly due to the crap (TOXIC CRAP) that we use to "clean" our homes. Chemicals weaken immune systems, especially infants, kids and seniors (folks with weaker systems)

So, instead of giving a silly gift this year, give the gift of green clean - healthy cleaning products! It's creative, caring and makes a difference.

I lovelovelove www.livingreen.com owned by Ellen Strickland, green pioneer and healthy living advocate extrodinaire. She has stores in Santa Barbara, Montecito and Culver City and now you can shop healthy cleaning products online with them.

Give a great gift this year - help make healthier homes!

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!

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!

A truly reSOURCEful toothbrush

We live in a time crunched world...when we lack time, we tend to naturally lack time to think.

Thank goodness the folks at RADIUS TOOTHBRUSH took the time to think about the fact that 80%, yes 80% of the materials used by standard toothbrushes do not have to be replaced Post thought, they created the source toothbrush. The handles are made with renewable resource bio-plastic handles that are made from recycled wood or flax mixed with post-consumer polypropylene.

SO COOL and uber conscious.

It's the same concept with razors, you only need to replace the heads of those, so why not only replace the heads of toothbrushes? I know, ah-ha!

The next time you get a new toothbrush, get a eco-friendly toothbrush!

I didn't panic when I bought expensive jeans that were organic

It's been a wild week, plus it's the start of the chaotic holidays. So, what's a stressed out girl to do? SHOP! (Duh!?) So even though I spent a LOT on my new organic bootcut jeans, I feel good that they are 100% organic cotton (and they make my butt look good, thank gawad) Even better, the online clothing boutique that I bought my jeans from, Kate Boutique, donates 1% to Heal the Ocean. Poifect!


Dear Conscious Spending Goddess:
I bought quality over quantity today but and I will wear these timeless jeans forever. I will wash them with my Cleanut Vegan soap only after I have worn them several times because I don't need to wash them every time I wear them. I will wait at minimum four wears. I will wash in cold. I will be a conscious spender. I am grateful for conscious shopping therapy.
Amen.