I was trying to explain to my boys a little bit about the problems with all of the “stuff” we accumulate. How our world only has so much space to put our old stuff that we throw away. I tried to keep it simple but in a way to explain why it’s important not to just keep buying more stuff without a good reason. We have SO MUCH stuff in our house – it’s crazy. I was talking with a friend about how amazing it is that we can just fill up a trash bag of total junk out of the toy closet every few months – stuff that doesn’t work, random pieces that used to go to something etc.

I just read an interesting article in Brandweek online. A recent study was done by A.T. Kearny that showed that companies committed to sustainability have fared better in the markets in 16 of 18 industries.

Quoted from the Brandweek article:
“The report compared the performances of 99 companies with strong commitments to sustainability (culled from the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and the Goldman Sachs SUSTAIN focus list) against industry averages from May to November 2008. These green-leaning companies outperformed industry averages by 15% over the six months in 16 of the 18 industries. In terms of market cap, the sustainable-leaning companies averaged $650 million in protected market capitalization.”

Interesting! Maybe there’s a ray of hope that this world is coming to terms with the fact that our earth has some serious limitations. And if companies and individuals do not start changing their ways, there will be nothing left for our future generations. Imagine the alternative? We could end up like that totally depressing but not totally improbable existence in “Wall e”.

So “yay” for the markets responding positively to sustainability – let’s hope it is the beginning of a new and everlasting trend!

The Lighter Footstep (http://lighterfootstep.com/) is a great site for tips and tricks to green your home and generally leave a lighter footprint, so to speak. It’s a fun, informative site – not preachy or boring like so many eco-sites. Check it out -lots of quick easy ideas for everything from cooking and cleaning to buying used items.

Just read a great article in Brandweek. Just like “pink-washing” – where the marketing of products that supposedly support breast cancer research far outweighs any positive benefit of the donation – “green-washing” is a big deal. Many companies have jumped on the green bandwagon but are doing it more for marketing purposes than anything else.

While that may not exactly be the case with the eco-friendly lightbulbs, they are definitely not as good as they initially appear. And I say this as someone who has used them for years – and throwing them out in our regular trash. Little did I know that I was contributing to mercury waste. UGH.

Check out the Brandweek article for an interesting perspective, and see some of the other products that they find ironic – claiming to be eco-friendly but in the end, they aren’t so ideal.

Well – you know if Coca Cola is taking major steps to be more eco-conscious then this “green” thing is more than just a fad. Brandweek reported that Coke’s newest digital billboard in Times Square is powered by wind-power. Not bad! Even better – they have influenced a trend and about 30 billboards will be wind-powered. In total, they will be preventing about 1866 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year.

Coke seems to be taking the green thing pretty seriously. They are also aiming to have all of their cans and bottles in the US recycled or reused by consumers. That’s a lot of bottles and cans – considering the amount of Coke consumed in the US each year.

Say what you want about Coca Cola (and I have a lot to say about that beverage – mostly not good) – but that is one powerful brand. I was fortunate to participate in a marketing competition in graduate school and our team was challenged by the Coca Cola corporation to increase marketing efforts in Malaysia. Traveling throughout even the most remote areas of Malaysia – I learned a lot about the depth of the brand’s reach. In tiny towns with only a handful of people you would still find Coca Cola products and signs. And each and every person I spoke to not only knew about Coke, but had an opinion on the “health benefits” of the drink. It was considered excellent for digestion and many even believed that it broke down fats and cholesterol thereby improving heart health. Crazy! But it clearly showed me the Coke – love it or hate it – is an incredible brand.

So if they are going to do their part in going green – more power to them. If they can inspire other companies to do the right thing – fantastic. I know their reasons are not purely (or even largely) altruistic – but hopefully it will have an overall positive impact. Now, if only they didn’t sell such an addictive, high-fructose-corn-syrup-laden, obesity-inducing drink….

Constantly searching for ways to make Garden Girl even more “green” – I am happy to announce that we are now using compostable cellophane bags for our packages. For those of you who are Garden Girl customers, you know that each package comes wrapped like a little gift. We do this for 2 reasons – 1) it’s always nice to open something that looks pretty and 2) it helps to keep the products secure while shipping – reducing damaged products (and waste).

Our products are packaged in recylable PET #1 plastic or in glass, we do not use unnecessary outer boxes (which have always bothered me anyway) and we use biodegradable labels made from corn whenever possible. We also offer refills for some of our most popular products to reduce packaging waste. And when we ship packages, we use recycled packing materials.

So finding a replacement for the plastic poly-cello bag was clearly the missing link. And that is why I am so excited to use these bags. They are made from tree cellulose – and the trees are grown specifically for this purpose so there is no forest damage. And not only do they biodegrade, but they are even safe for your compost! Look pretty AND green? Doesn’t get much better than that!

White vinegar! Is there any other “eco-friendly” and cheap product that has so many amazing uses? Here are just a few of the things I use white vinegar for:

• Laundry fabric softener – no more fabric softener sheets. We throw vinegar in the fabric softener compartment in our washing machine. Clothes come out clean and fresh and odor-free. Then I toss them in the dryer with those funky dryer prickly ball-things and our clothes are soft and cushy. Can’t beat it!
• Cleaning shower heads – this may seem like a strange one but since I think we have “hard” water, we get crunchy gook on our shower heads. I put white vinegar in a ziptop bag and submerge the shower head in the vinegar – attaching the bag with a rubber band. Leave it there for a few hours then remove it, brush with an old toothbrush and it’s sparkling clean! Nothing I have ever used for that works as well.
• A drop in the water when I wash my wood floors. I don’t wash them often as water isn’t good for the floors but when we had our house remodeled, I asked the floor guy how to take care of the floors, and he said warm water with a dash of white vinegar. Then barely moisten the mop. Works great!
• Washing windows – works like a charm. A drop of liquid dish soap, a little vinegar and some water. Who needs to buy all that garbage from the store that doesn’t even work as well as this?
• Cleaning the coffee machine – run it through the coffee machine then do a couple rinse runs with plain water. Keeps coffee tasting great!

It’s easy to start reducing the toxins in your home. Even if you just do it one step at a time. Plus – it’s nice when being eco-conscious also means saving money and getting the job done!

Recently, I have started to follow a couple of blogs that I have found fun or interesting, and I thought I’d share them with you:

http://www.urbansustainableliving.com/ – This is by Patti Moreno of Garden Girl TV. Patti has all kinds of “Green Living” tips and interesting ideas.

http://parabenfreeprincess.blogspot.com/ – This is a great blog by a woman “nearing 40″ who has started to purge her closets of paraben-containing products. It’s not only informative and amusing but it’s very real – she expresses her frustration in how hard it is to avoid parabens. She has great product reviews too!

http://somethingsnappee.blogspot.com/ – a mom who does some product reviews as well as lots of giveaways of eco-friendly products

Check them out if you get a chance!