Posts filed under ‘Green Business’
The Bee’s Knees (and lips and feet and hands…)
• “By teaming up with North Carolina Green Power and Renewable Choice Energy, we’ve offset all our operations to 100 percent carbon neutral.”
• “Even in our offices, break rooms now have composting bins, as well as reusable and compostable utensils—they’re made from potatoes!”
• In 2002, co-founder Roxanne used some of their profits to buy “tracts of forest land in northern Maine to preserve them from development. This purchase marked the beginning of a long-standing relationship with The Nature Conservancy, which over the years, has helped conserve 185,000 acres of Maine forest land.”
You can find all this and a lot more on their web site. It’s very thorough and easy to read. For something their site doesn’t offer, here are my top recommendations:
Their Coconut Foot Creme is just short of magical. Even aside from the fact that I am crazy about most things made from coconut, this creme went above and beyond my expectations. After a lifetime of shoeless modern dance and a general preference for barefeet, I had almost resolved that my calloused soles were here to stay. However, when I went to my friend’s Costa Rican wedding in December, I had my first pedicure. It was fantastic, embarrassing, and pretty funny. My mom and I had them done at the same time. The women doing it only knew Spanish, and we knew none. So while my mom’s beautician was finishing her dainty feet, the lady working on me was still grinding away on my leathery hooves. I tried to look sheepish and grateful. I’m not sure what she thought, but I admired her perseverance and straight face she did a great job. After that, I really wanted to keep my feet feeling like feet. This creme has the look and consistency of honey, but is smooth instead of sticky. Because it isn’t mostly water like a lot of lotions, it doesn’t evaporate, it soaks in and truly, deeply moisturizes.
The Almond Milk Beeswax Hand Creme just plain works. No more dry, cracking wintery hand with this stuff. It is top shelf, all the way.
This is Burt’s Bees’ Baby Bee Bubble Bath. (You gotta love a company that loves alliteration this much, right?) I went to the local Skin Care Shop to find some bubble bath for my boyfriend for Christmas. (The boy just loves baths, and anyone who loves baths, needs some good bubbles.) They had three bubble baths. Two were in sleek, design-y bottles and one was for babies. After some deliberation, I bought the baby bath. The bottle was recycled, the ingredients were natural, and it even cost less.
The Bloom Box and Hope
I am an optimistic person in general, but I am a pessimistic environmentalist. I will do many things for the Earth and for people, but I don’t have much faith that we will ever sufficiently solve our problems and stop mistreating the planet. I suppose it’s that I love individuals, but mistrust the collective. However, watching and reading about the Bloom box today, I felt hopeful. The Bloom box is a power source produced by fuel cells. Powered by oxygen and fuel (such as natural gas or bio-gas), the fuel cells create electricity. One thin wafer of a fuel cell disk creates enough energy for one light bulb. Stacking them together generates more power. These stacks are the heart of the Bloom box. If you’re interested in learning more, the 60 Minutes video gives a very good overview.
I know this isn’t completely new technology. I know it just recently hit the market, issues have been found, and doubts have been voiced. But I didn’t think about all that. For a few minutes I just let myself believe that it was possible that someone had created a solution — that there was a brand-new energy-producer that would change our lives and the environment right now. I was overwhelmed thinking about it. Maybe that’s weird. Maybe most environmentalists are driven by their hopes for the future instead of their guilt. I hope that is true, but if you’re reading this and you are the type who worries and sometimes feels overwhelmed about the tremendous peril this planet is in, take a few moments and imagine that we didn’t botch this up yet. Imagine a future not of surviving, but of thriving.
This was an unusually intimate post. If you didn’t like it or can’t relate, just know that someone tonight felt very good about humanity, and that includes you!
Emotionally, Stephanie.
Eco Etsy
You may be familiar with Etsy.com, an online collection of individuals who sell handmade goods, but have you heard of Etsy Earth? It’s a team of sellers who are “committed to sustainability, aware of current eco-issues, taking responsibility for making the best, well-balanced choices for their shops with the safety and quality of their products in mind.” Their list of shops includes: Personal Care, Clothing, Baby Items, Accessories, Household items, Stationery, and Garden. Pictured above are plantable cards (from a seller GoGreenGal’s personally loves), darling upcycled slippers, and a super swanky little black dress.
Another part of Etsy that I love is that you can search your area. You can support your community, connect with crafters near you, and cut down on shipping – maybe even saving a few dollars at the same time.
Green Web Hosting
Hello, readers! My name’s Stephanie. I’ve been working with GoGreenGals for about 8 months now as their graphic designer. They hired me/ the company with which I work, Panhandle Public Affairs, to redo their web site and a few other things. I’ve become friends with Karen and Maureen and do what I can for them. GoGreenGals.com has been one of my favorite projects, and they are definitely among my favorite clients. Right now, they are really busy, and I am really not, so I’m going to help them get this blog rolling.
As a designer, my greatest contribution environmentally is the influence I can have on how my clients bring their projects into fruition. In the case of GoGreenGals.com, I’m so pleased they decided to go with Taproot Hosting. They are one of my favorite green services, and I’m delighted to send business their way. Why green web hosting? “According to a recent study by McKinsey & Company, data centers are slated to overtake the aviation industry by the year 2020 as a top greenhouse gas pollutant. 1 single medium-sized webserver can emit as much CO2 over the course of a year as an SUV that gets 15mpg.” – Taproot’s informative website.
If your business has a web site, make sure to check out Taproot. It’s easy to start your site with them or transfer your current site. When we transferred GoGreenGals.com, they answered our emails promptly and talked to us like we were best friends. Honestly, I could gush about them all day, but I think you just have to see for yourself!
– Stephanie
