A Green Eyed View - green ideas and advice

Green My Parents

My parents were light green out of necessity. You can read about them in an earlier post entitled It's Easy Being Green – Mom Was Right. But today young people all over the country are joining a movement that will reduce their family's impact on the planet and save their parents' some money. It's called Green My Parents.

I had the delightful privilege of meeting Natalie Calleja at our monthly gathering of a group of people passionate about all things green. Green Drinks meets once a month at a local bar or restaurant to socialize, support, and network.

Natalie is a Certified Green Consultant for Green Consulting Firm, LLC. One of her pet projects is the national movement Green My Parents. I confess I had not heard of this concept but am thrilled to know it is happening here in Florida as well as across the nation.

Green My Parents was launched this year on Earth Day. It's not just a feel good tree-hugging environmental group for young people. These kids mean business. The first hundred “Champions” were trained in methods that can reduce their family's wasteful use of energy, water, food and other finite resources. By teaching their parents how to be green, they ultimately save $100 or more per month. By sharing this savings with their children, the Champions are learning entrepreneurial skills.

Each of the original 100 Champions have embarked on the task of recruiting and teaching another 100 youth the same skills and methods. That scenario will be repeated as often as possible. Now get your calculators humming because what you'll be able to see that is going to happen is phenomenal. The goal for year one–  that's from Earth Day 2010 to Earth Day 2011 –  is for these remarkable young people to actually see a total savings of over $100 million dollars. Talk about your economic stimulus.

Go check out the Green My Parents website. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter and get your family involved.

As you can probably tell, I'm totally knocked out by these kids and what they are accomplishing. The planet thanks them, their parents thank them and I thank them. And I also thank Natalie for getting behind this very worthwhile movement and bringing it to our attention. Check out their very snappy video below.

 

 

Cleaning Up Greenwashing

We have good news to pass on today. The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has finally started updating their guidelines concerning what can and cannot be marketed as green.

The changes are long overdue. The last set of regulations was released in 1998. A lot has happened since then. Thousands of products purported to be green have been introduced to the market place in the last 12 years. And we've seen a load of greenwashing since then.

The FTC will caution marketers to stop using terms such as “eco-friendly” or “environmentally friendly” because they tend to be perceived by the public as having far-reaching environmental benefits when in fact such claims are almost always impossible to prove.

These guidelines will have some impact on the multitude of certification seals found on so-called green  products also. Unqualified seals of approval or certifications, some created by the companies themselves or trade groups to which they belong, will not be allowed. True third party certification –  such as Green Seal and Greenguard will be encouraged.

And you can't say your product is bio-degradable if it takes longer than a year for it to decompose. Duh.

Another fuzzy green claim we should see get clearer is when a company claims carbon-offsetting as a marketing tool. The FTC says you can't use that claim if it is already required by law, or if the product being purchased isn't offset for 2 years.

That should shake up some marketing companies for the time being. This is good news for consumers but it doesn't let us off the hook. Marketers are paid big money to sell you whatever they are handed regardless of its potential for harm. We still have to do our homework and hold the companies that sell poison accountable with our purchasing power.

Just because some major manufacturer puts some wind generators and solar panels on his factory but still produces products that are dangerous to you and the planet doesn't make it all ok. You won't find Drano under my sink even if they are a “family company”.

The FTC is seeking public comments on the proposed changes until December 10, 2010, after which it will decide which changes to make final.

What's in Your Tap Water?

What's in Your Water - Read the FREE Report HERE and Find Out Why You Need to Protect Your Family Now.

I was shocked by the findings in the Environmental Working Group's report. I knew that it was important to filter my drinking water and that bottled water just wasn't the answer since studies have shown it to be no better than tap water, not to mention the immense problem plastic bottles cause in our waste stream. But I wasn't prepared for the news that there are more than 300 contaminants in our tap water and more than half of the chemicals detected are not subject to health or safety regulations and can legally be present in any amount.

If you're not convinced you should protect your family and pets by filtering your tap water, read the report now and learn what's in your water. And don't stop there. Get a water filter today. We're offering a special price on all our Essence Water filters to everybody reading this. Use this link for the Counter top Filter and this link for the Under The Sink Filter and get yours today. And as a special Thank You for ordering, we're offering FREE Shipping for a short time.

 

Garden Year Round with HerbKits.com

I'm very happy to announce HealthyHome.com's new affiliation with HerbKits.com. The timing is perfect. For people who love to garden but can't get their gardening fix because of cold weather, I have your solution. With herb kits and an LED grow light you can grow herbs, vegetables, flowers, teas and mushrooms all year round.

And even though I hesitate to bring it up, Herb Kits make a perfect gift for the upcoming holiday season. You'll find some very reasonably priced kits that will thrill your gardening friends and family.

With their Culinary Indoor Herb Garden Kit you can grow your own fresh cooking herbs -Parsley, Thyme, Cilantro, Lemon Basil, Dill, Oregano, Sweet Marjoram, Chives, Savory, Garlic Chives, Mustard, Sage, all for $29.95 and gift wrapping is also an option.

Another important feature that you should note is that all their seeds are Non-GMO (not genetically modified or genetically engineered).

So start your indoor gardening and in no time you'll be cooking with your own home grown herbs.