News from EcoPlum

What's New at www.ecoplum.com
August/September 2009 Newsletter

Greetings!

I can't believe we are already sending out our Back to School issue! It feels like the summer is just getting started! Oh well! Here we go...

Who knew that the school supplies we are sending our kids to school with could be toxic and unsafe? Michelle wrote a great article this month on Non-Toxic School Supplies which I found to be quite informative. You can stock up on your school supplies through our affiliates reusablebags.com, officemax.com, officedepot.com, compusa.com, target.com and sears.com and earn EcoChipz too!

For those of you with older kids going to college, or those of you attending college, you may want to know the environmental track record of your school. Amelia's Greening Higher Education article includes the Princeton Review's 2009 Green Rating of colleges - check it out. You may also want to look at the "back to school" tips that Dede found on Planet Green's site.

We have some big news here at EcoPlum - our BLOG is live and getting awesome feedback! If you have not seen it yet, or haven't seen the latest post, please take a moment at http://www.ecoplum.com/blog.

Also, we are thrilled to add Sweet Organics as a partner in our EcoShop! Its owner Sandra Schwarz was recently featured on Mashable's Green Tweets: 75 Environmentalists to Follow on Twitter.

Finally, we have made some exciting changes to our EcoShop based on feedback from all of you. See the list of improvements below.

Enjoy these last few weeks of summer!

Best,

Gia Machlin

President and CEO

Please feel free to forward this newsletter to your friends and family!

In this issue

Popular EcoInfo this Month

Meet Dede

Some Pictures from EcoPlum Events

Improvements to the EcoShop

Getting the most out of your EcoPlum account

EcoPlum Pie Archives

Photo courtsey of www.lilsugar.com/1640557

girl with recycled backpack It's almost that time again. That's right, the sun is still out, the beaches are still packed, but soon it will be time to head back into another school year. A year filled with pens, paper, markers, backpacks, and glue. This year, instead of buying traditional school supplies that are imbued with toxic chemicals that can actually harm the body and mind, consider organic and chemical free alternatives that can help your child be the A+ student s/he was meant to be.

Many backpacks are made of vinyl and/or other synthetic materials that are coated in PVC and often contain lead.PVC is a chemical that requires the addition of plasticizers - other chemicals that help to make the PVC more flexible. These plasticizers can leach out of products, exposing users to doses of the chemical. Read More

Greening Higher Education

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"College students no longer lead the culture" Rick Perlstein lamented in the New York Times Magazine. Although the nation may not look to colleges for leadership in some areas, students have long championed environmental causes, and many campuses are aggressively pursuing innovative strategies to lower their carbon footprint.

In October 2004, the Energy Action Coalition united students across the U.S. and Canada in what was then the largest youth climate action ever held. That momentum continued with the Campus Climate Challenge, a campaign which attempts to convince colleges to commit to using only renewable energy sources. Read More

EcoTipz:

Green Back to School Tips

Here are some great green tips for back to school from Planet Green.
* Take inventory of supplies and clothes that you already have before you go shopping for new items.
* For clothing items, try getting hand-me-downs or buy clothes at a thrift store. If you do buy new clothes get some made from sustainable fabrics
* Have a green attitude about school supplies. Buy the greener options and items made from recyclable material. Also, make sure kids get the maximum
out of each product before replacing it. Read More

Meet our team members...this month...Dede!

Dede is our new social media intern. Born and raised in sunny Miami Florida, Dede was raised by parents who instilled in her a passion for the unique Florida environment. As a young environmentalist, Dede used to bring her lunch to school every day in a Captain Planet lunch box, and she would frequently clean Biscayne Bay and the Everglades with her Girl Scout troop. She graduated from Fairfield University with a degree in art history and theater, after which she returned to Miami to work for the University of Miami under the Events and Special Projects Team. Around this time, she joined an improvisational group called Just the Funny. She performed weekly in their shows and eventually became Education Director for their classes. Dede moved to New York City in 2008 and, even though she doesn't carry her Captain Planet lunchbox with her anymore, she is still devoted to helping the environment and to spreading eco-awareness. She also performs regularly with her two improv groups, Penzano and the Belmonts.

Some pictures from recent EcoPlum events:

July Green Drinks at Tavern on the Green

Improvements to the EcoShop:

We've added a "Buy Now" button on the summary level page of products if there is only one retailer - eliminating one step in the purchasing process.

We've eliminated all those annoying pop-up windows and replaced them with easy to follow icons that indicate if a product is eligible for EcoChipz or not.

We've added a direct link to the login screen from the product page to sign in to receive EcoChipz.

If you can't find the product you want listed on EcoPlum, you can search on the retailer's site after you have clicked through from EcoPlum and still earn EcoChipz for your purchase!

If you want to donate your EcoChipz to your own charity - we can do that too! Ask us about our EcoChipz partner program!

Getting the most out of your EcoPlum account

Get our monthly newsletter. We will keep you informed on new products, new retailers, new industry sources (for certification and labeling) and of course new articles and content.
Be able to rate and comment on articles, tips and videos, and products.
Receive EcoChipz rewards on purchases for qualified products.

Bookmark the EcoInfo page to see what's new every day in EcoTipz, EcoClipz, EcoContentz and The Orchard.

Also, please follow us on Facebook, and Twitter (@ecoplum).

We will be sure to keep you posted on all the latest information and especially any kind of new regulation or policy that may require action on your part.