Oh my! October was so busy that my husband and I almost forgot to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary! But in the end we made it to beautiful Vermont to go leaf peeping with the kids. What an incredible sight.
As those leaves start to fall, you may be wondering how to dispose of them in an environmentally conscientious manner. Brianna's When the Leaves Fall article has some great tips on how to deal with this autumn conundrum.
Also on the editorial front, I am just so excited to introduce a new monthly feature here at EcoPlum: Chryso's Beauty Buys column. Every month, Chryso will test out cosmetics and other beauty products that market themselves as "organic" or "natural" - be it
body wash, nail polish, or bath salts. We'll let you know which brands
outshine the others in the categories of safety, environmental
responsiveness, packaging, practicality, and results so that you can
make informed choices about what you slather on, dust on, and lather up
with.
And what a perfect time for us to bring on board our newest retailer: Beautorium.com. We'll tell you which companies have signed the Environmental Working Group's Compact for Safe Cosmetics and make those products available to you so you can earn EcoChipz on them too!
We also continue to get involved with many partners in entertainment and media and will be dedicating a monthly column to that as well (stay tuned).
It has truly been a wonderful month here at EcoPlum. We participated in a number of school EcoFests here in NYC, we were honored by the Greenhouse Neutral Foundation's Voices for Change Honor Roll, we were named TwitterMom's Blog of the Week, and I am incredibly humbled to have been selected as one of Work Life Matters magazine's TOP Women Entrepreneurs for 2009.
With all these great things going on - it was time to bring on a PR and Media intern - meet Heena Virani below.
So to celebrate all this great stuff, we have TWO exciting promotions going on this month:
1) In honor of Chryso's Beauty Column: Buy any of our new beauty/hair care products through Beautorium.com and we will send you a FREE EcoPlum ChicoBag, while supplies last. This is in ADDITION to any EcoChipz you may earn on the purchase.
2) As we gear up to kick off our new entertainment and media column: TRY NETFLIX FOR FREE, AND WE WILL DONATE $5 TO CLIMATE COUNTS.ORG.
Ooh - I just can't wait for fun stuff we will announce in the December newsletter, but that's it for now. Thanks again for your ongoing support!
Best,
Gia Machlin
President and CEO
Please feel free to forward this newsletter to your friends and family!
Options for your fall clean-up; raking, composting, mulching and more!!
Every year at about this time the weather turns brisk and the landscape
becomes painted with vibrant reds and golds. Then that artwork
gracefully falls to the ground and fills up our yards. So what are we
supposed to do with this colorful litter once the aesthetic is gone?
Well, don't have a leaf-burning party nor rake your leaves into city
streets. You would just be contributing to air pollution and clogging
the sewers. Instead, consider some more eco-beneficial approaches.
Rake
em' and bag em' up! This is the standard method, whether it be regular
lawn bags or decorative Halloween bags. Get a nice arm workout and once
your bags are brimming or the spooky holiday is over, simply bring the
bagged foliage to your local compost
or find out if your city has seasonal curbside pick-up. Most public
compost sites ask you to simply dump your compostable items and then
take your receptacles home with you--including plastic yard bags that
can be re-used.
Green Dishwashing
It's easy
to assume that washing dishes in the sink is more energy-efficient than
installing a big, energy-guzzling machine to do the work for you. But
dishwashers, if used properly, can be much more resourceful than
washing by hand. The difference is in the details - so here are some
tips and tricks for the absolute best way to use your dishwasher. 1.
Only run the dishwasher when it's full. This may seem obvious, but
don't be tempted to wash just half a load to clean your favorite coffee
cup or salad bowl. If there's empty space, the dishwasher still uses
the same amount of water, even though it's essentially washing air. Read More!
From EcoTipz:
Green Cruises
Are you looking to take a cruise this
year? I bet you didn't realize that cruising is more destructive to the
environment than other forms of travel. Try choosing a greener cruise!
There are some cruise lines that are better for the environment. Here is a report card from Friends of the Earth
comparing 10 major cruise lines. Look at the grades before booking your
next cruise and have a fun vacation that is also better for the
environment. Read More!
This partnership extends not only to consumer vehicles (see EPA's Green Vehicle Guide),
but also to the trucking and freight industry. The program was designed
to promoting smart transportation choices for individuals and companies
through a voluntary initiative. Autos and trucks are a major source of emissions that contribute to global warming.
How does a car achieve the SmartWay certification? Read More!
Meet our team members...this month...Heena!
Heena is a New York transplant who was born and raised in Houston, Texas.
She decided to move up to New York City in 2006 to see what all the hype was
about, especially in the advertising industry.
Heena received her Bachelors in Advertising and Spanish from The University
of Texas at Austin and The University of Salamanca (Spain) respectively.
She entered the work force for the first time in 2004 and has since then
planned media strategies for such clients as American Airlines,
Sanofi-Aventis and Monster.com. After working in the ad industry for 4
years, she decided to go back to school full-time for her MBA in Marketing &
Management at Fordham University Graduate School of Business. Heena
immediately became involved in the student life serving as VP of Marketing
for Fordham Black & Hispanic MBA Association and as a Graduate Assistant to
Dr. Jim Stoner, Chair in Global Sustainability. Her experiences at Fordham
opened her mind to alternate ways of conducting business and the pinnacle of
her MBA career was the first-ever global sustainability trip to Puebla,
Mexico in Spring 2009. Not only did Heena help plan the trip, but she was
also exposed to many sustainability topics including energy, fair trade, the
environment, social justice, local food, etc. She (along with several of
her classmates) is changing her current behaviors to help lessen negative
impact on our environment and hopes to raise awareness of these topics in
her communities and beyond.
Chryso's Beauty Buys
Who doesn't want to look and feel their best? When it comes to beauty, various standards apply. Some of us seek out the most perfect volumizing shampoo to pump up limp locks. Others long for a super hydrating body lotion to baby our chapped skin during those bitter winter months. Different products serve different needs, but one standard is universal-no one wants to use anything on his or her eyes, hair, lips, or skin that has the potential for harm-that's just not pretty!
Welcome to my beauty column! We will devote this space to a new product category for the month, be it body wash, nail polish, or bath salts. We'll let you know which brand outshines the other in the categories of safety, environmental responsiveness, packaging, practicality, and results so that you can make informed choices about what you slather on, dust on, and lather up with. This month, we take on Shampoo and Conditioner. But first, what does it mean to be "green"? Read more...
From The Blog:
How No Impact Week turned Into Impact Week
If you've read any of my previous posts, you know that I'm all about
helping people become aware of the impact they are making on the
environment and helping them to reduce that impact. So I try to live
the whole "No Impact Project"
lifestyle every day. OK, who am I kidding? Let's call it the "reduced
impact" lifestyle - that's more like it. But, just for the goof, I
joined the Huffington Post's No Impact Week Experiment.
This Experiment is based on the movie/book/blog by Colin Beavan that
chronicles his family's year-long experiment. They lived a ZERO-WASTE
lifestyle in which they:
1) Produced no trash
2) Unplugged from the electrical grid
3) Traveled exclusively by foot or bike
4) Bought nothing (except for food)
5) Only bought food that was locally grown (within 250 miles)
Apparently they came out of this much "healthier, happier and richer in ways they never expected."
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.
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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.
Ecoplum Pie Archives
Now the old Ecoplum Pie newsletters are archived and available to view. Check it out.
Buy any of our new beauty/hair care products through Beautorium.com and we will send you a FREE EcoPlum ChicoBag, while supplies last. This is in ADDITION to any EcoChipz you may earn on the purchase.
Options for your fall clean-up; raking, composting, mulching and more!!
Heena is a New York transplant who was born and raised in Houston, Texas.
