This newsletter is about some of my very recent observations of the pebble in the pond and how amazing it is at times to observe the green ripple effect, the power of one, about taking action and what results from a single decision. So in no particular order - here goes...

Re: Green Lollapalooza Ripple - imagine my delight when I went to my hair salon (Verve Lifestyle Salon) the Saturday after my first newsletter of 2013 came out, and was greeted by Amber Isenhart who exclaimed (literally): "Mrs. Green - look! I am a green lollapalooza." She proudly showed me her $1 cup from Starbucks that's refillable for their hot drinks and told me that with the purchase, you get 10% off the purchase of your drink when you use that cup. Do you know how great that made me feel on so many levels? She read my newsletter, she took action, she is saving trash from going into our landfills and she was proud to share it. Gotta love that one. Thank you, Amber, for making it a GREAT green day!

Re: Mrs. Green Being Tricky Ripple in that same newsletter, way down near the bottom, I conducted a little experiment. I invited people who had read "all the way down this far" to email me to be entered to win a S'well bottle and a Mrs. Green reusable bag. Imagine our delight when we immediately started receiving emails from people who had, in fact, read all the way down - even people from out of state. The first two people to email were from Tucson and I decided I wanted to deliver their prizes to them personally. I know Keely Sinclair who works for Defenders of Wildlife and appreciate her support of our mission - always. But I got to meet someone I didn't know - Stella Veliz-Morales who works for the Law Office of Louis Barassi. Not only did I get to meet one truly delightful human being but I got to see a beautiful old house in downtown Tucson, spend time with Stella enjoying the hummingbirds, cardinals, finches, gorgeous flowers and enjoy a few minutes in a downright amazing setting in the middle of the city. Stella made a ripple in my pond. Thanks to everyone who responded and stay tuned for more hidden messages! My point? It's all about taking the time to connect with other human beings and all the food for the soul that results from doing just that - which leads me to...

Re: Connecting The Big Green Dots Ripple - Southwest Airlines style. Not sure if I will ever get tired of telling this story but it is one worth repeating and, hopefully, well worth reading. Hope you can follow the timeline and stay with me. Last Fall I went to a presentation hosted by Tucson Chapter of the American Marketing Association. Speaker: Laurel Moffat from Southwest Airlines. She rocked it. I learned much about SWA's leadership in sustainability, got her contact info and passed it on to Kelly King , green team member who books all of my guests. Months ago, Kelly booked Laurel for our first show of 2013. Then tragedy rocked the foundation of our collective lives in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14th. Through a series of events and coming from a place of "what can I do, I know I can do something," Kelly started connecting the dots - big time. We rescheduled our December 22 show guest and booked Jeanette Mare and Dev Sethi from the Ben's Bells Project to address how intentional acts of kindness help with the healing process for those who have experienced a major tragedy or loss. Out of the box show! Kelly also immediately had the presence of mind to connect Laurel to Jeanette. All regular channels were by-passed because of the connection and Laurel's scheduled appearance on the show, and Southwest Airlines came through with TWELVE FREE round trip tickets for Ben's Bells staff and volunteers to go to Newtown to quietly, caringly, genuinely hang 1,000 bells on January 8th - the anniversary of another tragic shooting in Tucson, Arizona. My point? Kelly cared enough to swing into action, to BE the pebble in the pond, knowing there was something she could do, some way she could be a part of making a difference. And so she did - by helping to connect the big green dots in this world of ours. We just learned at press time that Ben's Bells used eight (8) of the tickets and will use the other four for a return trip to Newtown to MAKE bells with the Newtown community.

Here's to knowing that there are always ways to create the ripple in big and small ways every day of our lives.

I don't know the answer to that but I do believe that thoughts become things. And even if they don't, it's a great approach to life. So in the ongoing saga of good, green news, the winner of the pendant from our Christmas contest, Shirley Dunn Perry, picked up her prizes last week. She told us she put an emerald on her Vision Board last June - first time ever she put a picture of a piece of jewelry on a vision board. I'm just saying...and will leave it at that.