Gerber Organic House Party

I'm so excited! I just checked my e-mail and found out that I have been chosen to host a Gerber Organic House Party! Over 7,000 people applied, and amidst this extraordinarily high interest, I’ve been selected as one of their hostesses! You can view my own party URL by clicking here.

If you haven't heard about House Party, I'd like to share this great site with you! You can receive amazing discounts and free stuff from brands you know and love. All you have to do is host a party with a few friends and family in your own home. It's a lot of fun! I've hosted several of their parties already! (TOMS Style Your Sole Event, Hershey's Bliss™ Chocolate Party Event, and more...) Just click on the banner below to check it out for yourself and join for free!


So far the most meaningful House Party I have hosted had to be the TOMS Style Your Sole event. Please view this TOMS Shoes "Style Your Sole" Host Greeting. It explains everything. My hope is that I support TOMS Shoes 100%!



TOMS Shoes "Style Your Sole" Host Greeting

Greening Our Water

Did you know that much of the world gets by on 2.5 gallons of water per day? But here in America we average using 400 gallons per day!
This is where Harvesting your greywater comes in. Water that has already been used but that is still clean enough for other jobs is called "greywater". This can include water from your sinks, showers, dishwashers, and clothes washers. Greywater can be recycled with simple practices such as emptying the fish tank into the garden instead of the sink. The bottom line? One way or another, we can all do our best to avoid putting water down the drain when we can use it for something else!

Another issue I would like to touch on is Bottled Water.

Bottled water has never gone down smoothly with many environmentalists, who view it as an extravagantly wasteful way of quenching a thirst. For the most part, bottled water is alot of hype. In most first-world countries tap water is provided by a government utility and is tested regularly. (You can actually look up your water in the National Tap Water Quality Database) Bottled water is not well regulated and studies have shown that it is not even particularly that pure. A four-year study of bottled water in the U.S. conducted by the NRDC found that about one-third of the 103 brands of bottled waters tested contained levels of contamination -- including synthetic organic chemicals, bacteria, and even arsenic. And believe it or not, most bottled water isn’t really “spring, artesian or mineral ” and is just regular tap water anyhow. Read the label to find the source the next time you pick up a bottle of water.
Infact bottled water is more expensive per gallon than gasoline and it also incurs a HUGE carbon footprint from the transportation, and then in the end to the discarded bottles. Making PET (polyethylene terephthalate, a plastic derived from crude oil) bottles for water consumes 1.5 million barrels of oil annually, that's enough to fuel 100,000 American cars for a year! Worldwide, 2.7 million tons of plastic are used to bottle water and 86% of plastic water bottles used in the United States become garbage or litter.
If you like to keep a bottle of water with you on the go, Switch to Filtered Tap Water and a Reusable Water Bottle. Let's Make Thousands of Plastic Water Bottles 'Disappear'!


Check out the
CamelBak .75L Better Bottle with Classic Cap (BPA-Free)
It's an awesome reusable bottle!

And if your water at home tastes funny, try the BestWater Filtration Systems. They improve taste and odor, reduce common contaminants, and even have a Reverse Osmosis System.
To learn more about your city’s water quality, check out National Tapwater Database.

Other Online Articles:

EPA: Getting Information about your Tap Water

Fast Company: Message in a Bottle

BBCUK: Dasani is Purified Tap Water

NRDC: Bottled Water: Pure Drink or Pure Hype?

Earth Policy Institute: Pouring Resources Down the Drain

NY Times: Water, Water Everywhere but Guilt by the Bottleful

NY Times: In Praise of Tap Water

ABC News: Is Bottled Water Better Than Tap?

Big Green Purse: Use Your Spending Power to Create a Cleaner, Greener World

Big Green Purse: Use Your Spending Power to Create a Cleaner, Greener World


Can your pocketbook save our planet? The author of Big Green Purse says it can!

Out of every dollar spent in the marketplace, women are shelling out 85 cents. That's a huge percentage from us girls -- and author Diane MacEachern says it could be put to enormous good. In her book Big Green Purse and in interviews around the country, the longtime conservationist is urging women to use their pecuniary powers for positive change. But how does smart shopping fit in with a buy-less message, and could saving the planet really be this easy?

Author Diane MacEachern has something she calls her big, green purse that, she says, carries the power to influence the marketplace to "create a cleaner, greener world."

Visit her website, Big Green Purse, and sign up for her One in a Million campaign, a pledge to shift at least $1,000 of the yearly household budget to more sustainable goods. That's a shift, she explains, not an additional expenditure: When choosing fruit, choose organic apples; when buying a bottle of lotion, look for one without phthalates or parabens; if you must buy a car, find one that fits your needs but is also fuel efficient. Still, her first piece of advice recommends us to always buy less.

Enter and Win: Teething Bling Contest

Smart Mom, LLC, was started in 2002 as a way to promote pretty and practical ideas for real Moms. Their first product line, Teething Bling pendants and bangles, has been an enormous success and they appreciate all the support and encouragement they’ve received thus far. They use only the highest-quality, phthalate-free, federally approved silicone in their Teething Bling™ line. The material is also non-toxic, latex-free, food–safe, even dishwasher-friendly!

Don't miss your chance to win your very own Teething Bling for you and your little one compliments of SmartMom Jewelry. Amy from SmartMom was gracious enough to provide 10 sets of pendants (that's right, I said TEN!) for HerBigIdea.com listeners and readers! Winners will get to choose their favorite color.

Teething Bling^® products are 100% lead-free.

To enter:

1. Simply go to the SmartMom Jewelry website and find your favorite color pendant.
2. Then write a comment in the blog post on HerBigIdea.com telling her which color you would love to have.

Rules:
1. You must be at least 18 years of age to enter.
2. One entry per person.
3. All entries must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Pacific time on June 30, 2008.
4. A random winner will be chosen from elgible entries.

GOOD LUCK!

Please take 30 seconds to get involved...

If you know anyone who has had a Mastectomy, you may know that there is a lot of discomfort and pain afterwards. Infact, a dear friend of mine back home had to have a double mastectomy just last year. Although hard to believe, insurance companies are trying to make mastectomies an outpatient procedure. Let's give women the chance to recover properly in the hospital for at least 2 days after surgery. Please take the time to make a difference! Please copy this to your blogs and/or send this to everyone in your address book. If there was ever a time when our voices and choices should be heard, this is one of those times. If you're still reading this, I hope you'll take 30 seconds to vote on this issue and pass it on to others you know who will do the same. There's a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act which will require insurance companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy. It's about eliminating the 'drive-through' Mastectomy where women are forced to go home just a few hours after surgery, against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached. Lifetime Television has put this bill on their Web page with a petition drive to show support. Last year over half the House signed on. Please Sign the petition by clicking on the link below. You need not give more than your name, state, and zip code.

Sign The Petition Here

PLEASE PASS THIS ON to your friends and family, and on behalf of ALL women, THANK-YOU!

Big Bird Unmasked!

I grew up watching Sesame Street and have always loved Big Bird! So, it's hard to believe that my children are also now watching the same program that I loved as a child. What a surprise to finally "meet" the man behind the mask! For 40 years, Big Bird has remained the same age — but the man who plays him hasn't. Amazingly enough, I haven't either. It's no secret, I will be 42 this year ...and I feel like I've known Big Bird my entire life! I hope you'll enjoy this video as much as I have!

Help save homeless shelter pets

I would like to recommend a fun game that also lets you save pets! You can find it at http://www.experienceproject.com/savepets.

The Experience Project is a free, anonymous community. Come check out personal stories about every possible life experience-- including your own-- and meet people just like you. I actually stumbled upon this through a friend's profile on facebook. It works the same as the Free Rice campaign.
Please help save homeless shelter cats and dogs by playing the simple trivia game. Each correct answer sends food to shelters to help save innocent pet lives. Save Pets Today!

A Green Opportunity!

Ever since moving here to California, I've developed a new attitude toward the foods we eat and the health we have in this country. It seems that everywhere I turn, people are talking about "Going Green"! As a result, I've begun to seek better health for myself as well as developing an environmental responsibility. Being a stay-at-home Mom, I've also been looking for ways to earn some extra cash from home to help out with our family finances. So it felt only natural when I found a home-based business where I could combine all of the above into one package.
I'm so glad I have been blessed with the opportunity to be able to give up rush hour traffic and corporate demands. I'm passionate about creating a new life with this company and am ready to share what they have to offer with everyone I meet (especially other Moms). I'm ready to help anyone build better health, wealth ... or BOTH! I know that if I can do this ANYONE can! We are all a part of the NEXT GENERATION WHO WANT IT ALL, AND I BELIEVE I HAVE FOUND A COMPANY THAT OFFERS IT ALL!
I feel empowered by our company's vision for what we can do to make this country and this world a better place! I feel like I'm on a mission to educate and help other Moms to have better health and the opportunity to be a WAHM (work-at-home mom) all at the same time! My hope is that you'll let me help you succeed in personal, environmental and financial health.
To find out more about what I do, feel free to contact me by visiting "...going "GREEN" couldn't be easier!" or click on the button below! Then click on Contact Me at the top of that page!

Kermit - It's Not Easy Being Green

I'm not really sure what made me remember this song tonight, but of the blue the title just came to me. Maybe because I'm "Going Green"! Anyways, I just love Kermit the Frog! So, I Googled the song title and this is what I found! I just had to share it with everyone... Maybe it will bring back some happy memories as it did for me! Enjoy!