Who's Your Green Inspiration?

Happy Earth Day, ghia friends!

On this lovely Earth Day, I'd like to encourage you to think about people who have inspired you to live a greener life and thank them for the difference they are making.

My green inspiration this year is my friend Ariana. A few weeks ago I was visiting Ariana's house with the city delivered an extra recycling bin. I was shocked -- her two-person household needed TWO recycling bins?

Ariana explained that she and her husband found they just didn't have much regular trash anymore. They eliminated a lot of household waste by trading one-time use products for reusable products; for instance, paper towels were ditched for cleaning rags. They also checked the city's curbside recycling guidelines and posted them in the house to be sure they were recycling everything they could. Products that didn't qualify for curbside recycling, such as glass, were collected until Ariana made a trip to a recycling center. They also tried to avoid buying products in non-recyclable containers, switching to brands that offered more environmentally friendly choices.

Wow! After listening to Ariana explain her recycling strategies, I felt like I had been stuck in 1990 recycling mode. Sure, my household recycled aluminum cans, paper, and cardboard, but most everything else got chucked into the trash. After seeing the huge difference Ariana made by putting a little extra thought into her choices, I decided to try it for myself. Now those plastic containers labeled 1 through 7 are rinsed and recycled, and I'm more careful with my shopping choices. I think I may need my own extra recycle bin soon.

Thanks, Ariana, for inspiring me to go greener!

Green Spring Links

Happy Spring from ghia!
Here are a few links to help you make your spring a little greener:

• Wisebread shares some products that reduce those dreaded phantom power drains.
• GreenGirlGuide discusses ideas to make your office more eco-friendly.
• Hippyshopper warns about the impact of sunscreen on coral reefs.
• And speaking of reefs, TreeHugger mentions some folks trying to save coral reefs with their crocheting skills.
  

Cool Stuff Round Up!

• Fair trade everyone can use. Traidcraft starts selling fair trade toilet paper. Text on the packaging: "I'm flushing away unfair trade." Actually, from I can tell, I don't know that the toilet paper itself is fair trade certified. However, it's made from 100% recycled paper, and proceeds from sales go into a fund to help Traidcraft support their producer communities.
  
  
• Change someone's life with microloans. Kiva.org allows its users to send microloans to entrepreneurs in developing countries. Kiva acts as the facilitator, working with existing microloan institutions to screen borrowers and connect them with lenders.
  
  
• Helping families go green. According to TreeHugger, food banks in Ontario, Canada, are currently giving out GreenBoxes that help families make their homes more energy efficient.
  
  
• Beauty tips for the holidays. Check out the holiday beauty tips I just posted on my personal blog for ways to look fabulous this month!
  

Are you cool?

Cool People Care is a company that is dedicated to helping others make a difference. Whether that's providing ideas for small, simple acts with their 5 Minutes of Caring newsletter, promoting meaningful, local events with their online calendar, or connecting volunteers with non-profits with their partner pages, Cool People Care is a pioneer on the path of social entrepreneurship.

ghia and Cool People Care recently teamed up to encourage shoppers to ditch those ubiquitous plastic grocery bags and start carrying reusable shopping totes. We've developed organic cotton totes that are essential for your next shopping trip. Made in the USA and printed in Nashville, these totes are eco-friendly and fun!

You can order the bags at www.shopghia.com.

Eco-Friendly Diaper Service Coming Soon to East Nashville

Green mommies of Nashville, rejoice! A diaper service is headed your way.

Back when cloth diapers were the norm, diapers services were plentiful. The enterprising businesses would pick up a family's dirty cloth diapers and drop off fresh, clean diapers, saving time and preventing hassle for busy moms.

As disposable diapers took over the market, diaper services began to disappear. Why pay someone to clean your diapers when you could toss them in the trash?

However, cloth diapers are becoming in vogue once more as environmentally-minded parents are looking for diaper solutions that are gentle for the planet and for their babies. Diaper services, as well, are making a comeback, ready to rush to the aid of perplexed new parents.

To my knowledge, Nashville has lacked any access to diaper services during this current revival of cloth.

However, that is about to change with the coming of SmileMommy! Diaper Service. According the SmileMommy.com, the company hopes to open in a couple of months. Currently the founders are researching "the most efficient and ecologically friendly way to launder diapers for our future customers."

Thanks to these eco-friendly entrepreneurs for returning this needed service to Nashville!