Spare A Few For Farm Animals

This Sunday Kevin, Chelsea, Juliette and I are taking part in the Farm Sanctuary Walk for Farm Animals! I know you're asked often to donate and I am sure it's not easy to part with your hard earned dollars, but this organization is soley supported by it's wonderful supporters. Please take a moment, and donate, even a few dollars goes far!

Check out my fundraising page here!

Farm Sanctuary is the nation's leading farm animal protection organization. Since incorporating in 1986, Farm Sanctuary has worked to expose and stop cruel practices of the "food animal" industry through research and investigations, legal and institutional reforms, public awareness projects, youth education, and direct rescue and refuge efforts. Farm Sanctuary shelters in Watkins Glen, New York, and Orland, Calif., provide lifelong care for hundreds of rescued animals, who have become ambassadors for farm animals everywhere by educating visitors about the realities of factory farming.

I hope you will make a pledge of support for farm animals in need by making a donation for my participation in the 2010 Walk.

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9 by Design: Watch and Donate Some Good

9 by DESIGN Seeks 999 Donors for DKMS Americas

9 by DESIGN remembers Jasmina Anema this Tuesday on Bravo at 10pm


[New York, NY] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – The popular Bravo TV series “9 by DESIGN” will remember an amazing leukemia-stricken girl, Jasmina Anema, who captivated many the hearts of many well-known celebrities as well as the City of New York. NBA players and countless others came to her aid as she fought to live and inspired and motivated people to register with DKMS Americas to be a part of their Bone Marrow registry.

Tomorrow night’s episode of “9 by Design”, which is on Bravo at 10PM, follows Robert and Cortney Novogratz, who were close with Jasmina and her family, as they host a fundraiser in her honor and a visit with Jasmina in the hospital. Their hope is to not only remember this very special little girl but also to drive 999 new donors to sign up for the blood marrow registry. Its one donation everyone can afford. And it is one that could ultimately save a life.

Jasmina Anema caused everyone she met to fall in love with her spirit and immeasurable heart. She had an incredible following of supporters from Rhianna and Kelly Rowlands to NBA stars Paul Pierce, Lamar Odom, Charlie Villanueva, Tyson Chandler and Jason Kidd. She was even invited to meet President Obama at the end of last year. It is amazing how many people were touched by this little girl.

“9 by DESIGN” is a special reality show that focuses on community, family and positive influences as opposed to negativity and drama. This family of seven children and two of NYC’s hippest developers and designers, take on two important charities in tomorrow’s episode.

The first one was to raise money for OneforJasmina as she was fighting for her life. The Novogratz’ 11 year old twins Tallulah and Bellamy were very close with Jasmina – and as a result so was the entire family. The fundraiser was to help Jasmina’s mom Thea cover the incredibly high medical expenses associated with their plight. And, now as an honor to Jasmina’s memory they would like to raise awareness to organizations that help save the lives of children suffering from leukemia, one of our children’s deadliest diseases. As in the case of Jasmina, many people who suffer from leukemia need a bone marrow transplant to beat the disease. Be a part of the effort to reach the goal of 999 donors are by signing up at www.dkmsamericas.org Jasmina’s best friend Isabelle Hermann explains in this video www.oneforjasmina.com, all you have to do is swab the inside of your cheek, fill out the form and mail it in to DKMS Americas [www.dkmsamericas.org].

The second fundraiser was to benefit their 12-year old son Wolfie’s AAU basketball team, The City Hoops, which provides mentoring, scholarship and the tools needed for their young basketball players to succeed in life.

Please join the 9 by DESIGN family this Tuesday at 10pm EST on BRAVO.

The DKMS mission is to save lives by recruiting bone marrow donors for leukemia patients. More than 20,000 DKMS donors have helped save lives by donating their bone marrow. DKMS is the largest bone marrow donor center in the world with over 2 million registered donors. However, there are still thousands of patients who cannot find their donor match. DKMS will continue to recruit bone marrow donors until every patient gets a second chance at life.

You can see Isabelle Hermann and new friend Los Angeles Laker Lamar Odom recruiting donor sign up here

What Will I Do For The Earth Today?

*Spending the day outside of course, enjoying the sunshine!

*Turning off all lights as I leave rooms, even if I am coming back soon

*As I take out the garbage in the house, make sure I didn't toss any recyclables in the wrong place (ie, paper trash throughout the house, I pull out to recycle)

*Made Juliette her breakfast with a banana that would otherwise need to be tossed in a day or so (we are leaving town tonight for the weekend, so it's important to use what will go bad before we leave) instead of pulling out something fresh

*Added to my clothes donation pile instead of adding it to the trash pile when cleaning out my closet

*Made sure I have my reusable Aladdin BPA free jug for iced coffee on the go & a small Earth Lust bottle of water so I don't end up purchasing a plastic one.

What are you going to do for the earth today?

Donate: Cell Phone

Many of you may have a new cell phone on your holiday gift list this year right? Well why not donate your old mobile phone to a good cause. Check out these great ways to donate.

(Content from Planet Green)

1. Help Soldiers Call Home
Cell Phones for Soldiers provides talk time to overseas troops so they can call home. The organization collects old phones, which they send to ReCellular so the used phones can be sold or recycled. Each phone donated buys one hour of talk time for soldiers.

2. Help Victims of Domestic Violence
Two organizations -- the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Shelter Alliance -- collect cell phones to help fund their programs. NCADC works with ReCellular, while Shelter Alliance is a program run by Florida-based GRC Wireless Recycling. You can mail your phone, but check with your local women's shelter to see if you can drop off your cell there.

3. Help Kids Go to Camp
NASCAR's Recycle for Victory cell phone fund benefits the Victory Junction Gang Camp, a NASCAR-themed sleep-away camp for kids with chronic medical conditions or serious illness. Just mail your phone to Recycle for Victory with this pre-paid shipping label.

4. Donate to Your Favorite Charity (Or Plant a Tree)
Flipswap refurbishes and recycles cell phones—and pays you for it or donates the value to your favorite charity. The company also has another program called inStore, which gives credits to people if they trade in their phone when they purchase a new one. And for each phone collected through the inStore service, Flipswap plants a tree.

5. Help A Local Organization
American Cell Phone Drive helps you find local organizations that either refurbish or recycle cell phones to raise funds. Just head to AmericanCellPhoneDrive.org, type in your zip code, and you'll get a list of organizations and drop-off locations. And if there isn't a collection site in your area, you can print off a shipping label to send three or more phones directly to their headquarters.

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Summer Project

I've had an idea for a while, and someday I might get it together to make it happen....maybe you can attack this project quicker than me!

A group Yard/Stoop/Garage Sale! Often we think we don't have enough to make it worth while, but pool your stuff together and boom, huge sale! Have someone bake some organic brownies or cookies to sell, whip up a few batches of fresh squeezed lemonade and you've got yourself a great weekend!

Here's how I would go about it.

1. Send out an email to a group of friends (who can continue by inviting their pals too), try to decide who's got the best digs to set up shop, aka the best lawn, stoop or most foot traffic.

2. Start cleaning out your home!

3. Pick up price tags and a package of sharpies/markers in as many shades as those selling, each person/couple/household gets a color. That way at the end of the day you can divide the cash to the appropriate recipient.

4. Designate jobs, someone to be in charge of the cash, set up, food sales etc.

5. Organize displays, who's got folding chairs, easy to transport tables etc.

6. Advertise, on craigslist, on facebook, mass emails and lots and lots of posters!

HAVE FUN and make some cash!!! Resell and reuse, make that your motto! Clean house and feel good about it. And whatever you don't sell, donate to charity!

Go forth! Sell!

(Image:www3.allaroundphilly.com)

Do Some Good This Earth Day

Doing good for the planet has a ripple effect no doubt. The health of all of us depends on the air quality, the purity of our water and the abundance of natural resources. Why not tackle another aspect of doing good this Earth Day by donating instead of tossing your gently used wares. By doing this you are giving new life to something that took fuel to deliver, energy to make, packaging to store etc. Here are some tips on where to get rid and feel good at the same time,

Donating Clothing & Housewares:

Goodwill: Most branches will actually pick up furniture or large donations of clothing. Click here to find a local branch.

The Salvation Army: Click here to find a local branch and donate away!

Dress For Success: All you ladies out there, got an old suit you just don't wear anymore, donate to Dress For Success, who then gives them to women trying to get into the work place. Great idea! Click here to find out how.

Donating Children's Items:

Got old baby items you no longer need? This great organization can help, Newborns In Need. You can donate gently used items including small toys, blankets and clothing. Click here for information.

Donating Books:

Fill schools in need with library books. There's nothing as important as education. click here to find out ow at readertoreader.org.

Donating Food:

Do a sweep of your cabinets and donate unexpired food to your local food bank, and hey next time you're at the market, toss a few extra cans of food in your basket. Click here to find your local branch by zip code.

(Image:www.wisebread.com)

Spring Cleaning Continues

It's time to ditch those old glasses that are gathering dust in your nightstand. Get your butt off the couch and bring them to the following locations for donation:

Target
BJs Optical Store
Sears
Pearle Vision
LensCrafters
Lions Club

They'll give you a receipt for your taxes as well, hey anything helps! Rest assured that you're old specks are going to someone who really needs them. Let them see the world through your eyes....

(Image:www.newbenefits.com)

Eco-Fashionista: Make Your Clothes Work For You

As soon as the Holiday season is upon us, it is tradition, for me, to clean my closet. I bring out the trunks under my bed, stuffed with sweaters and winter gear, and I trade it with all my summer dresses and clothes. But during the process of trading places, I end up making several piles. The first one is straight up donation. This has been a ritual for me, and something I’m very proud of. The second is clothes I don’t wear anymore but I know friends will….hardly the appropriate Christmas gift, but in times like these, it’ll have to do. The last pile usually sits in the corner of my room for a while – it is the try on pile, mainly consisting of pants and jeans that I NEVER wear. I’m talking straight leg, boot cut, high waisted, wide leg, skinny jean…you name the style, and it is in my closet. Every Holiday season I say to myself “I might like it next season, I swear they’ll make a come-back”…only every season it secretly is: “I might fit into those again next season”. This year was as terrible as last. My jeans didn’t fit right. So again, I decide to go on the hunt for yet another pair of so called “perfect fit jeans”.

I also came to find out that they released for fall an exclusive series of styles, designed for a chosen organization, including Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (the pants that I happened to be trying on) and Earth Day Network. Each jean is stitched with that charity’s signature color.

Moral is: clean out your closet this Holiday season and donate to those less fortunate than you are. There are major coat drives and food drives going on all over the city. You can go to NY Cares To see where you can drop off old coats, or go to Food Bank NYC To see where you can drop of food to feed the hungry. NOW, for those of you that have extra cash to spend, and are looking for a great fitting jean, go to Aristocrat Denim to find the nearest location to you! They are located in stores all over Manhattan, and all over the world! But if you have a fondness for that certain pair that you simply can’t give up. Hold on to them. You just might want to transform them into this summer’s most essential item: the denim jumper. It’s easy, unique, upcycled, and definitely affordable!

1) Cut 15” from the top of the jeans and mark with a piece of chalk. Fold in half and cut straight across.

2) Take the bottom of the ants and cuff them twice.

3) Take the two legs that are left over and cut them in half. Use a ruler to draw a 1.5 inch line all the way down half the leg. Lay the two halves on top of each other and cut along the marking. These will be the suspenders.

4) Make sure you sew inside out and sew the straight end closed.

5) Try the shorts on to figure out how long you need the straps to be, then cross from the back and sew in place!

6) Et voila! A head of the curve, and if you’re going somewhere sunny this holiday season, you’ll be looking hot!

Eco-Mama: Buy/Sell/Trade

Hi folks!
this is a short one, a "daily" as Lindsay calls em!

What's a great way to de-clutter and eliminate objects? start with...clothing! Consider swapping your clothing. Look for buy/sell/trade stores...swap your nice but not so favorite clothes for some newer ones.
I know this is not for everyone. Some people get the heebie jeebies when thinking about used clothing. But...you can always sell and use the cash to go out to a well deserved brunch afterwards! For those who see it as a great way to save $, go ahead, get yourself something "new". Eliminate from the cycle of clothing production...get diggin in your closet. Its a fantastic way to get rid of the "never worn," the "maybe I'll wear someday," the "I only wore once" pile. You'll get more for your $ when you sell never worn or once worn items, and you'll be honest with yourself in the meantime!
This past weekend I pulled together a bag of 5 pairs shoes and about 10 shirts and headed out with Siena. I wanted to eliminate from my closet so that I could add a few necessities to her closet. I used the $ I earned from my sell to go to another used/new children's store and purchase her some much needed winter clothes! It felt quite satisfying. I really was excited over the items I found for her. Most the time they are barely worn, esp with kids, they grow so fast that the clothes sold to these stores are really new.
Siena had a great time in the bouncy swing seat thing in the store while I sat next to her browsing through bins of shoes, hats and tights. Now talk about a good mom and daughter shopping excursion! In celebration of her 6 month "birthday".

Or...you can always be super selfless and donate your clothing to your local church, salvation army or clothing collection bin. There are even more people these days in need. Help them, and help yourself become less attached to material goods that you don't really need.

*pictured is a nice assortment of clothing I purchased for Siena. a Cashmere and cotton romper, 2 knit winter hats with ear flaps, 2 pairs of tights, a Petite Bateau onesie, a Gap long sleeve shirt, and a sweet pair of suede booties with a little fringe. Total cost was around $40.
Need I say more? what do you think the total retail cost would be if bought new? maybe $125 at a low estimate.

As always,
your Brooklyn Eco Mama
Mariah

I Heart Tom's Shoes

I've been wanting to write a post on Tom's Shoes for ages, finally he's done something not only socially responsible but eco friendly too! Ya Tom's Shoes!

Blake Mycoskie, Tom's Shoe founder has been making shoes since March 2006. He's philosophy is this: Sell shoes, give shoes. He sells his shoes for roughly $40 bucks then donates a pair to a child who needs it all around the world. He was inspired while travelling and picked up the idea in Argentina by copying the shoes he saw kids wearing. He added rubber soles and some spiffy colors and patterns and bam! Great shoes with a soul.

Blake has now taken it to the next level by creating a shoe made with hemp. And to quote my post on the benefits of hemp:

Hemp also has huge environmental benefits as well. Because the plant is resistant to insects they require no pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers. This helps reduce the runoff of chemicals into our waterways and into the soil. And unlike conventionally grown (non-organic) cotton, hemp does not deplete the soil of rich nutrients. Just to make this point hit home, ½ of all agricultural chemicals sprayed in this country are on conventionally grown cotton. Enough said.

These shoe make great gifts and they also make adorable kids versions, hemp or not, I love Tom's Shoes! Check out this great picture of Blake with the kids who inspire him (I have to admit I might have a little crush on Blake)

Visit: http://www.tomsshoes.com/

(Image: tomsshoes.com)

Flock Eco: Green Surfing

Now you can browse the internet through an eco-friendly web browser called Flock Eco! I can't wait to download this free application tonight when I get home.

Check out the page: http://browser.flock.com/eco/

The browser comes completely loaded with eco-content. 10% of the $'s they make goes to the eco-charity of your choice.

Check out the rest of the article by clicking:
http://www.ecorazzi.com/2008/04/22/first-eco-browser-that-benefits-the-planet-now-available/

(Image: http://www.pcmag.com)

Eco-Fashionista: Urban Zen Initiative

Urban Zen (www.urbanzen.org) is devoted to raising awareness and inspiring change. Albeit on a small scale, but if all of us combine our efforts, it would literally make a world of difference.

I’m so excited to tell you about Urban Zen Initiative. I’m whole heartedly obsessed with this company (and if anyone is reading this and knows an in for me in the company, I swear to you I’ll name my first child, and maybe second, after you).

Urban Zen Initiative is a 100% non-for-profit company whose mission is to raise awareness and inspire change. Founded in 2006 by Donna Karan as a separate entity to her already amazing fashion empire, it serves as a catalyst for collaboration to provide funding for these three areas: Well-Being, Preserving Cultures and Empowering Children.

*Well-Being: The Urban Zen Initiative helps support programmes that advance integrative medicine by treating patients through the combined efforts of eastern and western medicine. For example, they help support and distribute a series of Bravewell Collaborative integrative medicine training videos for healthcare providers.

*Preserving Cultures: The Company helps various cultures maintain their rich and vibrant identities supporting programmes that help local communities around the world preserve their unique cultural heritage while participating in global development efforts. For example, Urban Zen helps sustain small villages in Africa by buying jewelry directly from the women who make them. (And let me tell you, it’s the most amazing jewelry).

*Empowering Children: Most importantly, I think, they help give children around the hope through opportunities to cultivate and reach their true potential by various education programmes.

In essence, it’s a clothing store that sells really great clothes, jewelry, incense, etc. A very holistic, well-being store, if you will. But it’s the backbone of the company that makes it something amazing. They are constantly working on and launching pilot programmes at Beth Israel Medical Center and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center that study integrative medical practices. They host events such as Hope – a fundraising lunch for His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. They have yoga and Kabala workshops for adults and children, and so much more. It’s an amazing platform to learn, inspire, grow from and help. And I can’t describe it any better. SO buy, help, and spread the word to help CREATE CHANGE.

The Urban Zen store is located at the Stephan Weiss Studio on Greenwich St. Visit their site http://www.urbanzen.org/.

Green is Good (and fashionable)

Pop into my favorite shop Hayden Harnett in Greenpoint Brooklyn or go online to: www.haydenharnett.com and pick up a GREEN IS GOOD canvas tote for a mere $27! You can use this for groceries, gym clothes, books or as your purse! The proceeds (100% of them mind you!) go to Farm Aid!!! Here's a snippet from Hayden Harnett's site:

Help support organic, sustainable farming practices and education with the purchase of our exclusive "GREEN IS GOOD" organic cotton eco-tote. 100% of Hayden-Harnett’s proceeds from the sale of our GREEN IS GOOD organic cotton tote supports Farm Aid's efforts to promote local, organic, and sustainable farming through education and training. Promoting green farming is a great way to help the environment and ourselves. Using this eco- friendly tote, rather than plastic bags, is another great way to be kind to our planet.
To learn more about Farm Aid, please visit: farmaid.org

I love this shop, I drool over every single bag! I am lucky enough to have a few but now I want this one too! Kevin can't get mad, it's for charity, there, I won. Ha!

(Image: www.haydenharnett.com)

Spring Cleaning Project: Series 3

I love to read and I have been known to have bookcases full of them. I know I really should be going to library instead of buying books, but I write notes all over them and I love lending them so it’s hard! That being said, I have been doing some spring cleaning and books were my first mountain to conquer. I have come up with a great list of ideas on what to do with those old books that I thought I’d share with you all. First though you’ve got to go through your home library and really take out what you don’t need to be keeping. I organize them into these categories:

Category 1- Not even up for debate.
Category 2- Haven’t read yet, so obviously keep if I plan on reading someday
Category 3- Read and loved, might read again, might lend or might need to pull from it someday
Category 4- Did I read that? Did I like it? (aka TOSS)
Category 5- Gifts from family or friends that you’ll never read and you keep for what reason again? (again, easy aka TOSS)
Once you’ve made your piles now it’s time to figure out what to do with them. For the books you are not going to keep here are some great ideas on how to reduce, reuse and recycle them!

*Call your local library or public school and see if they take book donations.

*Look online for a local used bookstore that may give you a few bucks for them. (in New York City you can sell your books at Strand)

*Sell them online at Amazon.com and make a few bucks. (super easy to set up, I promise)

*Organize a small cocktail party at your house where everyone brings books they don’t want to swap.

And if all else fails RECYCLE THEM!

There, one more in our Spring Cleaning Series!

(Image: www.coinbooks.org)

Spring Cleaning Project: Series 2

The Spring-cleaning continues in my apartment today. It’s rainy in New York and the perfect day to get things done around the home. I repotted baby aloe leaves with roots that had been pushed off of my giant aloe plant, hopefully I can grow them like their mom, big and robust. Back to Spring-cleaning now…

I was cleaning out and found a pair of old glasses, not knowing what to do with them I started doing some online research. I found a great organization to donate them to: Unite For Sight. I urge you to think for a second, do you have any old reading, distance or sunglasses lying around that you don’t use? Donate them!

Unite For Sight is an organization that’s been working hard since it’s inception in 2000. The foundation sponsors eye surgeries across 3 continents, Africa, Asia and North America. So far they have aided in 12,144 sight restoring cataract surgeries. They also provide treatment for eye infections and diseases. They have a huge team of 4,000 volunteers, including doctors, nurses, students and public health professionals. They need donates of eyeglasses and sunglass. You can donate your glasses by going to their site, filling out a small form, they will then email you an address to ship. This is a great way to reduce your impact on the earth while helping someone else out in the process.

www.uniteforsight.org

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Spring Cleaning Project: Series 1

This is my first in a series of spring cleaning posts. I know it’s only February 29th, but spring is fast approaching and I want my house to be spick and span. (And do I really need a season to make me clean house?) I will be posting often about tips to cleaning out and finding great places to donate or recycle your “junk”.

I know that in my house we have a few old cell phones lying around. We keep them thinking they are full of sacred data, I mean hey some of them cost us a pretty penny so it’s hard to part with them. Plus knowing what chemicals go into these babies it’s hard to feel comfortable throwing them away. Cell phones contain toxic materials such as arsenic, mercury, lead, cadmium, antimony and beryllium. These end up in land fills leaching into the soil and finally into our water supply. The numbers are staggering, there are over 500+ million cell phones in landfills or on shelves unused to date, and over 130+ million more adding to that list this year alone. And YES the post photo is a cell phone pile! There are many organizations that will help with this issue, taking your old phone and recycling it properly or donating them to a good cause. This is one that I’ve found.

Collective Good is an organization focused on working with charities to maximize the recycled cell phone while minimizing its environmental impact . Collective Good provides refurbished phones to the “developing world” (a term I don’t really appreciate but that’s a whole other post) at low cost. Any part of the phone that is unusable for any reason is recycled properly, so no need to worry about that. On their website you can print out a mailing label and it’s FREE to ship! Of course you can get the address on their FAQ’s and send it yourself, thus donating a few more dollars to this great organization. I urge you all to think, do I still have that old phone? Ask friends, get a bunch together and send a whole load of them. And don’t worry, all of your personal data is removed so you can rest assure that there’s no security risk there.

Here’s the website:
www.collectivegood.com or you can go directly to the page at www.recyclemy cellphone.org
(Image: www.textually.org)

Will you be my Giver?

This Valentine's Day give someone you love the gift of giving. Opt out of the oh so typical box of chocolates or roses (unless of course they are Veraflora certified that is) and give a donation to Oxfam. Let your sweetie choose the gift, you'll be surprised how sexy giving can make you feel! Oxfam America is an amazing organization which works in 26 countries around the world to help eradicate poverty. The organization has created a really great site and gives gifting program to help make giving a bit more hands on. You can purchase gifts under $50 like a set of blankets, a cooking stove or a medical kit. You can donate enough to give an animal to a farmer such as a camel, goat or sheep! (What a great gift for kids to give their friends!) Their gifts are in categories such as; emergency essentials, furred & feathered, green gifts, women & children and school days. So go ahead, check out their site: http://www.oxfamamericaunwrapped.com/.

When you gift something, let me know! I want to hear about it. My personal favorite gift to give? You can donate $90 and provide gender rights training for community activists, giving not just one gift but an ongoing community gift to the many women who will benefit. Oh, and the gift of the crocodile of course!