Save-Our-Earth Saturday: Green Solutions You can easily adopt into daily living

I am excited to share some really cool information on how to be more Eco-conscious around the house. I found that you can easily adopt some of these Green Solutions and participate in saving our resources!

I have listed some Green Solution I practice below. Feel free to leave us a comment about how YOU are reducing waste of resources around YOUR home:

REDUCE

• For every 10 minutes you shower, you may be using up to 25 gallons of water. If you used a WaterSense-rated showerhead (epa.gov/watersense), 120 million gallons could be saved in just one day — that's 182 Olympic-size pools! — and $88 million a year. 
• Windows and doors can be major causes of heat loss especially in the winter, with faulty windows adding 10 to 25 percent to your heating bill. Open blinds during the day to let sun in. At dusk, close them to trap heat.
• Pay bills online, or set up automatic check paying from your bank account. No envelopes, no postage — and no late fees, if you’re on an automatic plan.

• Choose concentrated or ultra cleaning products, which use 50 to 60 percent less packaging than traditional formulas while cleaning just as thoroughly.

• True or false: The only way to save your computer’s energy during a lunch break is to shut it down. False. Leaving it in “sleep” mode uses very little electricity — with no wait for rebooting when you return. 

Let' be Eco-conscious, after all- It's Ultra fashionable!

~Maryam

Three Secrets to Fashionable AND Sustainable Living

The socially conscious and green fashion trends are making huge waves. We see small non-brands and other bigger fashion house brands making strides toward global consciousness and sustainable development in design.  While in the past, using the words "sustainable",  and "eco-conscious" in the same sentence with "fashion", was hard to find, in 2012, it is becoming the "in" thing. The keenness building—among both designers and consumers—indicates that socially responsible fashion may be more than a short-lived trend.

                                                     Image from EcoBlog.co.za

Love for fashion and concern for the global community have not been mutually exclusive before now. But we must admit, when looking for clothing made with sustainable principles and products, the selection has been slim, historically. So how does an industry that changes with the seasons turn over a new socially mindful leaf? We have identified 3 Secrets to remaining fashionable yet living sustainably:

• Staying Cruelty-Free: It’s not enough to know that our clothing wasn't produced in sweatshops; we also have to think about the origins of the raw materials. Designers and consumers alike now want to know that their pieces are violence and cruelty-free. Socially conscious fashion trends require attention to every step of the production process. 

• Reduce. Re-use. Recycle:  Fashionistas reinvent and copy themselves all the time. Taking this idea of recycling style one step further, some fashion designers are finding ways to use recycled and discarded materials in their designs. Less energy is used in production and produces less waste.

 

   Recycled Yamerra Packaging. Leave a "Secret to staying fashionable and socially aware to Enter to WIN $36.00 Set 

• Finding New Material: According to the World Bank, "Cotton accounts for 16 percent of global insecticide releases—more than any other single crop." Thus, clothing manufacturers and designers have begun exploring different materials altogether. Textile manufacturers are using bamboo, soy and wood pulp to create environmentally sound alternatives to cotton fabric. Additionally, many fashion designers are using traditional, natural dyes as a part of their efforts to create sustainable fashion. We too, can find more earth-friendly materials to enhance our fashion palettes.

Can you share more Secrets to being fashionable and yet Sustainably?  First 10 Responses/Comments ENTER TO win Yamerra's 3-piece gift st valued at $36.00! Winner choosen March 15th. Good luck!