The Shortys: Thanks from the Green Moms of Green Moms Carnival

January 25th, 2009

UPDATE: SINCE THIS POST WAS WRITTEN, WE’VE LEARNED THAT IN FACT WE DID WIN THE SHORTY AWARDS COMPETITION! THANKS TO ALL WHO VOTED FOR US AND PLEASE JOIN US IN NYC FOR THE CELEBRATION ON FEBRUARY 11TH!

I’m just recovered from a late night of campaigning for a brand new award: the Shortys. The Shortys aim to honor the best content producers on Twitter. It appears my posse, my community, my gals – the Green Moms of the Green Moms Carnival ended up in second place among all the green twitterati on Twitter. It’s still a bit early to tell, but preliminary results make it look like the winner is Dr. Greene, whom we all adore anyway!

Thanks to everyone who voted for us.

Looking at some of the comments about why people voted was humbling. We’re so thrilled that you enjoy our tweets, learn from them and are inspired by them.

The Green Moms Carnival members are a very diverse group of bloggers who are united by our desire to help Mother Earth. Some of us are Mothers, some of us are child-free. Heck, we’ve even had some “Sons of Mothers” participate in our carnivals!

We’re published authors with popular books in the green space, stay-at-home Moms, law firm partners, business owners, grant writers, Sunday School teachers and non-believers. A few of us were at the forefront of the environmental movement 30 years ago, others came to understand the dangers of environmental degradation far more recently. Some of us blog for the sheer pleasure of it and refuse advertising on our blogs, whereas a few of us support our families with the money made through affiliate programs, advertising, and consulting.

We believe that together, our voices can make a difference in our collective stewardship of Mother Earth.

We thank you for your encouragement.

Members of the Green Moms Carnival: *

*Denotes Founding Member

Please join us or help spread the word! (Please bear with us if we don’t respond right away…this is an all-volunteer effort ).

Lynn

Copyright OrganicMania 2009

Real vs. Fake Inaugural Invites

January 19th, 2009

Take a look at these Inaugural Invitations. If you received both in the mail, would you know which to use? My neighbors were anxiously awaiting their Inaugural invitations when they received the invitation pictured above. And then, a few days later, they received the second set, pictured at right. When they received the second set, which is the set needed to gain access to the restricted viewing section, they realized that the invite sent by their local Congressman was intended as a general invitation to “attend,” but not the actual coveted tickets they were awaiting. They were a bit less charitable though, and called them “fake.”

What do you think? Are they “fake?”

And as for the actual tickets, gold tassels, gold engraving and all – they’re beautiful. To the right of the invitations are tickets to the Newseum, where yours truly, along with many working members of the press and thousands of fellow citizens will watch the Inauguration on the Newseum’s 40-foot-by-22-foot high definition media screen and in the Robert H. and Clarice Smith Big Screen Theater, where news can be viewed on a unique 90-foot-long video wall. If we can get near the windows, we may watch the parade from there, or try to use our tickets (pictured above, far left) to the parade reviewing stand at 14th and Pennsylvania Avenue.

I hope to be live tweeting from the festivities and then off to a reception on Capitol Hill. It all seems a bit ambitious given the size of the crowds, but here’s hoping it will be worth it! I’ll be tweeting tomorrow from the Green Moms Carnival twitter account @greenmoms. Sign up to follow me there! And if you like what you see, please cast a vote for us in the Shorty Awards! If you have an active Twitter account, you can vote here!

Lynn

Copyright 2009 OrganicMania

Off the Beaten Path: Affordable, Great Green Inaugural Events

January 18th, 2009

Perhaps you’ve heard of the two “official” green inaugural events. Sure, it would be great to be invited by Al Gore to his “Green Ball: Inauguration of a New Economy.” And who wouldn’t want to hear Wyclef Jean at the Green Inaugural Ball? Sounds good, but you need to shell out $500 for a ticket.

If access and cash are in short supply, you’re not alone, but don’t despair. There are still a few special green inaugural events with space available and they’re a lot more affordable than these other two green galas.

Here’s a look at two green events on Monday the Inaugural Interfaith Bike EcoTour and MLK and the 44th Presidential Inaugural EcoTour Dinner – all sponsored by Chesapeake Bioneers, Wholeness for Humanity, and Service for Peace.

If you’re fit, grab your bike and join this tour of six houses of worship, starting at Saint Columba’s Episcopal Church at 9:30 a.m.. The tour will progress down Mass Ave and end at the Islamic Center at 2 PM. RSVP to Greg Drury – gd_wfh@earthlink.net (and tell him Lynn from OrganicMania sent you!)

Later that night, for just $85, you can enjoy healthy green cuisine, including at least one RAW dish, as well as what’s billed as “socially conscious and exciting entertainment,” and a tour of the African American Celebrations exhibit at the Smithsonian Institutions’ Anacostia Community Museum in SE DC. The event will feature The Honorable Reverend Walter Fauntroy, Washington DC’s first delegate to the US House of Representatives.

The museum is accessible from the Anacostia Metro, and GM will be providing Hydrogen Cell Vehicles to shuttle attendees to the dinner.

Learn more and register here.

Global Warming: “Our Kids are Going to be So Angry with Us”

January 10th, 2009

It’s been five months since I read those words from Thomas L. Friedman, and yet they’ve stayed with me. They hit my gut as a warning that each of us will be held accountable for what we did – or didn’t – do to stop the disasterous affects of climate change. It surprised me that Friedman, a three-time Pulitzer prize winner and New York Times columnist with all the resources in the world at his disposal, chose to frame the battle against climate change in the context of a generational reckoning with our kids.

Here’s an excerpt from his August 5th New York Times column:
“..my trip with Denmark’s minister of climate and energy, Connie Hedegaard, to see the effects of climate change on Greenland’s ice sheet leaves me with a very strong opinion: Our kids are going to be so angry with us one day.

We’ve charged their future on our Visa cards. We’ve added so many greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, for our generation’s growth, that our kids are likely going to spend a good part of their adulthood, maybe all of it, just dealing with the climate implications of our profligacy…”

Much has changed since those words were published five months ago. We’ve elected Barack Obama, someone whom we can count on to take action against global warming.

That’s great news, but we can’t leave it all to him.

As a mother who doesn’t want to face that angry reckoning with my own kids, I’m concerned. (Of course, I’ve already had angry exchanges with them about the need to fight global warming – like this one).

I see too many parents relaxing just a bit. “Oh, the new energy bill will take are of things,” they say. “We’ll finally have an EPA with some teeth,” they remark.

We can only count on Washington for so much. At the end of the day, the fight against global warming will be waged by Mothers who choose to stuff their kids into Priuses and the like instead of Chevy Suburbans, and who tell their kids that no, they’re not going to drive them to the corner store, they’ll need to walk. It will be waged by husbands who realize that an 8,000 square foot “green” house is not really green, no matter how many fuel efficient systems are crammed into the new construction.

Many of my “Green Mom” friends are joining in to raise awareness of the need to continue the fight against climate change. Their posts will be featured at the January Green Moms Carnival over at Not Quite Crunchy Parent.

Please check the posts out, and leave your thoughts below.

God knows we don’t need angry kids, right?

— Lynn

Copyright 2009 OrganicMania

Wordless Wednesday: Gotta Love the Quirkiness of a CSA!

January 7th, 2009

Organic and Green Savings: A Great Time to Try Organic Kids Food

January 6th, 2009

Just wanted to pass along the news that my client Mom Made Foods is offering a great deal to celebrate the new year. Now when you buy any 4 Mom Made Meals or Munchies at SuperTarget by January 19th, you can redeem your UPC codes for a $9 SuperTarget gift card plus special savings codes from GDiapers and Bebe au Lait! Grab your rebate form and all the details here.

The MomMade Team! (L to R, Laura Waldron, Marketing Manager; Jennifer Mulchandani, Marketing Director; Heather Stouffer, Mom Made Founder; and Lynn Miller, Miller Strategic Marketing and OrganicMania).

The MomMade Team! (L to R, Laura Waldron, Marketing Manager; Jennifer Mulchandani, Marketing Director; Heather Stouffer, Mom Made Founder; and Lynn Miller, Miller Strategic Marketing and OrganicMania).

This $9 rebate offer is a great excuse not only to try Mom Made organic frozen foods, but to visit a SuperTarget! I tweeted a while back about the surprises I found on my “roadtrip” to a SuperTarget with the Mom Made team. I had no idea that SuperTargets had such an expansive organics section – including fresh organic produce, all at great prices, of course!

For more than a year now, I’ve been blogging about the need for more healthy, organic and natural products at prices that make sense. During this time, we’ve discussed money savings tips such as the expansion of Giant’s organic lines, great savings on Archer Farms house brand organics at Target, coupons from Whole Foods, and more. And now we see SuperTarget, recently named one of the top 10 healthiest grocery stores by Health Magazine, as another high quality option for organic foods at a good price.

Take a look – and let me know what you think!

And as for the Mom Made? Well, there are four options to choose from, but I’d be holding out if I didn’t tell you that Baby Boo and Big Boy prefer the Cheesy Mac (with peas!) and the Cheese Pizza. As for me? After a long day, I’ve been known to kick back with a Mom Made Bean Burrito and a beer!

Looking for more savings tips? Check these out over at Thrifty Thursday on greenbabyguide.com and these at Frugal Friday!

Bon Appetit!

— Lynn

Copyright 2009 OrganicMania

Slow Christmas: And on the 10th Day of Christmas…

January 3rd, 2009

It’s hard to believe that more than a week has passed since Christmas Day. Many people plan to take down the Christmas tree this weekend.

What’s the rush?

It was a month ago that we discussed how to “Slow Christmas” to make it more meaningful.

By rights, today is the 10th day of Christmas, or Christmastide. You remember! The day when your true love is supposed to give you ten lords a leaping!

Of course, most of us are over the presents by now – particularly this year. But who wouldn’t enjoy a few more leisurely readings of the Christmas story, another lap of the train around the tree, or simply a quiet evening enjoying the beautiful decorations?

Take the time. Enjoy Christmastide. All 12 days. And when that’s over, you can have fun celebrating Epiphany on January 6th with a Three Kings Cake.

And then it’s time to finally take down the tree!

Until, then slow down, and enjoy a Slow Christmas!

— Lynn

Copyright OrganicMania 2009

The One New Years Resolution Every Blogger Should Make

January 1st, 2009

If you’re like most bloggers, you’ve agonized over posts, debated how often to ask for a Stumble, and analyzed your web traffic more often that you care to admit. All that time adds up – in fact, according to Technorati, about half of all bloggers spend more than five hours per week on their blogs. Five hours per week? Those numbers actually seem low when you think about activist bloggers – those blogging about a cause near and dear to their hearts.

We lose ourselves to blogging and social media because there we find like-minded souls who encourage us to pursue those causes most important to us.

But as you make new friends amongst the Twitterati and in the Blogosphere, don’t forget the real world outside your door.

Too often this past year, I neglected real world friends and obligations because of my fascination with this alternate universe. The fact is, as wonderful as cybersupport can be, it only goes so far. You still have to trudge to the 7 p.m. PTA meeting, organize the Green Group at your school or office, or knock on doors to elect a political candidate.

This morning, as my first act of ’09, I organized a meeting to help green things up around my son’s school. I’ve reached the point where I stopped blogging about green schools – a cause near and dear to my heart – because I felt I wasn’t doing enough real work in my own neighborhood.

What do you care about? What do you blog about? Now what do you actually do? This year, keep blogging, but make something real happen in your own neighborhood.

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Happy New Year!

Lynn

Copyright OrganicMania 2009