Montreal is a great city and they love to celebrate everything and anything.  When I was there last month the city celebrated Nuit Blanche (The White Night), to honor the arts.  It was fantastic because the city offered free access to buses, closed down streets and opened tons of shops and business to the public to experience and participate in art.  In one area we were able to draw a live model, another we listened to a young woman sing with her guitar, outside a cafe we watched performance art in the middle of the street, it was amazing!

One of the best places we stopped was in an operating printing press.  People were invited to listen to music, enjoy food, and take part in decorating the room.  Each person was giving an old record and a etching pen.  From there you were able to etch any design you wanted onto the record and then take it over to the printing press where they covered it with ink, pressed the design on to a piece of paper, and then finished off the poster to hang in the room.  It was really fun and a great way to reuse material that would otherwise end up in the trash.  Don’t worry, the records weren’t good music or anything.  They were old demo records with commercials or something on them, nothing exciting.

Here are some pictures of our design….

Some other great things I ran into during the celebration…a chessboard made from recycled newspaper.  It would take some time to make but a good way to get rid of that growing pile of papers…

Last Monday I helped kick off Spring at the Mountain Mama Spring Fling Event at the Waterton Canyon Audubon Society and it was great, especially because the snow held out for us.

We had a great turn out and I was lucky to have a booth where I could showcase my products and talk to people about being Green.  With me was the great store ecoPOLITAN, which focuses on helping mom’s raise their children in a variety of different green ways with options for cloth diapers, hiking gear, and lots of other great products.

Here are some pictures from my booth…

Upcoming Events

To celebrate Earth Day, I will be participating in the GreenMarket Festival on April 17 & 18th at the MileHigh Market.  I will be giving a short presentation both days at 11am and 2pm.  Come and join me, it should be a great event and I will be giving away a free Green Home Makeover.  Stop by and say hi!

When I was in Montreal last month I stumbled upon some of the best furniture I’ve ever seen.  Its creative, fun, and the best part of it is, they are recycled. It might be a little tricky but if you have these things laying around your house or apartment looks like you could make them useful again…

Typewriter End Table

CinderBlock Clock

Cardboard Chair

Camera Lamp with Negative Lamp Shade

What kind of recycled furniture have you made or seen?

If your getting in the mood to start spring cleaning your not alone.  This last weekend the weather was amazing and got me in the mood to start cleaning out all of our cabinets and storage areas…time for a fresh start to great weather!

With a long list of spring projects refreshing paints is definitely one of them.  If your list includes painting as well check out this article from the TheDailyGreen.com to read about low VOC paints- paints that won’t off-gas in your home, polluting your indoor air.  There are many great options out there with great colors and even aromatherapy paint!  Check it out and let me know how your spring painting goes.

Low VOC Paint – Non Toxic Paint and No VOC Paint – thedailygreen.com.

Inaugural GreenMarket Festival to Teach Sustainable Skills and Highlight Green Products in Unique Two-Day Event

Denver, CO – March 15, 2010 –To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, Mile High Marketplace, Denver’s only year-round, outdoor, value-conscious shopping and entertainment destination, will launch its first GreenMarket Festival April 17-18, 2010,
to provide Denver residents with a convenient and low-cost option to “go green” at this family-friendly event.

GreenMarket Festival features will include:

•    Drop-off areas for free consumer recycling of home electronics, paint, auto batteries and clothing from 7-3 pm daily (first come basis)
•    Free confidential paper shredding
•    Hard drive shredding for $5.00
•    Festival exhibitors open from 9-5
•    A chance to win a trip for two to San Francisco and passes to two national parks

Applications are still being accepted for exhibits that highlight wind power, solar power, water purification, green construction, forest preservation, water conservation, organics and other products that promote recycling and sustainable living.

Media partners include KBCO radio 97.3, KQMT radio 99.5 The Mountain, Comcast Cable and local ABC television affiliate KMGH, channel 7, whose Weather Experience booth will allow guests to experience the process of anchoring a live weathercast.

GreenMarket Festival will also host live entertainment on the Bands for Lands Edutainment Stage sponsored by Mile High Synthetic Turf and Aplenglo Solar. Established in 1996, Bands for Lands is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to communicating the message and practice of sustainability, conservation, and social awareness through music, the creative arts, inspirational speakers and educators.

Festival exhibitors providing information and education include Colorado Tree Coalition, CUBS Bags, Gone for Good, Green Earth Environmental, Highland Water, Queen of the Meadow Natural Skin Care, SomeKinda Logging and Wildlands Restoration Volunteers to name a few. Annette Haugh of Green Irene will present 20 Ways to Go Green: An easy to follow plan that will help the environment and your pocketbook.

“America is shifting to a green culture and most environmentally savvy families are trying to do their part to help preserve our environment. We want to help by showing them how to live green on a budget,” said Jim Hurrell, CEO of Mile High Marketplace.

He and his team are building GreenMarket Festival to be more than a weekend showcase for energy-efficient and unique green or recycled products. “We’ll be providing an environment that teaches concerned citizens how to conserve cash as they practice environmental conservation,” Hurrell said.  “The GreenMarket Festival is the kick-off to the ongoing green initiative of Mile High Marketplace which will offer many recycling and sustainable living options for guests in the coming year.”

Kids, too, will have access to easy-to-understand and fun tools for learning about “being green” and other aspects of healthy living. Free seedlings will be given to those who want to try organic gardening at home (while quantities last).

The GreenMarket Festival will be held at the new event center complex at Mile High Marketplace, located just ten minutes from downtown Denver at I-76 and 88th Ave.  Admission is $3.00 per person with kids 12 and under being admitted free.  Admission also gives access to 80 acres of additional shopping, food and family fun, including kids’ rides and live entertainment.

About Mile High Marketplace
Mile High Marketplace is the largest and only local year-round, outdoor, value-conscious shopping adventure and entertainment destination.  Offering a diverse, different and “discovery” experience every time, this true marketplace is anchored by five eclectic yet complementary “markets:” a flea market, farmer’s market, shops, antiques and events.  For more information visit the Web site at www.milehighmarketplace.com or via phone at 303 289-4656.

How to Claim your 2009 Green Efforts

I can’t believe it’s already tax season.  Ahh, time to sit down and organize all those receipts and notes you wrote to yourself over 2009 and reflect on how much money you spent and what you can and can not write off- a lovely Sunday chore.

If you’ve made efforts to be green in 2009 chances are that you will get a break on your taxes.  If you participated in the Cash for Clunkers program this summer, your $3,500 or $4,500 rebate is not considered taxable income, hooray!  Also, if you bought or upgraded your car to a hybrid model you are eligible for a Energy Tax credit.  If you’re thinking about getting a hybrid and want to take advantage of the credit make sure you buy one in 2010 because this will be the last year for eligibility.

If you went one step further and purchased a plug-in vehicle in 2009 you might be able to get a big tax break.  Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 if you have a plug-in vehicle with a capacity of at least 4 kilowatt hours you can qualify for a credit of $2,500.  For each kilowatt hour of battery above this you might be able to add $417 to credit with a maximum of $7,500- that could really help out!

Aside from car purchases, you might be able to claim upgrades and improvements you completed in your house, which could give you up to $1,500 of tax credit.  You may qualify if you installed new insulation, weather stripping, a new energy efficient roof, or even if you switched to CFL bulbs.  You can go to the Energy Star website and put in your zip code and figure out what rebates you are eligible for.

Here is an example of what is available to claim in Littleton….

Special Offers and Rebates Search Results

The links below will take you to Web sites external to the energystar.gov domain.

You may be eligible for federal tax credits if you make energy-efficient improvements to your home. Read more about federal tax credits for energy-efficient improvements

By Phila Hoopes

Whether you’re deep in the trenches of Corporate America, working for an small local business, or running your own office from home, it’s not hard to create a personal green haven at your desk. Here are just three ways to get started…

Detox and Destress

Whether it’s a lush potted jungle or a single plant on your desk, living foliage removes airborne contaminants and electromagnetic fields, as well as balancing humidity and decreasing office noise and stress levels. In fact, NASA studies indicate that plant-filled rooms contain 50-60% fewer airborne molds and bacteria than rooms without plants.

Just a single plant on your desk can clean an area of 6 to 8 cubic feet; 15 to 20 plants clean the air in a 1,500-s.f. office. The best plants to use? Rubber Plant, Dragon Plant, English Ivy, Dwarf Date Palm, Boston Fern, and Peace Lily.

Cut Back Energy Use

1. Set your computer to switch to energy-saving modes – not just your screensaver – when you’re not using it. Standby mode reduces monitor and computer power use to 1-3 watts each, wakes up in seconds, and saves $25-$75 per computer annually. Hibernate mode is like standby mode, but lengthens wakeup time to 20+ seconds, and saves your work if there is a power loss. Turning off your monitor reduces your PC power use to 1-3 watts, and saves about $12 – $35 annually.
2. Switch to a laptop rather than a desktop computer if you can. While a desktop and monitor use a total of 200 watts, a powerful notebook uses just 30 watts.
3. When you go home, turn off peripherals (printers, speakers, etc.) and “vampire” energy users (cell phone and PDA chargers, etc.). A Smart Strip surge protector lets you leave some key components turned on while you power others off.
4. Use sunlight or task lighting with CFLs at your desk instead of overhead lighting.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Trash

1. Bring in a reusable mug, glass, plate, and set of flatware, and pack your lunches in a reusable bag. Use washable containers instead of sandwich bags and refillable stainless steel bottles for liquids rather than prepackaged single servings.
2. Think before you print! If you really need a paper copy, print double sided…or two pages to a side (called “N-up”) if your eyes are good. Print drafts in black and white rather than color.
3. Don’t stop with recycling paper, plastic, glass and metal. Recycle printer cartridges, cell phones, keyboards, mice and more.

Phila Hoopes is sole proprietor of Fresh Green Image, an independent eco-consulting firm providing Green Home Makeovers and Office Makeovers and offering a growing inventory of green home and office products through the national company Green Irene. She also partners with local and national eco-preneurs to provide a variety of eco-educational products and courses.

To get her special free listing of “Great Green Resources to Know” and monthly e-zine loaded with simple, practical tips for saving energy and water, detoxing your home, purifying your air and water, and much more, just sign up on her home page.

There’s not that much time left but hurry to the Gap with your old denim. From March 5-14th the Gap will be taking your old denim and converting it into natural fiber insulation for communities in need… plus you get 30% off new jeans if you donate your old hole-y/ripped up/too big/too small ones!

Read more about it on the cotton website and on the CaraGreen website (insulation manufacturer)

A Guest Blog From Erika of  The 30 Something Beauty Blog

In my early twenties make up was a source of creative expression, a celebration of the feminine, and a really cool hobby. But then things changed, in my mid-twenties I became very passionate about environmental issues and animals right. I started to learn all about the toxins in my makeup and all the horrible animal testing that they did to make these products that I gained so much pleasure from. I was totally horrified. So, I started searching for products that would meet my eco and animal friendly expectations. Unfortunately, finding products that met my needs and didn’t irritate my sensitive skin was way more challenging then I thought it would be. So, I pretty much gave up. I occasionally (embarrassingly enough) used the makeup I still had from early 20s when I really needed it for special occasions (consequently it held up pretty well — which makes you wonder what they put in it to give it such a long shelf life). But, for the most part I got away with some sunscreen, some natural lip gloss and mascara.

When I hit my 30s things started to get a little more complicated. I was diagnosed with Rosacea, making my already sensitive skin more challenging to work with. You can’t get away with lip gloss and sunscreen when you hit your 30s, believe me, I pushed it as far as I could. Unfortunately, all the Rosacea skin care and makeup products I found that produced great results were not natural at all. So, I have spent the last 4 years trying to find the right skin care and makeup products that would be kind to my sensitive skin, animals and the planet. Trust me when I tell you this is a very tall order!

So, far there has been a lot of trial and error, costly mistakes, and disappointment. It has been a hard journey, but I feel like I have come a long way and learned a lot in the process. As I continue to learn, it is important to me to share with others who I know must be struggling with the same or similar challenges.

My approach to making eco-friendly choices is all about compromise. By nature, I can be a perfectionist and I wanted to get it right when I went green. I quickly learned that like many things in life, going green is about finding balance.  We are all individuals; we have to make the right choices for ourselves depending on our individual needs, what works for me may not work for you. I also learned there is never going to be a perfect solution. The very best thing that you can do is educate yourself and then make choices in awareness that are the best for you. When you are aware of the impact of your actions and choices you will not take these things lightly. So, I encourage you to learn, research, know yourself and make your best choices in awareness.

I recently discovered makeup blogs where women reviewed products, did demos and shared technique and product knowledge. I learned a lot watching these videos and reading blogs. My favorite sites are: http://www.xsparkage.com/ and http://www.youtube.com/user/Jjacks48
The blogs that I found, so far, are done by women in their early twenties or by makeup artists, and while informative, they don’t speak to the stage of life I am in. So, I thought wouldn’t it be great to start a site that would focus on makeup demos, reviews, and techniques for professional women in their late twenties and thirties with a focus on eco and animal friendly makeup and skin care. I started talking to some friends and they all loved the idea. So, this blog is the first in what I hope to be an ongoing series on a site that is being developed now. Please visit our website at Thank you!

Erika

With spring right around the corner I can hardly wait for all the foliage to come back to life.  In my anticipation, I went to my local green house Creek Side Gardens this weekend and decided I would give my green thumb another try.

I have had many relationships with plants but they have always ended very badly, for the plant especially.  I had this notion that just because I was getting older I should just be able to grow plants in my apartment.  Boy, was I wrong.  Many have succumb to my green thumb, which I should really call black.

This time I have given up on the idea of just knowing how to garden and decided to read some books and study up on the kinds of plants I could introduce to my house without having to do too much work but still have the lovely company of my green friends.  I also decided that I want to be an organic gardener so have used Julie Bawden-Davis’ book,Indoor Gardening the Organic Way: How to Create a Natural and Sustaining Environment for Your Houseplants. The book is a great start to learning about the proper way to care for your plants.  I was also surprised to learn that organic gardening is actually cheaper and less intensive since you have nature working on your side.

Another reason I wanted to bring in house plants to my apartment is because I am allergic to my dog.  The pet dander gives me asthma and I was reading that plants can help purify your air- amazing!  Bawden-Davis also lists good air filtering plants, which include the Areca Palm, Boston Fern, Dracaena ‘Janet Craig’, English Ivy, Lady Palm, Peace Lily, Pothos, Rubber plant and Spider plant.

At Creek Side Gardens I found 6 plants to start off with and couldn’t be more excited.  While their selection was slim because of the time of year I think my new green friends are going to do great.  I even repotted 3 of my plants to make an arrangement within a nice decorative pot.  I am so excited to get started and next week I am going to go learn how to grow my own herbs.  I will let you know what I learn and if I am a successful gardener.

Miniature Pine Tree

Large Jade

Until then, check out this article, Container Gardening – How to Start a Container Garden and Window Boxes. This is full of great tips to get your indoor garden started.