NOLA green project

welcome to may!! the april showers have not only given us the amazing foliage in new york, but they have also given way to--

our first winner!! I gave each donor a # for each ten dollar donation. If you donated five dollars, I rounded up. so, if you donated 25 dollars, you had three numbers included in the drawing. then I went to a random number generator site, and let them do the dirty work. who wants to choose when it is a pool of people that are generous and giving?

so-- our first geaux green gift bag winner is::

FELICIA WALLACE

Felicia, I will be emailing you shortly to get all your details so that I might send out your gift!! congrats! I hope you will use the bag well & convert as many as you can with the contents!

I am leaving for a roadtrip to nola today, actually. and while I am there, I will be volunteering with habitat for humanity & of course-

THE NEW ORLEANS GREEN PROJECT!

I will be eating good and feeling fine, back at home in the spring time. mudbugs are calling me. please continue to spread the word about this site and the green project. we need more people to add to the next 2 drawings!!

namaste.

it's earth day!!!

so get outside & celebrate! go to a farmer's market, ride your bike, eat some yummy local, organic food, drink some biodynamic wine, stop, look, listen & reflect on all that we somehow take for granted each day. this planet deserves your introspection and reflection.

(AND SHE CERTAINLY DESERVES MORE THAN ONE DAY, but that is a topic for another time!)

start showing your gratitude and respect for this amazing planet that sustains us all by incorporating small changes into your life.

and don't forget to support the green project! a worthwhile cause in a struggling city. by contributing, you are doing something positive for the restoration of a greener new orleans & you are also entered into a raffle for one of three groovy green goodie bags!!! since the original posting, many more sponsors have signed on & there are super sustainable surprises galore!! so share the green love & pass this on to a friend.

hello all::

with earth day fast approaching, I wanted to let you in on some exciting news. the event that was originally slated for next week has been moved to june 21st. so all you green apples, SAVE THE DATE!! we will be raffling off tons of green goodie bags & even one very special designer bag filled with green luxury items. a full spa experience at the ethereal priti organic spa, dinner for two at josie's east & even $250 in dry cleaning services from green apple cleaners. there is sure to be more added, possibly even a complimentary weekend at a green hotel, one never knows..... so make sure you come out in support of the green project, have a great green time& make a difference in the future of the city that care forgot.

in honor of these exciting events, we will also be extending the online raffle!! we will now pick one winner on may 1st- a second winner on may 16th, and the final drawing will be held on june 1st!!

there are now 3 opportunities for you to get your green little hands on one of my eco totes filled to the brim with sustainably stylish swag!!! so please, donate to the green project, make it your earth day pledge to new orleans.

I also wanted to let you know about two other green initiatives for new orleans right now.

seventh generation (my personal choice for non toxic cleaning & recycled paper products) has partnered with replant new orleans, an organization dedicated to regrowing and nurturing the plant life that was so visible before katrina.

they are offering a virtual tree program online, where with a phone call & a few clicks, you can get your own virtual tree--FREE! sure, the tree is a fun little gizmo, but the beauty in what they are doing is that the gizmo also plants a real, live, honest-to-goodness tree right back in the crescent city's earth. since it costs you nothing but a minute or two of your time, you will probably want to check it out.

I want to thank all who have contributed so far, and I want to encourage those who haven't to take a minute to do so. we can all be a part of this vital work in NOLA, please be the change. you may get to keep the bag!!

namaste.

the green bag list just keeps getting longer and more impressive. we can now add ECO BAGS founder & CEO Sharon Rowe to our roster of small sustainable green business women lending a hand in this endeavor. this story is pretty progressive in that Sharon started her business almost 20 years ago with 5000 bags, and today has one of the most innovative, all encompassing product lines out there. everything from string bags, which were modelled after european style bags to recycled cotton, hemp & even lightweight reusable produce bags. she has enthusiastically jumped on board with our green project all the while she has her own earth day challenge going on.

this inspiring information is offered on sharon's blog site:

"90 billion plastics bags are used by Americans annually. Worldwide, an estimated 4 billion plastic bags end up as litter each year. Tied end to end, that’s enough to circle the earth 63 times. ECOBAGS® wants to convert the plastic bag-users of the world one step -- and bag -- at a time. By substituting plastic shopping bags with the ECOBAGS® “Eco-System” the average shopper can save a small corner of the planet"

she has single handedly made a dent in those numbers with her resourceful, progressive actions to get people to break the plastic bag habit. she continues to be a leader in the green community and her support of the efforts on behalf of the green project & with earth day events across the country only continue to echo that.

her vision & dedication to the small changes, big impact philosophy are empowering to us all. we all have the ability to act on behalf of our planet. we all have the power to create simple effective changes with our actions & our dollars.

vote for the sustainability of new orleans by sending a donation to the new orleans green project. sharon did by becoming a key piece of this project. why don't you?

when I started out on this journey to coordinate this benefit & online support for the green project, I had no idea that a common thread would be prevelent.

but that is exactly what has happened.....

I have been extremely fortunate to meet & work with an overwhelming number of small, green, independent, women run & owned businesses. I must admit that this makes my heart smile to see so many women moving us towards a greener planet, while creating innovative products & services.

one of these fearless females that I think we all need to know about is Belinda Tooze. the designer of the eco friendly tote label called envirosax. style & substance do truly converge with her beautiful, portable totes, but that's just the beginning.

she walks the walk. she lives off the grid in a sustainable manner that makes us greenies in NYC even greener with envy.

from their website::

"Envirosax® originates from Currumbin Valley in South East Queensland, Australia. The Envirosax team uses renewable and recyclable products where possible, and is committed to operating on ecologically sustainable principles.

Situated on 10 acres of pristine Australian rainforest, the Envirosax team’s abode is totally ecologically sustainable with solar hot water and photovoltaic cells for electricity. A sewage system recycles waste water, watering the extensive permaculture gardens and filtered rainwater tanks provide the premises with water."

my conversations with Belinda and her support of this project are awe inspiring. she is a true green leader & greentrepreneur, creating products we love, while preserving the planets resources. I am thankful to have been given the opportunity to hear her story & to know more about the person she is. she is not only living the change, she is the very embodyment of change.

I was speaking today with the woman who is the very inspiration for this entire fundraiser & event. Ms. Trish Riley is a travel writer, author (with a new eco-book slated for september of this year, no doubt) & greentrepreneur who has created the go green gift . I say she is the muse for this project because she saw a way to inspire even the most time constrained, over worked masses to green greatness simply by putting together one of her hand crafted eco bags & filling it with simple ways to lighten your load on our little planet. she has sold them to greener minded companies as eco-incentives for employees, and sells them online for the rest of us as well.

I found her product online & it was indeed the impetus for me to design this project for the very deserving new orleans green project.

she has been instrumental & amazingly supportive of all of my efforts throughout this process & she mentioned today a list of what the greenerific bags we have gathered will actually contain might be a good thing (sorry, martha) so, for trish- and anyone else out there that would like to know what I have resourced to help you get to a greener state, here goes::

*the bags themselves are from go green gift, envirosax, byob, fling, the onion, ideal bite, ecoist & reusable bags. they each have a different identity & personality. from nature inspired to activist related to whimsical to conservative. they have all been hand chosen to incorporate fun & functionality.

now the contents.....

*4 ikea CFL bulbs

*3 water conservation tools from greenfeet for your sink, shower & toilet

*16 oz. sigg stainless water bottle

*every day wash & conditioner, soft gel & lip balm (all full size products) from simply organic

*preserve toothbrush

*method microfiber cleaning cloth & full size "wood for good" non-toxic cleaner

*biodegradable laundry detergent without the burden of the big plastic bottle by dropps

*aromatherapy candles from big dipper wax works


*a gift membership to green dimes to rid your life of junk mail.

*a terrapass single flight carbon offset voucher

* fair trade divine chocolates
* sen cha green tea mints

* the consumate resource & some would say virtual bible of green living in NYC or anywhere else- the big green apple by activist and fellow greenie BEN JERVEY

and finally...... a lovely plant a tree card from your true nature so you can pay it forward and plant a tree in honor of anyone deserving.



this bag overflowing with green goodies is worth far more than your ten dollar donation, and shipping is on me.

SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

donate soon, you could walk away with one of these eco-totes that I am so very proud of.

I really can't figure this out....

I sent this link out to many many caring people, people who all want to help new orleans, people who are giving by nature, yet not one single dollar has been donated.

I am even offering a wonderful drawing with an amazing get green gift bag as a prize, worth easily 200 clams and still nothing.

I refuse to give up hope. I want to see this fundraiser succeed. I want to call the operations director at the green project on may 1 & say- " I worked for 3 months on this event & fundraiser & I have raised $_____ because I believe in a greener brighter future for my fledgling little home town. I love that you take recycling and turn it into art. I feel connected to the fact that you painstakingly take houses apart piece by piece so that the architectural treasures can be salvaged for future generations. It amazes me that you have a hand in restoration and preservation of materials & hand crafted detail, that will help the flavor of our beloved city prevail even after Katrina beat her down to the very foundation. " I want to do this for the green project. I also want to do this for me. my heart needs to help NOLA. now more than ever. don't you want to be a part of that?

I am at a total loss here. what does it take to reach out into that dark chasm that we commonly call cyberspace & beg you to help fund a city that has more dirty hands in its pockets politically than it knows how to fend off.

this is up to us. no fema. no red cross. no bush. no blanco. no nagin. it's up to us. if we don't help our own, who will?

help new orleans rise a little greener from the ashes. maybe then we can all fly. namaste.

WELCOME to the green project! The Green Project is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creatively promoting and encouraging environmental sustainability in New Orleans. We recycle building materials and paint, deconstruct homes and salvage usable materials.

We operate a building materials recycling store, promote community involvement and environmental activities, offer community space to other community-based organizations, and serve as an environmental reference resource for the Greater New Orleans area.

http://www.thegreenproject.org/what_we_do.php

this a one of very few green resources in a city where sustainability should be a non-issue. since we basically have to rebuild the city anyway, doesn't it make sense to make as little impact on the environment during the process? wouldn't we thrive in a city where we conserved energy, water & waste while utilizing as many recycled materials as possible? the green project needs support. please take the first step. be the first to contribute to this organization. thank you. namaste.