Earth Month

So I defiantly need more hours in a day. The end of last week caught up to me really quickly and I just didn't have the energy to get in front of the computer and blog. I also didn't feel like it at work (its been really slow) and I have to look busy now and then so it doesn't always work out! Anyway, I'm hoping to get back into the flow of things and do a couple of double posts some days this week to meet my challenge of 30 blog posts in April. It's probably really supposed to be one a day but I'm going to give myself a break,

So this past weekend Ben and I enjoyed cleaning up Palmyra Cove Nature Park's beach in honor of Earth Month. As independent associates with Viridian Energy we were glad that we could be involved in this sustainability initiative. Viridian has organized these events (with local organizations) throughout their territories and have even put together a great page to celebrate earth month.

The bridge in the background goes over to Philadelphia, PA

We turned up a little late but were able to catch up with everyone else pretty quickly. Ben and I enjoyed being on the "beach" I enjoyed the sound of the water and just being out in nature, the atmosphere is definitely different than being at a park clean up. The sand, however, was killer on the legs. The trash unfortunately was the same-plastic bottles, prepackaged food wrappers and other disgusting stuff (a deer leg and dead rats-these I refused to pick up) and that was on the mild end of disgusting. After 2 hours I was pooped and ready to relax for awhile.

It was also lunch time so we went to grab some lunch and ran into my old boss from about 3 years ago which was such a nice surprise as he is a great guy. When we were done with eating the waitress came over to let us know that he had paid for our meal : )! Thank you Joe!

Are there any sustainability initiatives were you are?

Yeah the beach!

Ahh, if only we were in a tropical country

Styling our heavy duty gloves with plastic gloves underneath.

Rich Roll Podcast

I'm can't remember how, but a few weeks ago I came across this awesome podcast by a guy called Rich Roll. I had not heard of him before but just remember hearing he had a really good podcast so thought I'd check it out.  The podcasts are pretty long but are defiantly worth listening to, if you have an interest in health, fitness and/or spirituality. I decided that I would start listening to the podcast from the beginning (he had just started at the end of last year) so I could get the full story.  Well this lead me to borrowing his book-finding ultra- from the library. What a great read. His story is very inspiring-especially for those of us who have gained a few extra LB's over the years- and even those who haven't. He has overcome some giant obstacles in his life and his story came across well in the book along with his wicked sense of humor.

Rich roll's wife, Julie Piatt, sometimes guest hosts on the podcast with him. I think these are the best ones, the way they play off of each other is hilarious. I really appreciate how they can laugh at themselves individually and as a couple. Needless to say lots of fun to listen to in the car and great information.

What podcast's do you listen to?

The Honest Company

Look what showed up at my house! I was so excited. I have tried several "green" products before but all seemed over priced for what I got. The honest company seemed to fit the profile for what I was looking for...natural cleaning and beauty products at reasonable prices.

You do have to sign up for monthly deliveries, which I was a little apprehensive about but once I looked at the budget I felt that I would truely be replacing my usual purchases with the membership. Also I can cancel at anytime so I figured the risk was minimal.

My package was coming from California but still arrived quickly. I placed my order on Friday and it arrived the following Wednesday. I was really happy with the service, when I order things on line I love the shipping confirmations that actually have tracking information which The Honest Company's e-mail did.

I used the shampoo, conditioner and lotion on Cordelia right away (I really got these for her) the verdict is still out as I really can't judge them on just a few uses but so far so good. I'll do a seperate post on there performance in the up coming weeks.

Have you found any "green" products you love?

Going Green-2013 Theme

So it has recently come to my attention that "Green" is really the theme for me in 2013.

• Eating green...enjoying green smoothies and juices 

• Looking after my green (money) with Dave Ramsey's financial peace university

• Greening the grid...through Viridian an affordable green energy supplier 

At the end of last year I watched the movie fat, sick and nearly dead.  I loved Joe Cross' humor and how down to earth he came across in the movie and really took to heart his message of food is our medicine. This started my journey into juicing which quickly turned into a love for plantpower (aka plant based nutrition) and all things natural and healthy.

Somehow this really got me thinking about the things that I am passionate about (outside of my religion and family) and I had to chuckle because they all had one thing in common....GREEN!

So here I am to share my passions with you!

Most recently I had the pleasure of volunteering alongside my fellow Independent Viridian associates at Pennington Park.

This was an eye opening experience to see how modern life is having an impact on our local ecosystem. We were informed that birds in the area are now starting to make there nests from bits of plastic as there is so much of it in there habitats. It was great to be able to do what we could in our time there but there was still so much more to be done.  With other local volunteers we were able to collect 2.5 tons (5,020 lbs) of litter and debris from along the shoreline of the Rancocas Creek. This included 17 tires, 22 barrels, and various bottles, cans and Styrofoam packaging. Here are a few photo's from my day.

This is what we were finding in the creek bed.

The dumpster! Yes, the barrels were pulled from the creek too!

One of the many hauls to that were taken to the dumpster

Trash bags filled with plastic bottles, food packaging and misc debris

Did I mention it started snowing when we were cleaning up!