On Mondays and Wednesdays the trash trucks come. Tuesdays the recycling truck comes. I hear them early in the morning when I’m barely awake…it is like a fuzzy background noise that you know is there, but you don’t really pay attention to it. Our part is to carry the garbage to the end of the driveway. Well, we actually roll the garbage to the end of the driveway. It’s too easy. We don’t have to think about what we’re throwing away. We just have to get it out to the curb and then the magical Sanitation Fairies come and whisk it away in their magical trucks that we rarely see and just faintly hear. I can’t remember the last time I went to a dump. The recycling center…the hazardous waste recovery facility…yes, I go there…but what about a big landfill or a big incinerator? When I lived in upstate

Posted: December 5th, 2007 under Green Living.
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Tons of added salt is so common now, that people don’t seem to question it. The best thing is to stay away from all processed, packaged food. I wish I could say that I did that, but my kids eat Goldfish and I eat triscuits. I try to choose things that are as natural as possible and whole grain of course, but I don’t seem to have the time right now to make my own crackers. If you make your own crackers, I think that is absolutely wonderful. If you’re looking to sell some “from scratch food” and you live around Pasco county Florida, let me know. I’m starting to bake more frequently now. It’s like the blogging, I need to get on a schedule. Anyway, I find that the added sugar and salt are just overpowering. I do like lightly salted things sometimes, but I’m always so glad when I see “low sodium” alternatives. There is a global group of medical professionals that are working to encourage food companies to lower the amount of salt added to processed food as well as to reduce the amount of salt the world eats altogether, whether it is added during food production, while cooking or while eating. Their website is www.worldactiononsalt.com. It’s interesting, take a look.

Posted: December 4th, 2007 under Nutrition.
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“Being your own boss” sounds good, doesn’t it. But, you have to be careful to be a good boss to yourself. Be a cheerleader of a boss, not a critical boss. Be an understanding boss, not a judgmental one. If you’re in network marketing or direct sales like I am, you have to be a cheerleader for yourself in order to be successful. Persistence is what pays with this type of business. I’m not talking about stubbornly chasing around the same potential customers…I’m talking about being creative and taking every rejection, every success, every step forward and every step backwards for what it is. It’s a learning experience. Learn from it and move on! The key is to find what works for you. You need the right match for your business and personality. Don’t try to be someone else or to act a part. Be yourself. Be honest. Would you let a boss tell you to pretend to be somebody you’re not. You’d hate that job! Don’t ask yourself to be something you’re not. You need to like what you do, believe in what you do and you need to be good at some aspect of what you do. Are you good at making connections, are you knowledgeable about some aspect of what you sell or the service you provide, are you a people person, are you a computer person, are you a good public speaker, are you an excellent writer, are you easy to talk to??? It could be anything. Make sure that your boss is encouraging, fair and allows you to make some mistakes. What’s the point of working for yourself if you’re not a good boss!

Posted: December 4th, 2007 under Working from home.
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I love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and almond butter sandwiches too. They have been a staple of mine since I was a kid. Nothing is quite as satisfying as good peanut butter (just made out of peanuts and salt) and some low sugar jelly (I prefer raspberry) with some whole grain bread. I know that it is a food allergists nightmare…peanuts and wheat!

First of all…those of you who are eating whipped peanut butter that doesn’t have peanut oil on top when you buy it…you are eating the equivalent of peanuts whipped with Crisco. You are much better off eating the real stuff. To get the oil mixed in really well, put your jar of peanut butter upside down in the pantry when you buy it. Then when you open it, mix it really well and then refrigerate it. It won’t separate again after that. I like just peanut butter sandwiches too, but peanut butter with fruit spread or jelly is really my favorite. 

Anyway, the point of this is that peanut butter and jelly sandwich as an alternative to meat products for lunch is actually a campaign. Go to www.pbjcampaign.org and read about how people are approaching positive change one meal at a time. Nuts are also really good for you so I’m all for a PBJ any time during the day. They contain monounsaturated fats which help raise HDL (good cholesterol) levels. They are also vitamin and antioxidant rich. Take a look at the label though…make sure you only see the name of the nut in your “butters” since a bunch of other hydrogenated oils isn’t really what you’re looking for. If you’re not a fan of peanuts go for some almond butter or cashew butter. Ok…now I want a sandwich!

Posted: November 27th, 2007 under Nutrition.
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There are so many websites out there with information about living a healthier, more natural life with less impact on the Earth. My Favorites in Internet Explorer are filling up fast. Those little folders represent hours and hours of going through many good and many bad websites to find interesting ideas, scary facts, easy changes and why it is all so important. Browsing online is like going through the book store or the library except that instead of choosing one or two books that look interesting to relax and read, there is always another link to get more information about something. I love it of course, but sometimes I get so sidetracked. Click click click. How many plastic bottles are recycled each day in Maine isn’t really going to help me answer any of my questions or help me live greener. So, I’ve started a list of questions to ask myself when I get sidetracked: 1) Is this information that can be applied to my life right now? 2) Is this something that is REALLY interesting to me? 3) Does this show something that is a long-term goal? If it is yes to #1, I try to act on it now. If it is #2 or #3, I try to file it for a someday project. I actually have folders on my computer labeled with years…2 years from now, 5 years from now. Maybe I’m an idea packrat. I can’t stand the idea of a good idea being lost. I’d rather that it’s filed. I have lots of ideas…I just need a couple of clones of myself to work non-stop to get them all done while I live the rest of my life!

Posted: November 26th, 2007 under Just Because.
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I love veggie burgers, veggie hot dogs, veggie bologna, veggie ham, veggie sausage…you name it, I’ve eaten it and I love it. My husband tried to make me a great, quick, um….creative, veggie dinner tonight while I was getting some work done. I heard him with the hand blender going. I heard him say “oh no” a couple of times. I heard my son dump a box of Goldfish on the floor. Then I heard, “Dinner’s ready.” I was starving…what did he make, it smelled good. He took a pan out of the oven and said with pride “I made you a veggie meatloaf.” With the smile of satisfaction on his face, I trusted that he must have known what he was doing. Did you use the veggie crumbles in the freezer? No. What did you use? I ground up veggie meatballs. With the hand blender? Yes. What else is in there? Spinach, peas, spaghetti sauce and lots of ketchup…oh, and cheese. Um…ok. Where did you get the recipe? I made it up. I just used what was around. Did you put spices in? Yeah…a little of this and a little of that. Anything else in there? Bread crumbs and garlic. It looked like red dog food, but I love him, so I put a bite in my mouth and smiled. I said “It’s good.” He started to laugh. Liar. Ok, it was awful. It tasted like burned ketchup fried in garlic sauce. The consistency was probably worse than the taste. I started looking for a recipe for Veggie Meatloaf. I’m going to make some with a recipe and we’ll see how that goes. Right now, I don’t know if I’ll ever eat ketchup again. Oh, my poor Boca Burgers…with just mustard from now on! Eat healthy, eat different foods, eat veggie meatloaf…just please PLEASE…use a recipe!

Posted: October 22nd, 2007 under Nutrition.
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The Efest is November 17, 2007 in Sarasota, Florida. You can see their site at www.efest.us . Green living festivals are really great…speakers, music, vendors, and lots of information. They make you realize how many people truly care about the environment, and more importantly, how many are actually doing something to change things. I learn so much from events like that. I can’t wait until my kids are old enough to go and be a part of it all! I’m a vendor this year at the Efest. It should be a lot of fun! If you live in Southwest Florida, consider going to the Efest. Next year it will actually be a 2 day event…more good green fun. (I never used to make bad pun jokes like that…my husband did that to me…it is amazing what rubs off on you.) 

Posted: October 21st, 2007 under Green Living.
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I wanted some T-shirts and canvas bags. I wanted some cool, bamboo or organic cotton shirts so I could make my family and friends a fleet of mini billboards to promote my business.  So I chose a domain name (one that wasn’t 14 words long…which is hard to find). I chose www.GreenCleanToday.com and then www.HealthyHappyHumans.com. I’m in Direct Sales and my company has a line of green, nontoxic cleaners and then natural nutrition products. I wanted to be able to forward my customers to a certain part of the site. A domain ($9.99 on www.GoDaddy.com) gives you the ability to forward to a certain part of your site. When I would talk to a new customer at an expo about the cleaners, I would send them to my www.xyzbusiness.com/myname generic site…(not a real link). They would be confused when they saw natural food supplements too. So, I split it up and now I can make T-shirts. Since it isn’t professional or eyecatching to use puffy paint on T-shirts, I decided to spend a little bit of money and get a “real” logo. So, I hired a designer. She is a friend of mine from a networking group. I tell her that she’s magic because she knows so much about computers, design, the web. I can tell her what I want, and ”poof”…it appears. My magical friend is Wendy Milonas (www.WendyMilonas.com). Anyway, I should be sporting my T-shirts soon. Look out for a fleet of www.GreenCleanToday.com T-shirts coming your way soon!  

Posted: October 20th, 2007 under Working from home.
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Something happened today that I liked… When my husband got a new cell phone, we kept the old one for my son as a toy. He is crazy about cell phones. (I kept that vague because it really does apply to both my husband and my 1 year old son). Anyway, my cell phone carrier (Sprint) sent us a postage paid envelope recently with a letter saying that they would credit us with $50 for returning our old cell phone. I don’t know the details about Sprint’s policies or the laws that govern these things…but they wrote about how it was important to them that their products were disposed of correctly, etc. I was very happy about that since there are so many heavy metals and corrosive chemicals in cell phone batteries. I planned to recycle the phone and battery, but unfortunately, many people don’t know how important it is to recycle those batteries. So, they get a little education and $50. They’ll also think twice before throwing out another cell phone in the future too…they’ll try to sell it back to the company. What a wonderful thing. Again, I haven’t researched Sprint and its environmental policies…but what they are doing is helping…and for that, I’m happy. :) You can recycle cell phones at places like Staples and Office Depot, recycling centers and you even see them at libraries and government buildings…depending on where you live. 

Posted: October 10th, 2007 under Green Living.
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My business is not a “party” business. The distributors are encouraged to have meetings of course and many meetings feel more like parties than meetings. (At least that has been my experience.) But now I’ve decided to have some Green Home Parties. I sell green cleaners (along with many other natural products), so you might wonder how this will all work. I won’t be doing facials or makeovers or cooking, so why in the world would people want to come to a party like that? Well, I’d like to say that it is because I’m as cute as a kitten and as sweet as honey, but… it isn’t. People are looking for ways to make their homes safer, to make their homes greener and to get rid of the toxic chemicals under their sinks. But, it takes time and energy to do it right.  So, many people who want a change, just can’t find the time. 

This is where I come in. I’m go over to meet with host before the party and we’ll gather cleaners from around the house. We’ll put the pile of chemicals on the counter. I’ll give the host some oxygen, then we’ll decide what needs to go and what can stay. I’ll explain how to dispose of things and I’ll bring some things to the hazardous waste collection center for them for their convenience.

We’ll use what is there for our discussion for the party. I know that there is a place for chemicals in the home, but cleaning your kitchen table isn’t a place that you need strong chemicals. I’m hoping to educate people about how to store, use and dispose of the chemicals that they have in their home safely. (I don’t want them burning off their eyebrows.) I also want to show them that there are powerful cleaners that are also nontoxic and safe for the environment.

 I’ll have all of the rewards and incentives for the host and the guests. Free prizes… coupons… and the best part? They get to try the products. They get to take a spray bottle and a microfiber cloth and wash a window. They get to scrub part of the stove top. They get to actually try it out and the host gets some cleaning done!

So, I have elaborate spreadsheets with my design so that I can have a lot of incentives and free prizes without losing money. Business models that have you lose more money than you make are never a good idea. What I’ve been doing with my business…one on one, Expos, networking groups…has been working really well, but I feel like this gives me an opportunity to share some of what I know and to keep some stuff from getting poured down the drain.

My company has some statistics about the impact of buying their cleaners versus regular cleaners. It is given in the equivalent number of trees planted, the amount of trash that isn’t put in a landfill and the energy that is saved. It is nice to look at things that way sometimes. It is nice to see big numbers for small choices. Now that I’m choosing to have parties, I should keep track of the people I help, the hazardous waste we dispose of, and the resources that we save. Some people show bonus checks to get people excited about their business and I can do that…but I’ll also be able to show the good that I am doing with my business…and that is an exciting thing to share!  

Posted: October 9th, 2007 under Working from home.
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