In Women We Trust

Is there such a thing as Green Packaging?

My guest blogger today is JoAnn Hines, the Chief Executive Officer at J.R. Hines International to help us make sense of green packaging. She is an expert in packaging trends and implementing innovative new packaging technologies covering consumer product packaging, sustainable and green packaging, branding, merchandising, retail packaging trends and packaging patent infringement. Her packaging articles and columns are syndicated around the globe including Webpackaging.com, the #1 consumer products packaging site, and a blog entitled Packaging News You Can Use.

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JoAnn Hines: I just got a call from Brandweek to comment on green product packaging backlash. I've been writing about it for a while but this week reading about square milk bottles brought it all to a head. While the idea of a square milk bottle looks good on paper and its attractive financially to the retailer, a lot of consumers hate it.

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Every week I get dozens of new green packaging press releases. Some of these are really a stretch. It seems with green the "in" thing to do, everyone is trying to jump on the band wagon. Many of these innovations really don't make sense or in many cases won't "connect" with the consumer. Just because its green, environmentally friendly, sustainable, compostable, recyclable or biodegradable doesn't mean that consumers will buy a product. Consumer acceptance is a very complicated issue. The growth of convenience and luxury categories flies in the face of the environmental movement too. They use lots of packaging and are expensive too.

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Two companies working to get it right are Cargo Cosmetics and Method. Cargo starts with a bio-based plastic case for their lipsticks and then packages them in seed embedded boxes - just plant the box and you'll get flowers. Method uses 100% post consumer recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET). You might recognize the phthalate part as it's been getting a lot of bad press when used in beverage bottles. You don't drink the Method cleaning products; in this case it's a good use of recycling technology. Both are useful products that consumers want - being green is a plus.

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We want it and we want it now. If it happens to tap into the "green movement" so much the better. The average consumer really does care about the environment they just aren't going to sacrifice their creature comforts to get there. In reality only about 10% of the American populace are willing sacrificers. We can all use a little less packaging in our lives, however, without the package you cannot have a product so give packaging a break.

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Packaging has many roles to play in addition to protecting the product and getting it in your hands, and they are attributes which many will not willingly give up. Just think how you shy away from any damaged product packaging or regect the damaged or bruised product at the supermarket. The regection rate is already 20% and without packaging this would skyrocket. And who do you think pays the ultimate price for less packaging? It's not the retailers or the consumer products companies, it's YOU the consumer.

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When was the last time you saw a sales person trained to tell you all about the item you are considering purchasing? The packaging tells you the story about what is inside and why you should buy it. You know the "silent salesperson." So before you jump on the "less" packaging bandwagon give some consideration to why the packaging is there in the first place. I wrote this little jingle for Twitter and that's says it all. "Toothpaste squeezes, eggs aren't cracked, pizza delivered, headache's better, beer anyone? Packaging a love affair you never knew you had."

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Now don't get me wrong, I have seen some very interesting concepts in "green" product packaging some that make sense to the consumer, but I have seen a lot of junk too. Some companies that are just making some green packaging noise hoping to capitalize on some of the current media buzz.

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What's your opinion? What kind of packaging are you willing to give up or have you switched to a different product because of a package seemed more environmentally friendly.

Do you have questions about what is green and what is greenwash? Ask them here or I can be reached at PackagingDiva@aol.com.

Yes, we can (and must) Save the World through Mindful Shopping

Over on La M, the debate continues in the comment section on whether we can buy our way out of this global warming problem. The answer is not only "Yes," but "Yes, we have to."

[My thanks to Lynn Johnston for capturing in one cartoon why many give up before trying. On some level we all know our good work can be undone in a manufacturing minute.]

The "Smokestacks" are causing the problem and the ONLY thing that will keep the smokestacks happy is profit. Consumer action is half of the solution, the SMaRT Sustainable Standard is the other half. With both not only have we solved the emission problem, but transformed the market safely and kept our retirement portfolios intact. Yes, as Tom Friedman points out, we'll lose MANY products and companies along the way. Detroit's feeling that pain now, but we also will replace them with mindful companies and products we can all live with.

If you want to see how serious business is about change, take a quick read down today's blog at Sustainable Life Media. The stacks want to do it, they just don't know how to do it and they don't know how to talk about it in terms that breadwinners and buyers can understand. Oh, and by the way, it's also required by the EPA.

Not only do we/consumers have to do it, we have to write about our intent before or after we do it. Every time we write about Sustainable products we like, those products stay in the marketing mix and the other ones die.

GM has FINALLY decided that going small and green will bring bigger profits. Why? Because Toyota and Honda made the top ten brands and ate their lunch. You can't go 10 feet in California without running into either car.

Those top ten brands were made inside of buildings which a consumer can also affect - by DEMANDING that the brands are made using Sustainable Standards that certify when a product is in compliance. INSIDE the SMaRT Sustainable Standard are requirements for conserving energy and lowering emissions, VOCs and PVCs (plus over 1200 other chemicals). Not only do the standards cover their buildings, but also the operations and processes for the entire supply chain as well - even if those smokestacks are in China.   

The SMaRT Standard (Sustainable Materials Rating Technology) covers six areas of product development:

• Safe for public health & environment
• Renewable energy & energy efficiency
• Biobased or recycled materials
• Facility or company requirements
• Reclamation, sustainable reuse
  & end of life management
• Product Innovation

Under these areas, products are required to:

• Provide Feedstock Inventory Documentation
• Document No Input and Output Stockholm Chemicals
• Maintain a Manufacturing Facility Energy Inventory
• Inventory of all bio-based and Recycled Content Materials
• Have EMS Environmental Policies and Targets.
• Have Social Equity Indicator Reporting for Manufacturers
• Compete an ISO Compliant Life Cycle Assessment
• Have Operational Reclamation and/or Sustainable Reuse Program
• Meet Product Performance Durability Standards (long lasting products)

And encouraged to keep going until they have achieved:

100% Reduction of Over 1300 Pollutants covering 12 Environmental Impacts
100% Use of Green-e Renewable Power
100% Post Consumer Recycled or Organic/BMP Biobased Materials
100% Reuse/Product Reclamation
Social Equity for Manufacturer & Suppliers (worker's rights)

That's a pretty big stick, but sticks are also fun to chase - especially if you're one of the Big Dogs attending the Sustainable Brands conference.

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After the requirements are met, the Big Dogs can get competitive and earn higher and higher ratings of silver, gold and platinum. Its not impossible, Forbo/Marmoleum and Knoll Life Chair have already have done it. Milliken carpet is on its way.

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But they can't do it alone.

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They and all the other companies trying to go green need buyers for their Sustainable Certified products, people who appreciate the work that has been done on a very high level.  Which brings us back to the first side of the buyer/seller equation - consumers.

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Take a gander at that top ten list again. If you were hired to change the world, which "demographic" would you focus on to make it happen faster? On that list you have, groceries, cleaning supplies, lotion and potions, cars and home appliances. Without doing a massive research project, take a wild guess on which gender has the greater influence either directly or indirectly buying these products?

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In the end, after all the discussions and  the chatter it's going to come down to tightly linking these three tipping points together - women+companies+sustainable standards.

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That's the new balance of power in this global economy. What happens among them happens about the world and it all starts with the heart of a women making the right choices while her purse is open and being willing to talk about them.

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Men can expedite the process by educating the women in their life on the SMaRT Sustainable Standard or other Standards that use a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) across the entire supply chain. While women are the buyers, you are the "sellers." Let's get to work, shall we?

Your continuing ed starts here:

SMaRT Standard Market Overview - for High C's (9 pages)- Download">http://www.sustainableproductsblog.com/mts/files/mts_smart_sustainable_standard_overview_2.1.08.pdf">Download mts_smart_sustainable_standard_overview_2.1.08.pdf

SMaRT Standard Overview - Supplier Education - (slide show) Download">http://www.sustainableproductsblog.com/mts/files/act_smart_presentation.pdf">Download act_smart_presentation.pdf

SMaRT Standard for Consumer Orientation - (slide show)Download">http://www.sustainableproductsblog.com/mts/files/smart_sustainable_standards_102_consumer_orientation_51008.pdf">Download smart_sustainable_standards_102_consumer_orientation_51008.pdf

Forbo Sustainability Report - for High C's, Supply Chain, Distributors, Investors, Consumers (20 pages) Download">http://www.sustainableproductsblog.com/mts/files/forbo_sustainable_manufacturing_and_marketing.pdf">Download forbo_sustainable_manufacturing_and_marketing.pdf

BlogHer Goes Mainsteam with Advertising Age

Congratulations Lisa, Jory and Elisa for capturing the attention of Advertising Age with the study of BlogHer's bloggers and readers. For those who don't live in the marketing world Ad Age is the defining publication for marketers.

That's why this has such impact, mainstream publications are taking women bloggers seriously - enough to report on research that includes more than mommy bloggers. Consequently, companies will be listening even more to what women bloggers are saying.

To give this some perspective, when I attended the first WOMMA.com meeting a few years ago, women - as the word-of-mouthers of goods and services - weren't even part of the conversation. Go figure. I was dumbfounded. Everyone knew at that point that women bought the majority of consumer goods. It didn't take a big leap of imagination to know that they also talked to each other about their purchases; yet, without a sanctioned study, women as a group of influencers were overlooked.

The study, given in detail in the article, shows just how mainstream blogging and the influence of that action has become; plus the mainstream online women profile is pretty darn close to the women blogger profile.

"Demographically, BlogHer users are fairly similar to average online women, although they skew much higher in the 25- to 41-year-old Gen X range, with 68% of the BlogHer users in that age range vs. 42% of overall women.

With so many similarities, the BlogHer co-founders said they believe their user population is a harbinger of online women's habits and preferences in general. "We are almost a beacon of what's to come," Ms. Des Jardins said.

By Ad Age publishing this study, BlogHer and the women writing the blogs, just became a mainstream media that corporations will want to "court" for their word of mouth endorsements.

Now the question becomes what do we(women) want to tell the courters?

Do we want greener products?  Tell them. Do we want products without lead in the paint or that put toxins into our system. Tell them.  We don't have to go any further than our own blogs to make suggestions.

This is the same study that was unveiled at BlogHer Business this spring. Be sure to read the full article, it's a great tribute to BlogHer and all who contribute to its chorus of voices.

Now what category do I put this under? Marketing to Women or Social Change? I think I'll use both as the buyer/seller conversation just evened up a notch.   

Study Shows Blogging Now 'Mainstream' Among Women

Many Web Users Actively Contributing, Not Just Surfing

By Beth Snyder Bulik

Published: May 28, 2008

YORK, Pa. (AdAge.com) -- "Blogosphere" may not be a pretty name for it, but it is a pretty attractive destination -- for women at least, and maybe for marketers courting them, too.
According to a recent study by BlogHer and Compass Partners, more than one-third (35%) of all women in the U.S. aged 18 to 75 participate in the blogosphere at least once a week. And that number increases if less-frequent visits are factored in. Of those women who are online any amount of time, 53% read blogs, 37% post comments to blogs and 28% write or update blogs, according to the study....

http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=127354

When do we stop being "those people"?

Back during the first Earth Day in 1970, Pogo put "us" all in the same basket, as in humanity vs. the planet. That's changed in the recent years. Have you noticed how the word "consumers" has taken on the derogatory nature of "those people"? The "us" has fractured into two camps.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like it's getting to be an us vs. them world with corporations lining up on one side and consumers on the other in this big love/hate relationship. The problem is, I live on both sides of the line and it's messing with my head.

When I speak with marketers, they talk about "the consumer" as if they are one, big mass of faceless wallets waiting to be manipulated into a buying frenzy. And because "mommy" gets attached to other words, i.e. soccer mom, mommy blogger, eco mom, enviro mom, moms rising... it's the "moms" that most often become "them" - the unwashed, the sitting ducks, the targets...

Meanwhile, "them" (or us) are being called upon to lead the green charge to change how corporations perform. Apparently they can't do the right thing unless we tell them to do it. 

The article above goes on to say, "In two-thirds of the markets researched (UK, US, Mexico, Brazil, Germany and France) people felt more strongly that companies and their brands should be finding solutions compared to the government."

I agree with that. Manufacturing/consumption did get us into this pollution mess and it will have to get us out. The government is just the middle man in the conversation.

So how do we go from "them" to "us" working together again?

Maybe it begins by stop talking about "us" as someone to market TO and start thinking about "us" as partners to work with.

Is this an impossible balance to achieve in a capitalistic world? I don't think so. Look at Patagonia for some hints on how to do it right. Talk about living your brand. They even Trademarked "Environmentalism: Leading the Examined Life." What does "leading the examined life" have to do with outdoor wear, nothing and everything. For Patagonia it makes perfect sense. They've been walking the environmental walk for decades and the statement rings with absolute authenticity during these paint-it-green times.

Patagonia makes me feel good about the tough decisions I have to make. I can be a responsible adult even though I'm playing in their clothes.

Patagonia IS cooler, faster, stronger, greener...  from the inside out. For that reason, Patagonia continues to build a family of supporters. This is a much different mindset from product evangelists who might just LOVE the functionality of the product, this is about loving the functionality of the whole company and supporting their leadership.

When you cross the line from "home" to "work" the mindset strays from "things that won't hurt my family" to "profit at any cost," but at Patagonia it's home at work. Together we are citizens of the world working together as spiritual and capitalistic partners. They make the stuff I need and I buy it because A) it's going to last a long time and B) I like their style of leadership.

At the same time I'm voting with my wallet for a hoody made of 85% recycled fibers, I'm voting with this post. I want to go on the record that this is the kind of corporate leadership that doesn't make me take sides or feel like a target. We're "us," working together to rebuild society - and definitely not "those people."

Ode to Women and Green Marketing

Have you seen this month's Ode Magazine? It arrived the same day I said to four women, "I know 8 women who own a Prius. One of the women raised her hand and said, "Make that nine." Then the others raised their hands as well. Four out of five of us owned a Prius. I was the fifth who didn't and that's only because they weren't available the day I HAD to buy a new car. (I have a 40 mpg Civic, however.)

I said to them, "See, you're the reason that Detroit changed its ways." (I don't have the research, but I'm betting that the majority of Prius owners are women.) Because women purchased Priuses for the gas mileage, practicality, environmental statement, looks, whatever...Toyota went to the front of the eco-car class and Detroit has been playing catch up ever since.

Now back to Ode. On Page 50 is an ad for the Green Festival in Chicago and topics of what the 350 exhibitors will cover. How many of these areas are women's topics that you'd find in any woman's magazine? Nine out of the 14 topics are traditional women's magazine's story lines. The others are topics that feed or support those nine.

• Green careers/education
• Social Justice
• Eco-fashion
• natural health and body
• green media
• green technology
• natural home and garden
• green business practices
• fair trade
• indigenous goods
• organic food/agriculture
• natural foods
• green kids' zone

And because is was a women's issue, here are a few more items.

Page 18, Rosa Hilda Ramos, she was/is a housewife in Puerto Rico who tried to protect her family from pollution. Rosa founded CUCco (Communities United against Contamination) in 1991. She didn't start it because wanted to run a business. She did it because it was the right thing to do.

Page 33 - The Not-So-Secret Secret to Changing the World - "Women can lead the way from the survival of the fittest to the survival of the connected."  by Lisa Witter and Lisa Chen.

Page 46 - No More Business as Usual - how social investors can help bring about corporate and political change - by Amy Domini, the CEO of  Domini Social Investments and author or several books on ethical investing.

Page 55 - A band of women in pink hats and boots are heading to a store to challenge the management by asking, "How can you be sure this cushion wasn't made by children?" or "What percentage of the sales price of this chocolate bar goes to the cocoa farmer"?

Gary Hirshberg CE Yo of Stonyfield Yogurt said about making an environmental impact:

"I realized I needed to move into capitalism if I wanted to have a bigger influence. Business is the only source powerful enough to manifest the change we need." (amen Gary)

Who buys the Stonyfield Yogurt that helps capitalism work? Women. Who buys the majority of the things listed in the Green Festival Categories? Women.

Therein lies the new world order that's emerging from the co-creation of a Sustainable life. The world of buyers and sellers - the buyers being primarily women. Think about that the next time you see a green consumer study. Be sure to check out the methodology behind it. If the survey was a 50/50 split of men and women being surveyed ask to see just the stats coming from women. I'm betting that you'll see a far more engaged group appear.

The pictures came from Ode. Pick up a copy and read it from cover to cover. You'll feel better afterwards.

 

How Method Moved to Social Media

I was honored to moderate the the discussion for the Method Social Media Case Study at BlogHer Business last week. On the panel, (left to right) were Amy Cotteleer, President of A Squared Group (A2G), Anna Boyarsky, Senior Associate of Influencer Marketing at Method and Kathryn Thompson, who blogs for Parenting.com and DaringYoungMom.com. (thanks CB for the pic)

In preparing for the discussion, I checked out A Squared Group and was instantly impressed. They just "get it" - this marketing to women thing as well as seeing women's for the "really new media" that they are. It's no wonder that Method chose A2G to help them develop a sincere social media program.

Detoxing Seattle

The Detoxing Seattle program was a completely new way to enter into a market. Method, with it's sculptural design has been in major retail stores for a while, but it doesn't scream "Green" which is its main selling point in an evergreening market. I asked the BlogHer audience how many are "greenies" and a modest show of hands went up. When I asked how many used Method products however, and many hands went up. Without knowing it, they were supporting the green movement, the product's styling and recyclable packaging worked. Being green(er) than other options was icing.

What they did

The agency first got to know different bloggers, like Kathryn on a personal basis. Kathryn already had recognition in the local market, is an entertaining writer and someone who cares about how her home environment affects her family. Amy explained that her agency always tries to meet with Bloggers first to see if it's a good fit of values and interest or not. How many agencies are willing to do that?

Next they invited the women to a night out with cocktails and no expectations except to bring with them all the under-the-sink chemicals that they would want to take into detox. Even if no one liked Method, the night was still be a success. (Hundreds of toxic products were brought in.)

Afterwards, they sent a basket of Method products directly to each women's house. Pretty nice and unexpected. Needless to say, they had many nice things blogged about Method later and now that's a permanent part of the Method legacy for others to read including investors. I know I sure would invest in a company that is good to the planet and good to those who buy it. What's not to love? For the record, Method is the 7th faster growing privately held company in America according to Inc. Magazine in 2006.

What's next?

This very Social Media program will continue in Boston, Minneapolis and more major cities. Their plan is to detox the world one woman and one city at a time.

My thanks to Amy, Anna and Kathyrn for a great discussion that had us all laughing. If you want to be someone who "cleans like a mother" fill your house with Method eco-safe products.   

Gore's Group Therapy... eventually the Alliance will connect the dots to women's groups

This week The Alliance announced that it's going to connect to groups:

The Alliance, founded by Al Gore, will buy ads and partner with grass-roots groups to spread the word on how to cut greenhouse gases, according to the article. It’s also seeking partnerships with consumer brands to spread the word through their packaging, websites or ads. A microsite, www.wecansolveit.org, has launched - although it’s currently short on content.

They haven't quite connected all the dots yet (see the post on Purses, Peers, Posts and the Power to Move Green Markets), but it will happened and they have $300 million to make something happen big. As a reminder this isn't a gender thing, this is a tipping-point-in-the-market thing. If you want fast change, go to those who are spending the consumer money, educate/support them and you'll see the change you want in the world. Right now we're caught in a chicken/egg scenario. Corporations are putting out greener products, but they need buyers to stay viable. Buyers want greener products to choose from, but first we have to get rid of the brown products still on the shelves...

Meanwhile blogs such as La Margurite, Scream to be Green, Organic Mania, Talk Climate Change, Green with a Gun, Greenadine, Green-talk, Best of Mother Earth, Eco Chicks and hundreds more have been promoting their own form of group therapy by creating an atmosphere that compels us all to stay the course, make the changes, do the work... Note not everyone in the above group is female, but the majority that I know, are.

Once we leave the blog world and join more earthly groups that means focusing on women. Men don't group like we do. Check out how many garden clubs have men in them, now go to book clubs... How about Eco Moms? Over 11,000 are now in that group of groups. Is there an equivalent Eco Dads? If so do they have 11,000 committed? We don't have to conduct a bunch of expensive research to answer the above.

If group therapy works and according to Weight Watches and AA it does, then we need to apply a little group therapy to this problem.

What makes group therapy work is guidance at the top and small groups under 25 which foster friendships and personal accountability. We don't need more newly formed groups as much as we need to leverage the ones already formed. It's something I proposed last year, but I don't have $300 million to make such things fly. I'm happy that Gore's going to give it a chance.

Gals, what do you think? What groups are you part of? Would your group accept corporate sponsorship money if the product/service could prove itself green/Sustainable? Is it important to you? Not? Drop me a note at Mary@Inwomenwetrust.com and let me know. 

HomeStars Champion the Best in Fix it Services

When it comes to evaluating a product, standards and labels can do most of the up front work, but what about a service? How do you evaluate a personality and a work ethic and do it quickly because the plumbing just broke and the ceiling needs to be patched and painted? HomeStars is a free online service that provides those answers; it's a rating service for renovators, retailers and repairmen.

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Nancy Peterson conceived of the idea after having her own hard luck finding good-for-your-word-and-your-work contractors. She left her corporate marketing job at Kraft to start HomeStars. Shortly after she put the concept together she partnered with Andrew Goodman who provided his online marketing talents to make the idea fly. She notes that it is a major change to walk out of the corporate safety net and start something from scratch - ego is checked at the door and you are building a team on a vision, not a business plan with a few million bucks to spend.

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Given that, I asked Nancy in an E-terview, could you go back to a corporate position again?

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NANCY: It would be hard to go back to 5 days of meetings and see a product launch in 12 - 24 months versus 1 month. The Internet is a fun fast paced environment and you have to be focused and moving things forward daily. A big joy for me has been making decisions faster and not having to defend it in a board room with multiple decks, over many weeks.  I love building a business that's meaningful so I hope I can do that together with the small band of great people and evangelists at HomeStars.

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I agree, I couldn't go back either, I'd fall asleep waiting for things to happen inside corporation walls. I then asked her why HomeStars is different from the other sites I have listed on the left.

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NANCY: We came out in Toronto in 2006 with personal funding. Last year we raised an angel round to expand the business geographically. The main point of difference is allowing homeowners to share their joy, pain and experience so everyone can make better and faster decisions on hiring great local companies. We read EVERY review and weed out "fake" ones as best as we can. You can't buy rank or manufacture it, only homeowners determine that. Word-of-mouth is our first source to find great trades and services - you want to know as much as you can about the guy coming in to rip out your floor and install the hardwood you spent thousands of dollars choosing.  My girlfriend hates her front foyer now as the tile installer made the grout too wide - we need to know more granular information about companies as home improvement purchase decisions are much more complex and expensive than buying a car or eating out.

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I had to ask, What about green contractors will you be focusing on them more?

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NANCY: Other than a Green Products and Services category - we are not focusing on this (important) aspect of home improvement at the moment. Green Companies can list themselves and describe their creds in their listing. We'll be adding a talk forum shortly to channel the important home improvement questions and concerns that matter for people. I personally hope green issues rises to the top. Cathy Rust, who writes our Toronto Blog has an environmental degree and is very involved in the community working on green building projects at local schools.

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What trends are you seeing? What do people seem to care about the most?

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NANCY: They are currently asking  - what's your track record? Can I trust you to deliver on your promises and do quality work? Am I being charged a fair price? Can I contact your happy clients? And show me pictures of your work! [hear that small biz types? Make sure these questions are answered on your websites as well.] We estimate around 60% of our reviewers are women. We do read reviews as people want quality, not quantity when it comes to reviews and don’t have time to sift through garbage. We are getting better at this process too.

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Any specific examples to share? This review concept terrifies most small companies.

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NANCY:

Rafina is my favorite. I met him at the home show and he told me how much he believes getting his clients to post reviews has helped his business. His first review was terrible, and he said he was devastated when he read it. It was a client that decided to use a cheaper flooring material and he'd recommended against it. Long story short, they had problems afterward which were no surprise to Rafina. The company owner responded to the review with his perspective instead of fuming about it. He asked other clients to write reviews and he makes the effort to respond to all of them. Clients told him they thought the negative review made Rafina a more legitimate company to them as they know not every project will be a 10 star. They believed his response actually made sense and found Rafina a more credible and trustworthy flooring contractor.

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That's so true, people have common sense and they can tell if someone is being honest or covering up something. I think most people want to give others the benefit of the doubt. They want to believe that someone will give it to them as well.

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NANCY: People say to me - well what if he's done a bad job and the person hasn't written on HomeStars. My answer is that the word will get out quickly on Rafina or anyone else that is doing consistently bad work. If you do a search on Rafina in Toronto - their reviews on HomeStars come up immediately. And his negative review is still there as well.

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How can your readers use HomeStars now when there are no reviews in their community?

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NANCY: If your readers are interested in helping us build your neighborhood - please contact melanie@homestars.com as we are actively looking for expert homeowners that can share their stories and build valuable content that their neighbors will value. We are just formalizing a grassroots community program and we need some passionate volunteers on the ground floor!

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That works for me. I grew up in a small town where we didn't need this kind of service, word of mouth was the only way my Dad found jobs as a home decorator. Thanks Nancy! May you and your team have much success connecting good workers with paying jobs.

BIG GREEN PURSE, the most important book your book club will read this year

It was 4 am and I opened Big Green Purse and read, "Did you make a cup of tea or throw in a load of laundry before starting to read this book"? I laughed out loud, that's exactly what I had done. How did she know? Perhaps that's why women like listening to Diane, she knows how women work.

"She" is Diane MacEachern the author of Big Green Purse who I met for the first time last month. I already knew her from our virtual connections and was impressed with her ability to synthesize the scientific with the pragmatic when it comes to making our lives more green. Her book, Big Green Purse brilliantly blends the two, providing the HOW TO's that you don't see anywhere else with stories that burn a visual into your brain.

Take Chapter 1 where she asks, "If it can happen to an alligator, can it happen to your son"? The alligator has survived 80 million years and yet pesticides are messing with his personal parts making mating "out of reach" per se.  This is happening because of pesticides in the alligator's water.

The same exposure is there for babies, she explains how babies can accumulate these dangerous chemicals quickly. "When corrected for body weight, it's as if an adult were to drink seven liters of water or thirty-five cans of soda daily." She then she lists off off the chemicals found in breast milk.The Mom's over at MomsRising, and BlogHer know that last issue well.

So what do we do? Go after the government? Diane's lived in DC the majority of her adult life and has been an environmental advocate for 40 years. She outlines why policies to protect us have failed or never were initiated. That leaves it up to us to make the changes that force the issues back on the companies causing our system breakdowns in the first place, and to do it quickly.

Like many "tip books" this one is packed, but it comes with context and real life experiences - that's the motivating difference for me. Before a product or service was given a thumb's up, it had to pass the "Diane test" which is harder than anything the EPA could dish out. The test is a combination of what is scientific fact with personal use with the bigger environmental impact. Products get a thumbs up or down and the reader gets to learn why Diane made that decision and often times get an inside look at Diane's own test site - her home.

Products will evolve, but knowing how to evaluate them won't. This book is an entertaining way to rewire your personal spending habits while educating yourself on the bigger issues. Big Green Purse is a "must read, save, refer to" book that will get us through the next critical decision making years. It's filled with links and ideas for gardeners, nutritionists, designers and business alike.

Perhaps the #1 link that Diane offers, however, is linking to each other. If Big Green Purse is the "Green Bible for Individuals" then Big Green Purse the website is the church where we can join together and commit to a greener lifestyle and planet. The Million Women Pledge to swap $1000 of everyday buying habits to green buying habits, will have a Billion dollar impact. When buyers tell sellers what they want on such an open forum, that's all we need to create a tipping point for change.

If you are in a book club or are starting a group like Eco Moms, this is one book that you'll be discussing for a long time.

In Women We Trust - Best Marketing to Women Blog

It's Christmas in January. I was going back through email I missed while away for the holidays and lo... the angels at Future Now bestowed a very nice recognition on In Women We Trust - Best Marketing to Women Blogs. I'm not alone, but that's what makes a good blog work - other bloggers. It's ironic that they used the green woman on the left as one of their pics. Green Women is what In Women We Trust is about... more accurately, Sustainable Women...

Holly Buchanan, the fingers behind Marketing to Women online, and part of Future Now, delivered the good news. It's such an honor to be part of the Future Now Best Blogger Mix below:

Michele Miller, Wonderbranding; Toby Bloomberg, Diva Marketing Blog; Andrea Learned, Learned on Women; Yvonne DiVita, Lipsticking; Mary Schmidt, Mary's Blog; all the fabulous folks at Blogher; Karen Barnes, Womentum; Wendy Maynard, Kinetic Ideas; Tami Anderson, How To Reach Women; Kelly Anderson, StartUp Princess.

Not surprisingly, I know most of them - blogging birds, do tend to blog together...

Thank you Holly and Future Now. I'm looking forward to talking a whole lot MORE about marketing to women in a planet-saving-way in 2008.