Reuseable Lunch bags are a huge hit!

 to the mall. But, being corporate slaves as most of us are its equally important to bring your own reuseable lunch bag as well!  That would save 260 paper and plastic bags per year if you were bringing your lunch with you to work every day!   Ask us about our new reuseable lunch bags!   We can help!

All the fund raising ideas here are tried and tested but don’t forget its your hard work and enthusiasm that will deliver a really successful event or programme. The great thing is that a successful fundraiser delivers a lot more than money!

There are certainly some good ideas in the article (and some unique ones — charity head shaving!), but we noticed that one idea was missing: selling reusable bags. Why leave out the bags? Not only are they wildly trendy and flying off the shelves these days, but they’re a secret key to fundraising success! The kind bloggers over at FundraisingIP have broken down the benefits of selling reusable bags:

• Opportunity for environmental education – for your group and for buyers
• Satisfaction of positively impacting the environment
• Providing customers with a bag that can go anywhere
• Profits of 40% or more (depending on supplier)
• Ability to pair with other ‘green’ fundraising campaigns

It’s hard to argue with those sorts of advantages. Add on how much easier they are to handle than a weekend carnival, and it’s a rock solid case. So, why not consider reusable bags for your next church fundraiser? You just might become a trendsetter, in more ways than one.

There is nothing wrong with trying to raise monies for your child’s school. With today’s paltry public school budgets, how else can we give to schools without trashing the planet? How large of a footprint have we left over the years from these school fundraisers? Start now for the next school year– make an effort to sell products that have an environmental purpose.

There area a lot of unique and simple ideas in the article, from drives to recycle e-waste down to collecting box tops. Another great idea? Selling reusable bags as an in-demand alternative to those tired magazine subscriptions.

Reuse This Bag is a great educational site offering to create custom bags to sell for fundraisers. You can order grocery bags, wine totes, as well as insulated grocery bags that are all made out of recycled polypropylene. There is a minimum order of 500 bags.

Hey, that’s us!

No doubt, bake sales and pizza days are always nice. But at your next school fundraiser, why not do something equally nice for the environment?

And we’re not talking simply cans and bottles here either; in 2006 Mayor Newsom instituted a Mandatory Construction and Demolition Debris Recovery Ordinance, which means that 72% number includes all waste generated on construction sites too.

Truly remarkable! San Francisco is a city of principals, however, and officials are not content to sit back comfortably on a number like 72% — though it may be the best so far, it’s still a C-average in the grand scheme of things, and San Francisco is looking to bring their A-game as soon as possible.

“If we captured everything going to landfill that could have been recycled or composted, we’d have a 90% recycling rate” said San Franciso Department of the Environment Director Jared Blumenfeld. “The Board of Supervisors will soon be considering an ordinance that will require residents and businesses to sign up and use the recycling and composting programs, which we need to make our goals.”

Go, San Francisco! We look forward to tracking your continued progress, and can only hope that many other cities see fit to follow in your footsteps.

“Something as simple as this — plastic bags — is actually put way down on the list, when it should be a priority,” Compton said. “So, we have all these grants and all these people doing research, but we’re not down to the basic — let’s take away the harm we do to the environment.”

As far as plastic bag ordinances go, this is a majorly moderate one — nothing is being taxed or banned outright yet, all that has been asked for is a simple act of conservation.

Compton’s proposal doesn’t include soiled plastic bags, and wouldn’t stop stores from handing them out to customers.

“If you have (a bag in) a wastebasket and you have poured in fingernail polish remover and makeup and that’s your bathroom trash can, it’s dirty, throw it away,” Compton said.

She also said she would like to see a ban on using all plastic bags, but in researching the proposal found that’s not fiscally feasible for grocers to comply. For example, it would force grocery stores to find specialty bags for customers to wrap small items like their fresh vegetables.

So far Madison’s citizens seem cautiously receptive to the idea, though some question the enforceability of the law — and, indeed, it does seem to encompass a heavy gray area. How would one know when a bag is dirty enough to throw away? And how could evidence be collected, for once a bag is in the trash can or a landfill, it will be unusable enough regardless of where the dirt originated. Nevertheless, it’s an effort. The first offense would cost offenders $100, with fines rising up to $400 for multiple infractions. A steep fee, but perhaps a small price to pay for keeping the environment a little more plastic-free.

U.S. Vice-President turned eco-activist Al Gore has been a major player in the fight against global warming in the past few years, and according to him the tides are about to turn in our favor. At a speech last Monday at San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House, Gore indicated that this year will be monumental for environmentalists asserting the importance of their cause, and compared the year’s importance to the battle of Gettysburg in terms of turning the tides of battle.

“We are radically changing the relationship between the human species and the rest of the Earth,” he said. “This year, 2009, is the Gettysburg for the environment. It is the time we have the opportunity to change.”

“The one thing that is going to allow us to win this is that thing that is inside these award winners,” Gore said. “Remember what we have to do, this year.”

Gore is no newcomer to environmentalism — it is an issue he has explored many times on the lecture circuit and in his documentary An Inconvenient Truth, and his efforts with the matter helped earn him the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. This time, Gore addressed this issue as part of his keynote presentation of this year’s Goldman Environmental Prize.

Photo via Flickr!

In observance of Earth Day, Wednesday’s episode of the CBS game show will feature environmentally friendly products including cell phones made of recycled materials, solar charging equipment and a recycling cabinet.

Environmentalist and actor Ed Begley Jr. will introduce a showcase that includes an electric bike, golf cart and Toyota Prius hybrid car. Trips offered during the show will be paired with donations to offset carbon emissions.

Whenever something green is going on in Los Angeles, you can bet that celebrity eco-warrior Ed Begley Jr. isn’t far behind! Executives at CBS understand just how much power celebrity can have, and express the goals they hope to achieve by bringing an environmental spin to the popular game show.

“More than ever there are things that we can do that are really simple to do,” said Barbara Bloom, senior vice president of daytime for CBS. “We can do that as people who supply entertainment. We are a powerful tool for messaging. I just wanted to remind people that it’s very easy to keep this in your consciousness as you go through your life.”

This episode of The Price is Right! will air on Wednesday, April 22nd — Earth Day!

Introduce your child to the source of the food she eats.
Tending a garden or visiting a farmers market can help your little one understand that vegetables don’t grow on supermarket shelves. From here you can begin to emphasize the importance of choosing organic foods.

[...]

Play naturally.
Though the occasional plastic toy has made its way into our lives, I’ve made a concerted — though often mocked — effort to limit W.’s toys to those that are made from natural materials — wood, fabric and nontoxic paint. A good handful of my family members think I’m crazy to shun the Technicolor world of plastic playthings, but I’ve found that these toys are not only free from potential toxins like PVCs and phthalates, but they also last longer and allow more room for imaginative play. When a toy isn’t singing songs, flashing lights and wiggling across the floor, it seems that a child actually has to use his imagination when playing with it. Go figure.

Big points for her emphasizing the importance of recycling, reducing, and using reusable bags as well. But the most important advice she imparts? The very first on the list — set a good example. “The quickest way to teach your kid to recycle or to conserve energy,” she says, “is to do those things yourself.”

As we are in the middle of the spring months, it is time to think about the outdoors and how we can better care for the environment. When you think about helping our environment, you think of Earth Day, April 22.

But why limit yourself to one day? What some people don’t know is that there are several easy ways to improve the quality of our lives on Earth that may not even affect your daily routine.

As unassuming as it might seem, to mention one’s efforts not affecting their daily routine, but for most it is vital, when making small lifestyle changes, to not outright change one’s lifestyle. So, what can you do to start making some easy changes in your life? It’s as simple as keeping your trash where you can see it.

While on a bike ride in the warm weather, the last thing you want to see is trash on the roadside. Products we use every day, such as plastic bags and aluminum cans, take years to decompose. A simple way to limit the roadside trash is to keep a convenient garbage container in your vehicle until you reach a garbage can where you can throw it away. How easy is that?

I like the added insinuation that you’ll be riding your bike a lot in the summer weather — it’s a good connection to make. I know I just pumped up my bike tires, and am looking forward to getting the most out of the ever-improving weather.

Read on for more on junk mail, the trouble with plastic bottles, the benefits of reusable bags, and how to make everyday your own personal Earth Day.