Saturday, November 21, 2015

#thinkgreen #livegreenhealthy #ecolove #succulentjunkie

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

The Green Seahorse: Committed to Making Conscious Green Shopping an Option

The Green Seahorse’ Green Mission

The Green Seahorse, a green business certified under Green America’s rigorous standards, is committed to making organic and fair trade products available to the public – this online eco friendly retailer wants to raise awareness about green shopping and the importance of being a conscious consumer.

It’s about time that we care about the impact of our shopping habits to the environment, to other people and to the world in general. We have to know the real cost of the product we’re buying and decide if the price we’re paying is really worth it. We have to take accountability for the choices we’re making – Anna Lappe puts it beautifully.

The Green Seahorse aims to provide the option for the people to choose wisely – to shop ethically. Green shopping can be your first step to supporting a sustainable development for a greener and better future for more generations to come.

The Green Seahorse and Fair Trade Products

The Green Seahorse has a vast collection of creative fair trade products proudly made by artisans from all over the world. The Green Seahorse believes that supporting Fair Trade artisans and producers will help ease poverty both in developed and developing countries. Among the reasons why we should opt for Fair Trade products are:

Fair wages for the people behind every product
Ensures safe, healthy and participatory workplaces
Upholds practices that conserve and protect the environment
Respect cultural identity and gender equality
Supports medical, educational and other development projects in communities

What the Green Seahorse Offers

You can expect tons of eco friendly products, everything fair trade and guaranteed ethical – from Tagua Nut Jewelry collections to beautifully made artisan crafts. Feast on green fashion accessories, such as bags, scarves, jewelries and so much more, green holiday and house ornaments and other green gift ideas!

Lisa Burnham is an artist-ecoactivist-entrepreneur mom to two wonderful kids and wife to a surfer! She teaches art for 25 years to children of all ages, has an art education and speaks Spanish, pretty well, too! This mom loves traveling, gardening and anything green! She lives in San Francisco, California just a block away from the ocean. And she has a pitbull named Irie.
Lisa is living the life – enjoying freedom and embracing a more meaningful life while creating a sustainable business that keeps her mobile and free! Connect with her and start your own journey towards the realization of your dream life!

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Vlogging tips and Ideas for Shooting on Location

Vlogging has become a big part of blogging.

Here are a few tips on setting up a great video when you are shooting on location.
Pay attention to the lighting on your face when you are outside so that people can see your beautul face.
When the sun is high is the sky it is more dificult to fil in the natural light.
I find that mornings or right before sunset have lovely cool light to get a nice naural shot.
Remember to keep the sun behind or your face will be in the shade.
Be mindful of the back ground so that the shot has some visual interest.
Your viewers will thank you for it.

Part 1: Lighting

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Part 2: Ideas for Vlogging on Location Part 2

Vlog Location Ideas.
1. Amazing Backdrops

2. Interviews with Family off the CUFF
3. Catching Interviews with Strangers
4. Shopping Centers (Topic is relative to location)
5. Opposites Attract (Use a location completely different from your Topic)

Lisa Burnham is an artist-ecoactivist-entrepreneur mom to two wonderful kids and wife to a surfer! She teaches for 25 years to children of all ages, has an art education and speaks Spanish, pretty well, too! This mom loves traveling, gardening and anything green! She lives in San Francisco, California just a block away from the ocean. And she has a pitbull named Irie.

Lisa is living the life – enjoying freedom and embracing a more meaningful life while creating a sustainable business that keeps her mobile and free! Connect with her and start your own journey towards the realization of your dream life!

Connect with me at:

http://ift.tt/1N5OUEY

San Francisco’s Eco Friendly Transportation

An Eco-Friendly City

San Francisco is definitely one of the most eco-friendly cities in the country – with progressive programs and projects ranging from trash management, recycling, green traveling and everything eco-friendly. San Franciscans aim to promote a sustainable lifestyle that can conserve and protect the environment while living a meaningful and respectful life in the community.

In an article titled “Visit San Francisco: is this the World’s most Eco-friendly City? “ Jana Free states that “Many people consider San Francisco to be the most beautiful city in the world. It might also be the world’s most eco-friendly city to visit.”
She also notices how “These efforts conserve valuable resources for the enjoyment of future generations of residents and visitors.” and that “Business owners and public officials go to great measures to not only preserve San Francisco’s urban and marine eco-systems but to integrate “green” practices into daily life.”
This speaks in loud volumes to green-loving locals like myself who live in San Francisco and are enjoying these values in their own families’ lives

Trash management is widely encouraged and supported by the city by providing eco-friendly ways on how people can segregate their household waste, where they can bring recyclable items and how they can donate scrap materials. All of these aim to lessen the volume of trash ending up in landfills. See here my family’s waste management habit.

Shopping at local Farmer’s market is also promoted for a more greener and eco-friendly lifestyle. Not only do you get the freshest produce but you also help support local farmers and encourage them in their eco-friendly ways of producing their harvest.

San Franciscans also know how to get around the eco-friendly way – to ease traffic congestion, save energy and of course save environment as well.

Eco-Friendly Ways of Getting Around

It’s undeniable that much of air pollution is coming from the carbon dioxide emission from cars – not to mention the traffic that private cars are causing (did you know that there are 1.3 cars for every driver in the US? Now, that’s way too much!). This is why we take advantage of the City’s public transportation whenever we can.

We also resort to car pooling for a more eco-friendly way of traveling, to save money and for convenience as well. The fewer cars on the road, the less air pollution there is. Not to mention the non-renewable fossil fuel you’re saving.

We just happen to love eco-friendly hybrid cars a well! It’s not surprising that according to Forbes.com, we buy the most hybrid cars and that almost 1 in every 10 vehicles in San Francisco is a hybrid. Now, that’s pretty amazing! Hybrid cars have increasingly been gaining popularity. Electric cars emits minimal if not zero-emission and are proven to be safer for the environment while still making sure that your traveling experience is at par with the best car in the market.

One of my neighbors purchased an eclectic car a few years ago and I checked in with him about his experience. here is part of the interview: Leafy Green: Bay Area Air Quality Management Reviews the Nissan Leaf

The Green Seahorse owner, Lisa Burnham, sat down with Robert Cave, Senior Air Quality Specialist for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, to discuss all things Leaf: the newest zero-emissions vehicle manufactured by Nissan. Cave shares his thoughts (and critiques!) of this much-lauded entry into the eco-car marketplace, and lends his insight on performance, features, and how the Nissan is helping new owners at tax time.

LISA: In basic terms, how does the Leaf compare, performance-wise, to the electric competitors, like the Ford Focus and the upcoming Honda Fit E?

Robert: I have not driven any other electric cars so I can’t comment on how it compares as far as performance. The big thing that the Leaf has going for it, is that it is available. The Ford Focus is supposed to have a faster charger so it will take half as long to charge up as the current leaf, but probably by the time the Focus is available, the Leaf will also have an upgraded charger. The Leaf is very fun to drive. It’s extremely quick off the line, there is no shifting gears, so it’s just one continuous acceleration. Also, the Leaf has good acceleration even at freeway speeds. I have run it up over 90 mph. Sometimes the brakes are a bit weird (there is a delay.) I don’t know if this is anti-lock combined with regeneration or what.

LISA: Consumer reports tested the Leaf with a cold-weather owner and found that the range panel indicator to be somewhat inaccurate in especially cold climates. Is there an ideal driver for the Nissan Leaf?

Robert: Nissan has also developed a Cold Weather package that improves the Leaf’s performance in those locations. It includes heated seats, heated steering wheel and heated battery pack. It’s not really an issue for me.

LISA: For a family thinking about making the switch, what are some considerations when buying an electric car?

Robert: Given the dearth of public charging opportunities, it really only makes sense as a second car. We use our Highlander whenever we go on a family trip. But that was also true when I had my Subaru, because of space and reliability. To maximize tax credits, get the charging dock installed in a different year than when you purchase the car. Do not pay extra for a quick-charge port, until level 3 charging docks become a reality. A second meter is the way to go so that you can have your charger on a time of use rate, and the rest of your electrical needs on a normal rate.

Lisa: Eco-cars can sneak up people. Tell me about Nissan’s VSP and how this technology was developed.

Robert: Personally, [I think] this is just plain stupid. My Subaru when it was new was so quiet that I sometimes couldn’t tell if it was running when I was stopped. Noisemakers are a bad thing. If there are going to be restrictions on how quiet a car can be, then there should be a minimum decibel level for all cars, not just hybrids and electric cars. The VSP can be shut off by the push of a button (which I almost always do), but it defaults back to on when you shut off the car. It is possible to hack into the car to turn it off permanently, but I have not gone so far as to do that.

_____________________________________________

And for a healthier as well as eco-friendly way of getting around the city – go bicycling! Yep, it’s good for your health and it’s good for the environment. You don’t even have to have your own bike; there is a bike share program in San Francisco. What’s good about bike-sharing is that aside from the fact that you’re not contributing to air pollution you’re also saving the environment from future waste product of metals and bolts that can easily weigh tons.

A New, Environmentally Friendly Way to Rent Cars
RelayRides, a peer-to-peer rental Car owners can turn their idle cars into cash-generating rental car businesses and make extra money to offset their car expenses. On the other side, renters get to rent unique cars (Porsche, anybody?) that would otherwise sit idle and go unused. That means we’re not only maximizing the utilization of expensive resources, but also saving money on all the costs associated with owning a car.

Eco-friendly Lifestyle for a More Sustainable Life

We can all create a more sustainable life not just for our family but for our community as well. We can make it happen. Step by step, one family at a time, once city after the other – for a good start let’s embrace a lifestyle that is certified eco-friendly.

Lisa Burnham is an artist-ecoactivist-entrepreneur mom to two wonderful kids and wife to a surfer! She teaches art for 25 years to children of all ages, has an art education and speaks Spanish, pretty well, too! This mom loves traveling, gardening and anything green! She lives in San Francisco, California just a block away from the ocean. And she has a pitbull named Irie.
Lisa is living the life – enjoying freedom and embracing a more meaningful life while creating a sustainable business that keeps her mobile and free!
Connect with me!

Monday, November 16, 2015

#shopsmall Nov28 #shopsmallbusiness #ecoshop #ecofashion #ecofriendly #artsyheaven #fairtradecertified #holidayshopping #blackfridayshopping #fairtrade #fairtrade

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Effective Ways To Utilize Video Marketing For Your Business

Image courtesy of adamr/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Video marketing is a strategy that offers amazing potential for anyone. The key is to study the methods that have proven to be successful as well as those that have been flops.

Here are a few tips I like to keep in mind:

Don’t be overly complicated in your videos. If you use a lot of technical terms and industry specific language, you are going to bore your viewers. Make your videos for the layperson. If technical language is required, make a second video to offer a deeper insight into the topic for the more advanced viewer.

Use social media to market your business and respond to comments/questions with videos. This kind of video marketing adds a personality to your digital identity. You become more relatable to followers and it allows them to interact with you. Marking is a conversation not a message.

Image courtesy of Keerati/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

If you are camera shy, or you do not feel like you would be good at video marketing, look within your company for someone who would be a good fit. They are usually the most friendly and have a natural exuberance that radiates around them. This is the person you want to choose for your video marketing.

If you are shy and don’t have a spokesperson yet, try posting Google Search Stories. This is a video of you doing a Google search of your business, and then showing them your site’s best properties, such as highlights and guest contributions. This shows viewers how to find you and why you’re who they’re looking for.

When posting a video on your website, surround it with descriptive text so Google knows what the video is about. You don’t have to provide a transcript, although that can be helpful as well, but you should give at least a short blurb about what the video discusses without giving away the juicy bits.

Hire a professional to create your showcase videos. Although you may be able to create some great content, you need something legitimate. A showcase video is one that you would use at a trade show or conference.

Finally, post your videos on your website and include a link on your Facebook wall and Tweet about your new video on Twitter. Make sure you share it everywhere and get people to give you feedback! You want your followers to interact with you and you can’t be shy about sharing.

Want to see Women in Action Together? Click here!

About Empower Network

Empower Network hosts one of the largest blogging communities and publishing platforms online in addition to providing educational and leadership training products and services to online marketers and start-up, home-based and small businesses.

Empower Network offers a program through which affiliates can earn commissions off the sales of Empower Network products. Headquartered in St. Petersburg, Fla., David Wood and David Sharpe founded Empower Network in 2011 to empower small-business owners to make money online without dealing with the technical, marketing, payroll and overhead challenges that frustrate many entrepreneurs and small-business owners.

Empower Network’s signature product is a viral blogging system geared toward helping its 30,000 affiliates and 70,000 members use the Internet to grow their businesses online, taking them from disenfranchisement to full self-empowerment through the use of blogs, direct sales and online marketing.

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