You’ve switched out your bags, your bottles, and your light bulbs so you can reduce your environmental footprint and make the world a better place. But have you switched to green investments, too?

If not, you’re missing out.

Missing out on the chance to use your consumer clout to make a big difference.

Missing out on the opportunity to help innovative new green entrepreneurs get off the ground.

And missing out on a way to do well and do good at the same time.

We’ve teamed up with sponsor UK’s Moneyfarm to show you why you should shift to green investments—and how to get started.

What’s So Good About Green Investments?

Let’s start with what they are.

Green investments offer ways to invest your money in companies or projects that help protect the environment, like safeguarding our waterways and wildlife, generating less waste, promoting organic food, and helping to save energy and advance clean energy like solar and wind.

Some companies exist specifically to reduce the environmental impact of an industry. Tree-free paper companies come to mind, along with their commitment to protecting forests. So do the companies that have developed safe alternatives to throwaway plastic straws. You get the idea.

Other companies have taken significant steps to reduce their own environmental footprint, regardless of what they make. For example, even if Company A still builds widgets, they now use wind power to do so, and they’ve streamlined manufacturing so much they create almost no waste.

A third type of company may be providing a service that enables other businesses or consumers to tread more lightly on the earth. I’m thinking of companies like Solar City, which helps consumers and businesses install solar panels.

Whatever their product or service, these companies may need your investments to provide capitol to help them get a toehold in the marketplace and compete against more established (and perhaps, polluting) businesses.

But in addition, when you invest in green companies, you help change how products and services are made. If they reduce waste or save energy or protect the landscape, your money is helping to achieve those goals.

Investments in green companies can also help you make money, which is, after all, the point of investments, right?

Investing in “green” companies can be riskier than other equity strategies, as many companies in this arena are in the development stage, with low revenues and high earnings valuations.

Indeed, there are never any guarantees that you’ll make money on any investment.

But this joint report from USAID and UKaid reports that impact investments financially perform in line with other investments. That makes them safe enough to at least warrant a look!

How Do Green Investments Work?

As with other investments, you have several ways you can invest.

• stocks and bonds
• mutual funds
• ETFs (exchange traded funds)

You can also become an “angel” investor: you provide money to an early-stage entrepreneur to help get the business off the ground, in return for a share of the business as it grows and makes money.

You can manage your own portfolio, or you can work with a green fund manager to help you.

What I myself have done is created a list of priorities for my portfolio, and then directed my financial advisor to invest in green companies that match my priorities.

What do I avoid? Oil and gas companies, coal mining ventures, tobacco companies, companies that make a lot of plastic stuff, and companies that make junk food, to name a few.

What do I look for? Companies trying to solve problems like climate change, plastic waste, and deforestation.

Where to Start? With Research.

Lots of companies claim to be green and eco-friendly, but that isn’t always the case! When it comes to finding out if your IRA or, in the UK, ISA investments are actually going towards an ethical company, do some basic research before you invest.

• News. Before you open your stocks and shares ISA, read all the news about the green companies you want to invest in to make sure your investment is solid.

• Company Sustainability Reports. Companies will often update their investors with quarterly reports and annual reports. Read those reports carefully to get more specific information about the company’s sustainability goals, objectives, and achievements. What did they say they wanted to do? What did they actually accomplish?

• Regulations reports. Reports from the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK or these sources in the US will give you a glimpse into whether or not your “green” companies are actually keeping up with ethical standards.

If you’re working with a fund manager, he/she can analyze earning projections and look at a company’s performance history over time to help you decide how solid the company is and what level of risk is involved if you invest.

By the way, don’t overlook the companies you already believe in and shop at.

Do you have a favorite green business you already frequent, whether it be a market, fashion company, or car maker? Start there.

Green investing helps you do good and do well, too.

It’s one of the most powerful ways to put your consumer clout to work. 

NOTE: Sponsors who underwrite our posts help us bring you expert content at no additional cost to you. All editorial opinions remain our own.

The post No Green Investments? BIG Mistake! appeared first on Big Green Purse.

In a major victory for all of us who believe we have a right to know what is in our food, the Campbell Soup Company has decided to voluntarily disclose the presence of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in its products.

Campbell said it supports federal legislation that would require “all foods and beverages regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to be clearly and simply labeled for GMOs.”

Campbell also supports a national standard for non-GMO claims all food manufacturers display on their packaging.

That means that, here on out, not only Campbell’s Soups but other products in the Campbell’s line, including Pepperidge Farm, Bolthouse Farms, V8, Swanson, Prego and Royal Dansk, will reveal when its ingredients contain GMOS – and when they don’t.

(In case you can’t read the label, right, it says: “Partially produced with genetic engineering. For information about GMO ingredients visit Whatsinmyfood.com.”)

Most food companies vehemently oppose GMO labeling, because they worry that if consumers know genetically modified organisms are in their food, they won’t buy it.

However, 92 percent of Americans support GMO labeling, said Elizabeth O’Connell, director of consumer advocacy for Green America. Campbell’s decision supports “the people’s Right to Know what’s in their food,” she said.

Don’t Miss: The 7 Most Important Reasons to Avoid GMOs

Campbell’s President and CEO Denise Morrison said that the company supports mandatory national labeling of foods that contain GMOS due to consumer demand.

“We are operating with a “Consumer First” mindset. We put the consumer at the center of everything we do.  That’s how we’ve built trust for nearly 150 years.  We have always believed that consumers have the right to know what’s in their food.  GMO has evolved to be a top consumer food issue reaching a critical mass of 92% of consumers in favor of putting it on the label.

In addition, we have declared our intention to set the standard for transparency in the food industry. We have been openly discussing our ingredients, including those derived from GMO crops, through our WhatsinmyFood.com website.  We are supporting digital disclosure through the Grocery Manufacturers Association’s (GMA) SmartLabel program.  We have announced the removal of artificial colors and flavors from our products.  However, our support of mandatory federal GMO labeling sets a new bar for transparency.

Morrison noted that individual consumer campaigns being waged from California to Maine to force companies to label products ultimately forced the company to support a national law.

Without the efforts by groups like Green America, Environmental Working Group, JustLabelIt.org, and of course, Big Green Purse, to mobilize consumers, Campbell’s may not have voluntarily agreed to be so transparent.

If you ever wonder if your individual purchases make a difference, wonder no more. They do! They help protect you and your family first and foremost. But they can also force powerful corporations to do the right thing.

Hooray!

Read Campbell’s complete corporate statement here.

Read the complete statement of Denise Morrison, Campbell’s President & CEO, here.

Top image reprinted with permission of GreenAmerica.org.

The post Campbell’s GMO Labeling Victory Shows the Power of the Purse appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Your demand for more eco-friendly cars is inspiring Ford Motor Company to manufacture vehicles that get better gas mileage, use more recycled materials, tap alternative (and less polluting) fuels, and maybe even help you save energy when you’re not driving (think: washing your clothes).

I recently spent two days at the Go Further With Ford Trends Conference at Ford’s headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, where I had a chance to see first-hand what the company is doing to reduce its environmental impact. Full disclosure: Ford paid all expenses for the trip, though did not pay me a fee, is not paying for this post, and in fact required no post at all. I saw the visit as an opportunity to see “up close and personal” what the company is doing to make good on its sustainability claims. Here’s what I found out.

Bill Ford (aka William Clay Ford, Jr., the great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford) opened the first morning briefing by calling automobile manufacturing “the ultimate disruptive industry.” That was probably the truest statement I heard over the two days I was in Dearborn. Creating vehicles that allowed people to travel long distances in relative ease changed the nature of our cities and towns, enabled other new industries to develop, even encouraged us to socialize and date in ways we couldn’t (or didn’t) in the horse and buggy era. But those same vehicles also led to a dependence on fossil fuels that has threatened our national security, polluted our air and water, and changed the climate to such a degree that the whole world is being impacted by global warming. For years, Ford has acknowledged these impacts as he’s pushed his company to manufacture cleaner combustion engines, electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, cleaner propulsion systems, and even the use of recycled fibers and soybean-based fabrics.

These  are all steps in the right direction, but much more must be done, as the Ford scion acknowledged, starting with electric vehicles. “We need to get ubiquity of plug-in stations to overcome range anxiety,” he noted. Infrastructure devoted to cleaner, greener transportation options “is the key to changing the future.”

On a side note, Ford declared that “it would be great to have a female CEO” when Alan Mullaly, the company’s current chief executive, steps down. I completely agree!

Speaking of Alan Mullaly, at a dinner the evening before our briefings began, I had a chance to ask him what Ford was doing to teach people to drive more fuel efficiently. Mulally acknowledged that,
while Ford’s vehicles achieve high MPG under ideal driving conditions, drivers in “the real world” often sacrifice fuel efficiency for speed. A feedback feature in many Ford vehicles will now tell you exactly how much fuel you’re using when you drive, making it clear that when you speed up and slow down, tail gate, and drive erratically you’re burning fuel. Ford has also issued a Personalized Fuel Efficiency App Challenge, inviting consumers and mobile app developers to come up with technology to help drivers use less gas. You can enter up until July 24, and maybe take home a portion of the $50,000 in prize money that will be awarded to makers of the winning designs.

At a session called Sculpting the Future, J Mays, Ford’s group vice president of design and the company’s chief creative officer, noted, “The idea that cars should go vroom is an old guys story.” Today, he says, Ford is looking for a car that not just looks snazzy but gets great mileage, too. He pointed to the Fusion as a “great looking car that also gets 47 mpg.” (You can read about my Fusion test drive here.)

All this sounds well and good. But at the end of the day, as I frequently pointed out during the Trends event, Ford still makes cars – polluting vehicles that, even at 47 mpg, take too great a toll on our health, and the health of the planet.

To my surprise, John Viera, Ford’s global director for sustainability and vehicle environmental matters, pretty much agreed. The challenge, he said, is to “do more good, not just less bad.”

For starters, he said, “We need to think about how to make lifestyles more sustainable, not just
vehicles.” Viera referred to partnerships the company has developed with Whirlpool, Georgia Tech and Sunpower to get consumers like you and me thinking about saving energy everywhere we use it, including when we’re doing the laundry or heating and cooling our homes. Viera envisions a world where your cell phone connects to a smart meter in your home to help regulate your thermostat, to your car to suggest fuel-saving driving tips, and to your appliances so you can maximize their performance using the minimum amount of energy. In fact, Ford calls this the “My Energi” lifestyle. You can read an impartial analysis of the program here.

Related articles

Shopping for a New Car? There are Plenty of Gas Sippers to Choose From.

The post People Like You Are Inspiring Ford Motor Co. To Make Greener Cars appeared first on Big Green Purse.

How can the world’s two consumer “superpowers”- the U.S. and China – work together to reduce the impact that consumption has on us and our world?

That was the topic a capacity crowd addressed on March 22 at the U.S. – China Greener Consumption Forum. The event, held at the World Bank in Washington, D.C. and co-sponsored by Big Green Purse and the International Fund for China’s Environment, pulled together scientists, consumer advocates, public policy advocates, and green entrepreneurs to share ideas about strategies to inspire manufacturers to create greener goods — and get consumers to buy them.

HIGHLIGHTS:

The Forum focused primarily on women because women spend 85 cents of every dollar in the  marketplace – and we’re not just buying cheese doodles and diapers. As I say here on CCTV, the national television network of China, we buy more clothes. More food.  More cosmetics and personal care products than men. We also buy more electronics, more home furnishings, almost as many tools, just as many cars. Women are spending billions of dollars, day in and day out, year in and year out.

But even with all that clout, we won’t be able to use this power of the purse effectively until we achieve true gender equity
worldwide, points that both Ban Li, Deputy Counsel of the Shaanxi Women’s Federation, and Liane Shalatek, Associate Director of the Heinrich Boll Foundation North America, made very powerfully.

 Christine Robertson of Earth Day Network facilitated a provocative panel on the impacts consumption has on our health and the health of the planet. Sarah Vogel of Environmental Defense Fund was peppered with questions after her presentation on the way the toxic chemical Bisphenol-A (BPA) affects the reproductive systems of men and women alike.

Ping He of the International Fund for China’s Environment, the co-sponsor with Big Green Purse of the Forum, moderated the session on barriers to sustainable consumption and solutions that help surmount them. Meaningful eco-labels and standards can make a big difference, pointed out Arthur Weissman, President and CEO of Green Seal, especially when those standards are set by an indendent third party (like Green Seal is) whose primary interest is not in selling products, but in helping manufacturers become more sustainable over time.

LISA JACKSON, Former EPA Administrator

 Lisa Jackson’s luncheon keynote address was the highlight of the day for many people. As a mom, scientist, and long-time public servant, Lisa has a unique appreciation for the impact consumption has on us as individuals and on society as a whole. She spoke movingly about being the first African-American to serve as head of the EPA and how important it is to bring women as well as people of color and low-income populations into the conversations we’re having about pollution and climate change.

Lisa noted that her favorite law is the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act because it empowers people to protect themselves wherever they live. She is also proud of technology EPA has shared with the city of Shanghai to help monitor air pollution there.

Lisa agreed that the way we use both the purse and the pocketbook can inspire manufacturers to reduce pollution and energy consumption.

AFTERNOON WORKSHOPS

In the afternoon, one set of workshops focused on specific campaigns that have been particularly succeessful in reducing consumption. Peggy Neu explained the extraordinary success Meatless Monday has had in inspiring consumers to cut back the amount of meat they eat at least one day every week. Mary Murphy of the Center for a New American Dream explained her work to promote a sharing economy. “The biggest obstacle to sharing is trust,” she said. The more we can build communities of trust, the more sharing will occur.

Meanwhile, Julia Cohen of the Plastic Pollution Coalition moderated a provocative session on how to reduce plastic and re-utilize waste. Stephanie Tobor of Green Apple Supply described her work providing plastic-free alternatives to municipalities and businesses, and Kate Judson of the Washington DC Department of the Environment explained how the region’s plastic bag fee of five cents per bag has helped reduce the use of plastic bags by over 60%. Youlin Zhou of the Heilongjian Province Center for Agricultural Science and Technology describe her work to convert corn waste into animal feed.

At the same time, a third workshop was focusing on strategies to promote energy efficiency and clean energy. Moderated by Nora Maccoby of IFCE, the panel featured Peter Banwell, Product Marketing Director for ENERGY STAR, Gina Mathias of Eco-Beco, a company that offers energy audits for homes and businesses, and Hua Yan, of the Qinghe Spring Biomass Energy Company.

After a short break, a final set of workshops addressed home renovation, food and drink, and cosmetics and personal care products. While the earlier workshops focused on public education campaigns and behavior change, these workshops gave green entrepreneurs a chance to shine. They included Cheryl Newman, the VP for Honest Tea, describing how her company has gone from a dorm-room idea to a product distributed in over 300,000 outlets in the U.S., to Charis Smith of MOMs Organic Market, which sells only organic produce, and to Paul Ward, whose company Advanced Energy Growing, LLC is teaching hydroponic lettuce growing to both American and Chinese farmers. On the cosmetics front, Ashley Prange of Au Naturale Organic Cosmetics and Sarah Damelio of Skincando Body Products took the audience through the trials and tribulations of getting a new natural product off the ground, while Steve Ma, founder of Live Green, offered his insights on building a green consumer movement in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

WRAP-UP

In the final plenary session of the day, Forum attendees took the microphone to offer their suggestions for possible next steps. Ideas ranged from creating a dialogue on Facebook to promoting more information and expertise exchanges. The focus was not on “if” there would be another Forum, but “when” and where. In the days ahead, we’ll be brainstorming ideas for the next steps we could take to help the U.S. and China go from consumer superpower to sustainability superpower. Have any thoughts? Please let us know.

SEE MORE ON TWITTER

If you want to see more play-by-play reports of the Forum, follow our Twitter stream at #USChinaGreenForum.

GREEN SISTERHOOD NETWORK

The Green Sisterhood Network was the Forum’s outstanding media partner, generating blog posts in the network and covering the Forum live (Anna Hackman, a co-founder with Karen Lee of the Network, is seen here taking notes and Tweeting live at the Forum).

You can read Karen’s recap here and a post on the Green Sisterhood Network here.

Related articles

First US-China Greener Consumption Forum Recap

Anna@Green Talk: US-China Greener Consumption Forum Aims to Harness the Purse

US-China Greener Consumption Forum: Power of the Purse and Climate Change

5 Reasons to Care about the US-China Greener Consumption Forum

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Sure, you have a lot of eco choices if you have the time, not just to order online, but to wait for delivery. But if you’re in a hurry (and who isn’t?) and you’re already at the market or the local convenience store, you’ll probably be out of luck.

If Beth Radow has her way, that will change, at least in her Mamaroneck, New York neighborhood. That’s where Beth has mobilized women to meet with store managers to encourage them to make “going green” easier for anyone who wants more eco-friendly options.

Beth (tall woman in blue in center of photo) is the president of the Larchmont-Mamaroneck League of Women Voters Chapter. A passionate environmentalist and a concerned parent, Beth is also an attorney with a “can do, must do” attitude about social change. In fact, the theme for her presidency at the League is “We, The People,” because, she says, “I want to empower people to be agents of social change.”

With social and environmental change in mind, Beth recently marshalled a force of about 15 women aged 17 to 92 to meet with representatives of their Trader Joe’s, Stop-and-Shop, and A&P. This “Supermarket Sweep” was organized against the backdrop of theGulf oil disaster. Said Beth in inviting people to participate, “Gas guzzling semis truck in goods to our stores on a regular basis from near and distant points. How might our stores save on fuel? As professionals and heads of households, we make seemingly unending car trips to and from the store and elsewhere. It all adds up.”

Beth invited folks to walk to the stores with their own shopping carts or reusable canvas bags in order to drive home their concerns about energy conservation, noting “This Walk to the store behind a cart instead of a wheel puts a focus on what we ourselves can do to walk the walk when it comes to reducing fuel consumption.”

Beth also made copies of Big Green Purse: Use Your Spending Power to Create a Cleaner, Greener World available as a primer on the clout women can have when they decide to make their money matter.

Prior to the “Sweep,” we brainstormed a list of questions Beth and her group could ask the store managers when they met. How is the store saving energy? What steps are being taken to sell locally-grown food? How can the store reduce excess packaging?

Beth also took the opportunity to suggest that stores reward shoppers who walk to their establishments the same way they reward shoppers who bring their own bags by giving them a nickel/per bag credit.

Beth said she and the other women in the group didn’t know what to expect when they got to each store. They were pleasantly surprised to find that the store managers, particularly at Trader Joe’s and Stop-and-Shop, were eager to hear what they had to say. Local news reports glowingly featured the “Sweep,” the first of its kind in th region.

“We got a wealth of information…about the way the stores work,” Beth concluded, pronouncing this first foray a success. “The customer has a lot more clout than I think we realized.” (That’s what Big Green Purse is all about!)

Beth will be conducting follow-up meetings with each store in August, when she hopes to inspire the stores to offer customers who walk or bike an energy credit of some sort.

Meanwhile, if your local group wants to stage a Green Supermarket Sweep, send me an e-mail: Diane@biggreenpurse.com.

The post Want to Change What Stores Stock on Their Shelves? Go Meet With Them. These Women Did. appeared first on Big Green Purse.

I am taking the opportunity to reiterate why I created Big Green Purse, a campaign to motivate women especially to channel their spending power into social and environmental change.

It is because I believe…

*  the fastest, most effective way to stop polluters is by pressuring them in the marketplace

*  women can be the world’s most powerful economic and environmental force if we intentionally shift our spending to the best green products and services

* women have the power right now to solve many of our most serious environmental problems by using our green purses to make a difference

* women must act – intentionally, collectively, and with the full force of our purse power behind us – if we hope to leave our children and grandchildren a better world.

Women spend $.85 of every dollar in the marketplace. I believe we should tell manufacturers what to make; they should not be telling us what to buy.

I believe we only have as much power as we exercise. I also believe exercising our power gives us more.

I believe it is not too late … but it will be soon.

As the saying goes, if not us, who? If not now, when?

I believe it is up to us, and we must act now.

See what more green moms and friends believe on Monday, February, 9, when The Smart Mama hosts the next Green Moms Carnival.

The post Why I Believe in the Power of the Purse appeared first on Big Green Purse.

“Farming” fish and shrimp has helped meet consumer demand, but at a cost. The fishmeal salmon eat, for example, is often loaded with dangerous PCBs. Farmed salmon can contract sealice, which can spread to wild salmon. Shrimp aquaculture can destroy the mangrove swamps that protect barrier islands and coastlines from hurricanes.

Now some retailers – including Whole Foods Market, Wal-Mart, and Wegman’s –  are using their marketplace clout to demand seafood that’s farmed more sustainably. Their goal: protect sensitive marine habitats, reduce or ban antibiotics, treat waste water, and mimize or eliminate the use of toxic chemicals. Whole Foods will also require its suppliers to pass independent, third-party audits to ensure they are meeting sustainable seafood standards.

Here’s a good overview from the Washington Post.

Meanwhile, the Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions is working with fishermen, retailers, environmental organizations and consumer groups to increase understanding of the nation’s fisheries and make more sustainable seafood available in the marketplace. As a result of its work with the Alliance, the Giant supermarket chain said it has recently started selling Pacific long-line cod, which is relatively abundant, and that it will stop selling shark, orange roughy and Chilean sea bass until their populations rebound.

  Greenpeace recently issued a state-by-state scorecard to let consumers know whether their grocery store has instituted a sustainable seafood policy. Check out your favorite grocer here.

  USE YOUR PURSE:  Most grocers are falling far short in offering shoppers sustainably raised or caught fish and shellfish. Don’t hesitate to let the manager at your favorite fish counter know you expect retailers to support sustainable seafood standards. And do your part by buying seafood that’s sustainably certified.

The post Sustainable Seafood is Coming to a Supermarket Near You appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Choose quality over quantity. Simplify your needs overall. Then, buy clothes, jewelry, toys, tools, furniture and other commodities that are made to last. You may spend a few more dollars up front but save money in the long run when you don’t need to replace items that break or wear out quickly.

  Buy reusables. Compare a sponge to a roll of paper towels. One sponge may cost as little as $.99. A roll of paper towels runs around $1.99. But one sponge lasts as long as SEVENTEEN ROLLS of paper towels. You could save as much as $33 in paper towels before you have to throw the sponge away.  (Meanwhile, keep sponges fresh by washing in the dishwasher with the dishes; microwave on high heat for 30 seconds to kill germs.)

Switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs. The CFLs may cost $2-4 more than the incandescent bulb you’re used to. But the CFL uses 66% less energy and lasts ten times as long. So over the course of the lifetime of the bulb, you can save as much as $30-$50 on electricity. Plus – think of all the time you’re saving changing light bulbs.

Forget bottled water. When you buy bottled water, you’re buying a plastic bottle, a label, the energy to transport the bottle to your store, a bottle cap, and the water inside the bottle — which, almost half the time, is actually tap water!  And even though water is very cheap when it flows out of your tap, it can cost as much as 10,000 times more when it’s served in a bottle. Buy a reusable water bottle and fill it up at your own tap. If you’re worried about water quality, use the money you save on bottled water to buy a filter for your faucet.

Save gas. This sounds like a “no brainer,” but you’d be surprised how many people waste gas – and money. Pump up your car tires to improve fuel efficiency by 3.3%. Use cruise control for as much as a 14% fuel efficiency gain. Go to Gas Buddy to find the cheapest gas in your driving range. Car pool to share driving costs with others.

Buy in bulk. You pay nearly twice the price for the same weight when you buy small, individually wrapped servings of a product rather than the bulk size. Laundry detergent, fabric softener, dishwasher detergent, shampoo, soap, conditioner, snacks, soft drinks and many other items offer a bulk or ‘economy’ size. Even buying a regular half-gallon container of juice is cheaper than buying individual juice boxes.

Plug into a power strip. 40 percent of the energy used to power consumer electronics is devoured when the devices are turned off. That’s nearly 5 percent of the total electricity American homes consume. A power strip lets you plug several appliances or lots of office equipment into one efficient outlet you can easily turn off, automatically cutting power to all devices that are plugged into it.

Take a tax credit. New fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles save gas and earn you tax credits, too. The amount, as determined by the IRS, ranges from $250 to $3150.

Use Craig’s List or Freecycle. Before you pay full price for furniture, appliances, sporting equipment or lawn and garden tools, go “shopping” online – at clearinghouses that help you acquire the goods you need at no or low cost.

Donate. Giving your used clothing and household goods to the Salvation Army, your local church, or a local charity for veterans lightens the load at the landfill and earns you a tax write-off for your charitable donations.

The post EARTH DAY COUNTDOWN: How You Can Afford to Go Green appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Just how does Crest slip a little Nature into its tubes?  Mostly, by the power of suggestion.

The company claims pure peppermint oil gives Crest “a natural peppermint twist.”

The mint and green tea version seems designed to appeal to the millions of people who drink green tea for its many natural healing properties. (Thanks, but I’d rather drink my green tea than brush my teeth with it.)

The lemon and mint option wins the prize for bragging it’s “natural” the most times: “Introducing a toothpaste with the fresh, clean sensation of natural lemon extract. With a natural twist of citrus, Citrus Clean Mint gives you a natural clean feeling all day and all night.” All those natural claims seem a little unnatural to me.

Here’s the topper: Crest’s Nature’s Expressions web site provides 13 tips to help you “Add a little Nature to your life.” But out of the 13, none of them encourages visitors to go outside and actually experience the natural world.

Tip #10 suggests you “hang a picture of your favorite elements from nature – sea, trees, flowers, animals – where your eyes frequently go. For instance, over the telephone.”

Tip #12 encourages you to put your pillows outside in the sun to freshen up. Hmmm… what about brushing your teeth outside? At least, you’d be getting outdoors.

The only thing that’s natural – from an advertising point of view — about Crest’s new toothpaste is the way the company is trying to capitalize on the green marketing frenzy that’s driving commerce these days.

Actually…in my circles, we don’t call that natural. We call that greenwashing.

Thumbs down, Crest.

The post Greenwash in a Toothpaste Tube appeared first on Big Green Purse.

What’s driving the price spike?

You’ve heard it before: supply, and demand.

Supply has been shrinking for years – ever since the first oil well was tapped decades ago. But this year, supply is tighter than usual. An unprecedented number of refinery accidents, refinery outages due to maintenance, and drivers’ increasing gasoline demand are draining fuel tanks all over the country.
In fact, the amount of available gasoline fell by more than half this month, according to government figures. That’s not good news, even to people who drive gas-sipping hybrids.

What can you do?

I offer about 90 suggestions in my book, Beat High Gas Prices Now! The Fastest, Easiest Ways to Save $20-$50 Every Month on Gasoline. Some highlights:

* Get a tune-up if you haven’t had one in a while. You’ll improve fuel economy by at least 4.1%.
* Pumping up your tires will get you another 3%.
* Use cruise control if you do a lot of highway driving for as much as a 14% fuel economy gain.
* Skip the drive throughs. “Idling” is another way of saying “wasting gas.”
* If you’re in the market for a new car, buy the most fuel-efficient vehicle in your price range. You can compare mileage at www.fueleconomy.gov.

Keep this in mind: after Hurricane Katrina in September 2005 pushed gas prices above $3/gallon for the first time, consumers conserved so much gasoline that demand dropped as much as 6.5 percent. You can save money, stabilize gas supply, and help bring prices back under control by using less gas – and still get where you want to go.

QUESTION: What works for you? Leave a comment with your best gas-saving suggestion.

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