Spokane Gets a Little Greener This Week!

Posted by Rene.Bross on 13. July 2010 12:51

Curbside composting comes to Spokane, WA this week beginning July 12th. If you live in Spokane and have a green yard waste bin that's picked up weekly by your curbside garbage service, you can now throw food scraps and food soiled paper products- paper towels, pizza boxes, napkins etc. into your green yard waste bin for composting. No you won't get the nutrient-rich dirt for your own garden, but you don't have to foot the expense of an expensive composting bin either. According to the Spokane Regional Solid Waste System, recycling your food scraps could potentially reduce the amount of material you place in your regular curbside garbage bin. You may then be able to "downsize" that cart and save money on your monthly bill! You'll also be saving water and electricity by not using your in-sink disposal unit as much.

For a full list of acceptable and non-acceptable items for your Food Scrap/Yard debris bin click here.

New Card Designs by Artist Ceci Bowman

Posted by Rene.Bross on 2. July 2010 14:29

We are thrilled to announce that Bay Area artist/illustrator Ceci Bowman has teamed with My Good Greetings to bring you a variety of new, fun and whimsical party invitations, which are printed on 100% recycled, FSC Certified card stock. Ceci's designs are very unique and superbly stylish, which will give your party that extra flair you're looking for. We especially love Ceci's new Bridal Shower Dance Invitation set! If I received this invite in the mail, I'd RSVP Yes! immediately!

 

Stunning New Birth Announcements at My Good Greetings!

Posted by Rene.Bross on 28. June 2010 19:52

We are so thrilled to present our new line of Luxe Birth Announcements!! Not only are they beautifully designed with a contemporary feel but they are printed on our new softly textured recycled card stock for a rich and luxurious feel. Your beautiful photographs will look better than ever on this high-quality card stock and will make for a namesake birth announcement that will be treasured for years to come. To view our new line of Luxe Birth Announcements click here!

 

 

The Bride Wore White, but She Was thinking Green!

Posted by Rene.Bross on 28. May 2010 13:38

You asked for it, and now they're finally here-- Our new line of eco-friendly designer Wedding Invitations have arrived! Our gorgeous Wedding Invitation packages are not only contemporary and hip in design, but are also printed on deluxe recycled heavyweight card stock with a lovely texture. These invitations look as fabulous as they feel. Made with 30% post consumer waste, many designs come in the option of cream or white paper colors. Matching recycled envelopes are included with the invitations. And as with all of our cards, no plastics are ever used in our recycled packaging. Wedding Invitation packages are fully customizable and you can choose from matching invitation, save the date cards, response or rsvp cards, reception insert cards, directions insert cards and thank you cards. Celebrate your love for each other and the environment with My Good Greetings Wedding Invitations.

The Best Thank You I've Ever Received!

Posted by Rene.Bross on 22. February 2010 13:48

If you've read our last blog entry (see below), you already are familiar with how My Good Greetings worked with Linda Lee to create custom notecards featuring the artwork by children in the Cambodian orphanage. What I didn't mention, when I wrote that entry, was that the reason the drawings were outlined and not colored in was because the children at the orphanage did not have any colored markers. When I learned this, it broke my heart. Being a graphic designer in the US- and someone who takes so much prosperity for granted, my heart ached when I learned that these children with their big, bright smiles, didn't have colors for their wonderful artwork. I immediately decided that I would put together a care package of colored markers and my assistant Dawn added loads of colored pencils and sharpeners. We boxed it all up and mailed it off to the orphanage with a friendly note. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to receive these wonderful photos back in return. Just look at these darling kids. I wish them many happy drawings!

A Note about Helping those in need...

Posted by Rene.Bross on 28. January 2010 10:42

Recently I was contacted by a very nice woman named Linda Lee who had a wonderful idea to raise money for an orphanage in Cambodia. She explained that she would like to print note cards with hand-drawn pictures on the front of the card- drawn by the orphans themselves and a photo and hand-written letter on the back of each card. As she told me more about her project and about the orphanage, I knew immediately that I wanted to help out however I could. As I received each hand-drawing, photo and hand-written note, I fell in love with project even more. Linda is a wonderful person and she is sending 100% of the proceeds of the sales of these cards directly to the Chres Village School and Orphanage in the Bakong District of Siem Reap, Cambodia.

These cards, which are blank inside, make wonderful thank you notes. I'm going to use them for my own children's thank you notes. The illustrations are not colored in and my boys are looking forward to coloring them before they send them out. I think it's a wonderful way for my young boys to make a connection with those that are not as fortunate. It beats sending a Mickey Mouse or Spongebob thank you note anyday!

To purchase your own set of Thank You notes and make a donation to the Orphanage in Cambodia, please visit Linda's website at http://kocalee.wordpress.com/

 

Checking in with Eco-Friendly Celebs

Posted by Lorna.Doone on 31. December 2009 06:37

Are you one of those people who just can't get enough of celebrity gossip?  Or, maybe you're tired of hearing about all the ridiculous things celebrities do and are looking for some good news for a change.  In either case, you might want to check out ecorazzi.com.  I've been reading it off and on for a couple of years now, and it's generally a peek into celebrity lives that leaves me feeling a whole lot less creepy than I would if I sat in front of an episode of TMZ.

Basically, they cover celebrities from an environmental angle.  Want to know what Bollywood star did a "Go Green" calendar (it looks really beautiful, too)?  Then you're in luck.  Tired of hearing what a jerk Russel Crowe is?  Then read about how he gave his coat to a homeless fan.  And, if you can't get enough of Whale Wars, then you'll be thrilled with ecorazzi's ongoing coverage of what the Sea Shepherds are up to.

Other celebrities that have been covered recently include:

 

• Alanis Morissette
• Jamie Oliver
• Jennifer Aniston
• David Letterman
• Ellen DeGeneres 

 

Maid Naturally

Posted by Lorna.Doone on 29. December 2009 16:13

When most people have kids, their houses get messier.  In my case, it was the opposite.  My darling daughter wanted to be held constantly.  Unlike other babies, though, rocking in the glider didn't offer enough stimulation for her.  No, she wanted to be upright and moving all the time.  I was over the moon when some friends introduced me to the Baby Bjorn, so at least I could give my arms a rest while toting her from room to room.  But, what was there to do in a small house in the dead of winter when sitting down isn't an option?  It turns out that cleaning gave me something to do and  seemed to satisfy her need to constantly be on the move.

Of course, having a baby in close proximity to chemical cleaners was not something I was keen to do.  So, I was really, really happy when I discovered a local company that produces all natural cleaners.  (No, I don't work for them, I just really like their products and green approach.)

It started out when I hired the Maid Naturally team to come in and give my house a good cleaning before my mother-in-law came to visit.  There are some things, after all, that just can't be done with a baby strapped to you.  After years of cleaning with little more than vinegar and baking soda, I was shocked to discover how *clean* things looked when they were done.  My electronics were shiny again, the wood in my house gleamed, and I couldn't get over how great everything smelled.

It turns out that the Maid Naturally folks have their own line of all-natural cleaning products, and I ran right out an bought them.  I've been using them for over a year now, and I love the fact that not only do things look, feel, and smell cleaner, but that I don't have to worry about how they're affecting my toddler.  

After all that time "helping" mama clean, she seems to have gotten a bit of a bug for it, too.  I feel good about the fact that I can spray some cleaner on the table and let her go to town washing the table with her own cloth.  A cleaner house, a healthy kid, and no dangerous chemical leeching into the aquifer below.  Yeah, that works for me!

Rooftop Gardens for the Home?

Posted by Lorna.Doone on 22. December 2009 22:59

Maybe the dead of winter isn't the time when most of us would typically thinking about gardening, but the topic of rooftop gardening was brought up in the month's Popular Science, and I thought it was too interesting to pass up mentioning here.   You can read the full article on their web site.

This particular piece by John B. Carnett is a pretty straightforward description of how he is preparing the roof of his home to be an actual garden next spring.  I just love this idea, although I think Carnett is ahead of the game in that he actually has flat places on his roof that can be transformed into green spaces more easily than, say, the pitched roofs that many of us have keeping the rain off our heads.  Still, the idea of converting rooftops to gardens is becoming more and more popular, not just for homes, but for office buildings, too.

There are some major advantages to "green" roofs, and the ability to harvest a salad from the attic is just one of them.  Rooftop gardens also clean the air, create more oxygen, act as insulation, and according to the article can "triple the life span of a roof."  If that's not enough of an incentive, check out this list of advantages of rooftop gardening from Canada's CityFarmer.org:

• Increase access to private outdoor green space-at home or at work-within the urban environment
• Support urban food production
• Promote individual, community, and cultural diversity
• Improve air quality and reduce CO2 emissions
• Delay stormwater runoff
• Increase habitat for birds
• Insulate buildings
• Increase the value of buildings for owners and tenants alike
• Create job opportunities in the field of research, design, construction, Iandscaping/gardening, health, and food productio

 Converting the rooftop to a garden space does take some special considerations, such as how to properly waterproof the thing so that it doesn't rot away.  It turns out that it's not quite as easy as just rolling out some sod and hammering it down with roofer's nails.  The weight of the thing also comes into play, as four inches of soil adds up to an additional fifteen to twenty pounds per square foot.  So, if a green roof is something that really interests you, you're probably going to need to get an engineer involved.

I thought the author offered a really great recommendation, too.  Rather that boxing the whole roof in as one big piece, he installed removable trays so that they wouldn't create an impossible situation should he eventually need to engage in some roof repairs.

Call me a romantic, but one of the things that I love about rooftop gardens, even beyond their environmental benefits and the inherent coolness of the idea, is how amazing they look.  Imagine flying over a city where all the skyscrapers looked like this from above.

A Little Extra Insulation for the Winter

Posted by Lorna.Doone on 17. December 2009 22:24

Oh, my, but it's been so cold here in the Northwest.  For about a week the temperatures hovered around 18 degrees every day.  We live in a 100+ year-old house with lots of windows, and those cold temperatures let us know just how drafty our home is.  In addition to worrying about rising heat bill costs and the loss of energy, I found myself perplexed by just where some of those drafts were originating.

I was quite surprised to discover that a fair amount of that 18-degree air was entering through the outlets on the walls.  I guess it had just never occurred to me that there really isn't much between those switch plates and the elements, save for a thin exterior wall.  But, once I unscrewed the first plate, it became completely obvious that a lot of our draft problem was from cold air rushing in through those little boxes.

The reason we took the switch plates off was to experiment with "outlet insulators" (also called "outlet gaskets").  They were easy enough to install and didn't take anything more complex than a screwdriver for removing the outlet cover.  Once one is slipped over the outlet (or switch), you simply replace the cover and are done.  

The difference was immediately noticeable.  So much so, that I again marveled that I hadn't thought of this earlier!  

The insulators are super-cheap, with a ten-pack costing about three dollars, and it was a really easy way to keep the cold air out and lessen the strain on our furnace this winter.  I guess that's just one more tiny little way to lessen our ecological footprint!