my own fresh green start

As I do this research and think constantly about green living, it is only natural that it would work it's way into my life as well. I wanted to tell y'all about a couple of my favorite things that we are doing here at my house...

the g diaper...

this is a very cool hybrid between cloth diapers and disposable. The outer shell is cotton and there is an inner waterproof liner that holds a flushable insert that catches the "business"! So you don't have to fill bin after bin of diapers to be tossed out into the landfill, but you don't have to put poo in your washing machine either!!!

http://www.gaiam.com/ is where I purchased mine. They come in really cute colors, blue, lime green, orange, etc. check it out for your little one.

This bag is so cool... you take it to the grocery, it expands to clip to the sides of the cart and you load it up with your selections and then unload and reload at the cashier and then simply unclip and put them in your car!! They hold 40 lbs and in my experience 2 of them fills the space of the average shopping cart and can hold a weeks worth of groceries. Did I mention they are $7 a piece!!! www.reusablebags.com under grocery gear, you won't regret it!

Be happy, be green!

many steps

SO, it turns out there are many steps to take before should even consider overcoming the inertia that was hanging me up in the last post! I met with a couple that have their hand deep in the nashville "green" cookie jar so to speak and although they were enthusiastic, they pointed out several things that needed to be done before any hammers are swung...

1) establish Fresh Green Start as a non-profit organization with the state
2) along with that goes a business plan, a set of by-laws and a board of directors (seriously, I thought I would find a nice family, give them a hug, say, "we're here to help you", overhaul their home and another hug and move on to the next house... now I'm writing by-laws!)
3) Trademark "Fresh Green Start"
4) get together marketing materials complete with bullet points
5) use those materials to network like hell

All those things, even though I hadn't considered them, are valid and important. I am so ready to see this thing happen, but I need to slow down and make sure the ducks are in a row, that I have good advisors and supporters around me, that I can do what I am promising. So, I am off to think and write.

As always, please feel free to comment and/or write me at freshgreenstart@yahoo.com

overcoming inertia

Sorry it has been so long since I last posted, sigh, I find myself in stuck in a "chicken vs. egg" cycle. Which comes first: the house or the fundraising? I feel hesitant to get a family psyched up if there is no funding/donations set up and feel hesitant to go to potential donors without a house lined up.
So, I started making phone calls to feel out my options. I spoke to a lovely woman at The Housing Fund, an organization that finances affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization projects, and she gave me some good ideas and folks to call and speak with. I heard from one about MDHA's Adopt a House program (sounds perfect!) but can't confirm it's existance with anyone at MDHA. The Habitat for Humanity people are starting up a very similar initiative of rehabing homes but are not far enough along to be actually signing up families. The gentleman I spoke to there was excited about Fresh Green Start so we are going to be talking more as I go along, I could see some sort of partnership happening there.
I am off to a meeting now with a fundraising superwoman! I am so excited that she is taking the time to sit down with me and talk through things so hopefully I will have a plan in mind upon my return. I'll keep you posted. I hope your days are brilliant!!