Almostgotit.com

Image: Goods 4 Girls

This is a picture of girls learning how to use menstrual pads.  Maybe this topic embarrasses you, but imagine how embarrassed you would be if you were a young woman who had no access to any kind of menstrual protection at all. 

Imagine trying to go to school or work without such protection. For girls and young women in many parts of the world, their lives virtually come to a halt for up to a week every month.  In some places, the lack of proper sanitation for girls means that school ends for them completely once they enter puberty. 

Proctor and Gamble has a program to provide girls with disposable products, and you may have seen some of their ads.  Proceeds from selected purchases help fund this program.

There is an even better solution than Proctor and Gamble’s, however.  Disposable sanitary products don’t last, and they also cause significant environmental problems where disposal facilities are inadequate.  Goods 4 Girls is a non-profit organization that has stepped in to fill the gap.  Since most of these girls are using rags now, having a reusable, washable pad that is more sophisticated (with a waterproof barrier) may be enough to allow them to participate in school and other activities.   Goods 4 Girls accepts cash donations  or or donations of reusable pads, which donors can either purchase or sew themselves — patterns are provided. 

For more information, please visit http://www.goods4girls.org/

———–
Related Post:
Wednesday for (almost) women: Locks of Love

Cool Creative Commons Photos by Weeping Willow

To quote Kermit the Frog: It’s not easy being green.

Not all of us can commute by bicycle, plant a community garden, or volunteer to wash all of our colleagues’ dishes so they’ll stop using styrofoam. But here are a few of the easier ways to make your workspace more eco-friendly, and most of them will save you money as well.

1. Always turn off your monitor and computer when not in use. Don’t forget to turn off the printer, too! Some folks believe screen savers save energy: sadly, they do not. If you are in the market for a new computer, remember that laptops are more energy-efficient than desktops (they were designed that way, in order to conserve battery life).

2. Take the Stairs. I started doing this when I was twenty pounds heavier, and at first it was hard work. Sometimes I cheated. Finally, though, I decided to pretend that none of the elevators worked, ever. The hardest part? Walking with other people and having to stop mid-conversation so I could hike up the stairs and meet them at the top. Sometimes though, I WON! (Elevators often aren’t time savers. Nor are cars, when you have to search high and low for a place to park them, then walk between car and actual destination. These have been very interesting discoveries of mine…)

3. Think of ways to reduce your business meeting travel. Besides contributing to global warming, the use of gasoline and airplane fuel isn’t getting any cheaper. Travel is a time investment, as well, and your time has monetary value too. Therefore, many businesses (and independent consultants) are using more virtual world technologies instead of physical travel. The key is to choose the right tool. Email and instant messaging are great for simple questions; videoconferencing works well for more in-depth conversations. Technology will never completely replace face-to-face human interaction, but it’s a smart way to augment it.

4. Use less paper. Print on both sides. Send more mail electronically. Save scrap paper and use it to take notes. Reuse mailers and boxes, too – you can use mailing labels to add new addresses – and extra blank ones to neatly cover the old printing, if necessary.

5. Buy used. Craigslist and Freecycle are great places to find almost anything you need. Thrift stores (Goodwill, etc.) are great places, too – several of my favorite, designer-label business clothes (not to mention my umbrella, my computer case, and all the storage baskets in my office) were thrift-store finds.

6. Carry your own shopping bags. Reuse old ones, or keep a stash of canvas shopping bags in your car.

The key to being green? You don’t have to start big, just start! And I’d love to hear your ideas, too.

Here are some more online ideas on working greener:

Nature.org: Earthday

Treehugger.com: How to Green Your Work

MoreBusiness.Com: Running your Business

CoopAmerica.org: Buying Green

——-

Related Post:

11 ways to be cheap in honor of Earth Day

Everyone knows that the majority of eco-conscious college students become just as evil as the rest of us, once they can afford it.

But who are we to criticize those vain, skinny creatures?  Why not make a virtue out of deprivation?   Those of us who somehow managed to miss that immediate-post-collegiate flush of wealth still have just as much right to feel good about ourselves as college students do.  Or as Bill Gates does, and he really didn’t even GO to college, did he? 

Therefore, in honor of Earth Day, here are a number of ways in which we, too, can save the planet while incidentally saving money at the same time.  Start small by choosing just one or two; five or six if you feel inspired.  And really, who even NEEDS a job when you already can contribute this much meaning and goodness to the world? 

The e-zine writers at  LighterFootsteps.com   suggest that we make the switch to Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs (CFLs); monitor our thermostats; clean or replace our air conditioning filters; unplug idle appliances and electronic devices; buy low-flow shower heads with a shutoff valve; drive smarter; get an annual tune-up for our cars; use our bikes; go meatless once a week; buy local; buy in season.

Here are some other stunningly-cheap virtuous ways to save the earth:

1. Give something away
2. Recycle, including batteries and toner cartridges
3. Get more sleep
4. Grow less grass (saves water, mowing, and habitat too!)
5. Make your own stuff
6. Develop a flea market habit
7. Downsize
8. Eat less
9. Use a real cup instead of a styrofoam one.
10. Compost

And finally, my favorite: 

11.  Get a woodstove that’s big enough to heat your house,  and ask all your tree-cutting friends to bring you free firewood instead of taking it to the dump!

While I regret not having had the pleasure of emptying them all of their original contents, (hic), the barrels are pretty fun to fill on a sunny March day, all in good anticipation of the flowers and vegetables we’ll plant in the next couple months.  Here’s how:   First, you cover the bottom with all your UNEMPLOYED plastic recyclables, plus the broken UNEMPLOYABLE Christmas-tree holder (also plastic) which was still in the garage for no good reason.  This fills space up faster, and also makes the barrels lighter.  Ta Da!!  Brilliant, or what?   *BONUS FEATURE*  They smell very interesting when it rains.  A little like  a PUB, Solent, but without all the cigarette smoke ;0)