This Change Is Good

I just want to let you know that I have moved to self hosted site. You are still able to come here and it will redirect you the new site but I want to make sure you all have the new website:

www.Green-4-U.com

Do not forget to follow me:

Twitter: @GreenForU
Facebook: Green4u Blog
Pinterest: Green4u

Head over to there to see my new posts. All my old posts will still be accessible here and any pins for Pinterest you may have pinned will still work. My RSS feed also transferred over so you should see no difference there either!

Thanks for reading!

Warriors on the Same Path

I thought long and hard about how I could write about my experience at Blogher here that would be of interest. I learned many valuable tips about blogs deep dark technical side but more importantly I was inspired. While at a screening of a powerful movie “Toxic Baby” Dominque Browning of Mom’s Clean Air Force said “We cannot look back on this time and have our kids ask us: ‘what were you doing?'”

I have also had this thought in the back of my mind even before I had children of my own: will history look back on us say what the heck was wrong with these people! It hit home for me more when I became a parent. There are times in history when horrible things happened and I was always fascinated with the question what was everyone else doing? How could people let this happen?

I had the amazing opportunity to meet in person people I knew virtually before and met people for the first time who are working to make sure that when we look back historically at this time there were people working to make a difference.

As a mother, I can think of no greater disappointment than for my children to look back at me and say I failed to do the right thing at the right time. I do not want them to think I did not do what I could to make our home and our planet a place that everyone can live in for generations to come.

I had the great pleasure of meeting my fellow warriors on this path who are all doing amazing work in different but all important ways to help save this planet but more importantly our home. Beth Terry, author of My Plastic Free Life was amazing and I am so happy I was able to get a signed copy of her (plastic free) book. Katy from Non-Toxic-Kids, Lori from Groovy Green Livin, Brenna from Almost All The Truth, Harriet the Climate Mama, Michaela the Mindful Momma, and Anna from Green Talk were all amazing experienced environmentalists. I also got spend time with Paige the author of Spit That Out which is another book on my virtual bookshelf!

In addition, to these amazing personal interactions I was inspired by Barack Obama, the President of the United States who addressed our group via video conference (or Skype). Did he talk about the environment… nope (maybe I have 2 posts from BlogHer). But the fact that President thought that the group of people I was sitting with was an influential group I realized I was in the right place and doing the right thing for my children to not be disappointed in me.

Successful mothers like Katie Couric, Martha Stewart, Christy Turlington-Burns, Soledad O’Brien, and Malaak Compton-Rock all spoke at the conference about how they are working to make a difference. They all talked about their inspirations, what makes them work so hard and their challenges. Each one of them had a humility and humor about what they do and I found that to be just as inspiring as the work they do.

So while I think I came home with some more knowledge about SEO, keywords and tweeting. More importantly, I came home with a renewed excitement for what I have been doing here for so long which honestly I was starting to wonder if this was the best platform for me. After meeting this group I know I am in the right place to make my children proud and for my grandchildren to say some day “My grandma and her friends did not sit by and let this happen.”

Top picture: Back row (left to right) @almosttruth, @mindfulmomma, @groovygreenlivi, Front rown (left to right) @non_toxic_kids, @climatemomma, @greenforu. Picture courtesy of www.groovygreenlivin.com Thanks Lori for carrying around your camera all weekend. The other pictures are mine from my iPhone, I thought they would be better. 

How to Be Green at BlogHer

So I am going to an amazing blog conference next week BlogHer! I have never been but I am really excited to meet some of the awesome bloggy buddies that I have made online and do not forget all the awesome the parties.

Here are some tips on how to be green at BlogHer:

Download the app HopStop. This will tell you how to get around NYC using public transportation or your legs. Most New Yorkers have it on their phone so do not feel weird about it, it is an amazing tool to help you get from one party to the other quickly.

Create a QR code for your blog and put it on the back of your phone cover or another super  easy place so fellow bloggers, PR firms, or potential sponsors can get your info. There are tons of places you can create one for free online.

Wear your badge! This year your badge will have a code that sponsors can scan to get your contact info. I still recommend the QR code us fellow bloggers are not going to have the ability to scan the tags for the contact information.

Download the BlogHer app to get all the up to the minute information about speakers, sessions and BlogHer sponsored events.

Bring a large bag. Either a purse with extra room or an extra bag so you can store your swag. There will be a room at the conference where you can drop off the swag you do not want and pick up more of what you do want.

Program all your bloggy buds numbers into your phone so you can quickly meet up with them when you get to the conference.

Bring a reusable water bottle you have to stay hydrated there are lots of parties to go to and people to talk to.

Staying at the hotel: Hang your towels back up each day rather than dropping them on the floor and do not use the single use plastic containers of shampoo and conditioner bring your own from home.

Naturemoms.com gave these recommendation: Download the Eventbrite app so you can RSVP for parties and you do not need to print out invites. Also download expense tracker so you can keep track of all your tax deductions while you are there.

Good Girl Gone Green recommends: Bring a reusable container for left overs to eat later, and a cloth napkin. Bring a few snacks so you don’t have to buy pre-packaged foods all the time. And only eat what you are hungry for, so you don’t throw out food. (Good Advice in general!)

Get your fingers ready for a lot of typing and picture taking!

Do you have any tips for BlogHer?

If you are going to BlogHer send me a tweet @greenforu, email me at greenforu@hotmail.com or say hi on Facebook Green4u Blog. Cannot wait to meet you all!