Archive for reusable bottles
Valentine’s Day Paper Towel Wreath Eco-friendly Craft for Kids
Posted by: | CommentsWelcome back to Planet Forward blog, today we’ll be making an eco-friendly craft for kids in celebration of Valentine’s Day that doubles as a decoration. Our eco-friendly craft today is a Valentine’s Day paper towel wreath. Though the craft may seem daunting at first, it is super easy and something you will treasure for years to come. The Valentine’s Day paper towel wreath is great to hang on your front door or the door of a classroom. This fun and earth friendly project comes by way of thethriftress.com. Let’s get crafting.
(Image Credit: thethriftress.com)
Tools:
• 2 paper towel rolls
• Scissors
• Spray Paint or regular paint
• Paint brush (if using regular paint)
• Glitter
• Hot glue gun
• Ribbon
Instructions:
1. Save up two paper towel rolls.
2. Flatten out the tube and then invert one side so you have a heart like shape.
3. Cut the tube into roughly equal parts.
4. Round out the sharp points so you have nice heart shaped pieces.
5. Spray the cut out heart pieces with spray paint of choice. While the paint is still wet liberally apply glitter.
6. Use hot glue to piece together wreath.
7. Adjust as you glue so that you have a round wreath shape when finished.
8. The finished wreath is on the small side so [you can] decide to add another row of hearts.
9. Tie a large piece of ribbon through the wreath and hang on your door
(Image Credit: thethriftress.com)
Though this eco-friendly craft calls for the use of spray paint, it’s not necessary. You can easily paint the paper towel roll heart using whatever paint you have in the house. In fact, decorating is the perfect way to get children involved in their craft. Also, the wreath does not have to simply be red, as it would look great if done in shades of pink, red, and white. If you want to be really creative (or if you have various shades of leftover paint), paint the inside and outside of each heart a different colour. The sky is the limit when you are crafting and the only thing holding you back is your imagination.
Remember that children should always be supervised when crafting. It is probably a good idea if an adult cuts out the heart shapes, as the cardboard is difficult to cut through. The Valentine’s Day paper towel wreath is a wonderful way to spend a snowy winter day. Not to mention that eco-friendly crafts for kids allow you to spend creative time with your family while making memories that will last a lifetime. Also, this is perfect craft to stow away and reuse for years to come. Happy Valentine’s Day!
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Planet Forward is an online retailer of ethically-made, earth-friendly products designed for everyday use with a distinctly urban feel. Products include reusable stainless steel bottles, stainless steel thermal travel mugs, waste-free lunch bags, reusable shopping bags, Make-it-Yourself toxin-free Green Cleaning kits, organic fashions and other accessories. SALE 50% OFF ALL PRODUCTS – SHOP NOW !
Betty Crocker’s Win One Give One CSR Initiative Benefits Kids in Africa
Posted by: | CommentsA tenant of having a successful corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative is to somehow link your product with a cause that is associated with your field. Education and children’s snacks have proven to be a link that many companies have used when designing such campaigns. There are many examples of this working such as Box Tops For Education or Campbell’s Labels for Education campaign. These initiatives have created a joint fundraising promotion between the company involved and its consumers, which uses either special labels or UPC codes that makes the donations possible. Betty Crocker® understands the success of this style of CSR campaign and is building upon it with their Win One Give One initiative.
Win One Give One is a two fold initiative where by consumers enter the UPC codes from various Betty Crocker® Fruit Flavored Snacks to their site winonegiveone.com . For every 100 UPC codes entered Betty Crocker® will donate an XO laptop™ to a child in need in Africa. They will donate up to 1,725 laptops until July 31, 2012. The campaign was launched on November 15, 2011. There is further incentive for consumers to enter their UPC codes other than altruism, every day that they receive 100 UPC codes, they will give away a laptop to someone participating in the program. The raffle will go until March 18, 2012.
(Image Credit: winonegiveone.com)
Obviously Betty Crocker® understands that their target demographic is parents and education is something that most parents value greatly. They have found a means to allow parents to become conscious consumers. Conscious consumerism is an ever-growing retail trend and people want to support companies that are doing their part to make the world a better place. They are allowing parents to feel that they are doing something productive with their shopping choices. A CSR initiative like this one can even help bring in new consumers as they will try the product out just to participate in the campaign.
The other aspect of this CSR initiative that will draw people in is the chance for their own child to win a laptop. However the XO laptop™ they are giving away is not just any laptop, it’s durable and has a plastic exterior, the screen flips around, it’s loaded with educational software and has built-in wireless so that it can connect to the internet from anywhere in the world. It is a perfect learning tool for children anywhere.
A CSR initiative that gives back to those in need while keeping the bottom line in mind just makes good business sense. Betty Crocker® has obviously put a lot of thought into their campaign as it appeals to both new and repeat customers on many levels. By using education as their focus, it appeals to their target demographic: parents.
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Planet Forward is an online retailer of ethically-made, earth-friendly products designed for everyday use with a distinctly urban feel. Products include reusable stainless steel bottles, stainless steel thermal travel mugs, waste-free lunch bags, reusable shopping bags, Make-it-Yourself toxin-free Green Cleaning kits, organic fashions and other accessories. SALE 50% OFF ALL PRODUCTS – SHOP NOW !
Top 10 Green Power Purchasers Ranked by the EPA
Posted by: | Comments
(Image Credit: newsusa24.com)
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a green power partnership program that promotes green energy solutions and highlights leading organizations. Green power purchases “help reduce the environmental impacts of electricity use and support the development of new renewable generation capacity nationwide. The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that supports the organizational procurement of green power by offering expert advice, technical support, tools and resources. Partnering with EPA can help [an] organization lower the transaction costs of buying green power, reduce its carbon footprint, and communicate its leadership to key stakeholders. Green power is electricity produced from a subset of renewable resources, such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, and low-impact hydro.”
The following Top 10 EPA Green Power Partner rankings showcases the annual green power purchases of leading organizations across the United States:
1. Intel Corporation – 88% green power
2. Kohl’s Department Stores – 100% green power
3. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. / California and Texas Facilities – 28% green power
4. Whole Foods Market – 106% green power
5. Johnson & Johnson – 52% green power
6. City of Houston, TX – 35% green power
7. Starbucks – 52% green power
8. City of Austin, TX – 100% green power
9. Staples – 52% green power
10. Hilton Worldwide – 94% green power
The percentage reflects the amount of green power out of total electricity consumption, so larger operations will have a higher overall impact. These rankings from the EPA are published quarterly and you can review the complete list of statistics which includes the top 50 green power purchasers on the EPA website. Leaders Intel and Kohl’s favour solar and wind green power resources through suppliers like 3Degrees°, Nexant, and Sterling Planet. Whole Foods Market actually exceeds 100 percent because their green power purchases exceed their electricity consumption.
Walmart has taken a huge leap from 15th place to 3rd as a result of improving overall power generated from renewable energy resources from 8 percent (in October 2011) to 28 percent (in January 2012). In a press release, Kim Saylors-Laster, Walmart vice president of energy said “investing in renewable energy spurs innovation, provides jobs, helps protect the environment and reduces costs. The green power achievements of our facilities in California and Texas support our long-term goal of being supplied by 100 percent renewable energy, and we will use our success in these regions as a model to expand our commitment to renewable energy throughout our operations.” Blaine Collison, Director of EPA’s Green Power Partnership responded: “Walmart is demonstrating their commitment to reducing their environmental impacts by greatly increasing their purchase of renewable energy. With these purchases, Walmart is helping to grow the nation’s green power market and showing what a difference businesses can make in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.” Imagine the impact if Walmart followed through with green power purchases nationally.
I hope this inspires a lot of competition for the top spot, since the true winner over the long-term is the environment and a sustainable future for the planet. Go green power!
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Planet Forward is an online retailer of ethically-made, earth-friendly products designed for everyday use with a distinctly urban feel. Products include reusable stainless steel bottles, stainless steel thermal travel mugs, waste-free lunch bags, reusable shopping bags, Make-it-Yourself toxin-free Green Cleaning kits, organic fashions and other accessories. SALE 50% OFF ALL PRODUCTS – SHOP NOW !
