A Promise for a Green Future

When I watched this video it gave me hope and somewhat power.  It was strange to say the least.  Are these actors? No, this is a documentary about how we as a community can be the change.  It was very inspiring but I have yet to see the documentary.

I want to collaborate with many people here in the Midwest and everywhere. I know I can and this video just gave me more hope, and call me idealistic, more inspiration.  No, I don’t want to see another movie that has more bombs and war.  I want a movie to inspire me to act positively and maybe this will do so.

I am just a small business, Blissful Seed, but I know each day I gain more and more momentum.  That gives me hope.  But what really drives me is to unite with other eco-minded individuals to create something bigger than me.  Not for money, not for fame, but rather for the improvement of people’s lives.  Sounds pretty ideal.  But I am hopeful I can be the change I want to see in the world.

I am going to start with small steps.  The next step is to get to work on that forum of mine.  Baby steps.

Designs and more launching stories

  I really do appreciate my friends.  Don’t they look like they are having fun?  We did have so much fun.  All of these people were so generous with their time.  The photo shoot  for Blissful Seed took about a total of 2 hours give or take the social gathering we had back at my home.  These lovely girlfriends know each other since they were toddlers.   I would really like to know how they are so photogenic.  Maybe it has to do with the fact they are enjoying the weather.  Chicago is such a beautiful city.  I was so concerned about the weather but everything just turned out wonderful.    

 

The funny thing was how there was this young fellow playing the guitar by the pond just below that bridge (Nature Museum).  We took some more pictures by the pier and then all of us just walked  back to the bridge.  Then, all of a sudden this guy approached one of these young women flirting and she was married!   Very bold of him.  It was like out of a movie.  The funny thing she said in her charming Romanian slight accent, “That was very flattering.  When you are married sometimes people treat you like you are leper.”  I thought it was funny.  

 

1. Anyways, I digress! So what makes a good design?  I think good t-shirt design is relative but for the most part it should include the following traits: 1) Nature, it never fails to take a simple design to highlight anything in nature.  Did you like the flower with a woman in the middle??     
2.  Smart and sustainable designs that grab your attention.  Hence, the wind power t-shirt design.  Tell me what you think.   
3. Funny designs are always a great conversation starter.     
4. Personally, I think anything to do with fruits and veggies should be showcased more. 
5. Anything to do with literature or reference of a book.  I love the children’s book author, Eric Carle.  I was a teacher for 6 years.     
6. Sustainable symbols are great especially for a green company.   
7. People or maybe even cartoon characters but new ones.     
8. Weather should be more personified….it has character.    
9. Office characters are very amusing.  I can thing of so many right now from my last job.     
10. Endangered species are good because they promote awareness.  Oh, of course floral designs for the women.  I need to post my panda design.     

 Check out Eric Carle. I want to be that enthusiastic when I am 80.

On your mark, get ready, ride your bike, Chicago!

On Friday June 16 Chicago will gather for a Ride to Work rally at Daley Plaza.  Chicagoans will have the opportunity to ride fast, or slow depending on if they are late or not to work.  They may even have a chance to work up a nice sweat.  The boss would like to see you sweat, huh?   But I would like to know why the FREE t-shirt they are promoting at the rally is not organic.  Riding to work would go so nice with a free 100% organic t-shirt made in one place, hello Blissful Seed!

I would love a city contract (maybe) and have the chance to collaborate with this Ride to Work event.  But I am just a small guy (gal) trying to be a sustainable and responsible business.  So I will just promote reasons to go organic.  Everything else will just fall into place, hopefully!  I may just try the Late Ride in June.  I did it last year on my used bike that cost $75 and beat all my co-workers.

Top Ten Reasons to Go Organic (source: Organic Trade Association)

• 1. Organic products meet stringent standards.

• 2. Organic food tastes great!

• 3. Organic production reduces health risks.

• 4. Organic farms respect our water resources.

• 5. Organic farmers build healthy soil.

• 6. Organic farmers work in harmony with nature.

• 7. Organic producers are leaders in innovative research.

• 8. Organic producers strive to preserve diversity.

• 9. Organic farming helps keep rural communities healthy.

• 10. Organic abundance -Foods and non-foods alike!

Eco-map for San Fran, let’s plan it for Chicago!

Top ten reasons why Chicago should get an Eco-Map

Yes, maps!  I would like a map that tells me the carbon footprint for each neighborhood.  That’s what they’re doing in San Francisco.  I think they are making Chicago less green if you ask me.  I mean, there is more news about that city deal with the parking meters than a  real recycling program.  That would be very interesting to see the carbon footprint for each neighborhood in Chicago.

Transparency !

• 10)This is a great tool for people to use and it gives a clear, bird’s eye view of our impact on the environment.

• 9) We are one of the finalist for the Olympics 2016, hello, this would only improve the green city even more.

• 8)Cities are the world’s major source of greenhouse gases consuming 75% of the world’s energy. Whoa, what a waste!

• 7) It’s a competition to see who has the lowest to reduce the carbon impact.  Americans love competitions.

• 6) This eco-map is a tool for the community providing local resources for people to monitor and reach their goals.

• 5) Everyone loves a good map.  I love great maps.  Its a strange trait for a girl.

• 4) This brings people together.  When your neighborhood begins a recycling program you feel important ( I really wish we can get a blue bin here.  I have to drive to recycle my bottles, cans, plastic, etc).

• 3) These types of programs empower people.  With these eco-maps, residents can make decisions to reduce their carbon footprint even more.

• 2) Citizens can collaborate with other residents.  Thus, this will allow for better decisions in the future to evaluate the cost, benefits, and environmental impact for each zip code.

• 1) Less pollution goes hand in hand with other sustainable companies making the minimal carbon impact such as Blissful Seed where all the work is done all in close proximity.   AH! My conscious is clear and my work is done here.

Launching stories

So now that we have launched the work really begins??  Well, in a word, yes!  To begin, the launch was great because I was finally able to see all the soft organic cotton tees.  They are beautiful.  Well, I’m not biased but they do have this soft feel to them.  Maybe it lacks the 1/3 of a pound of insecticides and fertilizers it takes to make a single conventional cotton t- shirt.  Ah, the soft feel of real cotton.  Anyways, I learned so many wonderful things as an owner.   I learned how to plan my time well, organize all of the paperwork, connect with others.  But the most important skill I acquired was how to fold a t-shirt.  There is my work-out for the week.  I am so proud of myself.  I have a lot of respect for retail sector.  Now that the t-shirts are folded neatly, we added the hand tag and wow, it really looks professional.  Not bad, not bad at all.  Actually, I am very impressed with myself.  All it really took was a 90%guts and a 10% sweat (pat on the back).

So here was my week-end.

 Top ten list for a successful photo shoot.

10. First, I called and confirmed the photo shoot.  Yes, models have it hard too.  Thank goodness for my good-looking friends.

9. I folded and folded and hummed my way through the inventory.  I love my organic t-shirts.  I think I have a new song.

8. I noticed that there are an unlimited amount of designs for next month.   Funny designs are next.

7. Next, made a run to the grocery store for appetizers and wine for the pre-modeling meet-up.  Yes, these models eat.  They loved those olives from the olive bar.

6. Then, we all got together and made sure all of us had the right shirts/sizes.  

5. Daydreamt about new designs that involve veggies.

4. The glamorous part: I cleaned my home (enough said).

3. We went to the nature museum and thankfully the day was absolutely beautiful.  A little cool by the lake but not one raindrop!   I love Chicago.

2. The photographer, Hector, was able to shoot the photos at two locations. The lily pool was the best!

1. Finally, thanked everyone from the photo shoot with Mexican food.   Then collapsed on the couch with a smile on my face.

Three cheers for $50 million!

Organic farming is getting the green light from the Obama administration. A  nice green light worth $50 million.  That’s positive in many ways but it is especially great for two main reasons.  One, it creates more jobs right here in the U.S.  (We all know many people are searching for jobs as I write these words.)  Two, it allows for less impact on the environment making less of a carbon footprint.  And furthermore, it allows organic farming to gain even more momentum for the American family.

This comes on the heels of Canadian governmental funds backing farmers with $1 billion loans.   The Canadian organic market is seeing tremendous growth in organic farming, and the government is providing new, current and co-operative farmers with financial support.  In addition, Canada will be getting more regulation on organic products on June 30 to ensure proper food labels.

This oversight and regulation is much needed here in the U.S. but one step at time, right?  I am not complaining just cheering for more opportunities like this for the organic industry.  One small step at a time.

Smart wines

I love hearing about how food and beverage companies are making business more sustainable.  That’s awesome!  I mean, it doesn’t get any better than in the wine department.  Do want to recycle your old wines bottles for more wine?  Why, yes of course! How simple!  What a no brainer.  Like Sami says just reuse your wine bottle, duh!  And I especially like the note about going to the Michigan wineries.  Hello!?  Roadtrip, anyone?  Of course, that would only include anyone in the Midwest close to Michigan. Sorry everyone else.  

So Sami, no you can’t go on the airplane from the southeast area of where you live because yes, that would defeat the purpose. Sorry.  Ah, Midwest living, it’s a love-hate relationship especially here in Chicago especially in the winters.  Nothing a little wine can’t solve.   We have to take advantage of every opportunity to save the planet even one wine bottle at time.  I have to contact my friends who are from Michigan, maybe they’ll meet me there.  Then, I can get some of those lovely blueberries that I love there, too.  

Okay, back to the sustainable practices.  Yeah, that’s great!  More power to businesses that make it their business to exemplify green methods and practices.   I hope to partner up with more local businesses in Chicago, large and small who really try to incorporate every little bit.  I think a little goes a long way.  I think all eco-business  should  be working together.  I think we are moving in that direction and we should have a wine toast to that, cheers!  Thanks, Charlie!

Green packaging options for organic t-shirts

The other day I was thinking about how to be more efficient with packaging for the organic t-shirts.  At first, I thought of using the cylinder Quaker oats packaging but then I thought well, I may need special permission.   Maybe I will pursue that route but that may need some more researching and planning because I really do want to work with big companies that promote well-being.  Who better than Quaker Oats, huh?

Well, then, I read the Celebrating Earth Day with Eco-Friendly Crafty Ideas.  I really enjoyed the suggestion about the Angry Chicken and how unrelated women came together to remake vintage clothing.  Then, I came across the Recycle Grocery Bags into Eco Packaging.  Brilliant!  It’s so practical and nifty. We, at Blissful Seed, are starting small so that is very accessible for our company.  We want to pride ourselves on making the least carbon footprint not just for Earth day but every day.

Local versus Organic

That’s the trouble with too many choices…sometimes you have to make do with a combination of both.  I really enjoyed reading about the apple blueberry honey yogurt ginger tart recipe and the difficulty choosing between local and organic in the blog organic or local.   I think why not have both? Maybe San Fran is the mecca for food.  But hey, we can’t all live there.

But that’s what we are trying to focus on at Blissful Seed except not with food.  We want to provide organic t-shirts for local people within the U.S. Our mission includes to provide original art work design on organic cotton tees and to keep the carbon footprint as minimal as possible.  We select suppliers close to the Midwest and do all of our finishing product with people within that vicinity.  And finally, they ship the product to Chicago where it’s still 40 degrees in April.  

We are new and launching in May but we are hopeful that people can see our efforts and vision behind remaining as “organic” as possible because if you have a product that’s 100% organic but the carbon footprint is miles away in let’s say India, (the leading country in organic cotton) how “organic” is your product?  

So when you see a local and organic product, you can think of Blissful Seed and think of supporting both local and organic products.  Let me go make that apple blueberry honey yogurt ginger tart in the name of local and organic.  I just have to find the ingredients first in this rainy 40 degree weather.

Organic cotton? 5 ways it helps the earth and people.

Here are the 5 ways you are helping the earth and people when you buy organic cotton:

1) It helps the soil retain more water. How? Organic cotton builds strong soil through crop rotation (growing more types of crops in one area).  That means not all the crops are mono crops which can cause  a significant loss of water in the soil.   Organic cotton soil retains more water efficiently thanks to increased organic matter in the soil.

2) Use of untreated seeds.  Organic cotton never uses GMOs (genetically modified organism) seeds.

3) It maintains a balance  between “pests” and their natural predators through healthy soil.  Organic cotton farmers use beneficial insects like lady bugs to control pests.  Also, biological and cultural methods are used to steer pests away as a natural repellent. 

4) Organic farming does NOT use any pesticides and insecticides.  If you use organic cotton, you don’t have to think about the 1/3 (one-third) of a pound of pesticides and fertilizers used to produce enough cotton for one t-shirt.   

5) Due to no use of any pesticides or insecticides, none of the farmers will get sick or exposed to the toxics.  The EPA considers seven out of the 15 pesticides used in conventional cotton are classified “likely”, “probable”  known as as human carcinogens.

There is a lot you can do just by wearing an organic cotton t-shirt.  Support organic cotton farming.