Hi all, I am Beth the hostess at Go Green Etc, and Go Green Tube.com.  As some of you might have already figured out I am passionate about living a more sustainable lifestyle through the products we use, and the actions we take in our own home.

However with this going green lifestyle there is one thing I must get off my chest:  I don’t want to look like a hippy!!!  That being said, I also don’t want to dress like a cast member of Sex in the City.  Really, I just wanted nice t-shirts, and pants made from organic cotton, or hemp anything that would not do damage to the environment while being made.  I want my look to be put together without being over the top; that can’t be too much to ask for.

I have to tell you I was so excited when I found this simple little shirt.  I would not consider this shirt high fashion and I am sure that Heidi and the crew would think it’s far to plain, but for the average gal this is a must have top.  You can match this top with short and run your errands or pair with some nice jeans and you are set for a night out with the girls.

Priced at $20.00 this shirt is very affordable.   I am so relieved to see shirts made of organic materials are finally starting to become within the average persons price point.  Now I understand one shirt does not make a wardrobe, but this is a great start.

Now tell me what are your favorite eco-friendly clothes?

Cheers!!

Beth

PRESS RELEASE

GREEN CONSUMERS ARE STILL THERE, BUT WHAT HAPPENED TO PRODUCTION?
Survey finds 88% of consumers still want environmentally friendly products—even at higher cost

Simi Valley, Ca. September 2009—Lori Ange has been driving around in her car to promote environmental sustainability. “Some of the things I use are at Target, others are at the supermarket, but a lot of the eco-friendly things I buy are at small shops. In a few cases, I have to go straight to the people that make them.” The irony is not lost on her that in order to promote green living, she has to leave a bigger carbon footprint than she would if she didn’t care about the environment at all.

Lori’s problem is a common one. Even among people that want to go the extra mile to promote a greener and more sustainable lifestyle, a comprehensive infrastructure doesn’t exist to support it. An informal survey conducted by online marketplace Go Green Etc. found that people still want to live green—even if it’s a bit more expensive than shopping for the lowest priced items. “We wanted to know if people were willing to spend more money on products that are better for both their personal environment and the global environment,” said Go Green Etc spokesperson Beth Bastian. “The most surprising thing we found was that even in the current economy, over 88% of respondents were still willing to pay more for a product that was environmentally friendly.”

It sounds like a promising source of revenue among some otherwise discouraging retail indicators, but there’s still a disconnect between green manufacturers and their target audience: location. While many manufacturers have put more organic and earth-friendly products beside their regular products on store shelves, many consumers are still having a difficult time finding a way to shop completely green without major changes to their normal lifestyle.

Although some blame it on lack of manufacturers of these products, the root of the problem seems to be distribution. To address it, Beth founded Go Green Etc. (www.gogreenetc.com), an online marketplace that puts small manufacturers of environmentally friendly products into direct touch with buyers who didn’t want to drive to dozens of green trade shows hoping to find green products that fit into their everyday lives. “We’ve found that the people who come to us are looking for a convenient one-stop-shop for green products,” says Beth. “They don’t want to drive all over to find what they need or pick through store shelves comparing products side-by-side. They’ve been coming to us because it’s easy.”

For the movement to maintain its own stability, though, the distribution channels will have to become more mainstream and convenient. But until then, Lori says she’ll just try and make her necessary trips more efficient. “I’ve been trying to make  fewer car trips overall by planning my route to hit more places at once,” she says, “but it’s sort of a pain.” A pain, but with the very best of intentions.

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If you’d like more information or to schedule an interview, Beth Bastian can be reached by cell phone at (805) 416 2221 or by email at beth@gogreenetc.com

The thought of babies on fire is terrifying.  Just think about it for a second.  See, it’s really scary, huh?

In 1971, lawmakers were so scared of seeing babies spontaneously combust that they made a law requiring children’s sleepwear to be fire retardant.  Problem solved.  No more enfant flambé.

Unfortunately, this solution created a new problem.  Let’s take a look at what manufacturers use to make their clothes flame retardant: halogenated hydrocarbons (chlorine and bromine), inorganic flame retardants (antimony oxides) and phosphate based compounds.   These don’t exactly sound like the kind of things you want to dress your baby in.  In fact, some of these chemicals can irritate the skin, or even be breathed in off of the clothes.  Some chemicals used in flame retardants, such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDE’s, have been shown to harm developing brains, and certain types of PBDE’s were even banned in the European Union.

Fortunately, there are organic alternatives to flame-retardant sleepwear.  Pajamas made from organic cotton not only save your baby from wearing chemical-laden clothes, but are also easier on the environment because of the simplicity of their production.  It is important to find pajamas that fit snugly, because loose clothing is more likely to catch fire from an open flame.

Go Green Etc. features many baby and kids clothes made from organic cotton and water-based dyes, and will soon be expanding to include sleepwear.  Check out our cute, organic onesies and shirts (link), and while you’re at it, get yourself a Clothesnik (link), the organic, reusable dry cleaning bag for when your babies spit up all over their cute new outfits.

It’s the organ we look at the most, and yet it’s the most overlooked.
We go to such great lengths to take care of our heart, lungs, brain,
and even our colon, but we often forget to take care of our largest
organ, the skin.  The skin isn’t just necessary to maintain our
shapely figures, it is also our body’s first line of defense.  It is a
wall that stops invaders dead in their tracks.  But this wall is not
infallible.  Thousands of pores in our skin let compounds out, as well
as in.  Our skin is so good at absorption that many types of medicines
are administered through patches that we stick to ourselves
externally.  This absorptive power means that it’s as important to
watch what goes on our skin as it is to watch what we eat, and for
both of these concerns, organic is always better.

Using organic skin care products ensures that you are not absorbing
harmful toxins through your skin.  Ironically, while sunblock helps
prevent skin cancer, some sunblock contains suspected carcinogens
(such as titanium dioxide and diethanolamine), or suspected endocrine
disruptors (such as benzophenone or octyl-methoxycinnamate).  These
chemicals are unnecessary, as nature provides an abundance of
effective alternatives.

At Go Green Etc., we offer a wide range of organic skin products that
are 100% natural and organic, which means you won’t have to worry about
toxins being absorbed through your skin.  It’s just another way that going
green can be as beneficial to you as it is to the environment.  We
recommend you try the following products:

-Coconut Lip Balm by Wild Willows.  No toxins on your lips, or passed to
the ones you kiss!  Handmade from natural oils and beeswax, and has a
delicious coconut taste.

-Cocoa Butter Walnut Body Scrub by Sacred Herbals.  Just the name of
this one relaxes me.  This luxurious and refreshing body scrub is made with
ingredients as simple as lemon and cederwood.

-Scandle Essentials 10 oz Uplifting Blend by Scandle Lotion Candle.  This
ingenious product acts like a candle, but has a spout to pour out the melted
natural oils in it for use as an amazing skin lotion.

-Pure Olive Oil Soap by Essential Earth Soap.  The name says it all.  Feel
more natural in your own skin when you switch to a soap that’s so organic
you could probably take a bite out of it.

Our list of organic skin care products goes on and on, so take a look around!

GoGreenEtc donates 10% of profits to environmental charities, and we are partnering up with some great organizations as part of this mission. One of our partners is CarbonFund.org, which is one of the world’s leaders in “carbon offsets.” We think carbon offsets are a great way to encourage environmental activism, and feel it is important for our customers to understand how they work. Last year, I made a video explaining carbon offsets, which can be seen below.

The best way to help curb climate change is to try to cut back on our carbon emissions as much as possible. Unfortunately, our society makes it pretty difficult to live without electricity or fossil fuel-powered transportation. The function of carbon offsets is to…well, offset the carbon that you do produce.

There are two basic ways to do this. Since trees absorb carbon, you can plant trees in order to take carbon out of the atmosphere. Alternatively, you can invest in projects that produce clean energy. By making more clean energy available, you are reducing the amount of “dirty” energy that needs to be produced, thereby offsetting your own impact. CarbonFund is involved in both of these options, and to date, they have offset over 4 billion pounds of CO2!

Emeralds.  The Incredible Hulk.  Boogers.
If you asked someone ten years ago to name some things that are green, their list may have looked something like this.  Today, you’re more likely to get answers that seem to defy chromatic limitations, such as “organic white cotton,” “lemon juice cleaner” or “locally grown carrots.”  Well, boogers still might show up on some lists.

The point is, the word “green” has become a catch-all for anything environmentally friendly, a requisite for which The Incredible Hulk’s destructive tendencies certainly are not a fit (Maybe he should go back to his original gray color, am I right?  Where are all my comic book nerds at?).  The growing green movement of the past decade has led to an explosion of companies creating new products (or simply repackaging old ones) and marketing them as “green products.”  Unfortunately, there is no government regulation in terms of what constitutes a “green product.”  As such, many companies, whether maliciously deliberate or ignorantly well-intentioned, have become guilty of a trend known as “greenwashing.”

“Greenwashing” occurs when a company deceptively markets a product as “green,” when in fact the product is not significantly environmentally friendly.  In an attempt to warn green consumers of the ways companies can deceive them, the environmental marketing firm TerraChoice has come up with a list of deceptive methods, which they call “The Seven Sins of Greenwashing.”  The sins range anywhere from the obvious “sin of fibbing,” to the “sin of the hidden trade-off,” such as a toy that is packaged in recycled cardboard, but is made out of toxic materials.  A full list can be found on their website: Sins of Greenwashing

Since GoGreenEtc deals exclusively in green products, we feel it is very important for our customers to understand what passes as a “green product,” and feel confident that they will find them on our site.  We list the green qualities for each of our products on their product page, in order to take the caveat emptor out of green shopping.  We feature green products that are one or more of the following:

-Reusable.  These items help the environment by reducing waste, and saving resources that would normally be going into producing disposable products.
-Made from recycled material.  Recycling also reduces waste and saves resources.
-Carbon Neutral.  These products are made through a process that does not emit greenhouse gases, or, the gases that are released are monitored by the manufacturer and offset by planting trees or investing in clean energy production.
-Vegan.  Vegan products don’t use any animal byproducts.  This not only makes for happier animals, but a healthier planet as well, because the livestock farming sector is a major contributor of greenhouse gases.
-All Natural.  These products are made without using any man-made chemicals.  Chemicals are often harmful to ecosystems, and can also result in a more pollutive production process.

Finally, all our products have an additional green quality, because shopping online is actually a greener way to shop!  Not only does shopping online save a drive to the store, but the warehouses that store products for online stores use much less energy than a traditional store.  Gee, going green really is as easy as picking your nose!

Today I was asked what my top three favorite green products were, and you know, at first I couldn’t answer! I mean really, how do I narrow it down to just three? After some long thought, I decided to name the three green products that I use almost every day.

One item I never leave my house without is my reusable bag. My bag folds up into itself like the kind made by Bags Bee Gone or Chico Bags. I carry three of these bags around with me at all times; they’re so small that I can carry them in my purse. I found that once I started keeping these bags in my purse, I really never needed another plastic bag. I loved the convenience of having these bags! Whenever I would be at the farmers market, instead of having several bags to carry around, I’d put all of my purchases from different booths into one bag. Now all of the regular stores I shop at know that I have my own bag.

The second product that I use daily is simple: a common dish towel. Several years ago, I gave up paper towels and converted over to using dish towels. I read that by keeping paper towels out of your home, you’ll keep over 3000 tons of waste out of the landfill. Sometimes, the greenest product is the product that we don’t buy.

My third daily-use green item would be vinegar. Yes, I’ve heard all the complaints about how bad vinegar smells, but I’m here to tell you that you can change the smell easily. Just mix even parts water and vinegar, and add 2-3 drops of your favorite essential oil to the 50/50 mixture. The smell from the oil will overtake the smell of the vinegar. Problem solved! Also, you will find that vinegar cleans better than most products on the market, is perfectly good for the home, and costs a fraction of normal cleaning products.

I will be doing several posts on more green products, the future posts will showcase green products that are for your home, your family, or just made better than the non-green counterpart. If you have any questions about green products please email me at beth@gogreenetc.com.

Everyone is doing it! You hear it everywhere; people, buildings, business, stadiums, it seems like everyone and everything is “Going Green”. A google alert for the terms “Go Green News” returns hundreds of news articles daily about who and what is going green. Not only are individuals, products and corporations going green, entire states and countries are claiming to be leading the way to preserve the environment.

So why do it? Everyone has a reason for their motivation, and as always, politics and money are usually at the top of their list. There are plenty of reasons to “go green” and those of us who support Go Green Etc. have plenty of motivation.

We are certainly developing Go Green Etc. to make money. Money is the motivation for all individuals that work day and night to create a thriving company. Corporations operated by individuals who work vigorously to create wealth certainly have the right to distribute and spend their hard earned income how they choose.

At Go Green Etc. are mission to “go green” is simply to offer a healthy alternative to everyday products. Our sellers produce products that are not only good for the environment but more importantly good for the consumer. When you sell or purchase a product at GoGreenEtc.com you will be contributing to the health of people across the planet.
We have chosen to donate ten percent of all the profits generated from GoGreenEtc.com to charitable organizations. These charities will provide clean drinking water for individuals in Ethiopia, clean the oceans to maintain the ecology of the sea, and help reduce pollution to provide cleaner air.

At GoGreenEtc.com we are working hard to “Inspire Life”.

About two years ago I sat in the office of a client and engaged in a conversation about “going green”.   Normally in a real estate office the discussion would be about interest rates and housing inventories not Geo-Thermal and sustainability.  Beth was convinced that the nation was embarking on a mission to lead a healthier more sustainable lifestyle.

Today, instead of connecting buyers and sellers in real estate Beth (better known now by her twitter handle “gogreenbeth”) and I are preparing to launch GoGreenEtc.com, a website that will unite buyers and sellers of green products.  Sellers, manufacturers, and producers of natural, healthy, green products will be able to create their own store and display their product adjacent to thousands of other products, giving buyers the ultimate shopping experience.
The goal of Go Green etc. is to simplify the search for individuals seeking to live a healthier more sustainable lifestyle.  The growth of the LOHAS community has created a demand for new products that is being met by new and existing manufactures across the globe.  These companies consist of large corporations introducing new product lines to individual entrepreneurs, developing hand -made items created from natural or recycled ingredients.

Opening a store at GoGreenetc.com will be an inexpensive alternative for business owners to retail their product lines.  We are currently offering our first 2000 shop owners a lifetime fee of just $8.95 per month, 50% less than the normal monthly rate.  Sellers can upload an unlimited amount of product, there are no commission charges or upload fees.  Simply register your store at GoGreenEtc.com, upload images and/or videos of your products and services and take advantage of consumers visiting the site seeking green products.

There is no doubt that a “green” revolution is upon us, if you do a google search for “buy green” there is over 148,000,000 results while a google search for “buy real estate” returns 120,000,000 results.

What is Gogreenetc.com?  Simply put, it’s an online mall that features sustainable/natural products.  People who produce, manufacture or make green products will be able to open their own shop, interact with other shop owners, and communicate directly with people who purchase their products.

The real goal of Gogreenetc.com is for buyers to have one destination where they learn about green options and have a place to purchase natural products.  Buyers will be able to virtually stroll through green shops to find the product that best suits their needs.  By having one place where buyers can compare products to make educated choices, everybody wins.  Buyers no longer have to search through the internet and hope they find what they are looking for, while the shop owners know people who are interested in living a sustainable lifestyle will be looking at their products.

Gogreenetc.com is almost complete; what we need now is our first 20 stores to open up. These 20 stores will become our anchor shops, and with that comes some great benefits.  These anchor shops will pay us nothing until 2010! Not one penny! I will also help these first 20 by advertising their stores on GoGreentube.com, and anytime there is an advertising spot to be filled I will put one of the anchor stores ads in that advertising spot for FREE!
Once these 20 shops are open, we will be taking GoGreenEtc.com live!!  If you are a producer of natural products and you have any questions, please email me at: beth@gogreenetc.com.