Clean Conscience Blog - Eco Friendly And Reusable Bags

This was a day worth writing about!


Cabin fever!  Winter has really dragged us down and we can't wait to have sun and warmer weather.  But who are we to complain here in the San Francisco Bay Area, when we see storms hitting the eastern states.  A really boring friday got us motivated to go outside despite the dreary weather. So off we packed up a lunch and thought we could just drive to Fort Cronkite. Sure enough, Mother Nature never seems to let us down.  The weather was just right, no sun - but not very cold.  So we were able to enjoy a light walk on the beach and watched a few (bored) people like us get out of hybernation, and even a few surfers to keep a few eyes entertained.

We were pleasantly surprised that the beach area was reasonably clean - we found a handful of what else? ... plastic debris, a plastic fork and some plastic bags floating around.  I guess the "keep our environment trash-free" awareness and messaging has worked in some parts.  How can it not when there is have a huge recycling bin greeting beachgoers at the onset.









Few as these trash may be, they account for a number of injuries of sea mammals.  Since plastic does not photodegrade, they end up in our oceans where animals could mistake them for food or they get trapped in nets and unable to feed themselves. 
With that thought in mind, we headed on to The Marine Mammal Center, which is a hospital for injured sea lions and seals that were rescued along the pacific coast all the way to Monterey/Carmel. We were introduced to Sgt. Nevis ( named after the Sgt. that brought him to the center).  Sgt. Nevis is a California adult male sea lion weighing 358+ lbs.  He was rescued on Dec. 5, 2009 from Stingray's Beach near Sacramento - he had a gunshot wound to the face that damaged his nasal bones and skull.  His prognosis is guarded because of the severity of the damage to the nasal area. Really heartbreaking!




The hospital was quite busy with another 7 sea lions under medical care, none of them were as serious as Sgt. Nevin, though, and hopefully they will all be released back into the ocean soon.



Since there was not enough sun today, the solar panels were definitely hard at work at The Marine Mammal Center. 

We should keep this place as a treasured secret so it doesn't get too crowded... but we are not selfish.  If you are ever wandering around San Francisco, this is a not-to-miss place to visit.http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

Eco-Friendly Recycled Canvas Grocery Bags - 4-Pc. Set


HEY MARINITES - GET YOUR ECO REUSABLE SHOPPING BAGS READY!

You may need to get yourself a well-made reusable grocery bag because paper and plastic bags may not be offered by stores anymore come Earth Day.  Marin County has launched a campaign to ban single-use bags in retail outlets starting April 2010.  It just makes a lot of sense to bring your own eco-friendly bag when you go to the store, so get a few so you'll always have them at home or in your car.  Plastic bags are very harmful to our environment, they are made from petroleum, they take centuries before they decompose and a huge percentage of these bags are made overseas, creating an even higher carbon footprint.


Get yourself a well-made cloth shopping bag.  Our best-seller are these affordably priced recycled cotton canvas shopping bags  We have custom-designed these reuseabe bags specially for packing boxy groceries (like your cereal and cookies) and for deli or restaurant take-outs. The Take-Out Reusable Grocery Bags comes in a 4-Pc Set for $22.00. Our Clean Conscience bags are made from recycled materials and made domestically using our trash and our labor.

For a limited time we are offering a 15% discount - just enter MARIN-611 as your Coupon code at checkout.  So get yours soon and start doing your share!  Shop at:   http://www.cleanconsciencegoods.com/.






http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

Join Green Sangha in a 3-day Rethinking Plastics 201 Conference in San Rafael, Marin County.  Learn more about how plastics have plagued our lifestyles and our environment, and what you can do about it.

Thursday, Jan 21, 7:00-9:30 pm. Symposium: Awakening the Dreamer: an introduction to the challenges and opportunities of our age. Led by the Pachamama Alliance. Environmental Classroom, Marin Sanitary Service, 535 Jacoby Street, San Rafael, CA. Donation requested (all donations over $10 will receive a copy of the newly released Sustainable World Sourcebook published by Vinit Allen).


Friday, Jan 22, 7:30-9 pm. Public lecture: Rethinking Plastics, Rethinking Our Lives. Sponsored by Whole Foods Market, San Rafael. Free.


Saturday, Jan 23, 10 am – 5 pm. Workshop: Ending the Plague of Plastic Pollution. Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership, 555 Northgate Drive, San Rafael. Fee: $50.



Read more about the conference here at:
http://greensangha.org/rethinking-plastics-201/http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

I'm A Green Shopper Reusable Canvas Shopping Bag

Marin County is taking a stand on banning the use of single use plastic and paper bags at stores.   Supervisors Susan Adams and Charles McGlashan are among those proposing this ban when they recently launched the campaign to ban retailers and stores from giving out plastic and paper bags to shoppers.  In November 2008, Fairfax voters approved to ban the use of plastic bags at restaurants and retail stores and became the first municipality to enforce this ban. 

If you live in Marin, you've got to get in with the program. Get your durable and well-made reusable grocery bag ready and start being a greener shopper!  Check out our Clean Conscience selection of reusable eco shopping bags that's made for every shopper in mind.  Visit our website and find out why "all bags are not created equal".

http://cleanconsciencegoods.com/products/allhttp://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

As we ended 2009 last year, we are proud to say that we were able to divert at least 20,000 post-consumer plastic bottles that would have gone into the waste stream - by repurposing recycled plastic bottle fabric into our beautiful reusable bags. A number of lucky people received greener presents as we merrily packed holiday presents with our eco lunch bags, reusable shopping bags, shoe bags and even eco-friendly laundry bags.  And these bags were all designed, sourced and sewn in the USA - so thank you for all who helped support our local jobs and factories.


At Clean Conscience, we continue to create smarter, cleaner and greener products to help make it easy for you to make smart sustainable choices.



Thank you and Happy New Year!http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

25% OFF


Enter HOLIDAY2009 at checkout.
For a flat rate of $3.99 we ship Priority Mail
HURRY-SHOP NOW
http://cleanconsciencegoods.com/products/all

Casual Shopping Totes, Golf Shoe Bags for him/her, Laundry Saks,
Canvas Shopping Bags, etc.
http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

Cheers to all for a very happy holiday season!
from
The Clean Conscience Clean and Green Team
http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

Goodness gracious how time flies!  Thanksgiving, family, kids, grandkids, life, etc.  We're still around hustling and bustling and getting all excited around the holidays.

Here are our holiday shopping tips:
1. Buy recycled products and help close the recycling loop.  There many choices that are fashion friendly and kinder to the earth.
2. Shop online - reduces stress, prevents impulse buying and lowers your carbon use.  Take advantage of on-line deals and free shipping offers.
3. Regifting is the new trend, or donate unusable (or unwanted) gifts to charity.
4. Reduce the amount of packaging waste.  Save and reuse old wrappers, avoid styro fillers, and say NO to plastic bags and wraps.  Remember plastic is made from petroleum so think of your carbon footprint.
5.  Be a prudent gifter.  Everyone knows how hard the economy is.  A phone call, a visit or having a meal together are wholesome gifts that everyone will cherish. 

We don't want to be a party downer, so if you can't resist the christmas shopping, take a large shopping bag when you go to the mall and avoid bringing home more paper and plastic bag waste.  Our Rodeo Drive Tote is perfect for serious department store shopping!

Cheers!http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

Pre-Holiday Sale - Be Green, Promote Green, Give Green!

Eco-friendly reusable tote bags are the new "it" give-away.  Print your logo on these recycled cotton bags and get more exposure for your marketing dollars.  We offer free printing for a minimum order of 250 bags. 

Contact us at:  trade@cleanconsciencegoods.com, or call us at 1-800-518-0740. 
Offer good while supplies last.


http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

Clean Conscience Goods.com Shop

Shop our online store for eco friendly, clean and green reusable bags, totes and sacks.  Pay only a flat $3.99 shipping anywhere in the continental USA with NO minimum order required.  Choose from a number of fashionable and functional styles, colors and features.  Made from repurposed and recycled cotton or post-consumer PETE plastic soda and water bottles.  Clean Conscience bags are ideal for shopping, grocery, produce, school, books, laundry, gym, yoga, beach, resort, golf, travel pack or baby gear.  We offer custom logo printing for corporate promotions, fundraising, tradeshows or events.  Our recycled fabric is durable and washable with little shrinkage.  Clean Conscience bags help conserve the use of natural resources and reduce waste going into landfills, ocean and the waste stream.

Shop early for your holiday eco-gift giving!   http://www.cleanconsciencegoods.com/http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

I was recently talking to a few parents and realized that we all share the same predicament lately.  We have college-graduated children who have been displaced from their jobs and who are having difficulty finding employment out there.  It is a hard position for both parents and children to go through this period and very emotionally taxing on families.  Despite the new jobs brought in by the green economy, the number of applicants far outnumber the available jobs when you have hundreds, if not thousands of applicants, for every position listed.  According to the latest report, the nation's unemployment rate rose to 9.8% in September, showing an increase from prior periods.  Some analysts predict that we may even hit 10% in the coming months. 

Read article:       September Non-Farm Payrolls Plunge 263,000

We aim to use this blog in a way that will better serve our readers by focusing on the important issues facing us. There are certainly a number of important environmental issues that we can continue to blog about, but right now, we believe that it is about helping the unemployed find jobs. 

We want to help.  We will start gathering and compiling job sites and job listings and we will be posting these in our blog as fresh as we can get them.  With all the communication means and technological gadgets that we have out there, we hope to help gather and distribute information as quickly and to as many people possible.

If you are a company that has a job opening, please send us the info at ccinfo@cleanconsciencegoods.com with your information and link.  We will post it in our blogsite and feed it to all our webaccounts.

If you are looking for a job, check our blogfeeds regularly for the latest job feed, and pass this on to your friends.

Let us all work together to make America $$green again!  Good luck and be well.
http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

Great video - talks about green products being cost-effective in the long run.

http://www.ktvu.com/video/19510920/index.htmlhttp://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

Franchises Can Win Customers by Going Green Posted using ShareThis

 
Mainstream businesses are now realizing that eco-awareness has caught on with many consumers.  In order to compete in business, going green plays a strong role in customer attraction and retention.  As a consumer and shopper, we will always choose an eco-conscious merchant that gears their business towards sustainability, conservation, waste reduction and a lower carbon footprint - over one that is not.  The green-mindset is catching on and it is definitely here to stay!
http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

Link to article:        Mystery Surrounds New Whole Foods Reusable Bag

From Sustainableisgood.com


Whole Foods' The Better Bag- certainly a fashion friendly bag. But what makes it a better bag? The colors? Good looking bags that are 100% from recycled bottles are available and made in the USA. Do we need to always buy from overseas companies when we have factories and companies that can be sourced domestically? The fact that these bags used waste materials that did not come from America's landfill -doesn't help our waste problems. Bags made by companies outside of the USA, does not help our domestic workforce and contributes to a higher carbon footprint. Factories that do not pay into the American tax system does not help our economy. So why is this a better bag? We have companies that are going out of business in North Carolina because of the flood of imported products (Bloomsburg Mills) Is this what Fair Trade is all about? I hope Whole Foods, which I have a lot of respect for, can give domestic businesses a chance to market their products more. A made in USA bag that supports our economy and takes trash from our own waste stream, to me, is the Better Bag!http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

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Google Earth launches climate layer | MNN - Mother Nature Network

For those of you who haven't seen the article the link is above. This is so awesome! Leave it to Google to be the major lead for spreading more knowledge and information to everyone on this planet. They have partnered with the Danish government and the United Nations Environment Programme to create this application with the goal of taking our climate challenge database to the next level, just in time for the upcoming Climate Change summit.

How many times can I say awesome?

Thank you, Google!http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

In February 2009, Dr. Ewa Z. of EZ-Rehab/Mill Valley joined a team of volunteers from the Friends of Ruwenzori for their mission trip to Uganda, providing free medical services at the KIDA HIV/AIDS Clinic. Here we see our Ewa with her Clean Conscience logo-printed reusable bag, as she tours the area with some locals. Keep up the good work - we love you Ewa!http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

Here's a plastic bag that was blown around on the freeway and ends up getting caught on the Benz' emblem.  Couldn't pick it up since we were travelling on freeway speed.  Arrgh!

http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

Thank you to the large group of volunteers who headed this weekend's Coastal Clean-Up Day.  It is with this dedicated group that we are so grateful for helping keep America clean and litter-free.  Without a doubt, plastic bags and other plastic debris remain the most problematic litter along our coastline.  Save The Bay, a local San Francisco group, reports that they have identified 10 hot spots along our coastline that are of most concern. 

Environmental News Network -- Know Your Environment
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SAVE THE BAY NAMES TEN BAY TRASH HOT SPOTS BLIGHTED BY PLASTIC BAGS

Save The Bay Urges Bay Area Cities to Pass Legislation to End the Distribution of "Free" Plastic Bags to Protect the Bay and Wildlife

OAKLAND, CA - September 15, 2009 - Save The Bay's 4th annual list of Bay Trash Hot Spots underscores the pervasive and growing problem of plastic trash in our waterways. The 2009 Hot Spots are ten San Francisco Bay shorelines and creeks where volunteers removed the most plastic bags on Coastal Cleanup Day in 2008. On this day alone, volunteers picked up nearly 15,000 plastic bags from these locations - a shocking number given that only a small portion of the Bay shoreline and its tributaries were cleaned up. Save The Bay estimates that more than one million plastic bags wind up in San Francisco Bay each year where they smother wetlands, degrade water quality and harm animals. (A map showcasing the ten hot spots can be found at: www.saveSFbay.org/baytrash)
Go to article...
http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

This year's 3rd Annual Marin Green Business Forum will be held on Wednesday, Sep 23 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm at Mill Valley Community Center, Mill Valley, CA.

Presented by the Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce and MarinLink. This year's line-up of speakers include renowned environmental activist, author and educator Hunter Lovins, President and Founder of Natural Capitalism Solutions to talk about Green Business Leadership in Marin — Taking Local Action for Sustainable Economic Renewal.


Learn more and get tickets at http://www.maringreenbusinessforum.org/


Clean Conscience is providing its clean and green tote bags for the event, of course.http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

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The Consumer Product Safety Commission advised consumers to immediately stop using the recalled items..

Follow this link to read more...
LOS ANGELES COMPANY RECALLS LEAD-LACED MASKS, PENDANTS..http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com