U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Nature Rocks Co-Host Nationwide FREE Event - THIS Saturday, Sept. 25

by Janis Brett Elspas

MommyBlogExpert.blogspot.com

FREE Admission to All U.S. National Wildlife Refuges and National Parks on 9/25/2010

As some of you may know,  I worked in Yellowstone National Park one summer during college.  I've always been a huge fan of National Parks, the environment, and nature in general -- writing letters to the editor about protecting natural resources that have been published several times by the Los Angeles Times.  I've also penned a number of book reviews by authors such as environmentalist Ed Begley and Anna Getty on living greener at home as well reviewed various films for family audiences that celebrate nature such as Furry Vengeance. 
Arches National Park, August 2010

by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.blogspot.com

I am now passing that life-long love of all branches of the National Park system on to my kids and hubbie.  As a result of many family road trips, my kids and hubbie have already been to hundreds of National Parks with me, traveling to quite a few for repeat visits.  In fact, my four teens (triplets plus one more, all born within a year) are still talking about our huckleberry picking adventures in Montana and Idaho during Summer of 2009, as well as the roadtrip all six of us took in August of this year to Arches National Park in Utah.  Pictured above is a scene from that later family vacation.

Nature Rocks, which has really awesome programs, is a national initiative created to inspire and empower parents to enjoy quality time in nature with their families.  Today they just announced a new partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that will bring new online resources to parents to get their kids more involved with the great outdoors.  To promote this, these two groups are hosting Nature Rocks Days at Fish and Wildlife Refuges across the country this Saturday, September 25, 2010, National Public Lands Day.  Incidentally, it is also Take a Child Outside Week from September 24 to 30 starting this Friday.

FREE Nature Rocks Day Events
Will Be Held at Each of These Locations

• Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge – Chincoteague, VA
• Forsythe NWR – Oceanville, NJ
• Big Stone NWR/WMD – Odessa, MN
• Wallkill River NWR – Sussex ,NJ
• Warm Springs National Fish Hatchery – Warm Springs, GA
• Wheeler NWR – Decatur, AL
• Desert National Wildlife Refuge – Las Vegas, NV
• Roma Bluffs World Birding Center – Roma, TX
• San Diego NWRC Sweetwater Marsh – Chula Vista, CA
• Coleman National Fish Hatchery – Anderson, CA
• Hassayampa River Preserve – Wickenberg, AZ
• Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve – Homer, AK
• Sonoran Arthropod Studies Institute – Tucson, AZ

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's mission is to work with the public and others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.  This is the fifth national organization to partner with Nature Rocks -- a program developed by the Children & Nature Network and ecoAmerica to inspire families to play and explore in nature for healthier, happier and smarter children.  Current partners are The Nature Conservancy, REI, the American Heart Association, the American Camp Association and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  To learn more about Nature Rocks and its partners, visit their official site; also follow them on Facebook and Twitter .

Nature Rocks is just one of the many eco-friendly ways parents can see nature through your child's eyes.  Look for other good to the Earth blogposts on this blog wherever you see this MommyBlogExpert Eco-Friendly Blogpost icon.

FTC Disclosure:  MommyBlogExpert did not receive any payment or other compensation associated with this post.  See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.  

Turn Twitter Facebook Time into Influencer Income

Social Media

Facebook, Twitter Tips for Influencers

If I had a dollar for every minute I've spent on Twitter and Facebook since signing up for those social media networks several years ago, I think I'd be a millionaire.   "Same here," you might be chiming in, right about now.  Yes, I have to admit it -- on this point my dear hubbie is right -- you have to manage your involvement on these sites very carefully because if you don't watch out, they can actually be a major time sink.

Managing Time Better

Though I've come to terms with it now, it is still quite terrifying to think about.  In my early days on those two social networks, Linkedin and a few others, promoting this blog and my PR and social media consulting business, I was spending more than 75% of my working time Tweeting and following, posting to Facebook walls, and seeking out former business associates on Linkedin.  The rest of the time on many of those same days, I was wading through an average of 300 emails daily -- which not, coincidentally -- were often related to my social network activities.

Based on a 50-hour work week which has been my norm, that means I was spending an average of 37+ hours a week -- the equivalent of 2000 hours last year alone -- JUST on social and business networking.  That left precious little to no time at all for me to either create substantial content or to follow up on the many business connections I wanted so much to cultivate.  Ironically, these two were the most important things I should have been doing a lot more of back then.

In recent months, I've wised up, though, using more of that formerly wasted "chat" time to focus on writing better content and building on existing business relationships instead.  This has magically "manufactured" time for me to write more quality content not only for my own blog MommyBlogExpert but also to write for others, including as a regular contributing columnist for two exciting consumer blogs, Zulily and Dealpop, which both launched this year.  Even better, it has freed up more energy and hours to engage in more meaningful conversations with all the contacts I've acquired, especially those I met when I was in over my head with social media.

The good news is that if I can convert my excess Twitter, Facebook, and other social network downtime into productivity, you can too.  All it takes is setting limits for yourself on how much time you will spend daily in these other social media neighborhoods.  It will be different for each person and business, obviously, but I think most everyone can reap the rewards of cutting back even just a little. 

 

As for me, I've whittled down my own time on these significantly and am currently only doing social networking a total of just 5 hours per week (about 1 hour/day on all networks combined).  The result is that I'm benefiting not only from all the physical hours I've recaptured for more in-depth blog writing but also from the higher caliber of energy I'm now able to channel into solidifying important new business relationships that will ultimately grow both this blog and my social media consulting business.

LEAVE A COMMENT Below 

How many hours per week do you now spend on all business-related social media combined? And if you think you want to increase your productivity in creating content how many of those social media hours do you think you could cut back?  

FTC Disclosure:  MommyBlogExpert did not receive any payment or other compensation associated with this post.  See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.     

Eco Friendly Cleaning Tools That Truly Have Come Full Circle - Product Review

by Janis Brett Elspas

MommyBlogExpert.blogspot.com

For years,  individuals like actor turned environmentalist and author Ed Begley have been professing about the green home lifestyle.   Thankfully, partially as a result of such activists, eco friendly green cleaning supplies without harmful chemicals are getting easier to find and progressively, more affordable to buy.

Now, as a new generation embraces the cause to save our planet, still more innovations have emerged.  A case in point is Full Circle Home, a New York company co-founded by two young people, Heather Tomasetti and Tal Chitayat, which now is successfully marketing a new category of green, stylish and functional tools for housekeeping unlike any seen before.

Answering consumer demand for cleaning tools that are not only eco-friendly, but quality-made, functional and good looking too, Full Circle offers a comprehensive line of products made from sustainable and renewable resources, ranging from natural bristle blend scrub brushes and plant-based fiber sponges -- both with sleek, bamboo handles -- to pot scrubbers that fully biodegrade.  Currently, the company's ecologically responsible household products include 17 different cleaning brushes, sponges and cloths plus -- added just recently -- several make your own natural cleaning solution kits.  

One of the more unique things about these eco household products is that the consumable parts of the brand's scrub brushes (both the sponge and bristle types) are easily removed and fully replaceable.   In the photo here you see my personal favorite Full Circle Home Tool: the Suds Up Dish Brush with removable head.  I just love the way this feels in my hand when doing dishes.  What's more is that like all the other handle products it is made with Bonterra, an earth friendly plant-based plastic.

Considering in the US alone that if just one plastic scrub brush per household gets thrown out every year, that’s an estimated 120 million brushes ending up in our land fills that will take more than 1000 years before they start to break down.  Another important point:  Full Circle products' handles are made with bamboo, an easy and fast to grow plant, and that other parts of their tools are composed of naturally occurring, renewable resources such as cellulose and loofah -- all of which will fully biodegrade.

After trying each of the tools pictured in this post in our kitchen and around the house, I have to admit that I was quite surprised that these hip, modern-looking products actually did a superior job cleaning.  That's even when I compared them to similar, yet more utilitarian household helpers I had previously relied on.   Following these at-home product tests, I was equally floored (no pun intended) that the suggested retail prices of all the Full Circle Home products I tried are affordably priced, ranging from just $3.99 to $9.99 per item.  Better yet, shipping is always free, whether one product from them or many, if you buy direct.

Full Circle Home products have been receiving a lot of buzz lately, including mentions or accolades by high circulation media such as All You Magazine, Woman's Day, and Martha Stewart's Home Design blog -- among others.  After experiencing the line myself, all the exposure this green company has gotten lately makes perfect sense.  All Full Circle products are widely available direct from the brand's website as well as at stores nationwide.

Now It's Your Turn - Please Comment
What are you doing in your own home to live greener today for an even greener tomorrow for your kids?  I encourage you to leave a comment and share what matters most to you.

FTC Disclosure:  MommyBlogExpert received the collection of nine products pictured at the top of this post from Full Circle Home to facilitate this review but did not receive any other compensation for this blogpost.  See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.