It’s now a trend: the reusable grocery bag. I am beginning to see grocery stores selling canvas bags for $1 a piece. I fathom that those prices will increase when (or if the “pay a quarter per plastic bag” law passes).

WholeFoods has already taken a step towards this “banning plastic at the checkout” concept. By Earth Day, April 22, 2008 their 270 U.S., Canadian, and British based stores will be officially asking their customers “What type of reusable bag do you have today?” instead of “Paper or plastic?”

But before many of us jump on the bandwagon, why not look at a few statistics on plastic first? According to the American Chemistry Council:

1. 2,000 plasic bags weigh 30 pounds vs 2,000 paper bags weigh 280 pounds. Therefore, plastic bags take up less landfill.
2. Delivery of paper bags vs plastic bags: seven trucks vs only truck to deliver the same amount of plastic bags. This means less energy and less emissions into the environment.
3. The manufacture of paper bags uses 70% more air emissions than plastic bags.
4. Plastic bags generate 80% less waste than paper bags.
5. 815 Million pounds of plastic and film was recycled in 2006 - an increase of 24% from 2005.

So what’s all this hype on banning plastic bags in grocery stores about? Even retailers such as Walmart offer plastic bag collection bins at the front of the store. The problem is, we as a society in general do not recycle enough. Don’t you see all those poor beat up plastic bags hanging from the tree branches? No, they are budding flowers. In the US alone, approximately 100 Billion bags are used per year, of which most ends up sitting in our landfills for 1,000 years.

And I haven’t even said my prayers for all those innocent marine animals that choked and died from eating pieces of plastic. You would think that they would know the difference between jellyfish and plastic but apparently, they don’t.

So what’s the catch-all solution? BYOB: Bring Your Own Bag (Sorry party animals. In this case, the acronym does not mean bring your own beer).

If you want to jump on the BYOB bandwagon, and don’t want to spend a lot of money on buying one or want to bring a trendy looking one, here are some places where you can find great patterns on creating your own reusable shopping bags. But you may need to know how to sew, knit or crochet.

Whipup.net - Keep a wallet-sized fold-up shopping bag with you at all times.
Creative Kismet - Shows you how to turn your old pillowcases into a cute shopping bag.
morsbags.com - Download easy to follow instruction on how to sew your own cloth bag.
houghtonavenue.com - A knitted grocery bag for a cottony shopping experience.

Bring Your Own Bag. What an excellent concept.

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This is a great game. As a fifth grader, it really makes you think - makes you use a little bit of logic. I remember playing it in the fifth grade. Our teacher would give the winner a small bag of candy to take home.

Of course this game can be played by younger children, but because it involves some logic skills, it might be better for older kids.

Number of players required:
One person to be a “deer” or any animal you want. You also need a group of people to be the “hunters.” The more hunters, the merrier. My fifth grade class had 25 students or so.

Object of game:
For the group to correctly guess the three numbers in the right order (or to get three Bulls Eye).

Supplies needed:
Paper, pencil, and a large blackboard and chalk or large whiteboard and dry erase marker.

Rules of Game:
The “deer” picks three numbers ranging from 0 - 9 and write it down on a sheet of paper. Do not let any of the “hunters” see it. This is only in case the hunters requests to see the paper after the game is over to verify the winner. Or in case the deer forgets which numbers he chose.

The first hunter picks three numbers. If one of the numbers picked by the hunter is in the same place as one of the numbers picked by the deer, then there is one Bulls Eye. If the hunter picks a number that is picked by the deer but is in a different order, then there is one Hit. If none of the numbers is picked by the deer, then there is a Miss.

If the first number is a B (Bulls Eye), he does not have to tell the hunters that the first number is a Bulls Eye. He just has to tell them that there is a Bulls Eye. It is the hunter’s job to figure out which number is the Bulls Eye (or which number is the same number in the same location).

Unless the first hunter picks three Bulls Eyes, then the next hunter gets to pick the next three numbers. The game continues until there are three Bulls Eyes. The person who guesses three Bulls Eyes wins the game.

Example:

Deer picks 345 and writes that number down on a sheet of paper and puts it in his pocket.

Hunter #1 picks: 123

Deer writes on the blackboard: HMM (for Hit, Miss, Miss). In this case, the 3 is correct but is in the wrong location. Therefore, it’s a Hit. Notice that the Deer does NOT have to write MMH. This will be too obvious. It is the hunter’s job to figure out which number is a Hit.

Hunter #2 picks: 198

Deer writes on blackboard: MMM. This should also tell the hunters to eliminate 1 as the correct number and that either 2 or 3 is the Hit number (from Hunter #1 above).

Hunter #3 picks: 430

Deer writes on blackboard: HMH. (Remember, the Deer can write the H, M, or B in any order).

Hunter #4 picks: 463

Deer writes on blackboard: MBH. At this point, the hunters should be able to deduce that 3 and 4 are the correct number and one of then is in the correct location.

Hunter #5 picks: 347

Deer writers: BMB

Hunter #6 picks: 345

Deer writes: BBB

The bag of candy goes to Hunter #6!

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FitPregnancy (http://www.fitpregnancy.com/bestcities2008/155) released an article on the best cities to have a baby in America. Criteria in determining the best cities include hospitals and doctors, midwives and doulas, birth and health risks, affordability, stroller friendly parks, and more. Study was based on the top 50 most populated cities in the U. S. And the top ten winners are (drum roll please):

1. Portland, OR
2. Minneapolis, MN
3. San Francisco, CA
4. Seattle, WA
5. Denver, CO
6. Boston, MA
7. Omaha, NE
8. Virginia Beach, VA
9. Austin, TX
10. Albuquerque, NM

And what about the worst city? Detroit. Las Vegas is second to last. Hmmm…I wonder why?

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There have been studies in animals that phthalates can cause reproduction problems. Therefore, activists believe it can also cause reproductive problems in human beings.

A recent U.S. study took urine samples from 163 babies that were between 2 to 28 months and detected at least one phthalate, with lotions, shampoos, and powders having the highest level.

Phthalates are added to plastics to make them more flexible and can be found in commonly used items such as nail polish, cosmetics, vinyl flooring, plastic toys, and even sex toys. Many products with fragrances often have levels of phthalates in it as well. The recent study found that items such as baby shampoos, lotions, and powders.

As a parent, how do you avoid buying products that are phthalates free? It’s going to be difficult since manufacturers are not required to list phthalates as an ingredient. But some manufacturers do label their products as “phthalates free”. A good guide might be to just simply purchase things that are fragrant free when it comes to baby shampoos, lotions and powders.

To read more, you can visit: The Canadian Press or Associated Press

A lot women love to wear cosmetics with fragrances (I know I do - they smell great and makes me feel fresh and clean!). If you would like to try “phthalates free” products, here is a list of natural cosmetics companies that have phthalates free products: Phthalates Free

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Marketing for your business can be an expensive operating expense. But what happens if you’ve spent all your marketing budget? Or have a tight budget to begin with? Here are three ways to advertise online for your business that don’t cost a dime.

1. Free Classifieds Ads Sites:
Classifieds ad sites are great because it brings two kinds of people together: People that want something, and people that offer something. Among the top choice are Craiglist.org, Gumtree.com, Kijiji.com, USFreeads.com, which you may be familiar with.

The one you should pay special attention to in particular is Craigslist.org, which is the 59th most popular website in the entire world according to Alexa.com’s ranking. Unlike eBay, these sites allow you to post ads to advertise your product or service free of charge. So take advantage of it.

2. Press Release Sites:
If you have something newsworthy for your business, for example, if your work-at-home custom soap making business had just come out with a new line of soaps, then you should consider writing up a press release and submit it to press release announcement websites. Here is a list of over 100 top press release announcement sites:

http://www.netpassiveincome.com/list-of-press-release-sites/

Although most of the press releases on here are free, note that some do require payment.

If you have some budget (around $100), pay special attention to PRWeb.com and WebWire.com. They are not free, but very effective in spreading news about your business.

3. Participate In Online Communities:
This particular technique works quite well if you have a website for your business. Take our soap making business as an example. Go in Google and search for “soap making forums” or something similar to that. Then browse through the top listings and look out for online communities or discussion boards that are related to your business.

You would then register for an account, and start participating in those online forums. Usually you are allowed to enter a website URL in your profile as your signature. That signature with your website URL will be appended to every forum post that you make, which provides another way to get traffic to your website.

Be sure to contribute to the forum and don’t spam! Remember, you are establishing relationships with other people in the community, so be sure to provide value and people will follow your forum posts and find a way back to your website.

Steven C, Online Business Mentor, http://www.netpassiveincome.com

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