Conference Dollars and Volunteer Hours Generate Millions of Dollars for the City of New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana. (Aug 2008 ) – Heather Harris and Laura Penner recently joined thousands of social marketing entrepreneurs from the U.S. and around the world at the Shaklee Global Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, August 6-10. Shaklee, the number one natural nutrition company in the U.S., holds its Global Conference annually to recognize and congratulate members of the Shaklee family for their successes and achievements.

Shaklee chose to host its annual conference in New Orleans this year, in an effort to help revitalize tourism in the recovering city. In the spirit of Shaklee’s legacy of philanthropy and belief in doing what’s right and giving back, Shaklee hosted the “Live Green, Make Green” event to provide a sustainable form of aid – the opportunity to earn an income, by coaching New Orleans residents in starting their own green businesses and giving them the tools they need to get it started.   Attendees were treated to words of advice from a distinguished panel of experts including: Roger Barnett, Chairman and CEO, Shaklee Corporation; Sloan Barnett, TODAY Show contributor and consumer advocate; David Bach, financial expert and New York Times best-selling author; Vidar Jorgenson, President, Grameen America, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Winner Grameen Bank; and Roland Oosterhouse and Leonard and Colleta Haskin, Shaklee Business Leaders. Attendees were also personally mentored by esteemed Shaklee Business Leaders and left with free tools and products to start their businesses.

“Shaklee Corporation cares about the world we live in, and was founded on the idea that to be truly healthy and happy, we must take good care not only of ourselves, but also of our planet,” said Roger Barnett, Chairman and CEO, Shaklee Corporation. “We feel very lucky to have the opportunity to do what we can to give back to the people of New Orleans.”  

Shaklee Cares® also contributed more than a quarter of a million dollars in local grant funds and Shaklee product packs, and thousands of volunteer hours through Shaklee Cares – Shaklee Corporation’s philanthropic arm committed to helping people directly affected by natural disasters, as well as grass-roots citizen groups working in the impacted areas. Shaklee volunteers worked with national Points of Light Foundation local affiliate Hands on New Orleans to rebuild the outdoor playground space at KIPP Central City Academy and Primary School in New Orleans that will be opening for the first time since Hurricane Katrina this fall. Shaklee’s efforts also provide support to the Tipitina’s Foundation to replace musical instruments for children that were destroyed in the Katrina disaster. Proceeds from the Shaklee Cares Mardi Gras Benefit Dinner during the Conference also contributed to the aid provided to residents of New Orleans. Shaklee distributors alone have donated more than 1,000 Shaklee Cares green cleaning product packs to be distributed to the local community.

“I know that my clients and I can trust that Shaklee products are always safe, always work and are always green,” said Harris, “Knowing that Shaklee is also dedicated to doing what’s right for people and our planet makes me feel fulfilled and motivated to share the opportunity for a healthier, better life with my friends and family.”

Penner started her natural health business 6 years ago, and has found that helping others spread the word about health, opportunity and a better world has led to a successful home-based business. 

For more information, contact Heather Harris www.agreenbiz.com

When we built our new home this past spring, we made sure to make some simple changes to our home.  First of all we installed low flow shower heads and low volume flush toilets.   We’ve started to try and conserve our water consumption by not letting the water run needlessly; like when we’re brushing our teeth.  The other thing I did not realize is that I didn’t need to wait until my dishwasher was full to run it.  It’s actually more efficient to run a part load because we have the Energy Star appliance that is more water efficient.   I would waste more water hand washing and rinsing dishes than throwing a small load through my dishwasher.

What about outside our homes.  For many homeowners a beautiful lawn is important and many of us consume unnecessary amounts of water to keep it this way.   In many regions only 2 to 3 centimeters of water a week is necessary to keep your grass healthy.  They say if you keep a tuna can outside, and if the rain fills it to the brim each week, you don’t need to water at all.   Some ways to reduce evaporation is to leave your grass 7 to 8 centimeters long, water early in the morning and leave some lawn clippings in place after mowing. 

Whatever you do, please try not to use pesticides or insecticides on your lawn!  It seems funny to me that in the effort of trying to achieve a green lawn, people end up making their yards anything but Green! See the following link to learn more about the six step plan to an organic lawn http://www.organicgardening.com/pdf/lawns_trifold.pdf

Heather Harris

www.agreenbiz.com

You don’t have to freeze to be green … you only need to adjust by one or two degrees all year round.   The biggest savings come when you turn your thermostat down during the cold months.   For every degree you turn your heat down in the winter you can lower your energy bill by as much as 5%.   We’ve recently installed a programmable thermostat, so that while we’re at work or sleeping the temperature can be adjusted without much notice.

Another big change we’ve started making is unplugging and turning off all unnecessary electronics and devices.   The easiest way to do this is to have everything plugged into a power cord, where you just need to turn off the button on the power strip to turn off everything.   Many electronics continue to draw energy out of the wall even after their power button is turned off, especially the ones that have a small light to indicate they’re turned off.

We recently purchased new appliances for our home and we made sure to choose the Energy Star program.   Although initially it may seem more expensive to go this way, the energy efficiency adds up and will far outweigh the initial cost.     This doesn’t mean run out and buy a new appliance, but just keep this in mind when it’s time to buy a new one.

And finally, I think I mentioned it before but we’ve changed all the light bulbs in our home to the compact fluorescent bulbs.   These bulbs apparently will last up to ten times longer than the traditional incandescent bulbs, but once again they are more costly up front.   For those using the new compact bulb for the first time keep in mind they take a few minutes to warm up and get to their full lighting capacity.   I learned this the hard way after I told my husband that we were going to have to return some of our new light fixtures because they weren’t working properly.

Cumulatively any small change made will help save you money and resources.   Once you start making changes you will feel good about taking a stand and doing your part to help save our precious planet.

As Confucius once wrote “Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change”.

Heather Harris

www.agreenbiz.com

 As for the home based business that we started, things are growing better than we could have hoped.  With such a strong consumer trend to “Go Green” it was the perfect time for our family to get into this business.   According to experts investing in green will be to the 21st century was investing in technology was to the 20th century.  

In keeping with the topic for this entry, I could not be happier with the company we’ve chosen to align ourselves with.  Shaklee was the first company in the world to obtain Climate Neutral certification and totally offset their CO2 emissions, resulting in a net zero impact on the environment.   Shaklee believes they’re part of a movement to make people and the planet healthier and I could not agree more.

 In closing I will quote Mahatma Gandhi “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”

Heather Harris

www.AGreenBiz.com

It is important to take things slowly, and remember that any small change is a good start.   If every family made one small change the cumulative effect would be enormous.   For our family we started with our cleaning products, because as a mom I was on a mission to remove toxins from our childrens’ home.   They say of all household goods that can harm both health and the environment, cleaning products are the easiest to replace.   Since then we have started other green initiatives in our home, such as composting more regularly and conserving electricity and water wherever possible.   We changed all the light bulbs in our home to the energy efficient bulbs and even put water saver showerheads in all the bathrooms.  I can tell you from experience that once you start making some changes you are compelled to make more.  It really only takes starting with small simple changes that when added together you get a significant result.

We can’t change the past so worrying about what you didn’t know isn’t going to fix anything; we must look to the future one step at a time.  Remember one small change does make a difference!!!!!!!!

As for our family we have now started our own home based business selling the Shaklee Get Clean products that started our green movement.  It’s part of our effort to help others remove the toxins from their homes and go green in the process.   Our company has been expanding at a very exciting pace thanks to people wanting to make green, safe and smart choices.   If you would like more information about these products don’t hesitate to contact me.

Heather Harris

http://www.AGreenBiz.com

So why Go Green?

First of all, our health.   It is a known fact that asthmas, allergies and cancers are all on the rise.   In recent years 80,000 chemicals have been registered for use in everyday products, many not adequately tested for health effects on adults, let alone children.   That means that our families have been the guinea pigs in a large chemistry experiment, and now we are seeing the results!!

Secondly, our planet.   Green products available on the market these days are all safe alternatives for Mother Earth.  Our family converted to Get Clean household products last year and we could not be happier.   We are now doing our part to eliminate landfill waste and greenhouse gasses by using biodegradable and non-toxic cleaning supplies.   It is important as consumers to look at buying concentrated products, so there is less packaging waste and manufacturing emissions.   Not to mention we are no longer purchasing products that are squandering the planet’s non-renewable resources.

And finally, our wallet.   Going Green can save you a bundle of money.  I’ve recently been reading a great book titled “Go Green, Live Rich” by David Bach.   This book is a great reference for some cost saving tips to use at home, and I will attempt to share some of these in future entries.

As a mom, my first priority in life is my children, so I will close with the following quote from Marian Wright Edleman “ If we don’t stand up for children, we don’t stand up for much.”   As a society lets start standing up for the future generations, and make some positive changes, if everyone made one small change the cumulative effect would be enormous!!

For more information about the Shaklee Get Clean products our home uses, feel free to contact me.

Heather Harris

www.AgreenBiz.com

I love the idea of being a stay at home mom and still operating a very profitable business from the comfort of our living room.   My company offers me a global business opportunity in the exploding green industry.   I never could have imagined how fast this business would take off for us.   I often have to remind myself these days take a few moments and smell the roses with my kids instead of getting caught up in all the excitement of my growing company.

The purpose of this blog will be to share our story of success building a green business on the worldwide web, and perhaps along the way offer some tips and advice of how to go green at home.

I look forward to writing more entries, stay tuned.

Heather Harris

www.AGreenBiz.com