Pregnancy Photographer, Maternity Photographer, Newborn Baby Photographer, Child Photography San Francisco Bay Area

Be Green Giveaway – Ashley McNamara – San Francisco Photographer

As 2010 shoves on some of us are still hanging onto our new years resolutions and some of us no-so-much.. raise your hand if your resolution was to lose weight and then you went to in-n-out and had a double double?? No one? Wait.. that was me. Sigh..

Anyways, my resolutions this year were to lose weight, blog more, and be greener. I am down 11lbs, I am blogging more, and…. Confession time–  we just started recycling this year. I feel so ashamed typing that, with all the “go green” in the media and even in technology — go apple! I just cannot believe it took me so long to get on board.

Living a greener lifestyle isn’t as hard as I thought it would be.. it might even be more stylish.

Last week my husband came home from work with two of the cutest reusable bags by a company called Mika&bu.  The thing that I love about these bags are that they are 1. cute 2. super durable and 3. they have a cute little pocket on the inside where you can put cards, coupons, or snotty tissues.. whatever you want… I just thought it was so clever.

Today my be green giveaway is a mika&bu bag! To enter just leave a comment in in the comment box and I will use a random number generator to select a winner tomorrow at 3pm. (I am stuffing a little something extra in the cute little pocket)

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED! This will not be the last giveaway. I am already planning a little something for next month.

TODAY’S WINNER IS SARAH LANE!

screen shot 2010 01 28 at 4 23 11 pm Be Green Giveaway   Ashley McNamara   San Francisco Photographer


mika and bu Be Green Giveaway   Ashley McNamara   San Francisco Photographer

10 ways to live greener

1. DITCH GROCERY STORE BAGS!

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, more than 380 billion plastic bags are used in the United States every year. Of those, approximately 100 billion are plastic shopping bags, which cost retailers about $4 billion annually.

Good for you: reusable is cool and now stylish.

2. Change a Light Bulb

Installing a compact fluorescent bulb (CFL) is the quickest, easiest way to save energy — and money.

3. Unplug Things That Glow

Anything that has an LED (light emitting diode) that glows even after you turn it off continues to draw power (that you pay for).

Good for You: Unplug appliances and electronics that glow and you could save $200 a year.

4. Support Local Farmers

Typical grocery store produce travels nearly 1,500 miles before it ends up on your plate. All this traveling burns fossil fuels and results in carbon emissions — a fancy term for pollution. Buying from local farmers means you’re not only getting the freshest food possible, you’re saving energy.

5.  Fix That Drip

When you next fill your water glass, think about this: We each use about 100 gallons a day, enough to fill 1,600 glasses. Household water consumption has increased by 200 percent since 1950.

6. Let Your Grass Grow

Spending less time tending to your lawn actually makes it greener — in every sense of the word. Most grass species fare best when they’re kept at least 2 1/2 inches tall. The length creates more surface area to absorb sunlight, which creates thicker turf and deeper roots, which means you won’t need to water as often.

7. Look for the Label

A household with Energy Star products uses about 30 percent less energy than the average household — an annual savings of about $570.

8. Do Full Loads

Whenever you wash just a few clothes or dishes at a time rather than waiting for a full load to accumulate, you’re wasting water, power, and money. The average American family of four washes about 540 loads of laundry a year, which consumes up to 21,000 gallons of water, and more than 150 loads of dishes, which uses about 1,500 gallons. Let’s face it.. who likes laundry anyway?

9. Audit Your Energy

It’s easier to save energy when you know exactly how much and where you’re using it.

Good for you: On average, an energy audit shows how to save up to 30 percent on utility bills.

10. Recycle Your Electronics

Americans tossed out a whopping 5.5 billion pounds of  electronics — TVs, stereos, cell phones, and computers.

Good for You: Sell unused cell phones to greenphone.com. You’ll receive about $35, and the phones will be refurbished and resold. If 1 million people recycled one cathode-ray tube TV this year, we’d keep 4 million pounds of lead out of the ground.

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show hide 59 comments

Laura - Super cute!!!
Love the purple one.January 29, 2010 – 8:42 am

amber - Congrats on sticking with your resolutions, Ashley! My husband thinks I am total overkill regarding recycling, but it’s so easy to do & makes such an impact, so why not?!January 28, 2010 – 11:50 am

Laurie - Absolutely adore the mika and bu bags :) January 28, 2010 – 11:35 am

candice - Cute! Love it :) January 28, 2010 – 11:21 am

TARA C - Love the tips! Could learn sooo much from you would love to sit down with you or observe a shoot! Too bad I live so far away!!! Thanks again!January 28, 2010 – 11:13 am

Jennifer - Way to Go Green!!! One of our go green household resolutions last year was to start composting (the other was to stop buying bottled water), our city already forces us to recycle and they implemented “green” boxes for kitchen waste but we felt it rather stupid to give the city our waste only to buy it back every spring in the form of dirt for our gardens. It took a few months to sort it all out out but with spring just around the corner im getting eager to see our accomplishment make our yard greener :) January 28, 2010 – 10:41 am

Jeanette LeBlanc - Yay for you – there are so many small but easy ways to go green!

I’d love to win :) January 28, 2010 – 10:34 am

karen c. - I’m impressed with people who use their own bags when grocery shopping but don’t think I’ll ever be one of them — we simply buy too many groceries when we go shopping. I mean, are you supposed to take twenty bags with you to the store? But I do love all your other green tips. Some of those I’d never thought of before.January 28, 2010 – 10:31 am

Curtis Farmer - This is fantastic! We use these types of bags whenever we can… Love it!January 28, 2010 – 10:19 am

Elisabeth - I am ALL about a stylish bag to carry groceries around in. :) Fun idea!January 28, 2010 – 10:11 am

erin - Those bags are awesome. I would love to win one.January 28, 2010 – 8:21 am

martha - these are so stinkin’ cute!!! i need one for sure!!

and btw…congratulations on the 11 pounds – i know the struggle well, and i’m so glad to hear you have that victory under your belt…our out of it…or just…gone. :P January 28, 2010 – 8:13 am

Ashley Mae - Wahoo, what cute stuff :) January 28, 2010 – 7:14 am

Lisa - Too cute bags… and nice photography as well of them! :-) January 28, 2010 – 6:43 am

Rebecca - Super cute bags!! :) January 28, 2010 – 6:14 am

Michele - Hi Ashley! Love these bags! Super cute!!January 28, 2010 – 5:58 am

Crystal - Oooooo….I LOVE it! My FAV color is purple and I LOVE pastel wash colors vs vibrant! It’s beautiful! I’m GLAD you’ll be blogging more. I stalk and always wish I could see MORE! Lol! Thanks for the awesome giveaway! :O)January 27, 2010 – 10:09 pm

wendy laurel - i love your green tips and i love the bags so had to enter. I have to confess, I love reusable bags and always pick up cute ones here or there. And when I go to the grocery store.. I always forget to bring them in until I’m in line with 4 yelling kids, a truckful of groceries and then I am ashamed to use the grocery store ones so I buy more reusable bags!!! I need to attach them to my wallet somehow :) I’ll keep trying though… work in progressJanuary 27, 2010 – 9:37 pm

Heidi - Lovely bag!
I always use cloth bags for my market shopping. That one is especially cute!January 27, 2010 – 9:35 pm

Jan - Looove those bags! What a great contest.January 27, 2010 – 9:20 pm

Meghan Camino - This is such a cool idea! Thank you for the contest! I’m all about going green but I only have two bags so far, these are so cute!January 27, 2010 – 9:09 pm

Rhiona - Ooh! I might have to buy those bags if I don’t win! Super cute!January 27, 2010 – 7:48 pm

Kerry - 11 lbs!! Good work!! I too am on the fight the chub and living greener new yrs res. It’s a daily battle with both! Super cute bags.January 27, 2010 – 7:34 pm

deana - if nothing else, I have a name for a great recycle bag. how well do they fold up? i have a few cute ones that can roll into a little ball… not nearly as cute as these, but not a kroger bag either :) January 27, 2010 – 7:05 pm

Rachel - these bags are so cute. hope to win :) January 27, 2010 – 6:42 pm

JenD - Love them! Crossing my fingers!January 27, 2010 – 6:22 pm

Melissa - I would love to win. I really need to start being more green.January 27, 2010 – 6:19 pm

Sarah - What an awesome giveaway! Thanks girl! :) January 27, 2010 – 6:13 pm

Nessa - That’s great! I love recyclable bags!!January 27, 2010 – 6:08 pm

Ann Easterling - oooh!! that is so cute! i love it!January 27, 2010 – 5:44 pm

Tisha - Love the purple bag!January 27, 2010 – 5:20 pm

Ketti - Cute bags!
I always forget to bring my reusable bags to the store :(
But I would bring this one!January 27, 2010 – 5:16 pm

Emily - Would love these!January 27, 2010 – 5:15 pm

Gillian - Amen and amen!! Thanks for posting these great tips!January 27, 2010 – 5:05 pm

Ule Logue - those are adorable! I love reusable bags!January 27, 2010 – 5:01 pm

Sara Ippolito - They are so adorable. Your blog is one of my favorites to follow :) January 27, 2010 – 4:56 pm

Courtney - Those bags are TOTALLY cute! I need to start using reusable bags more often. I do recycle the bags that I get from grocery stores though. They go into my small trash cans. That counts, kinda, right?January 27, 2010 – 4:50 pm

kristie - look at you doing your part! keep it up girl! love the bags, they’re are super adorable. your work is such a breath of fresh air–I am so glad I found your blog!!January 27, 2010 – 4:02 pm

Sarah Lane - LOVE these!! Fingers are crossed :) January 27, 2010 – 4:00 pm

carla - Pretty bags!January 27, 2010 – 3:57 pm

tara - I use cloth bags for grocery shopping and love these! I like the ones that can stand up.January 27, 2010 – 3:54 pm

Olivia Navarro - What a great post, Ashley! Going to print out all these ideas!January 27, 2010 – 3:36 pm

MIchelle Gougeon - That bag is so cute.

I wanted to say thanks a billion for the bright eye tutorial!!

MIchelleJanuary 27, 2010 – 3:29 pm

Steffanie - super cute bag…

you must pick me!January 27, 2010 – 2:59 pm

Miranda glaeser - Love these bags! Fashionable recycling!January 27, 2010 – 2:52 pm

Jen - Love the bags and the tips!January 27, 2010 – 2:43 pm

Euciane Souza - Thanks Ashley!
I had no idea about “glowing lights.”Funny thing though, because I was trying to buy used cell phones today.
ThanksJanuary 27, 2010 – 2:37 pm

deb - adore the bag.
adore you.
hugs,
debJanuary 27, 2010 – 2:18 pm

Jacky - Hi Ashley! I just recently discovered your site, and I love your work!!January 27, 2010 – 2:09 pm

Shannon Dodd - Wow- these bags are perfect!January 27, 2010 – 2:02 pm

Tina Marie - Really cute bags! Easy way to go green.January 27, 2010 – 2:01 pm

Shauna Giesbrecht - Love love love the bags and way to go for green!!January 27, 2010 – 1:57 pm

shannon harrison - those are SUPER DUPER cute! love it! thanks for sharing!January 27, 2010 – 1:57 pm

Kim - Those bags are sweet…definitely much nicer than the ones I’ve been using for 20 -GASP- 20 years! I can’t bear to part with them:) And I agree with Kathy…it’s very generous of you to share all your photoshop tips and tutorials-they’re great and easy to learn from. Thanks:)January 27, 2010 – 1:53 pm

Keri - Too cute!!January 27, 2010 – 1:51 pm

Leticia - Thats a great idea Ashley, honestly my family should probably be more greener and get rid of those millions of plastic grocery bags cluttering up my kitchen :) January 27, 2010 – 1:50 pm

Kristin Cast - Hey there! Just entering the contest!January 27, 2010 – 1:44 pm

kathy - fantastic little bag!! wanted to tell you I love your photoshop tips too. you are the bestest evah for doing those.January 27, 2010 – 1:41 pm

Vickey Weiss - super cute!!!January 27, 2010 – 1:39 pm

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