Green Mom - Happy Mom

A few months ago, a friend passed on a copy of Randy Pausch’s “The Last Lecture” for me to read. To be honest, I had not heard of Randy or his lecture and the book sat on my bedside table for a few weeks.

I am a busy mom and business owner and leisure reading is not something I have a whole lot of time for.

One Sunday night, I finally cracked the cover of “The Last Lecture” and before I knew it, it was almost midnight and I had read over half of the book!

To read the rest of this post click here.

Not only am I a Green Mom I am also an online marketer and entrepreneur. A few months ago, a business partner turned me on to this new company called Genewize and their Life Map Nutrition program. In a nutshell, they have developed a way to look at 12 SNP’s (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms) of your DNA code and tailor a supplement just for you.

My skeptic meter was off the charts but I have a lot of respect for the person who presented the opportunity to me so I let my guard down and took some time to research the company a bit.

This is what I found:

GeneWize’s scientific group is comprised of scientists and researchers in the fields of biotechnology, genomics, molecular biology, chemistry, medicine, clinical laboratory medicine and nutritional sciences.

To meet the scientists and researchers behind this product, click the link below:

Scientific Advisory Board (274KB PDF)

GeneLink Biosciences, Inc., the parent company’s developmental pipeline incorporates important Medical and Pharmacogenomic research areas such as genetic assessments for early the detection of Alzheimer’s and Dementia, Cardiovascular Disease, Metabolic Syndrome and innovative methods for DNA collection.

Pioneering technologies for over a decade

On May 1st, 2007, GeneWize’s parent company, GeneLink, Inc. was granted a U.S. Patent for “Kits and Methods for Assessing Skin Health” — the third patent to be granted from a family of patent applications filed by GeneLink in the U.S. and abroad.

A partial list of national and international patents (and patents pending) includes Kits and Methods for:

• Assessing Oxidative Stress
• Assessing Cardiovascular Health
• Assessing Bone Health
• Assessing Coenzyme Q Reducing Status.

To support its vision, GeneLink has launched GeneWize Life Sciences to further develop an impressive portfolio of DNA-based assessments personalizing proprietary systems direct to the consumer, including: (See Products)

• Oxidative Stress Assessment
• Comprehensive Cardio Assessment
• Lipid Metabolism Assessment
• Bone Density Assessment
• Healthy Aging Assessment
• Nutragenetic Assessment
• CoQ10 Efficiency Assessment
• Skin Health Assessment (also know as Dermagenetics® Skin Health Assessment)
• Dermagenetics® Customized Skin Care System
• Nutragenetics Customized Nutritional Supplement System
• DNA Collection System

GeneWize Life Sciences — Building the Healthiest Families on Earth

Simply stated, GeneWize Life Sciences’ mission is to:

-Help people achieve their best possible health futures; and
-Help them look better, feel better and live longer, healthier lives.

If you would like to find out more about Genewize and/or building a Home Based Business please go to: http://jessray.com/free-ecourse

Installing a Low Flow Shower Head is another simple and affordable way to green your home. Not only do you contribute to saving our fragile environment but you also save money by reducing you monthly water and energy bills.

But, before you run off to your local home improvement store, I suggest you do some research. There are several choices of low flow showerheads available, but they achieve the desired results in different ways. Many of the “saving” attributes have sacrifices that can affect not only how much you save, but also how much you continue to enjoy your shower.

The first feature you want to consider is the Flow Rate. Expressed in gallons per minute, a showerhead’s flow rate is one indicator of the amount of water and energy you’ll save. You may see the word “potential” being used since we all shower at a different temperature and for a different length of time. Too low of a flow rate and you will be spending more time rinsing off soap and shampoo which can reduce and sometime eliminate the savings all together.

Since 1992, all showerheads sold in the US have been required to limit the flow rate to no more than 2.5 gallons per minute when the water pressure is at 80 pounds per square inch. What this means is that any showerhead with a flow rate below 2.5 GPM has the “potential” to save water and energy.

A showerhead with a flow rate between 1.75 GPM – 1.5 GPM can deliver an optimum blend of savings and comfort when designed into a properly engineered showerhead. A good quality 1.75 GPM – 1.5 GPM showerhead lowers your shower-based water and energy consumption by 30% - 40%, doesn’t’t require increased shower times and leaves you feeling clean, happy, refreshed and warm.

2.5 0% 2.25 10% 2.0 20% 1.75 30% 1.5 40% 1.25 50% 1.0 60%

Next on your list of spec requirements should be Spray Coverage. This contributes directly to how warm we feel when taking a shower. Many of the less expensive showerheads have a cone pattern to the spray coverage which leaves a large hole in the center. What this means is that there is a large area of your body that is not being sprayed with warm water.

You want to find a showerhead that has a full spray coverage pattern for optimum comfort and warmth.

cone spray pattern - nozzles throughout spray face, but they are different shapes and sizes		full spray pattern - nozzles throughout spray face and all nozzles are same shape and size

The final feature that will effect the efficiency and savings of your new showerhead is how quickly (or not) the water warms up. One of the common drawbacks to low flow showerheads is that it seems to take forever for the water to heat up. This makes sense considering less water is running from you water heater to your shower. So, this directly cuts in on how much energy and water you are saving.

I have found a company that makes low flow showerheads with “Shower Start Technology”. This is what it is:

A new technology, called ShowerStart, has been created to take the inconvenience out of waiting for your shower to get warm. With Shower5tart technology built into your showerhead you no longer have to stand with your hand in the water waiting for it to get to bathing temperature. Rather, ShowerStart monitors the shower’s temperature for you and automatically shuts the water flow down to a trickle as soon as it’s warm enough - about 95°. Reducing the flow to a trickle accomplishes two objectives:

1. you’ll know (hear) the moment your shower is ready
2. it keeps hot water from running needlessly down the drain before you start taking your shower

Not only does the addition of ShowerStart make the low-flow showerhead more convenient, it also has the potential, depending on your behavior patterns, to increase the water and energy savings effectiveness of your new showerhead by 14% or more.

I went through this company’s catalog and found their RoadRunner model. This meets all of the ideal requirements and is a fair price. Even better, I found it on Amazon.com for a significant savings.

As with any purchase you will make in “greening” your home (such as a compost tumbler, CFLightbulbs, cloth shopping bags) you want to look at it as an investment that will pay for itself in a fairly short period of time.