Savvy Women's Alliance Blog

Announcing: A Green Cleaning Party Kit

The days are longer, the birds are chirping and the trees are starting to bud. It can only mean one thing – Spring is here! While we all enjoy the extra hours of daylight and the warmer temperatures, not all of us look forward to another thing that happens around this time of year – spring cleaning.

But what if there was a way to make spring cleaning easier, fun and, best of all, nontoxic?

The Savvy Women’s Alliance is delighted to partner with Women’s Voices for the Earth to provide a Green Cleaning Party Kit. Our Gatherings embody Savvy’s heart – the belief that nontoxic living is easier and more fun to tackle when we do it together. Your job is to focus on your friends. Our job is to make this easy. Take a look at what can happen in your home...

[fa icon="clock-o"] May 3, 2018 4:11:48 PM [fa icon="user"] Diana Alexander [fa icon="folder-open'] Gatherings, Cleaning

How-To: Safer Wipes For Schools

How Can I Make A Difference In My Child's School?

A question we hear often at the Savvy Women's Alliance. It's not easy, but it can be done. We see it happen often and when we do, it is worth celebrating. Mesmerized by Janna Said's safer wipes initiative in her school, we are delighted to share her success and approach.

Before Janna had her children, she was an elementary school teacher, educating little people. Her nontoxic journey began when she was pregnant with her first child. She stopped wearing nail polish and stopped cleaning bathrooms at her husband’s insistence. She bought organic milk and eggs. And now her journey has found roots in one of her biggest campaigns yet: a safer wipes initiative. Little things added up. Now, she’s educating adults.

Step One: Learn From Janna

[fa icon="clock-o"] May 3, 2018 3:07:25 PM [fa icon="user"] Janice Sina [fa icon="folder-open'] schools, Kids, Cleaning, Cleaning Products

March | April 2018 Events

Meet Your Farmer: Regional Event
Meet & Greet with Kristi Marsh
Tackle Cleaning Products
Meet Beth Conway, Women's Voice for the Earth | Communications Director
Looking for a Chapter near you? Find A Chapter

[fa icon="clock-o"] Mar 14, 2018 6:22:00 PM [fa icon="user"] Team Savvy [fa icon="folder-open'] Announcements

Start With The Air In Your Home

We’re indoors more than ever and in buildings that are sealed tightly for ultimate climate control. So that stretch and deep breath that we take each morning may not be quite as good for us as we assume. Our homes can be 2-5 times more polluted than the outside air and this pollution is created from everyday products. A single exposure, or exposure over time, can present a range of symptoms from irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat; headaches; dizziness; and fatigue. As many know, indoor air at home or work can aggravate chronic asthma or migraines.

The good news? This is an area where we can create an easy and positive impact.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Mar 14, 2018 5:19:00 PM [fa icon="user"] Janice Sina [fa icon="folder-open'] Cleaning

10 Quick Nontoxic Kitchen Cleaning Tips

Everyone wants a clean and healthy kitchen. If you're looking to achieve both without introducing unhealthy chemicals, here are some simple Do’s and Don’ts.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Mar 14, 2018 4:45:00 PM [fa icon="user"] Hannah Gardener [fa icon="folder-open'] Vinegar, Cleaning, Castile Soap, Kitchen

Four Ways To Find Your Happy (Meat) Place

Happy Meat (adjective): Meat that comes from an animal that has been humanely raised in as close to its natural environment as possible without unnecessary antibiotics and hormones. Tasty and even more exciting when discovering a deal.

As we become increasingly aware of the environmental and health issues that come with commercially raised meat, there comes a desire to purchase 'better' meat (or “Happy Meat” as casually defined above.) If you choose to eat meat, we encourage you to find your Happy Meat source. Although, if only a lucky few have a farmer down the road to ask the hard questions, how does one find sustainably raised meat at a reasonable price?

Here are our four favorite starting points on how to choose wiser to bring Happy Meat to your dinner plate:

[fa icon="clock-o"] Feb 21, 2018 4:38:00 PM [fa icon="user"] Diana Alexander [fa icon="folder-open'] Fresh Food, Shopping, Organic, Food, USDA Organic, Meat & Veggies

Love To Write? We Have a Special Place For You

CALL FOR WRITERS

Our Writing Team is a key piece of the Savvy Women's Alliance; it gives our voice a "friendly face" as we simplify the nontoxic living learning curve. Our volunteer writers love to write, they are valued, and deep down, they know their heart's work is making a difference.

We're Looking For:

Hobbyists who have a passion for the written word
Technical writers
Rising influencers who would like to build their presence
Project launchers
Storytellers
Interviewers

[fa icon="clock-o"] Feb 19, 2018 11:27:01 AM [fa icon="user"] Team Savvy [fa icon="folder-open'] Announcements

Protective Legislation: How To Find & Support Efforts In Your State

Me: If I was to invest my limited time and actively support protective legislation that enforced transparency and restricted the worst-of-the-worst chemicals, wouldn't I want to focus on federal legislation? An across-the-country approach that applies to all?

Learning Moment: State legislation can be a powerful tool to directly protect local residents and to create momentum for other states, and ultimately federal change. Right now, federal progress is highly unlikely. Instead, our big sister nonprofits are working to defend current long standing protection such as the Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Air Act, and many others.

In fact, it's highly likely that you have policy unfolding right now your state. Here is what we need to know and what we can do:

[fa icon="clock-o"] Feb 16, 2018 6:55:00 AM [fa icon="user"] Kristi Marsh [fa icon="folder-open'] Become a Leader, Legislation, Volunteer, Change Makers

Romance at the Meat Counter: My Quest for Beefy Choices

Seeking Evening Companionship

I am fed up with bringing home deceptive groceries, possibly hiding unwanted antibiotics, pesticides, and hormones. Can I rekindle my love, trust, and simple enjoyment with quality, happy meat? Is it possible you are out there, not overpriced? Do you exist?

~ Signed, Ima B. Leever

With no one replying to my want ad, I headed out on my own. While shopping at my local Whole Foods market, a grocery store dedicated to “selling the highest quality natural and organic products,” I rounded the grocery aisle between dairy and seafood and gasped at what I saw in the meat section. With giddy excitement, I thought perhaps I might have found my soul meat.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Feb 7, 2018 8:16:00 PM [fa icon="user"] Kristi Marsh [fa icon="folder-open'] Parenting, Healthy Eating, Spouses, Budget Friendly, Husbands, Organic, Food, Meat & Veggies

Dead Zones: What We Need To Know + What We Can Do

When you hear the word “dead zone” you probably have a flash back of that moment when you were in deep conversation with your girlfriend and she kept saying “can you hear me now”? That is a dead zone most of us are familiar with. There is a much more serious dead zone than having no bars on your cell phone, dead zones in our oceans.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Feb 7, 2018 9:11:13 AM [fa icon="user"] Jaclyn Shedden [fa icon="folder-open'] Water, Food, Teachers, Environment, Meat & Veggies

Rising from Lyme Disease to Health Coach: Pallas Dame

Pallas Dame answered the phone on a November morning, the muffled sound of wind and traffic playing into the receiver. As we introduced ourselves she apologized for the noise; she was out walking, she said. She maintained her brisk pace during our hour-long conversation. I learned that this was a new-found joy for her; she had spent many years trying to find her way back to health and vitality.

A combination of genetics and Lyme disease conspired to send her into a physical, mental, and emotional tailspin after the birth of her first child about ten years ago that left her confused by doctors diagnoses and treatment regimens, and struggling against her body while trying to find answers.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Feb 6, 2018 7:43:00 AM [fa icon="user"] Janice Sina [fa icon="folder-open'] Featured Member, Change Makers

Four Ways To Eat Less Meat With A Family

My family is trying to eat less meat.

Not because we want to become vegetarian but because we’ve increasingly read about the impact that adopting a more plant-based diet can have on our health. Eating this way is also better for the environment. According to Nature: International Journal of Science, 20 servings of vegetables have fewer greenhouse gas emissions than 1 serving of beef.

What if your child is a picky eater, though? A whole-foods, plant-based diet does not include meat, dairy, eggs, or refined products like white flour, refined sugar, and oil, the staples of any kid’s diet, if given the choice.

Here are a few tips to make meat less of a centerpiece and more of a side dish on your family table, with the support of your kids:

[fa icon="clock-o"] Jan 24, 2018 1:20:00 PM [fa icon="user"] Amanda Griffith [fa icon="folder-open'] Kids, Food, Meat & Veggies

Seven GMOS + Glyphosate Fundamentals We All Should Know (video)

This is the fourth video from our annual Talk Savvy To Me event where we celebrated our volunteers and shared hot topics from powerful speakers. We hope you can attend our next Talk Savvy To Me in late 2018.

Let's Break It Down: GMO's + Glyphosate: What We Need To Know

[fa icon="clock-o"] Jan 24, 2018 6:19:00 AM [fa icon="user"] Team Savvy [fa icon="folder-open'] Legislation, Change Makers, Food, Talk Savvy To Me, GMOs, Glyphosate

Monica Fernandes: From Portugal to the Savvy Women's Alliance Board

When I was in high school, I tripped up the auditorium steps to receive an award for gymnastics at Sports Awards Night. Since that time I’ve admittedly shied from center stage. So I have great admiration for anyone who comes up front-and-center not once, but twice in a single day. Meet Monica Fernandes, grace and bravery personified. On June 22, she was introduced as one of Savvy’s new board members. And earlier that afternoon, she was among 3,000 people becoming naturalized as U.S. citizens at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, the ceremony attended by 2,000 friends and family. A native of Lisbon, Portugal, Monica has lived in the U.S. for 24 years; she still travels to visit her family frequently.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Jan 23, 2018 6:03:00 AM [fa icon="user"] Janice Sina [fa icon="folder-open'] Featured Member

Jan/Feb: Meat & Veggies, Tampa Fl, Arvada Co and more...

Food choices are something fundamental you can control about yourself: what you take into your body. When so many other things are out of control and your influence over climate change - all these much larger issues - it's very hard to see any results or any progress. But everybody can see progress around food. ― Michael Pollan

Join us in Tampa, FL + Arvada, CO?
Start A Chapter: Informal Chat 2/7
Two Month Topic: Meat & Veggies

[fa icon="clock-o"] Jan 10, 2018 6:14:00 PM [fa icon="user"] Team Savvy [fa icon="folder-open'] Announcements

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