Blogsphere is filled with green “this” and eco “that”, isn’t it?
Heck, even my site is called, “ecokaren”. So, I’m the first one to admit there seem to be somewhat an egotistical nature of pro-environmental messages we are all trying to send out on the web.
But remember how I went through the agony in deciding what to call this site when I started a few years ago? I could have called it “hot-mama-trying-raise-a-healthy-family-without-destroying-the-environment-blog” That may have been a bit too long and the ‘hot mama’ may be stretching it a bit. Hence ‘ecokaren’.
But in the sea of well meaning green blogs and news organizations, as a blogger, where do you go to find what you are looking for? Like the real breaking news, tried and true eco tips, support from other like minded people and, sound advice.
You don’t know how many times I had to email my trusty fellow bloggers to ask questions or for advice. Or what they think about a company “X” or “Y”? Or to seek advice on how to get over the ‘green fatique’. Or to find out if it’s really true that Anna Hathaway’s dress had fake nipples sewn in her dress at the Oscar’s. Hey, that was important since our earth loving vegan sister was being ridiculed on Twitter about her conspicuous couture.
Seriously, where would a blogger go to get the real low down on the gossip, learn the truth about the environment, and find out about safe products that are good for raising a healthy family in this precarious times? Where are all the reliable bloggers hanging out? I wondered.
Enter……
The Green Sisterhood Was Born
Since I wasn’t able to find one “location” where green bloggers – preferably women since we all think alike – were hanging out, I so wanted to create one so we can all talk to each other in one space. One group.
It turns out, I wasn’t the only one who thought there was a need for a group like that. Among the many admirable and knowledgeable greenies on the web, Anna Hackman of Green Talk, a former lawyer, thought so too. In fact, she said, it was her dream for many years!
I met Anna last year, around this time, in NJ and discussed our passion – get all the female bloggers together and do something meaningful while supporting each other! So Anna and I started brainstorming and we hit it off. You see, Anna is a Jew from Jersey. Now, before you get your undies in a bunch, let me ‘splain. I grew up in Forest Hills, NY, the Jewish capital, East of Manhattan. We had the best Kosher Chinese restaurant I know. I grew up eating Potato Knishes and Matzo Ball soups. So when I say I “know” Anna like a sister, I’m not exaggerating. I know her ways of thinking and know exactly what to say when she says, “Y’know what I’m sayin’?” My answer, always, is, “Yes, Anna, I get it.” and we move on, even if I didn’t get one thing her ADHD (but brilliant) mind is racing to formulate any semblance of spoken (or written) words coherently. And yes, I’m the Korean one with English as a second language.
This fast talking New Yorker and a ADHD’ng Jersey girl needed a fire extinguisher at times and that’s when Alicia Voorhies of The Soft Landing, a veteran blogger from the Mid West (who loves it whenever I say,”Dang!“) stepped in to join us (or act as a translator). She knows her toxic chemicals as a former RN so it couldn’t have been more fitting to add to our knowledge base. And her mad blog design skills made it possible for The Green Sisterhood site to go live over night. Mad skills, I tell ya.
So a former lawyer, a retired Chiropractor, and a homeschooling RN started to get all the ducks in a row to officially launch a network called “The Green Sisterhood” in late 2012. We were determined to form a network to work together to write about green companies, support causes that we are passionate about, consult each other for advice on various topics, and to fill the need for belonging to a “family”.
The Green Sisterhood Now
We are a network of 23+ female green bloggers and millions of pageviews.
We are
A community of extraordinary women empowering change for the planet
Don’t you just love that? Shivers.
We are mothers, wives, girl friends, sisters, daughters and teachers. We are communicating what we know to our loyal readers and we are learning from each other in the provess. We support each other and we ask for advice when we are stuck. We are experts in various fields, in different child bearing stages, hold eclectic mix of full time or part time jobs. Or we are dedicated stay-at-home moms. We are experts in anti-plastic, essential oils, cloth diapering, breastfeeding, non-toxic living, green purse advocate, vegans, vegetarians, natural moms, homesteaders, and more.
We are like YOU. No, we ARE you!
Three Pillars
There are three ways, pillars, Green Sisterhood is making a difference in the world.
MAKE GREEN:
Bloggers need a lot of help. No doubt about it. We need lessons on writing (especially me), managing our time (again, me.), maximizing our exposure to advertisers for financial support (boy, do we), and more importantly, being an effective communicator (did anyone say, “me too!”) And this is where Green Sisterhood will help the network members to improve. I am very excited about this because as women, we do too much without thinking about ourselves first and we really need to make this our priority if we are going to continue to blog successfully. Otherwise, we’ll burn out (emotionally and financially) and we won’t be able to continue to do our important work.
BRAND GREEN:
Green Sisterhood will be working with companies to get their sustainable messages out to you, our readers, because we think you rely on blogs to get information about companies and products. According to The Next Web, women rely on blogs and other women’s recommendation for purchases. And who’s better at conveying that right message about companies than green bloggers. Right?
BE GREEN:
We are all children of this planet and we are learning together to be responsible. We are walking this journey together and sharing our knowledge with everyone. It is so cool to share what we, 23+ bloggers, know on how to protect the planet. And YOU are part of this whole journey. Your participation and your ideas help us getting the message out to those who want to hear about your journey too. So stop by and read what we discovered. Comment and share what you’ve learned with us.
Finally….
Like I said above, what can we share with you? What can Green Sisterhood members share about our environment that concern YOU and YOUR family? We’d love to know so we can research and get you the information. After all, we are researchers at heart. We get the truth and we deliver it in our own words; not what companies are saying and not sugar coated or disguised. Even if the posts are sponsored by a company, we give our honest opinions. Anything else would be gossip.
Tell me what concerns you the most? What keeps you up at nights? Green Sisterhood will get you the info. That’s what we do.
