Ted is always looking for ways to minimize his ecological footprint. Professionally, Ted is working to gain the skills necessary to turn his passion for sustainable development into action, as an entrepreneur or financing sustainable businesses.
Ted studied economics and international business at Saint Louis University’s campus in Madrid, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude and was honored as the Distinguished Student in International Business for his class. As the founder and president of the SLU Madrid Business Club, Ted focused the club’s activities on sustainability.
While working for commercial real estate multi-national Jones Lang LaSalle’s Madrid office, Ted strove to implement sustainable practices both within the firm and for its clients. He proposed and designed an Environmental Sustainability Action Plan for JLL Spain. Green Building and Environmentally Sustainable Development remain a passion for Ted: he believes that the intersection of sustainable infrastructure and sustainable attitude is where we’ll find a sustainable society.
Ted currently works for a private equity firm in Madrid, learning skills that he hopes to apply to finance Environmentally Sustainable Development in the United States and around the world.
Cherl Petso is the Associate Editor at Disaboom.com, an online magazine for people with disabilities. Her writing expertise includes articles about the environment and sustainable living, and vegan/vegetarian issues. A vegetarian for 16 years and a recent vegan, Cherl is passionate about animal rights and issues. She enjoys writing about simple ways to lessen the impact on the Earth.
Cherl recently moved to Denver, Colorado from Bellingham, Washington. She enjoys hiking and hanging out with her puppy.
Alexis Steinkamp grew up at Helderledge Farm, a perennial plant nursery in an apple orchard near Albany, New York. As a teenager, she hybridized daylilies, raised chickens, grew tomatoes, chopped wood, picked apples, baked pies and feared mosquitoes. She left the farm to attend Northwestern University and study art and design.
After graduating in 1991, she stayed in Chicago to work in theater, film and special event design. She didn’t make much money, but lived simply and saved for a rainy day or a place to live—whichever came first. As it turned out, the condo came first. Her friends were shocked that she, a starving artist, could afford a condo in the city. How did she do it? She should write a book about it! So, she did. She wrote a personal finance workbook to help young women budget, save and dream called Thrifty Girl KICKS YOUR FINANCIAL BUTT; Get a grip on your finances without dying of boredom. And, she developed a personal finance class that she teaches at Truman College in Chicago.
Today, Alexis still lives simply. She works part-time, writes and lives in a tiny condo with a beautiful view of the Chicago skyline. Visit her online at Thrifty Girl
Loretta White is a writer, educator and scholar who gained huge diversity of experience within varied industries; energy, government, high tech and more. The last fifteen years she brokered deals with the top multinational companies globally, her Rainmaker skills are unsurpassed and she remains an authority on BD, BI, sustainability and the Global Marketplace.
Frugality was the voice of her elders who endured wars, rationing and Depression, raised to respect, love and to co-exist with nature through sustainability, self reliance, need and RRR practices. Loretta’s juxtaposition of ideas, deep love for the planet and her Yankee sensibilities are the foundation of a lifestyle that is in partnership with nature. Loretta indulges her passions for renewable energy, organics and being green on her 17.5 acre farm in central Massachusetts.
Recently Ms. White has lead an Assoc. of Caregivers providing support to those caring for parents, disabled, and others.
Loretta is invested in the community of our species and our planet and her diverse background in technology and green living gives her a unique perspective on how to live with nature and with our own gifts of technology.
Ms. White’s work has been published by Corporations, magazines, readers digest and many others.
Lauren Mangion is a writer, engaged citizen, and an eco-coach from Calgary, Canada. Lauren’s personal life and work are intimately intertwined, both being experiments in more sustainable, lower-footprint urban living.
Through Conscious Home, an eco-coaching service, Lauren educates and inspires her fellow Calgarians with tools and resources toward reducing the individual ecological footprint.
Boston born novelist, short-story writer and who has published thousands of technical papers now works in the horror-fiction world. Occasionally, his characters and stories transcend genres and travel from fantasy to realism.
White contributes to L. A, Weekly occasionally and other magazines and online forums, he also blogs regularly for several news and industry sites.
Current projects include; “Underwater City Salvage,” “Real Vampires”, “The Black Coach”, “The In-Between Time.” His novels are richly textured with excellent grasp on popular culture, and explores feelings of angst, deep-rooted in ancient themes.
A freelance writer specializing in environmental and health topics, Linda recently was part of a core team of writers who developed content for GreenYour, a website devoted to greener living.
She wrote an environmental column for five years for Good Housekeeping magazine called Green Watch. You can find her articles in Plenty Magazine’s online newsletter, Fit Pregnancy, Good Housekeeping, Arthritis Today, Profiles (Continental Airline’s in-flight magazine), and Microsoft’s Encarta.
She served on her town’s environmental commission for 15 years and remains an active volunteer. Her personal essay column for the local newspaper offers her take on the natural world and on environmental topics in her neck of the woods.
Dayanti Karunaratne is a freelance journalist based in Canada's capital city, Ottawa.
Since graduating from Carleton University's journalism program in 2006, Karunaratne has worked on the news desk at the Port Hope Evening Guide, the Ottawa Citizen, and the Molokai Times. Karunaratne's writing appears in the Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa Magazine, the Globe and Mail, and other lifestyle publications.
Heather O'Neill is the founder of Eco to the People, a green living blog.
Before founding Eco to the People, Heather O’Neill wore so many hats in the field of journalism that even the Queen Mother would envy her collection. She has worked as the managing editor of a beauty trade magazine; as a copy editor for an online tech magazine; as the associate editor of a city magazine and as a newspaper reporter and columnist, and as the senior editor at the popular online newsletter ecofabulous.
Her work has appeared in many publications, including Parenting, Alternative Medicine, Natural Solutions, Marin Magazine, Greenwich Magazine and HOME.
Heather earned a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from California College of the Arts. She lives and works in San Francisco.
Television producer-turned-blogger-turned-ecogeek, Kirsten Dirksen is co-founder of faircompanies.com a news/blog/video site focused on environmental sustainability for people and the planet.
For the cause, she has transformed her life into an eco-experiment, documenting every endeavor. Before moving to Barcelona, Spain, Kirsten was a TV producer/shooter/editor for U.S. networks like MTV, Oxygen, Sundance Channel and Travel Channel.
Annuals are for the birds… As I mentioned in my article on Easy Green Lawns, I love having one of the nicest landscapes in the area, but I also enjoy having the freedom to take shortcuts, which in turn, allows me to spend more time on enjoyable tasks.
In this post I would like to give you some tips on how to do a chore once, and not yearly.
Lets start with flowers. We want to have manicured, flower ridden beds as soon as it first hint of warm weather arrives. But why do more work than you need to? Work smarter, not harder.
Why go to the nursery every year to buy new flowers? Take the time and energy to prepare the soil, dig the hole, mend the soil, plant the flowers and water them. Then, mulch the plant to pretty up around the base.
Here are some easy choices you may want to try:
Flowers
1. Violas are the ticket, if you like the look of pansies. Here in New England, one of the harshest climates, we had these beautiful flowers blooming in the snow!
They seem to be evergreen and prolific, spreading every year. They don’t require any care after they have been hardened in. And by that I mean; plant and water every day for one week, then forget they are there.
2. Creeping Phlox: Come in all colors, evergreen and extremely hardy!
Herbs
1. Mother of Thyme: Evergreen so beautiful first when the snow melts and you can walk on it, mow it, etc. Best of all, you can use it to cook all-year-round, even in the winter.
If you want specific information on a certain item or color scheme, write me and I will be happy to advise.
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I did writing.
Thanks for reading and your great comment!
My hope is to inspire and pass on tips and shortcuts that not only make it easier, but, sustainable.
About the rain… since it is now sunny most of the day with occasional showers I want to keep it.. talk about lazy gardening – no watering!
Keep on gardening!
Loretta
Cat jeffries
September 4, 2009 5pm EDT
I am a reitred professional Chef and do not know anything about the outdoors. Our house has a “Y” shaped drive and I dug up the grass and planted some perennials (sp). I have no idea what they are. Things that were on sale and given to me. Then I put some mat on it and mulch. These flowers are tall or have big leaves, so I was wondering what I should do now. A lot of people offer flowers but say they take over the area, which I am afraid that means the flowers I planted will die. Also I don’t know what to do about the mat. Should I just punch holes i it to plant other things? Will the flowers I planted spread since I have the mat? I have a flag pole in the middle. I would like to have a flowering bush, but hubby says it will get too big.
I do have some day lillies, lilly of the valley and iris’ that I could transplant.
I live in Indiana and would appreciate any help. Thanks.
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Hi Lori! Keep the great posts coming! You are motivating me - if it every stops raining!!
Dear Chris,
Thanks for reading and your great comment!
My hope is to inspire and pass on tips and shortcuts that not only make it easier, but, sustainable.
About the rain… since it is now sunny most of the day with occasional showers I want to keep it.. talk about lazy gardening – no watering!
Keep on gardening!
Loretta
I am a reitred professional Chef and do not know anything about the outdoors. Our house has a “Y” shaped drive and I dug up the grass and planted some perennials (sp). I have no idea what they are. Things that were on sale and given to me. Then I put some mat on it and mulch. These flowers are tall or have big leaves, so I was wondering what I should do now. A lot of people offer flowers but say they take over the area, which I am afraid that means the flowers I planted will die. Also I don’t know what to do about the mat. Should I just punch holes i it to plant other things? Will the flowers I planted spread since I have the mat? I have a flag pole in the middle. I would like to have a flowering bush, but hubby says it will get too big.
I do have some day lillies, lilly of the valley and iris’ that I could transplant.
I live in Indiana and would appreciate any help. Thanks.