June 8, 2009 has officially been named by the United Nations as World Ocean Day! Just like Earth Day, everyday should be a celebration of the ocean, but on June 8th, there will be events around the world to celebrate this special day. Its a great reminder to take a visit to the ocean for a picnic and stop and think about all the ocean does for us…. Generates oxygen, supplies us food, and regulates the earths temperature.

The ocean needs to be taken care of treated with great respect! Never leave your trash at the beach, choose sustainable and safe food choices when buying/eating seafood, and never put harmful chemicals down storm drains!

Visit The Ocean Project or Thank You Ocean for more information on how our oceans help us in our lives, whether you live near an ocean or not, and for events around the world on World Ocean Day.

Remember… With a little devotion, we CAN save the ocean!!!

Earth Day is a fun day, but everyday should be Earth Day, right?! In the morning, we are going to do an Earth Day craft.. I’m thinking something we can reuse in the house, like making cute flowers out of the toilet paper rolls or telescopes from paper towel holders. We are also going to do a little walk up the street and clean up as we go, all the way to the bakery of course Then I’m taking the boys to a San Francisco Giants game in the afternoon where the Giants have teamed up with the California Academy of Sciences for a special Earth Day game! Well, I guess the game won’t have anything to do with Earth Day, but they’ll be giving away reusable bags and will be giving out green tips during the game! It will be great to see and show the boys that even baseball stadiums work hard to stay “Green” by having recycling and compost containers. We are taking the train to the game too and it should be a really fun day!! So what are you doing to celebrate the day?

To find out more about the history of Earth Day and to see what people around the world are doing, check out Earth Day Network! On this website, you can become a member of the Green Generation, by registering what you do to help the earth, learn about bringing healthy foods to schools or just find out about local Earth Day events!

On Thursday April 23, Little Green Star will be doing an Earth Fair event at 555 Mission Street in San Francisco. The event will be held in the lobby of this LEED Certified office building from 11-1 and will feature many other local “green” companies. It should be a fun event and we hope to see you there!!

So get out and do a GREEN activity! Visit our Green Activities page to find fun and green activities to do with your kids, like start working on our Bee Green Calendar, make nature bookmarks, or create an eco-collage! Or do things like take the train to work, bring your reusable mug, and be sure to turn out the lights before you leave the house. All these things make a difference and if you start tomorrow, try again the next day too!!

Enjoy the day and enjoy our beautiful Earth!

image from the national oceanic and atmospheric association

Little Green Star is proud to have met the wonderful people at Operation Shower, a non-profit group that coordinates baby showers for those women who have loved ones serving overseas in the military.

For Mother’s Day, Operation Shower will be hosting the first ever Eco-Friendly baby shower called Boxes in Bloom. The showers will be held from May 2nd-May 9th at Ft. Hood, Texas and Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.

We were happy to donate some baby onesies for this very deserving group of ladies! To find out more about Operation Shower and to find out ways you can donate for this and other events they do, please click here to be directed to their website! They make it easy to donate $25 and have it go towards a variety of “new mom” essentials like high chairs, cribs, organic clothing, blankets and more! Or you can contact Co-Founder and Chief Shower Officer (love the title!) Lena Morrissey at Lena@operationshower.org for more information about the organization or how you can help!

Little Green Star is excited to announce that we have a new member of the Little Green Star family! Kelley is the proud mama of a little girl named Siena! Congratulations Kelley!

Its wonderful to be pregnant, but it is so painful to spend so much money on maternity clothes! Well, thats where Maternity Xchange fits in. Instead of going to the department stores and spending a ton of money on new clothes, visit a monthly Maternity Xchange sale and you can find high end clothing at great prices.

According to their website, the monthly sales feature new clothes (priced at 40% to 70% off retail price) and used items on consignment (priced at 60% to 80% off retail price). The sales are located at the Presidio Sports Basement in San Francisco and other locations throughout the Bay Area. In addition to answering all of your questions about the sales events, the Maternity Xchange website also offers maternity clothes shopping tips and links to local
resources.

Maternity Xchange is a great example of recycling and reusing. Clothes, especially maternity clothes, can be used again, so don’t let these great clothes end up stuffed in the back of your closet for the next few years or even worse end up in the landfill! This might be one of the easiest “green” things you can do, I mean you as the seller get money from the sale (50% of the selling price) and you do something good for the environment by letting your fabulous clothes be worn again. Pretty easy!!

In addition to the monthly sales events, Maternity Xchange also sponsors the San Francisco Birth and Baby Fair. These events are usually in the spring and fall and are so much fun! We have participated in two of these events and they are our favorite events to do! Here is all the info from the Maternity Xchange website:
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The San Francisco Birth & Baby Fair, is an event for new and expecting parents in the San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area.

* MEET representatives from many pregnancy, birth, parenting and baby related resources including doulas, midwives, massage therapists, fitness instructors, childbirth educators, lactation consultants, photographers and more.
* LEARN by talking to experts in the birth and early parenting community, participating in workshops and watching demonstrations.
* SHOP for maternity clothes, children’s items and more. We’ll have cute, hip, funky clothing from local designers as well as our own selection of new and nearly new designer maternity clothing. Take home some original products from up and coming designers and support the local economy.
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I mean, is that fun or what?!! Its a great event, so stay tuned for the next event! Little Green Star hopes to be there as well!

So if you are in the need for maternity clothes, you’ve gotta check out these events. You’ll look fantastic and your wallet and the earth will thank you!

Maternity Xchange…. Because You’re Losing Your Waist, Not Your Taste!

Please join Little Green Star and other wonderful local designers for NEST, a shopping holiday event at Studio Grow in Berkeley, California.

Studio Grow is a large indoor play space for children, with each room equipped with toys and structures centered around different themes. Some of those rooms will be cleared out and set up to accommodate the designers, while the remainder will provide entertainment for children who accompany their parents to the event.

There will also be a children’s musician who will perform two 30-minutes sets at 11am and 12pm! The event will be held on Saturday, December 8 between the hours of 9:30a to 2:00p and the cost is $5.00.

We hope to see you there! Please see the invite below.

At 8pm tomorrow, San Francisco residents have been asked to participate in turning off non-essential lights to make the statement that too many lights are on after dark and to conserve energy. Visit Lights Out San Francisco for more information about this great community effort and for other ways to conserve energy and help fight global warming. Even the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges will turn off their decorative lights for that hour! In doing this it “could save as much as 15 percent of the energy consumed on an average Saturday night”. During this time, Lights out SF suggests changing one bulb to a compact fluorescent light bulb, which uses 75% less energy than regular bulbs. I think we can all do that, right??!

Lights Out LA is also going on the same night and Lights Out America is scheduled for March 29, 2008!

So join in and TURN OUT THE LIGHTS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Come visit us! We’ll be at the San Francisco Birth & Baby Fair and we hope to see you there!

The San Francisco Birth & Baby Fair, is a FREE event for new and expecting parents in San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area. Join us for a day of education, shopping and fun. There will be goody bags for the first 250 entrants, a FREE raffle and refreshments for all.

MEET representatives from many pregnancy, birth, parenting and baby related resources including doulas, midwives, massage therapists, fitness instructors, childbirth educators, lactation consultants, photographers and more.

LEARN by talking to experts in the birth and early parenting community, participating in workshops and watching demonstrations.

SHOP for maternity clothes, children’s items and more. There’ll be cute, hip, funky clothing from local designers as well as a great selection of new and consignment designer maternity clothing. Take home some original products from up and coming designers and support the local economy.

Saturday, August 25th · 10am - 3pm
Fort Mason Conference Center
San Francisco, CA 94123
FREE Admission

Visit www.birthandbabyfair.com for more info.
Pre-register for workshops

Little Green Star specializes in unique organic cotton baby clothes that inspire & educate your little star!

Little Green Star loves to make new friends! When I first met Lauren to look at her jewelry, I knew I was in trouble… I wanted all of it! I of course bought something for myself and my mom for Mother’s Day! Lauren has a great style to her jewelry and her pieces are so unique, well-made, and colorful. And as a geologist in a former life, it inspires me to pick up my Rocks and Minerals dictionary to read about these beautiful stones all over again! Please find below some pictures, as well as a description of her work.

Bella Beads
Lauren Tuckman is a San Francisco based jewelry designer. For over six years, she has been creating quality, “one of a kind” necklaces, bracelets, and earrings! Some of the unique ways her customers have utilized her services include;

• Trunk shows/ Jewelry shows

*Host a jewelry show at your house soon.

• Bridesmaid gifts

*Match the perfect necklace or bracelet with the right bridesmaid dress!

• Work party functions

*Host a lunch jewelry party for your friends at work soon.

• Commission pieces

Just email lorlick@sbcglobal.net for more information!

We just signed on to do the next Appel & Frank Babes and Babies designer show! We are so excited as we’ve heard how fun these events are. This is a great event for those fashionable moms and babies out there and we are honored to be a part of it!!

Saturday, June 23rd, from
10:00-3:00pm, at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco 3200 California St @ Presidio
San Francisco, CA