One Small Change Winners!

Of course we are all winners in the case! Congratulations to everyone for all your amazing efforts! I am blown away with how many changes were made and how successful everyone was! Yay for change! We have had an overwhelming response for those who want to carry on with the challenge. Check back tomorrow for a post and let us know what you plan to change for May!

*If you see your name below, no need to email us...you will be notified shortly*

Jillian of Every Day Life for Four Seasons: set of 4 cloth napkins from Hip Mountain Mama

Meredeth of Phoebe Hollow: Cloth Grocery Bag from Hip Mountain Mama

Rob of Robs World: Cloth Shopping Bag from Hip Mountain Mama

Danielle of the Makings of Every Day: 1 year subscription to Brain Child Magazine from Brain Child

Jessi of Jessi and David's Blog: Basket of Barefoot Books from Blueberry Cottage

Tif of Midst: 2 skeins of organic undyed merino wool from Mama for Earth

Pam R.: Recycler Bags from Live Once Juicy

Valerie of A Place Like This: One of a kind handmade cutting/serving board from So Wabi Sabi

Kendra of By Hand and Home: 2 skeins of naturally hand dyed yard & 4 oz of naturally hand dyed roving from Shivaya Naturals

Jess of Openly Balanced: Recycled Hedgehog from By Hand and Home

Eileen of Little Acorn Learning: $50 Gift Certificate to My Mummy Knits

Wendy of Thimble Nest: 1 year subscription to seasonal newsletter from Plain and Joyful Living

Jenna of Stirrings and Stories: 1 Farmers Market Print from Wolfie and the Sneak

Renee of Heirloom Seasons: 1 Farmers Market Print from Wolfie and the Sneak

Abby of Organizing Life: 1 Farmers Market Print from Wolfie and the Sneak

Andrea of Remains of the Day: 1 Farmers Market Print from Wolfie and the Sneak

One Small Change Winners!

Earth Day Post

Please post a comment to this post with a link to your One Small Change Wrap Up Blog Post. We would love to hear how the challenge went for you, what you liked most, what was the most challenging, what was the most fun...really anything you feel moved to write about, we want to hear it!

We will read through your posts and announce several winners on May 1st. To see a list of our sponsors and prizes please go here.

We are also very excited about keeping the blog active all year to offer support for those who want to keep the challenge going beyond Earth Day! If you would like to write a post for the blog please email me at suzy@hipmountainmama.com. We are also still accepting sponsors that will go live on the blog May 1st...contact me for details at suzy@hipmountainmama.com.

We are so pleased with our first annual One Small Change Challenge! I am very impressed with everyone's efforts and so excited with the difference we all made! Congratulations to everyone who participated in this grassroots movement...you helped make this world a better place!

Earth Day Post

Mid April Update

If you have an update on how your April change is going, please leave a comment here!

Mid April Update

Words From Suzy: Loving April

This month is just cruising along! April is always a busy month for my family as we celebrate my oldest daughters birthday, we start playing in the garden, and backyard get togethers start to naturally occur. Everything about April just makes me happy! We start to emerge from our little caves and congregate with neighbors talking about how fun the summer is going to be.

As we start to sleep with our windows open, break out the shorts and flip flops, and eat our meals outside, it is the perfect month to start really focusing on taking care of our Earth. April is really a great time to appreciate how life comes back from the cold of winter and everything is in such harmony if we just let it be.

This morning I woke up to birds chirping and as I looked out the window I saw a bird gathering supplies to build a nest. My children rushed outside to play after breakfast instead of begging to watch TV. While I sat in my kitchen drinking some chai I listened to the laughs and joy of children playing outside at 8:00 am on a Tuesday morning. I truly love April!

Suzy is a Mama, Wife, Business owner, Environmentalist, Activist, and Lover of nature. She spends her days running Hip Mountain Mama and One Small Change, cherishing her children, and spending as much time outdoors as possible She dreams of creating an Eco Village where she can live off the land while respecting the earth and the people who live on it.

Words From Suzy: Loving April

The Community of Change Welcomes Angie...and A Giveaway!

One Small Change for me, is a natural extension of living a life that is "connected". What does that mean, to feel "connected"? It is different for each of us, but it is always a conscious choosing, a grasping of responsibility for our actions. In this day and age, following the consequences of our actions can get complicated. Best to pare it down to a simple act. Which is why it is brilliant to have ONE small change. Because in this day and age, there are always surprises, especially if you have small children in your life.
Our changes were small indeed: I went no-poo, I stopped using paper diapers at night (I used cloth by day anyway), and I am sewing up some produce bags. For me, these were simple, easy, sustainable changes.
One thing I did not change was my passion for good quality crafting materials, and feeling connected through the traditional arts. As a handwork teacher, I am always looking for ways to hone my craft and deepen my understanding of traditional processes such as spinning, weaving, plant-dyeing, and music making. I do have an oft-neglected etsy shop where I occasionally peddle naturally-dyed yarn.

To me, natural dyeing is the perfect blending of the gifts of the earth. It is such an art to extract color from plants and minerals. As with any other creative process, the vision of the artist meets the limitations of the materials and the unexpected can happen. I love processes that encourage this kind of letting go of the end result and allow you to truly be present to the process. Not to mention that the colors of naturally dyed yarn have a quality, a depth, that is soothing and harmonious. The earth has given us such incredible gifts, and such varied and beautiful colors. We can celebrate Earth's gifts with the work of our hands, and revel in her marvelous sense of color. In addition to being beautiful, natural dyeing is truly sustainable.

To that end, I would like to give away 2 skeins of plant-dyed yarn from my etsy shop, a set of knitting needles topped with handspun, and a bag to tote them in. Please choose your yarn (there is even some beautiful pink organic yarn in there) and I will send you 2 balled skeins. Heck, you should try even if you don't knit.



Angie is a handwork teacher, leader of a parent-child program, mother of four children ages 15 months to 18 years, seeker, big planner and devotee of living the deeply creative life. Angie's blog is The Artist, The Mom, so named because she wanted a place to explore the roles we take as mothers and creative beings. Stop by...you might see pictures of a sheep farm, be invited to write a poem, and catch a glimpse into the secret lives of a handwork teacher.

Congratulations Sara for winning! Thanks to everyone for entering!

The Community of Change Welcomes Angie...and A Giveaway!

The Community of Change Welcomes Erin of The Green Phone Booth

I've always been drawn to the green side, but if you had known me five years ago, you might not have realized that about me. Back then, I was your average over-consuming Target-addict American. I gave lip service to the environment, but I didn't realize how my actions mattered, and to be honest, I didn't care enough to find out.

And then about three years ago, I had a wake-up call in the form of my 28^th birthday. After ten years as an adult, I realized that the ME I'd always thought of myself as was very different from the ME I actually was. I decided it was time to go green. But could I afford it?

At the time, my family was in the process of moving from Maryland to North Carolina. The economy had tanked, and we were trying to sell a house while keeping up with both our mortgage and our rent. Money was budgeted to the last dollar – there certainly wasn't any extra money to spend on organic foods or fancy green products.

I decided to start with the parts of going green that save money: I kept the air conditioning on high and the heat on low. I started line drying some of our clothes. We cut back on how much we drove and walked when possible. I bought less, and when we really needed something, I tried to find it used.

As I made each money-saving change, I shifted the savings to our grocery bill. I started shopping at the farmers market and Whole Foods, and focused on buying as much organics or sustainably produced products as I could. After a year, our grocery bill had gone up by $150, but we'd saved so much in other categories that the total budget stayed exactly the same.

Throughout the year, I'd been chronicling my experiment on my blog The Conscious Shopper, even listing my budget each month. After proving to myself that it was possible to go green without going broke, I wanted to share what I'd learned with others, so in January, I started The Conscious Shopper Challenge. Each week I post a new challenge to help my readers go green without spending a lot of money.

I haven't done any of the big changes that people often associate with living green. I haven't put solar panels on my roof (though I do pay a little every month to support renewable energy). I haven't bought a hybrid (I hope to eventually, but for now, we focus on walking more and driving less). I don't live in a “green home” (but my house is significantly smaller than average, and I try to keep my energy use low). Instead, I've focused on doing lots of small things, and I believe those small things add up to make a big difference.

Erin writes about the intersection of frugality and green living at The Conscious Shopper and The Green Phone Booth. She lives in Raleigh, NC with her four favorite fellows (her husband and three sons). Connect with her on Twitter or join her Go Green without Going Broke group on Facebook.




Thanks Erin for sharing these great tips on how to live green and save money! If you are interested in writing for One Small Change, we would love to hear your story!! Email me, suzy@hipmountainmama.com

Don't forget to sign up for our produce bag giveaway!
~Suzy

The Community of Change Welcomes Erin of The Green Phone Booth

Giveaway: 4 Blue Avocado Produce Bags

In honor of Earth Day we wanted to giveaway some produce bags to two of our One Small Change Friends. 2 winners will receive a set 2 of Blue Avocado Produce Bags!

Here's the cool part! We want to reach mainstream America with this project...and what better way to do it, than to bring it to Oprah's attention! All you need to do is go to this link, fill out the small form telling them you want to see One Small Change
http://1smallchangeblog.blogspot.com/ on Oprah, then come back here and tell us you did so in the comments! Tell your friends, family, twitter and facebook friends to be entered multiple times into the drawing! Help us spread the word!

Giveaway: 4 Blue Avocado Produce Bags

April Winners!

Thanks to everyone for getting your April change posts up! I can't wait to spend some time this week reading about your changes! If you haven't posted yet, no worries...just check out the April Change post and leave a comment whenever you are ready!

Congratulations to Fawn of Intead of the Dishes for winning a free daily guide from Little Acorn Learning! Fawn's April change is to start composting and you can read about it here.

And...Congratulations to Belinda Mae of The Seasonal Magpie for winning a custom made piece of jewelry from Hannah Handpainted! Belinda Mae has big plans for April including making produce bags, learning how to make soy yogurt and more. You can read more about her changes here.

Thanks! We will be back in a couple of days with some posts!

**Hip Mountain Mama is having several specials going on this month in honor of Earth Day. Be sure to check out the Hip Mountain Mama blog, Twitter Account, and/or the Facebook Fan Page for updates on specials!

April Winners!