Thanks to BlogHer and the bloggers who speak up!

I haven’t been posting much recently because I’m hard at work on the Plastic-free Book. But I had to take a break to fill you in on a pretty cool story about what happens when enough of us speak up. As many of you know, I attended the annual BlogHer conference in early August. I brought my usual travel supplies (reusable mug, reusable utensils, Lunchbot container, etc.) so I wouldn’t get stuck with any unexpected plastic waste. In previous years, the conference venue has provided real china and silverware, so assuming this year would be no different, I didn’t think to bring my stainless steel container with me to the actual conference center. I left in my hotel room.  I gasped when I got to the lunch buffet line, starving after having missed breakfast, and encountered black plastic plates. And not just any kind of plastic, but polystyrene — a particularly toxic kind that is rarely recycled.

What should I do? I could go … Read the rest

I’m speaking at BlogHer 2010 this weekend

Last year, I ranted about feeling overwhelmed at the BlogHer conference. In my post, Blogher ’09 and The Story of Stuff, I asked how BlogHer could move away from the commercialization of the conference and how we as bloggers could get back to our roots and avoid getting swept up in the barrage of swag and parties pushed by conference sponsors. I also revealed that I spent all of the first night drunk off my butt and that because I felt so overwhelmed and exhausted going in to the conference, I failed to make the most of the educational tracks offered.

BlogHer 2010 will be different from BlogHer 2009

I’m hoping this year will be different. But the difference will be inside of me… not the conference itself. From the program guide, it looks like there are even more sponsors this year — big companies like Procter and Gamble, Pepsico, Walmart, and McDonald’s. But BlogHer has made one important change, and that is that vendors … Read the rest

A Break from Blogher09 Frenzy: My Lunch with Tim Gunn at the Four Seasons

I have a lot to say about the Blogher Conference, plastic, traveling, Chicago, disillusionment, and frustration.  But first things first!

I won a personal style consultation with Tim Gunn!

You got that right.  It’s Tim Gunn from Project Runway: probably my favorite guilty pleasure TV show.  I don’t normally enter contests, but this was one I couldn’t resist.  Last week, I found out I had won (and spent a few days obsessing about what to wear before giving up in futility), and this afternoon, I joined him at the Four Seasons for lunch.

(Whatever your feelings about style, the fashion industry, advertisers — the contest I won was sponsored by Tide — or reality television, this post is not about those things. It’s about a one hour human connection, and that’s all.)

What I thought was going to be a makeover and style criticism consultation turned out to be a lovely meal and conversation about… Read the rest

Hey, whatcha got in that swag bag?

First of all, thank you all for your support. I’m grateful to everyone who left an encouraging comment on my Fark post. I’ll write more about it in my own comment on that post. Right now, I need to ask for your help again.

The annual Blogher Conference is coming up in July. Last year, it was held here in San Francisco. This year it will be in Chicago. But that’s not the only difference. After several of us bloggers made our green voices heard critiquing last year’s event, the organizers listened and have put together a Green Team for suggestions of how to make this year’s conference as eco-friendly as possible.

I’m happy to be a volunteer on the Blogher ’09 Green Team. We’ve already had one conference call and discussed all kinds of issues, from how to get attendees to the hotel from the airport using group transit to planning buffet-style menus requiring no disposable tableware.

One of the ways that conferences… Read the rest