Wow How Sustainable You Have Grown

I love the availability of sustainable and eco-friendly products. It seems that every time you turn around there seems to be a new affordable product.


NOW...........It is our turn!


We need to buy these products.


Ask questions to make sure they are living up to what they say they are.


All of us now need to start making this planet beautiful again, and we can do this by buying products that are eco-friendly, and live up to the standards set upon them.





I live in Kansas City, and I am finding it hard to understand why the majority of our city is not moving forward with all of these new great and healthy items.


Yes, you may shop at Whole Foods.


I see more and more bringing there own reusable bags. But what about what you put into those bags? What about the content of the bags your buying? Are you making your home a healthy home with the new great eco-friendly cleaning products? Do you know what to look for? What about when you go to the Mall: Are you taking a bag from every store every time you buy an item? Can you walk instead of driving a mile to get there? Is it not chic enough for us to save gas and walk somewhere? Come on! When does thankful and humble come into play for us? Green is the new way - and taking every new step possible to make that happen is the new chic!





Hey MIDWEST! We can make this happen!





Tell next time: THINK THINK THINK

Helping Your Local Businesses

I just wanted to take a moment to ask everyone to please help your local economy!

I went to an awesome local expo called Just for Her. It featured one of our local magazines HERLIFE which helps keep our local womens community together. It also features local women business owners (Gail Worth who owns a local Harley Davidson dealership is on the May cover). It is a good read.

But the most important thing I saw......local businesses needing there communities support.

Here are a few:

My Bella Zia - Personal Assistant & Concierge Service; http://www.mybellazia.com/
LillyBit, LLC - Very cute Chic Boutique items; http://www.lillybit.com/
Bottomless Diapers - cute personalized diapers..would make a great shower gift; http://www.bottomlinediapers.net/
ALH Home Renovations - great remodeling projects office@alhhomerenovations.com
Susan H. Robichaud - Fabulous local photographer, with rates that are out of this world; http://www.susanrobichaud.com/

and there were so many more!

Let's not forget http://www.hercityguide.com/. They have some great membership reward cards, and they are all about local. There card gives great discounts to many local businesses.

And just a side note: Let's not forget about our local Farmers Markets, and our local farmers. They need our support as well. I can not say enough about the local organic farmers. Thank you for being around!

All in all...it's worth the extra to make sure our economy stays in place. Without it, were would we be?

Support your local community..and get involved!
Miche McKown-Brown
Me & My Baby Design/MMb Designs
Owner/ Interior Designer

Holding Steady

The LEED exam is like the any difficult exam per industry. It takes a mindset, and a determination to pass it. The one thing that does scare me is that there aren't any local study groups.

So, I am floating out here alone hoping to cover the majority of points. There are some great blogs out there and that some great information on them. I know which websites to look at. BUT.........this test is my whole fear! Can I pass? So many people haven't. It is a very expensive test when you are paying for it yourself. I fear this test more than the NCIDQ - which is my next great challenge!

UGH! I will let everyone know how everything is going. Let's keep our fingers crossed. Talk to you soon.

Visit to West Elm

Hi everyone!
Had a good visit with our local West Elm store here in the Leawood, Ks area. They have a great staff and are very easy to communicate with. They also have some eco-friendly products that will work well with any ones home.
There organic pin-tuck bedsets has a great hand, are in some great earthy tones, and have a great puckering effect to them. They also have a matchstick sateen that has a great feel as well. West Elm also has organic bath towels, and feature items such as use recycled glassware.
The price point is great. All items run between $19.00- 169.00 for bed and bath items, and their recycled glassware line runs from $5.50- 12.00.
You can always visit their website at: www.westelm.com, but why not visit the store. Almost everything on the floor is on hand in there stockroom. So there is no need to wait for items. Great way to have instant gratification.
Thanks to Piper and David....had a great time talking about some great issues.

Wow! The air today!

It's time to think about clean air in your home. Everyday there are more, and more factors to include into making your in-home air quality better. Here are some small tips to think about when redecorating your home:

• Use no VOC paint. It takes the paint smell out of your home. For those who suffer from allergies and other breathing problems - this will eliminate any breathing problems along with other risk factors VOC's bring to the table. A great paint company that brings no VOC paint is Yolo paints.
• Use organic fabrics. These fabrics do not have the carcinogens in them that a lot of textile fabrics have. They are completely pesticide free, and can now be found at a lot of local fabric stores. Make sure you look for the organic symbol.
• FSC and Organic furniture. These products may cost a little more, but they help your health in so many ways. Just the use of an organic mattress can help you sleep significantly.
• Natural wood flooring and recycled carpet tiles -- you can never go wrong. When picking out any hard flooring make sure to look for chemicals that you don't want or need. Flooring companies are now coming out with natural stains that won't effect any family members health.

These are just a few suggestions. If you would like more information feel free to email your questions to info@MeandMybabyDesigns.com or check out our newsletter at www.MeandMyBabyDesigns.com.

Happy Earth Day

Wow, Can not believe that Earth Day was started in 1970, and we still have so much to do. Here are just a few things we can do within our own community:

• Campaign for clean air: www.wecansolveit.org is great sight for helping on a local, national, and global level.
• Organic Foods: find out where your local organic farmers markets are. Kansas City has a great one at Minor Park - it is also a fair trade market. Plus, learning how to cook locally grown foods can help in so many ways. Our website(www.meandmybabydesign.com) has information on local markets under Green Connections
• Carpool: Take turns driving our children to school - Or start a local carpool for your work community. It is amazing how much money all of us can save.
• Start Green Cleaning: In schools, offices, and at home. It is so important that we create great indoor air quality,and this is just one of the ways. Our website(www.meandmybabydesign.com) has more information on how to green your cleaning on our MMB Newsletter.
• Start a recycling program: Even if you live in a condo, apartment, townhouse, or house. You can make this happen. Local composting, and having event trips once a month to your local recycling plant helps. Our website(www.meandmybabydesign.com) has information on recycling plants under Green Connection.
• Advocate to your local government about Green Urban Development: Having local parks and bike trails helps with obesity levels. Planting trees helps are air quality. While we are on this subject: Why shouldn't our local cities demand the best environment for ourselves and our families. Why not wind farms? Our they uglier than the power lines? NO! What about reusing the commercial buildings we have and greening them up(LEED Certification), and educating our local builders to have greener practices? It's not that hard...just a little time is needed. Our national government is really starting to step-up the pace - how about the local government step-up too.
• On a family level - why not start advocating for mercury-free vaccines. Shouldn't all children's health be a priority for every ones future.

These are just a few steps... need a starting point bring your totes when shopping. If we all did this WOW the carbon emissions would go down.

Until next blog: Happy Earth Day to all,

Miche

In The Beginning......

Hi Everyone,
Wecome to Me & My Baby Designs new blog site.
Our firm hopes you are able to gain knowledge from the infrmation we bring you. Our firm will show projects, along with interesting material we my find along the way.

The launch of the new website is this Thursday, and we are really hoping everyone enjoys all the information that we have on the site. The new site will include the MMB Newsletter, Green Links national and local, and so much more. The link to the new website will be posted on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. central time.
Enjoy,
Miche McKown-Brown, Allied Member ASID
Owner/Interior Designer