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There’s no way we could let Earth Day go by without saying something of note – however – with the hundreds of thousands of articles, blogs and events already out in the e-sphere to commemorate the day, we didn’t feel like we had any new or unique content to contribute. We hope you’ll take the time to visit our Shop Green section and purchase something you need while at the same time acknowledging those retailers and products that are good for you and the planet as a whole.

In the meantime, I found this article written by Jocelyn Rice and Amber Fields in Discover Magazine called 20 Things You Didn’t Know About Recycling, which I found to be both strangely fascinating and just a little disturbing. I’m sharing it for just those reasons and hope you’ll forgive me if you find it a bit too weird for your tastes. This is a cleverly written piece and flows well, especially when read in order.

1. Drink up: It takes three months for a recycled aluminum can to make it’s way back on the shelf in reincarnated form.
2. Or build a bridge: In 2002 researchers from Rutgers University built a 42-foot-long bridge over a river using plastic beams made from polystyrene cups and polyethylene milk jugs.
3. Or construct a boat: During World War 1, enough metal was salvaged from corset stays to build two warships.
4. As of press time, the boat Earthrace was being prepared for an attempt to break the maritime around-the-world speed record. It will use biofuel, some of which comes from liposuctioned human fat.
5. No fat here: During Britain’ 2007 Recycle Now week, svelte models strutted down Brighton beach wearing swimsuits made of steel cans.
6. These boots were made for flooring: Nike gathers old athletic shoes and turns them into raw material for “sports surfaces” like tennis courts or running tracks.
7. Meanwhile in China, more then 1 million unsold copies of British singer-songwriter Robbie Williams’s latest CD will be used to resurface roads.
8. Last year Chinese hair salons caused a stir by unlawfully recycling used condoms, possibly donated by local nightclubs into hair ties.
9. Elsewhere in Asia, an enterprising dental technician established the Japan Denture Recycle Association in 2006 to cash in on the precious metals in discarded choppers. Proceeds go to UNICEF.
10. Each year Americans junk more than 80 million dollar’s worth of copper, gold, silver, palladium and platinum in the form of retired cell phones.
11. Cell phones, laptops, and, um, personal massage devices: New British laws mandate that old electronic appliances-including sex toys-cannot be dumped. They must be recycled with other so-called e-waste.
12. E-waste is for the birds: An Australian nut orchard converts the shells of vintage Macintosh computers into houses for pest-eating birds.
13. Humans need house too: when Luiz Bispo built his house in Rio de Janeiro slum out of construction waste last year, city authorities threatened to destroy it. Now the house-which floats atop a junk-filled river on a base of plastic bottles-is being touted as an icon of sustainable development.
14. Cities have long been goldmines for recyclers: Beginning in ancient times, tanners collected human urine to use in turning animal skins into leather.
15. In the middle ages, urine was also used to make saltpeter, an essential component of gunpowder.
16. Cities get recycled too: Masonry from Roman settlements made a handy source of stone for medieval church builders.
17. But enough is enough: In 1821 Turkish soldiers surrounded Greek forces holed up in the Parthenon and started stripping lead from the temple columns to make bullets. The horrified Greeks promptly sent the enemy a fresh supply of ammunition to discourage further recycling.
18. Using every part: There are now sheep-poo air fresheners. Sterilized sheep droppings are turned into packets stuffed with grass-or daffodil- scented material.
19. Green to the end: The Doggone Project in Mannheim, Germany, can recycle deceased pets into fertilizer.
20. You, too: Ecopods, a British company, sells stylish coffins made from hardened recycled paper, available in a range of colors including indigo and silver leaf.

So welcome to our first blog – this is all kinda new to me so you’ll have to excuse me if I’m not even remotely proficient at this. I’m sure I’ll get better with time and I hope you’ll hang in with me as I make my way, in what for me, is uncharted territory. As I’m sure you’ve seen from the changes on our homepage, we’ve been very fortunate to have Rene Syler support our site by leading the charge to make Breast Cancer Awareness an important focus for us this month. I encourage you to read about her long-standing work with Susan G Komen for the Cure and the circumstances that led her to make a very courageous decision to undergo a prophylactic bilateral mastectomy. I also encourage you to pick up a copy of her book Good Enough Mother. If you’re a mother, especially a working or single mother, she answers those nagging questions I know I always had tuggin’ at the back of my head like, do you think they’ll notice that these cupcakes are store bought and that I’ve just added sprinkles to give them that home-made touch or that I’m wearing my pj’s in the car because I just can’t get my son and myself dressed and out the door at the same time. She gives us all permission to do what we need to do in order to make mothering work for us. I loved it – she also goes into more detail about her life decisions, her work and the road she’s traveled and is still traveling today.

René is a Person Who Cares and we thank her again for caring about Susan G. Komen for the Cure and for taking a stand to help find a cure for breast cancer forever.

As part of our Breast Cancer Awareness feature, and as an introduction to what this blog is all about as it relates to our retailers – let me explain my vision for FRONT-LINE RETAIL NEWS. While we want to make sure you’re kept up to date on all of our retail offers and encourage you to look for them under our SALES + PROMOTIONS category on the Mall Pages, we also want to use this space to introduce new, innovative or one-of-a-kind merchandisers. Our first retailer we’re excited to highlight is designer Julia Wynn who’s based in Santa Barbara, California. Whomever it was that said one should stop to smell the roses was certainly on to something. I would never have run into Julia had I not stolen a little time to stroll Santa Barbara’s boardwalk and explore (in the way a shopper explores) the line of booths that stretched the distance between my hotel and the pier. It was during that walk that I ran across Julia Wynn, the ultra charming, ultra chic creator of the simply fabulous BOUVÉ (boo-vay), a beautifully designed, one-size, hat for all seasons. Her fun, fantastic head wraps are the fashion-magic piece every woman dreams of – especially on those rampant, outta nowhere and always-inconvenient bad hair days. With just a slight twist of the wrist, this must-have accessory takes you from ordinary to extraordinary in face-saving seconds!!

Are you wondering yet how this product ties-in to Breast Cancer Awareness month? It’s one of those ironic coincidences I think because the whole concept behind the bouvé was really quite simple; they were designed as versatile and playful fashion accessories. But as creative director Julia Wynn started to sell and market her fun, sporty product, she knew they were also quite special in some other deeply profound way. Her answer came when she discovered that they were wonderfully therapeutic as well. Without really intending to, Julia had created the ideal solution for both stylish and comfortable headwear for all women suffering from hair loss, particularly those who had lost, or were losing, their hair due to chemotherapy. Bouvés fill a huge need for these women, not just to cover their heads, but also to feel beautiful, stylish and nurtured as they work through the process of healing.

We say ‘hats off’ to Julia and her innovative headwear. It’s time to buy-in to some serious ‘hattitude’ and our timing couldn’t be better. With crisp fall weather ahead, ski and snowboard season just around the corner and the holidays nipping at our heels, when you buy a Bouvé or two through this site $2.50 per item will be donated to the nonprofit organization of your choice. During the month of October we encourage you to choose Susan G. Komen for the Cure and help them fulfill a promise to end breast cancer forever.

Other retailers that are giving back to breast cancer initiatives are Bloomingdale’s, Red Envelope, Ritz Camera, Limoge’s Jewelry, A Pea in the Pod and Organic Bouquet. Check out these retailers on our THINK PINK + SHOP FOR THE CURE page. Keep in mind that whatever they give, by shopping with us, you’ll be giving twice. Once through the retailer directly and again when you choose a nonprofit from our site. How cool is that? Pretty cool I’d say.So for my first ever blog I went on a lot longer than I thought I possibly could. We’ll be posting retailer updates throughout the month and keep you abreast on issues near and dear to us along the way as well. As a little sign-off piece, I thought I’d add this cartoon I found on cancervixen.com – true — there’s never a good time for cancer –but with your help, organizations like Susan G. Komen for the Cure can continue to do good work to help find a cure for breast cancer in your/our lifetime and I’m all for that!