Catherine Franz, a Business Coach, specializes in writing, marketing and product development.  Newsletters and  additional articles:  http://www.abundancecenter.com blog: http://abundance.blogs.com

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By Catherine Franz

I introduced my eco-friendly lifestyle at the first day of class. I informed my class that in our class, we will try to save whatever resources that we can and provided them the reason why we should do so. I did not simply lay down the facts about our environment, I also emphasized that what we will be doing will not necessarily benefit us, but the next generation. Since it was the first day, I also felt that it was fitting to introduce my “green house rules.” I had to explain to my students that these rules were specially designed for our class and that they should not expect their other classes to do the same.

Here were some of our eco-friendly rules:

1. All recycled papers. I informed my students that whatever requirements that they need to submit should be done in recycled papers. I was not asking my students to buy these “recycled papers” but I was actually referring to papers whose other sides are printed and the other side is not. These are still good papers. Besides, after recording and checking their assignments, these students will simply throw these off to the nearest garbage can. Let what they throw be papers who have been exhausted beyond repair or reuse.

2. Everything should be handwritten. This does not mean, of course, that I am not a big fan of computer print outs. However, for one-page assignments (or until six pages), it would be very cost-efficient to hand write these assignments than have them printed using commercial or desktop printers. Studies have shown that unless you use soybean ink, papers who have prints in them require more “processes” (and thus, energy) before they can be recycled compared to papers who have been printed with soybean ink. This also eliminates the student’s practice of copying and pasting from internet articles.

3. Pencils up! In my class, everyone is required to use pencils instead of pens. Most pens are made from plastic and other non-biodegradable materials and since I encourage my students to take down a lot of notes, they will be consuming more pens that they have in their other classes. Instead of using ink, I encourage them to use pencils. Pencils are made from wood and while they cut down trees to make these, they are more eco-friendly because they are biodegradable.

4. Fax me please. I give my student’s take home assignments and instead of having all these handwritten into recycled papers, I also gave them the option to submit these requirements via fax that does not use papers-online fax. I gave them a website where they can send online faxes for free, of course.

Tina L. Douglas is a professional writer. She loves to help the needy people through her articles. She gives advices, tips and techniques on certain matters like identity theft and online fax.

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By Tina L Douglas

Carine and Steve

When I began my journey into adulthood, writing and musical theatre were my passion. I graduated college at 20 and became a newscaster at a radio station in a mid-sized market within a few months. The pay was very low, but the experience was what I was going for at the time. I spent my time doing many interviews with local heroes, city officials, creating public affairs programming, and I did the afternoon news. I loved being able to write, produce and be on-air talent. I felt a sense of wonder and awe that some people in the community actually recognized my voice!

Fast forward a couple of years: I fell in love at first sight with my husband and chose a life with him over a job offer of merit. We’ve had a wonderful life together, and I don’t regret having made that right, instead of left turn. We have two amazing adult children who have given us much joy. As a couple, we are still very much in love and supportive of each other. In fact, it was my husband who encouraged me to try and get back into some form of journalism.

When our children were young, I taught school, in one form or another. Teaching various age groups from birth through high school was more than satisfying. There is nothing as heartwarming as watching a child be thrilled about something you’ve taught them to do and then gush about it to their parents.

During those years, I began to suffer from severe pain; trying to run a private pre-school and day care became unbearable. Then the news came that my aches and pains were more than just overwork and stress. I had rheumatoid arthritis. Thanks to some powerful modern drugs, I am able to function at what most people would call a remarkable level. But, I did have to shut down my pre-school and turn my life around.

My decision turned out to be a wonderful thing! Although I have to have a day job (selling high end plumbing), most of time, I’ve gone back to writing! My motto has become “nothing is too small to write and submit!” I’ve had mainly recipes with their accompanying blurbs published, but they’ve been in major magazines. As well, I’ve been lucky enough to be part of two major articles in women’s publications. I just submitted an article ( to a women’s website? magazine?), and my writing co-horts told me during previews that it was a wonderful piece of journalism. I’ve since started my own blog, and many people tell me that they can hardly wait to see what I conjure up next!

Although I’ve done many things in my life, next to my very supportive husband, writing has always been my passion. My dream is to follow that passion and have enough free-lance writing to be a full-time writer. Will it happen? For now it’s a dream, but how many of us know what our future will bring?