Organic Bedding Boat that Floats
posted by ~cher | August 24, 2008
It was a great day at the annual Willoughby Marina Duck Tape Regatta. We couldn’t ask for nicer weather! Our “Organic Comfort Zone” six-member team built a boat in 4 hours and guess what? We WON the “Most Unique” award. We used our CozyPure® scrap organic bedding to decorate and it looked like a cozy coffin to tell you the truth - LOL. Next we had to race the boat… and not only did it float, but we came in 2nd place for our heat. All proceeds for the event benefit the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughter, so that just made it more worthwhile. All in all it was a fun outing for everyone. Check out our fast-forward video with some snippets of the day:
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How I Came to be Part of this Family
posted by Rex | August 15, 2008
The threat of climate change, household toxins, economic downturns and a slew of other environmental and social issues makes me both sad and angry at once. By nature, I am a problem solver, but the overwhelming scope of the crisis at hand leaves me bewildered. Void of super-powers, I felt nearly helpless. My tiny efforts to reduce, reuse, recycle and educate seemed futile compared the ocean full of monster ahead.
I have to make a difference. My legacy must include leaving behind a better world than the one I entered. All the wealth and popularity in the world means nothing if I leave a stack of wreckage and damage behind on my way out. My goals include cleaning my own litter box and maybe what the careless cat before me left behind as well. However, in a consumption based society like the one we live in, fulfilling my aspirations is not an easy challenge.
I’m not a farmer, I did not inherit either one of my mother’s green thumbs but I still need to eat and earn a living. My quandary was how to earn a living while not betraying my aspirations.
Enter Cheryl Hahn.
I was introduced to Cheryl through a mutual friend. I guess our friend saw an unspoken blend of personalities and ideals that with a little effort could create a new joint energy that would be beneficial to both of us.
Upon entering Cheryl’s business, I was taken with a sense of freshness. Don’t misunderstand – there was some clutter, but the air quality and softness of the fabrics meshed into a rarely found purity.
Cheryl’s energy and passion was amazing. She proudly presented her designs, products and concepts to me with passion and enthusiasm. We discussed ideas, world issues and she presented me with so much wonderful information, hope and inspiration that when I left, my mind was filled to over-flow.
I needed to be a part of Cheryl’s vision, but how and where could I fit?
After some time past, both Cheryl and I knew that I would become part of the OCZ family … maybe as her assistant … maybe marketing … maybe anywhere.
Like most small companies, it is required that everyone involved must wear different hats. If needed in the warehouse, answering the phones, designing the new catalog, merchandising the retail area – then that’s where I will be found. It sure beats doing the same job day after day! Officially, I am the Director of Communications, which is a generic term for … “go talk to Rex”.
This is my first blog enter and simply, my way of saying “hello” and letting you know how I came to become part of this wonderful group of eco-minded beautiful people.
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Moving is not easy, but worth it.
posted by ~cher | July 29, 2008
The summer is flying by too fast. We’re still settling-in at our new location which we love! Here are shop pictures we took as we were setting up and unpacking. Our new facility offers triple production space. YEAH. We renovated using “green” materials, including restoring the original concrete floors in the showroom. I’ll try to get some pictures of the retail area posted soon.
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Organic Comfort Produced with Green Energy
posted by ~cher | May 28, 2008
Gearing up for our move down to the corner unit - hopefully next weekend. Our new space will offer us triple production space, and we’ll soon be opening our new company, Go Solar Man, which will be right next store. My hubby, Richard, is back on board in the business. For you folks who have been customers of ours since the beginning, many of you remember Richard from way back when. He’ll be in charge of the new company which will offer sales, service and consultation of green power, something Tomorrow’s World offered throughout the 1990’s. Our new space already has Geo-Thermal HVAC and will also feature wind and solar energy, so in addition to our full-circle “green” products being made with our own “green energy”, it will also be a hands-on working demo for the new company. We’re excited, and we’ll keep you posted.
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Organic Comfort Catwalk Music Video
posted by ~cher | May 19, 2008
OK, this was fun… after coming out from our ten-year local underground, we had a community catwalk in Virginia Beach featuring our ecosmart organic fashions and organic bedding. Sorry we forgot to post this earlier, but we finally uploaded the video to youtube today. Better late than never, right? It’s 10 minutes… so pretty long, but features clips of the active-military models (they were GREAT) and some of our in-house images from catalog photoshoots. Just a fun video to chill out naturally®
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TV News: Yes Virginia, our organic mattress is eco-friendly!
posted by ~cher | May 8, 2008
Craig Moeller of WVEC Channel 13-ABC, stopped by our shop to do a quick broadcast on the eco-benefits of our CozyPure® organic mattresses and bedding. It was a pleasure talking with Craig, who is an expert on global warming, and shows a genuine interest of the environmental-impact of everyday living.
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Organic Comfort Catwalk
posted by ~cher | May 5, 2008
It was a gorgeous day at Mt Trashmore Sunday! The weather was wonderful which is so important for outdoor events. The models had fun strutting their stuff to our Chill Out Naturally® song (15 minute rock version), and they looked great. Here’s some pics of them wearing our EcoAveUsa organic cotton sleepwear and hugging the CozyPure® organic pillows. This is what they wore for the finale’ when they all came out on stage together and had a pillow fight.
We had to modify our Chill Out Naturally® jingle into a 15 minute version, so we changed it up a bit and added a more rock beat. If you want to listen, here it is (it’s LONG):
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Earth Day Celebration for Hampton Roads
posted by ~cher | May 1, 2008
Hey local folks… I hope you all get the chance to come out to Mount Trashmore this Sunday for the annual Earth Day Celebration. After just settling back in from our New York show, we’re trying frantically to get ready for the event. We’ll have our CozyPure® Caress organic mattress on-site, as well as information about why organic and ecosmart bedding and clothing are better for you and for the environment.
We’re also working with the City of Virginia Beach to present one of the special events of the day. We’re scheduled to hold our “ORGANIC COMFORT CATWALK” AT 11:15am (although I hope it’s postponed a bit later). We noticed on the program they have it listed as the “Tomorrow’s World Eco Fashion Show”. Probably because that’s what we did back in 1994. This time around though, we’ll be using active-military models (government working with the environment - yippee), who will strut their stuff in our cozy casual organic clothing and bedding. We’ve had no rehearsals… so be kind. 
For those who don’t know, Mt Trashmore was the very first landfill park created in the world. Hey, how cool is that? Since our fashion show will be there this year… it’s somewhat elementary to say: From trashin’ to fashion.
Hope to see you there Sunday!
In the meantime, sleep well and…
chill out naturally®
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Mother Earth from an airplane
posted by ~cher | April 29, 2008
Wanted to share a little something my son penned while we were flying to New York.
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Clouds. They are like icebergs floating in a sea of pollution.
I feel like I’m floating in the saturated water
leaving smoke clouds behind in a swirl of hate
toward our environment, toward our ecosystem,
toward our world Mother Earth.
Feeling like I’m dying and seeing the earth crying
maybe we can make a difference, as people,
as humans with flaws. She tries to sing out a sound
but only comes a hum. She’s dying, she’s crying,
she’s screaming out help.
But no one listens to her call.
As I rise higher and higher I see her tears flowing
down the river from the oceans, to the lakes,
her beautiful shining lakes.
But now they’re leaving us too
because of you, because of me, because of us.
eric hahn, age eleven
written on an airplane in-flight
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We Love New York
posted by ~cher | April 28, 2008
Our weekend in New York for the Go Green Expo was unexpectedly overwhelming! Wow it was great to see such a BIG crowd visiting the show and we ran out of catalogs by mid-afternoon the first day. Yikes! Guess we weren’t prepared for the huge interest, although in hindsight we should have been since New York is one of the top-three areas where our customers live. My 13 year-old daughter worked the booth with me, and she loved it and everyone was fantastic to her. Thank you all so much! Our table was busy the entire time, and unfortunately I didn’t even get a chance to walk the expo myself, so I’m pretty bummed about that…. although I did get to say Hi to our good friends at “E” Magazine because they were only a few tables away.
More than three-hundred people signed up for our Free Organic Pillow Giveaway, and we’ll be shipping ten lucky winners their goodies this week.
If the rest of America embraced eco-values the way New Yorkers do, then we’d be in really good shape. Oh yeah, I almost forgot…. a very long-time industry associate was there too - Howard (Howie) Gabe. Wow, he goes WAY back to the beginning of this eco-revolution, just like we do, so it was good to briefly reminisce and laugh about how both of us are still standing. I love seeing the original pioneers! I don’t know all these new green people and businesses (sob). Anyway, Howie is organizing an NYC eco-trade show in July, so maybe we’ll be back sooner than expected.
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Hampton Roads Green List
posted by ~cher | April 23, 2008
Yippee! I made the annual top-twenty green list for the seven cities of Hampton Roads, at least according to Portfolio Weekly newspaper. Thanks for the vote Portfolio… a newspaper we’ve been featured in before and that covers more progressive news.
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For the full article, click here.
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Happy Earth Day!
posted by ~cher | April 22, 2008
Well, it’s our special day… That is, all us folk involved with making the world a bit more eco-friendly. I never would have thought during my childhood that we would actually need such a day to think about our environment. A recent survey in Mother Jones magazine cites that kids today are more afraid of global warming than of terrorism. For the heck of it, I asked my 13 yr old daughter and she confirmed the answer. I was pretty shocked actually. Yes people, it’s time for us to be accountable for our actions and consumer purchasing is a HUGE part of the American lifestyle.
My last post talks about our “stuff” and how we need to start thinking how it’s made and where it ends up. So listen up: Forget styrofoam disposables that don’t biodegrade, stop using dangerous toxic household cleaners, ditch your incandescent lighting for CF’s, buy a car with good gas mileage (or vegetable oil consumption, even better), if possible go solar or wind for power, buy products made from renewable resources, recycle (it’s an insult to your intelligence if you don’t), reduce your consumption and purchase quality products that last, reuse and donate your items to local thrift stores or charities.
For the month of April all items in our store will be reduced by 20% OFF. Our website was unable to issue a “storewide” discount, so you’ll have to call for this offer 800.229.7571. Just mention the bloggin’ 20% discount and you’ll be good to go. We understand that many eco-friendly and organic items are usually more costly, and this is our way of celebrating Earth Day and thanking all of you for being mindful of your consumer consumption.
Happy Earth Day everyone!
Chill Out Naturally®
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Your “stuff” has a story….
posted by ~cher | April 20, 2008
I received an email from CREDO Mobile - the greenest mobile phone company in America. As Earth Day approaches — just two more days! — we’ve been talking to our local customers about how our organic comfort products incorporate the 3 Rs: Reuse, Reduce, Recycle. Having products made from renewable and sustainable resources is so important to our environment. Some people get it. Others are not quite sure — you can tell by the glaze in their eyes. The thing is, people don’t really think about how their stuff is made. When I read the email from CREDO, I just had to share it because it’s so easy to understand…. perhaps even the glaze-eyed folks out there will begin to have a better focus. Not only that, but CREDO is a great choice if you’re considering a new cell phone plan…..
Your stuff has a story.
The story of our stuff starts with the natural resources–coal taken from dynamited mountainsides, oil extracted from threatened habitats, or trees reaped from precious forests–to make the stuff we all consume.
The story of our stuff ends with waste–the stuff we tire of and eventually toss–which ends up in landfills, incinerators, or someone else’s backyard where they must deal with the devastating consequences of our wastefulness.
There are ways we can do better–for the planet and for our future–as consumers. Starting today, you can rewrite the story of your stuff.
This Earth Day, I ask you to consider a proposition from CREDO Mobile that will limit the beginning and the end of our shared story as consumers.
Switch to CREDO Mobile and you’ll get a free phone and an eco-package that only a company like CREDO can provide, including*:
A TreadTM phone case made from recycled tires that would otherwise end up in landfills or emit some of the most hazardous chemicals on earth when burned.
A free SolioTM Hybrid 1000 solar phone charger that uses the power of the sun–rather than coal-powered electricity–to charge your phone or mobile device.
Plus, we’ll pay to offset your direct carbon emissions for an entire year (up to $55) through our nonprofit partner, Carbonfund.org.
And every time you pay your bill, CREDO Mobile will donate a portion of your charges (totaling $60 million from CREDO customers so far!) to progressive causes like Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network and Ocean Conservancy.
Protecting our planet takes the commitment of many, many individuals. What we’re doing to our environment with all the stuff we use is arresting: we’re harvesting, mining, transporting and discarding at a rate that is simply unsustainable. In the past three decades alone, we’ve used one-third of the planet’s natural resource space–space that can never be replaced.**
So join me in rewriting a chapter in the story of your stuff, and our planet, by giving CREDO Mobile a try. As a founder of CREDO (and the company’s biggest fan), I can tell you that you have nothing to lose, and a whole host of precious resources to start saving.
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For more information about the Credo Mobile plan, visit their website.
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EcoFair Eco-Tips (with Senator Northam) Norfolk, VA
posted by ~cher | March 29, 2008
My son and I had the opportunity to ask a few Norfolk residents about quick tips for a more eco-friendly lifestyle. I was fortunate to have Senator Ralph Northam stop by our table and he contributed in answering the question, too. I’m glad we had the chance to meet with our community…. It was great 
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Earth Day: Calendar of Events
posted by ~cher | March 25, 2008
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OK folks…. a post is long overdue. Things just get so busy around here we tend to forget about the blog. I know I promised more videos but Hans had a pretty bad accident and has been on medical leave. He’s getting better and starting to walk around more so perhaps we can plan something soon… although he’ll be in a cast for another five months.
We’re planning to participate in some upcoming events for Earth Day, so I wanted to post the info. Please come visit us if you can!
For the Earth Day event at Mt Trashmore, I’ll be doing a presentation about how our home textiles (particularly in the bedroom) really can make a positive environmental-impact.
While in New York, we’ll have our Cozy Caress organic mattress with a few accessories, so visit us at Booth 1012 “Organic Comfort Zone & CozyPure®”. Come on by and say “HI”
As we get closer to the Expo dates, I’ll post more information!
~cheryl
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