Green Schools Coordinator hands out sustainable markers!

Congratulations to the 5 winners of AusPen eco-friendly marker kits at the Madison County Recycling Sustainable Workshop, organized by the Green Schools Program.

Ann Linenfelser, the Green Schools Coordinator, brought the non-toxic, refillable markers to the attention of the participants, as a greener alternative to dry-erase markes. 5 lucky participants were awarded with an AusPen kit of markers and inks. (Other great prizes were handed out too!)

The Sustainable Workshop brought together 100+ recycling coordinators from schools in the region, with a focus on developing their recycling, waste reduction and greening programs. Ideas on green practices, sustainable concepts and eco-friendly school supplies were shared.

 Keep up the great work!

The 8 Million Marker Mark!

QR Code for EcoSmartGals

Scan our new QR Code and ’like’ us on Facebook! You’ll be entered to win a pack of AusPen eco-friendly markers at the end of September. Can’t wait to see you there,

-from the EcoSmartGals

If you’re more of the clicking kind, you can find us on facebook by clicking here.

Pitch it Forward, and earn a free AusPen kit!

Pitch It Forward!

If you’re enjoying your AusPen eco-friendly markers, why not pitch the product to your friends, colleagues or kids’ teachers? You could earn yourself a free AusPen kit in our Pitch It Forward promotion.

If 3 of your referrals order any AusPen products, we’ll send you a free AusPen kit as our way of saying thank you!

How does it work?

Step 1: You’re connected: think of your network of colleagues, friends, kids’ schools, family members – anyone who uses a whiteboard. Wouldn’t they want to save money, eliminate toxins and reduce waste associated with dry-erase markers?

Step 2: Pitch it to them! Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Email, Face-to-Face… there are so many ways to catch the attention of your friends. You know your AusPen markers and what to say, but here’s an example pitch-it script:

Joe,

I think you might enjoy a product that I’ve been using – AusPen eco-friendly markers. They are dry-erase markers that are made of 100% post-consumer recycled materials, the ink is non-toxic (and ultra low-odor), and they are refillable. When the ink starts to fade, I just add some drops of ink into the marker barrel, and they’re good as new. The nibs are even reversible and replaceable. It’s a great green product that reduces waste, protects health, and costs less than disposable markers.

Here’s the website for more information: http://www.ecosmartworld.com.

If you do order any AusPen products, let me know as it can earn me a new AusPen kit.

Step 3: Email us the names of your 3 contacts who have ordered, and we’ll send you a complementary AusPen kit (orders@ecosmartworld.com).

Here’s the small print:

• The Pitch it Forward promotion will run until December 15, 2011
• Your referrals must be new AusPen customers
• Maximum 3 kits awarded per customer (thanks for your understanding!)

Thanks for pitching in!

Sincerely,

The EcoSmart Team

Whose role is it to ensure safe products at school?

The parents? Teachers? PTAs? Administrators? School Boards? Government? Everybody? Nobody?

There’s little doubt that safer products are critical to ensuring a healthier environment in our schools. It’s like flossing and saving for retirement. We know it should be done, all signs point towards its necessity, so what are we waiting for? The only problem with this analogy is that I doubt I could have written the title: Whose role is it to floss my teeth and save for my retirement? I guess the answer to that, ahem, would be me.

At San Rafael High School in California, the students took the situation into their hands when they literally climbed a mountain to bring environmentally safe dry-erase markers into their classroom. With the funds that they raised in their hike-a-thon, the students purchased sets of AusPen non-toxic, refillable dry-erase markers. Next, they said they wanted to raise money to replace “that nasty pink hand soap”!

Leave a comment below, or join our Facebook discussion about whose role it is to ensure safe products at school. Do you have any tips, suggestions or experiences in who took a leading role, and how that was done?

Curious minds need to know

This is what the inside of the BlackBerry Bold looks like.

When a family member gave the dead phone (it had gone for a round in the washing machine) to my 10-year-old, I wondered what he might do with it: fool his friends into thinking he had a phone, put it on display in his room, desperately try to revive it…

Within seconds the device was in pieces. Not a few big pieces, mind you, but lots of itsy bitsy pieces. The joy of destroying and exploring.

This came to my mind as I was speaking with a high school teacher who uses AusPen eco-friendly markers in his classes. He told me that he has learned to just let the kids take the refillable markers apart at the beginning of the year to see what it’s all about. Once that is out of their system, they will no longer be distracted in class with the urge to find out things like, what does the inside look like? where do the refill ink drops go? and how do you reverse the nib?

Some distractions can be managed. In a high school class, however, most of the other distractions cannot.

September AusPen Giveaway Draw!

AusPen Giveaways

Where it pays to go green

 Welcome to EcoSmart’s giveaway program where your “Green” stories can get you great free eco-friendly products.  Each month we choose a theme, welcome your input, and have an AusPen draw, ranging each month from AusPen starter kits, to marker packs to accessories.

September Theme:  Fundraising Ideas with Green Products 

Cookie dough, chocolate bars, and coupon books? Is this the hall of fame of fundraising products? September might be the just right time to introduce new products for fundraising – products that help reduce your school or organization’s ecological footprint and that reinforce your ideals of good health. At EcoSmart Products, we think that selling AusPen eco-friendly markers are a great way to raise funds and provide classrooms, boardrooms and homes with non-toxic, environmentally-responsible products that tread lightly on the earth and don’t add to the waistline!

The theme of this month’s AusPen giveaway draw is fundraising ideas with green products. Has your PTA, PTO, PAC or organizing committee held any fundraisers with green products? What’s on your fundraising list? Drop us a line and you’ll be automatically entered in our draw to win AusPen eco-friendly markers.

To find out more about AusPen’s Fundraising Program and competitive profit margins, send us an email for more information: info@ecosmartworld.com

There are two ways to automatically enter this draw: 1. Leave a comment below or 2. Email us (info@ecosmartworld.com) and you will be automatically entered into a draw for AusPen giveaways!

  

Please note some portion of your submission may be used by EcoSmart Products in promotional material.