Waterbury LEAP Blog

LEAP: You talk a lot about being a mom and that influences you environmental advocacy. Can you talk about that?

Lynn: Something snapped when I had a son, especially after seeing the film Inconvenient Truth. I wanted to do everything to protect him and the world he lived in… and inspire others to think about the environment in terms of how our actions will likely negatively impact our children’s future. My advocacy fully kicked into gear once my son started school + sports. Parents were told to pack bottled water and I sent along a reusable bottle. My son complained about being the only one without one of those “cool plastic bottles” (bottled water). Certainly he wasn’t the only one, but he was in the minority. Families were carrying cases of bottled water around in their vehicles for sporting events. These couldn’t even be recycled at the parks! I did further research and learned about bpa (which had not yet hit mainstream news), how much water it took just to manufacture a bottle… the fact that almost a billion people lived without access to clean water. What did all of this mean for my son’s life? Those things spun me up and into action.

LEAP: You are the founder of myEARTH360.com. What is ME360 and why did you start ME360?

Lynn: My feelings about bottled water evolved into an environmental awareness campaign for my son’s school, which launched when he was in 1st grade. At my expense, I had bottles designed and custom printed with “I Count for myEARTH” on one side, a nature image on the other (polar bear, butterfly, shark, tree frog); and developed posters and other materials–all printed by the leader in sustainable printing, Consolidated Printing–plus a script. The student council members (4th + 5th graders) presented the skit to each classroom K-5 on a day we called EarthMender Day. I was amazed at how the kids responded. And had over a thousand bottles leftover and the upfront debt. myEARTH360.com played off of “I Count for myEARTH”–was born with the purpose of offloading the bottles! I had no intention of starting a business. Along the way, I found other cool products and slowly but surely added them to my website which I had originally created it myself from a shopping cart template (it was not pretty). I started having parties in the community to present the products and inspire eco-friendly living. Whoever hosted the party got a percentage of sales in free merchandise. I think it was about a year later when I had my website professionally designed. Since the economy tanked, orders have been slim to none.

LEAP: You have built a tremendous online community and personal brand. How have you been able to accomplish such a meaningful and positive presence?

Lynn: I’m just passionate about what I’m doing. Every day I get online, read eco related articles and find ways to take action for things like clean air, clean water, banning bpa. Then, of course, I have to share those things with others and, hopefully, inspire them to take action, too. It wasn’t difficult for me to become a facebook and twitter addict and it all happened (excuse the phrase) organically.

LEAP: It appears as though much of your eco driven work is done online. Can you tell use what you are doing at home in your community to help make the world a more sustainable place?

Lynn: The last thing I did was put together a presentation for my son’s class, which ended up getting shared with all of the 4th graders on Earth Day. A couple parents told me that their kids came home telling them they could never buy plastic again. I’ve tried my hand at organizing walks and protests, but haven’t had much of a turnout. There was a Walk for Water 5K in our neighborhood with kids for World Water Day; a squat on a busy corner in our downtown area to draw awareness to the lack of clean water and sanitation; I’ve also spoken to a number of kids groups about bottled water and plastic. I would love to attend more green functions–most of which are in the city–but I can’t seem to break out of my zip code bubble. My priority is being the best mom I can be.

LEAP: What would you say to anyone out there who feels they want to make a difference in protecting planet Earth, but they don’t have the time, resources or community support?

Lynn: While the basics of being green (reuse, reduce, recycle, blah blah blah) are nice, it’s so important to make your voice count on the bigger environmental issues and policies. It takes minimal time to make a difference by signing up for email action alerts from organizations like NRDC, EarthJustice and Sierra Club. All you have to do is click on a link, plug in your name and other key info and voila. A letter is sent to the right people on your behalf. Your voice counts!

LEAP: Anything else you would like to add?

Lynn: Kids get it. It’s never too early to start explaining the beauty of our planet and our role in taking care of it as well as (or better than) we do our homes, cars and appliances. Our lives depend on it and it’s also nice to be able to experience nature.