A couple of weeks ago I contributed a guest post to The Metropreneur, one of Ohio’s leading resources on all things entrepreneurial. Below is a small snipet of the article; follow the link below to read the full write up!
Throughout March, The Metropreneur has focused on local organizations that offer programs designed to help small businesses be more environmentally friendly, businesses with exceptional green policies, and busiensses that offer green products or services.
Sara Rampersaud is the president and CEO of Eco Assist Consulting, a Central Ohio firm founded on the belief that every business, community, and individual has the potential to become a leader in sustainability. So who better to be the subject of our “Frequently Asked Questions” feature this month?
Herewith, the Columbus State graduate shares the questions she is asked most about sustainability-and her answers, of course.
1. How did you get started in this line of work?
It started with shampoo. I have been involved in issues relating to sustainability for about 10 years, but after my kids were born, I became more aware of the direct relationship between my family’s health and the environment. That turned intangible threats, like the link between my kids shampoo and hormone disruption, into very real problems that affected my family.
A couple of months ago, Columbus-based Shaklee representative
Who doesn’t want a clean home? Who doesn’t want fresh-smelling carpets, shiny floors and snow-white toilet bowls? We expect our cleaning product to do one job: clean. But a mounting body of evidence suggest that there’s much more than meets the eye when it comes to what’s under the sink.
We’ve all heard the ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ mantra and many of us have taken the initiative to reduce our ecological footprints at home, but what about the plethora of chemicals that find their way into the typical classroom? Kids sped up to 30-50% of their time at their desks during the school year, making healthy school environments essential to their health and well-being. Even in small doses, chemical exposure can be quite harmful to their developing bodies which are more vulnerable to the effects of common toxins. But trying to keep up with all of the potential toxins-which seem to be everywhere these days-can be exhausting.
I recently had an ‘Aha!’ moment when I realized I could save more water by eating veggies than by retrofitting my home with water efficient appliances. According to a study published by the International Water Management Institute, the average American meat-eater’s diet contains about 1,426 gallons of water per day. That’s 520,490 gallons of water every year. Vegetarian diets, on the other hand, consume only 686 gallons per day (or 250,390 gallons per year). To give this statement a global perspective, the study goes on to say, “If every person adopted a typical U.S. diet, approximately 75% more water would be needed for food production”. This is nothing short of shocking considering that most of us only need 8-9 cups of water a day to stay well hydrated.