Giving Back, What you can do to Help, every day and in Big Ways!

This month has been all about Recycling, Reusing and Reducing. This month we celebrated Earth Day, but what about the rest of the year? What are some things we can do every day to help the planet? You may think that you are not Eco-Friendly, but look at your everyday life. What small thing do you do to contribute? Both Mermaid Patti and I are Thrift Store shoppers, everything from clothes, planters, accessories, and shoes! Mermaid Patti uses Pinterest for ideas on how to re-vamp and up cycle the crystal pieces she finds and then gives them as gifts! I re-paint statues into Day of the Dead pieces for my home and for sale in my Etsy shop, which you can find at “In The Eyes of March”. By purchasing from thrift stores you are helping to reduce waste. Did you know that average US Household throws away approximately 177lbs of clothing and textiles each year?! By donating and shopping at thrift stores you are helping to reuse and reduce!

Giving Back, Every Day!

Here are some easy and fun ways to Go Green, right in your home and neighborhood.

~ Re-Use plastic salad containers as organizers for your home office or studio

~ Planet a garden, not only will you feed yourself, but the local birds and bees will thank you!

~ Re-Use gift bags, boxes, and packages. (One year for Christmas my Mom, who is notorious for re-using boxes, wrapped up my gift in a corn dog box!)

~ Mermaid Patti hosts “Trading Nights” where her and her girlfriends get together with items they want to trade with each other.

~ Use fabric shopping bags for all your shopping needs.

~ Put a small compost container in your kitchen

~ Re-use glass jars for candles. Melt down old candles and pour the wax into the jar, add a wick and ta-da, a new candle!

~ Buy from companies that DON’T test on animals, run big pollution factories, or dump in our oceans.

Please check out PlanetSave.com for lots of information and ideas on how to be Green every day and in easy ways! These are just a few ideas to get you started. But what if this isn’t enough for you? What if you want to do more and really get involved? Well here are some originations that you might want to check out!

Giving Back in a Big Way!

~ Ocean Defenders Alliance. Founded in 2002 and based in Orange County, California, Ocean Defenders Alliance (ODA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit grassroots marine conservation organization.

                                                            http://www.oceandefenders.org/

~ Sea Shepherds. Established in 1977, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is an international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organization. Our mission is to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world's oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species. 

http://www.seashepherd.org/

~ Global Olympic Dolphins Campaign. Dedicated to bringing the plight of the Taiji dolphins to the attention of the Olympic Committee in the run up to Japan's 2020 Olympic bid. 

                                                            http://www.olympicdolphins.com/

~Surfrider Foundation. Protecting Oceans, Waves, and Beaches since 1984.

                                                http://www.surfrider.org/

   <3, ☮, & ><((((º>

Love, Peace, & Mermaids,

        Meridian

Celebrating Earth Day Mermaid Style: Beach Clean-up

Happy Earth Day, Mer-Folk! Today is a day to celebrate the Earth and all we have been given. Today, we give back to the Earth by respecting this planet and taking part in something bigger than ourselves…Caring for Earth Mother, just as she cares for us. What are you going this Earth Day to show your love and respect? 

Saturday marked the 167th consecutive 30 minute Beach Clean Up in Long Beach California and Me and My Mates where there to help! Armed with a plastic bag, a rubber glove, me Mates, and a smile, we wondered the shore and picked up bits and pieces of trash. Talking and laughing as you stroll the beach on a sunny California day while picking up trash is not a bad way to help with keeping our beaches clean! 

Hooping it up on the beach

<3 Me and Mommy <3

<3 My Husband and I <3

After the Clean-up, we staked out a nice patch of sand to call home for the day, laid out some blankets, grabbed our Hula Hoops and played and danced in the waves. No trip to the beach would be complete without Sun Block, now I will tell you a little secret….I don’t use sunblock, I am lucky enough to have never been sunburned. Also, sunblock smells and it irritates my skin. Now, I know that I should use sunblock and my skin and health will be thankful in the long run. So I made sure to use my new bottle of AOLANI ~ Botanically-Infused SPF-30+ Sunscreen from Mermaid Minerals. The first thing I noticed was there was NO smell; there was a clean, fresh scent! There are no harsh chemical smells because Aolani is a chemical-free, waterproof sunscreen made with 7.5% transparent zinc oxide, 2.4% titanium dioxide, MMPI peptides and beta carotene to provide broad spectrum UVA/UVB protection as well as help rejuvenating the skin's overall appearance. Also it absorbs quickly and leaves your skin with a matte airbrushed glow. Use Aolani in replace of your concealer to insure that your little nose won’t get sun burned! I used Aolani along with my normal make-up routine, it blended perfectly, left no sticky or heavy feeling, washed right off and the best part is, my skin is still smooth and soft. No more sunblock breakouts! Another must have at the beach, (or anywhere, if you’re like me!) is lip balm. I always use and carry lip balm with SPF and Mermaid Minerals Organic SPF-10 lip balm in Key Lime is one of my new favorites. Right now you can get the lip balm, the sunscreen, and hair care products in the Beach Bag Bundle at MermaidMinerals.com. Try out the products and send me your reviews, comments, or questions. I would love to hear about your experiences!

Once we had had our fill of fun in the sand and surf we dried off, packed up, and headed to the Love & Light Festival just up the shore. Just as we got there; Tammie Brown from RuPaul’s Drag Race was headed up on stage! An unexpected and awesome surprise, that made me smile from gill to gill. While listening to her campy style of music, we looked around the artisan booths and chatted with a few local Hoopers. But it was time to leave the beach and make our way across Long Beach to the home and workshop of Thom Shouse, my Mer-Papa.

As many of you already know, Thom Shouse is the Original Tail Man; he created the very first high quality tails available to the public. But perhaps Thom is best known for turning the beautiful Darryl Hannah into Madison the Mermaid from Splash. Many of us grew up watching Splash and dreaming of the day when we would turn into mermaids. Now, it is my privilege to be a part of Thom Shouse’s Pod and swim with some of the most amazing mermaids you will ever meet! To find out more about Thom and his League of Extraordinary Mermaids, visit MermaidRentals.Com. After lots of hugs and kisses and even a few very happy tears, we settled in for short but much need visit. We chatted about future mermaid events, tail making, and lots of general catching up, the time passed too quickly. My Landsmen and I bid farewell to Thom with more hugs and kisses. Then we drove off into the setting sun to begin our romantic getaway weekend.  Make sure you check out my Facebook Page later this week to see the pictures from the Beach Clean –Up and all of this weekend’s grand adventures!

  <3,☮, & ><((((º>

Love, Peace, & Mermaids,

        Meridian

 Leave a comment, stay connected and be sure to follow Meridian Mer-Gyver at:

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/meridian.mergyver

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/MeridianMerGyve

 

The Bee Keeper and the Mermaid: A Tail of Urban Farming

As Mer-folk we are even more connected to the ebb and flow of the Earth Currents. Mer-Folk are sometimes painfully aware of the tragic way people treat our Oceans. We swim in the water that is polluted and putrefied; we understand the effect that it has on the water, its creatures, and ourselves. Many members of the Mer-folk community, volunteer, donate, and support. We do beach clean ups, support local rivers, and work with conservation groups. But what about our everyday lives? We, after all, are Land Locked Mer-folk and the Earth that we walk on is just as important to protect as the waters we swim in.

                                                                                                              

In my home, we have a small Urban Farm. I tend the 5 chickens, my Husband tends the 20,000 members of our Bee Hive and together we tend a small garden. We recycle, compost our green waste, and grow our food without pesticides or chemicals. Last Summer Mermaid Natalie, The Mermaid of The Pacific and her Landsmen, came by to help extract the honey from the comb. It was a night of sticky messy fun and just this week we welcomed a new Hive of bees to our urban farm! Looks like I might have to enlist the rest of the Pod to help with this year’s honey extraction! To see what life is like with the Bees check out this video of my Landsmen and His Bees: 

For me, it’s all about the chickens and the garden! With have 4 chickens that lay blue, tan, and dark brown eggs and a wee little chicken that lays wee little tan eggs. They live in a gated off chicken yard for them to frolic in, with an in-ground fountain made from an old tire, and spacious three room coop. (I have seen LA apartments smaller than the Chicken’s home!) In our garden we grow corn, tomatoes, potatoes, turnips, peppers, beans, peas, herbs, lettuce, blueberries, onion and carrots! We do not use pesticides, any food that we don’t eat goes to the chickens (they love squishy tomatoes!), and the bees help to naturally pollinate!

Every day we are conscious of how we treat this planet and aware that we effect this planets ability to survive. Mermaid Patti of Mermaid Minerals sees to it that nothing is over packaged for shipping and nothing comes in packaged in a throw away box or bag except for the Lashurious eye brow/lash treatment. Even their Eco-Bags are made from recycled products! I keep my Eco-Bag in my Mermaid Travel Suitcase to carry my Mermaid Medic supplies! Mermaid Minerals operates out of a shared space warehouse, which means, several small companies in one warehouse. This cuts back on overhead cost and cuts back on the damage big factories do to our environment.

On Sunday, my best friend, Emmalee and I built a mermaid scarecrow from old clothing and supplies. We put her up in the garden and named her Compost Tea-na, the Eco-Mermaid! Check out my Facebook page for all the hilarious pictures of Emmalee, Meridian and Compost Tea-na! What do you do in your everyday life to help the environment? 

   <3, ☮, & ><((((º>

Love, Peace, & Mermaids,

        Meridian

Leave a comment, stay connected and be sure to follow Meridian Mer-Gyver at:

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/meridian.mergyver

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/MeridianMerGyve

Eco-Friendly Make-up that won’t break the Bank!

In this day and age the cost of beauty can sometimes be more than one bargained for. So many beauty care products use chemicals, animal by-product, dyes, and other harsh ingredients, that are not only bad for you and your skin, but bad for the environment. How many times have you bought moisturizer that made you break out or face cleanser that dried up your skin? Now the only thing your bottle of lovely new chemical laden moisturizer will be moisturizing is the inside of your trash can. Stop buying these product and start being good to yourself and this planet you live on.

With products likes Pearl Vegan Moisturizing Cleanser from Mermaid Minerals you won’t have to worry about adverse reactions to your skin. The only thing you will find in this product is Aloe, Coconut, Avocado and Jojoba oils. Plus it is 83% Organic & Certified Vegan! ALL the products from MM are free of Parabens, Dyes, Petroleum Derivatives and are not a part of animal cruelty in any way. In fact, staff at Headquarters is known to care for and feed the stay cats! Plus, with the option of larger container, to re-fill your smaller bottles, there is less waste and less trash will end up in our oceans. Most Eco-Friendly products, from make-up to food are pricy and hard to afford on today’s budgets. Fortunately Mermaid Minerals does not have the high costs of running animal testing labs, hiring scientists to formulate their newest product, or large factories with expensive overhead. This means that prices can be kept low and affordable! At Department Stores a high end natural moisturizer could cost anywhere from $45-$98, the grocery store even carries a moisturizer that sells for $38!!! Why would you pay so much for something that is so damaging when you could spend $8.00 and get an all-natural, eco-friendly moisturizer!

Other amazing products to look for are the Sea Mineral Mist which is made up of Organic Aloe Leaf Juice, Organic Kelp Extract, Organic Blue Green Algae Extract, Tea Tree Oil and all the loose eye shadows are 100% ground minerals! Not sure you want to commit to a new product? Some of Mermaid Minerals products come in sample sizes, like Sea Mineral Mist sample for $1 now that is easy on any mermaid’s pocket book!

Love, Peace, & Mermaids,

 Meridian

Go Green, Give Back, and Be Gorgeous with Mermaid Minerals

In celebration of Earth Day and on behalf of myself, Meridian, Mermaid Ambassador of Mermaid Minerals, this month we will focus on being green and being gorgeous! As many of you already know Mermaid Minerals is natural, mineral based, chemical free, and processed and packaged as efficiently as possible.  Being Gorgeous and being Green couldn’t be easier!

This morning, my Landsmen and I, ventured out into the sunny spring air to visit to our local Farmer’s Market. The day was warm and the scent of fresh flowers and ripe raspberries set the mood for a perfect day. Fresh baked bread from the local bakery, fresh fruits and vegetables from our local farmers and soon my little fishing basket was full! 

It makes me feel good knowing that by purchasing locally I am supporting locally. I love that these people live off the land and support the Earth by helping to continue her natural process of growth. It’s also nice to know that other companies like Mermaid Minerals, are going green and helping improve the environment. One of my favorite things that MM does is offer two sizes of containers of most of their products. When your smaller bottles run out, you can purchase the ECO friendly large containers and re-fill your smaller bottles at home! There is no reason to throw out your empty bottle of Mineral Mist when you can just re-fill it, which means less trash in the landfills and oceans, which makes me a very Happy Mermaid!

Love, Peace, & Mermaids,

 Meridian

Check back with Mermaid Talk for more blogs, photos, and adventure! Leave a comment, stay connected and be sure to follow Meridian Mer-Gyver at:

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/meridian.mergyver

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/MeridianMerGyve