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Farmer Emma and her 9 year old daughter Anisa are digging in the soil to check on their potato crop! They grow over 12 varieties of specialty potatoes, including purple, red, yellow and white potatoes as well as fingerlings! This past summer, we held our annual EcoWomen Photo Contest in honor of Earth Day. Thank you all who participated and submitted photos. We were thrilled to receive so many stunning submissions that highlight your visual stories about women, the environmen

By Tamara Toles O’Laughlin It is with gratitude and every other kind of emotion that I reach out to you as I conclude my board service with the District Chapter of Ecowomen. In the six or so years since I returned to Washington D.C. to pursue another chapter of my career, to marry, and make friends in a new city I have been rewarded. I have taken part in so many great conversations with leaders across the field, enjoyed opportunities to grow my leadership in ways that no sing

By Tamara Toles O’Laughlin Over the last few years I have been incredibly fortunate to take on several roles on the Board of DC EcoWomen. First, as a member of the Professional Development Committee where I learned the ropes of planning our signature event, EcoHour, and eventually became the vice president of that team. With the aid of several smart, innovative and hard-working women, we altered the standard format of that offering from a lecture style to a fireside chat inte

By Tamara Toles-O’laughlin There is no neat and tidy way to sum up my feelings about current events. Highs and lows abound for all of us who earnestly want to solve big problems or at least mitigate catastrophe, in the natural and built environment. As government regimes shift along party lines there is room enough for everyone to complain. As feminists, we are again bound to search our practice for true inclusion of marginalized peoples in the intersection of women and the e

By Sonia Abdulbaki I recently wrote an article on the DC EcoWomen blog regarding the global concern of water shortage. I quote myself saying, “Luckily for us, water is a luxury available with a turn of a faucet.” Suffice to stay, I stand corrected, and have the account of the 100,000 Flint, Michigan residents to back up my claim. You also might be wondering, where is Erin Brockovich when you need her? Well, she was right there, raising awareness on several cases of water cont

By Sonia Abdulbaki DC EcoWomen is a group with a mission “to provide an educational forum for women that empowers women to become leaders in the environmental community and the world.” Women. Environment. Community. Buford received a degree in journalism from Hampton University and then went on to acquire a master’s degree in law from the Georgetown University Law Center. Currently, she is a reporter for the Center for Public Integrity and formerly an energy reporter for Poli

By Robin Garcia DC EcoWomen’s president, Christina Sorrento, is leaving the executive board after nearly a decade of service to the organization and to women in the DC environmental field. A land use attorney in Maryland, Christina has been an integral part of DC EcoWomen’s growth, helping mold it into the wonderful and strong organization that it is today. I met with Christina recently to discuss what her involvement has meant to her. At the time, I wasn’t working in the env

Raising A Glass To DC EcoWomen At The Ten Year Gala Written by DC EcoWomen President Christina Sorrento EcoWomen had its first ever EcoHour the year I moved to Washington DC. The year was 2004 and the speaker was Alisa Gravitz, then the Executive Director of Co-op America. I was not aware of EcoWomen at the time and did not attend the event but little did I know how that night would impact my life for years to come. After that first EcoHour where Alisa laid out a roadmap for

DC EcoWomen Board’s Best Practices To Take To Your Next Happy Hour Last year, DC EcoWomen gave you ten great networking tips to bring to our EcoWomen happy hour. Since then, members of the Board have been through countless networking happy hours and events, testing out the networking tricks for themselves. We’ve introduced ourselves to prominent ladies, tested out our elevator speeches, received endless business cards — and in the meantime, we’ve met a lot of great women and

As a woman living in the DC area, chances are pretty good that you’re currently on an unexpected paid staycation, courtesy of the government shutdown. But now, almost a week later, you might be running out of ideas of what you can do with all this newfound free time while still remaining friendly to the environment. There are many ways to spend your furlough days more environmentally-friendly than sitting and watching TV in your air-conditioned home. You can use to take this

Labor Day has come and gone, which means a new year of school, of Congressional hearings… and a new group of DC EcoWomen Board Members! DC EcoWomen has acquired eight new excited and motivated ladies to join the Board. Though they all currently live in DC, they hail from many different parts of the world – even Belgium! Read more about our new Board Members below. At our next EcoHour or volunteer event, give them a hello! Katharine Eaton; Membership Katharine loves reading no

Winners of the 2012 Contest: Women and the Environment: ‘Jill on the Turner River’ by Sarah Hackney Photos of women exploring the natural (and urban) environment.  These can include volunteer events, nature hikes, apple picking, farmer’s markets, etc. Natural Landscapes: ‘Yellowstone’ by Kelly Richmond Your most striking images of the interesting places you’ve traveled! Conservation Photography: ‘Capetown, South Africa’ by Aneri Patel Images capturing environmental degradatio

Marin Rose presented at the DC EcoWomen Conference in the “Organize Your Life” workshop. The following is excerpted from her corresponding post on the Functionable Fashionable blog. Wikimedia Commons There are a lot about the environmental benefits of being organized. You might think that saving things rather than discarding them is better for the environment – this is sometimes the case. The truth is, though, that the basic principles of organized living support the tenets o

You can be a leader. You already are a leader. Dr. Spence said that in her experience, women only want to bring other women up. We all face certain barriers, but we have a network of support to overcome them. This network is of utmost importance, especially in a city like Washington D.C.  The network can include mentors, sponsors, and even just acquaintances from networking happy hours. Betty’s words coordinated well with the final event of the day:  a networking workshop wit

This post was written by DC EcoWomen blogger Dawn Bickett Welcome to the second installment of DC EcoWomen Success Stories! This month’s success story spotlights Jamie Carson — Founder & Director of C.C. Global, a small business that specializes in environment, resilience & sustainability communications. C.C. Global has most recently launched Envirorun — a running and networking opportunity for the environmental community in Washington, D.C., and other city chapters will be l

Body language is surprisingly important in the workplace. The way you move and act may have unintended impacts on how others perceive you, and how you perceive yourself. Body language can make the difference between getting that extra raise or getting stuck on the bottom. Body language can affect the job experience in ways that you might not expect. Many situations arise in which you have to prove yourself and show your worth – these are the situations where the importance of

Washington D.C., the city of young professionals and fast politics, is one of the hardest working cities in our country. And as an environmentalist, it can be particularly easy to get disenchanted with politics. Sometimes you just need to escape. It’s important to get away and remind yourself what you’re working for. To get lost in the woods, to paddle on a river. To remember why you are working for the environment in the first place. To feel at peace. The pockets of nature a

The following is a post by DC EcoWomen boardmember Alison Alford. http://myggm.org I recently attended a fantastic DC EcoWomen EcoHour on environmental toxins and their effects on your body. I was spell-bound as Heather White, Executive Director of the Environmental Working Group, told us that EWG preformed a study on ten Americans and found levels of harmful chemicals in their blood, including BPA, mercury, phthalates, and triclosan. EWG knew that these toxins didn’t come fr

Is a calorie just a calorie? Obesity is one of the most visible problems in our country. But it may be masking another overarching chronic health problem – malnutrition. We pride food on being inexpensive and convenient above all else – above sustainability, above quality, and above nutritional content. As a result, the grocery aisles have become stuffed with packaged, processed foods designed for low cost and long shelf-life. Unfortunately, the nutritional value of these foo

By Katrina Phillips Our evening began with a short local spotlight story from Sam Ullery, the Schoolyard Garden Specialist for DC’s education office.  I had no idea the DC school system had such a position, and it was great to see Sam’s passion to provide students in the area access to local, nutritious food. Elisabeth Guilbaud-Cox from the UN Environment Program Regional Office for North America also joined the screening.  She applauded the audience for attending because as