April 12, 2007
By Marilyn Gardner, Staff Writer of the Christian Science Monitor

BigGreenPurse.com urges women to spend more on Earth-friendly products.
When the subject is the environment, Diane MacEachern has long been ahead of the times. Thirty years ago, she earned a master's degree in natural resources and the environment. And 20 years ago she helped design and build the energy-efficient house in the Washington, D.C., area where she and her family live.

Now she hopes to be in the vanguard again. Next week she is launching a national campaign and a website, BigGreenPurse.com, urging women to shift at least $1,000 of their annual household spending to green products. On average, people spend $18,000 a year on groceries and household goods.

"Women spend 80 cents of every dollar in the marketplace," Ms. MacEachern says. "We could be the most powerful force for economic and environmental change in the 21st century if we focused our money where it could make the biggest difference. If a million people did that, it would have a $1 billion impact."   Read the whole story...