Author Archives: Darcy Cronin

About Darcy Cronin

I'm a Mother/Coach/Blogger/Business Adventurer from Portland OR. My family consists of my Hubby of 12 years, our 8yo Kieran, 5yo Makenna, and 1yo Teagan. I love dreaming about a better future, and making it happen.

Green Mompreneurs

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I’ve been really inspired by a few Green Mama friends who have launched their own eco-friendly businesses. 


My friend Amanda used her maternity leave (and subsequent lay off) to dream up a green business plan that could help her family create its own brand of sustainable abundance.  Scoop now serves up organic handmade ice cream from a rehabbed delivery truck  (find on FB). Food carts are all the rage in Portland, and have become a force in the local economy. The flavors are creative and delicious…I’ve tried the “chocolate peanut butter” and “strawberry champagne sorbet”, both scrumptious!  


Another friend of mine has used her skills as a horticulturist to grow Sprig & Sprout (also found on FB). Sprig & Sprout specializes in growing sustainable culinary herbs, which are sold to restaurants and at local farmer’s markets. She started the business somewhat as a hobby business initially, and just wanted a have a way to use her skills and stay at home to raise her kiddos. After a few years on the market she’s managed to pay off her initial capital investments and turn a profit, plus she’s growing her dream!  


I recently met yet another  Green Mama  at an urbanMamas lunch. Hedgehog Hiker  designs and creates hiking pants for children, which are both adorable and practical. She found a niche when she searched high and low for a pair of sturdy pants for her son, so she decided to sew them herself! She takes sustainability seriously and it took her about two years to find an eco-friendly cloth for her products. She also employs her talents as a seamstress.


While I met the “Queen Bee” herself, I was very excited to find a new Green Mama owned business in my neighborhood. Queen Bee Creations & Chickpea Baby designs truly unique purses and diaper bags with colorful silhouettes to suit any Green Mama’s personal style. I actually asked Hubby for a purse for Mama’s Day…I hate to admit it, but I don’t have a purse and am always using random reusable grocery bags!

Lastly, I feel the need to give a shout out to Earth Mama Angel Baby Organics, located just outside Portland. They have amazing products, and I can’t say enough about their postpartum products they really help heal you. A great baby shower gift for new Green Mamas!


Which Green Mompreneurs inspire you? Are you one?



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Sustainable Family Finances 
The story of a family creating an abundant and sustainable life.

Celebrity Green Mamas

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In an “ Ode to Green Mamas ,” I’ve discovered a remarkable collage of celebrity Green Mamas . The trend is obvious, but I was still pleasantly surprised to find such an eclectic variety of superstars growing green roots.


Like all Green Mamas , these women express their green talents in diverse ways:


Soleil Moon Frye is a grown Mama now, best known as “Punky Brewster” who she played as a childhood actress (pictured right). Soleil’s sharing her love of being a Green Mama in her shop, The Little Seed , a specialty boutique that carries eco-friendly and organic products. Soleil has two children, Poet – 4, Jagger – 2.


Julia Roberts has taken her Green Mama superstar status to the tops, by showing Oprah’s worldwide audience how to eat organically. Her house is decked with solar panels. Julia Roberts is a spokeswoman for Earth Biofuels, and she took her passion to the California legislature to push for laws to require biodiesel school buses. Julia has three children, Phinnaeus and Hazel – 5, and Henry – 3.


Cindy Crawford is not only a supermodel, but now a super Green Mama . Her eco-awakening came after her children were born, both home births. Cindy Crawford campaigns for tap water to benefit Children’s Safe Drinking Water, and curb the waste of disposable plastic bottles. Cindy has two children, Presley – 10, and Kaia – 8.


Sheryl Crow, eco-famous singer-songwriter, takes her Green Mama  mission on every road trip. Sheryl is a Green Advocate for NRDC and helped organize college campus tours in biodiesel bus to bring awareness to the need for climate action. Sheryl Crow has her own eco-friendly clothing line, Bootheel Trading Co. Sheryl is mother of Wyatt – 3.


Who is your favorite celebrity Green Mama?


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Sustainable Family Finances 
The story of a family creating an abundant and sustainable life.

Ode to Green Mamas

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You may have wondered about why I sign off as “Green Mama.” It’s certainly not because I think I’m the only Mama trying to raise a family in sustainable abundance, thankfully quite the contrary. 


My sign off is because I hope to inspire fellow Green Mamas. While our family circumstances may be quite different, Green Mamas are united in our quest live our values and sustain the wonder of the Earth for future generations.


In honor of Mother’s Day, I’m dedicating this week’s posts to Green Mamas:

Which Green Mamas inspire you? I’d love to research your favorites too!


Don’t worry, Guys, I’ll honor you for Father’s Day 🙂


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Green Mama 
The story of a family creating an abundant and sustainable life.

Extra Cargo

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Nothing says “American Family” like a good old-fashioned road trip. While nowhere near the scale of the cross-country trip we took pre-kids, we’ve got a few excursions planned as we are anxious for summer. We’ll be heading to my parents, which is a four hour trip and then meeting friends for some cabin camping next weekend.


The only glitch is that while we love our Doggy , it’s hard to pack our whole family and our gear in our rig with a big black beast taking up the bulk of our cargo space. We toyed for quite some time after we first got him with the idea of trading in for a family mini-van. It seemed like the only option. We have many friends who love their mini-vans, and it seems like almost everyone opted in when kid number two arrived. 


We did a fair amount of research. We considered buying a Mazda5, but it felt like it wouldn’t really gain much room. There would barely be enough room for the kids’ friends once they are bigger, and team sports are closer than I realize. We checked out Odysseys and Siennas, and it felt tempting.



My biggest hesitation about buying a mini-van is the low fuel economy. I just seems wrong to be going in the wrong direction when we are trying so much to reduce our carbon footprint. 

We’ve decided to try out a large cargo carrier for our family trips. In theory it will give us plenty of room for all the necessities, and reduce our mileage by a small margin. We won’t have to exchange our car just yet, which we’ve had for only two years. If we are all lucky, by the time we may really need a mini-van a hybrid version will be on the market. 

On the cargo carrier research, we found out from friends that Sears actually purchases from Thule manufacturers. They cost about half the price, because you don’t have to pay for the brand name. Of course, just after we bought ours, I found out about a local shop called ReRack. You can’t win every time.

How do you handle the need for extra cargo room?

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Sustainable Family Finances 
The story of a family creating an abundant and sustainable life.