Living Fair

San Francisco Examiner Finds Laborfair, FAIR and GROOVY. Our story made public today.

Hey friends,

Check out the amazing coverage for Laborfair in Today's San Francisco Examiner, Jenna Raby and Laborfair.com profile.

Not a great hair day as the wind was going 25 mph on the rooftop...oh well. Have you told your friends about Laborfair yet? Here's an excerpt that sums it up.

“The concept behind the business is connecting women in need of a worry-free labor force for their house,” Raby said. The site is not female-only, but, Raby said, “As a woman, I can come in and search for a child care provider or a house cleaner or a gardener.”

The site works like a staffing agency, but connects people human-to-human, without the middleman. It allows users to rate providers, like on eBay, and access is free to consumers.

You can find awesome people for any household service job! try us.

read more | digg story

Love the Earth Day, Everyday.

For me, every day is earth day. I grew up on a horse farm in New Jersey and played outside every day of my youth, rain, snow, shine--no matter.  My mother will tell you, I stayed out of trouble hanging out in the forest, building tree forts, mud houses, fairy homes out of sticks and branches.  I love the Earth, so much, I moved to Muir Beach, CA--the home of Muir Woods. Whether you are a tree hugger or a city slicker , there is no way not to be impressed with the majestic beauty of Muir Woods.  This is where the dignitaries signed the Charter for the United Nations--how can you beat that for serenity inducing vibes?  World peace is a viable concept when you've giant redwoods to dwarf your sense of permanence.

So how can we shepherd the protection of the earth? You guessed it, consumer choice..conscious capitalism.  Here's how:

When you hire housecleaners,housekeepers choose someone who cleans with organic cleaning products. Laborfair has lots of people who do this..Check out Natalia. 

Use greener cleaners. As many as a third of Americans have an adverse reaction to common household chemicals. I'm grooving to grapefruit-inspired Meyer's Green Day Dish Soap--seriously, you could eat this stuff when you wash the dishes. I am now buying this dishwashing liquid in bulk 6-packs off of Amazon. There's also cool mix of uber-earth and pocket friendly concoctions to clean on Care2.com (the social network for people who care about just about everything). You'll save money, too. Furniture polish can cost about $4, but a quarter cup of vinegar and a few drops of olive oil cost just a few cents.

Tip 2: Eat lower on the food chain--be a vegetarian or a raw foodie. A plant-centered diet requires fewer resources and reduces your ecological footprint as well as gives you a big glow that you carry around like a halo. You don't have to become a vegetarian -- try gradually shifting the emphasis of your meals from meat to vegetables and grains. You'll be doing yourself, and the planet, a world of good. I swear you freaking glow after one week of this type of diet. Think about it, dead begets dead..I'm going overboard but it works for me when I'm feeling tired and stressed out.

Tip 3: Wash in cold water. Ha Ha--the laundry not you. I hate cold showers.  About 90 percent of the energy used for a load of laundry goes to heating the water. I understand if you wash bed linens in hot water to kill dust mites, yet you can opt for washing all other loads in cold -- and save up to $300 and 330 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions each year.

In love with green,

Jenna

12,000 job leads and California's Growing Income Inequality

We want to share with all our Laborfair community a short and happy note. Laborfair.com reached its 12,000th job lead sent the first week of April 2008!  All those people in need of more fair paying and consistent work opportunities thank you for using our site for your household labor needs.

In a recession, it's more important than ever to get fair prices and pay fair wages so we stimulate our local economies and everyone benefits.  Today, the Washington thinktank, Economic Policy Institute's Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, published a report that the growth in income inequality in California is the 5th largest in the nation.  The gap between California's richest families and families in the middle is 3rd largest in the nation. The gap between our richest and poorest families is 8th in the nation.

Collectively, we can all do something about this. By using Laborfair--we're on the way to change!  Read the report: EPI Report on Income Inequality in CA and the Nation

In the spirit of collaboration, we've added a few new features that make it even easier to find and pay your perfect match on Laborfair.com.

1. "Can you pay me cash?" We hear that all the time, particularly for household labor.Today we released the "Pay Me Page", a feature that facilitates the convenience of online payment through credit cards and PayPal to Laborfair's household service providers. Don't have cash on hand to pay the housekeeper or handyman? Look for the Paypal badge to see the providers using the online payment options and use the "Pay Me Page". Pay the provider with their personal email address by your credit card or PayPal account.

2. Do you want to see who your friends or neighbors use for household help?  Be honest, there's a bit of the voyeur in all of us. Our "see who your friend's use" feature on Laborfair.com helps you get a "word of mouth" referral without having to call your colleague or bother your neighbor.

Go the FAIR! Cheers, Jenna

 

Thanks for the Limelight Typepad.

Living Fair was chosen by the Typepad folks as a Typepad Featured Blog. Considering how popular Typepad is amongst bloggers, this feels like an Oscar or an Emmy. Thank you. I like to think people care about what I care about, but that's a bit egocentric and a lot hopeful...so this is nice.

By the way, I got to thinking...what's the origin of the word "limelight"? So I checked it out on dictionary.com...Here's the scoop on that one.

 

Main Entry:

¹lime·light

Function:

noun

Date:

1826

 

1 a: a stage lighting instrument producing illumination by means of an oxyhydrogen flame directed on a cylinder of lime and usually equipped with a lens to concentrate the light in a beam b: the white light produced by such an instrument cBritish : spotlight2: the center of public attention

How about some tequila with all that light of lime?

Cheers, Jenna

No Country for Young Men? Silver-haired and Service-Oriented

February has a unique attribution as Spunky Old Broads Month.  Ah, the Spunky Old Broads -- those wise, strong, active women we all know and love. At 64, my mother is very spunky (although she's a class act so I'm not sure the word "broad" applies).  She's athletic and opinionated. Over the Christmas holiday, out mountain biking together amidst the splendor of Virginia's Allegheny mountains, she made it absolutely clear that I was never to place her in "a home".  Her preference is to leave this life like the Eskimos/Inuit do out on the edge of a snow mound or something similar, on her own property . The Inuit custom in their society is for elderly people who became too sick or debilitated to care for themselves or contribute to society to voluntarily walk off into the night to die. While there's a nobility in that kind of selfless demise, for my mother and yours I would think, that's unlikely to happen. My siblings and I are absolutely committed to helping her stay in her own home as long as possible.

This month, the Atlantic Monthly, has a superb feature on what the US will look like by 2030,No Country for Young Men. Writer, Megan McCardle, (despite her blatant reference to Cormac McCarthy) gives an amazingly candid and well-researched look at the consequences of the aging of our nation. She shows in vivid detail what the face of America will look like as the Baby Boomer generation takes hold--not only addressing the much-discussed and frankly frightening economicsfrom an accounting perspective but rather digging down into how this changes our economy from production-focused (i.e. making the better mousetrap quicker) to service-oriented (how many gerontologists and senior care workers we're going to need to address this sea-change in our population demographics).  She writes:

"As the Boomers age, they will consume fewer of the things that we produce efficiently, and more of the things that we provide relatively inefficiently. Productivity is notoriously difficult to pro­ject, but many forces will be pushing it downward as the Baby Boomers age.

Since services are labor-intensive, and the number of service-consuming seniors will grow rapidly, we’ll need a lot more workers (that’s bad news for those who favor restrictive immigration policies, particularly the kind that keep low-skilled workers out). And, of course, the mix of service workers that we’ll need will be different from what it is today. In effect, the next 20 years will require a massive transfer of resources and people away from the care of children, who will decline in relative number, and toward the care of old people."

Wooieeeeeeeeeeeeee, it's time to get with the program and start instituting national policies that will address this incoming tsunami of a domestic issue. How are dual income families and working women, married or single, going to afford this kind of care? Where are they going to find it in the quantity of providers we're going to need?   

For my mom, when she's really old and incapable of caring for herself properly, we'll need to find an excellent and affordable nurse, home health aide, hospice worker...you name it. At Laborfair, we're thinking of these challenges now. We're here to help you prepare for this by matching you with great people you can hire direct for your aging parents. Go the FAIR!

Madeleine Albright's Quote and the Special Place in Hell

Today, I'm feeling grateful for all the fabulous women I've met through this past year.  I'm consistently amazed at the great and unconditional generosity of women as we build Laborfair.com to be the one stop shop experience for literally anything you could possibly ever need done for yourself, your home and your family.  With bright smiles, enthusiasm and limitless energy, women universally dig in and share insights and ideas--they're natural communicators. 

The other night, I attended a NAWBO dinner (National Association of Women Business Owners) and met Linda Quinn, a real-estate broker with a wicked mind for business. She spent 45 minutes out of her evening really listening (an incredible skill in itself) and offered thoughts on a key business challenge. Linda followed up by email the next day with four connections and introductions. Now, I am not in the market for a new house, it's expensive enough to rent, this was just generosity of spirit. 

So that brings me to Madeleine and her famous quote, "there's a special place in hell for women who don't help other women." I completely agree; united we rise, divided we fall kind of idea.  Former Secretary of State and New York Times bestselling author Madeleine Albright really hits it on the head with her willingness to tell it like it is. I remember meeting her almost 9 years ago in the main square in downtown Vienna. Madeleine was easy to spot in her usual black wide-brimmed hat, and long cashmere coat buttressing her against the intense cold surrounded by a small army of bodyguards and European diplomats.  She was there to meet with OPEC and also to discuss nuclear non-proliferation--got to love that type of job.

I've always liked powerful, personality-driven women like former Texas Governor Anne Richards, Uber-feminist and well-rounded individual Gloria Steinem, and vocalist/musician, Natalie Merchant. These woman make my heart sing and my mind happy with their thoughtful, candid, often humorous commentary on living la vida. They walk around with the self-knowledge and possession that comes from getting yourself right.  Exactly.

So here's to that special place in hell with no occupants. 

In gratitude, Jenna

P.S. Madeleine is appearing at Dominican University on January 24th at 7 pm. I'm going to see her in the wide-brimmed hat and introduce myself again. Join me.

 

 

   

Ten Easy Tips for Greening Your Abode with Laborfair

At Laborfair, living green can be easy as well as feel good. It's a fun challenge to make your home align with your values. Check out these 10 tips on how to "green" your home and use laborfair service providers to help you make it happen:

1. Get a High-Efficiency Showerhead and call a plumber to install it inexpensively.
2. Recycle Water in Your Bathroom: did you know there are these great devices which allow you to reuse sink water for flushing your toilet?
3. Compost--that's right, turn your food scraps and lawn trimmings into food for your plants. Most gardeners on Laborfair know how to do this so just ask.
4. Purchase Green Power From Your Utility--ah, green power, cool.
5. Improve the Efficiency of Your Existing Hot Water Heater--the handyman and the insulated water heater, save money and time.
6. Use High-Efficiency Outdoor Lighting
7. Replace High-Use Indoor Lights with Compact Fluorescents or LEDs
Consider compact fluorescent bulbs or LED bulbs for those non-dimmable circuits (especially for holiday lighting). They are true energy misers, and will last for as long as you live in your house.
8. Load Up the Washing Machines
Make sure you run dishwashers and clothes washers only when their full. Better yet, invest in a front load washing machine that pools the water instead of filling the entire basin. Energy star appliances really save.
9. Drive Smarter: I love this one. You don't need to get on the waiting list for a Prius or invest in fuel cell technology to drive smarter. Drive at (or near!) the speed limit, keep your tires inflated, make sure oil and air filters are clean, and step on the gas / brakes carefully.
10. Avoid the Daily Waste of Fast Food and Shopping
Use reusable shopping bags whenever you go to the store. Say "No Thanks" when the pharmacist or grocery store clerk tries to put your one or two items in a bag.

How did you make your home green? We'd love to hear your suggestions and comments on your favorite tips.

Bottled Water and Going Green

I’m happy and grateful for the earth. In this season and age of plenty, the popular expression “reduce, reuse, recycle” has never made more sense. If we want a world where our grandchildren don’t have to live in a plastic bubble, filtering every environmental pollutant through a fire hose of sanitized oxygen, we better make “going green” a personal and a public necessity. I’m not a huge fan of California’s current governor, but I am supportive of his environmental policies—advocating for solar technologies, reducing fuel emissions, more widespread applications for bio-fuels and all around aggressive strategies to reduce our dependence on oil, domestic or foreign. As we think about easy steps to go green in our houses, what about going green with our personal choices? I’m not talking about organic food, more algae-based Omega 3 supplements instead of fish based ones, or the holy grail of health, drinking more water. No one’s against drinking more water and less Coca-cola except maybe kids. It’s our universal love of bottled water that concerns me. In 2005, Americans alone drank some 37 billion bottles of water, despite the well known fact that in most parts of the country, public tap water is not only perfectly drinkable but also more tightly regulated that its bottled counterpart. Our public water systems disclose the quality of their water while most bottlers refuse to do the same. Only 10% or so of these bottles are currently recycled—imagine 33.3 billion bottles in a landfill in the US alone.

Add that manufacturing plastic bottles for bottled water creates an astounding amount of pollution in the packaging, transport, and refrigeration-- an annual equivalent of 1.5 billion barrels of oil, according to Food & Water Watch. In an effort to cut costs (have you seen the price of gas these days?) and live my beliefs, I changed my approach to consuming water. Here’s what I did. I bought a Brita Water filter so I was on the absolute safe side around lead and mercury content. I poured the filtered tap water into a funky grey Nalprene bottle I purchased at Walgreens for $5.99. These nifty, lightweight and dishwasher safe bottles are not just for hitchhikers and athletes anymore. I carry it around with me at work and monitor both my daily water intake and the cash I’m saving. My goal is to buy a gorgeous personalized metal water container, like the Boy Scouts used to use with all the money I save. Hippie chic—yep, that’s right. Pull that one out at a meeting with the big boys in the pressed suits. So here’s my rant--just don’t buy bottled water, stick to drinking filtered tap and wine in glass, recyclable bottles, of course. Interested in how corporations are bottling tap water and selling it as from "the source", check out www.thinkoutsidethebottle.org.

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Originally uploaded by jenna_raby

Laborfair sister site in India, different worlds, same message

Today, I was thrilled to see a feature article appear in the Technology section of the New York Times about a former Microsoft employee and internet entrepreneur that is using the power of social networks to bring more jobs to India's masses making less than $3 a day. The title of the article is: "In India, Poverty inspires Technology Workers to Altruism." Check it out at:

Check it out here:

New York Times article about Babajob

He's beginning in Bangalore where there is an endless flood of expatriates with a need for local services and the money to purchase them. It's a great idea--one that I’m proud to say we had first in the US ;-) and have worked on for the better part of two years. I feel well-qualified to comment then on this subject.

The people Babajob aims to help are those service sector personnel, e.g. painters, cooks, childcare workers, handymen and chauffeurs (yes, you definitely do not want to drive yourself in India), who lack a viable social network and the ability to connect with potential employers. The company has identified low (if any) computer literacy and limited access to a computer as the primary roadblocks to that connection. Oddly enough, the problem in India and its growing economy, is the same one here: how to connect independent, qualified service providers with those looking to hire them in order to increase their opportunities and simultaneously redistribute a bit of wealth back into the economy. Laborfair tackles that head-on here in the US by making the hiring process for those same types of services far more efficient – resulting in cost savings for consumers, more consistent job opportunities, and a resulting higher wage for independent service providers.

In India, without social networks and the connections they foster, these service providers are relegated to a life of poverty. In America, there is less overall poverty, but our challenges are of a strikingly similar nature--access to living wage employment, health care, affordable childcare, etc. Laborfair and Babajob share the same ideological genetics. We both believe in using business to create social change, and in supporting the entrepreneurial drive of the world's people to have better paying and more consistent work opportunities. We're proud that Laborfair began by helping non-profit worker centers throughout the Bay Area find more employment opportunities for their in-need clients (and continues to do so).

But there are also differences in our approaches necessitated by the unique cultural differences. Where Babajob charges the employer to contact providers and pays intermediaries to interview computer illiterate workers and post their profiles on the web, Laborfair sells a highly efficient and affordable marketing and communication platform to the provider in order to keep the service free for the consumer. We believe that in order to help service providers build their businesses, they must make the barriers to entry as low as possible for potential employers. There is also much greater computer access in the US, meaning that we do not have to carry the overhead of intermediaries to interview and post worker profiles. And like Babajob, we’ve made it much easier than previously possible for consumers who need quality, trustworthy personal help to find it at a fair price. With Laborfair, you can forget the hassle and expense of contacting an overpriced housecleaning service or mining the yellow pages for service professionals without a review or ratings. Instead, there's a great independent local service provider waiting to do your job.

I find this article incredibly encouraging. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a giant corporation or a small startup approaching the issues of poverty alleviation and the growing income divide, whether they’re focused globally or domestically, or even if they treat it as a business opportunity or a philanthropic effort. The point is that there's room for everyone to be the catalyst for change. Your consumer choices and the conscious capitalism you display in your daily hiring decisions are the real and genuine power here. Businesses like Laborfair and Babajob demonstrate how innovative businesses concepts, both in the US and abroad, can create social change --the main ideology behind our mission here at Laborfair.com. Kudos to them. Perhaps there's a partnership in the making.

Clipped on the way to work

Biking to my office today, I was clipped by a passing car. His passenger mirror hit my elbow as I was cycling up Van Ness and dented my mirror. It hurt, still smarts a bit but outside of a small bruise, I suppose I'm fine. In the moment, I thought "surely, he'll stop and ask if I'm ok?" Quite the opposite actually. This gentleman in the black Audi A4 accelerated to move quickly up the hill and out of sight. I imagine he was quick to act in an effort to avoid any confrontation where supposedly as often happens in these type of situations, one of us would refrain from admitting culpability or some such thing. I was hugging the curb so not likely it was my fault. I shouldn't have been so far out in the road, that would be his refrain. I'm naive I guess. I just wanted to know that I was alright--I thought he might want to know that too. Unfortunately, I am often amazed by lack of concern for others and the obsession with looking out for number 1 I see around my daily life. We've got to the point where people elect bumper stickers like "random acts of kindness welcome here"-- an effort to inspire the rest of us to learn to live from a place of kindness. We're all a little tired of looking out for number 1 aren't we? There's so much to learn in going the other way --part of living fair, I like to think. Paying fair, getting fair treatment from other people, it's all part of a wider objective, be the change. I have his license plate number. I'd like to send him this bumper sticker. I just might.