With each person receiving nearly 560 pieces of junk mail a year, a group of Michigan residents has come up with an idea to curb the waste.

Sander DeVries, and his brothers Shane Pfannes and Tim Pfannes, launched an online business to help people remove their names from direct mailing lists.

Tim came up with the idea because he was tired of his kitchen counter overflowing with junk mail, DeVries said.

With help from Shane and Sander, he spent a year researching organizations that take people off mailing lists. He passed along the information to family and friends but soon found no one had time to make phone calls or send e-mails.

Then he turned his brainstorm into a business, charging clients for help and donating some of the proceeds to nonprofit groups.

They launched their web site 41pounds last July. The service’s name refers to the 41 pounds of junk mail a person receives each year.

The Oakland Press

If you’re looking for a cheaper, faster way to market your product, why not tap into the increasing number of blogging moms? Overall, as a hot demographic, moms spend more than $2 trillion a year, so they definitely have the purchasing power. BlogHer counts more than 400 family and mom-related blogs right now, and growing. “Moms are the ultimate internet networkers, “said Debra Aho Williamson, senior analyst at eMarketer.com. They pass along shopping tips and product picks in the ideal word-of-mouth network.

Blog-ad firm Blogads reported that the average consumer on mommy blogs is a 29-year-old female with an average income of $70,000 a year, who spends four hours a week tapping into these blogs–basically, she’s a marketer’s dream consumer.

The media is taking notice of the products moms are chatting about. In fact, one blog, Cool Mom Picks, says at least four rather obscure companies they’ve written about have gotten spreads in Real Simple.

Entrepreneur Daily

Entrepreneur mom Jennifer Manriquez received national recognition this week, when she was featured on Good Morning America. (See video link).

The young mother is conquering the business world without sacrificing her home life. Manriquez started her language education company Bilingual Fun out of her living room 3 years ago. Now, her thriving program has grown to offering classes from as young as 18 months- age 10, in addition to creating and producing award winning Spanish for Children instructional DVDs. As a mom and educator with 2 young children of her own, Manriquez uses her personal and professional experience to educate others on the importance of early language instruction.

Manriquez was chosen from thousands of women around the country to be highlighted on the national morning show for her unique and successful business plan. Sticking with the theme of the GMA segment “How to Start a Business for Under $200″, Manriquez exemplifies how you can use your skills and passion to create a viable business opportunity for hardly anything.

ClickPress.com

It didn’t take long for a curious toddler to figure out how to unclasp the seat belt buckle that held her car seat in place.

And it didn’t take long for that toddler’s mother to figure out a way to keep that from ever happening again.

With the help of Clearwater manufacturer American Plastic, Patricia Mandarino of Spring Hill has created Angel Guard, a small squarish plastic widget that covers belt latches and makes them impossible to unbuckle.

She also started her own company, Future 1st, to sell her product. The device went on sale Thursday, just in time for “Child Passenger Safety Week,” which runs from Feb. 11-17.

Read Mandarino’s complete story on St. Petersburg Times

By focusing on the oncology market, this pharmacy has helped patients, doctors and its own bottom line.

Robin Smith, founder and president of Biologics, envisioned a one-stop shop geared toward not only helping patients deal with the unique emotional stress that attends their disease but also monitoring the increasingly individualized drug protocols prescribed by oncologists. So she cashed out her 401(k), sold her house, and took out a $50,000 line of credit. (Her banker had a daughter who had recently been diagnosed with cancer, which Smith says helped her secure the sizable loan.) Biologics was born.

Biologics is a different kind of pharmacy, hired by oncologists to take care of their patients’ drug needs. There are no Biologics storefronts; its pharmacists send medications to patients’ homes. It stocks only cancer drugs, and it takes an active role in managing patients’ care - making sure that they take medications at the right time and checking in to see if they experience any side effects.

Biologics hires only pharmacists who are experts in cancer care, and they help patients navigate the tricky, individualized world of dosages and schedules, a task that once fell to overstressed hospital staffs. “It makes my job easier,” says Robert Wehbie, a Biologics customer who works as an oncologist in Raleigh. “I know that patients are getting their drugs without any of the hassle they might get from a drugstore at the mall.”

CNN Money

You might have heard, but soon there will no longer be a need to risk your laptop in precarious situations in the kitchen. Modeled after a spatula, coo.boo is a digital cookbook that fits into the kitchen environment better than any laptop or printed cookbook. Recipes stored on the user’s computer are automatically synchronized through a wireless docking station and displayed on the face of the device. Digital function allows the cook to choose the degree of support wanted, from simply displaying recipes to full audiovisual cooking lessons. Not fragile like other high-tech digital devices, coo.boo is washable and can be placed on the counter top or hung up next to other kitchen utensils.

http://www.coolbusinessideas.com

“Good Morning America Weekend” kicked off its third annual Mothers of Invention Challenge today, in partnership with Mom Inventors, Inc.

If you’re a mom who has a great idea for a new invention, you can enter to win. One grand prize winner will receive $10,000 plus a 5 percent royalty from the net sales of the invention. See full official rules below for complete details.

All entries must be postmarked by March 24, 2007, and must be received by April 2, 2007. Please see contest rules below for complete information and entry requirements.

abcnews.com