Archive for November, 2008

Learn About Global Warming From Different Points of View Around the World Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 MSNBC.com has a great interactive tool which takes you aroud the world and shows you pictures, stories, articles, videos and explanations about how global warming is impacting different areas.  It is entitled, Vital Signs of a Warming World – The Science, Impacts, and Scenarios of Climate Shifts.   It uses Microsoft Live Earth to go aroud the globe to get the different stories.  From the polar bears to the rising waters to the droughts and hurricanes.  It all impacts us.   While we need big business and the goverment to help, we can make an impact that can be just as big if we band together to make changes in our lives to benefit the environment.  From reducing the amount of gas, water, electricity and waste in our lives, we can make a difference.  Earth Promise is a place where you can learn about the changes you can make, what their impact is and then document them so you can track your progress.  After you make that promise, do everything you can to keep that promise! Check out the full database of promises at the Earth Promise site.  Sign up (it’s free), take action and start making a difference. Become an Earth Promise member Tags: environment, global warming, green, green changes, promise Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Obama Should Tie Green Agenda to Economic Policy Monday, November 10th, 2008 Very good article on GreenBiz.com about how President-Elect Obama should tie the “green agenda” into how he will address the economic situation.  We do not want the green issues to take a hit while the very important initiatives to help our economy are put into place.  The economy is #1 on people’s minds.  Taking green steps will help in many areas of the economy, take the key steps for the climate crisis, and raise awareness of our planet’s issues.    Obama Must Tie Green Agenda to Economy: Panel By Tilde Herrera November 10, 2008   President-Elect Barack Obama stands a better chance of advancing a green agenda in his first 100 days in office if he can continue mobilizing the country on a grassroots level around environmental issues and tie green initiatives to the economic stimulus package and recovery. That’s the consensus of a group of journalists and a business advisor that explored the future of the green economy in an Obama presidency during a panel discussion at the GreenBiz-Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) Leadership Dinner held Thursday in New York. The panel, which included Fortune’s Marc Gunther, Business Week’s Adam Aston, The New York Times’ Kate Galbraith and BSR’s vice president of advisory services, Eric Olson, was moderated by GreenBiz.com’s Executive Editor Joel Makower in what he described as his version of “Meet the Press.” “I think we’ve all heard the superlatives about this week in terms of just how extraordinary it was whether your team won or not, but now the question is: What’s next?” Makower said. The economy is clearly at the top of the heap, as President-Elect Obama made clear in his first press conference. The news is grim: Job losses are escalating and he warned that if Congress fails to pass another stimulus package, he’ll make the move as one of his first actions in office. Marrying the environmental agenda to the economic stimulus package presents one possibility of advancement, according to Gunther of Fortune. “You have to come up with a way to say the purpose of this is do two things: do something about climate change but also to stimulate the new green economy,” Gunther said. “If it can be packaged that way, as opposed to something that will raise gasoline prices or raise electricity prices — which it absolutely will do — then it has a much better chance.”   Read Full Article Continually learning and taking steps, even small ones will help our environment.  Check out Earth Promise and learn ways that you can take action.        Tags: Barack Obama, climate change, economic policy, economy, green economy, green initiatives, Obama Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Environment Survey – Which Segment Are You In? Monday, November 3rd, 2008 Saw a cool study done by Yankelovich on Going Green.  Great stats on how consumers feel about the environment.  Some concern on a few stats quoted in the article.  ·         Only 34% of consumers feel much more concerned about environmental issues today than a year ago. ·         Less than one-quarter of consumers feel they can make a difference when it comes to the environment. This quote by the president of Yankelovich is quite telling and shows how people taking action with simple Earth Promises can make a difference and change people’s views. “While (consumers) are highly aware of environmental issues due to the glut of media attention… ‘going green’ in their everyday life is simply not a big concern or a high priority.” If they learn how small changes can make a big difference, maybe the percentage of people who think this way will decline. Yankelovich also segmented the survey respondents into five key groups to illustrate where people stand in terms of the environment as consumers.  Below is a brief description and the percent that fall into each group.  The key for us, as individuals as well as influencers, we need to get people moving to that next green level. Greenless – Unmoved by environmental issues & alarms – 29% Greenbits – Don’t care but doing a few things – 19% Greensteps – Aware, concerned, taking steps – 25% Greenspeaks – Talk the talk more than walk the walk – 15% Greenthusiasts – Environment is a passionate concern – 13% Which group are you in?   Check out Earth Promise   Tags: environment, green, segments, study, survey Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »