Posts Tagged ‘greener economy’

New Green Mileage Standards Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 New automobile emissions standards are on the right track.  President Obama is serious when it comes to fighting our global warming dilemma, creating new eco-related jobs and reducing our ongoing dependence on foreign oil.  By 2016, all auto makers are required to make new cars and trucks get 30 percent better mileage.  It will be a gradual phasing in process with the 2011 new automobile models.  Initially, it will cost the consumers a bit more per vehicle, but these “new regulations will save a total of nearly 2 billion barrels of oil from 2011 to 2016,” and will reduce the greenhouse gas emissions tremendously. For more information, check out these news sites: MSNBC.com LATimes.com TheHill.com With President Obama’s emissions promise, what types of Earth Promises will you make? Tags: 2016, 30 percent, Al Gore, auto makers, automobiles, Barack Obama, car, carbon emissions, carbon footprint, change, changes, climate change, earth, earth promise, earthpromise, eco-friendly, economy, energy, energy efficient, environment, environmental, environmental issues, global warming, government, green, green changes, green future, green living, green practice, green practices, green revolution, green tips, green-collar jobs, greener economy, greenhouse gases, oil, President Obama, save money, sustainable economy, truck, vehicles, White House Council on Environmental Quality Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Reduce and Reuse: It Helps Our Environment Thursday, May 14th, 2009 Stuff.  Possessions.  Things. We all have way too much of it.  Especially if you have children or if you are one to hold onto things for sentimental reasons.  (You know who you are!) There may be a psychological underlying reason why you hold onto your stuff, but no matter what the reason is, there are ways to help reduce and reuse it. Here are some ideas to reduce and reuse: Birthday party favors.  When my girls come home from birthday parties, the flood of plastic trinkets and useless odds and ends end up where?  In the trash, then ultimately in the landfill or cluttering up bedroom desks. This year, for my six year-old’s party favor, I let the kids take home their own plant.  Not one pined for the predictable bag of candy and trinkets.  The joy on their faces (and their parent’s) was priceless!  Organization books—Clutter Control: Tips and Crafts to Organize Your Bedroom, Backpack, Locker, Life by American Girl Editors.  My “almost 10 year old” was drawn instantly to this book in the store.  She is actually saving the clever ideas to work on de-cluttering her room this summer. Eliminate Chaos: The 10-Step Process to Organize Your Home and Life  is a well-reviewed organization book which offers advice that includes the  “realistic, messy, all-important steps in between.” EcoSalon’s blog, How to: 10 Tips for a Successful Clothing Swap, reminds me of my college days.  This is such a fabulous way to get rid of the things you no longer need or wear and get some new threads. E How offers great suggestions on how to reuse everyday items in lieu of continually tossing them into the recycling bin. A blogger on Blogher.com that I came across wrote, Reduce Clutter by Going Paper Free . Be sure to read her efficient, ecologically-aware ideas. If you haven’t watched the video already, this is a big MUST…the Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard .  Yes, it’s 20 minutes, but it’s is captivating and worth every minute of your time!  Teaching you environmental and social issues without being too preachy, Annie Leonard forces you look and really think about the stuff you have in your life. I love George Carlin.  This 1986 standup routine  about “stuff ” should bring a smile to your face.  Keep in mind, it is George Carlin, so be wary if your children are around! I envy my friends who do not have piles around their homes.  I always wonder where their stuff is?  Is it because they have more cabinets or drawers?  Or have they moved so many times, they have come to realize that less is more manageable?  My goal is to master the art of reducing and reusing. Do you have any innovative ideas on how to reduce and reuse?  We’d love to read about it.  Leave a comment so that everyone can take advantage and help our environment. Tags: budgets, carbon footprint, change, changes, climate change, conservation, digital cameras, earth, earth promise, earthpromise, eco-friendly, education, energy, environment, environmental, environmental issues, George Carlin, global warming, green, green changes, green future, green living, green practice, green practices, green revolution, green tips, greener economy, grocery bags, mother earth, organic, phones, recycling, reduce, reuse, reusing, save money, stuff, sustainable economy, waste Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

Fundraising With Green In Mind Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 Although school is coming to an end, this is the ideal time to organize school fundraisers for the 2009-2010 school-year.   Think about the first few months of school:  your children come home with the ubiquitous overpriced candles, gift wrap, cookie dough catalogues to raise much needed funds for their schools.  Do you, then, feel obligated to bring these glossy catalogues to your co-workers and neighbors, begging them to buy unnecessary goods that they neither need nor want on your child’s behalf?  There is nothing wrong with trying to raise monies for your child’s school.  With today’s paltry public school budgets, how else can we give to schools without trashing the planet?  How large of a footprint have we left over the years from these school fundraisers?  Start now for the next school year– make an effort to sell products that have an environmental purpose.  Some easy, no-brainer eco-fundraisers are: Box Tops For Education is an uncomplicated way to raise big dollars for your school.  Simply cut out the coupons on hundreds of products. Terracycle helps eliminate waste. Schools can register on the TerraCycle site to become a member of various “brigades.” One such brigade is the Capri Sun & Honest Kids Drink Pouch Brigade.  This allows you to help keep our landfills free from drink pouches (and many other products) and in turn, TerraCycle will “upcycle” these used (and then thoroughly cleaned, of course!) into unique fashion bags, totes and pencil cases.  TerraCycle will donate $.02 for every drink pouch, cookie wrapper, yogurt container to the non-profit organization or school of our choice. Eco-phones  collects electronic waste. They not only accept cell phones, but ink cartridges, laptop/notebook computers, digital cameras, digital picture frames, and iPods. You can download the current pricelist  to see the amazing payouts.  No cost to participate and you are provided with marketing tools. Reuse This Bag  is a great educational site offering to create custom bags to sell for fundraisers.  You can order grocery bags, wine totes, as well as insulated grocery bags that are all made out of recycled polypropylene.  There is a minimum order of 500 bags. Smencils are scented pencils made from rolled sheets of newspaper in lieu of trees.  Their motto says it all: “Saving trees….one pencils at a time.” And now, their freshness containers are made from corn-based biodegradable plastic!! If your school would like to take on a larger green fundraising commitment, one such fundraising company is Greenraising.  You can help your school raise money as well as offer environmental awareness by selling eco-friendly and fairly traded products. Some of the products are Sigg water bottles, lead-free lunch boxes, reusable bags and biodegradable cleaning products.  25% of all website sales and 40% of all catalog sales go directly to your school (or non-profit organization.) Many schools have already started recycling programs, grow vegetable and butterfly gardens, and are conscious of using and consuming less.  Eco-fundraising fits nicely into this agenda. What a fabulous way to support your local school while reinforcing a positive message to both students and parents who are trying to lessen their carbon footprint.  The key is to be mindful of what and how we consume.  Don’t allow your PTA to be stuck in its bad habits! What kinds of changes have you made?  Sign up on Earth Promise and create your own list of promises that will make a difference! Tags: Box Tops, budgets, Capri Sun, carbon footprint, cell phones, change, changes, climate change, conservation, digital cameras, earth, earth promise, earthpromise, eco-friendly, education, energy, environment, environmental, environmental issues, global warming, green, green changes, green future, green living, green practice, green practices, green revolution, green tips, greener economy, grocery bags, Honest Kids, ink cartridges, iPods, laptop computers, mother earth, organic, pencils, phones, PTA, public school, recycling, reuse, reusing, save money, school fundraiers, Sigg, smencils, sustainable economy, Terracycle, waste Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Our Green Hero Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 President Obama has chosen the ideal person to fight both poverty and pollution at the same time–Van Jones. Van Jones is presently the special advisor on Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality.  Other credentials under his belt are: Time Magazine’s 2008 Environmental Hero; Global Green USA “Community Environmental Leadership Award 2008,” and the New York Times Bestselling author of, The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Solve Our Two Biggest Problems (Harper One 2008), which is endorsed by Nancy Pelosi, Tom Daschle and Al Gore.  Not bad. Jones is helping to shift our country towards a greener economy by making blue-collar green jobs more readily available.  Actor and environmentalist, Leonardo DiCaprio, interviewed Van Jones for the 2009 Time Magazine’s Heros & Icons.  Jones says, “You can think about a green-collar job as a blue-collar job that’s been upgraded, or up-skilled, to better respect the environment.  (Also) these jobs not only contribute directly to preserving and enhancing environmental quality but also provide either family-supporting wages or a career ladder to move low-income workers into higher-skilled occupations.”  He is well known for his optimistic view of solving both our economic and environmental problems simultaneously.  It’s reassuring to have Jones on Obama’s team.  He is undeniably committed to making a sustainable economy part of our long term economic growth agenda. For recent articles about our tireless, green, social advocate, visit these links below: NPR’s website has a few articles about Jones that are worthy of reading: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103456763 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103358189  Green For All is an organization founded by Van Jones Listen to Van Jones’s opening statement at the SC Stimulus Hearing Start making your Earth Promises today! Tags: Al Gore, carbon footprint, change, changes, climate change, compost, compost bin, composting, conservation, earth, earth promise, earthpromise, eco-friendly, economy, education, energy, energy efficient, environment, environmental, environmental issues, global warming, government, green, green changes, green future, green living, green practice, green practices, green revolution, green tips, green-collar jobs, greener economy, Leonardo DiCaprio, mother earth, Nancy Pelosi, organic, poverty, recycling, reusing, save money, sustainable economy, Tom Daschle, Van Jones, waste, White House Council on Environmental Quality Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »