Holding myself accountable

So I copy, paste, and summarize goings-on in the enviroworld here on this blog. I profess to be all about saving the planet. But what exactly do I do, on a daily basis?

Hmm. I recycle. I recycle even the containers I'm sure WM can't recycle. Heh. I opt not to make the waste I could potentially make. I reuse containers from food. I donate to places like Goodwill instead of throwing clothes in the trash. I have a small car (I wanted that, it wasn't the Earth's choice), that I don't drive to the store that's a few blocks away (mmm, well, I'm being self-forgiving on that one. Texas is too disgustingly humid. I'd drown). I pester my friends and family with green tidbits- only through email so no trees are harmed. I do basic things like turn off the lights in rooms and the water in sinks, use supposedly better bulbs, and I bought my first green kitchen cleaner.

But then 5 days a week I push consumption. And I do like coming up with ways to push it, don't get me wrong. It's capitalism and it will always be there and necessary in the world we live in. But that's not an excuse. I investigated just what sort of green programs my client, a grocery store-retailer-walmart wanna-be implements, and was pleasantly surprised to find multiple things, from the obvious (canvas bags) to the not-so-obvious (somehow reducing the amount of pollution from their trucks, brining in local farmers to a parking-lot style farmers market).

Maybe I'm feeling like I need to do more. But change takes baby steps, and most Americans are still crawling.

Good to know

I'm mulling over the idea of getting an iPhone. I'm not even sure why. Maybe the time feels right. Well, no, it's definitely not right, I mean, I just renewed my (stupid stupid stupid) t-mobile contract a few months back. I'm not exactly the leader in the trendy cool pack; I work in advertising and I don't even have a pair of Chucks. WTF, Lynn?

Anyhow, should the day come when I get an (or is it "the") iPhone or any other new piece of electronics, this is what I should do with the old stuff: Something very easy.

There's a whole lotta waste going on.

Stuffed

Here are two subjects that go well together: One is a short film called The Story of Stuff (which won SXSW web award). It's told by Annie Leonard and you can hear just how much 'stuff' goes into, and is wasted by, consumption. It makes you think.

Two, when you're done watching the film and you feel bad about buying something and no longer needing or wanting it, you can go to Freecycle.org and find a local group with whom to share, donate, and giveaway your stuff. And get stuff!

Now, back to my ad job where I have to go sell stuff.

Can I leave now?

European cities and Thomas Friedman making the case for energy efficiency and energy independence. Not that this is a new subject, it just makes me want to move to Europe. Or San Francisco. Or Chicago. Or any city besides this gas-driven metroplex.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/10/opinion/10friedman1.html

Let's hope humor can make it happen

So there's a new TV show on ABC that follows the Goode family, a family that tries obsessivly to be green. While it's obvious that it pokes fun at the super-liberal green people (it's created by Mike Judge), maybe it will make being environmentally conscious seep a little deeper into mainstream America.

Or it will be pulled by the 6th episode when it offends someone for making them feel bad for being, most likely, a lazy American.


http://www.tv.com/the-goode-family/show/75229/summary.html

Sleeping with the enemy

Is the new cool thing to do. Wal-mart bought in to green. Why not Clorox?


Maybe I'm biased because it's in my favorite city but I think it's a pretty good way to show the product. And the product, from a major global chemical company who just got props and the Sierra Club's approval (logo on the package), is creating quite a bit of talk. I'm of the opinion that if we as a planet want to move environmentally-sound behavior forward, we'll have to have earth-friendly products appeal to a mass audience. And to do this, we're going to have to get corporations and uber-environmentalists to come together. This is a great example of two major opposites trying to do something good for everyone. Greenwashing? Passing green fad? Maybe, but for now, it's a start.

For The Record

I won't always rant and rag on my posts. I just had to get this thing started somehow.


Cheers.

The First Time

The first time I ever heard someone say they didn't believe in global warming was about two years ago, when I first moved to Texas. Since then I've learned quite a bit more about this person's views on life. I have come to the conclusion that this person is very, very afraid - of life, of his (assumed) afterlife, of losing everything, of having nothing, of standing for anything progressive.

Suburbia will not save you. Money will not save you. Church will not save you. Republicans won't save you and (gasp!) not even Democrats will save you. You have to save yourself. And your SUVs, long commutes, mindless consumption and selfish living practices aren't helping you.

Whether or not you believe the scientists who say the earth's temperature is increasing, creating less waste can't be a bad thing. Let's pretend your plastic grocery bags and empty beer cans have nothing to do with global warming. But they still exist, they still use resources we won't always have, they still fill up landfills and oceans. So then what's the harm in using fewer plastic bags and recycling your cans? No harm, just a little bit of change. And change, for some, takes work.