Happy Happy Earth Day…
My tribute to the ethanol rage… but seriously, I was searching for a picture of myself to use for a profile. And I came across this on the website of a photographer I worked with a little while ago. Obviously photoshopped… It reminds me of Oz- of a Kansas cornfield dropped in the middle of Oregon.
This is definitely set up to the biggest-hyped Earth Day ever. “Green” is now an adjective used everywhere, for everything… and recognizable by everyone. It’s definitely great to see how even large companies are realizing that they need to at least be seen as making an effort. I guess the skeptical side of me just wishes they spent as much cash on actual scientific innovations and solutions as they do on letting us know about it. Walmart is now on the “green” bandwagon and sells organics. I suppose it should be good news, it just seems like the “green washing” is more about PR and advertising these days than it is about the principle and doing what’s best for the planet. Maybe it’s impossible to separate the two. And maybe it doesn’t matter. Maybe I’ll just always be suspicious of the biggest players. We have reason to be. It just feels weird to suddenly find them on our side.
On a happy note, the printer I use (Greener Printer.com) just announced that they are giving away 200 free business cards to celebrate Earth Day and their new thicker 100% recycled card stock. They use soy ink too and have done beautiful work for me.
We should all take a moment tomorrow and celebrate any changes we made this last year to decrease our footprints on our planet. (My favorite is that Ian and I were able to lower the electric bill for our house to $20/month). It’s also a good time to reflect and think about Spring Cleaning- inside and out.
- Some Celebratory Ideas:
- Go Veggie or Vegan for the day
- Drink a green smoothie
- Make an Organic Feast and toast with a glass of biodynamic wine
- Take a walk
- Read a book (like the Food Revolution)
- Don’t shower! (you know you shouldn’t be washing your hair every day anyways!)
- Screw in a CFL lightbulb
- Turn down your thermostat (yes- it is still FREEZING in Oregon)
- Turn your hot water heater temp down too
- Bike to work
And on the commercial side of things:
Sign up at idealbite.com for daily tips. This is a fun site.
How about a green cell phone? No kidding. Credo Mobile (formerly Working Assets Wireless) has the greenest phone on the planet! I wish I hadn’t renewed my contract last fall. I’ll be switching when it runs out.
And there’s always carbon offsets, but do some serious research before you buy. There have been many reports of bogus companies just collecting money and doing nothing.
Yeah- same old stuff… but a little does help a lot. It’s got to.
Wishing you peace & balance, Dana
Very cool about the phone–I’m forwarding that on to my husband (who works in that field, sorta).
I didn’t know about a green telephone service, interesting. I’ll have to check into it when my contract runs out. Thanks for letting us know about it.
Natalie @ Gluten A Go go
That picture is great, especially because I grew up in Iowa. Of course now Iowa is one big lake.
The funny thing is in the background they’re mountains!