I had a conversation with a friend of mine recently concerning his desire to live a little greener and incorporate some more environment-friendly activities and habits into his life. He has made more of an effort to recycle, and is riding his bike to and from work everyday. I mentioned a few other friends who drive cars that operate on bio-diesel, who are pleased with the decision to do so, and love the smell of french fries. Being from Northern California, myself now living in Portland, we both felt lucky for the awareness of environmental concerns within our communities. It occurred to us, though, that this is not the case everywhere, and in some parts of the country the option to even recycle may not exist. So how can this change? What initiatives can a person take to help educate their neighbors, and how can we take steps toward living in accordance with nature?
I actually work for a company called GreenBiz.com and while we focus on the greening of mainstream business I think it's great to note that while many people are striving to be more eco-conscious in their daily lives, corporations are as well.
On a political level, there are interest groups like CT4O (Clean Tech 4 Obama) that are striving to spread the importance of environment-friendly companies and policies of sustainability to areas like Michigan who could use the stimulus.
But, I digress, back to the personal steps...
While it's actually MORE beneficial to the bottom line for companies to go green, personal attempts at sustainability are often more costly for the average consumer. This explains the reluctance to "go green." In addition, a fair amount of "green washing" due to the lack of industry standards has disenfranchised many consumers' faith in the eco-market.
However, all of this being said...There are some great websites I would recommend to anyone who is looking for tips regarding personal initiatives: treehugger.com ecogeek.org thegreenguide.com green.org
And, anythign under the Green Options Media umbrella.
I've got a few green plans for my new house:
composting
growing own veggies as much as possible
walking/biking to work since I'll be approx 1 mile from the office
cloth diapering the baby
longer term plans include: solar panels, "personal" wind turbines, geo-thermal heating, eliminating as much natural gas use as possible, upgrading appliances to European high efficiency models.
MrGinger
San Rafael, CA
November 2003
SEP 24, 2008 11:15 AM