Archive for the ‘Green / Environment’ Category

What if they’re wrong?

Friday, February 8th, 2008

I was talking with a business associate the other day and a discussion about the environment and politics came up.

He said he had heard John McCain respond to a question about global warming and what his beliefs were. In a nutshell, the Senator supposedly responded with the idea that if we’re wrong about global warming and we’ve taken all sorts of steps to reduce our dependency on foreign oil, we’ve cleaned our air and waterways, so what? Why is that a bad thing?

And quite honestly, he’s exactly right. Whether you believe in global warming or not, what’s wrong with being more environmentally conscious? You don’t have to be a “tree hugger” or fanatical GreenPeace nut job, just be more conscious of your environment and the impact you have on your surroundings.

Slipping

Tuesday, February 5th, 2008

I don’t know what it is about me feeling the need to come up with some catchy subject line and mirror it with something going on with my life and the environment, but I some how find a way to do so almost every time.

For one I’ve been slipping on my posts these past couple of weeks because I’ve been pretty busy. I’ve also been contemplating the true idea behind my environmental posts and how I can make it even better. I get so tired of all the negative press from killing polar bears to ignorant EPA heads, that it’s hard to keep a positive spin on this very serious subject.

So if I keep up the absenteeism please understand that I’m just slipping and have not gone anywhere.

Oh, by the way, the “slipping” correlation between life and my blog? It’s been very snowy, rainy and sleety here in Indiana as of late. Hence the “slipping” idea. Hey, I’m a designer, not really a comedian.

GreenPrint

Tuesday, January 29th, 2008

The word green print conjures up all sorts of visions for people, from recycled paper, to less harmful inks, but this time it’s a bit different.

GreenPrint Technologies has introduced a new piece of software that can help save consumers time, money and the environment. The company estimates that with widespread use, the software could save over 100 million trees and reduce greenhouse gases by over 300 million tons globally.

“Our goal is nothing short of ending wasteful printing worldwide,” said CEO Hayden Hamilton. “We believe that GreenPrint World provides the opportunity to do exactly that. It gives home users everywhere the ability to eliminate waste which helps the environment as well as their wallets.”

GreenPrint software eliminates waste before printing by recognizing wasteful or useless items such as pages with just a URL, banner advertisement or logo and removes those items before a single page is printed.GreenPrint also allows users to remove images from a page with a single click before printing, resulting in significant savings in ink or toner. The software can also save the average user over $90 and 1,400 pages per year.

So what does this cost for the consumer? Well this is just another benefit of the software because for consumers and non-profits it is FREE.

20 Questions

Tuesday, January 15th, 2008

Actually that’s not the correct number asked of presidential candidates last year about global warming according to www.moveon.org. How many times do you think TV reporters asked about the climate crisis?

A.) 514 – It is one of the top priorities facing not only our nation, but the world – right?
B.) 165 -  This was the tally for illegal immigration. You think it was higher or lower?
C.) 3 – Believe it or not, these three questions were about UFO’s. Are you serious!?

If you guessed 3, you’re spot-on. That’s how many questions were asked of these candidates on the climate crisis. Three. The same amount for the whacky and insane idea of UFO’s landing here or elsewhere.

And as a business owner, have you asked yourself any questions as of late on how you can help the climate crisis? Maybe you could start a carpool incentive for employees? Is that recycling program idea still sitting on your desk collecting desk? Or do you have the ability to reach a politician or two and get this problem at the forefront of our nations leaders?

What questions would you ask the politicians or even ask me about the climate crisis?

They’re Listening

Friday, January 11th, 2008

Let’s face it, you can’t turn on the T.V., surf the Web, read the newspaper or a magazine without some mention of people going more green in their daily lives. Maybe a mega-corporation is reducing carbon emissions. Or a celebrity has endorsed Acme Green Company as their favorite supplier of carbon neutral products. No matter the situation, people are paying attention.

Just over a week ago my wife came to me and asked about some very thick, steel pieces used for displaying products. They came from a store she was relocating, but weren’t needed anymore. And she said to me, “Well I didn’t want to throw them away because you’ve got me thinking about this recycling stuff.” I was thrilled to death to hear her say that. And just last week my sister called saying Oprah was having a special on going more “green”. But as we talked, I was a bit disgusted.

On the show and I believe on the site, they’re selling reusable bags for your shopping so you no longer throw tons of plastic bags into landfills. Which this idea is all well and good, but the bags they want to sell ore $9.00 a PIECE. Now don’t get me wrong, being more conscious of how we live in our world is important, but those prices are insane.

Consider this: My sister has two children and a husband. She probably visits the grocery store at least twice a month and can easily come home with 10-15 plastic bags that always end up in the trash.

She really wanted to start using reusable bags, but at $9.00 a piece and her needing 10-15 bags, she just wasn’t ready to spend the money.

That is until she walked into a large chain store to purchase groceries and saw reusable bags for $0.99 a piece. Now THAT is more like it in my opinion. Even lower income families could afford a half dozen of those bags and make a difference.

So yes, when you do talk about recycling, the environment and being more responsible, they’re listening. Have you got through to someone and they have changed their ways?