I ventured out to attend a Green Salon Series here in L.A last night. I have to say a great perk to living in a big city is that there is always interesting and talented people to see on any given night in this town. The guest speakers at this event were Ed & Rachelle Begley. What an amazing couple and both so very witty. They have a show in its third season on HGTV called Living with Ed. I highly recommend it!!
I have such great respect for the Begley’s. They have been on a mission to learn what it truly means to live a sustainable life, and they have been doing so for many years. They’re teachers to our community and to people around the nation and I have to say they do it with humor, charm and tenacity.
The one message I took home is that instead of thinking about this as a fight to win people over to your particular views about our environment is that we should focus on what we can all agree on. If you begin with this premise and move forward you are likely to be successful in getting people on board. A few areas that I am sure all people can agree on, especially here in La La Land, is the fact that we need to improve our air quality, reduce our dependence on foreign oil and save some money along the way.
There may be a lot of people who still do not believe in climate change but I’m sure if they’re an outdoors person they can understand air quality and the need to reduce pollutants in their own community. The win, win is that doing this does help with climate issues. Who cares if you believe in it or not, let’s just clean up our air quality!!
Sustain Lane crunched a bunch of EPA data on the average Air Quality indexes along with EPA data on Clean Air Act Non-Attainment areas. It really does come down to location. Honolulu, HI comes in #1 and poor Los Angeles, CA comes in second to last. This Sustain Lane article is a great read if you’re into data.
Dependence on foreign oil…I will let you interject your own opinions here.
I’m sure we all can agree and get excited about saving money! There are many small ticket items that will save us money and help our environment:
*Install compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) when your older incandescent bulbs burn out.
*Unplug appliances when you’re not using them. Or, use a “smart” power strip that senses when appliances are off and cuts “phantom” or “vampire” energy use.
*Wash clothes in cold water whenever possible. As much as 85 percent of the energy used to machine-wash clothes go to heating the water.
*Use a drying rack or clothesline to save the energy otherwise used during machine drying.
*Take shorter showers to reduce water use and use a shower timer to keep you on track. This will lower your water and heating bills too.
*Install a low-flow showerhead. They don’t cost much, and the water and energy savings can quickly pay back your investment.
So let’s move forward and start focusing on what our agreements can be. Keep in mind that in almost everything we do, there is an effect on someone else in the world. I want to live comfortably just like I am sure you do but live mindfully, within your means, while having a minimal negative affect on the rest of the people on the planet.
“Live simply so others can simply live” Mahatma Gandhi
Plastic straws are flimsy and they’re just plain bad! Most recycling centers will not take them because they are a 
The reality is that we’re leaving the most important decision in the world to a few hundred people. We will be living with the decisions that are being made at the UN for the rest of our lives. I don’t know about you but I’m curious what’s going on now and who is currently at the UN representing the United States.
So let’s show Jodi some support and help launch “A Pocketful of Treats” successfully! For a limited time only, buy 3 bags or more and get 20% OFF! Offer expires October 27th, 2009. Please use coupon code Pockets09 at checkout. If you have any questions email me at info@allgreenthings.com.
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