The Green Room from Walmart - Is It Just Marketing?

Walmart recently started a major advertising push to get people to visit their new Green Room blog. In fact, it is such a major push that it is probably advertised right here on my blog. They claim that together, we can create a more sustainable world to help people live better. Here are some of their latest blog titles:

Fighting hunger and improving nutrition go hand-in-hand

Share the Love with Fair Trade Certified Valentine's Day Gifts

Why Wait? Sam's Clubs Combat Deforestation with Sustainable Palm Oil

Raise a Glass and a Lighter Bottle for Sustainability

I am the first to admit that these are some great titles and the thought behind them are even better, but I wonder just how serious Walmart is about sustainability. Is this just another more veiled attempt at greenwashing. Greenwashing is fairly common nowadays as corporation will tell us just how much they are doing for the environment when they are, in fact, more than likely hurting it.

I don't think it is any secret that Walmart's popularity was at an all time low about the time they started telling us, through PR notices, that they were setting out to be more green. Over a period of time, their approval ratings started to improve. Is it possible that this Green Room blog is just another step to improve the public's perception of them?

One person recently commented that he doubts that the millions of products that Walmart sells that are produced in China had anything to do with sustainability. I tend to agree. If Walmart really wants to become a leader in sustainability, why don't they do something about that? They won't because the leaders of Walmart probably have the bottom line in mind much more than how much they are helping the environment.

I wonder how you feel about Walmart's Green Room PR push? I would love to hear your comments and you can send them to me at bruce@bruzzbuzz.com.

Trying to Find Green Products Can Be Difficult but Green Nest Helps

There have been times when I try to find products that I need but that are also green. Try doing a search online for some of the things you want for your home and it can just be a huge confusion. That's why I was excited to find a website that offers products of all kinds that are all green. That place is Green Nest. Green Nest was founded by Lisa and Ron Beres. Their hope is to provide you with products that will transform your health and well being.

The products that you can find on Green Nest are such things as air purifiers, air test kits, HEPA vacuum cleaners, shower filter heads, bath filters, drinking water filters, whole house filtration, organic shower curtains, organic mattresses and bedding accessories, organic robes and sleepwear, organic baby clothing, crib mattresses and more. They also have green cleaning supplies, green gifts, non toxic building supplies, books and CDs about green topics, home tests, pet stuff and so much more.

As you can see, if it is a hard to find green item, you can find it at Green Nest. Lisa Beres began this compnay in 2003. She was an interior decorator but felt run down all the time. She started researching and found that her home had so many toxic materials in it that she had to do something about it.

She found that the air inside our homes and places of business, or nests as she calls them, can be 2 to 5 times more polluted than outside air and that we spend up to 90% of our days in our homes or places of business. She also found that many of the man made chemicals we use in our daily lives were contributing to her hormonal imbalance. All of this lead her to become a Certified Baubiologist which means she studies how buildings impact life and the living environment. With her interior design talent and her new found certification, she decided to merge the two and create Green Nest, which will help you to be more healthy in your indoor environment.

There is so much more to her story but I found it to be interesting enough to feature it here at You Can Go Green. You can check out this great site by clicking through on this link or any of the other Green Nest links in the article.

The EPA Makes a Wild Claim About the Green Culture

I am always looking around the web for inspiration for things to write about for my going green blog and I found one very quickly when I came across the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Go Green web site. Right there on their home page is the following statement:

"America is shifting to a "green culture" where over 300 million citizens are embracing the fact that environmental responsibility is everyone's responsibility."

I hate to nitpick and I don't want to make a big issue out of this but I sincerely doubt that over 300 million American citizens are all shifting to a green culture. Have you watched Gold Rush on television lately. I can assure you that the guys who strip the hell out of land to find a few ounces of gold have not shifted to a green culture. These guys destroy everything in sight and have no intentions of returning the land to anything resembling nature's beauty when they leave.

How about the big oil businesses? Even though they tell us how environmentally responsible they are, do you think they are? Have you heard the crap coming out of BP's commercials about how they returned the Gulf Coast to a better than before state? Look, these big boys only care about one thing and that is an obscene amount of profits and anyone who thinks they truly have shifted to a green culture are just kidding themselves.

I have wanted to vent on these two companies for awhile and I was never sure how to do it to make an impactful statement. That is why I decided to do it in light of the EPA's statement. I just want people to want to help the environment in small steps that add up to huge steps worldwide, but then I see some of the environmental destruction that still goes on and it makes me sad. Thanks for letting me vent and I hope you will too.

What Causes Acid Rain and What Are the Effects of It?

Acid rain is actually a broad term that refers to a mixture of wet and dry deposited material from the atmosphere that contains higher than normal amounts of nitric and sulfuric acids. It can come from both natural sources such as volcanoes or decaying vegetation and from man made sources. Those man made sources are primarily emitted by sulfur dioxide(SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) that results from fossil fuel combustion. About 2/3 of all fossil fuel emissions in the United States come from electric power generation that relies on burning fossil fuels like coal.

Acid rain will occur when these gases react in the atmosphere with water, oxygen, and other chemicals that form various acidic compounds. The result is a mix of mild sulfuric acid and nitric acid. When power plants and other sources release sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, the wind can blow the compounds for hundreds of miles.

Acid rain can cause lakes and streams to become acidized and contribute to the damage of trees at high elevations. Those trees most often affected are red spruce trees because they are usually above 2000 feet above sea level. Acid rain can also damage building material and paints and is one of the more common causes of damage to national monuments.

Acid rain looks just like any rain and feels and tastes like it too. The harm to people is not direct and the EPA claims that walking in it or swimming in an acid lake is no more dangerous than walking or swimming in clean water. However, they claim the pollutants that cause acid rain, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, do cause damage.

These gases will interact in the atmosphere to form fine sulfate and nitrate particles and these are what cause the damage to people's lungs and hearts. The Acid Rain Program was supposed to lower the levels of bad particles in the air and is supposed to bring about health benefits estimated to be valued at about $50 billion. Those benefits are due to decreased mortality, hospital admissions, and emergency room admissions. It will be interesting to see if these numbers are attained.

Environment Friendly Obama Cuts EPA Funding in Proposed Budget

Let me state right up front that President Obama stated that he would be an environment friendly President back when he was running against George W. Bush. Some of the promises he made was that he would include labor and environmental standards in all trade agreements, improve water quality, restore the Great Lakes, fund proposals to help fish and game survive the climate changes we are experiencing, support wetlands funding, protect forest service land from more roads, and other wide ranging appeals. Now, Obama proposes cuts to the EPA's budget by 1.2%.

I think it is important to understand that Obama's proposal is more than likely dead on arrival, but I do find it rather interesting that he, who claims to be a friend of the environment, has made the cuts that he did. If you are an Obama supporter, you might say that the cuts were less than cuts made to other programs. If you are against Obama, you will probably say that any cut to any program just reinforces that Obama has wrecked the economy beyond the damage that was done before he took the Presidency.

What point am I trying to make? I am just trying to say that we live in a climate of extreme partisanship. I do not think that Obama can do anything to please everybody and will always anger a fanatical group of right wingers. I also think that if Obama were to be defeated that the same song and dance will take place with the left. In the meantime, the environment, the military, the economy, the "fill in the blank with whatever you care about" will suffer.

The only thing we as individuals can do to help our environment is to make the small changes we each have control over. We can also speak out and put pressure on our government officials to enact whatever change is necessary to create a better world, but you might as well not hold your breath because this pendulum will continue to swing from one side to the other without ever falling into the middle and staying there.

I have vented and I await your attacks. Thank you for listening and I welcome your comments.

EPA will slash Coeur d'Alene River Basin cleanup plan - Spokesman.com - Feb. 15, 2012

The clean up of the Coeur d’Alene River Basin was going to cost $1.3 billion and take up to 100 years to complete. This has been questioned by many people so the EPA has suggested that the clean up take 30 years and cost about $600 million less. I think this is probably a good suggestion if for no other reason than the time frame. Read the article for the details and see that our government does listen. There were over 7,000 comments received by the EPA prior to making this change.

EPA will slash CdA River Basin cleanup plan - Spokesman.com - Feb. 15, 2012: "Coeur d’Alene River Basin"

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Is There an Environmentally Aware Coffee Company?

When you write a blog about going green, sometimes people ask you questions about the many products that are out there. A few people tell me they are concerned about drinking coffee that might be harvested using methods that are bad for the environment or grown and sold in ways that are unfair to the people working the fields. Well, let me tell you of one company that a friend told me about and maybe it will help you in your search.

There is a company called Ethical Bean Coffee. They do not claim to be a green coffee company but they do have some mighty fine claims nonetheless. There are 4 pillars that this company claims to abide by in bringing coffee beans to your table. Those pillars are the following:

1. Fair Trade

2. Organic

3. Community Minded

4. Environmentally Minded

Ethical Bean Coffee says that bringing you absolutely delicious coffee is important but if it does not fit into those 4 concepts, they won't do it. Let me explain something about those concepts.

Fair Trade - Fair Trade coffee is produced and trade through an alternative system to the conventional way that the coffee market runs. Producers are assured a minimum price based on the costs of production and not the volatile market price. There is also additional money paid to the coffee cooperatives to invest back into the community the way they see fit, but in order to receive this allotment, they must follow regulations to ensure they are operating in a just and sustainable manner. Small family farms must organize into cooperatives and cannot allow forced labor or child labor. Fairtrade Labeling Organization International (FLO) is the international umbrella organization that sets the Fairtrade standards.

Organic - The coffee beans have to be organic. They have to be certified organic and be shade grown coffee that is best for the farmers and for the environment. Organic farmers have created resourceful ways to compost and to use coffee pulp and poultry manure to household waste in fertilizers. Harmful pesticides and herbicides are never used. Coffee grown in the shade grows slower and is more sustainable and does taste better.

Community Minded - Ethical Bean Coffee states that community is a must in their company. A part of the proceeds from every bag of Ethical bean coffee goes to support two non-profit organizations, Child Aid and Project Somos. Child Aid provides educational help for children in Guatemala and Project Somos is building a village for the huge number of Guatemalan children who have been orphaned. These are just 2 of a few organizations that Ethical Bean Coffee supports.

Environmentally Minded - All of this leads to Ethical Bean Coffee being socially aware and environmentally minded and that is a company you do not mind doing business with.

If you want to read more about Ethical Bean Coffee, just click on the link below and see more of what I have covered here. You can also order from them there. If the link is not working at this time, return to this page and find some of the companies that are linked on the page that offer the same things Ethical Bean offers. Look for Swiss Water Coffee or Healthwise for the best alternatives.

Do You Know How Many Cars Are On the Road Worldwide?

Wards Auto, The Information Center for and About the Global Auto Industry, stated back about 5 months ago that the number of cars on the road worldwide finally reached the one billion mark sometime in 2010. That comes out to one car for every seven people on the Earth. When you take into account the number of children and elderly people who do not drive, that is a huge number. Let's break these numbers down just a bit.

In 2010, 35 million extra cars took to the road and China had the biggest increase with 14 million of those. China now has 78 million vehicles making it second to the United States in car ownership. China supplanted Japan for the second spot. That is one car for every 17.2 people in China. Only 5% of the population in China drives so you can imagine how much car ownership may rise in future years. The impact on oil prices will be staggering.

The United States has 239 million cars on the road which means that there is one car for every 1.3 people. If China ever grows to the same extent that the United States has they will have over 1 billion cars in China alone. Scary thought, huh?

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development predicts that the number of cars on the road will begin to accelerate, mainly because of China and will reach 2.5 billion cars on the road in the next 38 years.

Go Green Right Now - Take Action

People are always told that they need to go green. There are thousands of web sites out there that give us the top 10, 25, 50, or even 100 ways to go green. It is really easy to start but where do you start? I have an idea and it is something you can start right this very instant.

One of the most outstanding ways to go green that is really quite easy is to go to your closet and find those clothing items that you do not wear anymore. Bag them up and take them to your local Goodwill store or other thrift type store.

You don't need those clothes anymore but I promise you that someone does. If you want one, you can get a form so that you can deduct your donation on your income tax(if you itemize). Even if you do not do that, you are doing so much good for Planet Earth. You are keeping bulky items out of the landfill, your have become a part of the movement that makes sure that items are not used once and thrown away, and you have just reclaimed more space in your own home.

So, there it is. You do not have an excuse to start the simple step to go green. Get up, go to your closet and clean it out. Someone out there needs your stuff.

Which City Recycles the Most?

I get this question a lot on searches done within my site. I decided to look into it and answer it here. What city recycles the most? It looks like it is San Francisco, California.

One study conducted by Nalgene, a company that produces green containers, did a study to answer this very question. They questioned almost 4,000 people about their practice and behaviors concerning waste, sustainability, shopping, transportation, etc. The results were weighted to reflect those behaviors that had a more immediate impact on our environment such as driving habits, recycling, etc. Other habits or thoughts that were more of a mindset were weighted less but still important. The surveys were given to 125 people each from the 25 largest cities in the nation. There were 23 questions on wasteful or non-wasteful behaviors.

Below is the actual statement that Nalgene made regarding which city is the least wasteful:

"San Francisco ranked as the least wasteful city in the study for the second year in a row. San Francisco residents ranked the highest in the categories of recycling, using public transportation, using rain barrels, limiting car trips for commutes that are less than one mile from home, using recloseable bags and tinfoil, and participating in their city’s sustainability programs.

More than half (57%) of the city’s residents would give themselves either an “A” or “B” grade for their personal commitment to the environment. In addition, 43% of residents admitted that they felt “extremely concerned about the environment.”

One interesting side note is that Houston, Texas was found to be the most wasteful city.

Popsci.com set out to answer what city is the most green and in their study they found that Portland, Oregon was the greenest and San Francisco came in just behind.

Men's Health did their own survey and placed San Francisco down around 3oth but the sample was very small and not scientific enough to actually find that it is reliable.

I am going to agree with the Nalgene study and then put the Popsci study into the mix and declare that San Francisco is the city that recycles the most.

What is the Cheapest Way to Go Green?

Going Green is talked about all the time these days. You see it on the news, in articles and on television, especially in commercials. We are implored to go green to save the environment but it might actually be easier said than done. Just as with any subject that gets a huge amount of attention, going green can be somewhat confusing. Some people get into the scientific details about going green and that can be the most confusing part of understanding what going green means. Other people tell you that you must "sell out" and return to a most basic and simple life to go green. Others say you must reduce, reuse, and recycle in order to be green. It can be confusing if you listen to everybody, but it does not have to be.

Going green simply means to follow practices in your daily life that will be easier on the environment. You do not have to get rid of your car and buy and electric one, although it would be nice to buy a hybrid or electric one the next time you are in the market for one. Really, just try to be kinder to the environment when you can.

Here is one benefit to being a practical green living individual. Going green can be cheaper than living the non-green way. So, what is the cheapest way to go green? Here is a list of some great ways to go green and save money.

1. Freecycle - This is a great way to save what ends up in our landfills while recycling items that you no longer need. Others benefit because they get something they either need or want for free. What can be better than this. Say you have some clothes you no longer need. Don't toss them, write o free post on Craigslist in the FREE section and arrange for someone to come pick them up. You have more room and they get free clothes. Everyone wins and the environment is saved from landfill material.

2. Adjust Your Thermostat - Drop your thermostat a few degrees and use a blanket when watching television if you think it is colder than normal and you will definitely save money on your electric or gas bill. The less energy used also drops your carbon footprint which is green.

3. Save Water - This is my favorite easy way to go green. I have a post that shows you how many billions of water would be saved if only 1% of the population did this. It is mind boggling and it will also save you money. Read the post here.

4. Clean Your Air Filters - You need to clean or replace your air filters every month or so in order to allow your furnace to heat or cool more efficiently, thus saving you money.

5. Use Canvas Shopping Bags - Buy a set of canvas bags to take with you to the grocery store. You will have to spend about a dollar per bag but will be able to reuse them dozens or hundreds of times. Each time you do this, it saves the environment from the massive amount of plastic bags that are littering our streets, alleys, waterways, etc. I shop at a grocery store that pays me 5 cents for every bag I use when I shop. I have used the same set of bags now for 2 years. That is over 100 times and each bag has earned me $5. Each bag cost me $1 so my profit per bag is $4 currently. Not a lot but it is a savings and I am being kinder to the environment.

6. Use Direct Deposit - I just created a post about this practice. By going to direct deposit, you will save on the money required to drive to the bank and deposit it. The earth will be helped because there will be less energy used to create paper checks, not to mention the trees saved by this practice.

7. Harvest Rainwater - There are complete rainwater harvesting products or you can just get a barrel that sits under the place on your roof where rainwater falls. Use that water on outdoor watering to save money from using the tap water that you have to pay for. It is also kind to the environment to reuse rainwater in this way.

8. Pack a Waste Free Lunch - I love this one. Don't use plastic bags, water bottles, napkins, plastic utensils when packing your lunch. Instead, get a nice reusable drink bottle, pack real utensils that you can bring home and clean and reuse, use a cloth napkin that can be cleaned later, and buy a lunchbox made from recycled material so that you do not have to use paper bags. You will not believe how much money you will save over the year by doing this plus it is good for the environment.

These are just a few of the great ways that you can be green and save money doing it. There are others and I will report on them at a later date. Make sure to bookmark this sit and come back often to see all we have to say about going green. We try to make going green simple.

Where Did the Recycling Symbol Come From?

I have had a few people ask me if I know where the original recycle symbol came from. Other people have asked who designed the recycle symbol that we have today and others have asked if there is a photo of the original recycle symbol. Well, you have come to the right place.

That photo on the side of this post is the man who designed the recycle symbol and the symbol you see is his original design. The man's name is Gary Dean Anderson and he is the man on the right, not the man with the suit. He was a graphic design artist and his recycling symbol has become one of the most widely known, and important, symbols ever created.

In 1970, the Container Corporation of America (CCA) advertised a competition to design a graphic symbol to be used on recycled paper products. They envisioned the design would recognize a commitment to environmental sensitivity on the part of manufacturers who were engaged in recycling.

It was decided that the winning symbol, called the Mobius Loop, would be given over to the public domain. This competition was also held in conjunction with the first Earth Day. Anderson's design was chosen from over 500 entries and it is still used today although it has been altered in some cases and is usually seen with the color green now. Here is the original design and some of the ones used today.

Should You Get Your Ducts Cleaned?

A lot of people think they need to have their ducts cleaned because of mold buildup, dust, or other reasons. It might be very necessary to do this but it might be an unnecessary and costly thing to do. Let me explain why:

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has concluded that indoor air quality can be worse than some of the outdoor air we breathe in. In addressing the question regarding whether, or not, you should regularly clean your air ducts in your house, the EPA says that duct cleaning has never demonstrated that it actually prevents health problems or decrease dust particles in a home. They say that most of the dust that enters ducts adheres to the wall of the duct system. The most likely place to increase the likelihood of poor indoor air quality is from particles that enter the air through such activities as cooking, cleaning, smoking, or even just moving around.

Given all of this, you probably should think about getting your ducts cleaned if there is any evidence of mold inside. The only real way to find out if there is mold in your ducts is to have a duct cleaning company come and do an inspection. Remember, that most of your ducts are not accessible so make sure to have the company give you real evidence of mold growth. Otherwise, you may be paying for something that is not needed.

You can call a duct cleaning company to come inspect your ducts but most people do not truly get concerned unless occupants of the house start to display respiratory problems or other symptoms that may be of a mystery type. Only after exhausting all avenues do people start thinking about duct problems.

Another reason to get your ducts cleaned are if they become infested with vermin or if you actually see dirt and dust particles coming from your registry. Before getting your ducts cleaned for these problems, you must get rid of the problem first or you will have the problem arise again after the duct cleaning.

If you do decide to find a duct cleaning company, use the same common sense consumer precautions you would normally use. One good place to check is the Better Business Bureau because if the company has demonstrated shady or illegal practices, the Better Business Bureau will have records. One place on the Web that has become a good resource to know if a comapny is legitimate is Angie's Place.

Runoff Pollution is Worse Than You Might Think

Over 80% of the pollution that makes its way into our oceans from the land comes from something called run-off pollution. Here are some sobering facts that might make you think about how awful our oceans are becoming:

1. Run-off pollution can come form sources such as, septic tanks, cars, trucks, boats, and larger sources such as farms, ranches, or even from forest areas.

2. Cars may only drip one or two drops of oil yet, that oil can make it into the water supply that eventually gets to the ocean in the form of run-off. Think of the extreme amount of oil you see on the streets and driveways every day. When it rains, this is when that becomes run-off pollution.

3. Some of the water pollution you see that is from run off actually started as air pollution.

4. Dirt or grass that has been treated by pesticides can run off into our waterways and make it into the oceans and then into our food supply and back onto our tables. Not a pretty thought but it is happening at an alarming rate.

5. Over 1/3 of all the waters that are designated for shellfish harvesting has been polluted by run off particles.

6. Millions of dollars are spent each year to correct the problem of run off pollution and, yet each year the problem gets worse.

These facts come from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The NOAA works in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Agriculture to educate people on how their every day practices can harm the environment. They also work together with other agencies to correct the mistakes that we have made in harming the environment.

Have the Oceans Become a Landfill?

Back in 2009, I was watching an Oprah show where she claimed that the Pacific Ocean had become the largest landfill in the world. It seems that there is patch of the ocean that stretches from the coasts of California all the way to Japan and that it is up to 90 feet deep filled mainly with plastics. This area of garbage actually take sup more area than the entire State of Texas.

Plankton is the main source of food for most marine life but, in the ocean, there is actually six times more plastics than there are plankton. That is a scary thought, given that marine life will not be able to subsist on plastics.

Here is the scary part of the whole situation. Scientists agree that about 80% of the trash that has made its way into the oceans comes from litter that made its way into rivers and lakes and that some of it actually comes from as far as Iowa. I haven't looked at a map in a while, but I do remember Iowa being a long way from any ocean.

The sad thing about all of this plastic trash is that our marine life swallow it or get caught in it and many of them die as a result. A dead albatross was found with a cigarette lighter and some other plastics in its stomach. Fabien Cousteau, of the famous Cousteau family, says that there are some whales who are developing cancer due to the high levels of chemicals they are ingesting.

Think this doesn't matter? It will because some of this marine life will find its way onto your dinner plate and the purity that was once there no longer can be guaranteed. Everything is connected in our food chain. The pesticides you spray on your garden or yard end up in the streams and water supply and then will some day end up on your dinner plate too.

Fabien brings up a great point. He says you would never open up your kitchen cabinet under your sink and let your child start drinking from the chemical laced water down there, yet that is what we are doing with our food supply when we do not take care of the oceans. That food can be just as caustic as the water under your sink. Point well taken. Ocean pollution is an issue we must address.

Did Technology Make Us Green Without Us Even Realizing It?

Did technology make us green without us even realizing it? I suggest that it did in many ways. Of course, it probably made us less green too, but that is a subject for another post on another day. Here are some technological ways that we became green without even realizing that it happened:

Programmable Thermostats: When programmable thermostats became popular, the ability to save anywhere from $250 to $500 per year in electric or gas costs became possible. Most people don't even realize that these handy little gadgets have made us much greener as a nation.

LED Lights - LED lights save big bucks when used in place of conventional lights. LED stands for light-emitting diode bulbs. Many cities across the nation began switching our incandescent lights for LED lights back in the 1990s. Denver began switching their traffic lights to LED and claim that they will save $800,000 per year. That is a huge savings of mainly energy and labor costs and will save almost 3,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year too. Plus, those savings are for one city. Imagine the savings when multiplied over the hundreds and thousands of other cities and towns that could do the same thing that Denver did.

Direct Deposit - This is probably one of the coolest technological advances that made us greener without ever realizing it. In the 1980s, a massive amount of companies began using direct deposit and it saved millions of gallons of fuel that it takes to print and use paper checks. Additionally, over 3 million tons of carbon dioxide are saved each year. There are still about one-third of the companies in America who do not utilize direct deposit so the savings could be even better.

There are other ways that technology has made us greener but these three are among the best in my opinion. Do you have any to add? If you do, please email me at bruce@bruzzbuzz.com.

Getting the Facts Straight on Green Jobs

There has been a lot said about green jobs in the media. Of course, we almost always hear about green jobs when it is time for an election. The politicians always promise us that these green jobs are out there and they are increasing and they are going to fix this broken economy. Isn't it funny how often politicians promise us things that never really end up materializing? Is that what is happening here? Are there really green jobs out there? Are the green jobs that are supposed to be developed really going to help our economy?

Those are things that it seems like nobody ever really knows, but there is someone that went out and digested all of the information that is out there about what green jobs really are. It is the Brookings Institute and they did a large amount of research that was studied and turned into a report that just might answer your questions about the straight facts on Green Jobs. I found the article to be fascinating and figure it would be better just to post the link than to try to summarize and report on it myself. The link is just below.

Getting the Facts Straight on Green Jobs | ThinkProgress:

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What Are the Payoffs For Going Green in the Business World?

There is always news about businesses becoming green or attempting to become more environmentally friendly. One of the questions that almost always comes up when discussing businesses going green is how long their efforts will take to pay the investment back. That is an important question and the answer is usually that it will pay off itself faster than if they did not implement it, but there are other considerations that businesses often overlook that will help their bottom line. Check out two of them:

The Resulting PR Benefit Can Pay Off - Public relations is an important part of business, especially in this day and age of social media that can make or break a business overnight. If a business is truly making efforts to go green, the PR that business can receive is invaluable and can result in increased sales and attraction of new customers. Of course, companies that publicize green efforts that really are not can receive negative attention and that will severely harm the bottom line. I have an article about how Wal-Mart has gained back a great deal of its negative rating as a result of the much publicized efforts it is making toward becoming a more green business. One writer has called them out and is making the case that these PR notices are nothing more than lip service. If the mainstream media agrees, the resulting publicity that Wal-Mart will receive can hurt them in ways that nothing else can.

Your Employees Can Be Healthier as a Result - A company that is trying to be more environmentally friendly will make sure that the buildings and the cars that their employees spend their days in are more environmentally friendly too. Older furnaces will be replaced by ones that use less greenhouse emissions and cars are more likely to be hybrid. Either way, employees will be subjected to less toxic emissions and that will cut down on the company's health insurance policies being used as much. That, of course, can impact a business by millions of dollars. An additional benefit is that this practice can find its way into the media and become part of the step up above. It just becomes a win-win situation.

There are many other ways that going green in the business world can pay off but these two are among the best reasons to become more eco-friendly. There really is no reason not to take the time and the effort to create a long term plan to make your business more environmentally responsible.

The Lunacy of Some Green Snobs

I am always on the lookout for stories to post or to comment on here at You Can Go Green and one of my favorite subjects is to look for the lunacy of some green snobs. I found one that is a couple of years old that I had never seen before and I just had to comment on it. It is green lunacy at its finest. I vaguely remember part of this story but the crazy part never crossed my desk.

Do you remember when President Obama was doing an interview on television and snatched a fly that was bothering him out of the air on his very first try? I remember it being shown on a few news sites and even on some of the comedy talk shows the next few nights. It was pretty impressive, but was quickly forgotten. Or was it?

It seems that the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) were not happy that our President snatched and killed a fly. They sent him a package with a trap for flies that would trap them alive and let you release them to the outside. PETA made a statement that basically said that people should be compassionate to all animals.

Now I don't know about you, but if a fly starts buzzing around my head I am going to swat it away. I am wondering just how far some people in our society will go to be so politically correct that they will take a stance on the killing of a fly?

What do you think? I would like to know if you agree with my little rant or am I way off base. I want to be green and I want to protect the environment but can't we go too far?

Solar Powered Ski Lift

This article about a tiny town in Switzerland that built a solar powered ski lift just goes to show how going green can make money while providing green energy. The people of this town had to rebuild the ski lift anyway so they opted to go with a system that generated more energy than it used thus placing that energy back into the grid. You can read more at the link.

Tiny Swiss town builds the world's first solar-powered ski lift

Old Christmas Trees Help Fish?

I ran across a story the other day that made me think of how imaginative people are when looking for ways to recycle and keep things out of our landfills. Oakland, California has a program where all of those unsold Christmas trees that are so ugly are taken to barren lakes and thrown in. They sink down to the bottom and nature does it part to coat the trees with algae. The fish absolutely love the trees and use them. It is estimated that each tree stays in the underwater habitat for about 5 years so adding new trees each year does not do any harm to the lakes. Great idea.

One reader claims that their Christmas trees go to their goats who love nibbling on it. That is another great idea and of course, numerous municipalities use old Christmas trees to make mulch that any citizen can come get for free and use in their gardens or wherever else they deem needy.

How about you or your town? Do you have other great ideas about how to use Christmas trees or any tree that has been cut down for that matter? Let me know by leaving a comment or by emailing me at bruce@bruzzbuzz.com.

If Cars Were Invented Today

I saw a funny piece on the John Stewart show with Brad Pitt. Somehow, the topic got over to how the world would react if someone came to them with an idea for an automobile today instead of the many years ago when it was actually invented.

Basically, the premise was this: If someone came to a financier and said that he had an idea for a revolutionary product that would transport people but would take a massive portion of a very finite fossil fuel to run it, the financier would probably laugh at the inventor. Then, what if the inventor went farther and said that the fossil fuel needed to run this fantastic invention was halfway across the world and we would have to send a large number of troops over there to protect it and that it would probably cause wars, the financier would start to laugh. But, then if the inventor said that this invention would siphon off half a trillion dollars of our GDP, the inventor would promptly be shown the door.

Even with all of that, we keep building fossil fuel dependent cars and fighting wars, and sending money that could help our homeland overseas. Seems kind of crazy doesn't it?

Shades of Green in Madison County » A Green Living Experience » Shades of Green in Madison County

This is a great idea and one that other communities throughout the United States should give a try. Madison County in New York is putting on a full day event called "A Green Living Experience." It is designed to help individuals, businesses, and communities to advance green initiatives and for businesses to try to become more economically viable, sustainable, and healthier places to live, work, and enjoy.

Check out the link to see what a great experience this is going to be and maybe you can encourage your community to do something similar.

Shades of Green in Madison County » A Green Living Experience » Shades of Green in Madison County:

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iPhones are Not Green? Oh My!

I read an article today on Mashable that set out to demonize Apple because it said that Apple is not green, doesn't try to be green, and never will be green. It sounded off against the company's environmental sustainability attempts and said that a company who uses and abuses third world country's labor forces can never be sustainable in the environment if they cannot first be sustainable in human rights.

Although I agree to some degree with what the author is stating, I must say that I wonder why he is attacking only Apple. Isn't all of the manufacturers of our smart phones and other devices doing pretty much the same thing? I do not have hard figures for it but I would assume they would have to in order to compete with the giant.

I read a few comments from the article and I have to say that some of the arguments were pretty solid. One commenter said that using the GPS map feature of a phone to find a place instead of driving around, getting lost, and then finding the information somewhere, that user will save a lot of greenhouse emissions that would otherwise be lost into the atmosphere. I am not sure if those savings would offset the "harm" the phone has brought to the environment but it is a good argument.

Look, I realize that we live in a world that is faced paced and has a tremendous amount of technological devices that makes our world better. I am not one of those "Green Snobs" that thinks I am better than the rest because I have adopted a green lifestyle. I realize that there are some things we need to do in our world that might require adopting some things that might not be real green but the other things I do are good and I am proud that I have adopted those practices.

What say you?