Since Global Warming is a proven fallacious farce (CLICK HERE) (& CLICK HERE), two questions must be asked:

1) Will Al Gore return his Oscar and Nobel Peace Prize? (CLICK HERE)

2) Will the Southern Baptist Convention recant of its 2007 Global Warming Resolution?(CLICK HERE)

WHEREAS, The record shows that global temperature has risen and fallen cyclically throughout geologic history, with some periods warmer and others cooler than the present; and

WHEREAS, The global temperature has generally risen since 1850 as it recovers from the “Little Ice Age” (1550-1850 A.D.); and

WHEREAS, The ten warmest years since 1850 have occurred in the last fifteen years; (Excerpt from 2007 SBC Global Warming Resolution)

Selah,

chadwick

No folks. This is not a red rendition of the Bat Mobile. According to Tesla Motors, this hot Tesla Roadster can go 0-60 in less than six seconds. The catch? This hot rod is more than two times more efficient than a Prius. Starting at just over $100,000, this electric sports car uses about a gallon to every 120 miles! Alright, so it was a great buy for George Clooney who proudly owns other environmentally friendly cars, but $100,000 sounds more like lottery winnings — not the kind of cash we can afford to spend on the new family car.

The solution? Keep the minivan! By following a few simple steps, you’ll find yourself improving your mpg and filling up the tank less.

• Don’t be aggressive. Accelerate slowly and avoid frequent breaking. Putting the pedal to the metal only results in burning more fuel and a speeding ticket.
• According to FuelEconomy.gov, driving over 60 mph can actually decrease your car’s gas efficiency. The reason there is such a difference between city and highway fuel efficiency is because highways lack the frequent stop lights and stop-and-go traffic common to city streets — not because you’re speeding.
• Think about what’s in your trunk right now. Do you need it? If not, you’re in luck because alleviating your car’s weight can increase your car’s efficiency. In fact, as reported by NH’s Department of Environmental Services, lightening your car’s weight load can result in enhancing your car’s fuel economy by two percent!

So, you don’t have a hundred grand in your wallet? No problem! You don’t have to be made of money to be able to drive in a fuel efficient car!

You’ve invested in a new website.  You post on your blog. You have SO MUCH to share!!!  You want to say “I’m Here … Notice Me!”

Now what?  What guarantee do you have that visitors will come to your site?

One way to “Expose Yourself”  is via email marketing. Your email promotion should include links to your website and blog…Make it EASY for visitors to find you.

Send out a notice to your address list when your website is launched.

Create a teaser to get viewers to your blog.

Announce it every time you create an update.

Remember…THE MORE TRAFFIC YOU GET TO YOUR BLOG AND WEBSITE, THE GREATER YOUR ONLINE STANDINGS. The search engines will find you and so will many others!

Email marketing…Another valuable item for your marketing toolbox!

We at OMPP believe strongly in saving our planet earth from the massive accumulation of what we all refer to as “trash” in our landfills. This is why we use all biodegradable packaging products for our food. We have “trash bags” on site for compost materials that we bring home to our own composting bin.

Most of the trash that we throw away can actually be recycled back into the earth as bio matter. In fact, about one-third of the space in landfills is taken up with organic waste from our yards and kitchens, just the type of material that can be used in compost. Composting not only saves space in landfills, but can be beneficial in your yard, creating healthier soil, less need for water and fertilizer, and reduced erosion, runoff, and pollution.

If you are not familiar with composting we will start from the beginning. First, what exactly can be composted? The most obvious biodegradable matter is food scraps such as fruit and vegetable peelings, seeds and pits, coffee grounds and tea leaves, eggshells, and pretty much anything that was grown from the earth! This also includes yard trimmings, wood chips, and grass. Composting works best with materials that have different textures and amounts of moisture.

Some materials that seem unexpected but can indeed be composted are:  hair (clean out your brush or electric razor and throw it in the mix), fingernail clippings, paper, cardboard and newspaper (shredded into pieces),dryer lint and dust bunnies, burlap bags, cotton materials, matches, soy milk, and old wine.

What cannot be composted? Some materials that you definitely need to steer clear of when composting include: meats and fish, food with sauces, grease, oils and fat, dairy products, human and animal waste, treated woods, ashes and charcoal, and non organic matter such as plastics, metals and glass.

The basic steps to composting are pretty easy to follow, but starting a new compost can be a little tricky to get the right balance. There are many resources online to help you do this. Your compost can be made in a bin, or simply contained in your backyard as shown here: This Website will give you information on picking your compost location http://tinyurl.com/yfgdxlw Here is a Website with information about the option of composting bins http://tinyurl.com/yzbodvx

Two very important parts of composting, aside from mixing the right materials, are keeping the pile at the right moisture, and giving the pile enough oxygen. You will need to water the pile to keep it about as moist as a wrung out sponge; it should be moist to the touch, but not soggy. I recommend turning or mixing your pile about once a week. It is a good idea to spread around and mix the compost materials every time you add them, but the pile will need a vigorous mix often enough to speed the composting process.

Here are some more good tips for composting: Keep your compost materials in a container (I use a milk carton with the top cut off) and collect them throughout the day, then mix them into the pile at the end of each day. Some materials take longer to break down (you will catch on to these with observation) and will need to be broken into smaller pieces before mixing into the pile. Crush up eggshells as small as you can, and break vegetable scraps into small pieces for best results. You can find more really great composting tips at this Website http://tinyurl.com/yj3kwxn

Remember, after you have made your compost, add your OMPP containers to the mix! You can find more information and resources on composting in Houston here: http://www.houstontx.gov/solidwaste/compost.html

There’s a ton of blogs out there that lecture about global warming and try to convince us to use eco-friendly lightbulbs, but I’m looking for a different edge to the whole “green” frenzy. You know those magazine articles that run alongside glamourous red-carpet pictures? You know. The ones titled “Get Their Look” where posh celebrity attire are found their cheaper couterparts. Magazines sift through department store catalogs to find a pair of shoes almost identical to a celeb’s pair of pricy pumps, and voilà! You get the look of the stars without spending more than twenty bucks!

While I can’t promise any such price limits, my goal is akin to magazine articles like these — to get the look without spending a fortune. So what if Leonardo DiCaprio just installed solar panels to his not-so-humble abode! With the help of my blog, you can become both Green and Trendy.

Sorry I have been MIA lately. Is anyone else’s holiday season going by way too fast. I can’t believe we are less than 3 weeks away from Christmas and I have a 1/4 of my shopping done. I am trying not to do any shopping on-line this year to reduce the amount CO2 emissions being emitted during the month of December, at least. I suggest you try the same challenge. My husband and I just got back from a trip to visit family, for Thanksgiving. I hope everyone else had a good Thanksgiving.

I think my New Year’s resolution will be too blog more. We’ll see…

Got something awesome everyone needs to know about? Email your “The Know” ideas to Jill@collegecandy.com and I’ll pass them along to everyone right here, right now. Everyone’s got something to share..

Biodegradable Trash Bags:
Did you know that those white plastic bags currently housing beer cans and so-dirty-and-covered-in-dust-bunnies-that-they-can’t-be-salvaged beer pong balls take a thousand years to biodegrade, if ever? Didn’t think so. Lord knows I’m not thinking about how long my trash bag will hang out with Mother Earth when I’m throwing up in it on a hungover Sunday morning.

Well now you can puke with a green conscience. Green Genius has come up with a line of garbage bags that are edible by microbes. The (green) geniuses realized that combining plastic with an additive that bonds organic nutrients to the plastic’s molecular structure miraculously turns the evil material into sugars, fatty acids, and amino acids while it sits in the landfill.

And in English that means one thing: these bags are better for Mama Earth.

iPod/iPhone gloves:
For all you iPhone/touch phone users, I know walking and texting/online shopping/scrolling through your music until you find something you actually like is addicting.  (I get it, but please, for the love of my un-scraped heels, watch where you’re going!) But with winter, well, here, no text is worth frostbite on that finger of yours. After all, after they amputate it texting will be a hell of a lot more difficult (even if your manicure is suddenly cheaper…). While tons of companies are now making gloves where you can peel bag the fingers to allow for phone manipulation, that’s not good enough for me. Thankfully, Tavo has created these gloves that have traction on the actual glove tips so that you can keep keep your hands inside the toasty gloves and text your bff about the totes awk encounter you just had w/ ur ex! They may not be as cute as those gray wool mittens you’ve been eying at Target, but, let’s be real, there’s nothing cute about missing fingers.

Gap Cozy Slipper Booties:
If there’s one thing you should know about this winter, it’s these. In approximately three weeks you will find me on my couch (assuming you know where I live…) watching every season of Gossip Girl (I’m so behind, I know!) in comfy sweats and these bad boys. And not leaving for DAYS. Once you’ve slipped into a pair, you’ll be more than happy I told you about them.

The Prince of Wales today praised governments for reaching a consensus on emergency funding to tackle tropical deforestation.

The consensus comes in the form of an inter-governmental report produced this month by the Informal Working Group (IWG) of 35 countries that was set up after the meeting of world leaders convened by The Prince at St James’s Palace in April.

The IWG report outlines a process that would reward rainforest countries for reducing deforestation rates. Payments would be made on a performance basis, and by ensuring that the forests were worth more alive than dead, the financing is aimed at encouraging rainforest countries to pursue more sustainable forms of economic development.

Speaking today at a meeting at St James’s Palace to discuss the report, The Prince said that he had been heartened by the Working Group’s findings and the support that these had received. Today’s meeting was attended by two Heads of State – President Jagdeo of Guyana and President Bongo of Gabon – senior ministers from 18 countries, including the UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Miliband, business leaders from a range of regions and industries, and many of the world’s leading environmental NGOs (non-governmental organisations).

Winter is one of my favorite seasons.  Even though I live in snowless California, I still love cozying up at home during the cold winter months.  The only downside to the winter wonderland lifestyle is the negative eco-side effects that are often associated with high thermostat levels and twinkle lights.  Here are a few ways to cut your carbon footprint while still enjoying your favorite wintertime traditions.

Ditch the wood-burning fireplace: Everybody loves to cozy up next to their beau in front of a cozy fire.  Unfortunately, burning all of that wood can end up leaving quite the carbon footprint.  But don’t worry, you don’t have to give up your fantasy of the perfect winter fire; just be sure that you’re using a natural gas fireplace.  According to the Sierra Club, burning natural gas instead of wood will reduce your carbon footprint and pollution contribution.

Cozy up in Patagonia: Patagonia is one of the best names out there when it comes to winter wear.  Not only do they make high quality stuff, but they make it with environmentally responsible materials such as recycled soda bottles and organic cotton.  Right now I am loving the Women’s R1Pullover.  It makes me wish I was freezing my a** off just so that I could curl up in one.

Christmas lights go LED: Not only to LED lights use less energy to run, but they also last longer so you don’t have to keep throwing away burnt out bulbs.  Plus, some energy companies like PG&E offer a rebate for using LED Christmas lights instead of the regular ones.  Be sure that you still use the LED ones responsibly by only turning them on at night time and turning them off before you go to sleep.  And so you know, there’s no need to keep burning them after New Years, so convince Dad to get out the ladder come January 1^st.

Say no to fake Christmas trees: Although fake Christmas trees don’t shed and can add for years, they still have a large environmental impact.  Most are produced overseas, made from plastic, and eventually end up in a landfill.  Instead, opt for the real thing – they’re renewable, natural, and biodegradable.  If you still feel a little guilty about wasting a tree, you can look into a rent-a-tree program.  These programs give you the tree when it’s still living and then pick it up after the holidays to reuse it the following year.

emagineGreen™  makes it easy to inspire your friends and family to begin their ecoJourney with several Holiday kits.

ecoJourney Starter Kit

Perfect for the “Green” beginner. Includes a BPA-free reusable bottle (24 oz.) and three ‘Listen To Your Mother’ shopping totes.

Spa Kit

Relax with pampering personal care and 100% pure soy candles! Choice of two scented Spa Kits includes a Rejuvenating Shower Gel (9 oz.), Hand + Body Lotion (8.5 oz.) and Candle Tin (8 oz.).

Natural Baby Kit

Our Natural Baby Kit contains Mother Nature’s best with plant-based and ECO-certified ingredients. Includes Baby Hair + Body Wash (9 oz.), Baby Moisturizer (9 oz.) and Baby Diaper Balm (2 oz.).

Three-Month ecoJourney Kit

Send them on a 3-Month ecoJourney!

December Spa Kit
-Rejuvenating Shower Gel (9 oz.) Geranium Rose with Lemon
-Hand + Body Lotion (8.5 oz.) Geranium Rose with Lemon
-Lavender Pure Soy Candle (8 oz.)
January Spring Cleaning Kit
-Lighten Up Cleaning Kit
-emagineGreen All Purpose Spray Cleaner (32 oz.)
-Natural Pear Loofah
February ecoChic Basics Kit
-5 Elements Shopping Totes
-Stainless Steel Reusable Bottle (26 oz.)

Six-Month ecoJourney Kit

Send your friends and family on a 6-Month ecoJourney!

December Spa Kit
-Rejuvenating Shower Gel (9 oz.) Geranium Rose with Lemon
-Hand + Body Lotion (8.5 oz.) Geranium Rose with Lemon
-Hear Shaped Body Loofah
January Spring Cleaning Kit
-emagineGreen All Purpose Spray (32 oz.)
-2 Biodegradable Loofah Sponges
-3 Biodegradable Sponge Cloths
-10 Bamboo Towelettes
February ecoChic Basics Kit
-5 Elements Shopping Totes
-Stainless Steel Reusable Bottle (26 oz.)
March Farmer’s Market Kit
-5 Unbleached Cotton Produce Bags
-3 Market Bags
April Fresh Start Kit
-All Purpose Cleaner Concentrate (16 oz.)
-10 Bamboo Towelettes
-Lemon Verbena Pure Soy Candle Tin (8 oz.)
May Urban Compost Kit
-5 gallon Urban Composter
-2.3 lb. Bag of Bokashi

Click here for a free “Green Gift Giving” Guide

emagineGreen was started by a group of women in the fall of 2007. These women had concerns that most of us share – concern for the environment and a strong desire to make a difference. They were asking questions like – “If I recycle this plastic bottle will it really make a difference?” and “I want my home to be more ‘green’, but where do I start?”

  This group of women spent hundreds of hours uncovering the answers to these ecoQuestions from the mountains of confusing and sometimes conflicting information regarding “going green”.

   They wanted better options – like better products, a better opportunity for people who want to make a difference and a better way of doing business.

  Creating an ecoTeam they are reducing the gap between environmental issues and the actions to correct them.

  With this in mind the ecoTeam created the greenWorkshop™ to educate others taught by greenCoaches™ who are trained through emagineGreen University with the support of the greenHouse (corporate office) located in Scottsdale, AZ. Through this education our goal is to encourage millions of other people to make their lives more “green”.

Same year, new season.  Tonight the Michigan State Spartans are hoping to hand the North Carolina Tar Heels their first defeat in a rematch from last April’s NCAA Title Game.  It will be another early season test for both teams.  After their loss to Florida last weekend, Michigan State bounced back the next day to defeat Massachusetts, but has dropped to #9 in the polls.  North Carolina is #11.  Should be an excellent game (I hope).  Go Green!

We want YOU to get a $1,500 Tax Credit.

Choose from a wide selection of qualifying Gorell, energy star windows!

When the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the federal government made it clear that it wants you to receive up to a $1,500 Tax Credit when you purchase highly energy-efficient windows and doors like Gorell products.  A very high percentage of Gorell products – which Frey Construction offers – qualify!

In addition to the tax credit, you also save money because your heating and cooling bills will be lower!  Contact Frey Construction for more information by

calling 608.643.7914, emailing: info@freyconstruction.com or check out our website:  www.freyconstruction.com

The built environment has a profound impact on our natural environment, economy, health, and productivity.

Did you know that in the United States alone, buildings account for 72% of electricity consumption, 39% of energy use, 38% of all carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, 40% of raw materials use, 30% of waste output (136 million tons annually), and 14% of potable water consumption. 

This is why Green Building is so important, the benefits of green building will enhance and protect ecosystems and biodiversity, improve air and water quality, reduce solid waste and conserve natural resources.

The Economic benefits will reduce operating costs, enhance asset value and profits improve employee productivity and satisfaction and optimize life-cycle economic performance.  

Health and community benefits will improve air, thermal, and acoustic environments, enhance occupant comfort and health, minimize strain on local infrastructure and contribute to overall quality of life.   

More statistics on the built environment in the U.S. and the growing size of USGBC membership and LEED are available in our Green Building Facts document.

Also for more information on building green, please visit www.norsteel.com

Simple Steps Turns Your Computer into a Cash Making Money Machine Fully Automated System…$$$ Recession Proof Business. Learn from Experts making multiple Six Figure Incomes!

Having a bloated stomach in the mist of exams is like having thunder during a picnic. I feel so pregnant now. (Not that I’ve experienced it.) Certainly it wasn’t Ronald McDonald’s fault because I already felt stings before breakfast. Still, at least I settled my craving. Thank goodness the rain stopped in time for us to walk to Macs. Didn’t managed to get the best of both worlds though. But I guess.. one was enough.

Was showering in hall just a while ago and the lights went out halfway. Stupid light-saving sensor technology. Can’t even detect someone groping for her towel and clothing herself in absolute darkness.  I couldn’t even see my hands! Sometimes I wonder why does such misfortune always happen to me or am I not the only one?

Something in your eyes makes me want to lose myself
Makes me want to lose myself in your arms
There’s something in your voice
Makes my heart beat fast
Hope this feeling lasts the rest of my life
It feels like home to me
It feels like I’m all the way back where I belong

`10:42PM

The Michigan State Spartans (#2) were handed their first loss of this year’s college basketball season yesterday by the University of Florida Gators.  Too many turnovers, missed shots, and fouls led to their demise.       Surprisingly enough, it was the Spartans first road game.  The loss leaves them at 4-1, and they should drop a bit in the polls this week.

Three other “top-25″ Big Ten teams managed to lose yesterday as well: the University of Michigan Wolverines (#15), the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers (#16), and the University of Illinois Fighting Illini (#21).

My philosophy on this . . . better to lose early in the season than in March!  Go Green!

7.3 Pounds of plastic… mostly pvc is in artificial trees

20 Is the number of years … we must reuse artificial trees before it lowers the carbon footprint, equal to a real tree

4000 Recycle centers nationwide … please find out where you can dispose of your Xmas tree this year for compost, woodchips for gardens and or  hiking trails.

600,00 Homes …could be powered by energy used from Xmas tree lights every year, go to holidayleds.com and find out how to recycle your incandescent lights…

just more good info from LYBL

I am so thankful for such a wonderful day. Great friends and family gathering around the table, where we went around the table to say what we were thankful for. I am blessed.

Dinner was by far the best Thanksgiving meal I have had in a very long time. The meal was fresh and full of flavor. It was a lot of work (since I was the only one cooking) but well worth it. Only a few non-local ingredients were used (see my summary below).

Farmers Market purchases (things I purchased last weekend at my local farmers market):

• 13lb free-range, Virginia turkey – enough to serve 6 people, with a bit of leftovers
• sweet potatoes – baked and mashed, with a hint of cinnamon, nutmeg, tiny bit of butter and salt
• Red potatoes – mashed with butter, milk and salt
• Brussels Sprouts – tossed in olive oil, fresh rosemary from my deck garden, salt and pepper. Roasted until browned
• Kale – sauteed onions, garlic and some bacon (not local) – then threw in 1/2 cup local white wine to de-glaze the pan, then chicken broth and kale
• Onions & Garlic-  for just about everything
• Granny Smith Apples – for deep dish apple pie
• Apple Cider – used as part of the turkey brine as well as to drink
• Eggs – for brushing the pie pastry
• Sausage – for the stuffing.

From my deck garden: Fresh Rosemary, Sage, Thyme – all from my deck garden. I used these for the turkey as well as for the stuffing.

To decorate my table: I used some blue glass bottles with sprigs of sage, lavender, lemon verbena and rosemary (all from my deck). Beautiful.

Local beverages served:

Blenheim Vineyards 2005 Virginia Meritage

Barboursville Vineyards 2006 Virginia Chardonnay

Barboursville Vineyards 2006 Virginia Cabernet Savignon

Afton Mountain Vineyards 2007 Virginia Gewurztraminer – by far my favorite of the evening

Starr Hill Virginia Dark Starr Stout

Shenandoah Joe’s Coffee

Non-local ingredients: Salt, Pepper, Stuffing mix, chicken broth, flour, celery, walnuts, some spices, coca-cola

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We can all begin to look forward to the next week of turkey sandwiches and other assorted leftovers – which presents the topic for our post, leftovers (and their containers).

We all love breakfast leftovers, be it turkey and cranberry sauce, or last weeks enchiladas. But what we are keeping those leftovers in? - and are those containers hazardous to our health and our environment?

Anytime you go out to eat and box up your leftovers, pay attention to what the containers are made of. Most dining locations are still using to go containers made of polystyrene, better known as styrofoam.

Styrofoam is made of a chemical called Styrene. Styrene is classified as a possible human carcinogen by the EPA and by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. These chemicals have the capability to leak into our food, especially when heated – which can threaten our health, immune systems, and even reproductive systems!

Not only is styrofoam bad for our health, but a study by the EPA in 1986 labeled the production of styrofoam as the 5th largest contributor of hazardous waste. Though the production has undoubtedly slowed since the late 80s, The National Bureau of Standards Center for Fire Research identified 57 chemical byproducts released during the combustion of polystyrene foam. These chemicals are released into the air, so even if we are steering clear of styrofoam products, we are breathing in their pollution every day!

Styrofoam products are made with petroleum, another heavily polluting, non-sustainable substance. Also, the use of hydrocarbons in styrofoam releases them into the air, and when mixed with nitrogen oxide in sunlight produces tropospheric ozone – a serious pollutant at ground level. In fact, the EPA found “In animal studies, long-term exposure to high levels of ozone has produced permanent structural damage to animal lungs while both short and long-term exposure has been found to decrease the animal’s capability to fight infection.” In short, styrofoam’s air pollutants damage our immune system too! Yuck!

Lastly, styrofoam obviously pollutes our planet in the form of litter. All plastics account for 25 to 30% of space in our landfills – because of their extremely slow capability to biodegrade, especially styrofoam. Since this material does not turn into bio matter, it breaks into pieces that spread across our planet, often harming and choking animals causing eventual starvation.

Many cities and countries including Taiwan, Portland, OR, and Orange County, CA, have even outlawed styrofoam. While we wish all of America would follow their lead, until then, people should be educated on the harmful effects of this product. Now that you know some of the facts, do yourself and the world a favor; stop using styrofoam!

At OMPP we use all biodegradable packaging. But we suggest carrying your own containers with you when you go out to eat, incase you need to take home leftovers from a restaurant that does use styrofoam. Get in the habit of keeping a few containers somewhere in your car for anytime you need them. The extra bit of effort is worth it for your health, and the environment.

However, if you happen to acquire some styrofoam, or have any in your house now, it can be recycled per se. It can not be made into any other product, only broken down for packing purposes and other uses. It can be difficult to find a place to recycle your styrofoam, but every pound of polystyrene recycled is a pound of new polystyrene that doesn’t have to be created. Use the search on www.earth911.com Enter polystyrene and your location in the search boxes to find a list of recycling centers and businesses that will accept styrofoam. Note: be sure to enter “polystyrene” rather than “styrofoam”.

What to do with Styrofoam: 1) Break it down and use it for your own packing. 2) Many craft stores have use for styrofoam; try dropping some off at your local store. 3) The Alliance of Foam Packing Recyclers will find a use for your styrofoam when mailed to them. Visit  http://tinyurl.com/yeg8mkb for more information. 4) Also, you may be able to sell a large collection of styrofoam. Visit http://tinyurl.com/ybeussc to search for a list of different polystyrene buyers.

If you are interested in more information on polystyrene please visit: http://tinyurl.com/d4vdsm and http://tinyurl.com/2kllte

search newspaper in google

These days all of us have become an addict to the stupid, lifeless but life giving laptops & internet.

Will this change lead to the non-existence of newspaper.

I’m a bit worried about the diminishing existence of newspapers but this change is much required to save our environment in future.

Let’s go green!!!

Go Green! Has become one of the biggest buzzwords in business, school, and frankly just about every industry and institution in the world. For myself it’s daily that I find something on the web, TV, or radio telling the world that we’re destroying our environment, wasting natural resources, and that global warming is at the tipping point of no return. Honestly, most of these advertisements are right but there are those occasional ‘greenwashing’ ads (the act of deliberately deceiving customers about the environmental practices of their company or green aspects of their products) that leave a bad taste in consumers’ mouths. However, in the midst of all this commotion, there’s an overwhelming amount of people who just don’t care. Why is that? Is the problem too big? Is it the “just yell fire” situation, or do they think someone else will fix the problem?
 
We want Instant Gratification

Even if we have to shell out the bucks, a large mass of the American population wants instant gratification, which sadly the production of quick, cheep and instantly pleasing products or services are hardly environmentally friendly. From all of the interviews that I’ve conducted for Microsoft Hohm, there’s always a chuckle about the suggestion on replacing your refrigerator, since for many it will have a payback period of 62 years. I have to admit that it’s a little bit out there; however, this reaction is just an example of the American desire for instant gratification. Anything we can do to reduce our footprint is valuable and makes a difference. Even though it is comical for a fridge to have a payback of 62 years, we have to change out thought process to the bigger picture. What would happen if everyone changed out their fridge to a more energy efficient fridge in America? With a third of the energy consumption coming from residential and commercial buildings it might make people rethink how important it is to make changes even at the micro level – the places where you are not going to have instant gratification.

Easy to hide the dirt

This one is up for debate, but personally I believe that one of the reasons why people avoid going green is due to the fact that there is no personal responsibility that is enforced. I’m not talking about rules, regulations, or a cap and trade for residential homes, but I’m talking about the anonymity of consumption information that individuals and organizations can hide behind. Right now the amount of energy that people, companies, and organizations consume is private, hence letting them hide the dirt. Simply stated, it’s easy to deny something when no one can prove you otherwise. This conversation about anonymity isn’t new and is a continuing problem throughout the web. Check out Seth Godin’s blog The problem with anonymous. This post briefly goes through the many problems that anonymity creates online and in life in general.

It’s not my problem!

Individualism, curse or a blessing? Individualism is one of our nation’s strongest components to free thought, pushing the limits, and innovation; however, it’s very easy to use this card to defend one’s actions. Conserving energy at home needs to be done by everyone. It’s not just the government’s or the utilities’ problem to come up with rules, regulations, and solutions on how individuals consume energy. Everything starts at home, and when facing this issues everyone needs to understand that we’re all connected! Our actions as a whole will decide the fate for our future generations.

So there’s a couple reasons why people might not want to go green. What are your thoughts? Share some of the barriers that you face when you’re trying to make a environmentally conscious decision. If we don’t start putting these problems and concerns on the table, how are we going to fix them?