I was recently asked a simple question "What can I do? I mean its gonna take A...L...O...T of effort to change anything thats happening now.." The context of the conversation revolved around our current planet's health & climate change.

Many a friend has asked what they can possibly do in the face of corporate giants where the BOTTOM LINE IS KING and being enviromentally concious is either a luxury or a sales gimmick...

Stay tuned to this space... I'll be giving eveyone an opportunity to do thier bit to "Save the planet, One Day at a Time"

Til then... Have a great day!

The Home Depot has expanded the recycling program for compact fluorescent light bulbs begun last November in its Canadian stores to in 1900-odd stores in the United States. Customers can bring in any expired, unbroken CFL bulb the store’s returns desk. “The bulbs will then be managed responsibly by an environmental management company who will coordinate CFL packaging, transportation and recycling to maximize safety and ensure environmental compliance.”

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Ah the classic Mexican stand off, shot (pun intended) in Italy.  Amidst war, treachery, murder, gun fights, heroes & villains, there is cache of gold up for grabs.  The same could be said of the current global economy. (You decide who & what goes where)

The "gold" in this instance, is the buried economic opportunities available from "selling green", "going green" ANYTHING green.

There are the good guys (greenies, governments, Renewable Energy companies, big corps & manufacturers WITH GOOD CSR* in place etc.)

The bad guys (Big corps, governments, the indifferent, manufacturers WITHOUT ANY CSR* in place etc.)

AND 

The Ugly/greedy guys ( Big corps, the indifferent, governments, manufacturers,Renewable Energy companies PRETENDING TO HAVE CSR* in place etc.)

All 3 staring each other down just like the movie.  Each one sizing up the other from past experience, alliances, goals & allegiances.  The difference here of course, is that the GOOD MAY NOT NECESSARILY WIN this shoot out.

The result will really be decide by the powers that be.  The simple questions is what or who will define the "Powers that Be"?  The incumbents that wield the power or Jo Average like you and me?

The old adage "Buy while there's blood  in the streets"  (James Dale Davidson has written an entire book on this) could be applied to this situation.  Looking for the hidden gems/gold through the mess & noise of every bloke and his dog how we should all go green while the "bad" & the "ugly" argue will be the challenge.  The outcome of this exercise may well determine how we will shape our future.

Have a great day!

saving the planet, one day at a time. 

CSR : Corporate Social Responsibility might as well be COLLECTIVE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

The first Flash Search Engine is an Environmental Search Engine!! http://www.greenplanetsearch.com is now live!

 When Mike Haney first presented the idea behind the technology behind

www.greenplanetsearch.com, he was laughed down. Virtually, of course. “Everyone can

dream,: scoffed one, erroneously.

A few people were intrigued. The combination of Haney’s vision of a Flash-driven search

engine, and the plan to create a dazzling environmental education resource, eventually

attracted a loose-knit corps of collaborators, most of whom have never met in person first

among them Andre Roussille, a French computer programmer, and now part owner of the

company.

The upshot from this collaboration, apart from the stunningly beautiful homepage, is the

only people involved in the creation of the search engine, is that the only people involved

in the development devoted environmentalists, who genuinely wish to disseminate good

information to students and educators.

Later, through a similar serendipity, Mr. Haney teamed up with a veteran journalist who

agreed to lend his services to the site, building from scratch a source of environmental

news and policy analysis.

Advertisers will be strictly vetted by the companies shareholders, limited to companies

that are making a meaningful contribution the planet’s health.

The final result, which was launched this week, is the culminating of thousands of

hours of work, and more than a few false starts.

It boasts easily navigable information, experiments, lesson plans, presented in an interactive and graphically enhanced format,

and has an exclusive global climate change resource section for teachers and kids.

If you would like more information about greenplanetsearch.com, or to schedule an

interview with Mike Haney, please call Mike Haney at 305.531.3746   or e-mail info@greenplanetsearch.com. 

"The last thing to get converted is your wallet"  Words a Christian buddy of mine once mentioned in my general direction.  Words I think also apply to people, climate change & taking action.

Malaysia is currently facing the not-so-slow removal of fuel & energy subsidies.  People are upset, unhappy & flustered.  These are the same people who, when asked if they could do anything about cleaning up their act (civic behaviour is a good place to start) generally reply;

"its not our problem la" (more "Manglish") or

"we where got money to do anything wan?" (stunning "Manglish" grammar in action) or

"the Kwai-low (caucasians in general) can afford to, what can we do?"

I'm not belittling those who have genuine needs, challenges or financial woes.  I'm suggesting (for many others) instead of complaining, there are many an opportunity to change and capitalise on this.  A new product, business direction/plan, or lifestyle change to name the obvious.  Sure, crime is ONE option but there are SO MANY OTHERS; all requiring more than 1 brain cell to plan for and implement.  Believe it or not we're a pretty smart bunch... just lazy at times.

We Malaysians think with our wallets.  So sometimes the only way to make us think & act (with our wallets or otherwise) is a bit of adversity.  Therefore the higher the prices go, the more money exits out purses  & wallets, the better we will need to be at generating an income, the brighter the ideas to achieve this.

What better way to achieve this end than to be involved in a business that addresses these concerns and issues?

Have a great day!

Saving the planet, day at a time.

Thats the reply I gave at a recent public forum.  The school teacher that asked me the question was probably surprised & had a good chuckle.  I'm sure she was expecting something like "stay clean! go green!!" or "for future generations!!" or perhaps "Heal the world, make it a better place!" (Ah are lyrics to an OLD song... that betrays my age.. sigh..)

Sorry, the truth is just like Mr./Ms. Jo Average, I've got bills to pay, loans to service, presents to buy, holidays (small ones) to go on, kids to think about...  All of which require money; which in turn requires some means of generating an income which results in me getting paid.  So, why shouldn't people profit from doing a good/beneficial thing? In the words of 

Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s environment minister, 

“We are going to prove that climate-change (action)& economic prosperity are not contradictions, but are mutually dependent”

Words I live by.  I would just like to state that doing something good for the environment isn't just for tree huggers.  Oh no, Its also for eco-mercenaries like me!  So the next time someone says to you its too expensive (it is where I'm from) to go green or do something climate change, that maybe your cue.  Who knows?  You might just stumble on a gold mine of an opportunity to do something good AND make a killing... figuratively speaking of course.  Have a great day!

Saving the planet, one day at a time...

  A Movie That Santa Does Not Want You To See!

What Would Jesus Buy? is a serious docu-comedy about the commercialization of Christmas that just came out on DVD. I rented it last night and found it quite hilarious and very thought-provoking as well.

What Would Jesus Buy? follows Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir as they go on a cross-country mission to save Christmas from the Shopocalypse: the end of mankind from consumerism, over-consumption and the fires of eternal debt!

Bill Talen (aka Reverend Billy) was a lost idealist who hitchhiked to New York City only to find that Times Square was becoming a mall. Spurred on by the loss of his neighborhood and inspired by the sidewalk preachers around him, Bill bought a collar to match his white caterer's jacket, bleached his hair and became the Reverend Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping. Since 1999, Reverend Billy has gone from being a lone preacher with a portable pulpit preaching on subways, to the leader of a congregation and a movement whose numbers are well into the thousands. Through retail interventions, corporate exorcisms, and some good old-fashioned preaching, Reverend Billy reminds us that we have lost the true meaning of Christmas. What Would Jesus Buy? is a journey into the heart of America – from exorcising the demons at the Wal-Mart headquarters to taking over the center stage at the Mall of America and then ultimately heading to the Promised Land … Disneyland.

Will we be led like Sheeple to the Christmas slaughter, or will we find a new way to give a gift this Christmas? What Would Jesus Buy? may just be the divine intervention we’ve all been searching for.

The Shopocalypse is upon us … Who will be $aved?

I thought the film had a nice mix of serious & relevant information, as well as outrageously funny scenes. The 11th Hour film expert Bill McKibben is featured in the film under the section called “Malling of America.” Bill talks about how he feels in a 100 years from now we won’t be doing the things that we are doing now. We will have figured way more interesting things to do than just go shopping as our main activity. Unfortunately, he thinks we don’t have a 100 years to make that transition. We have to make it more quickly than it would happen naturally or else we will derail the Earth’s physical systems – especially the climate.

One of my favorite scenes is when Reverend Billy and his Choir go Christmas caroling door to door. They sing these popular Christmas songs to families using new lyrics.

Deck the Malls with Folks with Money!
FA LA LA LA LA, LA LA LA LA
Tis the Season to be Dummies!
FA LA LA LA LA, LA LA LA LA

  AND 

Joy to the World!
In the Form of Goods!
Consume! Consume! Consume!
Bright Plastics This and That’s!
For Screaming Little Brats!
Take the SUV to the Mall
Take the SUV to the Mall

I also loved the part where Reverend Billy hears peoples’ confessions out of a confessional booth that he sets up on a street corner with a sign that reads, “Confess Your Shopping Sins.” Alright, I will come clean and confess my biggest shopping SIN from the past few years. I bought one of those big exercise balls, and only used it twice. It sat in my closet for a couple of years, then I finally gave it away.

I feel much better now that I confessed. 

Bank of America supports the Brighter Planet Visa Card. very $1,000 spent in purchases with the card earns 1,000 points♦ that will fund an estimated 1 ton of carbon offsets—that’s roughly equivalent to taking a car off the road for 2,000 miles or powering and heating/cooling your home for a month!

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Xerox Corp. is working on a green technique that's as plain as the stack of papers on your desk. Scientists at Xerox can make the print on documents appear -- then disappear in time, allowing paper to be reused. The goal is to produce an erasable paper that costs two to three times the price of regular paper but can be used hundreds of times. 

Using a molecular compound similar to the one on tinted eyeglasses, which darken or lighten depending on the amount of ultraviolet (UV) light in the environment, Xerox labs have developed paper that changes color when exposed to UV light. Unlike tinted glasses, however, which change color instantly upon walking outside or into a building, the print on Xerox's paper fades gradually over 16 to 24 hours, or it can be erased instantly by heating the paper.

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Site provided by: www.thegreenreporter.com

While we are busy connecting green businesses and green consumers nationwide we also want to support all the individual actions that people are involved in and are creating as part of this 11th hour project.

Currently we are engaged in adding links BACK to 11th Hour website on over 5000 of our website pages.

Please let us know if you see other actions, partnerships etc. that we should be connected to.

Martino Lazzareschi