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Via: Groovy Green

When Mary calls me every year at the end of August with her annual message of “The tree is ripe – come pick,” I turn into the Bubba Gump of pears, gratefully using the four bushels of pears I harvest off her abundant backyard tree.

As the country whines about escalating food prices, there’s often rotten apples falling from some tree near you. Or pears, plums – name your fruit. You know the tree I’m talking about – the one you pass by every day in someone’s yard that is practically falling over with ripe fruit and you think to yourself, “Someone needs to do something with that.” How true – and that “someone” is you.

Talk about a sustainable homerun: By connecting with and harvesting a local fruit tree, you not only garner more organic, fresh, local fruit booty than you know what to do with – and put something to use that would otherwise have gone to waste. You build community by connecting with others. We’re talking community at its core, most sustainable essence, sharing abundance with others, relishing the gifts of the land.

Step up to the plate – or bushel – and tap into these unwanted fruit on trees in backyards across the nation that could be making the world a better place through more pie – or jam or cobblers or muffins – you get the picture.

Here are three tips for foraging a fruit tree near you:

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When I think about sustainability, I’ve come to the conclusion it needs to be something that’s holistic and inclusive of both my life AND my career, livelihood, or, if you must, “job.” It doesn’t make much sustainability sense to have an energy efficient home, drive a Prius and eat vegetarian when many of us — like I once did — trudge off to an office building powered by a coal-fired power plant, help a company sell products or services that were likely to destroy the planet or exploit people, and drink free coffee that was neither organic nor Fair Trade certified. All this to “pay the bills.”

The following chart from our book ECOpreneuring is my wife and my stab at contrasting the mainstream approach of being an employee in a typical company versus the owner of an ecopreneurial “green business”, ideally family scaled and locally-based. After more than a decade of interviews and meetings with ecopreneurs across the U.S., it became increasingly clear that truly sustainable enterprises provide far more than financial renumeration for its owners. These ecopreneurial businesses had owners who blended a sustainable lifestyle and workstyle, often enhancing the environment, their communities and their own quality of life by how they operated their green business.

What’s most striking from the above simplistic comparison is how the company approach seems rather disconnected from both the planet and the well-being of people as a whole. No wonder numerous studies keep finding that many employees are cynical, detached, unhappy, apathetic, and, some, downright angry.

What other aspects of an ecopreneurial life have you discovered that reveal the shortcomings of the highly touted company career in a global free market economy? In reality, there are far more ecopreneurs making the world a better place.

However, one essential aspect of our human lives that often does not receive much attention is our diets. This is rather shocking, too, because whatever else happens, whatever we stick in our lamps or drive, we always need to feed. And as more and more of us pop up on the planet, Mother Earth is going to have a lot of hungry human mouths to feed.

Your dietary habits–what, where, and even how you eat–are profoundly important when it comes to sustainable living. I am not an accredited expert on economics, agriculture, or nutrition, but I have done more than my fair share of research on these and other topics (especially the latter two) related to sustainable food choices. In what follows, then, I share some ingredients I have come across in a recipe for an eco-friendly diet.

1. Eat simply. Packaged foods that have ingredients lists spanning several sides of the box, with words you cannot pronounce and substances you never thought could exist, are obviously not “natural” and can do funky things to your body. Plus, the more things in your Frankenfood, the more resources required. Simple eating gives your digestion an easier task and reduces your exposure to potential toxins, too, which ultimately helps keep you healthy.
2. Choose organic. Although an organic label does not guarantee good farming or business practices by the company/producer, you can at least be sure that an organic product will have required less chemicals and toxins in order to go from field to table. Besides reducing pollution going into the biosphere, you also reduce pollution going into yourself with organic foods.

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   ]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/27/change-your-diet-change-the-world-a-recipe-for-eco-friendly-eating/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/26/the-hidden-cost-of-40-bling-water/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/26/the-hidden-cost-of-40-bling-water/#comments Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:58:00 +0000 Simran Sethi and Sarah Smarsh http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/26/the-hidden-cost-of-40-bling-water/ Simran Sethi and Sarah Smarsh are writing a series on the impacts of everyday things.They will be posting previews on Green Options before launching the posts on Huffington Post. Here’s the low-down on how we’re quenching our thirst.

   We’ve been seduced by the beverage industry into believing only they can quench our thirst with colored, caffeinated, vitaminized, electrolyted water. We have become so parched that we can’t walk down the street without toting a single-use plastic bottle touting the magical effects of its water source.

   Apparently, Kabbalah Water will heal us and Bling Water will define us. At the Bling H20 website, Bling Water “creator” Kevin Boyd describes noticing on Hollywood studio lots that “you could tell a lot about a person by the bottled water they carried.” First of all, didn’t god create water? Secondly, the water is bottled in Dandridge, Tennessee - since when is Southern Tennessee a spring of L.A. status? Yes, Dandrige’s water ranks very highly on EPA’s water quality index, but why are we spending so much money ($40 for Bling’s “Go Green” 750ml bottle) on cross-continental water instead of cleaning up our local waterways? Tinseltown’s water is so polluted with run-off and industrial contamination that perhaps water by way of Tennessee does make sense.

   Here’s what the less blingy among us do:

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   ]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/26/the-hidden-cost-of-40-bling-water/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/23/the-case-of-the-missing-humans-2-population-control-and-voluntary-human-extinction/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/23/the-case-of-the-missing-humans-2-population-control-and-voluntary-human-extinction/#comments Sat, 23 Aug 2008 12:00:41 +0000 Justin Van Kleeck http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/23/the-case-of-the-missing-humans-2-population-control-and-voluntary-human-extinction/ If you have not noticed lately, there are a whole lot of us furless, gangly bipeds walking and driving and flying around planet Earth. For better and for worse….

   According to projections from the United Nations in 2007, human population by 2050 could be at around 8, 9, or 11 billion worldwide depending on low, median, or high birth rates, respectively. But if fertility continues at a “Constant” pace, then the number would be closer to 12 billion of us by mid-century.1

   So instead of saying humans are breeding like rabbits, we might as well just say that humans are breeding like humans! And you thought traffic was bad now!

   Mother Earth is working so hard to support us along with all her other children. Some people have decided to address our bunny-like birth rate through other measures than simply hoping Mom will get another job. Some people are getting vehement about population control.

   One cohort of such folks is the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement, or VHEMT, founded by Les U. Knight. Its mission, if not obvious enough in the movement’s name, comes across pretty clearly in its motto: “May we live long and die out.”2

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   ]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/23/the-case-of-the-missing-humans-2-population-control-and-voluntary-human-extinction/feed/ http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/08/22/simplify-simplify-simplify-less-is-more-when-living-green/ http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/08/22/simplify-simplify-simplify-less-is-more-when-living-green/#comments Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:30:02 +0000 Megan Prusynski http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/08/22/simplify-simplify-simplify-less-is-more-when-living-green/

   Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.
   —Albert Einstein

   Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! We are happy in proportion to the things we can do without.
   —Henry David Thoreau

   We must live simply, so that others may simply live.
   —Gandhi

   Ah, the simple life. No worries, no responsibilities, it’s the stuff of dreams. But in today’s world, living is far from simple. Simplifying your life often seems like one more impossible task on your long to-do list. Even though common sense tells us that the most environmentally conscious life is a simple one, it’s much easier said than done.

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   ]]> http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/08/22/simplify-simplify-simplify-less-is-more-when-living-green/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/19/so-you-compost-drive-a-hybrid-wear-recycled-boots-and-eat-a-lot-of-hummus-but-are-you-green-enough/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/19/so-you-compost-drive-a-hybrid-wear-recycled-boots-and-eat-a-lot-of-hummus-but-are-you-green-enough/#comments Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:02:35 +0000 Aaron Szymanski http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/19/so-you-compost-drive-a-hybrid-wear-recycled-boots-and-eat-a-lot-of-hummus-but-are-you-green-enough/ This is a guest post by Aaron Szymanski, President of Evo Design, an award-winning industrial design firm housed in a refurbished water treatment plant in Watertown, CT.

   The good thing about the economy sucking cheese right now is that it’s given me some free time to catch up on my reading. I moderate a discussion forum called “The Green Room” and  while catching up on what people are sniping about I came across an interesting thread that included many questions.

   The primary question being, What are we really supposed to do to be more green? My contribution to the group was that I believed people wanted to do the right thing but that it was truly unclear to them exactly what is better.

   For example, after reading E the Environmental magazine’s recent issue, I felt ultimately that we should all be vegetarians. I’m not a die-hard meat lover but I’ve read enough credible writing that lead me to believe that it’s impossible for the earth to produce enough veggies to do this. Meanwhile, pondering the question, I still eat Slim Jims and summer sausage.

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   ]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/19/so-you-compost-drive-a-hybrid-wear-recycled-boots-and-eat-a-lot-of-hummus-but-are-you-green-enough/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/18/green-shoe-fetish/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/18/green-shoe-fetish/#comments Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:56:19 +0000 Simran Sethi and Sarah Smarsh http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/18/green-shoe-fetish/ Sarah Smarsh and Simran Sethi are writing a series on the impacts of everyday things. They will be posting previews on Green Options before launching the posts on Huffington Post. Here’s a sneak peek on sneakers.

   With ye olde cobbler long dead (re-soling Jesus’s Birkenstocks in forgotten profession heaven) and cheap production methods shortening the lives of shoes, Americans have gotten into the habit of pitching worn out (or simply undesired) kicks and buying new ones. Shoe-shopping has become something of a fetish, a joke, an emblem of the spoiled housewife who fills her emotional void with Italian suede.

   We could go into Manolos, but we’ll focus here on sporty treads, not just to stay on-topic but because they account for a third of the U.S. shoes market.

   The production of athletic shoes is infamously shady, from a human rights perspective. Historically, manufacturing giants such as Nike have followed cheap labor, exploiting workers in developing countries so that they might enjoy enormous profit margins. (Nike has really turned itself around in recent years, however, and is now one of the greener players on the field.)

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   ]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/18/green-shoe-fetish/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/18/why-blackberries-are-bad-for-your-taxes/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/18/why-blackberries-are-bad-for-your-taxes/#comments Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:45:56 +0000 Birgitte Rasine http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/18/why-blackberries-are-bad-for-your-taxes/ I went to Northern California recently on a business trip.  I got too much done.  Meetings, work sessions, proposals, emails, conference calls, and a few very memorable dinners. Four cities in just as many days. Before returning to San Francisco, I stayed with a friend in a small town up north. One sunny morning I decided to explore the area, so I asked her what there is to do.  Knowing me, she told me there’s a nice walking trail.  I could walk there or drive.  Well that was a no-brainer, of course I’d walk.

   But I got thrown totally off track.  What I expected to be a calm, relaxing, reflective stroll beneath California oaks, turned into a passionate, ecstatic, breathless plunge into excesses the likes of which I hadn’t experienced in years.  It took my breath away, melted all self-control, and spun my world halfway round.

   Oh, shame on you for thinking naughty thoughts.  It wasn’t the Adonis of the Litoral I encountered on the path (sorry gals… !)  It was an unassuming blackberry sprig.  Peeking out from the dried grasses along the edge of the path.  Winking at me in the sun.  I winked back, then looked around.  Is it legal to pick a blackberry here? I walked past it, choosing planetary well-being over my own base desires.  That’s probably the only blackberry sprig on this trail, and how awful would it be if I picked it rather than leave it for the birds or animals trying to earn an honest local living.

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   ]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/18/why-blackberries-are-bad-for-your-taxes/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/15/dollars-and-cents-calculating-environmental-and-money-benefits-of-bike-commuting/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/15/dollars-and-cents-calculating-environmental-and-money-benefits-of-bike-commuting/#comments Fri, 15 Aug 2008 22:26:06 +0000 Adam Williams http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/15/dollars-and-cents-calculating-environmental-and-money-benefits-of-bike-commuting/ At the beginning of this year I changed jobs, trading a 35-mile one-way commute for a 2.5-mile local ride.

   Living in St. Louis, where we have four distinct seasons – pretty-damn-cold, balmy-moderate, humid-and-hot-as-hell and fall – I waited out the pretty-damn-cold months to begin my life as a bike commuter during the balmy-moderate ones.

   New to the game, I’m taking things a bit slowly.

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   ]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/15/dollars-and-cents-calculating-environmental-and-money-benefits-of-bike-commuting/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/13/bulk-up-to-save-money-resources-and-the-planet/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/13/bulk-up-to-save-money-resources-and-the-planet/#comments Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:00:08 +0000 Justin Van Kleeck http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/13/bulk-up-to-save-money-resources-and-the-planet/ When you think of “buying in bulk,” you may well envision barrels of mustard and mayonnaise, cereal boxes large enough for your family to live in, and tubes of toothpaste too big to pick up with one hand. And, depending on where (and how) you shop, you may not be far off the mark.

   However, buying bulk does not necessarily mean putting a strain on your car’s shocks and struts whenever you go on a shopping spree. Nor does it mean listening to your shelves groan under the weight of gargantuan packages of…well, you name it. Nor does it mean endless meals with sides of ketchup in order to beat the dreaded expiration date.

   Just about every natural foods store nowadays has a much more manageable option for buying bulk: bulk bins. If you head on over to the Bulk Section, you will find little plastic or glass dispensers of countless foods, herbs and spices, teas, and sometimes even soaps or other household products. So, for example, you can hit the bulk bins and stock up on oatmeal, dried fruits and nuts for trail mix (make it yourself or get some already made in another bulk bin), and maybe pick up some ground ginger and peppermint for tea.

   Bulk bins are fantastic ways to be a conscious consumer for a number of reasons.

   Bulk items are universally cheaper than products on the shelves. This frugality factor arises primarily from the fact that purchasing in large volumes costs less; this is why Wal-Mart can sell stuff so cheaply, because it buys LOTS AND LOTS of everything. Since the stores purchase voluminous bags of bulk items (25, 50, and even more pounds each), it pays the manufacturer/distributor less and so can “pass the savings on to you!” Ergo, you fork out less money when you dip into a bulk bin.

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   ]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/13/bulk-up-to-save-money-resources-and-the-planet/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/11/yoga-the-union-of-you-and-the-planet/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/11/yoga-the-union-of-you-and-the-planet/#comments Tue, 12 Aug 2008 01:09:34 +0000 Simran Sethi and Sarah Smarsh http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/11/yoga-the-union-of-you-and-the-planet/ Sarah Smarsh and Simran Sethi are writing a series on the impacts of everyday things. They will be posting previews on Green Options before launching the posts on Huffington Post.

   Who doesn’t feel better after a yoga class? Yoga is the union of the body, mind and spirit.It stabilizes the nervous system, decreases blood pressure, increases flexibility and endurance, and opens you up in ways that you may not have imagined.

   Simran used to be a yoga teacher. She loves the practice even though she hasn’t spent much time on her mat lately. (“Yoga on the inside, baby!”) Sarah gets her yoga on every week and knows it does her body good.

   But, as any student knows, the real practice starts when you walk out the door. That’s also where the rubber hits the road and your practice takes its toll on the environment.

   Oh brother, that again? Yes, my dear yogin, that.

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   ]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/11/yoga-the-union-of-you-and-the-planet/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/09/reflections-on-the-sustainability-dialogue-and-a-manifesto-for-a-green-with-heart/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/09/reflections-on-the-sustainability-dialogue-and-a-manifesto-for-a-green-with-heart/#comments Sat, 09 Aug 2008 12:00:58 +0000 Justin Van Kleeck http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/09/reflections-on-the-sustainability-dialogue-and-a-manifesto-for-a-green-with-heart/ Now that the proverbial dust has begun to settle from my recent discussion with Caroline Savery on defining “sustainability,” I have been reflecting on it all with great appreciation and pleasure.

   The main realization I have come to is that Caroline and I seem to be focusing on different audiences in most of our posts. (Caroline, if you are reading this, please feel free to correct me if you disagree with what I say here!) That is, most of my posts feel more appropriate for and geared towards “beginners” in sustainable living…those folks who are taking their first steps on the path of Green. Having done a lot with various methods of sustainable living and environmentalism (as an “-ism”) so far, I have felt called to use my experiences along the path to help others with little or no experience.

   At the same time, and by doing so, I have been most dedicated to celebrating all the things in nature that I believe are sacred…and that so often get overlooked, even by us environmentalists! It is easy to forget about the sacred things in nature that are all around us, wherever we happen to be, and it has been a joy for me to sing their praises with all my heart and voice.

   Caroline seems to be focused a bit more on speaking directly to the more experienced members of the sustainability crowd. Her Sust Enable experience/experiment of living off the grid, in my mind at least, is largely something that people would look to in order to take the next step in adapting to a more completely sustainable lifestyle. These sorts of folks would be more acclimated to that lifestyle already and so ready to, and likely more successful with, inching closer to being 100% sustainable. (Of course, much of what Caroline shared is also relevant for beginners in green living, just as what I have written is useful for anyone at any stage. But her sort of life off the grid as a complete life experience seems to me more appropriate for the seasoned sustainabillies.)

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   ]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/09/reflections-on-the-sustainability-dialogue-and-a-manifesto-for-a-green-with-heart/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/06/towards-a-redefinition-of-sustainability-justin-van-kleeck-and-caroline-savery-6-caroline/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/06/towards-a-redefinition-of-sustainability-justin-van-kleeck-and-caroline-savery-6-caroline/#comments Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:51:40 +0000 Caroline Savery http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/06/towards-a-redefinition-of-sustainability-justin-van-kleeck-and-caroline-savery-6-caroline/ Dear Justin… and Dear all!

   Special thanks to Jeff Strasburg for helping us indulge our imaginations in this series!  I’d also like to extend my gratitude to Justin for engaging me in this form.  It has been edifying to explore concepts about sustainability.  I hope that the readers of this “debate” have enjoyed the process as well, and I know I speak for Justin when I say: we welcome all comments!  This a dialog, a free exchange of ideas, so tell us yours and help to fuel the mutual inspiration.

   (Author’s Note: I include the image above not only because, figuratively speaking, the “sun is setting” on our Sustainability dialog, but also because I will be travelling westward-ho! throughout the United States until the beginning of September.  My objective is to get some relief from my high-technology-based lifestyle right now, so the vacation will heavily consist of camping in national parks.  Therefore, I will blog if I am able to during this time, but if not… be prepared for both the Sust Enable episode debuts AND a bona fide blogging bonanza upon my return in early September.)

   Without further ado,

   Here are my final thoughts, in conclusion.

   1) If you can learn to modify your life to be as close to environmental sustainability as possible, it is necessary that you proceed to do so. The human will is one of the most powerful–and dangerous–elements on the planet.  At first glance, it might feel like “too much” to give up using a flush toilet (just for an example).  But is it really?  Think about the idea.  Get familiar with it.  Picture what it would look like to use a composting toilet in your home.  Maybe start with a little one, to be used only sometimes.  Soon, the consequences may not seem all that daunting. There is always a choice. 

   Don’t let your true identity and dreams for what the world could be become casualties of conforming.  You only have one life, so use it, in the most effective ways visible.  If many individuals decided that, deep in their hearts, ecocide felt wrong to them, that many persons when taken together comprise a mutiny against old, obsolete customs and beliefs.  Your little action today plays a role in a social revolution, of the “green” kind.

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   ]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/06/towards-a-redefinition-of-sustainability-justin-van-kleeck-and-caroline-savery-6-caroline/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/06/simple-living-and-operating-a-sustainable-green-business/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/06/simple-living-and-operating-a-sustainable-green-business/#comments Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:19:21 +0000 John Ivanko http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/06/simple-living-and-operating-a-sustainable-green-business/
   “Simple living” continues to garner much pop culture hype, sparking books, magazines and a slew of self-help opportunities to assist you to declutter, scale back and slow down. Environmentally conscious and sustainable living fall under the simple living radar, but where does ecopreneuring or running a green business fit in?

   My wife and I incorporated numerous “simple living” strategies into our business and life over the years. While our lifestyle may exude quintessential simple living elements — from canning applesauce to crafting holiday gifts — there remains an inherently complex element to our ecopreneuring workstyle. Our calendar looks like a treasure hunt map of lines of travel, Bed & Breakfast guests arriving and departing, writing deadlines, family gatherings, and our son’s home-school group projects. We always juggle multiple, sometimes unrelated, projects.

   A better word than “simple” to describe our ecopreneuring approach is “focus.” By consciously choosing to do certain things, we inherently simplify by prioritizing. We open more time to focus on what we really want to do by eliminating (or at least seriously reducing) time drains, including the following:

   (1) Daily commute.
   With the average daily commute in the US now nearly a half-hour, by working from home, we save over seven days per year driving to someplace, not to mention the fossil fuel emissions of daily driving.

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   ]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/06/simple-living-and-operating-a-sustainable-green-business/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/06/towards-a-redefinition-of-sustainability-justin-van-kleeck-and-caroline-savery-5-justin/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/06/towards-a-redefinition-of-sustainability-justin-van-kleeck-and-caroline-savery-5-justin/#comments Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:00:28 +0000 Justin Van Kleeck http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/06/towards-a-redefinition-of-sustainability-justin-van-kleeck-and-caroline-savery-5-justin/ From what you write, Caroline, it is clear that at this point your heart (or mind–or both!) compelled you to try the 100% sustainable, Sust Enable “experiment.” And you learned and shared many good things with us–mistakes not to try again and great methods for living sustainably. That is wonderful, and it is surely going to stick with you; after all, we learn best not only from direct experience but, I believe, from “mistakes” as well.

   Obviously you are not disregarding changes others make, nor are you screaming at them from your soapbox on high to go all the way. My concern, though, is that focusing on such a 100% approach on a larger scale would turn off people to environmentalism. As I said before, there has to be an equal (even greater?) focus on small steps, an equal (even greater?) celebration of little changes, in order to help keep the mood positive and morale high–and the changes occurring, the momentum building, the tide turning!

   I think we are both on the same vibe in the end. Heck, we both feel urgently the need to do good for the Earth and to help others do so as well. We both share a desire to see positive things happen and to serve our fellow beings by using all our “tools” to help build a better, safer community. I think we differ mostly in terms of focus and emphasis in the nature of what we write.

   I believe, then, we need both the point and the counterpoint within the environmental movement itself. Die-hard Socratic that I am, I believe we need to question all things—in particular the accepted “norms”…and more especially the things we think are “right,” “true,” etc. This self-reflective, synergistic approach to environmentalism will keep it green and thriving, a sustainable force driven by the symbiosis of its dynamic elements.

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   ]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/06/towards-a-redefinition-of-sustainability-justin-van-kleeck-and-caroline-savery-5-justin/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/05/e-wasted-where-will-your-computer-and-ipod-go-to-die/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/05/e-wasted-where-will-your-computer-and-ipod-go-to-die/#comments Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:34:34 +0000 Simran Sethi and Sarah Smarsh http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/05/e-wasted-where-will-your-computer-and-ipod-go-to-die/

   Simran Sethi and Sarah Smarsh are writing a series on the impacts of everyday things. They will be posting previews on Green Options before launching the posts on Huffington Post. Want to know how to green your internet porn (or emailing or iTunes) habit? Check out these tips and a post-mortem of where your computers go to die.

   Recently, the world computer population surpassed 1 billion. It’s a legion of artificial intelligence that will never die, at least not while humans are around to see it.

   The computer species appears to have a high mortality rate (whether due to the rapid progress of technology or an industry conspiracy to ensure that products must be replaced regularly). They “crash” and “die” in droves, their human counterparts literally kicking them to the curb. But there is no heaven, no place in the clouds, for the cold, hard shell once warmed by electrical currents. Once it has left your desk, your computer doesn’t disappear. In a sense, it lives on.

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   ]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/05/e-wasted-where-will-your-computer-and-ipod-go-to-die/feed/