LIVING IN A SEA OF GREEN

It feels like I’m in what The Beatles called a “Sea of Green” today. I can hardly keep up with the incredible amount of information coming my way every day about the environment. I want to be Green. I want to live a greener life. Ultimately, I want to do my part to help save the planet for future generations to enjoy. It’s the right thing to do and I am learning that it can save money and time, too. But, like so many consumers I talk to, I often wonder—where do I start? What can I do? Where can I find the right resources? How much is it going to cost to go Green?

I’ve made an effort to dig down beyond the headlines to know a lot more. I recycle. I am making my home far more efficient. I am also working to build Green into my hotel and apartment properties as much as I can. I like to share what I know, so I founded a non-profit called the Evergreen Project, which is devoted to educating young people about the environment, renewable energy, and sustainability. It’s based in San Diego, California, but we are looking at developing programs in a number of national locations.

One of the things I learned recently is that Waste Management provides a service in which they will go through a commercial dumpster and pull out your recyclables for an extra $10.00 a month. I have been using the service at my apartment property and it has meant that we no longer have to have separate recycling into various containers. It's a small price to pay to help recycle on an annual basis and is a sign of how Green innovation can sometimes be discovered in the most surprising of places—Waste Management is certainly living up to their name in more ways than one.

At home, I'm cutting back on water consumption as a start. Recently, I bought an instant hot water heater so that I don't have to store heated water until it is needed. Makes sense to me. But, it took me several trips to Home Depot and Costco before I got it right. You see, common sense is sometimes the key to making it all work. So, you can benefit by my mistakes—just make sure the unit you buy will supply enough hot water so you can shower and do laundry at the same time. I learned the hard way! I am finding that a little research upfront can save a giant headache—you can look at whether gas, propane or electric options are best suited to your home and lifestyle. It can also lower your carbon footprint in avoiding multiple shopping trips.

I 'm buying more recycled products for my home and hotel. It’s amazing to see how product lines have grown only since last year. More products are becoming available daily. Typically, they may cost a bit more, but I expect prices to come down with growing demand. Right now, I'm also looking into solar panels for my roof at home. In particular, I’m trying to find a solution that doesn’t unfavorably impact our curb appeal. Here, too, I’ve noticed that there are many more choices than there used to be. BP Solar is producing both thin film and actual photovoltaic shingles that can be integrated into rooftops that don't jump out at you.

Bottom line, I’m continuing to find new and different innovations that will provide useful applications to my properties and I look forward to sharing them with my readers as I discover them. As always, I warmly welcome readers to share their own stories as we make our way together on this exciting new path to a greener future.

WELCOME TO EVERGREEN EARTH

As a child, I raised mallard ducks and quail in rural Pennsylvania where I grew up—and ended up caring for just about any kind of wild bird that had fallen from its nest. I was also lucky that my family were supporters of various wildlife foundations and concerned with endangered species around the globe. One year, my father was awarded “Philanthropist of the Year” by the National Wildlife Foundation.

Even though my home life was an inspiration, my early concern and commitment to preservation of the wild and the environment began during my first trip to Africa when I was fifteen. I was utterly amazed by the landscape as our family drove across the Serengeti. These famous plains were unbelievable enough, but it was also the people who made a great impression on me. During the trip, we were invited into a local home by a Masai family. The father of the house welcomed us along with his seven wives and their many children.

They seemed intrigued by the white folks in their neighborhood and especially by the braces on my teeth. They were happy people living out their lives in this beautiful place where they tended their cattle peacefully. I later learned that due to their religious beliefs they do not work the land and make their living by trading cattle. They seemed unstressed and quite a contrast to the life I knew in the US. I remember wondering at the time, “Do they understand that a man has walked on the moon that they see in the sky? Do they care?”

It didn’t really matter—the Serengeti is one of the most spectacular places on earth. To see the mass migration of the wildebeest from horizon to horizon was truly mind blowing. I could only imagine what it must have looked like when the bison roamed the western US many years ago. I wondered how much longer this great migration in Africa would continue. Even then, I thought about the human encroachment into their space, how climatic change would certainly put pressure on the animal kingdom and quite possibly lead to the end of the great migration.

Over the years, I began to see what environmentalists had seen before—that our current way of life—where just about everything seemed disposable—was actually destroying the Earth. Things have changed since then and recycling is a big business now. Still, as many of you might agree, I believe that we are now close to “the point of no return”. The facts are clear and show that without more drastic changes in the way we live our daily lives that the eventual outcome will be nothing less that catastrophic—whether in our lifetimes or coming generations.

I began my quest to find some answers three years ago and began to recognize how small changes effected locally can create big changes globally. I know this isn’t a new concept, but it was for me and also struck me as an essential, empowering perspective. This was really the beginning of the idea that has now become Evergreen Earth—an expanding family of companies and organizations dedicated to sustainable building development, environmental education and training, and renewable energy products and services.

I wanted to create a forum that would allow me to work with others to discover how to change the way we live now and act to preserve and sustain the only planet we have. I hope that this blog will allow me to hear about the journeys and discoveries of others who join me as readers. Together, I know that we will make new discoveries about sustainability, renewable energy, and other solutions that will have an impact on creating a Greener future for coming generations.