I appreciate all that you have done for the planet. I love nature and the wilderness as much as anybody else. I go crazy if I can’t be outside for a long period of time. However, for me, it starts at home. Americans consume at least four times as many resources as any other population group on the planet.

Secondly, what messages or frames are going to move the conservatives so that we can reach a consensus on environmental issues and bring about real change? Finger-wagging probably won’t work. On the other hand, patriotism might appeal to many of those otherwise beyond reach of traditional green messaging. Further, environmentalists have been singing to the choir for over 40 years to little affect. Frankly, the environmental movement has been politically impotent and out-maneuvered by industrial lobbyists and politicians since its inception until recently. Ask yourself why this is. Regardless of their motives, many companies are trying to be more environmentally conscious in their operations and also in the products they sell. Many of those that haven’t, like Hummer and Pontiac, no longer exist.

Thanks so much for your comment.

I decided to start by organizing e-waste events for a local county government agency, before the word e-waste was a real word. We helped collect and divert tens of millions of pounds of this material and made sure that it was handled and processed responsibly from start to finish. I have participated in operations to help stop illegal dumping of this waste and others in lower class neighborhoods and have petitioned to have regulations passed to stop industrial dumping in landfills in parts of California.

Almost twelve years ago, I gave up my comfy salary and office job so that I could dedicate my time and skills, full-time at little or sometimes no pay to doing what I know how to do and applied it to helping the environment. I did do it to be a better American and frankly I personally think that it doesn’t have anything to do with being patriotic. I think it has everything to do with being human, in general since it isn’t just up to America. This is the responsibility of everyone on the planet. I’m not trying to imply that everyone needs to be absolutely righteous but as a whole global society we could do so much more to help the future residences of this planet to make the world we share a better, healthier and livable place. Our existence on earth is like that of tenets in an apartment. The landlord refuses to give back a security deposit if the place isn’t in the same condition as it was before it was moved into.

Also, there is nothing more disheartening to me is to see all the corporate “green washing” brought forth by big companies, who are usually not interested any anything “green” but money. For example, I’ve been seeing a lot of banks advertising how green they are trying to be by providing statements online and offering paperless banking, etc. Sadly enough people don’t bother to question big industry and their marketing ploys. You don’t have to spend much time researching what a company does to be environmentally sound. You just need to use a little bit of common sense to question their motives.

I’ll leave this to be on a simple note pertaining to the apartment analogy. We are like tenants with a long-term lease. If we don’t respect the terms of the lease the landlord will kick us out.

Ian Nyquist

Being a new grandmother, I have had the chance to cruise the diaper aisle at Target quite frequently lately. My daughter, who is a single mother and lives with us, would never be able to afford the $12 green diapers when she can buy diapers as low as $5 or $6 per package. Heck, I wouldn’t either. And cloth diapers only present a different set of green conundrums with detergent, water and sanitation considerations.

In our conference call with Christie Heimert of Seventh Generation, she did say that quality and price point are coming more in line with their competition on their cleaning products. In my survey of the cleaning aisle at Target last night, I was finding that their products are still 10-15% more than their traditional counterparts. Those prices are more along the lines where I would consider trying them next time I need to replenish my supply. Not sure that a single mom struggling for every penny would be able to.