Goal For The Green

Last Saturday, March 28, 2009, proved to be the most successful Earth Hour ever.  With nearly 4,000 cities and  towns participating in over 88 countries world wide, the message of caring about climate change  was sent loud and clear.

The next big event in  the “green” movement, is Earth Day, which is April 22.  It is my pleasure to keep you informed on natural living tips and ideas, as well as, environmental issues that are important to us all.

I believe that this Earth Day page will offer you the power to find; natural cosmetics, resource conserving appliances, and tips on how you can do your part to reduce waste for the environment.  You will also find meaningful eco-tips at Become.com’s  “Earth Day Tips and Resources”

So, what is Become.com all about?  They are a comparison search engine designed to help consumers doing product research on the web. They crawl over 3.2 billion web pages specifically from guides, expert reviews, consumer reviews, articles, specifications, forums, merchants, and a variety of other useful information to help consumers make better buying decisions.  Become.com also has a “Nearby Stores” feature that allows users to plug in a zip code and get store names, addresses, phone numbers, hours and Maps.  This feature can help you go shopping in your community, and be armed with informed choices.

They also have a blog  about featured green products that they carry.  It is a relatively new blog for them, but they are anticipating more eco-friendly product posts for the near future.

Become.com was recently named one of the best deal-tracking websites by PC Magazine, and selected as Best Search and Comparison site by the Sloan Center for Internet Retailing at the University of California, Riverside .  At the following link, you  can also view additional industry recognition and awards for Become.com

It is my hope that the information provided here, along with what Become.com has to offer, will help you in making the best and most informed  decisions in your green living quest.  Together lets work for a better tomorrow, and the best Earth Day ever.

With oil now in excess of $135 a barrel, there seems little likelihood of any kind of quick turnaround. In fact, it appears we may as well get use to it.  After all, many European countries, Ireland and the UK have been seeing prices of $8-$10 a gallon for awhile now. So, by the 4th of July, it will will be $5 a gallon, and by Labor day $6, with no end in sight.

By doing the basic math, we have much to complain about. Yes, oil prices are high, however, paying for gas is still the cheapest cost of operating a car. With the price of everything going up, we should be complaining more about the lack of purchasing power our money has. We want the Feds to “do something.” What good does it do to complain?  They are responsible for degrading our currency.  The dollar falls, oil prices go up and the politicians have a hay-day trying to deflect criticism. They clamor about the “windfall profits” the oil companies are making, but do nothing to decrease our dependency on foreign oil. Let’s face it the pain at the pump and in our wallets is bound to get a lot worse. 

Has public interest waned about the environmental movement?  Have worries about inflation, the high cost of energy, the war, and the general pace of global events, wiped out public concern about the environment?  I doubt it.  But those (the government) we want to take action – AREN’T.

How soon we forget the first Earth Day. It was April 22, 1970. It became the awakening of the Environmental Decade.  We became concerned and aware about the deterorization and crucial issues that affect all life forms on our planet.  We took notice of our mindless disappation of our resources. We paid attention to our wasteful consumption habits, and how those habits affect the natural environment.

Our oil consumption was high in the 70’s. Our own U.S. oil production declined and by 1973 -36% of our energy consumption was in foreign oil. The OPEC cartel was the cause of the rising oil prices then, as it is now.  The Mideast Oil Crisis was the onset of the international oil embargo. It brought panic to our nation. The Mideast oil producing nations, cut off exports of petroleum to many Western Nations, including the U.S. and the Netherlands. They were angry over our involvement in the Arab-Israeli conflicts.

Then as it is now, there were high consumption levels and panic stricken people.  Oil prices skyrocketed to what would equal about $2.80 a gallon today. There were lines at gas stations. People blamed the government, the gas companies, the Arabs and the embargo.  It wasn’t even the price so much. The people were willing to pay the price, but there was an actual “shortage.” Gas stations would run out of gas to pump. Some even went out of business.  The oil embargo lasted six months and was over in March of 1974.  Project Independence was created in hope of freeing the U.S. completely from our dependence on foreign oil by 1980.

For years we have been aware of alternative energy sources.  Still today, we are more dependant on foreign oil than we were in the 70’s.  The oil shortage and embargo of 1973, created an growing awareness, that changed our views on energy useage.  It led people to choose economical solutions and make wiser personal choices about their energy consumption. It became popular to use less fossil- fuel, and pay more attention to how much we consumed.  The difference is today, we have no choice. We are being forced to make changes.