Friday Blog Question: Is it easy being green?

Another year, another Earth Day. This week we were all deluged with news of companies and individuals who have found ways to keep the planet clean. The hope was that we would all be inspired to do our own part to keep the sky a little less brown, and keep sea level somewhere below our own ears. Personally, as someone who has no kids and no plans to breed, it is easy for me not to care. But what about the fertile employees of Off Madison Ave? Here's what they were asked: Do you do anything regularly to help the environment? Do you think we really have that great an effect on, say, the climate or the rising tides? Is this all hype? Do you think it would be easier to get people motivated to save the world if they could make money doing it? Or do you have no opinion at all?

We’ve replaced all the light bulbs that we can at home with compact fluorescent. We also bring our own canvas bags when we go shopping. I’m not sure how big of an effect we’re having, but the idea that we could be making a difference-no matter how small-makes us feel good. Vanessa Geary

Yes on all fronts: Do you do anything regularly to help the environment? - I’ve begun double bagging groceries at the store as opposed to the, now obviously unnecessary, triple bagging.Do you think we really have that great an effect on, say, the climate or the rising tides? Is this all hype? We do have an impact on the environment but the number one cause of global warming is still….the sun. Do you think it would be easier to get people motivated to save the world if they could make money doing it? It’s always easier when money is a motivator. Or do you have no opinion at all? I ignorantly and selfishly lean towards this option the most. It’s human nature to only worry about things that directly affect us or those that we care about. Did Michael J. Fox spearhead a huge Parkinson’s Disease cure movement before he had it? No. Was he a bad person for not supporting the cause prior to being diagnosed? Of course not. Until the changes in the environment directly affect our comfortable lives it’s just going to continue to be a pipe dream for those that truly believe we’re screwed. Besides, it’s just easier to believe that global warfare will wipe things out before the environment ever does. Wow, I guess I do have an opinion. Brian Renner

Haven’t you seen The Day After Tomorrow??? I don’t think that we, say the general public, have as much of an effect on the environment as do businesses who I think are the major offenders, but then again those daily auto commutes to work everyday I’m sure does wonders for the air quality (that’s real clear now isn’t it). Although, I do think if someone was able to find away to make $$ cleaning up the environment that was “trendy”, that it would be something of interest and possibly catch on. Stephen Anderson

Hibbs and I try and carpool to work at least once a week and we save about 28 pounds of pollution per mile on our 40 mile commute, do the math. Michelle Zimmerman

Seriously - who gives a crap? Ellen Stevens

Ellen, my thoughts exactly. ;) Eric Reid

I drive a low-emissions vehicle that gets decent gas mileage, and I avoid printing when I can. That's about it, and I don't feel bad about that. Without a foundational change it's all a waste anyway. The earth is simply too big - one person is not going to fix this problem. We could all switch to hybrids and that wouldn't make a dent. It may actually hurt, seeing just how bad it is for the environment to make the batteries that go in them. (Toyota doesn't tell you about that.) Do you think we really have that great an effect on, say, the climate or the rising tides? Is this all hype? Everything's connected in one way or another, so we certainly have an effect. The jury's still out what it is and the degree, in my opinion. I wouldn't say it's all hype - there are environmental problems we directly cause. Look at how the land around battery plants tends to rot and decay. Look at the malformed babies that are born around certain chemical plants. All of this is environmental. The hype gets involved when people raise global warming and rising tides as "the" topics upon which to focus. There are other matters as well. Do you think it would be easier to get people motivated to save the world if they could make money doing it? I don't think so. For all the complaining you'll hear about the costs from companies like GM, Ford, Dow, and many, many others, it is usually cheaper to do things the eco-friendly way. Environmental friendliness goes hand in hand with efficiency, which goes hand in hand with cost savings. The real problem is laziness and a lack of innovation. When I was in school at the U of A I took a class that covered these kinds of issues, and we went through a case study where a major, major chemical manufacturer made an effort to clean up one sector of its business. Instead of dumping and/or storing waste materials they invested in systems designed to clean, refine, and sell it. Instead of sitting in giant metal drums underground somewhere the company was able to turn its own environmental waste into a new revenue stream that had the side effect of being better for the environment. One would think given these kinds of examples that everyone would be trying to clean up. That isn't happening, and if the companies that are polluting aren't doing it, there's no way in hell any of us regular people are going to, either. If our employers think it's too much to deal with it is clearly an impossibly large task for any one person, even if there's money it. Or do you have no opinion at all? Ha. Haha. Ha. Joseph Jaramillo

I believe there is a big misconception on what you can do to help the environment and its relative impact on the planet. Without sounding cliché, every little bit helps. While I don’t attend environment parades and demonstrations, I do consciously recycle and use energy efficient light bulbs. It surprises me that recycling is not a required service like garbage collection. It also surprises me that the government is not doing more to promote alternate fuel and energy consumption. For example, here in Arizona, you would expect to see more houses using solar energy. Instead, it is a complicated and costly service to implement so usage is low. Whether you like Al Gore or not, everyone should watch “An Inconvenient Truth”, which includes staggering statistics about the environment and what you can do to help. Judi Merrick

From my personal experience, I really haven’t noticed a drastic change. I wouldn’t say that it’s hype, but it really hasn’t affected me greatly (yet). Would I like less smog? Yes, but there’s been smog as long as I can remember. Is the tide rising? Maybe, but I was at the beach a couple weeks ago and it looked fine to me. I think people need to cool out. I recycle. I plant around my house. And I don’t drive an SUV. However, I think the impact of those activities are more psychological than environmental. It’s important to be conscious about living “green”, but with the number of influences in the media and our personal lives telling us we need to “save the earth”, I personally think many go that route to preserve social dignity more than anything else. Chris Sietsema

I think we all can make a difference even if we do just one thing - it all adds up. I try to do my part in helping the environment such as turning my lights off if I don't need them on, using energy saving light bulbs, using water at the off-peak hours and carpooling when heading places with friends. I would be interested in learning more about ways that I can help. Right now I don't seek a lot of this information out, I just take what is put in front of me via the news, ads, newspaper and online. I think if there was some company who focused on showing people ways to be green it would make a difference. This way we would constantly be seeing information on making your life green rather than hearing about it one week out of the entire year when people try to say they are green so they can give themselves a pat on the back and then forget about it the rest of the year. Monique Prehoda

I've heard lately that scientists may be coming to the conclusion that humans may not be the cause of global warming after all, that it's a natural cycle of the earth's warming and cooling. They do agree however that humans may be accelerating the process. I do as much as I can to help the environment - buy organic foods, buy organic fertilizers and soils, recycle paper, glass, aluminum and plastic products. I don't use plastic grocery bags, but instead take my own cloth bags and I have low water usage shower heads. But, it all seems worthless unless manufacturers start limiting their toxic emissions. It seems so futile to me that I recycle and try not to use harmful and toxic products when manufacturers are spewing fumes, gases and solvents into the atmosphere. Feels sorta like using my toothbrush to sweep away the tons of debris that these behemoths produce and leave behind. Why are consumers being asked to take the lead and industry is not? I know why. The "greening" of America is profitable to big business. So, to answer your question, I do believe that most of it is hype and the average consumer doesn't really have that much effect. But that's not to say we shouldn't get into the habit of doing anything we can to save our planet. Ruben Munoz

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About the Author: Eric Reid

I am the Social Media Services Manager for Off Madison Ave. I've been with the company since 2006, when I was hired to do SEO, and link building in particular. When social networking sites started cropping up, at first I started using them to create backlinks - but they weren't the best for that, given all of the "nofollow" attributes. However, I did see the potential for all of the direct referral traffic they represent. Since then I've been actively pursuing both tactics for clients: Links that can help them for search, and social postings that get them involved in the conversation. It's about the coolest job you could ever get. ;)

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