Earth Day is here again

So we move from one enviro-centric Sat to the next.

Earth Day is always a blast. I see it as a "welcome to spring day". This year will be very different.

We are going to Centennial Park with Julia & Johnders. There will be all sorts of vendors and activities. We might even stay late enough to see the absolutely adorable and wonderfully soulful (talented goes without saying) Susan Tedeschi. We'll be on baby feeding time so who knows when we will get there let alone how long we will stay.

If you are in Nashville, its fun and informative and FREE!

5 unexpectedly green gifts for baby

This is exactly what we have been talking about. People look at us with disbelief and confusion but we are not crazy.

5 unexpectedly green gifts for baby

We recognize that even in our circle of progressive friends our level of commitment to doing things in a socially & ecologically responisible way is higher than most. Tara and I come at this from from different backgrounds but we both see it as the best way to live our lives.

Sorry for the crosspost...

http://tjandbaby.blogspot.com
http://blackgreenenvironment.blogspot.com/

One More Reason to Love National Geographic

National Geographic's Green Guide Ten Tips for Earth Day: Preserving Biodiversity.

Yes, Earth Day has passed but of course, in my world "everyday is Earth Day." So there. :-P

Seriously, these are good. I've already discussed a few and I actually do some of them but hadn't thought about talking about them here...for example, paperless bills.

Definitions

I am still setting up things and part of that is organizing and defining what my intentions and desires are. So let me define some of the basic concepts for this blog.

Black - people of African descent, which most Anthropologists will say that includes everybody on the planet. I have a BA in Anthropology so I will use this all inclusive definition BUT I will focus on issues more closely associated with the standard definition of African-American, we who have African slave ancestors.

Green - environmentally conscious and active. Being Green is the active part of caring for the environment & natural world.

Social Responsibility - making a commitment to the promotion of equality of humanity. You buy products that were made under humane conditions, you support businesses and organizations which show respect for their employees, customers and vendors and who also work to promote social and ecological responsibility, and you work to improve companies and organizations that don't work that way.

Eco-Friendly - you are respectful of and towards the natural world. You limit the amount of resources you use and pollution you generate. You promote this attitude to individuals and companies you encounter.

Socially Responsible Investing - see "social responsibility" and add money...you invest in companies who act responsibly and respectfully towards employees, customers, vendors, colleagues, competitors and nature

Why?

I was a kid who grew up outside. I was a Boy Scout for almost 10 years. I went camping or hiking or canoeing or backpacking once a month during those years. I loved animals and trees and bugs and rain. I also had a love/hate relationship with snakes, which still continues to this day. My Dad hunted some, fished some, gardened some but no matter what he was doing he spent most of his free time outside. I read the encyclopedia (World Book 1973) when I was a kid and I thought one day I might be a veterinarian. I am earth-bound, my feng shui reading says so. I get excited at the first sight of forests or valleys or mountains. I have been known to cry at the sight of sunset on a lake (I don't get up early enough for sunrises). When I got a car I drove a lot and I looked around while I drove. I imagine I probably looked like a little old man lost in some unfamiliar neighborhood. I would stop to admire a hillside or a lookout or pull over and take pictures of a cow pasture. I fly more often now but I still take pictures from the window of the airplane. I was fortunate enough to go to a college with a 10'000 acre campus, most of which was, and is, undeveloped land. I was on the championship canoe team, I wandered the perimeter trails and the flower gardens, I studied outside, and I even I remember going for bike rides at sunrise (after an all-nighter) watching the deer appear from the fog. You see where I'm going with this? There is very little that makes me as happy, that makes me feel like I am a part of something, that there is a point to everything as the natural world.

I am completely geeking out on Planet Earth. You must watch (hopefully on High Def!)

During the 90s I lived in Baton Rouge, LA. One of the first jobs I had down there was as a canvasser at Citizen Action. I went door-to-door talking to people about the politics of our ecological situations. We offered to contact legislators and we solicited donations with an effort to lobby legislators on environmental issues. Overall it was a bust, I didn't last long but the time I spent studying these issues cemented my belief that there really is environmental classism/racism. Depending on where you live they can be one in the same but they are not necessarily the same thing; depending on where you live those who get the brunt can be white or black or brown. We went to more poor, predominantly white areas than poor, predominantly minority areas. Some of the people we canvassed - mostly working poor - lived in the most appalling and hazardous environments I could've imagined. I truly began to recognize that something was unfair and that there was a pattern. The people who worked in the shittiest jobs at the chemical/oil companies in LA lived closest and were polluted more severely and more frequently than everybody else. Poor people consistently lived closer to landfills, incinerators and treatment plants and surely you can recognize the possible hazards associated with that.

Now as an adult and a homeowner I am trying to make sure I leave as small footprint on the earth as I can. In doing so I have run into problems with lack of information, lack of interest within my minority and larger communities. I understand that I was ahead of the curve on these issues and was not able to do some things the way I would have liked and I have had to settle for a "lesser evil". In 2004-2005 I tried to remodel green but couldn't find contractors who understood what I was asking. I have now begun this blog in an attempt to rectify as much of this as I can. I want to do my part to make it easier for the next person to work and live in an environmentally friendly, socially responsible way. I want to promote these ideals to minority communities b/c we too are people of the earth. This land we call home, the United States of America is rich with blood and sweat of minority peoples. If anyone can claim this land it is we who are here b/c those before us died (by force or by choice) so that we could reap the benefits. I firmly believe that we can take small steps toward an eco-friendly, socially conscious life and that those small steps will make a great impact on our communities and our persons.

This is an ideal of being responsible for what we do today because we are looking forward to make everyone a beneficiary of the bounty we have, and I promise you, we all have a bounty we just might not recognize it.

I hope this didn't come off as preachy, it was not intended as such. Most of what we will do here is practical info, interesting news and information. This will be fun.