Chasing Clean Air

Go Green Already! And Tell Your Story To The World

Before driving to work as usual, consider work unusual.

Positive change begins with you.

My volunteer work includes activism, advocacy, blogging about my clean air search, and providing clean and dirty air information.

I make a living in public relations, speaking out on behalf of companies making a positive difference in the world.

The Hain Food Group, largest natural food brand in the world; CSI, makers of clean catalytic converters; Faroudja, creator of line-doubling, better known as HDTV, are a sampling of companies referred to me in order to gain wide media exposure and build their brand.

Today I offer more.

I'm passionate about speaking out to protect our air, water, and old-growth forests. Therefore, I assist private and public companies to clean-up, speak-up, and create environmental initiatives.

I bridge public and private endeavors so together we can protect nature.

As a result, I contacted government agencies and associations that represent clean air, healthcare, and solar energy, and, in each case, I was offered a communications job, and told,

"You'll need to commute daily."

That's not green. It's not me. I don't do daily long commutes. I'm an environmental public relations consultant.

Global warming is real. It's now.

Even a Prius contributes emissions to global warming.

Commuting, beyond a short bus route, walk, or car ride, should be restricted.

I was surprised that the very government agencies and associations that purport to protect our natural resources were the ones insisting employees drive long distances in order to do work that could easily be done at a distance.

Get off fossil fuels.

Brag about carbon-free meetings, instead.

Give substance to presidential candidates' rallying cry,

"We need change!"

People and technologies exist to clean the air and cool the planet now.

These helpful people and technologies do not exist , however, at the end of a long daily commute.

A long daily commute contributes to traffic, global warming, and toxic emissions.

It's an oxymoron to think you can "represent" clean air, and at the same time contribute unnecessary drivers to an existing problem.

Drivers combined cancel out much good, and perhaps a penguin or polar bear.

There are solutions.

Beyond living in a city with great public transportation like Portland or Washington, DC, consider satellite offices, perhaps shared space, and, most definitely, consider modern technology.

Phones, internet, and videoconferencing enable people to work from home or a nearby office, no matter where in the world a parent company may be.

I sit with you in virtual reality between cables and air waves, and yet we feel close, no?

Last summer I attended InfoComm 07 and interviewed tech companies leading the way into a cleaner world.

I interviewed Stu Gold with BCS Global, whose company provides video conferencing technology.

BCS Global is having a webinar (that's green of them) about going green and saving green by using videoconferencing.

It will be on Thursday January 31, 2008 at 11 a.m. PST. If you'd like to sign up, please click here.

If you know of a company, government agency, or association that's taking creative steps toward a cleaner, healthier world and they need PR and advocacy assistance or a bridge to creative public/private solutions, click here or email me through this blog to learn how Go Green PR can help.   

Who Cares About Global Warming in Washington?

Environmental Defense put out a helpful list of Washington leaders intent on cooling the planet with new policies. In other words, these powerful men and women plan to clean our air. To read Environmental Defense's list click here.

Tongass National Forest Needs Our Help

Eagles, bears, and wolves live in the 1000 forested archipelogos and fjords that make up the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska.

Tongass is the largest temperate rain forest in the world.

Global warming is melting 90% of our glaciers and creating wacked out weather patterns, and if we don't quickly stop our polluting habits, we'll approach the tipping point of no-return leading to devastating climate change.

Yet.

The Bush Administration wants to whack away at 3 million acres of old growth trees in the Tongass National Forest.

According to the U.S. Forestry's new plan, loggers could kill trees, and inadvertently the animals that live in and around them, as loggers cut down old growth trees, carte blanche, depleting an oxygen rich region that by its essence helps reduce global warming.

The other day I wrote about companies like Xerox using certified paper from sustainable forests.

I woke thinking that in addition to the usual suspects, showing up at hearings to lobby against polluters and unnecessary logging, big corporations should step up to fight irresponsible logging as well.

So logging jobs may be lost. That's the price of change.

Inevitable change.

I've lost a job before, have you? And I've survived to creatively find a new way, a better way to make a living. And I suggest Alaskan loggers do the same.

It's absurd that forests are "National" or "State". Let the forests and the eco-system and air that they support live and let live.

The planet depends on it.

The Rainforest Alliance supports responsible forestry, and gives certification to companies and government agencies that use sustainable wood products.

NRDC is a worthy activist organization that supports the environment and created a petition, asking the parent company of Kleenex to stop killing old-growth trees from Canada's forests. Click here if you'd like to sign. I did.

United voices can eventually get heard.

For beautiful Tongass Forest photos, check out EarthJustice's site.

It is astounding how love can change a person

"It is astounding how love can change a person," says John O'Donohue in his book Beauty.

"Where there is fear, courage begins to dawn. Trapped confusion gives way to fresh clarity. In old walls, unexpected doors open and the heart awakens with the desire to live everything."

Cool Earth Cleaning

I discovered a new company called Cool Earth Cleaning that uses natural, non-toxic, cleaning solutions for your home.

If you live in Los Angeles they will come to your home or business and clean the natural way.

Studies suggest that indoor air is more toxic than outdoor air, (would that be true in Los Angeles?) and chemicals used to clean homes, frequently hurt us.

According to the American Cancer Society, cancer rates went from 1 in 8000 at the turn of the 20th Century to 1 in 3 now. Many believe it's because we live in a more toxic world.

Therefore, use non-toxic ingredients to clean up your home and health.

So before you or your housekeeper spray Windex again, consider news that suggests many popular cleaning brands are dangerous to inhale. They make the air you breathe toxic, and the water they drain into toxic, as well. Try vinegar or call Cool Earth instead.

I just found a web site with natural cleaning solutions, do-it-yourselfers: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/8088/clngrn.html

I use Earth Friendly and 7th Generation products myself but if I ever want to call someone new to help me clean, I'll try Cool Earth Cleaning.

League of Conservation Voters Tackle Media & Global Warming

The League of Conservation Voters did this worthwhile Youtube video, documenting 2275 questions that the media asked presidential candidates, only three of which related to global warming--our most important issue.