Have you ever bought magazine subscriptions, candy bars, newspaper subscriptions, or those delicious but ever-so-bad for you Girl Scout cookies as part of a fundraising drive? If your answer is no, then you either don’t live around kids, or you don’t have nephews and nieces hitting you up for some fundraising. Well, the last possibility is that you also may not spend money on what you don’t really need.
I came across a company called LetsGoGreen.biz , which was started by Kyle Jodice. It’s a very unique company that combines fundraising with an eco friendly twist. Essentially, groups can sign up with LetsGoGreen.biz and receive 25 percent of the proceeds for items they sell. I recently had a chance to speak with Kyle, and he gave me some great perspective on LetsGoGreen.biz and why he started it.
Kyle was a defense contractor for many years before starting LetsGoGreen.biz . He was watching a Diane Sawyer special during last Earth Day when he had a light bulb moment and thought of LetsGoGreen.biz. He always wanted to run his own business, so he launched the company last September with his brother and hasn’t looked back since. Thus far, Kyle has seen good participation from schools and church groups, which sign up so they can get 25 percent of the proceeds for the goods their members purchase. There’s no cost for groups to sign up and people purchase directly from “http://www.letsgogreen.biz”>LetsGoGreen.biz so they don’t have to handle inventory or distribution of any items.
Although LetsGoGreen.biz is currently focused on products around the home, the company is quickly expanding their product offering. Kyle charges standard UPS shipping rates, and doesn’t even add a handling charge. Although returns aren’t typically accepted, products will be replaced if they are broken.
LetsGoGreen.biz also sells to the general public in addition to supporting fundraising programs. Currently, Kyle is offering a 25% discount to ThingsThatMakeYouGoGreen.com readers. When you go to website, enter “FRIEND” in the Coupon Code box, and the 25% discount will be automatically applied to your entire order. Next time you hear a knock on your door or your nephew comes asking for a donation, you might be buying some new light bulbs instead of another magazine subscription you can’t read or box of cookies you shouldn’t eat.
I was reading Time Magazine’s “Special Environment Issue” and came across this depressing statistic:
46,000.
That is the estimated number of floating plastic pieces per square mile of ocean, according to a 2006 U.N. study.
Per square mile?!!
I won’t even get into the detrimental effect this has on our marine life. I think this picture speaks for itself. [Source]
Maybe it’s because I am a mechanical engineer by training, and I always think in terms of mechanical mechanisms, but whenever I think of storing solar power, I think of a giant flywheel. Spinning and spinning. That’s what you all think of too, right?
Well, it turns out that that’s just not right, and it’s the New York Times that sets me straight. Last week they had a fascinating article that talks about how the new solar utility facilities are using giant tanks of molten SALT to store heat energy generated by thermal solar plants during the day, for use when clouds pass overhead, or at night. Did you even know that salt melts?
These technologies and techniques are truly fascinating because they get one of the obstacles which prevent us from exploiting the almost limitless solar energy that we receive every day.
Happy Earth Day! I don’t know about where you live, but there has been a ton of Earth Day activity and press coverage in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Earth Day Network has a list of some of the larger events around the world. With all the Earth Day coverage and events, I became curious and wanted to learn more about the history of Earth Day. I’ll be the first to admit that I was very naïve about the environment and being green just a few years ago. Not too long ago, I actually thought Earth Day was a new movement started by Al Gore or someone from an environmental organization.
April 22, 2008 actually represents the 38th anniversary of Earth Day, with the first formal Earth Day held April 22, 1970. Although there were numerous events culminating to the birth of Earth Day including a huge amount of grassroots activism throughout the 1960s, the birth of Earth Day is attributed to Gaylord Nelson, a United States Senator from Wisconsin. Gaylord Nelson, an environmental activist himself, had originally called for an environmental teach-in to be held on April 22, 1970. He modeled the teach-in after the Vietnam War protests, hoping to show people there was popular support for the movement. Senator Nelson even passed a bill designating April 22nd as the national day to celebrate the Earth.
The first Earth Day saw an estimated 20 million people participating across the United States from thousands of schools and universities. 1970 was also the year President Nixon started the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and when Congress amended the Clean Air Act to include national air quality, anti-pollution, and auto emission standards. Today, Earth Day is an event organized by the nonprofit Earth Day Network and observed by nearly 200 countries and hundreds of millions of people around the world. Earth Day has now become a huge promotional event for many companies and is even a weeklong observation for many cities.
Happy Earth Day to all of you. Whether it’s driving less, consuming less, recycling, or just making your carbon footprint that much smaller, I hope everyone is doing what they can to help Earth. Everyday, I hope we reach the miraculous tipping point when the planet begins healing. We only have one planet for ourselves and our posterity, and we have to make it last.
Tomorrow, April 22, is Earth Day!
There are lots of things happening tomorrow in your local area I’m sure, and it will be a good opportunity for you to further educate yourself and others on the climate crisis we face today.
As great as all of this self-education is, what we need is action. A powerful movement of millions, no billions, of people, all in concert with one fundamental goal: reduce global warming.
As much as I would love to believe that the common man can save our Earth, what we really need is legislation. Our Congress, as a whole, has been woefully inadequate in implementing change. And we need to let them know how we feel!
So with that, I implore you to contact your Representative or Senator, and ask that they represent your voice in Washington D.C. We need bold and immediate action!
For our international friends, click here to learn how you can contact your leader.
