Michael Jackson and the Illusion of the Consumer Culture

Amazon.com sold as many Michael Jackson albums in the 24 hours after his death as in the previous 11 years. What does this say about us?

I'll explore this subject of consumerism in the context of the impact on our spirit and the planet in my upcoming column in 4CM. Join the conversation with comments here or email me privately...

How about these MJ jokes intended to cheer you up? Offensive or did you laugh? (Warning: Mature content)

Earth Day: Market the Solution, Not the Problem

Male bass with eggs in their testicles. Endocrine disruptors in household products creating intersex fish and amphibians with six legs--legacy pollutants like PCBs in our drinking water, in the fish we eat, and in the tar on roads.

Who cares? The 20 year old discussion about clean water has lost public attention.

But ask what's safe to eat and drink? And people care. Frame the issue so it addresses traffic and taxes and watch activism grow.

Earth Day is getting more attention this year than ever before, much of it from companies hungry for marketing opportunities. So I narrowed my options down to doing just one thing for Earth Day--I'm watching Frontline, Poisoned Waters, a PBS special about the impact of unchecked development around my former hometown, DC metro area. I used to live in Vienna, Virginia near Tysons Corner. What has happened to the area in the past 20 years is an ecological plague. It could also be a model for how to undo the decisions of greed.

Photo of Yellow Crowned Night Heron by Fran Palmeri

Pickles and Chocolate Pay The Rent

The latest craze for saving money in our whacko economy? Swap chocolate and other gourmet foods for services. That's my kinda new economy! Maybe I should offer a Red Hot Rate Special accepting my fave fair trade, dark chocolate as legal tender for the Florida vacation rental.

In case you missed the article in today's NY Times about this Brooklyn bartering, check it out here.

Let's Get The U.S. Back To Work

If you haven't felt the effects of the 3.5 million jobs lost in this recession you've probably comforted someone who has. Just one million of those jobs were lost in the last two months. While it may not havethe perfect answers, Recovery.gov is a means of taking immediate action to address the hemmoraging and the website will show us how the money is being used. If you haven't learned about the plan, please check it out at this link.

Yesterday alone, we lost 70,000 jobs in the US. These are dark times. One of the lessons for me is to give up loving stuff and doing more loving of stuff that loves me back.

Love your iPod? Would you love a new Prius?

How about loving something that loves you back? Stuff doesn't do that.

How about doing something other than be entertained and amused?
85% of North American households didn't buy a nonfiction book in 2007--and 90 percent of those who did didn't read it. But our TVs run an average of six hours a day.

"I've never met one massively high achiever who has time to sit infront of the plug-in drug," writes James Ray, author of Harmonic Wealth, The Secret of Attracting the Life You Want.

Make Money - Save Money, Rent Local & Peer2Peer

In the spirit of less-is-more, let's keep renting! Peer-to-peer renting is big news in 2009, one of the many changes to come in the new economy. To make money, bottom-up, people rent their backyard as a campground, camera equipment for a photo shoot, power tools, strollers, designer purses, you name it, it's for rent on Zilok.

This blog is for bottom-up dispensers of cool who enjoy eco-travel deals and healthy living. We feel that "the small, the slow, the local, and the personal" will build the new economy. Your comments will help enrich this information for all of us.

Five Timely Reasons To Invest in a Vacation Rental Home

RISMEDIA, Oct. 27, 2008-The stock market is down, and if you’re like most people, your level of investing confidence has dropped as well. Yes, only those with nerves of steel feel good about playing the market right now. And if you’re not one of those hearty souls, you’re at a bit of a loss as to what to do with your nest egg. Christine Karpinski has a suggestion: Instead of pouring your money into Wall Street, why not consider Ocean Boulevard or Mountainside Drive? Read more...

Bikers Benefit From Bailout

While the 700 billion dollar bailout may help big business, it also gives a Federal tax break to people who ride a bike to work.  Thanks to organizers from Oregon who worked for seven years to get a break for bikers, in 2009 those who cycle to work can get $20 a month from their employers for cycling expenses.  Another good reason to get out of the car and onto a bike.  Read more…

Travel Enthusiasm Still High, Despite Economy

Consumer resilience means 78% percent still plan to travel for the holidays according to a recent Travelocity poll.  Also savvy, travelers can find more deals now than ever before.  The biggest change isn’t that people have given up, but how they will travel—12% percent say they will not drive and 12% percent say they will avoid flying whenever possible due the new fees airlines charge.  Go Southwest.

 

Spooked from Blue to Green? Shake Off the Blues

Feeling scared to death about our economic future? The VIX Index, a "fear gauge" which measures market volatility, hit record highs last week, showing we have more anxiety than we did following the 9/11 attacks. That's pretty spooky. 

Experts tell us the best way to manage fear is to take action, stay productive to stave off failure. My uber eco-mom says, "The best cure for the blues is to stop focusing on yourself and start focusing on being of service. Do something for someone else, you'll feel better."

How about collecting the blues--as in jeans--instead of candy this Halloween? The average American throws away more than 68 pounds of clothing a year. Instead of filling up a landfill, you can turn denim into something far more useful: sustainable and eco-friendly housing insulation.

Fair Indigo’s goal is to collect 500 pairs of jeans by October 31st– enough to make insulation for a Habitat for Humanity home.

How do you do it?  Gather up old jeans or any denim by Oct 31 and ship them to:
Fair Indigo Denim Drive
c/o Green Jeans Insulation Inc.
1109 W. Milwaukee St.
Stoughton, WI 53589

You’ll join young people inspired to change the world one pair of jeans at a time in the COTTON. FROM BLUE TO GREEN.® denim drive.  Fair Indigo teams up with them, colleges, and other groups across the country to collect old blue jeans and make eco-friendly, hypo-allergenic, super acoustical insulation.  See the ABC, Money Matters video here. 

Since its inception in 2006 the COTTON. FROM BLUE TO GREEN.® denim drive has generated over 100,000 square feet of eco-friendly UltraTouch™ insulation and it has been installed in over 100 new homes in the gulf coast region through Habitat for Humanity.