that GREEN blog

Greening the (918) Green Building Seminar

Greening the (918) is an interactive series of seminars designed to inspire organizations and individuals to take action and to lead the city to be one of the greenest cities in the nation. Each seminar will have a panel of experts and be moderated and graphically facilitated by Sean Griffin. The community will discuss what action steps Tulsa must take to overcome the challenges to become one of the greenest cities in the nation.

*Time: 5:30 to 7:30 .p.m.
Date: November 13, 2008*

*Home Builders Association of Greater Tulsa,
11545 East 43rd Street *

Major cities in the United States and around the globe are moving toward building “green.” Find out what “green” means to Tulsa and Tulsa’s plans to be a green city. Panel members will include:

• Rich Bass, COO of the Mill Creek Companies
• Joel Kinsch, owner of Elite Services
• Brandon Perkins, owner of Brandon Perkins Development
• Shelby Navarro, owner of ONE Architecture
• Paul Enix, City of Tulsa Senior Code Official

Presented by: Be Green Tulsa, Mayor Taylor’s Green Team

Sustainable Tulsa

Sponsored by:

Ihloff Salon and Day Spa
Home Builders Association of Greater Tulsa

Strategic Partners:

• Home Builders Association of Greater Tulsa
• Tulsa Partners’ Millennium Center project for green and safe living

Networking and refreshments will follow each seminar.

For more information
contact Corey at
918-808-6576
corey@sustainabletu lsa.org

Peats Ridge is the first major event in Australia to run completely on renewable energy and winner of the NSW Government 2008 Green Globe Award for Environmental Sustainability across all industries. A major part of the Peats Ridge experience is finding out how to live more sustainably, and therefore reduce our impact on the beautiful Glenworth Valley, and the planet as a whole – so not only do we have some incredible music and arts to share with you, they also plan on educating you on how to go about doing this.

Now in its fifth year, Peats Ridge will again play host to a line-up of bands you know and love as well as some great bands you’ve yet to discover.

You’ll also have the opportunity to indulge your senses in two venues dedicated to theatre, cabaret, new media, projection and soundscape.

The Festival will still have one of the best children’s festivals around, the Boardi Space for indigenous culture, an Ecoliving area to educate yourself about sustainable living and the Healing Haven offering massages and other types of wellbeing.

Add to this markets, rainforest bush walks, kayaking, horse riding, camping, idyllic swimming holes and you have an unforgettable way to welcome the New Year.

Announcements of artists, performers and activities will be posted over the coming weeks so make sure you visit the Festival website and sign up for the e-news so you’ll be the first to know (and you could win passes for yourself and five friends for signing up!)

What: Peats Ridge Sustainable Arts & Music Festival

When: 29 December 2008 to 1 January 2009

Where: Glenworth Valley, NSW – 1 hour north of Sydney

Tickets: through Moshtix

Michael O’Loughlin from the Better Living Show – Portland’s Largest Sustainable Lifestyle Show twitters. Yes he does. I’ve been following him for a few months now. He give out some really interesting information on sustainability. And he ought to know… he’s been in the trade show business most of his life and runs the ‘Northwest’s Largest Sustainable Lifestyle Show’ His father Thomas O’Loughlin is founder of the National Association of Consumer Shows and co-founder of O’Loughlin Trade Shows. Why the biography?

Michael asked fellow tweeters what they thought of the article 6 Ways to Master the Green Message by Ethan Boldt, and since twitter is for smaller shorter points, I thought I’d give a couple of cents worth here. It is a subject worthy of discussion.

In some circles, discussing green marketing is as tasteful as discussing funeral services, but it is a necessary part of life. Some people roll their eyes. Some won’t shut up once you start the conversation (ahem) and some give you that glazed stare that says they have no idea what you are talking about. To sell what you have been selling with a green twist, ‘Mastering the Green Message’ almost sounds like you are trying to take advantage of the publics newly enlightened sense of sustainable issues… you know… ‘Greenwashing’ your message.

One point Ethan made that I appreciate..

To Promote or Not to Promote?
That is the question that marketers must ask themselves. The question that does not need to be asked, however, is should you begin green initiatives in the first place?

Good advice, don’t you think?

But one sad point that was brought out, IMO, was what Alan Rosenspan, president of Alan Rosenspan & Associates, a direct marketing creative and consulting firm was quoted on…

Give Them a Benefit
“So I guess my advice would be: You can appeal to people’s higher nature and ask them to support the environment, but make sure there’s a benefit in it for them.”

I thought that supporting environmental initiative was supposed the BE the benefit. But he also stated,

Appeal to Their Pro-Environment Position, but Also Their Pocketbooks
Don’t expect immediate success, warns Rosenspan. “People still tend to vote (and buy) with their pocketbooks. We offered to ‘plant a tree in your name’ if you switched to AT&T. We sent out 30,000 packages – I think we planted three trees,” he shares.

So I guess he’s actually got a real point… and consumers can be wise in this choice to be quite selective, especially where price is concerned. It shouldn’t have to hurt so badly in the wallet to be green. So voting selectively with your pocketbook is smart, selling the benefits of your product/service FIRST, your environmental position second makes good marketing sense.

Thanks for bringing it up Michael! We wish you all success with the show next spring! Feel free to keep information about it posted here.

Sorry for the long delay between posting… been so busy doing green stuff, LOL

My 19 year old daughter, Hannah, recently moved to the Oregon Coast. The photo is what she did on Peace Day there. It was raining, but she was egged on by many a passerby. She went to work with wet hair, but she said “everyone understood”.

Believe it or not, she actually got flipped off… just walking around downtown in Lincoln City, go figure. But most of the honking was positive. She said “Some people drive by again and again hanging out the window of their cars with big ‘thumbs up’s” It was a wonderful experience and a great way to get involved in her new community.

The 4th of July is right around the corner and what better way to celebrate than with some inspirational and patriotic Independence Day quotes? For those who are true to the Red, White and Blue, here are twelve patriotic Independence Day quotes to help you celebrate the birth of our nation.

1. “He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from opposition; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach himself.” ~ Thomas Paine

2. “You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.” ~ Erma Bombeck

3. “Those who won our independence believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty.” ~ Louis D. Brandeis

4. “America is much more than a geographical fact. It is a political and moral fact – the first community in which men set out in principle to institutionalize freedom, responsible government, and human equality.” ~ Adlai Stevenson

5. “For what avail the plough or sail, or land or life, if freedom fail?” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

6. “Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.” ~ Abraham Lincoln

7. “We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it.” ~ William Faulkner

8. “As we have throughout this century, we will lead with the power of our example, but be prepared, when necessary, to make an example of our power.” ~ Bill Clinton

9. “America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense … human rights invented America.” ~ Jimmy Carter

10. “America is a tune. It must be sung together.” ~ Gerald Stanley Lee

11. “This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.” ~ Elmer Davis

12. “If our country is worth dying for in time of war let us resolve that it is truly worth living for in time of peace.” ~ Hamilton Fish

As we celebrate with picnics, fireworks and barbecues this July fourth, let’s remember exactly what it is we’re celebrating. Freedom. Bravery. Triumph.

Articles on Holidays

For more patriotic quotes, check out the popular patriotic quotes section of Famous-Quotes-And-Quotations.com, a website that specializes in ‘Top 10′ lists of quotations in dozens of categories.