…But you needn’t spend pricey gas on a trip to the mountains or the shore if you’re fortunate enough to have nature in your neighborhood. Some cities are especially blessed with public green spaces, and a new project called ParkScore can help you find your city’s best natural oases amidst the sprawl of asphalt, subdivisions and strip malls that weary our spirits on sultry summer days.
With less than a week to go until the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony on July 27th, excitement is building. Hundreds of workers are putting the finishing touches on the massive project that is the 2012 Summer Olympics, but as preparations continue so too do the green aspirations of London 2012. Will the Games live up to the pledge made all the way back in 2005 to create the greenest games ever?
Certain human behaviors today reflect hardwired traits that helped our ancestors and their kin over time. Such behaviors provide individual benefit, yet the collective impact of such actions can be detrimental to the environment, creating a situation not unlike the Tragedy of the Commons.
Unfortunately, for green marketers, such individual behaviors are not easily influenced, creating an ever-present headwind that they must contend with. Confronting such behavior directly, such as asking individuals to make different choices because current ones are detrimental to the environment, has not proven very successful for marketers.
As the smell of buttery (vegan) baked goodness, mixed with fresh raspberries wafts through my New York City apartment, I feel transported to the farm upstate where we gathered these sweet red jewels. And I imagine myself a homesteader—baking not just for the sheer pleasure of it, but for the sake of letting nothing that I grew go to waste.
We’ve had at least three power outtages in the last two months, so I’ve become a bit of an expert at figuring out how to get my family power and light when they’re not being delivered through an electrical cord.