Project GreenLife

“PROJECTGREENLIFE” was created by several influences in my life.  These influences were caused by “change, realization, bravery, courage, and passion”.

I was your typical consumer, who had no regard for the impact of my purchasing decisions, nor my lifestyle choices.  I worked endlessly and faithfully for a large corporation and held a nice management position there.  Well they said nice, but really it was nothing more than a trap.  Sure I had a very good salary, and I always made the maximum bonus every year due to my being able to lead people and direct them towards successful sales and profit results.  In spite of my successes and my abilities I was tied to that job 24/7/365, yes it is true.  So then came change.

In February of 2008 I began dating a wonderful woman, whom I fell immediately head over heels for.  Yep, the fairy tale happened, and it happened so fast that in March I asked her to marry me and in April we were married.  WOW what a whirlwind of events, I don’t think I ever did anything that fast in my whole life, except for getting out of my work clothes at the end of a 14 hour day and changing in to shorts, and a t-shirt.  OK, that was the most important change in my life next to becoming a single father which I had been for the past 7 years.  Oh yea, single dad working 60 to 80 hours per week raising two young kids, how I did it, I don’t know, except for the help of many great friends and family members.

So where did the realization start?  After I was married I realized that I needed many changes in my life.  I needed time for myself and my family.  I realized that my work was consuming all my time, and I needed to build my family ties and reconnect with my children.  I also realized that I needed to become GREEN, because my children’s future and those that follow needed my actions.  I decided that I needed a career change, but first I needed to take a lot of time off.  So I left my job and started the process of decompression and began living.  I am now happier that I have ever been, and I have the time to spend with my family and pursue the things that inspire and interest me.

Since I left my job we have been creating our own green lifestyle, yea we changed our lights to cfl’s, and we recycle more, and I have been doing remodeling projects with GREEN building materials.  We have planted trees and are going to plant more this spring.  We also want to start a garden this year and grow as much of our own vegetables as we can.  I am still looking for more ways to be GREEN besides just the basics, I want to support LOCAL small business, and create a presence within my community as someone who supports those individuals, and businesses who are also trying to GO GREEN.  I have a belief that by going green we can rebuild our communities and recreate the sense of community and not be so isolated from our world.  I also want to make sure my family is living more sustainably and making decisions based upon the effects that those decisions may have.

I have spent a great deal of time doing something that I have always enjoyed and that is reading.  I spent a great deal of time reading many books about “Green”, “Global Warming”, “Politics”, and “Economy”.  I have read some great books by Van Jones, Bill McKibben, Thomas Freidman, and many others.  I have to thank all of them for helping to educate me and getting me back to realizing the important things in our lives.  I have been able to draw a simple conclusion from all of my readings so far and that is…  “IF WE GO GREEN AND MAKE THE CHANGES NECESSARY, WE WILL FIX OUR ECONOMY, EMPLOYMENT, NATIONAL SECURITY, and OUR REPUTATION IN THIS WORLD”.  I know it will not be a quick or easy fix, but it will work.  Sure there are going to be many objections, and most people do not like change.  To them I say take a look around, not just outside your windows, but around the world.  Look at what is happening to our planet, and our people.  If you can’t see the need for change, then look again, but closer.

Bravery and Courage are two things that I felt I never was short of, but I realized during the last Presidential Election that Barack Obama demonstrated to me incredible bravery and courage.  I watched a man whom I always felt was an incredible and engaging speaker, stand up to so many personal attacks.  He did this with such class and separated himself from his attackers by not “playing” their game.  He inspired me so much that I now believe and have the courage to stand up, speak out, and try to influence others to make change.  I have the aspiration to take my experiences here on “projectgreenlife” and share them with everyone.  I want to inspire others to make a difference.

I have always been passionate about success and doing the right thing, so I now want to apply my passion to making successful changes in this world in which I live.  So what does “PROJECTGREENLIFE” mean to me…

I want to make a change…

I want to make a difference…

WHAT IS PRESIDENT OBAMA’S GREEN AGENDA: What’s been done, and what is to come

In his short time in office, President  Barack  Obama has put on hold former President Bush’s plans for power-plant pollution, offshore oil drilling, nuclear waste storage and endangered species.   Obama and his team have rolled out policies Bush officials delayed, such as requiring higher energy efficiency from appliances.  Such moves have significant impacts and not just on the environment.  They could affect electric bills, gas prices and the time it takes to build highways, and other infrastructures. 

For now, this administrations decisions are winning praise from green groups – “swift and strong leadership,” the Natural Resources Defense Council said last month.  This is only the beginning and we need to see where this is going to take us. 

The hard work, such as filling in the details of how Obama will keep his campaign pledge to cut global warming gases 80% by 2050, lies in front of the new administration.  I for one am anxiously waiting for these details.

In spite of Obama’s advantage of a Democratic-controlled Congress, party affiliation counts less than regional politics on many of the issues he wants to tackle.  Democrats from heavily industrial Midwestern states, for example, are less eager to sign on to legislation to combat global warming.  “Whether they are Republicans or Democrats, they tend to be concerned about economic effects on their own states”.

Obama wants Congress to pass a bill that would set a strict cap on emissions. Companies would be required to pay the government for the right to emit global warming pollutants.  I think this is a great idea and would force the issue of renewable energy, and why can’t “Big Oil and Coal companies” begin to change their sources for income.

What has been done, what lies ahead on the president’s green agenda?

ISSUES that need to be addressed swiftly…

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Clean Coal Technology (I am of the belief there is no such thing, yet it is a HOT topic)

Upgrading the Power Grid

Nuclear Waste

Oil and Gas drilling

Air Pollution

Endangered Species

Green Jobs and the Economy

Economic Stimulus

I have decided to start this blog to open a forum to give and get ideas about the GREENING of our world.  I want to post my ideas and have you give me new and better ideas and ways to GREEN my life. 

I would like to hear about your real world experiences and I will share mine.  I am looking for more than just change out your lightbulbs to CFL’s.  I would like to learn how to change or makeover my lifestyle.

Please feel free to post any and all comments, ideas, suggestions, and pictures of our GREENLIFE.

Thank you.