Interesting facts from a key note speaker

This speaker was from a city in the state and came up with a really neat sign. The sign had a picture of a tall, trim policeman pointing his finger at the audience and the message was:

Want to Litter?
Fine!
Your ticket will be
$406

This proved to be effective way to get public attention with a local judge supporting the idea. A city department employee was responsible for the idea and the sign. Each morning he would place the sign in a different spot prior to going to work. Creative use of space too while capturing citizens attention!

More Annie Litter and Green Information

In the city I live inthe mayor has started a program for making fuel out of wood chips. We are blessed to have an abundance of wood from trees when storms roll in and they do roll in fequently. Four hours from the coast and even the hurricanes wreak havic with the trees, tree branches and pine debris this far up the state. The south has many large pines of several species populating our forests Due to the relative shadow root system, pines come down as well as many disciduous trees.

During a key note today Ed Bagley spoke of cleaner air then in the mid seventies, less smog in LA, CA where he lives. He spoke of wood chips making fuel, the plastic wash in the oceans, overfishing, species being overfished to extinction, basic cleaning with water, vinegar and soda, the danger of ground water being poluted with toxins/chemical, the honeybee demise and so much more. Together we can make a difference. Start now, start with your fight to save our children, our babies.

Annie Litter Conference and Passion, Caring, Nature, People.

Attending my first conference with this group today I was so impressed how many cities, big and small are interested in GREEN efforts. The majority of the audience was municipalities wanting to learn about GREEN efforts. Our city's mayor was the key note speaker followed many others, short clips of video including President Bush in Hoover, Alabama. There are people who care! There are people who make a difference, one act, one talk, one child, one school, one city, one person at a time.

Protection is important, no it is critical. The world is not our's to exploit, it is to be savored, one phase at a time. As I have said before, God created a beautiful earth, we've done everything we can to screw it up. People, can't live with them, can't live without them...sure would be nice trying every once in a while.

Yahoo Finance

Waste electricity. Of the total energy used to run home electronics, 40% is consumed when the appliances are turned off. Appliances with a clock or that operate by remote are typical culprits. The obvious way to pull the plug on your energy vampires is to do just that -- pull the plug. Or buy a device to do it for you, such as a Smart Power Strip ($31 to $44 at www.smarthomeusa.com), which will stop drawing electricity when the gadgets are turned off and pay for itself within a few months.

It's time to get real with waste!

Traveling today and looking at nature, trees, people driving!

Today while driving to another state the beauty of the trees, grass, terrain, to see the rolling hills is so wonderful. This is my home state, Ohio, and it will always be home although I live and have for many years in another region of the country. Surprise with these mild temperatures in the seventies. God made a beautiful earth, we all need to preserve it as much as possible.

We've all heard about Tom's shoes being donated to children. One quarter of the world has never wore shoes and 300M are children. One does not know what one has never experienced. American's can donate "used" items, including worn shoes to those in need. Let's gift when removing, reducing, cleaning out...please this stuff does not belong in the trash or landfill.

Energy, Environment & Technology

Vendors greenwashing the facts about energy consumption will be found out soon enough. Attempting LEED building, building sustainable resources for employees and customers is difficult enough when the demand for energy is rising vs. being lowered.
Saving energy in one areana is great but we need to try harder. As I'm said before, we can make a difference, together. Awareness of electronics gussling energy is one way to start. Research with reputable sources prior to buying any thing related to technology. CEO's, CFO's and COO's need to insure staff is competent and knowledgable they know how to find out use = energy = LEED = time = electronics = money. The values can go both ways and inside out. Place the priorty and know the facts for your organization.

Knpw the facts before you can make intelligent choices

Ran into a friend today at the grocery, I look down and see bottled water in her grocery cart...I can not imagine how intelligent people can ignore the facts. I shared the number of bottled water bottles that are made in this country alone 31.2 billion, 381 billion plastic bags...demand drive consumer behavior. STOP buying the stuff. We live in a city known for the quality of the water! What's with that? Plastics are not good, they can not be saved from the water ways, the ocean, the soil, nor are the chemical good. They may not be bad but they can not be good. Please we can make a difference, together. We all need to do our part. I forgot my bags today. I left the cart, walked to the far corners of the parking lot to retrieve my use again bags and walked back inside to the cart to complete shopping.
American are just being stupid with all this materialism. Yes, we're spoiled beyond belief.

Dynamics of Earth

When man decided he was the master of the universe, stuff happened. The industrial revolution brought many changes to the world. Faster, better, and still on the next adventure in each discipline of science. Convenience has made us a bunch of spoiled people. We go to the gym to workout because we don't work anymore. Yes, construction and yes factory workers but that's a relatively small number of people compared to those behind the computer. Computers are used in most of those disciplines too. We can not continue this usury attitude. Convenience, time, plastic, fast food, easy food, bathroom products galore, home cleaning products, and that's the top of the iceberg. All manufacturing, electronic demands for gadgetry, big screen TV, vehicles, chemicals, plastics have made a disaster for water, soil and air. So much damage must be stopped or demise is likely. When I talk with audiences, I say, once the animals are gone, humans are next. Yes, I know we're now in the information stage and have been for a number of years. And we all feel the deluge of information too!

Mother Earth & Sustainability

The reason I have not changed the pictures on the blog site is simple. Nature is a wonder, the only true wonder in the world. Nature is full of surprises and delight and yes, danger too. When you look at an ant can you not just imagine a miniature world? Watching chip monks in the back yard and observing the way they scamper about
what are they finding to eat with all that energy to burn? Whether you believe in God or not, He made a perfect place for us to live and we've done everything to mess it up totally. Please respect the beauty, take time to marvel at the sites, enjoy the smells of rain, the feel of the drops, well, you get the picture. Life was given and enjoying our surroundings is so important.

Paper Towels and Paper Napkins Out of Kitchen

Yesterday a friend was quite surprised when I announced I had stopped using paper in the kitchen. Her immediate response was what do you use? "Cloth" I replied and continued the conversation with how many linen, cotton napkins were in the house. There must be five or six colors with eight for most sets. Draining bacon or sausage after frying/browning I now use white terry cloths to soak up the excess grease when on occasion we eat this for breakfast or in preparing casserole or other dish. My thoughts are we're washing anyway so just add those when doing white or colored loads of laundry. Water and lots of it is used when manufacturing these papers. Our world isn't about convenience anymore, it's about reducing our waste.

Information and Caring

In one of the first books John Maxwell wrote I read the statement "people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care". Where this originated I'm not sure but it rings true in life. When you care about the Mother Earth and allow your passion to show, throw out a few statistics about plastic, the chemicals in plastics and follow that with the chemicals in computers people start to get the picture. Passion is a good thing. Chemicals are not good for people. Plastics can have dangerous chemicals inside the components that make plastic not a good choice.
Be aware, read label, if it is plastic it is not biogradeable. It may be recyclable, look for the triangle and understand what the numbers in the triangle mean. Do the research!

Time and Freedom so Important on This July 4th Day

So often I think about our troops. Those in the past are as important as those we have today. This may not be a green message but I can not help but say a special prayer for those that keep us from terror, free still with all the goofy and some not so goofy rules, laws, restrictions. I think of the misery of fighting in horribly hot climates. Of wearing full military apparell while carrying 30 or 40 pound guns. These brave men and women are battle weary and their bodies tough from discipline, not enough rest, homesick for families and friends. They have themselves and their comrades, that's it. We love you all and pray for your safe return, daily.