Its been 4 months now since i mailed a letter to the White House. Was i naive to expect at least an acknowledgement stating something like "Dear Mr. Divon, Thank you for your letter. As you may imagine we receive tens of thousands of letters daily, yet the president cares deeply about each of the senders. A representative will review your letter sometime by next election and may get back to you…” So, I didn’t even receive that… In the absence of a presidential response let me share here my letter.

The White House
President Barak Obama
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

April 30, 2009

Dear President Obama,

I never thought I would be writing a letter to the White House, yet, I am at loss as to whom else I can address this. I wanted to express both my admiration and frustration with respect to policies of your administration.

When you were elected to office I was delighted – finally, a voice of reason has returned to the White House… Your quick and swift actions on various fronts were absolutely a joy. You did not only promise change, you were demonstrating it with the keenest efforts humanly possible, and I applaud you for it.

(deleted portion that is irrelavant for this web site)

Another small business I am a partner with, is Green Energy Act. It’s a company I co-founded well over a year ago, because it both made an entrepreneurial sense and because it felt good, consciously, to do something rather than be part of the problem. Green Energy Act does soup to nuts green energy including performing energy audits, recommending and implementing weatherization solutions, and recommending and integrating sustainable energy solutions such as geothermal, solar, PV and wind. We are at the forefront of the green movement.

I was yet again delighted by your swift action, signing into law the American Recovery and Re-investment Act of 2009. This act, among other measures, increased the tax credits provided for various sustainable energy solutions to 30%. It significantly reduced the length of return on investment for people going the way of green. Yet, being at the forefront, I can tell you that the barrier, preventing people from implementing such solutions, remains the same. Consumers either don’t have money to invest right now, or are sitting nervously on the money, given the state of the economy. Parting with $20,000 for a geothermal system installation, even if the return is a mere 4 to 5 years, is not something anyone rushes to do these days. The solution needs to be in the form of funding. Eight out of ten prospects we have, which right now hold off on installing a sustainable energy solution, will proceed if the money would have been made available for them upfront. What I am referring to are not more grants but rather green loans; loans that, much like a mortgage or a car loan, would be paid over time against money saved on the resulting smaller utility bills. Some very limited green loans already exist here and there, but are very hard to track down and even harder to apply for. What we need are accessible and affordable green loans. It would be a great investment in the energy-independent future of our country. It will make a huge difference with respect to being able to implement sustainable energy solutions on both the residential and commercial spectrums.

I wanted to take the opportunity and also suggest bringing companies such as ours to Washington, to voice what is really happening at the forefront. The decision makers at the top, with the best of intentions, are not always equipped with the knowledge from the field to form solutions that affect small businesses and actual consumers at the base level.

I wish you all the best and have full confidence in you!

Sincerely,

Ronen

Mind you before you read the below – I never defaulted on payments to Amex, yet, since my credit rating went down they took the liberty of being really friendly and sent me this email:

Dear Ronen:
We are contacting you to be sure you do not have any surprises when you use your card. In this difficult economic environment, we all need to make choices about how we spend and save. For us, that means carefully reviewing the spending and debt profiles of our Cardmembers - and making some difficult decisions. Unfortunately, we have had to make the decision to lower the credit limit on your account listed above.
Please ensure that any additional Cardmembers on the account are also aware of this change so they do not have any negative experiences when they use the Card.
You will also receive this information by letter, but we wanted to be sure you were aware of this change as soon as possible. We strive to be a responsible lender during both prosperous times and more challenging ones, and we do remain committed to our relationship with you.
Sincerely,
American Express Account Services

What pals… What do you know – credit cards are finally acting “responsibly”?...
Here is their new motto – we will abuse you and take as a high interest from you for as long as we can, but don’t get confused here – if we need to sell your skin for a penny, we will… After all, our top managers need to have their large bonuses or else how will they pay for the expensive jet fuel to take them to their 4 months a year vacation at the Caribbean?... Actually, i stand corrected - there is nothing new about it...

Amex – don’t be surprised that following Citibank you are now second on my shit list and will be shredded off my wallet in the foreseeable future…

What’s the honest-to-goodness best way to wash your produce? Use water and white vinegar. A few squirts on your fruits and veggies gets rid of all the nasties (like pesticide residue) that you don’t want.

If you’re like me you probably already have a bottle of white vinegar in your cabinet (and no idea of how it got there), now you have a use for it. A diluted vinegar rinse kills 98% of bacteria on produce - researchers found it works even better than a scrub brush. Water and vinegar rinses cost just pennies; a pre-made rinse will run you around $4 and up. Buying plastic bottles of produce wash means having to recycle them too (not to mention the energy and materials needed to make and ship them in the first place) - you’ll still need to buy bottles of vinegar, but you’ll buy fewer of them.

Give it a try! Mix 3 parts water to 1 part white vinegar in a spray bottle (if you’ve already got a bottle of the premade stuff, use it up and reuse the sprayer). Rinse with water after you spray. It’s that easy.

Click here for Green Cleaning Products and Solutions

Want a reminder for feeling good? Make your passwords contain positive words… e.g. t0daysAgr3atDay, or sm1leN0w…. Something positive. This way, whenever you log into your computer or to whatever else you need passwords for, you will have a reminder you need to smile and be appreciative more often…

Case study – my wife has a Suburban – a USA made car. She likes this car despite its being a gas-hog and despite various mechanical issues we had with it in the past. She likes it so much that the car we have now is the third one we leased over the past decade from Chevrolet.
Recently the car started having issues yet again. Trying to deal with Chevy in order to get it fixed has turned out to be a nightmare – facing customer service people who could care less, and administrators who cannot associate why their company is in such deep s**t with their way of addressing customers.
One thing I know for sure – we are NOT going to take another Chevrolet made car once the lease on this one expires. Chevy – you just lost yet another loyal customer.
Now – what will the bailout do? It will stream blood – our tax blood – into such behemoth companies which will continue to badly manage their resources, make lousy products, and have zero understanding of customer relationship. If I, as a small business owner, would have made the mistakes these companies made NO ONE would have bailed me out. NO ONE. I would not have deserved it. In this country you used to pay for your bad actions and be rewarded when you did good business. Unfortunately, starting under the Bush administration, this country had turned out to be a socialist country, but being that its capitalist at heart, it does a bad job at this as well… If we are to turn into socialism – do it the right way as some countries in Europe attempted to do. But don’t play selected socialism – it will be Animal Farm all over again…
What is the option? – like with every other aspect of what this great country use to stand for, let the market correct itself on its own. Let the behemoths crash – it’s a crash of THEIR making! Let someone else who knows business better emerge from the ruins or come from overseas and buy them out for cheap. Let the market work and at the end we will have better companies out there; not companies held by a lifeline that should not be alive.
Obama are you listening?!....

While self-destruction is at the beating heart of rock n roll, planetary destruction is seemingly off the agenda nowadays, with more and more musicians and bands jumping on the biofuel powered eco-bandwagon, and doing their bit for Mother Earth. Cynics might claim that it’s just another ploy to raise profiles in an increasingly tough business, but whatever the motivation, the message is certainly getting through.


1. Pearl Jam
In terms of putting their money where their collective mouths are, few bands come close to the eco-awareness of Pearl Jam. In gifting $100,000 to various eco projects during a recent world tour, it was more than a donation, it was a call to arms. The activism section on Pearljam.com makes for great reading, and offers an insight into the lengths the band will go to in order to ensure their impact on the planet is kept to a minimum.


2. Radiohead
When Radiohead recently snubbed Glastonbury, it wasn’t because of the mud, the distinct lack of sanitary toilets, or a sudden dislike for Indonesian nose harpists. Nothing so trivial would keep Thom ‘Smiler’ Yorke and his merry band of men away. ‘Glastonbury’s spiritual houseband’, as the 2003 programme called them, disappointed legions of fans for one reason, and one reason alone – the lack of a green transport system to the site. The message was clear – the biggest greenfield festival in the world just isn’t green enough.


3. Green Day
Green Day’s support for the Natural Resources Defence Council in the States has brought immense exposure to the Move America Beyond Oil campaign. More information on the campaign can be found in the Youtube videos that they have launched to support the movement.


4. Jack Johnson
From launching the Kokua Hawaii Foundation to support environmental education in schools, to building a recording studio which runs entirely on solar power, Jack Johnson lives and breathes the green cause. He’s also a devoted supporter of 1% For The Planet, a global movement of companies which donate 1% of their sales to worldwide environmental organisations.


5. Perry Farrell
When Perry Farrell pledged in 2003 to power one stage at his pioneering Lollapalooza festival on biodiesel, it was seen as a bold, and somewhat ambitious move. When he ended up running the whole festival on the stuff, he set the benchmark for green event management. More recently, Farrell has pledged his support to the growing Global Cool movement, an affiliation of musicians, celebrities and activists seeking to increase awareness of environmental issues, who are using the song in their current campaign.

These are just a few of the artists and musicians who are doing their bit to reduce their impact on the planet. If you think we’ve missed any, or if you’ve spotted any examples of great green practice at gigs or festivals you’ve been to, drop us a line in the comments section below, let’s share the good news.


Those just commencing their musical journey might want to check out perhaps the ultimate in green guitars from Simon Lee.


Source:Ethical Superstore Blog


Want to find ways you can make a difference? Checkout these eco friendly shops and products

The main problem of humanity is… short memory…. And by short memory I am not referring to not remembering our previous lives, which would have probably been way too uncomfortable for most of us to face. I am referring to not remembering, and not associating the pain of loss we all experienced in one form or another, with the pain and loss of others. This sort of not remembering allows us to grief our loss of 3000 souls on 9/11 but then go and destroy lives of others in a foreign country under one pretence or another. Its the sort of short memory of the pain at the gas pump just a few months ago and not associating it with the need to radically change the manner in which we use energy even when prices later drop down temporarily… Its believing that a cold winter means there is nothing real to global warming. This is the short memory sickness I am referring to. And it starts early on - with the pencil you, Joe, stole from your classmate in second grade; and continues with the partner, you, Paul, tried to cheat not so long ago… Before we try to fix what is wrong with this world we each need to take a close look at ourselves and examine our short memory problem and how we tend to disassociate events that left a harsh marks in our lives with what we do to others, to the environment, to ourselves… Namaste

Forget all the worrying about the dangerous ingredients found in most beauty products these days by making your own.
This salt rub from Gorgeously Green: 8 Simple Steps to an Earth-Friendly Life by Sophie Uliano is easy, completely safe and a perfect salve for dry winter skin.

INGREDIENTS
2 cups fine sea salt
4 cups apricot or almond oil
20 drops of your favorite essential oil (mixing lavender, geranium and orange is always nice)


Simply combine all the ingredients in a gl*** jar and stir or shake to blend. Get in the shower, wet your skin and then scoop out a handful of the scrub. Apply to your skin, and rub and scrub from your neck to your toes.

Checkout more Natural Skincare products

Wondering what to do with all those energy-sucking light bulbs you’ve been wisely replacing with eco-friendly CFLs? These hangingvases are so charming and ridiculously easy to make. Grouped together they make quite a green and elegant statement!


Step One: Using fine-tooth metal saw, gently saw the bottom of light bulb. Pull out the filaments.


Step Two: Using a hand held drill place metal against some scrap wood and poke two holes opposite from each other.


Step Three: Lace thin wire through the holes and tie off at desired length. Fill with lovely blooms.


Also makes cute salt and pepper shakers. Most soda caps are the correct width for a top. Just fill, poke holes and enjoy!

Organic fabric is important for several reasons. Organically farmed cotton is beneficial to everyone. It helps the farm workers, the water supply,the land, the air, the food chain and our food supply. A crop that uses 3% of the land uses 25% of the chemicals to produce it using conventional growing methods. What many people do not understand is that the rest of the cotton plant from conventionally chemically sprayed cotton plants are not discarded parts of them are ground up and put in our foods (primarily baked goods and crackers) or feed to livestock (part of our food chain). So every organic garment purchased helps to reduce to amount of chemicals polluting our earth and our food.

Click here for Organic Clothing Shops

Scuppie you ask? You’ve heard of Yuppie, and maybe you have been called one. You also might have been called a hippie or eco-freak, but have you ever been called a scuppie?

Well, if not, than you haven’t heard of a financial planner named Chuck Failla. It seems Mr. Failla has coined the term Scuppie (Socially Conscious Upwardly-mobile Person) to describe the new breed of mainstream eco-friendly and environmentally conscious people.

Chuck Failla describes a Scuppie as a sort of anti-yuppie. Essentially, they are in the same life-space, but the Scuppie is more responsible and compassionate. Failla already has a book planned, a website designed, and master plans to adjust the nation’s vernacular.

What do you think? Are you a Scuppie?

Plastic water bottles are very convenient for carting water around when we are on the go, as they don’t break if we drop them. However, it is worth paying attention to the type of plastic your water bottle is made of, to ensure that the chemicals in the plastic don’t leach into your water. If you taste plastic, you are drinking it, so get yourself another bottle. Better yet, buy a stainless steel or aluminum reusable bottle from our selection at DealHippie.com

If you just aren’t ready to give up the plastic bottle, choose a bottle that doesn’t leach by checking the recycling symbol on your bottle. If it is a #2 HDPE (high density polyethylene), or a #4 LDPE (low density polyethylene), or a #5 PP (polypropylene), your bottle is fine. The type of plastic bottle in which water is usually sold is usually a #1, and is only recommended for one time use. Do not refill it. Better to use a reusable water bottle, and fill it with your own filtered water from home and keep these single-use bottles out of the landfill.

I stumbled across this easy reading review of some of the most popular water bottles out there. You might think that it’s just a water bottle, but everyone seems to have their own preferences and you can find some of the pros and cons here.

Just did this post: http://www.wecaregreen.com/showthread.php?p=719#post719
I became aware of this text from a DVD I recently saw – a PBS TV series titled Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth where Campbell read it.
It is political but way beyond our politics today. it is something not only to stop for a brief moment and appreciate but to ponder how one, each one of us, can take action so we finally change the course of this sad path we all have been walking, whether by choice or by silent acceptance.
Waste and disrespect for the environment in which we live starts at your own home, at your own workplace. This is not someone else’s problem. Its not something that our politicians, regardless of which party you favor, can fix. Only YOU and I can fix it. Starting now.
Excuse me if I sound rhetoric. But I actually mean it.

A radical change in the way we use energy is still far from happening. For the interim we will continue to use fossil fuel. Except for very few “radicals”, no one wants to give up comfort for global concerns.
Changing a few cars from fossil fuel to hybrid or electric will make only a small difference (even though, when done on large scale, it does carry some weight) when the bigger polluters are trucks, airplanes and industrial plants. The advantage I see in this though is quite different – its about changing a set of mind. Once that starts to happen there will be a domino effect. Someone once said that all that we need is out there already, we just didn’t discover it yet because the necessity didn’t exist, at least not to a level sufficient to create the right circumstances for the discovery to happen. Once enough people believe there is a crisis, things will happen. Call it the force of nature, or what have you, but examining history, this is the pattern.
Yet changing a set of mind is not simple. Most people realize already for a while there is a problem with the way we use energy and with global warming. But we are creature of comfort and habit and we don’t want to change. We do change only when one pain starts to be stronger than another… so when conventional energy starts to cost too much that we need to drive less and turn the thermostats down in the dead of winter, we suddenly start to think what we can change. Not for the love of the world (global warming), even though we love to mention it aftereffect as another cause that made us make a change, but rather because it hurts less… As the story goes of a man seen pounding his head against a wall. When asked why he does it he answered – because when I stop it feels so good…
So I hope oil prices will continue to rise. Its good – a good pain for Western humanity.
The problems we face are immense. But as another saying goes – think global act local. It all starts at home with the way we educate our children. After WWII the culture of consumerism was born and with it tremendous waste. Its up to us now to reverse the process, even if it takes walking for 40 years in the desert…

My geothermal system is now running for 6 months.
Comparing my bills to last year, last month alone I saved over $1000!
Its working very well.
Besides geothermal I implemented a few other strategies for reducing energy costs including insulating the basement walls, blowing the attic, adding an attic fan etc. Last summer my old A/C system didn’t do much in terms of reducing humidity and keeping it comfortable. And it cost me a fortune as it was running (and leaking…) 24/7… What a relief to have such a much better system that also costs me a fraction of my previous costs…