Happy Earth Day! Now celebrate it right.

Today is Earth day, just in case you missed all the major networks blasting that news around the world.  How are you celebrating? For me, everyday has to be Earth day or, really, there is no point. 

I first got involved in Earth day celebrations in the spring of 1988, I was a freshman in college and this was the first time I had ever even heard about Earth day.  Something about the idea of it resonated with me and I made my way to Wheeler Park in Flagstaff, AZ and I perused the Earth day booths.  The things I learned that day stuck with me and here I am today blogging green and making green my focus in both my life and my business. 

On that first Earth day, at the age of 18, I learned that you can eat dandelions (today you can buy them at the grocery store), that ground up granite makes great fertilizer and that you can raise your own worms at home to make fertilizer from their poo.  I also learned that the earth as we know it is changing and that we could personally do something to stop that change.  I decided then and there that I would be part of the change and not part of the problem (I think I am doing ok, but I definitely could do better).  I greened up my life, threw away most chemicals, moved to organic gardening, started using CFL's, etc. etc.  I also changed my major from Broadcasting to Advertising and set forth to open a green advertising agency where I would only work for green businesses. 

Now jump forward 3 years and I have graduated with that advertising degree, opened my fledgling agency and began working to bring in the business.  It didn't come and well, I couldn't find any.  Nobody met my criteria.  Not a single green business existed in Flagstaff, AZ in 1991.  Well, not one that would support a fledgling "green" advertising agency.  I even was laughed at by many people because of my silly notion.  what was I thinking?  Nobody cared about that stuff in 1991.  Not enough to keep my doors open.  So, I closed my doors and moved into the hotel industry where I then spent the next 15 years doing everything I could do to green the operations of every hotel I ran, within the confines of my corporations requirements.  It was fun, but tiring and I left that business and moved into Real Estate.

So here I am 20 years later, in 2008, and suddenly Earth day is here and EVERYONE is talking about it.  We are awash in green opportunities and I have found a way to incorporate Green into my career and became an EcoBroker.  I blog on green topics.  I assist my clients with finding homes to make green and I am working more and more with developers who want to bring green homes to market.  When you look around you see that farmers markets are everywhere, the stores sell organic goods, Wal-Mart and Home Depot are going green and now it is overwhelming.  Best of all, nobody thinks I am crazy anymore.  Worst of all, who means it?  Who is green because green is good and who is green because they will just earn more green? 

Now that green is everywhere, earth day is celebrated by everyone and everyone knows that you can eat dandelions, I look at the world and I wonder if anything is better.  Is it worse? The same?  Is this mass awareness doing any good?  I can't say yes and I can't say no.  I can only hope that yes, the world will soon be a better place.  What I do know is that Earth day has to be in our hearts everyday and we have to let the corporate world know it through our pockets.  We have to research and support those who are for real and shun those who are not.  Vote with your wallets because it is OK to be green now. Just do it right. 

Pictures - I took them.  In the mountains above Salt Lake City.