Monday, April 27, 2009

When Will We Integrate Earth Day Every Day?


Another Earth Day has come and gone. I am old enough to have seen quite a number of them and I can agree that we have made great strides in improving our lot as consumers as the number of environmentally aware companies and products is pretty impressive! In fact, as reported earlier on this blog, Advertising Age has released data showing the numbers of new products introduced will increase to three times as many as last year!!

How can we separate the hype (greenwashing perhaps?) from the practicality of making integral and real change in our behavior as consumers and as business people? How can we know if our actions and behaviors are having a net beneficial or a net negative impact on our communities and environment?

It is much the same dynamic we go through each year when new year's resolutions are made. Lots of good intentions, but if they are not connected to a truly desired (read commitment) and achievable outcome, most will fail. The problem comes when we do not reflect upon the "failure" to identify what we can learn from those experiences. The only reason to fear failure is when we do not take the tremendous opportunity that is presented to learn valuable lessons.

A brief reflection and review of the Earth Day dynamic was found today in the Independent-Mail article entitled "Going green is good business."

We at Visionary Values humbly request that you review your commitments to sustainable living and make some decisions regarding what is working and what needs more work. We also agree to do the same. We'd love to hear from you regarding these reflections!

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