Rose Garden Goes Gold

In discussion with my roommate we started asking what buildings were "green" and why they were .. prompted some very fun talks and research.

http://cleanoregon.com/2010/01/26/rose-garden-goes-gold/

In this article I found a lot of passion in the city of Portland and the measures people are taking to continue the drive to be one of the cleanest/greenest cities in the country. With the Rose Garden going gold it rises a bar that the city must begin to reach. The Blazers as well as the Rose Garden in itself is a proud aspect to Portlanders and I think not only will this be a great thing for the city but a challenge to it's locals.

THE BIGGEST IMPACTS to me.
- the post game compost and recycle
- purchasing compost able contents (from garbage bags to cups)

WHY?
- these are huge aspects of the Rose Garden, outside of public transportation - - these people are thinking outside of the box!
- they are putting the responsibility on themselves as well as the community - - a team effort to create a change!

IMPRESSED!
- recognizing that what you have done is a big impact but accepting the reality its an onward battle is key.

What is LEED all about? Check it.. http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=1988

Car Shopping

In light of my personal life, car shopping has been on my brain - thus opening a door to white cars are economically savvy and what cars are just puffing exhaust. Do you buy a car that gets better gas mileage? Is that really the only thing you have to worry about? Do you support American made cars, does that do the trick? Do you look at the longevity of the car, how much money will you be pouring into it after market? Where are the parts made, what are they made of? What is the greenest car? What company do I want to support? Who's brand do I want to parade around? Do I buy a new car? A used car? Just ride my bike... All of these questions are questions I have been asking myself this past week and questions I'm sure aren't new to many.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhfIqtFEXMM

Above is a link to a video of the "Top 5 Green Cars" (in 2009).

I couldn't help but think while I was watching the cars that were highlighted in the video - what was the criteria? Why were these cars names but not others that have the same specs. Many Toyota cars were never mentions, as well as Honda. Why aren't these mentioned?

I feel as if the cars mentioned were based on gas mileage only? Well compared to what?

http://www.greencar.com/

This is a link to the company who supports the above video.

Green Washing. Let's talk about it.

First day of class and we were well into diving in the subject of "green washing". A lot of this blog's content will revert back into this theme of "green washing", so I thought it was best to start off with a post of the truth behind the term.

Green Washing: (green’wash’, -wôsh’) – verb: the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service.
                          (starting to get it a little bit more... green washing = bad)

Green washing has it's own list of sins, things to watch out for and be aware of. They highlight the main places that companies will try and pull the blinds with. Check it out. It's crazy interesting
http://sinsofgreenwashing.org/findings/greenwashing-report-2009/ 

Linking through the site of sins of green washing, with an amazing amount of great information. I ran across links to help you through every decision that has to do with deterring from a green washing company, and how to not to become one yourself.

http://sinsofgreenwashing.org/take-action/useful-resources/

This link will list so many endless possibilities. Have fun and let's learn all about Green Washing!

With thanks to http://sinsofgreenwashing.org/ you can pretty much find most of what I'm tell'n ya. Less enticing of course.

Landor visuals on green things.

http://www.landor.com/index.cfm?do=thinking.article&storyid=749&bhcp=1

These first graphs brought some intriguing thoughts. When someone first mentions how green a country or company is, I initially think about how environmental conscience they are. In this research done by Landor you see that not only are counties and companies concerned about the environment but also the economy. It was interesting to me to realize what countries cared more about the economics of their will being verse the environment of their world.

"For example, consumers in Brazil, China, and India report being more inclined to seek out green products and to favor companies they consider green, while their counterparts in France, Germany, the U.S., and U.K. are less inclined to do so."

The ideas in these graphs aren't new but the thoughts they provoke were in a different light in my opinion. The influential voices for buying a product vary in each country and the trust found in T.V. versus a professor fluctuates in each country. 

Green Brand Strategies

Welcome. Are you excited? I'm stoked! This term we are taking a big bite off of the subject of green brands. What does that mean? Elephant and a rhino. Will we trudge through it together and end up with a better understanding of what green and sustainability means  - you know it! So far we have been overloaded with content to keep up with, ideas to struggle with, and projects to conquer. Get ready to dive into this term with me. Brace your brain for an overload of images, ideas and content. We have been challenged to keep a blog with regular weekly, daily, morrisonion'ly updated posts. Let's do it. I'm ready to own it Deb.

" ah f*%*# it, or let me own it"

                          - Deb.