BLP has a new green newsletter!

Since this has been my healthy green blog for a couple of years now, I figure the best place to invite new subscribers to my newsletter is here! So if you have just subscribed, and it is taking you to this page, that's awesome! I would love for you to look around at some of my posts, see what is meaningful to me, and see if you agree with anything I say! :) You are welcome to subscribe to my blog too if you like - just click that button over there to join the small but growing group of blog fans I have...I also have readers from my RSS feed on various Ning sites and my Facebook fan page - www.facebook.com/globalforce.

If you haven't signed up for my new "Go Green, Live Rich" green tips newsletter yet, what are you waiting for? :) Check it out at www.laurelsgreenplanet.info and see more of my green world and what I have to say every week. I got the idea from financial planner David Bach's recent book on how it "makes sense" to "go green" and how you can save - and make - money in the process! It will be a weekly newsletter, so look for it every Thursday in your inbox - and thank you! :)

Where was YOUR food grown?

Maybe some of you are aware out there what is happening to our food industry...the almighty dollar seems to dictate everything in the economy and if it sells, then people will make it...from fast food to supermarkets.

Some of you might have seen my green McDonald's post - and I got a lot of feedback that talked about the fact that McDonalds might have built a "green" building....and there was debate about that as well, but I think the fact that they recycled a lot of the old building materials has merit, and they are a HUGE corporation trying to do ONE thing right. Does that make their food any healthier? No, of course not. But it shows that the green movement is even reaching giant corporations and hopefully that transcends into the kind of food they will provide for us. They will never stop giving us fast food until we stop demanding it, though. We vote with our WALLETS - whether it is a fast food joint or a grocery store - whatever we ask for through buying it will be what they supply to us because that is how they make their money.

As a society, we can choose to listen to whatever makes us happy - is it convenience or is it health? There is a movie coming out in June called "Food, Inc" and it will turn the lights on to all that the food industry has been doing for the past 50 years. Do we really need 47,000 products? Faster, bigger, cheaper? At what cost to our health?See the trailer here - if you dare - http://www.foodincmovie.com/

So are we at their mercy? NO. We can choose NOT to eat at KFC if we know their chickens are in inhumane conditions or we can choose NOT to eat tomatoes at the supermarket that are pumped full of fertilizers, picked before they are ripe, and shipped 1500 miles to us in the middle of winter so we can have a tomato.

Buy local - go to Farmer's Markets and local farm stores.. Even chains like Whole Foods and Trader Joes are becoming more prevalent because the public is voting for them through their wallets. We can choose to buy and eat nutritional food and products because we care about our health. What about you?

I'm just one person, what can I do? Earth Hour 2010

The Biggest Environmental Movement in History - Earth Hour! Started in Sydney, Australia in 2007, it grew into 4000 cities in 88 countries in 2009 and 2100 corporations took action. That ONE hour showed a 10.2% energy reduction (the goal was 5%) = 48,000 cars off the road!

This movement is just a starting point to show millions of people what their actions can do - don't worry about the politics or what effect your actions will have, just do what YOU can to make the planet a better place. Small actions every day will make a BIG difference!

Other great videos to watch -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-egKvUP_Rw - Earth Hour 2009 Video - "I'm just one person - what can I do?"

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_c5K7Jdw9E - Earh Hour Movie with Jeremy Piven

It is TONIGHT, March 27 at 8:30 pm. Thanks for participating!

Everyone is going green today! :)

Today as St. Patty's Day, everyone is thinking "green"! Whether it is green beer, clovers, leprachauns or healthy food, it's all green right? :)

Good Guide played on this with their email today - Are you “going green” in honor of St. Patty’s Day? Why not take it to the next level?... If you are looking for ways to keep a green theme today, GoodGuide can give you some green ideas.

Go to top-rated green goodies on GoodGuide.com

or go to Care2.com's Green Living section for organic green beer!

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/green-beers-for-st-patricks-day.html 

Or even better - like the article suggests - make your own organic beer at home! Not only is it convenient, easy and much less expensive, it will help the planet by saving you from throwing away all those beer cans and shipping them from around the world to your house. And - I have heard from other beer connoisseurs - it tastes better than the best micro-brewery - yum!

Here is my favorite beer machine - if you like beer and want it to be the best possible beer you can drink -

http://ecomart.ws/home.php - click on the beer and the beer machine - and you will see a description of the "World's First Reishi Herbal Beer" and the eco-friendly 10 day process to make your own (green) beer at home! :)

Go to https://www.globalforcenetwork.com/living.php for some more reasons why you should buy your beer machine from Global Force, or our other unique eco-friendly products, like our Ultima Verde all-natural anti-oxidant greens! And join our community for FREE! :)

Happy St. Patty's Day - and be GREEN all year round! :)

What kind of legacy do you want to leave?

Hi loyal readers...I just wanted to give an inspirational talk here today. I know that we have many things vying for our attention these days, and just wanted to say if you are reading this blog, I appreciate it! :)

So here is the question for today. What kind of legacy do you want to leave for your children and future generations? Every action we take, every decision we make today, affects tomorrow.

I mentioned in the last blog that I have been reading bestselling author David Bach's book "Go Green and Live Rich: 50 Simple Ways to Save the Earth (and Get Rich Trying)" and it is true - out of those 50 ways, there are some you can implement today.  Check out a mini-review here at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ylp6ftdM68I.

He has some GREAT examples of what you can do today to help your health and the health of the planet. He moved into a building that is good for the environment, and he ended up getting rid of his asthma and feeling much healthier! He started making more incremental changes, and realized, not only is this good for me, it is good for the economy! And since he is a financial expert, he is showing everyone that "green" makes good business sense as well!

YOU are the one who has to decide what they are, and if you decide to pick one or two today, great! Then after you decide that you like these actions - try some more!

Some suggestions - recycle (some towns like mine require that now), eat organic food, ride a bike or walk instead of taking the car a mile or two, wash your car with a waterless car wash, drink organic beer you make in your own house, or change your lightbulbs to CFLs (compact flourescent bulbs)! You will improve your health, save some money, and help the economy!

Here's what one big business did that helped the growing green economy - when Walmart decided to "green" its business in 2007, and started by promoting CFLs, it set a target of selling 100 million before the end of the year. And guess what? It reached its goal THREE months early, and as a result, the bulbs Walmart customers bought will collectively save them $3 billion on energy costs and keep more than 22 million tons of greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere! That to me, is a prime example of ONE small change that on a large scale can affect us in a very positive way!

Another example is the bottled water industry - $11 BILLION industry - and only 10% of those bottles get recycled! The "great pacific garbage patch" is an example of where some of that plastic ends up and really affects the fish and other sea animals in that area! See more about this here - http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/08/28/great-pacific-garbage-patch-is-worse-than-we-thought/

Politicians, big business, celebrities, and others are jumping into the "green" way of living in a big way! How about you? Do you really want to make some small changes in your life? Or find out what "going green" is all about?

Join us at Global Force Network - a free green social community that is filled with people from all over the world that are passionate about going green in small ways...or big ways. Why not you? See this video at www.bestgreenlife.info and see what our mission is - our company is not even officially launched yet, but are launching on Earth Day, April 22. And let me know when you join - I would love to say hello and guide you through it! :)

I want to leave a good legacy on the earth - will you join me?