Community: Its Easy To Be Green

One of the community initiatives my family is involved in is Narberth Greens. It is a community interest group started by young woman who had a pretty simple vision – Environmental stewardship starts at home. She moved back to her home town and started this movement because she wanted to make a positive impact in the town she grew up. My wife and I were chatting with her just the other day asking how all of her various programs were going, and she said something that was both unexpected, yet very positive. She said, “… I don’t feel like I’m as much in need anymore, because so many people are already doing so much good work on their own.”

The good work she was referring to are things like basic recycling, composting, switching to CFLs (compact fluorescent light bulbs in case you’ve been under a rock), turning down their water heaters, bringing canvas shopping bags to the market, or planting vegetable gardens. There are so many EASY things you can be doing that take zero to minimal effort, yet return so much. In fact, listed below are the 10 EASY things you can do, TODAY, to start making a difference.

1. Replace 5 incandescent bulbs with CFL’s: save 500 lbs of CO₂ annually
2. Unplug appliances : save 600 lbs of CO₂ annually
3. Add one (more) vegetarian dinner per week: save 1000 lbs of CO₂ annually
4. Reduce waste; compost: save 500 lbs of CO₂ annually
5. Turn thermostat down 2 degrees: save 1400 lbs of CO₂ annually
6. Cut shower to 5 minutes: save 1200 lbs of CO₂ annually
7. Check tire pressure, get car checked up: save 1500 lbs of CO₂ annually
8. Make sure water heater is efficient, set to 120 ℉: Save 1000 lbs of CO₂ annually
9. Use reusable shopping bags only: Save 1440 lbs of CO₂ annually
10. Give your car a rest: walk or bike for your close errands !

If you are interested in specific details on these, visit http://www.narberthgreens.org/ and look up their Community Challenge. There you will find a document that details just how many pounds of CO2 each action will save annually. You can also visit http://www.50waystohelp.com/ for even more actions you can take.

My family has championed these actions, and none of them were difficult … ok, limiting showers to 5 minutes can be a challenge. But otherwise, it was just a matter of changing one habit for another habit. Once you got in the swing of it, such as remembering to bring in your shopping bag to the market (it doesn’t count if you leave them in your car), it was easy.

So, contrary to Kermit’s mantra of “Its not easy being green”, it actually is. So, man-up! Its not a “red” issue or a “blue” issue. It’s a GREEN one. Start today at http://www.narberthgreens.org/.

Cherish the Huggable Moments

When you get the “Running Hug”, don’t let go. That is, when your kids haven’t seen you in so long that they come running at you with smiles and screams of “DADDY!” and their hugs nearly knock you over … that’s the “Running Hug.” And when you get one, don’t let go. Milk it for all its worth.

This week my kids are at my in-laws enjoying all the fun that goes along with spending time with their Nana and Pop-Pop. Where they live is like heaven on earth … water, boats, kayaks, hammock, a woodshop for impromptu projects and a fire pit for roasting marshmallows. Really, what more can you want as a kid? (Come to think of it, what more would any of us want? I guess that is why they have retired there.)

So my wife and I have been running back and forth this week to their house on the river. I hadn’t been down in a few days as it is about an hour drive from our house. But I drove down last night, was able to quietly creep into the house and magically appear in the kitchen as the gang was eating dinner. That’s when the aforementioned Running Hug happened.

I will forever remember the looks in both kid’s eyes as they first were a bit startled seeing someone appear, then the blank look to focus on “hmm, someone is standing there”, then to the recognition that it was DADDY. And finally, the scramble to get out of their chairs, negotiate the one step up to the kitchen from the dinning room and apply the Running Hug.

So if gods look down on you and give you the opportunity to receive a Running Hug, cherish it. Hug them for as long as they’ll hang on. It washes away all the things that don’t really matter anyway.

Starting Up Lessons Learned

The day has come, when a 42-year old middle manager has started blogging. I’ll give it a go as I think it will be a fun adventure. I’m a marketing director for a tech company, and we are really digging into leveraging social media. So, while I hope my content is worth your time, this will also be part “work experiment”.

With that, what will my content be about? I’m glad you asked. Many people have been exposed to the “Big Rocks” concept by Stephen Covey. In fact, there are lots of blogs on that topic and I’m a big proponent of “putting first things first.” I believe much of the stress we deal with in our daily lives comes from balancing all of the hats that we wear – employee, boss, dad/mom, husband/wife, son/daughter and friend.

And then today on the way to work I was listening to Mike and Mike on ESPN radio. They were talking about Golic’s ability to “turn on the switch” from being a gladiator on the football field, to a generally well-mannered, even laid-back guy off the field. Hearing him discuss that today resonated with me. Most people that know me today would say I’m pretty laid back and even-tempered. But during my baseball and volleyball playing days, I was anything but. And Golic saying that “sure … I just turned on that switch when it was time to play” got me thinking about my life today and all the switches we all have to turn on and off …or the different hats we have to wear and switching between them.

So, back to the question of content … what I hope I can make of this blog is an area to write about the lessons I’ve learned (now the title makes sense) in each of areas I wear a hat - hopefully being able to put those Big Rocks first. What topics will I talk about ….

• Managing people and teams,
• Working in tech marketing
• Coaching little league,
• Being a dad to a son and daughter
• Being the best husband I can
• Leading a strategic growth plan for a small church
• Life in a small town

If any of those things sound interesting, then bookmark this sight and check back. If the content is stale or static, tell me. If its a topic not to your liking, check back and it will change. Either way, lets have some fun.