Who are Today's Real Greenies?

Once you become involved in the green movement, it tends to do something to you. At least it did to me. It hypnotically lulls you into an obsessive state and suddenly, you find yourself weighing the green attributes and qualifications of just about everything that comes across your path. Thankfully, because this has been a great source of benefits for my family. The one exception? Shoes and bags, which I proudly maintain my original obsessive allegiance. My highly plausible argument is that the lifespan of quality goods is much longer than the "Made in China" equivalent, so you need to buy less overall. Case in point, I have a Gucci bag that is at least 10 years old and after lots of wear, it still looks as good as new.

In trying to determine who exactly might be listening to my rantings about green, I needed to learn who today's greenies are. Are they 95% ex-hippies from Sea Cliff and 5% the rest or what? Here is what I learned from my research:

Greenies are not just hippies who smoke pot regularly, tend to resists haircuts, sport tattered sandals and eat a diet of munchies. Although many are and they continue to smoke pot avidly. Not that I have any direct knowledge of these types of activities.

Greenies are not clueless and caught up in a sea of misinformation. On the contrary, I find them to be learned intellectuals. They are as passionate about the plight of the manatee as they are in the boudoir. Again, no direct info on this!

Not all greenies are full on-junkies; many opt for a "lighter shade" of green. In fact, some even drive SUVs and wear leather goods including the latest Tory Burch ballet flats, available this fall. They choose to adopt green principals in some respects, but it's not an overall lifestyle choice. ( While we applaud this groups efforts immensely, further introspection into their materialistic lives might be a good idea. After all, its a recession and shockingly, even Paris Hilton is cutting back.)

Based on several Green Drinks International meetings that I have attended, today's greenie is much younger than I would have originally imagined. Many college aged, 30 somethings and Facebook/social networking types are heavily involved in the movement.

And believe it or not, Seniors are the spoilers here. Recently, I met an older couple at a Green House Showcase event, and by the looks of them, it is quite possible that they were present at the signing of the Declaration of Independence. All kidding aside, they were very interested in all of our green features and planned to implement many of them in a new renovation of their seniors condo. Very surprising!

The bottom line is that the green movement is gaining momentum amongst the young and old alike, and whatever you can muster is a benefit to your long term health, the Earth and most importantly these days, your wallet. Peace out.

For more information about going green, contact us at Klivesgreen@gmail.com. Read more!

Confessions of a Green Junkie

I admit it. I'm a Green Junkie. That's me. I'm a chronic recycler and a solar freak plus I can kick some organic ass. I grow my own veggies, compost, sleep on organic bedding, use natural beauty products, and I even WORK in the industry, I'm so hooked. Every time I need to buy something...anything...be it food, clothing, a new car, towels, or even soap...I morph into an investigative environmental reporter, rushing to uncover the impurities and toxicity of the synthetic, and search for the most suitable, all-natural fossil fuel free replacement that keeps my indoor air quality high, my carbon footprint low and ultimately gets me to that green euphoric high....oh- oh- oh- yeaaaaahhhh! It's almost as good as sex.

In addition to being hooked on green consumer products, I can't get enough information about climate change and the ever changing duration of our earthly existence. This video is part of the reason why I'm hooked:



It wasn't always this way....I can think back to my days of over consuming at the local superstore, when I was bored and wanted to kill time. After scoping out a shopping cart, I would wander aisle after aisle, piling up my cart with as many sandals, housewares, and other miscellaneous crap I could get my hands on. ( A shop-a-holic high, you say? I see a trend here!) Heck, it felt damn good, yet it was a foul display of wastefulness.

Another memory of my former self was my frequent high-end corporate dinners in NYC when I would order a full course meal, only to nibble on a little of this and that, and proudly declare, "Yes, I'm done," when each course was clearly untouched. Just throw it right in the trash. What a totally spoiled bitch! I can barely stand myself thinking about it.

Like Gwyneth Paltrow, motherhood was the turning point that made me realize (duh) that most of the things we eat and live with in our homes are bad for us and need to be replaced. It was time to take inventory and make incremental changes that improved the quality of life for myself and my family. The more I learned, the more outraged and ultimately addicted I became.

We all have choices in life and we need to really make better ones. I do not condone burning bras, growing out your arm pit hair or trading in your Tory Burch flats for hemp sandals (PLEASE, not that last one!) But if we are having a new baby, we need to take a look at surrounding that newborn with the purest products that do the least environmental damage. Or if our car lease is up, we need to explore hybrids and clean diesels, or at least downsize our vehicle from mammoth to medium. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to find your new green identity that resides somewhere between a landlubber hippie and a spoiled bitch over consumer- AND make a real impact towards the future!

BOTTOM LINE: All kidding aside, the green movement is real and its now and we all better get on board before we vaporize this planet and future generations! Oh yyyeaaaahhhh. Read more!