  
The Good News 22: Positive Impacts
Good Common Sense Impacts
We're proud to bring you our second annual summary of the positive impacts achieved by our customers. Products purchased at Good Common Sense.Net between Jan. 1, 2006 & Dec 31, 2006 (today) are making an enormous difference in the immediate and future quality of life on this planet. We call this SUCCESS.
Here's what our customers have achieved in our second year of operations -
I. MAJOR POSITIVE IMPACTS
Customer purchases this year will save (over the next 25 years, minimum):
Over 8,260,750 gallons of water
Over $500,000 in long term energy & utility bill costs
Well Over 1,000,000 lbs of Global Warming & Air Pollution Gases
Products diverted from landfills (over the long term), include:
Over 19,168 light bulbs & lighting-related products
Over 10,000 alkaline batteries
Products diverted from landfills (this year), include:
Hundreds of lbs of paper
Hundreds of lbs of glass
Hundreds of lbs of poly-propylene plastics
Also - Average long term savings per $1 spent on energy and/or water efficiency products is greater than $8 (based on aggregate of total sales).
II. ADDITIONAL POSITIVE IMPACTS
The Ultimate in Recycling
Our recycled paper line is growing in popularity. Everything in our catalog at this time is 20% to 100% Post Consumer Waste recycled. We're proud of these products not just because their outstanding environmental benefits, but also because they are ALL of a better quality than wasteful virgin papers. By using our recycled paper products customers are saving energy, trees, & water.
Our recycled plastic rugs have been "selling like hotcakes" because of their beauty, sturdy indoor/outdoor design, low price, recycled content, easdy clean up, and longevity. By purchasing these products customers are supporting fair trade labor practices as well as: keeping excess plastic out of the landfill, saving energy, and saving water. Get one!
Finally, our "recycled" glass tumblers, goblets, and accesories are starting to take off. Made from reclaimed wine & beer bottles, these items are surely a treat. They feature thick, sturdy bottoms, conversation-starting designs, and will last for years. Purchasing these items saves lots of energy & water, while keeping thousands of lbs of virgin glass out of our landfills.
An Education Note
Good Common Sense sold numerous educational Books & DVDs in 2006. We also produced 5 sustainable living festivals, gave lectures and in-the-schools presentations, showed the videos for "Kilowatt Ours" & "Inconvenient Truth," and distributed hundreds of our informative "mini-books." Readership for our newsletter, "The Good News," continues to grow on a monthly basis... All in all, our mission of educating people about the benefits of energy & resource efficiency is fun, well-received, & in full effect!
Future Goals, 2007
In the coming year, we plan to dramatically increase our product offerings, redesign as much of the website as possible, & redouble our advocacy for clean energy and carbon offsets. (We hope you have already signed up for clean energy!) (If not see bottom of this page for link.)
...Thanks for reading!
THE GOOD NEWS:
Our customers are making the difference. By shopping smarter and using more efficient, longer-lasting products our people are saving money & preventing pollution, everyday. The Good Common Sense mission of living in balance with the environment is going & growing. Business is increasing & our services are improving. It's all about our customers, from whom we regularly receive compliments and thanks. We want to say thank you to each person we've worked with for an excellent & gratifying second year. We want to say thank you for helping to build a better world with better products. It's just getting started, and it's Good Common Sense!
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Top 5 "Sustainable Things" (to Happen in 2006):
1) GLOBAL WARMING gone mainstream. Global Warming has become accepted as an issue requiring immediate action by governments & businesses of all sizes, and citizens the world over.
2) EVANGELICAL ECO MOVEMENT establishes legitimacy. Putting the "conserve" back in conservative, these folks are leading by example and taking innovative steps towards becoming sustainable "creation stewards."
3) CARBON NEUTRAL THINKING: next big thing? Carbon Neutral consciousness, business, and action is poised to become a hot topic with the media in 2007, bringing broader awareness for pro-environmental action and effectiveness to American citizens.
4) INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC LEADERS... lead! Richard Branson, Kofi Annan, Tony Blair, Al Gore -- all of these gentlemen made demonstrative public statements regarding the importance of immediate and resolute investment in GLOBAL WARMING MITIGATION. "There is no time to wait..." (See below for more.)
5) GREEN CULTURE, Green Building, Organic Agriculture, Green Fuels, Fuel Efficiency, Energy Efficiency, Water Efficiency, Resource Efficiency, and Green Economics: making sense. By virtue of citizen demand, cost conscious businesses, lots of blogging, some very nifty celebrities, and lots of socially responsible civic leaders, "the green thing" is rapidly moving towards a central role in every American life.
IN ADDITION:
Movies, such as "An Inconvenient Truth," "Kilowatt Ours," and "Too Hot Not To Handle" are helping Americans visualize the need for a greener, non-destructive economy, now.
The concept of a "carbon free future" is dawning and businesses everywhere are rushing to fill that void. Wind Farm Power is already cheaper than coal, and unlike nuclear and fossil fuels, it's pristine and relatively inexpensive to start-up, operate, and maintain.
"New Power Technologies" such as geothermal, ocean turbine, and solar are growing rapidly because of their solid economic outlook.
Green Living Festivals, such as our own "Sustainable Shopper's Ball!" are welcoming consumers of all shapes and sizes into more sustainable lifestyle choices, and growing number and popularity.
Blog pages such as WorldChanging.com & Treehugger.com are gaining ground in an era when people are hungry to engage in solutions-oriented thinking.
Churches across America are taking environmental stewardship on as a new, fundamental tenet of modern life.
And we're still in business! -- !!!
Coolest Factoid 2006: Savy scientists have computed that with just a 100 square mile of solar collectors in the Mojave Desert, the entire United States could be powered, year round!
2006 was a watershed of positivity! Let's continue the trend!
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Cool Links:
(Hot Buttons below)
1. Chinese Government Buying Green
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=34319
2. EPA Challenges Fortune 500
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=34332
3. California Wineries "Going Sustainable"
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=34337
4. Sheryl Crow Joins the March Against Global Warming
Saying, “It is imperative that we change the way we treat our planet.”
http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/sgw_marcher.asp?668912
5. Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life
Also joins March Against Global Warming -
http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/sgw_partner.asp?408507
6. Plug In Hybrids Getting Press
http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/17855/
7. Walmart Announces First "Green Mission"
The world's most talked about retailer has plans to sell 100 million compact fluorescent light bulbs in 2007 -
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/08/walmart_to_sell.php
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Cool Stories:
U.N. Chief Speaks Out Against Global Warming Skeptics
"A few diehard skeptics continue trying to sow doubt. They should be seen for what they are: out of step, out of arguments, and out of time." -- Kofi Annan, 2006. Via the Austin American Statesman.
PRINCETON STUDENTS "PULL THE PLUG"
Princeton University has figured out it's cheaper to save money than spend it. Their “Pull-the-Plug” campaign asks students to pledge to unplug dorm room appliances and electronics and turn down their thermostats, and etc. Read the full story here -
http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/sgw_read.asp?id=6434112122006
Google and Fort Bliss .. Solar Giants
Folks at Google are hard at work on the installing the largest solar power system ever for a single corporate campus. The system will save Google more than $393,000 per year in electricity costs and will pay for itself in about 7.5 years. Fort Bliss a U.S. Army base, located near El Paso, Texas, launched a project last week to build a 1.5-MW solar photovoltaic power plant. While that project is impressive, Fort Bliss plans to follow completion of this project with a second phase (fall 2007) that will generate 20 MW of solar power, a record for the United States. Phase three (2008) will generate 40 MW, and phase four (2009) will generate ... gulp ... 1,000 MW of power. Truly Awesome! Truly a step towards sustainability. Visit their "Power the Army!" Web page for more info.
Nation's Largest Ad Agency "Seeing Green"
JWT, the largest advertising agency in the US and the fourth-largest in the world, recently announced 70 products, services and trends that will define 2007. Included in the list are: Green building (#7), hydrogen fuel cells, school buses running on biodiesel, organic fabrics, "environmental causes" in general, companies going green, locally sourced produce, microgeneration (producing your own power) and Al Gore.
via Treehugger.com
And... New to The Good News this month
We are pleased to welcome: Dr. George, Maria Nussbaum, J. Burton, Becky Jones, Jason Comstock, and Jim Neal. Thanks ya'll!
ANNOUNCING OUR FIRST-EVER YEAR END CLEARANCE SALE!
Visit this url: http://www.goodcommonsense.net/mosp.html -
or click the link below. Save Earth, Save Money, Live Smart!
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SWITCH TO CLEAN ENERGY
It's the most important thing you can do for the environment.
Go "clean, green & renewable" by visiting the link below.
National service!
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Thanks again for another great month!
Happy New Year Everyone!
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