Events That Led Up To This…
This week stacked up perfectly to tell me what to write about on here. Early this week, I instructed a group of people on how to be “Green” real estate professionals. Covering the various national and regional certifications, tips for their business and building techniques, they walked away with a new outlook on their industry.
Then Wednesday, Jim shared a story of one of his clients who doesn’t give a rip about the environment (wow) but is making “green” decisions because of the cost benefits. Then Jim shared some great “green” information that I encourage you to check out if you haven’t already.
Jack Johnson
That night, testing our might against some strong rain storms, I ventured out to be a volunteer for All At Once, Jack Johnson’s fan community. I was amazed to learn that Jack almost didn’t tour because of the environmental impact a global tour can have. Furthermore, he doesn’t take any profit from the entire tour, anything left over after expenses goes directly into a charity that disperses money out to other environmental organizations. Finally, he has strict requirements of the venues that force him to play very specific locations because his rules typically will create less profit for the venue owners in favor of supporting non-profits Jack invites (and donates to) to the show.
For anyone who has known someone in the music industry, it’s standard mantra to hear that CD’s don’t make a band rich, it’s the touring. So to hear that Jack Johnson does not personally profit from his tour was simply amazing.
What Does This Have to do With Us?
I have met thousands of real estate professionals in my area and many of them donate to various organizations. However, I encourage you to do more than that. Vote with you dollars. And I’m not talking about political voting, I’m talking about the things you buy.
- Making your next car a hybrid shows the automobile industry that you want more eco-friendly, fuel efficient vehicles, which in turn forces them to produce more.
- Buying organic foods show that you care about our groundwater and the chemicals you are consuming.
- Using reusable grocery bags demonstrates that you don’t want millions of plastic bags ending up in our oceans and landfills.
- Buying products from corporations who are using methods to improve their environmental footprint helps their bottom line which shows their competition this is something important and forces everyone in their industry to raise the bar.
Do What You Can
I honestly don’t think Jim’s client is the norm these days, so doing these things and showing them off to your clients and potential clients will hit home and make a great impact on what people think of you, along with making the world a better place for generations to come. This industry is one of the most uneccessarily wasteful ones I can imaging, between driving endlessly showing properties to the hundreds of printed pages for a simple refi, it’s absurd.
If you need some direction on how and where to vote for the environment with your dollars, check out these resources:
- ClimateCounts – great information regarding which corporations are taking responsible steps to improve their impact on the environment (sorry all of you Apple fans, they’re not doing so hot these days in this arena).
- Vote The Environment – put together by Patagonia, this site gives clear information on how our political representatives are treating the environment.
- The Surfrider Foundation – I’m also a SCUBA instructor, so the oceans are especially important to me. One of their best initiatives to me is their encouragement of eliminating plastic grocery bags. I know I have five or six of the reusable bags in my trunk at all times, they’re great.
- 1% For the Planet – This is a group of companies and independent professionals (you can join too) who give 1% of their sales to help better the worldwide environment.
- TerraPass – if nothing else, buy carbon offsets for all of the driving and flying you do and your home energy consumption. It’s incredible inexpensive and very easy to do.
Research Time
I will be going on vacation for the next two weeks (leaving tomorrow!) and will be exploring ways to live with less impact on our environment, from eco-friendly energy sources to proper disposal of waste. Feel free to interrogate me as much as you want on any of these “green” topics, I love learning and sharing.
In honor of Jack Johnson who seriously impressed me with his unwavering stance on the environment as well as all of those Americans who are currently “upside down” in their current housing situations, enjoy this song/video:
