Whole Story

The Official Whole Foods Market® Blog

Environmental Activism

By Archive, April 1, 2008  |  Meet the Blogger  |  More Posts by Archive

April 22nd will mark the 38th annual observance of Earth Day. This celebration to honor the planet has grown to include the entire month of April, and this year we observed an Earth Hour on March 29th. In some parts of the world, this spirit of concern for Mother Earth has accomplished much since 1970: recycling is more common, rivers and landfills are being cleaned up and our youth are being educated in greenness, as these videos testify. But greed, sloth and general unconcern are still rampant.

How do we raise the green consciousness of those many people who are still oblivious to the environment’s deterioration? How do we accelerate the pace of green change?

Get involved. Click on “comments” below and send us your thoughts on the state of the Earth and how to enlist more people in its cause. Follow through by doing something green in your own home and community and then come back and tell us about that too.

Wishing you all a fulfilling Earth Month…

Category: Green Action
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10 Comments

Comments

Joan says ...
Hi! I just wanted to share information about an event that we are conducting at our school for Earth Day. We are having the kids save their plastic grocery bags and bring them in to school for recycling. When the student turns in a plastic bag stuffed with other plastic bags, we will provide them with a reuseable bag donated by our local grocery store (sorry, no Whole Foods in our town). The slogan on the reusable bag is “Make Every Day Earth Day” and that is the theme for the assembly that we will also have on that day. We will educate the kids about not using plastic bags and even have our Congressman (very environmentally friendly) there to talk to the kids about what they can do. Then it will be the kids turn to educate (and remind!) their parents about reusable bags!
04/01/2008 2:09:49 PM CDT
Barbara Treasure says ...
I've been remembering a period in the 1970's when gas was scarce for a while and green thinking was popular. Probably on All Things Considered, there was a discussion on how to drive and conserve gas. One tip I still use: braking wastes gas, so don't accelerate up to a traffic light or stop sign. It wasn't just a thoughtful perspective; it came from a heightened sensitivity to careful use, perhaps sharpened by the months of waiting in lines for gas and the even-odd rationing system. It's worth revisiting the information from magazines, newspapers, radio, tv, and The Whole Earth Catalog. A lot of the strategies are probably dated now, but the mindset could be refreshing.
04/03/2008 5:40:40 PM CDT
Cara says ...
Our little family unit's number one concern is about the environment and what we can do as individuals and as a family to lighten our footprint. Sometimes we get frustrated with our family members outside of our household (whom we love dearly) that are not earth conscious at all. The best way to spread the word is to just live the way you believe. When we visit, we take things that we've used home to recycle if they don't recycle in their own homes. We never have to say a word--they watch us and the next time we visit we notice something a tiny bit greener about the way they are living. There is a lot to be said for the phrase, "actions speak louder than words". Let's face it, no one wants to hear words, especially words that are asking them to "improve". A new idea we started this year was to find out how many new and interesting ways we could re-use food containers and wrappings that we bought from Whole Foods. I think that our most useful idea has been to use the press and seal bags that hold the 365 soft tortillas for storing other things when we run out of tortillas. (We go through a lot of these!) We use them for the 365 chedder cheese blocks after we have opened them, for little plates of food for our daughter that need to go back in the refrigerator, (instead of plastic wrap, and produce we have cut into (onions) that need to go back into the fridge. We haven't had to buy any sandwich bags, plastic wrap, foil or other such items in over a year. Being creatively green can save a ton of money!
04/03/2008 7:47:18 PM CDT
tiaa from chicago says ...
Activities and awareness where you work is key to a continuing awareness. At IKEA Schaumburg and IKEA Bolingbrook we devote the entire month of April to Environmental Awareness. We will be doing continuous showing of " The Story of Stuff" by Annie Leonard for our coworkers. We will partner with our community and bring the Forest Preserve District of Will county (teaching importance of forest preservation and how to seed the earth), the Village of Schaumburg environment committee (rain water capture and recycling), used furniture take-back with donation to Goodwill industries,recycling specialist with Will County Land use Management and water quality preservation and invasive species by NOAA thru a Sea Grant with Univ of Illinois EPA Indiana-Illinois. By bringing in the experts and allowing an open dialogue between visitors and village representatives we offer the education to adult and child that could be missed in day to day activities. Remember home is the most important place in the world. And the world is everyone's home. We are all responsible.
04/03/2008 8:11:30 PM CDT
Glory says ...
To help conserve water in the shower instead of turning it on full blast and waiting for it to heat. I use the tub faucet and turn on a very small stream of water and put a pot underneath it while it's heating and then switch to the shower and fuller blast when I am about to get in. I then use that pot of water in my teapot or to flush the toilet. Other uses are for watering plants or making pasta. Saves a couple of gallons of water between using less and saving some. I also don't turn the light on in the bathroom when I shower during the day cause I have enough natural light.
04/06/2008 2:53:54 PM CDT
Trent says ...
I recently attended the Ecocity Expo in San Francisco last week to learn more about sustainable living. I learned many things, but was most astonished after speaking with a company who has figured out a way to eliminate the printing of a paper receipt by delivering it to a customer via email, or through a single website. They stated that receipt paper production destroys nearly 9 million trees per year, and produces 3.9 billion lbs of CO2 annually. To help the environment, my family members and I enrolled for the free Alletronic account to receive our receipts digitally. Have you heard of this technology and when will it become available in Whole Foods?
04/29/2008 12:06:28 PM CDT
Bev Fehrenbacher says ...
Is ANYBODY thinking about the fact that is was misguided environmentalists are responsible for the plastic bags in the first place? I am very pro-environmental responsibility, however I find a mindless and derelect inabilitly of those who push "the solutions" to even consider the unintended consequences, or God forbid, that they were wrong.
05/15/2008 5:12:20 PM CDT
Bev Fehrenbacher says ...
Although Global Warming is not part of this debate, I fear we are in the same groove as with the plastic bags. While I believe we should do everything we can to have the cleanest possible planet, if you think CO2 emissions are a problem, plant more trees which use it and give of oxygen. And if you REALLY want to see hypocricy in action, check out Al Gore's house verses George Bush's Crawford home. If you haven't seen it, it's an eyeopener.
05/15/2008 5:19:18 PM CDT
Linda Shumard says ...
Just heard about reusable sandwich and snack bags was wondering if you have them in the shop yet? I have 2 brand names 1. Abeego 2. Wrap-n-Mat. I know that I can order them on line but saw where an organic store in Maryland is offering them. Would like to see them in person before purchasing one. Thank you
02/24/2010 3:24:01 PM CST
vaughnm says ...
Our product selection varies from store to store, so you'll have to check in directly with your local store to find out. Thanks! http://bit.ly/allstore
03/18/2010 10:07:51 AM CDT