MY GREEN BLOG

Do you remember the good ‘ol days when you’d use to go into a bank and sit down with their representative to discuss your needs for a loan. You may have banked there for many years and they didn’t need a credit score to determine whether to lend you money or not. Well, maybe you don’t remember these days but they did exist at one time. Are they about to be coming back?

With the collapse of major financial institutions across the nation many mid-level banks and credit unions are gaining market share. California Community Bank increased its loan growth by 24% in the 3^rd quarter and many of its peers in the Bay Area are reporting the same thing. The main reason for this is that most of the middle level size banks did not get involved in the securitizing of subprime loans thus they were not on the hook when those loans then went bad. So now they are in a better position to lend money collectively than the larger banks.

So what does this have to do with going green? Well for one it’s about buying local. Banking with a local credit union or local bank or transacting with local merchants in general helps our local economy ten-fold. It keeps the profits from these transactions returned back into the local economy. This helps to support your neighbor, which once trickled down will support you a lot faster than larger national organizations. Buying local is sustainable, which is a key to being green.

So next time you need some help with your banking or financial needs. Think about checking out your local bank or loan officer, though we are not back to the times where just a person’s word and good reputation are enough to lend money, they may care a little bit more and have a lot more vested interest in your success, and be able to do more for you than their larger competitors.

Till Next Time,

Jeff

I’ve mentioned green eating a couple times but never devoted a whole blog to it so I decided (with the help from this month’s Bon Appetit) to take this week’s blog down that path.

We’ve definitely talked about buying local but have you ever heard of the 100 mile rule? Basically, you only eat food grown or produced within 100 miles of their homes. They are also known as Localvores. You can calculate your map and get started by going to 100milediet.org. If there are some farms within your radius and you want to visit them… DO! And while you’re there, ask them some simple questions. Is your farm organic? If not, do you use organic practices such as using non-synthetic pestisides? If they answer yes then you’ve found a Green farmer and a good person to buy from.

Another thing you could do is brew your own coffee. This was a very hard pill for me to swallow myself, but the savings alone are worth it. Go out and buy a French press, you can get one at Target for 15 bucks and find some fair-trade organic coffee (try buying your coffee from the Seattle-East Timor Relief Association, SETRA, at timorrelief.org/how.htm). Give it a few days and you might find you make better coffee than the barista down the street.

One final tip is one that I found most useful in this technological world… FishPhone. FishPhone is a service provided by the conservation group Blue Ocean Institute. Basically, what you do is text 30644 and enter FISH, followed by the name of the fish you want to buy. Seconds later they will response telling you whether that fish is good for you and the earth. Pretty cool.

I have to credit Bon Appetit magazine for this month’s issue with these and SO MANY other great eating green tips. These were just a few of the ones that jumped out at me that I’m going to look into, already do, or start doing today.

Till Next Time,

Jeff