HUGE success.  Just back.  So exhausted.  Check this out:

http://www.homescape.com/content/Blog:Housewares_Show_Green_with_Eco-chic_Products

Check out the full page dedicated to images of our product in the March 2008 issue of Coastal Living (see pg. 14 where we open the Coastal Living ”Currents” section).  Also, we’re featured in the Feb/Mar issue of Family Circle! 

It seems that Going Green has gone mainstream…and we’re thrilled about that.

..so why don’t “they” get it?

Not to be an ass, but I just watched the Oscars and cannot go to sleep without commenting on one particular commercial.  (Being a marketer at heart, I never watch for the actual award, sport or desperate hosewife…just the great ads).

 Was it GMC?  The one who now has made a monster SUV that is a hybrid?  And they made a HUGE deal out of it.  This brilliant animation about a tiny, strong, resilient, tenacious (hot, musclie) man pushing a boulder up a mountain.  Oh, it was so hard and it took so long!  But they did it!  They figured out a way to help Americans convince themselves that it is still OK to not change a thing.  Yeah for them.  They gave US consmers and option to continue to guzzle gas, but feel good about it!  Brilliant marketing, if immoral.  It uses 50% less fuel they claim!  Wow!  But 50% less in that monster still HAS TO BE waaaaaayyyy more than necessary.

When are we going to understand that it is about choices.  It is about thinking and being conscious and understanding that this is not all about US and our creature comforts (and our need to drive something that makes our dicks feel bigger than the next guy’s?)

It is about choosing wisely.  Sometimes it will be easy…in fact a lot of the time it will be.  And sometimes it will be hard, inconvenient or uncomfortable and piss us off.  And guess what, Spoiled Guys and Gals, sometimes it means you don’t get the toy you really want.  Sorry.  Grow up.  Do the right thing.  Nobody NEEDS a Hummer! (don’t get me started.)  Yes, if you have to drive, try a REASONABLE hybrid that does not defeat the purpose…or any non-fossil fuel burning alternative auto. 

One is not green because one drives a hybrid…have you noticed that green is to yuppie as “crossover” is to SUV these days?  Marketers and big business are stealing the word green…it is becoming the “thing to be”.  So when you buy that car for the little fancy “H” sticker on your rear bumper, don’t be so smup or self-congratulateory.   We know the posers.  You’re easy to spot.  Those who understand a little more…well…some of us disdain you…some pity you…we shake our heads at you.  You disappoint us.  And you make us sad - and a little angry, because your narcissism aggrigates and hurts us all.

THINK! 

Change your habits, change your life, make better choices.  It is hard sometimes…and it is gratifying always.  Green is  not what you drive.  It is how you live.  It is how you choose.  Wake the f*ck up.

The bees are dying.  It was on 60 Minutes tonight.  Why?  Probably because we don’t know how to do without.  God forbid we shouldn’t hav

Hey folks…if I have been a bit absent, please forgive.  We’re about to relocate the business, which is very exciting for us.  We’ve added employees, lots of new customers and now need new offices to accomodate operations.  Such a great year!  Thanks for your continued support. (Anybody know where I can get my hands on recycled boxes in Lauderdale?  Like gently used moving boxes.  I REFUSE to buy new ones, preferring to re-use as much as possible.)

Wish us luck!

Congrats are in order for Danielle & Co., one of our many valued customers, who won BEST OF SHOW at the NYIGF in EX*TRACTS for innovative design.  D&C used a container from our greenPots line to create a multi-puprose eco-friendly gift.  The hot design is sleek and modern.  Their luxurious bath and body items come packaged with organic soil, all wrapped with a recycled paper ribbon that is implanted with flower seeds. This is “upcycling” at its best!

We’re very proud to have been selected to partner with D&C on this creative idea.  See this and other great eco-products at www.DanielleandCompany.com

We always say: Who says you can’t have high style and still save the planet?!

you know the rest. 

We’re just back from The Big Apple and NYIGF.  You know, we always love the shows, meeting new people, seeing customers and introducing new product…BUT WE’RE EXHAUSTED!  The doorman of the hotel practically had to carry me out to the cab kicking and screaming just to show up the last day.

Through all of the cold, snow, rain, and uncomfortable hotel beds, we can see that it was worth it. The show was very successful.  Sales were strong considering our location and the reduced traffic.  (still across town from the Javits Center…in Chelsea at the Metropolitan Pavilion)  The show was planned for Super Bowl weekend?  What were they thinking?

Speaking of which…it was surreal to be in NYC during the last 59 secs of that game.  The shouting and honking went on until 3 AM!

Anyway - the COIR line continues to be HOT.  Customers love it.

Next stop is Chicago in March, where we’re launching our new dinner ware line called grēnware. Stay tuned.

Thanks for checking in!

Announcing our first new product line for 2008

ecosource steps forward into the new year with a new line of renewable, sustainable green products for the home and garden. Our third line of pots, called COIR, are all natural, made with coconut fiber. The product’s unveiling at the Atlanta International Gift and Home Furnishings Market, January 11 - 15, was in response to strong customer interest in larger vessels. These new decorative pots, from 18 inches up to 24 inches, are lightweight, easy to move around and perfect for outdoor spaces. We are planning to launch more new designs, lines and accessories later this year.

ecosource is the proud recipient of Co-op America’s Green Business Network seal of approval as a progressive business leader solving today’s social and environmental problems.

I hear the conversation more and more.  What is sustainability and who defines it?  What does it mean to be truly green?  Who sets the standards?  How are green and sustainable related?

I have opinions on all of the above and will probably comment on them in future posts…  They are all important…but isn’t the question really bigger?

I have this gnawing feeling that we are not asking the right questions.  We’re not looking back far enough to see the casues of how we (collectively…the greater planet “we”) got here.  I tried to write about this back in 2001, but found myself ill equipped.

Lot’s of smarter and better informed people than me have written about it.  I have a feeling that there are 2 or 3 keys.

1.  We don’t generally connect the dots.  EVERYTHING is connected.  It is a system, however we are not taught to think in this context.  Because:

a.) it is hard, and

b.) it is dangerous.  God forbid the average joe (or joline) should have an original thought!

2.  Westerners and particularly Americans are dumbed down.  We’re over stimulated and over entertained, but do under informed…because:

a.) mass media is no longer objective or deeply critical in its thinking, and

b.) we are essentially lazy and would prefer to be told what to think rather than search for the info, wade through the muck and determine what is right for ourselves.  It is too easy to listen to the talking heads of politicians, pundits and pulpits.  (I love the 3 p’s…isn’t there a writing term for the use of the running consonants?  But I digress…)

3.  When I started writing this I had a #3, but it is 5 in the morning and I’ve been up since 4. and I cannot remember.  So why don;t you tell me what you think?  I’d love to hear your perspective.

(By the way, a DIFFERENT dear friend than “blog-bitch”, whom I call Sassy Pants tells me that I am up at 4 in the morning because I am in menopause and should never expect to have another full night’s sleep without the help of a happy little pill.  Nice.  I happen to to be a 45 year old man.  What did I do to deserve this?   Where is the love?  I think need a new crew.  However, considering #3 above, I may have to give her opinion further consideration…especially since I seem to be writing in outlines, typing bleary eyed before first light and refusing to turn the mirror around that I love to point toward everyone else.  No wonder we hate critical thinking.  It hurts.)

My dear friend and colleague, whom I affectionately refer to as my “blog-bitch” (sweet.  right?), as effectively bitch-slapped me for my lack of blogging frequency and therefore prowess.  I have essentially been blog-flogged.

So I am going to do better…but shorter.

Lots of fun stuff going on.  The BIGGEST news however is that we just completed the first day of the Atlanta Gift Market with AMAZING results.

We’ve launched and entirely new line of larger stuff pots called COIR (more later…coconut and natural latex.  VERY COOL!  light weight, modern.)

New colors have been intro’d in the greenPots line (can you say shiRAZZ!!!?)

We’re just trying to keep up with demand and the pace of a new business.

Stay tuned for more updates more regularly.  My life, it would seem, depends on it.

Looking forward to finding you more great green goods in 2008 to make this a better place for all of us.

In green we trust,

Chuck

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is by John Perkins…published in 2004, I think.  Please read it.  It will give you a whole new perspective on how environment is tied to government, economics, corporate greed and western (especially American) empire building.  ”Confessions” brings clarity ties together the issues facing our endangered planet.  The book helps the reader see, through historical example, this system that may have begun as an intentional strategy, but which has become self-sustaining…almost a creature with a life of it’s own.  A dangerous, destructive, ugly creature.

Recycling is great…and conscious consuming…all of the stuff we try to do better.  But that alone won’t save our precious planet.  We also need to change what we think, what we value and how we live.

Read this book, regardless of your politics.  It raises critical questions…and points out that we all need to be questioning more and following less.  I hope you’ll pick it up and let me know what you think.

John Perkins is no hero.  He is human and a typical product of his enviroment.  The beauty is that he woke up in time to tell his story and maybe make a difference.  He made a difference to me.  Read it.