the goode life

I'm Baaaaack!

After a super long hiatus - work, teaching, school, other writing projects, and much ado about nothing; I have finally returned to my blog.  I'm really sorry to have lost many of my faithful readers from days gone, but I hope once they see I've returned maybe they will too and hopefully I'll gain some new readers as I've decided to shift the focus of this blog a little.

No longer will I just focus on what's green, and eco-friendly, and good for the environment, and blah, blah, blah.  Part of the reason I was distracted from writing here was because I was suffering from green fatigue.  I'm still into green just tired of it constantly being shoved down my throat.  And when you work in this industry as well you feel like you can never get away from it!  I needed a break, change of pace and some new scenery. 

I started to explore living my life not only in a green fashion because it's the trendy thing to do, but just doing things that were goode whether I got green points for it or not.  Things that are goode just for the sake of being goode tend to be green anyways, right?

So from now on the good life will be just that, finding ALL that's goode in life, green or not.  No topic is off limit and no idea too obscure.  I'll return to some of my traditional postings on goode books, good links, good fashion, etc....but over the year I've come across some really goode (great!) people, quotes, ideas, ways of living, and just some general stuff I would like to share with all of you.

                         

The Race for President: Who's Green?

Forgive me for not having posted in a while.  I can't seem to turn my attention away from CNN.  This election year has been nothing short of just fascinating to watch and as a poli sci major in college, this is right up my alley. 

Although our country is divided up into red and blue, I'm really concerned with whose green.  I wrote an extensive article at my column at Bellaonline (the environment section) on the candidates and where they stand on environmental issues.  Obviously we are down to the top three contenders, Hilary and Obama for the Democrats and John for the Republicans.  So I will give you a brief synopsis of the three, but to learn about all the previous candidates please read my full article at Bellaonline here.  That's important because the nominee may choose one of them as a running mate and it's important to know where they stand as well.

The Democrats:

Barack Obama - Senator Obama introduced an energy and climate plan in 2007. He calls for improving energy efficiency in the U.S. by 50 percent by 2030, and all new buildings in the US to be carbon neutral by 2030. He supports a phase-out of incandescent light bulbs by 2014. He proposes investing $150 billion over 10 years in research and development for biofuels, renewable energy, and other clean technologies. He supports raising fuel-economy standards for automobiles to 40 mpg and light trucks to 32 mpg by 2020. He was a co-sponsor of the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act, and he calls for cutting U.S. carbon dioxide emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. He hopes to accomplish this through a cap-and-trade system that would auction off 100 percent of emissions permits, making polluters pay for the CO2 they emit.

Hillary Clinton- Senator Clinton’s campaign has been carbon neutral! She supports a goal of the U.S. getting 25 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. She supports raising fuel-economy standards to 40 mpg by 2020 and 55 mpg by 2030. She wants the US to cut its consumption of foreign oil by two-thirds of projected levels by 2030. She also proposes a cap and trade system similar to Senator Obama’s; to reduce U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050 and would auction off 100 percent of the emission permits as well as other measures. Senator Clinton has been a huge advocate for energy independence throughout her campaign.

The Republicans:

John McCain - Senator McCain has been a leader on cutting greenhouse gas emissions and is probably the greenest Republican candidate of the group! He too supports a cap and trade system for cutting greenhouse gas emissions and opposes the carbon tax. He’s against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He supports the use of nuclear power as an alternative energy source and a way to reduce carbon emissions and he wants to find a way to use our coal resources without emitting more greenhouse gases. Global warming would be a top issue for his presidency. He spoke out against the current administrations lack of action on the climate change issue!

Certified Green Building Professional

Goode News Everyone!  It is official, earlier today I recieved news that I passed my exam (a very rigourous one at that) and I am a Certified Green Building Professional (CGBP), which means you must now respect my au-thor-rity on green building advice! 

I was certified through the Build It Green non-profit organization, whose mission is to promote healthy, energy - and resource efficient building practices in California.  They are the best and work in tandem with LEED (ask more about this later if interested)!

~Arcadia, the Green Building Guru

                                                      

Goode Green News Roundup

This week Springwise is giving you one more green thing to do (as if we don't do enough already)!  Their latest newsletter tells you about a new site called Green Thing (a UK site), that gives it's user one green thing to do a month.[Springwise]

Springwise is also alerting us to this great site called Bord Bar (a German site) that re-purposes airplane trolleys into compact rolling cabinets for offices and homes, very industrial chic![Springwise]

Wasn't it in the book the Grapes of Wrath were too much sun killed the harvest?  Well times have changed, it seems it's the sun that's keeping the grapes on the vines in the wine country of California.  It's often assumed that Silicon Valley is the leader in solar power, not so says the San Francisco Business Times.[SF Business Times]

Even the Wall Street Journal is reporting there is only so much GREEN a person can take.  They report that people are willing to go green if it doesn't impede on their current lifestyle!  That's what I've been saying since the inception of this blog, but believe me people the green life is The Goode Life![Wall Street Journal]

Eco-millionaires

Gone are the heydays of the Oil Barons.  Get ready to meet the Green Barons.  Here's an interesting article which interviews four entrepreneurs who are already seeing gr$$n.  Looks like green is the new gold.

Brangelina's Eco-friendly Vineyard

I'm not intentionally trying to make today an all about wine day, it just so happens that the items in my mailbox that seem the most appealing to me are on vineyards.  Case in point, my friends over at ecorazzi have a story on the new eco-friendly vineyard that was just recently purchased by America's most famous couple, Brangelina.  1000 acres of pure privacy (I'm sure they are hoping)!  The vineyard is in France and is called Chateau Val Joanis.  The purveyors of the land say they believe in using only organic methods of tending the land and no chemical additives.  This comes as no surprise as Brad is know for his green ways and Angelina is a champion of humanity.  Being green never looked so beautiful!

Technorati Tags Brangelina vineyard Chateau Val Joanis ecorazzi

Blogger's Choice Awards: Please Vote

Wow!  you like me, you really like me...just kidding ;), but anyways my blog was nominated for a Blogger's Choice Award in the category of Best Blog About Stuff...umm okay, I'll take it!  Please vote for me when you get the chance.  Thanks! Oh, and tell all your friends too, Thanks!

ABC Goes Green (the home store)

The haute home store in New York has gone green!  While perusing the recent issue of Town and Country, which focuses on green issues, I came across an article highlighting four women whom they call Earth's best friends.  One of them was Paulette Cole, Cofounder, CEO and creative director of ABC Home Furnishings in New York.  I love this store! It is so overwhelmingly amazing with everything you could possible need and want to outfit the chicest of abodes, and the truly spectacular part is she going completely green!  According to Town and Country, Paulette has a goal of being 100% environmentally and socially responsible in 10 years time!  She believes in what I believe: Green Luxury which is all about The Goode Life!

Technorati Tags ABC Home Furnishings Paulette Cole Town and Country environment socially responsible green The Goode Life

The Queen Goes Green

Now if Her Royal Highness, the ultimate Queen of The Goode Life can go green, then there really is no excuse for the rest of us!  It seems HRH Queen Elizabeth II will have an audit on carbon emissions at her three palaces:  Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, and the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Scotland.

"Green measures already taken by the palace include converting all vehicles of state used by the Queen - plus a London taxi driven by her husband Prince Philip - to run on LPG (liquefied petroleum gas)." (ABC Newsonline)

Long live the Green Queen!

Technorati Tags Queen Elizabeth II green carbon emissions Buckingham Palace Windsor Castle Palace of Holyroodhouse

Cloned Animals Are Not Organic!

Who here actually thinks a cloned animal could be labeled organic when consumed for food?  First the USDA proposed this ridiculous idea, but thankfully the National Organic Standards Board (an arm of the USDA) voted against this!  Thank God someone was thinking!  The Organic Consumers Association has the full story.

Technorati Tags cloned animals USDA organic