The other day I blogged about how someone had noticed that there were These Come From Trees stickers up in the Boston Logan Airport bathrooms.What I hadn't realized that the person who blogged it, Tamara Krinsky, had her own initiative she was popularizing: "Change the Margins" or a campaign to mildly expand the default margins on Microsoft Word documents to marginally reduce the use of paper. And Tamara's campaign has gotten some great publicity, as has her blog, which helped These Come From Trees when she blogged about the project.
It Only Takes One...The Right One
But what's especially fascinating to me, is that this kind of serendipity, the fact that some nameless These Come From Trees enthusiast out in Boston took the initiative, and as a result, Tamara Krinsky saw it, and spread it with her platform.
This is what's so inspiring to me: while I blog here and there about organizations that are picking up thousands of stickers to deploy in their bathrooms, it's the individual These Come From Trees team members out there, spreading the stickers onesie, twosie across the the world who are doing the amazing work.
You never know when that one sticker you put up in Starbucks, or your favorite restaurant, will be read by the Director of Facilities of some Fortune 500 company, or a reporter, or someone with the power to broadcast the message louder and and broader than ever.
18 comments:
Hi Pete:
Thanks for the shout out for the Change the Margins campaign! It's so random that I happened to walk into a bathroom in an airport in Boston and find your stickers there. Usually, washing my hands isn't such an exciting affair.
Your post is a great description of how small individual actions can lead to big changes, which is what both of our campaigns are about. Also, it points out how important it is to pass along good ideas.
[Warning: blatant plug] If anyone reading this has not yet signed the Microsoft petition to change the default settings in their software, please go to www.changethemargins.com and add your name.
Pete - best of luck, and please keep me posted on your progress!
Cheers,
Tamara Krinsky
Change the Margins
www.changethemargins.com
What a cool concept - it's lots of little projects that will eventually make the sort of huge impact we need on the world's tree supply.
And it's a morale booster for those who work to maintain our forests and urban trees; ideas like this help us remember that tree-saving work (and, really, all work) really is done "one tree at a time."
Chuck
The Arbor Day Foundation
www.arborday.org/blog/
Pete,WOW.............what a wealth of infomation you have on your blog. I have been at this computor for hours and I've been taken all over the internet by your posts. I am amaised, impressed, blown away, and overwhelmed...and now I have more on my plate, as research goes then ever before. I guess I should say thanks:)...or as I said in the bigining...WOW!
My family and I live in Vermont and are despritly trying to simplfly our lives and incourage others to do the same, as you can see in the attached story, we homeschool our children and have just taken an idea that came out of a school project, to market. Our goal is to turn vehicles (cars) into vehicles of awareness. Our idea is all about a visuall reminder to do the right thing. It's the time tested idea that if everyone does a little...collectively it will have a globle impact.
This brings me to the reason for this email. It has occured to me that I should introduce you to my family's project and after checking with the powers to be (my daughters Katie 13, and Abbie 11) they have agreed. They would like to know what you think about their project.
If you would be so kind as to let us know.............that would be great.
I am looking forward to many hours reading and responding to your posts...and hopfully adding to the wonderful job you are doing for this world. What a service you are providing.
We thank you.
David ,Janet, Maxson,Katie, and Abbie Emmons
www.gogreenfoot.com
The Story
For more information, Contact:
For Immediate Release David E. Emmons Vermont Nature Creations
(August 7th, 2008) Phone: 802- 645-0451
E-mail: thinkgreen@gogreenfoot.com
Photo Attached
Big Green Foot Sightings All Across Vermont and Surrounding States
Vermont Home Schooling Family Owns Up and Takes Responsibility!
A family in Wells, Vermont is leaving green footprints across the region, and expects to soon see their Green footprints on cars across the country.
What started out as a school project to raise environmental awareness has turned into a business for the Emmons family, who created the "Greenfoot" car magnet.
The green magnet in the shape of a footprint, which has the phrase "Keep it Green" across the top, is meant to remind people of their carbon footprint and encourage everyone to live a "green" life.
David Emmons, his wife Janet, and their three children, Maxson, 19, Katie, 13, and Abbie, 11, are using this project to spread the message of the importance of living “Green”.
"It started out as a science lesson for the two home-schooled girls last July and over time turned into a lesson on responsibility, community and working together to make a change," David Emmons said.
"We were working on how we impact our environment," Janet Emmons said, "and we started seeing how if we each just change a little bit then we could have a noticeable impact on the world."
As a school project that applied hands-on practical application, the girls were asked to think of a way to raise awareness on the impact an individual's lifestyle can have on the environment and to let people know how easy it can be to reduce a person's carbon footprint. After considering billboards and other ideas, the family decided to work together on creating car magnets. "We all figured it would be something you could see all the time," Janet Emmons said.
The family went right to work. “Our daily life became all about artwork, trademarks, copyrights, packaging, displays, and more artwork, we each had a part to play in this creative process,” David said.
“We determined from the start that we would have everything made locally so that the children would see first hand the positive impact you can have on our own community,” their mother said. With the help of a local print shop to print the package the magnet is sold with and a Hubbardton blacksmith to make displays out of recycled products, the children were able to watch every step of the process.
"They've seen this from the idea and sketch on a piece of paper right down to the finished thing," their father said.
Through the process the family incorporated school and life lessons in art, marketing, advertising and much more, but what the family learned most was the importance of living green and the impact individuals can have on the world.
"I learned that by doing little things in your daily life, little things like recycling and turning off lights when you leave a room, can really help," Katie said. “I’ve always tried to recycle … but now I really think about things like ‘I should probably turn this off,’” she said. “I’m definitely more aware of it now.”
Maxson said one thing he learned was the effect anyone, including families in small-town Vermont, can have on their world. “It’s been exciting to watch this whole thing take off,” he added.
The lessons learned were exactly what their mother said she had hoped for at the beginning of the project.
”The main thing I wanted them to learn is that they can make a difference. So many times people feel powerless in the world and I think they learned that everybody doing a little can affect the world,” she said.
Since hitting store shelves in June, the “Greenfoot” magnets’ popularity is growing. The family routinely spots the magnets as they travel around Vermont, David Emmons said. Although he said it is exciting to see magnets on what he calls “vehicles of awareness,” the family sees this as the beginning wave of people committing to a lifestyle of living “green”. “Our dream is to raise awareness all across the country,” their father said.
To help make this dream come true, the family has constructed a Web site at www.gogreenfoot.com. The site allows people to share what they are doing to live a “greener” life, get tips on what they can do to help and learn more about the project. You can buy your Greenfoot magnet on the site and storeowners will find information on how to order them for their stores.
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How can I help I work for http://www.treesinstead.com we plant memorial and dedication trees and like to help on any campaing in favor of trees
to the VT homeschooling family above. I've had your magnets, they suck they fell off my car and almost caused an accident on the highway. And why don't you stop flaunting that you homeschool. So do I, but I don't run all over the place thinking I'm better than everyone. I hope your not one of those weird homeschool families whose kids don't know how to talk to anybody. You will hear from my lawyer over the magnet damages...
nice article
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