Live from the left

Live from the left coast

Today I had the opportunity to listen and watch the broadcast of Al Franken’s daily show from Seattle Town Hall. I’m a big fan of Al. Years ago, before I really didn’t care – or want to care – about politics in this country, I was deeply annoyed by some of the harsh rhetoric I would hear on talk radio from the likes of “Dr. Laura” and Rush Limbaugh. But to me it was just noise – mostly harmless (I thought) and nothing that anyone with half a brain and access to daily newspapers would take seriously (I thought).

So it was a sense of curiosity and amusement (more than genuine interest) that drove me to read Al’s first book, “Rush Limbaugh is a big fat idiot.” The book was provided on loan from my sister Lynette. As long as I can remember, Lynette has always been passionately liberal. Interestingly, my older brother George matches this passion with his conservative beliefs. So I always took great pride and being the true independent in the family. One who wouldn’t tilt one way or another – firmly ground in my mainstream/middle-of-the-road approach.

I was more interested in learning how and why Rush Limbaugh was a big fat idiot than anything else. The few times I allowed myself to try to listen to his shows he struck me as a loud blow hard who seemed bent on keeping what seemed to be his all-white, upper middle-class audience (based on the TV show cut away shots) entertained with constant Clinton-bashing and rants about welfare or social security. Anyway, I read Al’s book and in addition to being wildly entertained, found myself actually learning a ton about the true conservative culture – and it scared me.

Fast forward to 2004 and the publication of Al’s next book, “Lies and the lying liars who tell them…” By now I had fully evolved into a full-blown progressive.  My path was not unlike millions of others I believe. The collective events beginning with the stolen Florida election that allowed Bush and the neo-conservatives to essentially hi-jack the White House and ultimate power through the events leading up to and eventual mismanagement of the Iraqi war absolutely outraged me. I realized that I had been too complacent about politics and the direction our country was drifting. Inside I felt that something was horribly wrong – yet I professed not to have enough information or data to back up these fears.

“Lies and the lying liars…” was one of many political books I read during 2004 throughout the presidential election. I strongly believed that if I was going to take a political position, I needed to learn as much about current US and world affairs as possible. From Bob Woodward’s investigative “Plan of Attack” to Molly Ivins “Buschwhacked” to the aforementioned Franken’s book – as well as subscribing to the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle and Valley (East Bay) Times, I immersed myself in as much information as I could soak in. Franken’s book did not disappoint in both its humor and reporting. He did a yeoman’s job documenting his research and sources and presented the information in an entertaining manner – not always an easy task.

When the Air America network launched last year and announced that Franken would be one of the hosts, I was thrilled. It seemed perfect and appropriate and I knew that his show was one I’d want to hear. Unfortunately, it would take many months before I could actually hear the show on the air – as Air America wasn’t carried on any Bay Area radio station until later in the year. Eventually, a deal was struck and progressives in one of the most progressive areas in the country could get their dose of talk radio that wasn’t dominated by conservatives. I quickly became a fairly devoted listener as I was doing quite a bit of driving around the Bay Area for my job with Comcast.

This is all a very long and roundabout introduction to today’s event. GreenForGood.com was one of the sponsor’s of Al’s broadcast today so we (co-founders Nick, Mary and I) headed to Town Hall early (6:45 a.m.) to set up our table and prepare to hand out GreenForGood post cards and nifty pens made from recycled denim. The crowd was originally estimated to be about 500, but I later learned that more than 600 people crammed the hall for the broadcast. We received numerous compliments and thanks from attendees for advertising on am1090 and sponsoring the event – as well as lots of questions about and interest in GreenForGood.com. So it was a great event from a marketing perspective.

As the show began I looked over at the next table, where the University Bookstore was selling stacks of copies of Al’s new book, “ The Truth (with Jokes).” I walked over and bought two copies – one for me, and the other for my sister Lynette (of course). Following the show, I stood in line to have Al sign my sister’s copy and to give Al his own GreenForGood.com t-shirt. He was extremely charismatic and friendly – and thanked Mary and I twice for being a sponsor of the event. After signing the book, he graciously agreed to pose for a picture with the two of us.

And tonight, I’m an even bigger fan of Al Franken.

Greenvolution

One of the most common questions I've heard since the launch of GreenForGood.com is, "Where did you the idea to start the company?" The short answer is that I literally got the idea while on a cross-country flight after visiting my in-laws in Florida last December. While reading an inspiring article about Clif Bar and the company's decision to go all-organic with its products, I wondered if there was a website for people who are interested in high-quality organic and eco-friendly products. Some quick research revealed that while there were indeed some sites that sold a variety of products, there didn't seem to one central "superstore" where you could find all things organic. And there is no doubt that demand for these kinds of products is growing.

Having lived in Northern California, Oregon and Washington throughout my life, I've been exposed to and surrounded by progressive ideas that have led to the ongoing acceptance and awareness of the need to develop a more sustainable society. The evolution has been steady and ongoing in my case - as I think it is for many. But as I've gotten older and wiser (I think), I've become much more committed to not only living in a more sustainable manner, but to try to find ways to make an impact in this area. Fortunately, I have a great group of business partners who make up GreenForGood.com who also share this belief.

It's one thing for a small group of West Coast entrepreneurs to believe in the power of sustainability, quite another for a multi-billion dollar corporation to publicly announce ambitious energy-conscious and environmentally conscious goals, as Wal-Mart did on October 25th. Say what you will about many of its other corporate practices (such as worker pay and health care) but in this case, Wal-Mart got it right. In case you missed it, the company announced "a set of sweeping, specific environmental goals to reduce energy use in its stores, double its trucks' fuel efficiency, minimize its use of packaging and pressure thousands of companies in its worldwide supply chain to follow its lead," (as reported in the New York Times). Some may call this Greenwashing.

But I think it's a sign that even the largest retailer in the world understands the importance of sustainability. Realizing that you have to take all statements pulled from a corporate website with at grain of salt, I still believe that CEO Lee Scott’s comments that “we started seeing it (environmental commitments) as something we could be proactive about, a business strategy” is telling. And it is indicative of the light bulbs (excuse the pun) popping on over executives’ heads around the country that making decisions based on sustainability is not only the right thing to do, it’s also simply good business.