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Consumerism or the process of equating personal happiness with consumption is the economic principle that seems to define our generation. Although these practices have been around since the rise of civilization, our generation seems to have taken it to an extreme. Thorstein Veblen first coined the term conspicuous consumption which evolved into the term consumerism. Veblen viewed the practice as an “irrational and confounding economic behavior” stating

“It is true of dress in even a higher degree than of most other items of consumption, that people will undergo a very considerable degree of privation in the comforts or the necessaries of life in order to afford what is considered a decent amount of wasteful consumption; so that it is by no means an uncommon occurrence, in an inclement climate, for people to go ill clad in order to appear well dressed.” (The Theory of the Leisure Class, 1899).

Over one hundred years later individuals still strive to define themselves by the clothes they wear, and the materials they possess. The appeal of certain commercial brands may be largely due to their ability to enhance ones social status. Our fascination with commercial brands, and consumerism as a whole has placed American’s on a hedonistic treadmill of sorts. The speed the treadmill is ran at ultimately serves as an indicator of level of economic growth. The faster goods, and services are gobbled up by consumers the faster the economy should grow, theoretically.

Our hedonistic tendencies of course come at a price. Namely in the form of waste. Large landfills bigger then some states have sprouted up throughout the country. One of the main components of any landfill are foodstuffs. Food waste, food packaging, and beverage containers. In the picture above we see plastic water bottles that have been thrown away. Sadly in America every 5 minutes 2,000,0000 plastic water bottles are thrown away! The picture below should give you a visual of exactly what that looks like.

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When you throw your old plastic water bottles away they end up at the dump.  Once there they can take well over 100 years to decompose.  As they do decompose they release harmful methane gas in the air, and toxic sludge into the ground that ultimately ends up in our groundwater, and lakes/beeches.  So instead of pitching your old plastic water bottles use one of our 5 ultra cool uses for your old plastic water bottles, and you’ll be on your way to eco-bliss.

1. As a substitutes for sandbags. If you live in a place that receives a good amount of annual snowfall chances are you put sandbags in your trunk in the winter to gain better tractions.  The downside to sandbags are they can bust open creating a mess, plus they are really heavy.  Why not simply pour sand in your old plastic bottles, not to mention this way when you get stuck in the snow you can simply unscrew the cap on the bottle and dump the sand around your tires, and away you go!
2. As a Water balloon filler. Instead of dropping five bucks on a water balloon filler, simply pour some water in your old bottles, place the water balloon over the spout and tip over the bottle with the balloon still attached to fill your ballon.
3. Use a Piggy bank. Who doesn’t need to save money these days.  Instead of dropping your hard earned dollars on a piggy bank why not create a green piggy bank by refilling your old plastic bottles with your change.  BTW you may have to cut off a portion of the top to be able to fit quarters, and nickels down the hole.
4. Use as ice packs. Fill your bottle about 2/3’s of the way up (water expands when it freezes) then place in the fridge.  Then when you need an ice pack just grab your old bottle.  Plus once the ice melts you could even drink the water.
5. As a funnel. Whether your working on your car or mixing together those pancakes made with hemp, everyone has a need for a funnel.  Just cut the top off your bottle and you’ve got one!

Got your own unique uses for old plastic water bottles?  Tell us about it!  You can also check out this site for more cool ways to reuse your old water bottles.  Also please note the jury still seems to be out regarding whether its a good idea or not to reuse plastic water bottles.

In case you haven’t noticed sustainability is in.  If you want your business to sustain the test of time, make sure it goes green!  Below I’ve compiled 5 simple questions any business should ask.  By greening your business you let your customers know you care about the environment, and thus their general welfare.  Besides as a business don’t you have a social responsibility to see through that the next generation can enjoy your products/services just as much as this past generation has?  When it comes down to it, make eco-concious decisions as a business owner, and your customers will reward you, you’ll feel good about yourself, and your employees will be happy to work for someone who takes on a degree of social responsibility.

To Follow through on this plan call a round table meeting together with all your employees, and don’t leave till you have set-up a serious green plan.  You can do it!

1. Ask What can we Reduce/Reuse/Recycle? This one is pretty simple you can easily set-up an aluminum can recycling bin in your break room.  While your at it set up bins for recycling your old electronic gadgets such as cell phones, and clothes.  You can give the gadgets to these folks, and give your clothes to goodwill for a tax write-off.
2. What can be bought locally? Buying products that are produced, and made locally is good the local economy as well the environment because less energy is used to transport those products.  Check out this post for more ideas on how you go green by going local.
3. How can we conserve energy? Turn off the lights!  Always make sure the lights are turned off if no one is in the room.  Likewise encourage everyone to shut-off their computer at the end of the day instead of letting it enter sleep-mode.
4. What eco-friendly materials can we start using? Whether its recycled paper, or recycled shipping supplies eco-friendly alternatives do exist.  As with all business decisions the price of the substituted green good should be taken into account but don’t underestimate the positive effects on your business by switching to eco-friendly materials.
5. What can we do to encourage eco-friendly activity? There are plenty of things you can do to encourage your employees to make eco-conscious decisions.  Perhaps set-up showers at your office to allow employees to bike to work.  Likewise you could always offer monetary incentives for purchasing a hybrid vehicle.  Drop us some comments on this one to let us know unique ways you have greenned your business.

For the next week I’m letting any registered user of Vegthreads post directly to my site.  Don’t worry if your not already a registered user you can become one here.   The goal of this experiment is to showcase creative, and unique green ideas.  Do you know of a way to cut your water consumption in half?  Let’s hear about it.  Got some celeb green related gossip?  Do tell.  Just need to rant about your neighbor who dives that giant SUV?  We here for ya.  No matter whats on your mind I’m giving you the oppurtunity to take over my blog!  So let your voice be heard, become a registered user if your not one already, then simply login into your account and get started blogging!

How to Write a Great Post

Your post should be anywhere between 500-1500 words, and be environmentally related.  The post of course should be ORIGINAL, free of grammatical errors, and concise.  From there its really up to you what to write about!  Oh yah feel free to make a video post as well.  If you have any trouble utilizing my back-end interface (the interface is Wordpress try googling your problem + wordpress if you do have any problems) just let me know, and I’ll be glad to help ya out.  One more thing, any spam will be deleted so don’t try it.

A Prize!

Oh yah I almost forgot to mention this, if anyone writes a post that receives over 25,000 hits I’ll glady supply them $25 in their paypal account (I could also send ya a money order if you prefer).  Alright so get out there, take over my site, please don’t break anything while your at it, and good luck!

P.S. You can login into your account right from the home page.  Just click on log-in at the bottom of the right hand side.

The following post was submitted by my close friend Jillian Black.

And no, I’m not going to get all Cheech and Chong on you. Unfortunately, hemp has a certain stigma attached to it because of its connotation with marijuana. So I’m here to set things straight. First off Hemp has more environmentally friendly, and practical uses than you’re probably not aware of that have absolutely nothing to do with getting high (sorry to disappoint those of you looking for new pot recipes to add to your collection!). Second, hemp is completely organic, meaning it comes from a plant from the earth, and isn’t manufactured with harsh chemicals that could potentially harm you or our planet. Besides being a kick ass ingredient in pancakes, check out the rest of the unique uses for hemp.

Make Hemp Pancakes

Here’s a recipe for hemp pancakes via: nutiva.com that’s sure to impress even anti-hempsters.

Gather the Following Ingredients:

1 cup Bob’s Red Mill 10 Grain Stone ground or Arrowhead Pancake and Waffle Mix

1/2 cup toasted shelled hempseeds

1 egg (or 1/2 cup yogurt)

1 tablespoon hemp oil

1 cup water (or soy milk)

Mix As Follows:

Grind seeds, blend with the mix, add egg or yogurt and oil, add water or milk for desired consistency, and cook. Top with your favorite topping or fill with your favorite filling.

(You can find dozens more here )

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