Comments Lee has made

  • We're at Google

    Thanks for the group tip, merely Dad.

    Join us at http://groups-beta.google.com/group/Green-Living if you are interested in discussing our next steps for this project.

    Once we're over there we can get the moderator/administrator stuff straightened out.

    Note the inadvertent name change.  I'm coming off a 30 minute tantrum (my son's) hence the segue.

    LeeOn Are greens overlooking a key constituency? posted 4 years, 6 months ago 40 Responses

  • Move to Yahoo

    I was going to suggest the same.  We can get set up over there for planning, and put a link from this blog page for anyone interested that reads the blog later on.

    So glad you (all) are interested!  I have been thinking about this for quite a while and I'm ready to get moving.

    I can set up a group tonight called Flying Green.  This is not a name suggestion, but just a moniker to get us set up for communicating.

    I'll drop a post later when it's up.  I'm 6 hours ahead of EST since I'm in Germany, so evening is already here and my kiddo will soon be in bed.

    LeeOn Are greens overlooking a key constituency? posted 4 years, 6 months ago 40 Responses

  • Spinach in my teeth

    Fixed, thanks

    LeeOn Are greens overlooking a key constituency? posted 4 years, 6 months ago 40 Responses

  • Fridge tips

    Hi,

    I'm Lee, the Flybaby.  My one concern with the tips was that it would turn into one more thing that we are not doing that we should do (as mothers).  We tend to be a guilt-ridden group as it is.  That's why I brought up the Flylady model.  Her encouragement helps you get over the guilt and actually doing something.  Her message about perfection (it's a bad word!) is also relevant.  

    I think we could definitely put together some fridge tips that keep it positive (do what you can, little things add up to big things).  Center for a New American Dreams has a similar approach, but not geared just to moms.  They also have a neat set of stats (replace one lightbulb with fluorescent, save x pounds of pollution).  These facts help people visualize why little changes add up.

    We could draw out a rough road map, similar to FL, that has something you can start the day you join, then build on that, until you have those changes under your belt.  Also, a call to action can be part of each message (again, CNAD idea) where you can spend a few minutes (write congresspeople) or more (organize neighbors).

    Finally, I'm all for humor for getting across the message.  Any cartoonists out there?  

    Obviously I'd like to contribute, what are our next steps to getting organized?

    LeeOn Are greens overlooking a key constituency? posted 4 years, 6 months ago 40 Responses

  • Battle of all Mothers

    First off, I was very disappointed to discover Mothers and Others literally the day before they disbanded.  They offered a voice to those of us who believe that our actions now have severe consequences later.  I wailed to my husband "I just found my people and they're all leaving!"

    Moving forward.  I have been very interested in the pschycology of change, because I have been wondering how to get the other mothers around me to see the errors of their ways, as it were.  Of course, dividing into us and them is the first wrong step.  As I looked at the change process, I laughed at the wisdom I was given in business school.  "You have to get customer/client/employee buy-in, then it will work."  It turns out to be much more complicated! Change of this magnitude requires transformation - a shift in our values to where doing the right thing gives us better feedback than continuing on our current path.

    How do we as mothers first attract attention to the pressing causes, then provide a blueprint for a life that lives out the optimal choices?  Put more simply, how do we reach the blue ketchup mothers (and the Glad Plug-Ins, yuck) and give them an experience that enlightens?  We can not alienate, nor dictate.  

    I believe that every mother who is trying to do right for her child is reachable by this movement.  So many of my friends who know my "different" lifestyle respect it without wanting to change.  Much of it is fear of being different.  Advertisers have taught us that if we don't use the new improved Clorox wipes in our bathroom, that our friends will think we are gross and dirty.  That is a powerful force, one we have to overcome through education and good role models.  

    My post groweth too long, I must conclude.  A blueprint for making changes exists in the form of Flylady, a guru for cleaning/uncluttering your home.  She has a following of over 250,000 people who are learning, one habit at a time, to change the way they live.  Many of her teachings are already green, I think they can go greener.  And it is a wonderful model for motivating people through encouragement, not fear.

    I hear your rally cry, Angela Park.  We are out here, waiting to organize.

    LeeOn Are greens overlooking a key constituency? posted 4 years, 6 months ago 40 Responses