Beyond Grey Pinstripes

For the last couple of months, I have been thinking on and off about a career change. Leaning more towards an eco career. Possibly work on things like Cradle2Cradle zero footprint manufacturing and renewable energy. I seriously lack the technical or management skills to make that switch. So I went about researching my going back to school options.

Asked a few fellow bloggers. First on my list was Joel Makower. Joel's blog is one of my favorites. I find it a great read. It turns out there are many like me asking similar questions. So much so, that it prompted him to write about it. Green Technology: Where the jobs are

Joel was kind enough to also point me to this website, BeyondGreyPinstripes.org
It is a good resource for anyone looking at a green MBA. Thought I share it with everyone here.

Victoria's Dirty Secret

Victoria's Secret prints and mails 395 million catalogs a year, averaging more than 1 million a day. Almost all of it on non recycled paper! Endangering forests and ecosystems. Canada's boreal forest bears the brunt of it.

This news might be a little dated but poignant nevertheless. It was back in December 12th 2005 when Time magazine first reported the site, VICTORIASDIRTYSECRET.net. Since then, it has been featured several times. I recently read about it in the March issue of Sierra magazine

ForestEthics.org started the campaign and the website to educate people about the unsustainable practices of the company. I think they are making progress. Since the campaign began, Victoria's Secret has switched about 24 million discount catalogs to postconsumer recycled paper. It is a good start. Still a long way to go.

Junk mail is something that aggravates and irritates me terribly. I have been struggling to get rid of it for almost a year now. I have added my name to the Direct Marketing Association's "Do Not Mail" list. I have called, e-mailed, snail-mailed a gazellion companies. I still get them. The amount has reduced, but it has not stopped.

A few like me recycle junk mail. A vast majority just discards it.

Junk mail is nothing but wastage of criminal proportions. About half of all US Postal mail is junk. About 100 million trees are cut to create junk. I think it is high time we had a legislation banning companies like Victoria's Secret from sending unsolicited mails. I want my forests and ecosystems standing. Not cut down and smeared with pictures of half naked skinny bulimic women.

Quote of the day
"Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy sh** we don't need"~From the movie Fight Club (via quotegarden.com)