I can remember when the air was clean and sex was dirty - George Burns

I drank water out of my reusable, stainless steel water bottle today. I bought it several months ago at the Common Market Food Coop in Frederick, Maryland. Do you remember a world without individual water bottles? I do. And then, sometime in the 90s, the world went crazy for water. And don't get me wrong... that is a GOOD thing. Purified water is the best thing that you can drink. It has no high fructose corn syrup, it has no caffeine, it has no (hopefully, or at least limited amounts of) chemicals. But the plastic bottles water comes in - bad...BAD. Here are the facts:

• In 2006, Americans drank about 167 bottles of water each but only recycled an average of 23 percent. That leaves 38 billion water bottles in landfills.
• Bottled water costs between $1 and $4 per gallon, and 90 percent of the cost is in the bottle, lid and label.
• According to the Beverage Marketing Corp, the average American consumed 1.6 gallons of bottled water in 1976. In 2006 that number jumped to 28.3 gallons.
• It takes over 1.5 million barrels of oil to manufacture a year’s supply of bottled water. That’s enough oil to fuel 100,000 cars.
• Eight out of 10 plastic water bottles become landfill waste.
• In 2007 we spent $16 billion on bottled water. That’s more than we spent on iPods or movie tickets.
• Plastic bottles take 700 years before they begin to decompose in a landfill.
• If everyone in NYC gave up water bottles for one week, they would save 24 million bottles from being landfilled. One month on the same plan would save 112 million bottles, and one year would save 1.328 billion bottles from going into the landfill. (www.earth911.com)

$16 billion!!!! On WATER!! Something, that, for lucky Americans like us comes out of the tap for pennies a month! If you don't like the taste of your water (I know I don't) get a Britta...it's easy.

My bottle is a Klean Kanteen and I bought it for $12. Before I got it, I would usually buy 4 bottles of water a week (usually more). So it has saved me around $100 so far. And that is 64 less bottles that end up in landfill. Yay Earth!

Service to others is the payment you make for your space here on earth. - Mohammed Ali

I volunteered today. I met with two women that founded and operate a 501(c)(3) organization in Frederick County, Maryland. The organization rescues abused, neglected or abandoned horses and employs them as therapy horses for people with psychological and physical needs. Right now they are working on creating a program for soldiers with PTSD. So I've volunteered to work with them to write some grants so that they might get some funding. I'm not telling you this because I want applause (my motives aren't entirely unselfish) - I'm telling you this because non-profit organizations are EXTREMELY, or sometimes ENTIRELY, dependent on volunteers to remain durable and active.

According to the US Census, there are approximately 250 million people in the United States over the age of 19. If everyone in the United States over the age of 19 volunteered for 5 hours a month for one year, that would equal around 15 billion hours of service. That's 15 billion hours of service to our communities, to our country...to the causes that we believe in [imagine if we all also donated $5 a month to charity!!].

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that, between September 2006 and 2007, 60.8 million people volunteered for an organization at least once (that's about 26% of the population). Sadly, that number was a decrease from the year before and the year before that. I realize that people are busier than ever. But now that we are in the midst of an economic meltdown, people will likely be holding on to their pocketbooks even tighter. So how can the non-profit sector recover from the financial loss? It begins and ends with in-kind donations.

Think about giving of your time to an organization or cause that you care about. Idealist.org is a great place to find out more.

I heart small business

I'm a huge fan of small business. I come from a long line of small business owners. Sometimes I think their legacy explains my entrepreneurial spirit and social-mindedness. The small business people in my family worked hard, lost sleep, and provided well for their employees. Not because the law demanded it, but because they understood the value of a loyal employee. Here's what the Small Business Administration has to say about the impact of small businesses in the United States.

Small businesses:
• Represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms.
• Employ about half of all private sector employees.
• Pay nearly 45 percent of total U.S. private payroll.
• Have generated 60 to 80 percent of net new jobs annually
over the last decade.
• Create more than half of nonfarm private gross domestic
product (GDP).
• Hire 40 percent of high tech workers (such as scientists,
engineers, and computer workers).
• Are 52 percent home-based and 2 percent franchises.
• Made up 97.3 percent of all identified exporters and produced
28.9 percent of the known export value in FY 2006.
• Produce 13 times more patents per employee than large
patenting firms; these patents are twice as likely as large
firm patents to be among the one percent most cited.

Wow, right?

This morning I am having coffee (and some free wifi) at an individually owned coffee shop in Front Royal, VA. The coffee shop, The Daily Grind, is a regional franchise... this particular shop is owned by Herb and Judy Melrath. There names are on a plaque on the wall, surrounded by photographs of customers and employee of the month notifications. It is quaint. It's cozy. And the workers are...wait for it...NICE! The owner serves up coffee alongside her employees. It's a great place. But...

Small businesses, like this shop, are in danger and the threats are not only coming from large corporate firms (I'm not trying to beat up on Starbucks here, but they are a great example), but also from local, state, and national government. On average small businesses that employ less than 20 people must spend $7,647 per worker to comply with federal regulations. Large businesses that employ more than 500 people only spend $5,282. So it's hard.

Recently, a Starbucks opened in Front Royal.

So! What can you do about it? Shop, eat, and consume locally whenever you can. Just remember that the $2 you pay for a cup of coffee at The Daily Grind (or the locally owned coffee shop in your area) is directly impacting people's lives for the better.